leveling up

Adam attacked Ilyass first with all his power. He didn't use any techniques, his fist was direct and raw. He was sure that after he had reached the E rank, he was able to take out all his peers. But he had been wrong. Ilyass blocked the fist easily and countered with a quick lite fist directed straight to Adam's nose. The later moved three steps backward as his painfully crashed nose started to bleed. From this simple clash, he knew how grave was his mistake. He should have been more careful. Ilyass kept attacking aggressively and didn't let his opponent recover.

Even though the two figures seemed equal in terms of power, Adam was the one having a hard time. Because the successor of the scarlet flame family had learned different fighting techniques wich focused on attack, defense, and footwork. Plus he has a lot of experience fighting his family's other descendants.

On the other hand, Adam with his poor origins couldn't learn inherited skills or buy them from the market.

After thirty moves Adam could no longer defend or dodge. He became a punching sac for his opponent as he refused to accept defeat. His sight became blurry and his breathing became hard and painful. He thought he is gonna dye. But the punching suddenly stopped so the last trace of his consciousness that was maintained by adrenaline faded.

When he opened his eyes again he found himself in an extravagant ancient style bedroom. He was lying on a soft double-sized noble bed.

"You are finally awake. How do you feel?" a young gentle voice asked.

"...I am great..." Adam responded hesitantly to the strange yet familiar beauty in front of him. "Where am I?"

"You are in my bedroom. Do you like it?" the purple-haired girl responded. She gave him an innocent smile. But as she remarked his worried and confused looks she said."I am just kidding. My name is Yasmine the daughter of the head of the white lotus family. You can call me your saver."

"So you are the girl from the fighting training class. All I can remember is blacking out after I lost in a fight. were you the one who brought me here?"

"Yep. And we have also healed you"

"Thanks! How much time have I been passed out?"

"About two hours. I suggest you inform your parents."

"Can you please keep it a secret? I don't wanna scare my mom."

"Okey as you wish."

"I'm leaving now, I will make sure to repay later."

"Don't say this. We are classmates we should help each other. But if you insist, you can repay me with your friendship."

"Strange! You are Strange. I have never seen a noble who wants to be a friend with a commoner. But if that's really what you want then we are officially friends."

"See you tomorrow."

After he left the magnificent white lotus family palace. Adam phoned his mother and told her he is gonna stay at his friend's house to study. After two hours of continuous running, Adam reached the thick forest in the suburbs of Independence city. The forest was an extremely dangerous place as it was home to millions of evolved beasts and it wasn't under controlled by the city.

After his defeat against the successor of the Scarlet flame family, Adam knew he was too full of himself and overestimated his power. If he wanted to protect himself and his mom he has to be much stronger. He had to work hard to surpass his peers who have more resources and fighting techniques.

He decided to level up again by absorbing the beasts' energies this time. Adam was very careful when searching for the beasts. He only targetted the weak ones that he was sure of defeating easily.

His first preys were the White Rabbets, a medium-sized territorial beast that uses their sharp claws as weapons. Usually, they don't reach the E rank as their lifespan doesn't surpass ten years.

Adam started hunting them like crazy all night and kept absorbing their energy. He encountered some white rabbets the size of human adults who have reached the E rank. But they didn't pose a threat to him anymore as his level had increased significantly.

The big white furball attacked him like a bowling ball that crushed the trees in her way. This was the ability that the white rabbets gained after reaching the E rank. It uses spinning to generate a powerful attack though it was easy to dodge as the rabbets in their ball form can't change the direction of the attack.

Adam dodged the rabbet's dash and stabbed him in the stomach with a rabbet's claw he had killed earlier.

Adam absorbed more than a hundred rabbets' energy then took their furs and claws back with him to the city. They are worth a fortune.

Adam was sure he had reached the E rank the day he absorbed the elder's energy. But he didn't know why he hadn't acquired any ability yet. It is well known that after the warriors reach a new rank. Their bodies' attributes undergo a major increase and they awaken supernatural abilities. The higher is the rank, the stronger is the ability.

Was it because of his zero talent or because he already has one: the ability to absorb deads' shadows?

When he arrived in the city it was already sunrise. He has spent all night fighting wild beasts to increase his power. So he only has three hours before school begins.

First, he sold the battle spoils in the hunter guild, an association created by the city lord to organize the adventurers' work: It gives them quest to kill specific beasts or to protect the villages near the city. It also has a fighters' market where they can sell the spoils of battle and buy weapons, fighting techniques, pills, and rare herbs…

Adam gained 1000$ after selling the furs and the claws. He was surprised by how much money he had gained in just a single night. His mom struggled for a whole month to gain such amount.

He quickly showered in his house, changed his clothes and took his breakfast. Then, he ran toward school. His mom had already gone to work, so she didn't know he wasn't in his friend's house as he pretended.