Draven finally broke out of reverie.
He stared at Annie. "I-is there nothing we can do?"
Annie shook her head. "The only cure is ascension… in thirty days."
The room descended into an oppressive silence.
He was thankful that Annie didn't interrupt him.
'My situation… the only way to survive is crazy ascension! Hunt, hunt, and hunt. No time for fun. I can't wait for death. Yeah! Maybe the record of 180 days to ascend to the Primal rank was prolonged because the person wasn't consistent in their schedule,' he tried to convince himself.
Raising his head to meet Annie's eyes, Draven just opened his mouth when her phone rang. She picked it up. A few seconds later, her eyes widened. He could feel the shock in her eyes.
"Really?! I'm coming!"
She hung up and said to Draven while hurriedly leaving, "Don't leave. I will be back in a few minutes. Let's discuss your situation."
She opened the door but paused and turned to Draven. "Don't leave!" she emphasized.
Watching her leave, Draven became lost in thought.
He began organizing his jumbled plan.
'First, buy my gears, then choose a Rank 1 Plane that would be easier for me to survive, lastly… hunt!'
With this, Draven stood up and transferred 10,000 credit units to the previous account Annie gave him. Not waiting for her to return, he left the hospital. Taking a taxi to the Council Association Store, he realized it wasn't too far from the Council Association but smaller. It had few people entering and leaving.
He entered and saw many people behind the desk. He walked up to a male receptionist.
"Morning, Sir, where can I buy First Order Transient armor and a sword?" he asked.
As for the reason why he chose a sword, it was because it was what he trained with in the academy. And the reason for training in swords is because he had less time after discovering his disease and found it easier to learn the basics. At least he knew how to slash and thrust. Even swinging it was a move.
"200,000 credit units." He showed Draven the account.
After Draven made the transfer, the man asked him to choose the one he wanted from the monitor that displayed the pictures of two armors and six swords. Beside them were brief properties, like: mass, length, and texture.
Draven picked a brown armor due to its higher weight, which he equated to higher defense, and a pair of light green swords because they were two. Besides, he thought a heavy armor and a heavy swords will be too much weight.
The man left and returned. Then he stretched his hand to Draven for a handshake. Draven took it, and something popped in his panel.
[+2 Gears received.]
Retracting his hand, Draven opened his Elite panel and checked the gears.
––––
[Gear: Verdant Reapers]
[Rank: Transient]
[Order: First Order]
[Type: Weapon]
[Description: Light pair of verdant steel!]
––––
––––
[Gear: Iron Plate]
[Rank: Transient]
[Order: First Order]
[Type: Armor]
[Description: A hard, condensed iron used for creating armor!]
––––
'No special skill? Now I know why those people call First Order Transient gears trash. But their description is nice.'
Just as he was about to leave, the man pointed in a direction. "The test room is on your left. It is used to physically feel your gears."
Draven nodded and walked into the room. It was a wide room with no windows.
He summoned his armor, and five seconds later, a body-con dirt-brown armor wrapped around his body. It exposed only his hands and head, covering his other parts.
Draven felt the weight difference. He tried to move and stretched with the armor on, trying to get used to the additional weight. Thankfully, they practiced additional weights in the battle classes in the academy, so he quickly got used to it despite its foreign nature. Then he summoned his sword. Five seconds later, a pair of green swords materialized in each of his hands.
They had single-edged green blades and were a bit shorter than standard swords. He swung them around to get used to the weight, and he could barely feel it.
Narrowing his eyes, Draven dismissed his gears and decided, 'Time to hunt.'
He left the room.
Nodding at the man, Draven left the Council Association Store for the Council Association.
Upon getting there, Draven strolled inside and walked up to the lady that had registered him.
She raised her head and arched an eyebrow at him. "What now?"
Draven delivered his most heartwarming and pleasing smile.
"I need to enter a Rank 1 Plane, but I want the best one. A plane with a high survival rate. Can you tell me, please?"
He tried to make the smile more pleasing.
"Wipe the fake smile off your face," she said before chuckling. "You're the first to ask me. As a new Elite, you're supposed to be in school. Well, I will tell you. In Solrin City, the Green House Rank 1 Plane has the highest survival rate."
"And where is the beacon to the Green House Plane?"
"Seriously?" She raised an eyebrow. "You're supposed to be in school! Now, I'm doing my work and the work of the academy. Unnecessary stress."
After sighing once more, she said, "Go into that room and keep your things in one of the lockers, and change into your gear. Wait! Don't tell me you need me to buy the gear for you? Isn't this babysitting?"
"I've already bought them," he interrupted her.
He left and returned with his donned armor and swords in his hands.
She stood up. "Follow me."
She walked deeper into the building with Draven behind her, leading him into a room with a few people walking into a door-sized mirror like the one in his academy. The surface rippled, and the person disappeared inside. The next person followed.
She turned to him. "You saw it, right? Don't touch anything; just walk into that mirror, and you will find yourself in the Green House Plane. You will spawn in a random location. In the Plane, you can instinctively sense the position of the Haven, so make your way there. From the Haven, there's a beacon to return here."
Draven nodded and was about to walk away.
"One piece of advice." Her voice pulled him back.
He stared at her.
"The first thing is to ascend to the Second Order if you want a higher chance of survival. With only the strength of the First Order, any little bad luck can end your life," she said solemnly.
Draven nodded.
"And don't get greedy; the price of greed in the plane is death!" she added.
"Thanks," Draven said.
"Good luck."
With that, Draven walked up to the mirror, as the room was already empty. Just as he pressed his body against the mirror and it rippled, he heard her voice, "Pray not to spawn in the mouth of a monster or the lair of a Third Order Transient monster!"
His eyes widened. A chill crept up his spine as he imagined how he would die. He tried to pull back, but his vision darkened.
'Screw hell!'