Ethan walked into the residential zone. Just as he had guessed, the place was state-of-the-art built. The fine tech was well-designed and artfully crafted. The buildings were neatly arranged like microchips in a computer. Ethan could also see flying cars and civilians, possibly first-class citizens, walking the streets.
An artificial sun hung above the sky or should he say, an artificial sky too.
"Gods, such power. The Axion and the Military Guild are more powerful than I thought," Ethan said, amazed. To think this is one of the five biggest and most terrifying motherships in the whole Stellar Nexus he wondered how the others would look.
"It doesn't matter. I will create my own, or even steal one of these motherships," Ethan said.
If anyone heard him right now, they could have slapped him to death.
Each of these motherships was enough to destroy a whole planet.
"Eh, I'm still far away, I guess," Ethan sighed worriedly as he walked one mile to a top-notch hotel.
Ethan clearly didn't have much to begin with except cash. But he didn't want to spend too much who knew what would happen if he ran out of money?
Summoning the Sacred Soul Core of the Wailing Worm, Ethan could only pray they'd accept it as payment.
When he reached the entrance, Ethan couldn't find anybody, same as when he entered the building. In the fine small hall, Ethan could only see an AI robot attending to customers.
"Top notch indeed," Ethan said, walking to the attendee.
"Hello, how may I help you?" the hyper-realistic female robot asked. Although it sounded realistic, Ethan couldn't sense any human aura from the object.
"I'm here for a room, of course," Ethan said.
"Well, the rooms are divided into VIP 1 to 3. Which level do you care to have?" the female robot asked.
"First, do you collect Sacred Soul Cores as payment?" Ethan asked.
"Yes, we do which means you could only purchase a VIP 1 room," the female robot said.
"Here, analyze it fast I don't have time," Ethan said, dropping the shining Sacred Soul Core on the desk. In his mind, he was already praying because in the Common Market, Ethan couldn't sell any Wailing Worm Soul Core since it wasn't listed on the marketplace.
"Your Sacred Core is worth 200,000 Ace Coins. Do you still wish to use it?" she asked.
"Yes, of course—damn," Ethan said impatiently.
"Okay, please note that the VIP room is worth 400k a night," the robot said. Ethan didn't hesitate as he brought out four Mutant Soul Cores of the Wailing Worm.
After a while, the robot said, "Your transaction has been completed. Here is your key card. Please enjoy your stay at the Dominion Hotel."
"Damn right I will," Ethan said while walking up the stairs. Unlike Planet New Eden, which was a low-level planet, this starship was owned by the military and the level of finance and technology they had was something the Brotherhood couldn't even sniff.
Entering his room, Ethan was very satisfied. It was the state of art luxury the bed big and soft, with fine embroidery as beddings. The kitchen was cool, and the parlour had a 30-inch screen TV and comfy chairs. All the furniture had matching colours.
Scanning everywhere and not finding any AI assistant, Ethan was satisfied. He already had bad memories with one of them.
Dialing his phone, he called Gloria. After a while, his ears almost split.
"Hey asshole! Where the fuck were you? And why did you take so long on the first trial?" Gloria shouted.
"Relax, girl, I'm only human," Ethan said.
"But you should have called us after you finished," she said.
"Trust me, after I did the first trial, I had to head to the next one," Ethan said.
"So did you and Freddy pass?" Ethan asked.
"I haven't seen Freddy, but damn yeah, I passed! If not, why would I even be talking to you?" Gloria retorted.
"So, where are you lodged?" Ethan asked.
"Oh, I met a nice couple on my way,they thought I was alone, so they took me in. Their place of residence is top-notch too. I mean, I'm in a hot jacuzzi right now," Gloria said.
"So you wanna do FaceTime?" Ethan gulped.
"Damn you freak, get lost!" Gloria shouted, cutting the call. Ethan almost burst into laughter. Of course, he was only pulling her leg.
After a while, he reached out to Freddy. It took some minutes before he picked up.
"Yo man, what's up?" Ethan asked.
"Well, guess what? I passed the two trials!" Freddy said.
"I knew you could do it," Ethan chuckled.
"That technique you gave me Phantom Ghost was top notch. It just kept improving my physical and mental abilities," Freddy said.
"Yes man," Ethan said. Of course, apart from the Transcendence Water Skill, this Phantom Ghost was what increased his physical abilities in his past life.
"Well, where are you?" Ethan asked.
"Well, I'm at a local inn, but it's good. The place is cozy and all," Freddy said.
"Nice, well then keep practicing. I heard the last trial will be tough as hell," Ethan said.
"Yh man, of course I will," Freddy said.
"So I'll see you at the next trial, buddy," Ethan said.
"Sure we will," Freddy said, switching off.
Ethan relaxed in his comfy bed for a while. Come to think of it—it's been a couple of weeks since he awakened, and now he was already living good. He could have continued like this, but he knew destiny wouldn't have it. He had to keep getting stronger. His gut feeling told him something more terrifying than the Xeridians was coming.
Thinking for a bit, Ethan slipped into the pool. The warm water instantly cooled his body. At the bottom of the bathtub, Ethan could see a Soul Core.
"No doubt it's rich men's shit," Ethan said as he put on his headphones that he bought from the mini-store on Omega Ship. Putting on his favourite music, Ethan relaxed and closed his eyes.
The next day, Ethan did his daily quest as always.
[Congratulations, you have gained 1 Mana Potion and 1 Health Potion.]
As always, it was the same reward he got since day one. He hadn't gained anything special. And to think of it the system didn't disrupt him for daily quests when he was doing something important. For example, during their voyage to the Eternal Dawn Ship or during the tests and trials, the system didn't even bother him.
"Hmm," Ethan stretched and cleaned his face. He wasn't even tired a bit. Obviously, his stamina was well off now.
Ding!
A notification popped on Ethan's phone.
"Dear Cadets, following the tests and trials: out of 5,000 contestants, only 1,250 Cadets are able to reach the last trial," it read.
"Damn, this isn't any dull man contest," Ethan said, surprised. That meant 3,750 contestants were eliminated.
"Following the last Great Trial, Cadets will be asked to move to the Academic Zone by tomorrow 12 a.m. pronto. Please, when you get to the entrance of the Academic Zone, you will be asked to follow the necessary protocols."
"Good," Ethan said as he went to his room to have breakfast.