Darius carefully placed the book and the glasses the old man had given him on the table. He had finally gotten home after having a thorough discussion about how the assessment to Lunatris Academy worked.
It turns out the academy would invite people with big influence/ elites to watch the competition through a big screen. His father would also be there.
Darius sighed, if he didn't pass, everyone would know. He did not want to be humiliated in front of everyone.
Sighing, he studied the book in front of him. The book was red in color and a chinese character was written on the cover of the book.
Darius suddenly felt a headache coming, he knew nothing about Han zi ( Chinese letters/ characters) or even piyin. He just hoped the whole book wasn't written in chinese or he would be doomed.
He tried to open the book but the book didn't budge. He stared at the book for a few seconds then tried to open the book again but no matter what he did the book didn't budge.
"Did I get scammed," Darius muttered as he stared at the book. Suddenly, he noticed the glasses which he placed near the book. Without any hesitation, he picked up the glasses and wore it.
After wearing the glasses he looked at the book then something happened. A bright light shone from the book. Before he could even process what had happened he blacked out on the chair he sat.
## ## ##
"Where the fuck am I?" Darius muttered as he stared at the white space around him. The last thing he remembered was that he blacked out then suddenly he was here in a white space.
The book he had been trying to open suddenly appeared in front of him and to his shock, it opened by itself. Darius stared at the book in suspicion, after he noticed the book didn't move or anything, he moved closer to read the contents of the book.
The book was about martial arts and the first stage to become a martail artist was to be able to absorb the spiritual essence in the air. Darius read the book in concentration.
Apparently, to be able to absorb the spiritual essence in the air you had to practice a breathing technique, after that he would be able to step into the first realm of being a martial artist which was called Martial Novice.
Under each realm were nine tiers. The 1-3 was a lower tier, 4-6 was a middle tier and 7-9 was a higher tier
Darius tried to open the book to the next page but it wouldn't budge no matter what he did. With a frown, he decided to practice the breathing techique in the book.
He immediately got into the position in the book and began practicing the breathing techniques he had just read.
For the first two hours, he didn't feel a thing but Darius wasn't the type to give up like that.
He was a resilient person.
After thirty minutes of non-stop meditation, several strands of spiritual energy entered his body.
At first, it entered little by little, then it began to rush into his body. Darius who was practicing the breathing techniques didn't feel a thing because he had fallen deep into meditation.
Unknown to Darius, Several changes had begun to occur in his body.
His body was expelling toxins and his muscles and organs were undergoing different changes. A tiny black core suddenly appeared near his heart.
## ## ##
A ray of sunlight struck the body of a man sleeping uncomfortably on the chair. The person was in fact, Darius.
Darius opened his eyes by a quarter but quickly shut them back because a ray of sunlight had struck directly into his eyes.
He immediately used his hands to shield his eyes from the sunlight then he groggily stood up.
Darius scrunched up his face the moment he noticed a nasty smell, the smell was coming from his body. He frowned when he noticed that his body was releasing blackish like stuff.
"Is this because I managed to absorb spiritual essence?" Darius thought as he stared at his body. He used the table in front of him to support himself but the table's leg suddenly broke.
Darius stared at the table in thought, he couldn't have broken the table just like that could he?
Darius stared at the wall for a moment, if he punched the wall would something happen?
Darius cracked his knuckles then punched the wall to test his theory but to his surprise, there was a crack on the wall and he wasn't even injured.
A sly smirk found it's way to his face, it seemed like he was finally a Martial Novice but he had no idea what his tier was.
Also, he had to learn to control his strength or else he would end up breaking everything he touched.
He sighed, he was going to check the book after he had his bath.
Darius removed his clothes and the glasses he wore then went to the bathroom to have a hot water bathe.
He stayed in the bathroom for about twenty minutes. After he finished bathing he checked him self out in the mirror.
Externally, nothing changed, internally, a lot of things changed. Darius felt that the only external thing that changed about him was his skin.
It had become more smoother like a new born baby. He also noticed that he could feel the spiritual essence in the air but his body was not absorbing it.
He tried the breathing technique and the spiritual essence in the air gathered around him.
He smirked, it looked like he had to change the way he was breathing. If he practiced the breathing technique till it engraved in his bone that meant he could absorb a large amount of spiritual essence without doing anything.
He glanced at the glasses on his nightstand and wore it on, he had no idea why the old man had given him this glasses but his mind told him that the glasses he wore had other uses.
He clenched his fists, he had to get stronger especially since the day of the competition was drawing nearer and nearer.
A knock drew him out of his reverie.
Darius strode to the door and opened it. Jezebel, his stepmother stood akimbo.
Darius opened his mouth to speak but suddenly he stopped. On top of Jezebel's head, "ELITE (RANK 8)"
He removed the reading glasses to stare at her only to find out that there was no rank on her head, then he put them on again.
His lips curved into a loop-sided grin, it seemed like the glasses could tell the rank of people. This was definitely going to be useful.
"Hey boy what the hell is wrong with you, what are you planning this time," Jezebel said breaking Darius out of his own thought.
Darius stared at the woman in front of him in disgust, he couldn't believe he had smirked in front of this witch.