Carl found this short break to be a great opportunity to get closer with the other disciples. Normally he wouldn't associate with the lower class, but William was incredibly strong for a non-Cultivator and Natsu and Filipe had very strange and unique abilities.
"William, that was quite the powerful move you used on my Shadog. What Rank is your Fire Magic?" Carl asked carefully.
"Uh, I've never tested it. Probably around D Rank." William lied. Carl's way of speaking was quite odd, but he didn't seem to have ill intent.
"I see I see. You're also an impressive with Arrays, who taught you how to use them? Do you have a master?"
Carl was trying to be friendly, but William was becoming uncomfortable. "I just learned them by chance."
It wasn't completely a lie, since the Talents were given at random in the Talent Shop. I suppose you could say the System was William's master. These kinds of questions made William wonder what kind of powerful being created the System. Or was the System itself the powerful being?
Carl asked another question, but William didn't hear it as he was too busy daydreaming. When Will didn't answer a few more times, Carl gave up and began chatting with Filipe.
Filipe was more open about his skills. It turned out that his Mind Vision was actually an innate ability awakened when he was three years old. It was discovered by his eight year old brother and his father, when he gave his brother a concussion during a staring contest.
Ever since that day, his family treated his ability as both a blessing and a curse. They would ask Filipe to go out hunting when he turned nine since he could just knock out all the deer, but when he came home, they asked him to put a blindfold on or keep his eyes closed.
By thirteen, he was treated like an outcast. His family started making considerable money when Filipe's older brother became a Cultivator, and they no longer needed Filipe's cursed eyes to survive. They kicked him out of the house at sixteen, where he learned to resent his family.
Now, Filipe was almost twenty and had learned to control his ability by using a thin pair of lenses that resembled contacts. With them, he could stare through a pinhole when he wanted to activate his ability.
Carl admired Filipe's creativity. The idea of a lens to seal ones own ability was ingenious. "Filipe, do you want to go to Wild Clover and talk more after we are done here? Actually, everyone should come, I'll pay for everything." he spread his hands wide in magnanimously.
William wasn't interested at first, but when Carl mentioned free food he couldn't help but to agree. The others thought the same as well, since they wouldn't receive many resources for the first month.
Carl's timing was perfect, since Elder Wen made an announcement from afar. "The test is over! Congratulations to the fifty disciples that scored at least 80 points. Each of you will be placed in positions 501 through 550, and will be allowed to challenge any opponent within 100 ranks of yourself.
When you are ready to issue a challenge, please come to the Ranking Board outside and declare your opponent. A battle will be scheduled for you two within three days of the challenge. The lecture has now ended and I will see you tomorrow for your assignments.
Inner Core Disciples come see me. Outer Core Disciples...have a good day!" Elder Wen gave a goofy smile that was unbefitting of his character.
William sighed in relief. Every lecture taught by that man turned into a hassle. In the future, William would have to set aside at least four hours of his day when Elder Wen was teaching.
The group headed to the Wild Clover restaurant, where they were seated by Su Yanyu. The girl smiled at William recognizing him as one of the regulars.
She greeted the group and took their orders, then walked off in a hurry. William tried to remember what her face looked like, but it was quickly fading each second, until he once again was left clueless. So it is her. I still don't understand that ability.
System, why can't I remember her face?
-Request requires 50 Potential Points. Yes/No?
Ahh nevermind. William guessed that it was an incredible secret based on the price, but he was already running low on points. It wasn't worth spending so much just to learn about a fellow disciple.
The group ate and shared stories for a while. William tried a Spirit Crab Rangoon, which tasted phenomenal and added to his Gourmet Title. He was now only one meal away from upgrading the Title to Rare.
Carl thought of something and felt now was the right time to ask. "This might be a bit far off, but when I reach top 100 on the Ranking Board I was thinking of going out to the Great Oasis to gather some rare summoned beasts. Would anyone want to come with me?"
William's interest was piqued. "The Great Oasis?"
"You've never heard of it?" Tia asked. Her tone switched to excitement, "It's the most dangerous and also the most rewarding location in this region. Magical Beasts up to the Golden Core Realm can be found, even in the Outer areas!"
Filipe looked at Tia with concern, "Why are you excited about that? We can't handle Golden Core Beasts! We can't even fight Foundation Establishment Realm Beasts in the late stages."
"It's not as dangerous as you think. I've been there before and the Golden Core Beasts aren't very common. Unless you go directly into their territory, they don't care about weak Cultivators." Carl attempted to persuade the group.
William didn't care if it was dangerous. It turned out that there was in fact somewhere they could go to fight Magical Beasts, but he would need to enter the top 100 on the Ranking Board first.
Now I'm beginning to see why this Quest was labeled as Hard difficulty. If I didn't get lucky to meet this group or if I didn't win at least four battles, I wouldn't have had the chance to learn about the Great Oasis!
William slammed his fist on the table with enthusiasm. "I don't care if you're not interested. I'm in!"
Carl smiled. William would be a valuable asset in the Oasis given his Fire Magic talent. "Good to hear. I hope you can help me capture some powerful beasts."
William's approval inspired the other four disciples to join him in agreement. They shared drinks and laughed for another hour before returning to their residences.
William laid on his bed and watched Atticus slither around the room while thinking about the day's events. He had forgotten to check the Ranking Board after the lecture and request a challenge, but it wasn't much of an issue. After all, William still had 28 days on his countdown, and needed to earn more Potential Points before he challenged the top 100.
System, how much negative attention did I attract today?
-Request requires 2 Potential Points. Yes/No?
-Today you made 146 enemies, 126 of which are new disciples. 19 are Inner Core Disciples. One enemy is at the Nascent Soul Realm. Thıs text ıs hosted at novel⁂fire.net