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nTraining Hall

nViktor accessed the main stone cube, and immediately two options appeared in front of his eyes, asking him whether he wanted to enter alone or together with his companions. With a simple touch of the latter option, he and the others were teleported away before he could blink his eyes again.

nIn an instant, Viktor’s figure appeared in another room. The walls looked the same, but it was now an empty space almost as big as a classroom. Viktor tried to look around, but there seemed to be nothing in it. The only noticeable object around that caught his eyes was a stone cube sitting at the corner of the room.

nViktor went ahead and touched it, causing a few options to appear.

nSkill Library

nPractice

nRealm Enhancement

n“Realm Enhancement?”-.

nFrom what he had heard from Jessie’s talk, the last option should be people’s main purpose for coming here. Shortly after the apocalypse began, people discovered the fact that no one could pass the realm stages without the help of the pillar.

nThat was one of the reasons why Jessie thought his power to advance without the help of the pillar was strange.

nViktor decided to touch the Realm Enhancement panel with much curiosity. A glowing inscription with the same unrecognizable mysterious words appeared in front of his eyes and was quickly translated inside his mind.

nYou have not reached the peak stage of your realm. You are not eligible for a realm upgrade.

nThe information was straightforward, similar to what the Djinn would say if he tried to upgrade his realm, as Viktor only reached high stage earth realm and was deemed unable to advance his realm.

nHe motioned for Eva to come closer and asked her to touch it. Eva then told him what the response she received, and as expected, she needed to pay for the service with spirit stones.

nIt was to be expected. However, Viktor was quickly dumbfounded when he heard Eva say how many spirit stones were needed.

n“It says 10 spirit stones required to upgrade into the earth realm”

n“…”

nViktor fell into a stunned silence.

nHe was not stunned by how cheap it was. Rather, the fact that he had to give the magic lamp 100 spirit stones for his upgrade; that realization made him enraged. Without much thought, he threw some curses in his mind. Surprisingly, the Djinn replied in stride.

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nViktor asked about the difference in tone of suppressed anger, but the Djinn replied that has nothing to say. Realizing that his question would remain unanswered for now, Viktor inhaled and exhaled a deep breath.

nIn the end, he decided to ease his own anger by thinking that the remaining 90 spirit stones were transport or delivery fee. After all, not needing to go to this pillar for an upgrade could be a good thing in certain situations. For example, when the pillar was simply too far or when he needed to advance due to grave danger.

nFrom Viktor’s four main companions, two people Eva and Boris had reached the peak stage earlier, while Torri and Barry, fortunately, reached the peak stage later on by contributing to the Arkhanghelsk’s city efforts. All of this happened when Viktor was away, busy doing some seal-hunting.

nThanks to that, they actually earned a few spirit stones on their own.

nThe thought of his companion being able to pay for the upgrade themselves actually bothered Vitkor. After all, they were all his subordinates, and up to this point he had been the one paying for everything they needed.

nThe four pairs of eyes were all staring at him, waiting for him to make a decision. Viktor could only keep his silence, as he was unable to figure out how to tell them that he had none on him and couldn’t pay for their upgrade.

nThen suddenly, he remembered the one spirit stone that he had saved.

nViktor silently reached into his storage and took out a spirit stone that glowed in a pale green and held it up towards the panel. He had gotten this green stone from the radiated undead. As soon as he placed it on the panel, a message came into his mind.

nCorrupted spirit stones are worth 50 stones

nViktor knew that a stage three undead should have given him a yellow stone, which usually are worth 100 spirit stones. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed that the pillar only valued this unusual spirit stone as half. But at the same time, 50 spirit stones were more than enough to pay for four members’ upgrades, so he was willing to let it go even though he might be suffering a loss here.

nHowever, as Viktor was about to accept the offer, Jessie quickly grabbed his hand that was holding the stone. He turned towards her and saw her eyes were gleaming with unrestrained anticipation.

n“Stop!” She said as she dragged his hand closer to her. “Did you get this from our trip to the north?”

nWith no reason to lie, Viktor nodded at the question. What he didn’t expect was the sight of Jessie beaming a wide smile.

n“Sell it to me!, I’ll trade you two, no, four, yellow stones for that!”

nSeeing the expression on her face, it seemed Jessie really needed the stone. In situations like this usually, Viktor would try to fish some more out of the girl.

nHowever, his conscience quickly stopped him. She has been helping him a lot, and from their interactions, he knows that Jessie doesn’t have that many spirit stones on her either.

n“Alright, 4 will do.” Viktor nodded and gave her the stone, which Jessie accepted happily.

n“Thank you very much!”

nViktor took a deep breath and sighed in relief. He was not only able to make Jessie happy, but he could save face in front of the others.

nThe only loss was his curiosity about the green stones. Viktor quickly made a mental note to ask Jessie later about it.

nFirst, Viktor decided to pay to advance Barry’s realm,

nAlmost immediately after Viktor confirmed his payment, a bright circle of light appeared from Barry’s feet, making him float in mid-air. Some sort of firm pressure was applied across his entire body, and he squirmed a bit in response. A moment later, the pressure slowly dissipated, and Barry landed on the floor looking refreshed.

n“Thank you, young master! I feel really great!”

nViktor was relieved that the process seems to be safe and painless, and he decided to gesture for Eva to go next, followed by the two bodyguards. The princess seemed to enjoy the process, and she smiled right as she landed on the ground.

nViktor was left with 360 spirit stones, and he decided to check out the other function of the Training Hall. His finger hovered on the other option for a bit before touching it.

nSkill Library

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