After an amount of time which was still unkown to Zach he slowly opened his eyes, he looked the new body he just reconstructed for himself. It was giving off a grey light, but it did not looked like he was unhealthy, in fact it gave him a faint aura of majesty.
His body looked exactly like the one he had before but it was more muscular, he slowly stood up, he streched his whole body, his muscles as sore as ever.
He was almost certain that he had received a bunch of notifications and he was right. [Ding ! Host has gained strength + 10] [Ding ! Host has gained speed + 10] [Ding ! Host has gained stamina +10] [Ding ! Host has acquired a new affinity : Void affinity.]
Zach knew he would get Void affinity and his speed, strength and stamina would be improved but he did not expect it to improve this much, after all his body was already mid rank 1 which considering his age was pretty good.
However there was a huge downside for Zach for practicing this method. It will be the only method he would ever be able to practice, meaning that if he did not got the second mortal part he would be stuck to the peak rank 2 which was a thing he wanted to avoid at all cost.
In fact there was another mean to advance but Zach would never be able to use this one, he would need to create a Void based method himself.
Once the soreness faded from his muscles Zach was stunned by how light his body felt. He felt like even if he would not be able to kill the lowest bandits who were slaughtered he would at least be able to hold his ground and make them take some time to beat him.
The feeling of power Zach had was absurd, the system clearly stated that he was in the mid rank 1 but he felt like he could be a threat for peak rank 1 being.
Zach put this over confident feeling at the back of his mind and walked to the exit of the cavern he was in, he did not know how much time he spent unconscious. He wanted to make it to the Delp kingdom as soon as possible because he knew that Arnold had gotten the whole treasure which served as a decoy.
But even as a decoy for being like them it held great value, therefore it would be able to make him gain access to exceptionnal cultivation material. He will have an explosive growth as long as his talent was decent enough, Zach could not afford to lose any more time.
When Zach reached the outside it was pitch black, he had at least spent a full day unconscious but when he was about to go back for the capital he saw on the ground the corpse of a beast he had slain just before coming in the cave. Of this beast only remained the skeleton, Zach became utterly speechless when he saw that because it meant he was out for at least a week.
Zach decided to rush toward the capital and he will put a lot of his power and energy to make it quick. Before he stopped for the Void Body the capital was at a day of travel but he gave himself the goal to reach it by sunrise. He took a deep breathe and flexed his legs, from the outside he looked like a predator waiting to jump on his prey.
Then he released all the power he had gathered in his legs and dashed, the surroundings were changing non stop and even seemed to distort. Zach knew he was running at huge speed but he didn't know that his was completely ridiculous for someone who was at the mid rank 1.
Surprisingly he reached Fronos by sunrise, though he was completely exhausted, he needed a few hours to be as good as new. Zach decided that the first thing he would do will be to go to an inn to drink and eat something after all he didn't eat or drink for at least a week, it was surprising that he did not died.
He neared Fronos' gates, apart from the guards no one was here, he reached it just at the moment they opened the gates. Above the gates there was a beautiful carving {The true apex of this world}. It was so arrogant but to this date it stayed true, in the history of their world Kartelion had always stood at the apex. He was going towards a guard for his entrance.
"Put your hand on the white stone at my left, state your identity and purpose for coming to the capital." The guard said emotionlessly, it was obvious he was tired of doing this same thing day after day from sunrise to sunset.
"What does this stone do ?" As for Zach he was cautious about what this stone could do and asked. "It will help me check if what you are saying is the truth." The guard responded calmly, he had answered this question so many times that he lost count.
"I think I have a better offer to make, let me get in and all of this will stay between us." Zach whispered to the guard while showing a big pouch filled with gold coins.
The guard was taken aback, not that corruption never happened but he did not expected it from such a young boy and for such a large amount of gold. The guard didn't hesitated, he took the pouch and let Zach in. With such a great sum he would be able to live a comfortable life and quit this boring job of guard.
As Zach had decided he was going for a good inn to take a little break before seeking a carriage to escort. After a bit more than 10 minutes of search he found one which had a great name which reminded something from his former life {Qille O'Meal}, he found it quite funny and it was looking quite good so he went for this one.
He entered and what he saw was a neat and tidy inn, the reception was next to the enter on the right and the tables extanded from the left to the back of the room, they were perfectly and symmetrically arranged.
"Hello, how may I help you sir ?" The cheerful voice of a boy almost the same age as him sounded. Zach looked at him and answered "I'm only here to eat, how much is it for a full meal ?" "For a full meal it will be three bronze coins, sir" The boy stated the price calmly, it was obvious he already had a lot of experience when it came to deal with customers.
3 bronze coins was neither cheap nor expensive for a meal in an inn, a gold coin was equal to 10 silver coins and a 1 silver coins was equal to 10 bronze coins. But the thing was Zach was not sure if he had bronze coins in his inventory.
He decided to take out a silver coin, he handed it to the boy and said with a smile "I will take 3 full meal, keep the extra bronze coin, a tip for you." "Thanks sir ! Take a seat your meal will come in no time." The boy exclaimed happily, very few people gave tips.
Zach sat at a table in the corner, there was not many people who were waiting for their meal or were having their meal. After a bit more than 10 minutes the same boy who received him came with 3 trays, each of them had a pitcher of water, a piece of bread and a plate of what looked like pork chop with spinach.
Zach ate his meals peacefully when he heard something that piqued his interest, two men were ctalking to each other "We are still short a few men to escort our carriage from here to Delp Kyle ! It would be suicidal to travel such a long distance with so few guards." One exclaimed.
"You are right but we don't have that many money left to pay the guards, at most we could give a gold coin but no one stronger than what we already have would come for so little. After all we already have five high rank 2 men, four mid rank 2, three low rank 2 and a mid rank 3, they should be able to do the job." Kyle retorted.
Zach got up and slowly approached them "I can help you solve your problem, I'm ready to escort you to Delp for a gold coin." He offered them his help, in fact it was more advantageous for Zach but he would not say it to them.
"That would be great but you seem to be too young for this kind of job, actually I'm not sure if you even have the necessary strength for the job." Kyle responded calmly, Zach could even see a hint of mockery in his eyes. "Don't worry about that, I am strong enough to join your expedition and protect it" He retorted confidently.
"Fine boy, come with us and we will see if you can make it." The other man said, they both stood up and left the inn, Zach followed them. After 5 minutes they arrived at an open field, there was a carriage at the center, 6 men were resting around it.
"Sorry for the wait my friends, we may have a last one who will help us protecting the carriage but he is young and overconfident, one of you should show him that it's too early for someone like him to adventure himself on tough roads." Kyle annouced.
"I will show him that he is not fit for the job." A young bald man offered to confront Zach when he saw him behind Kyle and the other one. "Do not injure him too hard, we don't want to have a bad reputation." Kyle reminded the bald man.
Zach got in position and looked into the eyes of the bald man. When the bald man meet his gaze the only thing he felt was dread. He didn't know why such a kid was giving him this feeling but his gaze was so cold, calm and it gave off such an overbearing aura, it didn't make any sense to him.
"Don't worry I will show you that I'm fit for this job."