Kopi walked alone, sauntering to his home.
It was a bit far, but Kopi wasn't in a hurry… even though his younger brother and Father must have grown worried.
Kopi was engrossed by his own thoughts.
He recalled his conversation with Shanti earlier.
…
"For such a strong person to be here, is there a reason?"
"It was confidential. She didn't say anything.
But there was one thing she strictly instructed us to do."
The atmosphere turned solemn, affecting Kopi.
"We must remain vigilant.
And… do you know the level of alarm she-"
Shanti's eyes widened and hurriedly looked around.
He heaved a sigh of relief and continued:
"I'm an idiot. I should not share it with others so casually, especially to a brat like you."
Kopi was instantly furious, and Shanti was just amused.
…
Forgetting what happened next, Kopi fell into deep thought.
He still remained conscious of his surroundings while he ambled, though.
'Will there be another appearance of Dimensional Portal? Isn't it just so frequent now?'
Although Kopi didn't have any television, he was aware – from his school – that the appearance of a dimensional portal was only rare.
From what even his teacher had claimed, they would only appear once in every three years.
Of course, it was only applicable in the Wilham Archipelago.
Regardless, there was only a rare occurrence of the Dimensional Portal.
'From what I know, there was just a recent Dimensional Portal in another city, and it has already been taken care of.
I salute to the heroes who entered and closed the dimensional portal.'
Once an invader entered the dimensional portal, the latter would be tasked with a mission for them, and once they accomplished it, the dimensional portal closed after a day.
According to the Hunters, from what the Awakener Guild called, the mission the dimensional portal had given to them was always to slaughter the strongest in the world.
Therefore, Hunters were prone to death, and they always consisted of stronger people.
Of course, it was not only limited to that since they had to learn survival too.
They were invading another world, and they had to be prepared to fight, not only against the living but the environment.
'If there will be another dimensional portal appearing anytime soon. What does it imply?'
Dimensional Portal appeared before he was born, so only his parents had experienced them.
From what his father loved to brag about, it was his strength that made his wife fall in love with him.
Even more so, his father seemed to be ambiguous about it now that he contemplated it.
'Sigh! If that is the case, then I must become strong now. Or else, my younger brother and father will suffer…'
Kopi was absolutely unwilling to remain weak.
Whenever he thought of his gift, reminding him of the only way for him to achieve his dream, he recalled the Elder White Beard.
'Even now, I still can't believe Elder White Beard has a Divine Rank Gift. It was one of the reasons I was skeptical of my Gift's voice, or someone must have been playing with me.
But no.
Furthermore, if I'm not wrong, then Elder White Beard must be a transcendent…'
His eyes sparkled with excitement.
'Or even stronger!
Yes, even stronger!
After all, the Divine Rank Gift represents Rank 8, and it was only…'
Kopi's breathing quickened.
'It was only a single rank lower than the highest one.
If that is the case, then did I just interact with one of the strongest in the world?'
Kopi recalled his conversation with Elder White Beard earlier.
He even expressed how astonished he was when Elder White Beard mentioned the Sword Saint.
'The Sword Saint is only transcendent, so Elder White Beard is way way way stronger than him.'
Suddenly, Kopi slapped his cheek.
The self-regeneration gift quickly eased the pain.
'What do you mean 'only'? It's still out of your reach, Kopi.' Kopi rolled his eyes as he said to himself.
'You only have Low-Rank Gift. You can only dream of ascending to Rank 2.' Kopi guffawed.
Sighing with a downcast expression after bursting into laughter, Kopi mumbled, "The Extraction mentioned of the self-regeneration gift only took a single slot out of five. Is it because it is only on the low rank?'
Kopi pondered for a while before continuing to walk, ignoring the strange gazes the people directed at him after he laughed all of a sudden.
He was even mumbling to himself.
'Extraction, how many slots can I extract?'
[Replying to the host's question. From what the Extraction gathered from the knowledge it extracted from the host, slots will depend on the quality of the gift.
Therefore, the higher the slot, the higher the number of slots it takes to extract the gift.]
Kopi nodded, quickly accepting the fact that Extraction might not be stronger than what he anticipated.
Kopi then thought of something that made his heart race.
'What if I extract the gift of Elder White Beard? The Divine Rank Gift?'
[If that is the case, then it will take seven slots to completely extract the Gift.]
Kopi was stunned before forming a smile.
He realized he had become greedy and even dared to covet the gift of Elder White Beard.
It was fortunate the Extraction awoke him.
However, he didn't expect what the Extraction said next…
[However, the host can be worry-free about not extracting the gift.
The Extraction can seal the gift until it can occupy the slots. Furthermore, as the host ascended to Rank, or, from what the Extraction knew, evolved the Aether core, the host will be given five slots.
Therefore, once you ascend to Rank 2, you can completely assimilate the sealed Gift.
But the system will still need the Host's permission.]
Kopi's breathing quickened.
He halted his footsteps, and his mind turned blank.
'I can extract the gift of Elder White Beard?'
A single sentence repeatedly echoed in his mind.
He was in disbelief and at the same time… trembled in excitement.
'S-Should I…' The idea Kopi feared ever since he received his gift surfaced in his mind. 'Should I extract the gift of Elder White Beard?'
To become the strongest, you have to learn from the strongest.
Or you can steal the reason that made the strongest the strongest…