Ares walked forward with steady steps toward the mission hall, without rushing, as if he was not entering a new place… but testing it.
From the moment he crossed the threshold, he realized that this hall was not just a normal space. It was excessively wide, its ceiling rising as if it swallowed sound, and its walls were smooth and without decorations, yet they gave off a hidden sense of weight… as if they had witnessed countless generations.
Groups of young people were spread across the hall, between seventeen and eighteen years old, moving calmly, without chaos or noise. There were no shouts or challenges, not even hostile looks… only cold focus, and a kind of indifference that only comes from people who have been used to competition for a long time.
When Ares entered, he was noticed.
Several looks passed over him quickly, curious and brief… evaluating him, nothing more. In their eyes, he was just a five-year-old child, a small body with nothing worth attention.
But as those looks came… they disappeared.
No one approached, no one spoke, as if his presence was not enough to deserve more than a second of attention.
Ares was not bothered.
On the contrary… he felt a strange sense of comfort.
"As expected… no one cares about what you are right now."
His gaze moved around the hall until his eyes settled on a row of strange desks spread across the place. There were no employees or guards, only transparent glass spheres placed in the center of each desk, still as if waiting.
He approached slowly, without haste, and stood in front of one of them.
At first, he did nothing.
He observed.
He noticed that the other youths placed their hands on those spheres for a few seconds, their eyes fixed in front of them… as if they were staring at something that did not exist. Then, after a moment, the sphere would glow faintly, and they would leave without a word.
"They are not staring at nothing…"
Ares finally extended his hand and placed it on the surface of the glass sphere.
The moment his fingers touched its cold surface, everything changed.
A transparent screen formed in front of him, so precise that it almost seemed invisible. Layers of information appeared smoothly, texts and symbols arranged with precision, visible only to him.
Only then did he understand.
"This is what they were looking at…"
He showed no surprise, but his eyes deepened slightly as he began to examine the content.
The interface was clearly organized, divided into two main sections: exchange and missions.
He focused his thoughts on the exchange section.
In an instant, the content of the screen changed, and a long list appeared in front of him… unnaturally long, as if it had no end.
Spiritual pills, stones, talismans, weapons, plants, runes, elemental stones, and even what were called elemental cores… names continued one after another, categories branching out, and each item carried a specific value in contribution points.
It was not just a list.
It was a complete system… a closed market that only opened to those who could pay the price.
He focused on the spiritual pills.
The list narrowed, showing more detailed entries:
Enhancement Pill — 100 contribution points.
Vitality Pill — 100 contribution points.
First Level Spiritual Pill — 1000 contribution points.
Simple numbers on the surface… but they carried a clear meaning.
"Power… is measured here by what you do, not by what you have."
He shifted his focus to the missions section.
Once again, the screen changed, but this time a different structure appeared, more strict.
One-star missions.
Two-star missions.
Three… four… five… up to six stars.
Each level carried an invisible weight.
They were not just classifications.
They were levels of danger.
As he tried to go deeper, and before he could choose, he suddenly felt something grab his shoulder.
It was not a violent grip.
But it was enough to completely stop him.
He turned slowly.
And he was there.
Elder Faren.
Standing behind him, as if he had been there from the beginning… or as if he had come from nowhere.
Ares narrowed his eyes slightly.
"This old man… does he really enjoy appearing like this?"
But he kept his thoughts to himself.
Nothing showed on his face.
At that moment, he noticed something strange.
The youths around him… did not react.
No one turned, no one stopped, no one showed any sign that they noticed the elder's presence.
As if… he did not exist to them.
Ares spoke calmly:
"Elder Faren… are you looking for me?"
The elder replied in the same calm tone, but his words carried a different weight:
"Yes. Come with me… the ancestors have decided how your training will be."
He did not give him time to ask any question.
In the next moment—
Both of them disappeared.
No sound. No trace.
As if their presence in the hall… had never been real.