The First Store System



Chapter 1332: Selecting the Candidate(19)

Aakesh stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of familiar footsteps approaching the store.

"Big brother, wait for me!"

It was none other than Laney who made Aakesh stop. There was a triumphant smile on her face since she had been waiting for the moment for hours now.

She wanted to see a shocked expression on Aakesh's face. She would then proudly proclaim that she had passed the test.

***

Aakesh was surprised to see Laney at that hour, but he immediately understood what she wanted to do.

He didn't close the door and waited for Laney.

The triumphant smile on her face froze when Laney failed to find any change in Aakesh's expression.

She pouted in response but then stopped remembering Aakesh's character.

"Big brother, you gave me a test, and I have passed your test," Laney put her right hand on her hip, brushed her hair using her left hand, and commented like an adult figure.

She stood there like that for a while, hoping to get a reaction from Aakesh. But since Aakesh had already understood what Laney wanted to do, how could he give her a reaction?

Aakesh stood there silently, looking at her. Laney couldn't continue the posture any longer and returned to normal.

She then ran the energy flow using the first level pattern.

***

Aakesh closed the door after Laney left. He didn't immediately go to the selection area.

"Will you choose her?" Lily asked since Aakesh had told her the importance of the day.

"I think she is suitable for the quest," Khaval chimed in. The second store upgrade quest was immensely important to Aakesh, so it had a similar significance to him and Lily.

Unlike Lily, Khaval's race was still alive and thriving as the overlord of waters in the Primordial Dimension. Khaval was also related to the founder of the race, but unlike Aakesh and Lily, he had no interest in his race at all.

For Khaval, Aakesh and Lily were his sole family. Other than them, Katrina and Autumn were his friends.

Aakesh smiled upon hearing Lily and Khaval take an interest in his quests.

"Why do you think so?" Even though there was already a decision in his mind, he still asked the two for their opinion.

The two then gave their opinions on who was most suitable for the quest, and it was a unanimous decision to choose Laney.

Her passing the test given by Aakesh played the most significant role in the decision.

Laney didn't know at the time that her destiny had entirely changed for the better. Unaware of that, Laney was pouting in her home.

Aakesh had told her that when she passed the test, a reward would be waiting for her. But when she went to the store owner, there was a mysterious response from him.

***

Lily and Khaval chose their respective training environments and pressed the switch one after another.

The next moment, the two left the selection area. The gentle smile on Aakesh's face disappeared, and an indifferent face took its place.

Aakesh then followed the repeated steps, and soon after, he found himself in the familiar battle arena.

His senses became active, and he noticed his weapon for the day. It was a knife.

Aakesh then instinctively tapped on the blue screen. The next moment, a wave of light washed over the arena.

It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, and with it, his opponent for the day had also emerged.

Growl!

The opponent for that day's battle was a beast. When Aakesh saw it, he immediately recognized the beast's race.

It was Bhedulf, a race of the Primordial Dimension. It walked on six legs, with sharp teeth and a pair of curved, sharp horns.

Ding!

The bell rang, announcing the start of the first battle.

Aakesh immediately made his move and casually slashed the knife in the air. The next moment, the beast was sliced into numerous symmetrical pieces.

Before its blood could even touch the ground, blue light washed over the arena and froze everything.

The familiar blue screen appeared in front of him, and he instinctively tapped on the next round.

Time flew by, and a few minutes passed in a flash.

Ding!

The bell rang, announcing the start of the 218th round.

Aakesh immediately made his move and rushed at the beast. The opponent did the same, but Aakesh was the quicker of the two.

Aakesh slashed his knife, but the beast immediately pulled itself back. Aakesh seemed to have expected the reaction from the beast, so he jerked his hand forward.

The slash wasn't complete, but it still hit the beast. It resulted in a small cut, but Aakesh had drawn the first blood. The battle kept on for a few more seconds, and then the beast's sliced corpse appeared in the arena.

***

The silence in the selection area was broken as a space crack emerged there, and the following moment, Aakesh stepped out of the crack. 

Lily and Khaval still weren't there. There wasn't much time left before their training would end, so Aakesh decided to wait for them. Aakesh then requested the system for his and their chairs. The next moment, they appeared, and Aakesh sat on his chair.

It had been a while since Aakesh saw the two training, so he decided to do that. The next moment, a black screen popped out in his head.

Aakesh started with Lily, and she was in the midst of her battle with another Epochal Feline. Since the tragic event with her in Panagea, Lily stopped acting lazily in her training. That event truly showed her the difference in her strength when Aakesh wasn't there to help her.

Aakesh watched the battle for a while and nodded in appreciation when he saw the growth she had made in her implementation of battle techniques.

He then stopped looking at Lily's training and focused on Khaval. Chaos Whales were not playful like Epochal Felines, so Khaval never had to go through what Lily did in her early days.

Khaval was also strict with his training from day one. Being linked with Aakesh's blood made his talent one of the top, like Lily's, but since he was the youngest, he worked hard to catch up to Lily and Aakesh.

At that time, Khaval was battling another Chaos Whale. The scene appeared to be incredible, as both beasts were at their original size. It seemed as if Universes were colliding whenever two attacks clashed.

Aakesh watched the battle for some more time and nodded in appreciation since there was a visible growth in Khaval's technique since the last time Aakesh saw his training.

Aakesh had to stop since a space crack emerged in the selection area, and Lily stepped out of it. She smiled when she saw Aakesh waiting for her.

At that time, her height was an inch shorter than Aakesh's. She then went and sat down in her chair.

Since there was still some time before Khaval exited his training, according to the battle Aakesh witnessed, he began to play with Lily to pass the time.

Lily would try to run away from Aakesh, but he would catch her and rough up her beautiful furry hair every time. Lily would hiss from time to time, but she also enjoyed it since playtime like that was rare.

When Khaval appeared in the selection area, Aakesh and Lily stopped. But since Khaval also wanted to play, they restarted and played chase for a few minutes. They then sat down on their respective chairs and began sharing their experiences.

Time flew by, and the traditional conversation session between the three came to an end.

The next moment, the three of them appeared in the store's hall. Lily and Khaval summoned the door to their room and then left for Panagea.

When Aakesh was left alone in the store, the gentle smile on his face disappeared and he walked toward the portal room.

As his habit had become, he looked at the two leaderboards. He nodded after finding one change in the ranking for the customers of the Sacred Dimension. Aakesh then moved his eyes away and touched the nearest portal using the tip of his finger.

The next moment, a suction force stronger than anything he could even attempt to fight against, emerged from the virtual portal and devoured Aakesh. Following that, Aakesh found himself in the familiar damp area, trying to hunt for spherical cores.

Aakesh then stepped down the stairs, continuing his hunt from where he had left the day before.

Time flew by, and after what felt like a blink of an eye, Aakesh heard the alert of his meditation time from the system.

Aakesh then exited Panagea and began his meditation. Since Aakesh's absorption rate had improved the day before, he could feel the changes. Even though it was only a minor adjustment, Aakesh easily noticed it.

***

A/N: Sorry, only one chapter!

The remaining chapters of the mass release will be published on 26 August.

Current Tally: 6 Chapters. If you want more, the rewarding system is the same as earlier.

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