Months went by and the season changed in Vamdarohm from spring to fall.

The final exams were right around the corner with only one month left. Yet, there was still no sign of Felix in the academy, raising concerns within his friends' circle.

​​

After all, he skipped three months' worth of classes and everyone is already beginning to prepare for the exams.

Lady Sphinx's prediction that Felix would emerge out of his hibernation in under two months was far from the mark.

Till now, he was still peacefully asleep without a care in the world.

All of his hygiene and food were taken care of by the maids while Lady Sphinx and the rest could only wait until he wakes up from his hibernation.

Those three months of disappearance didn't affect Robert, Olivia, and the rest of the earthling team since Felix had informed them that he might be away for a month or more depending on the situation.

He already knew that he would enter hibernation, hence he read the entire 1st-semester syllabus before he went through the surgery.

Due to his photographic memory and enhanced reasoning, he was confident to ace the written exams.

Though, the practical exams were a different story.

"I believe he will wake up under a day or two based on his devourer's slow heartbeats and the energy coursing in his body." Lady Sphinx proclaimed while peeking at Felix.

She was sitting at a table, playing monopoly with Asna and the Jörmungandr.

"Just drop it, all your predictions turned to be false." Jörmungandr murmured while collecting a bunch of cards from the board.

Asna nodded her head while placing a card down and saying, "I want to buy this property."

"Oh? You have enough money for it." Jörmungandr peeked at Asna's side of the table and said, "Not bad at all."

Hmmm!

Just as she wanted to respond, an audible voice resounded in their ears, making them all glance above their heads at Felix.

Upon seeing that he was yawning while trying to open his muddled eyes, Asna and the Jörmungandr gave Lady Sphinx a mocking look.

"Didn't I say that he will wake up under two days?" Lady Sphinx defended herself with a carefree tone, "I am always right."

"Heh, whatever you say to make yourself feel better." Jörmungandr chuckled while standing up.

Upon noticing that Felix was closing his eyes again, planning to return to the comfort of sleeping, black lines formed in his forehead.

Instead of yelling, he simply glared at Felix.

That was enough to send chills down Felix's spine and wake him up forcefully.

"What's going on?" Felix rubbed his eyes while looking around him, feeling like his muscles were made of wood.

Every slight movement causes them to crack.

This was due to his prolonged lack of movement plus his newfound strength as he was using more than he should in such gentle movements.

A split second later, all of his memories came back to him, making him realize why he feels like he just came out of an ice tank.

"Welcome back sleeping beauty." Asna laughed, "You were out cold for three months straight even your hair was about to cover your face."

"Three months? I hope that such a change didn't cause any problems in my body." Felix asked with a worried tone while touching himself up, causing his joints to continue cracking akin to a symphony.

Crack Crack!!

The sound was loud enough it would make anyone think that Felix had actually broken some of his bones!

"Besides your newfound strength, everything went smoothly." Lady Sphinx went to him and touched his naked chest with a thoughtful expression, "It's hard to tell how much stronger you've become since my real body isn't here. So, go take a shower and eat something, we will carry out the test in an hour."

"Alright." Felix nodded his head while standing up on his feet.

He almost fell due to his numbed legs.

Three months of inactiveness was a long period. However, after a minute or so, the numbness started to go away after Felix walked around his bed slowly.

Then, he went straight for the bathroom that was on the other side of the lab. When he finished showering, he beamed a lunch box and started wolfing it down.

He finished it in less than a minute. Yet, he was still feeling hungry. Not as hungry as the last time but it was still annoying.

'Maybe because I was being fed from a needle.' Felix reasoned while beaming three more lunchboxes.

Unfortunately, the feeling of hunger had yet to withdraw after eating them clean.

"What's wrong with me?" Felix arched his eyebrows while touching his stomach that wasn't showing any signs of bulging a little. He felt like it was as empty as a desert.

"Where the hell does all the food I eat goes?" Felix wondered, "Maybe I have a better digestion system due to the devourer's heart? Or is it due to the elder's modification?"

"It's the modifications." Lady Sphinx answered, "I didn't just install the heart and left it but did a full operation in your entire body to accommodate it. That required me to modify your digestion system extensively since the human version can't digest natural treasures fast enough."

"So the side effect of improving it is making all the normal food that I eat get almost instantly digested, correct?" Felix reasoned.

"Correct, but that's only one factor." Lady Sphinx informed, "Due to being a half-devourer now, your body wouldn't benefit much from normal food. What you need is to eat one natural treasure on a daily basis to give yourself the energy needed to carry on the day."

"In your case, eating normal healthy food is the same as a commoner eating junk food. Meanwhile, the natural treasures were the healthy food that you must take every day." She added.

"I see." Felix nodded his head in understanding.

Although it might seem like it would cost him a lot of money to support his food intake, Felix understood that this didn't really change anything. He was already going to eat natural treasures to boost his strength.

The only difference would be eating them separately each day and increasing his strength by small doses instead of going all out until he reaches the next mark.

He knew that since he was eating only one natural treasure a day, he wouldn't enter long-term hibernation but simply digest it during the night when he is asleep.

"Elder, can I buy another natural treasure to pass the day?"

Felix requested while beaming the containers, he wasn't planning on adding any more as he would simply send them away in the toilet.

"Catch." Lady Sphinx threw him a medium-sized chest and said, "It has ten Grade C natural treasures that could last you for ten days. Each one cost 150 million SC. So, in total you own me...130 billion SC."

Felix didn't even flinch at the sound of his debt. He already knew that it was going to break his heart and was prepared mentally to hear it.

"130 billion...This will leave me with 50 billion SC." Felix smiled bitterly, "If I required 120 billion to hit my first mark, then I will need 240 billion for the 2nd mark. For the 3rd mark, 480 billion SC...In the 4th one...."

Felix didn't dare to say the amount out loud as it was mentality crippling.

Knowing that the Devourer Cultivation System had 30 stages, he had absolutely no thought of calculating the amount he would need to reach it.

All of this was merely the minimum calculation since Lady Sphinx was the one selling him those natural treasures at a market price.

In reality, Grade A natural treasures were sold only in auctions with a 20 billion SC+ price.

That's double what Lady Sphinx was selling him.

"Don't have any thoughts about me supplying you any more natural treasures."

Lady Sphinx destroyed his request before it manifested by saying, "Those grades A natural treasures are all useful in my research projects, I have no intentions of emptying my stock. I doubt that my stock would even be enough for your cultivation path."

"Understandable." Felix sighed in dejection while wiring the amount he owned to her bank account. Then, he ate one natural treasure to sate his hunger and kept the rest for later.

"Should we enter the UVR's measurement center to test my strength?" Felix asked as he didn't know if Lady Sphinx had measurement punching machines and such in the castle.

"Follow me." Lady Sphinx said while exiting the door, "I prepared a room just for this."

...

In a minute or two, Felix and Lady Sphinx entered a wide-spaced room with crystallized lamps in the ceiling.

In the room, there were multiple machines plus sand-based warriors with unique weapons standing in a straight line.

"Oh, mini versions of the guardians of the temples." Felix said while focusing on the features of those warriors.

They truly appeared like the four guardians that he had. The only difference would be the multi-colored array of sand they were made from.

"Test your strength in the machines and jormi will help you train your combat against them." Lady Sphinx informed, "The moment he deems you ready, you will start the promotion game that might have a primogenitor's champion."

"Let's not waste time then!" Felix cracked his knuckles with a smirk and dashed towards the punching machine, reaching it with a mind-boggling speed!

Then, he tightened his fist and smashed it into the soft pad with everything he got!

BAAAAM!!

The Machine shook while the room trembled. The soft pad was releasing smoke from the friction of Felix's fist against its fabric.

Felix brought back his fist that was a bit reddened from the knuckles and glanced at the machine's screen with Lady Sphinx.

This was the moment of truth, the moment that would decide how far Felix would go in his cultivation path, the moment that would change his entire fate.

Would he be needing another method to gain strength in the future or this would be enough to take him to the peak?