'Alphee, did the sign of soul sense awakening appear because I had stopped smoking for a while? Then when I finally did'

The butcher then snapped out of his past life and focused on his present and future after listening to Alephee's words. She was right. He'd have to die every day in his work to become a better ranker than yesterday. Only then could the passage of time show him the results he desired. Otherwise, it will be a pointless journey that will one day come to an end.

Alphee felt Eren's mood changing. She approved of his fast decision-making and replied promptly.

'There's no sure-fire way to awaken soul sense. Some prodigies achieve it while taking a brisk walk under the moon. Others achieve it while being consumed by the state of epiphany.

Some others awaken their soul sense amid battle. Others achieve it by fulfilling their lifelong dream and living in the most memorable moments of their life.'

Eren was looking at his smoke the whole time Alephee was giving him the explanation. He couldn't help mumbling.

'That means this smoke'

'Hehe. That's right. That's why they have labelled the instances of someone achieving their soul sense awakening by consuming Stellar Sativa stick as rumours and not solid fact. It only works for some people. You were lucky enough to be among them.

But forget about today's alchemical studies in this field. I can say for sure that the stick has helped you a lot. Your mental condition is the other half of the puzzle.

First, your soul was under duress because of being exposed to Eliza's soul sense. You were plagued by its residual effect for a long time until you were able to get rid of it recently.

And let's not forget that you are an old soul in a new body. The experiences you have are unique. Additionally, you have your own goals to surpass Sage in her game along with your determination to beat her. All your emotions, experiences, and aspirations exposed your soul to a greater burden than it was already facing.'

Eren kept on thinking about all the things Alphee was saying as he smoked. He had flashbacks to all the scenes in his life that had a huge impact on him. The montage of memories had a few blurred pictures because he didn't want to clear them in his mind. Then some were as in-depth in their details as the reality itself, making him feel that the scene happened to him not too long ago.

Eren also kept on looking at the smoke he released as he saw the montage of memories playing in his head. He always told himself that he was smoking to get rid of Eliza's influence on him. As soon as that reason was taken away from him, he subconsciously told himself that he was smoking Stellar Sativa because he wanted to awaken the soul sense.

But he could not have imagined that his excuse would turn out to be genuine one day. He also felt that he needed to find a new reason to limit his addiction, once the soul sense awakens for real. The butcher would love smoking and drinking as long as they didn't hamper his growth.

"So my misery is also the reason I have awakened my soul sense so early. Hehe! At least something good came out of it.'

Eren chuckled and commented to himself. Alphee's voice echoed in his head the next moment.

'That's also spot-on. When something is put under constant pressure, it either breaks apart or expands into something much more substantial. The matters of the soul follow the same principle, more or less.

So don't worry about having to limit your smoking from now on. Don't smoke more than usual either. Let your emotions guide your soul.

Those who experience the first signs of soul sense awakening would keep on experiencing that sign at random moments until the soul sense awakens completely.'

Eren nodded after hearing Alephee's response and got up from his position. He disappeared from his spot soon after, leaving a bunch of flames behind where his feet were that were extinguished right afterwards.

*********************

"How was your first day, Kat?"

Tuan asked Katalina after they met up in the evening at the ruined infirmary. The entire city was a safe area where the contestants couldn't attack one another. Both close combat experts didn't have to worry about sneak attacks.

It was a few minutes past 7 PM. Meaning the live feed had been cut off for viewers and only the organizers of the Titus tournament were keeping an eye on the contestants.

Tuan was in the same clothes he had in the morning. But Katalina was in different clothes.

'She must have changed before coming here. I wonder if the organizers would dare to air female rankers changing their clothes to their exclusive viewers.'

The butcher thought to himself and chuckled. He knew the idea was very lucrative. But nobody would dare to implement it and mess with the Amazons that were known to champion female rankers' rights.

The duo was having dinner, which they had received as consumable drops. A mix of rankers-only food along with mortal cuisines.

The Titus competition wasn't known for serving the most delicious food after all. Competitors ate the food as a way to sustain themselves throughout the competition. They could have hunted the mana beasts to satiate their hunger. But since the beasts were array generated with no real bodies, the competitors placed rations as consumable drops for each random hunt.

Katalina took a bite out of her ham sandwich. She chewed it a bit and gulped it down. She then drank Frostfoam given to her by the butcher before replying.

"Hehehe! Pretty neat actually. I scored cough I mean I scored a decent amount of Titus points. I chose a bunch of easy targets, mostly kobolds. They would give low Titus points. But since they usually stay by their monster nests, you can cast an AoE. And boom! You would take care of a huge number of them at once, giving you a lot of points.

I also killed a pair of Black Wind Panthers and got four vials of spell enhancing potions related to the wind element.

Not a shabby harvest I say. What about you, Tuan?"

Katalina told Tuan everything except for her Titus points. She didn't trust the guy completely yet after all. The latter couldn't blame her. In addition, he did not want to know her points either since he was sure she wouldn't be in the big leagues. So he ignored her fumble at the mention of Titus points and continued.

"My gains were also decent. Got a bunch of potions and one-time use alchemy items. Did you come across any other competitors?"

Katalina's smile changed and turned into a frown when she heard Tuan's question. She nodded affirmatively before replying in a serious voice.

"I did. Three of them actually. They were prioritizing their hunts too it seems like you said they would. So the encounter took place without causing any scene.

But I could feel that they seemed to have decided that they would target me after a few days. Heh! If they think I'm easy to bully, I'll have a surprise waiting for them."

Tuan expected Katalina to meet the competitors. After all, she didn't have a handy Alephee compass tool with her she could use to traverse through the hunting area without encountering anyone she didn't want.

A smile spread across Tuan's face as he looked at Kat before asking her another question.

"I found a clue about another safe drop. There is no rule prohibiting us from checking out the drops at night. Want to check it out with me?"