Chương 89: Monster Processing

The third day at the College of Advancement brought relentless brutality. My brain felt like it was melting. While I didn't dislike working hard, I'd reached a significant conclusion. Why would my mother, the most intense woman, allow me to study here? I should have asked that question sooner. This place was relentless. I saw two students taken away after suffering nervous breakdowns. And that was only in my small section of the College. I figured many more students had nervous breakdowns.

They received no care or sympathy from anyone. They failed, and everyone was busy leveling up. It's not surprising that graduates with less than seven years were respected. Just making it one day was exhausting. Going all seven years would be soul-crushing. I was surprised the students at the College didn't acquire a study resistance skill, considering how hard it expected everyone to work. Friends would be a distraction. The cafeteria was completely quiet, save for the sound of chewing.

Nobody was having casual conversations. The professors were lively, but this place drained the students' energy. I began to see why my tutors didn't enjoy discussing their time here. The only topics of discussion were studies and skill enhancement. I never thought studying could be physically exhausting, but the College of Advancement showed me otherwise. Despite sleeping nine hours each night, I felt extremely exhausted. I had checked with Healer Melon, but he smiled at me and explained the reason.

"You are pushing your soul. Previously, the soul fruits made things easier, but the weariness you are currently experiencing is because of rapid level gain. That is why higher stats make things easier. Other students have a harder time, at least some of them." I gained more knowledge by discussing my struggles with Melody. Even though my Mind stat was high, this place was a challenge. My stats were the reason for the problem. I possessed 349 stats.

At 20 points per stat level, that puts me at the equivalent of level 17. 45. The problem was that most of these students had been power-leveled to level 40 to get the most out of their time at the College of Advancement. Those who were truly rich or capable would be level 60. That meant having double or triple my stat points. While each level only provided 10 free stat points, Legends were expected to gain around 20 stat points per level. The other students also had strong backgrounds.

While they might not have gotten stuffed with soul fruits and mega elixirs, they would get power leveled and other advantages. The College targeted individuals with 800 stat points at level 40. The College normalized everything for these individuals. My skills helped me advance, but my stats lagged, causing fatigue. The spirit was willing, but the body and mind were weak. I had to go to my Monster Processing Skills class, which followed Dwarven Language on Wednesday.

I arrived right before the five-minute class change ended. Approximately 170 students were in this class. Since all the front seats were occupied, I sat in the back of the large room. Each big table had five chairs around it. The front of the classroom was a stage, with its image enlarged on a large visual device behind it, allowing everyone to see the top of the stage easily.

"I am Professor Grendel Bonecarver," the Professor said as he strode out and looked over the class.

"The College breeds specific monsters for Alchemical use. Because of their Mana-infused nature, people use ingredients harvested from monsters in potions and crafting. This differs from a monster with an unnatural core that has fused with a part of its body. Those kinds of monsters are much rarer and require specialized techniques we will not cover in this basic class. Every monster is worth a lot of money. But the challenge is extracting that money. The reason most adventurers don't bother is its weight.

And by the time one can afford a spatial storage, it isn't worth their time. But the demand remains as high as ever for properly harvested and preserved monster parts." Professor Bonecarver paused before continuing.

"You will each form a group of five with the students next to you. I will show proper harvesting techniques on one monster, and then one member of your group will copy what I have done. Your teammates can advise, but they will not help. You will switch each monster to a new team member and keep the same groups throughout the semester." I looked over at my teammates, and we all sized each other up. They didn't seem like anything special, just more physically inclined and slightly older than first years.

Not that age was a good indicator of year at the school, since people could join when they were slightly older. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"My assistants will walk around and assess your progress. First up is a classic, Large Burrowing Worms. You can cut one in half, and two will grow from the pieces." An Assistant Professor rolled a large worm on a cart and moved it onto the table on the stage. Everyone watched the large screen as the Professor got to work.

"Slice quickly, yet firmly. Their outer skin is tough. It is a level 15 monster down in the dungeon. The tools are available at each table. All of you will clean after every class, including the table." I paid close attention. While I had encountered worm monsters before, my mother wasn't that big about harvesting monster parts.

"Unfortunately, there is no core, and the monster is weaker, having been born up here on the surface. But the rest of the anatomy is the same. Most worm monsters have a cavity they use to digest their food. We can carefully extract and save the acid. It is quite useful for etching, even if it is a small amount. We test the acid strength with these strips of metal. You can cross-store acid from different monsters if it is the same strength and you have a container that is rated for that kind of acid.

"Don't mix different acid strengths. And don't use a container that isn't rated for that kind of acid. That is how you have a bad time. Containers have a small margin of error, but not enough for an entirely new ranking. Harvesting goes by value. Acid is the most valuable substance from this type of monster. Then, there's the outer skin. It is great for tier 1 equipment and minor repairs," the Professor explained and began cutting the skin away. None of the students got sick.

They were probably used to the gore from the dungeon. This was the kind of class that students who planned to become adventurers took. I was taking this to increase my skill, and I had an open time slot. During the two-hour-long class, we went through five monsters. Staff members took the harvested materials away for the Alchemy classes. I was the last to go in my group, and I got a Terror Hawk.

The organ in its neck contained fear juice that it sprayed out, and staff members could extract it for certain Alchemical products. The feathers were useful for pillows. They labeled and discarded lots of organs and meat as low-level trash. The College would burn the waste so other animals wouldn't eat it and become poisoned by the Mana present in the flesh. While people used large portions of the monsters, they didn't use every part. Often, they discarded muscles, bones, and organs, harvesting only specific ones.

It was nice to have a hands-on class compared to the pure book learning of my other classes. I already had a solid foundation in Monster Processing Skills, but the class was much more methodical and detailed than the lessons I had received in the dungeon. When class was over, I had to rush off to Dwarven Etiquette and then Dwarven History right afterwards. Then there was an hour break to rest my mind a bit and eat some dinner before I had to go to the auxiliary class for Geometry.

I had an auxiliary class for Algebra the day before. It was more book learning. I was coming to realize that the College kept the best training methods and books for themselves, while releasing more compact versions for sale. If someone could afford a full set of books, they could afford to attend the College. The College published compact textbooks, not the methodical learning they had in place inside their walls. That meant I reviewed common content, but in more detail.

I couldn't easily skip ahead either, but it made learning much easier. The idea of the College was to advance a skill methodically through a series of discrete steps, creating a repeatable methodology for mastery. They removed the human element and individual instruction. The entire process was just a series of steps. It was humbling the more I realized how far this place advanced skills.

I could easily imagine that after another millennium of accumulation, the place would have more standardized skills and higher-tier skills. Perhaps the College would outsource lower-tier skills while only teaching the higher-tier skills. I did my best to get through the Geometry problems, but trying to calculate angles and logical relationships between various shapes and angles left my brain feeling like mush once more. At least tomorrow afternoon, I have an auxiliary class in Focused Running.

Thursday was rough, and by the time I got to my auxiliary class of Focused Running, I didn't want to think too hard about anything. It ended up being quite like Focused Meditation. I had to run around a large track. After each lap, an Assistant Professor would give some pointers on how I should adjust my running, breathing, and everything else to improve my skill. To get more advice, I had to run around the track again.

There was an available textbook I could look through as well, but the Assistant Professor let me know it was hard for individuals to spot their own flaws while running. That's why someone was here to advise students who wanted to improve their skills.

"Another fun day?" Healer Melon asked me as I dragged myself back into my room.

"I feel like death," I muttered.

"At least no auxiliary class tomorrow afternoon." I collapsed onto the sofa, face down, not wanting to move in the slightest.

"Focused Running couldn't have been that bad."

"I had to keep myself aware of my body and precise movement. It was mentally exhausting. My brain is ready to quit."

"Well, you must be gaining lots of skill levels."

"I can feel them increasing, but this is as bad as the dungeon with my mother."

"I won't comment about that."

"How is the egg?" I could feel its comfort through the connection I had with it.

"It is an egg, just sitting where you left it. No change. It isn't going anywhere."

"Good. Just worried it might not hatch."

"Just keep giving it Mana every night and morning like you have been, and it will be fine. Monsters need Mana. And since it is yours, the bond will only improve between the two of you."

"No idea when it will hatch?"

"Monster eggs are rare. And a Winged Serpent is even rarer. I couldn't say." Eggs were technically natural treasures of the dungeon since they could get a pet.