Chương 90: Spear Skills

I slept in on the weekend, waking up around eight instead of five. That was around 12 hours of sleep. I felt better than I had been. I went to the sitting room after showering and changing. Healer Melon was waiting for me with breakfast.

"I figured you could use a relaxing meal instead of walking to the cafeteria."

"Thank you." I sat down and began eating.

"So, Monster Processing from 11 to 1 and then an auxiliary class for Spear Skills after that for five hours. I guess I am on duty again."

"That is the plan. I need to work on my other Tier 1 weapon skills. And since you are here, I am going to take advantage." Healer Melon shrugged.

"I am getting a lot of studying done on my own, along with practice." I had noted the pet rabbits he had in his room. He was clearly working on improving his skills, not just sitting around all day. Unless I had a fighting class, there was no reason for him to follow me around. Also, they discouraged retainers from constantly following their students around the College. Retainers were meant to prevent young people from misbehaving away from home while attending the College.

The attack on me by the Dark Cabal was a sporadic occurrence, from what I had been told. At most, a student may be attacked inside the College every five to seven years. The security was quite tight, and everyone was regularly questioned with truth orbs upon returning to the College. The College had apologized to me in a letter for allowing the attack to happen and informed me that they had deposited 1, 000 gold coins in my account. Just a brief letter of apology and a large amount of gold, and that was it.

I wanted to know more about the Dark Cabal and the people who attacked me, along with their leader, who had cursed me. But even my father had little information to share with me. The Dark Cabal was a mysterious organization that enjoyed terrorism and dreamed of remaking the world into a hellscape of some kind to bring about their prophesied messiah, who would lead them to a promised land.

Their members, methods, and almost everything about them were hidden since the moment it was known they were targeted and killed. No one liked the Dark Cabal, and the only reason people joined up was because they promised quick paths to power. Since I had been attacked, Experience Siphon felt weaker. My mother said she had wounded their leader, but he had escaped. I could feel the curse had weakened, and it was tempting to check my status, but I held myself back.

Checking once every three months was a vital mindset to keep. While I might pick up some useless skills, I wasn't about to completely fall apart and constantly check my status all the time. If I didn't earn enough levels in specific skills over the course of a day, it would affect my mindset regarding future leveling. Also, staring at numbers constantly didn't improve my skills; only working on them did. Still, the temptation was there.

I got some looks in my Monster Processing Skills class for wearing armor instead of the school uniform, but no one said anything. Everyone focused on earning skill levels and improving themselves. No one had the energy or time to worry about other students. After attending my Monster Processing Skills class, I went to the location where auxiliary fighting classes were conducted and encountered Healer Melon. We went into the large Spear Skills training hall.

"Hello, I am Justin Burstock, a first-year student," I greeted the Assistant Professor, who had a more martial school uniform like the school guards.

"Assistant Professor Tallow Sharppoint," the elf said while twirling a spear.

"Healer Melon, here to watch over the session," my bald retainer added.

"Well, you have booked my time for the next five hours. Since there is a healer present, I don't need to hold back as much. We will spar for five hours, and I will correct you." I pulled my spear out of my spatial pouch and handed the spatial pouch to Healer Melon so it wouldn't get damaged during the spar. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I was wondering where you kept your weapon. Come, let us dance," he said. I moved out, and we began exchanging blows.

"More power behind your thrusts."

"Manage the distance better. Watch your footwork."

"Deflect and keep moving. Think in circles and lines." After an hour, Tallow Swiftwind called our spar to a halt.

"You are around level 70."

"Level 71," I replied, and he nodded.

"You have a decent foundation, but you clearly prefer a sword to a spear. Mastering multiple weapons is difficult. Using secondary weapons causes your instincts and other skills to confuse you. Try to suppress your other weapon skills while training with the one you are using. Now I will switch to a sword and shield, you will keep using a spear." I nodded at this and steadied my breathing while the Assistant Professor switched out his weapon. Every hour, he would switch to a different weapon.

Healer Melon kept my stamina topped up, and he healed me right away when I was hit. Even wearing some light armor so I could quickly move, I couldn't avoid all the blows that were sent in my direction. While he wasn't trying to kill me, he wasn't going easy either. Auxiliary classes cost a silver an hour, so they weren't cheap. The Assistant Professors knew that if the students didn't gain levels, they would get kicked out.

Registering my ID allowed the College to track my progress in specific skills related to the auxiliary classes. Tallow Swiftwind would receive credit for any Spear Skills I improved, which would also raise his rating as an Assistant Professor. Only results mattered in this place. Both students and faculty were only concerned with how many skill levels students gained. Five hours wasn't long, and I had dinner afterwards before heading straight to sleep.

I slept 14 hours that night after pushing my Mana into the monster egg.

"Is it concerning that I am sleeping so much?" I asked Healer Melon the next morning.

"No. You are young, and your soul is under a lot of pressure from all the training you are doing. You don't want to burn yourself out. While you could try to squeeze in some more studying, it would be of limited use. From what I can tell, you are at your learning capacity and are close to being maxed out. Get the sleep you need on the weekends," he said. I was almost through my first week at the College of Advancement. It was completely unrelenting. Nothing my mother would suggest would be simple.

But this was a place of learning, not a place to make friends, at least not in the lower years. Melody had explained that there were more social events for the top-ranking students every semester, as well as for students in years 5 through 7. The intention was that these students deserved attention because they were capable. The College saw some become Assistant Professors, Professors, and Legends.

For those who weren't capable, they would get a piece of parchment detailing what year they made it to, and they must seek a living elsewhere. This place focused on actual accomplishments rather than social connections. It would be interesting to see how I compared to other students after six months. I hadn't bothered to check the initial ranking board. It didn't matter anyway, just gave a vague estimate of how students would rank.

Supposedly, the various math Professors used a complex analysis to predict how new students would do, comparing their initial guesses to the results after six months. The idea is to create some mathematical divination of future events. I wasn't sure if such a thing was possible. Such math was far beyond me now. Thinking about being here for seven years was mentally exhausting on its own. It was as tiring as training with my mother in the dungeon. I hoped she was okay.

She was probably cutting her way through monsters with ease and enjoying it. In a descent to the bottom, I might never see her again. I regretted I hadn't hugged her before she left. The more I thought about it, I wasn't sure if the monster egg was worth it, but I wasn't about to back down. If I gave up after the slightest bit of pressure, I would never advance. A pet might not be the most useful, but it was something I wanted. Something that was mine.

From what my father had told me, Winged Serpents were powerful, typically found in deeper layers of the dungeon. While it would be naturally skilled in Alchemy, I hoped it could learn to heal as well. I had spent enough time with healers and talked to Healer Melon quite a bit to understand that studying healing beyond the basics took a lot of time. My mother might know a simple healing spell, but that paled in comparison to the knowledge a professional healer needed, along with other support skills.

A simple healing spell was enough to handle minor injuries, but for anything more serious, my mother would need a professional healer to deal with. That was the reason she had brought me to the Five Institute of Healing when I had problems. While I would probably pick up a basic healing spell one day, having a dedicated healer always watching my back would be incredibly useful. Even more so when training up immunity and absorption skills. Healer Melon, with his shiny head, wouldn't be by my side forever.

Having a pet that could provide healing and support during a fight would be incredibly useful. While my mother only saw the downsides, I saw the possibility of a unique synergy. With a pet hanging in the back and supporting me while I fought, I wouldn't have to worry about its betrayal or running away like I would with another adventurer. If my mother had something constantly boosting her, then it would provide a lot of help while fighting.

Sure, the monster would be vulnerable to attack, but that was why I needed to improve. It would allow me to progress more quickly than if I had to fight through the dungeon myself. And if it became a hindrance or slowed me down, I would rethink things then.