Chương 92: Middle Of The First Semester

"How are you doing, Mister Burnstock?" Melody asked me after being invited into my dorm room. Healer Melon had picked up breakfast for both of us. He was nice like that.

"Well, and yourself?" I asked.

"Quite busy. The middle and the end of the semester are always among our busiest times. Assessing everyone's skill levels. We are going straight to a professional evaluation since I have no doubt you will be one of the top-ranked students."

"So, you just check my status?"

"You will fill out status sheets. Then, one professor will check your overall status to compare it to what you wrote. Just be truthful and everything will be fine."

"Sure. Let me finish breakfast," I replied, and Melody nodded. She told me where to go in the afternoon. There were no classes offered during the following week as a mid-semester break. The end of the semester saw a two-week break.

Level: 1 Experience: BLOCKED Healing: 430/430 Stamina: 430/430 Mana: 250/250 Class: Tier 0, Child (Blue) Effect: Increased Skill Acquisition (+10%), Increased Learning Speed (+10%), Increased Stat Gain (+10%), Increased Physical Gain (+10%), Increased Mental Gain (+10%) Vitality: 43 (+1) Endurance: 43 () Strength: 33 () Agility: 41 (+1) Perception: 31 () Mind: 98 (+6) Magic: 25 () Focus: 45 (+2) Free Points: 0 Tier 1 (26) (10+): Light Armor (100), Dwarven Language (94+64), Spear Skills (89+18), Eldarin Etiquette (75), Monster Processing Skills (75 +29), Shield Skills (75), Dwarven Etiquette (73+58), Drawing Skills (70), Dwarven History (68+55), Pulse Strike (67), Bow Skills (52), Combat Tactics (51+1), Cleaning Skills (50 +3), Pugilist Skills (50), Speech (50 +33), Driving (39), Dancing Skills (38), Axe Skills (34), Deflection (30+5), Dagger Skills (29), Stealth (25), Throw (25), Sweet Tooth (25), Cooking Skills (22), Wrestling Skills (21), Medium Armor (20) Tier 2 (44) (2+): Mana Sense (100), Danger Sense (100), Focused Breathing (84+4), System Sense (76+2), Focused Running (64+20), Soul Sense (61+1), Focused Toughness (61+1), Algebra (60 +11), Darkness Vision (56), Focused Meditation (53+10), Geometry (50+8), Trap Detection (40), Focused Sword Skills (37), Shadow Vision (34), Speed Reading (34+8), Critical Thinking (27+3), Mana Vision (24+1), Focused Dodge (24+2), Monster Analysis (20), Depth Sense (20), Focused Rage (14+2), Eldarin Lore (8) Tier 3 (54) (1+): Empowered Will (99), Soul Resistance (91+2), Poison Resistance (65+9), Fear Resistance (61+1), Healing Resistance (55+1), Eldarin Runes (40), Fire Resistance (27), Lightning Resistance (26), Empowered Writing (20), Cold Resistance (20), Soul Strike (20 +3), Mana Manipulation (18), Arcane Resistance (16), Skill Control (16), Physical Resistance (12+2), Alchemy (5), System Control (5+1), Social Resistance (4+1) Tier 4 (8): Soul Link (20+20), Pain Immunity (5+2) Tier 5 (-): Experience Siphon(C) Equipment Gloves: Gloves of Processing (T2) (Blocks Mana T2 and Below) Boots: Armored Boots (T1) (Basic Equipment) Head: Armored Helmet (T1) (Basic Equipment) Body: Light Armor (T1) (Basic Equipment) Ring 1: Ring of Concealment (T3) (Hide Status T3 and Below) Ring 2: Ring of Remote Awareness (T3) (Allows for remote viewing from companion ring) Amulet/Bracelet: Experience Blocker (T4) (Prevents all experience gain for primary level) Weapon 1: Beginner's Blade (T2) (Sharpness-T2, Durability-T3, Self-Repair-T2) Equipment 1: Runic Writing Set (T3) (Write Runes T3 and Below) I handed the filled status sheets to Healer Melon, who looked them over.

He let out a sigh of relief.

"At least your Mind stat has gone way up. That is good. Only one new skill, but a Tier 4 skill. That has probably contributed to your recent exhaustion. Your soul is being weighed down with too many high-tier skills," he said. I knew he was looking at that Tier 4 Soul Link skill. Some quick math put me at a skill level gain of 560 over the last three months. If anyone could beat that number, they would get my sincere congratulations.

Some skills looked like they should have gotten more levels, like Skill Control or Focused Toughness. I didn't use Skill Control often because I had no reason to suppress my Pain Immunity skill, unlike in resistance training. Overlapping skills caused Physical Resistance to prevail over Focused Toughness. Many skills got the same result, but in different ways. That was the reason having too many skills wasn't always beneficial. Skill conflict can arise, which would hinder leveling up a skill.

Therefore, knowing which skills to prioritize for the best teamwork was crucial. But even with the knowledge accumulated for thousands of years, there were still issues. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"But I am at 74% now. I could get eight more Tier 1 skills and still be okay."

"Don't stress me out like that."

"My Soul Resistance only went up by two levels. I was hoping it would go up a lot more."

"It shouldn't even be that high to begin with! At least your Mind stat should keep going up for when you change courses next semester and focus on Elven skills."

"At least I am close to maxing out a couple of Dwarven skills. I can drop those classes once I maximize the skill."

"You will need to pick up new auxiliary classes," Healer Melon pointed out, and I nodded.

"Weapon training is always a good choice, since you are around. I really want to improve my Tier 1 skills."

"Perhaps, but maybe you should focus on improving Focused Sword Skills. If you are attacked again, it will be useful to have one strong weapon skill." I considered the suggestion, and it was a good one. It was just that a Tier 2 skill would take much longer to improve than a Tier 1 skill.

"Or I can work on Mana Manipulation in an auxiliary class in preparation to learn spell skills. They are a huge force multiplier."

"Don't overestimate spell skills. While they are flashy, there is a reason people still use handheld weapons, including your mother. It is challenging to use spells in combat and hit your target. That is why very few people go down the path of becoming a spellblade."

"I know, but I want to learn spell skills! It is one of the major reasons I am here after all." I then thought about how Healer Melon was here to assist me. When I graduated, my father would give me a better sword.

"Focused Sword Skills then. Fill up my time with more physical skills to balance things out, since my brain is melting." Once we were done with our late breakfast, we made our way to the building where they would confirm a student's exact skills. They showed me to a room and asked me to remove any equipment that might block or distort the skills used to check my status. I removed the ring that my father gave me a long time ago. Even though it seemed pointless to hide my status, it blocked casual scans.

A man in a staff uniform, looking old and worn, arrived a few minutes later. A young woman came in and put a truth orb on the table.

"Skill sheets," he said, and I handed them over.

"Lots of growth over the last three months. Lots of skills as well. Place your hands on the truth orb, and I will ask you questions while I check your skills. Answer yes or no."

"Understood," I replied and put my hands on the truth orb.

"Is your name Justin Burnstock?"

"Yes." The orb glowed green.

"Are your skill sheets accurate?"

"Yes."

"Is your Dwarven Language skill level 94?"

"Yes." I was then questioned about particular skills.

"Alright, we are done."

"Couldn't you scan my entire status and see it at once?" I asked.

"I did, but for every truth orb and truth-seeking skill, there are counters. You would be surprised by how many people believe they can deceive the College, including one of our staff members who manages the ranking system here. Combining a truth orb while I actively scan you makes it nearly impossible to hide your actual skill levels."

"It really is that bad?"

"Trust me, it is. It is nice to see a student who doesn't cause trouble and who has improved so much over the last three months. Keep up the hard work," the older staff member said before leaving along with his younger assistant, who took the truth orb and my status sheets I had written out. I looked at Healer Melon, who shrugged. This place was quick and efficient. Just a bit impersonal and weird in some respects. Like a sudden departure without even a goodbye or an introduction.

This place broke etiquette, but it was driven by math, not niceties. We left the building while more students were being brought in and checked.

"Lots of students to check," I said.

"At least your silver ID got us through quickly. Once you get gold, things should be even easier," Healer Melon said. I wasn't very concerned about getting a better ID from the College. Benefits came naturally to those who did well. Worrying about things like that was distracting.

"Well, it feels weird to have an entire week with nothing planned."

"You could always work on your skills on your own?" Healer Melon suggested, but that wasn't very appealing. Much of my skill gain came from almost dying at the hands of the Dark Cabal. I won't be able to repeat that next semester. I knew other people were probably busy working hard to gain more skill levels, but I didn't have it in me to do all of that.

"Aren't we above a city?"

"The City of Genoa. An island nation with a temperate climate that has instituted a voting system for its ruling class," Healer Melon told me.

"I thought we would stay near the dwarves?"

"Even though the College provided aid and helped save many lives, the Dwarves are not thrilled about what happened. Moving above more traditional human nations would create political instability. So, it moved to Genoa. We are floating just south of the city along the coast. Students may visit the city freely if they want to, and the elevator goes down to the surface."

"Then let's plan on that after they release the public rankings tomorrow."

"Very well. I see you are worried."

"I just want to compare myself to the other students. I didn't look before, since it was just a guess by the faculty, but now these are actual rankings. How I do by the end of the year will be determined by this."

"Planning to increase your Sweet Tooth skill?" he asked me, and I shrugged.

"I work hard, so I get to relax. Maybe my mother can keep fighting and working day after day, but I need a break. I gained 560 skill levels, which is an immense achievement. If anyone can beat that, I want to meet them and shake their hand."

"That is a lot," Healer Melon said. A lot was an understatement. It was ridiculous. I knew enough now to know that the number of levels I was gaining was insane. Healer Melon was trying not to let me get an enormous head or slow down, but I was going to have my break and enjoy it. Other people could exhaust themselves trying to squeeze in extra levels during the break, but I wanted to live a little. Life wasn't just about studying and getting stronger. We were near a new city, a new nation.

I wanted to check it out for new sweets and to see if there was anything else interesting.

"Anything else I should know about the city?" I asked.

"There is a bit of chaos, since they are preparing for enrollment in half a year. Since Undercraft was heavily damaged, the College plans to visit a different city each year on a rotating system. They are starting with Genoa. The major city has the same name as the country."

"I am glad you are on top of this."

"The other healers and I get together and chat occasionally. Got to keep the flag raised for the Five Star Institute of Healing and all that," he said with a slight grin.