Chapter 127—The Final Stretch

Level: 20

Experience: BLOCKED

Healing: 500/500

Stamina: 580/580

Mana: 740/740

Class: Tier 1, Adult Human (Blue)

Effect: Increased Skill Acquisition (+10%), Increased Learning Speed (+10%), Increased Stat Gain (+10%), Increased Physical Gain (+10%), Increased Mental Gain (+10%)

Vitality: 50 ()

Endurance: 55 ()

Strength: 38+20 ()

Agility: 46+20 ()

Perception: 35 ()

Mind: 155 (+5)

Magic: 54+20 (+3)

Focus: 56+20 (+1)

Free Points: 200

Tier 1 (17) (30+): Light Armor (100), Medium Armor (100), Dwarven Etiquette (100), Eldarin Etiquette (100), Elven Etiquette (100), Pulse Strike (97), Drawing Skills (90), Dagger Skills (90), Wrestling Skills (89), Combat Tactics (88), Dancing Skills (87), Speech (79), Pugilist Skills (75), Bow Skills (75), Whip Skills (57), Driving (39), Heavy Armor (25)

Tier 2 (62) (13+): Mana Sense (100), Danger Sense (100), System Sense (100), Soul Sense (100), Speed Reading (97), Focused Toughness (91), Mana Vision (80), Darkness Vision (71), Shadow Vision (60), Focused Sword Skills (80), Critical Thinking (60), Focused Deflection (60), Time Sense (51), Focused Dodge (47), Spatial Sense (45), Trap Detection (40), Poison Sense (40

Tier 3 (111) (4+): Empowered Will (100), Mana Manipulation (100), Fire Resistance (97+17), Fear Resistance (80), Empowered Gestures (68+8), Light Orb (60+3), Eldarin Runes (60+17), Empowered Meditation (58+3), Silent Casting (57+9), Skill Control (56+5), Hidden Status (52+5), Lightning Resistance (50), Cold Resistance (40), Clean (40), Sleep (40), Flame Blade (39), Fireball (35), Empowered Breathing (35+3), Ward (34), Arcane Resistance (29), Empowered Running (29), System Control (28), Empowered Writing (28+5), Cure (27), Physical Resistance (26), Status Analysis (25), Lightning Beam (25), Soul Strike (20), Calculus (20), Advanced Geometry (20), Dwarven Runes (13+10), Elven Runes (12+9), Demonic Runes (12+9), High Vostner Runes (10+7), Low Vostner Runes (9+6), Social Resistance (8), Alchemy (7), Empowered Stealth (7)

Tier 4 (24): Soul Link (60), Poison Immunity (30+3), Vibration Blade (15), Pain Immunity (11), Soul Immunity (4+2), Healing Immunity (3+3)

Tier 5 (-): Experience Siphon(C)

Equipment

Gloves: Gloves of Magic (T3) (+20 Magic)

Boots: Boots of Agility (T3) (+20 Agility)

Head: Helmet of Clarity (T3) (+20 Focus)

Body: Heavy Armor of Stability (T3) (+20 Strength)

Ring 1: Ring of Alarm (T3) (Gem turns red if other Mana interferes)

Ring 2: Ring of Force Deflection (T3) (Reduces impact force by a quarter)

Healing: 1,120/1,120

Stamina: 420/420

Mana: 1,060/1,060

Class: Tier 1, Young Winged Serpent (Orange)

Effect: Alchemy Skill Growth (+50%), Alchemic Skill Power (+100%)

Vitality: 112 ()

Endurance: 42 ()

Strength: 59 ()

Agility: 91 ()

Perception: 45 ()

Mind: 103 ()

Magic: 106 ()

Focus: 52 ()

Free Points: 0

T2: Alchemic Vision (95+4), Focused Bite (80), Toxic Breath (80+7), Danger Sense (43), Health Sense (21+1), Stamina Sense (20+2)

T3: Cure (100), Purify (100), Refresh (97+17), Alchemy (70+3), Poison Insight (65+2), Fire Insight (42+1), Cold Insight (40), Arcane Insight (38+1), Spatial Insight (32+1), Soul Insight (23+1), Healing Insight (14), Anatomy Insight (10), Atmospheric Insight (7)

T4: Soul Link (60), Flight (55+3), Alchemic Bounded Field (45+4), Greater Cure (30+3), Greater Purify (20+4), Greater Refresh (15+3), Petrifying Gaze (10)

1. Windshell Gossimer 1,136~421
   

   2. Justin Burnstock 1,129~407

She had done it. Windshell surpassed me for the first time at the College.

Just as I had expected, she wasn't going down without a fight. She had beaten me by 14 skill levels. It was honestly both scary and impressive at the same time.

I had been planning to work on runes these past three months to rapidly gain tier 3 skill levels. She had something in reserve as well. She looked over at me with a haughty and triumphant grin.

"Congratulations on placing first," I said.

"Of course, it was only a matter of time. Without support, you would obviously fall behind me," she declared.

That was incredibly rude, but I said nothing else. I would let her enjoy this moment of triumph and then crush her.

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I turned away from the publicly displayed rankings in the main plaza here at the College.

Harren came over to walk next to me. "I would ask if you were okay, but you don't seem worried."

"Sometimes victory is the sweetest when you take a step back and allow an opponent to gloat. If she couldn't even do that much, then she wouldn't be worth facing me in a contest of gaining skill levels."

"Well, then I will definitely have to bet more on you."

"There is a betting pool for first place?" I knew there were betting pools on other things but hadn't realized the little contest between Windshell and myself had attracted that kind of attention.

"Of course. But you know the professors; anything with math they love to death, especially gambling." While it might seem tempting to get in on the gambling, it would just create enemies when I won if I bet at the amounts I would like to bet at. The betting was more for bragging rights.

"You owe me a good meal when you win since I will not lose."

"I will hold you to that," Harren said as we parted ways.

I made my way back to my dorm suite.

Harren was a friend, though our friendship was born of demanding parents and sky-high expectations. We had sparred in the past and exchanged advice on various skills. I advised mostly on sword fighting while he had helped me with Axe Skills.

"Ahead or behind?" Healer Melon asked me.

"Behind by 14 skill levels and 7 in total," I said.

"Impressive, with how many you gained in the last 3 months. She clearly kept some skills in reserve to quickly boost."

"I think it is just her tenacity and desire to beat me. She is clearly pushing herself to the utter limit. I won't be surprised if there are some mental and health issues at graduation time. Or it could be another Soul Fruit."

"Or both. At least you know how to work around it."

I smiled. "Of course. The final blow should be at the end. I should hit 450 skill levels over these next three months. That will be more than enough to achieve victory in our little contest."

"Since no one is getting hurt besides their egos and future, I will cheer you on for this final stretch."

"Thank you again for working with Ozy on healing skills."

"It was an amusing way to spend the time. I'm surprised that you haven't gotten him more skills while you could."

I shook my head as Ozy booped my neck with his snoot. "He already has enough that needs time to maximize. Perhaps more sensory or support skills would be useful, but I would rather get more fighting experience with him to see the best way he can improve for maximum synergy."

It is a shame that he would grow larger during the next descent as he gained levels. I would not be gaining levels or a class on this descent. It would be hard, but that was the main reason I was going with a team into the dungeon and not by myself.

My goal was to level up my skills, not my main levels. Otherwise, it would have been better to go by myself. Well, myself and Ozy. While it was tempting to get tracking skills to hunt down Xanatos, gaining strength was far more important. I needed to beat him when we faced each other.

The most concerning thing was that my stat gain was slowing down. It was still high for natural stat gain but less compared to the previous three-month time periods. Hopefully, the dungeon will push my stats up further.

"Every time I see your skill list, I feel my heart tremble at the sheer number of skills. You can gain seven more skill levels."

"Four will be for Multi-Casting, and then I will save up the other three until after I graduate. I need to keep close to Meldor's Threshold to level up Soul Immunity. I can feel my soul straining under constant pressure. Not as good as focused training, but the gradual improvement will be useful."

"Using Meldor's Threshold to train… Foolishness, but you have been warned already."

"I understand the risks, but it is because I understand the risks and my support skills that I will take the risk. Once it becomes Soul Absorption, I can use that pressure to increase my Mana point recovery."

"Or explode and die horribly from some unseen interaction. You are going into uncharted territory."

"Mother might have sent me down this path, but I will keep going myself, aware of the dangers."

"Do whatever you wish. I will be gone soon and will wash my hands of this."

"You were a good friend. I will miss you."

"Try not to die. I would hate to hear about your death."

"I will be cautious, but you know what the life of an adventurer is like. Every fight is another gamble with one's life," I said with a touch of conviction.

"Healing Immunity is incredibly dangerous. When you are injured, you will struggle to suppress that skill."

"Ozy can cast through it."

"Don't think that is acceptable. It is an incredibly dangerous skill to have. I know you are aiming to merge a bunch of absorption skills to make an ultimate tier 6 skill, but it is a long time before you get to that point. If you take a serious injury, you will struggle."

"I have stocked up on potions. My Alchemical Toxicity is gone. So, that option is always available to me."

"Potions are slow. I know you understand the risks. But Healing Immunity is not a good skill."

"Unless there is a dark healer," I countered.

"Perhaps, perhaps. I won't begrudge your choices, but I can't help but worry. You are very like your mother. That determination and conviction," he said.

"Thank you."

While I would like to continue to chat, the final race had already begun between Windshell and me for the top spot at the College.

I made my way to my room and sat down on my meditation cushion.

"Light Orb. Light Orb. Light Orb."

I felt the Tier 4 skill Multi-Casting settle onto my soul. Every moment that I didn't have a class about runes; I would work my spell skills to their absolute limit. I would train my Poison and Fire Resistance skills on my days off and when I needed to recover Mana.

For the first time in a long time, I felt some genuine excitement during my time here at the College of Advancement. Mostly, it was endless studying and training. While I might have despaired in the past, now I was mentally prepared to endure the endless training.

That was what it took to be the best. It was an excellent decision to come here before I went into the dungeon. It would be too easy to get disillusioned in the dungeon, and I wouldn't have the foundation I have now. There were many skills one could learn and improve from fighting monsters, but systematic learning and training were much more effective.

Especially for skills like rune skills and other knowledge-focused skills.

Runes were the foundational building blocks of spells, Mana, and everything else. The more I learned, the more commonalities I saw in runes. Also, the more I respected my mother for insisting I learn runes, despite all the skills and time it took.

I would need to go through my spatial pouch and buy books and training equipment for when I descended. The first descent was planned to be for a year, and then there would be a team assessment at that point to see if they worked well together. I could also get an understanding of my leveling speed in the dungeon and how much pressure I was truly under.

The greater the threat, the more experience and skill levels one could earn. I liked to think that my mother unlocked a tier 7 skill before her death, accomplishing the impossible. It would be just like her.

I miss her.

I thought back to when I was growing up and how she would always smile and encourage me. The memories were hazy from the time before I got my status. But there was happiness there. Every minor accomplishment was celebrated with pride.

While we had a falling out later, that didn't change the love she had shown me. Even her harshness and demands were the only way she could show she cared as I grew up. With the time that had passed since her death, I could reflect on our interactions more. While I would still pick Ozy as my pet, I could understand where she was coming from.

I cut off my Light Orb spell skill. The lights winked out of existence. I got up and ate some salted nuts and thin strips of meat. I then had fruit juice; the sugar would help fuel my Mana. That was something I noticed from Sweet Teeth — I could extract Mana from sugar. It was minuscule, but every bit would help in these last three months.

Even the most worthless skills had potential buried within them. While I wasn't planning to become a second Bastian and go mad with baking, I would use even my vices to fuel me. Perhaps I would be known as the sugarblade instead of a spellblade in the future.

I then performed a series of stretches so my body wouldn't lock up while using Empowered Meditation. Finishing that, I made my way back to my seat and started practicing again. My Mana was rapidly recovering.

Recovery of one's reserves was variable, but sleep and food were the two most important factors. I made sure I got enough sleep every night and kept myself eating as necessary.

"Light Orb. Light Orb. Light Orb."

Multi-Casting improved more. I could feel all the knowledge I had accumulated from before etching itself onto my soul, making it easier to recall. I would have to vary things with different spells at the same time. But more destructive spells were hard to practice outside my room.

A dedicated practice room was available to the top students. While it was tempting to work on other skills, I wanted to push through with all the exercises with Light Orb for the next two weeks. Then, I would rotate to another spell skill after that for the next two weeks.