Chapter 71 – Insane Progress, Soul Pressure

Level: 1 Experience: BLOCKED

Healing: 410/410 Stamina: 420/420 Mana: 240/240

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: 41 (+2)

Endurance: 42 (+2)

Strength: 33 (+1)

Agility: 39 (+1)

Perception: 30 (+1)

Mind: 89 (+5)

Magic: 24 (+1)

Focus: 42 (+1)

Free Points: 0

Tier 1(25)(10+): Light Armor(100), Eldarin Etiquette(75), Shield Skills(75), Spear Skills(71), Drawing Skills(70), Pulse Strike(67+67), Bow Skills(52), Pugilist Skills(50), Combat Tactics(50), Cleaning Skills(50), Monster Processing Skills(46), Dancing Skills(38), Axe Skills(34), Dagger Skills(29), Stealth(25), Deflection(25), Throw(25), Cooking Skills(22), Wrestling Skills(21), Medium Armor(20), Sweet Tooth(19+15), Speech(17), Dwarven Language(17+17), Dwarven Etiquette(8+8), Dwarven History(7+7)

Tier 2(44)(2+): Mana Sense(100), Danger Sense(100), Focused Breathing(72+12), System Sense(70+5), Soul Sense(60+5), Focused Toughness(55+15), Darkness Vision(45+15), Algebra(44+4), Trap Detection(40

Tier 3(51)(1+): Soul Resistance(85+5), Empowered Will(83+23), Fear Resistance(60+3), Healing Resistance(48+8), Poison Resistance(42+22), Eldarin Runes(40), Empowered Writing(20), Fire Resistance(20+13), Lightning Resistance(20+17), Soul Strike(17), Cold Resistance(17+14), Mana Manipulation(12+7), Arcane Resistance(10+9), Skill Control(9+9), Physical Resistance(8+5), Alchemy(5), Social Resistance(3)

Tier 4(4): Pain Immunity(2+2)

Tier 6(-): 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)

Ring1: Ring of Concealment(T3) (Hide Status T3 and Below)

Ring2: Ring of Remote Awareness(T3) (Allows for remote viewing from companion ring)

Amulet/Bracelet: Experience Blocker(T4) (Prevents all experience gain for primary level)

Weapon1: Beginner’s Blade(T2) (Sharpness-T2, Durability-T3, Self-Repair-T2)

Equipment1: Runic Writing Set(T3) (Write Runes T3 and Below)

Healer Melon was quiet as I read off everything on my status. It was a lot to take in. “I have improved 714 skill levels,” I muttered in shock.

“It’s all the resistance training. We are taking things right up to the edge of what is even considered safe. I have been pushing things for you as close to the edge as I can,” he replied.

“Really, thank you,” I replied.

“It’s all the potions your mother gave me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have enough Mana. Even then my Alchemical toxicity is getting high. Resistance training will have to be decreased going forward,” Healer Melon explained.

“I understand. But a tier 4 skill. I felt it improve and I have been overly tired some days,” I replied.

“You are only level 1. Normally it wouldn’t be possible for you to get such a skill with your level. There just isn’t enough room in your soul. But with your stats and Soul Resistance, you managed to get the tier 4 skill. The dwarven skills aren’t a surprise, since you have been working on those skills. Skill Control is impressive,” Healer Melon said.

“It allows me to activate and deactivate passive skills?” I asked with confidence, and he nodded.

“Exactly. Useful when you are training resistances to stop Pain Immunity from triggering. Which I am guessing you have been doing?” he asked me, and I nodded at this.

“Yes. But what I don’t understand is how I gained so many levels. Even resistances,” I replied.

“It could be a side effect of how malleable your soul is. Resistance skills are layered across the soul. And the training methods are using the latest equipment and techniques. I guess I shouldn’t mention your new gambling skill,” he said.

“Pulse Strike is a valid game,” I replied.

“It is. But it has nothing to do with your build, similar to Sweet Tooth,” Healer Melon pointed out.

“I have more than enough skills that two tier 1 junk skills aren’t a big deal,” I replied.

“It is more impressive that your stats continue to grow, so much on their own. The longer you can keep increasing them without using free stats from leveling up yourself, the better off you will be,” he said.

“I will keep that in mind,” I replied. I wanted to reach 1,500 stat points before leveling up. It was just something I had come up with in my mind. That way I could reach level 150 with free stat points and have 20 stat points per level. There was still a long way to go, but I was making good progress considering my age.

The issue was that there was no good comparisons to use. Most students entering the College of Advancement were powered leveled up to level 20 or 40 for those free stats. I wouldn’t have that advantage. The tier 6 cursed skill also remained. I had been hoping that the legend who had cursed me would naturally die off sometime soon, but that appeared not to be the case. It had been a foolish hope.

Both my mother and father failed to fine the perpetrator. That meant I would have to deal with them on my own. I hadn’t looked through the book on soul skills my mother had given me, The Deeper Mysteries of the Soul by The Eternal Emperor. I had glanced at the first couple of pages, and it had incredibly small writing and was dense in terms of information.

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Since soul skills were frowned upon and skills were checked during one’s time at the College of Advancement, I was going to wait until my graduation to work on soul skills. Then I would get experience and track down the legend who had cursed me. Maybe, I wasn’t sure. I would need money to hire other legends to assist me to take out such a dangerous target.

I knew the legend who had cursed me managed to kill several elite guards and escape from the estate cleanly. No wounds or other marks were left on the legend. With a tier 6 skill, they were probably between level 120 and level 140. A serious threat to almost everyone.

Someone like that, I would need at least 4 other legends with me just to be sure we could take them out and they weren’t able to escape. The cost wouldn’t be cheap. While it was amusing to think I would remain level 1 forever, I refused to. I would take revenge on the person who targeted me. And if my mother was around, I would ask for her help.

I was surprised she hadn’t pushed me to learn soul skills sooner, but all the warnings lingered in my mind. The risk would be very high. One mistake and I could easily kill myself. It was unlikely the College of Advancement had anyone with such skills due to the stigma attached to them.

“What about my sensory skills in tier 2?” I asked Healer Melon.

“Just leave them for now. You still have Soul Sense and System Sense. There are other sensory skills as well. Your mother strongly suggests to wait merging them to get a stronger tier 3 skill,” he explained.

“What’s the skill?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Sensory Aura, a tier 3 skill. Very strong but it uses a lot more Mana. It is best to wait until your reserves and stats grow more before getting that skill, so you can keep it active at all times. That is the downside of merging skills, they improve but the Mana cost goes up, especially at tier 3,” Healer Melon explained.

“So, keeping some low tier skills is worthwhile?” I asked.

“Sometimes, or at least until you have maximized the level for all skills that you plan to feed into the higher tier skill. It will let you level up your higher tier skills much more quickly,” he said, repeating information I already knew.

“Focused Meditation is struggling even though I use it every night,” I said with a frown.

“Well it is at a bottleneck. Even though you are practicing it quite often, there is very little pressure. A useful long term skill, but one that is difficult to improve. No one mediates in combat or while doing other activities,” he explained.

“I wonder if the College of Advancement has a class to improve the skill,” I replied.

“Maybe. But it might not be as effective as you are hoping. Some skills are difficult to level, since they are so personal. The Meditation series of skills falls into this category. While you can get outside help with resistance skills, Focused Meditation would be a much greater challenge,” Healer Melon replied.

“What about trying to meditate in a distracting environment?” I asked.

“Possibly. But then your focus will be diverted away from the skill if there is any threat. Otherwise, you are focusing inwards. Something like Mana Manipulation, there are exercises you can do. But something like Focused Meditation will be a challenge,” he explained.

“Any skills I am missing?” I asked.

“Not that I can see. But I manage to get something you were interested in. The College of Advancement just released their class list for the upcoming year,” Healer Melon said and pulled out a small booklet. “Consider it an early twelfth birthday gift.”

“Thank you,” I replied as I took it and opened it up.

Tier 1-0001: Eldarin Language (Core)

Professor Amelia Cornaxe (17.8)

A language skill that will eventually form the basis of Eldarin Runes in tier 3. Also the primary method of communication between humans.

M-F 8-12 (4 Hr/Wk)

Tier 1-0002: Writing Skills (Core)

Professor Scriba Quillmaster (16.0)

Develop foundational writing abilities for clear communication and documentation, essential for rune inscription and magical research.

M-F 10-12 (2 Hr/Wk)

Tier 1-0003: Meditation (Core)

Professor Johnson Diggleworth (12.3)

A critical skill for rapidly replenishing Mana reserves. Necessary for higher tier Meditation skills and to support spell skills Mana consumption.

M-Su 0-24 (2 Hr/Wk)

The list continued on and on. Skills or classes were categorized by tier first and foremost with an assigned number. Then the skill name, followed by the track the skill was on. The main tracks were Core, Rune, Crafting, Alchemy, Combat, Spell, and Other. Core skills were heavily recommended by the College of Advancement. Mediation with how it helped Mana regeneration was useful in several study tracks.

The Other track was for skills that fell outside the six main tracks but still offered as main courses at the College. Then came the professor’s name followed by the expected level gain per month for each student. Just as students were graded, Professors were also graded by how many levels their students gained on average. Since they clearly had superior teaching methods for those classes. Just like Healer Melon had pointed out, Meditation struggled against several other subjects with its low level gain per month despite being a tier 1 skill.

I did note that the skill was offered all day long every day. The only skill or class that had such time available.

Then there was a brief description of the skill and course. A very brief description. I noticed my father was listed as an Assistant Professor for Speech, a social skill, which fell into the Other category in tier 1. He was one of the few Assistant Professors listed, but it made sense. Since the College of Advancement most likely didn’t have anyone better with social skills, but he didn’t have a track record.

I would have thought the College of Advancement would have been able to recruit a noble with strong social skills, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Below the descriptions were the dates and times each course was offered along with the block of time. Despite being listed as per week, students were expected to show up every single day at that time period unless the skill was maximized.

If students didn’t attend the full time, their levels wouldn’t count against the Professor in question and it would be considered a black mark on their record. Students were expected to attend so many classes full time. A person could literally pack their schedule, but then they would have no time for outside study.

While the courses listed the minimum times, I had no doubt the lessons would be packed with pure information. The classes would go at the maximum possible speed.

So, while a person could technically take loads of classes, only showing up once a week, no one did that. Their brain would explode, they wouldn’t advance as quickly, and the professors would be annoyed. Maybe not literally, but it would burn a person out. Even the most studious of individuals. But the College encouraged individuals to push themselves and gain as many levels as possible. That was the entire point. Looking at the higher tier skills the expected level gain per month was a lot less while the time required was a lot more per day at 6 hours a day for a single tier 3 skill.

It made me wonder how scheduling even worked in the later years. When I asked Thoron at the training hall, he explained that most subjects were set up in such a way that a person would practice on their own with minimal input from teaching assistants. Students rarely saw the professors in charge of the actual courses.

For tier 3 skills, there was a lot of book learning and working through various exercises, with the time listed as being a time that assistants would provide feedback. Even the tier 1 classes were mostly self-study, but attendance was tracked more closely in tier 1 classes and there were more teaching assistants due to the larger number of students.

I was still confused a bit, but it was interesting to look through the entire list of available skills. It was clear that the school wanted a student to focus on one of the disciplines they grouped skills under.