The public rankings were arranged in the main plaza at the base of the large central tower. Each year got their own wall around the plaza, with the staff and faculty mbers getting their own wall as well.
The results had updated in the middle of the night and the plaza was packed at that ti. I chose to wait and avoid the rush, heading there after breakfast with Healer lon. It was still packed as students ca to see where they ranked in relation to their peers.
The list was ordered from left to right, with the na then the total skill gain. Every three months the list was updated. I noted the year 6 and 7 student lists were incredibly small, but the nas were much bigger.
The area in front of each of the magical displays was roped off, so there was distance so people could look for their na without blocking other people nearby. I looked for my na at the top of year 1. The first list had 10 nas, the second to the right had 90, the third had 900. Then each one after that listed 1,000 nas.
Year 1
1. Justin Burnstock 560
2. Windshell Gossir 437
3. Harren Axefall 411
4. Stormy Aether 406
5. Terroc 399
6. Godfrey Windso 398
7. April Withers 386
8. Frank Vonberg 352
9. Teresa Mayflower 350
10. Xyon Fullbright 350
There was a tie. In that case higher tier skills counted a bit more for the tiebreaker. The competition was intense, but there was a very large gap between and second place. Since the results of every 3 months would be added up for the final result, I already had a sizable lead, that would be very hard to surpass. If the elf Windshell Gossir earned the sa number of skill levels next month, I could earn 314 and still tie with her.
The advantages from two soul fruits was just too strong. Other people might have nations, entire families, even business empires supporting them, but I had my mother. While she might have gone off to the dungeon, I wouldn’t embarrass her or squander everything she had done for .
Also almost dying and getting a new tier 4 skill. That also helped quite a bit. But even without that tier 4 skill, I still would have taken the top spot, which made feel proud of my accomplishnt.
“Fist place, lody should be replacing your ID soti soon and we will need to move,” Healer lon said.
“Hmm. Let’s take care of that today, before we go exploring the city. Returning every day would be exhausting and I want to explore a little bit,” I replied. I looked at his shiny bald head. “Maybe a disguise?”
“The College guards have swept through the city, cri is at an all ti low at the mont. As long as we stick the main business district there shouldn’t be a problem,” he replied.
“Hmm, if you say so.” His bald head was very recognizable along with his healer robes. But if he wasn’t worried, then I wasn’t going to be overly concerned. While the Dark Cabal was dangerous, I wasn’t going after them and I wasn’t being reckless. Checking out the city below the College seed like a basic thing that wouldn’t invite unnecessary trouble.
While the College had everything one could ask for, the atmosphere and the mood was incredibly depressing.
“Justin Burnstock.” I paused and turned towards the elf who called my na out. It was Windshell Gossir, the second ranked student in the first year, just below .
“Yes, Miss Gossir?” I asked politely as she approached .
“I am not going to let you win,” she declared.
“Good,” I replied casually with a shrug. She frowned at .
“Are you taking lightly?” she asked.
“Not at all. Since you have the most likely chance of catching up and surpassing . However, I already have a sizable lead for this year. And it isn’t a small lead. I believe it is 560 to 437. Catching up to will be quite difficult,” I replied.
“A sizable gap, but one that can be overco,” she replied.
“Really? I figure we were both working quite hard the last 3 months. If you can improve more quickly, good for you. I am honestly just focusing on doing the best I can. If you want to take you seriously, then score higher than ,” I replied.
She just gave a glare and stord off. I shook my head. “Completely pointless drama,” I replied.
“What if you were second? Would you act that way?” Healer lon asked .
“No. It is foolish, worrying about others. This isn’t so tournant where you can beat up others or easily sabotage them. It is a direct competition of learning and resources where your main opponent is your will to continue turning your brain to mush. My tolerance for suffering is quite high after going into the dungeon with my mother for a year,” I answered.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Still, I was worried about gaining levels long term. The near death experience had helped out quite a bit. That wasn’t sothing that could be replicated. While I would probably win this year as the top student, over ti the impact of the soul fruits I had taken would get weaker while I didn’t know the backing Windshell Gossir had.
“Can you ask around about Windshell Gossir and find out what kind of support she has?” I asked Healer lon.
“I can ask around. Anything specific you are interested in?” he asked.
“I just want to know what kind of resources she has supporting her. She is awfully confident and confrontational. No other student is like that. Calling out as the number one. She clearly knows of , so I would expect she knows of my mother. To go out of her way to target is surprising. I will ask my father when classes restart as well and we have breakfast together,” I said.
“I will ask. But there is only so much I will be able to learn,” he said.
“That is fine. I will win this year, but future years will beco more difficult. How long do soul fruits last?” I asked.
“Forever, but their impact decreases logarithmically over ti. It never goes away, but the impact will diminish to almost nothing given enough ti. I would say that in 2 to 4 years, your leveling speed will struggle as your soul stabilizes more,” he replied.
“I can’t copy the soul fruits with a skill?” I asked.
“Don’t do that. That is how people kill themselves. I am not joking. What you are talking about is a soul massage. And despite its seemingly innocent na, it is very dangerous. Even if you think you have done everything right, you can damage skills, stats, and other parts of your soul without realizing. This will create even greater problems later on. So don’t try that,” Healer lon stated firmly.
“A sha the breaks are so short, I can’t go into the dungeon,” I said.
“You could take a sester or year off to do that. It is sothing that is offered,” Healer lon said.
“No. Once I leave this place I don’t think I want to co back for a long ti. I wouldn’t call it horrible, but it is an acquired taste. Just an unrelenting push for more levels and power. It is exhausting,” I replied. I knew that if my mother was listening in she would be rolling her eyes and saying that I was weak.
But this place lasted for seven years. That was a very long ti. I would be 19 years old when I graduated. That was so far away. I had just completed around 3.6% of my ti here in the College of Advancent. I had done well, but just thinking about all the ti left, it was mind numbing.
I should have known this place was terrible after my mother said I should go here to learn. She had hired Tutor Damian and he had talked about this place. But it had been a trap. I had promised I would do my best and I didn’t plan to quit, but this place was miserable in a way that was hard to describe.
The best way to explain it was that The Mathemancer had sucked out all the joy and social interaction of gaining skill levels. In the far future possibly, there would be golems teaching everyone with no Professor in sight. They would just repeat the most optimal lesson plan and everyone would copy that.
For a competitive environnt it made sense. But it would have been nice to make friend. I had a retainer, Healer lon. A rival, Windshell Gossir. And a pet that was still stuck in its egg. But there was no use complaining. People would say that I was being spoiled or lazy, but it felt like I was being forced into a box, when I wanted to see what was outside the box.
When I graduated, I was definitely going to travel. Go down into the dungeon at one point, co up at another and check out that city. See what the world had to offer. Live life a bit, instead of hyper focused on gaining levels. Otherwise, what was the point? My mother had worked her entire life to beco a Supre Legend and she seed very unhappy.
While she might smile at certain things, she didn’t seem to like her life in general. Even my father seed stressed with his crazy plans. I get wanting power so one could choose how they lived and be safe, but power for power sake seed exhausting. A quest without end or purpose.
Perhaps that was why my mother was going to the bottom of the dungeon, to find purpose. I just knew that I wasn’t afraid of hard work, but I didn’t want to keep working for my entire life. I wanted to beco the strongest, but there was more to life than being the strongest spellblade.
While giving that story about Bastian might have ant to test my determination, I had picked up another lesson from it. That was to enjoy your life while getting stronger. That was sothing my mother clearly didn’t understand along with most of the people here at this College.
Even if I didn’t place first, it would be disappointing, but I wouldn’t regret going to visit the nearby city or enjoying a week off. While I had been studying I had put everything I had into it, which showed with all the levels I had gained. But I wasn’t going to kill myself, even if I burned the book my mother gave and didn’t get a sword from my father.
Coming to that realization, lifted a weight off my shoulders I didn’t know was there. Expectations only had power if I couldn’t handle the consequences. I wouldn’t slow down or sabotage myself, but I was going to do things my way. The fun way, where it wasn’t year after year of unending misery. There would be so misery, but it would be all misery. This content belongs to N0v3l.Fiɾe
I was going to be the strongest, but I wouldn’t beco miserable doing so. Worrying about the future was just as much of a ntal distraction as worrying over numbers and levels. ntally I thanked Windshell Gossir for helping realize this fact. She would probably glare at or scream in rage if I told her that I didn’t care if I first or not.
It truly didn’t matter.
“You seem in a better mood,” Healer lon said as we made our way to the elevator down to the surface.
“Just realized sothing about this place, I knew, but didn’t properly realize until just now. The only enemy to advancing my levels is myself,” I replied. I didn’t want to tell Healer lon I didn’t care, since that would start an argunt. But truly not caring about the results was a way to get better results, at least I thought so. It was hard to properly put into words, which was why I didn’t bother. The results would show if I was right or wrong and even if I was wrong, they didn’t matter.
Reviews
All reviews (0)