My entire body aches as I sit up in my bed. All that exertion yesterday seems to have angered my muscles quite a bit. But, it feels good in a way. The pain means I am getting stronger, and ever closer to eradicating the monsters.

  I get up and stretch, easing some of the ache in my muscles. I check the time with my brand new system interface. It is currently 9:00, three hours until we get back our results. I head out into the common room and grab breakfast.

  Rather than a nutrient bar I actually try out the food synthesizer. It says it can produce almost any food that we desire. I settle for a few riceballs, a great start to one’s day.

  After I scarf down my meal, I head out onto the balcony, the part of our quarters I have yet to see. It is quite nice. There is a small pool, enough for all of us to swim around should we wish. There are a few comfy lounging chairs by the pool, they look perfect for reading. There are also a couple tables, one of them with a holochess game set on it.

  Off to the side there is a small garden, with a large oak tree. There are lots of pretty flowers growing under it, I wonder who planted them.

  The entire balcony is under some sort of barrier that I can see shimmering in the air above. Beyond it is the vacuum of space. There must be some radiation barrier farther out, because being this close to the large blue star would kill us without adequate protection.

  I start walking towards one of the tables, then I notice Violet. She is sitting in a comfy chair by the pool, a data book in hand. She doesn't seem to notice me, so I creep up behind her.

  She looks absolutely stunning, the blue starlight makes her hair look really cool, and it pairs quite well with her eyes.

  “Whatcha readin’?” I say once I am standing right behind her.

  She jumps up, turning around and faster than I can see she places her hand at my throat, like she was about to chop me, and only barely stopped. “Idiot! You should know better than to sneak up on people. What if I had killed you?”

  “I’d like to see you try.”

  Suddenly I am on the floor, my arm twisted behind my back and Violet’s knee pressing me hard into the ground. I gasp for breath as all of the air rushes out of my lungs.

  “Alright, alright, I get it. No sneaking up on people who can kill me in an instant.” I say and she releases me. I’ve definitely got an extra bruise or two from this encounter. But damn, was it worth it.

  “Idiot.” She says, then sits back down.

  “So, whatcha reading?” I ask again and take a seat in a chair next to her.

  “When did I say I wanted to talk to you?” She sounds annoyed. It would be smart to leave her alone.

  “I don’t think you did, but you also didn't tell me to fuck off. So I take that as an invitation to talk.”

  “Well then, go away.”

  I let out a light laugh, “Nah, I'm comfortable now. So, whatcha reading?”

  “Imbecile. If you are truly that interested, I am reading Lovan’s dissertation on the quasi-nucilean barrier.” She says, not even looking at me.

  “Sounds interesting, though I only know what half of those words mean.”

  “As I said, imbecile.”

  “Says the lovely Ms. Prodigy. Ya know, not everyone is some super duper uber genius that attends schools for super duper uber geniuses.” This gets her to look at me. Her eyes have a fierce gleam in them, and it looks like she is about ready to murder me.

  “Wait, how do you know where I went to school?”

  “Its in the data entries we were given about each other. Don't tell me the uber genius didn't know about those?” I say teasingly.

  She seems to lose focus for a few seconds, probably looking at the entries. “Oh, those are quite helpful. Thanks for the info, now fuck off.”

  I get up and leave, heading into the study to get some reading in. It seems like Violet does not want to talk to me at all, and I don't want to push it too much right now.

  I try to find a book about nuclei whatever, but it seems our study doesn't have anything on the topic. Perhaps Violet grabbed the only one. Though I highly doubt I would understand a single bit of it, it sounds quite complicated.

  I get absorbed in reading and almost scream when the loud ding sounds from the system message.

  [Evaluation Results Received]

  I immediately put down my book and open it up.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Cadet Ilemon, your squad’s general evaluation has been completed. Please review these results carefully. - Professor Abel, Evaluation Proctor

  P.S., Skill levels are gained through training a skill, the cap is based on the average level of your paths. Having higher stats that are associated with the skill makes it easier to level. Stats gained from skills can go over your stat caps, and can temporarily improve your capabilities. Also, I suggest reading ‘Liea’s basic guide to skills’ and ‘Liea’s basic guide to Paths, levels and ranks’, it should be available in your study.

  New Active Skill Acquired:

  [Dagger Proficiency Lvl 2/5] (Agility, Strength)

  Activates when you are holding a dagger in your hand. Bonuses: + 1 Agility/Lvl, +0.5 Strength/Lvl

  Ability 1: Unlocks at Skill Level 25

  Ability 2: Unlocks at Skill Level 150

  Ability 3: Unlocks at Skill Level 500

  New Active Skill Acquired:

  [Stave Proficiency Lvl 1/5] (Intelligence, Mana Control)

  Activates when using a stave to cast spells. Bonuses: -0.1% spell mana cost/Lvl, +1 Intelligence/level, +0.5 mana control/Lvl

  Ability 1: Unlocks at Skill level 50

  Ability 2: Unlocks at Skill level 175

  New Passive Skill Acquired:

  [Quickdraw Lvl 1/5] (Dexterity)

  +0.5% weapon swap speed/Lvl

  New Resistance Skill Acquired:

  [Fire Resistance Lvl 1/80]

  +1% fire resistance/Lvl

  Woah, these skills seem a bit complicated. I'm glad that professor managed to add in the note, otherwise I would be clueless. I still have no clue what the different skill types, abilities or ranks are.

  Luckily, it seems there are books about just that somewhere around here. After a bit of sifting through the stacks, I find them. After a quick read, it seems there are four different types of skills.

  Active skills require a condition to be met (like holding a certain weapon type) and often represent general knowledge of the topic. They also have abilities that can be unlocked as they meet skill level and general rank requirements.

  Passive skills are always active, and provide various bonuses. Often representing a more specialized talent that someone has developed.

  Resistance skills provide resistances to various damage sources. They are usually hardcapped at a certain level and cannot go beyond that.

  Lastly, Path skills are the most important. They are directly tied to one's paths, like my Scout and Mage. You can gain more of them as you rank up, and they often become crucial tools in a Guard’s arsenal.

  The book also mentions that most skills are capped at one tenth the average path level if a general skill or the corresponding path if a path skill. Which is good to know.

  Unfortunately, it seems my path skills will be locked until I start leveling. This brings me to the other book about paths, levels and ranks.

  Very simply, every Guard has two paths, one general like Scout or Tank, and another more personal like Mage or Fencer. They can be leveled by earning experience, with the amount divided by how much the path contributed to the acquisition. Experience is exclusively gained by slaying monsters.

  Lastly, it mentions Ranks. Every two hundred and fifty levels reached in both paths, you can acquire a rank up. Which is apparently a pretty big deal. I believe Tien just had a big celebration for her twelfth rank. Which means she is at least a level 3000 in both paths. I wonder just how high it goes.

  It also mentions that after every 250 levels the experience required massively increases, meaning fighting lower rank monsters is practically worthless.

  It's a lot of information to process, but I think I've got the hang of it. Seems like I am good at learning all this system stuff.

  Just as I am finishing my reading, Liv storms into the room. “Come on, slacker, it's time for training! And no, you cannot skip it.” Then she walks out of the room, not giving me a chance to protest.

  I get up with a sigh and head over to the gym, where Stephen and Liv are waiting. “Where are Moxie and Violet?” I notice they aren't present.

  “Oooh, you won't believe this! When I went to tell Moxie it was training time she hid in her closet!” Liv says, as though it's completely unbelievable that Moxie would hide from her. “When I went to tell Violet she just gave me the middle finger and ignored me. Oh, how I would love to smack her with a nice sword, teach her some manners the good old fashioned way.”

  “I don't think you would succeed in that. Considering you can’t move in combat, you stand no chance. Even if you could move, Violet would still absolutely destroy you.” I state, it's the absolute truth. Violet is just on a completely different level. I wouldn't be surprised if her stats somehow went over the cap we are stuck at. Though I doubt she would tell me if they did.

  “Thats absurd, I could win against her, easily.” Liv flexes her pretty well muscled arm. Seems like she and Stephen are going to get along nicely, with their shared hobby of getting far too buff.

  “Well then, how about you try beating me first? Violet is leagues above me, so if I win then it's clear that she is stronger.”

  “I’ll go grab the popcorn!” Stephen says, letting out a laugh.

  “Oh, you are so on.” Liv says and walks over to the wall which has a bunch of weapons racked on it. As well as some sort of med pod that says ‘healing’ at the top. Guess we wouldn't be the first cadets to injure each other while practicing.

  There are no staves available, so I only grab my two daggers. When I pick them up I feel stronger and faster. Must be the skill kicking in. It feels good, euphoric even.

  We square off in the middle of the room and begin. Immediately, I close the distance and move behind Liv. I aim a stab to her side, but I am suddenly hit in the side and knocked flying across the room.

  I hit the wall, but it is padded with something, so I don't take damage from the impact. I think the impact broke one of my ribs though. I think she hit me with her shield. Perhaps it is some sort of new counter skill.

  “Maka! Are you alright? I didn't expect my skill to hit you that hard” She rushes over to my side, helping me to stand up.

  “I’ve had worse. But damn, that must be an awesome skill, I'm jealous.”

  “It is definitely cool, can't believe it's only a general skill and not a path one. Guess I must've done something in the evaluations to earn it.” She slings my arm over her shoulder and helps me into the med pod.

  “You might actually have a chance at getting a single hit on Violet if you surprise her with that. But, you’ll still be destroyed afterwards.”

  “Totally not true. You’ll see, one day I'll convince her to spar with me and I'll kick her ass.” She says, pushing the button on the side of the pod. Immediately a pleasant feeling runs over me and my body is mended.

  Before we can test the theory, another ding sounds and we get a system message.

  Your bonding ceremony is scheduled to begin in one hour. Please wear formal attire and head to the central annex. - Professor Dirge, Advisor to the Asteria Squadrons

  “Ah drat, guess I don't get to punch you again.” Liv groans. “Wait, does this mean we are finally getting our dragons?” A large smile spreads over her face.

  “I believe it does. Now Maka, why don't you convince Moxie to stop hiding and get ready.”

  “Hell yes, dragon time!” I exclaim.

  Next Chapter: The Elder

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