Chapter 82: Arrival Of A Deadline
"Regardless of their appearance, every monster belongs to one of three categories: individual monsters, swarm monsters, or environmental monsters. Individual monsters are self-explanatory, and you must have encountered a variety of them by now, so we will skip them."
Scarlett explained, her tone stern.
"Swarm monsters consist of numerous little creatures that act for the greater good of the hive. The system recognizes them as one individual being, and you need to slay all of them to be granted experience. Avoid frontal confrontation if possible, because their behavior is hard to predict. It is advised to begin the battle from a distance and never fight them alone."
Elizabeth raised her hand.
"Chief Scarlett, in your personal opinion, which are more dangerous, individual or swarm monsters?"
Although Elizabeth was a member of the Starlight household and was prepared for different situations, she had never encountered a swarm monster, so she wasn’t able to draw a comparison.
Scarlett shook her head.
"There is no clear answer. Individual creatures tend to be smarter and harder to manipulate, but easier to manage, while the intelligence capabilities of swarm monsters are quite limited, so baiting them is easier, though they are much harder to contain."
She paused briefly, letting her words settle.
"However, both of them pale in comparison to the deadliest of them all: environmental monsters."
"Could you elaborate?" Arabella narrowed her eyes.
"Individual and swarm monsters are always driven by a purpose that can be predicted to an extent..." Scarlett said slowly.
"Meanwhile, environmental monsters are beings with no reason or will of their own. They can’t be scared or hurt but simply... are... Mindlessly killing, consuming, and absorbing. They exist in a state that can’t even be classified as truly being alive in the first place and are capable of erasing entire nations overnight. Because of that, most call them calamities."
Leonard raised an eyebrow. For some reason, the description sounded eerily familiar, yet he wasn’t able to put his finger on it.
A few seconds later, he realized.
"Doesn’t that sound like the Dark Forest that has surrounded most of Eternia City?" He blurted out, bringing silence to the hall.
The very reason he had chosen to master the use of axes was because he had sought to cut the seemingly endless trees that constantly spelled pollution.
And yet, now he began to wonder if the Dark Forest had actually been a calamity all this time.
Chief Scarlett met his gaze. She recognized him at a glance, remembering their first encounter and how he had jumped in without hesitation to rescue Daisy.
"Indeed, it is. We are fortunate that it remains dormant for now. Otherwise, our city would be swallowed whole, with no way to stop it."
"..."
Shivers ran down the backs of the scholars.
The rest of the lesson consisted mostly of exposition.
At the end, Scarlett told them that regardless of who taught the next lesson, they would be heading directly into a dungeon.
With his first day at the academy over, Leonard didn’t linger.
[Merit Points: 1,000]
He still had the massive amount of points he had earned by teleporting the monsters he found in the Void and sought to spend them wisely.
"They told me Merit Points are generally spent within the academy... Let’s see what they have to offer..." He mused with a wide grin.
The academy wasn’t just one structure but many facilities built next to each other, almost like a city within a city.
After entering the market, the first thing he searched for was a Dimensional Storage Ring.
Fortunately, he didn’t need to look for long before finding exactly what he was looking for.
[Dimensional Storage Ring]
[Rank: Rare]
[A Dimensional Storage Ring with a space measuring 0.5 meters in length, width, and height. Items placed inside retain their original state.]
[Price: 300 Merit Points]
"Bingo!" He exclaimed in joy, observing his new acquisition.
Cassandra’s advice from the first time they had met still echoed in his ears. He should hide his Dimensional Storage Skill from his adversaries, just in case.
Now, thanks to the cheap ring he had bought, he could always hide the existence of his Skill by pretending to take things out of his ring instead. No one would suspect that he possessed a Skill that was integrated within himself.
"700 Merit Points left..."
Next he set his sight on some potions.
[Minor Health Potion]
[Rank: Rare]
[A healing potion that restores 10 Vitality upon consumption. Overuse causes side effects.]
[Price: 100 Merit Points]
He didn’t cheap out and bought three healing potions. In the right circumstances, they could be the difference between dying and surviving.
[Minor Mana Potion]
[Rank: Rare]
[A mana replenishing potion that restores 300 Mana upon consumption. Overuse causes side effects.]
[Price: 100 Merit Points]
Similarly, he also bought three Mana-replenishing potions for the same reason, which left him with 100 Merit Points.
Finally, he bought a few other basic necessities.
Food, for example, was easily overlooked but crucial when spending a lot of time in a foreign land filled with monsters. He had learned this lesson the hard way after spending so much time in the Void.
However, now he had stocked up on hot dishes inside his Dimensional Storage that were already ready for consumption. At least now, he wouldn’t have to worry about nourishing his own body.
From then on, time seemed to pass in a blur. In a flash, a week had already passed since Leonard entered the academy as part of the Elite grade.
The lessons until now had been mostly the same, yet today was different.
The deadline Professor Albert had set for learning the Fireball Skill had arrived, and the scholars were meant to show him their progress over the past few days.
Understandably, the atmosphere was gloomy.
Not everyone had managed to learn the Skill, and those who hadn’t were deeply worried.
Some arrived at the lecture hall with a burning fireball in their hands and prayed to god that they would grasp the concept before the professor found out and made them drop to the lower grade.
As for Leonard, he was leisurely waiting in his seat.
After all, he was the only person to learn it the very first time Albert showcased it!
"This should be interesting..." He mused, curious about how many scholars in their grade were going to be demoted.