Upon finishing the first book and memorising the remaining magic circles he had left to learn, Soren brought his attention to the second book.
[Introduction to Divine Power] [By Gabriella Amorth]
Truthfully, it was a book that was somewhat useless for Soren at present.
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Divine Power - 0.3 (F)
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At that level, expecting miracles was laughable, and the sheer audacity of the term "divine" felt like someone trying to sell him a sword made of air.
Still, knowledge mattered.
Even if he couldn't use it properly now, understanding it would help later, and he had learned the hard way that later arrived faster than you expected.
With that in mind, he started flipping through the pages, only to grimace immediately, because the problem was exactly the kind of problem he couldn't solve by brute force.
'Of course…' he thought, letting out a slow sigh.
There was something Soren had overlooked.
Divine power wasn't like magic.
You couldn't just memorise a circle and cast it.
You had to pray.
You had to believe.
And that was the problem, because Soren was an atheist.
Obviously, he was aware that Ivansia had gods; he had seen them after all, but awareness wasn't the same as trust, and existence wasn't the same as worship.
"What am I supposed to do?"
The idea of suddenly becoming devout felt absurd, like trying to force a missing limb to grow back by thinking positively about it.
'Should I just give up on it?'
The only reason he had even thought of learning how to utilise divine power was because of the few stat points given by the Starfruit he had eaten, a tiny bump that had made him think, maybe, just maybe, it was another tool he could pry open.
Now it seemed like a dead end.
Fwaaa.
"…Huh?"
Until a purplish-silver glow flickered around his left hand.
For a moment he thought he was seeing things, an afterimage from staring too long at ink and paper, but…
Wooong.
…It happened again.
Soren stared, baffled, because he hadn't prayed, he hadn't felt faith blooming in his chest, and he certainly hadn't decided that any god deserved his devotion, yet the light clearly appeared.
'Divine power?'
Not only that, but unlike regular divine power, which was pure silver, Soren's also held a hint of purple within it, faint but unmistakable, like dye in water.
He hesitated, then read aloud, his voice low out of habit, as if volume might make it more real.
"I call to you, goddess, hear my name and help thy champion. 「Minor Blessing of Mana」"
The light appeared in Soren's hands once more, proving his theory correct, however…
The light dissipated before the blessing activated.
"…Did it work?"
He assumed the reason for the light disappearing was due to his lack of divine power stat, but he still hadn't seen an incantation activate, so he was unsure of whether to call it a success or not, and uncertainty with divine things felt worse than uncertainty with magic, because magic at least behaved consistently.
Still, it was enough.
He was now confident that he had the ability to use divine power, even if it was unreliable, even if the method didn't make sense.
He memorised the book anyway, powering through all the fanatical talk with the stubbornness of someone who refused to be locked out of a system just because he didn't like its premise.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
A week and a half passed.
Training.
Repetition.
Experimentation.
Days blurred together in a routine that was almost comforting, because routine meant there were fewer surprises, fewer moments where the world grabbed him by the throat, and even when he was exhausted, at least exhaustion was familiar.
When he checked his progress again, the numbers had shifted enough to make his shoulders loosen, just slightly.
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[Status Window]
Name: Soren Arden
- Basic Magic
└ Ignition (D) → Ignition (D+)
└ Shock (E+) → Shock (D-)
└ Gaia (E+)
└ Shockwave (F) → Shockwave (E-)
└ Shield (F) → Shield (E-)
└ Bloom (F) → Bloom (F+)
└ Aqua (F+)
└ Freeze (F)
└ Breeze (F)
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While not entirely satisfactory, it represented significant progress in such a short period, especially for someone who had started with almost nothing but knowledge of a game and a body that kept reminding him it wasn't built for heroics.
Some of the spells were useless.
Others weren't.
Both [Bloom] and [Shockwave] were surprisingly good, especially [Shockwave], because it finally gave Soren the mid-range attack he had been desperately needing, something that didn't require him to be close enough to smell someone's breath, close enough to feel a blade glance past his ribs.
He looked over at the target dummy, sitting roughly twenty metres away, which had a dent in its chest, and the sight made a small, satisfied hum settle in his throat.
'Perfect.'
Not only was it powerful for its proficiency level, but it was also invisible due to its being sound magic, and invisible attacks were a currency in real fights, a way to steal a moment when the other person didn't know what to defend against.
It did have a drawback, which was that it was deafeningly loud, loud enough that it rattled in his teeth even when he braced for it.
But an invisible ranged attack was priceless for Soren right now, and he could work around noise, he could plan for it, and he could choose where to use it.
'[Shock] is also at D- now too.'
Both of Soren's main offensive spells had crossed the barrier into D rank.
This meant that they were now viable threats even to some of the stronger students, not the monsters of Class A, obviously, because those people felt like a different species when you watched them move, but still, it mattered, because it meant he wasn't swinging air anymore.
"Hahhhh…"
He finally felt somewhat ready to tackle the midterms, not confident, not excited, but steadier, like his feet were on the ground rather than dangling over a drop.
Ting-♪
Hearing that sound, however, Soren's confidence completely vanished, as if someone had reached into his chest and pinched the nerve that controlled dread.
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▶ Main Quest Received! ◀
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▶ Main Quest: First Steps (2) ◀
[Details: Place within the top 10 in the midterm practical.]
[Difficulty: A-]
[Rewards: Random Magic Skill, 150 Points]
[Penalty: None]
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"…Shit."
The word left him flat and honest.
He had only just gained confidence in his ability to pass the practical, and then all of a sudden, a quest appeared and told him that just passing wasn't good enough, as if the system itself was scoffing at his attempt to settle for survival.
'At least the rewards are good.'
A rare magic skill was a fantastic reward for Soren's current situation, where he didn't have access to the few rare magical elements, and he was scraping together utility from scraps and brute repetition.
In the store, a rare magic skill itself costs 1000 points, meaning this would give him a significant boost in power, a shortcut he couldn't normally afford.
Then there were the points the quest gave, because if he obtained those, he would finally cross the 500-point threshold for obtaining a decent skill, and the thought of finally having a real option in the store made his fingers itch.
The problem was, of course, the contents of the quest.
"Top 10…"
With his knowledge of the game, he knew why it was telling him to get top 10; he knew what it was trying to push him towards, but he still didn't like it.
Ignoring the fact that it would be almost impossible to get into the top 10, the real problem was that it would make him stand out with no escape, and standing out in this world felt like painting a target on his own forehead.
The midterm practical was a battle royale-type event where each participant would have to collect mana beads, and whoever had the most mana beads at the end would win.
The issue is that throughout the exam, the locations of the top 10 students are broadcast to all other students.
Their name.
Their placement.
Their location.
Everything.
This meant that even if Soren got lucky enough to get within the top 10 with how weak he was, it was unlikely he would be able to last until the end anyway, because the moment his name appeared, everyone who wanted an easy steal, or a challenge, or just the satisfaction of taking down someone "famous" for five minutes, would converge.
'But I really want that reward…'
He knew the location of every mana bead.
That knowledge was a weapon in itself, a map nobody else had, and if he was left alone, he could get within the top 10 through efficiency and timing, picking routes that minimised conflict, staying out of sight, moving like a rat through a pantry.
But once again, it was a lack of strength that held him back, because knowledge didn't matter when someone stronger decided they wanted what you had.
'At least there's no penalty this time.'
During his first main quest, there was a penalty of minus 0.5 to all stats if he didn't win all the mock duels, a looming threat that had forced him into fights he wasn't ready for.
This time, however, as if acknowledging how unrealistic a quest this was, whoever was behind the status window didn't bother.
He tried to think of a plan of action, but…
"Ughh…"
It was useless.
Soren wasn't a schemer in the first place, and while he could be clever in the moment, the kind of cleverness born from desperation, he felt genuinely lost by his current situation, because every route he imagined ended with someone stronger finding him and taking everything.
Was there any way for him to complete the quest?
After a few minutes of thought, he raised his head from his hands and spoke, more to stop himself spiralling than because he believed it.
"Whatever, I'll figure it out later."
Instead of overworking his brain, he decided to wait and see how it went, and if given a chance, he would take it, because sometimes the only viable plan was opportunism.
Until then, he would continue doing what he had been doing and just raise his proficiencies to the best of his abilities.
Four days remained until the midterms.
————「❤︎」————