I let out a sigh as I slumped back in my seat, stretching my arms up as I stared up at the ceiling. I've been feeling increasingly impatient and restless lately, but that shouldn't last much longer.
It's been a little over eight months since I sparred against Ariella, today's the 25th of November, 2168, and the General Education session for today just wrapped up. There's just about one month left before I'll be done with the Hunters Academy.
The final Practical Training exam is scheduled for the 20th of December, and the final General Education exam will be held three days later, on the 23rd. The results will be out at the end of the year, and that'll be that.
But thanks to my performances over the previous exams, even if get zeroes on both the final exams, I'll still pass.
I've gotten perfect scores on every General Education exam, and I haven't gotten a score lower than eighty-five percent on the Practical Training exams, though the first one was the only one where I got a perfect score.
Despite the way things went wrong during my first raid, the two subsequent Practical Training exams were also Dungeon raids. But each party was accompanied by two active Hunters instead of one for those exams, as an extra precaution.
That said, nothing went wrong during those raids, no incidents to speak of. And lucky for me, I didn't end up in a team with Trey again.
While those raids were mostly uneventful, they were still pretty challenging. Different Monster species, even of the same Threat Level, pose different challenges and need different tactics to be dealt with, and a lot of students struggled with that.
And at this point, several students in my class have dropped out. Besides me, every other student with J-Rank Potential had dropped out shortly after the second round of exams.
Four of those with Q-Rank Potential had dropped out too, along with one with K-Rank Potential.
Apparently, it's pretty common to have high dropout rates at the Hunters Academy.
Once you really come to terms with what it means to risk your life, there's a decision to be made, do you continue down this path, or opt for a safer route?
That's one of the main purposes of the Hunters Academy, to have aspiring Hunters confront that dilemma and determine for themselves if they have what it takes to become a Hunter.
I'm the only one with J-Rank Potential left in the class, on paper anyway. Of the other remaining students in my class, there are four with Q-Rank Potential and three with K-Rank Potential, including Trey and that Lancer guy from my first raid.
And Ariella's still around, of course, and she's continued to get stronger at a pretty steady pace. She's roped me into sparring against her at least once a month, but each time, I offer up less and less of a challenge.
And that's despite having raised my stats a fair bit over the second and third Practical Training exams, my currents stats in comparison to what they were after I fought that group of rogue Q-Ranked Hunters are:
HP: 114 -> 135
MP: 86 -> 133
Strength: 113 -> 136
Agility: 137 -> 168
Vitality: 115 -> 134
Perception: 127 -> 156
Power Level: 115,300 -> 143,700
Potential: 115,300 -> 143,700
My current stats and Power Level put me at around par with a lower-end Q-Ranked Hunter, but I'd say my technique and Skills push me closer to par with a mid-level Q-Rank.
Meanwhile, Ariella's current stats in comparison to what they were the first time we sparred:
HP: 348 -> 363
MP: 470
Strength: 346 -> 360
Agility: 406 -> 430
Vitality: 350 -> 366
Perception: 398 -> 423
Power Level: 364,300 -> 402,000
Potential: 945,000
While the overall increase to her stats is a bit lower than mine, the rate of growth to her stats and Power Level having gradually slowed down the further she progresses.
She's been working hard on sharpening her physical technique and abilities pretty regularly, so she's improved a lot more than her stats would suggest.
I'd guess she's at the level of a high-end K-Rank, maybe even borderline Ace level, it's crazy to think that she's still not even at half her full Potential yet.
I have to get creative and use unorthodox tactics whenever we spar, to try and make up for the power gap since I don't stand a chance in a fair fight, but she's always quick to adapt, adjust and then improve accordingly.
Huh, I wonder if sparring against me has helped accelerate her growth? Not that I'd take credit for that, of course, there's no denying the very real effort she puts in.
I haven't shown her any of my other Skills since our first sparring bout, mostly because they're either not practical, or just too dangerous.
Obliterate is out of the question, of course, not only because it's too dangerous, but also because my Rage Meter has never appeared when I spar against her. So, even if I wanted to use it on her, I couldn't.
As for the rest of my Skills, it felt wrong to use my Lust Skills on her, and my Greed Skills aren't viable in combat.
I've been tempted to use Command a few times but restrained myself from doing so, and using Slumber on her is next to impossible since I need to make direct contact to activate it, but she's way too fast for that.
I've also refrained from using my Envy Skills, and I can't use my second Wrath Skill yet because it still costs more MP to activate than I possess at the moment.
As for Mana Pulse, I've continued working at it, and my mastery over it has improved slowly but steadily, but I haven't actually used it on anyone after that time I used it on Ariella, it's just too dangerous.
So, yeah, that about sums up the last several months. Looking back, it feels like they went by in the blink of an eye, but now, I just feel really impatient, counting down the days to the end of my stint here at the Academy.
Oh, and since I finally turned eighteen about two and a half months ago, I decided it was finally time to act on my lust.
So, on my birthday, I headed straight to the red-light district and, well...you can fill in the blanks.
And I've been going there every two or three weeks since. While I didn't die a virgin in my previous life, I was pretty inexperienced, having gotten basically no action during the last few years of my life.
Prostitution is legal and regulated everywhere in this era, so I figured I should make use of it to practice before I try dating or flirting with anyone...it'd be pretty embarrassing if I was getting laid and ended up putting in a poor performance, so to speak.
But with escorts, that's less of a concern...it'd still be embarrassing, sure, but less so.
I've been to the red-light district five times so far, and I'd say I've performed well enough to boost my confidence in that area.
I mean, it's not like I can't afford it, I got a good bit of money on my second and third raids, not as much as I did during the first raid, but still.
Hm?
"Hey, Kai. You ready to head to our next class?" Ariella greeted me with a smile, as she approached my desk.
She's been hanging around me pretty often ever since that first sparring bout, and well, I'm definitely not complaining.
"Yeah, it is about that time," I nodded with a lazy sigh as I glanced at the time, before stretching my arms up as I hopped onto my feet.