---[ Start of QUIET TRANSFORMATION ARC ]---
I had to train, like a lot. But as a pro-class procrastinator in my previous life, I wanted to take it slow. And as usual I may even forget about this after some time passes, just as I used to do in my previous life.
After all I had no real family to speak of aside from my uncle, Mr Pawn. And that was both an advantage and a disadvantage combined in one.
But let's not think about that for now. The academy should be starting today, so I have used any means possible to increase my stats during the period of time before that.
I believe at this point the MC was already ranked E borderline D, which was leagues above a rank F+ like me. So I've got to use this period of time well in hopes of catching up with the protagonist a little bit.
And of course, how can we forget our dear Author. He should be a mere extra as of now, a G- Rank at that. Just like me previously.
But one week before the academy started, he would ingest [Fruit Of Limit]. This would break all the potential cap that he previously had. He would be able to reach greater heights and train faster.
This was because in this world the closer one gets to their potential limit, the slower their progress. Not to mention the spike in difficulty of improving oneself. Hence in this world, the higher the potential, the greater your training speed was in any stage.
And that applied to me too. Except that I was a S rank in physical regard but EX in magic. This was largely because both my potential limit and mana affinity leaned more towards the magic path.
Simply put, it was like having talent in every regard but being able to work the best in that one field in which you have most talent in.
Before going any further into this, I would like to inform everyone reading this: I am going to read a book in a library.
Quite a normal thing, right? Wrong, who get's to read a whole library worth of new world knowledge .
And strictly speaking, the number of books a person reads per year here in this world was much higher than my previous world.
Shocking, right! No, the people here are more advanced than people in my world by atleast 200 hundred years. And due to that, they know better than anyone else what value the books posses.
Even more shocking thing is that, this world's lowest amount of books read per person per year was higher than the highest record the humanity made in the 21st Century in my previous world.
And that was during the infamous virus outbreak, known as COVID - 19, which shook my previous world and the humanity to its core.
Those were the times when humans who had forgotten themselves, suddenly realised that they were also mortal. That they were humans. That life should slow down in the exceedingly fast paced world which I used live in.
Although this world was also quite fast paced, but aside from extinction threat by impending third Great Disaster, everything else here was much better than my previous life.
And as I was musing these thoughts in my mind, I was attracted by the history section of the public library. By the way, this library was free. Like completely free. Just saying.
And so, I took out a random history book to check if what I remembered was still true. Atleast the past events.
And I was right. I felt quite delighted. As a proud reader who can't remember much of his study books, but all the content that he had read in his barely two decades worth of life.
I had the right, after all, I was already in a fantasy world. And unfortunately, my dear readers, your chances of reaching other-worlds are quite scarce as hell.
SO GET LOST! READ A BOOK OR TWO! THAT WOULD SURELY HELP IN FIXING YOUR SLOWLY ROTTING LIFE SOMEWHAT!
Not to mention, it will help in achieving a higher score in your exams, either academic or life related exam that may be.
Sorry for the sudden outburst, as a not so consistently diligent student myself in my previous life, I have no right to lecture you all.
But come on, I will lecture. After all, you may reach the author of the third edition but you will never be able to reach me as I am in another world. Suprise! V-R Mid Finger through the space-time.
That aside, let's not get delayed by useless things as you all are just road side stinking shit. And you will not heed my not-so-unfriendly advice. So let's continue....
So as I read the random history book, I came across some interesting facts which were not explicitly mentioned in the novel in both editions.
Unlike some people who buy books but never even touch them till the end of year exams are knocking the daylights out of their mind. Ahem...
So the interesting facts were like this (with a heavy flavour of geography.. hehe) :
After the first stage of the Great Disaster, the world map completely changed. As usual in every other generic novel. Nothing new here.
Before, the Earth was a huge body of water with separate continents spread across it. Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia.
But after the first stage of the Great Disaster, all continents merged into one, creating one large continent.
Then the second stage of the Great Disaster occurred, and the territory which humanity occupied became smaller and smaller until the power balance finally stabilized at a ratio of 3/8 Demons, 5/8 Fantasy, and 1/8 Humanity.
Currently, Humanity occupied the East side of the newfound continent, right where Asia used to be.
New infrastructures and cities were built, and among all the cities that were built, five cities stood out from the rest.
These cities later became the hub of heroes, thus they were also known as major cities of the Human Region.
Conviction city, Backster city, Draken city, Eaton city, and lastly Andromeda city, the current human capital. They were also known as A City, B City ... Etc.
Now, the question is why were these cities so important? It's because they were humanity's last safeguard against the non human entities invasion. This was due to them being the hub of hero development.
Each city safeguards the borders of the human territory from potential invasions and threats coming from demons and other races.
Conviction city stood at the very north of the human border, and safeguards humanity against the potential threat coming from the orcs, who were a war-driven species.
Bh'rus the current leader of the orcs was especially fearsome, as he was regarded as the 'one-orc army' in the battlefield.
His fearsome display of strength may come as a shock to many people as they become flabbergasted at his cruel nature and fearsome strength. Quite literally.
Backster city safeguards the western area which was right at the edge of the demon territory and the elven territory.
Fortunately, the elves, unlike the orcs, were not a war-oriented race, hence the only source of worry were the demons.
But even if the elves don't participate in the war, the demon's fearsome strength was leaving Backster on their wit's end.
Draken city safeguarded the southern area of the human territory and protects against demons coming from the south.
Like Backster, they were constantly harassed by demons, but unlike there, it was in a far more dire situation compared to Backster.
Backster borders with the elven territory, and as a result, the demons were forced to split their forces to protect themselves from potential ambushes from the elves, easing the burden they face when fighting against the demons.
In Draken, however, the situation was much much worse. There were no elves, no orcs, and no dwarfs. There was no other faction nearby that would cause the demons to split their forces.
Therefore when demons invade, Draken city faces the full brunt of the demons, causing large amounts of lives and resources to be wasted every year.
Eaton City on the other hand was located on the east side. And compared to the previous cities, it had one noticeable difference.
That was the fact that it directly faced the sea. That meant... it had to fend off against sea creatures. This included mutated sea creatures and non humans that had taken shelter in the ocean.
After the second stage of the Great Disaster due to the sudden burst in mana coming from the otherworlds, animals started going into a frenzy due to mutation and genetic drift.
At first, it seemed like they had completely lost their minds, but later after a few days, changes started happening . Or to be more precise, they became more noticeable.
The most noticeable difference being their insane growth in height, enhanced functioning and extreme bloodthirst.
What could've been your cute little hamster just an hour ago, turned into a demonic beast that would eat you whole in just a couple of minutes.
Luckily, it seemed that they did not gain any intelligence, hence they were not necessarily a threat as long as they were left alone.
Lastly, there was Andromeda city, the center of humanity. The last barrier that protects humanity against any outside threat.
The most secure location available and the area where the EDEN academy was located. The ultimate training academy that was known to mankind, created for the sole purpose of creating ultimate heroes who will lead the charge to reclaim Earth and fend against non-humans.
The EDEN was a huge facility that spammed over kilometers and boasted top-end training facilities. Just saying, no hard feelings.
It had over 30, 000 dorm rooms, 1,200 training facilities, 1, 500 classrooms, and 3, 000 highly trained professionals and teachers to tend to the students catering.
There were many privileges in being a student from the EDEN, and one of them was the fact that you could gain access to all public transportation for free like how I was able to reach the library.
This was not only a privilege but also a reminder for every student of EDEN that they were future heroes who will be given all the support to rescue humanity from crisis. A silent reminder. And a very effective one at that.
Moving on, there resided many people that I knew about from the novel. Just like the son of Mr Pawn, Knight Pawn, who was the demon spy responsible for the early demise of Sash Mothing in every edition.
And I had quite a nice way to deal with him. And even if the plan to counter him failed somehow, I would still be able to escape with the combo of [Flash Steps] and [Shadow Walk].After a lot of effort, the status in front of me now looked like this:
___Status___
Host/ World Name : Sash Mothing
Common Name, Prestige : Zenitsu Kamishiro ( Hidden )
Species: Human ( Hidden )
Age : 13 ( Lifespan : 216 Years )
Mana Affinity: EX ( Hidden )
Potential/ Talent Cap : EX . ( Hidden )
Rank : F
Attributes : ( Hide off)
Strength : F-
Agility : F-
Stamina : F-
Intelligence : C+
Mana capacity : D
Luck : C+
Charm : E
--> Profession : [Magic lvl. 5]
The understanding of magic and it's properties which make spells a reality.
Skills:
Active Skills :-
[ Telepathy ] _ Lvl 4 - Can expend mana to convey voice, messages and/or visual mentally. Can form a 5 cm short distance telepathic link.
Lvl 5 - Can expend mana to convey voice, messages and/or visual mentally. Can form a 15 cm short distance telepathic link.
Lvl 6 - Reach Lvl 5 to unlock info...
[Fireball] Lvl 8- Condense mana into a fireball. Effective Attack range : meters.
[Flash Steps] Lvl 4- Condense mana into the soles of feet while simultaneously dispersing it to every corner of the body to achieve instantaneous speed beyond human limits temporarily.
Effective range : 120 meters.
[Shadow Walk] Lvl 2- Use mana to access the Shadows nearby to perform spatial jump to another nearby Shadow. Effective Attack range : 100 meters.
[Inventory] Lvl 2- Use mana to get access to a designated spatial pocket. Volume range : 20 cubic meters.
[ Death Summon ] Lvl 1- Use mana to access the undead energy nearby you to perform undead summoning nearby. Summon limit : 1. Only one major rank above yours. Currently E- Rank summon is available.
[Elemental Manipulation] Lvl 2 - Use mana to manipulate elementons nearby you. Effective range : 200 meters.
[Shape Shift] Lvl 1. Alter the shape of non-living things slightly.
Passive Skills :-
[ Iron Will ] - Patience, willpower, mental fortitude, and resilience grows with each difficult situation weathered.
[Precision]- Boost accuracy and penetration of skills with practice.
[ Concealment ] - Presence, attributes and everything else in contact with the host can be concealed to the point of non-existence in the point of view of others. [ On/ Off ]
[ Super Mind ]- Mental tasks made even easier and more efficient due to having a super mind. Provides Significant Passive Boost to Intelligence Stat.
[Strengthen]- Strengthen the body by consuming negligible amounts of mana once a year. More mana used means a stronger body.
_____________
Sadly due to time constraints, I was unable to learn any new skills but I managed to level up my arsenal by quite a bit.
After reaching the Academy premises, an instructor checked my status and potential with a transparent crystal ball and a blue crystal ball respectively.
When I asked why this was being done, he pointed out that due to the presence of disguise related skills, thus it was important to ascertain that the cadet entering the Academy is not a fake.
This was just one of the many measures taken by EDEN to spot demon spies and non-humans. Still, they don't know that there were many demon spies and non-humans inside the Academy.
This is proven true in both the first and second editions of the novel. And the first proof present by both editions regarding this was : Knight Pawn, son of Ausable Pawn who was just another extra and subordinate of Draxen Qualio who was an infamous chain villain from the first edition of the novel.
Setting aside my uncle for the moment, let's talk about Qualio. Who was he? An infamous early stage chain villain from the first edition of the novel.
And let me tell you all : Never mess with chain villains without plot armour. Absolutely never.
Because even if you can kill the first one with one slap, you may not be able to face those that come after him. They were just annoying to no end.
Draxen only appeared in a few chapters in the beginning, then after he got defeated by MC, his big brother alongside some of his aides started making trouble with MC.
This went on until MC defeated them all. Then came Mr Qualio, a committee head in the Hero Association. Father of Draxen Qualio.
And MC had to leave the Human domain for a period of time to train due actions of Mr Qualio. This also started the second arc of the first edition.
This part of the novel in the first edition was mostly focused on introducing non-humans to readers, like Elves, Orcs, Centaurs etc.
Moral that we learnt from this, in terms of Chinese Cultivation novels : kill a sect member, and after a few rounds of defeating the sect people, the sect master will hunt you until you defeat him and destroy the sect in passing.
So, I will stir clear of him. Also, I learnt a pretty good application of elemental manipulation. That was : Elemental control.
I mean obviously. But that's the thing. By using the Elemental Control part of Elemental manipulation, I can concentrate the elementons present in the air at that specific corner of the place.
It's roughly like collecting trash from the room and placing it inside the dustbin placed in a corner. Just that the trash here in elementons and the dustbin is the place designated by Elemental Control.
And trash will get collected inside the dustbin by a vaccum force called mana. You get the point, right.
Okay, moving on. I was quite excited to meet the characters I had only read as mere words. And I was most excited to meet the Author.
Normally the Author wouldn't have cared about skipping classes as he didn't want to repeat what he had been through back in the high school. Neither would I.
But since he designed the EDEN, he already knows how strict the instructors were. In both the first and second editions of the novel. Not mention me.
Especially to those who were not highly ranked, like him and me. They (we) were merely treated us like dispensable people who will later die on the frontlines. Quite pragmatic yet cruel.
Hence if you get on the bad side of some professors, it'd be best if you pack up, as you will probably never be able to graduate from there. And yes, that was an unwritten rule.
This was the last thing the Author wanted, as there were so many things he needed to accomplish in the 'EDEN' before he could safely venture outside of the human territory. As he did in the second edition.
Firstly he needed to participate in a couple of events that will happen inside of the EDEN.
But wouldn't participation affect the plotline? Of course, it would, but because the author doesn't know whether his reincarnation has had any effect on the plot of the story, he will need to personally check it out himself and see if the storyline was still the same as what he wrote.
That was precisely what resulted in the production of the second edition. Although I don't know who wrote that.
So far everything seemed to be the same, but if by chance the Author's reincarnation has had a butterfly effect on the story it could create disastrous consequences.
As they did in the second edition. So... taking this into consideration Author would decide to step in and help in the case that something deviates from the plotline. As previously done.
Secondly, as the EDEN was the foremost academy in developing heroes in the entire humanity, it would be a total loss for him to miss it. It was the same even for me.
If he wanted to become strong enough to survive the third and last stage of The Great Disaster, he would definitely not miss the chance that was presented to him. Neither would I.
With their state-of-the-art facilities, it would take no time for me and him to become strong enough to live comfortably on our own.
It's not like we could become super strong immediately. Without effort and time, we couldn't catch up to the protagonist and his companions. Sash thought to himself.
-------
Staring at the door to the classroom, I sighed
[A50]
The letter "A" stood for the floor level which went from A to E, and the number "50" referred to the classroom number.
There was a reason for my sigh.
I knew this class
Of course, I knew this classroom. This was the classroom where the protagonist and the other main characters stayed for half of the novel, in the first edition at least. Later, the author was placed in this class in the second edition.
Many schemes and plots from jealous rivals and competitors happened in this class. Regardless of the edition.
"Huuu"
After collecting my breath, I slowly opened the door and entered the classroom.
Looking at the classroom I couldn't help but notice how spotless it was as it almost looked like it was sparkling. Like literally. Quite a haven for an OCD patient.
The classroom was split into two descending rows, and each row had a retractable seat that one could sit on.
'Where should I sit? '
As I looked around the classroom for a place to sit, my attention was instantly drawn towards three individuals.
Haughtily sitting on the last row on the right was a blonde youth with clear green eyes and a dignified face. His slightly long hair gently rested on top of his broad shoulders, and his perfectly masculine jawline seemed as if it was chiseled by a sculptor.
From time to time you could see girls secretly taking peeks at his handsome face as they shyly blushed and turned their heads away whenever their eyes met.
Jim Hilton
The protagonist's rival. As in every generic novel.
Descendant of the Hilton family that currently owned a majority stake of the second-largest guild in the Human Domain 'Light guild'.
'You could definitely tell he was one of those typical arrogant young master type characters just by a glance.'
I thought as I looked at him from the corner of my eye. His condescending attitude that made feel people feel like they were below him.
This could be vividly seen by the way he looked down on almost everyone in the class.
Born with a silver spoon, and provided with whatever he desired, it was almost inevitable for his character to become like that.
But don't get me wrong, although he had the vibe of a villain, he was actually part of the 'goods guys'. Yep, it was quite a twist when that became a fact in the first edition.
It was only after the Author made some adjustments to his character that he started becoming a fan favorite. At least that was how it went in the first edition.
He may be a villain now but later as the story progresses and his character goes through a series of hurdles, he starts to mature and slowly becomes more bearable to stay with.
Especially in the second edition where he still retained his desire for growth but completely shed the attitude. Not to mention the first one.
Glancing around for a couple of seconds, I decided to sit down on the second row on the left. As far away from the main characters as possible. And at the exact seat which the Author was gracing today.
Now that I am in the novel, the excitement was hard to contain. And the Author really had extremely low Charm Stat by the way he looked. Just as depicted in the second edition.
It was like there was a black cloud hanging on his face. The kind that made his normally attractive face by previous Earth's standard, look a bit pitiful as if drowning in bad luck of low Charm.
Also, there was no way I was going to interact with the main cast. At least not before the Author. That would be unfair, not to mention a third edition may start taking place from that moment.
I'm just gonna sit here like a proper mob villain and pretend to be air. Just like the Author in the second edition as an extra in the early stage.
Why?
Simple. The main characters were literal calamity magnets! Alongside Author in second edition.
Whatever could go wrong will go wrong if you were with them. Like hell am I going to bother getting close to them aside from the Author! I'm here to live, not to die. So I will follow the lead of the Author.
Well, even if I did try to interact with them in the most likely scenario I would most likely be ignored. Mainly due my still unpolished skills and average rank.
Currently, it was 7:30 A. M and class began at 8:00.
Seeing that I had 30 minutes to spare before class started, I rested my head on my arms and closed my eyes. The author was also doing the same beside me.
I had actually arrived at the academy an hour ago. Just at the time the Author arrived.
By the time the Author had come back from the Kaiton Ridge, it must've been 6:45 A. M already.
And as he couldn't skip class the author must have taken a quick shower, put on his new uniform, and hurriedly made his way towards class.
The author was honestly looking rather exhausted. Such a lonely soul.
He must've not slept for almost 24 hours, and to be honest, I don't even know if he could even manage to keep his eyes open during class.
Fortunately, today was orientation day so they shouldn't be talking much, which sits well with him.
"Attention! "
As the Author was soundly sleeping on the desk, a loud voice echoed across the classroom waking him up.
When he opened my eyes, the instructor stood behind the podium as she looked at the class. I barely held my laughter at the upcoming scene.
"Today is your first day, so there won't be anything special planned, but I sure hope you haven't slacked off during the short interval where you were accepted here. How do you expect to graduate from this place if you can't be diligent? "
- Bam!
Slapping her hand on the table a small shockwave spread across the classroom. Apart from the main cast, and a couple of other students, everyone in the classroom was pushed back, I and the author included.
"There will be no slacking off in my classroom! "
Scanning the whole classroom, her eyes briefly paused on the main cast characters that managed to withstand her shockwave.
If one looked closely you could see traces of satisfaction on her face as she looked at them. Just as depicted in the second edition.
Placing both hands on the podium she looked at the classroom.
"Now, let's start with the self-introductions. I'm Selina Lagbe, your personal instructor for this year and possibly future years. "
That name, I knew it.
Of course, I knew it. She was one of the characters which the author spent the most time designing. She looked exactly how I imagined. That must've been hard, I thought to myself.
'The Calamity Witch, Selina Lagbe'
I heard as the author muttered to himself as he tried to suppress his raging heartbeat. Was that loud sound really considered a heartbeat anymore? Because, it would pass even as a loud drum beat.
Her black hair gently cascaded along her shoulders stopping right above her raised butt that reminded one of a fully ripe peach.
Her tempting figure that could cause any man to go insane, drew the ire of every boy in the class causing their hearts to boil. Well, everyone except me.
After all, magic practice requires intensive meditation so I was able to keep my calm. But the others were not so lucky. I think it even has something to do with my age.
But what truly stood out the most about her, was not her figure, but her beautiful bluish violet eyes that made one lose themselves if they looked at them for too long.
Ever since young, she practiced an extremely rare enchantress art, which caused her to become extremely seductive to the opposite gender, as well as demons.
What made her especially fearsome was that she could completely tip the scale of a battlefield by turning allies against each other.
Currently, she was only 28 which was quite young considering that now the people lived for up to 200 years of age, more than double than before, prior to The Great Disaster.
Every one of her movements was extremely alluring, and if she wanted to she could turn any man in the classroom into a puppet of her will.
Even now as she stood in front of the podium her every movement attracted the gaze of almost every male in the classroom. Even Jim wasn't an exception as his face became red.
What about the Author?
He popped a boner.
What about me?
I was just as calm as ever, although it was amusing to watch all this.
Fortunately for the Author, he hid it well and no one could see it, or else he would've died of humiliation.
Couldn't help it. She was literally the incarnation of his sexual desires. As after all, he was the one who wrote this world in the first place.
Of course, the Author wouldn't be as stupid as to hit on her. Not only was she strong, but she was actually an S rank member of the union, and ranked 156th on the Hero ranking. As mentioned in both editions.
Moreover, she had her fair share of suitors. Hitting on her was like asking to be killed.
" I'm sure I don't have to say more as most of you may already know about me."
Selina calmly spoke as she looked around the classroom.
She seemed to have gotten used to the boy's reactions, as she feigned ignorance to their reddening faces.
"As it is your first day I won't take too much of your time. I can already see some people who look exhausted in the classroom. Perhaps they did not sleep enough because they were too excited or they trained all night, so I'll make this first session short. "
---
Author's POV
An angel.
She was an angel sent by the heavens.
I had sinned. How could I have possibly had such devious thoughts about such an angel?
She could even tell how exhausted I was and was trying to be considerate of me and the others.
Amitabha
I am one with the sky
---
Sash POV
That was the current thought process of the Author as seen from his face and from what I remembered of the second edition.
Sigh, what a loner he must have been.
"Alright first things first, let's take attendance."
Taking out a small tablet, she quickly called out names
"Rank 1750, Renji Kiyotaka."
Hearing my name I enthusiastically raised my hand and said.
" Present! "
Nodding she continued
"Rank 1232,..."
" Present! "
"Rank 845,..."
" Present! "
....
She was totally reading in Ascending order, wasn't she....
As she read the names on the list, I couldn't help but notice the rank getting smaller each time a new name was called.
And it just so happens that I was the first person she called, suggesting that I was the weakest person in the class.
I should've realized before. Letting out a sigh, I slumped on the table and quietly waited for her to finish reading out the names.
"Rank 15,..."
"Present"
"Rank 12,..."
"Present"
"Rank 8,..."
"Present"
"Rank 3,..."
"Present"
"Rank 2,..."
"Present"
"Rank 1, Levin Toss"
"..."
"Rank 1, Levin Toss"
Raising her brow, Selina looked around the classroom and asked once again.
"Is Rank 1 Levin Toss in the classroom? "
Absolute silence. Not even a pin could be heard.
Everyone looked around, but they all shook their head.
Looking at her tablet, Selina frowned. Just as she was about to cross Levin's name off the list, the door to the classroom slowly opened.
Soon a figure walked out, and instantly the whole room's attention was on him.
Short black hair, deep black eyes, muscular jawline, and well-built body. His entire presence and aura were like that of a newly forged sword straight from the furnace, with keen and sharp edges that threatened to cut anything that obstructed its path.
His looks, which rivaled that of Jim Hilton, who could've been regarded as one of the most handsome individuals in the whole academy, instantly drew the attention of most of the girls in the class.
"Pardon for my tardiness. I had a slight accident before coming here, hence I was not able to make it in time."
Taking a small bow, his eyes never drifted away from Selina's eyes.
Taking a quick look at Levin, Selina couldn't help but be stunned at his indifferent attitude towards her, who practiced an extremely potent 4-Star seductive art.
"Interesting"
Letting out a small grin, she nodded.
"Very well find a spot and sit down"
"Thank you"
Nodding his head, Levin made his way towards the first row on the right side of the classroom and sat down.
------
Author's POV
"Huuu"
Letting out a long sigh, I bitterly shook my head.
That's the protagonist for you.
Whatever he does, no one would find fault against him as he was both handsome and capable.
The world just wasn't fair
If I had been the one who had arrived late, I would've probably been burned alive by now.
As a mob, you just don't get the same privileges the protagonist gets.
-----
Sash POV
Arriving in front of a large room, Donna who stood in front of everyone turned on the lights and said:
"There's a wide selection of weapons here, so feel free to choose what you deem to be the best fit for you"
Staring at the row upon row of weapons before me, I sank into deep thought.
I was pondering a crucial question that comes in the mind of every gamer while playing the magic profession:
To choose wand or some other weird weapon?
As I was pondering, the other students were already starting to choose their weapon of choice.
And the Author ,just like in the second edition, chose a gun as the secondary weapon and a katana as the primary weapon.
Although the Author had [ The Mashimoto Style ] which he got from Master Swordsman Mashimoto, he still preferred using firearms as they were a reminder of his previous world.
So, I chose a magic ring and a gun. And for your information, magic can be channeled using rings and bracelets too. As long as they were made of special metals and with specific procedures.
Hah, what? You thought only wands and staffs can be used by magic profession. No, that's an outdated notion. Brush up on your general knowledge, bro.
Also, I only chose a medium range rifle. Not a melee gun like the Author because I am a mage for god's sake. What am I supposed to do when someone has already taken me by my neck?!
Of course, I can escape through magic. And then counter attack by using Fireball and this gun. And although the firepower of this gun was better than the one Author had, still it would be no match for the defense of a high ranking non-human or demon.
To defeat a high ranking non-human or demon, a high powered skill is also necessary.
__________________________________
To explain this let me tell you a part from the early stage of the second edition:
Just after eating the [ Fruit of Limit ],
the Author searched for a sword style. And yes, this was a sword style which was only used once or twice by MC in the first edition of the novel. So the Author took it for himself in the second edition.
A sword art, or more specifically a martial manual, were manuals that were developed since the beginning of the second stage of the Great Disaster and consisted of martial techniques that had existed since ancient times.
With the addition of mana, ancient martial techniques which were long forgotten were restructured and remodeled to take into account the mana that lingered in the atmosphere, and shockingly enough the techniques that were once deemed as useless transformed into some of the most powerful moves that could be performed by a human.
Since the discovery of the adaptability that martial techniques had regarding the control and use of mana, martial manuals suddenly became extremely coveted and as a result, they slowly started disappearing from the public view due to government and powerful individuals intervention.
The government primarily did it to prevent the manuals from landing in the wrong hands, but with regards to the powerful individuals, it was more of a power move to monopolize the manuals to themselves.
Martial manuals were separated into five grades, 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars, and finally 5 stars, with 1 star being the lowest grade and 5 stars being the highest grade possible.
Each grade was determined by how powerful the art became upon mastery, and the difference between each grade was fairly substantial, just like the difference between a person's rank.
When choosing a manual, the most important thing was not the grade but whether the manual was compatible with you.
This was also true even when it came down to magic. As the spell compatibility with a person possessing high talent was not necessarily high while vice versa was also true.
If you had a talent for swordsmanship and fire magic but practiced a spear-related manual alongside earth magic , chances were that regardless of how high the grade of the manual was, you would never be able to fully unleash the full potential of the manual. And in some severe cases, not even half of the normal.
Thus, my Elemental Manipulation skill can be regarded as a Magic Manual. It could even be regarded as a 5 star one.
It originally didn't belong in either the first or second edition of the novel. That means I was the only person having an amazing skill that can also work as a Magic Manual.
In other words, it was exclusive to me alone. Even the system that the MC of the original novel had won't be able to copy it. No chance.
The only sad thing was that I had no cool space or time powers like the Author in the second edition of the novel and MC kun in the first edition of the novel alongside the max level demon king.
And compared to them, I was merely dust...
Let's move on, this is getting depressing....
-------
That being said, it just went to show how rich EDEN was in both the novels. With each piece of weapon in front of us starting from 200,000 Units.
Yep, this was possibly the only organisation alongside other major academies of each city that can go toe to toe with the Hero Association.
The only fortunate thing was that the scenario of that type never occured in the first edition of the novel. But it did happen due to the intervention of the Author in the second edition.
So, let's plan the part seriously. I mean, let's make a plan:
1. Get strong.....
2. Graduate with flying colours, at least...
3. Get filthy rich.....
4. Leave the human domain.....
These are the four major goals that I can plan for from now on.
Let's cross out the 3rd goal because unlike some other peasant transmigrators, I was already filthy rich. And it was the type of money which will continue to grow.
The remaining 3 goals are interconnected as without getting strong, the chances of me graduating would be null. Not to mention the risk of leaving the human domain as a weakling.
The demons will eat me out before I even knew what was happening. And the worst part, I wouldn't be able to use magic of I died. Not to mention my virginity.
'So, I have to train!' I thought to myself.
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3rd person POV
After everyone chose their weapons, they immediately went to practice in the Practice area in excitement. No one was fully able to even retain what Miss Lagbe said after weapon selection.
The area for each type of practice was clearly separated. Like Dummy Arena, Skill Practice Area, and different fields for different weapons like a shooting range for archery.
There were even Gravity rooms and Illusion Defense rooms. The gravity rooms need no explanation. They used to make the body adept to the gravity of other planets.
By the way, Illusion Defense rooms were both a way to make oneself immune to illusions and to hone the mental state of mages.
The Dummy Arena was divided into two major areas which were further divided into minor areas.
On one hand was the literal Dummy Arena where you fight Dummies to train combat skills. One other hand was the Dummy Testing Area where students are supposed to test their various types damages dealt.
The Practice Area was even more straightforward. There was only physical skills used in this area as the magic type skills can be used in the Dummy Testing Area.
The freshmen were busy mingling along themselves. The main cast was already assembled. The main characters of the first edition of the novel were practicing like there was no tomorrow.
But that was to be expected from them. What stood out from the crowd was an below average looking guy sheathing and unsheathing his sword in practice area, continuously.
The instructor in-charge of the class A50, Selina Lagbe was watching all this from a surveillance room that had access to all the cameras placed around the whole Training Area.
And yes, all the above mentioned buildings can be summed up as Training Area. And for your information (fyi), there were more than 10 such Training Areas not to mention the private space provided to the professors.
Selina was quite satisfied with the performance shown by the main cast characters. What worried her was the boy who was doing ' nothing '.
" So much trouble, sigh " She got up from her seat and made her way towards the Training Area.
And what followed was the same old scene of Renji being misunderstood but still being stubborn in his training until he dropped, due to fainting.
And Sash safely avoided getting noticed by main crew and others by doing nothing out of ordinary.
Then, Sash applied Elemental Rejuvenation spell on Renji to help him recover from his brutal training regime's results.
It was simple spell. It worked by taking mana as a liquid solution from the gaseous form of the mana in the air.
Just as solutions are classified by the physical state of components (solid, liquid, gas), concentration (unsaturated, saturated, supersaturated, dilute, concentrated), or solvent type (aqueous/non-aqueous), forming categories like gaseous (air), liquid (saltwater), and solid (alloys) solutions, with many combinations possible, such as gas-in-liquid or solid-in-solid.
The same is true for mana too. Mana is classified by the physical state of components (solid, liquid, gas), concentration (unsaturated, saturated, supersaturated, dilute, concentrated), or solvent type (aqueous/non-aqueous).
Thus, forming categories like gaseous (air), liquid (liquid mana), and solid (mana stones) solutions, with many combinations possible, such as gas-in-liquid or solid-in-solid.
Or from liquid to gas and vice versa. Just like water. It's just that unlike water, different types of mana require different boiling points, not to mention that mana is extremely volatile so freezing is even more of a problem.
And as isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic describe solutions based on solute concentration relative to a cell, with isotonic having equal concentration (no water flow), hypotonic having lower solute (water flows in, cell swells), and hypertonic having higher solute (water flows out, cell shrinks). These tonicities determine water movement (osmosis) across cell membranes, vital for biological processes and medical treatments like IV fluids, with isotonic (like 0.9% saline) maintaining cell volume.
The same is true for mana too. It's just that as more and more mana is consumed , the drain felt from it hits not only the physical state but also the soul.
This can be cured by channeling the outer ambient mana which is in gaseous form inside the body and converting it into a somewhat liquid form inside the body.
But to do this, the person being treated must be of a lower rank and must have no opposing mana left inside his body to act as WBC or White blood cells.
A quick recap for types of Solutions by Tonicity
Isotonic Solution:
Definition: Same solute concentration inside and outside the cell, resulting in no net water movement.
Effect on Cell: Cell volume remains stable (e.g., red blood cells don't change size).
Example: 0.9% Sodium Chloride (Normal Saline) used in IVs.
Hypotonic Solution:
Definition: Lower solute concentration outside the cell than inside.
Effect on Cell: Water moves into the cell, causing it to swell or even burst (lysis).
Example: Pure water relative to a red blood cell.
Hypertonic Solution:
Definition: Higher solute concentration outside the cell than inside.
Effect on Cell: Water moves out of the cell, causing it to shrink or shrivel (crenation).
Example: Saltwater relative to a red blood cell.
Other Solution Types (General Chemistry)
Saturated Solution: Contains the maximum amount of solute that can dissolve at a given temperature.
Unsaturated Solution: Can dissolve more solute.
Supersaturated Solution: Contains more solute than it theoretically should, often unstable.
Binary Solution: A solution with two components (solute and solvent).
Solid Solution: A solution where the solvent and solute are both solids (e.g., alloys).
That's it. Hope you got more from reading this one chapter of a random novel you picked on a random day than your years of fruitless study in high school...