Like before, Zeke thought nothing of his session with Counselor Mary. Sometimes she was persistent about certain questions, and sometimes she would be satisfied even if he gave a one-word answer.
He saw no point in talking to her, but he had to regularly go due to his agreement with the Principal.
Fortunately, the session didn’t last long, and soon enough, he was free to leave.
The sun had started to set and the canopy was darkening ever-so-slowly. Zeke had nothing important to do so he headed to the Dean’s cabin to complete today’s tasks and train by himself.
Next week, the practical exams would begin and he needed to be prepared.
Unlike the Theoretical exams which required thorough revision and a lot of studying, the practical exams were a collection of one-on-one battles between the First-Year Students.
There would be a huge bracket and the opponents would be chosen randomly, or so most believe. However, Zeke knew that it was slightly more complicated than that; Basically, the teachers in charge would purposely pair students with relatively ‘similar’ ranks against each other to make the fights fair.
Additionally, these graded battles held more importance than the Theoretical Exams, therefore, all the students would try their best to win and impress the overseeing teachers.
After the practical exams, the students would be given a one-week break and then two weeks of classes before the end of the year exams begin. Erys’ unorthodox teaching System as well as throwing all the exams together was tiring for the students, but results showed that such a procedure was extremely effective. Not only did it push the students to work harder, but it also pressured them with the necessary stress to achieve a breakthrough in Aether usage.
The upcoming practical exams weren’t as important as the finals, nevertheless, they were like a preliminary step to gauge the students’ progress so far and a test to determine the so-called rising stars.
Zeke was determined to raise his rank and get top grades as that would next year’s hefty tuition. The top students would get handsomely rewarded and would be exempt from paying anything, which was exactly Zeke’s aim.
After all, he was going to be 18 during the long summer break, and at that time, his agreement with his parents would come to an end. Basically, he would be on his own and he would no longer be able to rely on their monetary support.
Undoubtedly, if he were to ask Edward, his older brother, he would certainly get whatever sum he wanted. However, Zeke didn’t want to rely on Edward a lot, especially how much the latter had helped him, whether it was by protecting him from Anthony and Olivia or looking after him when he was young.
…
As always, Azmer was being harshly trained by the merciless Dean. Despite the constant hit by the painful stick, Azmer never complained and had already shown considerable improvement.
Whether it was self-realization or pressure, Azmer was subjected to a drastic change in attitude. Ever since Zeke had acquired the Paths of Extinction System, his bully had abandoned all thoughts of provoking or attacking him and spent the entirety of his day either holed up in his desk studying or training in this secluded area of the school.
After watching the blond-haired youth for a bit, Zeke sat down to meditate. He kept breathing in a precise and periodic manner, which exhausted him physically but made him feel a wave of blissful serenity.
Unfortunately, when he simultaneously activated Aether Control, the strain was slowly getting stronger. Still, he was almost about to reach perfection in the skill ‘Aether Control’, which he had been training every day ever since its acquisition.
It wasn’t an offensive or defensive skill, and neither was it beneficial, at least if one didn’t know its real purpose.
Zeke’s Aether usage differed from the norm, as any absorbed Ambient Aether would be converted into Life Aether, which would supplement his body. However, if the quantity became too much, he would start feeling dizzy as his body would be-metaphorically- ballooning from the influx of Aether.
For now, Zeke’s objective was to be able to use ‘Aether Control’ along with ‘Voltage Manipulation’. Basically, he wanted to constantly recover Aether while in the middle of combat, which would prolonge his fighting time and allow for more flexibility in the usage of his skill.
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Alas, there was a massive and possible unpassable hurdle; The System did not allow the simultaneous usage of two skills belonging to different paths. The only exception was Survival Skills, which was why Zeke was able to empower ‘Fists of Fury’ and ‘One-star Side-kick’ with the voltage.
Strangely enough, however, the Rune of Life seemed to be wholly independent of the System restrictions. Zeke was freely able to use the stored Aether within as an alternative to ‘Voltage Manipulation’, but the process was slower and, ultimately, not worth it.
‘Alternatively, I could keep using ‘Aether Control’ during the brief periods of time I’m not actively fighting, specifically when I’m not attacking or defending. I could also keep it going if I solely use skills from the ‘Aether Voltage’ Path.’
Zeke was contemplating this conundrum as he jogged in the quiet forest, the System Window floating in his field of vision.
[User: Zeke Orland]
[Race: Human]
[Level 6 (31/85 EXP)]
[Strength: 74]
[Agility: 71]
[Aether: 74]
[Fortitude: 10]
[Paths: Martial Arts (1/12) inactive | Aether Voltage (22/22) active | Groundbreaker (1/32) inactive- Sreyzhan Rune (1/9) | Inexhaustible (10/10)]
[Skills: Fists of Fury(Proficiency 100%) - Aether Control(Proficiency 99%) - Voltage Zap(Proficiency 100%) - Spark (Proficiency 51%) - One-star Side-kick(Proficiency 100%) - Life Motus(Proficiency 100%) - Rune of Life (Proficiency 87%) - Voltage Arrow (Proficiency 100%)- Rune of Death(29%) - Sreyzhanian Arts(23%) - Drain Aether(0%)]
[Survival Skills: ‘Rune of Life: Voltage Manipulation(Proficiency 82%) - Fatigue Abstence (40%) - Call of Honor(0%)]
[Available PE: 25]
[Available Skill Points: 1]
[Available Paths of Extinction:
Pyromancer Path (5 PE)
Hydromancer Path (6 PE)
Electromancer Path (10 PE)
Fighter Sub-Path (2 PE)
Pugilist Sub-Path (4 PE)
Pain Junkie Sub-path (3 PE)
The Death Walker Path(50PE)
Blood Heart Path (20PE)]
Zeke was particularly interested in the Death Walker, not only due to the name but also the cost of PE, which was way higher than the normal ones. Sadly, it wasn’t that easy to amass that amount, especially since he didn’t know if the benefits would be worth it or not.
The Blood Heart Path, on the other hand, became available after the ‘Blood Infusion’ that happened in the sewers. Its name sounded ominous, and after his experience and seeing the strange boy under Sulong’s care, Zeke felt repulsed and unwilling to unlock that path.
He could use the PE to increase his stats, but it wasn’t worth it since he was able to increase them naturally, either through the Daily Tasks, a lot of physical training, or mastering skills.
[Skill ‘Aether Control’ has reached 100% Proficiency]
[+5 EXP]
[+3 PE]
[+3 Aether]
As if the System was reading his thoughts, the skill he had activated while jogging had finally reached full mastery. He felt the dizziness alleviate as his body was like a vacuum, pulling all the small green particles into his body.
After an hour of running at either a fast or moderate pace, Zeke stopped and sat on the grassy ground, body profusely sweating and his breathing heavy.
Thanks to ‘Fatigue Abstinence’, the lost energy was instantly recovered and he felt refreshed and slightly energetic. It allowed him to finish the three mundane daily tasks with relative ease while still maintaining a bit of energy to spare in case of emergencies.
When the sky turned dark and was filled with myriad stars, Zeke left Erys. He was returning to the apartment to bring new clothes and other miscellaneous stuff.
However, what was supposed to be a peaceful journey soon turned into something else. It happened in Zeke’s neighborhood, which was relatively peaceful and usually devoid of any criminal activities.
Yet, a very suspicious black van suddenly stopped by the road, a couple of paces away from Zeke. As he had already noticed it, he was on guard and ready for an attack.
The black-suited men that got out of the van reminded him of those who were with Rodrick. However, these ones behaved differently and wasted not a single second as they charged at him with long black batons in hand.
A lightning orb suddenly appeared in front of Zeke, and one of the men wasn’t able to dodge it. Upon contact, it immediately went out of control, sending a rain of small lightning bolts everywhere.
In a matter of seconds, the seven black-suited men that rushed at Zeke were on the ground, their bodies twitching after getting hit by ‘Spark’.
The two men watching this, one sitting in the passenger seat and the other being the driver, got out of the van but they were hit by two successive ‘Voltage Zap’, which blew them to the back.
They had a frightening bloody wound on their chest, a result of directly getting hit by Zeke’s empowered lightning bolt, which was as thick as his arm.
‘Were they sent here to kill me?’
Zeke approached one of them and inspected him but wasn’t able to recognize him, unfortunately. Still, he didn’t leave them be, instead, he took out his phone and called the only person he thought would help; Detective Vans Valort.