Zack and his companions' first real conflict ended traumatically for most of them. Those still deep in their fantasies, trying to escape from reality were forced to wake up. They realized that their lives here were real, and if they didn't do something, they might lose it next time.
No matter what world you are in, time passes inexorably, whether you want it to or not. The only thing you can do is decide what you do with that time.
And so six months passed.
…
knock knock knock
The sound of the door woke Zack from his meditation like every morning. After telling the maid that he would be leaving soon, he began to prepare for a new day.
Six months passed since the incident. After doing a body count, the kingdom estimated that they had lost a total of 27 soldiers, and Zack's class lost two of their own. Of the sixteen students who entered the dungeon, only fourteen were able to return.
One of those who was able to come back was Airi, who Zack and Austin made a deal with to keep their classes a secret. Apparently, she was attacked for being in the area farthest from the rear. By the time the rest noticed the attack, it was already too late. Fortunately, the only student in the priest class was in her group, so she was able to save her life.
Others were not so lucky.
Strangely, the two students who died were part of the group that Zack rejected being part of. Unlike the other groups, they only had melee classes. When they saw their guard being outnumbered, they tried to help in the only way they could, and…
…let's just say things didn't go well.
Two of them ended up dead, and the third seriously injured, but he wasn't the only one who ended up like this.
Zack finished getting ready and got ready to leave the room, but not before doing something he did every day.
"Status"
Status
Name: Zack Mayima
Age: 19
Race: Human
Title: Bookworm, Survivor
Class: Mage
Level: 84
Stats:
Strength: 35
Endurance: 43
Wisdom: 91
Luck: 11
Agility: 38
Intelligence: 82
Charm: 12
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Mana: 154/154
Skills:
Fast Reading Level 7
Memorization Level 5
Mana Control Level 9
Danger Sense Level 1
Multitasking Level 3
Herb Identification Level 2
Universal Traduction
Spells:
* Tier 0:
Magic Hand Level (MAX)
Light Level (MAX)
Trip Level (MAX)
Spark Level (MAX)
Deafen Level (MAX)
Night Vision Level (MAX)
Summon Water Level (MAX)
Cleanse Level (MAX)
….
· Tier 1:
Magic Missile Level (MAX)
Fireball Level (MAX)
Shield Level (MAX)
Levitation Level (MAX)
Detection Level (MAX)
Body Enhancement Level (MAX)
Silence Level (MAX)
…
…
Every time Zack looked at his status screen his eyes held a trace of pride. Every word that appears in front of him is the result of his hard work. Observing the reward of his efforts in a tangible way makes him feel motivated to continue improving daily.
Compared to the first time he saw it over half a year ago, his status is almost unrecognizable. During this time Zack hasn't been idling.
Every day he was busy trying to learn as much as possible. Zack has learned so many spells that he has to mentally scroll down the status screen to see them all. Despite that, Zack hasn't even learned half of the spells found in the library.
Learning a spell takes time, and despite the advantages he has compared to the wizards of this world, his time is limited. That doesn't mean he hasn't read them all.
During his stay here, Zack was able to read all the books he was allowed access to, both in the magic tower library and in the central library. That included tier 2 magic books.
It wasn't even hard to get access. One day we were practicing tier 1 spell casting when Austin started to ramble.
...
"What are you doing?!" Albert asked angrily when he saw Austin distracted.
They were in a training room practicing the magic missile, one of the most basic tier 1 spells.
Miyu had been transferred a few days ago to another section of the castle to learn more about her class. Because her Magic Tailor class doesn't have magic as its main element, Albert decided that she had learned everything she needed to and ended her training with him.
Shun was depressed for a while because of that.
Zack and Shun were also continuously casting spells at the targets, but Austin's speed and aim left a lot to be desired compared to the others.
“Do you think this is a game?! If you don't take it seriously you could die one day!” hearing Albert´s words, Austin shifted uncomfortably on the spot with a distracted look on his face. Seeing this, Austin's face contorted even more.
“What are you thinking that is so important that you dare to ignore me?!”
Austin seemed to have been trying to hold back, but upon hearing this he couldn't take it anymore.
“What is the use of learning this?”
"Mm, what did you say?"
"What's the use of learning this?!" Austin said, this time in a higher tone.
“We have been several days in a row without doing anything other than using the same spell. This is the only tier 1 spell you have taught us. We are tier 2 classes! What is the use of practicing the same thing over and over again? It would be better if we learn more advanced spells” When Austin finished complaining, Zack and Shun had stopped casting spells, and the place was quiet.
Contrary to what they were expecting, Albert did not yell at them or threaten them in any way.
“Tsk. Do you think it's easy to learn tier 2 spells? Even if you could learn them, it wouldn't do you any good if you're dead before the end of the spell" Albert pushed Austin aside and looked at the others. Zack was able to keep his gaze, but Shun turned it to the side. Evidently, he and Austin were thinking the same thing.
Seeing this, Albert began to think about what to do for a moment. Obviously, they couldn't continue training. Once he finished thinking, a small smile graced his face.
"Do you know what? If that's what you think, that's fine” he replied, to the surprise of all of them.
“I will give all of you permission to read the books on the second floor of the library. If you really think it would be more productive to learn higher-rank spells, I won't stop you."
"Oh really?" Austin asked.
This had not gone as expected. In his predictions, Albert would punish him by making him train ten times harder.
"Really. If you think it's better to learn advanced spells, you don't have to come back here if you don't want to” he said smiling.
Austin didn't notice it, but at that moment his eyes were shining with an evil glow.
…
And just like that, Zack and the others got access to the second floor.
Zack has to admit that when Austin said those things to Albert, his heart almost sank. If it wasn't for him stopping trying to learn the spells on the second floor after a while, Zack would think that Austin has forgotten what his real class is. He may have, and he thinks he couldn't learn the spells just because they were too complicated. Nor that he could have learned anything at all there if he had had a second class. Tier 2 spells are completely different from the others.
Although Zack read all the books on the second floor, there was no point in learning the high-tier spells there. There are several reasons why you need to be a tier 2 class to use tier 2 spells. Their system is completely different from other spells.
It took Austin three days to figure that out. Albert made it very difficult for him after that.
Months passed before Albert stopped mocking and criticizing Austin. There were times when it seemed like Austin wanted to quit. During that period of time, Zack suffered from nightmares on the few occasions that he decided to sleep instead of meditating at night. Dreams of Austin leaving and revealing his true class kept him terrified more than once. Fortunately, nothing happened.
Zack looked at his attributes. A mage's body will always be weaker than a warrior's. Reading books and meditating on him helped to increase his intelligence and wisdom, but did not help much to increase his physical attributes. Even with all the mana coursing through his body, there is a limit to his growth.
His physical attributes stopped growing when they reached twenty points. Twenty-five in the case of endurance. Although it was unavoidable, exposing such an obvious weak point left him greatly disturbed.
It is for this reason that Zack, like many wizards before him, tries to find a way to fix that.
And he did it… more or less.