Once we sat down, he started by drawing a map on the board. “There are three continents, one in the east, one in the west, and one in the south.”
The eastern and western continents were approximately the same size, while the southern continent looked like a mix of Australia and Japan. The total landmass was already quite small, and then it was split into a number of islands.
“Castelo is right here, in the eastern continent, which we call Bellia.” He drew an almost vertical line dividing the eastern continent in a two to one ratio, with Castelo on the western side taking up most of the continent.
“We’re the largest and most advanced country in the world,” he declared proudly. Meanwhile, I thought it wasn’t something to be proud of. The larger an empire was, the more countries crumbled to dust in its wake.
“The demon king always spawns in the western or eastern continents. This cycle, it was birthed in western Castelo. It’s been gathering an army, forcefully corrupting organisms into demons. Our army is currently fighting the demon army, trying to keep their numbers in control until they can’t anymore.”
“That’s where we come in,” Lily interjected.
Peter nodded curtly before continuing. “Yes. It is imperative that you heroes grow to your full potential during this time our army is buying you.”
“How do we grow?” I asked. “Can we level up our blessed skill?”
“We don’t know if it’s possible to level it up. It doesn’t matter, anyways,” the teacher replied.
“Huh? That doesn’t make sense. If we can make our most powerful weapon stronger, why wouldn’t we do it?” I retorted.
“It will make sense once I finish explaining the system basics,” he chided. He started to write a series of numbers on the board. Two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty two, and on and on.
I grimaced, realizing where he was going.
“The amount of experience required to level up a skill grows exponentially, and in the mathematical sense of the word. Every single skill follows the same experience requirements: two to the power of x experience to level up a skill from nothing to level x.”
Vijay popped in, “…and so raising a skill from level 20 to level 21 takes an absurd amount of experience. Does that mean there isn’t a way to get larger and larger amounts of experience?”
“Correct.” Peter wrote down the words ‘Leonardo’s Principle’ on the chalkboard. “Leonardo’s Principle states that a person can get at most one experience every hour, no matter how they train or what they do.”
I did the math in my head. Raising my [Immortality Lv. 20] skill would take 2^20 experience, which would require over a hundred years of constant training. So, for any normal mortal, it was an impossible endeavor. Even for me, it wasn’t something I could even consider right now.
Besides, raising a skill from level 20 to level 21 would take the same experience as leveling up an entirely new skill up to level 20. Unless skills also had exponentially growing effects, it likely wasn’t worth it.
“And even if someone could train every hour of the day, they wouldn’t live over a hundred years,” I said aloud in an attempt to fish for information.
“That’s right,” Peter said simply, making me sigh in relief. His agreement meant that the system didn’t magically extend lifespans. At least my [Immortality] skill was special.
“On the flip side, it is very easy to gain the initial levels of any skill,” the teacher said. “Therefore, it’s a good idea for heroes to learn a variety of skills to support their main skill. This is especially important for heroes with a skill that modifies other skills.” He sent a pointed look at Vijay and me.
“Of special consideration are the skills [Physical Conditioning], [Aura Circulation], [Mental Focus], and [Mana Affinity]. These are the four fundamental energy pool skills, granting pools of stamina, aura, mental focus, and mana.”
Peter drew a timeline of a day and a few pictures of a guy exercising. “If someone tires themselves out lifting weights, they can wait a few moments to recover and continue exercising. However, at some point their body simply loses too much energy, and they have to stop exercising.
“Stamina and aura function much like this. Stamina is a short-term energy pool that is small but recovers every minute, while aura is a longer term energy pool that recovers every hour. In the same manner, mental focus is short-term, while mana is long-term.”
Gyeong raised a hand, and the teacher called on him. “I don’t understand. Why can’t you use all your aura in short-term?”
“Good question. Stamina and mental focus are important because using aura and mana exhaust stamina and mental focus, respectively. Aura and mana are fundamentally supernatural energies, and it exhausts us to wield them. Therefore, stamina limits what you can do in the short term, while aura limits what you can do long term.”
Everyone seemed to understand, so I asked the crucial question. “So, how quickly do these pools grow?”
Instead of answering, Peter handed out four small booklets to us. “These are skill compendiums. They record descriptions for many of the skills available under the system.”
He directed us to a page that showed the skills in question.
[Physical Conditioning Lv. X]
Increases physical conditioning and strength. Grants base stamina pool as X^3 that is used up by motion or aura use. Regenerates each minute.
[Aura Circulation Lv. X]
Enhances aura. Grants base aura pool as 10X^3. Regenerates each hour.
[Mental Focus Lv. X]
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Increases focus and defense against mental status effects. Provides a base mental focus pool of X^3. Regenerates each minute.
[Mana Affinity Lv. X]
Affinity with mana determines base mana pool as 10X^3. Regenerates each hour.
The pools grew cubically, which was quick, but nothing compared to exponential growth. The largest pool to XP ratio would occur around level four, and past that the dividends for hard work would slowly decrease. By level twelve, it would take ten times as much time for the same growth in energy pool.
“Read through the compendium and get familiar with the skills. When you’re done, we’ll continue,” Peter stated before pulling out a stack of papers, presumably work of his own.
I quickly found that all of the skills seemed to be passive. Just including the combat skills, they could be split into melee and magic categories. The skills seemed to either grow cubically, or have a multiplicative effect of 1+X/10, where X was the level of the skill. I took quick notes on some paper I was provided, keeping only the important information.
Melee
[Spear],[Sword], and other weapon skills. Damage times 1+X/10.
[Physical Conditioning]. Stamina pool of X^3.
[Aura Circulation]. Aura pool of 10X^3.
[Aura Control]. Divides amount of stamina consumed by aura usage by 1+X/10.
[Aura Sense]. Senses aura nearby.
[Situational Awareness]. Increases perception. Synergy with [Aura Sense] to detect danger.
[Reflexes]. Increases reaction speed by 1+X/10.
Magic
[Mental Focus]. Mental focus pool of X^3.
[Mana Affinity]. Mana pool of 10X^3.
[Mana Control]. Mental focus consumed divided by 1+X/10.
[Environmental Mana]. Acquire X/10 fraction of mana pool from the environment. Environmental mana is twice as mentally taxing to use.
[Elemental Magic], [Summoning Magic], [Illusion Magic]. Various schools of magic, each multiplies magic strength by 1+X/10.
[Enchantment Magic]. Create enchanted items.
There were more skills, and some of these skills had other effects, but I decided these were the crucial skills for now. One thing I noted was the way [Situational Awareness] and [Aura Sense] had a ‘synergy’, creating an effect beyond the two original skills. Another special note were the [Aura Control] and [Mana Control] skills, which referenced ‘techniques’.
“Teacher, what are techniques?” I asked. He looked up from his stack of papers and glanced around.
“I might as well tell you a bit. Techniques are like specific ways to use a skill, but recognized by the system. Techniques require a basic level of [Aura Control] or [Mana Control] to use, but need significantly more to master.
“For now, don’t worry about techniques. All you need to know is that it’s important to invest in your control skills.”
I thanked him and went back to analyzing the skills. The rest of the class passed in that manner. While the other heroes were excited about learning magic, I kept thinking about what skills were censored from the compendium. At the very least, nothing approached the [Charm]-type skill the emperor used.
I was immortal. That meant I had a lot of time to devote for skills. However, the exponentially growing XP requirements severely hampered my ability to grow. Even if I devoted all my time to one skill, it wouldn’t be as good as a hero skill for a long time. Therefore, it might be better to train a large number of skills to a medium level. Perhaps there might even be hidden benefits, such as the synergy between [Situational Awareness] and [Aura Sense].
Class ended, and next was ‘physical training’ according to the servant guiding us. We were led to an indoor gymnasium with solid flooring. There, a massive man sat cross-legged on the floor.
“Come here and sit down.” He had a deep voice with gravelly undertones. I sat down and mirrored his posture. “I’m Griff, and you’re here to learn aura from me.”
“Most people think of aura as muscles condensed into energy. It lets you punch harder and move faster, so it makes sense that the common people think this way. However, aura is much deeper than that. Your body is an integral part of your identity, and aura is the representation of that. If there is anything I want you to learn from me, it is to treat aura with respect.”
He met eye contact with each of us. Lily chuckled nervously.
“First, we meditate,” the instructor declared.
It wasn’t what I expected from a physical training class, but nonetheless I closed my eyes and cleared my mind.
“Imagine a burning energy in the pit of your stomach. Now, breathe in and hold… hold…”
He led us through various meditation exercises, making us imagine an energy rising and falling to our breaths. As a full hour passed, my body started to grow hot as if there really was a fire in me.
“Open your eyes and stand up,” he said softly. I stood up and stumbled dizzily, off-balance from the sudden change in blood pressure. Sweat poured down my back and I wasn’t feeling very well.
“Now, you will copy my movements. When I say push, imagine yourself driving that energy inside you with your movements. Your motions will create a rhythm, a cycle of energy.”
The instructor suddenly flowed into a chain of what look like tai chi stances. I quickly tried my best to copy him. From the corner of my eye, I could see Gyeong mimicking the stances perfectly, while Lily and Vijay were failing hilariously.
As I flowed through the stances, timing my intake and exhalation of air strategically, my body heated up even more. I started to feel more feeble, yet at the same time like there was a surge of something building up. Sweat poured down my back and my hair stuck to my forehead.
Finally, after another hour of meditative stances, something changed. The energy I imagined circulating within me suddenly became real, pulsing forward and backward to the tune of my breath. The sensation startled me and I tripped, tumbling to the floor.
A large hand entered my vision. “Grab it. I’ll help you up,” the instructor said kindly.
“Thanks,” I said. He pulled me upright, and without his help I doubted I would’ve been able to get up on my own. Why was this aura training making me so tired?
“Well? Did you unlock it?” he asked, and the reminder made me hurry to check my skills list.
Skills
Immortality Lv. 20
Pain Tolerance Lv. 1
Aura Circulation Lv. 1
Aura Circulation Lv. 1 Enhances aura. Grants base aura pool of 10. Regenerates each hour.
There it was, the skill that took two hours to gain. Despite having it, however, I forced a disappointed expression on my face. “Not yet,” I said glumly. “I’m just tired.”
My decision to lie was a complicated one. There was the benefit that I would be underestimated. At the same time, that was a detriment; if I didn’t show talent, my buffer time would shrink rapidly. In the end, however, I lied because I wanted to test something.
Almost right after me, Gyeong unlocked [Aura Circulation]. Unlike me, he didn’t collapse into an exhausted mess, and I internally envied him for his fitness. The instructor made him do a bunch of mundane exercise while the rest of us continued struggling, likely setting him up to get the [Physical Conditioning] skill.
It took two hours to get the first level of a skill, and that time had already passed. The fact that Lily and Vijay hadn’t yet done it means they were either slacking off, not training correctly, or simply too tired to continuously train. I watched them as I continued to perform the movements. I would only allow myself to delay until one of them unlocked the skill.
Thankfully, my efforts were vindicated within an hour, before my self-imposed time limit.
Skills
Immortality Lv. 20
Pain Tolerance Lv. 1
Aura Circulation Lv. 1
Deception Lv. 1
I rejoiced, checking out my new skill.
Deception Lv. 1 The art of lying and appearing to be what you are not.
“Teacher,” I said, grinning like a loon. “I did it.”