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They were right in the middle of a training exercise when Kaede sensed the magic controlling entry into the resort activating. She gathered her training implements and stopped throwing them at Seraphiel, which caused the girl to raise an eyebrow in question. “We have visitors.” She replied curtly.
As they walked around the resort building towards the bridge connecting to the magical formation, Kaede reflected on their recent improvement. Seraphiel's time control powers had improved rapidly. At first, they could speed the girl up slightly and maybe slow objects slightly, one at a time. Now the girl could apply larger slow fields to multiple targets, picking the targets she wanted out of a large group instead of slowing everything down. Impressive control. Not that she expected anything less. The power of the time-slowing effect was still relatively minor and would only work partially on someone with any resistance or higher level, but it was good progress for someone under level 100. Perhaps a bit too good, if she didn’t know better. As it was, this was just to be expected.
Neither of them was all that surprised to see Evangeline approaching. Only a few people had access to the resort, and Evangeline naturally was one of the few as she was the one to create it. “Kaede.” The headmistress nodded. “How is the training progressing?”
“Evangeline-dono. Quite well actually.” Kaede returned the greeting. “Something going on? You don’t usually disrupt training just to check the progress.” While this was Eva’s resort, Kaede was the one to use it most of the time, for training talented students, which had mostly meant Seraphia and her brother lately.
“In a way. I need to have a word with your pupil.” Evangeline looked towards Seraphiel. Kaede took the hint and made herself scarce, going to find the brother instead.
----
As soon as Kaede was out of hearing range, Seraphiel turned to the Dark Evangel and lifted an eyebrow in question.
"There's been a change in situation," Evangeline explained while guiding both of them to a set of lounge chairs. To Seraphiel's slight surprise, the Headmaster just laid down on one of the lounge chairs as if she was preparing to do some tanning. In full office clothing. Also, she was a Shinso Vampire, so tanning was just not in the cards for her.
Still, she decided to oblige and got on another chair, though she’d rather hit the showers as she’d been desperately dodging Kaede’s kunai for hours on end. The devilish ninja had tied different coloured ribbons on the kunai, signifying which ones she needed to slow with her new Chronomancy Skill and which she needed to dodge by accelerating herself. A very painful exercise as the woman was constantly pushing her to the limits of what she could do, but also very effective. Pain was a great teacher as they both knew. They both also knew that if it ever got too much, Seraphiel would say something.
Eva spent a moment getting her position just right before she continued. “The other academies have finally gotten enough. They no longer want to deal with you in the newbie category.”
“Well, they did try pretty much everything else already. The team events and obstacle courses were fun. The riddles less so, even if that was the easiest event ever.” Seraphiel chuckled a bit. The two of them had never really spent much time together in a peaceful way like this. Mostly because Eva avoided such situations like the plague.
“Trying to have children out-riddle someone ancient like you really wasn’t their brightest idea.” Eva grinned a bit at the thought. That had been the most embarrassing event so far. As Eva had pointed out, no matter how smart the representative from other academies was, there was no way to overcome thousands of years of experience and gathered knowledge.
Seraphiel couldn’t stop a snort. “I don’t want to hear you call me ancient. Yes, I know I’m older than you, by a lot, but we’re both grandmas of epic proportions.”
"And yet we both look like little kids," Eva complained a little. "Well, you less so with every passing day, but the point stands.”
"You are aware that your issue isn't impossible to fix, right? There are thousands of different kinds of magic clashing in this universe, not to mention the System itself. I'm sure someone could fix your aging problem." Seraphiel pointed out.
“I know. And I’ve actually already looked into it. It’s just not worth the hassle. And truth be told, I’ve already kind of grown used to it. I can always use shape-changing magic if I really need to.” Eva admitted before getting back on topic. “Anyway, since the other academies don’t want to lose to you anymore, we had to reach a compromise. They couldn’t just stop the newbie events entirely, as that would be detrimental to all the other new students. Usually when one of the academies can find someone like you, the other academies allow them their year of glory and suck up the losses, but you’re dominating the others too hard. The others aren’t learning from their defeats. So, the other academies all chipped in to give us a lump compensation, and in return, I’ll have to get you tested and raised to become a 2nd-level student.”
“And that automatically puts me in the next category, where I’d be the lowest level competitor, by a large margin.” Seraphiel nodded in understanding. “What about the rest of my first year?”
"You weren't going to learn anything new with the other first years anyway, and you're already spending most of your time with Kaede. We're just going to make that official and have Kaede handle the rest of the year with you. She can administer the test as well.” Eva explained, shading her eyes a bit.
The resort had constant great weather, which meant the sun was shining like they were on an actual beach, as the term 'resort' implied. Eva had created additional enclosed spaces parallel the main resort where different kinds of weather conditions could be experienced. You could find a harsh desert and even a snowy mountain if you wanted. But here, in the main area, the weather was always nice and tropical.
"What about the year-end tests? Since I'm already getting elevated in the middle of the year, can I try for the 3rd-level at the end of the year?” She asked mostly for clarification.
"Of course. In fact, I expect you to do so. Since Kaede is going to be training you here most of the time, you should be able to catch up with the standard for the 3rd-level by the end of the year easily. Considering the time compression, you’ve already spent over a year at the academy, so in a way, you're not a firstie anymore anyway. If you spend a large portion of the rest of the year on and off in the resort, you’ll have spent more than two years in the academy, so we’re actually just abiding by the rules. In fact, depending on how much time you spend here in the next few months, you could have spent several years here considering the time compression.” Eva managed to justify things just the way she wanted.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
The time compression in the resort could be controlled but was usually set to 1 to 24, so every 24 hours in the resort meant an hour outside. So, if Seraphiel spent half a year of normal time at the resort, she'd actually have spent 12 years inside. Of course, constant use of the resort was not advised for several reasons. One of the main ones being that you aged at the accelerated pace of the resort while inside. It would be kind of odd if she became twelve years older than her peers. Not to mention it being rather heavy on the psyche. Luckily, she had her brother for company most of the time, though unlike most mortals, she was used to being alone for long periods of time. Considering that, Kaede was probably the one worst off.
She’d spent maybe an hour or two each real day on average in the resort so far, meaning she’d aged between a year and a year and a half while her peers had spent a bit over half a year at the academy. Taking that into account, one could say that her leveling pace was slow in comparison, except she was leveling two Classes and all the associated Skills, meaning she was doing between double and four times the work. There were obvious advantages to a second Class, but just like Lucifer had said, the benefit was directly proportional to how hard she worked. Her peers also weren’t expected to reach her level until after the end of the year, although some students weren’t more than a dozen levels behind her already. Level 40 at the end of the year was the minimum requirement after all, and some like Raziel had reached level 50 in just over a year in their first year. A couple of her peers were likely to repeat that feat.
“I assume you’re not expecting me to dominate the next category straight away.” She asked after doing the quick math in her head.
“Of course not. Although, knowing you, even that isn’t out of the question. But no, the level difference is simply too great. Most of the serious participants in the intermediate category are between levels 150 and 200. Those below, like your brother, are mostly taking part to gain experience and to learn to handle defeat. Which wouldn’t be a bad lesson for you either.” Eva suddenly pointed out.
“Believe me, I’ve already had that. It’s humbling to have Kaede chucking kunai at me every day. Also painful, but mostly humbling.” Seraphiel gave a small shudder.
“I can see how it could be.” Eva nodded. “Anyway, you’ll still need to take part in a few of the group exercises, as taking down a monster or three is all part of graduating to the 2nd-level.”
"Sounds good to me." Seraphiel nodded. She was planning on resting a bit before going back to training but suddenly had to bolt upright as a cloud of kunai flew at her. "Dammit Kaede, you were supposed to be training my brother!” She cursed before quickly making her escape while Eva was smugly smirking at her fleeing back, hiding the messaging talisman.
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“What’s this?” Seraphiel looked suspiciously at an enchanted screen that had the obvious shape of a hand drawn on it. The screen was on top of a pedestal connected to a projector that would holographically show information. “I thought I was going to be promoted to make it to a 2nd-level student?” It had taken a week to get all the necessary exercises done for the promotion. She’d had to do a couple of the group exercises alone, though that hadn’t been too much of a challenge.
"You are," Kaede confirmed as if it was obvious, and the question was a stupid one.
“Then what’s with this…spying device?” Seraphia pointed at the pedestal.
An expression of realization came to Kaede’s face. “How did you think we test first years?”
“For the Knight track? A fight or something like that.” She replied a bit unsurely. She hadn’t actually known what to expect, just that it wasn’t this.
“I can see how that could make sense, but no. Usually, we’ve seen you and your peers in hundreds of fights over the year. We can tell by the exam time if you can fight or not. No, the standard for moving up is to meet certain criteria when it comes to your Skills and level. The exact Skills depend on the track, but the basic principle is the same. Don’t worry, the machine only displays what you want to display, and it doesn’t record information.” Kaede gestured towards the machine. “Just put your hand on the screen. The display will show any information you want to share.”
Seraphia wasn’t entirely convinced, but she wasn’t one for subterfuge anyway, so she just plonked her hand on the machine. “What now?”
“Now, I’ll ask you to show a few of your Skills. For a Knight, the first requirement is to have at least one Weapon Skill at level 40. That can be a form of Unarmed Combat as well, if you’re so inclined.” Kaede instructed. “Just think about the Skill you want to show.”
[Weapon King Arts – 55] Was suddenly displayed on the projector.
“Oh, wow, you already managed to evolve the Skill. And it’s general weapon arts?” Kaede seemed a little surprised. “It applies to all weapons? Guns as well?”
"To all weapons, yes," Seraphiel confirmed.
"That's interesting. And seeing as it's evolved, then it's going to be about equal to a more specific Skill. That's counted as a pass certainly. Now, I need you to show four other combat-related Skills also at level 40. Knowing you, that should be alright.”
"What's counted as combat-related?" Seraphiel confirmed, mostly out of curiosity.
“Anything you can feasibly use in combat. Usually direct combat application. Protective Skills are fine too.” Kaede expanded on the term.
[Advanced Psionic Infusion - 55]
[Psionic Storm - 55]
[Hohō – 54]
[Advanced Kidō - 54]
Kaede focused on the four, her eyes showing just a bit of her irises. “Three evolved Skills and one that might as well be. I see you came off well during your Class Evolution.”
“Are we done?” Seraphiel asked, not really wanting to show off anything further.
"Almost. Just one more. I need you to display one Skill that isn't combat-related at level 30 as well. It can be a Social or General Skill.” This was a more tricky one, especially for students like Seraphiel who had no work-life balance. It was put in place exactly to make sure the students relaxed and practiced their hobbies once in a while.
Seraphiel considered for a moment, before finally making her choice. Many of her Skills were not something she wanted to share after all.
[Advanced Bonesinging - 50]
"Bonesinging? That's a bit of a rare one. I don't think I've ever seen it before, though I've heard a few Aeldari students mention it in passing. It qualifies though, seeing as it's a crafting Skill." Kaede nodded. "Although, from what I've heard, its most common use is to make weapons and armor."
That’s certainly what Seraphiel used it for, though there was no need to reveal that. She still wasn’t satisfied with any of her work though. “That’s somewhat misleading. You can make almost anything with the Skill if it’s high enough level. Just that weapons and armor are the thing others most often get to see and experience.”
“Well, you’ve passed either way.” Kaede made a gesture, and the number one on Seraphiel’s uniform shifted into the number two. “And since I know you’re going to ask, double the requirements for the 3rd-level students, as well as requiring participation in certain exercises.”
“Those are rather high requirements.” Seraphiel pointed out. Just the level by itself wouldn’t have been, but requiring multiple Skills at that level as well required a lot of work.
“You’re not wrong, but you have to remember that you’ve taken the first promotion in little over half the usual time, and normally people don’t go up every year. Going from level forty to level eighty in two years is much more common, and going from whatever you started at to eighty in a year is an anomaly. You’re not supposed to jump up this quickly.” Kaede explained. “Now before you ask, after that, the requirements for getting to another level shift. It’s no longer about Skills and your Class levels. Since you gain a second Class at level 100, the whole process becomes more complicated, and for a while, you’ll be focused on leveling your second Class and not your first one. That’s why using your Class levels as a milestone no longer really makes sense. Instead, the focus becomes your ability to take on missions and monsters. At that point, everyone’s individual talents and stats also start to have enough of an effect that Class level starts losing meaning as a measuring stick. After all, someone with an A-rank Class is going to have very different stats than someone with a C-rank Class.”
“Alright. That’s good to know. Incidentally, I want to show off one more Skill.” Seraphiel said before the projector displayed [Magical Engineering - 28]. “Now, the level might not be all that high, but it’s enough for me to realize that this device actually can record someone’s information, even the information that isn’t displayed.” She manipulated the menus to erase her stored information, as if such devices were familiar to her.
“It was worth a shot.” Kaede smiled a bit bashfully for having gotten caught. “I was wondering if you’d catch on.”
“Your lying was spot on though. Part of your Class I assume?” She looked at her teacher.
“Nin-nin.” Kaede just trotted out her old phrase. “I think this turned out to be a good lesson in the end, even if not exactly in the way I expected. Though I am curious if the device could’ve gotten through the [Identity Protection] granted to all Champions.”
“I see you figured that one out as well.” Seraphiel didn’t really mind it, as it would’ve been odd for the ninja to not notice.
“It wasn’t hard to figure out.” Kaede gestured towards the machine. “I was mostly curious. The others have bets going on, and it would’ve been fun to sweep them all.”