Chrome’s confusion was clarified when a messenger later entered the room and gave him the news: all teenagers who awakened 5* or above classes must first attend 3 years of military academy before starting their military service. The policy was apparently enacted after one year when the information about all the recently awakened individuals was leaked. As a result, enemy nations systematically targeted and killed those that obtained powerful classes before they could grow to become a threat. The purpose of the military academy is to provide a safe environment for the individuals with high talent to grow before being shipped off to war.
The country gave students one day to prepare for the academy, but for Chrome, that was unnecessary. He wasn’t close with anyone from the orphanage, and his belongings amounted to what he wore on his body. And even if he did have things to take care of… Chrome looked at the solid doors of the room and remembered how the priest had mentioned that he needed to be here for his safety. The excitement of having awakened a (really two) 7* class(es) had worn off by now, and the gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in. Sure, he had a great amount of potential (or at least that’s what people have been telling him), but until he grows, he is nothing - a candle that anyone with a modicum of strength could sniff out. Chrome resolved himself to get stronger in order to obtain the envisioned world laid out by Riernel.
He walked to the door and opened it. Waiting there were two knights, one on each side of the door. The one on the left turned and looked at him kindly. “Child, do you need anything?”
“I was a little overwhelmed previously, but on reflection, I really know nothing about classes. Can you give me a basic rundown of what they are? What is the reasoning behind the different ranks in classes?”
“Of course! You will probably hear this all again in the military academy, but it’s great to learn about it beforehand.”
The knight proceeded to explain the mechanisms of leveling, ranks, and even skill distributions. As Chrome knew beforehand, the star rating of a class determines the maximum talent of an individual. More specifically, however, it determines the maximum rank and the maximum number of skills a person can achieve with their class.
For ranks and levels, all classes start at rank 1 and to proceed to the next rank requires 10 times the current rank levels. In other words, to progress from rank 1, he would need to obtain 10 levels. To progress from rank 2, he would need to obtain an additional 20 levels. 7* classes can thus allow for a total of 280 levels while 3* classes only allow 60 cumulative levels. In addition, increases in rank usually also increase the amount of stats gained per level, so the power difference is even greater than just the levels suggest. The amount of experience to obtain each successive level for a class rises exponentially, but the knight wasn’t too clear on the exact details and said that Chrome would probably learn more when in the military academy.
For skills, all classes start with 2 skills - a passive and an active. Skills are then granted upon each successive rank up to a maximum of the star rating of the class. At maximum rank for a class, the ratio of passive to active skills is 1:2 rounded down. In addition, the strength of the skills depends on the overall star rating with 7* classes having the strongest skills and 3* classes generally having the worst skills. Chrome worried that this meant that he would only obtain all his skills when he reached rank 6, but the knight laughed and told him not to worry; at rank 4, classes receive any remaining passive skills if they are able to. In other words, Chrome will achieve all his skills by rank 5, and as far as the knight knows, usually all the graduates of the military academy come out with rank 5, some rarely with rank 6. There is also a legend that upon maxing out a 7* class, a person will receive two more skills, but the amount of experience needed to do so is astronomical, so no one in the present era has done so.
The knight concluded by summing it all up for Chrome, “To put it in perspective, a 7* class is so valuable, because not only are the maximum stats obtainable far greater than other classes, but they also have the best quality and highest quantity skills. This is not even including its rarity.”
The explanation helped Chrome understand why the royal twins valued him so much. Before he returned to the room, he had one more question. “Thanks! The priest previously mentioned that the Necromancer class was the ruler of the battlefield. Why is this the case?”
The knight replied with a wry grin. “Ah. Well, even though our country awakens 4 or 5 6* individuals per year, the actual number of people who achieve the sixth rank is limited. In the standard battlefield, there may be as few as 5 or as many as 10 sixth rank combatants. Only major battlefields have more or rank 7 fighters. However, the Necromancer class is known for being able to summon multiple undead of the same rank. There have been stories where a single 6 star Necromancer is equivalent to ten 6 star combatants of other classes! In addition, casualties only increase the strength of the Necromancer’s side. Can you imagine a situation where you have to face a foe of equal strength but continuously hold back to defend yourself while the other side is out for blood? That’s how facing a Necromancer is like - great for power and morale.”
Chrome thanked the knight again before returning to his room and spending the rest of the day there. His final thought before he drifted off to sleep was that he was looking forward to the military academy.
----------------------------------------
“KEEP IT UP!”
Lungs burning, blood pumping, Chrome hated the military academy. Right after all the students arrived the next day, without even getting time to put away their luggage (not that he had any), they were sent to jog 5 laps around the campus. Around the stupidly large campus that spanned a perimeter of at least 1 mile in perimeter. For Chrome, who had never done a single day of physical training before, it was embarrassing how slow he was. He had been lapped at least twice by both Riernel and Celene, and the majority of the class had done so once.
By the time Chrome finished, the sun was already high in the sky, and the rest of the class had long gone to the canteen and ate breakfast AND lunch. The only people remaining were the instructor, who was there to ensure Chrome finished, and the dynamic duo themselves. Panting, Chrome reached them.
Riernel spoke first and encouragingly patted the back of Chrome. “Nice job champ - you finished! Don’t worry, this isn’t something they do everyday - apparently this is only to baptize the new recruits.”
“Hah, hah. So. Long. How. Did. Everyone. Finish. So. Fast?” Chrome took huge gulps of air in between the words and minor comfort in the fact that he won’t be doing this every day.
Celene spoke this time. “Most of the kids this year are nobles or children of wealthy individuals who have had … better resources in their youth.”
“What. About. The. Other. Commoners? People of. Low birth?” By the end of the sentence, Chrome had recovered enough to say TWO words without needing to take a break to breath.
“Usually class talent is passed on through the bloodline, so the military academy doesn’t usually get anyone from outside the upper stratas of society. Hey, come on, let’s go to the canteen, and see if there’s anything left for us to eat.” At this, the two took Chrome on their shoulders and helped him to the main hall.
The last words Celene said bothered him, and it wasn’t until they nearly arrived that he registered. “Wait, you guys haven’t eaten yet?”
Riernel almost rolled his eyes. “Chrome, this is a MILITARY academy. Unless we perform exceptionally well, no one gets special treatment. For us beginners, that basically means we need to follow all of the rules, one of which is that food cannot be taken out of the canteen.”
Chrome didn’t know what to think. Here he was, an orphan with no status, and a prince and a princess, blood descendents of the emperor himself, just waited on him to finish his run before eating. A warm feeling filled his chest. Then they walked into the dining hall, and his thoughts stopped.
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Rows and rows of food lined up in buffet style. The fragrance of the cooked meat and roasted vegetables made his mouth water. He had never even seen so much food in his life! The trio found a table, and like a man with a purpose, Chrome set upon the food. It was amazing! The meat filled his body with energy, and Chrome seemed to imagine a stream of power re-energizing his muscles with every bite he took.
“That’s right. Everything here is cooked with magical ingredients in order to best help the students recover and develop.” Celene said upon seeing the look of satisfaction on Chrome’s face. She continued, “It’s a little unfortunate that all the high quality dishes have already been taken away, but I guess what’s left is still alright.”
There was even better food!? Chrome couldn’t wait to finish his next exercise early in order to obtain the best dishes in the dining hall.
After a half hour and everyone had eaten their fill, they moved to the residential hall to obtain their room assignments. As it turned out, every year, the room assignments were grouped in 5 and based on the class star rating - the 5 highest star ratings were paired together and so forth. When Chrome found out that both Celene and Riernel were in the same suite, he curiously looked at the two. Based on what the knight said previously, there were only 4-5 six star classes awakened every year - that meant that the twins before him accounted for at least half of them. Suddenly, he was very curious what classes they had, but he didn’t ask for fear of seeming rude.
When they entered the suite, they saw the other two denizens relaxing on the sofas in the center of the room. Chrome’s first impression of the two was a panther and a tiger. The man was of medium height, and the way he sat promised of explosive strength. He had a piercing gaze as if constantly looking for vulnerabilities. The woman was tall and well-built. She had straight dark hair cut short to her shoulders, but currently it was spread out as she lounged lazily across the second soda, taking up all the space. While the previous man seemed to be attentive, analyzing their value and every move, the woman only spared them a curious glance before nonchalantly looking away. The former gave off an environment of wit, while the latter gave off an environment of hidden ferocity. Both felt as though they could have broken Chrome in half without much effort. He gulped.
“Hey Joan, hey Tybalt, how are you guys?” Riernel appeared to know these two from before and obviously did not feel the same way. “Since you’re here, it seems like you guys got nice classes - what did you guys get?” He also didn’t seem to have any qualms about asking them for their class.
The guy’s lips slightly upturned. … is that supposed to be a smile? “Hi Riernel and Celene. I’m doing pretty good. I awakened to the 6* class Demon Hunter. How about you two?” Chrome opened his ears to listen.
“Nice! I obtained the 6* class Galeforce Wizard.”
“Ditto on what my brother said. I got the 6* class Galeforce Muse. How about you Joan?”
Joan had uprighted herself and gave a wide smile. “6* Valkyrie”.
“Awesome!” Exclaimed Celene. “I always remember that you wanted to get that class!”
The four friends conversed and exchanged a few more pleasantries, before Tybalt directed the conversation towards Chrome.
“So who’s this guy?”
Before he could answer, Riernel answered for him. “Get this, he is 7*! His class is Necromancer!” Chrome noticed that Riernel didn’t mention his second class, but he followed along. Since the prince wanted to not mention it, he didn’t feel the need to mention it either.
Silence descended upon the room for a bit before both Joan and Tybalt shouted in surprise.
“Wow!” “That’s amazing!”
They clamored for a bit, and right when they settled down, Riernel had a mischievous smile on his face and finished. “And he has TWO classes. The other is 7* Dark Paladin.”
If the previous sentence stunned Joan and Tybalt, this one had less of an impact, and the two found their words faster.
“Haha, that’s funny. No one has two classes, Riernel.”
“Chrome, come on - show them wrong.” laughed Celene. Upon hearing that and realizing that the prince was serious, the two’s laughter began to die down. They looked at Chrome in part disbelief, part challenge.
For his part, Chrome hesitated. The two seemed like a friendly pair, but Chrome was not dumb enough to not realize that having two classes would potentially make him a target, especially after the lectures from the royalty and the knight yesterday that let him know how overpowered two 7* classes could be. Seeing this hesitation, Riernel knew the issue and addressed it. “It’s alright, you can trust these two. They’re childhood friends of ours. Furthermore, Joan is the daughter of the only rank 7 general in our army, and Tybalt is the son of Duke Sharpstrider. Their parents are both close friends with our father, and they won’t betray our friendship and loyalty to the country. Of course, in general, you should not show others your status or let people know you have two classes.” As always, Riernel finished his affirmation with a joking tone at the end.
Hearing the reassurance, Chrome opened his status.
“Status. Public”
Name: Chrome
Age: 15
HP: 100/100
MP: 133/133
Control: 0/11 in use
STR: 10
DEX: 10
CON: 13
INT: 11 (+3.6)
WIS: 11
CHA: 10
Classes and Skills:
Necromancer (7*)
Dark Paladin (7*)
Rank: 1/7 - +1 WIS / +1 INT per Level
Rank 1/7 - +2 CON per Level
Lvl: 1 - EXP: 0/10
Lvl: 1 - EXP: 0/10
Passive 1:
Undead Control
Gain 1 Control every 1 WIS
You gain a passive stat Control which signifies your limit to control your undead.
Passive 1:
Dark Energy
+1/3/5 INT for every 3 CON (rounded down)
The stronger your body, the more dark energy you can use to empower your attacks
Active 1: Summon Undead
Summon:
100 * Rank MP
Upkeep:
Rank MP per Hour
Rank * 10 Control
Summon an undead from the underworld. Undead may have their own skills which will require MP from you.
You cannot summon an undead with a greater rank than you
If the corpse already exists, then you do not pay the summon cost
Active 1: Dark Sword
10 MP per Sword
Conjure swords of dark energy to impale the enemy. Swords can explode on impact.
Swords do 10/15/20% of your INT
Explosions deal an additional 0.3x of original damage.
Chrome was waiting for the reactions of the others, when surprisingly, Celene was the first one to spot something.
“Looks like the long run paid off - you gained a point in CON!”
“Huh?” Looking at it more carefully, Chrome realized that Celene was right. “I thought that I would only gain stats through leveling up?”
“That’s true for mana related stats and charisma. For physical related stats, you can improve them through physical training until your body can’t improve unless through leveling. The verified limit is 20 for each stat. That’s also how the rest of our class was able to finish the run much faster.”
Ah. That made sense. At this point, Joan and Tybalt have begun to come back to their senses. After several repetitions of collapsing onto the couch with their head in their hands, repeating phrases like ‘That’s impossible’ or ‘I can’t believe what I just saw’, and getting up again to look at the several key words at the top of the blue screen, they had begun to accept what they were seeing in front of them is real. Tybalt turned to Riernel and Celene with a pale face.
“Do you guys know what this means?”
“Of course. We wouldn’t have said anything if it wasn’t you.”
“How many other people know?”
The twins looked at each other. “Well besides the people in this room, nobody. Our father didn’t send us off, so we didn’t even get the chance to tell him either.” Riernel finished the last statement with a bit of a self-deprecating chuckle.
Tybalt paced around the room in a worried manner. Celene chuckled at the sight of him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you guys get it? If it’s “just a Necromancer” then the other countries might send an assassin to stop him before he grows. But even if they didn’t, the Necromancer class is known for its personal weakness outside of the undead, so they have other ways of handling it. They can leave it as it is. But if it’s the Necromancer and the Dark Paladin…” Tybalt looked at Chrome and gulped. “He would have no weaknesses after he levels up. It would be almost certain that the war would end in our victory in our era.”
The twins’ faces were beginning to pale as they understood the situation. Chrome was still confused - he knew that he could be targeted as an assassination target, but that was always in the realm of possibilities. Joan fortunately had the same confusion.
“What’s the problem? Isn’t that a good thing?”
“If we can think of this, the other nations will undoubtedly think of it as well. And who would be willing to wait for certain death? In other words…”
Riernel finished Tybalt’s words and sent a chill down everyone’s spines.
“The 4 nations would form an alliance and invade our country. And we would stand no chance.”
The room was plunged into silence.