Chapter 350 – The Paths Ahead

Chapter 350 – The Paths Ahead

Leaning on the cold marble wall outside Jolene’s office, Kai looked at his status. His gaze lingered a for moment on the yellowing parchment of the window, decorated with tawny runes on the edges to frame the crisp numbers.

How long had it been since he played with his Guide style? He remembered spending hours tweaking them when he first broke the First Seal. Then, one day, he’d simply stopped, gotten too busy and lost the habit.

Is it time for a change?

Kai shook the idle thought from his head. The aesthetic of his windows held little importance compared to the numbers on the parchment. He couldn’t help blinking as he took in the changes.

Over the last two months, the academy curriculum had herded him through towers, halls and libraries with little time to stare at his status. His attention darted over the numbers, his surprise settling into a pleased smile.

Looks I didn’t slave away for nothing.

• Name: Kai Tylenn (Matthew Reece Veernon)
• Race: Human ★★ – 7,682 > 69,120 / 800,000 XP
• Profession: Favored Mystic of the Isles (lv3>5) – 0 / 26,000 XP

Body stats

• Strength: 45
• Dexterity: 48
• Constitution: 56 (48+8) > 58 (48+10)
• Mind: 68 (52+16) > 73 (53+20)
• Spirit: 77 (61+16) > 79 (61+20
• Perception: 52 (44+8) > 55 (45+10)
• Favor: 91

Boons:

• Gifts of the Earth
• Kahali’s Retribution
• Spatial Attunement
• Minor Elemental Attunement

Profession Skills:

• Spatial Shift (lv17>25)
• Echoing Empath (lv9>21)
• Astral Pathway (lv13>20)
• Natural Prodigy (lv11>18)
• Water Cannon (lv14>16)
• Nature Healing (lv8>12)

General Skills:

• Hallowed Intuition (lv88>90)
• Mana Observer (lv54>58)
• Body Augmentation (lv46>47)
• Mana Weaving (lv41>46)
• Mana Analyst (lv41>45)
• Split Mind (lv34>42)
• Hobbes (lv30>41)
• Water Magic – Advanced (lv34>41)
• Mana Engraving (lv23>25)
• Elemental Swordsman (lv14>20)
• Nature Magic – Advanced (lv12>18)
• Runic Scholar (lv11>16)
• Arcane Enchanting (lv13>15)
• Space Magic – Advanced (lv13>15)
• Herbalism (lv4>10)

• Alchemy (lv94>96)
• Blessed Swimmer (lv73>81)
• Earth Magic (lv58>70)
• Shadow Magic (lv58>67)
• Advanced Hunting (lv40) >> Mnemonic Mastery (lv1>32)
• Treasure Sense (lv40) >> Swift Learner (lv1>25)

The last time he’d been able to enjoy such swift growth, he had been a kid running on the shores of Virya’s estate; Red and Orange filled his status rather than Yellow.

A pleasant conviction relaxed his sore shoulders. He’d made the right decision enrolling at Raelion. Even with the days spent on dull lectures and genealogies of debatable accuracy, that didn’t change. No amount of wit could make up for centuries of accumulated knowledge and expertise to further his skills and plan his status. The admission just highlighted his lack compared to the patricians of the mainland.

I’m closing the gap.

Kai eyed his progress toward Yellow ★★★. Despite siphoning his Domain XP to his profession, he had made a respectable dent in that goal, and also gained a natural point in Mind and Perception through effort.

The first didn’t surprise him, considering his time spent bent on books and monotonous exercises. Reflexively, he pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off a thin throb. The strain from Mnemonic Mastery had become an omnipresent companion that he couldn’t evict, but he had held on and learned to ignore it.

I can rest the skill during the mid-term Trials. Probably… I really don’t get the academy’s obsession with secrecy.

Kai pushed the headache away, turning his thoughts to his natural gain in Perception with a wry smile. It seemed Rain’s increasingly strange exercises weren’t an elaborate prank. The siren enjoyed himself too much to entirely stave off his suspicion.

Was that what he and Flynn laughed about? Ways to torment me? I can’t even say who’s being the bad influence anymore. They deserve each other.

Kai huffed in the empty hallway. He didn’t mind the pranks as much as falling for them, but couldn’t argue with his gains, especially in those areas not touched by his profession. While Perception encompassed both his physical and spiritual senses, each point didn’t signify an equal improvement across the board. That was a simplification of the Guide—and another gap in his knowledge.

The attributes he earned from his efforts leaned toward the senses he’d trained; those from advancing his grade leaned toward his body’s physical talent; and those from Favored Mystic of the Isles leaned toward the domain of his profession, i.e. mana and magic.

Professor Lysander had spent endless lectures on the importance of aligning your skills with your attributes and maintaining balance. It was another issue to account for if he wanted to remain a hybrid fighter. The attributes not boosted by his profession were destined to fall behind—his bruised muscles from sparring were a testament to that. The gap with physical professions would only widen.

It’s not an immediate problem.

Empower and then Body Augmentation had helped him manage it somewhat. He aimed to use mana and magic to shore up his physical weaknesses—the same path he’d chosen for Blessed Swimmer’s specialization. The more proficient he became with mana, the stronger he could make his body. Two paths converging into one.

Kai had felt quite pleased with the plan, right before he found his idea was a path that had been threaded for millennia. Then, he’d felt really stupid for ever thinking it could be an original one.

The self-inflicted embarrassment still made him cringe.

The approach had both potential and obstacles.

Nothing I can solve right now. But getting more levels and attributes can’t hurt.

Professor Lysander also ranted against the fools who rushed to evolve their profession to Yellow, burning their potential for short-term gain.

Your profession should always follow behind your race grade. Even at Green! The rote warnings echoed in his ears. Spirits, I really need a way to undo what I save with Mnemonic Mastery.

Massaging his temples, Kai fixed the memo in his Long-term Goals Bucket and returned to his status.

He’d made modest progress in his profession skills. While Favored Mystic of the Isles wasn’t exactly a fighting profession, Raelion’s endless theory lectures had given few opportunities to train the skills. He’d kept up the practice with Spatial Shift in the privacy of his bedroom and used Astral Pathway to fuel it. The repetitive training rewarded an average amount of growth, more so with Mnemonic Mastery and Swift Learner demonstrating how quickly an Orange skill could develop under the right conditions.

Still, the success with Echoing Empath tipped the scales distinctly toward success.

The swimming ventures with Rain had been another pleasant distraction on the weekends—awash with vicious squirrels and attempts at cracking his skill. Rain’s harrumphs and grumbles as he failed to solve the mystery always put him in a good mood. Alas, it was hard to understand a skill that Kai himself had only recently attained.

When Kahali had changed Mana Echo into Rippling Echo, the limitations of creating echoes only for magics used against him had swamped him. He’d used it as a surprise attack and still underestimated the evolution in Echoing Empath.

Its power ranged well beyond creating flimsy copies to obtaining lower versions of skills used on him and deepening his insights if he already possessed them, such as with Water Magic. The skill would be ridiculously overpowered without the limitation, and remained powerful as it was.

Deadly attacks enhanced its effect, but even the slightest brush was enough to trigger it—and the difference was far smaller than he’d imagined.

Had I been using it wrong?

He had just begun to understand the potential of Echoing Empath for training and sparring. The shackles were only its grade and the availability of willing minions to assist him.

Uhm, I think Hobbes might be rubbing off on me… though, is it a bad thing? Minions are useful. How much stronger can my skill get?

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

It was natural that a skill at Orange couldn’t grasp spells at Yellow—not at such a low level. After a couple specializations? Who knew?

The bucket for long-term plans is really getting stuffed. I should probably organize it better. Well… that also goes in there for later.

Kai recalled the disappointment when he found out that Orange professions could have up to seven skills—one more than him. As for the quality of those skills, he’d read little that could compare to what Favored Mystic of the Isles offered. All his skills brushed the limits of Orange for power, rarity or both. Only Water Cannon had a direct mention in the records of the library, with no skill paths.

I could ask Professor Thornwyn…

He quickly moved to finish inspecting his status.

His brows knitted slightly on Hallowed Intuition. He had been long due a level; it was the second that puzzled him. Near the peak of Yellow, each step marked a significant milestone closer to Green.

I won’t complain if I get Lucky.

His eyes swept over his Magic skills. Those were the ones that made him most proud, and the ones he checked most often. The bounty of knowledge and expertise at Raelion had let him soar through the levels, in everything except Alchemy and Enchanting. Not due to lack of resources, but for the time he couldn’t spare.

He’d barely touched a cauldron or engraving stylus since coming to Raelion, and just to test his basic proficiency in those disciplines. Passing the seven mandatory courses only gave access to half the advanced classes. Selecting those he wanted to attend after the Trials was another knotted net to untangle—one he left in the bucket till he passed the mid-term Trials.

Despite being satisfied with his progress, his mind filled with the myriad things he had yet to do. There were just so many skills to train on top of his classes.

Kai recalled his dread upon learning that Green skills could take more than one skill slot. Now, well… he would never really like it, but he couldn’t deny a sliver of relief. If he already felt stretched at Yellow, he couldn’t imagine having to juggle fifty skills or more between his grade and profession. Each further grade drastically increased the time and requirement to train to surpass it.

Uhm… What time is it— shit, shit!

Kai stored away the pocket watch and spun toward the office door, still cursing himself. He knocked below the plaque engraved with Professor Jolene Amarys Thornwyn’s name and title.

Six minutes late to a fixed appointment.

How had time flown so quickly?

I’m an idiot—

“Enter.”

Her tone came absolutely flat, though Kai could swear he heard her irritation laced through it. She was going to chew him out, and he’d be lucky if she didn’t also give him a demerit.