In the following days, a growing number of players with high-grade mana aptitude successfully ascended to the Initiate Attunement rank, amounting to a total of seven individuals. Thanks to the introduction of “Assist Casting 1.0,” some of these newly promoted players began to dabble in spellcasting. While incidents of players killing themselves hadn’t happened yet, some careless players had suffered injuries during their practice. However, Victor made a noteworthy discovery: The pool inside the Nexus Tower actually possessed the remarkable ability to heal even life-threatening injuries.
According to Lizbeth, the pool was classified as an “energy pool,” a reservoir that accumulated energy particles from the surrounding atmosphere. Although Victor hadn’t tested the real potency of the pool itself and didn’t know if it could regenerate lost limbs, he had witnessed the remarkable power it possessed. Any wounds would spontaneously mend over the course of a few hours. Simply amazing!
Preparations to confront the impending arachnid horde were progressing steadily. All sorts of traps had been meticulously placed throughout the forest. Rows of sharp wooden stakes formed a formidable defensive barrier along the front of the wall, their menacing edges seemingly capable of piercing any approaching creature.
Victor, the mastermind orchestrating these preparations, stood atop the extensive earthen wall that stretched across the northern reaches of the academy. From this vantage point, he gazed out intently over the looming threat that was the depths of the Thornwood Forest. Even at this moment, an aura of immense danger seemed to seep from those shadows.
Yet, despite the palpable peril, Victor exuded an air of confidence as he accessed his status screen, revealing his newly improved stats.
Victor Asteriscus
HP: 100%
MP: 208/208
Power Rank: Third-stage Initiate Attunement
Elemental Affinity: Cosmo (95%) | Anemo (82%) | Pyro (57%)
Mana Aptitude: Inferior bright grade
Meditation Technique: Myriad Elements Method (third level, 73%)
Status: Healthy
Strength: (24 → 25)
Agility: (24 → 25)
Vitality: (24 → 25)
Magical Power: (31 → 33)
Inverted Mana (total): (172 → 208)
Spell Repertoire: {Blink Step}, {Slicing Wind}, {Zephyr Dash}, {Tempest Burst}, {Wind Guard}, {Flame Whip}, {Flame Dart}, {Ember Shield}, {Heat Wave}
His progress in meditation had been nothing short of astounding, to the point where the acolytes in his former academy would be green in jealousy if they were ever to find out. This remarkable progress wasn’t solely due to his unbroken focus on meditating over the past ten days, but also because he was hemorrhaging on mana crystals. He had to be as powerful as possible in the face of a calamity that could jeopardize his life.
In this critical moment, there was no room for failure. It was either him or them; there was no other option.
Apart from that, Victor had introduced a new feature to the status screen — now it displayed the spells that the user had successfully mastered. Later on, players would accumulate an ever-expanding repertoire of spells, and while the likelihood of forgetting their mastered spells was close to nil, it was always great to see more information. The dopamine rush gotten from doing so would be nothing short of exhilarating.
—— [Headmaster’s Journal] ——
Mission: Build Your Ark Before the Flood
With the academy’s barriers collapsing within ten days, you need to be prepared for what’s to come. Be prepared, be vigilant, and be ready; it is your task to build up a strong enough force and fortifications to contend against the arachnid invasion.
Type: Main mission
Force Assembling Progress: 99%
Remaining Time: 10 hours 43 minutes
Reward: 250 academy points
There’s still about ten hours… It should be in the middle of the night, then. Coincidentally, it was the weekend on Earth, so almost all the players should be able to participate regardless of the time.
One other thing to note was that the calendar system in Seraphia differed slightly from the Gregorian calendar. Despite having a similar number of days (360 days in the Seraphian calendar), there was no variation in the number of days in each month. Furthermore, in a world that essentially operated on a feudal system, the concept of a weekend holiday was nonexistent.
Setting aside these calendar intricacies, Victor faced the forty or so players gathered near the earthen wall, all of whom were busy preparing for the inevitable. Rather than fear and apprehension, their faces were filled with excitement, eager for the impending battle against the arachnid horde. Victor had informed them of the likely invasion date a few days prior, allowing them to make the necessary real-life preparations.
With a commanding gesture, Victor beckoned them to gather before him, ready to deliver his final speech — a speech he had crafted when contemplating in the toilet.
“My acolytes! The arachnid horde is set to invade us soon, and the academy’s magic barriers will no longer be able to conceal our presence. For days we have been preparing for this moment — everything we have constructed has been in anticipation of the looming threat that may ultimately decide our fate.” He gazed at each of them with his commanding presence, his words carrying a weight that hung heavily in the air.
“Now, I need six people—” Before he could finish his sentence, basically every player in the vicinity shot their hands into the air and tiptoed while showing their eager faces to be noticed and selected.
“Ahem, please wait for me to finish first,” Victor said with a light cough. He cleared his throat, adjusted his posture, faced the multitude of expectant eyes, and quickened his speech. “I require six acolytes to shoulder the weighty responsibility of standing guard on the wall, be it day or night.”
While the northern wall was still half-finished, the most perilous part of the forest lay to the north, leading to the heart of the forest. Besides, unless the players had attained the status of a first-stage Initiate Attunement, their combat abilities were limited, rendering them more as alarms to warn of approaching danger. With the protective barriers soon to be dispelled, there would be a pressing need for individuals to stand guard and maintain a vigilant watch.
“During your duty, the academy will provide your equipment, and you will be compensated with ten merit points per hour during the day and fifteen merit points during the night. Shifts will be organized into three rotations: one for the day and two for the night. The maximum night duty time is eight hours, with rotations every six hours. If, unfortunately, you meet your end on duty during this mission, the death penalty, apart from the resurrection cooldown, will be lifted. Additionally, depending on the circumstances, you will receive a pension ranging from one hundred to one thousand merit points.”
Victor surveyed the excited expressions on the assembled players, an inward smirk playing on his lips. After a brief pause, he continued, “You have ten seconds to consider whether you truly desire this position… Now, those who are interested, raise your hand and step forward.”
The last sentence was obviously redundant, as everyone had done this without being told to. In fact, as soon as his voice fell, forty or so pairs of hands were raised in the air. After all, Victor didn’t make it clear that raising both hands was the same as raising one, but such trivial details were hardly important now.
For players yearning to be online twenty-four hours a day, this job was too tempting to resist!
From six in the morning to six in the evening, there were twelve hours available for duty. At ten merit points per hour, that amounted to a total of 120 points. Even without the higher nighttime rate, this still equaled or surpassed the earnings of other average players. Daytime guard duty didn’t imply complete idleness either, as they could utilize that time for side tasks like crafting, further increasing their merit point income.
Victor chose the six most eager players who had been among the first to raise their hands and registered them on the Academy Inhabitant List tab. The System was able to record everyone’s job and, depending on their type, pay them merit points according to their contribution and hours worked.
Following this, he instructed them to take six of the twenty crossbows neatly arranged on wooden crates nearby under the envious eyes of other players. These crossbows were crafted from the remains of magical beasts by none other than Eleanor — the outgoing female blacksmith from the village. Obviously, they were of top-notch quality, and the bolts were also made from the thorns of Thornback Boar, capable of piercing weaker magical beasts with ease.
Six individuals were divided into three teams, each consisting of two members. They were assigned to cover each shift, and as for the specific timing of their duties, Victor allowed them to work it out among themselves.
Victor made it clear that if a magical beast approached, they could use their crossbows and arrows to either shoot at them or deter them. However, in the event that the magical beast proved to be too formidable or if they were outnumbered, their immediate course of action should be to call for reinforcements, which meant calling Lizbeth.
Shortly after Victor arranged these details, a familiar notification chimed in his head, followed by the appearance of a blue holographic screen.
[Mission Accomplished!]
[Congratulations on passing the mission. You have done well in ensuring the academy has adequate force and fortifications.]
[The reward (250 academy points) has been issued.]
“Nice.” With the addition of 250 AP, Victor finally had some leeway in his spending; he was even considering pulling for gacha. Uh, nah… There’s no guarantee I’ll get something good. I should save this for when the situation calls for it.
Thinking about doing gacha reminded him of the unused magic staff he’d gotten. Since he already had a stronger magic weapon, it seemed wasteful to let this one collect dust in his interspatial ring instead of being used by someone who needed it. It just so happened that he had a person in mind, so he notified him through the Shadowlink Mark to meet him near the wall.
“Esteemed Headmaster, did you call for me? Are you going to entrust me with the guard position, or even better, the leader of the hunting group? I’ve been rather bored foraging in the forest for the past ten days…” The sixteen- to seventeen-year-old teenage youngster who spoke was none other than Prominence. He was, funnily enough, one of the forty or so players gathered in the vicinity when Victor was selecting for guards.
The other players were carefully watching this exchange between Victor, or known as the headmaster, and Prominence — a fellow player. It was evident at a glance that he was going to give him a special task or mission.
“Mhm, I have another, more important task for you later. For now…” Victor extended his hand, and a long magic staff with a shimmering sapphire gem at its peak appeared — it was the Elemental Staff of Flame, a mid-grade magic tool.
“I-Is that the infamous magic tool? Holy shit!”
“Damnnn! I’m so envious!”
“I want to have a magic staff too… Still, why does it look familiar somehow?”
“…”
Prominence was quick to catch on, unable to hide his excitement as he reached for the magic weapon while exclaiming, “Thank you, Headmaster! I will definitely treasure thi—”
Victor pulled the staff back, stating firmly, “No, I’m not giving you this for free; I’m lending it to you.”
Prominence quickly corrected himself, albeit a bit disappointed, “Yes, of course! I will return it immediately when you ask for it!”
“Good.” Victor thought for a while before adding, “Of course, you can buy it for ten thousand merit points. Ah, beware that breaking it means buying.”
Hearing that he had to pay ten thousand merit points if he broke it, Prominence’s face paled. “Headmaster, I suddenly don’t want this anymore.”
“…” Victor was speechless for a moment but quickly reassured him that he wouldn’t charge a single merit point if the staff were to be damaged in battle while protecting the academy.
After a bit of convincing, the player took the Elemental Staff of Flame and thanked him, vowing things like “I will put it to good use” and “I won’t let you down” before excusing himself. The reason he chose Prominence wasn’t simply because he was the first player to be promoted nor because his highest elemental affinity was Pyro; it was merely due to the fact that he was the first player to register for the game and one of the few Victor could trust.
With all said and done, Victor opened the mission tab to see if there was a new main mission, and indeed, there was one:
Mission: Last Stand for the Invasion
The invasion is imminent, and they will overrun this place tonight. Strengthen your defenses, unite your forces, and face the arachnid horde with unwavering resolve — slay them to their last one. Will you emerge victorious, or will you perish under the darkness?
Type: Main mission
Number of Lesser Hiveborne Arachnid Remaining: 513
Reward: Breakthrough insight for Elemental Adept
The invasion had finally begun.
In the following days, a growing number of players with high-grade mana aptitude successfully ascended to the Initiate Attunement rank, amounting to a total of seven individuals. Thanks to the introduction of “Assist Casting 1.0,” some of these newly promoted players began to dabble in spellcasting. While incidents of players killing themselves hadn’t happened yet, some careless players had suffered injuries during their practice. However, Victor made a noteworthy discovery: The pool inside the Nexus Tower actually possessed the remarkable ability to heal even life-threatening injuries.
According to Lizbeth, the pool was classified as an “energy pool,” a reservoir that accumulated energy particles from the surrounding atmosphere. Although Victor hadn’t tested the real potency of the pool itself and didn’t know if it could regenerate lost limbs, he had witnessed the remarkable power it possessed. Any wounds would spontaneously mend over the course of a few hours. Simply amazing!
Preparations to confront the impending arachnid horde were progressing steadily. All sorts of traps had been meticulously placed throughout the forest. Rows of sharp wooden stakes formed a formidable defensive barrier along the front of the wall, their menacing edges seemingly capable of piercing any approaching creature.
Victor, the mastermind orchestrating these preparations, stood atop the extensive earthen wall that stretched across the northern reaches of the academy. From this vantage point, he gazed out intently over the looming threat that was the depths of the Thornwood Forest. Even at this moment, an aura of immense danger seemed to seep from those shadows.
Yet, despite the palpable peril, Victor exuded an air of confidence as he accessed his status screen, revealing his newly improved stats.
Victor Asteriscus
HP: 100%
MP: 208/208
Power Rank: Third-stage Initiate Attunement
Elemental Affinity: Cosmo (95%) | Anemo (82%) | Pyro (57%)
Mana Aptitude: Inferior bright grade
Meditation Technique: Myriad Elements Method (third level, 73%)
Status: Healthy
Strength: (24 → 25)
Agility: (24 → 25)
Vitality: (24 → 25)
Magical Power: (31 → 33)
Inverted Mana (total): (172 → 208)
Spell Repertoire: {Blink Step}, {Slicing Wind}, {Zephyr Dash}, {Tempest Burst}, {Wind Guard}, {Flame Whip}, {Flame Dart}, {Ember Shield}, {Heat Wave}
His progress in meditation had been nothing short of astounding, to the point where the acolytes in his former academy would be green in jealousy if they were ever to find out. This remarkable progress wasn’t solely due to his unbroken focus on meditating over the past ten days, but also because he was hemorrhaging on mana crystals. He had to be as powerful as possible in the face of a calamity that could jeopardize his life.
In this critical moment, there was no room for failure. It was either him or them; there was no other option.
Apart from that, Victor had introduced a new feature to the status screen — now it displayed the spells that the user had successfully mastered. Later on, players would accumulate an ever-expanding repertoire of spells, and while the likelihood of forgetting their mastered spells was close to nil, it was always great to see more information. The dopamine rush gotten from doing so would be nothing short of exhilarating.
—— [Headmaster’s Journal] ——
Mission: Build Your Ark Before the Flood
With the academy’s barriers collapsing within ten days, you need to be prepared for what’s to come. Be prepared, be vigilant, and be ready; it is your task to build up a strong enough force and fortifications to contend against the arachnid invasion.
Type: Main mission
Force Assembling Progress: 99%
Remaining Time: 10 hours 43 minutes
Reward: 250 academy points
There’s still about ten hours… It should be in the middle of the night, then. Coincidentally, it was the weekend on Earth, so almost all the players should be able to participate regardless of the time.
One other thing to note was that the calendar system in Seraphia differed slightly from the Gregorian calendar. Despite having a similar number of days (360 days in the Seraphian calendar), there was no variation in the number of days in each month. Furthermore, in a world that essentially operated on a feudal system, the concept of a weekend holiday was nonexistent.
Setting aside these calendar intricacies, Victor faced the forty or so players gathered near the earthen wall, all of whom were busy preparing for the inevitable. Rather than fear and apprehension, their faces were filled with excitement, eager for the impending battle against the arachnid horde. Victor had informed them of the likely invasion date a few days prior, allowing them to make the necessary real-life preparations.
With a commanding gesture, Victor beckoned them to gather before him, ready to deliver his final speech — a speech he had crafted when contemplating in the toilet.
“My acolytes! The arachnid horde is set to invade us soon, and the academy’s magic barriers will no longer be able to conceal our presence. For days we have been preparing for this moment — everything we have constructed has been in anticipation of the looming threat that may ultimately decide our fate.” He gazed at each of them with his commanding presence, his words carrying a weight that hung heavily in the air.
“Now, I need six people—” Before he could finish his sentence, basically every player in the vicinity shot their hands into the air and tiptoed while showing their eager faces to be noticed and selected.
“Ahem, please wait for me to finish first,” Victor said with a light cough. He cleared his throat, adjusted his posture, faced the multitude of expectant eyes, and quickened his speech. “I require six acolytes to shoulder the weighty responsibility of standing guard on the wall, be it day or night.”
While the northern wall was still half-finished, the most perilous part of the forest lay to the north, leading to the heart of the forest. Besides, unless the players had attained the status of a first-stage Initiate Attunement, their combat abilities were limited, rendering them more as alarms to warn of approaching danger. With the protective barriers soon to be dispelled, there would be a pressing need for individuals to stand guard and maintain a vigilant watch.
“During your duty, the academy will provide your equipment, and you will be compensated with ten merit points per hour during the day and fifteen merit points during the night. Shifts will be organized into three rotations: one for the day and two for the night. The maximum night duty time is eight hours, with rotations every six hours. If, unfortunately, you meet your end on duty during this mission, the death penalty, apart from the resurrection cooldown, will be lifted. Additionally, depending on the circumstances, you will receive a pension ranging from one hundred to one thousand merit points.”
Victor surveyed the excited expressions on the assembled players, an inward smirk playing on his lips. After a brief pause, he continued, “You have ten seconds to consider whether you truly desire this position… Now, those who are interested, raise your hand and step forward.”
The last sentence was obviously redundant, as everyone had done this without being told to. In fact, as soon as his voice fell, forty or so pairs of hands were raised in the air. After all, Victor didn’t make it clear that raising both hands was the same as raising one, but such trivial details were hardly important now.
For players yearning to be online twenty-four hours a day, this job was too tempting to resist!
From six in the morning to six in the evening, there were twelve hours available for duty. At ten merit points per hour, that amounted to a total of 120 points. Even without the higher nighttime rate, this still equaled or surpassed the earnings of other average players. Daytime guard duty didn’t imply complete idleness either, as they could utilize that time for side tasks like crafting, further increasing their merit point income.
Victor chose the six most eager players who had been among the first to raise their hands and registered them on the Academy Inhabitant List tab. The System was able to record everyone’s job and, depending on their type, pay them merit points according to their contribution and hours worked.
Following this, he instructed them to take six of the twenty crossbows neatly arranged on wooden crates nearby under the envious eyes of other players. These crossbows were crafted from the remains of magical beasts by none other than Eleanor — the outgoing female blacksmith from the village. Obviously, they were of top-notch quality, and the bolts were also made from the thorns of Thornback Boar, capable of piercing weaker magical beasts with ease.
Six individuals were divided into three teams, each consisting of two members. They were assigned to cover each shift, and as for the specific timing of their duties, Victor allowed them to work it out among themselves.
Victor made it clear that if a magical beast approached, they could use their crossbows and arrows to either shoot at them or deter them. However, in the event that the magical beast proved to be too formidable or if they were outnumbered, their immediate course of action should be to call for reinforcements, which meant calling Lizbeth.
Shortly after Victor arranged these details, a familiar notification chimed in his head, followed by the appearance of a blue holographic screen.
[Mission Accomplished!]
[Congratulations on passing the mission. You have done well in ensuring the academy has adequate force and fortifications.]
[The reward (250 academy points) has been issued.]
“Nice.” With the addition of 250 AP, Victor finally had some leeway in his spending; he was even considering pulling for gacha. Uh, nah… There’s no guarantee I’ll get something good. I should save this for when the situation calls for it.
Thinking about doing gacha reminded him of the unused magic staff he’d gotten. Since he already had a stronger magic weapon, it seemed wasteful to let this one collect dust in his interspatial ring instead of being used by someone who needed it. It just so happened that he had a person in mind, so he notified him through the Shadowlink Mark to meet him near the wall.
“Esteemed Headmaster, did you call for me? Are you going to entrust me with the guard position, or even better, the leader of the hunting group? I’ve been rather bored foraging in the forest for the past ten days…” The sixteen- to seventeen-year-old teenage youngster who spoke was none other than Prominence. He was, funnily enough, one of the forty or so players gathered in the vicinity when Victor was selecting for guards.
The other players were carefully watching this exchange between Victor, or known as the headmaster, and Prominence — a fellow player. It was evident at a glance that he was going to give him a special task or mission.
“Mhm, I have another, more important task for you later. For now…” Victor extended his hand, and a long magic staff with a shimmering sapphire gem at its peak appeared — it was the Elemental Staff of Flame, a mid-grade magic tool.
“I-Is that the infamous magic tool? Holy shit!”
“Damnnn! I’m so envious!”
“I want to have a magic staff too… Still, why does it look familiar somehow?”
“…”
Prominence was quick to catch on, unable to hide his excitement as he reached for the magic weapon while exclaiming, “Thank you, Headmaster! I will definitely treasure thi—”
Victor pulled the staff back, stating firmly, “No, I’m not giving you this for free; I’m lending it to you.”
Prominence quickly corrected himself, albeit a bit disappointed, “Yes, of course! I will return it immediately when you ask for it!”
“Good.” Victor thought for a while before adding, “Of course, you can buy it for ten thousand merit points. Ah, beware that breaking it means buying.”
Hearing that he had to pay ten thousand merit points if he broke it, Prominence’s face paled. “Headmaster, I suddenly don’t want this anymore.”
“…” Victor was speechless for a moment but quickly reassured him that he wouldn’t charge a single merit point if the staff were to be damaged in battle while protecting the academy.
After a bit of convincing, the player took the Elemental Staff of Flame and thanked him, vowing things like “I will put it to good use” and “I won’t let you down” before excusing himself. The reason he chose Prominence wasn’t simply because he was the first player to be promoted nor because his highest elemental affinity was Pyro; it was merely due to the fact that he was the first player to register for the game and one of the few Victor could trust.
With all said and done, Victor opened the mission tab to see if there was a new main mission, and indeed, there was one:
Mission: Last Stand for the Invasion
The invasion is imminent, and they will overrun this place tonight. Strengthen your defenses, unite your forces, and face the arachnid horde with unwavering resolve — slay them to their last one. Will you emerge victorious, or will you perish under the darkness?
Type: Main mission
Number of Lesser Hiveborne Arachnid Remaining: 513
Reward: Breakthrough insight for Elemental Adept
The invasion had finally begun.
