"Phew... Finally." Rovel let out a long, deep sigh of relief, his eyes fixed on the holographic panel shimring before him. "The grind is over."
The mont his physical training regin for the day had concluded, Rovel had all but sprinted back to his dormitory, eager for this mont. He imdiately summoned his status panel, his gaze sweeping over the familiar lines of text.
[Na: Fang Ruobai]
[Level: 1]
[Level Cap: 30] (Requires completion of Breakthrough Quest to unlock)
[EXP: 0/100]
[Race: Human]
[HP: 1500/1500]
[Honkai Energy Infection Progress: 0.42%]
[Constitution: 151]
[Strength: 151]
[Agility: 151]
[Intelligence: 151]
[Honkai Energy Resistance: 1800 HW]
[Stigmata Slot 1: Yae Sakura]
[Unallocated EXP: 1,300,000]
[Equipnt: Elysia's Crystal Flower (Special Accessory), Three-Year Sakura]
He had intentionally used the Dead Force to drain his own power, resetting his level all the way back to 1. Now, it was ti to reap the rewards.
'Begin,' he thought, and the massive pool of unallocated experience points began to flow.
A cascade of notifications flooded his vision.
[Consud 100 EXP. Promoted to Level 2. All four stats 1, Intelligence 2 (Allocated)]
[Consud 200 EXP. Promoted to Level 3. All four stats 1, Intelligence 2 (Allocated)]
The system automatically funneled points into his Intelligence first, paying back the 'debt' of 16 points he had temporarily allocated to compete with Bronya in her gas.
The stream of notifications beca a blur.
[Consud 10,000 EXP. Promoted to Level 10. All four stats 1, Free Attribute Points 2]
...
[Consud 300,000 EXP. Promoted to Level 30. All four stats 1, Free Attribute Points 2]
[You have reached the current level cap. Please complete the Breakthrough Quest as soon as possible.]
Rovel stared at his now-empty experience bar. He hadn't expected that a staggering 1.3 million EXP would only be enough to push him to Level 30. To put that into perspective, a Level 50 Chariot-class Honkai Beast only yielded about 30,000 EXP. This was the equivalent of hunting down more than thirty of them.
His Constitution, Strength, and Agility had all settled at a solid 180. His Intelligence, benefiting from the initial allocation, had reached 196. He also had 42 Free Attribute Points waiting to be assigned.
For a mont, Rovel felt the tantalizing impulse to dump every last point into Intelligence. After all, when he activated his Spirit Blade Form, it was the only stat that received no enhancent.
He quickly reined in the thought, however. 'I can add them at any ti. Better to save them for a rainy day.' He nudged his Intelligence up to an even 200, just to make the number look cleaner, leaving him with a reserve of 38 points.
Next, Rovel retrieved the vial Mobius had given him—the 'Interdiate Modification Potion'. He uncorked it without hesitation and downed the shimring liquid in a single, decisive gulp. A wave of warmth, then a surge of raw power, coursed through his veins, strengthening every fiber of his being.
His stats imdiately updated. Constitution, Strength, and Agility all leaped to 280, while his Intelligence hit a perfect 300. His Honkai Energy Resistance also climbed, settling at 2000 HW.
His physical fitness had nearly doubled in an instant.
'As expected,'Rovel thought with a satisfied grin.'Clinging to Snake's thigh was absolutely the right move.' He was already starting to look forward to what an Advanced Modification Potion might do.
With his stats settled, he turned his attention to the final hurdle: the Level 30 Breakthrough Quest.
[Breakthrough Quest: Complete four of the following objectives to break through the level cap.]
[1. Possess one skill with proficiency at Minor Accomplishnt or higher. (Completed)]
[2. Have 1000 or more Reputation Points with any organization. (Incomplete)]
[3. Defeat/Kill an NPC of Level 30 or higher. (Completed)]
[4. Complete one B-Rank or higher Honkai mission. (Incomplete)]
[5. Fill Stigmata Slot 1. (Completed)]
[6. Obtain a recomndation from a recomnder. (Completed)]
Logically, he could break through right now. He had already fulfilled four of the six conditions. But according to the player forums, where a large number of Descenders had already broken past Level 10, there was a catch.
Soone had discovered that the number of completed objectives directly impacted the rewards.
Completing five objectives granted the ultimate prize: 'Stigmata Slot 1'.
Completing four objectives offered a solid, but inferior, 'All four stats 10'.
Completing just three gave a ager 'All four stats 5'.
While a boost of 10 to all stats was tempting, an entire extra Stigmata Slot had a vastly higher potential. Schicksal was already running pilot programs for 'artificial stigmata' transplants, and so players on the forums had already successfully undergone the procedure. A single successful transplant granted 10 to all stats, with more bonuses to follow.
Of course, it ca with a risk—an increase of 10% to 30% in one's Honkai Energy infection progress. But as long as it didn't hit 100%, you wouldn't turn into a Death Soldier. So, in the eyes of many players, it wasn't a problem. The ta was clear: aim for the perfect breakthrough, get the extra slot, and then get an artificial stigmata.
There were rumors that you could get an artificial stigmata even without a slot, with whispers that the top player, Apollo, had managed it before even hitting Level 10. But Apollo himself had never confird it, leaving most of the player base to speculate.
"Reputation points, huh?" Rovel murmured, pulling up his own standing.
[Chiba Academy: 500 (Destroyed)]
[St. Freya Academy: 767]
He had beco rather well-known at St. Freya Academy lately, for two main reasons. The first was his daily sparring matches with Fu Hua, which invariably ended in a draw and forced Hiko to intentionally separate them during combat training. The issue was that the strength both of them displayed was approaching that of an A-Rank Valkyrie. Their bouts were so destructive that the training grounds required constant, expensive repairs. If it continued, St. Freya's already precarious finances might face another major crisis.
The second reason was simpler: Rovel was the only male student at the academy. Being both handso and powerful, he naturally garnered a great deal of attention.
He chuckled to himself. If it weren't for i perpetually attached to his arm as they walked the campus grounds, he suspected that reputation score might be even higher. Not that he was complaining, of course.
Just then, a soft knock sounded at his door.
"Rovel? Are you in there? Is everything alright?" i's gentle, slightly worried voice drifted through.
Rovel opened the door to find her standing there, her expression clouded with concern. "i? What's wrong? Why are you here?"
"I saw you seed distracted in class earlier, and you rushed back to the dorm as soon as it ended. I was worried sothing might have happened," she explained, her eyes searching his for any sign of trouble.
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine. Nothing's wrong," Rovel said, scratching the back of his head. He hadn't realized his eagerness had been so obvious as to worry her.
"That's good to hear," she said, relief softening her features. "Oh, and you ran off so quickly... Teacher Hiko asked to give this to you."
i handed him a single sheet of paper.
"Is this... an exam schedule?" Rovel blinked, his eyes scanning the docunt. There were six subjects listed for the theoretical exams: Mathematics, Biology, Geography, History, Chemistry, and Physics. The practical exam simply stated: defeat a test robot.
"Yes," i confird. "Teacher Hiko said it's a great opportunity to test the progress we've made in our first month at St. Freya. She also ntioned it might directly affect your future Schicksal Knight rating."
"I see," Rovel said, his mind already shifting gears. "Speaking of which... do you think we need to give Kiana so tutoring?"
He had noticed a rather alarming pattern. Lately, Kiana seed to spend 80% of her ti in class asleep, another 15% daydreaming, and the remaining 5%... skipping class to go play. She'd even been caught by Hiko once. At this rate, the odds of her passing the theoretical exams were practically zero.
"I've ntioned it to her," i said, a note of helplessness in her voice. "But she seems very confident in herself..."
She truly had no idea where Kiana sourced such boundless confidence. The girl had simply declared herself a genius and insisted that this kind of exam would be no problem at all.
Hopefully, it's not misplaced, i thought with a quiet, internal sigh.
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