Rewards were barely in Jake’s mind as he mentally went over the fight and looked forward to the rematch. Snappy had been damn strong back then if a very simplistic creature. It was also a bad matchup for Jake, but in some ways, that just made him want to fight even more. He did find it a bit frustrating, sure, but in the good way.
You know, frustrating in the same way a hard boss in a game could be. You would curse and swear while battling the boss, sure, but the moment you won, all that frustration would turn to triumph and make it all seem worth it.
This one was on the extreme end of that as it was the kind to make you want to punch through a wall and yell expletives and call bullshit to the overpowered mechanics of the boss. In the Hydra’s case, its absolutely broken swallowing ability and the scales that offered utterly insane resistance to physical attacks were those bullshit mechanics.
“Alright,” Jake said as he returned his attention to the projection in front of him. “What happens now?”
“You passed the test, and thus it ends here, and you will be allowed entrance into the Order of the Malefic Viper. Your final grade has been decided at four stars, level five, with five stars level ten the maximum. This puts you well ahead of the curve, but you still have a lot to work on, especially in the alchemy portion, where your overall performance was only considered slightly above average. Even then, it was only due to you excelling in some tests and utterly flunking others. Your foundation in alchemy is weak, and you have much to work on, but your talent in the fundamental aspects and your mindset are well-attuned to the profession, so keep it up.
“In the combat portion, you heightened your rating. If this rating was purely based on that, you would have gained a top mark, but as it is, it still allowed you to push it further than most of us judges expected. None of us truly have any comments on combat, as I believe it best you continue forging your own path there. Once more, just keep it up, and I believe your path will take you far.
“Finally, to your rewards. The primary one coming in the form of the Academy Entry Token.”
With those words, a small black hexagonal token was summoned in front of the projection with the motif of the Order inscribed upon it, glowing a faint dark green color. Jake naturally identified it right away.
[4-star Academy Entry Token of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – A four-star token of the Order of the Malefic Viper entrance test, ranked at level five. This token is proof you have passed the academy entrance test with exemplary performance. Serves as both an identification token and can be exchanged within the Order for rewards. Contains information related to the test undergone and notes from the judges.
Before he could ask anything, the projection spoke again. “The information embedded in the token has been modified directly by the Malefic One with certain elements and descriptions changed based on the Patron’s will.”
“Oh, alright,” Jake said as he took the token. He infused some energy into it and was surprised at the knowledge within. There were a lot of notes from over a hundred judges, nearly all of it related to alchemy, and a lot of them gave small tips or just pointed him in certain directions.
“The second reward is a bit less exciting but surely still useful. It is a refined stinger of a manticore just like the one you killed. An excellent alchemical ingredient that can give birth to some interesting poisons and even be used in a weapon with your transmutation.”
The large stinger appeared, about the size of Jake himself. It looked massive and powerful, and he felt something had been done to it to make it stronger if a bit smaller than the real thing. The Beastcore had definitely been infused into it along with other valuable ingredients to make it stronger, and within, he felt several liters of the venom as well as what looked like a gland still able to slowly produce more.
[Refined Manticore Stringer (Epic)] – the refined stinger of a high-tier D-grade Manticore. The venom within is now more powerful than ever, even compared to when it was alive. This toxin is of the earth affinity and will petrify anything it comes into contact with. Slowly produces more venom when infused with appropriate energy. Has many alchemical uses.
pαпdα-ňᴏνêι·сóМ “Looks good,” Jake said as he scooped it up. He did consider for a moment putting it into Palate, but he already had the Root of Eternal Resentment in there. Jake had put it back as, quite frankly, the treasure was just too good not to learn from. It was a unique item with – as expected – unique properties to store energy, especially curse energy, making it very interesting to him.
“With this, the test ends, and you will be admitted into the academy,” the scalekin projection said with a smile as a gate appeared right behind Jake.
Jake nodded. “Thanks for all the help. This entire thing has been very enlightening and helpful, and also quite fun. Definitely one of the better exams of my life..”
“The pleasure is all ours,” the scalekin said as he appeared to hesitate. “Before you go, can I ask one thing to settle debates? This knowledge will naturally never leave this place.”
“Shoot,” Jake answered.
“Are you the Chosen of the Malefic Viper or deeply related to him in some other way?”
“I do have the True Blessing, yep,” Jake confirmed as he saw the projection’s eyes open wide. He bowed slightly, but Jake quickly stopped him. “Ah, none of that; I am not doing that Chosen stuff. Besides, I am equal heretic, equal Chosen, so it’s all fine.”
“Heretic?” the projection asked, confused.
“Yep. Turns out being friends with your Patron god is considered heretical,” Jake shrugged.
“Friends?” the projection asked as Jake felt not only his confusion but even the confusion of the other judges gazing upon him.
“Yep,” Jake said, not bothering with the confusion. “Hey, it is what it is. Thanks for the help again, everyone!”
With that, Jake stepped through the gate before allowing the projections to react more to his antics. He was quite sure he just earned a few more heretic points, though.
“I guess you do have a future in alchemy, but your stubborn insistence on using suboptimal methods and generally weak and flimsy mindset will become a hindrance. Combat-wise, you scrape by as average, but your mindset is faulty even there. You need some proper life and death experience, that is certain. You still managed to reach a two-star level two rating, and you are young, so don’t quit quite yet. But do address your fundamental flaws,” the projection of the elven alchemist said.
Reika looked down at the floor as she took a verbal beating from the projection yet again. This entire test had been an exercise in showing her exactly how incompetent she was. The worst part was she couldn’t even argue without coming off as even more stupid and ignorant.
These projections had lived longer than the modern idea of science had even existed and done alchemy for at least thousands of years. The methods Reika believed to be new and innovative based on pre-system scientific methodology were something they were all aware of and, to Reika’s surprise, looked down upon as it contained many flaws she had never imagined.
It was too rigid, too much focus on objective observations and establishing of processes and replicable results. It was too scientific and didn’t consider the element of the metaphysical and the magical. How willpower and belief could somehow affect the outcome or how no experiment was ever truly replicable. Circumstances always changed, and there did not exist two one hundred percent identical herbs in the entire multiverse, making an “objective” theory only objective in the case of that one crafting session.
Reika had never considered any of this. Not truly. In some ways, she had looked down on Jake, who said he mostly went by feel when doing alchemy, but now she realized she had totally abandoned doing so. The test where one had to react fast enough to changes she had utterly failed. Reika just didn’t know how to face anything emergent she hadn’t already predicted and made countermeasures for, which in the name of the judges made her third-rate at best and a sad imitation of a true alchemist.
Not that there weren’t areas where her mindset on alchemy was good. She would just never become great if she held onto such a limiting approach. Reika was normally proud and generally not the most receptive, but…
“Thank you for your guidance,” she said as she bowed to the projection.
In this case, she would eat it up and integrate it to make herself better. She knew she had done badly and had a long way to go. Her stubbornness and pride remained. Now it would just be channeled to truly take in everything this academy had to teach.
She just had one worry: how crushed every other alchemist she had brought from the clan had to feel right now as if she had gotten slammed, then they must have gotten utterly destroyed.
Jake appeared outside the dungeon as he was once more surrounded by people. Quite a few quickly looked his way before returning to their own business. It only took a dozen or so seconds before the same succubus as before appeared from a newly opened gate.
“I hope the test proceeded as expected? Please follow me right through here as we wait for the others to arrive,” she said as she motioned for him to go come over.
“I guess it went fine. How many have finished by now?” Jake asked as he walked over.
“Only about one out of five is done,” she answered.
“I see,” Jake said. “Is being fast good or bad?”
“Depends on the reason. Most of the extra time comes from the breaks between tests, especially the combat test. People who did well in the early levels of combat tend to be done faster, but the same is also true for those who lose early and don’t have to do many fights,” she explained as they went through the gateway and entered the same cozy waiting room from before.
There Jake saw a few had indeed returned. He did spot two alchemists from Earth who both looked rather depressed as they sat in a corner on the lowest level. Reika was not back yet, but he did spot a few of the stronger ones. Draskil, the Malefic Dragonkin, was not back as Jake walked to the highest area right away.
The succubus followed him all the way as she asked: “I will need to see the token you received to process the details of your admittance to the academy.”
“Right,” Jake agreed as he took out the token. She froze for a moment when she saw the token as she looked at him, a bit surprised. She didn’t say anything but quickly took the token and held it to the token she herself always carried around. Some kind of energy appeared to be transferred as the succubus looked even more puzzled.
Puzzlement that seemed to vanish in an instant as she smiled and handed it back to him. “Here is your token, and that must have been an awe-inspiring performance leading to excellent results. I don’t believe I ever introduced myself; I am Irinixis, but just call me Irin. I am the one in charge of your batch of academy members, so feel free to ask me anything or call on me for any assistance.”
She said this as Jake took the token, and he did take notice of how she seemed to make sure to touch his hand as she did so. Her entire demeanor had changed. Jake sucked at things like this normally, but even he wouldn’t miss such obvious flirting.
“I will keep it in mind, Irin,” Jake said as he smirked a bit beneath his mask. Hey, he was a guy, and he would lie to himself if he didn’t admit he found a god damn succubus attractive. For Villy’s sake, being attractive was a primary trait of their race.
Irin smiled at his answer as she bowed slightly, exposing her already exposed cleavage more. “I shall go handle matters then. Please wait here till the others arrive and see you around!”
With that, she walked off as Jake looked after her. He shook his head as he sat down on one of the chairs to wait. He had no idea how long it would take, so for now, he just did the most natural thing and went over his gains.
After the dungeon, all of his wounds had healed, so he didn’t even have to regenerate. He was also reminded of it being an actual dungeon when he noticed his Dungeoneer title had upgraded, giving three more stats. It was super minor but nice.
Overall, his status had improved quite a lot as he checked it out in its entirety.
Status
Name: Jake Thayne
Race: [Human (D) – lvl 152]
Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter – lvl 153]
Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper – lvl 151]
Health Points (HP): 40560/40560
Mana Points (MP): 58225/58225
Stamina: 30870/30870
Stats
Strength: 2741
Agility: 5549
Endurance: 3087
Vitality: 4056
Toughness: 2910
Wisdom: 4658
Intelligence: 3749
Perception: 9782
Willpower: 3802
Free points: 0
Titles: [Forerunner of the New World], [Bloodline Patriarch], [Holder of a Primordial’s True Blessing], [Dungeoneer VII], [Dungeon Pioneer VI], [Legendary Prodigy], [Prodigious Slayer of the Mighty], [Kingslayer], [Nobility: Earl], [Progenitor of the 93rd Universe], [Prodigious Arcanist], [Perfect Evolution (D-grade)], [Premier Treasure Hunter], [Myth Originator]
Class Skills: [Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra (Uncommon)], [Hunter’s Tracking (Uncommon)], [Arcane Stealth (Rare)], [Archery of Vast Horizons (Rare)], [Enhanced Splitting Arrow (Rare)] [Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter (Epic)], [Arcane Powershot (Epic)], [Big Game Arcane Hunter (Epic)], [Arcane Hunter’s Arrows (Epic)], [Descending Dark Arcane Fang (Epic)], [One Step Mile (Ancient)], [Fangs of Man (Ancient)], [Mark of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter (Ancient)], [Moment of the Primal Hunter (Legendary)], [Gaze of the Apex Hunter (Legendary)], [Steady Aim of the Apex Hunter (Legendary)], [Arcane Awakening (Legendary)]
Profession Skills: [Path of the Heretic-Chosen (Unique)], [Herbology (Common)], [Brew Potion (Common)], [Alchemist’s Purification (Common)], [Alchemical Flame (Uncommon)], [Craft Elixir (Uncommon)], [Toxicology (Uncommon)], [Cultivate Toxin (Uncommon)], [Concoct Poison (Uncommon)], [Malefic Viper’s Poison (Epic)], [Soul Ritualism of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Ancient)], [Blood of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Sagacity of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Wings of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Sense of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Touch of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Legacy Teachings of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Legendary)], [Palate of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Pride of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Scales of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Fangs of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)]
Blessing: [True Blessing of the Malefic Viper (Blessing - True)]
Race Skills: [Endless Tongues of the Myriad Races (Unique)], [Legacy of Man (Unique)], [Identify (Common)], [Serene Soul Meditation (Epic)], [Shroud of the Primordial (Divine)]
Bloodline: [Bloodline of the Primal Hunter (Bloodline Ability - Unique)]
Jake went over the list that he felt just kept growing, even if he had managed to cut out a class skill by merging two into one. Stats-wise, his Strength got a good bump as the retroactive benefits of Fang upgrading kicked in as well as him investing some Free Points. Other stats like Agility and, of course, Perception had also increased a lot.
All in all, Jake was happy with his progress. It was good he had gotten some class experience in by making Eternal Hunger and killing some termites and all that because he had a feeling he would have a lot of alchemy in the near future.
And a few fights, hopefully. If he knew Villy as well as he thought he did, then there was no way the academy experience would be a wholly peaceful one.
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