26 Squad
Time passes, and soon I had already been at the academy for 6 months. My training with old man Death had proceeded rather well. And after a month I was able to take my first step. After 3 months I could put the first book away. Now I was able to put them all away.
It took me two weeks to decipher and memorize the content of Silence, and I was now at a small success in it. My movement was noticeably quieter, not just walking but all movement. The reduce in friction also had an effect on my speed, giving me a two point boost to my speed sub stat.
My training with Master Asura has progressed rather well, a month ago I learned a passive skill called
I am currently sitting in Instructor grey's classroom as he is discussing our Level advancement. "If you have not placed your stats yet then do so now, to advance in level you need battle experience, and in every battle, there will be casualties. The academy wants to minimize these casualties."
I opened up my status screen and distributed my points per my master's instructions. She had told me not to place them until the teacher told me to. As level one with lower status was a better realm to build a foundation. My stats were now:
Dark, vampiric/death(unawakened) Esper
lvl 1
STRENGTH (2)
Lifting: 0
Power: 2
DEXTERITY (5)
Speed: 2
Coordination: 1
Accuracy: 2
CONSTITUTION (1)
Defense: 0
Endurance: 0
Regeneration (health): 1
MIND (9)
Magic power: 3
Regeneration (essence): 3
Perception: 3
ABILITIES
Does magic damage equal to power plus magic power plus level. Infused with vampiric aura, causing user to gain life and essence equal to half of damage caused. (Permanently removed 10% of user's essence, no cost to summon or use)
+2 speed, lowers the sound user makes with any sort of movement. (Permanently removes 15% of users essence)
Large increase to ability to hide while stationary, small increase to ability to hide while moving
Ability to use telekinesis, no matter the situation
Ability to use magic while moving, able to be interrupted, cannot use while in close combat.
Increases dexterity and Strength sub stats by 1/2 when active. Causes a detached sense of calmness. Uses 10 essence per minute.
User receives a 1-point boost to all strength and dexterity sub stats while using a short sword. Evolves into short sword mastery intermediate.
I had a crazy high mind stat, and my speed had received a significant boost from silence. My strength and dexterity would increase if I was using a short sword and increase by half in bloodlust. However, the cost from silence and Blood Drinker had removed 25% of my essence. A harsh cost, but one that had to be paid.
The Instructor's voice rang out the class, interrupting my internal monologue. "For this exercise you will be split into squads, each squad will contain one assassin, one brawler, one tank, and one magus. The magus has yet to learn any magic so for the time being you will be carrying them, while they use bows to add damage. However, do not judge them because of this, you have experienced for yourself over the last 6 months how difficult learning the magic path is, with only Dark having reached small success. By the year end exercise, they will become a vital part of the team."
"The exercise will begin tomorrow, so for the rest of the day today you will be meeting your squad. Get used to this squad as they will become an essential part of your training from this point on. I will be giving each of you a number, when we go outside find the banner with your number. That's where your squad will be. If no one has any questions let's go."
Outside there were several banners set up, and all 100 students from our class were wandering around, looking for their respective numbers. I saw Lily exiting her class at the same time and ran over to her. "What number did you get? I got number 4!" I was rather excited about this exercise as I hadn't had any real chance to practice the skills I had gained.
She smiled showing me her card which by some coincidence was also 4. Well honestly it wasn't too surprising, considering the school was aware of her... let's say condition. I laughed and hugged her. I was glad I would be spending the next week hunting with her. I don't know what I would have done if she wasn't in my group.
We wandered the courtyard as we talked, eventually finding the banner with our number. To my surprise Master Asura was standing in front of the banner. "Don't look so surprised Dark, with my status pulling some strings to be your mentor for this trip was no problem at all." She was dressed rather different today, compared to her normal casual attire. Today she was dressed as a normal teacher would, in one of the Teacher uniforms that resembled the students except for a badge on the front signifying she was a teacher. I was not surprised that her uniform was black, she did teach daggers after all. However, I was surprised that while her arm band was white like mine, there was 2 blue stripes on her right arm. I was sure that with her ability she would be a lost one like Lily and Myself.
She raised her eyebrows as she looked at the shock on my face over her two blue stripes. "Don't underestimate the locals. We might have one less point than you lost ones per level, but our experience in this world starts from birth, and we start with more stats, so it evens out. Anyways shouldn't you be paying more attention to your new squad mates and not my humble self."
I couldn't hold back my laughter as I heard my sadistic Master call herself humble, which earned me both a glare and a slap to the back of the head. Rubbing my sore head, I approached the two students who were waiting for us. There was a tall Bulky man with a shield on his back. His uniform was Green, and he had an orange band on his arm. His other arm had 2 red stripes and a blue stripe. He was a well-rounded tank but had low stats in mind. Which was fine, if he could do his job. He had blond hair and a scar on his face. He nodded at me as he approached.
The other was a woman, she was average height and had short hair. Her uniform was orange and she had a white band on her arm. She had 2 red stripes and a blue stripe. She was not carrying a weapon. She smiled as we approached and began to speak. "Welcome to the team! My name is Summer, and this is Guy. I'm sure you have noticed that I do not carry a weapon, and that's because I use a telekinetic blade. It is in the shape of a great sword. Guy is a mute, we come from the same sect. He is a loyal guy and I was quite excited when I found out he was going to be our tank!"
This girl was too much. She spoke extremely fast, as if she was worried, we wouldn't let her talk. The guy stood their stoically, however I could see by the crease in his eyebrows that he just wanted to tell her to shut up if he could. I came to the rescue.
"This beautiful woman Is Lily; she is our Magus. She specializes in hidden weapons and has large success beginner's telekinesis. As she can use her telekinesis on her hidden weapons in combat, she will not be using a bow. She is also my girlfriend."
Lily blushed as I said the last part, which was kind of odd considering how possessive she was of me. Perhaps it was the compliment at the beginning? Either way she continued speaking from there.
"This shameless man is my boyfriend Dark. We came to this world a year ago together and have been inseparable sense. He is the assassin of the group and specializes in short swords."
Summer seemed excited as we spoke to her "OH you guys are dating? I wish I had a boyfriend! Maybe I should ask guy, he's such a good listener!"
Guy had a look of horror on his face when she said that, subconsciously taking a step back. I tried to hide my laughter, but don't know how well I succeeded as Lily jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow.
Summer continued as she did not notice the activities around her. "So, we have two people who are secondary as magus, one who is secondary as an assassin and one who is secondary as a Brawler. We have no off tank, but that should be fine, if we can kill them fast enough. Do either of you know how to heal?"
It was only then that she noticed the badges on our right arms. "Oh, you guys are Vampires, of course you can't heal. Well I guess we will just have to figure it out."
The conversation continued like that for a while, before it was time for lunch. I excused myself as I still had to go to the Library. Lily sent me a look of dismay as she was escorted by Summer to the cafeteria.