Chapter 105 - Contribution Points

Let's go back in time for a bit.

When Cynthia was punished for her previous treatment of Nerun and Elijah, one of the requisites was that Nerun was to receive half of the resources that her brother Reno was supposed to get as the Seed of the Super Soldier. However giving the resources directly to Nerun was a complicated process since some of them were unique by their own nature, and things such as spiritual food had to be eaten almost immediately after they were made, otherwise, there would be a real risk of spoiling.

Not only that, it would be quite cumbersome for Nerun to keep getting cargo constantly with precious resources, which could be robbed by most people. Therefore, after some serious consideration, the Royal Military Academy and the Lyceum got to an agreement, and the solution became quite simple. Nerun was to be given a good amount of contribution points every month, which was the equivalent of half the resources for a Seed of the Super Soldier. Even though the Royal Military School did not have such deep pockets nor as long a history as the Lyceum, they were quite generous with their core disciples, as was the Lyceum as well. What more for the Seed of the Super Soldier, the jewel of the crown of the projects they had invested in order to create one extraordinary disciple. The plan was to plant the seeds for possible future legends.

This was also one of the underlying reasons for Cynthia to try and undermine Nerun's results, not only her bias towards Elijah.

And so it is, that before Nerun started school, Elijah had told him nonchalantly that in his uniform badge, one that Nerun had practically paid no heed to, there were some contribution points allocated for him, enough for him to splurge as most as he wanted in order to get everything he needed to keep becoming stronger and learn every art he considered necessary.

When Nerun heard this the first time, he was not quite sure about its meaning, or its importance. However, now, he was beginning to understand the perks of what having contribution points actually meant.

As Nerun's thoughts were wandering, he had not noticed that he had stopped in the middle of the two tables, as if a statue, and quickly became the focal point of the entire cafeteria. Even if Reina and Karles wanted to accompany Nerun, they still had to acknowledge that Nerun's behaviour was odd to the extreme. There were actually another pair of eyes that were looking at Nerun with some modicum of well-hidden worry. These were, of course, the eyes of Julieth who was thinking to herself, 'What are you doing, you silly little boy? Wake up, and quickly go to a table, otherwise everyone will think you are a weirdo. Not that you aren't one', said herself in a subtle smile that caught the attention of the people nearby infatuating them to the extreme. Even she had not realized it, since she was usually quite proper and in complete control of her emotions. Fortunately for her, most people only thought that she found the situation funny, and not any other thoughts.

"What are you doing Nerun?" asked Karles in a low voice. He was trying to get Nerun to move, when the latter turned to look at him and asked. "Are Contribution Points rare? Is it too hard to get them?"

"Well, of course, they are rare. Quite, I might add. Contribution Points are everything. The only way to gain Contribution Points in this school is by either doing chores and completing missions for the School, or by getting some special achievements. The number of points gotten is very different among them, but it is still quite daunting and time-consuming.

It was all explained during the Academy's admission. Every Outer Class student gets an allowance of either 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or up to 30 contribution points each month according to the Outer Class Ranking. We in the inner class get a bit more, which is one of the reasons for the fierce struggle towards ranking up. 100, 150 and 200 according to the rank. 5 Contribution points are barely useful either to get a special meal portion in the cafeteria or to borrow one of the secret books from the library. You could also use them to get a teacher to privately teach you for a certain amount of time. If you had enough Contribution Points, you could even ask the mysterious Headmaster to train you daily in his secret techniques and martial art, but the request for just 10 minutes of the Headmaster's time is super high, I think that in the central board of the Lyceum, it is listed as costing 400 contribution points. So tell me, are they important or what?

In the month we've been here, I barely managed to finish one of the missions for first-year students and just got 30 Contribution Points, and I think that in our classroom, save for Reina and Solda who each got 15, I'm the one that has gotten the more points. So Contribution Points are always in demand and people are usually quite short on them and spend them frugally. Not even the entire fortune of old man Corena would be enough to buy a single point in this Academy."

After Nerun heard Karles, he could not help but gulp. He understood that Core students should get an even bigger stipend monthly, but still, it should not be too exaggerated, after all, the objective of the Contribution Points system was to invigorate the students and let them strive for more, for better positions according to the effort, talent and resources they could get. None could be missing if a true expert was to be born. Nerun's current amount of Contribution Points was staggering, to say the least for a person that has just entered the Academy.

He had 1100 Contribution Points. 1100! If what Karles had said was true he had a small fortune. Enough to eat from the Special Menu daily and still have more to ask teachers, search for secret knowledge, and more. He did not even need to perform any mission or chores if he did not want to, if he was judicious with his expenses, he could very well dedicate himself to improving in the fastest way possible to prepare for the chance to compete in the All-Youth Grand Continental Tournament, something he still did not know how to accomplish.

So, in a burst of happiness, he dragged Karles and Reina back to the middle table, right in the middle of the Cafeteria and asked for three full courses of the very best of the Special Menu, tailored to their needs. Karles and Reina were gobsmacked and wanted to let Nerun go, but the hands of the latter were clamped around their wrists like iron pincers, something that astonished both our young friends.

The old lady from the cafeteria did not seem too surprised and simply took Nerun's badge, examined it with a barely perceptible amount of Qi from her hand and then looked at the three young lads in front of her. Her eyes seemed to glow for a bit when checking them, and the three felt as if they were naked. She seemed to spend a bit more time when looking at Nerun, and her mouth opened a bit in surprise, however, that was it and she said nothing.

The best treatment in the Special Menu, was not the possibility of choosing from it, but allowing the school to tailor the menu to their characteristics. This is something that only Core Disciples usually got since the expense for this kind of treatment was considered more than lavish, 25 Contribution Points each. But Nerun could care less. This was an EON given chance, and he would be a fool not to use it.

The lunch lady then muttered silently to herself: "Karles Dai Santana, 13 years old, Level 27 Qi Grandmaster, Aqua Core Meridian. A portion of Deep River Tigerfish, two portions of Fire Ginger, a cup of special Golden Rice, and a cup of Rainbow Water. Reina Dai Aitana, 13 years old, level 26 Qi Grandmaster, Lux Core Meridian. A portion of Wild Holy Deer, three portions of Shadow Leeks, a cup of special Golden Rice, and a cup of Rainbow Water. Nerun No Rademia, 12 years old..."

The old lady stopped and kept looking at Nerun with a questioning look as if not really knowing what to make of him. "Let's see, level 12... no, level 24 Qi Grandmaster. No, Great Mana Adept... Ignis Core, Aqua Core... πυρ - /pyr/ Heavenly Gate, πάγο - /Págo/ Celestial Gate... This... It all appears and disappears, it raises and wanes. What an interesting lad, what a challenge... Let's do this. I'll charge an extra 5 points. Two Portions of the meat from the King of the White Mountain, two portions of Fire Ginger and two portions of Iceberg Lettuce, a cup of special Golden Rice, and a cup of God Water".

No one else heard her, except for Nerun whose senses were a lot more sensitive, and he was astonished that this lady could know so much about him from a simple look. She was definitely more than meets the eye, and not a regular lunch lady.

The plates were quickly served and both Reina and Karles did not know what to do.

"Go on. Eat. It's better while it's fresh and hot. Do not waste a single drop of it. And you boy, I've added a little extra just for you. But don't waste your points on a single meal." said the Lunch Lady ushering them away. Nerun was about to leave when he noticed something in the cafeteria, smiled, and suddenly asked the Old Lady: "Could you add a special dessert, please?"

The lady looked at Nerun once again, and simply said, "Well, well, we have a little heartbreaker in our midst, don't we? Take it as a gift for our first meeting. Now go before I regret it." The lady added a succulent-looking desert, that looked like a golden piece of cake with snow-white frosting on top with delicate spiritual fruits.

Nerun looked at it quite pleased and later, among the surprised looks of Reina and Karles, they followed him all the way to a table right in the middle of the Cafeteria, where the people in the third year were seated. There were many young boys and girls surrounding a tall, slim and quite feminine-looking girl as if stars surrounding the moon.

This girl was, as a matter of course, Julieth Anniana Dai Corena, who watched Nerun coming towards her with an inscrutable expression on her more than beautiful face. Julieth Dai Corena was the "goddess" in the heart of most of the other students in the Lyceum. Not only because she was naturally beautiful with her golden curled hair, perfectly oval face, small nose and deep blue eyes, that made it look as if the sea itself wanted to consume you, but because she was also quite gifted and talented in her own right. A very rare Mana Scholar at her 15 years, she was well regarded by all the Faculty, and was considered as one of the most likely candidates to the sought position of Core Student in the near future. Not to mention that she was the true heir to the fortune of Old Man Corena, which was quite likely one of the top 3 fortunes in the entire Continent. All of the above-mentioned made the halo around Julieth something that seemed unreachable for practically everyone, even in the genius filled Lyceum.

So, when Nerun and company approached her, most people were dumbfounded, and some of them even started to laugh among themselves and stopped what they were doing, as if they were getting ready to watch a good show. After all, even though Julieth Dai Corena was considered kind to everyone, there was a certain sense of alienation in that kindness, and very few people could be considered truly close to her, less even to know her truly. There were waiting for Nerun to make a fool out of himself. Most people thought that Nerun was simply an upstart, just glued to his brother's fame and had been simply mesmerized by Julieth's beauty and fame. Since Old Man Corena had a modicum of good feelings towards Elijah, they simply believed that Nerun wanted to somehow use that connection to get closer to Julieth. If Nerun thought that a simple dessert from the Special Menu was enough to get into Julieth's good graces, then he would be greatly disappointed.

Some of the boys and girls surrounding Julieth thought the same way, and a snobbish looking girl, with dark long hair, a long face and thin lips got up before Nerun could get any closer and said with a high pitch voice, as cold as an ice floe: "Where do you think you are coming? This is not a table you are able to come to, your whole presence is an insult to this Academy, and you are nothing but a toad lusting for a swan. Please go to whatever corner you came from, and spare us from your presence."