Passive Skills

"Time to check these skills out," White mumbled.

"Skills" 

A holographic screen similar to the status screen appeared in front of White; however, it had only three lines of text.

[ Slash, Passive skill level one 1/10 ]

[ Stab, Passive skill level one 1/10 ]

[ Combat Stance, Passive skill level one 1/10 ]

'Does it mean that the highest level you could achieve with them is ten? Or does it simply evolve the skill automatically once you reach the highest level?' White thought as he scratched his cheek.

'I guess I'll just have to level up and find out,' White thought as he turned again towards the dummies.

'Let's do this,' White thought as he changed into a combat stance once more, only to freeze as a sudden thought entered his head.

'My stance already feels better, it's not a large amount, but I can feel that it would be easier to swing the sword now than before I got the skill,' White thought as he started slashing his sword into the air, performing quick slashes and stabs as he tried to gauge his own level.

 'It's increased. It's not a massive increase, but it's not minuscule, either. Level ten shouldn't be the maximum it can reach unless each level is a massive boost from the one before it,' White thought as he neared a new dummy. The last one he had used wasn't in great shape to practice skills.

'Its head fell down in the middle of me performing my slashes. I guess that first attack I did really did do a lot of damage to it,' White thought as he stared at the dummy whose head had met its back.

'It does look quite funny when you look at it, though,' White thought as a slight grin appeared on his face.

'Either way, let's get this started.' White thought as he turned to face the new dummy. However, before he could even launch the first attack, he heard a loud whistle and turned to face the front of the training field.

'I guess it's already the end of the class,' White thought as he shrugged his shoulders in annoyance, headed towards the weapon pile, and threw his current sword in.

'The Next class is Mana theory,' White thought as he headed towards the elevator with the other students.

Forming a line, five students started heading up into the elevator at a time.

Because the elevator was so fast, White didn't have to wait long before the line closed, and it was his turn to get in.

Heading inside, the elevator doors closed and opened only a few seconds later.

He had already arrived at the main hall of the physical training building, situated above the ground.

Going outside the building, White-headed towards the bus station once more and quickly boarded the bus as he headed towards his next destination.

'Mana theory should be able to increase my intelligence stat. I'll have to see exactly how much I need to study or try to get a stat point; that way, I could maybe formulate at least an idea of how to regulate my training to get the most cost-efficiency out of it,' White thought as the Bus quickly neared its destination.

Ahead in the distance, you could see another large bunker, more significant than any of the others around it, as it looked to be at least six stories tall.

'The Mana theory building, also known as the Library and Archive, stands at six stories high and has an unknown number of underground layers, ' White thought as he looked at the sizeable bunker-like building.

The Bus didn't stop, so he could observe the building from afar and quickly reach the station.

Hopping off the Bus, White started heading towards the bunker, completing the same identification procedures as in every other building. White was granted access, and he finally arrived inside the bunker.

Contrary to its outer design, the inside looked like an old, stylish, and sleek library, with books reaching the ceiling and surrounding almost every corner of the building.

Tens upon tens of chairs were arranged in the middle of this extensive library, all organized around a table for one pair of chairs. At the front of the stairs was an ordinary blackboard.

Looking around, White saw that quite a few students were already seated as they waited for the professor to start the class.

Heading towards the back, White decided to sit in an inconspicuous spot while he waited for the professor.

It didn't take long before the entire class was filled with students, and the professor raised his head from what he was writing in what looked like a giant red book.

Standing up from his chair, the professor walked towards the middle of the classroom and addressed the whole class.

"Alright, as second years, you all will begin learning how to control and use mana, and an essential part of doing that is learning how mana works, and we do just that in this mana theory class." The young man said as he took a piece of chalk and wrote 'Mana Theory' in the middle of the blackboard.

Turning back around toward the students, the young man introduced himself.

"Im Ankrew Jefferson, a graduate of the scholarly academy of Visions. I will be your professor for the mana theory class until you all become soldiers or get taken out of the course for not being able to keep up," The young man, now known as Ankrew, said as he looked over the students.

'Either keep up or be cast aside onto the mud is what has implying here,' White thought as he looked at the young man who, until now, had looked so innocent to many of the students and looked as if he couldn't hurt a fly. However, his words and tone of voice suggested something else entirely.

'Well, this will be interesting at least,' White thought as he grinned slightly.