The trio returned to their quarters, their clothes stained with dirt and the scent of the forest lingering on them. They carried with them the game they had caught, birds and rodents, hoping to prepare a hearty meal. However, none of them knew how to process the animals properly. After several failed attempts, they handed over the task to the academy's servants, who skillfully prepared the meal for them.
The Dallas brothers, despite their wealth, couldn't carry much food due to the limitations of the system's storage capabilities. Only items recognized by the system such as potions, armors, weapons, relics, skill books, and similar artifacts could be stored within it. Clothes and other essentials had to be carried manually, limiting their capacity to transport food. Relying on the older students for provisions proved futile, as they often neglected their responsibilities. Realizing this, the trio took it upon themselves to hunt and gather food, adapting to their new reality.
Months passed, and the trio established a routine, attending classes in the morning and hunting in the evening. When they managed to catch a larger game, they sold it to the older students in exchange for experience points (XP). The academy provided each student with 10,000 XP monthly, but to earn more, they had to complete tasks assigned by the academy. Every settlement had its own monthly requirements for the protection it offered. Although the students' contributions were minuscule compared to the academy's overall needs, they were still essential. The academy, isolated from the outside world, had stored enough resources to last the system requirements for five years, but it still required food and other materials, prompting students to venture into the surrounding areas for supplies.
One day, Kaelen approached Jered with a plea
"Jered, give me your XP for this month. You won't need it," Kaelen begged.
"Like hell I would give it to you. It's my lifeline," Jered rebuked.
"Oh, come on. It's just 10,000 XP. You said you're filthy rich. Please give it to me," Kaelen pleaded again.
Jered, feigning poverty, ran away, shouting, "Stay away from me! I'm poor! I'm so poor!"
Two years passed, and the Dawn Academy began functioning as the administrators had intended. Kaelen had reached level 3 as a Divine Cleric and had earned the nickname "The Unholy Immortal" among the students. He had undertaken various jobs to earn more XP ,hunting, gardening, house chores and sometimes even blackmailing and scamming. Despite his unconventional methods, no one dared to belittle him. The hard work and skills instilled in him by Derek had paid off.
Kaelen's skills were impressive
1. Third Eye (Epic Growth Type)
Passive Skill: The user can sense everything within a 1,000-mile radius (adjusting to the user's current rank: 10-meter radius).
2. Life Bloom (Gold)
Active Skill: Continuously heals all allies by 10% of the user's mana and strengthens their defense by 10%.
Duration: 20 seconds.
3. Life Veil (Gold Growth Type)
Active Skill: The target gains a shield immune to any one attack of gold rank and below and heals the target by 500 HP/sec (adjusting to the user's current level: immune to any attack below yellow rank and heals 5 HP/sec).
Duration: 5 seconds.
4. Purification (Gold Growth Type)
Active Skill : Removes every negative status effect below epic rank and grants immunity to status effects for 10 minutes (adjusting to the user's level: anything below yellow rank).
5. Blink (Gold Growth Type)
Active Skill: Teleports the user anywhere within 500 meters (adjusting to the user's current level: 10 meters).
6. Infinite Stack (Unique)
Passive Skill : Allows the user to stack any kind of skills up to five times.
Unique skills are one-of-a-kind abilities, and the conditions for acquiring them are unknown. This particular skill was a family
Heirloom and had been passed down to Derek by his late father, an epic-rank awakener. They were told to give it to the next black awakener in the family and Kaelen, being a divine cleric, was the perfect candidate for it.
Derek hadn't provided Kaelen with any attack skills, believing that a cleric wouldn't need them. Nevertheless, the skills Kaelen possessed were top-notch, with most being growth-type. There are two ways to acquire growth-type items or skills, the first was to naturally get it through dungeons and system rewards and the second was artificially, by collecting the same skill or item of consecutive ranks and having an alchemist synthesize them. The latter method has a low success rate and is exorbitantly expensive, typically used only by wealthy nobles or the foolish ones. Derek, for Kaelen's sake, chose this path.
Initially, Kaelen would cry, squirm, and beg his opponents to stop. But over time, he began to retaliate fiercely, never giving up, regardless of the opponent's strength. He would even provoke them with taunts like, "Is that all you've got?" or "You punch like a girl."
Kaelen had become accustomed to fighting, whether against beasts or humans. Despite his small stature, he was feared by everyone, including the seniors. While killing was prohibited, fighting was encouraged at the academy. Kaelen's exceptional healing abilities made him the perfect sparring partner or to be more honest a punching bag. However, no matter how beaten up he was, because of his relentless healing he would always stand up unyielding. The opponents were frustrated and grew tired of beating someone they couldn't defeat, eventually leading them to fear Kaelen, none daring to engage him in a battle of attrition.
"That's it! Hit him hard in the nuts, Kaelen! There's no honor in fighting, and since you're already fighting, forget about your dignity," Jered would shout, cheering Kaelen on. Even Alex nodded in agreement. However, the brothers would immediately step in if the fight wasn't one-on-one, stating that Kaelen wasn't ready for that yet.
The Dallas brothers, instead of intervening, encouraged him to fight. Guess this is the Dallas way of training.
Kaelen's journey from a timid boy to a formidable cleric was a testament to his resilience and determination. His nickname, "The Unholy Immortal," was well-earned, and his presence at the academy was both respected and feared.
But that does not mean that he had no challengers at all. A man came searching for Kaelen "Come here Kaelen, you bastard, if I don't beat you half to death today I'm not a man".