Picking Out My Reward

"Awnn..."

I yawned loudly. I had woken up not long ago. I was too exhausted yesterday so I had a good night sleep and was only able to wake up in the noon. As soon as I woke up, I came here.

I was in front of a skyscraper, one of the awarding department under the government, which was also known as 'The Black Salamanders'.

I could see a crowd of people inside. It seemed very busy. But I entered into the building regardless. As soon as I walked in, a woman working in here approached me.

"Hello mister, how can I help you?"

I extended her the same card that bald man had given to me.

"I am here to take my reward for clearing a (G+)-rank dungeon called 'Goblin Cave'."

The woman had a surprising expression. Not many youth dared to clear a dungeon on his own, even if it's a (G+)-rank one. It showed this young boy was either courageous or just reckless and arrogant. But since he was able to leave the dungeon in one piece, there were definitely more to him than met the eye.

"Please follow me mister."

We stopped before a desk. The woman took a holographic list from the desk and handed it to me. I took a look at the contents of it. It was a list of available rewards I could chose.

"You can choose an item from the list or request a payment of 50,000 BS. Personally, I wouldn't request payment mister."

"Thanks for the advice."

What she said was logical. There were items that could worth much more than 50,000 BS. As I scrolled down the list, I took a note of the items which was compatible with my fighting style. After a looking through the entire list, I was left with 3 choices.

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[(G+)-rank Dagger] --- Flaming Fangs: A pair of daggers made of fangs of a wolf from the flame tribe. They are good conductors of fire element.

[(F-)-rank Artifact] --- Ring of Hermes: A sub-rank increase in the agility stat. After the wearer's agility stat reaches to (E)-rank, the effect of the artifact will disappear.

[(F-)-rank Skill] --- Eyes of Providence: Upon activation, the user will be able to see the weak spots of the target.

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I was quite surprised. I wasn't actually expecting to find a skill in the list. Skills were of high value because they could be learned and used without any effort unlike spells where you needed to concentrate and use your will power to shape the mana.

The effect of the skill was very useful despite its rank. Also, the skill and my assassin profession created a good combination. The other two items were tempting too, but I figured out it would be the best to select the skill.

I had already bought a pair of unranked daggers before I went to 'Goblin Cave' so I didn't need any daggers right now. Though flaming fangs were (G+)-rank, it was not enough to change my mind. I wasn't going to go to another dungeon or get into a real fight soon, I planned on just training in the school until the first major event of the novel.

On the other hand, the ring of Hermes was not useful either. If the effect of the artifact had been permanent, I would have probably selected the ring. But since this was not the case, I found it pretty useless in the long run.

"How is this skill not taken yet? Its rank is low but it's still a skill."

"That skill was sold to us yesterday, so it's a new item on the list."

This explains why this skill was not taken by someone else. Coming here today was the right choice after all.

"I want this skill called 'Eyes of Providence'."

"Okay mister. Please wait a moment."

After 5 minutes, the woman came back holding a thin book. I took it and slowly injected my mana into it. Then I felt something rushing towards my mana core. Something imprinted itself on my core. It felt weird as if someone was writing on my core. Following this, pieces of information filled my brain.

After I became one with the skill, or rather the skill became a part of me, I headed out for my room.

"Thank you. I will take my leave now."

"Have a nice day mister."

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I was in the training hall. I stared up at the sky blankly.

It was already midnight. The dark sky was peaceful and gave a sense of mystery. It was truly majestic. Since the residents of Arion used mana as the main energy source, the air was much clearer compared to the Earth.

"Haa..."

I sighed thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow would be the official opening of the Light Academy, which is also the beginning of the novel. Yet, I still hadn't decided if I should openly interact with main characters or not.

"Well, I guess I will leave that to my future self. I am sorry, my future self."

I should have slept already for tomorrow's lessons but I had no sleep since I had woken up in the noon. Also, I was still uneasy thinking about tomorrow. I had come here to train as soon as I returned to my room, hoping that I would stop thinking about it.

I got up from my seat and approached a dummy.

'Status'

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Name: Theodore Miller

Rank: F

Strength: F

Agility: F

Stamina: F

Perception: F-

Mana: F-

Charm: A+

Attribute (Element): Fire, Lighting

Profession Type: Assassin [Level 1]

Martial Arts: Shadow Blade [(S)-rank]

Skills: Eyes of Providence [(F-)-rank]

====================

"Not bad..."

I grabbed a dagger and slashed at the dummy until my stamina ran out.