Chapter 17: Cosnergy Control (2/2)

Chapter 17: Cosnergy Control (2/2)

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Hours later, the students of Class 3D had pushed themselves to their limits, cycling through recharging, channeling, and expending their Cosnergy. They had quickly mastered this continuous process.

Zephyr had presented his twig, now transformed into a Healing Tree with shining silver leaves. Its invigorating scent filled the classroom.

He was the only student to achieve all fifty silver leaves, much to Miss Lauren's and his classmates' astonishment. No student in the school's history had ever accomplished this on their first attempt.

Miss Lauren carefully planted the small tree's newly formed roots into a flower pot, hesitating to part with such an impressive piece of work.

Other teachers often displayed their students' best achievements as trophies in the classroom or their offices. Miss Lauren had never been able to do so and had frequently been the target of bragging from other teachers.

However, Miss Lauren decided against taking it to the teacher's office. Keeping it in the classroom could not only help the students grow faster due to its high quality but also deter anyone who might come to trouble her in the future.

Yet, she wanted her students to take their healing plants home and show off their hard work to their parents.

In the end, Miss Lauren chose to let the students take their plants home and was about to return the flower pot to its owner.

Zephyr was no longer in front of her. She turned around at the sound of his voice.

"Miss Lauren, we can leave that one as a class decoration since our classroom doesn't have one." Zephyr, holding the second bunch of twigs she had brought, selected one with a bright smile. "I'll take another twig. My brother would like to see the process of growing it more than the result."

Before Miss Lauren could respond, Miles pushed his own plant, which had twenty silver leaves, into her hands, nearly dropping it in his haste. "Give me one too. Mom and Dad are always complaining about how I haven't accomplished anything. Today, I'll show them I can grow a better healing plant than Mike," he said.

"How are you going to do that?" Mike asked, joining him. "We both have the same perception value, so you can't outdo me."

"You want to bet?"

Zephyr shook his head and handed the twins a twig each. He collected Mike's plant and placed it in one of the flower pots on the front desk.

One by one, the students began exchanging their grown Healing Plants for the tiny twigs, each with their own reason or excuse.

Mirabella approached Zephyr hesitantly. "I want to exchange for a new one too, but..." She looked down at her Healing Plant.

Her leaves were green and incomplete. Everyone else's plants had grown beautifully, with none having fewer than fifteen silver leaves. Hers, however, had only thirty green leaves and lacked any silver.

How could she place it alongside the others?

"Never mind," she said with a sigh, turning to leave.

Zephyr's next words stopped her in her tracks, her eyes widening with confusion.

"Are you looking down on us?" he asked, his tone cold, lips curled into a sneer, and jaw clenched. "Do you think that because you put more effort into your work, it's not good enough to be placed with ours?"

"Wait, I didn't..." Mirabella hurried to explain. Zephyr's words had drawn everyone's attention, and now all eyes were on her. "That's not what I meant at all."

"What did you mean then?" Zephyr pressed. "Why else would you not leave yours here if not because you think people with high perception have it easy and aren't worth mentioning? Isn't that the same as looking down on us?"

Mirabella was at a loss for words. How could the class captain come to such an outrageous conclusion? Wasn't her healing plant the worst in the class? How could she possibly look down on them? What right did she have?

"I'll leave it. You're just misunderstanding. I'll leave it." She said, pushing the plant onto Zephyr's chest in a panic. What if all her classmates misunderstood too? Mirabella didn't want to fall out with them.

Zephyr caught the plant and carefully placed it in the flower pot, arranging it with the others on the desk, a small smile forming on his lips. They were now neatly lined up, spreading their healing energy around the classroom.

He handed her a new twig, which she accepted with reluctance before quickly moving away. Still slightly confused, the rest of the class returned to their previous conversations.

Zephyr turned to Miss Lauren, holding out the last twig. "This is okay, right?" he asked.

Miss Lauren smiled brightly, accepting the twig. Looking at the row of potted plants, her satisfaction grew. Her students were enthusiastic about showing their parents the process of growing the twigs into beautiful plants, not just the results.

This was a win for the classroom, which now had its own bragging material. They could also showcase their Cosnergy control level to their parents.

It was truly rewarding to teach such hardworking students.

Little did she know she wasn't as discreet as she thought. Her emotions, which she usually prided herself on controlling, were clearly visible on her face. Her indecisiveness and reluctance had been apparent.

Everyone had noticed and understood, and a brief message on the system chat interface was all Emily needed to prompt action.

Turning back to the class, Miss Lauren clapped her hands to gather everyone's attention. With a flick of her wrist, ten sitting pillows appeared on the ground, nine arranged in a half-moon shape, facing the last one on which she sat.

"Everyone, please sit," she said, waiting for them to be seated before continuing. "Since you've all grasped the concept of Cosnergy control, we're going to move on to the next topic ahead of schedule."

"Choosing weapons appropriate for you and your talents."

While talents might make weapons seem less important, they were actually crucial after Cosnergy.

Every talent skill, except for the basic ones, comes with a cooldown period during which the skill cannot be used. This is why skills cannot be rashly spammed, especially dash-related skills used for quick escapes.

For individuals whose talents rely heavily on Cosnergy, there's a risk of running low and not being able to activate their skills.

There are items that can reduce cooldown time, such as time flashes amulet, or enhance Cosnergy absorption rates temporarily during battle. However, even these items have usage limits and lose their effectiveness over time.

Thus, the short period when skills are on cooldown is the most dangerous. To avoid becoming defenseless or losing the ability to fight back, weapons serve as a last resort or a saving grace.

"Mirabella, I've already requested a batch of arrows for you from the school since your talent is archery. You can use them as a substitute for energy arrows when your Cosnergy is low," Miss Lauren said.

Zephyr reviewed Mirabella's skills on the system interface again. Miss Lauren didn't know this, but the reason Mirabella would quickly run out of Cosnergy wasn't just because her talent required it. The more Cosnergy she channeled into each attack, especially her basic attack, the more damage she did. Since her Cosnergy control wasn't high, the faster she attacked, the more she wasted.

For the next few months or even years, Mirabella would be heavily dependent on real arrows.

This was a condition Zero had imposed on her talent to balance her damage output, attack speed, and durability.

"For the rest of you, we'll discuss your preferred weapons now."

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Author's note: I had fun writing this. Hope you had fun reading it