20 Resources

"So, how was the arena? What rank are you on right now?" Anne asked him when he came for class the next day.

"Err... Yesterday was busy, I guess," Char said awkwardly. He could not say that he only reached rank 488 as he knew she must have ranked higher than he is.

"Hahaha, you don't need to hide it, once you win the first fight, there are many people that think you are lucky and everyone tried to fight you right?" She asked cheekily.

"Yeah, everyone there is opportunistic... Wait! You knew that this would happen, but you did not tell me about it?!" He realized that the girl knew it would happen.

"Yeah! When I won my first match, they also tried to take my place because they thought my summoned creature was worse than theirs," She said.

"They only stopped when I beat up a few students so badly that they can't walk out of the arena," she shook her head.

"Oh, That's good for you, I should have done the same," He replied as he needed to fight until the arena closed since all the opportunistic students wouldn't let him go home.

"Will you go there again later?" She asked him.

"I'm thinking about it, I'm afraid that I need to fight another group of opportunistic students that I can't even fight a stronger opponent," He answered.

"If you are going there, then let's go there together, we can ask for a group fight! There is a tournament for a group, and the winner will get five mana crystals! We can join the two-person Tournament!" She told him.

"Mana crystal?! They are giving mana crystals for the winner?" he was shocked and excited at the same time.

Mana crystals are one of the best resources to help people to get stronger, the crystal could be fed to creatures so they level up sooner.

Other than to get stronger, the mana crystal could be used for making magic circles. Magic circles such as the one for summoning rituals needed at least ten crystals to be activated. Luckily, the academy took care of it.

Magic crystals cost a lot, a commoner could not buy them because of their price, only rich people such as merchants could buy them.

"One of the reasons the elite class is way stronger than other classes is because they get a lot of resources. As the best of the academy, they get the best resources and facility," he lamented as he was supposed to get them too if he did not summon a skeleton.

"There is no use in thinking about it. What's done, is done. I will show them that even a skeleton can slay a dragon!" Char thought.

"Yes! Mana crystal! So do you want to join in with me?" Anne asked again.

She knew it hooked him the moment she told him the reward; she knew that Char was the best partner she could get her hand on. Students from higher class would not want to team up with someone from the lowest class like her.

"Hmm... won't the seniors join as well? The first and second rank will win the fight, so joining the tournament is a waste of time, right?" he asked in doubt.

"They will not join! I'm sure of it! For them, five crystals are too cheap to worth their time. Anyone on the top hundred will not join such a small tournament. I guess the organizer purposely wants the newcomers to fight each other so they give just enough resources to attract newbies to join the tournament," She explained.

"That's great! Then let's join the tournament! We can't let this chance slip from our hand!" he agreed to join.

"Nice, we will go there when the class ends," she raised her hand to shake his hand.

The class started, and they did another sparring day, Char fought some students but none of them could last against him.

"Char, come here for a second," Mr. Brown called him.

"What can I help you with, Sir?" He asked politely.

"Your performance is really great, you actually deserve more than this class that barely gets any resources and access to better facilities. I have told the principal about it and he said that you can get to a better class," the muscled man said.

"What? Really? Will I get to the Elite class?" he asked hopefully.

"Not really. There will be an evaluation test in two weeks, every class will have a test and we will reassign the student to a new class according to their result. So this is not special treatment for you. Everyone has the same chance to get to a better class," the man explained.

"What kind of test is it, Sir?" he asked.

"I can't tell you the details, but you will need to improve a lot more if you want to get into the elite class. Everyone's summoned creature in that class already went through the first evolution, so if you want to have a chance, you will need to catch up to them," Mr. Brown said.

"What level is your Skeleton at right now?" The man asked.

"My skeleton is still at level 7 right now, I'm trying my best but its growth is getting slower," Char said honestly.

"That is good enough, I think, you will be able to reach the first evolution before the test starts at this rate," the man nodded.

"That is not good enough, at that point, the others probably already way stronger than me. They have a lot of resources to help with their growth!" Char lamented.

"Sir, is there any way I can get resources? I want to get stronger faster," he asked the man.

"Resource requires money, Char. You can just get to them after the evaluation test, I believe you will get to the 5th or 4th class, they have a modest amount of resources," the man said.

"If that happens, then I cannot enter the elite class! My only hope is to win the tournament and get the reward. That way I have a chance to win against people from the elite class," he thought deeply.