68 || Explorer's Academy Test!

Tara is immediately ejected from the game, skipping the Save screen altogether! Kristen's arms are tangled around her waist. The game room has been readjusted with two queen size beds, one for Qisma plus Renee with the other for Tara and her girlfriend. The sound of a continuous beeping and a flashing light from her helmet incites panic. It's only then she realizes her condition: she's absolutely parched, her stomach is rumbling, body feels drained of energy, and her mind is dizzy.

"Baby, are you okay?!" Xei cries as her mothers' enter the room in their sleepwear. Karuna's already taking off the helmet when Tara tries to croak out. The two women peel Kristen off of Tara carefully. From the small bathroom next to the game room, Karuna helps her daughter sit up and drink from a cup of water. Tara feels like she hasn't drank anything in two days.

"You overexerted yourself in the game." This is not a question from Karuna but a statement, Tara realizes as her lightheadedness fades a little. "Both your aunt, uncle and grandfather have done something similar in the past. They pushed their virtual bodies well beyond their limit that it draws on their natural body's energies. It's why you feel weak and thirsty."

"How is that possible? Is there a way to avoid it?" This isn't Xei's field. Though she had heard of the state before from her brother and father in the past, she had never seen them after the event immediately occurred. Tara sees the conflicted look flash on Kaura's face before she nods.

"Yes, but first let's get her something to eat first and more water in her system. Then, well, I need to make a call now."

"Who are you going to call?" Tara coughs out. Her mother's face scrunches up in a certain way that it could only be one person.

"Your grandma."

***

Rock spikes shoot out of the ground. Gladiolus clicks her tongue as she stumbles back three steps. Besides her, out of the 20 or so Forefends from Lapis Tome who are sent flying, Goliath skids back five steps. Dressed in the black and green uniforms of Harrowine, they only have their personal shields.

Part of the Academy's rules is to learn without most of their Equipment.

All they have are their Skills and their foundations of budding combat standards. Those that are Lapis Tome's original members are able to survive the attacks thrown at them longer thanks to the Twin Sphere gathering and Soul Realm refining. Those that had joined during the recruitment phase rotate from the locker rooms constantly which counts as a save point.

"Come now," chides the gaunt and bony Tauren Zoaria at the center of the area who doesn't look anything like one would imagine a Forefend NPC. His great shield is twice his height and width. "If you can't even dodge such a simple attack, you'll never be able to handle Elite Skills, let alone higher tiers."

It is true that the attack is simple. The rock spikes that have killed their companions numerous times now are simply a byproduct of their teacher's physical strength. There is no Elemental Manipulation or Essence, simply him banging the ground beneath his feet. The task they had to pass to finish their rank assignment was to strike him within 10 minutes.

"You're so supposed to be Forefends and yet only two of you can maintain your stance and position. Has relying on weapons and armor made you soft?" Nicolas looks at Goliath before he shakes his head disappointed. They had 5 minutes left but not one could get past his spikes. Certainly several had great potential in terms of Resonance, but that did not matter in this test.

As Tara recovers in the natural world in the middle of her session, Flame Ribbon had already told their Workshop of her team's discovery earlier. Finding the ancient script during their tour settled the investment for Pakeeja. She had all of their members visit their Academies in pairs of two, so as to not draw too much attention to the forces watching them.

Harrowine Academy, as an Empire's institution with a long history, relied on a placement test for new students. Depending on the class, it is either to survive an instructor's attack or a rating of the completion of a certain spell. This placement would determine the level of lectures attendable, rarity of items and Equipment acquirable from the Academy Store, even access to Academy exclusive Dungeons and Fields!

The last perk in particular, having unique and rare materials to monopolize at the moment, is just the icing on the cake. So long as Lapis Tome and Ruby Blade attended their Academies, the teleportation array can send them into Dungeons within their Empire/Kingdom. They would not have to worry about travel time!

Furthermore, time spent within the Academy is dilated! For an Empire, every 5 hours within the Academy Space is 1 hour outside. A lower ranked Kingdom would have a 2:1 ratio while the higher rank Kingdom where Ruby Blade resided had a 3:1! This is why Pakeeja is not worried about the local Guilds and Workshops fighting too many Dungeons and Field Bosses.

Only those first rate and beyond could conquer Hard Mode and reap the benefits of the Fields, but that meant nothing as the little Workshop grew to face the illusive Abyss Mode and uncharted territory.

During the tour it was explained that the Academies worked closely with the Explorer's League. This created an added bonus of Academy specific quests that would often overlay League quests. This can practically be considered double the rewards in the form of Academy Points, should they have a high completion rate. Straw Hat and Storm Kitty, the two highest Quest clearers in Ruby Blade, are especially eager to get started. But first they needed to clear this first hurtle.

At Syringa's place, all the melee classes of Ruby Blade are facing one teacher. Only Syringa's able to last a few moves against the Dwarf Pugilist, Dolin, she's facing. The only reason she hasn't gone down is her Drain ability. It's not enough to overcome the damage taken but enough to make sure she's not eliminated from the free for all. It luckily kept triggering thanks to her new title.

"Phew." Gladiolus looks at her interface. She had plenty of stat points and free points to allot but waited. Academy Points can also get one on one instruction which include optimal allocation once she's achieved the first Class Advancement into Obsidian. Instead she glances at the first tile the Crossover group had acquired, Aberrant Eradicator.

[Aberrant Eradicator:

Energy Usage: -5% (1/10)

All Energy Resistance: + 10%

Debuff Chance + Success Rate: 5%]

The ten percent increase to All Energy Resistance includes physical, magical, elemental, and most importantly mental. Nicolas's attack, though purely physical in execution, also carried mental pressure.

This is also referred to as Intent. Simply put his mere presence unnerves those who can't withstand it, weakening them considerably. They aren't able to move as easily nor cast Skills as quickly. Only Gladiolus and Goliath, who had a little more experience with higher level intents, are able to successfully counteract it with their Resonance thanks to the Twin Sphere and Soul Realm. The Title gives them a much needed boost in this regard!

The (1/10) on the Energy Usage indicates it is levelable. However, no known method is given with the Title. They would need to experiment and investigate how to make it higher!

Gladiolus takes a centering breath before focusing her mind's eye. In the past five minutes, she realized that the spikes are not randomly formed but instead have a pattern. As those who had died return to the arena once more, she begins to close the distance.

Nicolas laughs at the challenge, tapping his shield on the ground to summon the spikes. Then, to his and everyone's surprise, she braced her shield before pivoting on her heel. Gladiolus uses her footwork and positioning to dodge the spikes, and when she can't, her shield is steady enough to block the impact.

At this time Syringa centers her energies into the tip of her blade and soles of her feet, before kicking off at her highest speed! Syringa even forgoes the Twin Sphere film over her body, reducing her defenses. This is her final move!

In a moment of synchronization, despite the difference in location and time dilation, the two leaders meet their teachers at the same time with a full powered Cleave and Bash! Syringa smirks though a flurry of punches strike her body. A small cut appears on Dolin's face. As for Gladiolus, she managed to just tap his back by sidestepping and twirling behind him at the last second.

[Hidden Quest: Lecture Hall Assignment Cleared!]

The lecture halls are divided into levels equal to the Explorers: the lowest is Porcelain, next is Obsidian, and then Iron with Silver and Gold as the highest attainable. The more Academy Points one has the more they can spend on the higher level lecture. This meant they would learn how to better control their Essence, execute their Skills, and even learn more about the history of their surroundings.

As a reward for finishing the quest, both Gladiolus and Syringa are able to attend Iron lectures while everyone else has to start with Porcelain. They also receive 100 Academy Points to start with compared to the 25 those who had failed. Only Goliath and Straw Monkey received 75 for dying just once.

"Good, good! You should thank whoever made that shield of yours, child! Iron weapons at your level are not easily created nor found, especially ones that are personally made." Nicolas gives a hefty laugh at his defeat. "They are things that can let you fight Greater, no, maybe even Advanced Common Monsters and Elite Monsters. Though this too is also a part of your strength and foundation. Remember to care for your shield well, it can become your second body if wielded correctly."

Players, NPCs, and their Equipment all shared the same tiers while monsters had equivalent but different names for the same thing. Porcelain players could defeat Common monsters; Obsidian players could defeat Elite monsters; Bronze players to Thane Monsters.

Or at least that was the theory. Truthfully many players struggled to fight even Common monsters the same level nevermind stronger than them. Only core members of first-rate organizations and regular members of elevated Guilds could challenge them with relative ease. This is thanks to their high combat standards consisting of strong Physiques (balance, position, perception) plus Mentality (calculation, spatial awareness, willpower).

Lower rank Organizations and independents struggle because monsters have powerful natural resistances to magical and physical damage. Some monsters could ignore these types of attacks while others could only be harmed by certain elements. Field and Dungeon Bosses would have these resistances doubled or tripled.

And this is only with Normal white named monsters! If the name of the Boss is colored differently those resistances were further multiplied. It's already quickly becoming a saying that if a monster is white you can fight, blue you can hide, and pink should run. However, if it's purple you might as well lay down and die.

Just before the first event, three first rate guilds would have fought over the purple named Sarid The Executioner--if the monster hadn't wiped out all three hundred of them!