Important Choice

"Why?"

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[Because otherwise this world will end.]

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"What do you mean by that."

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[The entity known as the 'demon god' will destroy this world.]

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"Wait, hold on, what about Luke the main character? Wasn't he going to kill him?"

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[If everything goes the same way as the records you read, Luke Iroas will not be able to kill the 'Demon god'.]

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"So you're telling me the most powerful Character of the story, is not powerful enough to kill it."

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[Correct]

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"Sigh..."

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The situation was beyond anything I could have imagined. But even so, there were two things I couldn't understand no matter how much I racked my brain, and so I asked.

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"How do you know the demon god will win?"

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[Because the demon god already won, I had to use a large amount of energy to revert the timeline.]

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"But why me? Isn't there people more suited than me?"

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[you are correct, two other outsiders were selected before you. The first was your world's strongest fighter, and the second was your world's greatest tactician.]

[Unfortunately they failed.]

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Huh? The world's greatest failed? Then how the hell am I supposed to win?

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[you were selected, as the most fitting replacement to complete this task.]

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"Hold your horses, in what world do I compare to them?"

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[you might not be as strong or as smart, but you have knowledge of this world they didn't have.]

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Thinking about it that way, it made sense, this world is very different compared to ours.

It wouldn't be surprising if they failed to understand half of the technology.

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"Wait, in the first place, how did they fail? If I'm going to do this, I need to know."

Information was key, the more I knew, the better I could prepare myself to avoid danger.

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[recuperating data...]

Two new windows popped up again.

Looking at them in order, I was surprised by the lack of detail.

__________________________________

------First outsider------

Name: Mikhail Kuznetsova

Job: Mercenary for hire

Note: Fought with a demon far stronger than him but refused to retreat.

Final result: Failure/Death

__________________________________

'I mean, of course he would die if he stubbornly continues to fight an enemy way stronger than him.'

Continuing to the next one, I finally saw hope.

__________________________________

----second outsider-----

Name: Shen Wenyan

Job: Military general

Note: Managed to make Luke Iroas strong enough to kill the demon god.

Unfortunately, Luke Iroas died protecting someone from one of the demon's god attack.

Final result: Failure/Death

__________________________________

"!"

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With this, I knew this task was doable. I just need to somehow make Luke stronger and find a way to protect the others.

If I can do that, maybe I can save this place.

Now to do that I need to carefully pick my classes, even more carefully than normal.

__________________________________

Class 1: select one of the following ▼

| Swordsman |

| Healer |

| Mage |

| Ranger |

Class 2: select one of the following ▼

| Alchemist |

| Thief |

| Paladin |

| Tactician |

__________________________________

For the first class, I wanted to take mage, the problem was my potential was far too low for me to be able to use it properly. Swordsman and Ranger were out of the question as I knew nothing about combat, so in the end I had to take healer.

The second class was more complicated, as there were rarer classes.

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After a lot of thinking, I decided to gamble everything on this one class, if it worked as I hoped it could be a game changer, and perhaps allow me to be on par with the main character.

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And so I choose Alchemist. Normally this is a crafters class that goes well along with the Blacksmith class. In the story, it is explained at some point that Alchemy, although useful, couldn't be used on others due to conflicting Mana.

But if my guess is correct, conflict won't happen if I use it on myself, as it is my own Mana.

Having selected both classes, a window popped up.

__________________________________

are you sure of your choice?

[YES] [NO]

__________________________________

right as I pressed yes, a strange felling enveloped my heart, looking at my status I now had new skills.

__________________________________

Name: Theodore Lettore

Race: Human

Age: 16

Class 1: [Healer]

Class 2: [Alchemist]

----|Status|----

Strength: 0.302

Defense: 0.245

Agility: 0.321

Mana: 0.563

Intelligence: 1.187

Perception: 0.315

Dexterity: 0.236

Charisma: 0.201

---------------

--[Potential stats]--

Strength: 7.6 / 20

Defense: 6.2 / 20

Agility: 9.3 / 20

Mana: 10.9 / 20

Intelligence: 14.4 / 20

Perception: 8.2 / 20

Dexterity: 6.5 / 20

Charisma: 6.1 / 20

--------------------

Class skills:

---------[Healer]------------

[Heal]-LV0-0% : The basic skill of all healers, heals injuries.

[Shield]-LV0-0% : It is in your nature to protect others, generate a shield out of Mana.

[Buff]-LV0-0% : It is your duty to help others, give a buff to one's stats.

-------------------------------

---------[Alchemist]----------

[Analyze]-LV0-0% : Analyze the subject.

[Modify]-LV0-0% : Modify the analyzed subject.

[Copy]-LV0-0% : Copy analyzed subject.

-------------------------------

Skills:

[Reader]: Allow the user to read status and understand every language, user will remember what he read forever.

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Synchronization: 52%

_________________________________

Class skills are vastly different from normal skills, they can be leveled up, and depending on how you use it, it may become an unique abilities, thanks to that, no two people really have the same skill.

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By the same occasion, my synchronization somehow went up by 1%, maybe it will be easier than I thought for it to increase.

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Based on what I know, the Crossroad Academy entrance exams will start in two weeks, out of all those who participate only six hundred will be allowed in.

The exam will be in two part, one to calculate stat and potential, and one to test knowledge and thought process. I could do the knowledge test fairly easily thanks to the knowledge of the novel and the [Reader] skill, my problem was the stat calculation.

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Using a dwarven built artifact, they can measure stat and their potential, then comparing it with the normal (not awakened) human stats.

For reference, the normal human stats look something like this.

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Strength: 0.250

Defense: 0.200

Agility: 0.250

Mana: 0.150

Intelligence: 0.700

Perception: 0.200

Dexterity: 0.250

Charisma: 0.200

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And to pass this test, one needs at least four stats with 0.200 points above average.

Compared to my own stat, I only have two that meets the test criteria, this means that within two weeks I need to somehow raise two others to pass.

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It will be hard, but not impossible.

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I'll focus on strength and agility, since they're the easiest of all my stat to increase at the moment.

With that in mind, I started making a workout plan in my head. But I remembered I had an important question that I could not dismiss.

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"Hey, by the way, what happens if I die?"

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But contrary to my expectation, no answer came. The window I was talking with had disappeared.

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"... this bastard just left me alone to do his dirty work."

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###

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"Next!"

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In a hall filled to the brim with young people from all races, from dwarfs to orcs, five line of people were formed. At the beginning of every line was a receptionist that asked that same question to everyone.

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"Name and classes, please."

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This was a building specially made for the Crossroad Academy entrance exam.

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"Next!"

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At the call for the next person, a plain looking youth with green eyes stepped forward.

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"Name and classes, please."

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"Theodore Lettore, and I have the Healer class plus the alchemist class." this youth was of course me.

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Tapping on a keyboard, she entered the info I had given her in a database.

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"Theodore Lettore, Healer and chemist" repeating out loud as if to make sure it was correct.

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"Ah, no, not Chemist. I said Alchemist."

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When she heard this, she stopped typing and gave me a weird look.

I mean, I couldn't blame her, Alchemist was a class considered crafter oriented while Chemist was for making potions, it's no surprise that most healer preferred it.

My mother gave me the same look when I told her my classes.

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"Sorry, my mistake. Please head to the waiting area number two, your number is 983 please enter the test facility when your number is called"

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Keeping it professional, she didn't ask any questions and just directed me towards where I needed to go.

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Or at least that was when I faced her, because as soon as I turned around, she said in a low voice.

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"TSK, such a dumb choice."

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'I can hear you, you know!' I was a bit mad, but from their point of view, it was indeed a stupid choice.

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Sitting in a chair in the waiting area, heaved a sigh of relief, I made it, I got strong enough to pass.

I felt like I was going to die of exhaustion, I had trained every day without rest for the past two weeks.

In the morning, I would go outside to stretch and run until dinner time, followed by studying for the knowledge test.

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I may know a lot thanks to the novel, but I can't take my chance and get surprised by stuff that was never mentioned. Though it was made easier, thanks to the [Reader] skill, I only needed to read the information once, and I would remember it.

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Then in the afternoon I would follow up with various strength training, once done I would use healing on myself until the pain was gone.

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I also, whenever I had the chance, would use the [Analyze] skill on myself, it was really shocking how much I learned about my own body. But thanks to that, by the end of the first week I could finally use [Modify] on myself and test my theory.

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When I tried to strengthen my muscle and stretch my tendons/ligaments directly, it worked, but I was immediately overwhelmed with immense pain that paralyzed me.

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The worst part is that healing didn't help much to subdue the pain, it only went away on its own slowly after. But the stat gain was well worth it, with that single attempt I got the same amount of stat points that I got in a week of training, which is about 0.050.

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I also kinda understood now why nobody used Alchemist to train, it was extremely painful and if you made a mistake you couldn't fix it with healing.

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On the second week, I decided to keep using [Modify] and bear through the pain, but this time with the intensity toned down a bit, so it wouldn't hurt as much.

By trial and error, I found that the best way to use [Modify] was to aim for 0.020 stat points, and to avoid stretching and strengthening at the same time.

I of course didn't neglect my workout and simply added it to the routine.

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"Number 983! Please come forth!"

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Hearing my number being called, I headed inside, upon entering I was greeted by an old dwarf with a long beard and gray hairs wearing a lab coat.

He gave me a run-down on what was going to happen.

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In short, the dwarven artifact will measure my body proportions, muscle placement, bone thickness, Mana vain size and length, and do a scan of my brain, and calculate my stat and potential based on the result.

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This CT scan looking machine was the top of the line mix between science and magic, it could even easily detect the hardest kind of disease to diagnose.

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Placing myself onto the machine, the process was over quickly.

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Waiting for my result I stressed a bit, If for some reason I failed here, I wouldn't be allowed to take the knowledge test.

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Fortunately, it was a useless worry.

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----|Status|----

Strength: 0.594

Defense: 0.252

Agility: 0.602

Mana: 0.741

Intelligence: 1.242

Perception: 0.315

Dexterity: 0.251

Charisma: 0.202

---------------

--[Potential stats]--

Strength: 7.6 / 20

Defense: 6.2 / 20

Agility: 9.3 / 20

Mana: 10.9 / 20

Intelligence: 14.4 / 20

Perception: 8.2 / 20

Dexterity: 6.5 / 20

Charisma: 6.1 / 20

--------------------

I had managed to raise my Strength and Agility by almost 0.300 each.

I would have never been able to raise my stat by this much without [Modify], using healing to boost muscle building speed was well known, but this went beyond it.

If I ever manage to get use to the pain, my growth speed will be comparable to that of the main character.

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"Ok, you pass."

"Please head to the next room, in there that tree hugger will explain the next test."

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"Thanks."

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Moving to the door, he was pointing, I went in.

Inside was another waiting room once again filed with youth, but this time instead of going one by one, we would be going in groups of sixty. Since this was a written test, it would be a waste of time and resources to test one person at a time.

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Not long after I had entered, a tall and blond elf with long hair walked in, he was more than just beautiful, so much so that most of the girls, and some of the boys were mesmerized.

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I recognized him immediately, his name was Malgath Friana, the world's best spirit user and one of the founder of crossroad academy. When the rupture happened, he was the first to suggest an alliance with humans, he is one of the four fonder of the academy.

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And also is an indirect ally of the protagonist that helps him throughout the novel.

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"Alright everyone, please listen!" he wasn't yelling, yet his voice filled the entire room.

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'He must be using wind spirits to do that.'

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"first off, congratulations on passing the first part, but don't get cocky now, you have to remember we will only allow in our school top 600."

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"You will all be participating in a written test, answer the most questions within the span of 3 hours.

If you finish early, you can hand over your paper at my desk and leave, but I strongly recommend against it."

"Oh, and before I forget, it's no use trying to cheat, if you do, you will be banned from ever taking this test again in your life. I hope all of you have studied well." At that warning, a couple of people flinched.

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Following after him, we entered a room filed with desks, and on each desk lied 10 pages of question.

Once everyone was sited and ready, Malgath gave us the go.

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"You can turn your paper and start, the timer will begin now."

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Having read the novel, I knew what kind of questions would be on the test and studied in accordance.

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Most of it had to do with monster and Mana theory, there was some math here and there, also some history, it wasn't hard per se, but you had to memorize a lot of stuff.

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Thanks to the [Reader] skill, I remembered everything just by reading it once, it honestly felt like I was cheating.

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It was so easy in fact that I finished under 40 minutes, I didn't need to reread myself as I knew, I had answered all the questions correctly.

I wanted to lie low if possible, but I didn't have that privilege, if I wanted to be sure I enter the Crossroad Academy I needed to show off a bit.

Having finished, I headed towards Malgath to give my copy.

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"Forfeiting?" he gave me a disappointed look.

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"No, I'm actually done." after I said that he looked at me even more confused,

he made sure to check his watch and even the clock on the wall.

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"You think this is a joke? You still have more than 2 hours, go back and make sure you answer the questions seriously."

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He was a bit mad for some reason, anyway I decided to take my paper and head back to my desk.

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Thinking about it again, I really should take my time when I have the occasion to do so, in the past two weeks I hadn't really rested properly.

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So, listening to his advice, I used the two remaining hours to take a nap.

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And slept without noticing the piercing gaze directed my way.