Chapter 39: Growth type Equipment

Principal Dalhmer, canceled the spell he cast on the five students and walked back to the podium.

He smiled and stared at the 5 students on stage. Then he suddenly stopped and focused his gaze on Gabriel, Tigram, and Dave.

"I'm very glad that the 3 of you have reached level 10, keep up the good work," said Principal Dalhmer. Then he continued to say.

"Since you have reached the required level, after this event talk to Miss Claire and give the description of the item you want to get from her."

And without further ado, principal Dalhmer increased the volume of his voice and said once again.

"Now, let's welcome the top 5 scorers in this assessment! Let's give them a warm of applause!"

He continued.

For the school's reward, apart from gold coins and experience pills, each scorer will also be given equipment that the principal personally chose, the reward for reaching level 10 is not included here since that was commissioned by the empire, Jonathan is rewarded with a green rank staff and Jamie receives a shield befitting his awakened class with the same rank as Jonathan.

Just by watching the two of them fight on the projection the principal was already aware of their equipment's shortcomings, although they had also had their fair share of equipment loot within the dungeon, it was still not enough to cover up their weakness. 

This applies not only to Jonathan and Jamie but to all students who participated in the assessment.

After he gave out their rewards and congratulated the two, he continued to give out the rewards for third and second placers.

Dave was given armor from the principal's personal collection, this armor was an old armor that his teammate used to wear when they were young and low leveled, although this equipment was old, it was well maintained and retained its properties and characteristics as a peak green ranking equipment.

Tigram receives a leather bracer that increases his attack speed and damage, based on the principal's observation of him, his talent allows him to enhance his damage and attack speed by at least 2 times, although he didn't know the side effects of that talent, his observation was accurate.

He noticed that Tigram was unable to unleash his full potential, as his attack speed was lacking as well as his damage. Hence the reason he personally picked that glove from his collections.

After distributing the items to Dave and Tigram, he looked at Gabriel and spoke.

"And now for our final, the reward that the champion of this assessment deserves, Gabriel, if you could, join me here," asked Principal Dalhmer.

Gabriel walks towards the location of the old principal, he only stops when he is beside the principal.

Seeing Gabriel beside him, the old principal raised his hand and something materialized, he looked at it, before handing it to Gabriel.

It is a one-handed light shield made of special materials. It was not heavy in his hand, but the surface of the shield, which did not seem large, completely blocked all the vital parts of the human body.

"Gabriel, this shield is one of the things I came across in one of my adventures when I was young.

Young one, as a supporter, you only have one job on the field.

And that is to survive even if your team is eliminated.

As long as you are alive and have enough mana, if in the future you acquire the [Resurrection] skill, you only need to revive your allies and heal them. They will be able to fight again.

This shield also compliments one of your buffs, especially if you fully realize the use of this equipment."

Principal Dalhmer smiled at Gabriel while giving him a lecture and passing him the shield at the same time.

Gabriel took the shield and looked at its status.

[Name: Crimson Shield]

[Type: Shield]

[Defense: 35]

[Grade: White]

[Description: A magnificent shield that protects its wielder. Vague runes are etched into this shield, providing an additional layer of protective grace. With so much time passed, this shield gradually regressed, locking out most of its abilities. In order to use the rune again, the wielder must offer certain items as a sacrifice to this shield. Doing so will automatically unlock this shield's evolution.

Additional Attributes:

+5 VIT

+5 Defense

Special Effect: +10% Damage Reduction

First Rune: 0/10, Iron Rank Shield]

[Durability: 150/150]

What caught Gabriel's attention was not the characteristics of the shield, but the word "unlock", based on previous Gabiel's knowledge, most of the equipment was either crafted in their current grade or found within the mysterious realm. 

He frowned and dug through his memories or the memories of former Gabriel.

...

From the memories of the former Gabriel.

One day, he got bored with the book he was reading, he looked in the library for something interesting to read for a long time, later he accidentally came across a book, it piqued his interest so he grabbed that book, that book is called "Compendio De Armamento", while he was reading that book, he was able to read a few articles that refer to certain equipment that grow by themselves when meeting certain criteria, those types of equipment were referred to as "Growth - type Equipment's".

Growth-type pieces of equipment cannot be created, so they say, this type of equipment is very rare, and the only way you can get it is by "luck" while dungeon diving.

One of the reasons why this type of equipment is highly sought after by others is that when you meet the criteria and evolve the equipment, its status is twice that of normal equipment of the same grade and has more durability. 

The only fault you will find with this type of equipment is that it cannot be repaired by ordinary means. Either you satisfy the requirement and evolve it to fully restore its durability or find another way to solve the issue, which has not been discovered so far.

...

Gabriel snapped out of his thoughts and paid attention to what the principal was saying.

"With this shield, you will have an extra layer of protection while fighting monsters and magical beasts.

I know, that for you to be on top of this assessment, you have your own way of dealing with things, however, you must always remember your core.

Your core is a supporter, and the first thing you need to ensure is safety, regardless of further circumstances." Principal Dalhmer said to Gabriel.

...

While the principal was giving Gabriel a shield, there was a student looking at him with intense jealousy.

If only a look could kill, he would have killed him a thousand times just by looking.

"F*cker!!" He stared at Gabriel as if he was going to eat him.

His eyes are red with jealousy, his hands are tightly clenched and if you look closely, you can see the tint of blood from his fingernails, due to his tightly clenched fist.

No, he wasn't jealous of him because of the equipment the principal gave him, because he thought he could make and get better equipment if he used his resources properly, instead, he was jealous of how Gabriel was treated by the principal.

"It should be my moment! I should be number 1!"

Although he had seen Gabriels's fight earlier when it was shown in the projection, he was still in denial now and still telling himself that he was better than Gabriel.

He didn't know it now, but because of his obsession with being the best, it was eating away at him and there might be a chance that he would lose his mind. Not unless, he achieves this, until that day comes, his heart demon will gradually consume him.

.....

After the award ceremony, Principal Dahlmer snapped his fingers and a pill appeared in front of each student in the venue.

"When you reach level 10, take the limit breaking pill to unlock level 11. Once you reach level 10, you won't be able to advance further without taking this pill. So, remember to take it only when you reach level 10."

Then he looked at Gabriel, Tigram, and Dave.

"For the three of you, once you have reached level 11 and surpassed the limit, it is imperative that you dive into the dungeon and make your way to level 15 in order to advance your class. Please take note of the materials required for advancement and provide the list to the academy as soon as possible, so that we can prepare them for you in a timely manner."

As soon as Principal Dalhmer uttered those words, he vanished into thin air, leaving everyone in shock and awe. In the next moment, the sky was lit up with a spectacular display of vibrant fireworks that illuminated the darkness with their sparkling colors, leaving the onlookers mesmerized.

BOOOM!

BOOOM!

BOOOM!

This fireworks display marks the end of the event and the start of a new phase for every student in the area.

...

After the fireworks display, the teacher instructed them to leave the area and go home to rest.

Gabriel was on his way out of school when someone suddenly stopped him.

"Stop!"

Gabriel halted and gazed at his stopper. He saw eyes filled with hatred and jealousy that would devour him if given a chance.

"What?" Gabriel replied coldly to the person who had called out to him. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him, blocking his path to the exit gate.

"We haven't settled the score between us this morning! Do you think you can just go whenever you want?" The figure interrogated.

Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows and spoke in a cold tone, "Move, Dave. Get out of my way!"

"Hmph! If you're not willing to compete with me, you can't pass. The arena is only a few meters away. Follow me and face me if you want to proceed," Dave challenged.

As the two individuals glared at each other with intense hostility, the other students in the vicinity quickly turned their backs, afraid that they might inadvertently become involved in their altercation. Despite several minutes passing, Dave remained rooted to the spot and showed no signs of moving out of Gabriel's path.

"Damn! So annoying," Gabriel exclaimed. He released the aura in his body and his killing intent burst out towards Dave.

Gabriel was frustrated because he wanted to go home and share some good news with his family, but someone stopped him. In order to deal with the situation, he had to use a technique he had been researching and practicing while waiting for an assessment within a mysterious realm.

Gabriel drew inspiration for his current skill from one of his favorite anime back when he was on Earth. Though the anime was not yet through nor complete, it still provided enough guidance for him to deal with a student of his age. Suddenly, Gabriel's aura expanded, and he channeled his mana towards his aura.

VRRROOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

Silence fell, then Gabriel pursed his lips and left the academy.

....