The Over-Break System

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll consider your advice, but I’d prefer to do the advancement without the aid of these things. I see it as a way to further temper my Will Power stat.” Rolling his eyes, Cynrik stored the four pills in his inventory before sitting beside his brother.

“Now then, can we please get into the explanation of how the hell we do this whole Passing Down Ceremony thing?” Leaning back in the comfortable chair and crossing his arms, Cynrik gave Geralt a challenging glare earning himself a smack upside the head from Brance and Selene.

Seeing Cynrik getting disciplined by his fellow teammates brought a small smile to Headmaster Rivia’s lips.

“I was getting to that, Ivar, but you are always so impatient that you don’t give me a chance to speak. The Passing Down Ceremony has been part of tradition for thousands of years and is neigh unattainable unless you are a student of a place of higher learning.”

Steepling his fingers and leaning forward as he spoke, Headmaster Rivia grinned knowingly at Cynrik.

“When a being is on the cusp of breaking through into the next Stage, they must enter a certified and secure server in Virtual Reality directly connected to the Central System HUB. To gain access to this server, one must first have reached the stopping point in its Evolution. After entering the VR Server, you will be issued your Trial/Tribulation Quest, and a tailor-made area will be created for you to begin your Quest.

“All Trial/Tribulation quests have a time limit depending on which Stage you are attempting to break into. Once the Quest begins, you will have Three hours to complete it. If you fail, you will experience backlash. Not only will you fail your Evolution Advancement, but you will also drop down to Level 0 of Tier-2, effectively forfeiting all the XP and Stats you have previously gained in that Tier.”

“The quest can be anything you can imagine, depending on your journey and how you have reached this point in your Evolutionary Path—for example, subjugating entire villages or cities, crafting a certain number of weapons, or gathering resources.”

Cynrik suddenly felt a chill creep up his spine, the amount of blood he and the other members of MyrkLys had shed was by no means small, and if they all had to slaughter their way through hordes of enemies, then this Quest may prove difficult.

However, what really worried him, was the thought that he may potentially have to face someone or something on the same power scale as Ragnar or Jormie, or worse, Wadjet.

Pushing down that thought, Cynrik realized something and looked up at Headmaster Rivia.

“Hold on a second; you said this tradition had been passed down for thousands of years. How is that possible if VR hasn’t been around longer than a couple hundred?”

“Well, before technology advanced to the level it is at now, things were a bit more complicated.” Scratching his chin in thought, Headmaster Rivia sat back in his chair and wondered how much he was able to tell them.

Even though they were already as strong as fourth-year students, he would be jumping three years’ worth of study and learning by handing out this information, which, if he decided to do, would be breaking multiple laws passed down by the Government.

“Sigh, you just have to ask the questions you shouldn’t. Fine, Have you ever wondered why we use pieces, fragments, or shards of the Evolution stone, and you have never seen a full-sized one?”  Tossing the question out to not only Cynrik but all of MyrkLys Headmaster Rivia waited for a response.

Gabby’s eyes lit up, but after looking at Cynrik, who seemed to be analyzing every word the Headmaster spoke, she decided to stay quiet.

Selene, Benny, Melody, and even Brance looked at Headmaster Rivia with confused eyes. None of them had ever thought much about why they hadn’t seen a full-sized Evolution Stone. If anything, to them, the Evolution stones were just materials required for making it to the next Tier.

Only Cynrik and Gabby had realized something, and after a few moments of silence, Cynrik smirked.

“Well, I didn’t see that coming. I assume the previous Passing Down Ceremony had something to do with completed Evolution Stones. Somewhere down the line, over thousands of years, these complete stones were fractured into smaller resources which became a new method of body strengthening.” Chewing at the skin of his thumb, Cynrik stated, earning a pleased looked from Geralt.

“More or less. In ancient times, the Evolution Stones were thought of as Gifts from the Gods. One could be found on every continent, and millions of beings would make a pilgrimage yearly for the opportunity to advance their Tiers. These Relics, known as Evolution Stones, have existed as long as Vinestra, but it wasn’t until the great calamity that the natives of the planet discovered their true purpose.”

“With the appearance of Mana, these relics rapidly absorbed insane amounts of Mana and grew to the size of mountains. Being near them would make one feel like they were suddenly getting stronger. The Previous Passing Down Ceremony we know of had much to do with climbing these mountain-like relics.”

“The higher up you made it on the mountain, the purer the Mana concentrated in the beings body would become until finally, they were able to break through and reach the next Tier.”

“However that all changed during the time of the Great Strife. Years of prolonged and brutal battles over territory decimated most of the original Evolution Stones. With the rapid expansion of Vinestra, these shattered Evolution stones were scattered worldwide. Coming in varying sizes, as you know, the Evolution stone became a necessary tool for Advancement, and due to its rarity, its price went through the roof.”

“History is filled with stories of Wars being waged over Pieces, Chunks, or higher of the Evolution Stone, as Monarchs and leaders of countries fought over them to gain an advantage over one another.”

“However, unlike the previous completed Evolution Stone, it was soon found out that once used, these fragmented segments of the stone would vanish after a single use, which caused a frantic search to ensue.”

“Billions of beings went in search of the stones, and for years, it became taboo even to mention if you had one because the instant others found out you did, you would be killed, and the stone would be stolen.”

“Things went on like this for years until the CSH was formed. With its presence, Evolution stones became easier to get your hands on because they were amongst the rewards that could be earned in quests. Not to mention that with the planet continuously expanding, the Stones eventually could be found within Egresses.”

“Although Still Rare and a vastly sought-after resource, Evolution stones of a lower quality aren’t necessarily hard to come by in this day and age. Still, they hold value, so when people come across them, they go on the market pretty quickly if they don’t need them.”

“However, the downside is that the stones of higher quality can only be found in high-Grade Egresses, chance encounters, or auctions. This means that when it comes time for you lot to Evolve to Tier-4 onward, you will start to see how difficult it is to locate the proper resources.”

“Even with the disposable income of the Academy, I wouldn’t be able to guarantee that I can acquire everything you’ll need; in fact, just getting all the alchemic resources, I just distributed to you six put a strain on the Academies funds.” Sighing as he drummed his fingers on the desk, Headmaster Rivia resisted the urge to continue complaining.”

“Be honest with me, Headmaster, how much money was spent? I had originally planned on pushing toward Tier-4 by the time we complete our second year, but if the strain on your Wallet is too much, I will shift my initial plans and adjust accordingly.” Realizing he had underestimated the cost of his Faction’s advancement, Cynrik wanted to get a broader view of the big picture.

“Heh, to be honest, it was challenging to get everything sorted because of the time restraint. Usually, students are preparing for their Tier-2 Evolution by the end of Year two. There are, of course, a couple of students who make it to that point by the end of year one, but they are few and far between.”

“The same can be said about those students who attempt to break through to Tier-3, except the window is vastly different. It isn’t until the end of Year-3 or mid-way through Year-4 that we see students taking a chance to break through to the next Stage.”

Swiping his hand in the air, a sheet of paper filled with graphs appeared on the table, and Headmaster Rivia pushed it in Cynrik’s direction.

Nodding his head, Cynrik extended a strand of Mana from his fingertip and pulled the paper to him before scanning through it quickly and listening to Geralt’s following words.

“As you can see from last year’s data, only 3 Students broke through to Tier-3, and all of them were already in the final weeks of Year-4. Regarding Tier-2, we had five total, all of which were Year-3 students.”

“And Tier-4? Did nobody reach Tier-4 last year?” Putting the paper down and meeting the stern gaze of Headmaster Rivia, Cynrik openly asked.

“None; there hasn’t been a single student to Reach Tier-4 from VSFA in the last 20 years, and the Single one who did,…well, he left soon after and immediately joined the Reaver Association.”

“If we are to discuss financials, each student has an allotment based on their Entrance Scores. Each year, their allotment increases, and when the time comes, we can break even with the merit point system when they purchase the materials they need for Evolution.”

“Unfortunately, your Faction overdrafted its allotment, so I had to cover 45% of the materials I gave you out of my own pocket since the Year-1 budget was used for your Tier-2 materials, let alone the ones for Tier-3.”

Hearing this, Brance, Gabby, Selene, Benny, and Melody dropped their heads, but Cynrik stared the Headmaster directly into his eyes.

“Prices, Headmaster, give me the exact prices of what you bought.” Using an unwavering tone, Cynrik felt the need to know how much was spent on him, as neither he nor Brance had a habit of letting others pay for them, period.

“Tier-3 Efficiency Boosters go for 15 million credits, Tier-3 Metabolism Boosters are 1.5 million a piece, Neutral Affinity Stones are 25 million each, and Mental Fortification pills are 1.3 million each. The total expenses for everyone’s materials cost the Academy and me is 256.2 million Credits.”

After hearing this figure, everyone sucked in a sharp breath, but Headmaster Rivia wasn’t finished.

“But all those resources combined don’t equal the value of one of these.” Waving his hand slowly, six fist-sized, oddly shaped stones appeared on the table, one in front of each of the members of MyrkLys.

“Each Evolution Stone piece cost half a Billion, meaning three billion for all six, and they are the final resource I collected for each of you.”