The Over-Break System

“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.”

“Fuck…you’re insane, Headmaster Rivia heh, spending 3.7 billion credits on little ol me, tsk, should I start calling your Sugar Daddy Geralt?” Tilting his head to the side, Cynrik broke the stale air with one of his usual rude remarks, only to earn the ire of literally every member of MyrkLys, including Melody. She found it so disrespectful that she put aside her fear of him to issue him a firm smack upside the back of his head.

SMACK, CRACK, THUMP, SMACK, THWACK

For the next three seconds, Brance, Selene, Gabby, Benny, and Melody jumped out of their seats and issued a firm hit to the back of Cynrik’s head; the ones from Selene and Brance actually made him see stars.

“Mother fucker, CMON GUYS! I WAS ONLY KIDDING.” Cynrik cried, but instead of having a moment to recover, he was slapped across the room by a person-sized translucent aqua-colored hand.

BOOOM!

“That should be enough to shut him up for a while,” Straightening his uniform before sitting down and dusting his hands, Headmaster Rivia spat on the floor beside his desk, snapping everyone’s heads in his direction.

“Sure, it costs a lot of money to purchase the resources. However, it was necessary, with the speeds you six power up, It would be counter-productive to your growth if you were stunted at Tier-2 for years until the school scrounged up the funds to purchase everything.”

“Although the contracts you signed at the Selections stated it wasn’t the Academies responsibility to pay for your Evolution Materials, the moment your fearless leader….” Geralt paused and glanced at Cynrik as he attempted to extricate himself from the stone wall on the opposite side of the room.

“Ivar decided to push you all to Tier-3 to become the competition team. With the six of you taking up six of the seven slots for our Tier-3 team, I provided the funds for the allocation. I know it’s a lot, and I would never consider spending over three billion credits at any other time. However, MyrkLys has been performing well above your level and accomplishing remarkable things since the beginning. Therefore, I made an exception.”

Grasping the air, Headmaster Rivia manifested another huge Aqua Colored hand, grabbed Cynrik by his feet, and tugged him out of the hole in the wall before flinging him back into his chair.

“OOF, What did I miss? Hehe,” rolling out his left arm and dusting the stone particles off his shoulder, Cynrik quickly wiped the trail of blood from his nose and acted as if nothing had happened.

“By taking these stones, you are making me a promise. The promise is that you will take a spot in the top eight in this year’s championship. Although you still have one person, the fifth year, joining your team, the six of you will make up our Tier-3 Team. As you know, there are four regional tournaments, two qualifiers, and then the big tournament, which depending on the points you’ve earned in the previous six tournaments, will put you against the top 128 teams.” Ignoring Cynrik’s provocations, Headmaster Rivia put on a stern expression as he met the six pairs of eyes staring back at him.

“Che, top eight is too low; if we don’t take First Place, we may as well come in last.” Crossing his arms and hiding the shaking of his left hand, which had been injured when he crashed into the wall, Cynrik made a bold claim.

[[Did you seriously just say that?]]Turning his head to face Cynrik with dead eyes, Brance wanted to smack some more sense into his brother.

[[What? If you ain’t first, your last. It is totally appropriate for this conversation.]]

[[At least he didn’t hit us with a shake-n-bake Brancie,]] rolling her eyes, Selene even chimed in, annoyed by her boyfriend’s lack of seriousness.

At that comment, Brance frowned but chose to ignore both of them and focus his attention on the Headmaster.

“If it were only our country taking part, I wouldn’t doubt it, but several impressive teams from other more prestigious Academies are joining in.”

“Putting aside all of the big five, Renson Military, Banes College, Finwan Academy, Supremacy Uni, and Quest Combat Academy, our VSFA has never made it passed the top 64. That is to say, there are still another 122 teams that will inevitably be competing.” Sighing, Headmaster Rivia was beginning to regret his decision of trusting MyrkLys with the Tier-3 team slot.

“Don’t worry, Headmaster, we’ve got this; all I need from you now is to give me a list of potential students who can fill that final spot on the team.” Leaning back in his chair, Cynrik flicked his wrist, slung out a strand of Dark Mana, and pocketed the hefty stone.

“Didn’t I already tell you it will be a specific Year-5 Student?” With confusion on his face, Headmaster Rivia wanted to know what Cynrik meant with his words.

“Hm, I mean, you did, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will mesh well with us; I would prefer to have a complete list of all the Tier-3 students so that I can choose someone who can fill the open slot seamlessly. I like to have a pure support class person with several single target and AOE heals.”

“We already have more than enough damage dealers, and we need someone with more versatility and utility than who you have probably chosen can present. No offense, Headmaster, but you probably chose the Year-5 student who will already be set in his ways and unable to fit into our team without sticking out like a sore thumb.” Wearing a confident smile, Cynrik challenged Geralt, and in reality, he was right.

The student that Headmaster Rivia had chosen was precisely as Cynrik assumed, another damage dealer, one with a wealth of combat experience and the person who was previously supposed to be the leader of the Tier-3 team.

“Sigh, fine, I will send you a list, but for now, take your stones, and we can move on to the next topic on the agenda.” Waving away Cynrik’s thoughts, Headmaster Rivia did his best to get the conversation back on track.

Tapping on his Watcet, the members of MyrkLys soon received a notification in response to Geralt’s actions.

“Everyone must choose one staff member from the list to be present and aid you in your Tier-3 evolution. This Staff member will be your guide as you move through the initial advancement and into the Passing Down Ceremony.”

“Huh? What are you on about Headmaster? Don’t we have to absorb the proper materials and do what we usually do?” Cynrik blurted out while nearly jumping out of his chair.

Since he had no idea when things would go south, he did not want to be monitored throughout his evolution process; plus, he would reveal numerous secrets that he did not wish to share with anyone outside his party.

“Stop! Before you begin arguing, this is standard procedure. You have no grounds to weasel yourself out of this arrangement, so get it out of your head now.” Holding up his hand to cut Cynrik off, Headmaster Rivia further explained.

“Due to the nature of the Passing Down Ceremony, students MUST have a Chaperone. There are no if, and, or buts; that is how things are done, and if you don’t like it, hand back all of the materials you have been given for free.”

“I already anticipated you would fight me on this decision. That is why instead of assigning your chaperone personally, I have given you a list of professors I have personally vetted, many of which you already have some form of relationship with, so knock it off and choose your fucking chaperone.” As Headmaster Rivia asserted his authority using Killing Intent and Aura, Cynrik’s heart dropped.

Gritting his teeth, Cynrik pulled up the list of potential chaperones and began scrolling through it unhappily. While he did so, the other members anxiously looked for who they wanted.

Soon enough, Melody made a slight noise and looked up happily at the Headmaster.

“Headmaster Rivia, my Mom is on the list! I wanna choose her, is that ok?” Looking up at the man with hope in her eyes, Melody asked.

“Mhm, that is fine; she was on there for that purpose in the first place. When she discovered how much you’ve grown and that you were about to go through your first Passing Down, she was adamant that she would be your chaperone. Still, I had to tell her it was up to you who you picked, but I am sure she will be happy that you chose her.” Feeling the urge to reach out and pet the girl’s head, Headmaster Rivia chuckled at Melody’s overly excitable attitude.

“Headmaster, I would like Instructor Garrison to be my chaperone,” the next person to speak was Benny. The instant he located Garrison on the list, it was a no-brainer for him; thus, he chose quicker than the others.

“Approved; the two of you can gather your stone and head down to floor B-22, where the Passing Down is held for Tier-3 hopefuls.” Melody and Benny stood up, but they looked to Cynrik for permission before they did.

“Go, keep on your toes and be weary of anything that seems too good to be true. Remember what I taught you and listen to your chaperone; you should be fine since both have already surpassed Tier-3.” Shooting the two a glance, Cynrik issued his order and sent the couple on their way.

“I will choose Instructor Alistar,” up next was Gabby, who chose her chaperone the way her brother had. Since she had sparred with the man several times and was even taking his archery class, Gabby had built up a teacher-student relationship with him to the point she felt comfortable in having him guide her through the Passing Down.

With Headmaster Rivia’s approval, Gabby ran out of the office after getting a similar speech from Cynrik as he had given Melody and Benny.

[[What are you thinking, Cyn?]] With only Selene himself and Cynrik left in the office with the Headmaster, Brance made eye contact with his brother out of the corner of his eye.

[[Honestly, Selene should probably go with Headmaster Rivia.]] Cynrik’s words startled Selene, making her flinch.

[[Makes sense; her Abyss Affinity will be trouble for any other teacher on this list. It would be Geralt with his Space Affinity if anyone could handle it.]] Nodding his head and eyeing the distraught expression painting the girl’s face, Brance nodded in her direction.

[[UGH, FINE!]] Realising there was no arguing with the brothers’ logic, Selene caved in.

“Headmaster, due to the nature of my Affinity, I would like to request that you are my chaperone. Your name isn’t on the list, but I hope you will consider my request.” Bowing her head and waiting, Selene used flowery words to attract Geralt’s attention.

“Me? That’s…unconventional but also understandable, sigh; I don’t expect anyone on our staff would be able to handle the Abyss Affinity; request approved, we have to wait for these two to finish, and we will head down to Floor B-22.” After some thought, Headmaster Rivia nodded his consent before glancing at the two brothers silently scrolling through the long list of potential chaperones.