The Strongest Spellblade

The public rankings were arranged in the main plaza at the base of the large central tower. Each year got their own wall around the plaza, with the staff and faculty members getting their own wall as well.

The results had updated in the middle of the night and the plaza was packed at that time. I chose to wait and avoid the rush, heading there after breakfast with Healer Melon. It was still packed as students came to see where they ranked in relation to their peers.

The list was ordered from left to right, with the name then the total skill gain. Every three months the list was updated. I noted the year 6 and 7 student lists were incredibly small, but the names were much bigger.

The area in front of each of the magical displays was roped off, so there was distance so people could look for their name without blocking other people nearby. I looked for my name at the top of year 1. The first list had 10 names, the second to the right had 90, the third had 900. Then each one after that listed 1,000 names.

Year 1

1. Justin Burnstock 560

2. Windshell Gossimer 437

3. Harren Axefall 411

4. Stormy Aether 406

5. Terroc 399

6. Godfrey Windsome 398

7. April Withers 386

8. Frank Vonberg 352

9. Teresa Mayflower 350

10. Xyon Fullbright 350

There was a tie. In that case higher tier skills counted a bit more for the tiebreaker. The competition was intense, but there was a very large gap between me and second place. Since the results of every 3 months would be added up for the final result, I already had a sizable lead, that would be very hard to surpass. If the elf Windshell Gossimer earned the same number of skill levels next month, I could earn 314 and still tie with her.

The advantages from two soul fruits was just too strong. Other people might have nations, entire families, even business empires supporting them, but I had my mother. While she might have gone off to the dungeon, I wouldn’t embarrass her or squander everything she had done for me.

Also almost dying and getting a new tier 4 skill. That also helped quite a bit. But even without that tier 4 skill, I still would have taken the top spot, which made me feel proud of my accomplishment.

“Fist place, Melody should be replacing your ID sometime soon and we will need to move,” Healer Melon said.

“Hmm. Let’s take care of that today, before we go exploring the city. Returning every day would be exhausting and I want to explore a little bit,” I replied. I looked at his shiny bald head. “Maybe a disguise?”

“The College guards have swept through the city, crime is at an all time low at the moment. As long as we stick the main business district there shouldn’t be a problem,” he replied.

“Hmm, if you say so.” His bald head was very recognizable along with his healer robes. But if he wasn’t worried, then I wasn’t going to be overly concerned. While the Dark Cabal was dangerous, I wasn’t going after them and I wasn’t being reckless. Checking out the city below the College seemed like a basic thing that wouldn’t invite unnecessary trouble.

While the College had everything one could ask for, the atmosphere and the mood was incredibly depressing.

“Justin Burnstock.” I paused and turned towards the elf who called my name out. It was Windshell Gossimer, the second ranked student in the first year, just below me.

“Yes, Miss Gossimer?” I asked politely as she approached me.

“I am not going to let you win,” she declared.

“Good,” I replied casually with a shrug. She frowned at me.

“Are you taking me lightly?” she asked.

“Not at all. Since you have the most likely chance of catching up and surpassing me. However, I already have a sizable lead for this year. And it isn’t a small lead. I believe it is 560 to 437. Catching up to me will be quite difficult,” I replied.

“A sizable gap, but one that can be overcome,” she replied.

“Really? I figure we were both working quite hard the last 3 months. If you can improve more quickly, good for you. I am honestly just focusing on doing the best I can. If you want me to take you seriously, then score higher than me,” I replied.

She just gave me a glare and stormed off. I shook my head. “Completely pointless drama,” I replied.

“What if you were second? Would you act that way?” Healer Melon asked me.

“No. It is foolish, worrying about others. This isn’t some tournament where you can beat up others or easily sabotage them. It is a direct competition of learning and resources where your main opponent is your will to continue turning your brain to mush. My tolerance for suffering is quite high after going into the dungeon with my mother for a year,” I answered.

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Still, I was worried about gaining levels long term. The near death experience had helped me out quite a bit. That wasn’t something that could be replicated. While I would probably win this year as the top student, over time the impact of the soul fruits I had taken would get weaker while I didn’t know the backing Windshell Gossimer had.

“Can you ask around about Windshell Gossimer and find out what kind of support she has?” I asked Healer Melon.

“I can ask around. Anything specific you are interested in?” he asked.

“I just want to know what kind of resources she has supporting her. She is awfully confident and confrontational. No other student is like that. Calling me out as the number one. She clearly knows of me, so I would expect she knows of my mother. To go out of her way to target me is surprising. I will ask my father when classes restart as well and we have breakfast together,” I said.

“I will ask. But there is only so much I will be able to learn,” he said.

“That is fine. I will win this year, but future years will become more difficult. How long do soul fruits last?” I asked.

“Forever, but their impact decreases logarithmically over time. It never goes away, but the impact will diminish to almost nothing given enough time. I would say that in 2 to 4 years, your leveling speed will struggle as your soul stabilizes more,” he replied.

“I can’t copy the soul fruits with a skill?” I asked.

“Don’t do that. That is how people kill themselves. I am not joking. What you are talking about is a soul massage. And despite its seemingly innocent name, it is very dangerous. Even if you think you have done everything right, you can damage skills, stats, and other parts of your soul without realizing. This will create even greater problems later on. So don’t try that,” Healer Melon stated firmly.

“A shame the breaks are so short, I can’t go into the dungeon,” I said.

“You could take a semester or year off to do that. It is something that is offered,” Healer Melon said.

“No. Once I leave this place I don’t think I want to come back for a long time. I wouldn’t call it horrible, but it is an acquired taste. Just an unrelenting push for more levels and power. It is exhausting,” I replied. I knew that if my mother was listening in she would be rolling her eyes and saying that I was weak.

But this place lasted for seven years. That was a very long time. I would be 19 years old when I graduated. That was so far away. I had just completed around 3.6% of my time here in the College of Advancement. I had done well, but just thinking about all the time left, it was mind numbing.

I should have known this place was terrible after my mother said I should go here to learn. She had hired Tutor Damian and he had talked about this place. But it had been a trap. I had promised I would do my best and I didn’t plan to quit, but this place was miserable in a way that was hard to describe.

The best way to explain it was that The Mathemancer had sucked out all the joy and social interaction of gaining skill levels. In the far future possibly, there would be golems teaching everyone with no Professor in sight. They would just repeat the most optimal lesson plan and everyone would copy that.

For a competitive environment it made sense. But it would have been nice to make friend. I had a retainer, Healer Melon. A rival, Windshell Gossimer. And a pet that was still stuck in its egg. But there was no use complaining. People would say that I was being spoiled or lazy, but it felt like I was being forced into a box, when I wanted to see what was outside the box.

When I graduated, I was definitely going to travel. Go down into the dungeon at one point, come up at another and check out that city. See what the world had to offer. Live life a bit, instead of hyper focused on gaining levels. Otherwise, what was the point? My mother had worked her entire life to become a Supreme Legend and she seemed very unhappy.

While she might smile at certain things, she didn’t seem to like her life in general. Even my father seemed stressed with his crazy plans. I get wanting power so one could choose how they lived and be safe, but power for power sake seemed exhausting. A quest without end or purpose.

Perhaps that was why my mother was going to the bottom of the dungeon, to find purpose. I just knew that I wasn’t afraid of hard work, but I didn’t want to keep working for my entire life. I wanted to become the strongest, but there was more to life than being the strongest spellblade.

While giving that story about Bastian might have meant to test my determination, I had picked up another lesson from it. That was to enjoy your life while getting stronger. That was something my mother clearly didn’t understand along with most of the people here at this College.

Even if I didn’t place first, it would be disappointing, but I wouldn’t regret going to visit the nearby city or enjoying a week off. While I had been studying I had put everything I had into it, which showed with all the levels I had gained. But I wasn’t going to kill myself, even if I burned the book my mother gave me and didn’t get a sword from my father.

Coming to that realization, lifted a weight off my shoulders I didn’t know was there. Expectations only had power if I couldn’t handle the consequences. I wouldn’t slow down or sabotage myself, but I was going to do things my way. The fun way, where it wasn’t year after year of unending misery. There would be some misery, but it would be all misery.

I was going to be the strongest, but I wouldn’t become miserable doing so. Worrying about the future was just as much of a mental distraction as worrying over numbers and levels. Mentally I thanked Windshell Gossimer for helping me realize this fact. She would probably glare at me or scream in rage if I told her that I didn’t care if I first or not.

It truly didn’t matter.

“You seem in a better mood,” Healer Melon said as we made our way to the elevator down to the surface.

“Just realized something about this place, I knew, but didn’t properly realize until just now. The only enemy to advancing my levels is myself,” I replied. I didn’t want to tell Healer Melon I didn’t care, since that would start an argument. But truly not caring about the results was a way to get better results, at least I thought so. It was hard to properly put into words, which was why I didn’t bother. The results would show if I was right or wrong and even if I was wrong, they didn’t matter.