Shadow Author

Chapter 5 1

?Recalling what I wrote about I filled in the missing blanks of information.

Abilities were the strongest powers that humans could get. I only remember specifically writing about twenty or so but said that there were one hundred in total.

If I could get one that would put me up to the pinnacle of humanity and close to the power of Elijah.

Gifts as I said were powers given out. Someone couldn't have more than one gift but it wasn't all that rare for Gifts to have subparts. For example, a swordsman's gift might evolve and a subpart might include axes. Although it would be nowhere near as strong as the primary part.

However, according to the smartwatch, I could get up to three gifts and if I get lucky enough to have subparts… my eyes glimmered with excitement.

Moving on to skills. They were physical additions that improved the body. Unlike with gifts, people could obtain an infinite amount of these. However, that would take multiple lifetimes as only by completely mastering to do something would it become a skill.

In the history of Eminence, there was only one person who got six skills but he dedicated his entire life to doing so and passed away five years ago. The average was one or two skills.

An example would be climbing where when it becomes a skill a person would be able to climb up a vertical wall without any ledges with ease.

The stats were pretty self-explanatory. However, it was incredibly difficult to raise them. The average nongifted person had 2.0 points in every category.

The students at Griffin were the best of the best and they were all around 4.0 which was insane for teenagers.

But it was clear that I was falling behind in that area as my stats were in the solid 3.0's which would also explain my rank.

Griffin calculated the ranks of every student. There were a total of 4000 students in the school. 1000 for each grade, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Being that I was in 9th grade and ranked 993 it was fair to say I was one of the weakest not only in the grade but the entire school.

Although there was no entire school ranking it was rare for upperclassmen to be weaker than lower-class men. The lowest ranking 10th grader would probably be around in the four hundreds of 9th grade.

Credits were the currency of Griffin. Real money could not be exchanged for credits. They can only be earned and spent.

Obviously, as with Luc- my credits, I was in the negatives.

Which meant I would have to do something world-changing in school or trade with other classmates to get back in the positives.

Finally was the leveling of Gifts.

Every gift began at the beginner level. It would then go through the ranks of 10 to 1 before becoming intermediate. This will continue to master rank and then to the absolute peak, Perfect.

With each level, the gift became stronger and stronger.

Currently, I have one gift for swordsmanship.

Gifts: Sharp Sword (Beginner-7)]

In terms of Gifts, I was also behind as most of my peers were at levels 5 and 6.

I tapped on Sharp Sword to see if an explanation would describe the Gift but nothing happened.

However, when I went back into the information pop up the answer was waiting for me.

[Sharp Sword: Using magic you can refine the edge of a sword to make it sharper.]

"…"

It was a pretty terrible gift. In all honesty, I have no idea how Lucas managed to get into Griffin.

Maybe I was some young master who bought his way into the school. But my thoughts were crushed when another pop-up appeared in the information section.

[Lucas, is an orphan who lost his parents at birth. He has an average gift suited for becoming a blacksmith. He is in debt and has no friends.]

Well, that felt like a punch in the gut.

However, I learned that it seems like the information section answers a lot of questions no matter what they are.

[Information can be used to answer a magnitude of questions and is rarely limited.]

A confirmation notification appeared.

Wanting to test its limits I thought in my head if there was a way to go back to the real world.

[No.]

"…fuck."

Slamming my head down on the desk I cursed under my breath.

It seems like there is no way to return, which means I'll have to find some way to survive in this new world.

"Lucas!"

Caught off guard by the sudden mention of my name I looked up to see Mr, Vankay furiously staring at me.

? "Y-yes?"

"Did you just swear in my classroom?"

Once again everyone turned their eyes to look at me.

I had completely forgotten that Mr. Vankay had a hearing skill! His sister was born deaf so he spent much of his life researching magic about hearing and in turn, he developed a skill from it.

That's when he managed to discover a way to cure being deaf and he got himself a job at Griffin.

How could I forget such an important thing? I mean I wrote it and now I was about to suffer the consequences.

"A-ah, I'm sorry, professor it's just…"

"It's just what?"

Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head.

I looked at the problem on the board; How does one calm their mind with magic?

Then just as I suspected a pop-up appeared.

"Well, what is it?!"

Mr. Vankay was nearly fuming with rage.

"It's boring."

Silence. Complete and total silence.

A buzz shook on my wrist.

"Did I hear you correctly? Did you just call my class boring?"

He was now shaking with rage and it looked like he was going to pop a vein.

"Do you have any idea how lenient I've been with you? I let you come in late, I let you skip classes, and I don't take away as many points on your homework. But even then you are always at the bottom ranking of the class. Now you dare to call me boring? I should have you expelled for this!"

With Mr. Vankay shouting and all eyes locked on me, I took a deep breath and tried to steady my voice.

"Professor, you're misunderstanding. I didn't mean to call you or your class boring."

"I along with everyone present heard you loud and clear, you said it's boring!"

"Professor, I mean the topics are boring, it's all too easy that I don't find any joy in it."

"… what?"

"It's as I say, I mean no disrespect towards you. I highly respect you, I just wish the content would be a little more… challenging."

"…"

Another round of silence filled the room.

"Brat, you sure are full of yourself! You think this stuff is all too easy yet you haven't passed a single one of my tests!"

Giggles broke out from some of the students but I quickly shut them down.

"I purposely failed them."

"Ha, kid, you are just digging a deeper grave for yourself. You entertained everyone here so take your losses and back down. I'll let this go for today but you better change your attitude from now on out."

"Then test me!"

"I already told you it's pointless, you are just going to embarrass yourself further."

"Try me."

"You really want to do this?"

"Of course!"

Oozing confidence I proudly waited on the teacher.

"Fine, then answer the question on the board."

Mr. Vankay looked smug although he said he didn't want to embarrass me. I knew he was enjoying himself right now.

"You reverse the flow of mana in your body then immediately cut it off. This will act as a shocking pulse to the brain. It will be a factory reset and your mind will be calm."

The other students began openly laughing at me this time and some even pointed their fingers while clenching their stomachs.

But the professor just stood there in a daze.

.

Mr. Vankay was extremely perplexed. The reason being was that knowledge on this subject was just released to the teachers a week ago. Not even the general public had any information on it.

Due to Griffin being the greatest school they had the benefit of getting information early.

So how did some boy know about it?

Either what he said was true and he really is a genius or he somehow got a copy of his or another teacher's portfolio.

This was now a serious matter if Lucas really did steal someone's notes not only would he be expelled but he could be facing jail time.

Having to now uphold his duty Mr. Vankay started rapid-firing questions.

"If mana gets built up in a vein and a person is at risk of having a heart attack how do you prevent it?"

"There are many safe medical ways but being that this is a theory class I assume you mean for the person to do it on their own. In that case, they should deplete all the mana in their body that way the block-up vanishes. However, in this scenario, the person will be depleted of mana so it is recommended to seek medical attention."

Yet another perfect answer.

"What if…"

"Then…"

"How about…"

"Easy you just…"

Mr. Vankay went back and forth with the child nonstop asking more and more complex questions but every time the student gave back a perfect response.

Someone he believed to be a lazy nitwit was proving to be one of the most talented students he ever had the pleasure of meeting.

The students quickly realized that Lucas wasn't making stuff up and their loud laughter quickly became shocked silence.

Giving one final test Mr. Vankay asked an 11th-grade final exam question.

"How do you infuse mana into circuitry?"

"It's a combination of mind, breath, and the manifestation of outward mana through expression."

Mr. Vankay was without words. The boy hiding in the back of the class who never passed a single test was on the level of a 12th grader if not higher.

Before he could make sense of what just happened the bell rang signaling the end of class.

"Ah, you are all dismissed. Lucas, please stay behind. I want to have a chat with you."