Novel Full Chapter 67: Kitchen Help
Chapter 67: Kitchen Help
Kalli passed out the rewards to the other food students, who ran off with their new gear in their arms the moment that they got the reward.
"Well, that’s a few more who are back where they have always wanted to be. Who is next? Come, try your luck with the System Rewards. Perhaps you’ll get a rare drop, something that the others haven’t seen before," Kalli encouraged.
The heroes laughed as they came to shake her hand, or give her a hug, before receiving their rewards.
"You’ve become the honorary mom friend to a bunch of middle school girls." Sergeant Sanchez whispered as the group moved aside to compare and trade their rewards.
Kalli sighed. "It’s inevitable, really. I’ll either be the mom friend, or that shopkeeper everyone tries to butter up for discounts."
The Sergeant patted her on the shoulder in commiseration. "Well, it’s better than being forgotten. I actually wanted to talk to you about what we heard today. The guy who reached level 0 commoner.
As it turns out, when my guys checked, they all had a similar status. They don’t have storage like the others, or they haven’t figured out how to access it. But according to the System they are [Level 0 Common Mercenary] instead of the classes that we got."
"That’s different. Did they get a physical bonus?"
Sanchez shook his head. "But apparently they can take on the physique building quest. They got gains this morning. So, they’re going to keep trying to build their bodies before the timer runs out to see if they can reach awakened status.
They have a theory that they might have to actually reach the stats for awakened, something more than normal humans could achieve, before they can pass level zero."
"That’s as good of a theory as any. Did they get the quest? Like, can they see it?"
Sanchez shook his head. "No, they just noticed the change this morning. Normal humans don’t progress like that. So, they’re going to do it again tomorrow morning and see if they can get another round of maximum gains. They’re training agility as it helps the most with hand eye coordination, and they’re riflemen.
Even if they can’t advance and gain something before the timer runs out, they might get to keep the stats.
If that’s the case, then they’ll be so far ahead of most that it won’t even seem fair."
"That’s good news. If the average person can start getting ahead on their stats with a bit of work, then there is hope for the future. We just need to make sure that they have one."
"So, should we encourage a few more groups to come live nearby?"
"Only if they have students leading them. I know that they said everyone is linked to the Academy if they got a Hero Class, but the ones who have been away for years or decades are a bit of a toss up, and the ones who only worked here for a few months or years in the past likely have no loyalty to the Academy either.
Without that loyalty, there is a much higher chance that we’re just inviting in someone who is going to try to cause trouble."
The Sergeant nodded. "I think that we will have more over the course of the day. They saw the quests pop up from outside the old radius. There are likely more in range now, and they just haven’t decided if they’re going to come here."
"Well, we’ve got a moment, so I’m going to hit the gym. If anyone shows up, let them know that I’ll be back in an hour and a half."
"Got it, go train, we will be here."
Kalli headed for the gym, and saw that the room had been freshly cleaned, and both the baskets of gym clothes and towels had been laundered and replaced on the shelves.
The staff were doing good work.
Kalli’s initial concern was that the sewer system would not be maintained anymore, but when she stuck her head into the laundry room, she saw a notice.
"This facility uses recycled and filtered grey water. No unapproved chemicals, greasy or oily clothing in these machines. Please take such items to the laundry in the kitchen area."
So, they weren’t wasting water keeping up with laundry in the gym.
That was one less concern, though the Academy was supposed to have more than enough to support a full student roster. Even the laundry soap was in a giant drum. If you used the recommended size scoop every load, that would likely last a year.
She changed quickly and loaded up weights on one of the wall climbing ropes, as her backpack was no longer capable of holding what she was able to carry.
The backpack was a good one, but it was not a "Carry a hundred kilos of steel plates" level of good backpack. Then she got a better idea.
Instead of the stair climber with a backpack, she loaded the weights onto a barbell and slung it over her shoulders to go to the treadmill. An inclined jog while lifting the barbell would work every aspect of strength, agility and endurance.
Focused on the video of a pathway playing on the treadmill, Kalli didn’t even notice when a group of new arrivals came in to talk to her.
They silently stared at the girl running uphill while shoulder pressing a hundred kilos, and decided that they could wait until she was done. Even their warriors weren’t certain that they could match with that, and this was supposed to be a noncombat class girl from the first year of the University.
"Why are you all in the hallway?"
"Oh, Sergeant. We, uh, we went in, and she’s busy."
Sanchez stuck his head in the door, saw Kalli’s routine, and began to laugh.
"It’s fine, you just need to be next to her, she doesn’t have to stop her workout. Just walk in front of the treadmill, so you don’t get hit with a barbell. She’s serious about her training."