Chapter 37: Real Investment Isn’t Just Throwing Resources at People

Third Training Ground.

The morning sun had only just risen past the eastern tower of the academy when broad swaths of golden light spilled across the obsidian paved training ground.

Victor’s thirteen subordinates had already arrived even earlier than yesterday. Not a single person was late. Even Milo, the last to arrive, had come twelve minutes ahead of schedule.

The reason was simple. After realizing that Victor was really serious about pouring resources into them, they wanted to be in his good books.

At the center of the training ground, Noah stood alone before a moving sword target, repeatedly thrusting the ordinary iron sword in his hand. None of his strikes looked particularly impressive, but the angle of each thrust grew increasingly stable, the tip of his sword landing in almost exactly the same spot every time.

On the other side, Leah sat cross legged in the center of a mana gathering formation. Several unattributed mana crystals slowly revolved around her body as the energy within them was continuously drawn toward her Star Core.

After undergoing that special astral conversion, it gradually merged into her body.

As for Evelyn, she had already equipped the [Night Raven] that had been delivered last night. The Epic grade dagger was entirely black, with only an almost imperceptible silver line running along the very edge of its blade. Combined with the [Shadow Assault Step] she had only just begun learning, her movements were nearly silent.

Victor stood at the edge of the training ground watching all of them, as though he was a teacher overseeing his students.

He wanted to see exactly how these people used the resources they had received.

The returns from his System investments were indeed outrageous, but if all he did was find high potential targets and continuously throw gold coins at them, sooner or later he would encounter a problem.

’Resource efficiency...’

Give the same skill to two people. One might learn it in a day, while another might need a month. Give the same potion to two people. One might use it to achieve a breakthrough, while the other might drink it and gain nothing more than a slight increase in mana.

And the System had already proven multiple times that the return multiplier was not determined solely by the target’s potential. It was also affected by whether the investment actually solved the target’s problem.

In other words, truly efficient investment was not about being expensive, but about being precise.

Victor watched for a while before suddenly speaking.

"Karl."

Karl, who had been familiarizing himself with the White Rock Bulwark nearby, immediately lowered his heavy shield.

"Young Master."

"Defend with everything you have."

A puzzled expression appeared on Karl’s face. "Now?"

"Mm."

Victor had already drawn Crimson Flame Fang.

The others, who had been training separately, immediately stopped and turned to look, interest appearing in their eyes.

On the other hand, Karl’s expression changed slightly. He had only received his Rare grade heavy shield yesterday, and today the Young Master wanted to personally test it?

But Karl did not retreat. Instead, he took a deep breath and planted the massive white shield, which covered nearly half his body, heavily in front of himself.

Boom!

Earth yellow mana spread upward from his feet.

[Rock Armor!]

A thick phantom of stone quickly covered his arms and shoulders. Afterward, the magical patterns on the surface of the White Rock Bulwark lit up.

The [Ground Conduction] effect activated.

Karl seemed to instantly become connected to the earth beneath his feet.

"Ready."

Victor didn’t use the [Heaven Burning Sword Art]. He did not even infuse his sword with fire elemental mana. He only gripped his sword, then charged forward.

FWOOOSH!

The instant his seventy seven points of Agility erupted, many of those present saw nothing more than an afterimage.

Karl’s pupils contracted sharply, his heart skipping a beat.

’So fast!’

He did not even have time to adjust the angle of his shield.

Clang!

Crimson Flame Fang smashed viciously into the center of the heavy shield. A dull metallic reverberation instantly spread across the training ground, and two thin cracks actually appeared on the obsidian beneath Karl’s feet, extending backward.

However, Karl himself only retreated half a step.

Victor nodded, impressed by Karl’s defense.

If Karl had been using his previous Fine grade shield, even if he could have blocked that strike, he would have been sent flying several meters backward. But now, the White Rock Bulwark directly conducted a considerable portion of the impact into the ground.

Combined with [Rock Armor], his frontal defensive ability had increased by at least thirty percent.

"Again."

Karl was just about to nod when Victor raised his sword once more.

This time around, flames appeared.

He didn’t use [Flame Line]. It was just the most ordinary fire elemental enchantment.

But the Epic grade Crimson Flame Fang itself provided an eighteen percent amplification to fire elemental skills, so in a sense, it wasn’t exactly ordinary.

Boom!

The second sword descended.

Karl was finally forced two steps backward, yet no obvious cracks appeared on the shield’s surface.

"That’s enough." Victor said as he sheathed his sword. At the same time, the System panel slowly appeared.

[Investment Target: Karl Rosen]

[Equipment Compatibility: 91%]

[Current Defensive Ability Increase: 34%]

[Investment Effect Evaluation: Excellent]

[Target’s Long Term Investment Value Increased]

Although there was no new multiplier return, Victor was even more satisfied now because this proved that the White Rock Bulwark had indeed been the right choice.

"Karl, Starting today, you won’t train offense." Victor said, "You only have B grade potential. If you try to develop in every direction, you’ll end up inferior to others in everything."

The surroundings instantly fell silent. If anyone else had said something like that, it would have been extremely hurtful. But Victor’s tone contained no mockery whatsoever.

"Your real value is your ability to take hits. So push that one thing to the absolute limit. Your Strength can be lacking. You can be slow. As long as, in the future, you can face enemies of the same level, or even enemies five or ten levels above you, and still stand at the very front without falling, that will be enough."

Karl’s grip around his shield handle slowly tightened, an intense fire burning in his eyes. A moment later, he nodded.

"Understood."

[Karl Rosen’s Growth Path Has Undergone a Minor Adjustment]

[Recommended Direction: Heavy Defense]

Even the System approved. And this was exactly what Victor intended to do today.

He wanted to redefine everyone’s growth path.

There were thirteen of them, and it was impossible to train all thirteen in the same way. Bruno was a pure burst damage berserker. Karl would pursue absolute defense. Evelyn’s purpose was not frontal combat, but mobility, assassination, and pursuit. Leah was clearly suited to a ranged control and high burst magic route.

As for Noah, Victor’s gaze landed on the nearby boy.

He was still practicing his swordsmanship.

Ever since earlier, for a full seven minutes, he had repeated the same movement.

Thrust, withdraw, thrust again.

There was no mana or use of speed. He was simply correcting his angle over and over again. It was a very boring, tiresome training method.

"Noah."

The iron sword abruptly stopped mid air as Noah turned to Victor.

"Young Master."

"Come here."

Noah quickly walked over.

Victor put his main sword away, then casually took an ordinary longsword from the training ground’s weapon rack.

"Attack me," he said, looking at Noah. "Use your swordsmanship at full strength."