Chapter 38: Leah’s Predicament

Upon hearing Victor, Noah’s entire demeanor noticeably changed.

Although he was only Level 15, and although his true hidden talent, [Sword Heart], had yet to awaken, the moment he held a sword, his entire attention seemed to instantly converge upon the blade.

’Just one thrust,’ he thought in his heart, trying to calm his nerves.

Bang!

He dashed forward and thrust his sword directly toward Victor.

Shing!

Victor raised his sword to block simultaneously.

Clang!

The first strike was deflected, sparks flashing from their point of collision.

But unlike an ordinary student who would reset their stance after having an attack blocked, Noah rotated his wrist naturally the moment his blade was knocked aside. His second strike immediately transformed into a horizontal slash.

’Smooth!’ The smile on Victor’s face grew.

Despite Noah’s smooth transition, Victor blocked again and this time followed with a kick that sent Noah skidding back a few metres.

That kick had contained only 30 percent of Victor’s strength.

"Come at me again," Victor said while pointing his sword at Noah.

What followed was a sequence of strikes.

CLANG! CLANG!

The crisp ringing of colliding swords began continuously echoing across the training ground. The others gradually noticed the difference as well.

Noah was not particularly fast, and his strength was nowhere near Victor’s. But every single attack flowed seamlessly into the next, as though he did not need to think at all.

Evelyn watched with her arms crossed for a while, the playful look on her face gradually disappearing, her expression showing genuine shock.

"Was this guy always this good with a sword?"

Karl shook his head. "I never noticed him either."

Who would have paid attention to Noah before?

He was Level 14, had problems with his mana cultivation, and barely spoke. Even after following Victor, he had always stood at the very back of the group.

But now, after finally receiving resources suited to him and being singled out for individual attention, things that had previously remained hidden were beginning to emerge.

Clang!

After the seventeenth collision, Victor suddenly accelerated. His longsword pressed down from the side, and Noah instinctively pulled his sword backward.

But at that exact moment, Victor stepped half a pace forward. His blade stopped directly in front of Noah’s throat.

"I lost," Noah sighed with a solemn expression.

"Of course." Victor withdrew his sword. "You’re Level 15. I’m Level 21. The difference in our attributes is too large."

Instead of relaxing after hearing this, Noah lowered his head and began mentally reviewing every collision they had just exchanged.

"By the ninth strike, I had actually already lost my rhythm."

Victor’s eyes flashed. "You knew?"

"Mm."

"You simply didn’t press the advantage immediately afterward." Noah raised his head. "If this had been a real battle, I would have lost before the tenth strike."

’This kid...’

Victor finally understood why [Sword Heart] could reach S grade.

After losing, most people only knew that they had lost. Noah, instead, reviewed the battle to determine exactly which strike had caused everything to go wrong, which was not something a skill book could directly teach.

"The Advanced Swordsmanship Training Room," Victor asked. "Did you go there yesterday?"

"I did, though it was for just two hours."

"How did it feel?"

"It was too fast," Noah answered directly. "I could only understand about thirty percent of the movements used by the advanced swordsmanship puppets."

"Then go for four hours today and six tomorrow."

"Alright." Noah did not complain.

"Also." Victor suddenly tossed the training sword in his hand toward him.

Noah instinctively caught it, his reflexes surprisingly fast.

"Starting today, don’t practice any elemental sword arts."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Your advantage isn’t elemental power," Victor replied. "It’s the sword itself. First raise your Basic Swordsmanship to Advanced. Once you reach Advanced, then you can touch other things."

This corresponded precisely with the first awakening condition of [Sword Heart], Advanced Swordsmanship proficiency.

As for the Star Vein Potion and the advanced training room, they were merely tools to help Noah truly reach that point.

[Detected: Host Has Actively Guided the Growth Path of an S Grade Investment Target]

[Target’s Growth Direction Is Highly Compatible With Hidden Talent]

[Long Term Investment Efficiency Increased]

"Young Master."

Leah’s voice suddenly came from the other side.

Victor turned around.

The girl had already risen from the mana gathering formation. The unattributed mana crystals had completely lost their glow, but Leah’s expression was not good.

"My conversion efficiency dropped."

"To what?"

"It was around eighteen percent at first. Now it’s only fifteen."

’System,’ Victor called out.

[Target Has Continuously Absorbed a Single Low Quality Energy Source]

[Astral Conversion Efficiency Has Temporarily Decreased]

[Cause: Insufficient Energy Purity and Accumulated Astral Core Conversion Burden]

[Recommendation: Replace With Higher Quality Energy Source or Cease Absorption for at Least Six Hours]

Previously, to rapidly increase her level, they had simply bombarded her with large quantities of ordinary mana crystals. It had indeed worked, but an SSS grade class was ultimately not an ordinary class.

After consuming too many low quality resources, efficiency would inevitably decline.

Leah looked at the pile of depleted mana crystals on the ground, her face filled with worry.

"I might not reach Level 17 before tonight at this pace."

There was still some time left before the assessment. Technically, there was enough time. But Victor did not want to merely scrape by.

"Stop using ordinary mana crystals," he said.

"Then what do I use?" asked Leah.

Victor opened the academy resource repository and went to the section where there were high purity elemental cores.

There were Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Wind cores. They had everything!

The prices were also far higher than those of ordinary mana crystals, but none of them were the optimal choice.

What Leah truly needed was Astral resources, which the academy did not have. At least, there were none in its publicly available inventory.

But during Leah’s awakening, they had just discovered a Star Marrow Crystal in the laboratory left behind by Leah’s mother.

If there was one, could there be more?

Victor suddenly looked at Leah.

"Were all the things your mother left behind stored in that underground laboratory?"

Leah thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Probably not."

"What do you mean?"

"She used to have a private storage locker."

"Where?" Victor’s eyes glinted with interest.

"The academy’s old research archive."

"Do you have the access rights?"

Leah shook her head helplessly. "They were frozen by the academy after she died."

Victor instinctively turned his head, his expression briefly freezing when he realized his convenient humanoid high level access card was not here today.

However, he quickly thought of someone else who could help.

...Vice Dean Albert.