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Chapter 335 - The Daily Grind
🕑 Added 2025-06-13 18:37:26 +0000 UTCA/N: 2.8k chappy
Read the announcement at the end
ANNOUNCEMENT, YELLOW TIER:
Hi, hope y’all are doing fine! As anticipated, I’m still working on editing book 3. It’s always more work than I imagine, so I will be taking this Friday off to get more work done. Next chapter will be next Monday.
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Students filled the hallway of Caelum Tower. Complaints about the dull class and the stuck-up professor mixed with the background chatter.
Kai let his feet follow the stream toward his next class, though his mind remained a jumble of thoughts. An arm hung lazily over the bag slung across his shoulder, the notebook and pen balanced between his fingers.
…means I’ll have fewer skills at Green?
Delicate crystal arches intertwined above him in the vaulted ceiling. Was he already on the third floor? A hand pulled him aside as a group of second-years in rusty orange uniforms barreled through the packed hallway, shoving aside any first-year too slow to get out of their way.
Seniority privileges, my ass. They’re jerks.
Silently scoffing, Kai looked at the hand that had steered him clear, realizing Rain had spoken. “Uh, what?”
“You’re worrying too much,” Rain watched him with a wry smile that made it clear that wasn’t the first time he repeated the sentence.
“Sorry, I was thinking.”
That I need to redo my status. Maybe I’ve messed up some skills…
“You are doing fine.” Rain pulled him toward the right, where the hallway split. His amused expression shifted to one of apology. “Sorry I didn’t mention skills taking more slots at Green. It never occurred to me you wouldn’t know.”
“All good. I also never asked,” Kai said, shaking his head. The smidge of annoyance had already faded. From what little he knew of sirens, Rain must have grown up surrounded by Green grades or higher. If most other students also knew, it wasn’t surprising the topic never came up.
Besides, Green skills were a far-off issue compared to his skill paths. Had he fucked any of them? What about his profession? Professor Lysander had underlined their importance, saying they’d tackle them in future lectures.
Alright. One thing at a time. I never heard any adventurer in the Hall of Seekers or passersby mention this stuff. Flynn would’ve told me if he knew. Probably, most people in the Republic know nothing and live just fine. I wasn’t even the only student who looked surprised…
Breathing out to settle his jittery nerves, Kai stuffed his notebook into his bag. He’d seen a few patricians use spatial artifacts, but from the awed and envious looks they got, he’d rather avoid the attention.
I’ll figure this out.
He was on his way to his next course. Skill paths at Orange only seemed of relative importance compared to Yellow. The only issue might be that he’d already passed the first milestone of Mana Observer, but taking no specialization rarely created problems.
Focus on what I can do now.
“Uhm…” Kai turned to his personal encyclopedia on the arcane. “Do you know how it works exactly? Evolving skills to Green, I mean. How do you know how many skill slots you need? What if you don’t have any open?”
“I do know a bit.” Rain smiled and took the barrage of questions with admirable patience. “When you push a skill to the peak of Yellow, the Guide will tell you how many slots each evolution needs. Usually it’s between two and three. But it can go as low as one, or even above four,” he added, leading him up a ramp of stairs. “Most people who reach Green keep the new slots for that. Otherwise, the Guide can help you discard Yellow or lower skills to make space. Well…” He clenched his jaw with a faint scowl. “It’s not pleasant, but it’s better than doing it by yourself.”
Uh… he speaks of it as if he has experienced it personally… Wait! Does he have a skill at Green? That… Nope!
If his mind wasn’t already overflowing, Kai would have pondered the revelation for hours. Alas, space for thoughts was currently at a premium. He filed the tidbit away to focus on the current topic. “So, it’s possible they take a single slot? I just need to find the right evolutions?”
“Just that indeed.” Rain chuckled. “You’re the first person I’ve heard put it that way. It’s not that simple, though. From what my tutors said, having five skills that each take a single slot is already exceptionally lucky.” He glanced at the packs of students ahead. “I doubt the number’s much higher around here… no offense.”
Yep, it’s probably lower.
“None taken,” Kai said. “Still, hard doesn’t mean impossible.”
His slots were already limited. Based on the math, he would end up with fewer skills at Green than he had now—even with the increase from advancing in grade.
Rain looked amused at his stubbornness. “Perhaps it’s not impossible to get more one-slot evolutions, but you should ask if it’s desirable. Mana Sense is known to take two or more slots when you evolve it to Green. Even if you find a niche variant that takes one, it might twist the skill into something you don’t need.” He raised one shoulder in a shrug. “One skill that fits your path is often better than four random ones. And sometimes the evolution you want simply takes more slots.”
That’s… a good point. Kai begrudgingly nodded.
Between an evolution of Mana Observer that only let him perceive Water mana and one that improved his general elemental perception, he’d always choose the second, no matter how many skill slots it took. Same for the rest of his core skills. Selecting skills based solely on their slot requirements would turn his status into a patchwork of mismatched skills. For the skill slots to matter, the evolutions had to be, if not equally good, at least comparable.
There’s no point in having a higher-grade skill if it doesn’t do what I need.
Kai followed Rain toward the queue for what seemed like a magic elevator—for once, he wasn’t interested in analyzing the runes. “Thanks for the answers. I see what you mean…”
“Glad I could help.” Rain nodded before turning to speak with the other students in line.
A group of first-years had sauntered to the front. Kai didn’t see what his friend did, but the young patricians soon queued behind them, while he neared the opening metal doors, still mulling over his discoveries.
A dozen students emptied the elevator before more could enter. Rain tugged him to get on the round stone platform with a giddy smile. “Fifth floor for us, please.”
The attendant politely dipped his head in acknowledgment, took everyone’s instructions, and then shut the metal doors to operate the arrays.
Several enchantments lit beneath their feet. Rain craned his neck to admire the glowing runework decorating the cabin, stretching up to the brass ceiling of the lift. His eyes widened as the platform began to smoothly ascend.
It must be his first time. Not much point for an elevator underwater. Huh… Is it Gravity mana? Nope, don’t get distracted!
“How many skills do people have at Green?” Kai asked.
“Mmm… it depends.” Rain casually rested his ear against the wall of the compartment, unfazed by the glances he received. “Probably somewhere between twelve and eighteen. It’s not so bad. Where would you find the time to train twenty-eight general skills? Your lifespan increases with each grade, but your skills also become much harder to train. And that’s not even counting your professions.”
“You do have a point…” Kai ran a hand through his hair in thought. He already struggled to juggle all his affinities with Alchemy and Enchanting. A few skills had inevitably fallen to the wayside, on top of those he planned to discard.
Green’s still far off…
Even his highest skill, Hallowed Intuition, would likely need over a year to reach level 100—depending on how much trouble looked for him along the way.
“I’ll have to plan all my skill paths…” He flipped through his notes as they exited the elevator into a quiet atrium. Wide glass windows illuminated the dusky turquoise flooring and offered a view of the snowy fields below.
“You don’t need to worry so much,” Rain said. “Having the right combination of skills and specializations helps unlock specific evolutions, but your experiences and achievements still matter more than any planned path. You’ll do well regardless.”
Kai looked up from his notes, noticing the sincerity in Rain’s amber gaze, a flicker of warmth creeping into his cheeks. “Uh… thanks.”
The siren was certainly kinder than him, but rarely gave out empty compliments.
Anyways…
Kai flipped through the pages of his notebook, adding the new information. From Professor Lysander’s examples, there were optimal and mediocre paths, but few that entirely closed off his options. Careful planning increased the chances of a desirable evolution, but Rain confirmed he could obtain the same results by winging it—it was just much harder.
Boring rules don’t apply if you're good enough.
He’d wanted to plan his status once he had a better grasp of things, but knowing there was always another way helped soothe his nerves. If he could get by making it up as he went, then surely he could do even better if he put in the effort.
“Do you have a plan for your skills?” Kai glanced at his companion.
“I… yes. I have one.” Rain scratched his head, looking away. “My skill and profession paths are like a family heirloom. It’s not something I can share without causing bigger problems.”
“That’s alright. Everyone has their private stuff.”
“I can still offer advice if you need it,” Rain quickly added. “I never asked you because I didn’t want to pry. You need to know someone’s status and their goals to give meaningful advice. Not that you need to tell me anything.”
“You’re good.” Kai gave him a friendly bump on the shoulder. “You’ve already helped me more than I can ever repay. You’re quite the teacher.”
“That—well, thanks.” Rain chewed his lip with a rare hint of embarrassment. “I didn’t tell you much. Just…”
“Shared what’s common knowledge for you?” Kai chuckled. “There’s a lot of stuff I’ve never heard about. So, thanks for answering my questions. Not just today. And let me know if I can help you with anything. You’re gonna make me feel bad, always taking advantage of you without giving back.”
“You’re not taking advantage of me if I’m okay with it.” Rain smirked, bumping his shoulder back. “You and Flynn have also taught me a lot since I… landed here.”
“Really? I did?” Kai arched an eyebrow. Thinking back, he might have answered some basic stuff about how towns and humans worked, general information about wildlife—nothing important.
“Well, for you, maybe it was common knowledge,” Rain said smugly. “Still, stuff I’d never heard about.”
Yeah, gotcha…
He was pretty sure he had asked way more questions. And how could he compare arcane magic to human trivia? One was definitely harder to learn about.
Well… as long as he’s happy.
Kai flipped through his notes again. “If you really don’t mind, I’ve got a few more questions…” He could use a second opinion to compare with Raelion’s lectures.
“Go ahead.” Rain laughed. “I expected nothing less.”
Chatting among themselves, they arrived at their next class with a few minutes to spare, settling into the middle rows. The Astral Hall was smaller than Beryl Hall—holding only a few hundred students instead of a thousand.
The professor of History of the Seven Great Houses was already seated behind a massive enchanted desk, absorbed in a black leather-bound tome, its pages yellowed with age and the spine marked by mold. In contrast to Professor Lysander’s timeless appearance, she looked positively ancient. Her face was a mask of wrinkles and sunken features, with a hooked nose and thin white hair falling messily onto her shoulders.
Alright, she looks like the witch from a storybook. Is that rude to say if she actually practices magic?
At the chime of the hour, she closed her tome with a sharp clap and began her lecture. No long-winded speeches, no addressing the new students, and not even a snide comment. She just launched into a passionate discussion about the Seven Houses and their contribution throughout the history of the Republic, her voice surprisingly sprightly.
Oh, damn.
Kai quickly opened a clean page to take notes, deciding to write down everything and make sense of her rambling later.
Compared to Lysander’s slow drawl, her approach was much more lively—and perhaps a bit too passionate. She jumped from one topic to the next, veering into tangents that seemed only loosely related, as if everyone in the room already knew the subject matter. Halfway through the lesson, she remembered the crystal cube at her desk. With a flick of her hand, she projected her words onto the wall, using the artifact as an excuse to speak even faster.
I’ll have to buy more notebooks.
It wasn’t since he had studied herbology under Dora as a child that his head felt so overstuffed with information. Luckily, the lecture only lasted an hour before he split off from Rain to head to his next class. And then, the one after that.
Some professors offered greetings and introductions, some didn’t. Most were at least decent at lecturing—probably thanks to a skill—though few had any warmth to them. They all dove into the course material with the urgency of a teacher who’d reached May and had only covered half the syllabus.
Thanks for reminding me why I didn’t miss school. It’s the first fucking day. Is this why people say Winter Intake sucks?
By the end of the morning, his writing hand painfully throbbed. He spent half his lunch break looking for the restaurant passing as a cafeteria, before hurrying toward the Terra Tower for his next lesson.
It was clear that most classes assumed a fair amount of prior knowledge. Many students already seemed familiar with the subjects, while he barely kept pace with the lectures.
Maybe I should have waited for the next year…
Apparently, when many people gave him the same advice, they had good reasons. Not that he was going to give up now. He just had a little catch-up to do.
It really feels like going back in time.
Getting his uniform offered some respite—despite the seamstress accidentally poking him with a needle as she adjusted the measurements. He could barely follow her hands as she tailored the clothes in minutes, while he tried on different pairs of shoes and boots.
The burgundy fabric with golden lining looked fine in the mirror. A bit tacky for his taste, but considering the amount of gold and silver around Raelion, it was surprisingly sober and comfortable to move around.
“The remaining two pairs will be delivered to your dorm when they’re ready,” the woman said. “We can make more adjustments, but you’ll have to wait till we finish the first orders. If you destroy or want more spares, you’ll have to buy them.”
She paused, flipping through a ledger. “I see you also have a familiar? A… cat?”
“Yes?” Kai stopped in his tracks.
“All familiars on school grounds must wear a collar to avoid accidents. It’s academy policy.”
Great. Who’s gonna convince that grumpy cat?
“I see…” He checked his pocket watch and straightened his new clothes; he couldn’t complain about the fit or the quality. “Can I come back later? I really need to get to my next lesson.”
“Always in a hurry.” The seamstress waved him off. “Just make sure to come back before you attend the lessons on familiar bonds. I won’t cover for you if Professor Gardelle comes asking.”
I… did I have that course too?
He’d have to check the schedule later.
Running out of the Aula Ordinis toward another tower, he was drenched in sweat despite the winter temperature by the time he found the hall for General Elemental Spell Practice.
The enchantments on his uniform were proving their worth, concealing the evidence of the rush. He slowed his pace to hide his labored breathing before entering the heavy doors.
The hall was on the smaller side, about two or three hundred seats. Students had already filled most of the rows, and the atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed.
Kai remembered that Elemental Practice was one of the few courses where all the first-years mixed together. He had been looking forward to this one, hoping for less scribbling and more spell-casting, as the name suggested.
He was scanning the room for a seat when his eyes landed on a familiar face. A second later, Valela noticed and waved him to one of the front rows—an open spot beside her.
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A/N: Expect some time skips after a few more chapters, once we see the schedule. Every day won't always be exciting. Hope you enjoyed Kai scrambling around :)
I'll be taking next week off as I get my last wisdom tooth removed. Not looking forward to it, but I'm glad it's the last. Gonna use the time to edit book 3 while on pain killer, wish me luck!
I tried to get ahead on writing to make more space for editing, but when I have more time, I just end up spending 25 hours on a chapter. So I'm a little tight on the deadline XD
Hope y'all have a great weekend. The next chapter will be back on Monday 23*
Comments
Brianna Stormcloud
Hope all goes well with the last tooth removal. THTC.
Gabriel Medeiros
Re-reading the chapter and its clear the expectation is being set for mature greens to top out at roughly 18 skills out of 28 slots . Kai may beat those odds being the MC. But I'm having a tough time imagining Kai with only 18 skills. What doesnt make the cut? Treasure sense and hunting are the easy ones. Alchemy hasnt been featured much but it has synergies with class skills, so I don't see that dropping. The enchanting-related skills were one of Kai's big wins in book 3 and one of his few acts of agency. So that leaves what? Shadow magic on the chopping block?
Gabriel Medeiros
It was never explicitly stated....I always viewed it quite literally... it helps with enchanting .. if runes are the words then enchanting perhaps is a writing ability. How to best combine the runes in a specific ways to achieve the desired effect. Probably a good overlap with the rune skill itself, but distinct in its own way.
Fleisch
Does anyone have an idea what Kai’s Arcane Enchanting skill is? Because he has a skill for Rune Knowledge already so it feels redundant to have two. Thoughts?
wanderer117
Off the top of my head Nature Plants Water Ice Earth Dirt Stone Lightning Darkness Space Fire The broader the affinity the more things it can do for X mana motes. A narrower affinity can do a thing within it's affinity for less than X mana motes but usually can also handle a task that is part of the broader affinity for more than X mana motes. Skills, attributes, equipment and blessings all factor in too, like Kia has a skill that lets him use his Water affinity as Ice affinity.
Stephen Pearson
Thanks for the chapter! :-)
Gabriel Medeiros
looks like Drew is curbing the status sheet bloat. I'm hoping Kai beats the odds and doesnt decrease his number of skills.
Kris Piskorski
Looking forward to the time skips
Fleisch
Does someone have a list of all affinities we have seen? I was looking at past posts and saw that someone had an affinity for plants. What is the difference between plant affinity and nature affinity?
Snooze Bear
Nooo. Don’t leave us hanging for a week without getting that awesome next chapter with Valela! Should be an option to buy another tier to skip your break! Winkwink*
Sam
Kai needs to get Hobbes a collar that's a spacial ring. He can store fish in it and give anyone that notices an aneurysm.
Matty
Hobbes should get a little uniform ha
Some Guy
TFTC
Austin
Thanks for the chapter!
