L.E. Miranda
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SSR - Book 2 Chapter 39: Tipping Point
🕑 Added 2025-04-26 01:49:25 +0000 UTCOn the last weekday of the first week of classes.
Rylan walked through the hallways, going in the direction of Damian’s mage tower. As usual, both the Academy’s interior and exterior were breathtaking, especially with the sunset as a backdrop.
“Do you think he’s going to make us hunt monsters? Like, soon?” Jasmine said nervously to his left. She was frowning.
“Of course,” Hayden replied to his right, shaking his head. “We need to keep Leveling up. It’s the fastest way to become stronger, and the best one too.”
“But isn’t the point of the first few months to help us get good Passive Skills and learn more spells before we get to real fights? Even Battle Fundamentals considers real monster hunts as assignments and not routine.”
Hayden glanced at her with some disappointment hidden deep within his eyes.
“I don’t think any of us three lacks adequate Passive Skills. Rylan doesn’t know many spells, but he would have no problem fighting any monster. Besides, I’m sure Master knows how we can develop best. My guess is that we’ll fight very soon.”
Jasmine gulped nervously. Rylan looked at her.
As I thought, she hasn’t been in many real battles. Maybe none at all.
In the first day of class, he had guessed that the students from nobility likely had little real battle experience apart from the tournament, which had ensured their safety and recovery, even if they had suffered painful injuries. Jasmine seemed to be proving that assumption.
“You’ll be fine,” Rylan said. “It’s not like he’s going to let you die if things get dangerous. But you need to experience that danger in a way that’s as close to a real fight as possible. The tournament itself tried to get us to go through that already.”
Jasmine furrowed her brow, confused.
“They didn’t stop the fights even though some students suffered heavy injuries. That includes our fight,” Rylan continued to clarify his point. “That was because they wanted to get us at least a little bit used to the pain and wounds.”
Jasmine nodded with a frown, then sighed. She smiled.
“You know, you still owe me for that. How could you be so merciless to a pretty girl like me?”
There was a tinge of nervousness to her words, as if she were expecting him to react in a certain way. Rylan raised an eyebrow. Before he could reply, Hayden scoffed loudly, making Jasmine immediately look at him and frown.
“What the hell was that?” she asked in an accusatory tone. “Do you disagree?”
Hayden looked at her with a deadpan expression.
“You’re about as pretty as a third-degree burn.”
Jasmine narrowed her eyes as her gaze gained an edge.
“Well, you aren’t exactly a looker yourself.”
Hayden shrugged.
“Thank the gods you don’t find me handsome.”
“You!”
Rylan smiled as Jasmine lunged toward Hayden and grabbed his collar. The boy was grinning haughtily.
At least they’ve grown closer.
During the past week, the two of them had followed him into Damian’s study to receive advice and train alongside him, since they were now all Damian’s disciples. In truth, they could have likely picked a better time to do so, but they had insisted on going at the same time as him.
I guess they don’t want to get left behind. Or maybe they just want to learn everything I do.
The two things were connected, in a way. Nevertheless, that meant that the three of them spent more time together than with the other students. It had naturally resulted in them growing a bit closer. Rylan glanced at Hayden.
I’m sure he’s happy.
Because of his past life, he understood well what it was like to be ostracized because of one’s more humble origins. Hayden’s performance in the tournament had been enough to inspire both awe and admiration and other, more negative emotions. The boy had likely been worried that he wouldn’t be able to make many friends once class started, but that turned out not to be true, after all.
Shaking his head with a smile, Rylan continued on his way, alongside the other two. They quickly reached Damian’s mage tower and ascended the winding, shifting staircases as books flew above and around them. Walls parted to reveal tunnels, and some flights of stairs led down instead of up. In the end, they arrived in front of the same doors as usual. They opened as Rylan stepped closer to them. Inside the study, the ivory-haired old man smiled at them.
“Welcome,” Damian said. “Let’s continue where we left off.”
In front of his desk were now three plush chairs instead of one. Hayden and Jasmine sat on the ones on the sides, leaving the middle one for Rylan. He sat down.
“Now,” Damian continued. “Any questions before we get started?”
It was how they usually began their training sessions. Damian answered any questions that might have arisen between sessions, and tailored the following training based on them.
Jasmine immediately raised her hand.
“Are we going to have to fight soon?” she asked.
Damian nodded calmly.
“Yes.”
She veritably deflated and looked at the floor. A moment later, she looked at Rylan.
“Can you…” her voice trailed off as she hesitated. Rylan grinned at her.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect both of you if it comes down to it,” he replied.
Damian snorted.
“You’re decades too early to say that in front of me, kid,” Damian said with a smile. “I’ll be there too.”
Rylan looked at Damian and nodded with a serious expression.
“Yeah, I can’t beat you yet. Soon, though.”
Damian raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes, but Hayden only laughed.
“If he says so, I’d say your days are counted, Master,” Hayden said as he stifled his laughter.
Damian looked at him.
“Why do you believe in Rylan more than in your own master?” he asked in a reproachful tone. “I swear, kids these days.”
After some more banter, the atmosphere settled down. Hayden and Jasmine asked questions related to the Passive Skills they already had and those they were trying to acquire. Naturally, Hayden was the one with the most questions, since he’d had no formal instruction before the Academy, and certainly nothing anywhere near what Jasmine had. Rylan himself only listened to their discussion attentively, learning everything he could.
After some time, Damian finally looked at him.
“As for you, we already know what to do,” Damian said.
Jasmine and Hayden glanced at Rylan at the same time, but he only nodded.
“Of course,” he replied.
His training differed from Jasmine’s or even Hayden’s. Because he lacked many fundamental Passive Skills and didn’t know many spells, Damian had decided to merely build on what the Academy already taught in the lectures, so as to offer Rylan a sturdier foundation. Once they succeeded, they could move on to more specific and more complex training. At the same time, they had chosen to keep pursuing dual casting.
“…Are you sure you’re right about this?” Hayden asked after a second.
Rylan and Damian nodded at the same time.
“Yes,” they answered in unison.
Hayden furrowed his brow and looked down, but Jasmine only sighed and shook her head. Rylan scratched the back of his head. On the second day of the week, Hayden and Jasmine had found out from Rylan’s conversations with Damian that he was severely lacking in terms of Skills.
He didn’t take it too well.
It was only obvious that Hayden would have felt worse in the face of that discovery. Who would want to admit that they were defeated by someone who should have never been able to beat them? The realization that, in the near future, Rylan would likely improve greatly had affected both Jasmine and Hayden.
Once his thoughts reached this point, Rylan threw one arm around Hayden’s shoulders as the other around Jasmine’s. The girl reacted as if she had been electrified, but leaned closer to him.
“We’re in this together,” Rylan said.
Damian smiled and stood up from his chair.
“Alright,” he stated, keeping his smile. “Let’s get started. Jasmine and Rylan, you’re with me. Hayden, same as yesterday.”
The trio nodded at the same time. Rylan stood up and followed Damian and Jasmine to the right half of the study, some distance away from the desk. Damian raised his hands, and symbols made of mana took shape above his palms.
“Ready?” he asked.
Jasmine nodded seriously, as did Rylan.
The training began. Tomorrow, they would keep at it.
***
The days passed by quickly and peacefully. Rylan absorbed knowledge as if he were starved for it, sinking his teeth into every bit of information regarding magic and spells. It wasn’t only because he simply wanted to get stronger – magic itself was novel to him, who had memories of spending almost a century on his swordsmanship. Every day, he managed to understand a bit more how mana and Aura were both similar and different.
During the morning classes, he sat next to Aelfric and close to Hayden, Luna, Jasmine, and her friends. After the period was over, they ate lunch together as a big group before heading to their afternoon lectures. After those were finished, Rylan would go to Damian with Jasmine and Hayden to receive further training.
He progressed faster than ever before in this life, at least when it came to magic. Under the instruction of a powerful Mage who had likely surpassed the Fifth Circle, he became able to find answers to almost every question he had about magic, to the point of coming up with the answers on his own once new questions arose.
Naturally, Rylan didn’t neglect his physical training. Every day, before the morning period started, he would meditate and train his body. After doing so, when his muscles were already tired, he honed his swordsmanship with Silver Twilight, even if only out of habit. Time added up. Every night, before he slept, he meditated again to gauge his condition.
On the tenth night since the beginning of classes.
Rylan sat cross-legged on his bed with his eyes closed. The only sound he could hear was Aelfric’s snoring. He analyzed his Mana Core and Circles carefully, reaching a single conclusion.
All I need is one last push.
He felt like a cup that was just about to overflow. His progress toward awakening Aura had reached a plateau at the tipping point. It was a feeling he recognized from Roland’s memories, though it seemed to be greater this time around. He only needed a trigger before his Aura could manifest itself.
Rylan frowned and opened his eyes.
I might be able to reach it through training alone, but it’s unlikely.
At the very least, he would need to increase the intensity of his training and push himself further. Over time, it could be enough. However, it was also possible for it not to be. Sometimes, Aura only awakened under the threat of death or danger. There was no way to tell how it would be for him, since he lacked either of Roland’s Traits, which had enhanced every aspect of his learning ability. Still, he would worry about that after some time passed.
For now, he would only train harder.
Comments
Some Guy
TFTC
Max
Checking every 3 h if new chapter is here 🫣😂 good story
