Godspawn Ascendant [LitRPG, Epic Progression Fantasy]

The rest of my week was spent slaving away through my classes and the inane schoolwork that came along with it. I found myself wondering at least a dozen times why these teachers insisted on providing enough work to fill in any free time I might find after we already had to sit through their lectures for the majority of each day.

At least my massive workload kept me out of having to power through a tough conversation with Sarah. Except for the awkward glances during the one class we shared or the occasional times we saw one another in the mess hall or somewhere else in the school, neither one of us made any effort to approach the other.

I felt bad about not discussing the unfortunate incidents of our date with Sarah. My gut told me the right thing to do would be to talk to her and insist there were no hard feelings while, at the same time, there were no romantic feelings on my side of things. But the problem was… I really didn't want to have that conversation.

But I will do it, I chastised myself as I trudged back to my dormitory after a very long Friday.

Sarah had invited me out for a nice time and had paid for my dinner. And before the kissing incident, I'd considered her a friend. It felt a shame to let any friendship fizzle out completely.

I'm sure she'll understand. I'll find her on Sunday.

The fist of guilt clenching my gut eased once I'd planned to do the right thing… eventually. With a smile on my face, I unlocked my room and settled inside, readying myself for another late night of studying.

But first, I would do some cultivating.

After receiving a heaping mass of free stat points from advancing so quickly in that cavern, I'd made it a habit in the last week to cultivate some points once a day. I wanted my stats raised as much as possible before my next training with Nic and before my first shift as a member of Elite Group #1.

Falling into a meditation and igniting an image of my core within my mind came so easily to me now. Memories of Drayek trying to coach me through the process and how difficult it had been for me back then faded as if they had never happened. I remembered how frustrated meditating made me at first, but Drayek had been patient, and soon I'd figured it out. And now… it was effortless.

Within seconds after falling into a comfortable position on my bed, I'd already pulled up my stat sheet within my mind's eye. I looked at the current stat allocation, which had changed significantly over the last few days.

STATS

MIGHT: 54

AGILITY: 51

VITALITY: 66

INTELLIGENCE: 201

WISDOM: 197

WILLPOWER: 51

FREE STAT POINTS: 463

My next allocation went quickly, and I decided to stretch myself by allocating 80 points at once this time.

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STATS

MIGHT: 54 (+7)

AGILITY: 51 (+7)

VITALITY: 66 (+7)

INTELLIGENCE: 201 (+26)

WISDOM: 197 (+26)

WILLPOWER: 51 (+7)

FREE STAT POINTS: 383

My body trembled from the shock of the allocation, and I snapped out of my meditative state with a gasp. I gritted my teeth against the short-lived pain, then relaxed once it dissipated. I'd survived an allocation of 80 stat points at once! And it hadn't been bad at all.

Satisfied, I swung my legs over the bed and dropped my feet to the floor. I swayed to and fro for about two seconds, my body still recovering from the stretch I'd given my core to strengthen every part of me at once and in a large dose.

Once stable on my feet, I poured out my school supplies from my bag and onto the room's desk, and then I fell into the chair with a heavy, defeated sigh.

"Here we go again," I grumbled aloud as my eyes scanned over my assignments for the day.

I had to read three chapters in a massive book about herbs for my Non-Healer's Guide to Healing class, which I'd be lucky to get through with my eyes remaining open the entire time. And for my Study of Essence class, Nic had assigned us to write a 1,000-word essay on the most effective ways to remain aware of the essence in our surroundings and consciously draw streams in at all times.

I'd have to find clever ways to lie in my essay because I was the only student, as far as I knew, who could actually see essence. Nic knew this about me, but I had no way of knowing who else might see this paper. And Nic expected all of us to use the information we had learned from class–nothing about what I actually did to draw in essence applied to the lessons of his boring lectures.

I dropped my head down toward the Herbs of Healing book and thumbed through to page 297. Technically, I had the whole weekend to finish all of my work. Still, I wanted to get as much done as possible before my training session with Nic the next morning and before my first Elite Group #1 shift shortly after that. And I'd also promised Cinthara to join her on another cavern excursion on Sunday. My schedule was overbooked, so my best bet was to finish all of my schoolwork tonight.

At least my Mastering Group Combat class for the day had been fun. It hadn't ended with the professor assigning pointless work to complete before we met again on Monday. Professor Bilith had split our class up into new groups, which admittedly had put an involuntary smile on my face once I'd learned I wouldn't have to work awkwardly with Sarah.

The professor had taught our groups the best ways to tactically position ourselves based on each individual's strengths. This was something I'd learned while working as a Hunter with Drayek, like placing strong fighters that heavily relied on defense and could absorb much of the damage in a battle at the front. However, Professor Bilith also had some keen insights about how to utilize good communication when discussing positions–especially when it came to working with strangers. This included speaking quickly and efficiently about what your strengths and weaknesses were, coming up with short phrases to alert the entire team of a needed switch or if a spell was ready to cast… I found the class insightful and something I should remember for my first shift with Elite Group #1.

My stomach complained at me, loudly, as I continued to barrel forward with my work. The clock above me read 8:00 PM in its glowing, green numbers. The mess hall closed in an hour, so if I wanted to eat something, now was my chance.

I stared dejectedly at the tiny print covering the large pages of the Herbs of Healing book. And I mean large–each page boasted more than twice the length of my hand. I'd successfully read through the first two assigned chapters and most of the third chapter, but I still had my essay for The Study of Essence class to complete.

Quick dinner, I decided after another urgent rumbling erupted from my stomach, then back to work.

Just as I moved my stiff body–stiff from at least three hours of non-stop sitting–to stand, a loud buzzing vibrated the entire surface of the desk. I flinched from the sudden shock but then smiled.

"Eira?"

All thoughts of needing to eat flew out of my mind. I fished out the etherea egg from a corner at the back left of the desk–a corner hidden well underneath perfectly cast shadows with and without the room's light on. Now that I knew how to lock my dormitory, I felt more comfortable leaving Eira during the day than I had been before.

I palmed the smooth, cool disc that was the egg and brought it close to my chest. It continued to buzz in my hands, creating a warm and pleasant sensation on my skin.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

I held out the egg in both palms to get a better look at my pet. I nearly dropped the disc at the sight that met me. The swirling, cloud-like masses inside looked empty. Panicked, I turned the egg over and over again but could not find her. She was gone–Eira was gone!