CHAPTER 43: ANGELICA’S GIFTS

The next day, which was a holiday, began with calm and comfort for Athar. He was in no rush and approached the day with a leisurely attitude.

The first thing he did was visit the academy’s exchange counter to trade the resources he had collected—those pitiful herbs for points.

He was awarded a meagre 25 points for his 25 stalks of herbs. This was equivalent to the points earned from five classes, and Athar was definitely not satisfied with it.

At the very least, during the days he had spent at the camp, he had not suffered any point loss. He earned 10 points per day, 2 classes per day, and had been awarded 50 points for the camp. 5 days’ worth of points. Obviously, he kept both the monster cores for himself.

The exchange counter was unusually crowded. Obviously, the students were eager to exchange their resources they had collected from the camp.

After exchanging his herbs, he had breakfast which was again a chaotic affair. The students from the first four batches were busy and were excitedly narrating their tales of their grand fights with the wild beasts.

Athar was returning to his dormitory when he unexpectedly met Angelica in the corridor.

"Good morning, Master," he greeted her respectfully.

She gave a nod.

"Are you free now?" she asked, though it sounded more like a statement. "Come with me."

Athar immediately followed behind her. Angelica led him toward the B Block of the academy.

The B Block, apart from the large training halls used for practical classes, also housed individual training facilities—but they had to be paid for with points.

Angelica walked through unobstructed, as no one asked her for points or anything else. Probably free for instructors, Athar thought.

He followed her to the top floor of the building, where she led him into a room.

The room was small and completely empty. Its floor and walls appeared to be made of some unfamiliar material that Athar definitely could not recognize.

The duo sat cross legged, facing each other.

"Athar," Angelica said in a soft voice. "Today will be the day I officially begin to teach you or guide you; whichever word suits you."

"Yes, Master," Athar replied.

"You are my first personal student, and probably the last, unless and until some other miracle happens," she continued, and Athar nodded in understanding.

"Since now you have become my personal disciple, I must give you something," she said, and two objects appeared in her hand out of nowhere.

The first was a parchment of paper, and the second was a ring. Athar’s heart beat frantically. A storage ring? Was she really going to give him a storage ring?

Seeing his reaction, Angelica let out a small, amused laugh.

"You know," she said, "out of the two, this parchment is more costly and valuable than the ring."

Hearing this, Athar’s breath hitched. The piece of parchment he had almost ignored was more valuable than a storage ring?

Angelica slid the parchment toward Athar, and though he raised his hand to pick it up, hesitation crossed his face.

"Is it really okay, Master?" he asked.

"Yes," Angelica nodded gently.

Athar let go of his hesitation as he picked up the parchment and unfolded it.

The writing on the parchment was completely different from anything Athar was used to. It felt strange to him. He could not quite explain it, but the parchment did not feel like parchment at all—it was hard to describe.

Even so, he was able to read it just fine. He discarded all distractions and focused on the content of the parchment.

And the more he read, the more shocked he became.

"Master..." he almost stammered, his voice filled with disbelief. "This..."

"A cultivation technique," Angelica replied. "The cultivation technique you are using now is worthless. Continuing to use it would only waste your talent."

Athar’s hands trembled in shock. What he had been using was the Yellow grade basic cultivation technique provided to him by the academy.

And what he now held in his hands was an Earth grade cultivation technique—the Mana Assimilation Technique.

While the grading system might sound similar to that of battle techniques, Yellow- Profound- Earth, high grade cultivation techniques were extremely rare compared to battle techniques.

This could be understood from the fact that Nawarin Academy had dozens of Profound grade battle techniques, but not a single cultivation technique. The one he had received was the sole technique that the academy possessed.

Even students who lacked for nothing in terms of battle techniques practiced the same cultivation method.

Now he understood why Angelica had said the parchment was worth more than a storage ring.

"Master, this is too pricey," he said, hesitation and conflict evident in his voice. Although he had expected resources from his master, this was too much.

"Yes," Angelica nodded. "And that is exactly why I am giving it to you."

"And it not something that I use all the time," she said. "After you completely master it, you can return it back."

There was certainty in her voice and eyes, and Athar gave a nod. This technique was going to help him a lot and thus he accepted it without any further hesitation.

"The storage ring," Angelica said as she slid it toward him.

Athar picked up the ring and looked at it, wondering how to use it.

"But you cannot use it for now," Angelica added.

A frown appeared on Athar’s face. He could not use it?

"Why, Master?" he asked.

"Tell me, Athar," Angelica did not answer directly but instead asked him a question. "Did you feel any difference between this parchment and the techniques you collected from the library?"

"Yes," Athar replied, still confused.

"It is hard to describe, but both these things are clearly very different."

"True," Angelica agreed.

"The reason you cannot use the storage ring yet, the reason this parchment felt different from those in the academy, and the reason no beast approached us when I led you into the forest—everything stems from the same cause."

"Mana sense," she announced.

It was a term Athar had never heard before and he looked at her in confusion.

"And this will be the first thing about which I will guiding you," she added. "Battle techniques and other forms of combat while important, mana sense is something which I believe is more important."

"Why I think so, you will understand the reason soon enough."

Athar nodded in agreement. Something new to learn.

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