Elite Mages’ Academy (Web Novel)
chapter-25

Chapter 25: Cheng Ming’s Talent

After the woman left, the tense atmosphere throughout the entire venue dissipated with her. The other students gathered around again and chatted with Xiao Lin.

“Hey, dude! You’re so lucky to have convinced that tyrannosaurus of a woman to let you do anything. I almost thought she was gonna kick you into the ceiling!”

“Why did she give only you the healing potion!” protested the unlucky person who she kicked. He was still unhappy at the cost of treatment which he had paid for no reason.

“What would’ve happened when your weapons clashed and she didn’t increase her strength?” Unfortunately, that question could never be answered. Even if Xiao Lin and the woman were to attempt it again, it was impossible for him to succeed; she would have been prepared for it.

There were mixed feelings and perplexed looks on the faces of the acting class monitors, though the bulk of their feelings was truly jealousy. Indeed, there were looks of envy in the eyes of the talented students and the acting class monitors.

“Xiao Lin, the tutor’s going to remember you!” Just like before, Cheng Ming was the one who took the initiative to speak to Xiao Lin. Although Cheng Ming was the only one who could exert 70 percent of his strength, the woman did not notice him at all. Throughout the entire time, the only student that caught her attention was Xiao Lin.

In their first Swordsmanship class, the woman laid down the ground rules almost immediately. The smoking hot woman with a temperament almost as violent as Tyrannosaurus rex’s left many without a favorable impression of her. Despite that, there were a few who did not think that way and were actually jealous to see a woman exuding such sheer strength. The acting monitors were especially aware that they—as freshmen—had struck gold to get a tutor like that.

“Haha, good job! You didn’t bring shame to us class monitors! I’ll have to work harder next time.” Cheng Ming was a good sport. Despite being a little jealous of Xiao Lin for catching the powerful tutor’s attention, he still had a smile on his face and moved past it.

The acting squad leaders had clearly formed a small inner circle, but Cheng Ming was the only one who treated Xiao Lin as one of their own. The others did not think that Xiao Lin would continue to be class monitor after three months, so they could not be bothered to actually talk to him.

“It’s just a stroke of luck!” The ponytailed girl retained her petulant attitude.

“It’s odd though. The tutor had controlled her strength without a problem when we went up against her. How could she suddenly miscalculate when it was Xiao Lin’s turn?”

“Must’ve been an accident. That’s why she felt guilty and gave him such a precious potion.”

Before, everyone else had been rather far away and did not manage to hear Xiao Lin and the tutor’s dialog. They had no idea about the skill and could only make haphazard guesses.

Xiao Lin was happy to let them fill in the blanks and did not seem interested in explaining anything at all. He felt comfortable with Cheng Ming and had no interest in getting to know the other acting monitors. With Basic Meditation and Basic Swordsmanship starting at the same time, he was not about to waste any more time there. After saying goodbye to Cheng Ming, he hurriedly left the swordsmanship training hall.

The few acting monitors exchanged looks with each other and continued the discussion.

“It looks like he really intends to cultivate both magic and martial arts.”

“I can understand. His basic attribute values are so bad that dual cultivation should be able to make up for his deficiencies.”

“But didn’t the year leader say that the advantages of dual cultivation would only have a slight effect on freshmen? And that the basics will turn to crap after that? It’s not difficult to understand that reasoning, and I don’t think Xiao Lin is that stupid.” Cheng Ming seemed worried. “Maybe I’ll talk to him about it later in the evening. After all, he is one of us.”

The ponytail girl snorted coldly. “Stop being such a boy scout. None of us treat him as equals. Plus, we might be in a group now, but don’t ever forget: we’re still competitors!”

In that completely unfamiliar environment, the talented students-slash-acting class monitors naturally formed their own clique, of which Xiao Lin was the only one excluded.

“Don’t be like that,” Cheng Ming answered helplessly.

“Alright, let’s stop talking about Xiao Lin. We should focus on how to utilize a hundred percent of our strength value! Cheng Ming, you’re the only one among us who managed to 70 percent of your strength value. How did you do it?”

“Because of my talent.” Cheng Ming smiled triumphantly. “My talent is called Swordheart. When I hold any sword-like weapon, all sword skills I’ve mastered will be raised by one level.”

Cheng Ming had the tendency to talk a lot, so he began rambling on and on at once. “You guys wouldn’t believe it. I got a saber at random during the admissions test, and to sum things up, no one wanted to exchange a sword with me. Man, it was depressing. Last night, I went from room to room, begging for a sword, and finally I found someone who was willing to exchange weapons with me!”

The rest were all speechless. They were baffled that Cheng Ming treated them as his friends and revealed his talent so easily.

As the ponytail girl said before, they were still competitors, even in a group. Everyone’s instinct was to conceal their talents and skills. The instructors could see their talent levels, but were restricted from viewing the specifics. That was also the scope of the class monitor’s authority, demonstrating how Dawn Academy valued the confidentiality of one’s talents.

The ponytail girl interrupted Cheng Ming unceremoniously. “Do you know any other skills besides Basic Weapon Mastery?”

The rest could not help but roll their eyes at the ponytail girl. Although it was quite clear that Cheng Ming was straightforward, it was rather uncouth to be so direct and ask for his personal information.

Cheng Ming answered earnestly, “Of course not! We just enrolled. How could anyone master any other skills aside from having their talent. Besides, even with talents, a great majority of them must be passive skills, right? ”

No one answered the last question, but everyone’s eyes lit up unwittingly, including the ordinary students who were quietly eavesdropping. All of a sudden, they all had a sudden realization.

Their basic strength values did not differ too much, even when factoring in the talented students. However, his reliance on Swordheart would raise his basic swordsmanship to LV2. None of them were fools and they immediately understood the real purpose of Basic Weapon Mastery.

The surrounding crowd then dispersed. After getting the solution to the problem, they all knew what they had to do next. The only aspect that worried everyone was that the training swords had been destroyed; they were instructed to use real swords to train.

Luckily for them, the admissions test allowed everyone to understand how best to upgrade their Basic Weapon Mastery. There was no need for actual one-on-one combat drills, so everyone in the hall found a nice spot and began swinging their swords in the air.

No kidding. Swords had no mind of their own and no one could guarantee that they would be free from injury if they practiced actual one-on-one sword drills. After all, they had just enrolled in the academy. Even those who actually received good grades in the test had a dearth of redemption points. No one wanted to meaninglessly waste those points.