016 Help-Study Association

With his powerful charisma, Li Aoz's words pierced Vik's heart like an awl.

Compared to the aggressiveness in Li Aoz's words, Vik was more afraid of Li Aoz's burly physique and fierce aura.

Leaving aside his past life, in this life, Li Aoz fought his way out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the Azure Planet. He casually made a few fist gestures, and the wind pressure he generated seemed to be mixed with murderous aura.

"So you want me to throw you off the flying carpet, drop you 70 meters from the sky, crash onto the ground without any magical protective netting, and then watch your intestines and brains turn into a lump of mud, only to be eaten, digested, and excreted by a passing stray dog, becoming filthy filth—since you think everything is meaningless, you can accept it even like this, right?"

Li Aoz spoke casually. Vik immediately lost his composure:

"I didn't say that..."

"Shut up if you don't have anything to say, you brain-dead idiot, a person with no loyalty, you won't be welcome anywhere. If you keep babbling, go home and sponge off your parents! You snakeskin!"

Li Aoz was being very tactful and conservative. Considering the other party's young age, it was best to avoid offending family members, and he didn't even bother to insult Vik's ancestors.

After being soothed by him, Vik didn't dare to argue anymore and shrank into a corner by himself. But Li Aoz could still hear him cursing behind his back. "A bunch of suckers, just wait, you'll all be squeezed dry one by one."

Li Aoz didn't know where this person's malice came from, and didn't pay much attention to it.

The atmosphere returned to calm. Due to Li Aoz's performance, he had gained a lot of attention among the candidates. In addition, his unique appearance and temperament made him very charming, and everyone was willing to surround Li Aoz.

As the saying goes, those who follow the right path will find many supporters, while those who stray from it will find few. Among these students, there's no guarantee that one of them will become your future classmate, so maintaining a good relationship is definitely worthwhile.

For these Tanas Race people, who have been immersed in full-time study for a long time, they are innocent and ignorant of the social interactions of the adult world.

In fact, Li Aoz wasn't good at speaking or socializing, but his [Charm] was just too high. After chatting for a while, a female examinee named Mitty · Leah suddenly suggested, "I have an idea—since everyone is going to Oran City for the exam, why don't we form a study group, get together, and help each other out?"

The Crystal Tower exam is quite interesting. Because the number of questions is extremely large each time (3,500 objective questions, 600 subjective questions, 12 experimental questions, plus a 10,000-word essay), and there are too many candidates, the Ministry of Education decided to divide the exam into five days, with a maximum of 12 hours per day. Candidates can decide the number of questions they take each day—after all, the questions are randomly generated by the magical spirits, so there is no concern that candidates will leak the questions or cheat.

The exam lasts for five days. The written test contains a large number of questions. In addition, the daily commute between the exam venue and accommodation, as well as the food and daily life during this period, makes it very difficult to find someone to take care of you in such a high-pressure environment.

If we stick together for warmth, it might not be a bad choice.

Kadfi's eyes lit up. "Great! We're all acquaintances now, so looking after each other will reduce a lot of inconvenience."

"I've been to Oran City twice, so I know which hotels are suitable there."

"But with so many people, it's easy for things to get chaotic, right? And it's not really appropriate for all the men and women to live in a shared dormitory..."

"I have no objection. But how should the funding be covered? We need to rent flying carpets to and from the exam site, book hotels, and provide meal delivery—all of these will cost money."

Although the intention was good, it still encountered a lot of skepticism in its implementation.

However, Kadfi and Mitty were not in a hurry. As the two main proponents of this plan, they both turned their attention to Li Aoz.

Li Aoz wasn't interested at first, but suddenly, a thought struck him: the Spellcasters of the Tanas Race had a very interesting feat that could be farmed.

[Moreover, that specialization, like [Perpetual · Love Hunter], is a growth-type 'perpetual' specialization.]

Given my current situation, whatever knowledge the split learns, the main body will also master; whatever expertise the split acquires, the main body will also benefit from.

Although advancing his main body to the Gamma-rank is a long way off, that doesn't mean he can't boost his main body's combat power.

If the main body can obtain that perpetual feat... Li Aoz could simply complete the [Astral Echoer] job change quest first, and use the job change optimization effect to forcibly upgrade himself to Gamma.

--No.

That's not all.

The improvement in intelligence allowed Li Aoz to clearly recall those details that had once been submerged in the sea of information.

He remembered: During the [Echo] mission, there was a chance to obtain a [Stratum Advancement Ticket] - which forcibly advances one rank regardless of conditions and level restrictions.

In other words, if he acquires that specialty, he will essentially be on track to reach the Delta-rank.

Specializations, knowledge, Aoneng, equipment—all these can be supplemented by splitting them up.

Holy crap... How could I not have thought of such a simple and obvious principle before? How stupid was I?

Logically speaking, his 8.4 points of Intelligence should be enough to graduate with a bachelor's degree, but there are some key things and memories that he just can't remember.

The [Intelligence] attribute is so damn convenient! If I didn't have to face social enemies, I would really like to stack my [Intelligence] to several hundred points. It's so awesome! My brain is constantly providing all kinds of information. It's great, it's great...

The most powerful effect of the Perpetual series of feats is that one feat can serve as two, and they generally have strong growth potential. Moreover, once the Perpetual effect is triggered, it can be directly converted into combat power.

Take his [Perpetual · Love Hunter] feat as an example. This is one of the feats that best suits [Mutant] on Azure Planet. It not only increases the growth value of the Primary Attribute by 1 point, but also increases the benefit by 30%, allowing his attributes to expand instantly and overcome difficulties. Moreover, the more advanced the game goes, the more the value expands.

Most perpetual feats are useful to Li Aoz, since the paths of [Starcaller] are quite similar to those of [Mage], [Architect], and [Biochemist].

[This [Intelligence] attribute was definitely worth the investment. I feel like I can recall even more details now; they're like inspiration, sometimes bursting forth unexpectedly.]

Li Aoz rubbed his forehead, carefully recalling the steps to acquire that Perpetual Specialty.

The challenge of this specialty is triggered in the form of tasks.

His exceptional intelligence allowed him to think easily and quickly formulate his sales pitch.

"That's a good idea," Li Aoz said. "I think it's a good concept. But with so many of us, 27 people already—wouldn't it be better to give our mutual aid organization a name?"

"Then let's call it Reading Club?"

"They're everywhere, who can tell them apart? Let's just call it the 'Going Ashore Club,' wishing that we can definitely go ashore."

"Fun fact: People tend to want to fill in what's missing in their name..."

"Then let's call it the Unity Society! We are all aiming to join the army, united as one, and utterly loyal and sincere!"

"It sounds like a gangster story—by the way, since it was Li Aoz suggested it, you can decide on a name yourself."

"I?"

Li Aoz fell into deep thought.

"Yes, your taste should be pretty good, right?"

He reviewed the various skill names he had created so far.

"Phoenix Bomb," "Heavenly Inspiration," "Demon Cry Slash," "Morphedria's Sever-Sky Sword"... the chuunibyou (delusional) vibe is overwhelming.

"Help-Study Association," Li Aoz replied immediately.