Full Marks

In the City of Apprentices, Loderis, inside a classroom at Cuilan Academy marked with the sign "Current Course: Analysis of Potion-Making Materials," many apprentices sat in their chairs, waiting for the results of the course to be announced.

"I will now read out the grades for this course."

At the podium, a brown-haired teacher in robes, revealing only her arms and face, held a sheet of paper.

"Those who have passed this course are York, Asta..."

As each name was called, an apprentice would let out a sigh of relief, their tightly clenched hands gradually relaxing.

"That is the list of those who passed this course."

As soon as these words were spoken, many apprentices wore expressions of grief and regret, hating themselves for not studying hard enough to even pass the course.

"Rita, isn't this course supposed to be easy to pass? How did I fail!?"

"Relax, it's not a mandatory course; it won't affect your graduation."

Two apprentices whispered to each other below.

"Furthermore, I regret to say there is only one student who performed excellently in this course... Fran, please come down."

The apprentices didn't react much, as they hadn't heard this name often, merely whispering to their companions to ask who she was.

A girl with long black hair stood up and walked down to stand before Rita.

"Fran... full marks in theory, full marks in practical... You are the first person in the ten-plus years I have taught this course to get perfect scores in both. Can you tell me how you did it?"

Fran lowered her head modestly:

"I just happened to be tested on the parts I knew. If the exam had been slightly more obscure, I wouldn't have known the answers..."

In her heart, Fran knew very well that this was the result of her grinding for proficiency; it had taken her an entire week, working at it every single day.

"Being able to earn first place on your own is your ability," Rita smiled and continued.

"As a reward, I have decided to give you four credits, and also... the Harmonization Method."

With that, Rita handed a silver sheet of paper to Fran.

Fran was somewhat surprised. Every course awarded credits to students who excelled, but usually, if there were many students, everyone would get one credit.

Only when a teacher was extremely satisfied would they give three or more; a score of four, like the one she received, was not something teachers gave out lightly.

These credits were used to exchange for precious knowledge and were quite rare, often being bought up by others.

As for the Harmonization Method, it was exactly what she had been working so hard for; any student who excelled in this course would receive it.

Seemingly noticing her surprise, Rita continued with a smile:

"Once you have mastered the Harmonization Method, come find me, and I will recommend you for the Pharmacist Association."

"Thank you, Teacher Rita..."

"Return to your seat; I still have things to say."

Once Fran returned to her chair, Rita tapped the desk, signaling the whispering apprentices to quiet down.

"I will repeat the Academy Head's notice once more... Starting this year, all apprentices who cannot cast a spell by the end of the year must participate in mandatory military service. Remember, all of them... Very well, dismissed."

The apprentices left their seats, discussing as they walked.

"Military service? Is there a war somewhere?"

"Yes, I heard there's a civil war in Antir. The Academy Head must have sold us apprentices for a good price."

"God, why did this happen to our batch? I haven't even learned how to cast yet!"

"In previous years, out of ten apprentices, three couldn't cast spells. With this policy as a whip, there should be far fewer this year..."

Fran followed the crowd out of the classroom, turning down all social invitations to join this or that club; she had life-or-death work to do.

She was one of the apprentices who couldn't cast a spell. If Rita knew, she might deduct points from the credits she had just been awarded.

After all, going to the battlefield meant life and death were uncertain; they certainly wouldn't invest in her.

She had transmigrated here eight days ago. She hadn't inherited the original owner's spell proficiency, and she had to use the remaining three months to catch up on a year's worth of progress.

Fran recited the panel in her mind.

Name: Fran
Profession: None
Attributes: Constitution 0.8, Spirit 1.4
Skills:
Herb Identification (Mastery) (Proficiency: 1/10000): You can clearly identify herbs listed in the Basic Herb Compendium.
Herb Processing (Mastery) (Proficiency: 13/10000): Your technique for processing herbs is as if the Basic Herb Compendium had written your methods down itself.
Magic Missile (Uninitiated) (Proficiency: 0/10): You don't know how to cast this at all.

This was the golden finger that had come with her during her transmigration. Its current function was to display her status.

Furthermore, once she maxed out a skill's proficiency, it would unreasonably increase her level in that area, with no limit to how much it could be raised.

Truth be told, a panel that rewards effort and displays a proficiency bar at all times is truly reassuring.

Even though she currently lacked both money and professional skills, she felt confident she could pass the assessment and avoid that damned battlefield.

When apprentices first enrolled, Cuilan Academy required each one to choose a basic spell, and the original owner had selected Magic Missile.

According to her lingering memories, as long as the original owner put in the effort, she could basically master this spell before the end of the year.

Yet, upon arriving, she had been blindsided by the spell-learning mechanics of this world.

She had originally thought that with this panel, learning a spell would be a piece of cake.

However, learning Magic Missile required external aids; she couldn't master it entirely on her own.

It wasn't the kind of magic where you could just "hmm" and mobilize your mental power or "hmm" and manipulate the elements to learn it.

According to the instruction sheet she received, Magic Missile required something called a Magic Stone to assist in the learning process.

Since apprentices themselves lacked mana, they needed external mana to learn this spell.

Of course, once you mastered it, your body would naturally store mana, and you would no longer need a Magic Stone for assistance.

The Magic Stones the original owner had purchased with her monthly apprentice stipend were, by her calculations, insufficient for her to master this spell.

That was why she had spent over a week ignoring everything else, focusing solely on herbalism, only then managing to score perfect marks in both courses.

This was the closest course test she had; the next set of tests the original owner had signed up for were scheduled for a combined assessment two months later.

Fortunately, the panel's proficiency system was quite reliable, allowing her to directly acquire the Harmonization Method as a way to break the deadlock, along with an unexpected bonus—4 points.

"That damned Dean, why did he have to push this policy now of all times, right when I arrived, making me so busy?"

If not for this, she could have just waited for the monthly Magic Stone stipend and been done with it, without needing to deal with all this extra nonsense.