The Reinforcement Pillar!

At ten the next morning, all the students had arrived in the classroom.

But the female teacher was late and still hadn't shown up.

The students started chatting among themselves.

Although there were ten of them, only a few were actually talking.

Lin Xia and Xu Jian were among them.

"Damn, look at Liu Yucheng's dark circles. He looks like a panda. Was this guy up all night?"

Xu Jian lowered his voice.

"Probably. I wonder if he made it to Bronze."

Lin Xia nodded and asked curiously.

"No, I'm sure of it."

Xu Jian put on a knowing expression and leaned closer. "When I got up this morning, I saw him sitting on his bed looking frustrated, with a face like he'd eaten shit. He was muttering to himself, too. If he'd made it to Bronze, there's no way he'd look like that.

I told you already: nobody can make it to Bronze at this stage!"

"But yesterday you said I had a chance."

Lin Xia's whole face lit up, making him look full of energy.

Of course, there was also a hint of mischief in his smile.

"I was just saying that."

Xu Jian waved his hand. "There's no way anyone can do it!"

"Oh, really?"

Lin Xia said nothing more. He sat up straight and waited for the teacher to arrive.

Sitting alone in the front row, Zhu Tingyu seemed to have overheard their conversation. A glint flashed in her eyes.

"Sorry, everyone. Something came up on the way here."

Just then, accompanied by the sound of her heels striking the floor, the female teacher hurried into the room.

She reached the podium, panting. Her gaze swept over the students, and after seeing that everyone was present, she nodded in satisfaction.

"My name is Xiao Ya. I've been a homeroom teacher for five years...

"Now, let's begin class."

After introducing herself, Teacher Xiao Ya turned and wrote eight characters on the blackboard: [The Path to Becoming Stronger as an Awakener].

Below them, she drew two branches and labeled them [Traditional Leveling] and [Card Enhancement].

"As an Awakener, there's really only one way to get stronger: improve your stats.

"And there are only two ways to improve your stats.

"The first is to enter a secret realm and level up by fighting monsters.

"This method is very reliable. As long as you don't rush things and challenge secret realms that match your strength, you'll level up and improve your stats.

"The other method is Card Enhancement.

"If it succeeds, not only will your stats improve quickly, but the increase will be greater than what you'd get from leveling up!

"But!"

Xiao Ya's tone grew more serious. She tapped the blackboard to make sure the students were paying attention. After all, this wasn't something they'd been taught in high school.

"Card Enhancement can only be used on Summon Cards you own.

"You charge the Reinforcement Pillar by using Material Cards that have OVR Value but can't be used, and then complete the enhancement.

"No matter what kind of Summon Card you obtain, it will start at [1 Enhancement].

"In theory, a Card can be enhanced all the way to [13 Enhancement]!

"Every successful enhancement raises its attributes and may also grant it a [New Skill] or [Form Evolution]!

"But if a Card enhancement fails, the Card disappears!"

As soon as Xiao Ya finished speaking, the classroom erupted in an uproar!

Lin Xia sucked in a sharp breath, too.

The Card would disappear?!

Wasn't Card Enhancement just a gamble, then?

Failure would mean a huge loss!

No wonder he'd hardly ever heard of this.

It seemed the government had deliberately restricted Card Enhancement to stop Awakeners from getting carried away and failing, which would greatly weaken them!

After all, Awakeners were a strategic resource for the nation!

"Whoosh!"

With a wave of Teacher Xiao Ya's arm, a virtual screen appeared in front of her.

The screen showed a three-dimensional image.

At its center stood a towering cylinder.

Strange patterns covered its surface, and every so often it glowed faintly.

"This is the Reinforcement Pillar."

Teacher Xiao Ya explained, "After the upheaval three hundred years ago, these pillars began appearing all over the world. They're incredibly hard. Even the strongest Awakeners today can't destroy one."

"Teacher, if the Reinforcement Pillar is so huge... why have I never seen one?"

A male student raised his hand and asked, bewildered.

The others chimed in, saying they'd never seen one either.

Seeing how confused everyone was, Lin Xia finally relaxed.

So he wasn't the only one who'd never seen the world.

Even Zhu Tingyu, whose figure suggested she came from a wealthy family, had furrowed her brows.

"That's because projectors have been installed around the Reinforcement Pillars, making the area invisible."

Teacher Xiao Ya's expression turned grave. "Human nature is greedy. They say that back then, many exceptionally talented Awakeners took shortcuts and blew their precious Cards to smithereens... In the end, their resolve shattered, and they all took their own lives!

"So the Great Xia Empire and other major nations have strictly controlled the Reinforcement Pillars—in fact, you could say their use was completely prohibited!

"It wasn't until a few years ago that our country began gradually easing those restrictions."

When the teacher finished speaking, the classroom fell silent.

The students shifted uneasily in their seats, their faces betraying their lack of confidence.

They seemed to be asking themselves whether they could resist the temptation of the Reinforcement Pillar.

After all, traditional leveling was not only slow but also carried the risk of death.

With Card Enhancement, the worst that could happen was losing a Card.

On the other hand, if an enhancement succeeded, the boost in strength came much more easily than leveling up by fighting monsters!

Lin Xia was thinking about it, too.

But then something occurred to him, and he asked:

"Teacher, did the Empire make a breakthrough in its research on the Reinforcement Pillars? Is that why they've allowed people to use them?"

At his question, the students furrowed their brows, wondering why Lin Xia would ask that.

Then they turned their attention to the podium.

To their surprise, Teacher Xiao Ya looked shocked, but a moment later her expression shifted to admiration.

"Lin Xia is right. Our research has found that the Reinforcement Pillars have set success rates!

"The success rates for going from 1 Enhancement to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5, and 5 to 6 are 99%, 55%, 50%, 45%, and 35%, respectively!

"As for 7 Enhancement and above... we haven't determined the exact probabilities yet.

"So my advice is that if you successfully enhance your Card to 6 Enhancement, don't push it any further. Otherwise, it'll most likely fail!"

"Good heavens, the success rate plummets as soon as you get to 5 Enhancement!"

"You say that like a 50% chance means you're guaranteed to succeed!"

"Yeah, you're worrying way too far ahead. I feel like even 3 Enhancement is a huge gamble. Some people with terrible luck might even fail at 2 Enhancement, despite the 99% success rate!"

"Yikes... that'd be awful!"

After the teacher finished speaking, the students discussed it in gloomy voices.

Some even began swearing they'd never go near a Reinforcement Pillar in their lives!

Lin Xia, meanwhile, furrowed his brows and rested his chin on his hand, recalling the system reward he hadn't unlocked yet:

"Eye of Insight... Could it be...?"