Fire Thief

For this special class, conventional stat stacking and skill practice were simply not enough to meet the requirements for advancement.

Its sole mandatory requirement was that the candidate had to accomplish something in this world.

Just as its name implied, it was a great feat through which mortals reached for myth.

The most typical example was the great-feat class widely recorded throughout history: [Fire Thief].

To take up this class, the challenger had to successfully steal a top-level core secret or piece of knowledge from a massive organization with absolute authority.

Then make it public.

That alone was not enough.

After revealing the secret, the challenger could not flee. They had to remain where they were and wait calmly.

Only by surviving the organization's harshest retaliation could this "great feat" be considered complete, granting the qualifications to take up the class.

Although Gideon did not know what great feat the Rosenthal family needed to accomplish,

it was common knowledge that for an heir to inherit that ultimate great-feat class, their initial class had to be a rare class. It was a non-negotiable requirement.

That was why the path of common classes simply would not work for Cecilia.

Among Violet Academy's current class options, the rare magic classes came with far too many restrictions for a half-elf like her.

At that thought, Gideon sank into deep contemplation.

If he kept her at Violet for selfish reasons, he would only be wasting the gift of a child with legendary potential.

Back in the age of heroes, only those legendary companions who stood beside the heroes possessed talent of that level.

The office fell silent.

Watching the professor's tightly furrowed brow, Cecilia lowered her head.

She felt deeply guilty for causing the professor such a great deal of trouble.

In the end, Gideon let out a long sigh.

As a mentor, he could not delay this girl's life for the sake of the academy's reputation.

He made his decision.

He intended to write the girl a letter of recommendation and send her to study under Violet Academy's old rivals at the Southern Mages' Alliance.

It would be a tremendous loss for Violet Academy.

With an aching heart, Gideon opened the drawer, preparing to take out a quill pen.

However, his gaze fell upon a sheet of letter paper in the drawer that was only half-written.

The reply he had originally intended to use to mock his old friend in Grayrock Town seemed to shine at that moment.

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Gideon.

"Cecilia."

He suddenly raised his voice, startling the guilt-ridden girl.

"I'm here!"

Cecilia hurriedly straightened her back and answered.

Gideon looked at her, and a smile returned to his eyes.

"Next, Violet Academy will be establishing an off-campus internship program with the Adventurers' Guild in Grayrock Town."

"The branch president there may happen to have information on a rare mage class with absolutely no racial restrictions."

Gideon interlaced his fingers beneath his chin, his tone solemn.

"I can recommend you for this internship team."

"If you achieve excellent results in the internship assessment, you can obtain the information needed to take up that class."

"Do you have confidence in facing this challenge?"

It was an unexpected turn of events.

Cecilia's formerly dim eyes instantly lit up, and an unmistakable expression of delight appeared on her face.

She immediately rose from her chair and gave Gideon a deep bow.

The girl raised her head, a radiant smile revealing several neat teeth blossoming across her face. It lacked some of her usual poise, but gained the liveliness proper to her age.

"Thank you, Professor! I'll definitely earn an excellent rating!"

Seeing his student regain her vigor, Gideon smiled in relief.

"However, the internship will take place two weeks from now."

"Go back and prepare thoroughly, especially the wilderness survival material in the Adventurer's Handbook."

"Go on."

Cecilia thanked him again and left the office with light steps, even her footsteps brimming with joy.

Then the door closed.

Inside the office,

Professor Gideon, who had still been smiling moments ago, immediately let his expression collapse.

With a bitter look on his aged face, he slowly took the letter paper from the drawer.

Magic surged at his fingertips.

The harsh words on the paper, originally written to mock the other man's predicament and gloat over his misfortune, were gradually erased by the magic.

Gideon took a deep breath, lifted his pen, and rewrote the opening line of the letter:

"My dear old brother, Necros..."

Seven days later.

Early morning, Grayrock Town, Adventurers' Guild.

Lance sat behind the guild counter, mechanically sorting through the week's quest receipts while his thoughts took stock of what he had gained recently.

The past week had been fulfilling and tightly packed.

He had made time to visit Copper Creek Forest twice more, deliberately choosing obscure routes, and had finally gathered enough Blood-Clotting Moss.

Judging by the system's progress bar, once he completed the final drying process after returning home that evening, the research quest for the improved [Hemostatic Ointment] formula would be fully complete.

That gave him a little more confidence.

But alongside those gains came a growing unease.

During each of those expeditions, Lance had kept the system entry that monitored the environment active.

What he observed weighed heavily on him.

The green entry representing the region's status still read "Restless," but the note after it had changed in a frightening way.

[The fluctuation range of this area's environmental stability has been adjusted to 8%]

A week ago, that number had still been 5%.

Those additional 3% meant the instability within the forest was worsening.

The increasing number of casualty reports arriving at the guild every day also confirmed it.

That sense of urgency left Lance with no room to relax.

This week, he had trained himself like mad.

Besides his unwavering daily sword drills, he forced himself to spend a full hour in the training room practicing archery every day.

Lance summoned the system panel, his gaze sweeping over the two skill entries.

[Castro Swordsmanship LV3 (176/250)]

After this period of relentless grinding, this military swordsmanship was already on the verge of breaking through to the proficient level, LV4.

And beneath it, there was an additional new line of text.

Inspired by the botany book last time, he had not sought out a teacher to learn the skill this time. Instead, he had spent 6 silver coins buying someone's books on archery.

Sure enough, that could also generate a skill in the skill list. Paying someone to teach him last time had been a loss.

Still, that person was also from the Veterans' Guild. That connection might come in handy later.

[Levin Archery LV2 (42/240)]

Yet the difference between them made him notice a pattern.

At the same level, archery required far more experience to level up than swordsmanship.

Moreover, the attribute feedback they provided was completely different.

Since he had begun learning swordsmanship, it had gradually given him around 3 points of basic attribute bonuses.

But although his archery skill had risen by one level, it had not increased his attributes at all.

"It seems the harder a skill is to train, the greater the improvement isn't necessarily."