Chapter 38
"Dear Wen Jing, I just learned that you achieved an S-rank rating in the Trial Tower. I knew your brilliance could never be hidden, no matter where you were..."
Sometimes, she felt Gaia came across as rather robotic, but she understood that she was an exception. Without memories of a past life, a child born normally in a population factory would probably feel completely differently.
After reading the last two messages, Wen Jing closed her inbox and began her daily Energy Amplification Method cultivation.
[Proficiency in 'Secret Technique: Energy Amplification Method'-89%]
"Beep!"
Three days later, Wen Jing opened her eyes from cultivation in her dorm room.
It was midnight. As the thirtieth day since the new students' enrollment ended, each student's monthly results automatically popped up on their terminal.
Accompanied by stirring music, an animated golden envelope unfolded on her retina.
Student Wen Jing:
You ranked first in your class this month! You have been awarded 15 points and the title 'First in Class.'
We hope you will keep up your efforts and reach new heights!
-Red Earth Academy Academic Affairs Department
Wen Jing's eyes lit up at the message. After three days of waiting, the monthly results settlement had finally arrived.
Her ranking was certainly no surprise. What mattered was that the points awarded for first place had arrived.
She immediately opened her shopping cart in the points store.
[Confirm purchase of the course 'Combat Technique: Energy-Shaping Weapon'? Current special offer: 65% off, priced at 28 points! Limited-time countdown... 3 days, 21 hours, 13 minutes, 11 seconds.]
Only later had Wen Jing learned that the discount for clearing the Trial Tower actually had a time limit. If not for the class ranking rewards arriving, she would not even have had enough points.
After buying the Level One Energy Shield course last time, she had had 14 points left. Her next expedition into the Ancient Wilderness had earned her only two points.
One point was the standard reward for registering an expedition. The giant ant's materials were worth less than the scorpion tail and had sold for only one point, mainly for their research value. Xie Ming had said that if she sold more next time, he could only pay her in credits.
Still, comparing the numbers of oddly shaped scorpions and ants, Wen Jing could understand.
So, with the newly credited 15 points, she now had 31 points in total.
But with only three days left on the discount, Wen Jing gritted her teeth and clicked purchase.
[Purchase successful!] [Points: 31 → 3]
Once she confirmed payment, her previously comfortable point balance instantly dropped to single digits.
Painful as it was, Wen Jing still knew this course was well worth buying.
Not just because of the discount, but also because of the combat technique's practicality.
The only part of her Wilderness Body that could be called a "weapon" was her mouthparts. Even with her mastery of the Insect Fighting Technique, she had far too few means of attack. If she did not want to spend her currently precious skill points on that, she needed to make up for it with combat techniques.
Energy-Shaping Weapon suited her in every respect.
Wen Jing had scored full marks in weapons application on the unified exam and could turn even the hair on a human body into a weapon. Her Wilderness Body had six legs, after all. If she developed this skill and took it up onto the giant tree, wouldn't that be a dimensionality reduction strike?
"Next time, I'll get some elite mobs and bring them back."
The giant mantises, prismatic slugs, and other creatures she had seen on the giant tree's branches immediately came to mind. She decided to clear them out one by one during future expeditions and exchange the spoils for points.
The vine lizards were another matter. In her eyes, they were rations, just like the fluorescent nectar, and were off the list for now.
The next day happened to be the mandatory algorithms class, and the winter class students gathered in the large classroom.
As soon as Wen Jing encountered her classmates, she noticed that everyone who saw her instinctively squinted and looked away.
"What's going on?"
Even though she was already used to attracting attention wherever she went, she could not help finding it strange. This was clearly different from before, but she could not work out why.
Just then, she spotted several classmates she knew fairly well in the aisle.
The moment they saw her, they had exactly the same initial reaction as everyone else.
Wen Jing's eyes lit up, and she strode over to ask why.
"Argh!"
As she approached, they exaggeratedly covered their eyes, as though they dared not look directly at her.
Wen Jing was even more baffled. "What are you doing?"
"As expected of a golden legendary! So dazzling!"
"How terrifying. Is this a level of brightness our winter class should have? I can't look straight at her, boohoo..."
"Shut up! It's our honor to bask in the radiance of a study god!"
After listening to their torrent of exaggerated comic banter, Wen Jing finally understood why, and it was a real eye-opener.
When the year's rankings had been settled yesterday, the notification had awarded her not only 15 points but also the title "First in Class." She had assumed it was merely an encouraging label.
Who would have thought that title came with special effects... yes, special effects!
Wen Jing herself could not see the effect. It appeared only in the eyes of her classmates.
Every awakener wore a smart terminal and normally viewed information through retinal projection. After Wen Jing acquired the title, whenever she appeared before her classmates, their terminals automatically added a golden glow to her figure on their retinas.
"..."
Wen Jing was speechless. All she could say was that an Awakener Academy really was different. When it came to ranking systems, they were simply too authoritative.
Compared with School District Planet, not only had the competition intensified, but the technology had also advanced. School District Planet could not have pulled off this kind of smart-terminal trick even if it wanted to.
Wen Jing could not help worrying. "So I'll keep shining like this in your eyes until next month?"
"That's so like you," Yu Yang said ruefully. "Everyone else wishes their titles would last longer. Think how impressive it looks!"
"Wen Jing probably doesn't care about that. Don't worry, you won't keep shining until next month," Wan Ling said beside him. "I saw it while browsing the forums. Monthly class rankings only last three days, and quarterly year rankings last ten days. As for the league, I think the duration depends on your ranking..."
As they walked toward the classroom, they explained and filled her in on the other details.
"Titles take effect within their scope. Your current title is class-wide, so it only affects your classmates. If you earn a year ranking during the season, your whole year will see you glowing. If it's the league, then it's the entire academy!"
While they spoke, none of them looked at Wen Jing.
As long as she was not in their field of vision, the special effect would not dazzle them.
Just then, Wen Jing stepped through the classroom door and saw a whole crowd of heads hurriedly turning away.
Even the algorithms instructor at the lectern, who normally wasted few words outside of advertising, gave the scene a puzzled glance, then smiled as he realized something.
Wen Jing was speechless. "Just how bright is this effect? Don't second and third place glow?"
"They do, but the brightness depends on how many times your credits exceed the class average. Why don't you take a look at your credits and the class average?" Yu Yang said, shielding his eyes.
Wen Jing found the students in second and third place. Neither was looking at her either. Right now, the instructor at the lectern was the only person in the classroom who could look at her without seeing her glow.
After studying them carefully for a moment, she finally used her greatly improved eyesight from upgrading her compound eyes to pick out silver and pale yellow glimmers on the second- and third-place students. It was roughly a few hundred pixels' worth of extra brightness.
Then she glanced at the comparison between her own score and the class average-
78:7
So she was the only one currently walking around with tenfold light pollution?
Chapter 38
In the Energy-Shaping Weapon class, Joel, the instructor who taught Energy Shield, moved among the students, giving each targeted explanations based on their progress.
As this was a well-known advanced combat technique, everyone in the class apart from Wen Jing was a second- or third-year student. There were no other first-years.
Not only was the combat technique expensive, but its difficulty also put it beyond what an ordinary first-year should master, let alone a new student who had enrolled only a month ago.
Yet when Wen Jing appeared here, nobody in the class was particularly surprised. Such was the influence of her reputation.
Before long, however, they began questioning their lives just like the people studying the Energy Amplification Method.
Few people could enroll in this course, so enrollment had continued for a month. The students were currently at different stages, requiring the instructor to tailor his teaching to each individual. Wen Jing was among the latest arrivals, and most had attended several more lessons than she had.
The others had thought that even with Wen Jing's prior experience with the combat technique in the Trial Tower, she should still need a few lessons to catch up to their progress.
The reality, however, was-
"Energy-Shaping Weapon is, in essence, the shaping of energy."
"You've studied Energy Shield. That's the most basic way of projecting energy externally. When we raise a shield, the energy inside our bodies condenses into a compressed core. In essence, it forms an 'energy singularity' opposite to the shield, allowing external projection."
"By the same principle, to shape all kinds of weapons outside our bodies for combat, we first have to form an inverse mapping inside our bodies!"
Joel explained the key points of the combat technique separately to Wen Jing, the last to enroll.
"So that's how it works..." Wen Jing understood.
The Trial Tower really did have "anti-theft protection." Trying to reproduce the gatekeeper's internal energy circulation through combat was the wrong approach. No wonder she had never managed to learn it.
Now that she understood the principle, she looked at her palm thoughtfully.
Seeing that she had grasped something, Joel offered a reminder before stepping away. "There's no rush. This is a process of gradually sensing and adapting. We'll start our course with the simplest one-directional shield. Take your time and give it a... try?"
His voice abruptly changed pitch on the final word.
Because before Joel had even finished speaking, a shield had already condensed in Wen Jing's hand.
The second, the third... on Wen Jing's fourth Energy-Shaping Weapon lesson.