Chapter 10: Orientation (Part 2)

Glenn walked over to the box of wooden training weapons and picked up a sword, swinging it around a couple of times before stepping back and gesturing to the students to pick their weapons.No one had volunteered so far. I considered it, but decided I’d wait till a bit later.

I want to see what this guy is capable of first, and also get a look at a few of the other students in action.

I headed over to the box as a few other students did too, waiting till they picked their weapons before peering in and checking out the options.

Nice, there’s a short-sword, just what I needed.

Perfect, the weight and balance are the same as the ones I’ve used at the gym...well, I suppose that should be obvious, these things are probably mass-produced and identical.

"Alright, since no one wants to volunteer, guess I’ll just have to pick someone myself. How about...you?" He decided as he pointed at a girl, who flinched slightly before stepping forward.

Hm, let’s have a look...

"<Appraisal>," I muttered under my breath as I focused my gaze on the girl.

She’s a Water Mage, and based on the results of my Appraisal, she’s J-Rank...but her physical stats are super low, about three times lower than mine. The full display reads:

Personal Details:

Name: Ellen Warner

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Height: 5’6"

Weight: 55 KG

Hunter Details:

Type: Mage

Class: Water Mage

Attribute: N/A

Spells: Water Ball, Water Arrow

Skills: N/A

Stats:

HP: 18

MP: 76

Strength: 17

Agility: 21

Vitality: 19

Perception: 18

Mana Level: 76,000

Power Level: 28,700

Potential: 53,200

Her physical stats are so low, she’s not that much stronger than a normal human, and even her MP is pretty low for a Mage, even at J-Rank.

As for Glenn, let’s see-...woah. He’s on a whole other level:

Personal Details:

Name: Glenn Inglis

Age: 56

Gender: Male

Height: 6’3"

Weight: 105 KG

Hunter Details:

Type: Combatant

Class: Saber

Attribute: Lightning

Spells: N/A

Skills: Taunt, Strike, Double Strike, Triple Strike, Quadruple Strike, Lightning Strike, Double Lightning Strike, Triple Lightning Strike, Quadruple Lightning Strike, Slash, Double Slash, Triple Slash, Quadruple Slash, Lightning Slash, Double Lightning Slash, Triple Lightning Slash, Quadruple Lightning Slash, Impact, Double Impact, Triple Impact, Quadruple Impact, High Sword-Wielding Affinity, High Elemental Resistance, High Status Effect Resistance

Stats:

HP: 460

MP: 207

Strength: 454

Agility: 362

Vitality: 466

Perception: 401

Power Level: 391,700

Potential: 440,000

His current Power Level is well over four times higher than mine, and the fact that he’s retired makes that all the more insane, not to mention that he’s missing an arm.

By the way, Ai, about his Skills...specifically, the ones called Slash and Strike, how are they any different from, you know, just swinging or thrusting a sword normally?

<Skills imbue attacks with Mana, making them stronger>

Huh...yeah, guess I should’ve figured that on my own, feel kinda stupid for asking. Alright, looks like the bout’s about to begin, let’s see how this goes.

"Alright, whenever you’re ready," Glenn prompted the girl.

"U-Um, okay...here I go, [Water Ball]!" She exclaimed, as she held up a staff and aimed it at him.

She charged up a swirling sphere of water, which formed in front of her staff, a short wooden handle with a blue orb at the end of it, before launching the water sphere towards the instructor-...huh?

I watched in bemusement as the attack shot towards him with all the intensity of a toy water gun, before he swiftly stepped forward and swung his wooden sword across, slicing through the water ball and dissipating it.

He then locked onto the girl and shot towards her rapidly, my eyes barely able to keep up with his speed. The girl flinched and froze before stumbling back and falling over as she tripped, before Glenn came a swift halt in front of her and lightly poked her forehead with the tip of his sword, a slight wooden thunk echoing out.

"You’ve got a lot of room for improvement there, young lady, make sure to work hard and get stronger," Smiled the instructor, as he helped the girl up.

"Y-Yes, sir, I’ll keep that in mind."

Based on the wide disparity between her Potential and Power Level, it looks like she’s barely trained at all after her awakening. And the fact that she’s only mastered two Spells indicates that she hasn’t trained much with her Magic either.

Gotta say, I wasn’t expecting this. I just sort of assumed that everyone who enrolled at the Academy would’ve spent at least a bit of time training prior, like I did.

Is this girl an exception, or am I the exception? Alright, let’s run a quick Appraisal on the rest of them...

I then subtly glanced at each of the other students, using Appraisal on them one by one. Alright, based on the Potential and Mana Level readings, there are six J-Ranks, eight Q-Ranks, four K-Ranks and one Ace.

But in terms of Power Level, almost all of their current stats are significantly lower than mine. The only exceptions are one of the students with K-Ranked Potential and the one with Ace Potential.

Anyway, Glenn continued sparring against the students one by one, and sure enough, most of them did just about as well as the first girl did, the bouts lasting no longer than a few seconds.

Barely three or four minutes passed before fifteen of the twenty students had taken their turns, not a single one of them putting up even the slightest semblance of a fight.

"Hah, what a joke, you losers are so weak! Let me show you how it’s done!" Declared the next student as he stepped up, a confident smirk on his face.

That’s the one with K-Rank Potential I took note of, his stats aren’t half-bad:

Personal Details:

Name: Trey Scown

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Height: 6’

Weight: 92 KG

Hunter Details:

Type: Mage

Class: Water Mage

Attribute: N/A

Spells: Water Ball, Water Arrow, Water Slash, Water Wall

Skills: N/A

Stats:

HP: 83

MP: 468

Strength: 81

Agility: 71

Vitality: 85

Perception: 66

Mana Level: 468,000

Power Level: 142,300

Potential: 241,400

His MP is a hell of a lot higher than mine, and though my other stats are higher than his are, his are far from low, at least compared to everyone who’s gone so far.

<Unlike you, all other Hunters have a fixed amount of Mana, so their MP cannot increase>

I see, so his MP is stuck at 468, huh? Does that mean a person’s Mana Level is always at a fixed value?

<Yes, but given that he can currently only use four Spells, that means he can only control a relatively low proportion of his Mana>

<Therefore, Mana Level is not as reliable a metric as Power Level, as the former only shows the quantity of Mana an individual possesses, but has no indication of their mastery over their Magic>

Yeah, makes sense, guess that makes it harder to accurately rank Mages compared to Combatants.

He sure is a cocky one, isn’t he?

He had spiky blonde hair with the sides shaved off, light blue eyes, slight freckles on his cheeks, a fair complexion, and he was pretty tall, around 6’ according to Appraisal, with a fairly average build.

He had a pretty fancy-looking staff, with a sleek, black metal handle, and a glowing blue orb at the end of it.

"I like the confidence, young man, but there’s no need to insult your peers. What’s your name?" Smiled Glenn, as the blondie began stretching.

"Trey Scown. And I don’t see what’s wrong with calling losers losers," He shrugged in response.

"Ah, you’re one of the students with K-Rank Potential, is that right? Well, alright, then. Whenever you’re ready," Sighed Glenn, raising his sword.

"Heh, brace yourself, cuz here I come...[Water Arrow]!" Exclaimed Trey, taking aim with his staff and firing out a rapid, narrow water projectile towards Glenn.

Glenn swiftly shot forward and swung his sword across, striking the water arrow and dissipating it, before charging towards Trey and leaping forward as he closed in, his sword raised high.

"[Water Wall]!"

Trey sprang back as he held out his staff and raised a wall of water in front of himself, Glenn’s wooden sword slamming against it as Trey raced across to the instructor’s right, swiftly chanting and firing out another water arrow.

But Glenn was quick to turn across and block the attack with the flat of his sword, before swiftly sidestepping as Trey unleashed another water arrow, the instructor evading it with ease.

He’s definitely a cut above the rest of the students who’ve sparred against Glenn so far, his Spells actually pack a punch.

That said, his movements are pretty sloppy.

"Now, take this, [Water Slash]!" Exclaimed Trey, swinging his staff across and firing out a slashing wave of water towards Glenn.

Glenn swiftly ducked down, the slash shooting past the top of his head as he got low, before he took a deep breath and let out a slow exhale, a look of chilling calm on his face as he suddenly zipped forward with immense force.

Trey’s eyes widened in alarm before he fired out another water arrow, but Glenn easily deflected the attack with a swift whip of his sword before leaping forward as he closed in on Trey and swung the flat of his wooden sword down.

A loud thunk echoed out as the sword slammed against the top of Trey’s head, who stumbled back with a dazed look on his face upon impact, letting out a slight, shaky groan.

"Not too bad, but just like the others, you have a lot of room for improvement too. Alright, who’s next?" Smiled Glenn, as he looked around.

"Um, excuse me...may I go next?" Spoke up a girl with red hair as she stepped forward, the only student with Ace Potential...