Chapter 418: Ace Level

"Aaand...done! Wow, that was a lot," Sighed Cleo contently, stretching her arms up."Does using Assimilation feel good or something? You always look so satisfied after you use it, especially when there’s a larger number of Cores," Remarked Aria in bemusement.

"Yeah, it does feel good. The sensation is hard to describe though," She responded with a wry smile.

"I think I get it, I used to feel a pleasant sensation whenever I used Devour and Drain. Though, now that they don’t increase my power anymore, I don’t feel anything when I use then," I chimed in.

Today’s the 10th of December, 2170, a few days since we cleared that Critical Level Dungeons. It was around 6 PM in the evening right now, and Cleo had come over to absorb the Cores we gathered from that Dungeon.

It took a while, since there were a ton of Monsters in that Dungeon. She’s unlocked some new abilities, and her stats have gone up a fair bit too.

"Nice, looks like I’m finally at Ace level. Though, I’ve definitely hit my first slow-down point, I gained a ton of points from these Cores initially, but hardly anything from the last quarter or so," She sighed wistfully.

Hm, let’s have a look at where her current stats are, in comparison to what they were when I first met her:

HP: 105 -> 491

MP: 117 -> 607

Strength: 103 -> 494

Agility: 124 -> 602

Vitality: 108 -> 488

Perception: 121 -> 600

Power Level: 112,800 -> 547,000

Potential: 112,800 -> 547,000

Hm, I think my Power Level was a bit lower when I reached my first slow-down point, so maybe her ceiling is a bit higher than mine is?

Well, it’s only going to get tougher to keep getting stronger from here on. She went from upper J-Rank level to low Ace level in about four months thanks to Aria and I helping her, but she has no real combat experience yet.

The parties she ends up with during the raids assigned by the Academy always relegate her to the back row, she’s tasked with protecting the Support Mages.

But she’s never actually had to do anything, the current low intensity levels of the Dungeons has meant that even Academy raids have been going smoothly these days.

Based on her build, it’s clear that she trains hard, but that isn’t a substitute for real experience. She’s yet to even fight a Monster, let alone kill one, and that’s unlikely to change before she graduates, there’s only one raid left.

She is on track to graduate, since she’s got perfect scores in General Education, enough to make up for her lower Practical Training scores.

As it turns out, she doesn’t have an AI guide in her System, like how I’ve got Ai, but she’s got a Skill called Info Bank, and she uses that to get her perfect scores in the General Education exams.

"By the way, we’ve spoken to the Chairman of the Union, and you’re all set to join our Guild once you graduate. We’ll make sure to whip you into shape and prepare you for raids.

Of course, that will mean that at least some of the other Guild members will have to be let in on your secret, since we can’t let you go on raids alone," Remarked Aria, as Cleo nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I already figured as much. And I’m okay with it, I know it’s unreasonable to expect not to have to compromise at all."

"No matter how powerful you get, it won’t mean much if you don’t have the proper combat sense and instincts. You might be fine against weaker Monsters, but against Monsters closer to your level or stronger, you won’t stand a chance.

There’s no way to know for sure if you’ve got what it takes until we see you in action during a raid, but...during the raids you have been on so far, how do you feel when you see the Monsters? Like, do you feel nervous or scared at all?" I asked her.

"Maybe a little bit at first, but not anymore, especially after my stats began increasing by leaps and bounds thanks to you guys. I feel a lot of rage and hatred, like I’m itching to kill them. But between hiding my powers and being assigned to the role of protecting the back line, I obviously can’t act on those feelings," She sighed wistfully.

"I see...well, that’s definitely a good sign," I nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it’d be concerning if you were afraid of them and feel like you can’t move or something. Until your graduate, I’d say the best thing to do is focus on your physical combat training," Aria advised her.

"No need to worry about that, I make sure to train as much as I can. Although, it’s hard to do it at the Academy now, since it’s really tough to hold back to the point where I still seem like I’m at J-Rank level.

And even if I do manage to hold back convincingly, it makes for pretty ineffective training, since I’m pretty much exerting minimal effort, it just feels like I’m half-assing it. So, I’ve been booking training rooms at gyms instead, though I can barely afford that," She sighed wistfully.

"Well, you won’t have to worry about money for much longer. Even low level raids can earn you a pretty hefty sum of money," I pointed out.

"Yeah, the money I get from the monthly raids at the Academy is just about enough to keep me going, and that’s purely from the proceeds of the Mana Crystals and Monster materials gathered and sold from the Dungeons, since I don’t get to kill any Monsters."

"That should change soon, seeing that there’s less than a month before you graduate," Replied Aria with a smile.

"Oh, I can hardly wait to join you guys’s Guild, I really want to test my powers and kill some Monsters already," She declared with a gleam in her eyes...