The Over-Break System

[Sure, you and I can mitigate the difference with our hand-to-hand experiences, but they can’t.] Cynrik said while motioning toward his sleeping party.

[Let’s just hope we get something good from the First Obelisk, if not, the second onward will spike in difficulty. By the way, is it okay for Selene and Gabby to be staying the night here? I mean, won’t we all get yelled at about it if the Professors or Headmaster find out.] Looking down at Gabby with a tinge of worry, Brance asked.

[Nah, I already cleared it with Geralt. He said so long as we are actually cleaning and repairing the Dorm until the late-night hours, it is okay if they sleep over. He did add, though, that we need to be in different rooms, so in a little bit, I’ll carry Selene to my room to sleep it off, and you should drop Gabby off in yours. It’s not like the two of us will end up sleeping anyway. Benny is fine where he is.] After staying like this for another hour, Cynrik put the leg rest down on his recliner, quietly moved to where his girlfriend was sleeping, and carefully lifted Selene into a princess carry.

Likewise, Brance picked Gabby up, and the two brothers put the girls to bed, with Brance giving Gabby a soft kiss on the forehead as he tucked her in, while Cynrik simply tucked a lock of hair behind Selene’s ear before leaving the room and shutting the door silently.

On the way back to the living room, he bumped into Brance, who was pushing a sleepy Benny toward his bedroom, giving him and his brother some time to go over the schedule for the next day.

With the other three happily off in slumberland, the two brothers sat facing each other in the living room, with neither speaking for some time as they were both lost in thought.

Eventually, it was Cynrik who broke the stalemate.

[That tower of yours came in clutch today. How bad was the drain on your reserves.]

[The resource stat cost was annoying and difficult to deal with upon activation. But once the Pseudo-Codex was formed, things calmed down a bit, and instead of a surging river of points draining from me, it turned into a calm stream. I only did three floors, so I only had access to the functions of the 2nd floor. Still, it was enough to keep those two spies in check. Reducing their stats by 20 percent, and increasing ours by 20, was just enough to keep an even playing field.]

[I noticed that Gabby struggled a bit in dealing with that Mage. Which is to be expected since she was forced to fight like you without her bow or crossbow. Overall she did well, keeping on the move constantly while dropping all kinds of traps, there was even one point she had me thinking she was in danger, but it only turned out to be a replica. Were you able to catch any of Selene and Benny’s fights?] Tilting his head to the side, Brance forced out a few pops as he leaned back into the soft new black leather couch.

[Not really; my opponent kept my focus the whole fight. I was able to catch a few glances, though; from what I could tell, Benny seems to lose focus when something outside his control happens. There was an incident where he saved Selene but had to be woken up from a daze only to have to be saved a few seconds later because of the battle between Garrison and that Peak Tier-3. Other than that, they work well together, which is what we have been mainly practicing.] Putting up his feet, Cynrik broke down the little bit he saw.

[In a few hours, we are jumping into the First Obelisk, have you gotten caught up on all the data?] Cynrik asked while staring absentmindedly at the ceiling, where he found a single black streak about 20 centimeters long, triggering his OCD.

[According to Selene, the first one is a solo climb. Starting on the first floor, you have to beat a creature that is freshly Level 0 in Tier-1; after that, you are given the option to advance or leave. Moving on, on each floor, you will face more enemies with their level increasing until you reach the last two floors, floors 21 and 22, where you will face 10 Peak Tier-1 and 20 Peak Tier-1 creatures.] Brance started rattling off everything he remembered Selene telling them after her climb a few months back, adding in what he had researched online.

[It’s too bad Selene left early, according to Geralt, the first dive is the most profitable. If somehow a student can clear the tower on their first try, their rewards are ten times better than any time after. To date, only two people cleared it on their first try, and the Headmaster was one of them. The most important thing we have to stress to the others is they need to get their hands on a weapon as soon as possible. Even if the opponents are only Tier-1, fatigue will stack up, and the less they have to use their bodies to fight, the better off they will be.] Cynrik added before continuing a more in-depth explanation.

[The first ten floors or so will be a breeze for all of us, but once multiple creatures start getting added into the mix on floor 11. That’s when things will get tricky for the others if they don’t have a weapon. Selene and Gabby will have it much easier than Benny, though. As a Warrior…er…Vanguard, he will try rushing forward and meeting them head-on; that’s where he will start taking chip damage, so we need to be sure to stress that he needs to take his time. These Obelisk climbs aren’t a race.]

[C’mon on, Cyn, don’t act like you aren’t going to try clearing some imaginary time to make yourself the self-proclaimed best climber in the Academy.] Scoffing his response, Brance crossed his arms and sneered at his older brother.

[I MEAN, you aren’t wrong. I do plan on seeing how fast I can run through the first one, but that is only because we’ve been killing Tier-1 beings since we were little. All it will take me is a few fireballs, so why not steamroll it. Even on the higher floors, I can just use a little more firepower and BOOM, cooked virtual creature.] Shrugging his shoulders, Cynrik replied with a smirk.

[Seriously though, everyone needs to clear it on the first try; I also plan on having Sel go back in since she stopped on floor 15. Her goal is to work on her spear shield combo, so she will be using the remaining floors as practice while we clear ours. The reward system is the only downside to running the Obelisks Vs. going into Egresses. We won’t earn XP and stats per kill, but we will get XP crystals and other miscellaneous items since there appears to be some kind of artificial intelligence within the thing itself. I am willing to bet there is some kind of algorithm that runs kill times and clear times into a formula representing the awarding process.]

[Using that theory as a basis, we need to show a bit of urgency, at least when advancing up the floors. I will be able to figure it out relatively quickly. But my primary goal is to get my hands on the Floor Reward Merit Points and potentially some Affinity Gems. As much as I wish to give him the Ice Orb, I must keep him on the same path we are taking.] Cynrik paused and thought back to when he explained that Benny and Brance could not use orbs to evolve their Water and Terra Affinities.

When Cynrik learned about the method of evolving one Affinity into its following form, he spent a lot of time conversing and learning from Professor Morningdale. The general conclusion he formed after these lessons and conversations was that it’s more beneficial in the long run if a being were to understand its Affinity and force its evolution entirely.

In contrast, if they used outside means to obtain it, the Affinity would essentially be starting at ground zero, and the being would have relatively little control over it.

This means if Benny were to force his Water Affinity to Evolve into Ice, he would already have a generalized understanding of how it works and wouldn’t have to rely on his System to dictate any skills he would want to use.

Thus, if he absorbed the Ice Elemental Affinity Orb or even an Ice Affinity Gem, his System would need to regulate the output and circulation of the Mana, weakening his attacks and increasing the resource stat costs by a minimum of 200 percent.

The cons outweighed the pros in Cynrik’s mind, so when it came to Brance obtaining Metal, himself Lightning, and Benny Ice, the idea of using outside means was off the table entirely.

Instead, he had shifted to training everyone on the best way to increase their Proficiency and Mastery over their own Affinities in the hopes that over time they would all be able to Evolve their Affinities naturally.

This train of thought also spawned the confirmation that Elemental Affinity Orbs or Affinity Gems had one purpose and one purpose alone, obtaining a new unrelated Affinity.

However, this brought up another issue that needed to be clarified by Professor Morningdale, the residential self-proclaimed Affinities expert. When a being DOES evolve its Affinity, what happens to the old one? If Cynrik advanced his Fire to Lightning, would he lose the ability to use flames? The answer, in short, was No.

When an Affinity was Naturally advanced, it would still show up in his status as Fire, but there would be a fundamental difference; it would increase to Advanced Grade Fire.

With this increase in grade, he would not only unlock a new tab dedicated to Lightning but also wouldn’t increase his overall Affinity Count. This was another reason Cynrik didn’t want anyone using secondary means because, unlike using the natural progression through mastery Evolution, if you used an Orb or Gem, it would fill in one of your available Affinity Slots.

This was how Professor Morningdale had so many different Affinities; every single one of hers had been naturally evolved; thus, although she had access to almost a dozen different elements, she essentially only had five Affinities.

After explaining this to the party, everyone agreed that it was better to take the natural Evolution path and had been studying and training themselves to the fullest extent.

[Get some rest Brance; it’s already 2 am, and I plan on getting everyone up in the next five hours. I will keep watch tonight to ensure no one breaks in. Plus, I have night vision, unlike you, hehe.] Smirking at Brance, Cynrik pulled a pillow from his inventory and chucked it at his brother’s head.

[Jerk.] Snatching the pillow out of the air, Brance laid back and stuffed the pillow under his head, retorting with his usual banter.

[Bitch.] Cynrik snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest and fully reclined; soon, Brance’s soft snores were the sign that he was clear to get lost in the storm of thoughts swirling in his mind.

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