NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: Chapter 4: E Rank
Hey guys, as promised here's a new chapter. If you like TLM, consider joining the discord server: https://discord.gg/E2D6gTVGJ6
1. What was your favorite Civilization in TLM?
2. Do you guys have any ideas for silly Esper Abilities? I am thinking in the E to C Rank Range.
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Sigh
I slumped down on my bed—today was very intense. Not that I had to risk my life, but I had one thing after another to take care of, with little time for breaks in between.
Status
I thought, excited about the new notifications I had received over the course of the day.
Success! You have gained 100,000 subjects!
[Lv. 20 Neophyte Esper Advancement Mission Complete]
You may now choose one of the following three advancements: Conduit (Body), Anima (Mind), and Pneuma (Spirit).
I was not Han Xiao, so I did not actually know which would be the most fitting for me.
Instantly, I eliminated becoming a Conduit Esper—what a joke. Out of my options—body, mind, and spirit—body had the least to do with ruling.
Now, one could argue that a ruler should have both a sharp mind and the right spirit. I just personally preferred the mind.
And so, I chose.
Congratulations! You have succeeded in class advancement.
You are now an Anima Esper (Lv. 1).
+15 STR, +1 MYS, +15 END, +3 INT, +1 CHA
3 Attribute Points Gained
1 Talent Point Gained
You have completed the first advancement. Endurance stat-boost has increased:
1 Endurance = 15 Max HP
1 Endurance = 18 Stamina
You have acquired a new ability: Presence of Mind! (+5 INT)
You have learned Energy Training Technique!
You have acquired a new class ability: Government Spending!
Due to the Penalty of Taxation, basic DNA affinity could not be learned!
Do you want to learn the class "Governor"?
Note: This will delete the Student Governor class.
Yes / No
Thinking about how many stats I gained even for the Student Governor class, I figured that Governor could not be worse.
"Yes."
It did bother me that it was already maxed out, though, as that meant I would not get a refund on the EXP spent on it. But it would be beneficial anyway, as this was one of the few ways to drop my level, saving EXP.
You have learned a new skill: Public Speaking
What a decent surprise! Public Speaking increased my charisma while addressing a large group of people. The useful thing about it was that the increase was measured in %, ranging from 1% to 10%, depending on the level of the skill—so it would be useful even in the far future.
[Government Spending: You can sacrifice any of the following aspects of yourself, alone or in combination. This sacrifice is permanent and non-reversible.]
EXP
Skills
Health / Stamina / Energy
In exchange, you can gain any of the following at random:
Equipment
Skills
Information
I will have to try this to truly understand how useful it will be to me. But at first glance, I feel that this is a bit worse than the Taxation skill. The good thing is that I can sacrifice EXP, so this should make Taxation and Government Spending a lethal combination.
But not everything was for nothing, as I had now finally decided where to invest my stat points.
So, let's just say that from now on, I shall be known as the reverse Black Star! Muhahahaha!!!
[Name: Elrin van Vril'okai]
Race: Eozarithian/Carbon-based
Model: NPC (Countdown to Version 1.0 launch: 8,510 years 26 days 5 hours 25 minutes)
Level: 12
Experience: 21,266
Main Class: Neophyte Esper Lv. 10 (Max) / Anima Esper Lv. 1 (0/15,000)
Sub-class: Governor Lv. 1 (0/15,000)
Attributes:
Strength: 25
Dexterity: 10
Endurance: 25
Intelligence: 51
Mystery: 23
Charm: 11
Luck: 124
Unassigned Stats: 0
Energy: 150 (Lv. 3)
Energy Rank: 80 Ona
Grade: Class E Superhuman
[For millions of years, even Universal Civilizations wondered: How weak can a Superhuman be? We salute you for your sacrifice in answering that question.]
Health Points: 375/375
Stamina: 450/450
Class Abilities: Taxation, Government Spending
Other Abilities: Public Speaking Lv. 1
Talent Points: 11
Class Talents:
Gene Chain [20 Talents not learned!]
DNA [20 Talents not learned!]
Application [20 Talents not learned!]
Reputation:
Vril'okai - (3,000/6,000) (Respect)
Eozarithian Race - (3,000/6,000) (Respect)
Equipment: None
Legend: 0
Well, the only redeeming thing about me right now was my stats. What made my combat strength so pathetic was my lack of combat skills and equipment.
I think Black Star advanced to Rank-D at level 41, which I think will happen to me when Taxation activates for the first time—so at the latest, in a year. The question is whether I should do quests in the meantime and gamble the proceeds on Government Spending, or if I should wait and hope that the next skill I gain will be useful in combat.
"Hmmm...."
Also, I should try to gain basic skills like Hand-to-Hand Combat, Gun Assembly, Shooting, and such, which will help me use my stats more effectively so that I won't be completely defenseless against supers.
On that matter, I still have some system notifications to go through.
"Some" was my way of coping, as I could see the little (584) that showed up behind the 'Quest' tab on my system screen.
Fear mixed with excitement as I clicked on the 'Quest' tab and was instantly bombarded.
You have activated the F-Class Quest:
[Sewers]
Quest Hint: Some sewer pipes in Greenhaven are about to fail.
Quest Reward: 800 Experience
You have activated the F-Class Quest:
[Insubordination]
Quest Hint: Subordinates are preying on your downfall.
Quest Reward: 5,000 Experience
You have activated the F-Class Quest:
[Embezzlement]
Quest Hint: Multiple subordinates are embezzling money.
Quest Reward: 7,500 Experience
You have activated the F-Class Quest:
[Fare Evasion]
Quest Hint: Fare evasion on public transport has exceeded 5%.
Quest Reward: 1,000 Experience
You have activated the F-Class Quest:
[Grand Opening]
Quest Hint: Another kindergarten is about to open in Greenhaven.
Quest Reward: +1 Greenhaven Reputation
584 quests, and not one was above F-Class—or below it, for that matter. Which, honestly, was fine by me. An E-Class quest would just mean something was up regarding supers.
What I did notice was that all of these quests seemed to be passive. There were no missions that actually improved the city—just ones that fell under upkeep. So who knows? Maybe I was celebrating too early regarding the supers.
All in all, this was a very pleasant surprise and would make my job much easier, like a giant red arrow constantly pointing at what I needed to pay attention to—if only for one aspect of my work.
I could have organized them by: Are they reasonable to complete? Can others do them for me? Are they even worth it? But I was very tired and just didn't care anymore. Not that this was a task that couldn't wait for tomorrow in the first place.
When I woke up, it was still the middle of the night. I had a strong feeling that this was the last time I would ever feel this tired—after all, my stats had moved well into the supernatural.
First thing in the morning, I grabbed my communicator and turned off my alarm clock, having woken up two hours early.
With the communicator already on, I began searching: "Fight Training Greenhaven," "Gun Range Greenhaven," "Gyms Greenhaven," and so on.
The gym was easy to find, as was the gun range. Guns were a pretty popular gift, after all—likely because of a superstition that many Eozarithians believed in: exposure to machinery could help awaken someone as a mechanic.
But combat training was much harder to find, especially trainers who weren't frauds. So, I postponed that for now.
What I found weird was that I seemed to have inherited my predecessor's class, stats, memories, and even extra experience. But skills seemed to be the only thing I didn't inherit, despite remembering the fighting lessons he took while studying to become a governor.
These memories felt slightly different—more like watching a movie as opposed to the normal memories I had, which felt like my own.
Thinking about my thoughts, I left a mental note for myself:
In case of entitlement, please refer to Han Xiao's reincarnation!
Thank you!
Unfortunately, I wasn't yet strong or influential enough to spend the day laughing at my own jokes in bed, so I quickly got up and put on a new pair of clothes.
Which, in our civilization, was considered a luxury.
You see, our skin was blue, but more importantly, smooth. That wasn't the only difference from humans, though. We regulated our body temperature through an internal organ, meaning we didn't sweat.
It was also quite hard for dirt or dust to stick to our smooth skin, which meant there was no such thing as a shower here. There were baths, but they were more of a luxury for relaxation.
All these factors contributed to our culture around clothing, which was usually only changed or cleaned once a week.
An interesting tidbit of galactic knowledge: most medium or larger-sized spaceships still came equipped with showers, simply because of the racial evolution that supers undergo.
As I was deep in thought, wondering how supers affected other civilizations, I pulled the lever that opened the semi-secret passage to my office, walked in, and sat down.
Knock
"Enter!" I called out, wondering who could have figured out that I had just woken up.
In walked my assistant, Verdalis—which, in hindsight, shouldn't have been a surprise.
"I have completed your task and am ready to report my findings on the department heads," he said.
"The meeting is scheduled for eight o'clock, so it will start in four hours," he continued, standing in front of my desk.
My right thumb wandered to the bottom right corner of my keyboard, where my fingerprint and DNA were scanned—totally painlessly. The result: a semi-transparent screen popped up about fifteen centimeters above my desk.
With a few further presses on the keyboard, I opened a notes app. Then, I looked at Verdalis again.
"Please start with your explanation," I stated, switching into my serious work demeanor.