"So, you guys also have to do missions in groups of 9?"
Flame asked us this question while stuffing his face full of food at the class cafeteria.
"Yes, and assuming that everyone is in groups of 9 we will have about 11 groups."
Jake put down his fork before continuing.
"However that still gives us only 99 participants"
Mad wolf groaned in annoyance at that.
"There is still no clue on who the extra 100th person is, is there?"
"None at all! I swear once I deal with Nagi over here, that fellow comes next"
Mary cracked her knuckles while glaring daggers at me.
"Oh dear, whatever will I do now? Looks like you have shifted focus from the guy in your test to me. How very fickle of you."
"Ha! I am pretty sure you are the same person. Even if you are not, I am sure you are an equally sinister and annoying person. Killing you will be doing this academy a service."
"That's not true at all! Hey, Raven back me up! Say something if I am sinister or annoying."
Raven "…"
I spread my hands outwards.
"See! She agrees with me."
"…"
"…"
Everyone on the table looked at Raven, back at me, then at her again.
Eventually, Flame couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"You must be the only one in our class who dares to make fun of the 'Ice Queen' like that"
I just shook my head in amusement at the moniker.
"No way. I have no idea why people would give her such a horrendous nickname. She is clearly just a little shy."
Raven "…"
"She totally agrees with me. Don't you Raven"
Raven "…"
Flame didn't seem that convinced though.
"I am pretty sure, she just wants you dead at this point. You can literally see the cold killing intent in her eyes as she stares at you. If gazes had temperatures, you would be a frozen popsicle by now."
"No way… Pfft. I think she just can't take her eyes off of me because of how handsome I look"
"Please shut up."
Raven finally decided to speak up.
Her voice was as spine-chillingly cold as ever.
The entire atmosphere seemed to freeze over as she opened her mouth.
However, I was too preoccupied to be bothered by that.
There was something way more important that had happened!
Three whole words!
Not one, not two, but three whole words.
This was the first time that I had seen her give a response that wasn't just a monosyllabic sound.
And she was so polite too!
She could have reduced the word count if she didn't say the word 'please'.
But she did!
How sweet of her!
Ahem!
I didn't say that out loud though, lest she tries killing me for real.
I tactfully decided to change the topic.
I can be nice like that.
"What will you be spending your points on, now that the Hero Points Store has been opened?"
Jake and Mary collectively groaned in the corner.
Meh, losers who didn't even get masks don't get to complain.
Of course, since they were faced against me, they had no choice but to lose.
That's not important though.
Mad wolf answered first.
He had gotten a lot friendlier as he kept on hanging around us. Turns out that he wasn't really a bad person at heart.
I can basically confirm that he probably used to be part of a criminal gang before coming here.
Despite not being the sharpest tool in the shed, he had animal-like instincts to make up for it.
"I am spending it all on talent-boosting pills, the highest level energy cultivation technique and time in the energy field room."
Nevermind. Instincts don't give you a sense of where to spend your money.
"What about you F-Lord"
"It's not… whatever."
Flame opened his mouth with indignation before sighing in frustration and shutting it again.
He had long since given up on correcting my usage of his name.
Experimenting with different ways to call him was one of the most enjoyable pastimes I had over the past 3 months.
In my defence, there weren't many means of entertainment in the academy.
Every possible luxury cost hero points.
Predictably, not a soul spent their points on them.
"You see I will be going to an elemental world next. So I will be buying a flame seed to increase my chances of awakening a fire-related element!"
Hmm, not really worth it, but that's kind of what I expected.
I turned to look at Raven and…
"Information."
Haha, Looks like she was a little more talkative today.
Information is one of the best options one could go for.
Stuff like talent did not matter. What mattered was completing the mission.
Trying to force getting a certain type of power wasn't a great idea either.
Information about the world you were going into was the best thing you could ask for.
Any resources that you could find in the mission world weren't worth spending Hero points on.
The key is to spend it on resources you can only find in the Hero academy.
At least that's what I managed to gain from the advice of my Conspiracy Weaver Instructor.
"What are ya spending your point on though?"
I smiled smugly before replying.
"The Seven Chakra Art."
". . ."
". . ."
"Wait! Are you talking about that overpriced harmony art that costs 90 points in the store!"
I nodded in affirmation.
"Yes."
"And that's only the price of the first part, you will need to buy the corresponding sections for each type of supernatural energy."
"I know"
"And each part is exponentially more expensive than the previous one."
"I am aware of that."
"And it's not just 5 like most harmony arts but 7 due to their being 7 chakras."
"I know how to count AbyssalFlameLord."
Harmony arts referred to techniques that specialized in connecting the various different centres of power and allowing different types of supernatural energy to work together seamlessly.
It didn't really have any use at the energy level, but once one got to the avatar and domain realms, having more than one power system without a harmony art to 'harmonize' them could prove to be … fatal.
After all, the opposing energy systems are more likely to react violently to each other and cause energy deviation than to obediently get along like friends.
Usually, one would only choose a Harmony art once they reached the avatar realm.
There was no need to spend points on it at the early levels.
Of course, the seven chakra system was different.
It was something that could only be learnt before one started strengthening their cores and officially started their cultivation journey.
Moreover, it was an incomplete technique.
There were only 5 types of supernatural energies within the multiverse of the world tree.
For the other two chakras, one would have to figure out what to fill in them by yourself.
"Are you that confident in yourself?"
"Yes, I am."
Flame stared silently into my eyes before sighing and looking away.
I was that confident in surviving throughout the entirety of the year and making it to the avatar realm.
After all, it was the long run that mattered.
What use was it to make it all the way to the 5th year but fail just before graduation?
Though not even all those that graduated chose the 7-chakra art.
However, everyone understood that it was the most superior harmony art to ever be created.
That is because once one is able to fuse all 7 chakras together, one will be able to give form to a new type of energy called 'shakti' which can be used with any type of power system freely.
In fact, the benefits would be even greater once one ascended to become transcendent.
Its true value was thus much higher than a measly 90 points.
The only reason I could even afford it was because it was subsidized.
The price increased with each purchase both in order to compensate for the subsidy and to dissuade all those that weren't confident enough to graduate as a transcendent while earning tons of points each mission.
I wasn't that confident though.
Believing that I will be able to reach the transcendent realm easily would just be overconfidence.
However, in the off chance that I do become one.
I would rather be the strongest rather than someone mediocre.
It was a gamble, that I was willing to take.
A snake is not only cruel to his enemies, but also to himself.
I had basically doomed myself to death if I didn't manage to score as many points as possible to keep up with the expenditure of this crazy art.
I wasn't afraid though.
No.
I was excited.
Looking at the smug grin on my face, everyone had different reactions.
Mary looked frustrated that she didn't even have the opportunity to make such a choice.
Jake seemed to look at me with a little respect in his eyes once he understood the implications of my decision.
MadWolf just laughed before smacking my back saying that a man should follow his dreams.
Flame narrowed his eyes as he stared at me before seemingly cursing at me within his heart for being able to act edgier than he was.
Raven… was the only one whose emotions I still couldn't read perfectly.
Even after developing my face reading skills to inhuman levels in the conspiracy weaver class, the students of the academy were all tough nuts to crack.
All I could tell was that she was staring at me intensely while thinking about something in her heart.
Flame finally cut in and broke the awkward atmosphere.
"Well not all of us are as crazy as you, but since we are all friends. I wish you the best of luck in surviving the upcoming mission and earning all the points that you need!"
I also smiled back.
"Of course, I wish the same to everyone here as well. No promises if we end up meeting inside though."
Everyone laughed at that.
Even though we all seemed like close friends on the surface we were fundamentally different from the other alliances formed within our class.
We would spare no effort in killing each other if we were to get a chance.
Don't be fooled by Flame's cheerful demeanour.
At this point, I was certain that the fellow was as much of a scheming bitch as I was.
Not a soul mentioned which type of world they were going to, but this bitch had managed to casually reveal that he was going to an elemental-type world and gauge everyone's reactions.
I also understood why he felt the way he did about me choosing the seven-chakra art.
People of our disposition would usually never take such an outlandish gamble.
As far as investments go, the seven chakra art would cost me more than the returns it gave me.
In fact I might have not chosen it if it weren't for my conspiracy weaver instructor threatening that he would never teach me again if I didn't choose that art.
There was no way I would ever tell that to a living soul though.
The truth would always be that I was a total badass, and that's why I chose it.