"It's a Panaga snake, highly venomous and amphibious! We need to treat the poison now!" Galon immediately recognized the snake. He had spent some time learning about this world's common knowledge and had encountered this type of snake in his childhood in the countryside.
After speaking, Galon kicked a pebble towards the snake.
Snap!
The stone landed near the snake, startling it into quickly slithering away into the lake, leaving behind a faint ripple.
"How do we treat the poison?!" Enna, Fein's cousin and the only girl who wasn't bitten, was nearly in tears.
"First, rinse with water, then find some poplar leaves, chew them up, and apply it to the bite!" Galon shouted instructions.
In this moment of panic among both boys and girls, Galon's calmness as an adult became apparent. He directed the boys to find poplar leaves and the girls to clean the wound and squeeze out some of the poison. Soon, the bitten girl, though looking like she wanted to cry, managed to hold it in.
Phinestine stood up, fixing her somewhat disheveled hair and dress, and looked at Galon with a hint of surprise for his commanding presence. "I'll remember you helped my friend this time," she said calmly, steadying her companion.
"It was nothing," Galon shrugged, his mature mindset not dwelling on the incident, "Though, if you really want to thank me, I enjoy admiring ancient jewelry. If you have any, I'd love to see it..."
His gaze subtly fell on the blue-black cord around Phinestine's neck.
Earlier, when he had come close, his potential percentage had jumped by two points from 89% to 92%. This confirmed that Phinestine possessed a potent jewel, perhaps even more powerful than the black pearl.
"Jewelry?" Phinestine raised an eyebrow.
Fein joined in with a wry smile, explaining, "Galon loves admiring ancient jewelry. He wouldn't have come if I hadn't mentioned showing him our family heirlooms."
"Do you want to be a jewelry appraiser?" Phinestine asked, then thought for a moment and took off the black cord from her neck.
Everyone then noticed the pendant on the cord, a pale blue diamond-shaped crystal housing a small silver ring.
"This is an old piece I found, are you interested in this?" Phinestine handed the crystal to Galon.
Taking the crystal, Galon felt an intense heat surge from it into his fingers, causing his potential to skyrocket.
92%...98%...103%...132%...177%...181%!
The potential percentage finally stabilized at 181%.
"It's beautiful..." Galon barely concealed his excitement as he felt something within the crystal fade away without changing its appearance. He carefully handed it back, "It's a lovely piece. Could you share its story with me?"
Phinestine took it back, momentarily surprised. "You know about it?"
"What's the story? Does it have a significant history?" the others, finally relieving their anxiety from the snake bite, now crowded around, intrigued by the crystal's tale.
"It's called the Ring of Misfortune. It's said that its owners meet with various calamities, ultimately dying tragically. I don't believe it can cause death, though. I'm particularly interested in such items and bought it to test my luck. There are many fakes of the Ring of Misfortune, and mine might not be genuine either," Phinestine explained.
Galon nodded, linking this crystal to the stories behind the other jewels he had absorbed potential from. Only jewelry with a backstory seemed to hold potential.
"Weren't you scared it might be real?" "All its previous owners died tragically, is that true?" the two girls, now recovered, began to probe Phinestine for more about the crystal.
Having absorbed the potential, Galon wandered to the lake's edge, pretending to wash his hands and face.
"Having tested strength before and seen significant changes, which attribute should I enhance next?" He pondered over his attributes.
"Constitution is a weakness, but it, strength, and agility can be improved through training. Intelligence, however, is uncertain."
He focused on strength, intelligence, and constitution, considering specialization to maximize advantages. Suddenly, the swirling energy in his mind split into three, each flowing into a different attribute.
Galon felt a surge of tingling sensation spread throughout his body, quickly returning to normal.
He felt stronger, more solid, and his mind clearer. Topics he struggled with in his studies suddenly became understandable.
Adapting to the changes, Galon revisited his attributes: strength at 0.44, agility at 0.23, constitution at 0.31, and intelligence at 0.36, with potential at 81%.
The evenly distributed enhancement surprised him. "What uses does intelligence have?" He began to examine his condition more closely.
Saint Ying Academy focused on nurturing specialized talents. Even if one excelled in a single subject, it was enough, though Galon didn't plan to attend Saint Ying's university. That path was reserved for the truly privileged. For most students, achieving well-rounded excellence in all subjects was essential for admission into top universities.
Achieving well-rounded academic excellence was essential.
By night, within a modest neighborhood on the southern edge of Huai Shan City, Galon with his distinctive purple hair and red eyes was immersed in his studies under the soft glow of a pale yellow desk lamp. The delicate pages of a social history book flowed smoothly under his fingertips, a testament to its quality.
The distant toll of a bell tower echoed through the window, marking the hour in a solemn tone. Glancing outside, Galon noted the darkness enveloping the opposite buildings, void of any light: "Is it already midnight? Just in time, I've deciphered the effects of intelligence..."
The sound of a light switch echoed from his sister's room next door.
Rising from his desk, Galon reclined on his bed, hands cradling his head, pondering the day's revelations. "There's been a slight improvement in memory recall, clarity in logical analysis, and, most importantly, my ability for short-term analytical thinking has sped up... Even social history, my least favorite subject, has seen some foundational progress. If I were to categorize it in game terms, I've reached a basic level, with intermediate and advanced levels yet to master."
Just as this thought crossed his mind, the attribute display at the bottom of his vision flashed, revealing a new line of symbols. Galon was taken aback. "Damn... it can do that?" He sat up abruptly, speechless at the newly emerged symbols.
The soft red symbols clearly displayed at the bottom of his vision. Skill Mastery — (Social History: Basic. Prerequisite: Intelligence over 0.34.) Galon spent over ten minutes scrutinizing this line, ensuring its reality within his sight.
Like the other attributes, these symbols were small and could be easily overlooked if not for careful attention. Moreover, they would fade into a semi-invisible state when not actively observed, not hindering vision in the slightest.
And with the appearance of this new symbol, recalling the entirety of the social history course became effortless, with roughly eighty percent of the content readily accessible as if etched deep into his mind.
"Just a day's thorough reading and it's almost as if I have a photographic memory... This must be the advantage of adding points to intelligence. Different subjects likely require varying levels of intelligence, and mastery levels demand different intelligence thresholds."
Unable to sleep from excitement, Galon got up to pull out textbooks from all subjects to test this theory.
Half an hour later... "So, it seems one must read through an entire book to establish a mastery point. The former Galon managed to master only one subject, National Studies, in a year... and at the same basic level."
Galon exhaled in disbelief, considering the implications of the symbols now visible to him. Main Subjects: (Mathematics: Uninitiated), (National Studies: Basic), (Social History: Basic), (Foreign Language: Uninitiated), (Physics: Uninitiated).
Math, National Studies, History, Foreign Language, and Physics were the compulsory courses across all academies, essential for the national examination. Galon reflected on the comparative scores.
"Previously, National Studies scores fluctuated between 60 to 70 out of 100, defining the basic level. If consistent, my history scores should now align within this range, placing me among the lowest in class and grade."
"To secure a spot in a prestigious university through the national exam, based on Saint Ying's historical performance, one needs to rank within the top 100 among thousands. A feasible target."
"Considering the competition, achieving an average grade of 70 to 80 across main subjects would be the threshold for acceptance into top universities. Progress is inevitable, and if exams are straightforward, it boils down to who pays the closest attention."
Galon mulled over these insights. "If only Fein's family heirloom black crystal could absorb potential... just a bit more and I could level up again." Recalling the day at Bi Bo Lake, he felt a tinge of regret.