Feeling the surge and subsequent calming of magic essence from Jiang Lin, Director Wills's brow twitched.
He had almost forgotten that this paladin in front of him had been only level 4 until recently.
The physical fitness and mental power the boy had displayed were simply not at a level a normal level 4 paladin should possess.
He was practically a humanoid demonic beast of the elite or commander level.
However, Wills didn't feel it was his place to ask too many questions. According to the information he had gathered, Jiang Lin claimed he had been accumulating his strength in silence and had recently decided to stop hiding his true power. Whether that was true remained unclear, but it was obvious Jiang Lin didn't intend to offer much of an explanation for his rapid progress.
Furthermore, the boy had already undergone the scrutiny of the righteous god, and being of the paladin class, it was impossible for him to have joined a secret cult or anything of the sort.
"Not bad. You've leveled up again. This speed is quite startling."
Only five days had passed since the last time he had leveled up.
While this pace was exaggerated, it was still within the realm of acceptance.
Such geniuses did exist; Boulder City produced one or two every ten years or so.
However, geniuses like that were destined not to stay in a small place like Boulder City for long.
Many of them wouldn't even finish their first year before reaching level 10. After completing the divine trial to break through their level limit, they would head to a Middle Magic Academy or a High Magic Academy to further their studies and learn various magic and combat disciplines.
Consequently, their ties with people like Wills wouldn't be very deep.
Yet, while those geniuses possessed high talent, their level of effort was far inferior to Jiang Lin's.
Jiang Lin was likely the first person in the history of Boulder City capable of going without sleep for over ten days and even influencing others to join him in his all-nighters.
Jiang Lin opened his eyes and spoke in a matter-of-fact tone:
"It's just my daily routine. After all, the promotion speed of a genius is always a bit different from the norm."
As he spoke, Jiang Lin noticed the aged-looking skill book in Director Wills's hand.
He cleared his throat and changed his tone.
"Ahem, Director Wills, has the pressure eased up a bit lately?"
Wills sized Jiang Lin up and said irritably:
"The pressure hasn't lessened, but I've received news from the other two academies. I believe the pressure will subside before long."
Jiang Lin nodded.
"Congratulations, Director Wills. Now, I recall you mentioned earlier..."
"Here, take it. Return it once you've learned it."
With that, Director Wills handed the high-tier skill book to Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin glanced at the name of the skill.
【Iron Wall Barrier】
It turned out to be a defensive combat technique.
Although the name suggested it wasn't the light-attribute shield he was familiar with, he could still learn it.
Jiang Lin had looked up the previous 【Ring of Holy Healing】 skill book; it seemed to be a common high-tier skill with a relatively simple manufacturing process. Its price was on the cheaper side for high-tier skills, which was why Director Wills could grandly give it to him for keeps.
This book was clearly different.
A few hundred gold coins was no small sum, so it could only be lent to him.
As for the director's previous promise to give him a spatial ring in his own name if Jiang Lin made the top ten, Jiang Lin figured the man would likely draw from the school's inventory and find a way to gift it to him.
"Hahaha, then thank you, Director Wills."
Jiang Lin tucked the skill away with a smile and said politely:
"It's about that time, and I'm heading out for dinner. Would you like to join me, Director Wills? My treat."
To Jiang Lin's surprise, Director Wills actually agreed.
"Sure. We can talk about your future schooling while we're at it."
Ten minutes later.
Looking at the clear soup and watery greens in front of him, Wills fell silent for a moment.
"Is this what you usually eat?"
Jiang Lin shook his head.
"I don't usually come out to eat. I generally just eat dry rations in the classroom."
Wills remained silent.
"Forget it, this meal is on me. Boss, bring a few more dishes! This one... and this one..."
Soon, Jiang Lin's eyes lit up as he looked at the four dishes and one soup set before him.
I've got another meal, brothers!
Wills felt a strange sense of emotion as he watched his school's top student eat like this.
Thinking of his own nephew who never wanted for food or clothing, he decided to give the boy a piece of his mind next time he went back.
"Little Lin, I'll cover your meals for the next few days. Order whatever you want and come to me for reimbursement. Just don't make it too ridiculous."
As a grade director of a magic academy, Wills's salary was more than enough to sponsor a student's meals.
Seeing how loyal and righteous Director Wills was, Jiang Lin was genuinely moved.
"Thank you so much, Director Wills! By the way, Director, do you have any interest in the headmaster position?"
Hearing this, Wills almost spat out the soup he had just sipped.
"Cough, cough! Don't talk about that. I'm very satisfied with my current position."
After calming his emotions, he got down to business.
"Little Lin, what are your plans for your future education?"
Jiang Lin stroked his chin.
"Take the Junior Adventurer Exam, and then use my results to apply for the Middle Magic Academy entrance exams. It would be best if I could get into Saint Brilliance Middle Magic Academy. If not, finding a local Middle Magic Academy in Boulder City is also an option."
Wills nodded.
"Normally, that would be the case.
"However, given your current promotion speed, I expect you'll reach level 9 before long, right?"
Jiang Lin nodded. "That's right. Reaching level 10 by next month won't be an issue."
"Then do you know that if you break through to level 10, you can no longer participate in the Junior Adventurer Exam?"
Jiang Lin was visibly stunned.
He truly didn't know that.
There was no helping it; this world lacked mobile phones, and means of communication were scarce. At the level he had been at previously, no one would have told him such things.
It was like not bothering to remind a student who couldn't even get into high school that, besides raw scores, there were also competitions and special talent programs available for those aiming for top universities.
"Then if I break through to level 10 at a junior magic academy, how am I supposed to get into a middle magic academy?"
Jiang Lin voiced his confusion.
"That's what I wanted to tell you. You can participate in the special recruitment for various middle or high magic academies.
"Each school has different assessment methods and content. Some schools with lower requirements only need you to reach level 10 for admission, but others require a proper assessment."
Jiang Lin nodded thoughtfully.
"Of course, you could also choose to suppress your level and wait until after the exam to break through, just like the top students in most schools do now.
"For example, students like Anya and Zach could have already broken through to level 10. However, they either chose to play it safe or followed their families' arrangements to slow down their cultivation speed once they reached level 9, spending more time on improving their skills, physical fitness, and mental power.
"But these past few days, they've likely been stimulated by you and have started raising their levels again. They probably intend to break through immediately after the exam is finished."
Jiang Lin pondered for a moment and asked curiously:
"Are there any in our grade who broke through to level 10 early?"
Wills nodded.
"Of course. But even after breaking through to level 10, they didn't become the grade's number one, and they left the school shortly after via special recruitment. So, only the students in the elite class and their friends in other classes know about them."
Jiang Lin fell into silence.
"Will you choose to suppress your level? If you break through early, the opponents you'll face will likely be other, even more powerful competitors. Furthermore, you might fail to get into the schools you could have reached through normal exams due to an unstable foundation," Wills asked.
However, Jiang Lin shook his head.
"I am already number one. After breaking through to level 10, I'll still be number one, and a stronger number one at that. Why would I shy away from their brilliance?"
Having received Jiang Lin's answer, Wills stopped trying to persuade him.
"Eat up. Come on, eat more. You're still growing; you can't just eat dry rations."
Jiang Lin asked curiously, however:
"But why can't those who break through level 10 participate in the Junior Adventurer Exam?"
Wills replied:
"Because an adventurer who has broken through to become a 1st-rank adventurer is on a completely different level compared to those who haven't. It's a total stomp; there's simply no comparison. If they weren't separated, there would be no way to compete.
"Once you reach level 10, you can accept a breakthrough quest. After releasing the shackles and completing the transformation of your life level, even if you haven't reached level 11, you are already considered a 1st-rank adventurer. At that point, you can use more powerful breathing techniques, and the speed at which your physical fitness and mental power improve will be countless times faster than before."
Jiang Lin asked in confusion again:
"Then why not just take the students who broke through to level 10 and group them together for a separate exam?"
Wills took a sip of soup.
"There are many reasons and considerations. Primarily, the Temple actually hopes you will accumulate more strength and solidify your foundation rather than just raising your level, physical stats, and mental power. Otherwise, you might become a loser who has high stats but no actual combat power, making it difficult to progress further in the future.
"So, those who break through early are either looking for a shortcut or are absolute monstrous geniuses."
Jiang Lin nodded.
"I see. Then I must be the latter."
Wills glanced at Jiang Lin but didn't speak, continuing to eat in silence.
Seeing that the director was just eating, Jiang Lin followed suit.
After finishing dinner, Jiang Lin looked at his remaining 25 uses of 【Random Skill Upgrade】 and lamented that this reward, which had seemed like a lot, was actually being used up so quickly.
It seemed he still had to find a way to pick fights with people.
After thinking it over, Jiang Lin decided to head to the Temple library to see if there were any skills he could exchange for, and while he was there, return the mid-level and high-level strengthening technique skill books.
Upon arriving at the Temple, most of the staff had already clocked out, with only a few still on duty.
After explaining his purpose, Jiang Lin was led to a room.
"Non-authorized personnel are not allowed to enter the library, so you can look through the list here to see which skill books you'd like to borrow. This contains the names of the skill books available to you."
A staff member walked over and handed a small booklet to Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin thanked him and began to flip through it.
After reading through the whole thing, his gaze landed on several high-tier skills.
【Super-speed Thinking】, 【Light-speed Dash】, 【Shield of Divine Grace】, 【Chains of Holy Judgment】, 【Arrow of Aurora】.
These skills all looked excellent.
They corresponded to perception, displacement, defense, control, and long-range capabilities respectively.
Jiang Lin wore a conflicted expression.
He was still too poor.
As for defense, the skill Director Wills gave him could suffice for now. For long-range, he could make do with his sword qi. His 35 borrowing points could be spent on the other three areas.
Jiang Lin thought to himself.
He then stood up, planning to come back later to exchange them. He would first learn the 【Iron Wall Barrier】 Wills had given him and see its effects before deciding whether to learn 【Shield of Divine Grace】.
Returning to the classroom, Jiang Lin happily completed a trade with Little Black and began learning the high-tier skill 【Iron Wall Barrier】.
Soon, several hours passed, and Jiang Lin successfully learned his first defensive high-tier skill.
Then, he immediately raised it to the max level.
【Iron Wall Barrier (uninitiated) → (superlative)】
With a single thought, intricate magic circuits appeared within his body, and a faint barrier of magic essence formed a spherical shield centered on him.
A holy light longsword appeared in his hand. Jiang Lin tested it and found that his own weapons and attacks could pass through without any obstruction, while any attack from others would be blocked.
Jiang Lin found a classmate from the All-Nighter Group who was also practicing skills at the martial arts field.
"Come, hit me."
The classmate was initially a bit annoyed at being interrupted, but his eyes instantly lit up when he saw it was Jiang Lin.
"Really?!"
Jiang Lin was suspicious. Why did this guy look so excited?
Then, the other student hurled several skills at Jiang Lin.
The skills struck the shield, causing a slight ripple, but the fluctuations quickly vanished without breaking it.
Jiang Lin also quickly channeled magic essence to repair the shield.
The student, seeing that even his strongest attacks couldn't break the defense, left in disappointment.
It was roughly at the defensive level of a normal high-tier defensive skill.
Since his proficiency was high, the activation and repair speeds were a bit faster than the students he had encountered before.
Overall, it was fairly standard.
However, if he added a 【Shield of Divine Grace】, he should be able to alternate between the two shields. If one broke, another would be there to take its place.
With this in mind, Jiang Lin decided to reserve one slot for 【Shield of Divine Grace】.
If he had to make a choice, he would swap out the control-type 【Chains of Holy Judgment】.
The borrowing points from the Temple library could apparently be obtained through means other than special events, such as destroying secret cult dens, hunting cultists, or capturing cultists alive.
If he could find a gathering point for cultists and ensure his own safety, he could try hunting them.
He would leave finding the cultists to Little Black, since it was so sensitive to the aura of the evil god.
Now, Jiang Lin wanted to find the training method for 【Basic Archery】 to add another long-range attack method to his arsenal.
While holy light sword qi had a range of over a hundred meters, its flight speed, distance, and trajectory could hardly be called excellent for a long-range attack.
Regardless, for him, as long as he could become initiated, he wouldn't need to spend any more time on subsequent skill upgrades.
As a no-rank skill, 【Basic Archery】 had relevant books available for study in the school library, and they could be borrowed for free.
He would first stack his level along with these types of skills and stats, and then head out to hunt cultists.
Rate on N.U.
