Chapter 13: A Scarily Accurate Guess
The Mirror Dimension started to crack after losing its creator, which had to be one of the assassins. The sub-dimension shattered, and Emily and Isaac returned to their world.
Isaac was still within the classroom, seated on the chair.
He groaned, the pain from his injuries hitting him full force now that the adrenaline had worn off.
"Emily, get back in the pendant," he said, his voice strained.
She obeyed, and disappeared into the pendant as Isaac dragged himself toward the door.
The hallway outside was chaos. Students ran in every direction, their shouts echoing off the walls. The smell of blood filled the air, mingling with the acrid scent of something burnt.
"Isaac!" Peter's voice cut through the noise. The big guy ran toward him. His face was pale with worry. "Did those guys get to you too? Damn it, I shouldn't have left you alone. My bodyguards could've protected you."
"It's okay. I'm fine."
"Fine!? How do you think you are fine—"
Peter's words were cut off when something crashed into the ground nearby, sending a shockwave through the air.
Dust and debris filled the hallway as Professor Lorrain stepped out of the newly created crater, leaving behind a corpse covered in countless sword slashes.
Her clothes were pristine despite the chaos.
She pressed a finger to her earpiece, and spoke in a calm tone.
"I have eliminated the leader of Assassins, and don't sense any more signs of foreign life inside the academy. All of the assassins have been taken care of. Yes, do not worry, no student died."
After finishing the brief report, she turned to Isaac and Peter.
"Good job surviving the assassinations."
"It's all thanks to you, Professor. If you hadn't protected us from those dozens of assassins in the cafeteria, I don't think we would've survived," Peter said in a voice filled with gratitude.
Peter knew he was weak. He might've awakened a powerful Talent, but he had yet to level up. He was no different from a regular human.
"Same to you, Isaac. I'm glad you are alive," Professor Lorrain said with a mysterious smile.
Isaac didn't respond. He knew she would soon question him, and try to figure out how he'd survived the assassins.
She took out red pills from her coat's inner pocket and gave them to Isaac.
"They are healing pills. Eat them."
Isaac nodded and gulped one of them.
A soothing energy started to flow inside his body, slowly but surely repairing his injuries.
The city guards and Guardians arrived. They took care of the corpses, brought healers to treat the injuries of the students, and investigated the students at the same time.
Isaac was given a personal room to recuperate.
His injuries had been healed completely after an Adept-rank Healer cast a spell on him.
"This fight taught me quite a lot. Even if I have combat skills, I need something to heal my injuries, and I need to have antitodes for basic poisons at the minimum."
Isaac held his chin.
"I can grow a plant with healing properties and then use my skill Reaper's Bounty to create a healing potion from it."
While Isaac lay on the bed, he opened Emily's Status Screen.
Name: Emily Warren
Title: None
Species: Netherborn Phantom Empress
Talent: Spirit Conductor
Rank: Initiate, Lv. 9 → Initiate, Lv. 10 (Share)
Stats (Share):
Strength: 22 → 23
Agility: 40 → 41
Constitution: 26 → 27
Spirit Power: 45 → 46
Mana: 60 → 61
Skills (Share):
Spectral Claws (SSS rank) – Can extend razor-sharp spectral claws that ignore physical armor.
Life Drain (A rank) – Drains vitality from the target, restoring Emily's energy.
Phantom Step (SSS rank) – Moves through physical objects and attacks by phasing between realms.
Demonic Eyes (S rank) – Allows Emily to see souls, illusions, and weak points in enemy defenses.
Phantom Parade (SSS rank) – Allows Emily to summon three ghost-type spirits.
Emily had reached Level 10 after the battle. Since they had fought Adept-rank Awakeners while being Initiate rank themselves and used their skills quite a lot, it brought plenty of experience points.
Isaac grinned and spoke in his mind,
'Share Emily's experience points!'
[Sharing experience points.]
[You have leveled up x1.]
[All Stats +1.]
Name: Isaac Hargraves
Title: None
Talent: Genesis Farmer
Rank: Initiate, Lv. 9 → Initiate, Lv. 10
Stats:
Strength: 39 → 40
Agility: 58 → 59
Constitution: 33 → 34
Spirit Power: 64 → 65
Mana: 69 → 70
Skills:
Spectral Claws (SSS rank) – Can extend razor-sharp spectral claws that ignore physical armor.
Life Drain (A rank) – Drains vitality from the target, restoring your energy.
Phantom Step (SSS rank) – Moves through physical objects and attacks by phasing between realms.
Demonic Eyes (S rank) – Allows you to see souls, illusions, and weak points in enemy defenses.
Seed of Providence (SSS rank) - Can instantly germinate a seed and make it sprout.
Reaper's Bounty (SSS rank) - The user can extract hidden properties from plants, turning them into potent potions, tonics, or alchemical ingredients.
Phantom Parade (SSS rank) – Allows the user to summon three ghost-type spirits.
Isaac's grin widened as he felt the surge of power. The feeling of getting stronger was addictive.
He looked over the status and spoke again,
'Share the stats!'
Strength: 40 → 41
Agility: 59 → 60
Constitution: 34 → 35
Spirit Power: 65 → 66
Mana: 70 → 71
He could share all new stats Emily gained from leveling up along with her experience points.
It allowed him to gain thrice the stats from each level compared to other Awakeners!
[User has reached the level cap.]
[Complete a Class Advancement Quest to continue leveling up.]
Isaac was pondering about the Quest issue when the door opened, and Professor Lorraine entered.
She sat on the chair next to him and checked his pulse.
"How did you defeat the assassins?" she asked, not beating around the bush.
When Isaac remained silent, she flicked his forearm with force.
"That's quite the defense you've got," she said.
It took Isaac a moment to realize she had hit him to check how high his Constitution stat was. She did it so casually that Isaac was late to react.
"It's around Lv. 10 Initiate, but I think you can take more? Let me try again—"
Isaac pulled his hand back before she could flick his forearm again.
Awakeners' skin was normally soft and no different from normal people. However, when attacked, it would act as a defensive shield.
The strength of the shield depended on the Constitution stat.
Isaac's lowest stat was his Constitution. A measly 35.
It was low compared to his other stats, but in reality, it very high. Only Adept-rank Awakeners could have a stat as high as 35.
"If you aren't going to talk, let me guess what happened. You somehow are able to bring Emily everywhere you go. She was with you when the assassins attacked, and she saved you."
Isaac's heart tightened when he saw Professor Lorraine's smile.
She seemed to be sure of her guess.
"But," Professor Lorraine continued, "that doesn't explain how you are so strong. Level 8, or Level 9, maybe even Level 10? It's too high for someone who awakened only today."
Isaac remained silent. He knew whatever excuse he would give would only backfire.
The best option was to wait for the university scouts. They had reached the academy and would be coming to meet him anytime now.
He could escape Professor Lorraine's reach if he was with them.
"The only way to explain your high level is that you made a Party with Emily, and she transferred all experience points she gained after killing the dozen or so Adept-rank assassins. What do you think of my theory, Isaac?"
"....Sounds far-fetched to me. Emily is a ghost. Ghosts are monsters, and they cannot join a Party."
"They can, Isaac. If a half-human, half-monster awakens a Talent, they can form or join a Party with no restriction. To be honest though, this is quite surprising. I never knew Emily was a human-ghost hybrid.
"As for her Talent, it has to be S-rank at the minimum," Professor Lorraine said. "There were no corpses where you fought the assassins.
"Only S-rank and higher Drain skills can do that. If Emily had an S-rank skill before awakening her Talent, then her Talent is S-rank, and possibly even higher."
Isaac felt cold sweat drip down his back.
Some of her guesses were wrong, but most were quite accurate.