Once again, Victor found himself alone with his thoughts and contemplating a new goal.
"Evolution, huh? I need 400 shards total to reach the next rank. Miss Mallor said that it takes around 40 days for students to saturate their components." With a quick calculation of the check-in rewards multiplied by the time, he nodded, confirming his mentor's and his teachers' words.
With renewed determination, Victor decided he would train his ability for another hour before heading to sleep. He quickly set an alarm using his sim-pod programming to vibrate to release him from his ability core. An hour came and went as Victor managed to absorb his last remaining shard in his source component before he woke up once more.
Eventually Victor decided that he had had enough for today, and another night occurred where he lay down in his sim-pod, getting ready for a deep slumber. As he began to fall asleep, he remembered the grey liquid filling the pod from last night. He quickly opened his eyes, relieved to find that his sim-pod was not flooding this time.
'I was dreaming this time. I need to remember to ask my mentor about that silver liquid next time.' Victor took a mental note of this idea before he closed his eyes once more.
As various thoughts swirled in his head, he drifted partway between dream and sleep and then glimpsed a swirling black hole that was orbited by numerous metal shards and strange symbols before his consciousness faded.
Victor woke up the next day, checked his phone for notifications, and ensured he received his daily shards. Through these he learned of a new piece of information. There was an additional opportunity to earn shards. Although he already had classes mandatorily scheduled for the morning and afternoon, he also had the option to choose evening classes to learn another specialty and earn extra shards.
As Victor considered the various options available, he found it difficult to make a choice. He realized there were trial classes in the evening today, so he still had until tomorrow before classes started to make a decision.
Feeling the five shards enter his ability core, he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes to do some extra training before his morning class started. Once the alarm rang, we woke up, heading to the cafeteria for a late breakfast, eating as quickly as possible before rushing off to class and barely making it to class on time.
The class went smoothly, with Victor and his classmates learning a lot about outside cultures. Meanwhile, Doak and Kera had put up privacy screens and were doing their own self-study. Both of them had already lived in the outside world, so there wasn't much value for them to listen to these lectures. At least that was the logic of such a decision. However, knowing that all of them had come from the dregs of the planets, he wondered about their level of education.
Regardless, whether they were undergoing ability practice, studying their own chosen topics, or doing something else in the simulated world, Victor had no clue, and it wasn't like they would have told him even if he asked nicely.
At some point the lecture had stopped, and the class entered a free question period.
Maxwell, a guy in his class with blue hair, then asked some questions that made Victor's ears perk up. "What exactly makes up an ability promotion shard? I'm confused as to where they come from and how they are made."
Miss Mallor nodded before answering. "Not many know exactly what makes up each shard, but what we do know is that ability shards are a type of energy that is created as a byproduct of each game. That energy is specifically useful in upgrading the abilities you all possess. Although the production process of each shard is a mystery, it is said that each shard is created by the same person who also created the system..." The teacher paused as an expression of reverence crossed her face. "The God of Games."
The room was then filled with silent confusion. God of Games?
"Yes, many years ago, the God of Games blessed humans with wonderous abilites, created promotion shards to upgrade them and the system to manage its distribution. It is only because of these blessings that humanity has been able to rise to its current height."
Hearing this, a student couldn't help but interrupt, asking another question. "So humans didn't always have abilities? If not, then when did this change happen?"
Uncaring about the interruption, Miss Mallor patiently continued to explain. "Currently we are in Version 8.0 of the system. The God of Games has been the patron and protector of humanity since before we first traveled the stars, way back at the start of Version 1.0 when the first humans gained her blessing. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you exactly what it was like back then. Time has erased much knowledge from previous eras, particularly prior to Version 5.0.
"Currently our calendar is based off of the time passed since the 8th update has occurred. As you all know, it is the year 956 of the current calendar, so we are almost 1000 years into the Divergence Era. Each version marks a different era and a drastic change in how the system functions. For those of you who have an interest in history before the Velron Republic, I recommend taking the optional history classes available in the evening."
One curious student couldn't help but raise their hand. "Why did the God of Games provide us abilities?"
"It isn't exactly known why, but the powers granted to us have been pivotal in our development and reshaped our society in countless ways for the better." As Miss Mallor spoke, she couldn't help but reveal a sense of awe. "For the entirety of our history, the God of Games has always been there as the number one supporter of humanity."
It was then that Victor raised his hand. "Can you give me a more specific breakdown on how abilities work and how they interact with ability shards?"
As the topic shifted away from humanity's patron, the fervor in Miss Mallor's eyes died down before she reviewed what she had talked about the previous day. When she was done with the explanation, Victor got the impression she really didn't know that much beyond her previous explanation. The realization further elevated the value of his mentor in his mind. Still, Victor had some more questions.
"How are we able to tell how many free or attuned shards we have total?" Since Victor knew he was the only one able to see within an ability core, he started wondering how others were able to tell their shard value.
Miss Mallor nodded in understanding before she smoothly replied. "Check your [Ability] Function. There should be a breakdown of free shards, attuned shards, and how saturated each component is."
Following her advice, multiple students then opened their system view to check. As Victor examined the ability function further, he then found what he was looking for.
[White Shards: 5
First Component: 5
Second Component: 0
Attuned Shards: 0]
Given that Rufus had already extorted Victor out of 3 of his shards, Victor currently sat at an even 10. While most of the class was viewing the useful but ultimately sparse page in front of them, Victor was having his own thoughts.
'There appears to be no breakdown on the types of attuned shards carried. It seems for most people the responsibility would be up to them to keep track of their own gains.'
"Ma'am, let's say I got attuned shards from 100 different people. If I wanted to trade away 5 of my attuned shards, would I be able to know which shards I lose?"
His teacher shook her head. "If you lose a game with attuned shards on the line, the loss of shards is completely random. For trading, on the other hand, there is a little bit more leeway, although the transfer cannot occur directly through the system. Certain people with special abilities would be able to facilitate such a transfer, or it can be done through exclusive technology."
Victor couldn't help but frown. 'People with special abilities? So are there others like me who can affect shards? By the way people were reacting, I was under the impression that my abilities were unique but perhaps this isn't entirely the case.'
One last time Victor raised his hand to ask about something that had been weighing on him since yesterday. "Do you know anything about the grey liquid that appeared in our pods yesterday?"
Most of the class remained confused as to what he was talking about, but Victor stared intently at his teacher, paying close attention to her expression. For a moment an uncomfortable look crossed her face before she remembered something and composed her expression before answering.
"For those of you who don't know what he was talking about, on the day of your ability awakening, you were bathed in a special serum to facilitate the process. That serum is a key ingredient in awakening many of you safely, and that is specifically why all of you had to enter your sim-pods at such a strict time. Although it is rare, sometimes students will still be awake and panic seeing their sim fill with liquid. Thankfully, it is designed so you can breathe while submerged."
After giving that explanation, the teacher quickly ended the question period before giving the students free study time to go over class material or to practice with their abilities. While some people left class, Victor stayed to absorb more ability shards.
One question kept circling Victor's head as his consciousness entered his ability space.
'What was Miss Mallor was hiding about the grey liquid?'