I hummed in satisfaction as I strolled through the streets, eventually reaching the gambling house.
The exam went pretty much as easily as I expected.
Every single question was easy, and I answered all 500 in less than 2 hours. The instructors didn't know what to say, and they probably thought I had just given up.
Today was Sunday, so I would get my score tomorrow right before the start of the practical exam.
Until then, I decided to catch up with Evelyn.
When I walked into the gambling house and went up the stairs to Evelyn's office, I knocked twice and then opened the door, spotting Evelyn sitting on her couch with 50 bars of platinum plopped down on the table.
I tried to hide my surprise, but...
1 bar of platinum was 1,000 gold coins. If she had 50 platinum bars... yeah. She's rich.
"Amon." She called out with a smile. "I'm glad you made it back in time. Did the exam go well?"
"It did," I replied plainly, sitting down right next to her.
"About your coach driver..." I trailed off, glancing her in the eyes. "He was killed by a lesser vampire. Sorry for not being able to help him."
She shook her head.
"Forget it. I should've sent someone more capable to escort you."
With that confirmation, Evelyn and I did some small talk.
The wolf fur was the hottest thing on the market. Unlike in the past when nobles got their grimy hands on the fur, since Evelyn was the sole person with the supply, she upped the prices by a lot.
For commoners, the fur cost anywhere between 5 copper to 1 silver.
And for nobles... she didn't hold back.
On the low end, wolf fur cost 25 gold coins. A duke had bought wolf fur in bulk, and apparently he paid close to 15,000 gold coins.
I knew for a fact that I made the right choice giving her this information since she always acted fair.
"You know, you seem a little different than two months ago." Evelyn scooted closer. "It's almost like I'm talking to a whole different person, you know?"
"..."
"I'm kidding~"
She stood up and twirled around on her heel.
"Honestly, if not for you, I wouldn't have gotten so much money. I appreciate it, and to show that appreciation..."
To my surprise, she suddenly pushed all 50 of the platinum bars toward me.
"There'll be plenty more where that came from, but..." She approached me again. "Are you sure you don't want to invest into anything? With your future knowledge, I—"
"I will," I cut her off. "The thing I'm looking for is just not on the market yet. It will be in a couple of months."
Of course, I went ahead and stored all those 50 platinum bars straight into my dimensional ring.
In a couple of months, one of the heroines was going to start her own alchemy shop.
No one had faith in her except the main character who gave his entire fortune to her.
Was it stupid? Well, yeah. Though the main character was a dumbass anyway.
Even so, his gamble paid off a thousand fold.
And instead of him, I will be the one to invest this time around.
Evelyn and I chatted a bit more about the gem mines, my profit share, and when we were done, I saw myself out.
I was glad she was this easy to talk to.
But that just meant if I wanted her to survive the main story, I would need to start giving her some more valuable information.
After all, while she was strong, she was still only a Grade 12, which would be around level 120.
A Future Academy instructor's average Grade was 8 or 9, so she was just slightly higher.
But she was nowhere near the powerhouses that were in the upper Grades, capable of destroying continents in a single attack.
As I was on my way to my home, I suddenly stopped, remembering something crucial.
During the theoretical exam week, the main character spent all his time training near the slums.
Apparently, it was his way of tempering his mind and body.
Back then, and even now, I couldn't understand it.
I couldn't help my curiosity.
I wanted to see the person I played as for 10 years straight, just this time as his own person, not me controlling him.
With that thought in mind, I navigated through the city and eventually reached a training area beside the slums.
It was the only one that dared to be this close, and it accepted people from both the slums and the actual city.
Today, it was fairly empty.
I could only see 10 or so people, and among them was the main character, Kevin Lacrosse.
His dark blue hair was dirty, but his golden eyes were brimming with determination.
He swung his sword over and over again, and for a few moments, I just watched.
He did seem the same as when I played the game.
The only difference was probably the look in his eyes?
It was hard to tell.
I approached the wooden weapon stand and grabbed myself a random sword. After swinging it around and getting comfortable, I walked up to Kevin, stopping in front of him.
What was I doing?
I should just leave him alone and let him get stronger all by himself.
And yet, I felt like I couldn't help my curiosity.
Just how strong was the main character now?
Was I stronger?
As those thoughts floated in my mind, I cleared my throat, getting Kevin's attention.
"Do you want to spar?"
Kevin stopped his training and stared back at me, confused.
"Sure...? Are we using our gifts?"
I shook my head.
"Just plain swordsmanship. First to disarm or get a solid hit on the other wins. How does that sound?"
He just shrugged and entered a fighting stance.
I recognized it immediately.
All the moves, all the forms, and even how much power he could get out of a single attack.
But I wasn't someone who could learn a game character's swordsmanship just because I saw it through the phone.
Grabbing the wooden sword with both hands, I straightened my back and fixed my posture.
Seeing the main character run around killing demigods with his sword got my heart pumping. Because of that, I had signed signed up for kendo class.
And for the last 6 years, I had become someone who could perform kendo at the highest level, even surpassing masters who've trained for decades.
The only reason I never went beyond that was because of my heart condition.
But now... I could finally put my kendo practice to good use.
I took out a single gold coin from my dimensional ring, and after showing it to Kevin, I tossed it upward.
The coin felt like it was in the air longer than it should've been.
But once it finally clanked onto the ground, we both kicked off the ground, charging at each other.