Zero PotentialL Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 3

This was not Terra’s first time going through the whole campus matriculation process. While this was her first time only being handed the minimum of gear, due to her low potential rating, this was not a concern. Instead, Terra used this as a hard and fast guide on how to live economically.

When getting her supplies, she cut through the lines and did her procurements in reverse order, grabbing enchanting and writing materials, before her one school uniform. The reason for this was simple, as she was expected to maintain this one uniform and keep it in perfect condition throughout her time here. While she could later go out and buy more clothes, their prices would be double of the introductory rate she was receiving today, something that with a ten percent interest rate would financially bankrupt her. Furthermore, a lot of the meaner upper classmen made it a game to ruin the clothing of initiates by spilling dye or dirt onto clothing first procured by the students. In fact, a lot of the upper classmen had a pool going on what they would do if any student came out with a clean set of clothing.

Normally, Terra would be fine with the display, as most of the time she would be granted five uniforms to begin the school year, one for each school day. But now that she was the lowest of the low, she had to keep better care of her garments, which was why the first thing she did upon acquiring the clothing was to quickly inscribe protection runes on the garments.

Rune Applied: Repair (Exceptional)

Rune Applied: Cleanse (Exceptional)

Rune Applied: Comfort (Greater)

Rune Applied: Fragrant Scent – Vanilla- (Channeled)

Those were the four runes she applied to each and every piece of clothing and equipment she received. Her mentality for using such powerful runes and crafts on her clothing was that she needed to make sure these clothes lasted the full year. As many instructors would make it a personal goal to kick out as many students who came in with worn or bedraggled uniforms. Also, the comfort rune was added because it was apparent from a glance that the materials used in her uniform were not those used in the uniforms those with higher potentials had. This was both good and bad, good in that this meant that the materials used were likely sturdier and more able to survive longer, bad in that the sturdier material felt like you were rubbing sandpaper against your body. That was why she went with just a greater rune for comfort, as that should be enough to alleviate any discomfort her body might feel. While she did have a higher Endurance than most, that didn’t mean that she was impervious to being distracted from random itches caused by coarse clothing rubbing against her skin at bad times. With Terra applying the runes on her clothing at this stage, she essentially locked in their current condition as the baseline. The reason for the scent was simple, sometimes professors would also kick out students who did not bathe in perfumes. For that, she chose the ability to channel mana into a rune that would produce a nice fragrant smell that would cover up any pungent odors that might be around her.

Since Terra didn’t have any skills acknowledged by the system, as she had not unlocked the basic tiers by being observed by a master or higher in any skill, she had to conduct the enchantment with the full force of her energy. This meant that her enchanting was exceptionally draining, going so far as to nearly cause her to run out of mana during the process. Fortunately, since Terra was only given one set of clothing to perform this process too, she managed to do so easily, even going so far as to have some energy ready, just in case once she left the clothing supply place.

Finally, she made her way to the bookstore, where she was offered three books to take out. By the time she got to the store, all the basic level course books had already been taken. This left either the older tomes that had been well worn with age but would still cost repair fees if returned in that same state or slightly worse, or she would have to take some of the harder books.

With nothing left to do, she gathered three books that all but sparkled with magical energy to her senses. These were the magical texts that the school left behind as a way to reward curious students, as these were automatic skill books.

While it was unfair that Terra knew exactly which three books were automatic skill books, she had waited until after every other student had gone through and left for the day. Meaning that these books would have gone unclaimed for another year if she just left them. In fact, that was how she first became aware of them, on her third time through, on her third year, she began to finally break through to the B rank for Perception. Her high Perception along with her Awareness skill provided by Master Chan, made it so the books all but screamed out to her. Now that her Perception was at A+ / A+ rating, or maxed out and nearly perfect, she could almost feel the magical energies from the books even without Master Chan’s help.

Taking the three books, and placing them neatly onto the check out counter, the old shop keeper paused and then looked at the books, then at Terra.

Terra could see the thoughts pouring through the man’s mind, as he clearly knew what those books were.

“Let me see your tablet.” He said.

At that, Terra held out her charge tablet.

The man paused, as he looked at the tablet, then back to Terra. “You are F rank.”

Terra nodded, not wanting to truly argue with the fact that the reading only noted her growth potential and not her overall capabilities but went with it.

“You can’t get all three books.” He said, “you are only allotted two.”

Hearing that Terra paused, and momentarily thought about returning one of the precious tomes.

There were a total of five times in the Bookstore, all of which granted initial skill rankings.

The three she gathered were:

Meditation

Basic Energy Circulation

And Basic Cultivation

Realizing there wasn’t one book she would want to get rid of from the batch she asked, “I can still charge the extra book, right?”

“Well yeah, you can…” the clerk began.

“One second then.” Terra said, as she had already broken the threshold and had already committed herself to spending money on one of these books. Realizing that was the case, she figured if she was paying for one, she might as well pay for the others as well. With her mind made up, she quickly darted between the different rows of the shelves grabbing two more books that glowed to her senses.

Finding the last two books as well, she handed them over to be charged to her account.

These were two other books that also glowed with automatic skill knowledge.

“Since we are already charging for one, might as well make it these two as well.” Terra said, adding the last two books to her stack.

These two books conferred the automatic skill use for Unarmed Combat, and Blind Fighting. These last two skills were taught by Master Chen as part of his basics that all students must go through, which was why she often avoided them. Especially as they would normally cost her money. But now that she was already on the hook for renting one book.

Seeing the stack of all five rare and enchanted skill books just sitting there, the shopkeeper paused.

“I can’t do this.” The shopkeeper said, “you need to choose other books. Not these.”

At that Terra just paused and stared at the man. Then channeling a bit of her aura, she focused her will directly at the store clerk. “You can, and you will.”

The clerk opened their mouth to protest, but paused as they suddenly felt an intense weight of killing intent focused directly at them. This was not to say that Terra wished to kill the man, but rather she let out the aura that battling against the being of ultimate evil hundreds and thousands of times and losing could only develop. At times like this, Terra often found that letting out her aura was tantamount to her laying down an official challenge. This time, just like most times, the person she was matching her will against was far unprepared to deal with her full attention. “You see, I am neither overdrawn on my accounts, nor do I have any negative markings or holds made to my account. Meaning that today I am allowed to buy supplies. This is the end of the day, every student for all three grade levels have come through purchased their supplies and left behind the books they thought would be useless to their studies. That is why I am picking these books, now.”

A slight pause, “you are just a first year, these books have nothing to do with your classes.” The clerk protested.

Shaking her head, Terra spoke again, “all these books around you, and you have failed to comprehend a fraction of their value. No wonder you are behind a desk than out in the field.”

At that comment the clerk got visibly angry. “Just for that I refuse to sell to trash like you.”

Hearing that, the hostilities became clear, despite her being accepted, she was listed as F ranked trash. Realizing her first option of purchasing the books was off the table, she decided to go another route instead.

“Now take your trash tablet, and be gone from my store, before I charge you with a monetary demerit.” The Clerk said.

That threat might normally be enough to get most F rank students like her in line, as the last thing one like her wanted was another charge to pay off. This however had the exact opposite reaction to Terra, as she felt a momentary surge of anger welling up inside her. How dare this man, who had been a good man throughout all her past lifetimes be such a jerk this time, denying her selections just because of her status.

Focusing her mind, she began casting a spell before she even realized what she was doing.

With her left thumb out, and her middle and pointer finger held up together, she made the quick hand gesture for time magic. Then focusing her will, she spoke the power word needed to complete her spell Stasis Field.

With that the clerk held completely still, as he was personally held in a time bubble that made the passing of time come to a complete stop for him and his immediate area. Now if she touched him, or contacted the clerk in any way, the temporary zone of neutrality around him would shrivel away, but for now she had everything she needed. She had her tablet that was clear of any charges made to the bookstore, and her stack of five priceless tomes that would grant her the skills she desperately needed in this lifetime. And just for spite, she sat there, at the counter, reading through each book letting the magical energies of the books slowly fill her mind as the lessons she read about were reinforced with mind magic that was designed to further enhance the knowledge provided by the books.

After reading the books, the magical charge would be used up and the books would once again need to be recharged for future classes, but that was no longer Terra’s concern. Right now she was learning the basics of five skills that would prove to be invaluable to her future.

New Skill Modifier(s) Gained:

Meditation: Tier I. Meditation is 10% faster and more efficient.

Basic Energy Circulation: Tier I. Energy Circulation occurs 10% faster and is easier to direct within the body.

Basic Cultivation: Tier I. You can cultivate and improve your body through martial training at a 10% faster rate of comprehension, healing, and improvement.

Unarmed Combat: Tier I. You can do lethal damage while unarmed, and all damage done without the aid of a weapon is 10% stronger.

Blind Fighting: Tier I. Your movements are not penalized as much for visibility issues. Your other senses, other than sight, are improved by 10%.

The entire process had taken two hours and made it so the five books that had once hummed to Terra’s senses with magical energy now sat lifeless. With her purpose for wanting the books gone, Terra stacked the books up the way the clerk had originally arranged them. Then once they were in place, Terra left, making sure to reapply the Stasis Field to the clerk once more as she left. It was petty, but in her mind the clerk had deserved it, now he was taxed something that Terra thought was the most precious resource in the world, time.

While she hoped this would serve a lesson, she knew that ultimately the lesson would be lost. Terra herself had no time herself to further share the message with the clerk, nor did she want to make correcting the clerk a personal project of hers. The only thing she could do now was hope that the clerk somehow got in trouble for letting the charged primers lose their enchantment while being under his control and supervision. The fact that they were left there on his desk was proof of his ineptitude as a clerk, and maybe that would be enough to get someone who was not biased against lower rankers like herself. Of course, Terra knew full well that such thoughts were the machinations of a child, as people would not change so long as society forced people to remain the same. She was about to go further down that spiraling trail of thought, when she shook her head and decided to do something better with her time.

It was late, and while she could go and eat with her one meal of the day, Terra was not hungry. Nor would she particularly want to eat the meals provided to her as an F rank potential, as it was likely bound to be filled with terrible ingredients that would stop most cultivators from proper growth. This was another thing that Terra had noticed on her travels, that the foods and meals that were provided to the poor were less nutritious than those offered to the students who had more future potential for the kingdom. Worse, they were only given one meal a day, while other students were given multiple helpings of nutritious meals meaning they could grow faster and develop stronger bodies. While Terra could understand the rationale, or at least had stomached that thought process in her past life, she couldn’t help but feel that it was extremely wasteful now.

At about that time, she wondered if the being of ultimate evil had the right idea with burning the land back to ground zero.

As soon as she had that thought, she quickly chastised herself. No kingdom is perfect, she thought to herself, and while it might be tempting to burn everything to the ground and start over fresh, that would lead to a lot of death and further hardship that would likely start with the lower classes.

Realizing there was nothing else for her to do today, as she had already gotten her supplies, which she quickly stowed away in her dorm room, and hid with both an Obfuscation Rune, and a Lock Rune, Terra went out to the practice yard, where she began going through her stretches.

While she had her reasons for coming here, particularly as the time got darker, she now had the excuse that she was practicing her newly acquired skills.

Right now, thanks to her unlocked cultivation and circulation techniques, Terra felt the power of the world slowly infusing into her body. This was a process she did with her eyes closed, while making sure to constantly scan her surroundings for anyone coming.

As it happened a few third-year students were practicing two fields over, but Terra knew that they would not bother talking to a first-year student like her, which was why she chose this particular patch of field to practice in.

The ambient energy of the courtyard began to ebb and flow around her. For a moment, she felt like she was dancing with energy, taking it into her body, letting it dance and twirl around her meridians, before being forced out in clam but controlled streams.

This was an important process and one needed to begin the process of breaking through to the higher tiers of Mind, Body, and Soul.

Then just like clockwork, she felt it, a strange but weak form of energy that began piercing the night sky and subtly probed her. If she wanted to, she could try to resist the energy scan, this was a far deeper scan than the one she had taken earlier, the one that read off four lines of information about her. This one pierced through her very body, saw not only her potential that she had left to unlock, but one that also showed the potential she had already achieved.

Once the power flickered over her, she could feel the moment the person conducting the scan trembled in fear, as they recognized her true power.

“You just going to stand there gawking, or are you going to come out here and show yourself.” Terra said, speaking to the darkness, with her eyes still closed.

Step, swish, step.

The sound of sandals gently rubbing against the top of low-cut grass could be heard. This was a courtesy, as the man who made the steps had far more grace than that, if they wanted to.

As they got closer, Terra knew exactly who it was that had come to watch her. As the man approached, she felt a familiar smile crest her lips, as she found herself falling into past relations with the man.

Feeling the man’s all too familiar presence, Terra turned towards the man, the real man and not the fake footsteps he provided, and then bowed deeply.

“A pleasure to meet you Professor Chan.”

The greeting had not gone as she intended, as Professor Chan instantly tensed up at the greeting. Then pulling out his blade, he infused killing intent into his blade and spoke. “Tell me demon, who has sent you!”

At that Terra just shook her head at the comment. “I am no demon.”

“Liar!” Professor Chan shouted, as he began charging forward, his blade glowing brightly in the nighttime sky.

Thus began Terra’s first true combat training session with Professor Chan.