Chapter Thirty-Seven: News of the Joint Examination

“You still need to have your own private dungeon if you want to keep reaping the rewards,” Chu Cheng sighed as he picked up the second item from the red treasure chest—a piece of paper.

“Hm?” He blinked in surprise. “Is it really this?”

Enchantment Recipe: Vampire’s Touch.

Effect: Enchant a weapon with a life-stealing effect, converting 10% of all physical attack damage into your own health.

Learning Requirement: Intermediate Enchanting.

An extremely rare enchantment recipe, even rarer for its life-stealing effect, it is one of the top enchantments for physical professions.

“Damn, it feels like such a waste to sell this thing,” Chu Cheng muttered, stroking his chin as he pondered for a while. In the end, he decided to keep it for now and reconsider later.

He was too poor at the moment and hadn’t learned any profession yet.

First Aid, Fishing, and Cooking were life skills, easy to pick up without much cost.

Professional skills were different; to master them required a significant investment of both time and resources.

The common professions included Tailoring, Leatherworking, Blacksmithing, Alchemy, and Engineering. Beyond these were the advanced professions such as Enchanting, Jewelcrafting, and Runecrafting.

Conventional professions had low entry barriers—anyone could learn them, though mastery was another matter.

Advanced professions, however, required a much higher investment, but once mastered, possessing rare recipes could be extremely lucrative.

This Vampire’s Touch enchantment was one such rare recipe. If he could master the skill, he could make a fortune from it in the future.

For now, though, he simply didn’t have the capital to practice enchanting—he’d have to set it aside for later.

Having sorted through his spoils, Chu Cheng found himself with no further desires in this dungeon.

The only major quest left was the assault on Black Sail Island. Since Class One wasn’t present, there was no repeat of the last time when they took advantage of the Pirate King’s absence to capture the island, and as a result, the pirate fleet wouldn’t retaliate against Seaside Town.

He had no intention of participating in the Black Sail Island story; the rewards no longer interested him.

He stayed in Brad Town for a few days, waited for the townsfolk to return, then bid his farewell and went back to Seaside Town.

For the days that followed, he spent his time fishing at the docks, honing his fishing skills.

Curiously, he’d noticed something odd: his weapon skills leveled up at a ridiculous rate, almost as if he were cheating, but his fishing skill progressed painfully slowly. After all this time, he hadn’t even gone up a level.

One fast, one slow—a stark contrast.

He dressed down, leaving his gear behind for a plain outfit and a straw hat, sitting at the dock’s edge, chatting idly with the other fishermen.

Around him were many of the “descenders”—not only his classmates, but also students from other classes.

Some of them spent all fifteen days of the session at the docks, and many had already raised their fishing skill to intermediate level. The remaining fifteen days were spent either hunting monsters or practicing other life skills or professions.

Seaside Town hosted many professional chefs, tailors, leatherworkers, blacksmiths, alchemists, and engineers. These weren’t local NPCs, but teachers sent by the school to instruct these professions.

Some students majored not in combat but in various professions.

Not every descender was suited for battle. If you didn’t awaken a talent, came from an ordinary family, and lacked natural combat ability, you’d choose the support route and specialize in a profession.

In the future, they could take the entrance exam for a professional technical academy, and if they had outstanding talent in a specific field, they might even get into a top university through this route.

Even if they didn’t make it into a technical college, after graduation they could still make a living with their craft.

Chu Cheng had always aspired to combat, so until now, he hadn’t chosen a profession.

Now that he had awakened his golden finger, his future was limitless. There was even less reason to pick a conventional profession—he would at least choose an advanced one, perhaps enchanting, runecrafting, or jewelcrafting.

But not yet. Right now, he lacked both the capital and the time; at the earliest, he would wait until after the college entrance exam.

Once he got into a higher institution, where time was more flexible, he could try majoring in one.

Half a month slipped by unnoticed. On the final day, Chu Cheng put away his rod, stretched, and glanced at his fishing proficiency—86 out of 100—sighing helplessly.

He opened the regional channel. There were many people chatting, but the atmosphere was calm.

All the teachers had gone to Black Sail Island, bringing with them many students—Zhang Chunlei and others among them. Duan Yuqin had invited him earlier, but he’d declined.

With so many teachers and four classes of elites gathered, there was little to be gained from this final story quest; the best one could hope for was a bit of experience.

And he didn’t lack for experience—level 15 put him at the very top of his grade.

In another one or two major sessions, he’d likely reach level 18 or even 19, perhaps the highest in the entire grade. He certainly had no need for a bit more experience.

After leaving the dungeon, Chu Cheng was summoned directly to the homeroom teacher’s office.

“The next session will be a joint exam—all seven classes will enter the Golden Wasteland dungeon. Make your preparations in advance,” the teacher said.

Chu Cheng was slightly surprised and immediately asked, “Is it that medium-sized dungeon?”

“Yes,” Duan Yuqin replied, sitting across from him with a solemn expression. “This joint exam is the school’s way of assessing the abilities of all seven classes, selecting a group of elite students with potential for top universities to give them extra support in the final semester.”

“The selected students will receive unrestricted resource access: rare-quality gear, items, high-level skills—everything will be available for purchase.”

“In addition, the cap on free attribute points you can purchase will be raised from 10 to 20, and the same goes for skill points.”

“Will there be a discount?” Chu Cheng’s main concern was the price.

But Duan Yuqin’s answer was disappointing: “No change in price.”

“I see.”

Normally, skill points cost 1 gold each; free attribute points cost 2 gold each. To buy 20 skill points and 20 free attribute points would require a total of 60 gold.

“That’s a bit much,” he murmured.

He had just over 5 gold coins on him, still short by 55.

The enchanting recipe could sell for about 10 gold, but he’d still be more than 45 short.

Earning 50 gold in the coming half year would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Unless he could obtain two supremely rare items in the upcoming joint exam and a couple of major sessions—such as a piece of equipment with overpowered attributes or a highly unique item.

But the odds of that were slim—hardly something to rely on.

“Unless I can take out a loan, or get support from my family…”

“Student loans are possible; with my talent, many banks will be willing to lend, but at this stage, I probably couldn’t get much—maybe 10 to 20 gold.”

“As for family…”

“It seems possible to borrow, and the family loan limit is higher.”

“If I take out both loans, that should cover 40 to 50 gold. Add my own funds, and I’m almost there. Plus, there are still a few sessions left to earn more.”

“It might actually work!”

Chu Cheng stroked his chin, a plan forming in his mind.

There was no way he would miss out on the resources the school was offering—20 skill points and 20 free attribute points. If he didn’t find a way to secure them, he’d be at a huge disadvantage compared to other elite students from other schools.