Mixed Blessing System

Upon hearing Rebecca, Lothur looked at her for a moment and asked. "Did you talk about me with your mistress? She wants to teach me this profession?"

She nodded and smiled at him. "She wishes to meet the prodigy capable of withstanding poisons without preparation."

"And what does she expect from me? I guess you aren't just going to sponsor me, right?"

"Of course." She was honest with him. "My master will give you all the support she can. But in return, we expect you not to work with other poison masters in the province. Also, she hopes that you will eventually not forget your origins."

"Hmmm." Lothur nodded in agreement with those terms.

It was natural that any such relationship would have restrictions to prevent competitors from taking youths like Lothur away after vast investments were made in them. In that way, he saw no problem with loyalty to an establishment, organization, or person like Rebecca's mistress.

On the other hand, Lothur had no interest in exercising the profession of poison master nor other areas that he would eventually master. All this was only for his good and business regarding the items he would create.

So naturally, he would not be harmed by such restrictions. On the opposite of that, he might even benefit, as he has the chance to connect with established professionals or organizations with contacts and information that he might need in the future.

"All right, let's schedule it for next week." He said to her after the two walked through the lobby of an administrative building in Sector-1.

"Can't you do it tomorrow? Will you be busy on the weekend?" She looked at him in doubt.

"That's right. I'll be busy since I'm going out on a mission out of Peters City." He explained.

"Sigh..."

"Okay, then I'll see you next week." She was about to say goodbye to him but suddenly felt her left wrist being held by him.

"Wait a moment. Tell me a little about your mistress. Is there something I should know before I go to her estate?" He looked her in the eye.

"Are you worried about something? Why would there be something for me to tell you about my mistress?" She gave him a careful look as if she had been offended.

He laughed and explained. "No offense, Becca, but you know what the reputation of poison masters is like... There are all kinds of rumors about your peculiarities, so I'm just interested to know if I should avoid something."

"But if she's like you, I'm relaxed with it." He winked at her.

"Like me?" She lost her grave look, being surprised at that.

"Hmm, despite the fame of the poison masters, I don't see anything peculiar about you. Sure, you're beautiful, but other than that, you're pretty normal." He laughed as he looked into her green eyes.

"You think I'm normal? There's nothing wrong with the way I look at you?" She heard those words for the first time in her life.

"What's wrong with the way you look at me? Almost all the women in my daily life look at me the same way you do."

She then closed her eyes and understood the situation. 'So that's it... With a look like this, I don't blame you for thinking I'm like those girls who also appreciate your attractiveness.'

She then smiled graciously. "I truly like your personality, Lothur!"

"Well, don't worry, my mistress doesn't have any special quirks other than her high-level beauty. So, just don't disrespect her, and everything will be fine."

After hearing that, Lothur saw that beauty leaving as he imagined what such a person would be like. 'A mistress, huh? I prefer it that way...'

...

After a while, Lothur learned what he would need to take the sector change test.

Such a thing consisted of written and practical tests for each subject taught in Sector-1. Any student had to perform at least 80% in each of them to get approval to move sector.

On the other hand, since the teachers gave the tests, it had to take place over a whole week at times when these people were usually available for this.

Thus, Lothur found that he could take his tests after gathering 200 merit points and registering for the week in which he would attempt this.

After registering for this, there was no return. Even if the student failed, the points would not be returned. Moreover, the payment had to be made the week before the exams.

So, after finding out about this, Lothur accepted these conditions and met with Elke for the two to make this payment. Both had already collected more than the 200 merit points and felt ready to move up a sector.

This way, Lothur almost reset his merit score to zero, dropping several places in the student rankings.

"Sigh... I'm back to my starting position." He commented to Elke as they walked towards the Sector-1 Mission Hall.

Hearing this, Elke smiled bitterly and massaged his shoulders. "You have nothing to do. Unlike the other students, you grew up quickly within Sector-1."

"Many in this sector stick around for up to more than a year. So, the number of missions they complete is much higher than you did."

"On the other hand, students in other sectors do missions that pay many more merit points... Hence, your position won't improve much as long as you don't relax and stay in one sector for a long time." She explained the future to him.

Lothur lamented that he could not do the missions from sectors higher than his and commented. "Well, according to the Sector-1 principal, I'll graduate when I finish Sector-4. Then, I'll try to achieve first place in the student rankings when I get there."

Elke smiled at Lothur's determination but said nothing to spoil his plans.

Then they reached the mission board of that sector, where they spent some time choosing what they would do for the weekend.

'Investigation of strange phenomenon in Lewerenz...' Lothur read the title of one of those posters, one about a mission that would pay three thousand bronze coins and 300 merit points to the team that completed it.

"The payoff for this mission is not bad at all... Is that normal, Elke?"

"We can get 150 merit points each just from a Sector-1 mission. I thought the rewards from this place were smaller."

She laughed upon hearing his silly comment. "That's because this is a team mission. Normally 4 or 5 people would come together to solve it."

"Unfortunately, not everyone here is like you..."

"I see..."

He then asked. "Is it like that in other sectors too?"

"Hmm," Elke nodded at him. "But starting in Sector-3, the best group missions all go to the factions of the academy. So, people outside those groups don't have a chance to pick up anything good."

She looked at him seriously and said. "Then, eventually, you will have to join one of those groups."

"Oh? Annaliese has already told me a little about that... Can you explain to me more about these factions? Is the academy who does this kind of division?" He took her to one of the benches in that area for the two to talk about it.

"Yes. It wasn't always like this, but after factions in the past have helped the academy on many occasions, even one of them saving the lives of many teachers, they made this kind of division." Elke began to speak.

"At that time, the academy leaders realized that this management model encouraged student competition. After all, it is not simple for students to see everyone in their surroundings as competitors."

"Competition for resources becomes somewhat abstract when the numbers go past certain values when you don't even know who your opponent is. But when groups are gathered for similar purposes, the number of competitors shrinks to those from other factions. At the same time, we can target our efforts against specific individuals, not an amorphous collective."

"Realizing this in that first experiment, the academy's management maintained this kind of division. That's why even today, they deliver the best missions to the best factions."

She looked at him and finished. "That depends on where those groups stand in the faction ranking."

"Interesting..." He briefly commented as he felt that made a lot of sense. "What is the process for joining one of these factions? Do you have one of interest?"

"Well, I don't have any preferences... Anyway, to get into one of them, you first have to get to Sector-3, since before that, no faction will be interested in taking you in."

"As for how to get into one of them after achieving that, I can't say for sure. Some have their own tests. In others, special members have the privilege to bring in new people, etc."

"We would have to see a specific faction to know the conditions for entering it." But then, she remembered that Lothur's wife had one of those groups.

"Are you going to join the Ice Feathers?"

...

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