Chapter 162: Sonoran Orb

Sol was in his room, sitting behind his desk with a large green orb in front of him. From the orb, a familiar voice asked a question.

"He said you will be done with all the material in a week's time?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Commander Zaman said I mastered all the material faster than anyone else he has taught, so at this rate, I will be able to finish my Knight Captain training at the same time the other recruits finish their regular knight training. Apparently, it was going to take me two months to finish the training, but I seem to have shrunk it down to one."

"Didn't you also say he was teaching the princess? Wouldn't that make you even better than her?" the voice said in a joking tone.

Sol immediately denied it. "Don't even joke about that. Remember that the Sonoran Orb can be intercepted by others. Also, I'm sure the Commander was probably exaggerating."

He knew the Commander was not exaggerating, as he wasn't the type of person to do so, but for his safety and hers, it would be best to make it clear in case another party was listening in.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Anyways, I have to go now and take care of some documents. Stay safe, Sol."

"Thanks, you too, Anna."

He stopped feeding the orb mana, causing it to lose its green color and become light gray. The orb was his solution to the predicament he was in for forgetting to write to her during his travels. It was expensive, costing him 800 gold for the pair of orbs, but it was a price he was easily willing to pay.

At the time of buying it, he found it weird it cost so much, but the merchant told him it had to do with the rarity of large Sonoran crystals big enough to be carved into long-range communication items. The smaller, more common ones that fit in one's hand that he had even used before were very cheap, being at most 10 gold, but they had nowhere near the same capabilities.

It also took a while for her orb to be delivered, so even though he bought it soon after being reminded by Zaman, they had only been able to talk since last week. At first, she was furious at his lack of communication, but the ability to talk in real time appeased her enough to forgive him.

Storing the orb in his spatial ring, he headed out of his room and toward the training grounds for today's large-scale lesson.

As he walked through the halls of the Royal Knights Headquarters, he reflected on his overall growth. While the training given by Zaman was grueling, it couldn't be denied that it was also rewarding. His knowledge had expanded far beyond what he previously knew, learning more about the kingdom, the knights, warfare, and etiquette that he had been sorely lacking. This didn't reflect on his status page, which didn't change much besides the time he dedicated to training with [Reinterpret]. But it was also thanks to [Reinterpret] that Sol was able to quickly understand and memorize all the material.

Name: Sol

Race: Human 

Talents: [Siphoner], [Transformer]

Level: 82

Exp: 13,218,000/98,417,000

HP: 1450

MP: 1650

Str: 85 (+70)

Vit: 80 (+70)

Agi: 80 (+70)

Int: 85 (+70)

Wis: 80 (+90)

Talent Skills:

[Siphon] Lv 5, [Analysis] Lv 7, [Aggregate] Lv EX, [Reinterpret] Lv EX

Siphoned Talents:

[Create Magic Hands] Lv MAX

Passive Skills:

[Muffled Movements] Lv EX, [Counter] Lv 9, [Precise Coordination] Lv 6, [Basic Psychic Mastery] Lv 8, [Intermediate Weapon Mastery] Lv 7, [Wild Hunt] Lv 2, [Invincible Body] Lv 8, [Perfect Balance] Lv 2, [Death Absorption] Lv 6, [True Sight] Lv 6, [Superior Mana Control] Lv 1, [Fortified Soul] Lv 2, [Relay Magic] Lv 8

Active Skills:

[Cross Slash] Lv 8, [Ground Shrink] Lv 6, [Snap Punch] Lv 8, [Invisibility] Lv 7, [Terra Manipulation] Lv 6, [Rock Throw] Lv 4, [Burrow] Lv MAX, [Primal Rend] Lv 2, [Debilitating Strike] Lv 2, [Telepathy] Lv 3, [Unpassable Bulwark] Lv 1, [Intermediate Elemental Magic] Lv 5, [Overpower] Lv 4, [Create Undead] Lv 6, [Weapon Enhancement (Variant)] Lv 8, [Disable] Lv 1, [Backstab] Lv 6, [Bombardment] Lv 1, [Storm Blitz] Lv 8, [Piercing Lunge] Lv 8, [Seeking Shot] Lv 6, [Mana Slash] Lv 5, [Intermediate Light Magic] Lv 7, [Shadow Hands] Lv 7, [Shadow Form] Lv 5, [Empowered Strike] Lv 4, [Polychromatism] Lv EX

'Two more levels and my psychic mastery evolves.'

His most commonly used skills had only increased by one or two levels because he needed to show some results to Zaman that he was still improving. He didn't actually spend much time training those skills these last three weeks; his biggest focus was actually [Basic Psychic Mastery]. Though one of the more challenging skills to improve within the white room, he chose to work on it because it was his only shot at actually being able to finish all the reading material.

After much trial and error, he found a few ways to use his psychic abilities beyond just [Telepathy]. One of the gains from investing in the skill was the ability to increase his mind's speed, allowing him to read and process information faster. The other benefit was improving his mind's ability to absorb information and retain it permanently. This meant he was able to memorize the books and recite them from start to finish if he needed to.

'Still, the system didn't recognize these two abilities. I should just call them pseudo skills for now.'

Not being sure whether the pseudo skills were good enough to be recognized by the system or whether they were considered part of [Basic Psychic Mastery], he just let it be for now. It wasn't like the answer was going to appear before him anytime soon.

As Sol arrived at the training grounds, he saw the usual activities occurring. Groups of recruits were practicing various drills, sparring with each other, and discussing various subjects. He looked through the crowd and spotted Nataly and Aron. On his way over to them, Aron noticed him.

"Yo, Sol!" Aron called out, waving him over. "You're finally out of your cave. Grand Knight Lawrence should be here soon."

Sol's face slightly twitched at Aron's joke.

'You don't know my pain.'

These past three weeks had been more than arduous for him. If not for the fact that he gained those pseudo skills, there was no way he could have finished all the material in time. Even with the help of his beginner psychic abilities, there was still a lot to read, which kept him stuck in his room for the majority of his training. While everyone else still had free time between their lessons, Sol was afforded none of that. Whenever he finished ahead of time, Commander Zaman would quiz him, and after passing, he would give him the next set of books with an even shorter due date.

"What have you guys been doing lately?" Sol asked.

Nataly answered, "Our captains made our groups spar against each other in the forest. I had to defend a box while Aron's squad had to break it." She then added with a smirk, "You wanna guess who won?"

Seeing Aron's disgruntled face, Sol decided to get some payback.

"Hoh? You lost, Aron? Didn't you brag about being stronger than Nataly because you made it further in the tower?"

Aron shrugged helplessly. "My team had no way to counter her plant monstrosity. It kept regenerating over and over again. Like, what am I supposed to do at that point? I just punch things hard."

"Should've played around it~." Nataly taunted.

Sol agreed. "She's not wrong. Wasn't your objective to destroy a box? Why not keep her plant monster busy while someone sneaks around and breaks it?"

"We did send someone, but they got caught. Can't do much about it."

Sol was about to ask for more information, but a commanding voice echoed through the training grounds.

"Form ranks!"