'Shit! Shit! Shit! This I don't know much about golden skill pages, but I'm pretty sure this ain't normal... damn it!'
While tearing the skill page, Ashton thought he was gonna get an absurdly overpowered skill, and he wasn't wrong. But the thing was... he didn't get one skill... but three! One for each type of genes he possessed.
Golden skill pages were the only skill pages that did not show a specific skill that could be redeemed after using the page. Instead, the skill page awarded a skill, based on the user's capabilities and genes.
As Ashton had not one but three sets of genes present in him, he ended up getting three skills instead of one. You would think he was going to be happy about it, and he was... for a moment. Until he realised they were supposed to undergo a scan to see which ability the winners had obtained.
Apparently, the students from prior batches had tried to lie about it. Therefore, the words of the examinees could not be trusted. Each one of the skills was overpowered, to say the least, but Ashton was worried the scanner might be able to show his skills even if he deactivated the genes associated with the said skills.
If that happened and the officials realised that he is a tribrid being... attending the academy would be the last of his worries.
'I have deactivated the genes and that's all I can do for now.' Ashton sighed heavily, 'Worrying about it would only make me look more suspicious.'
"Ashton Bismark, please step into the scanner."
"Yes!"
Ashton nodded and stood inside the gigantic pod in front of him. A moment later the glass pod closed and got filled with a colourless gas. Ashton felt the air around him get heavy and it almost made him drowsy. Apart from that, there was the laser which was continuously scanning from all angles while he stood naked.
Thankfully, there was no one inside the room apart from the Director and the operator of the machine. Both of them had their eyes glued to the screen in front of them as if they were trying not to make any awkward eye contact.
"Wait... there seems to be something wrong with the machine." The operator mumbled before pointing at something, "The stats appear to be malfunctioning."
"Can there be a fault in the machine?" The Director replied, even though she said that she herself appear to not believe that there could be any fault in the machine.
For a second, Ashton's heart jumped to his throat. It felt as if his secret was going to come out much sooner than he had anticipated. Honestly, at the moment he was wondering whether or not he should try to make a break for it and get out of there.
But he knew, doing so would be like putting the final nail into his coffin. In other words, Ashton did not have any choice but to stay there and hope for the best.
'I would be hoping for miracles if I didn't know how shitty my luck was.'
However, it appeared this time the luck was actually on his side as, after a second of fluctuating, his stats suddenly normalised. There was nothing more Ashton needed to worry about.
"Level 10 already huh? It's quite impressive, Mr Bismark." The operator smiled and looked up... at someplace she shouldn't have and immediately averted her gaze, "Let's... assume this thing never happened..."
"Haha, Micheala, we're all adults here and I'm pretty sure Ashton would mind a lady looking at him. Will you Mr Bismark?" The director smiled as Ashton's face turned darker than crimson.
"That's... um..."
"Don't worry kiddo. She's just messing with you. No need to stay naked anymore. You are free to get dressed."
Ashton took the operator's word for it and jumped out of the pod before getting dressed as quick a lightning. He then headed towards the director to get his student card and uniform. It was a black and silver outfit similar to the ones that he had seen numerous other volunteer students he had seen before the exam started.
"This card will serve as both your identity and as a cash card." The director explained it to him, "However, the weekly allowance you will get will depend on the rank you receive in the second round of the exams. But as you have claimed the first place, some money had been already deposited into the card for you."
As the Director said that, the card blinked once and a number popped up in front of Ashton.
"10000 Blue units!" Ashton was wide-eyed.
Obviously, the mistress had taught him about the global currency they used and 10000 blue units were something Ashton never thought he would have. just to get a gist of it, White units were the smallest denominator of currency they had.
Daily basic necessities could e bought with about a hundred white units per week. But these were only the basic necessities like food, water and a place to live. Nothing extravagant. 100 white units were equal to 1 red unit which was considered to be the currency of the lower middle class.
An average working household would be able to bring about 20 red units per week into their homes. It wasn't too much, but it was enough for them to lead a quiet life. After red units, came blue units.
1 blue unit was equal to 100 red units and was probably the highest denominator of currency that higher-class workers could afford. Then came the silver unit one of which was equal to 1000 blue units, then gold which was equivalent to 100 silver and then, at last, the black unit... a currency that even the ruler of Lycania did not possess.
That was the reason why having 10000 units in hand, left Ashton flabbergasted. This was the final surprise the Director had prepared for him and to say that it was a welcomed surprise would have been an understatement.
"Before you leave, I have a piece of advice for you. You have received quite a unique skill, Ashton. Make sure to only use it under special circumstances." The director said with a serious tone, "Using it recklessly might cause you more harm than good. Is that understood?"
Ashton nodded and left the room. But he was a bit perplexed. What was so good about his [Aggravate] skill? It was overpowered a bit as it rendered the effect of healing potions and other healing abilities useless on the wounds he made... but in his opinion, it wasn't something as serious as the director was making it out to be.
'I wonder what she would have said if she knew about my other skills...' Ashton thought as a notification popped in front of him, listing the abilities he had obtained from the skill page.
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> Unique Werewolf skill: (can be evolved along with the user's grade)
[Aggravate]: Wounds made while in Werewolf form won't heal unless the user allows them to. Causes severe haemorrhage can lead to death if not controlled effectively.
> Unique Vampire Skill: (can be evolved along with the user's grade)
[Blood Poison]: Effectively turns the User's blood into poison which can be used to inflict continuous <Poison> damage upon enemies.
> Unique Undead Skill: (can be evolved along with the user's grade)
[Corpse parade]: This skill allows the user to temporarily make a lower level undead do their bidding. Can also be used to make skeleton soldiers to temporarily aid the user in battle.
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'If anything... the skills I earned for vampire and undead genes are much more dangerous.'
***
Author's note: Detailed explanations of the skills would be provided in the upcoming chapters.