Salenium Saga is a Game

The Salenium Saga was a game. Your stats rose in proportion to your effort. You could obtain items proportional to your effort. That was why one of its promotional slogans was, "If you enjoy it endlessly, you can grow endlessly strong." For real. It was a trendy catchphrase they jumped on at the time. Plenty of newbies must have fallen for it and jumped in.

Even the shittiest character could grow strong with enough effort. How romantic is that?!

But to cut to the chase: There was no such thing in this world as an "effort-makes-you-infinitely-strong god game."

Every character in Salenium Saga had something called an "innate limit." As you trained a character, you'd eventually hit a wall where normal grinding wouldn't raise stats anymore. That was the innate limit. And the lower a character's initial stats, the sooner that limit came knocking.

To make use of a character who'd hit their innate limit, you'd have to pull out all your elixirs and gear, max them out, and grind to squeeze every last drop up to the cap. They called that stat-breaking.

···Stat-breaking, my ass. It was pure luck-based gambling decided by gear options.

Surprisingly, though, stat-breaking was pretty forgiving, and there was one character who became a ray of hope for newbies: Kalen Snowwhite.

For our single-digit Intelligence knight, slap on a legendary-grade armor set with magic resistance and vitality multipliers, max out her exclusive weapon Will of the White Snow and a shield, hand them over, and boom—you've got an untouchable Tier 1 tank.

"···Are you really watching properly?"

"I'm watching just fine."

"I'll trust you. Allow me to demonstrate."

Behind the second-year dorms, at the training grounds.

Shing—. From Kalen's waist, where her longsword hung in her school uniform, it slid free.

It was a draw honed to perfection through bone-grinding effort, so the only thing that swayed was her pale sky-blue hair.

"If you're to learn the sword, the foundation starts here."

Kalen murmured as she gripped the hilt tight. She channeled mana into the blade, and white frost bloomed from it, transparent rime forming along the edge.

I didn't need to check affinity levels to know. Kalen Snowwhite's elemental aptitude was ice.

···This is it.

The basics of basics taught right when you enter the Knight Faculty.

Hummm—.

Kalen's sword resonated with the ice element, humming. Ice shards bloomed along the blade, trembling fiercely. A biting chill wrapped the sword like faint flames, condensing softly.

Kalen raised it slowly, then—

"Attribute Sword: True!"

She slashed diagonally. The pale mist itself refined into sword aura and shot forth. The straw dummy in the blade's path froze solid in an instant, then shattered into fragments.

On the dummy's bisected torso, chunks of ice remained scattered.

"···Did you see?"

"Mm."

The skill's name was Attribute Sword: True. An active skill that enhanced basic weapon attacks by infusing elemental damage into slashes.

Its upgrade was Ice Binding Sword: Sever, which added area elemental damage.

"Splendid."

"···N-no, not at all. Ehehe, thank you."

Kalen scratched her cheek, grinning sheepishly. Right now, it was just enough to cleave one dummy, but at endgame specs, when she wielded Frigid Ice Sword: Annihilate, it would crack the ground with crevasses and summon massive icebergs.

···Alright, then.

I slowly raised the stick with a sprout at the end that I'd been holding.

"Adrian, isn't that just a stick from your room?"

"Correct."

A mystery twig from the bottom of my trunk. Normally, you couldn't manifest Attribute Sword with something like this. Wood couldn't handle the skill's mana; forcing it would just give you [Whoops! Equipment destroyed!] and snap it.

You needed at least an iron sword, which required a Strength stat of 6 minimum. In other words, trash Strength 3 me couldn't even lift an iron sword.

But that didn't mean there was no way. Of course there was.

While unpacking yesterday, I'd found something pretty fun.

"Even so, with such a flimsy twig···"

"Just watch."

I shut up Intelligence 9's mumbling and peered at the stick. A white wooden rod with a single sprout at the tip. At first, I thought it was just a branch, but a few days ago, I finally figured out what it was.

This world had fairies and also ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠"spirits." When spirits started inhabiting mana-dense spots, one tree there would fuse with them, with a chance of becoming "spirit wood." This "spirit wood branch" was light enough for even Strength 3 to swing, had steel-like durability, and high mana affinity for easy elemental resonance.

You get the idea by now.

I appraised the stick in my hand.

Shockingly, this stick was growth-type and a bound item for Adrian, no less. It didn't have insane effects yet since its owner was still trash, but it'd be a huge help later on.

Conditions met—no need for more tests. Time to go.

The only worry was my zero proficiency in Attribute Sword leading to [Failure], but that wasn't a big deal either. Unlike normal games, Salenium Saga had no restrictions on skill acquisition. If you had the stats, mages could swing Attribute Sword, knights could drop meteors with staves. This was Salenium Saga.

Yeah, you could learn it. But it took time—a lot ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of time.

To learn a skill, you had to go through the mandatory "acquisition grind," basically comprehending the skill. Pure luck gambling, just like stat-breaking. What a shit game.

And if the skill didn't match the character's aptitude, it took even longer. Like turning knight-born Ebnis into a mage—super inefficient. Only weird pervs did that meta.

With Act 1 starting soon, leaving it to luck would take too long.

But veterans always have an answer.

Martial God Overlord - Primordial Descendant

"What a···fine, ngh, name."

I scowled at my skill window. The plan: use one of my skills, Martial God Overlord.

It ignored all conditions for any attack and guaranteed one success per day. It blew past failure rates and proficiency, turning it into a sure thing. The "success" judgment skipped the acquisition grind entirely, letting you learn the skill instantly.

For Ebnis, it showed as just Primordial Descendant, with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠5 uses and no weird power boosts. I'd used it super effectively for her Radiant Sword proficiency grind. Worked for her, so it'll work for me.

"Hoo."

I targeted the dummy, activated the skill, and poured every ounce of mana into the stick. Fierce winds gathered around the round wooden rod like a whirlwind. Mana drained out in a flash.

"Watch closely."

Even trash characters have their uses if you roll them right.

"Attribute Sword: True."

—Bam!

The wind-wrapped stick smashed the dummy. Dust billowed, revealing the dummy not just crushed but disintegrated.

Nice. Perfect.

Then the messages popped up.

Done. Wind Blade and now Attribute Sword. Act 1 prep complete.

"···A-Adrian? You okay?"

What a question. Of course I was fine. A little. I mean, just a tiny bit. The world was. The world was spinning a little.

"Kalen, you okay? You're spinning."

"Ah! Adrian! Pull yourself together!"

* * *

At Salenium Academy, fourth-years were the graduating class. From then on, they prioritized career paths over curriculum. Knight Faculty students went on half-semester internships to noble estates or knight orders in the second term. Magic Faculty did the same.

"···"

Melwood Elion opened the letters that had arrived at his dorm.

They were elegantly sealed with wax stamps, filled with sweet promises: a position at a frontier kingdom's mage tower, an exclusive mage for some imperial border noble house···.

A normal mage might snap them up. But not Melwood.

He was Salenium Academy's top Magic Faculty student. Such offers wouldn't satisfy him.

Melwood folded the letters neatly and incinerated them with a fireball.

"None."

He'd held the top spot since enrollment, but no offer from the Imperial Mage Corps had come.

"···"

Why? Second-place Alberto got his two days ago. Some delay?

"If they won't come to me, I'll go to them."

Unlike Knight Faculty, Magic Faculty had applications. No offer? Submit one yourself.

Melwood pulled parchment from his desk drawer, took up his fountain pen, and began writing carefully.

The Imperial Mage Corps. His dream since childhood, still now. For his family back in that distant rural village, waiting anxiously for news. For the siblings he had to support.

Melwood had to join the Imperial Mage Corps.

They'd contact him soon. No way they'd pass on Salenium's top Magic Faculty talent.

Melwood set down the pen and stretched. Outside the window stretched Salenium's panoramic view. Things felt like they'd go smoothly from here.

* * *

"Reina."

"What is it, Adrian?"

Three days into the semester, I'd mostly adjusted to her hanging around. Our class schedules overlapped suspiciously, but ignoring her on purpose would be weird. As long as I didn't force interactions, it was fine. So I left it.

"Any commoner ever topped Magic Faculty historically?"

"Out of nowhere?"

Not really. I'd been mulling it since meeting Melwood.

Act 1 boss Melwood Elion. No backstory in the setting docs.

"Hmm, one sec."

Reina pondered my sudden question seriously before answering earnestly.

"Nope. No commoner has ever been Magic Faculty top. Ever."

"Certain?"

"Yes. This is the first time even second place went to a commoner. Top? Never."

"···I see."

"Yeah. Why ask? You eyeing top spot? Then you'd compete with me!"

As if. Was I insane?

"Reina. Mind a favor?"

"If it's you asking, sure. But! I'll take full payment."

Fine by me. I'd pay blood money if needed.

Still.

"No friends-and-family discount?"

"My, what are you saying?"

Hm. Ruthless on cash. Wolfgang blood, alright.

"Fourth-years' internships get assigned soon, right?"

"Yep."

"Need info on top and second-place placements. Related docs if possible."

If these matched what I knew, everything fit.

Reina nodded without hesitation.

"Our house can get that easy. Leave it to me."

"Thanks."

"No prob. Lecture time—heading out."

After sending Reina off, heading alone to the student cafeteria.

—Poke.

Something cold emerged from a dark alley in the common dorms, slowly pressing my back.

"Don't move. No noise."

A familiar voice.

"···"

"This way."

···Well, damn. Our Ebnis has grown up. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Threatening her sky-high brother now.