My Roleplay System
Chapter 70: I’m going to ride off of your Influence.

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: I’m going to ride off of your Influence.

Soon the practical training ended and Lake returned to his dorm room.

Since it was only the first day Lake didn’t have much to do and decided to just continue his mana training for the night.

His mana capacity had been steadily rising as time went on and his mana strength was also rising as well but at a much slower pace compared to his mana capacity.

Lake knew the reason for this was due to his technique’s lacking ability when it came to utilizing mana.

When it came to storing mana, his Circulation Technique was actually quite useful as it continued to store mana through a continuous flow across his entire body, similar to blood vessels. This allowed Lake the ability to use his entire body as a storage tank for mana which greatly increased its capacity.

However, besides greatly increasing his mana capacity, the technique didn’t offer much else in terms of benefits. There was no explosive strength or special elemental properties that most other techniques possessed so it resulted in his mana just being stored in his body all the time, not being utilized one bit which resulted in his mana strength advancing at a much slower pace compared to others.

If mana capacity was how much mana he could store, then mana strength would have to be the quality and purity of the mana itself and in the martial arts world, the only way to increase mana strength was to constantly use up the mana in your body.

Through repetitive use, the mana will be used up until your mana capacity is depleted before being slowly refilled. During this refilling process, the mana that enters the body will go through a sort of purification effect where the new mana is refined through a technique’s absorption path.

Absorption paths refer to the method by which mana enters the body. Each technique has different absorption paths. Some techniques can absorb mana by breathing it in before filtering it through the lungs and storing it in the body. Others just directly absorb it from the environment through the pores of their skin.

Absorption paths work like muscle in the fact that they can be trained to purify mana more efficiently over time. This is also the reason why older Martial Artists usually had much higher mana strength compared to those younger than them.

Each absorption path had its advantages and disadvantages but in Lake’s case, his were clear. The absorption path Lake used was through the pores of his body before directly absorbing them into the flow path of his body. Since the mana was directly absorbed into his body, it resulted in his mana capacity increasing quickly but had the disadvantage of little purification effect.

This has been a large headache in Lake’s mind for a while now and he has been constantly researching a way to fix this problem.

However, after obtaining the basic mana circulation technique from today’s mana theory class, and sitting down to observe the combat skills and fates of the students during the practical class, Lake was finally able to gain the inspiration he needed to solve this problem.

If Lake wanted to increase his mana strength, he would have to find a way to either improve his absorption path or change it all together.

Unfortunately, Lake didn’t have any material he could use as research before he came to the academy so he wasn’t able to make much progress in the matter. However, now that he had a wide array of classmates each with their own unique techniques, Lake felt like he had entered a research paradise!

After taking out the notes on the basic circulation technique, Lake started to delve deep into his research.

...

The next day Lake arrived at the classroom. He spent the entire night researching the new absorption path so that he didn’t bother to sleep. Luckily, with his insanely strong physique and the mana in his body, Lake can stay awake for a week without sleep, much less one night.

This time however, when he entered the classroom, the way people looked at him had seemed to have subtly changed.

Lake pretended not to notice as he walked towards a free seat in the back of the classroom.

After waiting a few minutes and seeing that no one was approaching him, Lake decided to slip back into his old ways as he rested his head on the desk to take a nap.

Although he could go long hours without sleep, it still feels good to get a few hours of it in.

As Lake slowly drifted away, the illusion of time seemed to slip away as what felt like a few seconds, turned into a few minutes.

At the corner of the classroom, a group of students were seated down as they looked at the seemingly sleeping Lake.

"Is he really sleeping now of all times?" One of the girls in the group spoke out loud.

"Hehe, I bet it’s the after effects." A male student with red hair said sneeringly.

"After effects?"

"It’s nothing unusual, I heard rumors that he used enhancement drugs in his match yesterday. That’s why he was able to display such profound strength despite being only a first year like us."

"I also heard about that. Some people say the reason why he rejected Instructor Bane’s spar request was because the effect of the drug ran out."

Hearing everyone’s words the girl frowned slightly before speaking out.

"But enhancement drug’s are banned within academy grounds and they do a strict inventory check before anyone enters the compound. He wouldn’t have been able to get them in, much less take one during a spar."

"Hehe, that’s what you think. I heard that someone in the upper years has managed to transport some in and has been selling them to the first years. After all, with how difficult our syllabus is it’s only natural that some of us would take some supplement to increase our chance of graduating."

"I guess that makes sense, but wait, you’re not on any are you?" The female student suddenly spoke as she turned her sharp gaze to the red haired student.

"N-Nonsense! I’m not like the rest of those low lives who need drugs to succeed, I can make it on my own."

As the red haired student spoke, he took a glance towards the sleeping Lake when he spoke the words "low lives".

At that moment, the doors of the classroom were opened by a tall student. This student was quite handsome and had slightly tanned skin with short brown hair.

The tall student looked over the classroom before walking straight to Lake in a domineering manner.

Looking at the sleeping Lake, the student frowned as he raised his hand before bringing it down at a swift speed, aiming to tap Lake on the head.

Swoosh! Smack!

The hand fell at a dizzying speed but right before it made contact with Lake, another hand suddenly stretched out of nowhere, catching the falling hand.

The tall student narrowed his eyes before turning his gaze to look at the man that had appeared out of nowhere.

"I don’t think I’ve seen you among the first years. If I may ask, who might you be?" Bradford spoke as he gripped the tall student’s arm with a subtle smile.

"Fuck, another bastard has appeared. Can’t you see I’m busy dealing with something? If you have nothing better to do than get in my way I suggest you fuck off," The tall student spoke as pulled his arm free of Bradford’s grip.

Bradford sighed at the student’s aggressive response before looking into the tall student’s eyes, "This is the first year block and as far as I’m concerned you’re not a first year student. Unless you have something important to do that was conveyed by a teacher, I suggest you leave."

Suddenly the classroom turned icy. The student’s that were watching the confrontation were startled by the sudden tension but soon became interested.

If it wasn’t for their moral upbringing they would have felt the urge to shout "Fight! Fight! Fight!".

The tall student looked at Bradford’s handsome face with an annoyed look as he suddenly raised his voice, "You... If you want a fight I’ll give you one you bastard!"

After shouting that the tall student raised his hand only to pause as he heard someone yell out.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, a female voice shouted out as a black haired beauty walked into the classroom.

When the tall student saw this student he froze for a moment before walking over with a smile on his face.

"Kate! You’re out of the infirmary! It’s good to see you again."

Kate looked at the tall student up front with a dark look as she spoke in a cold tone, "Zeke, what are you doing here?"

"Haha, of course I came to check up on my dear Kate. I haven’t seen you since last year at our parent’s guild meet up." The tall student named Zeke spoke as he looked at Kate with a relaxed expression.

"If you came to check up on me, why did it look like you were about to start a fight with my classmate."

"Haha, that wasn’t a real fight. I was just testing out the juniors of this year. But are you okay? I heard that a bastard had attacked you underhandedly during your first practical class yesterday."

"... I’m fine now."

"That’s good! When I first heard word about what happened I rushed here immediately to see who this daring bastard was and give him a solid beating!"

Hearing Zeke’s words, Kate sighed as she spoke, "While I appreciate the concern, please stay out of my business. I can handle myself."

After she finished speaking, she walked past Zeke without giving him a chance to speak, walking straight to Bradford who was watching from a distance.

"I’m sorry about the trouble my acquaintance has caused you." Kate apologized to Bradford politely.

"... No, it’s fine. I’m not narrow minded enough to let something like this bother me."

Hearing Bradford’s words, Kate smiled apologetically as she apologized again.

In the front of the class, Zeke’s expression had darken upon hearing the words "acquaintance" spoken from Kate’s mouth. Gritting his teeth, he turned as he walked out of the classroom.

After Zeke had left, Kate took a glance at the door before secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

After apologizing to Bradford, Kate turned to look at the ’sleeping’ Lake.

Although his breathing rhythm was even and his body seemed relaxed, Kate doubted that anyone could have been asleep through all that, especially when the conflict was right next to them.

"You can stop pretending to be asleep."

Hearing her words, Bradford also turned to look at Lake. He also knew Lake wasn’t really sleeping and had been pretending during this time.

When Kate finished speaking, she saw Lake momentarily flinch. After a few seconds, he slowly raised his head as he looked at the two pairs of eyes that were watching him.

When Lake saw Bradford staring at him, he scratched his head before speaking with an embarrassed expression.

"Thanks for the help."

"It was nothing. I was just helping another classmate out." Hearing Lake’s thanks, Bradford gave a faint smile before walking away.

Although he was slightly curious about Lake and wanted to talk a little bit more, he could somehow sense that Kate wanted to have a word with Lake alone.

Knowing the events that transpired yesterday, he felt that he should give the two some privacy.

When Bradford was gone, Kate looked over to Lake with a dull expression as she murmured to herself.

"I can’t tell if you’re acting or not...."

Lake’s eyebrows were slightly raised at Kate’s words but he pretended that he didn’t hear it.

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"It’s nothing." As Kate spoke she took a seat next to Lake.

"Now tell me, what do you want?"

After hearing Kate’s next words, Lake smiled slightly.

"Straight to the point I see?"

"I see no need to waste time otherwise."

"Very well, I can’t argue there."

"So, what is it you want in return for the training session? You did help my martial arts advance by a fair bit so I should give something in return. And just so you know, I don’t like being in debts so I won’t accept nothing as an answer or that you helped me expecting nothing in return."

Hearing her words, Lake smiled lightly as he looked ahead. He had already erected a small mana field around them using some simple spell casting. No one outside should be able to hear what they’re talking about.

Kate also seemed to notice the mana field but didn’t pay much attention to it. Her family has a few items that could replicate a similar effect as Lake’s magic if they wanted to so she assumed Lake was using something similar.

With the mana field in place, Lake chuckled lightly as he spoke, "I won’t deny it, I did want something in return for helping you."

When Kate heard Lake’s words she clenched her folded arms but didn’t show any other outward emotions.

"Is that so? Then hurry up and say it so we can get this over with."

"There’s no rush. After all, the favor I want in return is something that is a little tricky to repay."

Lake leaned back on his seat as he looked down at the classroom.

"You know that I am not on the best of terms with the rest of the class, right?"

"Naturally. You were the main reason why the requirements for graduation this year are so high. Much less the other students, even I felt a slight hatred for you when I heard how many points were required."

"And that’s the problem. Everyone hates me. You and I both know that the academy has multiple plans this year that require team cooperation. If I want to graduate this year, I’m going to need to do well in at least half of them."

"Is that so? But I still don’t see how this relates to me. If you’re thinking that I would join your team I will let you know right away that it is impossible."

"Don’t misunderstand me. This isn’t because I don’t want to be in a team with you but the school will never put two high ranking students in the same group. They rather pair the lower ranking with the higher ranking."

"I know, there is no need to tell me. Even if I get assigned a group of teammates I don’t know, I’m not that worried about them. After all, they will still be a part of my team and if they want to succeed, they will have to work with me. It’s the other teams that I’m worried about. There are a lot of events where teams compete against each other. If I join one of those events I fear the entire school year will gang up on my poor team."

"... I see your point," Kate nodded thoughtfully, "Then what is it that you propose?"

Hearing Kate’s question, Lake smiled mysteriously.

"Simple. I’m going to ride off of your influence."