The second aspect of the academy system - at least for the unique batch - is the focused training of superpowers. As the faction with the access to the most superpowered users, one could say it definitely ranked at the top of eligible parties to declare that they were qualified to teach about the esoteric subject.
This, surprisingly, was a mixture of theory and practical, unlike basic tuition subjects. Dante would actually have to go to an area near the Zero Gate called the Black Land to learn and train his power with other unique batch students.
Checking the details of the Black Land, it was basically an area around the Zero Gate where energy from the other realm that produced superpowers leaked into our universe and formed a domain.
Those with natural superpowers or acquired superpowers could absorb this energy actively to improve the upper limit of their superpower's ability and unlock new skills or abilities within their superpower.
Of course, this wasn't the only way. One could simply train in the use of their superpower and practice endlessly, and they would also make progress, but as you could imagine, it was entire levels slower than just absorbing this strange energy.
The third system was the shop, where one could purchase anything, enhancements for genes, enhancements for Bionics, and Enhancements for Psionics. Even enhancements for AI chips were available, and all of them cost the ever-desirable Supercoin.
Bionics, Psionics, and AI chips were obviously not limited to level one. There were levels two and above which all increased the functionality of these enhancements and added new, unique effects to them.
Beatrice, for example, had Bionics and Psionics above level 20. Lord knew what her power would be like if she erupted.
Whether it was tuition, the black land, or the shop, all of them required Supercoin in order to make full use of their capability. In the field of tuition, extra courses could be applied for using Supercoin while more secretive knowledge could be acquired and trained.
In the field of the black land, the initially allocated times for cultivation were decided by year and grade of superpower—any extra time or slot needed to be purchased with Supercoin.
In the field of enhancements, every level above 5 needed to be bought for Bionics, Psionics, and AI chips, while the gene enhancements from the second year ongoing would have to be bought as well.
Basically, as a student of the Eternal Academy, you were entitled to a certain amount of 'free' things up to your fourth and final year. If you did not earn a single Supercoin, you could still graduate spectacularly regardless of what batch you were in and be above students from other academies universe-wide.
However, this was your one and only chance to be a student of this academy in your entire lifetime. Who would be content to just enjoy all the basic services and then leave without tasting the reason why everyone tossed their kids here madly?
It was impossible.
So the one way to earn Supercoin was through extracurricular activities. Not even good grades of exemplary school work could get you Supercoin, but these so-called 'extracurricular activities'?
What were these 'extracurricular activities'? Was it stuff like clubs, sports, and other such vocational-related activities in most schools? Or was it like missions and stuff where the school would make you sign a death waiver and then you'd risk your life fighting on some battlefront for 'merit'?
It was neither. Extracurricular activities were completely safe, fun and mostly benefited you the individuals rather than the school itself. If you thought about it, the nature of these extracurricular activities was obvious from the beginning and had been hinted at many times.
Dante logged onto the Quantum network and then headed to the Eternal Academy's section of the Etraverse. There he saw hundreds of worlds that were set up by the school, and in their description tags, there was the amount of Supercoin a student would be rewarded depending on their evaluation for clearing the score in the world.
The worlds were of many types, but most of them had very tough requirements and objectives. They were sorted out by their difficulty and Dante checked the top 3 most visited worlds by students.
[World Name: Apocalypse World
World Owner: Eternal Academy
World Creator: Eternal Academy
World Size: Small
World Type: Shared
World Genre: Survival
Bionics Allowed: No
Psionics Allowed: No
Superpowers Allowed: Yes
Requirements: Student ID
Duration: 30 days
Description: This is a special post-nuclear war world from the era when humanity was still trapped on the planet. Technology has become backwater and people are struggling to survive amidst the dangerous radiation and mutated beasts. However, some individuals have awakened special abilities to combat these beats and have become local overlords, forming their own territories and trying to survive in this wasteland of death.
Objectives: Survive for 30 days to pass.
Limitations: AI Chips will be switched off and your basic SDI will be reduced to the base of the pure human race.
Provisions: Ratified knowledge can be taken in and there is a present power system in the world.]
The number one was an Apocalypse World which was frequented by over 40 million students since its foundation and had over 500,000 students currently staying in this world at this moment. That was more than 70% of the student body, so that told you how popular it was.
Dante researched the school forum about this world and saw many guides and information about the world. It seemed that the reason for its popularity was that it was one of the few worlds that allowed normal people to 'acquire' a superpower through the VR world's own rules without having to bring their own in.
So the casuals of the Normal and Elite Batch swarmed this world to enjoy what the Unique Batch students got for free. Obviously, the Unique Batch students hardly ever frequented this world unless forced to, because it didn't allow them to gain any advantages.
Dante shook his head and then checked the second one.
[World Name: Death Game
World Owner: Eternal Academy
World Creator: Eternal Academy
World Size: Tiny
World Type: Instanced
World Genre: Strategy, Thriller
Bionics Allowed: Yes
Psionics Allowed: Yes
Superpowers Allowed: No
Requirements: Student ID
Duration: 7 days
Description: This is a small urban city set in the modern day which is full of life and vibrant! However, underneath the liveliness and joy is a dark war that has been ongoing since a certain key event occurred. You are one of the 12 Assassins of the Order. Due to an internal dispute, only one of you can live, and must identify them to kill the others.
Objectives: Be the last one standing or have the most kills by the end.
Limitations: Psionic sensing will be switched off, but other enhancements will be allowed.
Provisions: Regrades of methods or SDI, one strike with a weapon will kill a target.]
This world was darker and more brutal. 12 players would queue and get an instance of the world where they would have a random urban setting. They were then given disguises and ways to hide themselves and must now observe and locate the others in the city using tactics, guile, and wits to come out on top.
This was a world that purely trained critical thinking, deduction, and observation. In truth, these three things were the cornerstone of an intelligent person, so having students earn Supercoin from this was a genius way to turn idiotic and lazy students into capable young powerhouses.
Dante made it a priority to try this world and see where he stood on the IQ ladder.
[World Name: Pirate Incursion
World Owner: Eternal Academy
World Creator: Eternal Academy
World Size: Tiny
World Type: Instanced
World Genre: Survival
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm Bionics Allowed: Yes
Psionics Allowed: Yes
Superpowers Allowed: Yes
Requirements: Student ID
Duration: 1 day
Description: This is a world that has been styled after a basic space pirate attack. You start after you have been defeated in the battle and are being boarded, so you must either kill all the pirates and repair your ship to leave, repair your ship and escape, or find a way to preserve a third of your crew and escape to safety.
Objectives: Eliminate all the pirates, detach their tractor beam from your ship, or escape with at least 30% of your crew to pass.
Limitations: All enemies will have random Bionics, Psionics, AI chips, and even superpowers allocated to them. They will also be of random races and have differing SDIs.
Provisions: You have your full range of power and can rely on the skills of your crew to assist you.]
This world was absolutely genius. In a universe like this with high sci-fi, not everyone could travel in a dreadnought belonging to an admiral like Dante. Most people used either commercial transports or private spaceships, but regardless of the type, they are always susceptible to pirate attacks.
After all, with great power came great irresponsibility.
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