lpffa Chapter 142 : Chapter 142
Chapter 142 : Chapter 142
Chapter 142 : Dream Team
Sal didn't recognize her at first.
Perhaps because she wasn't in her usual arrogant posture, trying to extort money using essence as leverage.
Recalling how she had previously tried to extort Q-Credits from him and Divinity under the pretext of healing services, Sal crossed his arms and looked at her.
Meanwhile, Sal's visor seemed to judge that now was the perfect timing to execute the analysis ability.
[Name: Rochelle De Verdon]
[Alias: None]
[Class: Healer]
[Occupation: Quest Academy 1st Year (Purple Cohort)]
[Rank:]
[-Guild Association: None]
[-Hunter Bureau: Current Rank | 0]
[-Quest Academy: Current Rank | 118th]
[Certification History:]
[-Challenge Crests: 0]
[-Qualifications:]
[·First Aid | Foundation Rank - LN: 12,888]
[·Resurrection | Foundation Rank - LN: 314]
[Ability:]
[-Skill Name: Transference | Rank: III]
[-Skill Classification: Energy Manipulation Type]
[-Skill Proficiency: 92%]
[-Skill Efficiency: 88%]
[-Progress to Next Rank: 71%]
[-Evolution Availability: Yes]
[-Potential Limit: XV]
[-Natural Synergy: Regeneration | Amplification]
[Essence:]
[-Essence Type: Light]
[-Essence Gates: 70]
[-Essence Absorption Rate: 4%]
[-Essence Control: 89%]
[-Essence Refinement: 97%]
[-Essence Correction: 12%]
[Body:]
[-Strength Rank: I]
[-Mobility Rank: II]
[-Speed Rank: III]
[-Stamina Rank: III]
[-Current Status Effects:]
[·Injury: None]
[·Disease: None]
[Reputation:]
[-Bastion Family: Respected]
[-Doom Society: Unknown]
[-Guild Association: Unknown]
[-Hunter Bureau: Unknown]
[-Quest Academy: Known]
[Threat Level]
[-Analyzed Equipment: 0]
[-Analyzed Martial Arts: N/A]
[-Analyzed Movement: N/A]
[-Analyzed Techniques: N/A]
[-Analyzed Body Composition: II]
[Assets]
[-Q-Credits: 18]
Sal scanned the detailed information list unfolding before his eyes without saying a word.
At a glance, he could tell she wasn't adapting properly to the Academy.
Rochelle's physical abilities were even worse than when Sal first entered.
The reason she had been parasitic on others instead of using her own power was also explained by her low essence absorption rate.
The worst was her account balance.
What she had gathered over the past two months was merely 18 Q-Credits.
Sal had spent more than that on a single cup of Purple Punch during skill registration.
Sal wiped the information away and looked at her.
"What should I do for Rochelle De Verdon?"
The effect was immediate.
Her shoulders shrank, and she pulled her body away from the table, trying to distance herself.
Her green eyes were glaring at him, stricken with terror as if Sal were a monster.
"How do you know my name?"
Rochelle's voice had a sharp edge, but it was barely perceptible because it was submerged in fear.
Even though it was evident she wanted to get up from the chair and run away immediately, she held her ground, perhaps because of her business.
Sal waved his hand as if it was nothing.
"Then should I just call you Mean Healer? Doesn't roll off the tongue, but it is a pretty accurate description."
Sal watched Rochelle's face stiffen.
Since she was the one in the wrong, there was no reason for him to be cautious with his words.
With a mountain of work to do and preparations to make, he hoped this uncomfortable conversation would end quickly.
"Why are you here? To extort Q-Credits again? Even without your lackeys?"
Rochelle gritted her teeth.
"I came to apologize for what happened before."
She shook her head, relaxed her shoulders, and pulled her chair a little forward, sticking close to the table.
Just by looking at her expression, she didn't seem to have an ounce of intention to apologize.
"I don't intend to make excuses for what I did. I was afraid of whether I could survive the semester, and kids like you who raked in Q-Credits just for running well seemed unfair. That emotion covered my reason, and I made a mistake."
Sal smiled.
"You said you wouldn't make excuses, but you start with one right away. I know you only have 18 Q-Credits in your account right now. So it must be true that you're poor. But do you think extorting from people is right because of that? You're a Healer. Everyone would want to take you. If you had just held on a little, guilds would have rushed in, and Q-Credits would have naturally followed."
Rochelle shook her head.
"Waste of time. I don't want to talk more about this."
Just as she was about to get up from her seat, she was forced to sit back down in the chair.
Anger flashed across her face, but she soon composed her expression.
"Sorry, let me try again."
Sal focused the visor on her again.
Something was strange, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
As the red screen flashed, Sal could clearly see Rochelle's thread.
Repeating in his mind that he needed to save it, the visor reacted immediately.
[Transference (R:3) prototype structure save complete.]
Sal raised an eyebrow.
'Structure, not blueprint? Is it because I didn't draw it substituted on a body?'
It wasn't an important issue to think about right now, so Sal put off investigating it for later.
His visor looked beyond the thread and illuminated the essence flow around Rochelle.
'This is the worst condition among people I've seen so far. Did she suffer a core collapse?'
Essence Gates were almost nonexistent, and out of seventy gates, she was actually using only two.
'Is she attending skill classes properly?'
Just as Sal was about to ask a question, a strange essence hovering around Rochelle's head caught his eye.
Focusing, he could confirm it was connected to a student a few tables away.
When Sal turned his head to look, there was Erica Clifton staring intently at Rochelle.
At the implication that flashed through his mind instantly, Sal froze.
"Rochelle, are you apologizing to me right now because you're being controlled by Erica?"
Rochelle's eyes went wide with shock.
Sal had already guessed her account balance, name, and even the fact that she was currently being forcibly suppressed by something.
From Rochelle's perspective, it must have seemed like Sal had some kind of precognitive ability.
Tap.
Instead of answering, Rochelle tapped the table once.
Sal took it as a yes.
"Why did Erica tell you to apologize to me? Must be because she wants something from me, right?"
Tap.
Rochelle tapped the table once more.
Sal glanced at her finger in surprise, then raised his gaze again.
"Don't tell me... she's stopping you from saying that?"
Tap.
Sal shook his head and said towards Erica.
"Erica, if you're going to do this, why don't you just come over here and talk together? Please stop holding her forcibly. Seeing Rochelle forced to pretend to be nice is painful even for me."
This time, Erica seemed flustered at being caught.
Sal sighed and looked at Rochelle.
"I don't know if that was a genuine apology... but for now, I'll forgive you. Just looking at your ability or how you handle essence, I can guess how cornered you are."
The moment Erica's influence disappeared, Rochelle slammed the table hard and glared at Sal with murderous eyes.
"That's not an apology. You made me completely ostracized in the cohort! Those bastards went around saying I'm a vampire, a bitch who sucks people's essence and kills them! Since then, not a single guy would let me join their team. Even if I get a chance to team up with other cohorts now, what would change? Everyone knows I messed with two of the top three in the grade."
Sal had absolutely no idea what to answer.
Erica walked over slowly and sat next to Rochelle.
She rested her elbow on the table, leaned one side of her face on her palm, and watched Rochelle pouring out her resentment with a bored expression.
Seeing Erica sitting next to her looking at her with boredom, Rochelle's anger soared even higher.
"Erica said she would put me in her team. I know the rumors that she controls team members with her ability, but I didn't care as long as I could somehow survive this semester. But there was a condition."
Rochelle glared straight at Sal as if her anger was exploding.
"It was to apologize to you and pretend to get along well."
When Sal raised his eyebrows and looked at Erica, she merely shrugged her shoulders.
Rochelle looked at the two with tears mixed with anger in her eyes, trembling all over as she shouted.
"I don't care what you say. Just help me survive this semester. After that, you can hate each other to death for all I care."
Erica corrected her posture properly and sighed.
"See, I told you it's all useless."
She pointed at Sal.
"You already forgave her seeing her miserable stats."
Then her finger moved to Rochelle.
"This one feels guilt but is forcing herself to look strong and capable. But right now, she is neither."
Sal glared at Erica with sharp eyes.
"So your ability means you can read minds too. Not just control."
Sal didn't even wait for an answer and activated his analysis ability immediately.
[Name: Erica Clifton]
[Alias: Reserved Title: Queen]
[Class: Controller Class]
[Occupation: Quest Academy 1st Year (Gold Cohort)]
[Rank:]
[-Guild Association: None]
[-Hunter Bureau: Current Rank | 8,754th]
[-Quest Academy: Current Rank | 2nd]
[Qualifications:]
[-Challenge Crests: 2]
[·1st Place Achiever (Quest Academy Race Winner)]
[·Gate Breaker (First to reach 60 Gates)]
[-Certifications: 0]
[Ability:]
[-Skill Name: Mind Master | Rank: XI]
[-Skill Family: Mental Type]
[-Skill Proficiency: 100%]
[-Skill Efficiency: 79%]
[-Progress to Next Rank: 8%]
[-Evolution Availability: Yes]
[-Potential Limit: XX]
[-Natural Synergy: Swarm | Domination | Submission]
[Essence:]
[-Essence Attribute: Mental Type]
[-Essence Gates: 120]
[-Essence Absorption Rate: 42%]
[-Essence Control: 100%]
[-Essence Refinement: 97%]
[-Essence Correction: 96%]
[Physical Ability:]
[-Strength Rank: III]
[-Mobility Rank: IV]
[-Speed Rank: VI]
[-Stamina Rank: VI]
[-Current Status Effects]
[·Injury: None]
[·Disease: None]
[Reputation:]
[-Bastion Family: Well Known]
[-Doom Society: Evaluated]
[-Guild Association: Well Known]
[-Hunter Bureau: Well Known]
[-Quest Academy: Well Known]
[Threat Level:]
[-Analyzed Equipment: 0]
[-Analyzed Martial Arts: N/A]
[-Analyzed Movement: N/A]
[-Analyzed Techniques: N/A]
[-Analyzed Body Composition: V]
[Assets:]
[Q-Credits: 2,110]
Sal couldn't take his eyes off the number of gates Erica could handle.
'Professor Lombardi said he had 60 gates upon admission. Rochelle has 70, Barry 90. But 120?'
No matter how hard he tried to understand, he couldn't organize his thoughts.
He wanted to ask directly, but Erica was staring straight at Sal as if contemplating whether or not to reveal her ability.
The name Mind Master didn't really resonate with Sal either.
But the naming style was similar to his Skill Master.
'Does it mean Erica can do with the mind what I accomplish with skills?'
Erica's lips curled up as if amused.
"That tracker is blocking me from reading inside your head. Where did you get it?"
Sal couldn't be sure if she was joking right now.
She was definitely not someone who would hesitate to use her ability to deceive others.
Above all, recalling the actions she took to force Rochelle to apologize, he couldn't believe it came from good intentions at all.
Sal eventually decided not to trust her words and to respond assuming she could control even his mind or thoughts at any time.
"I made it."
Sal answered bluntly and looked back and forth between the two girls.
"Erica, don't take this the wrong way. But I don't think at all that you took time out of your way to come help Rochelle. Since Rochelle apologizing to me changes absolutely nothing, why don't you just tell me what you want?"
Erica glared sharply at Rochelle, then soon fixed her gaze on Sal.
"My method used in the Mounted Battle wasn't as perfect as expected. It was focused too much on cooperation and teamwork, so it was hard for me to reach the top alone. Besides, since people from the same cohort can't form a team, the dream team you had with Divinity has to split up. Since she's a Controller too, there's no need to overlap the same role. So what's left is... you."
A heavy silence settled on the table for a moment.
Sal doubted his ears.
He wondered if he had understood those words correctly.
"You mean... you want me to join your team? With this Mean Healer too?"
Erica nodded and pointed at Rochelle.
"I've already secured the Offense type. Mean Healer, this nickname is pretty good. She takes the Healer position and you the Supporter. Now the only one left is a Defender."
Sal exhaled a long breath and finally understood the situation.
"I see. And what you want is for me to recruit Hannah, right?"
Hannah had been steadily climbing the leaderboard since getting her hands on the Gauntlet.
If her barrier ability combined with Rochelle's recovery, it would display tremendous team utility.
With Erica commanding as Controller, adding a decent Attack type would surely make a powerful team.
'The problem is... whether I can talk to Hannah.'
Sal wasn't ready to face Hannah as the words she said after the Bastion incident hadn't left his heart yet.
Erica raised an eyebrow and looked at Sal.
"Who is Hannah?"