chapter2 · 021-ep21
Episode 21: Online Course 【Jobs Edition】
Three weeks had passed since the spar with Rio.
Just three weeks.
But, how do I put it.
Strangely long.
Not that the days were empty or anything like that.
The Awakener Development Program itself had kept going, and there was school too.
It's just, not everyone gathers on the same day.
Beginner is fundamentals-centered, maybe, so it apparently runs fairly flexibly, built around participants' schedules.
Sōsuke said he goes on Wednesdays or one weekend day or the other.
Intermediate is fixed: Tuesdays and Fridays, 6 p.m.
Advanced is Thursdays, basically, plus the expedition crowd heading out to the field on separate days.
So even among fellow program participants, chances to actually cross paths are fewer than you'd think... no, "fewer" isn't the word. Practically none at all.
Sōsuke, for his part, got thrown into Beginner, where he's apparently been sitting through fundamentals this and safety seminars that.
At first he wore a "scary" "I wanna go home" kind of face, but these three weeks seem to have gotten him a little used to it.
Of course scary things are still scary, but the feeling that "staying ignorant would be scarier" was stronger, and he was actually keeping up surprisingly well.
Whatever else, that guy is diligent.
Mibu Iroha, meanwhile, was her usual self.
Ask her lightly what Advanced covers,
"Nothing special"
is about all you get.
No, there's no way it's nothing special.
But if Mibu says so, then within Mibu's world it really must be normal.
Her standards really are a little off.
And as for me.
Well.
I couldn't settle down.
Let me be honest.
I really, really couldn't settle down.
The spar with Rio.
That was, no exaggeration, a shock.
The existence of people stronger than me — that's a given.
I know that.
But actually trading blows, and on top of that being made to understand, "ah, this guy still has whole tiers above" — it hits harder than I expected.
Frustrating, pathetic — sure, some of that was in the mix.
But more than that.
It was fun.
There's a higher tier.
I can still get stronger.
Which means I can climb even higher too.
The moment I thought that, my hardcore-gamer soul was already burning, burning, and there was no putting it out.
And that Friday.
The Intermediate program — Tuesdays and Fridays, twice a week — reached its eighth session today.
I was leaning my back against the meeting room wall, familiar territory for the Intermediate group, gazing at my phone screen.
Around me, a few others were looking at their phones the same way.
Some sitting on folding chairs,
some sitting right on the floor,
some leaning on the wall like me.
In all likelihood... no, without question, the same video was playing on every single person's screen.
"An Online Course for Awakeners 【Jobs Edition】"
On the other side of the screen, a man who looked early thirties.
A jacket over a casual-leaning shirt.
A simple white-based studio behind him.
Less "official government video," more the general atmosphere of an explainer channel with a few hundred thousand subscribers.
『Yes, hellooo! This time we're covering the core of Awakener life — Jobs and Job Skills, the basics — explained as accessibly as we caaan!』
His patter was snappy, too.
As a viewer, very much appreciated.
I'd just assumed government programs meant a stuffy conference room, stuffy people, flipping through stuffy slides.
The reality was different.
Efficiency-first, probably.
Or maybe they judged this easier for young Awakeners to take in.
『Let's start with the conclusion. When an Awakener reaches Level 10, their Job unlocks.』
A simple diagram appeared on screen.
Levels 1 through 9: the fundamentals stage.
At 10, Job unlock.
【Swordsman-Type】
【Mage-Type】
【Defense-Type】
【Fighter-Type】
【Support-Type】
『How many types there actually are here — honestly, we still don't have many test subjects, so it's genuinely all up in the aaair~』
Past that point, growth routes split by profession.
『And at the moment of Job unlock, you gain one Active Skill unique to that Job.』
Active Skill.
At those words, I leaned forward, just a little.
『The Active Skill here is not, so to speak, an ultimate move. It's the skill that stands up the foundation needed to make that Job function as a Job.』
So saying, the man on screen displayed some examples.
【Swordsman-Type: Sword Logic】
【Mage: Magic Circuit】
【Enchanter: Enchantment Domain】
『For Swordsman-types, the bodily sense and trajectory-understanding needed to wield a sword. For Mages, the circuits and substrate needed to handle magic power. For Enchanters, the domain construction needed to make enchantments take. These professional prerequisites are what the Active Skill stands up, you see.』
I see.
That's quite game-like.
No — if anything, a little more theory-heavy than a game?
But it's easy to grasp.
In other words: an Active Skill isn't just learning one technique — it means first building the framework that makes you that Job.
『And on top of that, you'll pick up Activation Skills suited to each Job, bit by bit, through leveling and training.』
Activation Skills.
『These, as the words say, are techniques. Slashing techniques for Swordsman-types, attribute magic for Mages, techniques that grant specific abilities for Enchanters — that kind of thing.』
This side's easy to understand.
Moves.
Basically, close to what we'd ordinarily picture at the word "skill."
『The important thing is this: Job unlock isn't the goal — it's the starting line.』
There, the man on screen changed the tone of his voice, slightly.
『Understand your own Job, work your Active Skill, build up your Activation Skills. Only through that process do you come to fight in a style worthy of the Job.』
Listening to that explanation, I let out a slow breath.
Nice.
Very nice.
Far nicer than I'd imagined.
The fact that it doesn't all snap into completion the instant you hit Level 10 is nice in itself.
Real growth starts after you get your Job.
What's not to love?
"Ren-kun. It's all over your face."
"Huh?"
"I mean — you look like you're having a blast."
I looked next to me — Fujigaya Rio was leaning on the wall the same as me, smiling his ordinary smile.
Ever since we fought the other day, he's always right nearby before I know it.
"Not really."
"Ohh?"
"...Fine, I'm a little interested."
'A little' may be underselling it, though."
I don't call him noisy.
No — I can't, normally.
He is technically my senpai.
But he is really quite noisy.
From there, the video entered its final stretch.
『One last thing only. A Job is not the entirety of an Awakener's strength.』
The man on screen raised one finger.
『But it does become the great foundation that decides how you fight from here on. There's no need to rush. However — knowing your own Job, facing it, understanding it: that connects directly to your growth as an Awakener.』
And there the video moved to wrap up.
The screen went dark, and a simple summary alone was displayed at the end.
【Jobs unlock at Level 10】
【Each Job grants 1 Active Skill】
【Activation Skills are learned bit by bit afterward】
I see.
Very easy to follow.
Or rather — I got even more excited.
The crowd around me was the same.
Which Job is good, what would I probably end up being — little chats like that kept going.
Swordsman-type is the safe pick.
Mage is flashy, nice.
Support-type is plain.
Everyone saying whatever they liked.
But for me right now, it didn't have much to do with anything.
Hit or miss.
Suited or unsuited.
That stuff, you think about once you actually have it in hand.
Even so —
I am curious what Job I'll get.
Over these three weeks, through Awakener-vs-Awakener sparring and matches, my Level has risen to 9.
Incidentally, about XP too, these three weeks taught me a few things.
Not that any clear numbers are visible.
How much further until the next Level — no such helpful display exists, either.
You only know when it happens.
There's this sensation of something in the core of my body clicking up a notch, and then a notification comes from the system. That's all.
So I can't know exact XP amounts.
I can't.
But.
Even so, one thing I do know: the jump from fighting Rio was big.
Just before that, I had finally reached Level 7.
And yet after the spar with Rio was over, I was Level 8.
I hadn't won.
Hadn't taken him down.
If anything, I'd been getting pushed around, right to the end.
My Level rose anyway.
In other words: the stronger the opponent.
The harder you bite into someone above you.
The denser the combat.
The bigger the XP you take home may become.
Strictly a possibility.
Nothing guaranteed.
But it was unmistakably different from the days of slowly stacking XP by felling Greyfish after Greyfish.
The bout with Rio was huge.
That said, if you asked me whether I want another round — that one I'd have to think about a little.
Even so —
"Almost there, huh."
That much was certain.
—Now then. What kind of Job will I get?
Right now, that and that alone was what I couldn't help looking forward to, hopelessly.