After lunch, Max proceeded directly to the Healing practical class, engaging in the Mana Channeling practice until the late afternoon. He felt his control over the Mana threads increase; thus, it might take him one or two weeks of time to succeed in this practice. Therefore, he did not wish to place a lot of pressure on it. Consequently, he proceeded to the Archery training grounds to attempt the activation of another one of his Skills. That would definitely prove useful during tomorrow's Dungeon Expedition.
[Rapid Reload]
Description: Greatly increases the speed at which the user nocks and fires arrows, allowing consecutive shots to be released in rapid succession for a short duration.
[Rapid Reload] was one of his Inborn Skills, which was highly crucial for the Archer Class. The more arrows he nocked per second, the greater the upper hand he would hold within a crucial battle. It was the type of Skill that would elevate other Skills to an entirely different level. By combining this Skill with the [Celestial Arrow] Skill, the two would form a deadly combination of Skills.
He walked toward the equipment rack, picked up a few arrows and a quiver, and strapped it onto his back. He selected a medium-sized bow, which felt perfect for him, at least for the time being. He then moved toward the target spot. Utilizing similar steps, he successfully activated the Skill on his first attempt. Considering all the time he had previously spent attempting to utilize his Class Skills and failing, achieving this exact same feat in a single try was a great improvement.
[Rapid Reload]
Skill Proficiency: 2%
Description: Greatly increases the speed at which the user nocks and fires arrows, allowing consecutive shots to be released in rapid succession for a short duration.
He considered writing about this to his family, especially to his father. However, he quickly decided against that plan. If his father were to learn that his son had successfully started using his Skills, he would resume his old antics regarding early retirement and boast about Max to their neighbors. That would certainly cause a commotion within the Western Lands.
Although he could not hide this news indefinitely, he could wait until someone naturally noticed it and spread the information. He believed this would happen soon enough, as there were plenty of eyes constantly watching him. Max guessed that these individuals belonged to prominent families who were patiently waiting for an opportunity to snatch his title away from him.
While Max practiced the two Skills in combination, several pairs of eyes had already begun to watch him, mostly belonging to his fellow first-year students. With this new [Rapid Reload] Skill, Max could launch a total of three arrows per second with precise targeting.
The only issue for now was his Mana drain. By combining the two Skills, his Mana usage increased greatly; he could only launch a total of nine arrows across three attempts before his Mana pool was completely emptied.
With his Mana depleted, he could only practice ordinary Archery techniques, which he was an expert in, similar to his sword techniques. The actual difference between an ordinary technique and an Inborn Skill was the sheer force of the arrow and the overall damage it inflicted.
With an ordinary technique, Max could successfully hit the target, but the resulting damage upon the target board was like the difference between heaven and earth. However, ordinary combat techniques would definitely prove useful in certain odd situations.
While Max was practicing these ordinary Archery techniques, someone suddenly walked toward him. Turning around to see who it was, Max half-expected Moon to have returned for a short talk. However, it was an entirely different person. It was a short young girl possessing red hair, a round face, and a button nose, currently holding a small-sized bow. She was a young girl he had seen before, specifically from his own Class.
As she hesitated to initiate a conversation, Max spoke first.
"Hello, what is it?" Max asked.
"Young Master Max, do you have a few minutes of your time to talk?" the short young girl asked, her face pointed toward the ground.
'Young Master?'
Max was surprised by her method of address. Although it was a common title and he was used to being called as such, for the past one and a half months, no one within the academy had referred to him with those words. Only his family's servants and the populace of the Western Lands addressed him in such a manner. Based on this guess, Max knew she must be a commoner, a person who did not originate from a prominent or authoritative family.
"Of course I have time; please speak," Max stated.
This kind of polite address was fake most of the time. Especially if one lacked talent, their value in the eyes of the people would be lowered. Therefore, most of the time, such respect was merely for namesake, rather than a display of genuine respect for his birth or his position as the sole son of the Grand Duke.
"It is regarding the Dungeon Expedition Party. We currently have one free spot within our Party. Do you wish to join?" she asked with great effort.
She knew that even though Max was considered to possess below-average talent and was treated without any special regard, he was still the son of a Grand Duke. Thus, as a peasant, she still struggled to speak with him, as she had never spoken to the heir of any prominent family before.
"How many members are currently in your Party?" Max asked.
He only asked this mundane question to assert his status; however, the truth was that he felt genuinely glad someone had approached him. If she had not, he might have had to go through the process of asking others to let him join their Parties himself.
"We currently have five members. Since a Party must consist of six members, we thought of asking you," she replied.
"Okay, there is no problem. Since you are in need of members, I shall join your Party," Max answered, speaking as if he were taking pity on them by joining.
"Thank you, Young Master!" Her face suddenly bloomed with joy.
"There is no need to address me as Young Master; simply call me Max," Max stated.
"Okay, M-Max," she stammered, yet successfully called him by his name.
"My name is Anne Wintour," she introduced herself. "Do you wish to join the Party members' meeting? We plan to have a discussion during dinner tonight."
"No problem, Anne. I will be there," Max stated casually as he resumed his practice.
He spent the entire evening training on the open grounds, only leaving once the sun had set. After freshening up, he spent some time reading about additional Dungeon monsters, particularly regarding the materials they dropped, Monster Cores, and other items that were worth money.
However, there were two types of rankings: the Party Ranking and the Individual Ranking. The Party Ranking was straightforward; the Party that collected the highest amount of Monster Cores would obtain first place.
Conversely, while the Individual Ranking was also based upon the Monster Cores an individual collected within the Party, the Party members could divide the overall collection of Cores based on exactly how much effort each person contributed toward hunting the monsters.
This might seem illogical, as strong and influential individuals could potentially exploit their other Party members. However, that was precisely the reason why the academy's rules dictated that everyone must form a Party rather than conduct individual Dungeon dives.
Within a Party, everything revolved around trust. If one could not trust the others to watch their back, then that Party was bound to fail, potentially even resulting in death within the Dungeon. Thus, cooperation and understanding were the very essence of a Party.
Max had yet to perfect his Mana Channeling technique; therefore, utilizing his Inborn Skills was not going to aid him. In fact, he did not even need to utilize a Skill to hunt E-Rank Slime monsters. The Slimes could be killed simply by using regular attacks.
Since Max was an expert in regular attacks, he did not bother concerning himself with his inability to utilize his Skills efficiently during this upcoming Dungeon Expedition. However, in the future, there would definitely be a need for his Skills. Therefore, he must quickly improve his overall Skill usage as well as his Skill Proficiency.
After reading for a while, dinner time arrived. He left his dorm and walked toward the canteen. Upon arriving at the canteen, he noticed that his Party members were already present. Anne waved at him.
Max quickly picked up his food and proceeded to their spot. The Party members consisted entirely of fellow students from his own Class. He had seen them plenty of times throughout these past one and a half months, yet he had never once spoken to them.