The students looked around at the changes in each other. There was no doubt about it, most of them had left the Common Rank behind them, and they were now firmly into the Awakened Rank.
The warriors had it easy, as they could tell by their bodies, but the amount of power that the mages were feeling wasn’t fading, and after Dana called up a barrier to see the changes in it, the others began to activate spells as well, allowing them to informally test the change in their powers.
“We all owe the Alchemy Master one for this. Those potions were incredible. For some of us even more than others.” One of the warriors announced, while staring at Karl.
“I’m glad you liked them”, he agreed, feeling a bit self-conscious about the attention on himself.
“Oh, he’s not staring because you provided the scales. You should look at yourself in the mirror.” Rita laughed.
Karl did not have a mirror handy, and there were none on the walls of the classroom. Fortunately, nearly half of the people in the room had a compact with them, in case their makeup needed a touch up during the day. Dana passed him one from her backpack, and Karl took a good look at himself.
Strikingly emerald eyes stared back from his familiar face, and his hair had faded from its normally dull and dark crew cut to striking blonde locks. He needed a haircut again, as it was hanging down in light waves, but the look seemed to be popular with the girls from the team.
Unlike the other warriors in the team, he had not grown any sort of beard. In fact, he didn’t even seem to have any stubble at all, and he hadn’t bothered to shave this morning. That was a bit odd, but he had always preferred a clean look, and if the change had eliminated his facial hair, he wouldn’t be particularly heartbroken.
[Your eyes are the colour of my scales.] Thor noted.
[And his hair is the colour of the gold in my feathers.] Hawk agreed.
[You made me drink nasty tasting stuff again.] Rae complained, finally unable to hold back her grievances.
[Sorry, Rae. We did hope that it might still have some benefit to you, even if it tasted awful.]
Hawk was perched on a desk while Rita examined the changes in his feathers, as well as making notes about the changes to his claws and beak, which were more in line with the known data on the Windspeed Hawk.
There was going to be an intense discussion among the administrators about whether he was a new species, Karl was certain. But with the additional skills and now this massive change, there was no doubt that the combination of resources and Karl’s abilities had allowed Hawk to completely surpass his racial limits.
Or perhaps they wouldn’t see it that way until he reached Commander Rank and really became the strongest Windspeed Hawk in history, but he should be well on his way there now.
Alice rapped her knuckles on a desk to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, you can all go to class and test out your new and improved skills. Remember, you cannot tell anyone about the origin of the drake scales, but you can tell them that a resource your team gathered was made into a potion for you all today.”
The students cheered, and many pulled Karl, Thor or one of the tutors into a celebratory hug before they ran off to class, leaving just Karl and Dana, with four Bureau agents and Sergeant Rita.
“I suspect that you two likely got the most benefit out of this potion. It’s obvious why Karl would have, especially in his appearance. But Dana, I can sense that you gained something special as well.” Jill, her mage tutor, commented.
Dana smiled and took out the holy weapon that she had gotten from the church. It was now glowing with energy, and not just inert.
“The potion helped me, of course, but it also allowed me to fully attune to my casting focus. It’s intended to add a bit of Holy Magic to every spell that I cast, and as Holy Magic is from the World Dragon, at least in part, the drake scale potion appears to have made me more compatible with it.
Now, I don’t need to focus to use it, it will naturally channel spells for me, and it is bonded with me in the same way that the relic weapons the others received in the trial instance were.” She explained, then made the golden sceptre disappear, then reappear in her hands.
Alice smiled. “Now that is impressive. Karl got lucky with his gift being a bracelet that he can wear all the time, but having to carry that around with you everywhere would have become inconvenient once you were outside the Academy.
Speaking of which, you two will be headed out again very soon. We want to see how Karl’s team is doing, as there is a chance that they have reached the Ascended Rank in at least attack power.
I know that Thor is a bit behind on offence, but his scales have gained a lot of durability, so we will have to test him for the level of his physique, if that is permissible.”
[She can admire my scales all day if she’d like.] Thor thought.
[I think it means to try to destroy them, or hit you with an attack and see how durable you really are.] Karl reminded him.
[Oh. Well, I suppose that could be allowed. I would like to know how tough I am, too. I feel pretty tough.] Thor replied hesitantly.
Karl nodded to the team. “I think that we can arrange something. The other two are not durable sorts, but their attack power is pretty well recognized. But for Thor, it would be best to know what his limits are going to be before we get into actual danger.”
Sergeant Rita frowned, then nodded in agreement. It needed to be done, even if she would rather not have someone attack Thor.
“Alright, we will take care of that this morning before heading to class. I’m sure that Hawk is eager to test his new powers against the attacks of the mages.” She suggested.
Now she was speaking his language. Hawk couldn’t think of many things that he would rather be doing.