Professions within each tier are further divided by strength into Lower-level, Middle-level, Upper-level, and Top-tier.
Lower-level and Middle-level professions are the most common. Upper-level ones are quite rare, and Top-tier Professions can only be chanced upon, not sought out.
To advance to a higher profession, aside from obtaining information on an Upper-tier Profession and meeting its advancement requirements, one also needs to develop their current profession to a certain degree.
'Development level...' Su Chen thought. 'Jiang He is so powerful. It's probably not just because he's a Secret Magic Apprentice; his profession's development level must be high too.'
Tiered professions are called main professions. However, the book also mentioned a special type of profession without a Tier. These grant all sorts of strange and unique abilities, acting as a supplement to one's main profession.
Furthermore, they can grow stronger as the main profession's strength increases.
The book didn't say much about them, but it did list one specific profession as an example.
[Special Profession Discovered—Scholar. Can be obtained after meeting the job conditions.]
[Scholar Job Condition 1: Twenty years of diligent study.]
[Scholar Job Condition 2: Study at least twelve different types of knowledge, with no less than one year spent on each.]
[Scholar Job Condition 3: Obtain the information for one Top-tier Profession.]
Considering that information about professions is almost always kept secret, it was certainly strange that the details for this special profession were just sitting in a library.
One reason was that Scholar was a purely supportive profession.
Another was that the conditions were extremely demanding. Perhaps it was also a way for the academy to show off its prestige.
From what he understood, due to physical development, one couldn't begin the various training exercises required for a profession until they were almost an adult.
The education system in Southwind City was rudimentary; children only started school in their teens to learn basic knowledge.
But everyone wanted to become a Professional, so who would have the patience to study all that "useless" knowledge?
After becoming a Professional, the focus was naturally on increasing one's profession development level. Twenty years of diligent study was practically impossible to achieve.
Not to mention studying twelve different types of knowledge and obtaining information on a Top-tier Profession.
"However..." Su Chen's expression was rather odd as he looked at the panel.
[Scholar Job Condition 1: Twenty years of diligent study (17 years completed)]
[Scholar Job Condition 2: Study at least twelve different types of knowledge, with at least one year spent on each category (Completed)]
[Scholar Job Condition 3: Obtain the information for one Top-tier Profession (Completed)]
Two conditions were already complete, and he had seventeen years down for the first one.
'Could it be because of my past life...'
Su Chen mentally calculated. Seventeen years seemed about right.
"Still, three more years of diligent study is too long..." Su Chen shook his head. This kind of rigid time requirement was a real pain.
"Why so long? Make it shorter, shorter..." Su Chen concentrated, trying to get some kind of reaction from the [Scholar] profession, but the panel remained indifferent.
"Fine..." Su Chen gave up. He had no idea how to trigger a "human-like" response from a profession.
As for another point he was curious about: how many professions could one person have?
The book's answer was blunt—theoretically, infinite.
This wasn't a game world where everyone had profession slots.
In theory, as long as one's body didn't reject it, one could keep acquiring them. But in reality, rejection was a common occurrence.
The requirements for each profession were mostly different, especially for High-tier Professions. Conflicts could be fatal.
People also had limited energy. Instead of accumulating more professions, it was better to seek out High-tier Professions. Having ten Tier One Professions might not even be as powerful as a single Tier Two Profession.
GROWL...
His stomach protested. Su Chen sighed helplessly. He was hungry again.
His metabolism was too fast. The canned food he ate this morning hadn't been nearly enough; it had been almost completely digested before he even reached Southwind City.
And now, the hunger was unbearable.
'I'll check the cafeteria first. There should be something with more nutritional value...' Su Chen went to the first floor and retrieved the student ID he had left as a deposit.
It was already getting dark outside when he left the library. He stopped a kind-looking student to ask for directions to the cafeteria.
Just as he'd guessed, the cafeteria didn't accept cash. Instead, the student ID served as the payment method.
But his student ID had no money on it.
"Hmm... I'll just eat later then." Su Chen walked away from the counter nonchalantly. The staff member almost said something, and the students waiting in line behind him were speechless.
'Even a hero can be felled by an empty wallet,' Su Chen thought as his hunger grew. He wondered if he should go find Jiang He and freeload a meal off him.
He stopped in his tracks as he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure coming down from the second floor.
He had asked around; the second floor was where the rich kids ate, and the prices weren't cheap.
Although Southwind Academy was a place for training Professionals, the vast majority of students were learning miscellaneous professions, the kind that would just let them make a living. Not many of them came from wealthy families.
The resources required for more powerful physical or Mental Type professions were far beyond what they could afford.
Without a proper foundation, it was easy to gain nothing in three short years, or even pay with one's life.
He watched the figure—slender and graceful, with hair falling to her shoulders and a delicate profile. It was someone he knew.
He had never seen her this clean, though. The only reason he recognized her was because Xiao Gezi had secretly shown him a picture of her once.
"Bai Fengxi..."
Hearing someone call her name, she paused. The few young men and women with her also stopped, turning to look over in confusion.
"Another admirer? Junior Sister Bai is so popular."
"Well, she became a Professional in just three months. With that kind of Talent, her future is definitely bright..."
"This guy's pretty handsome, but I don't remember him. I feel like I would have noticed a guy that good-looking..."
Their discussion was quiet, but their gazes, filled with the anticipation of drama, crisscrossed over him.
"I'm sorry, I just want to focus on my studies right now, nothing else," Bai Fengxi said, her brow furrowing slightly and her expression cold.
Su Chen was speechless. "Uh, it's me, Su Chen."
"Su... Chen?" Bai Fengxi froze, her eyes widening in a mixture of embarrassment and astonishment. She looked him up and down, then asked doubtfully, "You're... Su Chen?"
"It's me..." Su Chen nodded.
Bai Fengxi studied him closely. 'His eyes and brows do look a little familiar. So this guy actually cleans up pretty well.'
"AHEM..." She coughed twice to hide her embarrassment, said something to the people beside her, and walked over. In a familiar, low voice, she said, "Uh, sorry about that. It's just a habit."
The two of them hadn't interacted a lot before, but it wasn't a little, either. At the very least, they had scraped by for food in the same place.
After speaking, she finally noticed the student ID hanging on Su Chen's chest and was even more surprised. "You're... also a student at Southwind Academy?"
"How did you get in?"
"It's a long story. Right now, there's something else..." Su Chen said evasively. "Do you have any money? Can I borrow some?"
A flicker of wariness was instantly visible in Bai Fengxi's eyes.
Su Chen felt helpless. "Not much, just enough for a meal. I just got here today and wasn't prepared."
He emphasized his point, trying to dispel her wariness.
"A meal, huh..." Bai Fengxi was silent for a moment before pulling a thin glass vial from her pocket. It was filled with a cloudy, milky-white liquid. "This is a concentrated Nutrient Liquid. Mix it with water, and it should last you a few days."
Su Chen's mouth twitched. 'I ask to borrow money for one meal, and you really give me just one meal.'
'Can this stuff even taste good?'
Bai Fengxi explained in a low voice, "To be honest, I'm having a hard time too."
'What a familiar excuse.'
Su Chen sighed. Before Bai Fengxi could even hand it to him, he took the concentrated Nutrient Liquid from her. "Thanks."
Not far away, Bai Fengxi's companions were chatting in surprise. "What's going on? Su Chen? Someone she knows?"
"Isn't Junior Sister Bai the daughter of Vice Principal Yuan's friend? An acquaintance of hers shouldn't be a nobody."
"Zhou Zhong, you've got a rival," a doll-faced girl said teasingly to the man standing stiffly to one side.
Zhou Zhong stared at Su Chen, his brow furrowed. "Why do I feel like I've seen him somewhere before?"
As they were talking, Bai Fengxi walked back over. The doll-faced girl asked slyly, "Xiao Bai, who was that?"
"An old friend," Bai Fengxi said, her cold expression returning. Zhou Zhong's brow, however, relaxed as he said nonchalantly,
"I remember now. This afternoon, that friend of yours seemed to have returned from off-campus with Teacher Jiang He."
"Jiang He?" the doll-faced girl exclaimed. "The 'Violet'? No way..."
Jiang He's reputation was well-known throughout the academy. At this, everyone's minds raced with speculation, and they glanced toward Bai Fengxi.
Bai Fengxi's steps faltered. Zhou Zhong stared at her, intending to see a look of shock, disappointment, or something similar.
"So bold..." Bai Fengxi breathed out the two words, as if in admiration. Everyone was stunned.
'Bold?'
Zhou Zhong looked completely baffled.
Yes, 'bold.' For a refugee to climb into the bed of a Southwind Academy teacher—wasn't that bold?
Bai Fengxi continued walking, lost in her own thoughts.