Eren had covered his basic needs of movement, defence, attack, and AoE with the spells he had selected for himself.

The stars in front of the spells conveyed their effectiveness.

****************

Spells are also ranked as per their usage by ranked entities. That means there are F-Rank Novice spells for F-Rank Novice rankers, E-Rank Ace spells for Ace rankers, D-Rank Adapt spells for Adapt rankers, and so on.

Each ranked spell further gets divided into five grades or stars. A five-star spell of a particular rank will have the highest potency and effects than any of its lower-star counterparts within the same rank.

1-star: Initial grade

2-star: Mid grade

3-star: Upper grade

4-star: Peak grade

5-star: Supreme grade

Each ranked spell is only suitable for a mage in that same rank. That means an F-Rank entity in any stage can use the F-Rank spell of any star. But they can not use even the initial-grade spell of E-Rank without facing severe consequences.

Of course, a higher-star spell was more expensive than its lower-star counterpart in the same rank. The five-star spell was the most expensive of all its lower-star variations.

Furthermore, defence-type spells were usually more expensive than attack-type and movement-type spells. That was because they were few, especially when it came to derived elements. Plus, the students could not neglect their defence no matter which class or path they choose for themselves. So paying a higher amount of merit points for a two-star defence-type wasn't questioned.

***************

Eren informed his spell choices to the receptionist. In return, the latter sent him a deduction request worth 511 merit points. The extra 50 merit points were processing charges. Eren clicked 'Yes' and his points were deducted.

The receptionist handed him four scrolls after confirming the merit points deposition. The scrolls seemed new because they were recently created for the current first-year students.

The data on the scrolls could be digitized and stored on an ID stone. But LA prevented students from doing that without buying the spell scrolls first.

First, the academy wanted the students to have a physical copy of the spell scrolls in case their ID stones stopped functioning due to various reasons. Second, it wanted every student to pay for every spell they take with their own merit points.

Otherwise, there were ways to share the digitized copy among students through their respective ID stones' spectral screens without involving LA in the transaction. The academy wanted the merit points economy to thrive. And this would have been detrimental to their cause.

Of course, the students were allowed to store the data printed on the spell scrolls onto their ID stones after completing the transaction with the academy. They were just prohibited from sharing the data with any other student.

Eren had to sign a D-Rank binding contract with the receptionist. The surcharge of 50 points was due to this contract. The contract was placed upon the students to assure that they would not illegally share the contents of the spell scrolls they received. Sharing would be prohibited to any entity related or unrelated to the academy, as physical or digitized copies, consciously or subconsciously, through themselves, other personnel, or via any other means.

The contract covered every possible loophole the potential contract breachers might use in their favour. Every student had to sign these contracts before receiving the spells, ensuring that the spell scrolls don't get copied and shared across the crowds of students.

Eren wasn't going to share his spell scrolls anyway. He didn't mind signing the binding contract. But receiving spells was not the sole reason he had come to this facility.

"Sir, I want to convert my Extols into merit points."

The Butcher declared his second reason for being there. He had already exchanged the Extols he had received from Isaac and his team with different ones in the city of Lionhearts when he was roaming its streets with Jake. He didn't want those Extols tracked to him, after all.

Even if LA wasn't seriously looking into Isaac's case, they were still all academy's students. Eren didn't want to give the case a breakthrough at his expense.

"Hmm? Kid, are you sure? The Extols could still be used on the academy grounds for various facilities. The Extols, once converted into merit points, can't be given back to the students even if they get ready to pay a higher exchange rate in merit points to do so."

The receptionist warned Eren. He couldn't be blamed. The Butcher didn't look like he was born rich with his visage or his clothes.

"I'm sure, sir. What is the current exchange rate?"

"135 merit points for one Extol."

'Not bad. I was expecting an exchange rate of 140 merit points/Extol. But this is not out of my expectations either. The rate would only get worse in the coming days as more students opt for this way. I should exchange more than half of the Extols I have with merit points. I'll store the rest of the Extols for emergencies.' Eren thought to himself before replying:

"That's fine. Sir, I want to convert 100 Extols into merit points."

Eren said this before taking exactly 100 Extols out from his storage space. The receptionist opened his eyes wide in surprise after looking at the kid, his clothes, and then at the amount of Extols he had so casually produced in front of him.

The receptionist of Novice's Treasury thought the greenhorn in front of him must have exhausted all his Extols reserve to earn merit points when the exchange rate was relatively favourable. He appreciated the lad's boldness and decisiveness when it came to exhausting his wealth for his education.

"Alright, kid. Let me analyze the Extols first before transferring your merit points."

The receptionist made Eren place all the Extols he had onto an array that had been lit up on top of the reception desk. The said array lit up and confirmed the authenticity of every Extol. The Butcher received 13500 merit points quickly afterwards as a one-time payment for all the wealth that he had just emptied on LA.

"Kid, do you want a lightning element ranking technique? I can give you a four-star technique in that element for just 10K Merps (merit points) if you want. We keep limited copies of this technique and won't sell another one for a certain period unless there's a special case."

***********************

The ranking techniques were categorized by stars as well, just like the spells. They were tremendously more expensive than buying a few spells. Usually, students would only be able to afford a three-star or lower grade ranking technique after a few months when their Merps reached a satisfying level of deposition.

This was detrimental to most of the students' growth as they won't be able to progress in their ranking journey without these techniques given to them. But LA could also not just circulate these techniques among students as freebies and demean the techniques' values. It would be taken as showing disrespect to the creators who crafted these techniques. And students would also stop working hard for these techniques if they were to be easily made available.

That's why the academy would organize an auction event for the students every once in a while. This event would allow the students to get the techniques they want at a relatively lower amount of Merps.

Students would have different inherent natures even if their elemental affinities were to be the same. So they won't face much competition for getting a compatible technique for them. The students would still have to cough up a decent amount of Merps. It is just that the amount won't be breaking their banks and backs in the process.

Furthermore, the students could also place any valuable item they have for the auction event. The academy would only charge a meagre amount of Merps and the rest of the buying amount would get deposited to the original owner's account linked with ID stone.

The free-flow of Merps would facilitate students paying more Extols and any other form of wealth at expensive exchange rates. This would result in LA getting the best out of every deal the students make for themselves.

*******************

Coming back to Eren's current predicament. He wanted to invest his newly earned Merps into the four-star technique, which the receptionist metaphorically dangled in front of him like it was some form of bait.

But Eren knew that the very first auction event for the first-year students would be organized a week from now on. That's the reason he was desperate to earn merit points before the end of the week at the risk of offending his seniors. A risk he had now outsourced to Ken Riverine.

The academy would also control the number of spells and techniques it distributed to the students from a particular academic year. This was done so that the students won't copy each other and end up colluding their ranking path due to someone else's unhealthy influence.

Eren didn't attend the auction event in his previous timeline because he wasn't an F-Rank back then at this period. He was still practising the Edinburgh traditional technique for rankeless entities. So the auction event wasn't useful for him.

That's why Eren didn't know what to expect from the event. He wasn't sure if he could find anything worthwhile in the upcoming event for himself.

Almost nobody would be aware of the auction event, including most professors and their respective panels as well as the academy staff. LA made sure to keep it that way. Otherwise, the rich students would start converting their wealth into Merps at relatively profitable exchange rates for themselves before the start of the event.

The academy would be forced to hand out Merps at lower prices than their expected hike. It could not raise the exchange rate before the news of the event spreads forth. It could also not circulate the news earlier than a day before the event takes place. Or else it would break the most fundamental rule of business, i.e. demand-and-supply.

**********************

What Eren was doing today was exactly what the academy wanted to prevent rich students from doing. He was taking full advantage of knowing about the upcoming events.

Eren thought of trying his luck in the auction event. He would have a better chance of trying his luck in the upcoming event than getting the technique right here from the receptionist. He might still get what was being offered to him currently. Even in the case the auction gets over and he doesn't find a better, more compatible technique for himself.

Even if he didn't know about the items and techniques getting auctioned in the event, Eren was sure they would be a tad better and a bit cheaper than what he could get from Novice's treasury.

"No sir. I will hold on to these Merps for now."

Eren finally decided to deny the offer. He bowed and left the Novice's Treasury. The receptionist could only look at Eren's departing figure with his now-narrowed eyes.

Author's Note: This chapter gives a general idea of how the spell system in the VEH-verse works. I reiterate that I want to avoid extended info-dumps as much as I can. That's why I've kept the spell system in sync with the ranking system.

It would allow for almost no confusion or conflict in the storyline while enabling the readers to focus on the plot more. The readers won't have to keep track of the power structures of the world all the time. Once they get used to these synchronized systems, that is.

The BTP values will become a crucial piece of information after such clutter has been avoided. And yet, these systems would still have room for a shock when the plot needs it. [ *flashes a cunning smile! ;) ]

Of course, more information will be provided on spells, artefacts, potions, and the overall ranking system in further chapters. The readers will have a clear picture in their head once the basic groundwork regarding all of the aspects mentioned above has been laid in front of them. So look forward to it! ;)

As the novel starts picking up pace, we will need each one of you currently reading VEH till now to contribute their share. Kindly place chapter comments, paragraph comments, and reviews on the novel if you haven't placed one yet (or if the one you placed has turned invisible due to the safety filter). Especially the reviews that can help future readers in deciding if the novel is worth their time or not.

I take this opportunity to thank all of you if you've already done this. You can also place a follow-up review describing the progress of the novel so far while keeping the spoilers to their minimum. Or you can select the tick-box that says 'Spoiler' before placing a follow-up review.

Just ensure that the potential new readers' reading experience doesn't get affected after getting to know about a piece of information they shouldn't through your reviews. Any other kinda review that is even filled with shortcomings of the novel is also fine.

Reviews with constructive criticism can potentially help me improve upon the content quality of the novel in the future. And if the novel is going in the right direction, let me know that as well so that I can keep the storyline progressing at its current pace and rhythm.

And yes, the novel also requires your Power Stones to grow. So keep 'em coming!

That's about it for now. Stay tuned! ;)