ã€ŠEmbrace the Bladeã€‹


 Prologue

    Prologue

    For everything in existence there is an inevitable end. For every mortal there is a life-span. For every living creature there is a time when they must die. Who gets to decide when that end is? No one but God or - rather - Gods.

    For this particular God, he''d waited a long time for the end of one particular mortal - he''d wanted him to die for an exceedingly long time, but he''d been forced to be patient. He certainly had a lot of [Authority], far more so than the God of Earth, but when the other Gods - both of the opposing faction and of his own - took a stand against him he had been forced to back off. Those of the opposing faction hadn''t surprised him in the slightest, but for members of his own faction to fight back as well...The God of Earth must have done something.

    Regardless, he had been patiently biding his time since then. The God of Earth had attempted to distract him by providing him with human toys, but it had only marginally worked. This God had let a few more years on this mortal''s life slide, but no matter how many raids he''d gone on with mortals in the "video games,¡± no matter how many of the simple "cartoons" he''d watched, he''d never forgotten his purpose.

    Or at least, that''s what he told himself as he thumbed the controller in front of him with unseen hands. He couldn''t really be blamed, could he? It was only one more game, and that mortal''s life would have been short regardless of his interference. He had even waited longer in other possibilities.

    This God chuckled at his own feeble attempt to justify himself and cast his eyes around to the other side of the glowing white platform, floating in the midst of a dark mist, to see the hourglass of the mortal he''d had his eyes on for the past fifteen Earth years. Usually, a mortal didn''t have such a specific time to die, but this God had been rather insistent, he needed this mortal.

    No, he couldn''t care less about the mortal. What mattered was this particular mortal¡¯s soul.

    Less than a day now, and the infuriatingly long wait would be over. The God of Earth had sneakily added extra time to the hourglass during a particularly difficult raid, so it was longer than the agreed time, but this God was unable to touch the God of Earth - unfortunately.

    The God placed his feet on the ground and raised himself up on his invisible legs from the chair he''d been sitting on and checked the robes he wore on his chest - the only part of his body that could be seen. The bitingly cold mists of darkness roiled and spiraled away from him as he moved.

    ¡°Well," he said casually, his voice tinged with excitement, "shall I prepare for my guest?"

    --------

    What is the worst kind of life to live? Some might say it''s one where you are poor. Some might say it''s one that lacks friends or a wife. Some might say it''s one that lacks a purpose. For himself, James agreed with all three to a lesser or greater extent, but he personally believed that the worst kind of life is one where you feel trapped. He might even add the moniker ¡°Useless" to that thought.

    From the moment he was born that was all he''d known: feeling trapped, being useless, consistently enduring agonizing - will draining pain, and all this while he was pretending he was fine for the sake of those around him.

    He had been born crippled on top of being a month early, and his chances for survival were low.

    His parents -John and Marla- had been terrified that they would lose him. From the questions he asked of his grandparents it sounded like they''d been more than terrified, they''d felt it was inevitable.

    Since then, there were many, many times that James had thought that it might have been better if he had died. It wasn''t hard for his mind to wander down that dark path after all, it wasn''t just his own suffering that he''d had to endure - it was his parents suffering too.

    They had to help and provide for someone who couldn''t walk, who couldn''t lift heavy weights, whose bones were fragile enough to break with just a casual lapse of focus, and who refused to complain. Since the age of six he''s stopped complaining.

    He refused.

    A simple complaint from him was enough to make his parents go running for whatever he wanted/needed. In his situation most children would have been spoiled brats, but for James¡­

    Well, he''d seen the reality of things at a very young age. He''d become cognizant of the tender care of his parents and he didn''t want them to hurt anymore than they already did. What was a bit of physical pain when compared to his mother''s emotional pain? What was his legs that broke four or five times in a good year in comparison to his father''s physical exhaustion as he worked himself to death to provide for his son?

    The hospital bills, medication, school fees, basic needs - these things were something his father took upon himself to provide for. His mother couldn''t help - she needed to remain near James to help in the event of an emergency.

    After seeing all this, how could he make things any harder on his parents? If there was any little way he could decrease the burden, he would take it - no matter how small. It was the only thing he could do, even if it was practically nothing.

    Though...he knew things would be easier for his parents if he were dead...even so, he''d decided to never take his own life. It had nothing to do with the fear of death - he''d accepted the concept of death a long time ago. The reason was simple: he couldn''t leave behind his parents. Even more simply, they were his only reason for living. The only reason he got out of bed in the morning.

    Despite it all, in a way, he was happy. This joy didn''t come from himself in the slightest. No, all that came from himself was hatred of the weak-broken body he had. His joy came from those who loved him. To have someone love him so deeply, and so perfectly, he wanted nothing more than to return that love.

    Since awakening to the realization of what could make him happy - despite him having everything that would allow him to dub his life ¡®the worst kind to live¡¯- he had earnestly sought joy in his family. As he found it, bit by bit, his greatest fear went from living, to dying. He feared -to the point of paranoia- what would happen to his mother, who had tenderly loved him with all her heart, and his father, who had tried with all his power to have a "normal" father-son relationship with James.

    Well, that fear came true of course. Deep down, he knew it was inevitable.

    ----

    James forced himself to suppress a wry chuckle as the paramedic in white loaded him into the ambulance for the nth time. In the past, every time they had loaded him onto one of these things he thought he wouldn''t come back home. For the early part of it, he''d had that thought with some amount of misplaced hope, but later it had been fear - recently, it had become indifference.

    Every time he''d wondered about death in the ambulance, or the hospital, the piercing smell of antiseptic and the needles in his arm would remind him that he wasn''t dead yet.

    His mother slid into the ambulance to settle next to him and his father slid into the family van to follow from behind as an awkward little escort. It was practically a rhythm at this point. He even knew the paramedics by name.

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    The ambulance gently slid away from the curb before quickly picking up speed. John wasn''t far behind in the van, James could tell even if he wasn''t at the right angle to see because the muffler on "Bob" -as his younger self had so wisely dubbed the vehicle- had been busted for as long as he could remember.

    The paramedics fussed around with his legs to ensure that they wouldn''t break during the drive. They were both so malformed that it looked like someone had tried to turn them to face backwards, but had given up half way through, as if it was too much effort. Forget his hands, they were usable, but the bones were sharp and set in such a way that he had never been able to extend his fingers all the way. Well, there was a person who would love to hold them regardless.

    His mother sat near his head and occasionally stroked his hair. Looking at them, you''d never think they were mother and son. Marla was a short woman who tried to claim that she was five feet, but was in reality a few inches shorter. She had red hair that leaned more toward orange when she hadn''t dyed it to be actually red. Her eyes were a nice emerald green, and they were currently shimmering with tears she was trying to hold back.

    James had clearly gotten everything from his father. Despite being unable to stand, it was already clear that he was a pretty lanky teen - tall and thin. Odds were, he''d fill out to be like his father if he had been able to lift anything over five pounds. He even had his father''s sandy blonde hair and blue eyes as well as his more quiet nature.

    That was something he found amusing about his parents: his father was quiet and was rather well personified by the phrase "Gentle Giant."

    His mother was the exact opposite.

    She had a temper more fiery than her hair and was louder than a child banging on piano keys. Quite simply, she was a woman of passion - she always existed at an extreme; the current extreme being fear.

    Not long after leaving his home the ambulance pulled into the circular drive of the hospital, thanks to the wise planning of his parents they had always moved to homes near a medical center of some form or another.

    James carefully maintained a neutral face as they lowered him out of the ambulance on his little gurney - jostling him in the process. Even as columns of pain tore up his legs and across his chest he refused to show a reaction to the pain. Why would he? He had long become used to it.

    The blustery spring wind buffeted his hair as they wheeled him those few steps into the hospital through the automatic sliding doors before being cut off by their closing.

    A few more of the hospital staff rushed over and started wheeling him to one of the emergency rooms located on the first floor, just off to the side of the grand staircase that dominated the center of the room, and down a short hallway. His mother -who had been with him to this point- and his father -who had just caught up and was breathing heavily- were forced off into one of the nearby waiting rooms while he was slid into the emergency room by the panicking professionals.

    Weren¡¯t they used to seeing him by now?

    One of the nurses addressed the paramedics who had come with him and asked about his physical condition.

    His physical condition? Not good. He''d coughed up blood for the first time. It was one of the few problems that hadn''t ended him in front of a cold-handed doctor''s stethoscope.

    The checkup continued and James finally allowed himself to spit out the blood that had been slowly pooling into his mouth. It hadn''t been easy, but he''d been able to hide it from his mother after the first time. The salty taste rushed over his lips and dyed his soft white shirt red.

    The doctor standing off to the side took one look at that and left the room. As his vision flickered a bit and stars occluded his vision, a small part of James was rather amused to imagine a doctor who couldn''t stand the sight of blood. Well, if he had to guess she had run off either to grab something to test what was going on, or to speak to his parents.

    He didn''t think that second one was very likely - they didn''t know anything yet, why would they say something when they didn''t know what was wrong?

    The checks continued, they shined searingly bright lights into his eyes, pulled out the hated stethoscope, among other things.

    James coughed up yet another mouthful of blood as they reached the conclusion that there were two separate issues that lead to his condition: one in his heart and the other in his lungs. They said "what" specifically, but he didn''t understand the jargon.

    Funny. He''d thought the only properly working thing was his heart? Well, aside from his brain.

    The lungs were easy enough to tell, he could feel it and they could all hear it from his wheezed and forced breathing - the reason for his occasionally flickering vision.

    The tests continued, then finally stopped. The doctor that left earlier came back in and spoke quietly to the head doctor in the room.

    On a good day, he might have been able to eavesdrop, but the pounding that was echoing in his ears made it rather difficult to hear anything quieter than a regular volume.

    After a short minute of discussion, during which James spat another mouthful of blood into a cup that one of the nurses had helpfully provided and was holding for him, the head doctor patted the other on the shoulder and walked out. He could pretty much imagine the discussion - it wasn''t hard. The reason for that was very simple, he wasn''t feeling pain anymore - not good.

    The fear, the looming shadow that had plagued him his entire life finally threatened to engulf him. Despite that, he was calm. Well, he was calm about what happened after death for himself. No need to worry, but the issue was with his parents, not himself. For them, he felt sick - the stress and fear was pooling in his gut.

    The other nurses wheeled him out of the room and across the hall to a room on the other side. When he saw the name of the room it jolted the small part of him that hadn''t accepted what was happening: ¡®Farewell Room.¡¯ Was he really saying goodbye to his parents? He was only fifteen for goodness sake. He hadn''t even lived a reasonable fraction of his life. Though, the life he''d had...probably hadn''t really been living. It felt like someone kept forcing him to be here - rewriting the expiration date every time it got close.

    Regardless, it was still the real end for him. He could feel that certainty, like he was able to see the hourglass of his life.

    His parents rushed into the room and James could see the head doctor slowly shutting the door to give them some privacy.

    His mother was the first to speak, "Honey, the Doctor said that he''ll need to perform an operation. He said...He said..." she began to choke on the words, too overcome with emotion.

    His father stepped forward to finish what his mother had been saying. It was clear that he wasn''t in any better condition than she was, but he was doing a better job to control himself. "Son, the surgery has a very low success rate. He doesn''t know what will happen..." His father, who had done his absolute best to hold back tears to that point, let them slide down his cheeks.

    James...well, he didn''t feel any shock at the news. Could it even be called news if he already knew the content?

    He reached out to his parents with his warped and bony hands and grabbed their hands. His mother''s right hand in his left, and his father''s left hand in his right.

    "Please, stop crying. Please, just be happy."James felt tears start rolling down his face. He could feel his parents warm and comforting hands in his, the two most precious people in his life, his reason for living. Why did goodbyes have to hurt so much?

    His parents couldn''t say anything to respond, so he coughed a bit to clear some space in his lungs to talk, and continued, "You know, I always wanted a younger sibling. I might not be around to play with them, or help you raise them in any way, but I still want one. Do you think that could happen?

    His mother rushed to answer, ¡°Of course! When you finish recovering from your surgery we can start coming up with baby names, you can help pick the paint for the baby''s room! You can-" John put his hand on Marla''s shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

    ¡°Is that truly what you want?¡± He asked.

    In spite of the situation, a natural smile floated up onto his face.

    "With all my heart, all I want is for you both to be happy.¡±

    John watched James silently for a long moment before responding, "Thank you, no matter where you go please don''t forget us," he took a deep breath, "This has been the best time of my life. Thank you for allowing me to love you all this time.¡±

    James didn''t have any words in response to that, what could he say? So he just closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them and smiling at his father.

    It was his mother''s turn next, she was visibly trembling from head to toe, and she still hadn''t stopped crying. Well, he couldn''t really blame her. He was still crying too.

    She tightened her grip on his hand and spoke, ¡°I love you son. Be..." she let out a hard sniff, "Be happy. We will not ever stop loving you." She leaned down and pulled him into a hug. "Stay strong. Don''t forget who you are.¡±

    James returned the hug and finished the adage that they''d learned the first time he''d almost truly died, "Death isn''t the end, it''s a new beginning.¡±

    It was some advice he''d received from another patient years ago. The man hadn''t lived another day, but had faced death smiling. After seeing that, James had shared it with his parents. It was stupidly simple, anyone could have thought of it, but it brought them some measure of comfort for an inexplicable reason.

    The doctor took that moment to walk in. He just looked at them with eyes full of unshed tears and simply said, ¡°It''s time."

    His father pulled him into a quick hug then stepped back, bringing his mother with him. A team of nurses came into the room and, with the efficiency of practiced individuals, wheeled him out of the room and toward the operating room.

    As they did so James simply said one thing, ¡°Good-bye.¡±

 Chapter 1: Questions for God - Negotiations with a God

    Chapter 1: Questions for God - Negotiations with a God

    He had died. It was really quite obvious. The last thing he remembered was the hissing mask of sleeping gas being placed over his face. After that, he found himself in a dark space, an empty void. Well, empty would be misleading. He could see a black mist occluding the surroundings, so if there was anything else he was being kept from seeing it. The only thing he could actually see was the platform beneath his feet. It was made of glowing white rocks - shaped almost like river rocks, and it provided the only source of light for the space.

    The other thing he''d noticed that made him certain that he was dead was the fact that he was standing. It had been an abrupt realization: he was standing. The legs that had never supported him, that had broken easily on many occasions, were now able to easily bear up the weight of his body.

    He even recognized how foolish it was of him to get so excited over that and his ability to fully extend his fingers. Was he overreacting?

    Well, a smile bloomed across his face, he would take it even if it was overreacting. The useless body he''d had was now replaced with one that allowed him to move as he wanted. The lack of a heartbeat in his chest was rather off-putting, but it was worth it.

    His personal inventory completed James turned his thoughts back to his parents. His mother...wouldn''t be doing too well right now. His father would be hurting too, but he''d try to hold it together for his mother.

    James really hoped that they would act on his request for a younger sibling soon. If they could just replace him it would make it easier for them to move on...

    "That," a mild voice echoed from behind him, "is a foolish thought."

    James turned as quickly as he was able and nearly dumped himself onto the floor. Standing? Fine. Walking? Practice needed.

    Once he''d turned around he focused on the man behind him. He had white hair that fell down to his shoulders, wore a white robe, and had a neat beard the same color as his hair. Apparently, he also hadn''t finished speaking.

    "It isn''t possible to replace one child with another. When one is lost a hole is created that can''t be filled by anyone or anything. For a time, this hole can threaten to swallow the person. Some are swallowed. Your parents will be fine with time."

    James started walking shakily over to where the man was, even falling once in his haste to reach him. Once he almost got close enough to touch the white-haired man he asked,

    "You are certain that my parents will be fine?"

    A gentle smile spread across the face of the man and he rested his right hand on James'' shoulder, "Yes, but it will take time."

    James lowered his head and balled his hands into fists in an effort to stop them from shaking.

    "Sorry, but I need to ask: Who are you to tell me this? I don''t know who you are, I don''t know if I can believe you."

    The man reached up with his other hand, began to stroke his beard, and nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that is a good question. Don''t worry, I don''t take any offense at it. Quite simply, I am the God of Earth."

    It was interesting. When James heard those words he believed God without a moment of hesitation. No matter how he thought about it he couldn''t see the words as anything but truth.

    God chuckled, "Well, I am a God of Truth after all. When I speak all men know what I say is true. It''s a part of my [Authority]. Even you didn''t doubt that I was telling the truth about your parents, you just doubted my identity."

    James nodded. Everything did indeed line up. The fists he had balled up were slowly lifted up to place over his eyes. He didn''t know why, but he didn''t want to show God his expression.

    James felt God''s gentle grip on his shoulder tighten a little, but still remained comforting, "The reason is simple. You have a question you want to ask, but feel you shouldn''t. It''s a question that all humans ask about me their entire lives. The question is: ¡®Why?¡¯

    ¡°''Why would God do this to me? Why would I have to experience this or that?¡¯ It''s a question that burns in your heart, but a part of you doesn''t want to hear the answer. Fear not. I find that your ¡®Why?'' is one of the best ones I''ve seen. Please ask me your why."

    James lowered his shaking fists from his eyes and looked God in the eye for a long moment. He took a deep breath and nodded, "Why would my parents be cursed with such a son as I? I was doomed to die from the beginning. I was nothing but a burden. I..."

    James cut himself off, unable to say anything more. The torrent of complaints threatened to surge forth ceaselessly if he didn''t stop it there, and he still hated complaining. He''d even said more than he wanted to already.

    The smile on God''s face got broader - more like a proud Grandfather than God, "Hmmm. This is why I like your ¡®why.¡¯ You could have asked me why you were born crippled, why your parents had such a hard time taking care of you, or why you didn''t die sooner, but instead you ask for another''s sake."

    God let out a loud and booming laugh, "This is why I like you! Very well, the answer to your ¡®why?¡¯ is a simple one, and it reflects the very question you asked. Your parents weren''t cursed with you, they were blessed with you."

    James felt a bit dazed on hearing that. He knew his parents did the best they could, but he couldn''t see how...

    ¡°¡®How?'' That is also very simple: they wouldn''t have been able to love anyone as much as you. Love is a skill or talent like anything else. It starts from something small and needs to be grown. It is hard for a child to understand the love a parent has for them, but it is a tremendous thing. In your parents, it became truly spectacular.

    "They were continually aware that they could lose you at any moment, they knew how limited their time was, so they endeavored their entire lives to love you more and more. I placed you with them FOR them. They will treasure the memories they have of you their entire lives, they will brag to your younger sister constantly about you, and she''ll grow up loving and respecting you despite the fact that she will never meet you. They''ll be able to love her more deeply and quickly than would normally be possible. You have made an impact - a good one. For that, I can''t be more proud of you."

    James felt his knees give way, and he fell into a chair instead of the floor. It had appeared out of nowhere.

    They hadn''t loved him "in spite of," but "because of"... To be completely honest, it rocked his world. He had to take a minute to process it.

    For the first time, he felt a true sense of peace.

    He looked back up at God who had patiently been waiting for him. He felt a swelling emotion in his chest that he tried to express in the best way he could:

    "Thank you."

    "You are welcome. Please don''t worry about your parents. I will see that they are looked after. I have mighty blessings prepared for them. You are about to have a task placed before you, please focus on it and move forward. There is no need nor reason for you to look back."

    James lowered his head, unsure how to respond. Move on, could he? He wasn''t sure, and a task? He was dead. Was there something the dead could do?

    "No, the dead have no power, but your fate isn''t to remain with the dead. Come, there is another who you will need to speak to."

    God helped James to his feet and led him to a path made of the same white stones that he hadn''t seen earlier. With God''s help, walking became much easier for James and it gave him some much needed practice as they spent quite a bit of time walking along in silence, before reaching the end of the path that lead to another platform - similar to the ones James started on, but far bigger.

    To his left, there was an hourglass of settled sand with only a single grain of sand in the upper half. Across the room, there was an overly plush pink armchair that made him uncomfortable to see for some reason. It probably had something to do with the floating robe that was placed where only a torso was, but it outlined legs as it fell to the floor. He could tell where the respective hands were because they were both stained with paint. There was also a streak of paint across what seemed to be the forehead like the ¡®person¡¯ had forgotten they had wet paint on their hands and tried to wipe off sweat. As for the feet...what were those? Crocs?

    ...

    ...

    ...

    Moving on.

    The whole thing about this...person made James pretty uncomfortable. The banner hanging behind the invisible person only added to the feeling. The words: "Welcome to Trans''Du''Niir James!" were written in big capital letters and the rest of the space was filled with little designs: smiley faces, stars, whorls, hearts, confetti, and more.

    James felt all the features on his face go neutral and his eyes became half-lidded in an unimpressed expression. He glanced over to see God making the same expression.

    James was able to notice all those details in the short time before the floating torso began moving. It stood up, the paint stained hands spread wide, and ¡®he¡¯ shouted, "Welcome to Trans''Du''Niir Brave and Noble One! I am Raften the Overseer! You have been blessed to win the Afterlife Lottery, a rare chance that will allow you to be sent to another world to-"

    God disappeared from beside James, appeared right in front of Raften, and proceeded to punch him in the face, he went flying back, and slammed through both the garish armchair and the lurid banner before hitting the platform.

    James had to give God some points, that was a satisfying punch. The fact that he seemed to do so out of righteous indignation more than anything else helped his impression of the move. Unfortunately for ¡®Raften,¡¯ God wasn''t done with him yet.

    "What kind of lies were you planning to feed the boy, o wicked one?"

    "Geh! What are you doing here? Your part has expired!"

    God snorted in derision and pointed at the Hourglass. "So long as there is still a single grain in the upper half James still falls under my authority and I will not let it fall until he agrees to this task without being deceived!"

    Raften, who had just been lying on the ground, suddenly appeared next to the hourglass and pressed his face up against it. James could see it having a weird effect on the glass as the Overseer''s breath began fogging it up. The weird part was that he couldn''t see his head, not that his breath was fogging it up.

    "There really is a grain in the upper half!"

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    James felt his unimpressed expression return as the one who so impressively introduced himself began to throw a fit on the ground.

    "It''s not fair, it''s not fair! Your time has been up for years! It''s my turn now!"

    Raften was even flailing about and rolling around as he said the same thing over and over again.

    James turned to God, "Is this really the guy you wanted me to talk to, we didn''t take a wrong turn somewhere? No, please tell me we took a wrong turn somewhere."

    God rubbed his forehead and sighed in embarrassment, "Sorry, I cannot lie. This is indeed the God we need to speak to - please bear with him. The more powerful a God is the more extreme their personality becomes. This guy, for as childish and easy to distract as he is, remains a very high ranking God. There aren''t many that surpass him. Even my rank and [Authority] remain far below his."

    James stared at God with a: ¡®are you sure about that?¡¯ face. To which God responded with a slow nod.

    James placed his head in his hands and let out a long, slow, sigh.

    "Oi, oi, oi! You shouldn''t sigh like that! Your happiness leaks out with every sigh!"

    James looked next to him to see that Raften had approached him abruptly.

    The only response he could muster to that was to communicate: "you''re an idiot" with his eyes. Based of the motions made by the paint stained hands, Raften flinched.

    "That hurts kiddo, that really hurts."

    God raised his right hand and said, "I sustain the boy."

    Raften''s shoulders slumped and he walked back to where his chair had been, created a new one, and sat down before he spoke, "Why would you be so mean?"

    God responded, "This much punishment is deserved, you tried to lie to him."

    "I just figured that it would make the whole thing easier..."

    "Just tell the truth, it''s the easiest way to convince him to agree."

    James crossed the platform and internally celebrated the fact that he didn''t stumble once during the whole process. Once he joined the two Gods who were having a staring contest he waited patiently for them to remember him.

    It took a bit of time. About five minutes after it began the staring contest ended in Raften''s loss.

    The Overseer looked away from God and said, "Fine, I''ll tell him the truth, but he doesn''t need to know everything."

    God nodded, "I can accept that. I will remain here to keep you honest."

    "I won''t lie again!" Raften shouted angrily.

    God responded with a sigh "That''s already a lie."

    James had a feeling this argument could go on for a while, so he cut in, "Can we just get started? You mentioned something about a task and this guy mentioned something about reincarnation. I would like an explanation."

    The two Gods looked at each other for a long moment, then turned to James. Raften seemed to be giving a thumbs up and God nodded.

    Raften then cleared his throat loudly and began, "Well, like you heard earlier we want to send you to another world. It won''t quite be reincarnation because we''ll arrange a body for you the same age as your current one, but as far as the task...I''ll tell you later."

    James cocked his head in confusion, "Tell me later? Why not now?"

    Shockingly, God cut in to support Raften, "Because knowing before you''re ready will cause issues. We both have an understanding of your personality, so if we gave you the task now you''d try to finish it as fast as possible. In your rush you''d go down a road that would actually leave you unable to complete the task. It appears Raften''s plan is to give you a broad level of freedom until you are in a position to complete the required task."

    James frowned, "So you''re not telling me something you want me to do because you don''t want me to do it yet. You''ve already warned me, so why not tell me?"

    They both responded, "That won''t work on you."

    God added, "You won''t be able to move either of us on this point."

    "Yeah, but if you don''t tell me what you need me to do there''s no way for me to prepare to do it!" James retorted.

    Raften chose to shoot down this argument, "You are incorrect sir! The world we''re sending you to will allow you to level up like in a video game. Because of your nature you will definitely seek to become stronger. That alone will allow you to prepare for the task we have for you.¡± Raften fell quiet for a long moment, the paint streak on the forehead tilted like he was thinking, then he said, ¡±Actually, I suppose it''s fine to tell you the task now that I think about it."

    God glared at Raften, "Whatever happened to not being moved?"

    Raften shrugged, "Relax, I''m not going to tell him the specifics, just the general stuff. He''s a smart kid - give him six seconds and he could figure it out on his own. For fun, let''s have him guess. I''ll just say ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no'' to his guess."

    Guess, huh. Well, if he could guess that means that he''s been given enough clues. The first relevant detail was that he''d be able to level up in this world. Cool, definite upside, but from the reasons they gave him for NOT telling him the task it sounded like levels aren''t everything - so rushing to level up will result in failure.

    Patience, Strength, and...Danger. They hadn''t said it directly, but the price of failure would be dying again. From the sound of things, he''d only have one chance to complete his task. If he put it all in video game terms that would mean his task would be...

    "Essentially, I need to hunt down a secret boss or bosses - something stronger than a mere final boss. The kind that requires you get all the special skills and weapons to win, not just pure levels or stats."

    The paint mark on Raften''s head bobbed, "Full marks. Because of the system this world uses, power needs to be built slowly over time. You can''t just rush to the end and start building up there because you won''t have a foundation. You''ll also have lost several opportunities along the way.

    "It''s a balancing act. You need to spend time at each magnitude building strength for the next magnitude. If you fail at any stage to build up enough strength before moving on then you''ll only end up as half baked.

    "So what do you say, will accept this task?"

    James didn''t even need half a second, "Nope."

    In response God doubled over laughing, while Raften let out a scream of ¡°Why?"

    Raften¡¯s whining James the time he needed to review his thoughts and reasons. Simply, he didn''t stand to gain anything. He hadn''t been given a reason to accept, and from his conversation with God he knew he hadn''t asked a very important question: "why?"

    God chose to cut in to his thought process, "Actually, you stand to gain a lot. You''ll have power, fame, money, and a body with no issues. There''s a reason for you to accept."

    James shook his head, "Wrong. Power and a capable body are givens since I need them to complete the task. Fame and money are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Fame is just annoying and I don''t need an excess of money, I only need enough for my needs. Based off your argument I still have no reason to say yes. That also leaves out the answer to my "Why?""

    Raften chose this moment to cut in -both vocally and physically- to the argument. He reached out and grabbed James'' shirt with both hands while tears outlined his invisible cheeks.

    "What is it you want? The best weapon in the world? A lost magic art? The most powerful spells? Overpowered Skills? Beautiful Women? TELL MEEEEEEE!!!" Raften let out a crying wail with those last few words.

    God muttered in the back, ¡°Not that he¡¯ll be able to get you most of those things¡­¡±

    After a flickering glance at God, James looked at Raften and a shark-like grin appeared on his face. "Well, I don''t know what I want. You''ll need to answer my questions so I know what I want. Is that fine?"

    Raften nodded vigorously and turned around to return to his chair. God leaned over to James, "You look more like a villain with that smile than a hero."

    James wiped the smile off his face, glanced at him and responded, "I have this nasty habit where I like it when things go my way. I had to be careful before because it could cause issues for my parents, but against this guy? No issue."

    "Hmph, true."

    Raften took this opportunity to sit down heavily in the chair, he rearranged his robe, then informed them with a voice that bled regality, "I am ready, what are your questions?"

    The smile appeared on James'' face again. Time to begin.

    ---

    James sat back thoughtfully. It had taken a good five hours of questioning, but he''d gotten all the info he needed. At some point he''d been given a chair and God had been sided tracked by his work, but he hadn''t really noticed when it all happened. He had been too focused on his victim.

    The victim in question -Raften- was currently flat on his back on the ground looking more like the victim of a beating than of a questioning.

    He''d learned a lot - it had been very beneficial. To summarize: he''d learned about the world, the system, the races, some of the history, differences in culture, the religion, and his "why?" Honestly, five hours wasn''t enough time for him to learn absolutely everything he wanted to know, but he''d be fine learning the rest with time. The answer to his "why?" was kinda stupid. "He had the soul that they were looking for." Raften had refused to explain anything more than that - no matter how much James tried to pry it out of him. Regardless, the thing he focused the most on was his questions about the system.

    He spent three hours on that alone. He only touched lightly on the history and geography of the world, and he honestly didn''t care about the politics so he didn''t ask, better to not get involved in any case. He''d spent a bit of time on the various races and the religion because those would be very relevant, but all the questions besides the ones about the system were there to satisfy simple curiosity.

    It had helped him reach a simple conclusion: it was really easy to mess up with the System of this world. Oh, that didn''t mean that he wouldn''t be strong, but it meant that every time he messed up his upper limit was decreased significantly.

    The upper limit for what? [Classes], [Skills], and even [Affinities]. It made him weep internally to hear about, but he would need almost a year before it all became relevant to him.

    Regardless, he''d reached his decision.

    "Raften," the God in question lifted his head up off the ground, "I know what I want."

    Raften laughed eagerly and hopped to his feet, "I''m all ears my boy!"

    James smiled gently in return, "I want information."

    "Huh? But I just-"

    "I need a way to know when the time is right to [Evolve] [Classes] and [Skills]. From what you''ve told me I need to get it right without making ANY mistakes. I can''t afford to guess or I might have to start over, and I couldn''t stand the wasted time. That is my request."

    Raften sat back in his chair and appeared to go deep into thought. Behind James, God was grumbling over a stack of paperwork. No need to bother him.

    The moment of pondering for Raften lasted a minute before he responded, "It''s do-able. I can create a [skill] for you. You''ll receive it the second you become connected to the system, but are you sure that''s all you want?"

    "I''m certain. Don''t add or do anything else."

    Raften shook his head, "Sorry, no can do kid. I can''t have you on the same level as everyone else. For this task you and your entire party need to be head and shoulders above everyone else."

    "Then I won''t go."

    "Relax kid. I won''t give you anything you don''t have. In fact, I won''t even get to decide it."

    "What do you mean?"

    Raften waved his hand to gesture at the dark mists around them, "This place is called Trans''Du''Niir, just by passing through here with help from a God you will receive blessings. These blessings will enhance something you already have. I don''t know what they''ll all be, but I can promise that there will be five of them. I know for certain what one of them will do, but that''s for you to find out. Decide for yourself how useful it is."

    James pinched his chin in thought, "You won''t tell me anything, huh?" He could tell Raften was serious this time too, "So you''re saying that there''s no choice here?"

    Raften bobbed his head, "Pretty much, yeah. I can take away the Blessing, but I won''t do it. In fact, my plan was to call your party members here one by one during their sleep so that they can receive the same Blessing. Trust me when I say this," for the first time, Raften''s tone became dead serious, "You will need all the power you can get to complete the task I have in mind for you - don''t turn your nose up at this."

    James closed his eyes and thought for a long moment about what Raften had just said. Well, he didn''t really have a reason to refuse. He wasn''t really sure what Raften meant when he hinted at what the Blessings would do, but he would see.

    "Very well, I accept your proposal. You accept my demands?"

    "I do."

    Raften reached down, took off one of his Crocs, and threw it at God. It bounced off his face and he slowly started to put down his pen while glaring at Raften.

    Once he''d wandered over, Raften spoke once more, "Then, with the God of Earth, who I call upon as a God of Truth as our witness, I declare this agreement a binding contract. I, Raften, the Overseer do here-by agree to gift the recipient -James- with all the basic things he needs to fulfill the task which he has been given. At his own request I will also be endowing him with a special power that will assist him in understanding the system of his new world.

    "As a part of the basic "things" he needs I will also be gifting him with a body so that he may be physically capable of performing the necessary task and I will provide [Quests] on occasion for him to gain strength. Though limited, due to my lack of [Authority] over this world, I will assist in whatever ways I can.

    "In exchange, James has agreed to complete the task given and will do everything and anything to gain the strength needed to do so. I will personally act as his [Administrator] and also as the [Administrator] of those who he recruits into his party and/or Guild if he decides to create one. Does the recipient accept?"

    "I do."

    God said solemnly, "As witness and by virtue of my position as a God of Truth I uphold this agreement to be valid. May you both remain oath-keepers."

    A light shined between the three of them that blinded James. Once it had faded they looked at each other for a long moment, then looked over to the corner of the platform where the hourglass had shattered.

    God spoke softly, "My role is done. James, I will uphold the promise I made to you about your parents, you make sure you uphold your promise with Raften." He then disappeared like ink on a whiteboard being wiped away.

    Raften stepped forward cheerfully, "It''s time for you to go." He clapped a hand on James'' shoulder and lead him to the edge of the white stone platform, "Ah! By the by, I hope you like your new name. Because of the method I used to get your body, you can''t keep your old name or appearance, but I''ll have you know the name is special, and I adjusted your new body to be a near perfect fit for your soul. I had to interfere quite a bit with the course of history in that world, but there''s no issue, so you have absolutely no need to worry."

    "Wait, hold on! What are you-?"

    Raften casually shoved him off the platform, as he fell he heard Raften''s voice echo down to him, "Have fun Crimson, make me proud!"

    Crimson? Wha-? Was that...his new name?

    "What kind of name is Crimson? Your naming sense is horrible!" Crimson''s outraged cry probably didn''t make it to Raften''s ears, but he''d still make his displeasure clear!

    What kind of delusional mind would you need to think Crimson was a good name???

 Chapter 2: Adjusting to a New World

    Chapter 2: Adjusting to a New World

    For some reason, Crimson was still able to see just fine as he fell into the dark, going faster and faster, so he had a neat view of the dark mists whipping past with their biting cold cutting into his bones. In fact, the mist wasn''t just going past him, but through him as well! For some weird reason he could feel it swirling around in his chest before settling in...around his heart? No, lungs - on the right side.

    It wasn''t...unpleasant, but he didn''t like the cold feeling. What was going on?

    Before he could really think deeply about it a point of light appeared below him and he rushed to meet it. In less than a second it engulfed him and his world changed.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson slowly roused himself as the sound of wood creaking and the smell of animal dung assaulted his senses. When he opened his eyes he found himself in the back of a cart.

    It was trundling through a forest being pulled by a horse. Well, something that resembled a horse - he''d never seen a green horse after all. His mind was actually providing a different name for it, but the best way to express that word in English would be "horse."

    In that moment, he also became aware of two things. 1: He suddenly knew how to speak, read, and write another language. 2: He had overlooked the driver of the carriage.

    The driver in question was wearing a big floppy straw hat and his clothes were old, but neat and well mended. Unfortunately, Crimson couldn''t see anything of his face or other physical features from where he was sitting, but the hands on the reigns were tanned by long hours under the sun.

    Hmmm. What was going on? Crimson kept looking around at the sparse forest they were passing through as he tried to figure out the situation. To his annoyance, he didn''t have enough information. Maybe there was a note or something like it on his person?

    He searched the pockets of his pants - similar in style to his driver''s, but in better condition - to find that there was a small purse of coins, a note, and a necklace with something like dogs tags acting as a pendant. Jackpot! He glanced at the necklace then focused on what he was after.

    The note read thus:

    |

    Yo! So you need a way to kill time for this next year. Try to do a huge variety of things so that you can get access to some nice [Classes] and [Skills]. If you do something to help your [Affinities] as well that would be super - save you some work down the road. I''d also advise you to save up a decent amount of money.

    Anyway, I arranged a work agreement between you and Evans that''ll last a week. This''ll give you the opportunity to make some money and adjust to your new body in a micro-setting. So there won''t be any trouble if you trip a lot or whatever. Go wild.

    I''ve also arranged things so that he won''t be too suspicious no matter which questions you ask, so fire away, but don''t be too obvious about your lack of origin. If anyone asks, you''re from Kosoka and you ended up here when you accidentally fell into a Fairy Circle. They won''t ask too many questions after that - Fairy Circles tend to mess up peoples memories. It''s common sense. (Which you need to learn, lol!)

    With Love,

    Raften

    |

    Crimson read the note with a deadpan expression.

    So this fool had been serious when he''d mentioned people got access to the system when they turned sixteen? It had been one of the bits of info Crimson had gotten outta him during the Q&A, but he''d hoped that he would be exempted in some way. Well, considering the first paragraph of the note his time without the system would be valuable. He couldn''t waste time for the year he had.

    Crimson neatly folded the paper and returned it to his pocket before turning to Evans, "How much further are we employer Evans?"

    The employer in question laughed, "You finally woke up, huh? I was worried I''d hired a sleepy-head!"

    "A head that never leaves the pillow" would be a more literal translation, but he decided not to think too much about the way his mind translated things and just roll with it.

    "Don''t worry about the honorifics kid, just call me Evans. I''m not a big fan of being on the receiving end of such things!" He turned back to look at Crimson with a big grin that highlighted his vivid yellow hair and blue eyes, "And how far are we? You slept for so long that we''ve actually arrived!"

    Right as Evans finished speaking they rolled into an artificial clearing. The center of the clearing was dominated by several buildings - the biggest of all a two story main house. There were a few other buildings and Crimson could see their different purposes at a glance: stables, a small forge, tannery, barn, guest house, and a building recessed into the ground. Probably a place for storage. There were a few other buildings as well, and there were places on the edge of the clearing where it appeared they were still clearing space as well.

    Evans shifted the reigns to one hand and waved his free one to indicate the space, "This is my family home! My Pa and older brothers all ran off two weeks ago to see the Tournament in the capitol city - so it''s just me, my wife, my younger brother, and a few farm hands. As you can see we''re completely self-sufficient here! Each of my brothers and I learned a second trade and that allowed us all pitch in and help in another way. Personally, I know my way around leather. I even have the [Leather-Worker] and [Seamster] Sub-Classes to help out with that! I''ve even reached Lv. 9 with my [Leather-Worker] Sub-Class!"

    Lv. 9...was that supposed to be impressive? The max level should be 100...he didn''t think so, but considering the fact that this guys pride was leaking off him like embarrassment coming from a teenage girl confessing to her first crush...it would probably be best if Crimson humored him.

    He let out a half hearted slow clap and did his best to inject some energy into his voice, "Ooo, very impressive."

    Evans did a little bow toward the horse''s backside like a maestro bowing before a wildly clapping audiences, "Thank you, thank you - you''re too kind."

    It was going to be a long week if he''d have to play sycophant.

    "Yeah, so what do you need me to do Evans?"

    "Well, my wife is pregnant and she''ll probably deliver soon, so I can''t be too far from her. Some of my older brothers who were supposed to stick around ran off to the same tournament as my father when they had the chance, so we''re lacking enough hands. I hired some extra farm hands, but with me out of the picture we don''t have enough help anymore. You''ll just need to fill in where you can: cutting fire wood, planting, weeding, and a few other things." Evans suddenly pointed over his shoulder at him, "Can you read?"

    Crimson nodded firmly, "I can."

    "Your handwriting is legible?"

    He shrugged, "I''ve never had a complaint."

    Evans gave the horse a thumbs up, "Good enough for here. I want you to create an inventory for everything currently in the storage as well as the rest of what we have available: animals, food, and tools. You up to it?" Evans asked.

    Crimson tilted his head in thought for a moment before responding, "No issues, when do you want me to do it?"

    "I''ll have you start tomorrow afternoon, there''s too much work in the morning for you to do it then."

    "Okay, where shall I start for today?"

    Evans looked sideways at him over his shoulder, "You sure you don''t want to unpack and settle in?" He gestured at a knapsack resting on the floor of the cart next to Crimson.

    In response, Crimson chuckled, "Unpack what? I was hired to work; I plan on earning my pay. What do you need me to do?"

    The cart came to a stop as Evans slapped his knee and guffawed, "That''s right! You''re here to work! It was a gamble choosing a fifteen year old kid, but you''re showing me a good pay off! Just make sure you work like you talk and you might get a bonus!"

    They both hopped out of the cart as someone rushed out of the stables. It was a twelve year old kid who appeared to be Evans brother based off the fact that they looked almost exactly the same.

    "This is my younger brother -Nelson- he''ll take some kinda Tamer Sub-Class when he gets his [Blessing of the Gods]. He loves animals with a passion I''ve never seen anywhere else."

    The eager boy in question rushed right past Crimson without even glancing at him and started unhitching the horse with sparkling eyes and eager hands. He was even whispering to the oddly green horse, but Crimson couldn''t hear what he was saying. Probably better that he didn''t.

    "Well, don''t worry too much about him. If you and I get along, it''ll have to be good enough." Evans scratched the back of his head under the hat for a moment before his expression brightened, "Ahh right! I almost forgot, be careful as you''re working around here. Since this is an isolated farm we''re still having to deal with monsters."

    Crimson perked up in interest, "What kind of monsters?"

    "Nothing too interesting, all the powerful stuff stays further in the forest -where the trees are dense- so we mostly get slimes around here. They aren''t too powerful -even Nelson can kill them- but they are still dangerous. The biggest thing is that you watch your head - this breed of slime like to ambush. If they drop on you...well, getting one off without someone around who has a combat class can be difficult, so it''s pretty much death around here. Just don''t hang out under any trees without checking over your head and you''ll be fine."

    Crimson''s interest hadn''t dropped in the slightest as he asked, "How do you usually kill them?"

    "Well, I wasn''t kidding when I said this breed was weak. I''ve used all kinds of farm tools to kill them. For you, a big rock should be enough if you hit them square. You can worry about it later, we''ll have you cut firewood close to the house to finish off this day."

    Evans looked at the sky and Crimson followed suit - the sun was already well past its peak and was starting to sink in the cloudless sky. He''d had no practice estimating time by the sun before, but if he''d have to guess it was maybe 3:00 or 4:00pm? It kinda gave that feeling.

    Evans nodded sagely, "Yup, I don''t think there''s time for you to do anything else. Let me show you where you''ll be chopping wood."

    Evans led Crimson behind the main house and not far from the edge of the clearing to a huge pile of uncut logs. He scooped an axe off the ground and presented it to Crimson.

    "Here you go, a Lv. 3 Axe! You won''t be able to see the stats since you don''t have your [Blessing] yet, but it''s durability is still high and it''ll see you through! You don''t need to worry either, even though it''s Lv. 3 it doesn''t have any crazy stat requirements, so you should be able to use it without any issues!"

    Crimson took it and felt the weight settle comfortably in his hands, "You seem oddly proud of this axe..."

    "Yeah, my older brother made that one! He only got his [Blacksmith] Class recently so he can''t really make anything good, but this axe is one of his best pieces! I''m really proud to see his hard work paying off."

    Crimson nodded and passed a compliment over to Evans.

    "Thanks! I''ll let my brother know when he gets back!" Evans gave Crimson a huge thumbs up. "You can use that stump over there to split the wood. Split it into quarters and chuck it into that pile over there. I''m not expecting you to do the whole thing, but cut about a dozen and you can call it good."

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    "Yes sir."

    "Great! I''ll be in the shop over there if you need me." Evans pointed at one of the out buildings before bidding Crimson farewell and heading over to the building in question.

    Crimson turned to look at his task. The whole thing seemed fairly do-able. Now that he was finally alone he could take a good look at his body and feel how things were.

    He stretched and started trying to figure out what was different and what was the same. He felt comfortable in his body and it didn''t give him any of the sense of weakness from before - good. His skin...taking a look at it he was lighter than before. He''d probably get some nasty sunburns before it would darken up.

    He continued to stretch and finally was able to put his finger on a feeling he''d been having, but hadn''t quite figured out what it was: he was shorter. He couldn''t be certain because he''d never been able to stand before, but he definitely felt shorter. It felt like there was "less" of him there. He was definitely more narrow than before as well. That he could be certain of; he''d been on the fast track to John''s "Gentle Giant" body type, but now...he couldn''t be sure.

    He chuckled lightly to himself. In a way, it hurt. He''d lost his connection to his father and, though he didn''t have a mirror, he was certain his face had changed too. On the other side, it felt like a clean break. It felt like he''d become someone else - someone who would never have to deal with a useless body, so that made it easier for him to accept the situation. It would still take him time to get used to the idea though...

    He finished stretching and scooped up the axe once more, grabbed a log from the pile, and got to work splitting them. As he worked he continued to inspect his body, once he''d worked out a rhythm for the task he didn''t have to think about it too much and he didn''t have any issues directing his attention elsewhere.

    Of his own observations, his arms felt powerful and strong with every swing of the axe, he''d set his legs at shoulder width and they felt firm and unmoving, he enjoyed the feeling of the shock rushing up his arms with every swing, and he even enjoyed the slight sting that came with it. Even when his shoulders and arms started to burn and shake he ignored it and forced himself to continue working. It didn''t even take long for him to finish the requested dozen, so he did a few extra, just to continue getting a feel for his new body.

    When he had almost finished the task his mental perusal of himself noticed something weird. In his chest, on the right side, there was a feeling...kinda like something was full - right where that mist had settled. It was a feeling similar to how he knew when he was full and when he was hungry, but instead of his stomach it was over the right side of his chest.

    He set down the axe and pressed his left hand over the spot where it was and focused on it far more intensely than before. Yes, there was the sensation of being "full," but what was "filled" was an interesting thing. It felt...familiar. Like an old friend or a favorite book.

    As he mentally prodded it, it actually began to move. It felt like a liquid was moving though his body as the "full" spot no longer felt full, and what was in it -the "liquid"- began to swirl around the once "full" spot.

    Exerting a force of will and, not even sure what he was doing, Crimson began to move it, to force it down his right arm -the non-dominant one just in case what he was doing was a stupid mistake- and it began to bleed out through the tips of his fingers.

    When he looked closely at said fingers it looked like the air was wavering and distorted - like the air above a brightly burning flame.

    "Cool."

    At least it didn''t seem like he''d done anything too stupid. The "full" spot had lost just a bit of the liquid, but it seemed to be filling back up again - very, very slowly.

    "I suppose," he looked at the sky while clenching his right hand into a fist, "this is magic?"

    He grinned, a new body, plus the ability to use magic? This world would be a lot of fun for him. He didn''t know what his [Class] would be, how he''d fight, or how he''d find people crazy enough to join a party with him but, for the moment, he wouldn''t worry about all that. Time to focus on what he''d control, the rest would come in it''s own due time.

    He would be ready to complete that task, to kill the endgame boss, it would be fun! Fun to actually live!

    ----

    Crimson reported to Evans after he finished his task, then was given some free time. He chose to explore the different buildings since Evans had instructed him to not "go too far" and he lacked a reason to rebel. One was a fully stocked smithy that allowed Crimson the chance to see tools and implements he''d only heard about and seen online, but never in person. Unfortunately, there weren''t any weapons, but it wasn''t like this was a smithy for a Weapon Smith.

    The building that Evans was in was a workshop filled with leather and tools for working it. When Crimson had walked in his employer was working on a decent but simple saddle.

    The next building was a tannery, but it was situated far, far away from the others. Walking near it the smell had about killed Crimson and it took quite the force of will to actually go inside to take a look. There were hides stretched over frames all over this particular building to dry and the horrible stench was coming from the group of vats in the center of the room. Crimson would have taken a closer look, but his eyes had been watering so bad from the urinal stench that he could barely see period, much more "take a closer look." He had beat a hasty retreat after that.

    The next building he took a look at -the barn- had been more or less what he''d been expecting. A center isle that ran the length of the building with stalls on either side for barn animals. Cows, chickens, goats, pigs, and even a few ducks.

    A few of the stalls had doors in the back that opened into fenced areas outside and some were filled with nests for the chickens and ducks. It was nice, but all the animals were...off...in some way. They were almost exactly like the animals he knew, but the chickens were able to rival a mid-sized dog in size, and the cows had horns that looked like they were made out of metal. It was a little off putting. Was every animal a monster in some way?

    From what Raften had told him, the presence of magic had affected everything...so was this what he''d been talking about? If so, it would take a bit of getting used to, but the reminder that he wasn''t home was nice in a way.

    The next two building weren''t anything to write home about: the stables and the food storage. They''d been pretty much what Crimson had imagined: the stable was fairly large with fifteen or so stalls, but twelve of them were empty. The food storage was a large room partially buried and extremely cool. It was filled with rows of shelves and with food. A sinking feeling in his gut informed Crimson that he would spend a lot of time in the cold space.

    The last building -the one next to the main house- was a shrine. When Crimson walked in it was a round room with nine delicately carved wooden statues. Four were male and five were female. They were all wearing robes that obscured their faces and were each holding something.

    From what Raften had told him...The one with the glass sphere in his hands was the God of Truth. The one next to it had to be the God of Death, the scythe in one had and the skull in the other made it kind of obvious. A part of Crimson was surprised that they would use the same weapon in association with death as back in his old world, but it wasn''t hard for him to accept.

    The next statue was a Goddess. She was holding a baby. Must be the Goddess of love. The one holding the spear with a sheathed sword at its side was definitely the God of War and the one holding the book was easily the Goddess of Wisdom.

    The next one was holding a staff, so that would make it the God of Magic.

    Crimson wasn''t sure with the next one. It was just wearing black gloves, but glancing at the next two helped him figure our who it was based off elimination: the Goddess of Darkness.

    She''d caught his interest a bit when he''d asked Raften about the religion of this world. "Darkness" was referring more to the concept of what was hidden instead of actual darkness. So stuff like: Thieves, Assassins, Secrets, Betrayals, and the like fell under her domain.

    The next one in the line was the Goddess of Nature. She had vines entwined around one hand and the fingertips of the other resting on the head of an animal that looked more or less like a doe, but the body shape was wrong. More bulky.

    The last one was easy, it was holding a paintbrush in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other. The Goddess of Art, patron of all craftsmen.

    It was easy to see that the two statues in this particular shrine that got the most love were the Goddesses of Nature and Art. Makes sense, farmers and crafters were the ones who ran this place after all. Four of the statues -War, Wisdom, Magic, and Darkness- were completely neglected while there was just one little flower in front of the God of Truth. Death and Love tied after Nature and Art. Makes sense, people want their love life to succeed and they don''t want to die.

    Crimson chuckled. He knew from Raften that all these Gods did exist. They were system [Administrators]. He also knew that they liked being worshipped, but it was mostly because they liked the attention. Raften had then tried to convince Crimson to worship someone who had more [Authority] than nine measly lesser Gods, someone like...Raften. Crimson had actually bust a gut laughing at him. Best laugh he''d had in years.

    Well, all that aside he still made sure to pay his respects to each statue. Even if he didn''t worship them for their "God" status, he could still respect them for their jobs. They also gave out [Quests], so staying off their bad side was a good idea unless he wanted a [Quest] out for people to hunt him down.

    Heading outside, he saw that the sun was low in the sky, and Evans was standing in front of the main house looking around. When he''d spotted Crimson he waved him over and they went into the house talking a bit along the way.

    In the house, there was a large room with a dining table set with plates and dishes. An extremely pregnant woman with green hair was setting out a few more that were loaded with food. Seeing this, both Crimson and Evans made eye contact before jumping in to help.

    He could blame his mother - she liked to fume about how chivalry was dead, so she beat it into her son.

    As Crimson took a dish out of her hands she looked him in the eye and asked, "So, you''re the extra hand my husband hired?"

    "Yes." he nodded firmly in response.

    "Well, my name is Symia. I''m Evans'' wife. I don''t know if he told you, but we''ve been married for three years. As you can see from my hair, I''m half dryad, so if you''ve an issue with that you''d best leave."

    "I have no issues with that, I''m just here to work."

    She smiled warmly, "Good. I know a lot of people don''t like half-born people like me, they consider them an abomination. I''m glad you''re not like that."

    "Yeah," Evans chimed in around a mouth stuffed with stolen roll, "there were actually a few guys I passed up who were stronger than the kid, but they gave me a feeling like they were purists."

    Symia snorted derisively, "How those kind of people can nitpick so badly I don''t know! Hating those who are half human, but not hating those who are wholly one race is just foolish!"

    Crimson nodded quietly in agreement as he finished setting the table with Evans'' help. It really was a petty reason to hate a group of people, but it was all too common everywhere. Too bad he hadn''t been able to escape it - even by coming to another world.

    "Dear, please call in the other farmhands and your younger brother. I don''t want supper to get cold."

    Evans said "yes dear" and grabbed a bell off the wall. The crisp clang of the bell echoed through the forest and brought in a group of hungry men to devour the delicious feast like a pack of hyenas.

    The group of six -that included Nelson- didn''t bother introducing themselves to him, but it was fine. He was just a fifteen year old kid...or at least, that''s what he told himself as he pushed down the annoyance of being ignored.

    One of the men called out to the other as everyone started to dig in, "What were you doing today Clem? You work was so bad that I thought your [Strength] stat must''ve dropped by six or so points!"

    "Shut it! I don''t want to hear it from the guy who''s Agility stat doesn''t even break into double digits. You''re even Lv. 12, so you have no excuse!"

    The argument went back and forth and some of the other men even joined in each arguing about stats, [Skills], and work. As Crimson watched his annoyance faded and was replaced by amusement. Back in his world, you''d only hear this kind of conversation from a group arguing about whose fault it was that they''d messed up a raid, but it was commonplace for everyone here.

    Crimson glanced sideways at Symia and noticed Evans doing the same. She was staring at the arguing group of five farmhands and her cheeks were slowly filling with air. Crimson lowered his head and focused on his food. He hoped that he''d be able to weather the incoming tirade untouched, but he couldn''t be certain.

    Sure enough, Symia started shouting at the arguing bunch and lectured them on letting the food grow cold. In some ways, she reminded him of his mother. She''d shouted a lot too, and she got worried easily, but she always cared, so he couldn''t blame her. Symia seemed to be the same way.

    It was nostalgic.

    After the tirade ended everyone quietly ate their food while Evans glared furiously at the previously arguing group.

    Crimson was the first to finish so he took his dishes to the bin that Symia directed him to and rinsed them off. He then stood ready as the other men came to him one by one to place the dishes in his care before slinking out the door.

    Evans brought over his dishes as well as his wife''s, "Thanks for doing the dishes, and sorry you had to see that. These guys argue all the time and my wife tells them off all the time. They never seem to learn, but they are a good bunch. Please don''t think too poorly of them."

    Crimson nodded quietly.

    "Anyway, I brought your stuff inside. We''ll have you stay in the room of one of my older brothers. I hope you don''t mind?"

    Crimson shook his head, he had no issues with that.

    "Great! We''re out of room in the guesthouse, so I really am sorry about putting you up in the main house, but you should be comfortable."

    Crimson turned his attention back to the dishes as Evans went back to attend to his wife. He helped her up the stairs in the corner of the room and as she passed she thanked Crimson for his help.

    Once Crimson had finished he waited patiently for Evans to return. Since he figured it might take a while he began to play with the little point of magic in his chest. Instead of just pushing it out of his fingers he tried to bring it back up his arm and place it back where in the pool of magic, but it wouldn''t go back. Giving up on that, he noted that flowing mana was a truly interesting feeling, like a rush of cold water flowing down the inside of his arm, but it didn''t hurt.

    He slid it back up his right arm and sent it down his left where he let it bleed out his fingers. It didn¡¯t just dissipate, but floated up into the air until it hit the magic crystal that was set into the ceiling, making it flash a little brighter.

    "Wow!" Crimson turned to see Evans, "You can already control your Mana? Most people can''t do that until they get their [Blessing]!"

    "I just figured out how to do it today." Crimson responded quietly, unsure how to react.

    "Still, that''s really impressive! I bet you''re going to take a magic [Class] of some kind and make all the big Royals! Maybe you''ll even be lucky enough to get a Mid or even High Grade class!"

    Crimson shrugged, "I haven''t decided what kind of [Class] I want to take. I was actually thinking that I''d want a fighting [Class] and not a magic [Class]."

    "Awwww, but that would be such a waste!"

    "Well, I won''t be able to get one for a year anyway. So I''ve got plenty of time to think."

    Evans shrugged regretfully, "True, but I still think you should take a magic [Class]. Hey, if you haven''t decided, why don''t you join the Adventurer''s Guild? They can help you decide!"

    Crimson took a second to translate that last part, Association, Group, and Bureau all would have worked instead, but he decided to stick to more familiar terminology. It would probably help if he stopped thinking in English, but he didn''t feel like doing that.

    "Yeah, I''ll probably do that. I just need to finish my job here."

    Evans nodded excitedly, "Good! They''ll know just how to help you!"

    Crimson chuckled inwardly, if this "Adventurer''s Guild" functioned anything like he thought it would then it wouldn''t be as much help as Evans thought. Well, there would be no harm in checking it out to see if they had anything to offer him.

    Evans led him to his bed and he crashed right after that. He was rather excited for what the next day would hold, and he was certain it would be an early morning tomorrow. Not to brag but, he''d always been more of a morning person anyway. As he wandered off into the land of dreams a grin streaked across his face. He couldn''t wait.

 Chapter 3: A Week of Work

    Chapter 3: A Week of Work

    Crimson raised his head off the pillow and blinked blearily as he tumbled out of bed. It was a trick he''d learned his second day working for Evans to help him wake up in the morning. The fact that he woke up earlier than everyone else didn''t help the fact that it was hard to get up, even being a morning person had its limits, but he wanted time to practice running with no one else around.

    After hauling himself off the wooden floor he stumbled over to the basin of cold water in the room and dunked his head into it. Just splashing the water on his face hadn''t done enough to help the first time he''d tried, but sticking his whole head in the basin had worked - no need to stop doing it.

    Crimson shook his head and breathed out the low gasps of someone exposed to a copious amount of cold water as it streamed down his face and dripped off the tip of his chin.

    Looking up into the mirror he reviewed the face he still hadn''t gotten used to. His face - like the rest of his body - was more bony and narrow. His hair color had changed to an unnaturally dark black and was cut fairly short; his eyes had changed to be slanted and silver in color. While he wasn''t happy with his new appearance, for the most part, he did like his eyes. They weren''t JUST silver, but almost like mercury. The color shifted and moved as he stared down his own eyes and it was far too bright to be a simple silver.

    Well, it didn''t change the fact that his own appearance unnerved him. Seeing someone else staring back gave him an unpleasant feeling that ran from the base of his skull to the pit of his stomach, but over the past few days it had gotten more tolerable. He hadn''t even been able to like his eyes until yesterday. It may have been little by little, but he was learning to accept the changes.

    Crimson broke eye contact with himself and quickly changed into his clothes and yanked on his shoes.

    Moving quietly, he slipped down the stairs in the dark - the sun wouldn''t show any sign of rising for another hour - and out the front door while making as little noise as possible. It had taken a bit of practice, but he''d learned where all the loud floor boards were and he could avoid them in the dark. He felt quite proud of himself for that one too.

    Once outside, standing in the pre-dawn light Crimson took a good look around and then began walking toward the tree line. Once he was a short distance away he stopped and began stretching.

    While he''d never done running back home, he knew enough from ''health class'' -done via a laptop- that it was important to warm up his muscles to avoid damaging them. It was actually nice to put into practice some of the ''useless'' knowledge he''d gained from that ''class.''

    To finish his stretching he touched his toes for a few seconds. That done, he began to walk parallel to the tree line, then started speed walking, then bumped it up to a jog. As he bounced along he remembered the first morning he''d tried running.

    He hadn''t been able to get up early enough the first morning and had to deal with the laughing peanut gallery when he''d tried to learn how to jog for the first time. He''d ended up with a mouthful of dirt on several occasions and had to deal with peals of raucous laughter assaulting his ears. It had made his ears burn red and it had taken quite a force of will to keep his expression neutral even as he spat out dirt.

    Since that day, he''d learned his lesson and had been getting up before everyone else to practice. Well, it hadn''t been that long ago, it was only the fourth morning after all.

    Crimson picked up the pace even more and started to run. He''d finally figured out some interesting things: the angle of his foot hitting the ground, how hard he pushed off, how he angled his body, how he breathed, and even where he looked all affected running. It had been quite the revelation for him, and since then he''d focused a lot on the little things that helped things move smoothly.

    It was something he''d brought to his other chores. He''d learned how to use the little things - sub-conscious things - to help him do better work. It had helped him as he pulled weeds and learned better ways to position himself to allow him to use leverage, it had helped him as he chopped wood as he learned the best ways to transfer the force of the axe onto the log and even how to aim, and it had helped him as he learned that the way he breathed could even help warm his body as he worked on the inventory in the cold storage room.

    The whole experience had given him a new appreciation for how difficult doing ANYTHING was, and it taught him that there was always a better way to do things - even the little things.

    Crimson was forced to slow down to a jog once more as the skill he was focusing on at the moment reared its ugly head: pacing oneself. It was something he''d learned was a thing once he''d been able to maintain a pace without tripping, and he''d had a hard time getting a feel for his own pace, but he''d been getting better.

    As the sun began to truly rise Crimson slowed to a stop breathing deeply and heavily while trying to do his best to control it. That was one other thing that had made him appreciate the small things a lot: the fact that he couldn''t do them. He''d never exerted himself extremely in the past, so he''d never had to learn how to control his breathing. Being able to now lent a new level of appreciation in him for his own body.

    Crimson began to head back to the house; he''d need to rinse the sweat off before Symia spotted him - he didn''t need yet another tongue lashing from her. She was on a constant hair-trigger for telling him off, but she never seemed to have ill intentions behind it - it was just her natural tendency. The fact that he wasn''t the only target helped reinforce that fact.

    Crimson head around the back of the house to the well. He drew the water, took off his shirt, and poured the frigid cold water over the top of his head. It rolled down his body and cooled off his exertion-heated skin. As he shook himself like a wet dog, gasping from the cold, Evans came outside with a huge yawn.

    "Yup already kid? Your Intelligence must be a 2 or less for that."

    Crimson shrugged. It couldn''t be helped if Evans considered him crazy, but his time running had become important to him. It was almost self-affirmation to him - a reminder that his body was whole.

    The fact that it would also benefit his health was just an afterthought that allowed him to justify the practice.

    Crimson awkwardly worked his shirt over his still-wet chest and and glanced over at Evans, "What will we be doing today?"

    Evans let out another massive yawn and spoke while scratching his belly, "Well, I figured I couldn''t say "no" anymore. I''ll be sending you and Billy to clear out some slimes in the south-west part of the farm."

    Crimson had to glance away from Evans for a quick second to smother his grin. He''d been asking for the chance to go slime hunting ever since his first morning.

    Maintaining a pleasantly neutral expression he turned back to Evans and responded casually, "Sure, I''d like that."

    Evans looked at him in amusement, "If you want to hide your emotions you need to hide it in more places than your face. You''re practically radiating excitement."

    A subtle fist pump wasn''t "radiating" excitement.

    "Pay more attention to your body language. Your breathing has sped up, you''ve started to lean forward like you''re anticipating something, and you''ve shifted your weight forward to move quickly."

    Crimson self-evaluated for a moment before he looked at Evans quizzically, "Okay, I''ll give it to you: I am doing that. Thank you for pointing it out, but how did you know to look for all that?"

    Evans proudly announced, "I''ve spent a long time watching my wife! She isn''t always the best at expressing her emotions or when I''ve done something wrong, so I''ve had to work hard to figure it out."

    Crimson looked behind Evans and tried to subtly warn him, but it was too late - the wife in question descended.

    "Ohh? Evans, whatever are you talking about?"

    Evans froze with a rigid smile on his face as he slowly turned around, "I was bragging about my wonderful wife."

    Symia let out a wonderfully bright smile that contrasted nicely with the hands on her hips and Evans'' cowering figure.

    "Oh? Was that all it was? That makes me so happy! I could have sworn that my husband made it sound like I was a poor wife who never talked to him!"

    Evans'' started laughing nervously and Crimson noticed that sweat had started to bead up on his forehead.

    "Nothing of the sort dear! You are the best, most beautiful, most wonderful wife in the world! No one else can compare to you!"

    Symia seemed truly happy as she responded, "Thank you dear! I''ll forget you what you said, but you''re helping with house work today."

    Evans breathed out a mighty sigh of relief as she went back inside.

    "She let me off easy," he glanced at Crimson,"Never hesitate when it comes to compliments - just make sure that they''re the truth."

    A part of Crimson wondered, was he staring at his own future? Evans was certainly happy, but there appeared to be a hidden cost there. Well, he was only fifteen, and he wouldn''t get married the second he became a "legal adult" in this world at sixteen. He''d worry about it all later - if the time ever became "right."

    "Lesson learned."

    Evans nodded firmly, "Don''t ever forget it. Come on in, breakfast should be about done."

    After Crimson and Evans helped set the table once more they dug into the meal with a determined vigor as the other farm helps walked in one by one.

    Evans announced his plans for Billy and Crimson to go slime clearing that day and it was met with an apparent lack of enthusiasm.

    Billy being the one with the least amount of energy in response to the announcement, and the one with the highest [Class] level at the table.

    After the meal finished, he and Crimson gathered together what they''d need: a makeshift spear, and a mallet.

    As they walked toward the area Billy started breaking down the way things would go.

    "Okay, here''s what we''re going to do. I''ll use the spear to knock them out of the trees, you smash them with the hammer. The ones in the area are really weak so there shouldn''t be any issue even if it''s just you killing them. We can swap off after a while, but I want you to get a feel for killing the slimes."

    "Understood."

    "Good."

    Their relationship was a simple one: co-workers. They didn''t fight, but they weren''t friends. For his side, Crimson wasn''t bothered by the relationship. It was simply how things worked out. For Billy...he probably didn''t care or thought Crimson to be a mild nuisance, but he couldn''t be sure.

    The silence persisted as they made it to the troublesome area. Looking around, Crimson could see the blue slimes hanging onto low hanging branches in the trees. There weren''t many of them, but there was a decent number. Maybe ten?

    He glanced at Billy a bit confused, if they were so weak, what was the point in clearing them out while they were this few? Did they have a fast reproduction cycle? He didn''t have enough information.

    When he asked Billy the man took a moment to respond as they headed over to the nearest slime, "The thing about slimes is that they aren''t that strong or smart, but they are fairly durable, and that durability increases significantly with time.

    "As more time passes they split into two slimes and the two new slimes have a base strength stronger than the originals starting point, but weaker than the originals end point. Then, they both become more durable until they split as well, the split ones will be even stronger, and so on. It''s a nasty loop that needs to be headed off early.

    "If you keep the slime population down, then they''ll all be weaker as a whole, but if you let them propagate you may get a slime monarch. If that happens we''re all as doomed as a Shade in sunlight and we''ll have to place a request with the Adventurer''s Guild with the hopes that someone will kill it before it kills us."

    Crimson nodded thoughtfully. He''d been partially right, it had something to do with the reproduction cycle, but not quite in the way that he''d thought.

    Billy took the spear and started jabbing at the slime in the tree - careful to not stand under the thing. After a few jabs it dropped from the tree and Crimson smashed it with a hammer. He didn''t feel any need to hesitate nor any desire too. As pieces of slime splattered around the hammer it started to slowly pull together.

    "Just hit it again - it''ll take ten or twenty minutes before it''s properly reformed with how weak these ones are. The most powerful one we¡¯ll see today will be Lv. 2.¡±

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Silently complying Crimson smashed down with the hammer once more and the slime spread out even further. He didn''t even need to check to see if it had stopped moving - he''d felt the mana from the thing pass over his hand as it dispersed.

    It was odd, he hadn''t noticed it before then, but he could now feel a bit of mana radiating from the nearest slime. It was on the level of feeling heat from a match, but he''d suddenly become aware of it. Maybe coming into contact with slime mana had suddenly allowed him to sense it?

    The next slime was just at the next tree over and wasn''t too far, but from the next one over he couldn''t feel anything. Maybe he was too far?

    Billy headed over to the slime in question and repeated the jabbing act, but this slime was a bit smarter and, after the first jab, began to ooze towards the trunk of the tree in an effort to avoid the spear.

    Billy let out an annoyed grunt and began to harass the thing more vigorously. After a half dozen jabs Crimson stopped feeling mana from the thing and it began to drip to the ground.

    "Humph, I hate when they don''t cooperate. The spear takes forever because of their resistance to piercing damage. Blunt damage is best for slimes."

    Crimson nodded in agreement. Raften hadn''t gone too in-depth, but he had mentioned the three types of physical damage: Blunt, Slash and Pierce. If a monster could be harmed physically it would almost always be weaker to one than the others. Case in point: Slimes, weak to blunt, resistant to slash, extremely resistant to piercing.

    The only reason Billy had brought the spear was to force the slimes out of the trees and into the reach of the hammer - not to kill them with it.

    Regardless, the hunt continued smoothly and the next three slimes cooperated nicely. Crimson felt the odd sensation of mana passing over his arm with every kill, but he didn''t feel the mana radiating from them from any further away or any more clearly - too bad. It would probably take the [Blessing] for him to turn this into anything more useful.

    He''d even tried an experiment where he put some of the mana from his own pool into the hammer before smashing the slimes, but it had done literally nothing. He''d need to learn more about how mana worked.

    After they killed the fifth slime in the area Crimson and Billy swapped off and he had the opportunity to wield the mighty spear.

    It was a shoddily made piece with a badly made spearhead tied into place at the end, but it was good enough for the slimes.

    Crimson had worse luck than Billy and the first time he tried to bait a slime out of its tree it began to move up the branch to try and get away. Crimson forced himself to be patient and twenty fast jabs later the thing was finally dead, and his arms were going numb from the awkward angle.

    Billy stood off to the side during the whole process and had been laughing at him. The laughter only worsened at the same situation repeated itself, all five times.

    By the end, Crimson''s arms were completely numb and he had worked up quite a sweat. Stabbing a slime took more effort than chopping wood - a lot more.

    Crimson swapped with Billy back to the hammer as the man lead him further into the area on the hunt for more slimes.

    ----

    The sun was placed fairly low in the sky as they started to head back. It was probably about five in the evening, and Crimson was absolutely exhausted, but he would push on - even if there was more hated slimes to kill.

    Billy was scratching his head in confusion as they returned, "Boy, that was the strangest slime hunt I''ve ever been on. I only got to kill one this entire day, but after that you killed them all. If you had the spear, they''d stay in the tree. If you had the hammer, they''d drop easily." he looked at Crimson with concern, "Mind telling me what kind of curse you have?"

    Crimson shook his head, "To my knowledge, none."

    "Well, it was the strangest thing I''ve seen in a while, but it was funny watching you kill those slimes with the spear!"

    Crimson elected not to respond. He hadn''t minded the duty so much when he''d wielded the hammer, but killing them with the spear was an absolute pain. Billy had a higher strength stat than he did, so it was easier for him to kill the slimes, but when Crimson had tried handing him the spear in the middle of an encounter, the slime had immediately dropped the ground the second he laid his mitts on the hammer.

    Even he thought the whole situation was weird. Maybe there really was some kind of curse or blessing he had that he didn''t know about? Raften did say that he would receive five, but never said what they were¡­

    As they walked back into the main clearing they spotted a group of men milling around looking like they were on the verge of panic.

    Crimson felt his expression go deadpan once more. He''d seen this situation before.

    Billy hurried over to the group and Crimson kept pace with the [Agility] bereft man with little issue.

    He hurriedly began to question them with Crimson looking on, "What happened?"

    Nelson was the one to respond, the kid looking the most lost of the group, "Aunt Symia went into labor."

    Yup. Crimson had figured as much. It was nice to see that guys responded the same way to this situation in this world as the ones in his old world did. Not that he was any better off than the rest of the group - he had no idea what to do either. He just didn''t look or feel like a lost lamb on the verge of running.

    Billy questioned with some level of panic, "Is there anything we can do?"

    "No. Evans and the midwife I fetched from Petea are with her."

    "Oh." Billy slumped down as he officially joined the others in despondency and scratched the back of his head.

    Crimson thought back on every show that he''d seen that had this same situation - a shocking number - and asked a simple question, "Has anyone started heating water?"

    Every eye started burning holes into him in an instant. Nelson spoke for the group, "What do you mean?"

    "Well, I can''t pretend to know what to do in this situation, but usually someone asks for warm water at some point during these moments."

    The members of the group -sans Crimson- started exchanging meaningful glances before Billy turned to him with a dead serious look.

    "Go cut more firewood."

    His arms would fall off this evening.

    ---

    A low fire burned over a massive pot in the space afforded by the clearing. The pot was big enough for Crimson and Nelson to sit comfortably inside and was filled to the brim with gently steaming water.

    They''d gone overboard. By "they" Crimson meant everyone besides himself because they refused to listen when he''d told them that they probably didn''t need that much water. They''d also made him cut way more firewood than necessary for the task. The upside to that being he probably wouldn''t need to do it again before he left. The blisters on his hands also promised a "fun" day of pulling weeds tomorrow.

    Evans chose that excellent moment to stick his head out the door, "We''re going to need some hot wa-" he abruptly cut himself off as he noticed the pot, "Yeah, that''ll do. Bring me a bucket of that stuff."

    He was clearly trying not to panic as he ducked back inside.

    Crimson picked up the bucket he''d grabbed earlier, having seen the moment coming, and proffered it to Billy. The man grabbed the bucket, filled it, and rushed inside.

    Crimson casually sat on the ground as the previously silent house was suddenly rent with a woman''s loud groans. He was also impressed with Billy as the man ran out of the house like a man retreating from the most gruesome battlefield.

    Maybe it was a little heartless for Crimson to be so calm, but he wasn''t worried in a world where magic appeared to be so abundant. Already, he could feel the mana radiating off who ever was in Evans'' bedroom or whatever they were doing. The second one was more likely in his opinion. He could probably feel the mana coming of the spell being cast.

    He glanced at the panic squad as they flinched with every groan. The fact that the bedroom in question faced the front the house and the open window made it all the easier to hear what was going on. Well, made it easier to hear the sounds of pain.

    Long after the sun set the group was still waiting outside. They were huddled around the fire they''d made for the water and were keeping the rest of it warm - just in case.

    Well, Crimson was probably the only one trying to stay warm. The rest of the group just wanted to comfort each other.

    The screams had finally stopped and the low sounds they could hear after they stopped were cut off by the window being closed, so nobody had any idea what was going on.

    All of the group -sans Crimson- watched the front door with bated breath as it opened and Evans stepped out. The fear and nervousness were instantly replaced with joy and excitement as he smiled at the group and gave them a thumbs up. Even Crimson couldn''t help but be happy - even if he hadn''t been worried the entire time.

    Evans approached the group and spoke, "Symia is tired and doesn''t want to see anyone right now. We can all see her and my new little girl in the morning, but let''s get you all some food before you go to bed."

    Evans couldn''t cook, and the group was unanimous in that fact. The most skilled among them could boil meat with salt, so the group just had milk, bread, and fruit for dinner before dispersing for bed.

    It had been a long evening for everyone.

    ---

    The next morning, Crimson was the first one up like usual. Following his morning routine he went out for his run and by the time he returned the rest of the household was starting the day.

    By silent mutual agreement, none of the men would dare bother Symia or the midwife and, after a vicious and cutthroat time pulling straws, Crimson was selected to make breakfast. Well, "try" at the very least.

    Fortunately, they had some eggs on hand and he didn''t get too many pieces of the shell in the pan as he fried them. He was even able to make the mess without burning them. His first experience cooking was actually semi-edible. For that, he was more proud of himself than he let on.

    "He''s really happy with himself, isn''t he?"

    "Yeah."

    "Is he glowing?"

    "Nah, but if he was any more proud he might''ve."

    Crimson decided to ignore the whispers from the peanut gallery. He also made a mental note to practice hiding his emotions. It would be a much needed skill, maybe he could even get a [Skill] from it?

    ...

    ...

    That little thought just made him depressed. A year was way too long.

    ----

    Symia''s new child was a beautiful baby girl with the same green hair color as her mother. She also had that weird baby thing where she was absolutely adorable and very ugly at the same time. Crimson had never understood why such a contradiction like that existed, but it did.

    The mother in question was still tired, but she was also very content as she held her daughter in her arms.

    Evans had helped them both down the stairs as the group was crunching their way through the eggs and had his wife sit in a chair by the fire place.

    While the group wanted to crowd around the baby -sans Crimson, who was waiting for an invitation- the bull-like midwife intervened. He watched as she gave them a whispered tongue lashing more vicious than any Symia had given, and laden with a lot more curses. Apparently, comparing people to stupid or ugly monsters was a good way to insult them.

    Once the group was sufficiently cowed they''d been invited up one by one to see the child, with Crimson being offered first place by the mid-wife since he''d been the most well behaved, but he declined in favor of last place. Better to let the people with a real connection see her first.

    That was how they reached the current point of him staring down the child. She still hadn''t opened her eyes yet, but he guessed that they''d match her father''s. Well, it was only a guess, and considering the fact that he was leaving the day after next he might never know. Depended on how long she took to open her eyes.

    After greeting the currently nameless child and wishing Symia well Crimson got to work weeding the field to the east of the clearing. There was a path that led through the forest for a short distance before letting out where the field was. Since the plants were all just starting to sprout it was important to keep the weeds away so that they could grow properly. That''s where Crimson came in.

    Most of the crops weren''t interesting in the slightest: barley, wheat, tomatoes, pumpkins, corn, and some other stuff, but the crop that Crimson was working on was VERY interesting. He still didn''t know much about it, but it contained mana - something he''d found out the second he touched it.

    The information he knew could be summarized in two points: it was called Pheonix Leaf, and it was used in Alchemy.

    They grew it here because the ambient mana in the soil and air was well suited for it and it sold for a decent amount. Based off the name, Crimson guessed that it was used in some kind of healing potion. Regardless, it was cool to find mana in a plant.

    He''d even tried experimenting a little by having his mana enter the plant, but the one time he''d done that he ended up killing the plant. Fortunately, it was one among thousands, but he''d still apologized to Evans who''d waved the issue off and told him to avoid doing it again. He''d taken special care since then to not harm the plants in any way.

    He''d also tried sensing ambient mana, but no matter how much he tried he couldn''t find it in the air - despite the fact that it was definitely there. He couldn''t find any in the soil either - much to his dismay.

    A few hours under the sun later he had a quick lunch with the other men, then got to his special task: creating an inventory.

    It hadn''t been easy, but he''d made good headway on it. It also made for good practice writing in his new language. Creatively called: The Common Tongue.

    Fortunately, his own handwriting was still kept even in the new alphabet. He''d spent a lot of time back in his other world improving his handwriting. It had kinda rankled him when he was young that people had assumed his handwriting would be atrocious after a glance at his hands, so he''d put in a lot of time and effort to prove them wrong. He also didn''t want to use his body''s condition as an excuse for being bad at the things he could physically do.

    That effort continued to pay off as Evans had muttered, "You''ve had no complaints? Of course, no one would dare!"

    Evans had then began to jokingly question which master scribe Crimson had run away from before moving on.

    Good. Recognition for his efforts was nice.

    Well, he continued the work and almost finished cataloguing everything in the freezing cold storage room. Well, it probably wasn''t that cold, but he''d lived in desert regions his whole life. It was certainly cold to him.

    Crimson exited just in time for dinner and joined the others. Symia had, despite the literal crowd of people trying to stop her, cooked dinner for the group while the midwife had looked after the baby.

    While he could and would never know how draining child birth could be, he didn''t think that he''d be up and about as quick as she was if he was in her position.

    After the meal he''d let his head hit the pillow as the others decided to stay up late to try and figure out a name for the child.

    Waking up first thing in the morning he''d found them red-eyed and still at it with two clear factions having formed and appearing ready for war.

    Since there were eight people and one baby there was an even split of four versus four with Symia holding her child. The second Crimson walked into the room he suddenly became the tie-breaking vote. Great.

    Probably the best idea ever to have the guy with the name "Crimson" act as the tie-breaking vote for a name. Brilliant.

    Well, there was no escape for him, and he still wanted to do his morning run, so he asked his options. The first, championed by Symia, Nelson and their plus two, was Emerald. The second, championed by Evans, the midwife, Billy and their plus one, was Rose.

    Crimson''s first instinct on hearing that was just to combine the two and call her Emerald Rose, but fortunately everyone shot down that idea unanimously. Even he knew it was bad.

    Somehow, he ended up with the child in his arms as the war preparations between the two groups continued, having given up on him as the tiebreaker. As he looked down he saw that she''d finally opened her eyes, and that they were a lovely purple color. They reminded him of, "Lilac." he spoke aloud unconsciously.

    Well, he could change it a little. Calling a child Lilac would be too much. Muttering to himself he listed a few ways to change it, "Lia, Lillia, Li-"

    "That''s it!"

    Surprised, Crimson looked up to see eight pairs of eyes and eight fingers all pointed at him. Without him noticing, they''d ended the war and had been listening to him mutter to himself. How much of that had he said out loud?

    The baby was scooped out of his arms by her mother and Symia started to coo at her. "I like that name, we can call her Lillia, with Lia being her nickname."

    Crimson felt it was a bad idea for her to take his rambling seriously, a really bad idea. Hopefully Evans would put a stop to it... Uh, no. He had even started cooing to the baby girl her new name in support of his wife.

    With the attention fully on "Lillia" and not on him Crimson took that moment to head outside to do his morning run. He''d best be out of the house once they''d thought twice and realized it was a bad name. Why did they even take it seriously?

    Crimson spent his last day working as everyone went to bed after having stayed up all night arguing. He finished the inventory, arrogantly laughed at the already chopped wood, and was able to get another row of Phoenix Leaf weeded. His week of the same tasks were over!

    When he came in for dinner he''d discovered that they still hadn''t thought twice about the name he''d thrown out, and that it appeared to be sticking. He felt like someone was cheerfully ramming a spear made of guilt into his chest as Evans and Symia thanked him for the "wonderful" name.

    He''d ended up giving them the only response he could in the situation, "You''re welcome."

    While he didn''t think so, their sincerity made him wonder if maybe he''d actually suggested a good name. Well, it wasn''t his problem anymore, they could realize how bad it was later. Evans would be taking him to Petea tomorrow. From there, he''d catch a ride or walk to Falst. It was the capitol city of the country he was currently in: Alda.

    He headed off to bed with the hope that he''d somehow suggested a good name and thought on his future.

 Chapter 4: Welcome to Falst

    Chapter 4: Welcome to Falst

    Crimson was once more in Evans'' cart as they pulled into Petea. It was a green little village half a day''s travel from the farm he''d lived on for the past week.

    For some reason, Billy had seemed the most torn up about Crimson leaving during the good-byes, but that was probably because of the loss in entertainment Crimson''s departure meant. Billy had found him trying to figure out how use his body the funniest of them all. Symia had thanked him once more and had given him a small lunch with a few sandwiches - weirdly named: stuffed bread. Apparently, there was a guild of Sand Witches in the desert, so Crimson''s original way of translating the word for the food hadn''t worked. He''d just got some weird looks.

    Regardless, he''d appreciated the lunch as well as his payment of one hundred Royals, plus the bonus twenty-five for the inventory he''d created. While he didn''t have a good sense for the currency yet, he had a feeling that he''d been paid a lot of money. The little purse he''d had on him only had ten Royals before the new additions after all.

    As the wagon pulled to a stop Crimson hopped over the edge with his bag over one shoulder, and nearly landed on his face as he realized he hadn''t practiced jumping yet. What an oversight, he''d correct it during his next morning run.

    He stood and dusted himself off as a group of small children stopped playing with their ball to laugh at him, and did his best to act dignified as he shook Evans'' hand.

    The man chuckled, "Better, it''s not as obvious as last time. You''re getting better at hiding your embarrassment. Work on the others, yeah?"

    Crimson nodded. With his audience he''d had a lot of practice hiding embarrassment. If only his skill in hiding pain translated over to everything else... Oh well, no point in lamenting what would never be. Things could never come easily for him. Well, a part of him couldn''t allow things to come easily either.

    Crimson left Evans with a simple farewell as the man directed him toward Falst and rode away on his cart, eager to be back with his wife and child. He couldn''t blame his former employer. In his shoes, Crimson would have had Billy drive back the temporary employee.

    Crimson turned to take a look around. It was a small village that boasted a lot of greenery, a single inn, and a single shop. He headed over to the shop in question and spent twenty-five of his one-hundred-and-thirty-five Royals on things that he''d need to make the trip to Falst: a water bag, bed roll, food, a bigger bag, and a few other various items. He''d been able to talk the shop keeper down from the original forty, and then down even further by offering his knapsack to sweeten the deal. Unfortunately, he wouldn''t be able to afford a weapon. Even the most cheaply made Lv. 1 combat knife still cost one-hundred Royals plus, and buying a kitchen knife wouldn''t work because of its low durability. It''d just be a waste of money on a road regularly patrolled by the kingdom''s soldiers.

    Crimson securely tied the bedroll to the bottom of his new backpack and stuffed everything from his old knapsack inside with the food he''d just bought. When he hoisted it on his back he stumbled a bit.

    Fortunately, nobody was laughing at him this time, but he''d get some good practice for his balance during the journey.

    Electing to not waste time and money by spending the night in the inn, Crimson set out from Petea and began the journey to Falst on foot.

    The trees on either side trundled by slowly as the bag slowed him down, but he was determined and he made good progress as the sun began to set. Fortunately, there were several places along the road that were set aside as designated campsites.

    He''d had to pass up the first one he found as a group had already settled there, but the next one wasn''t too far and he arrived there in no time.

    As he walked closer he felt some kind of mana forming a lattice over the campsite. A barrier? This mana felt more...well, different. It wasn''t something he could really explain well, but it wasn''t quite the mana he knew. It felt...less natural. Organized and formed - like woven cloth, but that was the easy part to describe. The mana itself felt...gritty. Not quite like the clean mana he''d come to know.

    After thinking about it for a moment, Crimson felt irritated at the lack of information he had. He hadn''t thought to ask Raften anything on the nature of mana or how it worked, and Evans and Co. hadn''t been able to help him - none of their [Classes] used mana even if they did use their Magic Pool. Apparently, there was a difference, but again: he lacked information from someone who knew about this stuff, or a decent book on the subject.

    He strolled into the campsite and the moment he did, he felt a sharp pain in his eyes that almost instantly calmed down to pure itching. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to figure out if he¡¯d gotten anything in them, but there was nothing. After a minute, the itching stopped and he was able to relax. Did the gritty mana get in his eyes or something? He walked back through the barrier a few times to test, but it didn¡¯t happen again.

    Frustrated, Crimson settled down for the night and wrapped himself tightly in as many layers of material as he could to keep warm - he didn''t want to deal with the hassle of lighting a fire, something else to add to his irritation.

    After yet another dreamless sleep - he never dreamed - Crimson was up and packing everything away. His growling stomach informed him that he''d forgotten to eat the night before, and he quickly remedied the situation with his rations.

    Since he couldn''t do his normal morning run, he''d have to jog with his heavy backpack down the road. He stretched, put on his backpack, and started jogging while adjusting to the increased strain. The low pre-dawn light also made things difficult as he couldn''t see the path well, but the cold morning air streaming past his face did a good job waking him up and keeping him focused - even if it was way too cold for his tastes.

    Not too much later, he was forced to slow his pace as the burning in his muscles warned him that he''d need to stop and rest if he kept the activity up. Still, he''d made good time and he''d gotten some practice jogging under duress, so it was worth it.

    He continued along the road and was forced to stop once by his fatigue, but he ate as he rested and was able to get back up and going without any issue after his lunch break.

    With less than half the day left, he finally reached a fork in the road. The signs spelled out clearly which way he needed to take so there was no issue with being lost.

    As he continued down the road, past the first town he¡¯d seen after Petea, to his destination he finally began to pass a lot of people of all sorts of races: humans, elves, beast-kin, dwarves, and members of the fairy races. Some passed him going the same direction - moving faster because of their higher stats or their mounts, and some passed going the other way. In amusement, he noted that he could pass Gnomes and Dwarves on foot without any issue - even if they seemed way stronger than him.

    He also noticed something else, something rather concerning: the second someone made eye contact with him they began to subtly avoid him. They would suddenly cross to the other side of the road, pull hats low over ears, or stare at the ground. He probably wouldn''t have noticed, but for the fact that it was consistently happening, what was going on?

    Lacking an answer, and the fact that nobody would stop if he tried to talk to them, he forged ahead. Once the sun began to set once more he found one of the campsites and began to settle down. Since this road was far more packed than the last, he was forced to share the space, but he wasn''t particularly bothered - he just kept his money well hidden, made sure to avoid eye contact at all costs, and called it good.

    The group of five he shared the campsite with...how could he explain this sight to himself? It was a harem anime.

    There was one guy who looked way too happy and energetic for a single person, but also looked slightly feminine. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was tall.

    The one sitting next to him had white blonde hair, but she seemed like an air-headed elf from the way she was talking. Was she beautiful? Yes, outrageously so. Was he interested? No, her [Intelligence] was probably a 1. Looks weren''t, aren''t, and never will be everything.

    The rest of the girls were beautiful as well, but each in their own ways. There was a pair of Cat-Kin girls who were clearly twins, but they had the whole "opposing hair color" thing where one was blue and the other was red. The blue one had a very neatly controlled expression, but she was hiding from him behind her sister. Probably shy.

    The red sister was laughing with an energy to match the guy, and seemed hyper enough to tire Crimson just by looking at her. Her sharp incisors were on full display with how wide her mouth was open during her laughter.

    The last member of the group had green hair and had a few leaves and vines entwined with it. There were even a few leaves embedded into her arms and vines that entwined around them, a Dryad. Of course, she was beautiful too. It was clearly harem anime.

    Crimson busied himself munching on his rations - no need to get involved with the walking troupe. If he didn''t reach Falst tomorrow he''d be out of rations and in trouble - ignoring the fact that there was another town on the road. He''d also need to find a place to stay and register with the guild, that would most likely take a fee and...

    Crimsons train of thought was cut off by the protagonist walking over, "Hi! How are you doing? My name is Abel, what''s yours?"

    Couldn''t he talk a little slower? And wait for people to respond to each question individually!

    "My name is Crimson."

    Crimson stared at the spot just over the guys eyes and a deadpan expression took over his face as there appeared to be stars flying off the kid.

    "Wow! Such a cool name! I wish I had a cool name like that! Oh, by the way, your eyes are cool too! How do they do that? I''ve never seen eyes that color before! Where are you from? Are people with your eyes common where you''re from?"

    Did Abel seriously expect him to answer all those questions? He decided to keep it simple,

    "Apparently, I''m from Kosoka, and I don''t know the answer to your other questions."

    "Ehh? Really? But you''ve got to know how your eyes change! It''s the coolest thing ever! And what do you mean you don''t know if it''s common where you''re from! That''s like saying you don''t remember your home!"

    "My memory of Kosoka isn''t there."

    More like it never existed, but that shut Abel up, for about three seconds before the guy burst into tears.

    "Waaaa! I''ve never heard something so saaaad! Not remembering your home is saaaad!"

    Crimson got looks of gentle pity from three of the four girls, and the elf was starting to tear up too. Was everyone in this group emotional? It would make it hard for him to deal with them.

    Nope. Too far. The sobbing guy tried to grab him in a hug, but putting a hand on his head and keeping him at arms length wasn''t too difficult.

    "Stop crying."

    "Noooo!!! It''s soooo saaad! Let me hug you!"

    "Not happening, you¡¯ll get snot on me."

    "Waaaahhhh!"

    The dryad took this moment to cut in, "It isn''t a big deal Abel. He probably left when he was really young, that''s why he doesn''t remember, right?"

    Crimson had long memorized the "story" Raften had given him, but he needed to be careful while telling it. If there was some kind of lie detection magic... Well, his day might not end well. How could he explain in such a way to completely tell the truth about a lie?

    "Well, I was told that I''m from Kosoka and that I fell into a Fairy Circle, but I don''t remember any of it. I can''t even remember the face of the person who told me this."

    100% true. He was indeed TOLD that he was from Kosoka. He had never seen Raften''s face, so that was also true. There, so long as lie detection magic worked like he thought it would there wouldn''t be any issues in the future.

    He turned his attention to the group to find that what he''d said had shut the dryad up. That...hadn''t been his intention, he''d just wanted to tell the "truth." She looked like he''d dumped a cup of lemon juice in her mouth. Her face was also starting to turn red, but she didn''t seem angry.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Abel chose that moment to stop his attempts to hug Crimson and began to use a different approach, "Well, it''s fine! We can be your new family! You haven''t received your [Blessing] yet, right? Neither have we! We decided to put a party together and join the [Brass] rank at the Adventurer''s Guild to get stronger and prepare for our [Blessing]s! That''s where you''re heading, right?"

    Crimson answered in some bemusement, "Yeah, I''m heading to join the Guild, but I''m going to go alone. I don''t need to join your "family" - wouldn''t want to get in the way of you and your girlfriends."

    Abel tilted his head in confusion as he responded while four pairs of female eyes bored holes into Crimson, "Huh? They''re not my girlfriends. What made you think that?"

    The deadpan expression returned to Crimson''s face, "Do you not understand how this looks?"

    There were protests in the background, but the loudest of them all was muffled as blue quieted her sister forcefully. Clearly, none of the girls were interested in Abel.

    There protests only intensified with time and created quite an ongoing storm of protests that Crimson was forced to withstand. It even lasted a good five minutes, but once it ended the distance between him and the group had shrunk. Literally and figuratively.

    At some point, they''d hauled him into the circle around the fire to continue their protests. Even the blue hair Cat-Kin had spoken for a second as she kept her sister in a strangle hold, "Not interested."

    The tide of protests had only ended when the elf had approached him and gotten really close to stare into his eyes, "Wow! They really are pretty! Kinda scary too, but pretty! Can I have them?"

    Avoiding eye contact at a point blank distance is hard, and did she just ask if she could have his eyes?

    "No."

    "Awwww, just a little?"

    "No."

    "Please?"

    "No."

    He put a finger on her forehead and gently pushed her away. He didn''t do well with people in his personal space, and he had found the position to be very awkward. She went easily and scooted away with a pout.

    "Oh yeah!" Abel chose that moment to cut in, "I forgot to introduce you to everyone! The girl who you just talked to is Cecilia! The one with the red face who needs to breathe -loosen your grip Sapphire- is Ruby! Her sister is named Sapphire, and that''s Midori!"

    Abel, could he not read the mood? The girls had all spent five minutes making it very clear he''d had no chance with them, but he hadn''t taken any damage. Was he...? Nope, better not to go down that line of thought.

    He decided to respond, "Nice to meet you. Once more, I''m Crimson. I hope you all have a good night."

    A chorus of confused "Huh?" echoed behind him as he got up to leave.

    He tried to slip off to bed, but was stopped by a hand on his sleeve, he turned to see a blushing Midori holding onto his sleeve, "Um, actually, could you join us for dinner?"

    Crimson stared at her for a long second as puzzle pieces fell into place. The girls weren''t interested in Abel, the group seemed to take an unusual amount of interest in Crimson, trusted him too much, invited him to join them, now the blushing dryad, plus the fact that his contract with Raften said the Overseer would provide him with his "basic needs" for completing his task - like a party. Wouldn''t that mean that Raften had put this party together for him, and wouldn''t this make HIM the harem anime protagonist? Nope, nope, nope! No thanks Raften!

    He decided to take the diplomatic route, "No thanks, I''ve already eaten, and I like to be up early."

    "Really?" the blush got even deeper, why was she blushing so quickly? Love at first sight is not a thing! It''s not like she reacted any differently before then either! It''s only NOW that she reacts!

    "Yes. Good night."

    Crimson pulled his shirt out of her loose grip and curled up in his layers of blankets and shirts. He''d deal with the headache of Raften''s "party" first thing in the morning. Hopefully, he could slip away unnoticed.

    ----

    Midori watched as the dark-haired boy slipped off to bed. For some reason, he reminded her of someone she''d dreamed about a few days ago. Not only that, his dark hair and flashing eyes were entrancing. She''d wanted to keep looking into them, but he''d ignored her.

    It was too bad, but since they were all traveling to Falst she''d be able to talk to him all day tomorrow on the road.

    It would be amazing to be able to stare into those hypnotizing eyes while they talked tomorrow. They''d been kinda scary at first, but the longer she looked the more entrancing she''d found them. She glanced at her friends and noticed that they were all looking at Crimson with the same look she had. Not good, she wanted him all to herself tomorrow. A subconscious part of her noted how weird it was of her become so fascinated with one person in such a short time - dream or no dream - it wasn''t like her, but her rational mind was silenced by her thumping heart.

    The next morning when she woke, Crimson was long gone.

    ----

    Crimson woke up at his usual time and packed up his stuff. He set off without waking any of the group. Well, he''d almost woken those Cat-Kin twins - their ears had begun twitching and he''d been forced to freeze. Once they''d settled back down he''d been able to leave.

    On the road he slow jogged for a while before taking it down to a speed-walk. He''d need to reach Falst before mid-afternoon or he''d be in trouble, and he couldn''t let the walking harem troupe catch up. Not only was he not interested in any form of harem - too much trouble - he also wasn''t interested in anyone he even THOUGHT Raften had chosen. It didn''t matter if his guess was off or not - though he didn''t think he was wrong - he definitely wasn''t interested in that group.

    Crimson didn''t even dare stop for lunch and ignored the blisters he could feel on his feet as he walked down the path with the sparse tree-line on either side. This level of pain wasn''t enough for him to even take notice after all he''d suffered in his previous body.

    That said, he still ate lunch as he moved. He''d need the energy, and the fact that the meal finished off his rations only hammered home the fact that he''d need to reach Falst. Not that he was worried, even though he was pushing for Falst there would be one other village before he reached there, but he was ignoring its existence to create a sense of desperation to force himself to move faster. It was working, so there was no need to stop doing it. His stamina could barely keep up, but it was fine - he wasn''t going to kill himself at this rate.

    An hour after lunch he passed through the town he''d seen on the map and chose to buy more rations - just enough for two meals. It didn''t hurt to be safe, but the loss of the four Royals hurt since he lacked any means to make more for the moment. It appeared this town was a bit more expensive than the last one. He''d have been able to get the same amount of food for half the amount.

    Though, he noted to himself, anything grain based was fairly cheap. He''d make use of that little detail in the capitol.

    Setting off once more he was forced to slip through gaps between people as the road became truly crowded. It was wide enough for two carts to pass side-by-side, but that didn''t make it any less crowded, only less densely so. It only took Crimson two hours to reach Falst from the last village. The road led up a small hill before giving a grand view of the...whoah.

    The city itself had high walls that went around the exterior and had two entrances that he could see from where he was standing, but based off the architecture there would be two more. There were groups of people streaming in and out of the gates that stretched far above their heads and into the city that was a mix of wood and stone buildings. The stone bespeaking a great age behind them, while the wood was far newer seeming, but none of that was what caught Crimson''s attention. No, it was the massive castle that stretched over the whole city.

    It wasn''t like it was a flying castle - that would probably made it less impressive - it was a massive castle supported by stone pillars and arches that extended from the exterior wall of the city up to meet in the air above the center of the city - where the castle was.

    The castle itself had spires galore, with paths and bridges connecting them all together with a main building and its wings below.

    Crimson felt his villainous-looking self satisfied smile return. Yes, this was what kind of thing he''d been wanting to see in a fantasy world.

    Breaking his focus he hurried down the hill toward the city - he''d need to find a place to lodge for the night.

    Approaching the lines of people trying to get in Crimson fell into line and patiently waited his turn. It took over an hour, but eventually he reached the front of the line, only to be greeted by a bored-to-death looking guard who was directing people into the lines they needed to be in.

    "Do you have an entrance or citizen pass to Falst?" Could that voice be anymore monotone?

    "Yes."

    The necklace he''d found in his pocket on the first day had turned out to be his entrance pass to Falst. He''d discovered that when he''d taken the time to inspect it.

    "Then you go into that line." Again, that monotone, it was a nasally monotone too.

    Crimson headed over to the second shortest line as directed.

    Behind him, he heard the guard going through his questioning again, "Do you have an entrance or citizen pass to Falst?"

    Looking behind him Crimson saw a group six heavily armed people: three humans, a pixie, an elf, and a dwarf. Nice split: human and non. Their leader was a human with slightly greying hair, but an impressive set of armor.

    "No, we are with the Adventurer''s Guild."

    "Why have you come to Falst?" The guard was a little less monotoned this time, didn''t he just ask out of curiosity?

    "We want to raid the [Hallowed Graveyard] to help our [Priestess] get her [Lesser Undead Purification] to Lv. 10."

    "Ohh, very well. Go to that line."

    They were directed to the shortest one. As the group passed Crimson the blonde-haired elf and he made eye contact - silver eyes meeting green. She waved and he nodded in return. On the hand that waved was a gauntlet that was clearly used more for offense than defense, with a similar but differently shaped one on the other hand for defense. What kind of [Class] did she have?

    Crimson was burning to ask, but didn''t. Not just because he decided not to, but because her group blasted through their line insanely fast.

    After a twenty minute wait, he was through the line too and he headed into the crowded thoroughfare. It was wide enough to give an interstate highway a run for its money, and was filled with people. There were stands and stalls on either side with people hawking their goods. Men, women, humans, non-humans, and beasts of burden mingled freely on the street.

    At first it seemed harmonious, but as Crimson looked closer he could see some people - mostly male humans - who would sneer at members of other races or look at them with barely hidden disgust. Great, not even in a fantasy world could he escape this form of idiocy.

    Shaking his head in disgust Crimson headed further down the thoroughfare till he reached a great circular courtyard.

    It also had stalls of sellers lining the edges as well as a ring of people around a central fountain running their own stalls. The scents of food, body odor, animal scat, and greed filled the air as the chaos continued without a sign of ever ending. Crimson found the crowd distasteful. Large groups of people...nope. Just nope. Looking around he noticed a street on the opposite side, leading toward the center of the city.

    Suddenly, he took notice of two things that were off: the first was that it wasn''t dark despite the fact that he was directly under one of the arches supporting the castle. The second was the person trying to steal his dummy purse.

    Crimson reached out and caught the wrist of the thief, and turned to see the person. He couldn''t get a good look as they wrenched their hand out of his grip, dropping his dummy purse in the process, and darted off through the crowd. Crimson deftly used his other hand to catch the purse before it hit the ground, then, tucking it back into his pocket, he surveyed the crowd. Best to get out of the crowd - he didn''t need something bad to happen on his first day in a new city.

    As he moved out of the courtyard he glanced up to answer his curiosity, only to see giant crystals hanging from the undersides of the pillars. They were all giving off a great amount of light and made up for all of the light blocked out by the castle and, once he''d been made aware of them, he also felt mana brush against his face from them. It was faint - even fainter than the slimes - but the fact that he could feel them despite the huge distance bespoke the great amount of mana that they must contain.

    Crimson focused back on where he was going and shook his hand to try to stop it from shaking. Even if he hadn''t panicked during the attempted theft, he had felt a rush of adrenaline when he''d noticed the thief. It left him trembling. Well, no matter. He had to get used to these kind of situations.

    Crimson had to ask directions, but once he had them he was able to find his way to the place where the residential and business sectors met in a place the person he''d asked called "Falst Phase 5." Weird.

    When he reached the area he went from inn to inn to ask prices. Well, he only went to the cheap-looking ones to ask for the price. Eventually, he was directed to Falst Phase 9 by one exasperated inn keeper to the "most dirt cheap inn in town" as the guy put it.

    From the questions he''d asked of the guy, Phase 9 was right on the edge of the slums - not a place any sane person with a purse and no discernible strength would go, but Crimson decided that he''d just take a look. It was still early afternoon after all. Things probably wouldn''t get dangerous for a few hours.

    The man who gave him directions wasn''t kidding, the inn was in Phase 9, but really was on the edge of Phase 10 - the start of the slums districts.

    He couldn''t really say no to the price though: 10 Royals a week. Dirt cheap. The cheapest one in Phase 5 had been 45 for two weeks. The wooden building was in decent condition, well cared for even if it did seem like it was about to fall apart, but it got a "decent" from him because it was a lot better than expected.

    Crimson moved in immediately and hid his purse behind a loose wall board. He even made sure to not hide all the Royals in one place - just in case.

    Even though it was still pretty early he was tired from his travels and killer pace, so he ate half of his remaining rations and went to bed. He''d go to the guild in the morning.

    ----

    Crimson set out first thing in the morning. He''d reluctantly left his traveling gear in his inn room, but he made sure not to leave anything too valuable in the room.

    From the people in he ran into in Phase 8 the night before, he''d learned that the guild was in Phase 2, so he went that way. It was easy to get around in a general sense. The different phases were set in a circle around the city like twenty-four pie slices, so getting from the current one to the desired one was easy, getting to a specific place in any Phase got a little tricky, but he wasn''t worried. Just getting to Phase 2 would be enough, then he could ask more people for directions.

    Well, that was the plan, but he wandered into a small empty courtyard that ended in a dead-end. The only thing in the courtyard was a statue of a man in armor on a horse that dominated the space. The whole thing was on a plinth, so it was a decently tall piece, but... there was something weird about it. He could feel that it wasn''t quite natural, and the fact that there were some cobblestones near the statue that were unnaturally placed meant that the thing probably slid. What was under it?

    When Crimson placed his hand on it he felt mana flowing through the whole piece. It wasn''t the natural ambient mana he''d felt in the Phoenix Leaf, but the ordered and weaved mana of the barriers around the campsites - just a different pattern. The mana didn''t have the same "gritty" feeling to it though, more of a...sharpness.

    The mana all flowed to a single point, and Crimson placed his left hand on the toe of the Knight. He found a place on it he could depress, so he did so. As the button was depressed the way the mana flowed changed - like opening a stop-gate. It flowed toward the horse''s head. Crimson braced his foot against the plinth and raised himself to reach the head and gently pressed on the side of the beast''s nose. The head rotated unnaturally, and the whole statue began to slide to the side. Dropping off it Crimson stared at the place it had been.

    There was a circle of blue stones that formed a fascinating pattern of interlinked stone and some kind of metal. Crimson knelt down next to it and touched it with his right - non-dominant - hand just in case it did anything bad. Nothing. Curious, Crimson guided some of his mana out of its spot in the right side of his chest and down his arm to the stones. He watched in fascination as it flowed along the metal and the stones began to glow.

    The whole thing didn''t feel dangerous, so he decided to do something stupid: he stepped onto it. A moment after he stepped on there was a rumbling and the circle of stones began to lower into the ground. It went down maybe twenty or so feet and stopped, letting Crimson see the a tunnel. There were yellow burning torches burning on both sides of the walls, and the place was made of the same dark stone as the rest of the old buildings of Falst. What was this space?

    Crimson yearned to investigate, but he''d have to put it off till later, he needed a way to make money and survive - then he could engage his curiosity. Not only that, recklessly exploring the space may end his life a little too early - better come back later. Stepping back onto the "magivator" it raised him back up to the surface, and the statue slid back into place.

    Good thing he was good at retracing his steps, he''d need to find his way back to this place.

    He set off once more for the Guild.

 Chapter 5: Entering the Guild

    Chapter 5: Entering the Guild

    After a lot of wandering, Crimson finally found the guild. He¡¯d asked around a few times, but people used landmarks to explain where things were ¨C not specific addresses. The fact that guild itself was a landmark didn¡¯t help anything as a guy had told him to, ¡°Go to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, it won¡¯t be too far from there.¡±

    ¡­

    He didn¡¯t even have the excuse of being drunk when they gave that response. He was completely serious.

    The only thing Crimson could do was sigh as he walked away. What else could he have done?

    Another annoying detail was that he¡¯d been forced to avoid eye contact with the people he¡¯d asked. They could look into HIS eyes with no issue, but if he looked back they¡¯d make an excuse and get away from him. It had made asking people for directions during his stay in Falst a difficult thing.

    But, he¡¯d found the Adventurer¡¯s Guild regardless. It was a large building made of stone, standing four stories in height with a large wall that passed from either side of the guild around behind to fence in some kind of yard ¨C possibly a training area. The building was rather sparse in windows, but the ones on the first few floors used wooden shutters while the ones on the upper floors were made of glass. Clearly, the first two floors were where all the fights broke out. Over the entrance was an emblem of a crossed sword and spear over a shield ¨C simple.

    In the guild itself there was a large central room with a long bank of receptionists on the opposite end of the room from the entrance. There was a staircase on the left side of the room that led to a loft that over looked the room, a hallway next to the receptionists and staircase, and the right side of the room had been sectioned off to form a bar and restaurant.

    Crimson took a look at the signs over the receptionists and approached the one that said ¡°new registrants¡± on the far left side through the mostly empty guild ¨C even most of the reception banks were empty. Too early in the day perhaps?

    The woman behind the counter was neatly dressed in a simple dress-style uniform of blue and white colors and had a gold pin with the guild emblem on the high collar of the dress. She was about the same height as Crimson and had shoulder length light brown hair and green eyes.

    The guild employee greeted him pleasantly as he came to a stop, ¡°How can I help you?¡±

    ¡°I would like to register with the guild.¡±

    ¡°Did you just receive your [Blessing]?¡±

    Crimson shook his head, ¡°No, I¡¯m a little less than a year away.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± She seemed to get excited as she said, ¡°That means you want to register for [Brass] rank, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard about it, but do you mind giving me more specific information?¡±

    ¡°Certainly! Not many people actually know about it, but [Brass] rank is there for people who haven¡¯t received their [Blessing] yet. It allows them to prepare, learn, and study in a controlled environment to help them be great Adventurers. We actually only started the practice last year, but not many people have taken the rank.¡± She let out a sad sigh.

    ¡°It really is too bad, I personally think it¡¯s a wonderful thing. My younger brother started from [Brass] before he got his [Blessing] and was able to get a fast start as an Adventurer.¡±

    She hadn¡¯t answered his question.

    Crimson nodded politely, ¡°That¡¯s very nice, but could you tell me specifically what [Brass] ranks do?¡±

    Time to do a cost-benefit analysis and pretend like he wasn¡¯t ready to sign on the dotted line.

    ¡°Well, they spend time learning from more experienced Adventurers who help them cultivate the skills they¡¯ll need for the [Classes] they want to take. They also get access to the Guild Library and are able to take [Requests] here at the guild to help them save up the money for basic equipment.¡±

    She took a deep breath and continued. Was she really that motivated to get people to join [Brass] rank?

    ¡°After you get your [Blessing] and choose your [Class] you are automatically moved up to [Bronze] rank ¨C the usual fee is waived. If you performed admirably during your time as [Brass] you¡¯ll also receive a Guild Endorsement that will help you in joining parties or guilds. It is very well worth your time!¡±

    She¡¯d put a lot of energy into that pitch, and was now looking at him hopefully, but:

    ¡°What¡¯s the cost involved ¨C aside from registration?¡±

    She wilted a little, ¡°Well, it does cost a monthly fee of 50 Royals, but that can be paid back in other ways! If you take enough requests and work hard enough in your classes and studies then the guild will waive part or all of the fee! My younger brother worked so hard that he only had to pay 10 Royals a month!¡±

    How much work would that take? Not that he was completely opposed¡­

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say I join, how much is the registration fee?¡±

    If she said 100 Royals¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s 100 Royals for new registrants, but for [Brass] rank we¡¯ve lowered it down to 75. If you lack those funds, you can join based on credit, but you¡¯d have to pay us back.¡±

    There was no way Crimson would go into debt as his first major action in a new world. He could buy it with the funds he had currently, but he¡¯d be left with 25 Royals ¨C enough to survive a week if he was cautious, but he wouldn¡¯t be eating well.

    ¡°Okay, will I be able to start taking requests immediately?¡±

    She looked rather embarrassed, ¡°Well, um, no. No you won¡¯t be able to. You¡¯ll only be able to take requests once you have your guild card, and it¡¯ll take us a few days to a week to make it.¡±

    So he¡¯d have to risk starvation and losing his only place to sleep? Not worth the risk as is ¨C he¡¯d need to find other avenues of revenue before joining.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry then, I won¡¯t be able to register today.¡±

    The guild employee suddenly put her hands on the counter and leaned over it to get into his face, but flinched as she made eye contact for the first time and backed off. What was it about his eyes that made people run?

    Well, she was stubborn and didn¡¯t run, but it took a second for her to force herself to speak, ¡°Why not today? Isn¡¯t this the best time?¡±

    ¡°If I could take requests, yes. I would be able to make money, but if I registered now then I most likely wouldn¡¯t be able survive until the guild card was finished.¡±

    ¡°You could join based off credit¡­¡±

    ¡°I will not go into debt for this.¡±

    She appeared to be forcing herself to make eye contact with him as she rapidly tapped her index finger on the counter. After a moment of thought she asked, ¡°Do you have any special skills?¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°Well, anything that would give me something I could use to convince the Guild Master to make an exception to the rules.¡±

    He shrugged, ¡°I can do any form of manual labor you want and I can read and write without any issues.¡±

    She steepled her fingers for a moment. ¡°Since it¡¯s just a matter of money for survival, I could see if the Guild Master would be willing to hire you for the week to do scribing tasks, but I¡¯ll need a sample of your writing.¡±

    ¡°What are my chances of getting hired?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Most people who come in won¡¯t walk out without registering ¨C regardless of their personal circumstances. You¡¯re actually the first one of any registrant who was willing to walk away.¡±

    Crimson shrugged. He¡¯d heard somewhere that the most important part of negotiation was being able to walk away from a poor deal. While the risk factor involved might be fairly low all things considered ¨C he could possibly get his card before he ran out of money ¨C he still wasn¡¯t the type to risk anything without enough information. The moment with the moving statue aside ¨C that was a special case.

    The guild employee handed him a sheet of paper and a pen. ¡°The Guild Master is a firm worshipper of the God of Truth and the Goddess of Art, could you write a prayer to them both so I can try to convince him with it?¡±

    Crimson tilted his head in confusion, why would writing a prayer help? It didn¡¯t seem like a good bargaining tool. If it was really just a matter of sampling his handwriting there were other things he could write. Though, he also lacked a reason to refuse. If it failed he had nothing to lose but time; if writing the prayer worked he had everything to gain.

    ¡°Do I write one prayer to both or one to each?¡±

    ¡°Whichever works best for you, just make sure you use your best handwriting.¡±

    He nodded and thought for a moment before he got to work. What could he write/say that would touch a devout believer of the God of Truth? How people worshipped the gods varied a lot based off their own personal beliefs.

    He decided to just go for broke and see what came out of it:

    |

    Oh, my God of Truth, lend me your ear, hear my prayer: that my tongue and mind may be free of Darkness and guile. Grant unto me that I may discern fact from fiction, truth from lies, that I may show unto you my great devotion. I offer unto you my heart that I may forever retain my devotion to you and ask that you forever seal me as yours. I ask that through your blessing I may firmly enforce your laws and your [Authority] here on the planet you rule. This is my prayer unto you, oh God of Truth. So it is said.

    |

    Mushy. Bleh, but hopefully acceptable ¨C it most mostly hot air that said practically nothing and lacked a point with an abrupt ending. He proceeded to write a second, but similar one to the Goddess of Art, offering up his ¡°talent¡± instead of his heart this time. It was just as mushy. While Crimson certainly believed in gods and higher beings, he didn¡¯t see how they could like this kind of thing. The amount of damage he¡¯d take if someone directed something like this toward him¡­ he was taking damage just trying to imagine it.

    That aside, once he finished he gave the paper to the Guild Employee having filled up one side.

    She read it, then put her hand over her mouth with an awed expression, ¡°Yeah, I think this will work¡­ Do you think you could write a prayer to the Goddess of Love for me?¡±

    Crimson¡¯s expression went deadpan, ¡°We¡¯ll talk later.¡±

    She nodded slowly as she turned away completely absorbed in the paper, was it really that good? Maybe mushy equals good when it comes to prayers?

    Crimson leaned against the counter and patiently waited as she headed down the hallway to his left. After a few minutes of waiting, a voice echoed behind him.

    ¡°Oh? What are you doing here?¡±

    Was this the Adventurer¡¯s Guild encounter clich¨¦? He wouldn¡¯t be able to win in a fight with anything stronger than a Lv.1 Slime¡­

    Turning, he saw the elf from yesterday ¨C the one that had been wearing the two gauntlets. She had golden hair and vivid green eyes. She stood just slightly taller than him and appeared completely at ease. She was also wearing a simple brown dress instead of the armor he¡¯d seen her wearing yesterday.

    Crimson took a moment to respond, ¡°I¡¯m registering with the guild.¡±

    ¡°Really? You don¡¯t seem like you¡¯re sixteen yet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not, I don¡¯t have my [Blessing]. I¡¯m joining the [Brass] rank, or at least, I¡¯m trying to. We¡¯ll see.¡±

    She tilted her head in confusion, ¡°[Brass] rank? I thought the lowest was [Bronze]?¡±

    The female guild employee who had just walked up from her visit with the guild master responded instead, ¡°Not since last year, The Adventurer¡¯s Guild ¨C Falst Branch decided to add a [Brass] rank to try and improve the quality of Adventurers. Anyway, may I ask who you are?¡±

    The elf processed the information for a moment, then responded, ¡°I am Verity the [Windfist]. I¡¯m a [Martial Artist] with a [FistFighter] and [Berserker] Sub-Classes. I¡¯m currently [Black Gold] rank. My partys name is [Cliff] and my leader¡¯s name is Nayre. Is that enough information for you interrogator-lady?¡±

    So those were her [Classes]? It explained the gauntlets nicely.

    The employee blinked in surprise, ¡°[Black Gold]? Falst doesn¡¯t currently have any [Black Gold] ranks, what are you doing here?¡±

    Verity looked at the employee smugly, ¡°Our [Priestess] needs the [Hallowed Graveyard] to get her [Lesser Undead Purification] to Lv.10. Maybe she¡¯ll even get lucky and have it evolve? My dear leader has been praying to the gods that it might evolve.¡±

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    The guild employee had an awed look appear on her face as she nodded in understanding. Fortunately, Crimson was able to follow the conversation even if he didn¡¯t understand the specifics behind things, like why it was impressive, and why did they act like [Skill Evolution] was a lucky chance or something they needed the Gods help with?

    For some reason, Verity was looking at Crimson with an even more smug look ¨C as if waiting for something.

    Annoyed, he asked, ¡°What? Do I have something on my face?¡±

    Verity looked a little disappointed, ¡°¡±What?¡± How could that be your only reaction to how awesome I am? My party and I are doing things so far above you that you should be amazed and begging for more info, but you don¡¯t seem impressed at all Silver-Eyes¡­¡±

    ¡°My name isn¡¯t ¡°Silver-Eyes¡± it¡¯s Crimson.¡±

    Curse Raften and his naming sense, it wasn¡¯t much better than Silver-Eyes.

    ¡°Whatever Silver-Eyes, I¡¯ll catch you later.¡±

    She¡­hadn¡¯t flinched when she¡¯d made eye contact with him. Did it mean that those stronger than him weren¡¯t affected? He still wasn¡¯t sure. He¡¯d need to scare more people to gain some information.

    Turning his attention back to the guild employee, he asked, ¡°What did the Guild Master have to say?¡±

    The woman took a moment to respond, ¡°He said that it was fine. The Guild will be hiring you for the next week to help us clear out our backlog of paperwork and write up requests.¡± She smiled mischievously, ¡°He took one look at what you wrote and told me to hire you.¡±

    Well, mushy works.

    Crimson nodded, ¡°When do I get started?¡±

    She smiled excitedly, ¡°After you finish registering.¡±

    The loss of 75 Royals later, Crimson got to work.

    Crimson was burning the midnight candle, literally. It was still only his first day working for the guild ¨C well, second now, it had just passed midnight ¨C but he could see why they¡¯d hire him so easily. The backlog of paperwork was¡­ awe inspiring. Literal stacks of paper that needed to be sorted, relevant information that needed to be entered, files that needed new cabinets, and an insane amount of grievances.

    Even after hours of work he hadn¡¯t made a noticeable dent in the mess, but he had at least learned quite a bit more about the value of money from the grievances. What a fun way to learn that. People could be really petty, demanding: the guild, their party members, regular citizens, and even royalty for money using the guild as a medium for their pettiness and straight up lies.

    There was only one that attacked the royalty, but when he¡¯d casually mentioned it to Emma ¨Cthe guild employee- she¡¯d taken the sheet from him and went to speak to the Guild Master. It probably wouldn¡¯t end well for the Adventurer ¨C he¡¯d been pretty slanderous in his attempted robbery. No other way to phrase what it was. What a fool.

    Well, he continued on swapping between the various tasks so that he wouldn¡¯t get too bored by one, and by the time his third candle had started to burn low it actually started to look like he¡¯d made a dent in the mess ¨C if he squinted right.

    To kill some of the boredom and monotony of the task he¡¯d even started playing with his mana as he went about his work, running it all throughout his body and just getting used to the sensation of it. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t been able to get it to actually DO anything.

    It didn¡¯t give off light, he couldn¡¯t interact with anything using it, once it left his body he could barely affect it unless he put it IN something, but it wouldn¡¯t affect the object he put it into in any way and it would leak right out the second he let go of the object. What was the point? Would it really only become useful once he learned magic?

    Crimson sighed as he put another piece of paper on a stack higher than the desk it was next to, and continued his musings as the sun began to rise. He¡¯d been at it all night ¨C great.

    Not long after the sun rose Emma walked in and found him still working.

    ¡°What a hard worker you are! You came in so early! Wait a second¡­you don¡¯t have a key¡­how did you get in?¡±

    He looked at her in amusement, ¡°I only left for a short time yesterday afternoon to grab my stuff and food. Since then, I haven¡¯t left.¡±

    ¡°Or slept?¡±

    ¡°Or slept.¡± He shrugged.

    He¡¯d been rather caught up in the task before him and hadn¡¯t really found a good moment to stop. The fact that real progress could be seen in the amount of paperwork remaining had also contributed to his unwillingness to stop. That, and one other thing.

    Emma stared at him for a long moment, ¡°When do you plan on sleeping?¡±

    ¡°I was going to finish off the rest of this stack here, get breakfast, come back, pass out at this desk for four hours, then get back to work.¡±

    Emma appeared to be having a hard time finding a response to that¡­oh, he was making eye contact. Once he¡¯d broken it she started to respond,

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to kill yourself doing that?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll only allow myself to move within acceptable limits.¡±

    ¡°Being up all night is acceptable?¡±

    ¡°The danger with being up all night is consistently doing it. I won¡¯t do it tonight or tomorrow, so there should be no issues.¡±

    Emma shook her head and slowly looked around apparently trying to find the words to respond. When she got a good look at the amount of paperwork Crimson had taken care of her jaw dropped.

    ¡°You did all that in one night?¡±

    Crimson casually glanced at the pile, ¡°Yeah, if you work at something for a long time you do end up seeing progress. Though, some of this stuff is really depressing.¡±

    Emma slowly closed her mouth and swallowed hard, she nodded robotically, then walked off jerkily. What was with her?

    Crimson shrugged, then got to work finishing the last of his current stack. He even figured out a trick where he could create a mana conduit using a piece of paper. Apparently, he could even pull the mana back inside his skin ¨C something he hadn¡¯t tried before. It was a weird sensation that felt almost like a pleasant vaccine shot ¨C if such a thing was possible.

    Finishing the stack, he stood and rubbed his dry and gritty feeling eyes. He¡¯d definitely need some good sleep, but there was something he¡¯d neglected the day before that he couldn¡¯t allow himself to slack on: his morning run.

    Exiting the office he headed down to the first floor from the third floor and out into the yard in the back.

    It was a wide open area with a black stone wall surrounding the exterior, there were racks of wooden weapons and dulled metal ones, chalk circles for sparring arenas, and spots of environmentally controlled footing: sandy, snow, ice, rocky, and even ¡°mostly¡± on fire. That last one looked rather unpleasant.

    Fortunately, there was room around the edge of the area that gave Crimson space to run. He stretched, then got to work running.

    As he ran, he felt like an itch that he hadn¡¯t been able to scratch had finally been found and it felt so good to scratch. Crimson smiled to himself, how dependent on his running had he become? Not that it was a bad thing. After a good hour of running and varying his pace he felt absolutely drained. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t be so wiped, but the loss of sleep was rearing its ugly head.

    As he headed back inside after wiping off his sweat he ran into Emma, who crinkled her nose the second he got within a few feet.

    ¡°What have you been doing?¡±

    ¡°Running.¡±

    ¡°Why would you do that? You skipped a night of sleep for paperwork, then went running the second you took a break, are you some kind of masochist?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m staying firmly within acceptable limits.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not, and you stink! Follow me!¡±

    She led Crimson back outside and along the back of the main building till they reached a wooden door.

    ¡°Enter.¡±

    Soldiers would snap to attention at that tone.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Crimson suppressed the ¡°sir¡± that wanted to creep out along with the ¡°yes.¡±

    Inside was a room with concrete troughs of water and buckets for washing. He glanced back at Emma and she pointed at the room, ¡°Use.¡±

    Crimson quietly close the door between them in response. He did as instructed ¨C it wasn¡¯t like he liked being smelly or dirty either.

    Not too much later, he exited as a reborn ¨C albeit freezing cold ¨C man. Emma was standing outside tapping her foot and gave him a solemn nod in response to his appearance.

    ¡°Good, even if it¡¯s temporary, we can¡¯t have you tarnishing the guilds image.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± He responded icily while trying to keep his teeth from chattering.

    With his hygiene taken care of, Emma let him go and he went to get something to eat. True to his word, when he came back he passed out at his work desk for a few hours, then got to work once more.

    Emma was kind enough to bring him lunch, so there was no need for him to leave and he continued to work as the piles of paper slowly grew smaller. The room was still full, and he¡¯d only get through maybe three-fourths of it in the week he had, but he¡¯d do the best he could to finish it all. He had been promised that he¡¯d be ¡°paid fairly based off the amount and quality of the work he¡¯d done.¡± It was a good opportunity to perform a simple test: could the guild be trusted?

    It wasn¡¯t a major test, but it would answer questions like: Would it be similar to the insurance companies back home that would do everything possible to avoid a pay out? Would it pay up generously? Would it truly pay fairly? It would be interesting to see.

    For the moment, he was getting what he¡¯d wanted. He had avoided the need of renting a room the night before, Emma had provided for one of his meals, and he had access to a free bath. The job had already extended his purse¡¯s life-span to be long enough that he could quit and still get his guild card with little issue, but there was no need when he could stick around, make money, and save money. He¡¯d mooch off them as long as possible under the guise of working hard.

    Well, he¡¯d actually be working hard, so there would be no proper way to out him for what he was doing, but they could put a stop to it if it seemed like he was killing himself through work ¨C he¡¯d need to avoid that to prolong the situation for as many days as possible.

    At about mid-afternoon there was a knock on the door and it opened before Crimson could respond.

    Behind it, a Dark-Elf woman stood in a far too revealing red dress holding a long delicate pipe. She sashayed into the room, humming to herself, then spoke when she stood in front of his desk.

    ¡°My, who is this? A little snack?¡±

    Crimson recognized trouble, both in the woman and in his response to her, so he elected to continue working silently.

    ¡°My, my. My little snack seems so delicious, but he is so lacking in manners to ignore such a voluptuous lady such as myself.¡±

    She wanted him to react, huh? Well, his practice hiding his emotions was paying off, but he needed to get rid of her anyway. After a moment of thought, he decided to give her a simple answer, one that relied on something even he still hadn¡¯t figured out.

    He looked up and made eye contact with her. Her only reaction was to tighten her grip on her pipe, but it was enough for his words to hit home, ¡°I¡¯m not interested. Please leave so that I may work. You are wasting my time.¡±

    A wooden smile crossed her face, ¡°Why, how could you be so cold? Well, it¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll have plenty of time to get to know each other. My name is Sherry. I think you¡¯ll be in my tender care for quite some time.¡± She giggled suggestively, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m gentle on new members like you.¡±

    Crimson continued working ¨C choosing to ignore her. He¡¯d already told her all he wanted to. He hated this kind of woman ¨C one who teases to elicit a response. She even chose the worst kind of teasing to do so as well. He found it distasteful.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Sherry stepped out of the room with the Silver-Eyed heart attack. The second she¡¯d met his eyes it was like she was being crushed by an intense pressure. It had taken all of her effort not to attack him in that moment out of panic ¨C she didn¡¯t want to be responsible for killing someone who didn¡¯t even have their [Blessing].

    As she walked down the hall, her heartbeat finally started to slow. Her knees ¨C hidden by the skirt of her dress ¨C had yet to stop shaking though.

    It was pathetic of her ¨C a spit in the face of her own strength and her position in the guild. She had already performed [Breakthrough] twice on her High-Grade Primary [Class] and was close to a third, yet she was almost instantly cowed by someone who lacked any strength. How pathetic!

    She forced herself to calm down, pushing and tamping down emotions and exerting control over herself, as she did, she saw something she hadn¡¯t seen in a long time.

    ¡ª¡ª

    You have exerted an extreme amount of control over yourself.

    +1 WIL

    ¡ª¡ª

    Sherry laughed to herself, when was the last time her Willpower had gone up? It had been years. She¡¯d best look on the bright side, the guild would be interesting with him around for the next little while. Maybe she could be assigned as his Guild Advisor? She might even get additional Willpower out of it, and she¡¯d prove to herself that she could face down those abyssal Silver-Eyes. In the mean time, she¡¯d get her revenge however she could. He was friends with Emma, was he not? That girl had an excellent temper, and she had been the one to suggest that Sherry greet him.

    Crimson continued his work and elected to sleep under the desk using his bedroll once it became late. Huzzah for saving money!

    He awoke early as per his usual habit ¨C it had become much easier for him by now ¨C and went out to do his morning run. He ran for an hour, cleaned himself in the bathing room, then was back at his desk working on the paperwork while munching on some bread after he¡¯d hid the evidence of his night spent sleeping under the desk.

    With mid-morning approaching, Crimson looked around the room in satisfaction at how far he¡¯d come. The room, originally stacked with paper from floor to ceiling, now had space to move around and the rug could finally be seen. Was it still full? Very, but as he continued to work he¡¯d gotten more efficient about it, so his original estimation of only being able to finish three-fourths had gone up to him being able to finish it all.

    Did the guild intend for him to do it all when they¡¯d first hired him? Probably not, no. No reasonable human being would be able to keep the killer schedule he was keeping himself under, but no reasonable human being would have the same drive as him either.

    Crimson hated leaving anything unfinished ¨C he liked to complete the tasks he set before himself without a whit or a jot left undone. Whether it was a good or bad habit would remain to be seen.

    Emma stalked into the room just before lunch and she seemed to be fuming, ¡°Just what did you do to Sherry when she paid you a visit yesterday?¡±

    Crimson looked at Emma with a raised eyebrow, what did Sherry tell her?

    Oh, she didn¡¯t flinch when they made eye contact this time. Maybe she was getting used to it? That would be nice. The only one to not really react would be that one elf ¨C Verity. The harem group didn¡¯t count ¨C he didn¡¯t properly make eye contact with any of them since he spent the entire time trying to get away or distance himself from them. The closest to actually making eye contact had been the moment that the elven bimbo had gotten up in his face, but he still hadn¡¯t made proper eye contact.

    Crimson responded, ¡°I did absolutely nothing to her. I just made it clear that she was in the way of my work and ignored her after that.¡±

    Emma puffed out her cheeks, ¡°That¡¯s certainly not what she told me!¡±

    ¡°So who are you mad at? Me, who has no reason to lie, or Sherry, who¡¯s mad because I ignored her?¡±

    ¡°I-¡° Emma took a long moment to think before she appeared to calm down. ¡°You¡¯re right, I forgot for a second what kind of person Sherry was, and what kind of person you are.¡±

    Crimson casually placed a few more sheets of finished paper work on their respective piles before responding, ¡°So what did she tell you that I did?¡±

    Emma puffed up her cheeks once more, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! I¡¯m going to go talk to her!¡± Crimson felt his amusement surge as she flounced out of the room. He had a feeling that the conversation was going to go very poorly for the Dark-Elf trickster. She deserved it.

    Crimson kept his schedule and killer pace over the next four days, but he had extending his morning work out time a little more so that he could swing the training weapons around a little. He still wasn¡¯t sure what [Class] he wanted to get, but it was best to experiment where he could to see what stuck. So far, he¡¯d definitely ruled out spears ¨C they brought out the trauma of his slime hunt. It had been so inefficient¡­

    Crimson stretched his arms as he walked out of the office he¡¯d been calling home for the past week. All of the paperwork had been taken care care of in that week¡¯s time.

    By the end, he¡¯d lost 89 Royals in the past week. 75 for registration and the remaining 14 for food. It really would have been too close if he¡¯d been forced to stay in the inn, but now, he could go collect his pay since his employment contract expired today.

    Crimson walked down the stairs reminiscing about the first time he¡¯d try to go up them: he¡¯d fallen. Emma had given him fire for his clumsiness as she used healing magic on him. Feeling the mana rush over his skin had been rather pleasant. The fact that it also gave a¡­clean¡­feeling had helped. The kind of pleasant sensation of pouring clean water over his hands. Well, no matter how much he enjoyed how the mana felt it was still to his eternal embarrassment when she was forced to repeat the process when he went down them and fell once more, but he¡¯d avoided repeating the process after some time spent practicing. Worth it.

    Crimson met Emma at her desk and leaned on it to ask, ¡°So, is my guild card done?¡±

    She nodded excitedly, ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s been done for two days now!¡±

    Crimson felt his smile go frigid, ¡°And you didn¡¯t inform me before now¡­why?¡±

    ¡°Well, you never asked, and you were really focused on the paperwork. I don¡¯t think you even noticed when I caught Sherry trying to bug you yesterday and¡­politely informed her that she wasn¡¯t to disturb you.¡±

    ¡°No, I noticed. I was ignoring her on purpose.¡±

    ¡°Did you get a [Skill] for it or something? The way you ignored her was way too natural.¡±

    ¡°Practice ¨C it wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d bugged me.¡±

    ¡°Can you teach me?¡±

    Crimson shook his head sadly, ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re personally suited for this skill. You like to fight with Sherry way too much.¡±

    ¡°I¡­I¡­cannot deny that.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, just refine your battle skills and don¡¯t give her any time to recover.¡±

    Emma held up both of her fists in front of her in a determined pose, ¡°I shall take your advice to heart.¡±

    Crimson responded with sarcastic amusement, ¡°Good.¡± Glancing around at the empty guild ¨C most employees wouldn¡¯t show before 10 in the morning ¨C he asked, ¡°So, who do I need to talk to about payment for my week of work, and where¡¯s my Guild Card?¡±

    Emma smiled brightly, ¡°The Guild Master wanted to give both of those to you in person. You know where his office is, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he¡¯d passed it a few times, but hadn¡¯t seen its owner.

    ¡°Just head in to see him, he¡¯s waiting for you.¡±

    Crimson nodded, then headed up to the fourth floor. Once outside the Guild Master¡¯s office he put his hand on the ornate handle, and knocked with the other one. Once he¡¯d heard the muffled reply on the other side, he entered the room.

 Chapter 6: [Brass] Rank

    Chapter 6: [Brass] Rank

    Crimson stepped into the oversized office of the Guild Master. It was a simple room of dark wood and stone with bookshelves and cabinets lining the walls. There was a desk with stacks and stacks of paper in the center of the room, and the man behind it towered above it all.

    The Guild Master was a massive Bear-Kin, and was in all ways broad. His torso, arms, neck, head ¨C everything Crimson could see ¨C was broad. There were massive scars lining his arms that prevented swaths of the man¡¯s thick arm hair from growing, and the fur on the man¡¯s bear ears was black.

    He looked rather out of place surrounded by all the paperwork which dampened the naturally intimidating air such a huge guy would normally give off to almost nothing. He just looked like an adult that tried to shove themselves into a child¡¯s desk.

    Approaching said desk, Crimson stood quietly as he and the Guild Master looked each other over with piercing gazes. He wasn¡¯t sure what the Guild Master was trying to see in him, but he was just trying to get a feeling for the man.

    Crimson, taking a chance, made eye contact with the Guild Master. After doing so he had to repress a smile as the man showed absolutely no reaction to his gaze. Score one for his eyes not affecting those significantly stronger than him. He was on his way to proving that theory to be correct.

    After a long moment of silence the Guild Master spoke, ¡°While I am aware of your name, I will still have you introduce yourself after I have finished my introduction.

    ¡°My name is Lars, Guild Master of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild ¨C Falst Branch. In my active time as an Adventurer I was one of the titans known as the [Shield Titan] with my brother being the [Spear Titan]. I ended my active career at [Cursed Albium] rank. I am currently a Lv. 87 [Stonewall Defender] with the [Proud Knight] and [Unbound Guardian] [Sub-Class]es. My strength will go no further beyond this point, I have retired.

    ¡°Now, what about you boy?¡±

    Crimson processed what Lars had said for a moment, no wonder he gave off such a great pressure, but at least he had the needed level of strength to back up his position.

    Crimson responded, ¡°My name is Crimson. I lack any form of [Class] or [Title].¡±

    Lars rested his elbows on his desk and leaned forward a little for his gaze to bore into Crimson¡¯s eyes,

    ¡°What kind of [Classes] do you want to get?¡±

    ¡°I am undecided.¡±

    ¡°Do you at least have a general idea?¡±

    ¡°Of a sort. I have ruled out a few ideas. I don¡¯t wish to be any form of [Healer] or [Tank], and I lack the desire to use a spear of any kind, but aside from that I¡¯m fairly open to ideas.¡±

    ¡°From the desires you¡¯ve expressed as well as the fact that you¡¯ve joined [Brass] rank, I think it¡¯s fine for me to assume that you want a combatant [Class]?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to attempt to learn magic?¡±

    ¡°Certainly, I need to try all my options.¡±

    Lars growled a little to himself and appeared to sink deep into thought for a moment.

    ¡°Is there any way I can persuade you to consider a non-combatant [Class] or at least a non-combatant [Sub-Class]?¡±

    Crimson frowned in thought, ¡°Why would you like me to consider such a thing?¡±

    And when will I get my pay and card? He silently added.

    Lars sighed, ¡°Simply because of what you¡¯ve been able to accomplish. You¡¯ve been in Falst a week and a day, yet you¡¯ve accomplished more than what should be possible for someone without a [Blessing], much more than that, you¡¯ve accomplished something I doubt anyone without a high level [Scribe] [Class] would be able to accomplish. I personally find it to be a waste for you to not utilize your talents.

    ¡°Once more, is there no way I can persuade you to take the [Scribe] [Class] as even a [Sub-Class]? I can promise you an instant job with much higher pay than you would normally be able to access in such a short amount of time at such a young age.¡±

    Crimson didn¡¯t even need time to deliberate, ¡°My apologies Guild Master, but the path I need to walk isn¡¯t one where a [Scribe] has any place.¡±

    The Bear-Kin grunted, ¡°We¡¯ll see, the future holds many possibilities, I¡¯ll hold out hope that you will change your mind. Now, to the business at hand, here is the first thing: your guild card.¡±

    Crimson took the card ¨C just slightly wider than a playing card if about the same height ¨C and inspected it closely. It was made of [Brass] and was reasonably thick. Information was carved into it like his name, his physical description, his age, and his home town, but not in that order. Considering how finely the words were carved into the card it finally made sense why making it took so long, but that wasn¡¯t the most interesting thing about his card.

    No, the most interesting thing was the mana he could feel running through it. It wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was definitely there. It was patterned, well regulated, and it gave a¡­warm feeling.

    ¡°Since you have been accepted to the guild as [Brass] rank we require that you attend the various classes we have on offer, we¡¯ll also need to arrange for a few different adventurers to work with you to help you figure out the [Class] you want to take.

    ¡°As you have expressed interest in magic I feel it best to inform you that there is no way for you to cast spells if your mana hasn¡¯t been awoken. Some walk in here not knowing that and assume that anyone can cast spells if they want, but the truth is simple: you won¡¯t be able to manipulate or sense mana until it is awoken.¡±

    The Bear-Kin bore his teeth in a massive sadistic grin, ¡°If you want your mana awoken for a magic [Class] you¡¯ll need to pay extra. It will cost 500 Royals.¡±

    Crimson shook his head, ¡°My mana is already awoken, there is no need.¡±

    Probably best not to mention that Crimson hadn¡¯t needed anyone¡¯s help to awaken it.

    Lars¡­lacked a reaction aside from dropping the ¡°smile,¡± but he nodded after a moment. ¡°Very well, there are a few spells in the guild library, you may learn any you wish. If you need help, please inform us so that we may arrange for a magic teacher.¡±

    Crimson bowed slightly, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ Now, as for your pay, It has been decided that you will be paid 485 Royals for your work. To be completely honest, it¡¯s underpaying by quite a bit, but I couldn¡¯t get any higher amount authorized. Will you accept this amount?¡±

    Well, even if it was underpaying Crimson only had 12 Royals left, so it would be more than sufficient. Not only that, but if he could make Lars feel like he was in some form of debt to him¡­

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Good. Since you have joined the guild it will be added to your account. You will report back in three days for the beginning of the official [Brass] class. We just had five applicants a few days ago, so we¡¯re just waiting for their cards to be finished.¡±

    Five applicants¡­

    Lars continued in his thrumming deep voice, ¡°Until then, you are free to do as you please. Dismissed.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª

    Lars watched as Crimson bowed silently and walked out of the room. He found the boy to be disappointing. To have such a profound talent as a [Scribe] yet refusing to develop it¡­

    It frustrated Lars.

    He wasn¡¯t one to give up on something he wanted, but he didn¡¯t hold any power or authority to allow him to make the boy take the [Class], and if he tried to force him he would be¡­removed. The Adventurer¡¯s Guild wouldn¡¯t stand for such a thing, and Lars wasn¡¯t interested in bringing down the wrath of the Grandmaster.

    Well, that was as far as direct actions he could take. As far as indirect action¡­he could try breaking the boy¡¯s will. A boy his age, regardless of how unbreakable his will had seemed during their eye contact, would easily crumble when forced to work hard.

    He¡¯d quickly give up on magic ¨C learning it without help was a level of difficulty that could make a grown mage cry, and while Lars would provide a teacher if asked, the man he had in mind would scare the kid away from magic in a day.

    As far as any form of combat [Class]¡­ he could have his brother act as the boy¡¯s Weapon Master. He could push the kid to the breaking point without much issue. With those two options closed to him, Lars could be certain that he¡¯d be more¡­ willing to listen to his suggestions.

    He couldn¡¯t allow talent to be wasted after all. Well, if he was honest to himself he wouldn¡¯t be pushing so hard under normal circumstances, but for the fact the boy was a pious believer of the gods with matchless faith to have written such a marvelous prayer.

    Lars had forced himself to hold back tears with Emma in the room, but had let them flow freely when she¡¯d left. Such a display of religious love! Oh, how Lars wished to share even a bit of his piety!

    As a fellow believer and someone who tried to look out for the young [Brass] rankers, how could he let the boy go down the wrong path?

    ¡ª¡ª

    Crimson headed straight to the library. Since he had three days he would use them wisely. He could split his time today between the library and the training field at the guild, tomorrow he could finally go exploring the underground passage he¡¯d found, and the third day he could use for a request at the guild.

    The library was on the third floor, and he¡¯d wanted to enter for the past week, but he¡¯d forbidden himself knowing that he would forget the task he¡¯d needed to do.

    Regardless, the time for holding himself back was over ¨C he could now enter the library.

    Looking around, it was a simple room of the same dark stone and wood as the rest of the guild building, the bookshelves were all of a light colored wood in contrast to the dark colors and there were rows and rows of shelves with glowing crystals in sconces all over the room. To his left, there was a desk for a librarian, but there was no one behind it. No surprise, most of the guild staff didn¡¯t report to work till after 10 and half of the Adventurers didn¡¯t show till 11 at the earliest. It hadn¡¯t taken long for Crimson to learn that the vast majority of Adventurers were a lazy bunch who put in the most work right before the weekend to earn their drinking money ¨C the dungeons made things way too nice for them.

    Put simply, there were two kinds of dungeons: Natural, and Godmade. Natural dungeons were the dangerous kind, the big danger with them was that if they weren¡¯t cleared in a certain amount of time they would break open and let their monsters spill out. It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine the result of that occurring.

    The Godmade dungeons were safe. By any metric Crimson could use they were safe. If you died in one, you could respawn an infinite number of times. There was a debuff and a penalty associated with dying, but it wasn¡¯t major in light of the fact that you spat in the face of death.

    The risk vs reward was also a major thing, natural dungeons gave quite a bit more in the way of rewards, but the risk was death. Godmade dungeons had practically no risk, so the rewards were low. They were more like training grounds than anything else, but they were enough for a lazy Adventurer to get enough money to live and drink without much effort.

    Falst had three Godmade dungeons nearby ¨C Crimson knew this much from just hearsay, but a quick peruse through a book later he knew a bit about them. The first was [Goblin¡¯s Manor], a Lv. 1 dungeon with a Lv. 15 boss. The second was the [Crystal Caves] which was Lv. 25 with a Lv. 35 Boss. The third and final one was the [Hallowed Graveyard] which boasted twin bosses, one being Lv. 60 and the other being Lv. 65 despite the dungeon being only Lv. 45.

    He chuckled, Falst was well primed for having people with decently high [Class] levels, but their own fear, laziness, and disinterest kept them low. Some would die in a Godmade dungeon, and the trauma would keep them from ever entering one again, something that weeded out a lot of the dreamers who wanted to be a hero, but lacked any understanding of reality.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Some wouldn¡¯t ever be able to reach a high level because they were lazy, simple as that. The last group just stopped caring, these were usually dreamers that woke up, but chose not to leave their current occupation and contented themselves with bullying monsters with levels way lower than them to survive.

    Overall, Adventurers were a sad lot. Fortunately, that rule didn¡¯t hold true for all of them.

    Regardless, Crimson moved on from that little mocking pity party and focused on what he was actually after for his visit: magic. He needed to understand more about how his mana could be used. He could learn actual spells later, but he couldn¡¯t wait on learning more about his actual mana.

    Crimson wandered up and down the rows of the library methodically checking the spines of every book and pulling down any with mana in the title. At the end of his passes he had a grand total of three books. They weren¡¯t even thick, just barely passable as books and not pamphlets. Not good.

    It barely took any time for Crimson to read all three, and most of the information was stuff he¡¯d already figured out. In order: mana was a pure manifestation of magic that in its base form couldn¡¯t interact with anything but mana.

    The next thing he learned was that mana could interact with the world only once an element had been injected. That, in essence, was what a spell is.

    The next piece of information was that mana was cultivated somewhere in the body, but the enlightened races lacked the ability to detect it until it left the body.

    Crimson was already proof of the untruthful nature of that ¡°fact.¡± Maybe it was a general rule with a ¡°but¡± that nobody had noticed. Put simply, he was a rare case. Good thing he¡¯d never mentioned to anyone that he could sense it in his own body. It could have caused trouble.

    As far as the next neat little ¡°fact:¡± almost everyone needed outside assistance to awaken the use of their mana.

    Because of the way the system worked it was possible to use the [Magic Pool] as a source of fuel for [Skills] of every kind of [Class] imaginable, but casting magic required the ability to pull mana out of the magic pool. This essentially mean that [Skills] were impossible without the system, but magic was.

    The other ¡°normal¡± way to awaken mana would be trauma. The one folio that had talked about this method went on to extol the gods for their treatment of these people stating:

    |

    ¡°Ah! How great the mercy of our beloved gods who grant unto those who have peered into the blessed world of magic, through their pain and suffering, such great rewards! It is clear on every account that those who awaken through this way are blessed with greater [Classes] than their peers!¡±

    |

    The gods had nothing to do with it. The system merely granted an appropriate level of power unto someone who had a greater experience. It was like the difference between someone who just got their drivers license and someone who was just licensed to drive a race car. On the one hand, the first just had the bare minimum amount of experience to handle a car, on the other was a person with a greater amount of wisdom and experience who had long surpassed the first in capability. Giving a race car driver a simple drivers license in exchange for their efforts make absolutely no sense. That simple.

    All that aside, he refused to believe that pure mana was useless. The fact that all three folios agreed that it was impossible to detect mana within a body and that it was impossible for someone to awaken themselves without trauma made it completely clear that these so called ¡°experts¡± had absolutely no idea what they were talking about and left a lot of room for possibilities.

    Crimson sighed, then returned the ¡°books¡± to their proper places. It was then that he noticed something that hadn¡¯t pierced his focus during his original search: the dust. The place was absolutely coated in dust. A thick layer of it.

    The tables had been kept clear, but everywhere else was void of a dusting hand. Crimson shook his head and sighed, what was the point of knowledge if it was left abandoned?

    Several hours later Crimson left the library brushing dust out of his hair. He¡¯d found a few very interesting books and had started reading one, but he¡¯d need to come back later to check them out. The lack of a librarian had stopped him in his tracks when he¡¯d tried to check them out and the little barrier over the door kept him from walking out with them ¨C neat little security system, felt like walking into a wall.

    Crimson headed down to the training field and grabbed a bow off the racks. It only took him a few shot arrows to realize that he didn¡¯t like the bow. True, he wasn¡¯t expecting to be good on his first try, but he was looking for a feeling of ¡°yeah, this is what I wanted.¡± Not exactly specific, but whatever.

    Crimson quietly put the bow on the rack and went to pick up the weapon he¡¯d been putting off: the sword. He¡¯d avoided it up to this point because it felt like defaulting to the standard if he chose a sword, but he¡¯d put it off long enough.

    He neatly lifted the longsword off the rack it was resting on and began to swing it around a little. It felt all right. He closed his eyes and focused on the sword in his hands, as he did so the feeling he got was ¡°almost right.¡±

    In other words, he was definitely choosing a sword, but a longsword wasn¡¯t meant for him. He grabbed the Estoc - no. Rapier? No. Bastard sword? No. He took one look at the Greatsword and said no.

    He sighed. Though there were a few other types of sword left, Crimson went to the sword he¡¯d been purposely avoiding.

    As he held the katana, a few feelings conflicted with each other in his heart. One: the feeling of ¡°this is it!¡± and the other being: ¡°you¡¯re such a nerd!¡± As he started swinging it lightly around the ¡°this is it!¡± feeling started to drown out the ¡°you¡¯re such a nerd!¡± feeling. Well, he¡¯d be using a katana.

    Crimson scratched his head for a moment in thought. How rare and expensive were katana? He might have to practice with a longsword as well, just in-case. That decided, he needed to figure out his back up weapons.

    He¡¯d learned his lesson during the hunt with Billy: try to match damage types. The slimes had been extremely resistant to piercing damage, so the spear didn¡¯t work well against them, but the hammer had easily killed them.

    With that lesson in mind, Crimson had a weapon for slashing damage, but he¡¯d need some form of backup for the other two types. It wouldn¡¯t be convenient to carry an estoc or a rapier around, so he¡¯d need a knife.

    On the racks, there were two kinds of knives that fit the bill: sais, and stilettos. He squelched the nerd feeling once more and picked up the sai first. Fortunately, he put it down quickly. While it could do piercing damage, a sais main purpose was to catch an opponent¡¯s blade ¨C not what he was looking for.

    The stiletto on the other hand fit the bill perfectly for what he needed. The one in his hand had a bit of a blade, but it wasn¡¯t much. Everything was focused on the tip of the stiletto. Great, just what he was looking for.

    With slash and piercing damage more or less taken care of, that just left blunt damage. To be completely honest to himself, Crimson knew he didn¡¯t care about this kind of damage too much. Was it important? Yes, but he found it hard to care when he found blunt damage dealing weapons to be so¡­inelegant. Yes, it was a stupid reason, but he couldn¡¯t deny the feeling.

    He tried all forms of blunt weapons in his quest to the primary weapon choice, but he¡¯d hated them all almost as much as the spear. His first taste of the distaste was when using that hammer during the slime hunt, though he hadn¡¯t realized it at the time.

    Now, fully aware and functional, Crimson began to rationalize skipping blunt damage for the moment. He couldn¡¯t have too many weapons on him at once ¨C it¡¯d slow him down. He (probably) wouldn¡¯t have the money for yet another weapon at the end of his year¡¯s time. Other good reasons!

    Crimson sighed, he¡¯d have to table the issue for later.

    He scooped the katana up once more and began doing the traditional overhead training slash with it, but with his own little twist: he¡¯d alternate hands. Left, right, both, left, right, both, and so on. He¡¯d change every ten swings.

    He was left handed, but it was best to start with both hands from the beginning ¨C being able to use both hands was way too valuable.

    He spent the next few hours working with the katana, working out, and just trying to get used to it. He didn¡¯t know any proper forms and even regretted the swings he did earlier: he didn¡¯t want to develop any bad habits.

    At about 5 he stopped, rinsed himself quick, then rushed up to the third floor to ¡°his¡± office to pick up his bag. His bag in hand he ¨Cwith a little bit of pride in the action- went down to the lobby skipping steps on the stairs and moving quickly enough to skid to a halt in front of Emma¡¯s desk in the now full Guild Hall.

    ¡°Emma, are you the one I talk to about withdrawing?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just here for new registration, remember?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a lie, you do other things. Anyway, how active is your position?¡±

    ¡°Fairly, more so than the rank advancement desk.¡±

    ¡°Great, anyway, who do I talk to?¡±

    ¡°You go to that desk over there and she can give you directions, but why do you need to withdraw?¡±

    ¡°Well, I need money don¡¯t I? I¡¯m going back to my old inn, so I need something to pay the guy with. Also, I want to check some books out from the library before I leave.¡±

    He probably should have talked to Emma before grabbing his bag and saved himself a trip.

    ¡°Well, I can help you with the library, and you don¡¯t need to withdraw the money. Your guild card can act like a stamp. You just press it onto the bill they give you and they can bring the bill to the merchant¡¯s guild ¨Cwe partner with them and the crafting guild- so they can receive their money.

    ¡°That, doesn¡¯t seem safe.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, there are safety measures in place. Everyone knows that stealing a guild card isn¡¯t profitable. It just brings trouble.¡±

    Crimson looked at her skeptically. Oh, she didn¡¯t react at all to the eye contact, nice.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that! It¡¯s common knowledge! Look, when you use the card to pay it records who uses the stamp as well as whether they were using it by their own free will. It can even detect mind control, hypnosis, and even when you¡¯re being manipulated. It makes it suicide for anyone to try to steal or use by force, it¡¯s the guild card!¡± She sounded like an infomercial salesman.

    Crimson sighed, it didn¡¯t seem like a perfect system, he could already see some ways to break it, but he would have to trust it for now. He¡¯d just treat his guild card like he did his purse and call it good.

    ¡°Okay, with that taken care of, can you help me with checking out a few books?¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°See, you did lie, you do other things.¡±

    She stuck out her tongue at him.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Crimson flopped back down in his old room, and stared closely at the trio of books in his hands: the first was the spell [Magic Light], the second was [Dancing Autumn Leaf] which was a style that focused on single handed katana forms and a fast Iai ¨C perfect for him. The third book was [A Basic Guide to [Classes]].

    He decided to focus on the first one for the moment. It was the most needed, and the fact that he wanted to explore an underground space on the morrow just helped that justification. The fact that he wanted to learn magic had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all. Nope.

    Anyway, opening the book to read he was surprised to discover that it was a story book. There were 14 different sections to it, each telling the same story, but with slightly different details and tones. Each of the sections had ten short chapters.

    Crimson flipped through and noticed that each of the chapters had a different heading: [Fire], [Water], [Earth], [Wind], and so on. So, if he was thinking correctly, this spell had different forms. Since ¡°common knowledge¡± dictated pure mana was useless without an element, each of the different chapters was focusing on injecting a certain element into the mana to provide light. Considering the fact that different people had different affinities for the various elements they were probably all included to make the spell as accessible to as many people as possible.

    Since Crimson had absolutely no idea what he had affinities for ¨Cmana aside- he decided to go based off the color. If he put fire into it the light would be red, water: blue, and so on. So it would be best for him to choose metal since a silver light would be the most steady ¨C assuming it was the same color as steel like he was imagining. It also matched his eyes which was a stupid reason, but he didn¡¯t have anything better to go off.

    Crimson focused on that section, started from the first chapter, and tried his best to figure out how to cast magic. The story itself wasn¡¯t that interesting, but it did have some nice imagery. As he read he felt his mana stir a little, but as he focused on it it stopped. In a moment of realization he laughed to himself a little. Since he was so aware of his mana he¡¯d have a difficult time learning it like everyone else did.

    Apparently, they used imagery and emotion to shape their mana unconsciously, but Crimson was so aware of his own mana that it actually inhibited the process.

    Now, how would he go about learning this spell? He wasn¡¯t going to give up, but this method wasn¡¯t meant for him. If he knew how to form mana even a little he might be able to use his own method to learn the spell, but he had no idea how to go about doing that. In a flash of genius he realized that he¡¯d need a magic version of redneck engineering to solve the issue.

    His mana HAD moved for a second there, so what if he moved it to where it was and kept reading? If it moved again he could keep it there and advance the process step by step. He could forcefully tailor the spell to the approach that regular people used.

    Crimson began to read once more, and when his mana stirred he focused on how it moved, and when it settled as he focused on it he intentionally moved it back and held it there. He went step by step as the mana moved down his arm over the course of minutes eventually reaching the finger tips of his hand. His right hand ¨C just in case he was doing something stupid.

    As he reached the tips of his fingers he reached the last paragraph of the first chapter and was forced to read it several times to get the right pattern for his mana, but as he did so he felt something enter into it, like sliding a square block into a square hole on an infant¡¯s toy. As it settled into the pattern a light appeared on the tips of his fingers and he began to laugh to himself.

    The laughter became stronger and stronger ¨C lasting for a long period of time. If he¡¯d had any neighbors they¡¯d have thought him mad!

    Crimson didn¡¯t care though, he just undid the spell by pulling the mana apart and then reformed it easily. Now that he knew the pattern it wasn¡¯t difficult at all. It was helped by the fact that the pattern itself was very simple. Staring at the steel colored light he took note of the fact that even the mana felt metallic as it sat on his finger tips.

    Though his laugh had stopped, his grin refused to fade as he used the illumination of his new [Magic Light] spell to read the second chapter.

    He repeated the process of patterning the mana once more and after a decent half hour of work he was able to get the light floating above his palm instead of on his finger tips. The second chapter had helped him twine a rope of mana to connect him to the [Magic Light] and provide it a source of energy. If he cut the rope it would fade away after a few seconds. He could even anchor the rope to different parts of his body, so it didn¡¯t necessarily need to be right over his palm, but at the length of rope he could form it would only be three inches away at max.

    Crimson looked outside and saw that he still had a bit of time before the sun set, so he would be able to finish the third chapter and possibly the fourth at this rate. He¡¯d just have to be careful not to stay up all night to finish all of the chapters¡­ It would be a difficult battle against himself.

    The third chapter was a fairly simple affair that helped him increase the distance of his mana rope to allow him to be a foot away from his [Magic Light]. It didn¡¯t take him as long as he thought it would, so he went to work on the fourth chapter.

    The fourth chapter was an interesting thing as it focused on movement, essentially allowing him to move the light without moving it¡¯s ¡°anchor.¡± Before, the light had been fixed relative to the anchor he¡¯d made it connected to, but with the fourth chapter under his belt he learned how to use ¡°strings¡± of mana in tandem with the rope to move it around without moving his body at all.

    As Crimson watched the light spin around his head to form a halo he felt yet another rush of joy and excitement. Maybe the path of a mage was right for him?

    He glanced outside and saw that the sun was setting¡­ but it was fine, he could still finish the fifth chapter before bed. He wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the dark anyway.

    Crimson turned his attention to the fifth chapter. This one was actually a bit of a struggle for him, taking a few hours, but he was finally able to get it after some work. Chapter five dealt mainly with cutting off the [Magic Light] from its source. It was like putting a battery in a light instead of having it plugged into the wall. For Crimson, it was rather weird forming it without the rope supplying the mana, but as he learned how to create that ¡°battery¡± in the [Magic Light] he was able to finish chapter five - after he¡¯d been forced to re-read it several times. He could now make the light last as long as he wanted based off how much mana he filled it with. Just a bit and the light would go out in a few seconds, half of his remaining [Magic Pool] gave him twenty minutes. Crimson was eventually forced to stop his fun once he ran out of mana. It normally seemed so endless, but he¡¯d never tried to cast magic before ¨C it burned a lot of mana.

    Well, it was a good time anyway, it was probably close to midnight, and he¡¯d be getting up early like usual. He needed to sleep.

 Chapter 7: Under Falst

    Chapter 7: Under Falst

    First thing in the morning, in the pre-dawn light, Crimson was using the empty nature of the streets as the background for his morning run. Since the day he¡¯d missed after he¡¯d arrived in Falst, he hadn¡¯t missed a single run. Score one for diligence.

    Not only was he taking care of his morning run, but Crimson was also getting to know the streets of Falst. It also allowed him to practice jumping as he hopped over the occasional drunkard passed out in a gutter. He¡¯d been meaning to practice jumping for a while, but had only had brief opportunities to do so. The drunkards made excellent practice since they put pressure on him not to mess up with the promise of needing to visit Emma for a healing spell if he did. It was effective.

    After a good hour of running, he ended his route in the courtyard with the moving statue. He glanced around and, seeing no one, approached it to press the button on the toe then twist the horse¡¯s head. As the statue quietly slowly ground aside Crimson stepped onto the platform and slid mana down his legs to activate the device. As it lowered him into the ground he cast a [Magic Light] and had it float just behind and above his head. He used the ¡°rope¡± to affix it to that position and stepped off the platform as it came to a stop. After a few second of him being off it, it went back up to its original position and the statue slid back into place with a loud grinding.

    Looking around, he saw a switch on the wall and when he pressed it the stones floated back down and the statue slid out of the way ¨C good. He had a way out.

    Crimson glanced down the two curved hallways leading to either side of him and tried to figure out which way he should go. They were both exactly the same in appearance, with the same dark stone as everywhere else in Falst making up the walls and ceiling. There were grey and tan stones making a pathway on the ground and there were glowing stones dug into the wall that were set too infrequently to provide proper lighting.

    The [Magic Light] had been a good idea.

    Lacking any apparent direction Crimson was about to say ¡°forget this¡± and just randomly choose a path, but the idea occurred to him to try feeling for mana.

    Crimson knelt and pressed his hand on the ground and felt small tendrils of mana flowing through the brick. Walking in a crouch he followed them over to the wall and began tracing them down the hallway for quite a distance. As he followed it he found another switch in the wall and pressed it.

    From the ceiling, another platform lowered to the ground and a low grinding informed him that yet another statue was moving out of the way.

    Crimson hopped on and let himself be raised up to street level. When it stopped he found his back against the dead end of alley. Stepping forward, he walked to the entrance of the alley to see where he was. It was¡­Phase 6? The first statue he¡¯d found was in Phase 7, so it appeared that the tunnel went in a great loop. Well, he couldn¡¯t be certain without checking, but that seemed to be the trend.

    Crimson headed back into the alley and went to the statue that now rested where his entrance was. The whole piece ¡°appeared¡± to be built into the wall, and was of a crying female mage. One of her hands was extended forward, and the other was partially covering her face.

    Crimson gently reached out and touched the extended hand to see how the mana flowed to find the switch. The first, was actually in the hand he was touching. More specifically, it was in the wrist. The mana flow changed and Crimson lowered the other hand away from the statue¡¯s face and tilted the head to face eye level instead of look down. Three switches then?

    The statue slid away quietly, far more quietly than it had sounded like in the tunnel. With a raised eye brow, Crimson stepped onto the lift and slid a bit of mana into it through his leg.

    As it started to lower him into the ground he felt the pressure of eyes on the back of his head and he looked behind himself to see a boy staring at him with a dropped jaw.

    Whoops, he¡¯d let himself be seen. That could be an issue depending on the general knowledge of the tunnels. IF they were forbidden, he¡¯d be in big trouble. If people didn¡¯t know about them he would have just revealed a big secret. Well, he¡¯d have to see what happened in the future. Not much he could do for the moment¡­maybe there was a memory erasing spell? He didn¡¯t know it¡­probably wouldn¡¯t even have enough mana to use it anyway.

    With a sigh Crimson tabled the issue for later, recast his [Magic Light], and once more began to trace the mana in the wall, followed it around the curved tunnel, passing switch after switch, and checked where each one let out until all the mana gathered in a single place the wall ¨C right after the switch that let out in Phase 23. The mana was a tangled web the same size and shape as a door, albeit an oversized door, but a door nonetheless. As an interesting aside: there was nothing other than the mana to indicate any form of entrance there.

    Crimson ran his hands over it trying to find a way to open it, but there wasn¡¯t any clear way, till he found a small hole in the center. Staring at it for a long moment, he selected his most useless finger ¨C the little one on his right hand ¨C and slid it into the hole.

    The second it entered the hole he could feel prickling on all sides of his finger. Not a physical prickling, but a prickling of mana. It was an unpleasant sensation, almost like his finger was surrounded by needles. Checking, he pulled his finger out and looked at it, but there was nothing wrong with it. Ignoring the prickling and roiling in his gut that told him not to, he stuck his finger back in the hole and slid his mana down his arm to it finger. Gently, slightly prepared for something to go horribly wrong, he began to touch the mana with his.

    It was interesting, almost like¡­a key hole. He could move each of the needles of mana, but the second he let go, they would slide back into place. He pinched his forehead and closed his eyes in concentration as he reached out with little pieces of his mana to grab as many needles of ¡°lock¡± mana as he could, but he couldn¡¯t even handle half of them.

    He withdrew his finger, wiped sweat from his forehead, and blood from his nose. The effort had also left him with a massive headache. Even his [Magic Light] had been put out as he galvanized his mana for the task.

    With a sigh, he sat down, leaned up against the wall, and started to meditate. He was trying to figure out a way to open the lock and was waiting for his almost empty [Magic Pool] to refill. As he sat in thought he reached a rather stupid decision: he wouldn¡¯t leave until he figured out how to open the door.

    Two hours and another headache later ¨C along with the decision to learn a healing spell ¨C Crimson had finally come up with a decent sounding solution ¨C it was just a matter of testing to see if he could get it to work. He had gotten the idea from the fact that it felt like his finger was surrounded by PINS. So he had thought, why not form his mana to be like a pin cushion? Instead of trying to manipulate each individual pin, he¡¯d just allow them to catch on a blob of his mana and move the whole bunch at the same time.

    He stood and recast [Magic Light], having sat in the dim light from the glowing stones in the tunnel, then slid his finger back into the unpleasant sensation of pins. Just as he¡¯d practiced after the idea, he moved a large amount of his mana in the form of a blob and had it seep around each and every one of the needles, before holding it in place relative to his finger. Rotating his hand, he was able to move every single one a quarter turn before a deep thrum was heard in the wall and he jerked his hand back as the door slid into the ground.

    The next tunnel was definitely a different beast. There was absolutely no lighting stones, the tunnel twisted and turned jaggedly and there were branching paths instead of the seamless single tunnel.

    Stepping though the entrance, Crimson moved further in just a few steps before the door slid back into place. Checking quickly, he found the same hole on the other side of the door. Good, he was still able to get out.

    Crimson turned to face the new space once more and decided to look for more mana since it had worked in the last tunnel. Kneeling, he was able to feel a single strand leading down the second of the five branching tunnels. He stood, and began to follow it. As he walked down the new tunnel he found switches on either side that would grant him a way out, but he decided to check them later, he¡¯d go deeper first, then wider later.

    He passed through a few more junctions that looked so precisely the same that Crimson would have thought he was going in circles if it weren¡¯t for the mana trail.

    Eventually, he reached a reverse junction. Instead of paths branching from a single point, a bunch of paths joined together to a single point. Crimson could feel strings of mana leading from each one to the tunnel on the opposite end of the room. This tunnel was clearly different from the others: it was twice as high and wide, lined with standing torches glowing with white flames, and the stones on the walls were snow white with a blue path leading down the center.

    Crimson felt a grin cross his face as his heart began to race in excitement. He could even feel a cool breeze, both of mana and of air, brushing against his face from down the tunnel.

    Eagerly, he began to move down it and after twenty or so minutes of walking he reached a great door. Well, great would be an exaggeration. It was actually a small door that was unusually wide, but only a foot taller than Crimson. There was an exquisitely designed lock in the center of the piece that had multiple troughs for a very complex key. It wasn¡¯t something that Crimson¡¯s little finger could solve, but if he used all ten of his fingers and twisted them like so? No dice. The only fingers he could get in were his little ones and he almost broke the other ones in the process.

    There was no way he¡¯d be able to get into the room with his current skills, he¡¯d need to gain greater control of his mana and be able to affect it from further away if he wanted to get in¡­or find the key. Neither of which would be happening any time soon.

    With a sigh, Crimson headed back to the place where all the tunnels fused together and decided to trace another one of the mana strings. He hated giving up so easily, but this was clearly out of his current ability.

    Facing the five tunnels, he identified the one on the far left as the one he¡¯d entered from, and selected the center one as the one to follow this time around, but he had no particular reason for his choice.

    Crimson followed it to the end, doing his best to ignore the switches he came across along the way. He¡¯d come check them later.

    The tunnel he was in curved down for a while, then curved back up, and flattened out. He continued to follow the mana ignoring all the branching paths and eventually reached the end. At the end was another door like the first one he¡¯d found, but the lock was on the right side of the stone door frame instead of the center of the door. Bracing himself slightly, he stuck his little finger in the lock and ignored the unpleasant feeling of all the needles around his finger as he used his mana blob technique to rotate them all. He had to spend quite a bit of mana on that.

    As the door opened he stepped through and found himself¡­in the mostly unused storage closet in the guild? They just stuck some records back here that wouldn¡¯t be accessed for years and didn¡¯t come here too often. The most recent presence in the room had actually been Crimson himself as he¡¯d needed to place some files in the room during his employment period with the guild.

    The door closed behind him and he turned to crack it, but all that greeted him though the crack was the guild. Raising an eyebrow, he inspected the door and found a little hole, the right shape and size for the mana lock, on the right side of the stone door frame.

    Interestedly, he placed his left palm on the wooden door and inspected it closely, but he couldn¡¯t feel any mana in it. He kept his palm on the door as he inserted his little finger into the hole and activated the lock. As he did so, he felt mana rush through the door frame, but not the door itself. He opened the door and the sight that greeted him was the tunnels instead of the guild.

    ¡°Cool,¡± he muttered and reentered the tunnels.

    He closed the door and sat down next to it to wait for his [Magic Pool] to refill.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Once it was full, Crimson methodically checked each of the mana trails and was interested in what he found every single time. Using the tunnel in the junction he first used as ¡°1¡± and the one leading to the guild as ¡°3¡± he checked ¡°4¡± next.

    ¡°4¡± let out in the dead center of Falst in the middle of the central fountain. The central fountain was a big building that had statues and sconces shooting water all over the place with little waterfalls at the cardinal directions, and the place the tunnel let out was in the center of that building. If Crimson had wanted to step out anywhere in the streets he would have been forced to pass through one of the waterfalls. It had been rather fascinating to see people pass by through the water, but he wasn¡¯t one to waste time and so he returned to the center of the cross shaped room to the dais to place his finger into a stand on it.

    That one explored, Crimson went to ¡°2¡± next to check that one out. Fascinatingly, it let him out in the Graveyard in Phase 17. When he activated the mana lock stairs had dropped step by step to form a path for him to reach ground level. It let him out in a crypt on the edge of the Graveyard ¨C close to the wall. He took a quick glance around to remember where it was, then headed back into the crypt to find the mana lock on this side.

    It took a bit of looking, but he eventually found it in the throat of the manticore statue in the back of the crypt ¨C right over the main coffin. Crimson would have felt bad standing on it, but the mana running through it had drove his curiosity to make him look inside ¨C empty.

    All his reservations about standing on the coffin vanished and he happily activated the switch to allow him back into the tunnels.

    This led him to his current break where he¡¯d used the ¡°1¡± tunnel to lead himself back into the main passage. He followed it around to reach Phase 3 where he grabbed lunch at a cheap restaurant near the Adventurer¡¯s Guild for 3 Royals, then went back into the tunnels to see where ¡°5¡± would lead him.

    Crimson followed the mana string for the fifth tunnel for an extremely long distance ¨C longer than the others, and was eventually led to a wide spiral staircase.

    He looked at it for a long moment and was happy that he¡¯d already practiced using stairs. He¡¯d have a long time to practice even further if the staircase led where he thought it did, and if it led where his suspicions dictated so¡­then going up these stairs was a really, really bad idea, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to care as he started to ascend them - curiosity really was rather dangerous.

    It took a while, a long while, for him to reach the top. His legs had even started burning so much that he¡¯d been forced to stop after just forty little minutes of climbing the stairs to rest. All told, it took him an hour or so to reach the top. After he reached the top of the spiral staircase he was greeted by an arching bridge with slats cut into the floor on the sides of the path to allow him to see the ground far, far below.

    Yep, he was about to enter the castle ¨C just like he¡¯d suspected. He was currently in one of the arches that supported it in the air. Crimson weighed his options for a moment then decided he¡¯d just take a peek then book it ¨C no need to explore the castle dungeons as well, but he wanted to see where the passage let out.

    Crimson headed along the bridge to the other side the found himself met by a door. It was one similar to the others he¡¯d seen, but different in its own way: the mana lock was where a keyhole would be and it had an actual door handle.

    ¡°Interesting.¡±

    Crimson unlocked it while ignoring the unpleasant needle feeling and put out his [Magic Light] as he slowly cracked the door to look inside. He was greeted by a wall of dark colored wood, so he pulled open the door fully to see what was on the other side.

    It was an impressive wall of wood ¨C completely kept him out.

    Well, he wouldn¡¯t let it stop him, there would have to be some way for him to get through. He pressed his hand up against the door and easily found a button on the left side at waist height of the wood ¡°wall.¡± Pressing it, a previously unseen seem was opened and the two halves slid away from each other to match the width of the door frame.

    Throwing caution to the wind ¨C and leaving the door open ¨C Crimson stepped into¡­ a library. Well, that wasn¡¯t good. He¡¯d been planning to leave sometime soon.

    He still had half the day left, so if there wasn¡¯t any danger he¡¯d spend as much time as he could perusing the shelves. Unfortunately, that was counting his chickens before they hatched; he needed to see if the area was safe before he could browse.

    Crimson stayed close to the shelves as he crouched low and moved as quietly as he could. Because of how the library was designed, it was like a great tumbler with three floors of shelves running around the edge of the cylindrical room with a balustrade preventing one from tumbling down from the third floor to the first. Standing by the railing, it was a nice view of the rows and rows of bookshelves on the first floor. Looking up, there was a great stain-glass roof at the top of the whole piece that allowed resplendent colors to light the space, with glowing stones set into the walls providing shimmering light to compliment the stained light.

    Crimson was awed with the space, and loved the peace and serenity he felt there. It was definitely a place to come back to if he could do so safely. If he couldn¡¯t come back in secret, maybe he could find a way to come back legally¡­ Food for thought, but rather unlikely.

    Searching, he found the staircase leading from the third floor he was currently on to the second, and the staircase leading from the second to the first floor was on the opposite side of the space, requiring him to go around the entirety of the library. It took quite a bit of willpower for him to not inspect the spines of the books he was passing to see if there was anything he wanted/needed, but he was able to do it ¨C barely¡­with just a few small exceptions.

    Moving carefully, Crimson silently crossed the space afforded by the first floor while carefully using shelves to hide himself. He even made sure to peek through the gaps in the books before crossing any open spaces, but his caution was in vain ¨C there was nobody there. The whole space was empty of life ¨C Crimson aside.

    He had found the ¡°main¡± door though. It was a great piece that looked like a boss door from that one game where the main character turns into a wolf. What was its name? Twilight something¡­he hadn¡¯t played it for years.

    Refocusing, he absorbed every detail: there were chains sealing the door that all connected at the lock in the center, but the lock lacked anything in the form of a keyhole or any discernible way to unlock it. Pressing his hand up against it, Crimson could feel that the mana flowed to the OTHER SIDE of the door. There was no way for him to open it from his side, and it was apparent from the feel of the mana that the door had never been opened.

    Crimson stepped back and folded his arms in deep thought to process what he¡¯d just learned¡­ he was home free? There was no way things could be that easy.

    Could it?

    No!

    Best not to assume, but maybe?

    Well, regardless it appeared he¡¯d found a secret library. That meant that here was something worth hiding here, maybe it was the passage, maybe it was something else, but he lacked enough information to be certain.

    Crimson sighed. For now, he¡¯d just find a few books, grab them, and bring them back later. It was the safest thing to get what he wanted. He quickly looked through the books and found an interesting looking one on affinities and another one that taught a katana style called: [Twin Steps]. It looked nice. He¡¯d call it good with these two plus the three he had back at his inn room.

    Crimson headed back up to the third floor ¨C his wondrous tomes of knowledge in tow ¨C and when he tried to enter the passage he walked smack dab into a wall of mana. He almost dropped his books and had to check his nose to see if it was broken ¨C fortunately not ¨C before starting at the space before him.

    Aside from the mana forming a barrier there was nothing to indicate that he shouldn¡¯t be able to leave. Was the library preventing him from taking the books? To test his theory he set them down on a nearby table and walked into the passage with no issue. Thinking for a moment, he decided against using any of the Common Tongue¡¯s swear words, and translating Earth swear words weren¡¯t satisfying at all. Well, he¡¯d never been one for profanity anyway ¨C the threats from his mother ensured that.

    With a sigh, he closed the passage behind him with a silent promise to come back for the hidden trove of knowledge. He¡¯d need to devote a significant amount of time to his next visit considering how long the trip to reach it took. It should be safe enough to return. It was unfortunate that his own perusal took all the time he thought he had.

    With a sigh, Crimson began the long trek down the spiral staircase and recast [Magic Light] using his full to bursting [MP].

    ¡ª¡ª

    Back at his room, Crimson got to work on Chapter 6 of [Magic Light] which was a fairly simple chapter for him, but it did take a long time for him to figure it out.

    It was simple because he didn¡¯t have any issues in achieving what the chapter was supposed to teach ¨C it took a while because Chapter 6 actually taught multiple concepts.

    Chapter 6 taught him how to vary the strength of the [Magic Light]. Up to this point, the light had been the same brightness, no matter how much or how little mana he put into it when he used it as a ¡°battery.¡± The mana he¡¯d put into it had just determined how long it would last, and when he¡¯d used the ¡°rope¡± it took a fixed amount of mana to maintain ¨C one that was just slightly more than his regeneration rate so he was able to maintain the spell at practically no cost.

    Now, the chapter taught him how to change the brightness by changing the ¡°density¡± of the spell. By using the exterior of the spell he could compress down the mana inside to make it more dense, and thereby more bright. By pulling the shell away from it the mana inside would become less dense, and as a result it would be dimmer. The interesting thing, was that even though he changed the density of the mana the actual size of the [Magic Light] remained unchanged. It was an interesting phenomenon.

    Crimson turned his attention to Chapter 7 while purposely ignoring the time ¨C sleep could wait.

    Chapter 7 had to do with changing the actual size of the [Magic Light] and taught Crimson a lot about the nature of mana weaving. Essentially, if he created the light too big and he hadn¡¯t weaved the mana tightly enough the spell would collapse from not being strong enough to sustain the new size. If the weave wasn¡¯t adjusted and he made the [Magic Light] smaller then the weave would actually overpower the element in it and would collapse as well. Interestingly, it was easier to make a bigger [Magic Light] than a smaller one, so of course Crimson spent his time making them smaller to better benefit from his time practicing.

    After a bit of time he felt confidant in his ability to adjust the weave to match the needed strength to maintain the integrity of the spell.

    Chapter 8 was an easy chapter after that one, it just taught him how to create a [Magic Light] that would last a while and stay where it was regardless of where he was or what he was doing. It required combining the ¡°battery¡± and the ¡°fixed relative distance¡± techniques from previous chapters, but the thing that made it worthy of being the eight chapter was the part where he had to tie it to something other than himself. Normally, he¡¯d used himself and his mana as an anchor for the light which felt very easy and natural, but tying it to something else was a very intensive process that required that he create a spot to ¡°tie¡± the mana to.

    Crimson noted with some amusement - once he¡¯d gotten it right by tying it to one of his bed posts - that it was his first time getting mana in an object to do something. In the past it had just dispersed the second he¡¯d let go, but Chapter 8 had finally allowed him to resolve the issue.

    With some level of determination he took a look at Chapter 9, before waving the white flag. He¡¯d definitely need more time to work on this one. From the imagery alone he could tell that this chapter focused on learning how to form [Magic Light]s at a distance from the caster. His current record was creating one a foot away from himself, and he was able to move it up to five feet away with his strings. If he made it with a battery then he could move it to eight feet away, but that was his absolute limit ¨C any further and the spell would unravel unless he used the trick he¡¯d just learned in chapter 8, but it wasn¡¯t the same thing.

    He¡¯d work on Chapter 9 tomorrow night ¨C it was midnight and he needed sleep.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Crimson used his new knowledge of the tunnels to reach the guild during his morning run. He¡¯d even found the entrance to the main tunnel in Phase 9 where he stayed to shorten the time spent traveling even further. It had been hidden under a statue of an Archer.

    Since it was still too early for the guild to be open Crimson took the long way and headed into the deeper tunnels and ran to the locked door without needing to check the mana paths. His memory for where he¡¯d been was coming out in full force.

    When he reached it he was about to head down the ¡°3¡± tunnel, but decided against it ¨C just appearing in the guild seemed like a bad idea ¨C it wasn¡¯t even open yet.

    So, retracing his steps, Crimson went back the way he came and reentered the main tunnel and ran back, past the entrance to Phase 2, to Phase 3 where he exited from a statue of a Barbarian. It was about time for the guild to open, so he jogged to it and glanced around when he reached it. He saw Emma approaching from a little ways off and waved to her. She was always the first employee to show up.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± she happily greeted him as she approached, and with her smile unfaltering she covered her nose. ¡°You¡¯re going to wash up the second I unlock this door, right?¡±

    Crimson laughed, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll wash up. Good morning to you as well.¡±

    ¡°Good, you reek!¡±

    ¡°Do I really smell that bad?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not to other people, but I have a high [Perception] stat and a few skills related to smells and smelling.¡±

    They both entered the guild after she unlocked it.

    ¡°How do you stand to work at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild then? Some of those guys are pretty foul smelling.¡±

    ¡°I learned to tolerate it to some extent, I just don¡¯t bother around you! I need to teach you right.¡±

    Crimson chuckled, ¡°Sure, sure. I¡¯ll be back in a while.¡±

    He went out back and didn¡¯t wash up, but grabbed the dull metal training katana and pulled his [Dancing Autumn Leaf] book out to double check the basic forms for the style.

    After a quick review and stretch he got to work practicing the basic stances and breathing patterns. Out of concern that he would absolutely mess something up by building a bad habit: he focused on the stuff that didn¡¯t seem like it required too much precision. The breathing stuff especially. He had learned already that the way he breathed affected his running, so why not start there with the katana?

    After a bit of time working with the breathing techniques he tried holding different stances with his katana ¨C not to practice fighting, but to strengthen the related muscles. It didn¡¯t take long before his arms were uncontrollably trembling and he was forced to stop because they wouldn¡¯t listen to him.

    How annoying.

    Crimson sighed and forced himself to exert a modicum of patience as he knew that he would actually be able to seriously begin on the next day, but waiting wasn¡¯t pleasant.

    As per Emma¡¯s request, he went and washed up before returning to greet her once more.

    As he walked up she greeted him in amusement, ¡°Hello Crimson, you took quite a while washing up.¡±

    He shrugged, ¡°I wanted to try some stuff out. I finally figured out which weapon I want to try training with.¡±

    ¡°Which one?¡±

    ¡°A katana.¡±

    Emma looked concerned, ¡°Are you sure? Katana aren¡¯t commonly used and they¡¯re a bit more expensive than almost any other type of sword. They¡¯re also hard to use properly.¡±

    Crimson looked at her in amusement, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be sticking with it for a while. It just felt right in my hands. As far as expensive, well, I think you can help me with that today.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Crimson grinned, ¡°What requests are there that a [Brass] rank can take?¡±

 Chapter 8: Working Smart

    Chapter 8: Working Smart

    Emma raised an eyebrow to what he said, "Well, there are a few different requests that [Brass] Ranks can take, but none are particularly well paying: Delivery Requests, Manual Labor, and a few other basic tasks. Anything more complex than that takes a guild recommendation. Oh, by the way, we''ve sent a letter of introduction to the merchant guild to allow you to do Scribing tasks. It was signed by the Guild Master personally, so you won''t have any issues getting jobs along those lines."

    "Thank you. So, what are my advantages and disadvantages?"

    "Well, scribing requests will pay you more than anything we have on offer for you here, so if you actually want money you should go over there, but you should definitely take a few requests here at the guild so that you can gain participation points.

    "That''s actually one of the advantages to being [Brass] rank since going from [Bronze] to [Silver] rank requires you to take several Odd Job requests. A lot of [Bronze] ranks who continue dungeon raiding get so focused on dungeon requests because they pay more, and when the time comes for them to do Odd Job requests some of them really struggle because they now consider it beneath them, but the Odd Job requests you do as [Brass] will count toward your [Silver] promotion. Amazing, right?"

    He nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, cool."

    She tilted her head in confusion, "Cold? I don''t think it''s that cold though?"

    ¡°¡­"

    "Don''t worry about it." He looked around, "So where is the Odd Jobs request board?"

    "Here, I can show you!"

    Emma led him up to the loft and there he found a line of billboards. The one on the far left had the words "Odd Jobs" written over it, from there was two billboards for [Bronze], one for [Silver], and one for [Gold], but the rest of the billboards had a few ranks per billboard. It neatly showed the general level of Adventurers in Falst in an almost depressing way.

    "This is the Odd Jobs board, you can take pretty much anything on it, but there are some things that are restricted by skill set. It doesn''t make much sense to have someone who can''t write do scribing tasks, right?"

    ¡°Sure."

    Might deplete some of his options, but he could deal with it.

    "I''m pretty sure that you can do everything on this board. It really is mostly Odd Jobs. The biggest groups are manual labor and delivery jobs, but you''ll also get the occasional "help me find this" request. Essentially, if it can be done without leaving Falst, it will almost always end up on this board."

    "Are there any requests you''d recommend for me, or should I just pick one?"

    Emma put a finger on her lips and thought for a long moment. "Well, I''m honestly not sure, but considering the strength of your faith in the gods you might want to take a job helping the church."

    What faith? He knew they existed from Raften, but it wasn''t like he was a pious believer or anything like that. He felt no need to worship them, but if he told Emma that, she might get offended. Best to just express himself gently.

    "Please don''t exaggerate, you''re making it seem like I''m extremely religious when my level of faith is low."

    "No need to be humble!"

    "No really, I''m no-"

    "And in any case! You still owe me a prayer to the Goddess of Love! I haven''t found a good boyfriend and all the guys around me don''t care to make eye contact! I need some help here!"

    Crimson slowly placed his head in his hand and let out a long sigh, Emma was probably only a few years older than him, so it made sense that romance was on her brain, but did she need to tell him all that? Could the Goddess of Love even help?

    He raised his head and looked into her tear-filled eyes. Well, it couldn''t hurt just to write her a prayer, "Fine, I''ll write you a prayer. Just bring me some paper and a pen. You owe me for this one."

    Emma''s mood did a sudden 180 and she cheerfully announced that she''d repay her debt whenever he asked. Then ran off to grab the stationery.

    Crimson turned his attention back to the board and read through the various requests. He definitely wouldn''t be taking the "please find my cat" request, but he memorized the semi-decent drawing on the poster in case he came across it.

    Looking at the other requests he discovered that "manual labor" was a vague term that included everything from digging holes and assisting with construction, to assisting in a blacksmith''s shop. There were even some for acting as a temporary replacement guard in the city, but that one had a minimum level requirement of 5. Crimson still didn''t have a level, so that one was clearly a no-go, and how was that manual labor anyway? It was clearly listed under the manual labor category!

    He shook his head and moved on.

    Since Emma had mentioned the church he looked for the requests involving it. One of them just looked like a pain since it was a request from a [Priestess] for a "brave adventurer" to meet the children of the orphanage - fortunately Crimson didn''t fit the bill in the slightest. They were probably looking for a beefed up tank with impressive armor and wavy blonde hair or something like that, not a skinny black-haired kid with shiny eyes and no discernible strength. Hmm...maybe he was still a little bitter about the new body?

    Putting that thought aside, one of the requests from the church was to assist with laundry, another was to help with cleaning, and the last was to act as an assistant to a [Priest] for half a day.

    The last one caught his eye because the pay was quite a bit higher than the surrounding requests and it had two requirements. The first was a Guild Recommendation, the second was the ability to write. The target date for the request was also today, but not till the afternoon, so he wouldn''t have to wait too long for the appointment.

    Crimson thought about it a bit more, and decided that it would be a good opportunity. He wanted to learn a healing spell, so being in a place where they were very common seemed like a good idea - he might at least get to see them cast them without having to fall down the stairs to have Emma help him.

    He''d just need to see if the guild would recommend him.

    With excellent timing, Emma came back up the stairs to the loft, in her eagerness and haste she''d taken the stairs two at a time and was holding an armful of rolls and rolls of paper and way too many bottles of ink.

    Unsure how to react, Crimson asked, "What are you going to do with all that paper?"

    "Ummm..." she looked down at her cargo then looked back up at him, "Too much?"

    "Too much, how long do you think it''s going to be?"

    She turned pink from embarrassment.

    "I wasn''t too sure, but I wanted to be on the safe side."

    "You even have all that ink, but I don''t see a pen?"

    She went from pink to mortified as she set down the paper and ink bottles on a nearby table then ran back down the stairs.

    "Make sure you don''t fall!" He called after her.

    It wasn''t his style to play matchmaking, but maybe he should keep an eye out for a guy to set her up with? It was something to consider; he did owe her a lot after all and the prayer didn''t really seem like a way to repay her.

    Crimson sighed and turned his attention back to the board. He needed something he could do for the morning. Looking, he found a delivery request for 20 Royals. The owner of a business was asking for help with delivery and was looking for someone who could move quickly through the city. It seemed easy enough and with the secret passages, it''d be even easier.

    Interrupting his thoughts, a panting Emma ran back up the stairs and seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.

    "You should put more into your physical stats, you look like you''re about to die."

    In between gasped breaths Emma told him, "I...don''t...want...to hear it! Just write me the prayer!"

    Recovering her breath a little she lost her anger and swapped back to excitement as she grabbed his wrist and lead him over to the table with the excessive amount of paper. She thrust a pen into his right hand then pointed to the paper, "I want a hot guy taller than I am with good manners! He doesn''t need to have too much [Intelligence], but he needs to have good [Charisma] and [Constitution] Stats!"

    "Why those two?"

    She turned completely red, "You don''t need to worry about it!"

    Why did she want someone with a high [CON]? He didn''t have enough information.

    He sighed, "Very well then."

    Twenty minutes and three re-writes later Emma was gently holding a piece of paper covered in wet ink as she slowly blew on it to dry it faster without smudging it.

    Crimson still sat at the table, having swapped the pen to his left hand long ago and received a weird look from Emma when he did so. Were left handed people rare or something? Well, more so than usual?

    Crimson stood and grabbed Emma''s attention as she stared at the prayer with uninhibited glee, "There is one request I''d like to take, and another I''d like to ask about."

    She gently set down the sheet and responded, "Okay, which ones?"

    He silently pointed at the delivery request, then the priest request.

    "You want to take those both today? I don''t think you''ll have time for both. Not only that, but I''d need to check with the Guild Master about the second one..." She tucked her hair behind one ear as she continued, "He''s the only one who can provide those kind of recommendations when it comes to the requests of important people like this one..."

    "That''s fine, I''ll take the first one while you talk to the Guild Master about the second one."

    She nodded slowly then spoke with a worried expression, "I really don''t think you''ll have time for both."

    Crimson felt pretty confident about his ability to do both, so he grinned at her and responded, "Please just ask the Guild Master, if I don''t get back in time then there''s nothing to worry about, but if I do, then I want to be able to take it without any issues."

    She slowly puffed out some air as she rubbed one of her arms, then nodded, "I''ll talk to him."

    "Great! Could you get me the first one?"

    "Sure."

    Emma grabbed both papers off the board then lead him downstairs where she had him press his guild card onto the back of the delivery request. It was interesting to see the lines of text appear - he still hadn''t dared to use it to pay any bills yet and was just surviving by using what few coins he had left, but he would have needed to try it soon if he hadn''t had an example.

    With that, Emma gave him instructions on how to get to the shop, how to deal with the owner, and what not to say, then sent him on his merry way.

    It wasn''t hard to find the place, it was in Phase 5 and the passages made getting over there an easy experience. The shop was called "Hunnie''s Tailoring" and was a small building of dark wood with two floors.

    When Crimson walked inside he was greeted by a burly woman behind a loom facing the entrance. Around the room were work desks for the five other people. They were sewing pieces of cloth together and some of their projects were actually starting to look like clothes.

    "What do you want boy?" the booming voice echoed from the burly woman.

    "You placed a delivery request with the guild Madame Hunnie."

    A mocking sound exited from the woman as she looked him over, "You seem to be VERY qualified to run from Phase to Phase, can you even run from here to the guild?"

    Crimson raised an eye brow and kept the rest of his face neutral. Emma had mentioned the woman had a strong personality, but this... Well, if she didn''t want to hire him he wouldn''t beg, he could find something else to do. He could take another request or read in the library to kill time.

    Seeing that he wasn''t fazed, the woman set down her shuttle and stood. She stalked over and got in his face, her weak brown eyes meeting his. She flinched.

    Whatever she''d meant to say was completely derailed as she actually took a step back and avoided looking into his eyes.

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Crimson ignored the room of shocked employees, who were staring at him in confusion, and kept his focus on Madame Hunnie...her hands were shaking. Just what were his eyes? Raften owed him an explanation. He should probably also avoid making eye contact with people...but that wouldn''t solve his curiosity about his eyes. Curiosity won out over caution once more.

    The woman forced herself to stand straight and did her best to hide the shaking in her voice, "Well, uh, right. A-anyway, I have four parcels for you t-to deliver. I usually have one of my apprentices d-do it, but we lose out on money with th-them handling it."

    Crimson nodded quietly and calmly looked at her forehead instead of her eyes to avoid scaring the poor woman once more. He had to crane his neck quite a bit to do that.

    Madame Hunnie finally steeled herself and continued with all signs of fear gone, "Your pay will be 20 Royals for completing the task. If you take too long I will be deducting 5 to 10 Royals from your pay. If you complete the task within a short amount of time you may receive a bonus of 5 Royals, is that understood?"

    "Yes."

    "Good."

    She then proceeded to give him a sack with the parcels inside and gave instructions about where each was to be delivered to. Two to Phase 18, one to Phase 8, and one to Phase 23.

    He could see why Emma thought he wouldn''t have time to finish both requests today. Just going from Phase 5 to the delivery location on the edge of Phase 8 could take an hour with all the foot traffic, not to mention how far the other Phases were from there. Madame Hunnie probably got to cut down on the pay for any Adventurers who took her request.

    Crimson smiled, he would be getting that bonus.

    With a quick bow and a farewell, he left and started running with the bulky and oversized bag on his back, looking like either Santa''s evil twin, or a really pathetic burglar.

    It didn''t take long at all for him to reach the place in Phase 23 for the first parcel. It also wasn''t a hard decision to go clockwise, he needed to end at Madame Hunnie''s place to be payed, and he needed to head to the Guild afterword; going counter-clockwise would definitely be the slower option.

    In Phase 23, he dropped off once of the parcels with a butler at an impressively sized mansion of black stone. As he left he saw a girl about six years old running up to the middle aged butler excitedly. The clothes inside were probably for her.

    As he ran the thought went through his head: why didn''t these rich people send the butler to pick up the clothes on their own? That was how he had thought these kinds of things would work from his past experience with fantasy books.

    With a shake of the head he slipped back into the passages and headed around to Phase 18. It took a decent amount of time jogging though the passage, but his morning run showed its strength as he was able to do it without much issue.

    He exited into Phase 18 only panting lightly as he weaved through the shockingly crowded streets to the delivery location. It appeared to be some kind of mortuary, and considering the fact that it was right next to Phase 17, it didn''t surprise him. There were probably burial clothes in the two parcels he dropped off to the depressed looking owner with a long face. He was bald too, what was with that stereotype? Well, it was probably better than being a happy mortician. That felt like crossing a line.

    Heading back into the passages unseen after a fight with the crowd, Crimson ran with the last package to Phase 8.

    It was definitely the longest run of the bunch, and by the time he exited the force of his breathing led him to wonder if he''d force his own lungs out through his throat.

    Once on the streets he stared at the crowd from the entrance of the ally. It would take far too long for him to fight his way through this mess. He glanced at the building beside him and decided to do something stupid, again.

    He tied the now much smaller Santa sack to the back of his belt then awkwardly climbed the wall next to him using the gaps in the stone as hand holds. It took a few tries, and he fell down and probably would have shattered his tailbone with one of the attempts, but the Santa sack was a good cushion. Eventually, he was able to eventually reach the roof.

    He stretched his shaking arms out, then began to run across the rooftops with relative ease. They were set close enough together that even with his lack of practice it didn''t present an issue with jumping across. Once he got close to his destination he was forced to return to street level to cross the main thoroughfare of Phase 8. It took him a hot minute to force his way through the crowd of people, many of whom clearly hadn''t seen a shower or bath in a while, but once he was on the other side he was able to meet a woman waiting outside some kind of small food shop. She was the one he was looking for, so he gave her the parcel and headed back the way he came - his second climb was far more graceful than the last one.

    After re-entering the tunnels he sprinted through them back to Phase 5 and easily made his way to Madame Hunnie''s now crowded shop. There was a line out front, but that wasn''t an issue to Crimson as he walked around it and went in. There were a few people who complained, but they were ignored. It wasn''t like he was there to buy anything.

    "What are you doing back here so soon boy? It hasn''t even been 3 hours! Did you give up?"

    The booming voice of Madame Hunnie silenced everyone in the shop as they turned to look at him. The apprentices all looked like they were sucking on lemons, and the members of the crowd who had complained looked smug. Crimson thought it was a weird expression for the apprentices to make in the situation. The smug fools were once again ignored.

    He silently handed the three proof of purchase slips over to Madame Hunnie who stared at them with a blank expression before she exploded, "How in the name of a Goblin''s Mother did you do all this in 3 hours? It isn''t possible!"

    Crimson thought once more: the swearing here really wasn''t satisfying sounding, it also didn''t make sense.

    He elected not to respond, his actions spoke for themselves.

    Madame Hunnie stared at him, ranted some, stared once more, signed the request sheet, then paid him 30 Royals as the crowed of watching people gasped in shock. She was probably known for being fiscally tightfisted if her personality was anything to go by.

    Fortunately for her, he''d avoided eye contact the entire time, so from all outside appearances it would probably seem like he was scared and trying to hide it. Her paying him 30 Royals despite her making it clear that she''d only promised 20 would also make her seem more generous and fair, thereby boosting her shop''s reputation without any apparent downsides, it would also serve to counteract her - assumed - personal reputation of being a cheapskate.

    He had to wonder if she did it all on purpose, or if it was just something that somehow happened.

    He slipped off back into the crowd with his purse 30 Royals heavier and he went back to the Guild via his new favorite route.

    ----

    Emma sighed as she walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. Her friend -Crimson- had put her in yet another difficult position. It was only fortunate that the Guild Master had taken a reasonable liking to him as well, or she really would have been putting her neck on the line.

    Well, she thought the Guild Master liked him, but the time when she began working with him to assign instructors for the current roster of [Brass] ranks he had started laughing in a creepy way and told her not to worry about Crimson - Lars already had someone in mind for him. It was slightly concerning to her, more than slightly, but the Guild''s Policies made it difficult for her to mention anything to Crimson about it.

    Well, she couldn''t be sure about the Guild Master''s reaction to his attempt to accept this request, but since she was asking in an official capacity and not in an unofficial one, there shouldn''t be any issues or at least, she was telling herself that as she took a few deep breaths while outside the Guild Master''s office.

    She reached up and knocked gently - slightly nervous as she wondered if he knew how long she had been standing there. It was quite possible, his [PER] might be high enough, but his [Classes] weren''t usually ones that gave [PER], but considering how high his Level was, it couldn''t be ruled out.

    Her thoughts continued in that loop as she waited for the Guild Master to respond, when she heard some muffled words behind the door, she opened it and walked in.

    Lars was sitting behind his desk as per usual. His Guild Master''s robes were neatly arranged and his hair and fur were well groomed - his wife probably helped with that task. The man himself was well known for caring about how people act, but didn''t caring too much about appearances or cleanliness, but that held true for many male Adventurers and a small number of female ones.

    Emma hated that little habit so much she didn''t hesitate in correcting Crimson as she tried to build good habits in him. To her glee: it seemed to be working. Next on the list would be teaching him to do his hair.

    Emma neatly filed the thought away for later and focused once more on the Guild Master as she came to a stop in front of him.

    "Good morning Guild Master."

    "Good morning, what brings you up here today Emma?"

    "One of the Adventurers needs a Guild Recommendation signed by you to take this request," she handed over the request slip and waited as he read over the details.

    Lars looked up at her, "So? Who''s the Adventurer?"

    Emma internally winced as she spoke the next line, "[Brass] Rank, Crimson."

    Her instincts proved correctly as her [Expression Reading] skill made it easy for her to pick up the smirk that crossed the Guild Master''s face and disappeared almost instantly. Well, easy would be an exaggeration, but the result made it easier for her.

    =====

    Level UP!

    Skill: [Expression Reading]

    Lv.7 > Lv.8

    =====

    She hadn''t even gotten the skill that long ago...

    Lars pulled her out of her thoughts as he spoke gruffly, "Yes, since this is a request that may make use of his skills along with your personal knowledge of what kind of person he is, I have no issues with giving him a recommendation for this request. Best to make use of the [Ultimate Scribe] however we can."

    "Are you trying to coin that as his second name Guild Master?"

    A wide grin split his face, "I think it''s perfect for him! He has shown himself to have the potential to be nothing less!"

    Emma reached up and pushed her hair behind one ear to keep her hand from balling it up into a fist, "I don''t think that he''ll take a [Scribe] [Class] Guild Master. From what I know of him, he''ll take combat [Classes].¡±

    Emma''s eyes bored into the Guild Master as his smile changed from proud to sinister, but the change would normally have gone unnoticed. If she hadn''t just reached Lv. 8 with her [Expression Reading] she doubted that she''d have noticed it - she wasn''t the only one with a [Expression Control] [Skill].

    "The future remains open Emma. I will continue to hold out hope. Also, I want you to take a step back from your involvement with the boy. It''s been decided that Sherry will be assigned as his Guild Advisor, so your active role with him is done. You may only assist him if Sherry is not around."

    Emma utilized the full strength of her [Expression Control] Lv.9 skill as she bowed quietly.

    Well, she had taken special action to help the "boy" -as the Guild Master put it- several times during his week long employment. She had covered for him when he used the office as a bedroom, she had negotiated the job to begin with, she had helped him frequently at almost every step, it was no surprise then, that the Guild Master would almost overstep his bounds to tell her to back off. A special action for a special action.

    Emma couldn''t say anything on a personal level, [Brass] rank had been her idea to help her brother, and the Guild Master had been the one to support it. Though they both had interest in its success, they both had different philosophies on "success." For Emma, it was helping them walk the path they wanted to walk, for the Guild Master, it was showing them the path where they were most talented. Frequently, these beliefs intersected as people wanted to become a strong as possible, but in this case they differed.

    Crimson didn''t care about being a [Scribe], something Lars considered him exceedingly talented in, he had his own path to walk. Emma wanted to support him, Lars wanted to derail him. Of course they clashed, of course she would lose.

    As she turned to walk out, Lars spoke after her, "For any request that involves the ability to write, the boy will receive an immediate Guild Recommendation. We will continue to encourage him to take the path of a [Scribe]."

    Emma looked at him silently for a long moment, then bowed once more and left. It vexed her to no end that she couldn''t say anything against him, but what could she do? He was still acting within his authority.

    Emma stalked downstairs and let the focus on her [Expression Control] slip a little, before snapping it back in place as she took her place back at her desk.

    [Expression Control] was one reason she liked Crimson and why she felt so strongly about speaking up for him: she never felt the need to use that [Skill] around him. She couldn''t explain it, but it felt like using around him was wrong. Not only that, but he''d become her friend, she just didn''t want to use it around him.

    She glanced over to see that Sherry had taken her place a few booths over and debated with herself for a moment, then decided to go speak to her.

    "Good morning Sherry."

    The Dark Elf glanced at her - seeming dazed as she sucked on her unlit pipe. After a long moment she responded, "Good morning."

    Emma tilted her head in confusion, "Is everything okay?"

    Sherry slowly began to load her pipe using a few different plants from a small multi-compartmented chest as she questioned, "When did Crimson take that delivery request?"

    Emma felt even more confused as she responded, "Just this morning, why do you ask?"

    Sherry fumbled with a match for a moment, then gave up and placed her pipe on the table in front of her, "He came in a few minutes ago with a proof of completion slip from Madame Hunnie, she even paid him a bonus 10 Royals, then he took another delivery request and went back out the door."

    Emma''s thoughts whirled around her head as she tried to figure out whether or not Sherry was serious; unable to, she decided to treat it like a joke, "There''s no way, Madame Hunnie''s requests are the most difficult and time consuming, no one else requires that many deliveries in so many extreme parts of Falst. On top of that, you even had the gall to joke that she¡¯d give a bonus! If you want to joke with me, you should pick a better punch line."

    Sherry quietly handed a slip of paper to Emma and she felt her reality break as she read the details on it. Three deliveries in less than three hours? All three deliveries all over Falst? There was no possible way to get around that fast!

    No matter how high his [AGI] was, it wouldn''t solve the problem of the crowds! There was no human way for him to do that!

    She looked at Sherry, "How?"

    Sherry shrugged, "When I asked, all he said was that it was a trade secret."

    Emma looked at the sheet once more, and wondered if the Guild Master would still think that the [Scribe] [Class] was the only "correct" [Class] for Crimson to take...

    ----

    Crimson trotted back into the guild yet another 20 Royals richer and much happier with how quick the second delivery request had been. He had weighed his options, and decided to risk being able to complete the request before his [Priest] request.

    It was a good thing, because it paid off in the end.

    Crimson glanced at the mildly full guild of an assorted motley of races, genders, and [Classes] as he crossed over to give his Proof of Completion slip to Sherry.

    The Dark Elf nuisance had explained that she''d been assigned as his Advisor, so he was supposed to ask her for help and take and return requests with her whenever she was around - he could only call on Emma when Sherry was gone. He didn''t consider it an issue since Emma was always the first one to arrive in the morning, so he''d be guaranteed to be able to take requests from her at least every time he took one early in the morning. He did have to squelch his annoyance with Sherry, but she''d let up on the teasing a little, so she was more tolerable now.

    When he gave her the slip she stared at it with a weird expression, almost like she''d been hit by a bat and hadn''t figured out what was going on. He didn''t understand this woman at all, it was just a proof of completion slip, didn''t she those all the time? Oh wait, she wasn''t worried about the slip itself, but maybe the time it took for him to finish? Well, nothing for that but for her to get used to it.

    Delivery requests were easy money for him. In a single morning he made almost half of what a week of working for Evans had made. If he kept that pace up, he''d be able to gain 100+ Royals every three days, which would allow him to save up for a weapon, pay for expenses, and leave him with plenty of free time for other activities like training.

    Crimson waved goodbye to Sherry and went over to Emma as the Dark Elf still looked dazed. Well, he merely went from one dazed woman to the other as Emma was sporting the same expression as Sherry.

    "Emma? Emma? Emma?" he drew out the third Emma, then snapped his fingers under her nose which seemed to do the trick.

    "Uh, huh, what?"

    "Were you asleep on your feet or something?"

    "Uhh, no?" she was blinking way too fast.

    "Are you sure? You don''t look so good."

    "I''m fine, just trying to figure out how you were able to break the laws of reality."

    Crimson shook his head with a deadpan expression, "No laws were broken, unless there''s something about running on people''s roofs, so don''t worry too much about it."

    "Oh, good.¡± She responded despondently.

    "Anyway, how did your talk with the Guild Master go?"

    Emma slowly reached under the table with withdrew two objects; she placed an envelope on the table along with the request sheet.

    "The Guild Master also asked me to pass along a message: he''s willing to give you a guild recommendation for any scribing requests."

    "He''s being really obvious."

    The still slightly dazed expression on Emma''s face was instantly replaced with intense focus as she responded, appearing to chose her words very carefully, "Well, not ALL of his methods will be so obvious. Don''t do anything stupid tomorrow."

    Crimson looked at her silently at he sunk deep into thought. He then clicked his tongue and asked, "What kind of messed up teacher did he set me up with?"

    It couldn''t be the class, Lars didn''t seem like the type to wreck an entire group to change the mind of a single individual, so it would have to be the teacher. Considering the fact that the members of the [Brass] rank would probably all be taking different paths, a single teacher for everything wouldn''t make sense. They''d probably all be assigned a senior adventurer or two to directly mentor them, a perfect opportunity to get at Crimson.

    Emma, with undisguised glee, said, "I don''t know, but stay on watch and be careful."

    Crimson nodded, grabbed the envelope and request slip, then headed out of the guild. The Temple was in Phase 1 and he didn''t have much time till the request started.

 Chapter 9: Blackmail and Limits

    Chapter 9: Blackmail and Limits

    Crimson and the [Priest] stared at each other in an oversized office. It was done in white stone like the rest of the Temple, which made for a good contrast between it and the dark stone the rest of Falst was made of.

    It was a sparse room despite its large size, having only a single bookshelf, desk, wardrobe, and a small bed in the corner.

    The [Priest] himself was a well kept middle aged man who had salt and pepper hair and a closely trimmed beard. He was only a bit taller than Crimson, but had an air of nobility that he would never be able to mimic and he hadn''t reacted when they''d made eye contact. The air around the man was crackling with unseen mana that would go unnoticed by almost all -if his research was to be believed- but he could sense it rolling off the man.

    He was probably using some kind of [Skill] - no other human Crimson had met released mana like that, but then again, he hadn''t ever really met a powerful magic user, maybe they would let off mana. Regardless, what made him think it was some kind of [Skill] was the fact that the mana was patterned and regulated despite the apparent chaos of it. He could even feel the strong belief running through it.

    The [Priest] spoke softly, "Welcome, my name is Damus, I am the Assistant Temple Overseer, I ensure that the Falst Temple is well cared for and clean."

    After speaking, he fell silent and watched Crimson with piercing eyes.

    After a moment, Crimson bowed, "I am Crimson, I took your request."

    "Yes, very good of you. The Guild Recommendation spoke very highly of you, so I hope you live up to that trust. My usual assistant informed me that he would be taking this day off, so I stood in need of a replacement, that being you."

    Crimson stared at the man and kept his face carefully neutral as he listened to the man''s explanation. He needed an assistant, so he immediately turned to an outsider? That would make as much sense as a CEO grabbing someone off the street to balance his checkbook because his accountant was busy. There are other people to turn to first. What did this old [Priest] actually want?

    The person in question continued, "For now, I want to dictate a letter to Count Banner. You shall record it in your best handwriting, if it is not up to my standard we will have an unpleasant conversation regarding your pay."

    The general perception of Adventurers really was quite low for this to be happening for the third time in a day, those who hire them must really be used to sub-par work.

    Crimson quietly took the proffered paper, pen, and ink bottle before settling into the chair in front of the desk. Damus began to dictate, and Crimson recorded it with his eyebrows climbing higher and higher as the [Priest]''s game became as obvious as flashing lights and a sign.

    Were Adventurers really that bad for people to give them sensitive information with the intent for them to share it? Was the trust for them that low? This [Priest] was just using him to spread rumors! True, mildly interesting rumors, but rumors none the less.

    It wasn''t helped by the fact that this was an indelicate way of doing things, Crimson''s pay would probably have more to do with his ability to start rumors with this information than his ability in writing it or, at least, it would if the [Priest] was being honest about his intentions.

    Regardless, he''d need to double check Damus'' intentions, if the man wanted him to compromise his integrity he''d need to pay extra. Crimson could already think of a few ways to help him out if his deduction was true.

    Damus turned to him, "Allow me to check it to ensure the quality is to standard."

    Crimson handed him the paper and the [Priest] looked at it with a stunned expression, before clearing his throat and handing it back after a moment.

    "There are no issues."

    "Very well, I assume there is other things you need me to do?"

    Damus nodded, "Yes, I need you to go assist the apprentice priests in cleaning the chapel for the services tonight, I will be the one preaching, so my assistant needs to be the one to clean the stand personally. You are dismissed."

    Crimson stood quietly for a long moment then spoke, "Before I go, I would like to clarify something."

    Damus frowned, "Whatever could that be? My instructions were quite clear."

    Crimson smiled coldly, "It wasn''t about your instructions, but your intentions." His eyes flashed as he continued, "I would like to make it clear that the information you shared with me isn''t something I will go around sharing unless you pay me."

    The mana in the air around the man started crackling and a tendril of it reached out to Crimson and touched his forehead. Before it could do anything he used his own mana to push it back. Unweaving any spell was easier than creating it - especially once it entered his body.

    Damus spoke, clearly not realizing that his [Skill] hadn''t worked, "Why ever would I pay you to share this information? It is of a sensitive nature, and should never be shared, but if an irresponsible Adventurer just so happened to mention it while deep in his cups, how could anyone be blamed? You understand?"

    Crimson stared down the [Priest], the man flinched for the first time during eye contact, "Please be clear Damus, do you want me to share this information or not? If it''s "yes" then you''ll need to pay me. If it''s "no," then you can rest assured that this information won''t go anywhere.

    "I''m fairly certain you can tell I''m telling the truth, that skill you''ve been using since I stepped in here is one that detects lies, is it not?"

    The man stared at him in mixed horror and shock, "How do you-"

    "Secret, just like this information will be."

    The noble facade broke down a little as the [Priest] gritted his teeth then spoke, "I can just hire someone else, Adventurers are known for their loose tongues, and this information is something that anyone will sell in a heartbeat for its value."

    Crimson replied in a mocking tone as he laid out the plan, "Yes, the Falst Temple offering a nice premium on [Lesser Litch] hearts to Count Banner -who has a team outfitted specifically for the [Hallowed Graveyard]- would be very nice information. After all, [Lesser Litch] aren''t difficult to kill, but take a long time as you yourself said, and oh! How sad that the Temple can only afford to outfit one full team for the dungeon!"

    Crimson''s eyes bored into the [Priest]''s and the man flinched once more, "Look, let''s not play dumb. The plan is to have me leak the information to the Adventurers at the guild, since the [Hallowed Graveyard] makes an exception to the [Minimum Level Requirement] for parties that have someone with a [Priest] [Class]. The Adventurers will get it into their heads that they can go hunt the [Lesser Litches] for their hearts, since they aren''t a difficult monster to kill, and make a huge profit by selling them to the Temple at a price less than the "Premium" you offered to Count Banner."

    Damus slowly sank into a chair as if he was being crushed and couldn''t seem to break eye contact with Crimson.

    "You''ll oversaturate the market, get them for even cheaper, and you''ll make money off the Adventurers who come to the temple to hire your [Priests] as escorts to enter the [Hallowed Graveyard], it''s a good plan, but it won''t happen if I don''t help."

    Crimson raised a finger, "Now, to respond to your threat to hire someone else, go ahead. You only stand to lose time, something that we all have a finite amount of even if increasing our Levels lengthens our life spans. However," Crimson let a warm/threatening smile crack his face, "If you use my services, I can spread the information fast. I know several methods to allow me to do so," time to bluff a little, he could get screwed on this one, but even if it failed it wouldn''t lessen the impact of the rest of what he''d said too much, "you won''t even need to use that [Skill] you tried to use on me earlier. If I''m not mistaken, it was a [Hypnosis] [Skill] of some kind? Quite unbecoming for a [Priest] who declares the God of Truth to stand above all the others. It''s one that stands more in line with the Goddess of Darkness. Though, I''m not interested in making you an enemy, so you can rest assured that your little secret will be kept."

    The [Priest] lowered his head and stared unblinkingly at the ground. Internally, Crimson could only sigh in relief that the stakes of his request were so low. If they were high, the man might kill him outright, but at these stakes he''d just get mad, then give in or move on. It was a good thing that he could feel that Damus was still using his truth reading [Skill], or Crimson might have raised the stakes too high for himself to handle just then.

    He stood quietly and allowed Damus to gather his thoughts once more. After a moment, the man looked up at him and spoke, "Very well, we can negotiate, what do you want?"

    Crimson smiled pleasantly, "I want access to the spells kept here at the Temple, in exchange you can call on me anytime you need something similar taken care of."

    Damus'' eyebrows shot up, "You don''t want Royals?"

    Crimson snorted, "For what? I can make money on my own without any issue. I already proved that to myself earlier today. Instead, why not use this as an opportunity to gain something that could be difficult or impossible to obtain otherwise?"

    Damus looked troubled as he questioned, "What are you going to do with these spells?"

    Crimson responded casually, "Learn them."

    Damus snorted derisively, "You don''t have your [Blessing], there''s practically no way for you to lean magic on you own-"

    The [Magic Light] on Crimson''s fingertips shut the man up.

    "There is no issue with that, please don''t worry yourself."

    His eyes fixed to the [Magic Light], Damus asked, "Are you aiming to become a [Priest] when you gain your [Blessing of the Gods]?"

    "No, I lack any interest in occupying the position of a healer full time, but neglecting healing spells is something I can''t feel is allowable. Also," Crimson scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "I just want to learn more magic."

    Damus stared had him blankly for a long moment, then started laughing, "Very well then! I will accept your proposal, but we shall do it in a more controlled manner, yes? I will call upon you on occasion and ask you to disseminate information. For every time you succeed I will allow you to study one of our spells. I think you''re aware, but this is overpaying in the extreme, spell books are rare and expensive, but I think your desire is admirable, so how can I not support it?"

    Crimson was a bit nonplussed, he''d started with an insanely high request with the understanding that Damus would negotiate down -which he did- but Crimson had been prepared to go far, far lower than what had been offered. He just wanted a basic healing spell since he hadn''t seen one in the Guild Library, they''re mostly basic attack spells and a few defensive ones. Well, he would of course accept. He had no reason not to.

    "I will accept your terms, you may call upon me whenever you need to."

    Damus nodded with a smile, his noble atmosphere returning once more, "I will see to it that you are leant of copy of [Treatment], would you like one for [Life], [Holy], or [Purity]?"

    On an impulse, Crimson replied, "[Purity]."

    He''d need to experiment to see which [Affinity] he was best suited for. [Purity] just seemed like one that aligned most with his ideals since he didn''t consider himself [Holy] and as far as [Life]¡­ Well, his track record should bring him more in line with [Death] than [Life].

    Seeming pleased, Damus responded, "Very well, please send in one of the apprentice [Priests] on your way out."

    Crimson nodded, left, and send in the nearest passing priest, who wore a simple yellow robe instead of Damus'' yellow, green, and white one, and went to the task that Damus had assigned him: cleaning the stand.

    It wasn''t a particularly difficult task, a quick chat with a [Priestess] who was cleaning the pews got him some cleaning supplies and he got to work scrubbing, dusting, and mopping the stand.

    It was a raised platform at the back of the chapel that had several seats for high ranking officials to sit and over look the congregation with a podium in the center. It was done in an elegant brown wood that blended harmoniously with the white stone of the Temple and seemed to bring peace to the soul, or so Crimson thought sardonically to entertain himself through his boredom. He may be working with his hands, but his mind wasn''t engaged in the process; he started adding mana control practice to the process to actually DO something with his mind - Chapter 9 of [Magic Light] was going to give him a headache that night, he already knew that. With a sigh, he continued the work and by the time an hour had passed the stand was spotless and the polished wood shone.

    He stepped off the stand and wiped the sweat off his forehead as he ignored the smattering round of "oohs" from the scattered crowd of [Priests] and [Priestesses] who were looking at it. His task was done, and he needed to report to Damus.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    After returning the cleaning supplies to the now distracted [Priestess] he went to Damus'' office where he knocked on the door.

    "You may enter."

    Walking into the room, Damus seemed surprised to see him.

    "Yes, what is it? I was under the impression that our negotiations had concluded earlier."

    Crimson nodded shortly, "Yes, but I finished cleaning the stand as asked, and I would like the Proof of Completion for this job. The payment we negotiated earlier is between you and I, it''s unrelated to the request I accepted - regardless of your true intentions in the matter."

    Damus seemed surprised as he responded, "Yes...indeed. Very well, here is how we will do things, once I see the results of your information spreading, you shall receive your...special...payment. I will request you for another assignment at that time to act as a cover for what we are really doing, and if you are as successful as you claim you will be, we shall give you yet another task for the matter."

    Crimson nodded silently and accepted the signed Proof of Completion. With a bow, he turned and left the room.

    Moving quickly, he passed through the Temple to see people filtering in and taking seats on the pews, slowly filling up the great space.

    To his surprise, as he passed the [Priestess] by the door, she shared a quick "Thank you" with him. For what? If it was about the stand, then what was the point in thanking him for doing what was expected of him?

    Regardless, he decided to respond kindly, and told her "you''re welcome" before hurrying away. Something about how she had been looking at him made him uncomfortable, but she didn''t seem to have ill intentions, so he decided not to worry about it.

    He moved swiftly to return to the guild, the sun was starting to get low in the sky, and he wanted to be back in his inn room before too long to be on the safe side. Living so near a dangerous place really restricted his active hours to an unpleasant degree, but the cost made it worth it. If he didn¡¯t have any way to train in his room it would be a different story.

    Entering the crowded guild, he quickly decided on a facade to sell the story. This method probably wouldn''t work when he''d been around for a while and people understood what kind of person he was, but it would work for the moment.

    Moving with an uncharacteristic amount animation and energy, he waved enthusiastically to Sherry -since he didn''t see Emma around- and moved over to her and shared an overly loud greeting.

    "Hiya Sherry!"

    She looked at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion, "Hello Crimson, was your last request so enjoyable?"

    Speaking way more loudly than was needed he bobbed his head and spoke with a smile, "Yeah! [Priest] Damus was awesome! He had me write a letter for him!"

    Immediately, he could feel mana brushing through the air around him, he had to hold back a grin as the eavesdropping [Skills] or spells -he wasn''t sure which- wrapped around him and Sherry. Playing up the act a little, he looked around like someone who was about to share a secret, and carefully lowered his voice, to a point where he could be sure that what he said could be heard by the eavesdroppers, as well as some of the more nearby Adventurers, but still make it seem like he was trying to keep a secret.

    "By the way, why are [Lesser Litch] hearts so important?"

    Sherry looked worried, "Why would you mention them? The Temple uses them in special alchemical mixes, they''re the only one who can use them because the [Priestess]/[Priest] [Class] is the only one that can use the [Skill]: [Holy Purification], but they don''t really need it that often, so there''s no point in trying to make money off it."

    "Really?" he said once more raising his voice while pretending it was an accident, "But the Temple just offered to pay Count Banner 15 Royals per [Lesser Litch] heart!"

    Peering out of the corner of his eye, he could see several adventurers in the crowd who had been listening in. To his amusement, he could practically see the Royals in their eyes.

    One of them stood up and walked over, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, then spoke, "Oi laddie, is that true? Did that old coot Damus really offer Count Banner 15 Royals per [Lesser Litch] heart?"

    "Um, um" Crimson looked left and right as he pretended to panic, "uh, no? Forget I said anything!"

    There was jeering in the crowd as a few people called him a liar. With that, half the guild started talking animatedly with one another - making plans to visit the [Hallowed Graveyard]. After some arguing, they all decided to standardize the price they were going to offer the Temple at 13 Royals per heart.

    Crimson took that opportunity to hand Sherry his Proof of Completion and she processed it. When she returned she informed him, "Look, Damus is going to be furious if he finds out what you''ve done, I''d recommend you pray that your name doesn''t get mentioned in all this and that you lay low for a while." she sighed, "Give it a day little snack, your payment will be in your account, yet another 50 Royals for you. I hope you would consider treating a...special someone in your life kindly using that money while you lay low."

    Crimson glanced at her casually, "Your teasing has gone down in quality, are you losing your touch?"

    Her dark face actually turned red and the tips of her long ears twitched, "Little snack, little snack, I am worried for you, how can I enjoy watching you blush and tremble if I''m worried?"

    She was met with a deadpan expression, "I''ve never done either of those things."

    "Oh, but you will little snack! One day you will!"

    "Pass. Also, pass my regards to Emma, I''m sorry I missed her."

    He left the pouting Dark Elf and headed out of the guild, the guild members were too wrapped up in their conversations to notice the startling personality difference between the Crimson who entered the guild, and the Crimson who left. The only noted exception being the elf -Verity- who Crimson noticed was staring at him with an amused expression from the corner of the room. Well, there was one person who wasn''t going to fall for it. Didn''t matter in the end, she couldn''t stop everyone else, and they''d think she was trying to take all the money for herself if she told them otherwise.

    Crimson returned to the inn using his newly decided home turf -the secret passages- and got to work on Chapter 9 of the [Magic Light] spell, but wasn''t able to make any process. He still wasn''t able to guide the mana into place from a long distance away, it just stopped reacting to him once it got far enough away and dispersed. The imagery for Chapter 9 just wasn''t helping! He knew what he needed to do, he even knew how, but he just couldn''t get it to work! He continued to work at it, and went to bed late, having failed to make any progress.

    Waking up first thing in the morning with the irritation of the proceeding night still hanging over him, Crimson ran to the guild during his morning run to burn off steam. Since he''d had some extra time, he didn''t go straight there, but used the run to explore the deeper passages and started to learn his way around them, he even checked where some of the switches let out so he could find them on the street level.

    Once he''d finally arrived at the guild, he discovered that he was still early, so he settled on the front step and refocused on his mana as he tried to slow his breathing. Even after more work he just couldn''t guide the mana how he wanted to. With a sigh, he decided to back off for a moment. If brute force wouldn''t work, he''d need to think of another way to complete Chapter 9. At this rate, it didn''t feel like he''d ever be able to think about Chapter 10, much less finish Chapter 9.

    Crimson focused instead on his body, he''d actually wanted to try meditation before this point in his new world, but had never really made the time. He''d been focusing too much on his training and his mana, but if meditation turned out to be useful, he''d need to keep doing it.

    Well, more useful than the obvious stuff, he''d tried it back in his previous world after all, and had enjoyed it there, having something he could do even with his crippled body was nice.

    Crimson quietly meditated as he focused on the different parts of his body, from his feet to the hairs on his head and back, shifting his awareness and carefully controlling his breathing. It was nice, but he had to resist the urge to add mana control to the process - he needed a break from it.

    A short time later, he heard Emma call out to him and he glanced over at her. He was about to respond to her greeting, but was distracted by an ominous sight: two Bear-Kin stood behind her. One was the familiar form of the Guild Master - Lars, and the other was an unfamiliar bear-kin who -almost impossibly- stood taller than Lars and had brown fur around his bear ears. Their faces were identical, but this new bear-kin had fewer scars on his arms.

    As he looked at them he had finally guessed what Lars'' plan was, but it was still only a guess - he couldn''t be sure without one more little detail.

    Refocusing on Emma, he responded her greeting, "Hello Emma, good morning to you. Good morning to you as well, Guild Master."

    Lars grunted with a nod in response, then turned to the bear-kin next to him, "Mars, this is the kid I was telling you about."

    Crimson and Mars stared each other down, and Crimson did his best to pressure the man with his eyes. He finally had a decent guess on how they worked based off what had happened yesterday, but he needed to be sure.

    ----

    "Mars, this is the kid I was telling you about."

    Mars turned to stare the kid in question down and was surprised at the will he saw in the kid''s eyes, he was supposed to break this one?

    Mars smiled and felt the excitement in him rising, "Name?"

    "Crimson, you?"

    "Mars, I''m your Guild Master''s younger brother."

    "I can see the resemblance."

    They carefully watched each other for a long moment. Mars was slightly disappointed, aside from his eyes, the kid was nothing special, he was on the smaller side, unnaturally thin, and just didn''t seem like someone who you''d ever associate with "strength," well, aside from his eyes of course.

    The staring match continued with both sides refusing to back down before Emma cut in, "Could you two have a real conversation?"

    Mars and the kid looked at her in unison, they both had a single raised eyebrow.

    She raised both hands into the air and backed off, "Okay okay, if that''s a real conversation to you two, so be it, but Crimson," she glared at the kid, "You better have real conversations with me."

    Mars found it interesting that the most standoffish of the Guild''s Receptionists was being so open with someone she''d met just over a week ago, what had he done to get close to her, not just quickly, but period?

    "Why wouldn''t I?" the boy responded without seeming to care about the unspoken threat. Either he had guts, or he was stupid. Maybe a mixture of both. Though, it was possible that he was certain that she wouldn''t follow through with the threat, but that belief would actually put him in the stupid category - Emma followed through on threats.

    A Basic Rule of Survival for any Adventurer: Don''t make the [Healer] your enemy - not even the [Guild Suppressor] could stand against her and even Mars would hesitate a little.

    The two humans continued to go back and forth with some kind of weird banter as the [Healer] unlocked the door. Mars couldn''t be bothered to follow the conversation, and chose to interrupt it by clapping a hand on the boy''s shoulder and "gently" leading him to the training field out back. He had to ignore the protests from Emma, but it wasn''t that different from a fly''s buzzing.

    Once in the field, he released his hand from the boy, who had silently allowed himself to be pushed outside, and pointed at the space.

    "Run laps until I tell you to stop, if you drop your pace, I''ll make you run for longer."

    To Mars'' surprise, the boy didn''t speak and turned instantly and started running. That was the other part of his surprise - the boy didn''t start jogging, he started running! He truly was a fool! He had just heard what Mars had said, yet chose not to pace himself! He would make this kid run himself into the dirt as a lesson!

    His ferocious glare weakened after half an hour, this kid had run half an hour at that pace?! For someone with their [Blessing] it was well within the realm of possibility, for some [Classes] it would even be easy, but he was only a fifteen year old kid!

    The kid continued to run and tore off his top, miraculously not losing any speed as he kept moving, and discarded the shirt. Mars had a high enough [PER] stat to see that he was absolutely coated in sweat, so the action didn''t come as a surprise, but what came as a surprise was the fact that the kid had started smiling.

    What...was he?

    Yet another half hour passed as the run continued, but the smile never faded, and his run never slowed, but Mars could see it taking its toll, his eyes had become unfocused, and the moment he started coughing up blood was the moment Mars woke himself up from his trance and realized that he needed to put a stop to the exercise.

    "Get over here kid!"

    The boy didn''t respond and kept running. By the God of War, this boy was running in a haze!

    Mars stepped forward and as the boy passed once more he grabbed him and carefully pivoted on the spot to prevent the sudden stop from doing any damage. He didn''t completely succeed as the boy''s right shoulder let out a loud crack, his high [CON] had meant the rescue had felt like running into a wall for the boy, if he hadn''t reduced the force of the impact he probably would have killed him, the rebound from a [STR]-[CON] difference was nothing to ignore...

    The boy stood there breathing hard and appeared barely conscious, but he hadn''t reacted to his shoulder breaking. Probably a good thing he was so out of it.

    Mars decided to go grab a [Healer]...but the only one that would be there at that time of day would be Emma...how could someone who was only Lv. 30 strike such fear into his heart? Just the thought of what she would do once she saw the boy...

    As he started to rethink grabbing her, the choice was taken out of his hands as the person in question stuck her head out of the door.

    "Hey Mars, when you and Cri- BY THE [BLESSING OF THE GODS], WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?!"

    He winced, she was swearing by the [Blessing]...he was screwed.

    Emma brushed past him and focused on the boy, instantly seeing what was broken with whatever [Skill] she had, and started mending him.

    Any other [Healer] would have taken minutes for what took her seconds, it would probably take someone who had performed [Breakthrough] twice to be able to rival her. Usually, a Lv. 30 [Healer] of any type of [Healer] [Class] would only be able to efficiently heal at max someone who was Lv. 40, but Emma had polished her skills and had bonuses from titles to the extent that it pushed her into the territory of healing people 25 Levels above her, which was a huge benefit because healing someone without a [Blessing] is extremely difficult. She was truly awe inspiring [Healer], and the blue-silver light coming off her hands let him know that she focused on the [Purity] Affinity - something Lars had failed to mention while bragging about her to Mars.

    When she finished patching up the boy, she turned to Mars with murder in her eyes.

    He had made the mistake of angering the [Healer].

    ----

    Crimson slowly came to and felt groggy beyond belief. Just how hard had he pushed himself while running? The last thing he remembered was a sense of stubborn refusal, he refused to stop, but then was brought out of the self-induced trance by a flash of pain emanating from his shoulder. That was the last thing he could remember.

    Steeling himself, Crimson forced himself to sit up and instantly hit his head on someone else''s head.

    Blearily opening his eyes, he saw Emma sitting behind him and holding her forehead with both hands, there were tears in her eyes, and her cheeks were puffed up.

    Out of concern Crimson spoke, "Sorry, are you okay?"

    At the question, her watery eyes became alight with anger and she spoke, "Am I OKAY? What kind of question is that? You nearly killed yourself and Mars broke your shoulder! You are in no position to ask if I''M OKAY!"

    He looked at her with a "are you serious?" expression and spoke once more, "Are you okay?"

    Her anger faded some and she spoke stiffly, "I am fine, thank you." The ferocity returning in full force she spoke once more, "Now, what were you thinking? You almost killed yourself!"

    Crimson shrugged, if he had to say why...he didn''t want to break. Mars was clearly sent to break him and make him give up on a combat [Class] in favor of "something" else - Crimson wasn''t in the mood to play along. Besides, there was no downside to doing what was asked, it would help him improve faster. So what if he almost killed himself there? The important thing was that he didn''t, and if it would help,` he would do the same thing every morning until he got his [Blessing], and maybe even beyond. All to become stronger.

    A primal part of him had to admit that he even enjoyed the experience, it helped him understand something he hadn''t before: his limits. Oh, he''d been tired before, he''d felt like passing out or breathing out his lungs, but he''d never truly tested his limits. He got close there, but it was close enough, he now knew his limit.

    "How long was I out?"

    "Just half an hour, you''re pretty resilient."

    "Good, Emma?"

    She tilted her head, "Yes?"

    "Would you be willing to heal me again later?"

    She practically screamed her response "WHAT???"

    Crimson placed a hand over the ear closer to her and continued speaking, "I still have plenty of time today, and I don''t know if Mars will have me do something like that again, so if you could be around to help I would greatly appreciate it."

    Emma clapped her hands on both sides of his face and reeled him in close to make eye contact, she recoiled a little for the first time in a while, but he could see her grit her teeth as she forced herself to continue, "You will do no such thing! If you do so, then I won''t heal you!"

    "I''ll do it anyway, you can just reduce the amount of time I''ll spend lying on the ground passed out."

    "You won''t do it!"

    "I will."

    They both refused to break eye contact, and stared at one another for a long minute before Emma breathed out a long sigh and let him go.

    "Fine then! See if I care!"

    Crimson looked at her for a moment feeling touched, then started laughing, "You do! You wouldn''t try to stop me if you didn''t," his laughter ceased and was replaced by an uncharacteristically warm smile, "Thank you for caring."

    Emma looked at him for a long moment before she turned and walked away. Stopping for a moment, she fired over her shoulder, "Mars is sitting in the loft."

    While she''d tried to hide it, he still noticed the smile that had graced her lips as she responded.

 News and Survey

    Alrighty then, sorry this isn''t a chapter. Most of you don''t care right now, but for those of you who do, please stick around, I''d like your input.

    First: You will get two chapters this week. That''s a goal I''ve had for a while, but that might need to change because of IRL circumstances. My new job takes a lot of out of me and I don''t get much free time to write and play as I''d like, so in the future I might miss a release or be forced to reduce it to one chapter a week instead of two - my deepest apologies.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Second: Expect the chapters for this week on Friday and Saturday.

    Third: I''ve made a survey, and I''d like the input of my readers if you have the time to answer. It''s literally 6 questions and it''s probably unnecessary, but I''d still like to know.

    https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6SGY2VD

    Fourth: Thanks for the new review, it felt nice. You know who you are.

    Fifth: Have a nice day, Sorry again that this isn''t a chapter.

    ...

    Wow, just realized how short this update is for how long winded I am...I thought it''d be a lot longer when I was planning it out in my head.

 Chapter 10: Will to Break

    Chapter 10: Will to Break

    Crimson followed Emma into the guild after a few more minutes of rest, he headed in and went up to the loft while trying to ignore the stare that Emma was shooting into the back of his head, he really was happy that she cared.

    In the loft, he found Mars brooding and glaring at a glass of water with a look of distaste. As Crimson approached, he glanced over and watched him for a moment, then he downed the glass of water like it was a shot.

    After slamming the glass down on the table, Mars growled out a question, "What do you want boy?"

    "To grow strong, but for now, I''ll take a teacher."

    Mars looked at him strangely, "And the boy genius got it into his head that I should be the one?"

    Crimson shrugged, "Well, aren''t your orders from Lars to break me? If you push me like you did just now, then I''ll be able to grow stronger, faster.¡±

    Secondary reason being the last confirmed Level of Mars was 90 - that kind of experienced teacher is nigh impossible to come by.

    Mars watched him with an expressionless face for a long moment, then responded, "You want me to break you?"

    It was time for him to make use of his eyes, he''d finally figured out how they worked. Well, "figured out" would be an exaggeration, but he had a decent idea of some of the rules surrounding them. The first: he needed to make direct eye contact. That was a "no duh" rule, but it was the first one he''d figured out. The second rule had to do with his intent, his intentions when he made eye contact were important.

    Crimson made eye contact, and pressed with his will, his intent was to show how serious he was, "Do your very best."

    Mars looked at him, then started laughing. His laugh grew louder and louder till it resounded around the empty guild, seeming to assault Crimson''s ears from all sides.

    Once it stopped, Mars looked him dead in the eyes and spoke, "Well then, I will break you. Let''s begin."

    ----

    As Abel and his friends rushed to the Adventurer''s Guild, he couldn''t believe that they were late! How could he have let himself sleep in that long?! Their appointment was at 10:00, but it was 09:30! He had wanted to be half an hour early to show how serious he was, but he''d slept in!

    Not only that, but the only member of his group that could keep up was Ruby! Well, she was faster than him, but he was faster than anyone else in the group by a decent amount! Except of course Midori, she was almost as fast!

    They burst into the guild and saw! ...a mostly empty guild. Where was everyone?! Were they all already out saving the world?! How noble of them!!! Abel felt the tears start to build up in his eyes and he did his best to restrain them!

    Even the receptionists must be so busy for there only to be one of them! It was an absolutely beautiful Dark Elf! The pipe she was sucking on was rather off-putting, but that aside, flawless!

    Abel rushed over to her with his friends close behind and he slammed into the desk both hands first, he didn''t really process the flicker of annoyance that crossed her face as he shouted, "We are the new [Brass] rank class!"

    Abel found himself distracted and his face turned red as she moved in an elegant and seductive way to reach out and grab a sheet of paper from a drawer.

    When she spoke, his ears and insides melted, "Very well little boy, what are all of your names."

    Abel ignored the jabs of three different people in his back as the thought occurred to him that her calling him little boy didn''t sound too bad!

    "M-my name is A-Abel! What is yours? Can we be good friends? Do you have a bo-"

    A hand over his mouth silenced him as Sapphire grabbed him in a chokehold, she then spoke.

    "Like he said, this is Abel, my sister is Ruby, the elf is Cecilia, and that is Midori. My name is Sapphire."

    Abel watched as his vision started to get dark as every movement she made while writing the names sent a jolt through him, she was too pretty!

    Sapphire lowered her head down to his ear and whispered, "She is way too old for you!"

    Age is just a number!

    "She''s not human!"

    Why would that matter?!

    "She isn''t interested in you!"

    People change!

    "And Cecilia is prettier than her!"

    No she wasn''t! And why would he touch her?! It would be like dating his sister! Also, it would be great if Sapphire would loosen her grip, it was hard to see the Dark Elf Goddess in front of him with all the stars in his eyes and the darkness that was starting to shroud them!

    The Goddess continued filling out papers with every motion being a masterpiece that he wanted to burn into his mind!

    Once finished, she glanced up, "I am finished, here are your guild cards, please head down that hallway to the end where you will find the training yard. Your instructors will arrive shortly, so please be patient. Also, please don''t kill your friend here, it would mean more paperwork for me - do it out back where Emma would be in charge of the report."

    Ahh, even her heartless nature was wonderful to him! How dare Sapphire drag him out from under the cold eyes of his beloved Goddess, he''d-!

    Once completely out of sight, it was like a fog over his mind lifted and he could think clearly. Why had he found her so beautiful? While his comment about Cecilia was still true, she was prettier than that Dark Elf, and all of his rebuttals against Sapphire''s arguments fell apart! Age wasn''t just a number, she was clearly more than ten years older than him! If he had to pick a non-human race to date, it certainly wouldn''t be a Dark Elf! They were sneaky thieves! What had happened to him?!

    After he stopped struggling, he felt Sapphire let him go. and she spoke, "I don''t know what kind of [Class] or [Skill] she has, but you are very susceptible to it - avoid her in the future."

    Oh, was that what had happened?! Things made sense! He certainly wouldn''t let some crawler get him to fall in love with her - he was way too good for that!

    He took a proud stance and firmly announced with all the energy of his soul, "I won''t fall for it again!"

    Three pairs of eyes bored into him as he faltered under their response, "Yes, you will!"

    His eyes started to well up with tears, "Why would you say that?! I won''t let it happen again!"

    Sapphire quietly patted him on the shoulder, then stepped outside with her sister skipping along behind her. Midori approached and did the same thing as Sapphire, then headed out before him.

    Cecilia looked at him airily, "Is there something nice feeling about your shoulder?"

    He shrugged, "I don''t know, you want to check?"

    "Sure."

    After a shoulder patting she reported, "Nope, nothing!"

    Well, there was definitely a difference between her shoulder pat and the shoulder pat of the other girls, their made him feel bad for some reason, Cecilia''s just felt normal.

    He sighed, "Let''s go out too, we''re already late."

    "Okay!"

    When they stepped outside, the sight that greeted them was a boy with black hair getting his arm broken by a giant bear-kin three times his size holding a spear. He seemed to take the broken arm in stride and used it as an opportunity to get even closer to the bear-kin and slashed with a katana in his left hand, but the bear-kin dodged it easily by leaning back, then casually planted a boot into the boy''s chest. He went flying back several feet where he rolled on the ground.

    Abel wanted to shed a few tears in sympathy, that blow was certainly fight ending, and considering how hard he fell his arm wouldn''t be in good shape.

    To his shock, the boy hauled himself to his feet and scooped his katana off the ground as he once more charged the bear-kin. There wasn''t any form of grace or skill in his movements, and even the way he was holding the katana was clumsy, but the fact that he got back up again after those two heavy blows and still wanted to continue the fight made Abel''s jaw drop.

    As he continued to stare, he thought to himself that the black hair on the kid seemed familiar, but where had he seen it before?!

    After another heavy blow, the fight ended when the boy literally wasn''t able to get up because of his crushed leg, and a woman he hadn''t noticed earlier rushed over and began casting blue-silver healing magic.

    In that moment, he saw the boy''s eyes and remembered where he saw him before, it was that boy they''d shared a campfire with! He''d left before any of them had woken up that morning! He had mentioned that he''d join the guild, but Abel had thought that he had given up when they never saw him at the guild.

    Any disgruntlement he felt for the boy after he''d abandoned Abel and the girls faded as he winced every-time one of the boy''s -what was his name?- bones snapped back into place under that healing spell. The ones in his right arm were particularly nasty because they''d ended up breaking through the skin during his fall, but the boy never flinched or made a sound during the healing, he even looked to be enjoying it!

    Once more, Abel was shocked to his core as he stared true pain tolerance in the face. He glanced at his friends to ask them what they thought, and saw that they were all as pale as he was. Even Sapphire, who usually didn''t have much of an expression, was covering her mouth while completely pale.

    Once the healing was finished the boy -wasn''t his name Red?- stood and grabbed the katana. Abel let out a horse cry and the girls gasped as Red charged the bear-kin without any hesitation once more.

    Was he crazy?! He was going to get himself killed!

    The next round was also a complete beatdown that only ended after a heavy blow from the butt of the wooden spear seemed to shatter all of the ribs in Red''s body and made Cecilia faint while the rest of the girls cried out. For himself, Abel was so stunned that he couldn''t move or make a sound, he just wasn''t able to. It was like time had stopped for him as he looked at Red lying on the ground impatiently waiting for the healer to repair the damage.

    Why? Why would he push himself to that extent?! Did the bear-kin kill someone he loved, or was he being threatened in such a way as to not allow him to give up?! How could he endure that much pain?! Why? Why? How?

    How could he be getting up again after just barely being healed? How could he have absolutely no hesitation in taking up his weapon once more? Why did he look so disappointed when the bear-kin stopped the fight from continuing?!

    And the most important question Abel had: how could he become that strong?

    ----

    Crimson sighed in annoyance as Mars put their sparring to a stop. He''d just started to get a feel for moving around, not enough to say he''d gained any battle experience, but enough for him to realize the basic things he''d need to work on.

    Footwork for one, no matter how he shifted or attacked it wasn''t hard for Mars to knock him down. In addition, the bear-kin''s feet were constantly in motion: sliding, repositioning, and digging in to most effectively channel damage into Crimson''s body.

    From that, he''d come to understand that strength with a weapon started with the legs. True, strength in the arms would help greatly, but without effectively using his legs he would never be as effective. It was that realization that made him remember the [Twin Steps] style waiting for him in the secret library of Falst. It focused primarily on footwork, and made it easy for him to make the decision to spend all of "Highday" at that library.

    "Highday" was their equivalent of Sunday, and it wasn''t too far, today was "Thursday" after all.

    The second realization Crimson had had from that little spar session was the importance of variety. It pretty much meant that he''d need a backup if something happened, like when he''d sacrificed his right arm to try and get a chance to attack Mars which had ended in failure, but forced him to rethink things a bit.

    He''d definitely need to spend time on two handed forms as well as single handed and dual wielding since he''d have his stilettos as a back up.

    He''d also drawn other conclusions, but they could be pondered over piece by piece at his leisure.

    He glanced at Mars and thought over a bit of what the bear-kin had explained to him their training would be.

    Essentially, Mars'' [Sword Mastery] was only Lv. 22, which was apparently a low level for a mastery skill, so he couldn''t really help Crimson with sword forms, much more than that: katana forms. Since he was useless for the sword, Mars informed him that his presence would be there for two reasons.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    The first: to teach him the Basic Adventurer''s Style, which pretty much amounted to "how to swing a weapon without cutting yourself" and really wasn''t an actual fighting style.

    The second was pretty much what they''d been doing for the past few hours: being a sparring partner. Since Mars was required to take an active role in his instruction and lacked any really effective way to teach Crimson the idea was that he''d be there for Crimson to try out the stuff he learned to see if it would be viable in a fight. It would also help him get practice fighting against spearmen who usually held the advantage in a fight against a swordsman.

    Really, Crimson was more or less left to his own to figure out how to use a sword.

    He''d be putting those sword books to good use...

    Crimson turned to thank Emma for her help and noticed for the first time the harem trope staring at him with white faces. Were they that shocked to see him after he left them behind?

    He quickly dismissed them from his mind and walked over to Emma. Once he reached her he bowed low and spoke in a low voice for only her ears, "Thank you so very much for your help."

    She stared back grumpily, "You can show your thanks by not doing this again!"

    He scratched his head thoughtfully, "It looks like I''ll have to find another way to show my appreciation."

    "Argh!" she stomped the ground a few times then left.

    One side of Crimson''s lips quirked up in amusement before he turned his attention back to Mars - intentionally ignoring the harem squad.

    "What''s next?"

    Mars shrugged, "I leave, you stay and finish the class for today. It should start soon if the instructor isn''t late like he usually is."

    Crimson grimaced, he didn''t want to deal with wasted time...

    "Don''t worry about it boy, just do what you want and be ready to return when he eventually shows up."

    He nodded, a trip to the library then.

    Crimson tilted his head for a moment, thinking, he might as well use that time to get ahead if he could, "What will this instructor be teaching for today?"

    "The Adventurer''s Handbook, we also call it the brown deadweight for fun."

    "Is it in the library?"

    Mars nodded firmly, "If it wasn''t then Lars would explode the second he found out."

    "Good to know" he responded.

    As Mars left, Crimson went over to the bath room and rinsed off, then he went inside. He was forced to ignore the harem squad going both ways, but they made it easy by just standing there, staring at him with slack jaws. If they''d tried to bug him he would have been forced to run to not deal with it.

    He grabbed Emma, headed up to the library, and took a copy of the brown deadweight to the loft. It really was annoying being forced to grab her every time he needed to check something out.

    Crimson settled into a corner of the loft where he could see the guild entrance, then settled in to read. It wasn''t a long book, not even full-sized with less than a hundred pages and decent margins, so it took him less than half an hour to finish it.

    Essentially, it pretty much covered some basic rules in the guild, in dungeons, and the rules surrounding requests that all governed adventurers. It also went over some of the privileges of being an adventurer, like the ability to enter any country so long as your alignment was "good" and a few other things.

    Overall, uninformative. A lot of the things could be guessed or -to Crimson at least- were rules that he had thought that were left unsaid, but that everyone knew about. The most interesting stuff was about dividing loot in a dungeon.

    With a sigh, he got up, grabbed Emma away from her desk once more, and swapped the book for the next one. Simply, he''d asked what the next lesson would be, and she''d pointed out the related book to him. He settled down and started reading once more.

    Fortunately, this one was a bit more interesting because it talked about secondary guilds. Simply, they were guilds owned by adventurers that allowed them to work for a common purpose. The book talked about some of the rule surrounding their existence, the advantages and disadvantages, and how to create/join one.

    It was interesting reading, but useless to him, the disadvantages hit where it hurt since most guilds stay in or around a single town or area, and they restricted the guild members freedom to an extent. The extent of the restrictions changed from guild to guild, but even the basic ones made him cringe.

    For him, there just weren''t any advantages that he could take advantage of, for the moment, but that didn''t mean the secondary guilds didn''t try to recruit people. There were plenty of rules around soliciting new members, they were shockingly strict as well.

    Crimson sighed and slammed the book shut, it had been pretty short too, just took him an hour to read. He glanced over the guild proper and saw that people were actually starting to show up, which meant that the instructor might be there soon. The guild was also more crowded than usual, Thursday was the day adventurers put in the most work to save up drinking money for the weekends.

    Crimson found it to be rather pathetic: they were just forcing themselves into a dead end by doing that. Why spend money on a drink that will take away from valuable time that could be spent training? You lose a two fold chance to become stronger, first with the money since you lose something you could have used to buy new equipment, second with the time involved. It just made want Crimson want to throw his hands up into the air from frustration.

    Shaking his head at the waste, he grabbed Emma from her desk once more while ignoring her storm of protests and returned the book to the library, he grabbed a copy of [Magic Light] -since his was at his room- and stalked out back to the training field to wait for the tardy instructor.

    When he stepped outside, there were a disappointing few number of people training. Just a few adventurers clumsily swinging their weapons for sparring matched, plus the harem squad who were playing audience to one of the sparring matches, it was the elf Verity vs some guy in armor - theirs was easily the most interesting and skilled fight going on.

    With a sigh, Crimson settled into the corner of the yard and started working on forming a [Magic Light] at least ten feet away to finish Chapter 9. It appeared that the copy of the book he''d grabbed had been more used than his usual copy, there were: notes, scribbles, and annotations all over the pages that didn''t do much to help him, but there were a few interesting notes on Chapter 9.

    The first mentioned that completion of Chapter 9 should allow the creation of a basic [Magic Light] up to 20 feet away, which was about four-five times his current limit, and the second note mentioned something that was extremely helpful: the need to add intent to the images presented, a force of will.

    So, did it work like his eyes? Usually, people would flinch when he made eye contact because of his will behind them. From what he could tell, it was usually a sense of stubbornness as he refused to give in and the shock of seeing such a will presented was enough to make people flinch, but not run. In the case of Sherry, he was trying to force her to leave, which worked, but he wasn''t sure how well - he couldn''t see through her form of strength. She might have just ended up backing off of her own choice.

    If he took that approach with magic, maybe that would work?

    Instead of ten feet, he backed it off to five, just a foot past his current limit for forming a [Magic Light], and started guiding his mana to the edge of his limit, then when it reached the edge he went from guiding it, to using his intent to PUSH it past. It was slow, but he got it to move slowly, bit by bit past his limit and was still able to keep it under his control. Once it reached five feet he gritted his teeth and slowly started to weave it into a light, but it failed half way through as his concentration was broken by a plain man who walked up to him.

    "How are you doing? My name is Jerry, I''ll be your-"

    Whatever he was about to say was stopped as he choked on his words in response to Crimson''s eye contact, his intent was simple: get lost.

    The man stumbled back a few steps, then turned and ran into the guild like a pack of rabid dogs were on his tail.

    Crimson couldn''t even feel satisfaction from the response, he was just too annoyed by his progress being interrupted to care that he had confirmed that he actually knew how his eyes worked.

    Returning his attention to his mana he quickly brought it back to the edge of his range, then once more started pushing it out of it while still maintaining control. It was a bit faster than last time, but not by much, he was able to get it back to the point he was at last time, but yet again someone was approaching! With a force of will, he shoved their presence to the back of his mind and focused on what he was doing, not willing to start over yet again.

    A bit of blood started to leak from his nose as he wove the mana together, bit by bit until the weave was almost done, with just a bit of a pull, the whole thing fell into place, the element slid into the construction, the [Magic Light] appeared in the air, and a maniacal grin spread across his face. While it wasn''t completely up to the "20 feet" promised by the notes in the book, he could work his way there, like exercising with weights he could push his range further and further until he reached that point, but for now, he could call Chapter 9 completed.

    By happenstance, when his light appeared it was right in the face of the person who walked up: a sweat soaked Verity.

    She stood rubbing her eyes for a moment and he made his [Magic Light] disappear.

    "Why did you do that to me?"

    "You walked in on my training, it wasn''t intentional."

    She let out a low menacing chuckle, "Really? Since I helped you out with your training, you can help me with mine. Oh, by the way, you have a bit of blood on your nose."

    Crimson wiped the blood off, then responded to her comment, "I don''t think I''ll be any help to someone of your [Level], I don''t even have a [Blessing]."

    The grin on her face grew wider, "I know, you told me before, but I think you can help with this since you''re a mage. You know some attack spells, right?"

    "No. I just started learning magic earlier this week."

    She dropped the smile and stared at him in surprise, "You''re kidding! I heard magic was really hard to learn!" she tapped the tip of her chin thoughtfully, "If you only started earlier this week, then I guess it was an exaggeration."

    Crimson shrugged. He wasn''t exactly a standard magic user, using him as a baseline for anything would just mess up data.

    "Well," Verity started to continue, but was stopped by the guild door banging open with a great boom as it slammed against the wall.

    Lars and Mars stepped out with the plain faced man that had interfered with Crimson''s training earlier.

    It occurred to him that he hadn''t stopped to think through what he''d done to the plain faced man earlier. Well, the consequences would be worth it, all of the disciplinary action laid out in the brown deadweight were tolerable under the specific circumstances, the fact that he didn''t actually attack the man would also assist his case.

    The plain faced man pointed at him and both bear-kin turned to stare at him menacingly, but upon seeing that it was him Mars performed a face palm and Lars sighed, then they both walked back inside.

    The plain faced man looked at Crimson in confusion and fear for a moment, then ran back inside after them, only to come back out a few seconds later looking scared and dejected.

    "Um...if the [Brass] rank class could come to me..." his voice echoed weakly across the area, barely intelligible.

    Crimson sighed, closed the book, and stood.

    "We''ll talk later, Verity."

    She looked surprised, "You remember my name?"

    "You stand out," he responded simply and walked away.

    He was the last to arrive where the man stood as the harem squad had eagerly run over to him. Well, the womanizer, the airhead elf, and the hyper cat-kin had run. The dryad and the blue-haired cat-kin walked. That pretty much summarized which members of the [Brass] class he could possibly get along with without trying hard.

    He quietly stood at the edge of the group for the sake of the pale faced man -Jerry as he introduced himself- as the "class" for the day started.

    The man took an hour -an hour!- to review the first chapter of the Adventurer''s Handbook. Something that he''d read in two minutes.

    Fortunately, he''d realized the second it took more than five minutes for the man to be teaching these rules that it would be a waste of time to continue listening, so he returned his attention to his mana. His focus was to push it further away than before, but he wouldn''t actually be creating a [Magic Light], just focusing on distance for the moment - no need to call attention to himself.

    He was able to get it back out to five feet once more and was able to do it without getting a bloody nose which was a good sign, but pushing it beyond there was a little too much for him at the moment, so he focused on moving the mana in a circle around him at the edge of his new range. It took quite a bit of effort to keep it there, and less than 30 seconds of keeping it at the edge of his range it slipped out of his grasp.

    He quietly sighed and had a few members of the hyper group look at him in annoyance, but he ignored them and started pushing the mana back out to five feet once more.

    Once there, he was able to keep it there for a minute this time. The third try was a minute and fifteen seconds, the fourth was a minute and a half, then a minute and forty seconds, then a minute and fifty seconds, and so forth. Eventually, he was only able to increase the time for a few seconds with each successive attempt, but he was able to get it up to three minutes after a lot of work. He took a deep breath, then tried once more to push it out to six feet. He was able to get it half way there before it slipped out of his grasp, but that was because he was distracted when that idiot elf fell asleep and landed on his shoulder!

    He roughly shoved her the other way and she swapped to using the dryad as a pillow instead of him - good!

    He continued to push, and was able to get it out to six feet after two more tries. Once there, he was only able to keep it there for five seconds before it slipped out of his grasp, but it was a start.

    Moving with an idea, he pushed the mana out to five feet and held it there, and was able to keep it there for a three minutes and thirty seconds easily! Getting the mana out to six feet had made a huge difference!

    Crimson let a big grin slide across his face and Jerry flinched for a moment before continuing.

    What? They hadn''t made eye contact.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Midori glanced at Crimson over her sleeping friend, and did her best to keep the blush from rising to her cheeks. She''d had a few more...pleasant...dreams about him since they''d separated, and she wasn''t the only one. Even now, she could see that Sapphire was trying not to stare at him and Ruby blatantly glanced at him every few seconds.

    It really was quite odd that she''d focus so strongly on him, it wasn''t like he was the best looking guy -Abel would win out between the two- nor was he extremely muscular -again, Abel- nor was there anything but his eyes that were a great draw - some would probably find them off putting. Yet, she still couldn''t keep her eyes off him for very long.

    Well, she did admit that the intense amount of focus he was exuding at the moment was a bit...interesting. Well, to be honest with herself, it was attractive. Imagining that level of focus on her and her alone was...intoxicating, in a way.

    Her race, dryads, were closely related to plants. They used a combination of regular human food -except meat- as well as sunlight and air to sustain themselves. Because of their reliance on so many things, they naturally latched onto people and things they didn''t want to lose and wanted them to latch on in return. It really didn''t make complete sense, but that was how Midori''s mother explained those instincts to her.

    Her racial trait really didn''t have an effect on things. The racial trait of dryads were three in number, but the one she had was called: [At One With The World] which just naturally boosted her affinities with: [Life], [Water], [Earth], and [Wind]. She wouldn''t know by how much until she got her [Blessing]. The only reason they knew that this was her racial trait was based off the process of elimination, she certainly didn''t have [Touch of Nature] or [Beloved by Nature], so that just left [At One With The World].

    Since her racial trait didn''t have an effect on things it was confusing that dryads would have a strong sense of attachment, yet it definitely wasn''t in her head because her mother was the same way, along with all the other dryads she''d met, men and women.

    It was rare, but when something wasn''t included in the [Blessing] it gave everyone a headache, especially since this little detail applied to an entire race, some of who accepted, a small amount who rejected, a majority who decided just to not think about it too hard, and the final group that was trying to figure what the Goddess of Nature was going on.

    Midori had originally been a part of the "don''t think about it too hard" group, but since she was actually experiencing it...well, she joined the "what the Goddess of Nature is going on?" faction.

    Especially in this case, why would she latch so hard onto Crimson?

    She spent her time deliberating so hard that she barely noticed when the class ended, and realized to her chagrin that she hadn''t heard a word of what the instructor said.

    The only thing that her attention had been on the entire time was Crimson and her confused feelings for him. She didn''t love him, but...did she? It was so confusing, and her emotions were only becoming more and more tangled as she thought about it.

    Right after the class ended, Crimson disappeared and left nobody with the chance to talk with him, despite the fact that three people certainly wanted to.

    Abel stood and hobbled away right after Crimson disappeared, with a glance Midori could tell that was his "I need a latrine" walk.

    With him and Jerry gone, it just left the three girls and a sleeping Cecilia sitting deep in contemplation, but they were interrupted after not too much longer.

    "What is going on between you girls and Silver?"

    Simultaneously, they all turned to see the elf who was speaking to them. Like Cecilia, she also had blonde hair, but hers was a bit different in color, gold instead of white, she also had green eyes instead of her friend''s blue.

    She continued, "The bonds between you and Silver are weird, there''s an unnatural amount trust flowing from you to him, but almost nothing except a bit of annoyance from him to you."

    Midori''s eye brows shot up, she could see their bonds? That meant she had [Aural Reading]! It''s an extremely rare racial trait belonging to elves, one of their two, even Cecilia had the other one...though they''d figured that out the same way Midori knew hers: she didn''t have [Aural Reading], so it stood to reason that she had [Adapt], the usual elf trait.

    What she''d seen with [Aural Reading] was also shocking and relieving, but she needed to check.

    "Wait, you see trust going from us to him, nothing else?"

    The elf smiled cheekily, "Well, from you: trust, confusion, and a bit of an attachment. Your kind has a tendency to latch onto others quickly, but I can''t see Silver attaching himself to others quickly at all, you should just forget tying yourself to him and move on."

    Midori turned completely red, but she needed to ask, "There''s no love there?"

    "None. Your attachment might turn into infatuation if you''re not careful though."

    Midori nodded, she didn''t want to fall in love with a stranger.

    The elf asked another question, "So, how did you all come to trust Silver so much?"

    Midori wasn''t the only one who turned red at that question.

 Chapter 11: Trespassing Troubles

    Chapter 11: Trespassing Troubles

    A month. A month had passed since Crimson joined the Adventurer''s Guild and gained the [Brass] rank. During that month, he''d been excused from the basic instruction class since he''d studied all the material on his own time, and had passed the test needed to graduate from the class. It only took to the third day of being a part of the class, and the instructor had been happy to see him go. It hadn''t been hard to accomplish, despite the shock of the other [Brass] ranks. What had shocked Crimson was that the class had grown by a few more people beyond the harem squad, but none of them were really worth note to him.

    They ignored him, he ignored them, and they all called it good.

    Regardless, he''d used that time wisely. He had made 1350 Royals from delivery requests alone, not to mention what had happened when he''d started taking scribing requests last week...they paid. For his training, he camped out every Saturday evening to Monday morning in the hidden library: reading, studying, and practicing - which had been a huge pay off.

    He had cleared a space on the ground floor by shoving a bunch of tables out of the way and split his time between working on the [Twin Steps] style, which had been a major boost to his fighting ability, and reading what the library had on offer.

    He had also mastered [Magic Light], to his chagrin Chapter 10 was much easier for him than Chapter 9, and he''d even done Chapter 9 wrong. Apparently, he was supposed to weave long ropes of mana and stick partially woven bits of spell on the ends and partially entangled the spell together, then shoot the mess out in a single bundle to the range he wanted, then pull the ropes which would cause the whole mess to tangle together and activate the spell.

    He''d seen someone cast the Chapter 9 version of [Magic Light] and that what was corrected his incorrect assumption, but even that knowledge didn''t stop him from pushing himself till his own method of doing it allowed him to reach fifteen feet, he was even getting close to sixteen, but progress was slow.

    Regardless, using the "proper" method for [Magic Light] he''d been able to use it, not twenty feet away like promised, but thirty feet away. He''d just needed to adjust the integrity of the weave to support the added distance and had no issues.

    As far as Chapter 10...well, it was creating two [Magic Lights] at the same time. He hadn''t even needed to read the chapter and just did it on his own, first try! Regardless of the fact that his first try did take him half an hour as he alternated between which light he was weaving and holding the other in place, back and forth, back and forth, till he pulled both into place at the same time and made them appear on the fingers of both hands simultaneously. From there, it was practicing till he could do all of the previous chapters at the same time with both lights. He was back to being stuck at Chapter 9, but such was his life.

    He had also devoured other books: books about [Affinities], [Classes], [Skills], [Spells], [Stats], [Races], [Alignments], and more. Most of it acted as supplementary knowledge to what he knew already from his Q&A with Raften, some was new, and some directly contradicted what he knew from the Q&A. That last group were all found in the guild library, so he reached the conclusion that people didn''t really check for accuracy, or there was no way to - Raften¡¯s information was right 100% of the time whenever that clash occurred.

    There were still relevant books in the guild library, and plenty of untouched fighting styles, so he took his time to study them to see what would be useful. Especially [Dancing Autumn Leaf], he spent a lot of time working on that one. He usually trained it along side [Twin Steps] and they worked fantastically together. There were already some [Bronze] rank adventurers in their first few levels that he could beat despite their higher stats, but he still hadn''t landed a blow on Mars, despite the fact that his instructor was even using a limiter on his [STR] and [AGI].

    Crimson had quickly learned that he hated losing, just as much as he liked when things went his way, but that was probably normal. What wasn''t normal was him analyzing each and every one of their fights like a soccer goal replay to try and figure out how he could have won with an obsession that no sports fan could rival. Unfortunately, he had a lot of material to review.

    It wasn''t helped by the fact that he added Verity to his list of sparring partners. He still hadn''t figured out why she''d latched on to him, but it was quite a different experience going up against a [Martial Artist] instead of a spearman, a valuable experience, but it still resulted in his getting soundly beaten. He just tried not to count the amount of times, and just focused on the day when he would finally figure out a way to win. But for the moment, he''d settle with being able to land a single blow.

    To that end, he pushed himself to the breaking point every day. Emma was practically on constant stand by and switched her mentality from "stop doing this to yourself" to "don''t you dare do this to yourself when I''m not around" which had been a great help for him.

    The fact that she''d also pushed her [Healing: Purity] [Spell] to Lv. 8 with his help also helped things and sped up the process of getting him back on his feet. It was weird that using his [Treatment: Purity] spell along side her [Healing: Purity] had helped her figure out what she needed to do to finish Lv. 8, maybe it was actually the shock of seeing that he knew the spell despite the fact that he definitely didn''t have a magic teacher or a way to get the [Treatment] spell?

    That was the other thing, he''d been able to learn three of the Temple''s spells in that time, the first being [Treatment: Purity], the second being [Treatment: Life], and the third being [Lesser Barrier]. He''d mastered the first only after figuring out how to make a [Magic Light] using [Purity] - plus a few headaches and four evenings of intense practice. [Treatment: Life] took five days, despite being the same spell, and he''d been forced to learn the [Life] version of [Magic Light]. He just couldn¡¯t get it to work otherwise.

    In exasperation, he''d taken a break before learning the second chapter of [Treatment: Life] to learn every single variation of [Magic Light] - it had been a long evening. Worth it in the end, he was surprised to learn that certain mana weaves couldn''t support specific [Affinities]. It would be like trying to place water in a net - it would never hold it. That information was the result when he tried to make a [Lesser Barrier] with other [Affinities] while tearing his hear out in frustration when the barrier spell just refused to work with anything other than [Purity]. To that end, he planned on requesting the [Basic Holy Shield] as his next spell, but that would just be to see the difference.

    Well, that and some other stuff all led to the moment he was currently at: ascending the staircase once more to the castle''s hidden library. He really wanted to get some ¡°real¡± practice in with [Twin Steps] and to that end he''d bought a bokken for 300 Royals to practice. The price had made him wince, but looking at the price for a basic katana had practically made him spasm.

    He slid his little finger into the lock and used his mana blob trick to rotate all of the pins in it, activated the bookshelf switch, then stepped into his second home.

    The shelves and shelves of books across three floors were always a comforting sight to him, at least books would never change.

    His month away from his previous world had also brought some interesting emotional challenges. Once some of the novelty of having a functioning body had worn off -took a few weeks- he''d started to really notice how much he missed basic things. Even something that was simply familiar would have been good enough, but nope! He was in a fantasy world. It suddenly made sense why those anime protagonists would always bring the food from their old world to their new one, something familiar really helped as the cloying sense of desperation crowded closer and closer around his heart.

    After quite a while looking for that "familiarity" he''d found it in libraries. Books didn''t change too much even if the contents were vastly different, they still had the same smell, the same feel, and the same weight. It was where he''d found his comfort - even if he didn''t like his emotions getting in the way.

    Crimson headed down to the first floor to his cleared space and scooped [Twin Steps] off a table at the edge of it. He checked the forms and the exercises listed, then got to work.

    Much like spells, [Twin Steps] was arranged into ten chapters, the first five were focused on pure footwork, the second five were focused on using that footwork to counter. [Twin Steps] was all about positioning to gain an advantage against an opponent, sliding in when they opened their guard, and wrecking them with un-dodgeable blows. It didn''t focus too much on actual sword forms, but it didn''t really seem to need to.

    That was the other thing, [Twin Steps] was actually a sword style, not a katana style like he''d originally thought. He''d been forced to refine it and make minor adjustments to the style to use it with a katana, but it hadn''t been as difficult as it probably would have been with any other style, the lack of focus on the actual blade was what made it easy. The real trick was changing the style to seamlessly blend with the footwork needed for a katana.

    Well, he''d broken enough bones facing Mars and Verity to figure out how to optimize the style, and it made further optimization much easier as he knew what to look for.

    He was particularly excited for when he''d actually get to the "counter" part of the style, but he was unfortunately only on Chapter 4, which made him exceedingly frustrated because he KNEW he could be further if only he could take the book out of the library! Well...no use crying over something that he couldn''t do, not that he hadn''t done extensive testing to try and figure out a way to get it out - all ending in failure of course.

    Crimson puffed out a breath of air as the muscles in the arches of his feet started to scream out in agony. Chapter 4 focused a lot on using toes to control movement, which meant a lot of time standing like a failed ballerina as he slowly shifted from stance to stance for the exercise to prepare his muscles to complete the chapter.

    With a force of will, he continued to work on Chapter 4 until his vision started to flicker and he was forced to stop by the fact that he literally couldn''t force his legs to move.

    He crumpled on the tiled floor and began using [Treatment: Purity] on his feet, which created a blue-silver wisp of light in the center of his palm. He was even able to double cast it, one on each palm, to heal each feet at the same time, but it was still slow going.

    Emma had confided to him that [Treatment] only healed 1HP every few seconds, so it was truly the worst of the healing spells out there - barely able to double the regeneration rate of someone who was Lv. 1. Even finishing Chapter 10 hadn''t done anything to help there, each chapter had just allowed him to use it for longer and longer without needing to recast the spell and slightly reduced the mana cost. At Lv. 10, he could maintain it until his mana was gone, which took about twenty minutes with a single casting, about five minutes with both as using the second one increased the cost and completely overwhelmed his mana regeneration. Once he had his [Blessing] things would get quite a bit better - it would allow him to monitor his mana precisely instead of roughly estimating it and allow him to actually manage it.

    He emptied his mana once and was barely able to hobbled around, but it was better than nothing. He used that hobbling to get himself over to another table where he had set a book that was fascinating enough to pull him away from [Twin Steps].

    It was written in an archaic form of the common tongue and boasted a completely different alphabet. Normally, that would have locked him out of any chance to gain the knowledge inside, but he''d discovered something else interesting about himself in the past month: his ability with languages.

    It wasn''t like he''d been a language whiz back home or anything and he''d only been gifted with knowledge of the common tongue, so it came as a surprise when he''d become barely fluent with the Elven tongue within two weeks. True, it was the most similar to the common tongue of all the other languages out there, but it was more similar than Spanish and French.

    At his current point, the biggest issue that Crimson had with the Elven tongue was sheer vocabulary. He could remember any word he''d heard after only a single time hearing or reading it as well as its meaning if he was told what it meant. If he wasn''t told, then he''d only need to hear the word a few times before he just "knew" what it meant. Grammatical rules weren''t an issue in the slightest, everything just clicked for him.

    It wasn''t anything he could explain, but it still worked, and the ability even extended to reading. Just staring at unfamiliar characters long enough would let him know what they meant. There was a weird feeling when he knew what it meant on paper, but had no idea how to actually say the word out loud.

    Well, he''d used that to his advantage to learn the archaic version of the common tongue, and set to work studying the book he''d found. It didn''t have a title, but it discussed a [Movement Magic] spell.

    Movement magic used movement to influence mana instead of the imagery associated with the kind of magic he''d been learning, so he considered it well worth his time to try casting it to see if it could help him manipulate his mana better.

    Crimson absentmindedly began to use [Treatment] on his feet once more with his replenished mana and kept reading.

    In addition to the words describing the forms, there were diagrams of the stances needed. The spell he was looking at appeared to be called [Resonance] which, after taking an in-depth look at it, Crimson would personally have named [Blood Ripple], but [Resonance] also worked fine.

    It was a movement spell of the [Water] affinity, and it moved through the body of the person struck with it to mess up the blood in their system. It seemed like a perfect spell for a certain punch heavy elf, but Crimson definitely wouldn''t give her a reason to hit him more, and he was more interested in learning it for reasons other than increasing his beatings.

    The biggest reason was learning another type of magic, one he''d wanted to get his hands on for a while. Movement magic wasn''t exactly big in Falst, so that meant that finding any teachers or books for the art had been impossible for him -rather his wallet- up to the point he''d found [Resonance] in the library.

    He''d also found a tome for the third kind of magic out there: vocal magic. He''d be working on that one later, but it was pretty much using the voice to manipulate mana, usually through singing. Was he a good singer? No, not at all, but for learning magic he''d suck it up and do his best.

    Crimson paused in his study as a detail he''d heard earlier floated up into his mind, Prince Kaine''s birthday was less than a week away... he''d probably need to avoid the hidden library until the festivities ended. Better to be safe than sorry, he still didn''t know the limitations of [Classes] and [Skills] in the world, so there might be one that could sense him - he was already playing with fire, no need to dance with it.

    With an annoyed sigh and a glance at the [Twin Steps] tome, he went back to [Resonance].

    Not long after, he was forced to the bedroll he''d put under a table. He''d continue in the morning, Sunday was his best day for studying after all.

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    ----

    Rhinese walked in a demure manner while barely concealing her excitement. Her brother -Kaine- was about to turn sixteen in two weeks, which meant that he''d be crowned the Regent Prince, and she wanted to talk to him as much as possible before he became too busy for her to see on a regular basis.

    In her mother country -Alda- there existed a tradition dating back hundreds of years to the first king: the Regent Royal. A test, lasting one to two years, where the eldest child would be allowed to rule the kingdom with the current ruling king''s oversight. After the set time expired ended, the king and his counselors looked at the performance of the Regent Royal and decided whether they''d passed or failed. If they passed, then they became the Crown Prince/Princess as the case may be, which made them next in line for the throne. IF they failed, then the next child would take the test, and so on down the line of succession until someone passed.

    Since it was Kaine''s turn, Rhinese felt excited and happy for him, he would be a great king, and this was his chance to prove it! Unfortunately, her father was extremely strict, so he''d almost definitely make Kaine take the test for a full two years, which meant two years of him being completely surrounded by attendants, never getting a moment alone, constantly working to best show himself to be the next ruler of Alda, which meant no time for Rhinese.

    The thought was enough to make her want to cry, her older brother had doted on her for as long as she could remember - loving her in a way that her parents were far too busy to. He, along with a swarm of nurses and attendants, was more of a parent to her than her actual parents, they''d always had a strong bond because of it, despite the fact that there was less than a year''s difference between them.

    She quietly knocked on the door to his room then folded her hands together tightly and impatiently as she waited.

    After a long moment, the door cracked open and a orange eye stared at her for a moment, before the door was thrown wide open.

    A fox-kin with a wide stunning smile that showed off her sharp canines all framed by her orange colored hair stood there in a maid uniform.

    She happily greeted Rhinese, "Your Highness, your exalted brother would be happy to see you, please come on in!"

    Rhinese smiled warmly at her, "Thank you Sariya."

    The maid curtsied politely as she stepped to the side, then stuck a tongue out at Rhinese''s attendant and closed the door in his face after she stepped into the room.

    "Sariya," a gentle male voice echoed from a desk in the corner of the room, "There is no need to antagonize Bernard so."

    Sitting by the desk was Rhinese''s older brother: Kaine. He was dressed neatly in a suit with a high collar that covered everything below the neck, with black gloves fit snugly on his hands. He was wearing square framed glasses and a gentle smile on his face as he fondly took in Rhinese and Sariya. He stood, brushing his chestnut brown hair to the side of his head and looked into Rhinese''s eyes with his icy blue ones as he towered over her.

    "How are you doing dear sister?"

    She bowed politely, "I am doing well dear brother, I was merely just coming to check on you."

    They made eye contact for a long moment, then the formal atmosphere burst apart as they both started laughing.

    "I''m glad you came in to check in on the future prisoner sister!"

    "Prisoner? Try Regent Prince!"

    He responded with a wry smile, "True, prisoners are treated more humanely and have more freedom."

    Rhinese frowned at him, "Oh, stop worrying! You''ll do great!"

    He shrugged, "I won''t do anything less than my best, who knows if that will be enough for Father."

    Rhinese folded her arms with a serious expression, "True, he is a little strict."

    Both Sariya and Kaine responded at the same time, "A little?"

    Sariya continued, "Remember that time you fell asleep during a tutoring session when you were six? The King didn''t let you stop writing the line "I won''t fall asleep in a tutoring session ever again" until you''d written it a thousand times!"

    Kaine cut in, "Or the time you ate one sweet more than etiquette allows during a formal dinner, Father didn''t let you have sweets for two months after that!"

    Sariya interjected, "Or that time-"

    Rhinese covered Sariya''s mouth with a hand, "You''ve made your point! Father is more than a little strict."

    Sariya solemnly nodded with her tail swishing behind her, and Kaine pushed his glasses up his nose with a satisfied expression.

    He spoke, "It''s good that you understand that, because I want to you to take the opportunity to inspect something for me since Father is distracted with all the preparations for my birthday."

    Rhinese looked at him in confusion, "What do you want me to inspect? And why are you acting like you can''t come? Your birthday isn''t for another few weeks!"

    He chuckled sadly, "I''m already being watched more closely than ever little Rhinese, there''s no way I can move around with as much freedom as I want. That''s why I want you to seek for the lock this goes to."

    Kaine reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a long smooth cylinder with a handle on one end, like a key, that had a gold light flash through it every few seconds.

    Rhinese stared at it in shock, "You still have that thing? We gave up on finding where it goes years ago!"

    He nodded, "True, but do you notice something different about it?"

    She looked at it again for a long moment, before a shocked expression covered her fact, "Why is it glowing?"

    "Exactly, I want to find out what it goes to. I don''t know when it started glowing, but it shouldn''t be too long ago. Not only that, we now know where it leads."

    Rhinese''s eyes opened wide, "What? How?"

    Kaine gestured at Sariya, "Would you care to explain it to her?"

    Her ears twitched excitedly as she began speaking, "Well, you can''t see it because neither of you have your [Blessings] yet, but when I hold the key there''s a request that pops up asking if we''ll allow someone to take a book from the "Astral Library," the name of the requester is garbled, but I''m not sure why."

    Rhinese couldn''t keep the greed off her face, "It leads to a library?"

    Kaine started chuckling, "Yes little Rhinese, a library," he dangled the key in front of her, "You want to got looking for it once more?"

    She snatched the key from his grip, "Of course I do!"

    Kaine laughed, "Good, take Sariya with you, I''ll use Bernard as my attendant for now, good luck little Rhinese. When you find it, don''t tell anyone, I want it to be your little secret, come tell me when I''m the Crown Prince."

    She accepted the request with determination and set out immediately to find it. After that day, Rhinese started searching high and low all over the castle to try and find where it went, she even tried to stick it in random holes she found of roughly the same size, which left her with a question: why do so many statues have open mouths?

    The truly frustrating thing was that the key flashed faster when they got closer to the location, but no matter how they tried they couldn''t get any close than a flash every other second.

    After a full week she was ready to pull her hair out, but they''d hit on something: the castle library. The discovery gave her another reason to want to pull out her hair.

    In the library, the key behaved differently. Usually, the key flashed the same length of time regardless of how the flashes were spaced, but in the castle library the flashes would last five seconds each. Rhinese really wanted to hit herself over that one, it took her third inspection of the castle library to notice, and Sariya didn''t either, so they were both mutually annoyed at themselves.

    Since it was late Fallday, they decided to come back on Highday to find where in the library the key would take them.

    In the morning, Rhinese''s exploration was interrupted by her religious duties. She was expected to spend three hours praying, which she did. She also had to meet with a certain foul high ranking [Priest] named Damus since he was the one assigned to her.

    It was unfortunate, but because of her [Bloodline] it made the women of her family well suited to the [Holy] attribute which helped the royal family maintain an excellent relationship with the Temple, so she was being groomed to take a [Priestess] [Class], which was unfortunate because she was far more interested in the [Pure-Heart] Class.

    Fortunately, her Father would certainly support whatever decision she made, but she was also pragmatic, she knew that getting a [Holy] attribute [Class] would allow her to become stronger than the [Pure-Heart] [Class], even if she liked it more.

    Regardless, she lacked a reason to refuse the disgusting [Priest] Damus'' visits, so she lost an hour every Highday to his visits. Oddly enough, the perverted old man seemed to be in an excellent mood. When she''d asked -mostly to be polite- he''d told her that he was working with another genius, a boy her age that had mastered two versions of the [Treatment] spell without a [Blessing].

    Rhinese hadn''t believed him at first, learning ANY spell without the [Blessing] was considered a task as difficult as soloing a boss ten levels above you, much more than that was mastering one. It would take a teacher of such skill as to rival the gods themselves, certainly not Damus.

    Well, so she''d been told. Rhinese still hadn''t awoken her mana yet, so it was all conjecture to her until she experienced it, but Kaine had privately complained to her about how difficult it was for him to learn the most basic spell in existence: [Magic Light], taking him a month to just learn the first level with some of the best teachers and tutors out there.

    Being able to learn it in a month without a [Blessing] already catapulted him into the realm of a genius, so what about a kid who''d been able to master two spells without his [Blessing]? Unthinkable, she immediately called out his lie, but he offered to introduce them, which brought her up short. The mere fact that he was offering offered more credence than any other evidence he could have given at the time. Since a part of her believed him now, it was no wonder then, that [Priest] Damus would be so happy because of this kid. A part of Rhinese even wanted to ask to meet him, maybe he''d be able to help her when she''d get her mana awoken? But that would mean asking this goblin¡¯s foot of a man for a favor¡­

    Well, a thought for another time - their ¡°lesson¡± -brainwashing- finished she had to resist the urge to sprint to the library when the foul old man Damus left with her cheerfully seeing him off.. Sariya was right behind her as they both moved as quickly as propriety allowed to get there. Considering how well know her love of books was within the castle, nobody thought it odd to see her rushing to the library, which was something of a blessing to her, she didn''t need anyone finding out what she was doing.

    Once they burst into the empty library Rhinese turned to Sariya, "Key please."

    Sariya removed it from her inventory and passed it to her. She then turned to survey the space.

    The place that made the most sense for the secret passage would be at either the top or the bottom of the central pillar. The library itself had a single floor, but there was a central pillar in the room with bookshelves running the circumference of the pillar with three floors allowing access to a variety of books, most of which she''d already read.

    Around the circumference of the room itself, there were stain glass windows that allowed multi-colored light to stream into the room. Each window depicted a different kind of knight, but they were all wrong in a way, not human, but humanoid; all the knights were twisted in unnatural ways that brought to mind horrific monsters and not noble knights. They were still a bit freaky to her at fifteen, but not as bad as when she was a little girl. Kaine had grabbed books out of the library for her from the ages of six to ten before he helped break her of her fear. She hadn''t even willingly let him go in there before then, scared for him.

    The rest of the room was mostly empty space with a few tables and other bookshelves that her Father had installed to house her ever expanding collection of books.

    Logically, the key hole should be somewhere on the central column, but no matter how much they''d searched yesterday they hadn''t been able to find it, so that left...

    Rhinese shuddered as she walked closer to one of the stained glass windows and started inspecting around it, but didn''t find anything.

    She glanced behind her to ask what Sariya thought, only to discover that the fox-kin had started searching the central pillar once more.

    Well, splitting up worked too, she''d just keep checking the nightmare inducing windows. So long as she avoided looking directly at them she was fine, but that wasn''t the way her luck worked, she had to look at them directly to check for a keyhole, not just the frame around the windows.

    The windows themselves were eleven in number, and arranged like the numbers on a clock. The entrance would be where six was, and the one she''d just checked was nine, so she continued around clockwise checking each one, window by window, until she eventually reached the number eight window...

    Seriously? What was her [LUC] stat at? 20? She just had to find it last!

    Sighing, she glanced over at Sariya who had just worked her way back down to the first floor of the central column. With that kind of speed, she probably just increased her [AGI] somehow. Rhinese still hadn''t asked her what [Class] she''d gotten, so there was no way to be sure.

    She probably wouldn''t ask till she''d gotten her own [Class], just to prevent any jealousy. Most fox-kin naturally had a high affinity for [Purity] because of their [Racial Traits], so she didn''t want to cry over her best friend being able to get a powerful [Class] with the affinity, but her being forced to take a [Holy Affinity] [Class].

    "Hey Sariya! I found something!"

    "Really?" The fox-kin bounded over in excitement, "Where?"

    Rhinese pointed at a tile in the ground with an irregular circular point right in the front-center of the window.

    Saryia''s ears flicked as she tilted her head in confusion, "That doesn''t look like a hole, just some design in the tile."

    Rhinese nodded, "Yes, but look at the spear this knight is holding, it''s pointing directly at it, most depictions of spearmen have them pointing their weapons up, not down, and most of the knights here have them at rest, not at ready. Even if it''s a random guess, it''s better than anything else we''ve come up with."

    Sariya nodded, but Rhinese noticed both her ears and her tail droop a little.

    Ignoring the stinging sensation in her heart from seeing that reaction, she placed the tip of the key on the tile, and it slowly started to sink into the tile which caused the disappointed Sariya¡¯s tail and ears to perk right back up. Once it''d sunk all the way up to the handle, Rhinese started turning it, after it turned only a quarter of the way it stopped, and there was a great *clunk* that echoed through the room.

    As she looked up, she leapt back with a curse as all the knights in the stained glass windows had shifted positions. She hadn''t seen the movement, but now all of them had their weapons pointed to the central column.

    "By the gods!"

    Glancing at Sariya quickly to check her safety, she was happy to see her unhurt, but her tail hair was standing on end - she''d been just as scared as Rhinese about the situation.

    "Are you okay?" Rhinese questioned with her breathing heavily layered with panic.

    Sariya grabbed her sleeve and jerkily nodded twice.

    Before Rhinese could continue, a great creaking was heard behind her, one of the bookshelves had opened like a door and provided access to a door in the center of the pillar.

    It had chains wrapped around the whole piece and there was a giant lock in the center of it. Hesitantly, Rhinese retrieved the key from its place below the monstrous spear knight and walked over to the door.

    The lock also fit the key she had, so with a deep breath, she slid the key into the lock, then gave it a quarter turn. Nothing happened until she removed the key from the lock, but once she did so the lock dissolved into particles of white light which floated off and faded away, then the chains all fell silently to the ground where they also dissolved.

    There was another spot in the center of the door for the key, so she inserted it, and the door opened silently after another quarter turn. As the door opened, what greeted her was yet another library, but the reverse of the one she knew.

    Instead of a central pillar of books, they were arranged around the edge of the room, and on the ceiling was a stained glass mural of the night sky.

    The amount of books in this library also appeared to be several times the contents of her last one, the sight alone made her salivate at the chance to start digging into it all.

    As she stepped into the space with Sariya still attached to her sleeve, the door quietly shut behind her. With a glance, she noted the hole on the other side for her key, so she continued forward without worrying about being able to get back.

    Rhinese craned her head looking around as she quietly moved through the library, unwilling to break the majestic silence and enduring peace of the space, until she reached an odd space.

    There were a bunch of tables pushed together to form a circle around an open space, with a few books laying on one of them. At the opposite end of the space, was a boy with hair of the darkest black she''d ever seen.

    He was narrow in every sense of the word, everything from his shoulders to his fingers were thin, but everything was perfectly proportioned, so it didn''t make him seem weak, but dexterous. Even through the rough clothes he was wearing -that denoted his status as a peasant- didn''t hide the tightly corded muscles on his arms that bespoke a strength greater than his body seemed to allow.

    The most interesting thing about him though, was his eyes. They were completely absorbed in the book he was reading and the silver of them seemed to shiver, shift, and change with every movement.

    Seeing his unhidden love of books, coupled with his intense focus on the one he was reading, Rhinese felt an instant sense of kinsmanship with him. She hadn''t had any other friends who loved reading as much as she did, so it had often been a bit lonely.

    Eagerly, she opened her mouth to speak and get his attention, but Sariya suddenly spoke roughly, "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"

    The boy''s eyes flickered up to them, but the rest of him didn''t move. Rhinese felt stunned as a bit of a shiver moved through her when she made eye contact with him, his gaze carried a pressure like he was sweeping the depths of her soul with his gaze. After a moment of gauging them, he seemed to reach some conclusion. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted like Rhinese had been by Sariya.

    "I''m going to call the guards!"

    The once calm and thoughtful gaze of the boy sharpened as he stared coldly at Sariya with an intense focus. Less than a second later, a brilliantly bright [Magic Light] appeared in Sariya''s face, blinding her.

    She yelped and fell back covering her face as the boy quietly set the book down, then slipped away with a glance at Rhinese.

    She hesitated a bit, glancing at Sariya, before setting her jaw in determination as she started to follow the boy.

    "Wait, please wait!"

    He was fast! By the time she caught sight of him he was at the top of the stairs leading up to the second floor. He paused there for a moment, then swiftly moved off.

    Rhinese grabbed her skirt in both hands and swiftly ascended the stairs as fast as she could, she wasn''t quite sure what she wanted to achieve, but she wanted to talk to him!

    Unfortunately, she found the reason why he had paused at the top of the stairs. There was a barrier there. She had no way to catch up to him.

    Looking up, she saw him slip between a pair of bookshelves on the third floor that slid together after he passed through, and the barrier in front of her faded away.

 Chapter 12: Paranoid for a Reason

    Chapter 12: Paranoid for a Reason

    Crimson cursed himself as he swiftly moved through the secret passages that he''d memorized long ago. He''d been found in the library and the opposing party seemed willing to talk instead of do anything, but then that fox-kin just had threaten him.

    Casting the [Magic Light] had been pure reflex, they were within 10 feet of him so it hadn''t been hard to gather his mana there fast. The issue was that it was too fast, if he''d taken more time to think things over instead of letting gut instinct take over he still would have tried to talk, that maid clearly wasn''t the one in charge - it was the beautiful girl with the chestnut brown hair pulled into a bun with brown eyes that had flecks of gold in them, but the second he cast the spell that route was closed to him.

    Since he''d already fallen down the rabbit hole, he''d made sure that there would be no way for them to catch him there, which had turned out to be a good choice. The brown-haired girl had wisely moved after him without any real hesitation, [Magic Light] wasn''t exactly a dangerous spell after all - there wouldn''t be any lasting or great damage to that fox-kin.

    Now, while there was certainly no way she was fast enough to catch him based off the speed he saw from her, she could have gotten a good look at the secret passages and figured out how to follow him in there - something he wanted to avoid at almost all costs. He wouldn''t be showing anyone around the passages unless they had his complete trust. At the moment, there was only one person who could fit that bill, so that made his decision to cast [Lesser Barrier] over the staircase a good idea in the moment.

    Regardless, it didn''t change his current situation in the slightest, he was still screwed because of what had happened. He had taken hostile action against someone who lived in the castle; someone important enough to have a maid following her around. There were only three women he knew of who fit the bill for that: The Queen, First Princess: Rhinese al voth Alda, and the Second Princess whose name he had forgotten.

    Based on the age of the girl, it had to be Princess Rhinese, but that was assuming that there weren''t any other women who could be important enough to have a maid following them around and appear to be roughly the same age as him. Based on those criteria, he felt safe in his assumption.

    As he saw it, there were three possible "main" endings to the situation. The "best" end would be if nothing happened, if Princess Rhinese forgot what he looked like or decided not to press the issue for whatever reason. This one would leave him permanently locked out of the secret library, but so would the other two.

    The second ending landed him in jail with some interrogation and an eventual release - probably with a banishment attached. The third ending would be death...he didn''t like how likely the third one seemed to him.

    While he could see some variances that could lead to other possible endings, they still fit into one of those three.

    That left the question: what would his move be?

    Well, his first move would be obvious: sit back and watch what happens. His following actions would depend on that first one. It was his only option since he didn''t have any way to run. If he just tried to rush the gate he''d be caught instantly, there were too many ways to track him and too many procedures for him to dodge, it''d just call attention to himself, and it would completely close off any chance of the best possible ending.

    With that closed to him, he decided to go grab his stuff out of his room and enact the idea that would best help him know how to respond: watch and see.

    ¡ª¡ª

    He had waited a week using the secret passages to scope things out. Since all the important building were made of stone, he was fortunate to discover that almost every single one of them had a way into the secret passages, a fact he used to his advantage to eaves drop. Shockingly, there was no bounty put up, no mention of his name, nothing. No one was on high alert, no one seemed to care, nothing. It might be because of Prince Kaine''s birthday party, but if anything it would make more sense for them to be on guard even more than usual.

    It put him in kinda a sticky spot where he wanted to come out of hiding to incite action, or to find if he was truly left alone. The paranoid part of him refused to let him move around in the open, the logical part of him was just confused, and he was emotionally frustrated, so he took all that frustration out on his training.

    He had set his bedroll up in the place where the secret passages all converged, in front of that locked door that -even with his increased mana control- he couldn''t open. It was there that he had enough space for his training so that''s what he did. Morning, noon, night, training. All the breaks he took were to go eaves dropping, and to slip out to buy something to eat. It had taken him four days before he was willing to go buy food, and the only thing that really forced his hand was the fact that his hunger made it hard for him to train. That had been absolutely intolerable.

    He wasn''t worried about water since he''d used the passage that let out in the guild to grab a copy of the spell [Gather Water] which condensed the water in the air around him into a sphere and slowly allowed the water drain out the bottom. It was one of the two simplest water spells out there - the other being [Create Water]. The reason why he hadn''t picked the second one was because the water created was undrinkable. Well, it was drinkable in that you could swallow it, but for some ¡°reason¡± it just didn''t help with survival. It probably lacked the minerals needed or something like that - he¡¯d need to experiment on it later.

    [Gather Water] was drinkable -if slightly unpleasant tasting- so he''d grabbed it and only finished the first chapter. He didn''t want to take the time to finish the other chapters for the moment, he just wanted to throw all of his time into physical training.

    It really was fortunate that the guild had given him permission to check books out to himself, he''d earned that degree of trust within the past month and few weeks, and Emma was sick of being dragged away from her desk to the third floor several times a day, so he''d gotten permission.

    It was the only thing that kept him sane as he had hit a dead end with [Dancing Autumn Leaf], so he grabbed another style book he''d found in the guild library that had actually fallen behind one of the shelves by the wall. This one was called [Vengeful Flash] and it focused a lot on parry and deflection forms, so it seemed like a good idea to pick it up.

    For Crimson, it was like he had a burning hunger to learn all aspects of combat to see where his focuses would lay - a part of him wondered if he would be able to "focus" on anything.

    The unfortunate fact of [Vengeful Flash] was that he didn''t have anyone to attack him, so there was nothing for him to practice on. He had a few of the forms down, but if he couldn''t actually practice using them, there was absolutely no point.

    In exasperation, he''d hit another wall with his training, so he went looking through the guild library once more while in stealth mode. Instead of focusing on fighting styles, he looked for more general styles. In his search he came across one called [Amzair] which is the Dark Elf word for "Unity."

    It gave a heavy focus on improving balance and flexibility, with the later chapters of it showing why it was called "Unity" since they taught about the idea of using the entirety of his body for leverage and efficient movement.

    He wasn''t entirely sure how that would work, but he''d started from the beginning, and got as far as the book would allow him, and he had noticed that there were only 6 chapters - it was incomplete.

    After not too long training it, with his muscles screaming and [Treatment] going into overdrive, he was definitely feeling the benefits when he found himself touching his toes for the first time. Flexibility had never really been his strong point, but he''d have to make it a priority, it gave him the same kind of satisfaction that the runs he did every morning did.

    That was his week, training, watching people party from secret passages -mimicking a certain creepy clown- and reading. Because of the way he was, he couldn''t really leave magic completely alone, so he finished two more chapters of [Lesser Barrier], bringing him to Chapter 7.

    With it being Monday, a week and a day after he''d run into the assumed Princess, he figured he''d step out into the light. While it was quite possibly a stupid beyond all belief decision, he couldn''t tolerate the stagnant week he''d had - better to confront the problem than wait for something that had shown no sign of moving.

    Crimson showed up on the guild door step first thing in the morning, and waited for Emma to show up and unlock it. He molded and wove his mana on top of his skin to stave off boredom and practice, then switched to normal meditation. After about twenty minutes, Emma showed up.

    Crimson could tell it was her from the sound of her breathing and the way her shoes sounded on the ground, which was a really weird trick he''d picked up. He honestly didn''t know why or how it had happened, but it did, so he''d use it.

    He cracked one of his eyes to see a very livid Emma. Her hands were balled so tightly into fists that he could see a bit of blood starting to pool from where her nails pierced the skin, and he could see how tightly she was gritting her teeth.

    Crimson opened his other eye and spoke calmly, "You''re hurting yourself."

    "Where have you been?" the question was low and threatening, it was laced with a burning rage that brokered no mercy or respite.

    "Training."

    "Where?"

    "I have a spot in Falst."

    Emma''s shoulders started to shake, and she lowered her head, "I don''t know what to say to you. I didn''t know where you were, I didn''t know if you were safe, and I didn''t know if I would see you again! I...was...scared."

    Crimson winced and jumped to his feet, he could see tears starting to track down her face and drop to the ground beneath her feet.

    At a loss for what to do, he extended one of his hands to her, hesitated, then started to retract it, but she slowly took it in both of her hands and pressed the back of it against one of her cheeks as she cried.

    There was really only one thing he could say, "I''m sorry."

    She gave a hiccuping laugh and tightened her grip on his hand, her higher [STR] than his making his bones creak dangerously, but he couldn''t care.

    "You are forgiven, but you need to make this up to me, and I''ll take a long time to forget. You''re just like my little brother, so I can''t leave you alone. He''s always doing stuff to get himself hurt too, so I get a little worried if I don''t see him for too long. You get what I''m saying?"

    Crimson gently nodded and passed her a small but clean handkerchief. She traded him the guild''s keys for it, so he unlocked while she stood there wiping her eyes and hiccuping.

    There was a bit of blood on his hand from her palms, but he wasn''t too worried about it, more worried about her, so even though it wasn''t very effective he stopped her as she stepped into the guild to use [Treatment] on her hands.

    Her reaction to seeing him dual cast the spell was indifference, she just quietly stared at her slowly healing hands with a detached look while blinking tears out of her eyes.

    Emptying his mana pool was enough to heal both wounds and she quietly thanked him after he finished.

    Emma moved over to her desk with her footsteps echoing around the empty guild. Once she''d taken her place she pointed at a nearby table and spoke, "Sit, I''m not letting you out of my sight for a while."

    Unwilling to fight with her, but not sure what to say or do, Crimson sat at the table and quietly watched her watching him.

    She mutely started to work on her paperwork, but looked at him every few seconds to check, like she was worried that he''d disappear.

    Crimson kept watching her while doing his best to ignore the itch that was slowly growing at the base of his skull, but after half an hour of waiting and watching he couldn''t tolerate the itch anymore, so he started practicing with his mana.

    His range was just short of 16 feet, so he worked and pushed, trying to get it all the way out there.

    After a half hour working at that, Mars walked in the door with a dour expression, which slackened a bit upon seeing Crimson, before hardening into a glare.

    Instead of speaking, he pointed to the hallway leading out back, to which Crimson pointed at Emma.

    She glanced up when Mars approached her, them made a shooing gesture at Crimson, which he took as permission to leave, so he soundlessly stood.

    Despite shooing him away, Emma followed Mars and Crimson out back to the training yard where she settled into a chair at the edge of the sparring area they normally used.

    Crimson grabbed a dulled metal katana, Mars grabbed a wooden training spear, and they set to work sparring once more.

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    The first round went like usual, Mars kicked him ten feet away and he wasn''t able to get up because of his shattered ribs, but then Crimson started utilizing the forms he''d learned from [Vengeful Flash].

    It was an instant game changer, since Mars was using [Skills] to blast him around, not pure strength like he''d originally thought, it allowed him to actually fight with the bear-kin.

    Under normal circumstances, Mars could crush him like a one winged mosquito, but since he''d acquired limiters from the [Rituals] for his [STR] and [AGI] he was only a bit ahead of Crimson in terms of those stats, the bigger difference was in [Skills].

    He wasn''t sure which [Skills] his instructor was using, but they absolutely wrecked him, provided Mars actually hit him. If only their weapons made contact - he was spared, but if Mars made contact with him it was an instant broken bone.

    That made the [Vengeful Flash] style extremely viable to face Mars, and fighting him was excellent at pressuring Crimson into using it at a level he shouldn''t be able to normally.

    Crimson even shocked both Mars and Emma when he called a break several times -something he''d never done- but when they saw him studying [Vengeful Flash] they both went "ohhh."

    Crimson and Mars spent a few hours sparring and Emma was actually able to walk away for a few minutes at a time without any fear of his bones being broken every few seconds - it was every minute or so now.

    It was an excellent round of training, he was almost able to finish Chapter 2 of [Vengeful Flash] and over the next several days of work he was able to finish Chapter 3 which allowed Emma a serious break from her constant healer duty as Crimson settled back into his old daily schedule.

    He was still keeping his eyes peeled and stayed on guard constantly, but the edge of paranoia had been dulled slightly. He just made sure to avoid groups of guards when he was out on delivery requests and acted as normally as he could, but everyone close to him probably noticed something was off. He''d need to go back to working on hiding his emotions, the haunting echo of Evans laughing at his inability to do so still followed him.

    His week was fairly normal up until "Fallday" which was pretty much Saturday, the guild''s emptiest day. Crimson was pretty excited when he got a request from Damus asking him to meet early in the morning on Highday to act as an assistant. He''d almost finished [Lesser Barrier] and was eager to get his hands on the next spell he could.

    First thing the next morning, he showed up at the temple after having used his morning run to get there and waited patiently until the temple door was opened by a sleepy-eyed apprentice [Priestess]. She was shocked wide awake when she saw him, and her eyes bulged even wider when Damus stepped past her to greet Crimson.

    Damus gave a cordial little bow, "I take it you are ready for today''s task?"

    He nodded and bowed respectfully in return.

    Damus genially responded, "Good, please follow me."

    Leaving behind the [Priestess] -who for some reason still looked like she''d been fish slapped- Damus led Crimson around the fountain in the center of Phase 1 -the one he knew housed an entrance to the secret passages- to the opposite end of the courtyard from the temple.

    It was an odd building that was made of dark stone, lacked any windows or other entrances, and had purples lines of paint running along the exterior. Well, it wasn''t paint he noticed as he got closer, the purple was set into the stone like it had been inlayed.

    He casually let his fingers slide over it as they entered the building and kept his face as neutral as possible while he noted with some amount of surprise that there was mana flowing through it, but he couldn''t fathom the purpose. He couldn''t even get a feel for what kind of affinity it was using - something that was usually pretty easy.

    Entering, he was surprised to see that he was in a long stone hallway with slats in the walls and a few in the ceiling. From a few of them, he could see the glint of knocked arrow heads aimed at his head and his heart, as well as the head and heart of Damus.

    The aim never faltered just as Damus'' step never did as the dandy [Priest] led him to a solid metal door at the end of the passage.

    Crimson could feel the back of his neck prickle a little from the pressure of the arrow directed at him, but Damus knocked unconcernedly on the door.

    A slat at eye level slid to the side and Damus and the guard behind it shared a few words, before the door swung open to let them in.

    Stepping into the room, the first thing he noticed was that there was a doorframe in the center of the massive concave room with steps leading down to it. There were pillars around the edge of the space and guards everywhere the eye could see.

    At the opposite end of the room was a small building like a one room shack, but it was the most defended part of the space he''d seen, and the walls all looked to be over a yard thick with a door that had so much mana in it he could feel it from the opposite end of the space.

    Crimson felt a sinking feeling in his gut as he started to realize where they were heading for the day...he was totally doomed. This amount of security, plus that door frame...it was like the ones he''d seen for the different secret passages, it would probably be taking him into the castle, which meant that there was a chance he''d be recognized and the Princess who had left him alone would push the issue instead of letting it lie, unless she was the one they were going to meet... Though small, because of lack of evidence, there was a chance.

    Some guards approached them and asked for identification. Oh, they left Damus alone, they just asked him. He produced his guild card in response, and a guard with a feather in his cap inspected it closely. After a minute, the card was handed back, and the crowd of guards between them and the door frame stepped to either side with a gesture from the feathered guard.

    After a long moment, the door of the shack opened and a wizened old man slowly trundled out. Crimson felt his eye brows raise when he saw what the man was carrying: a key, like a long rod without the usual designs, but the blade was about the same length of his pinky finger. So that''s what the keys he''d been mimicking looked like, good to know, he''d keep his eyes peeled for them. If he could keep people from finding their way into the passages it would save him a headache since he seemed to have run of the place.

    The old man had two guards behind him that put out a pressure less than the one that Mars and Lars gave off, but to Crimson it was like comparing a 500 lbs weight to a 600 lbs weight, one was definitely heavier, but he couldn''t lift either of them in any case. Either of them could crush him like a one winged mosquito. The other guards would at least need to take a second to kill him, with the other two...he''d be dead before he noticed if that''s what they wanted.

    Instead of scaring him, the knowledge comforted him in a way, it showed that they were serious about keeping their king safe even though the last major war had been eighty years ago and the last time a natural dungeon had broken open near Falst was fifty plus years ago. Despite that, they hadn''t slacked their guard. Well, he assumed they hadn''t slacked it, but if this was what it was like when it was slack... Well, the king didn''t really need to worry about invasions from outside forces. The issue was with the secret passage, if that got out...

    Crimson shook the line of thought out of his head and focused as the old man reached the door frame. He was mentally cursing the fact that there was absolutely no way for him to get out of his current situation.

    The old man inserted the key into a slot on the right side, then twisted it a quarter turn. Once the turn was completed, the space inside the doorframe seemed to warp and twist for a moment before showing a different sight than the room they were in.

    Crimson glanced at Damus who gestured for him to follow, then they both stepped into the new room - there was a bit of reluctance on his part.

    It wasn''t that interesting, just a plain room with the door frame made of the same black stone as everything else, it was quite small too, and only had one entrance.

    Moving through that entrance, Crimson found himself on top of one of the arches that supported the castle. It had low walls on either side of the path, but they did nothing to stop the blustery wind that ruffled their hair and actually made Crimson stagger for a few steps before he adjusted to it. He couldn''t help but think that it would be a good place to train in spite of his nerves about the ongoing walk toward his doom.

    They walked across the path with the wind acting as a pressure that was constantly pushing him one way or another as it constantly shifted directions, the huge castle with all of its spires seemed to have an effect on the regularity of the current which made it very hard to predict, but only reinforced his impression of the place as a good spot to train.

    The added danger of possibly being thrown over the side would probably just help - humans grew the most under pressure after all.

    They walked up to a decently sized door which led into the castle and were hurried inside by a figurative army of maids and butlers where they were given a quick once over.

    It was at that point that Crimson was forced to relinquish his belt knife to a motherly old maid who placed it gently in a box before taking it to a room just off the entrance. He was a little touched by her care, but there was no need for it, it was just a 115 Royal belt knife, not something so amazing as to require real care.

    After that they were led through passages, up stairs, and across small bridges as they made their way through the maze-like castle.

    He couldn''t help but note how many places that seemed like excellent spots for kill-boxes or ambushes as they were traveling; the place would make an excellent fantasy dungeon - it would make anyone without a knight build cry.

    Eventually, they reached one of the spires near the north-west end and were led up a spiral staircase to the top where they were let into a rather stark mid sized room.

    There were three people and three chairs, but only one of the chairs was occupied.

    A bitter smile graced Crimson''s face as he recognized two of the three. The first being the assumed Princess: Rhinese al voth Alda, the second being the fox-kin maid who was glaring daggers at him, and the only one he didn''t recognize was a handsome but mostly plain man who Crimson got the "crush you like a bug vibe" from. Honestly, he could imagine the guy shouting "I will crush you!" in a strong Russian accent. His hands were the size of a bear''s, but that wasn''t what caught his eyes the most about the man. No, it was the lines of tattoos he could see running across the man''s face and exposed arms.

    They weren''t unnatural, they were natural places where the pigment of the skin was pitch black running through a skin that was far, far paler than anyone with blood in their body should have. He was an Uluu, the first one Crimson had ever seen!

    Among all the races out there, Uluus definitely held the most scorn and were treated the most poorly -Dark Elves in a distant second place- since they were considered something like demons or devils.

    In essence, Uluus had only only one racial trait which varied just slightly, but it gave them ability to gain monster [Classes] - specifically, to take upon themselves the strength of monsters.

    With Crimson''s knowledge -gained from Raften- he knew that the trait didn''t give them the ability to gain a monster [Class], but made the prerequisites much lower and thereby the [Classes] far easier to obtain.

    Well, considering how difficult the requirements were for everyone else it could be considered that they, and they alone, were given the ability, but he refused to accept incorrect information - even of such insignificance. Based off the size of the man, he might have a monster [Class] like [Ogre] or [Golem], but appearance doesn''t dictate a [Class] - it could easily be something like [Litch] or [Slime].

    Crimson glanced at Damus and did his best to follow the man''s lead as they both bowed deeply to Rhinese. He mentally tacked "Princess" on to her name so that he wouldn''t slip up and forget it verbally - no need to add fuel to the fire.

    Damus spoke with his air of nobility easily rivaling that of the Princess'', "Good morning Your Highness, how were your morning prayers?"

    "Good morning to you as well, [Priest] Damus. My morning prayers were excellent. Very enlightening.¡±

    From her tone it certainly didn''t sound likely they were excellent. She continued, "I am so very glad to see that you honored my request to bring your genius pupil."

    Crimson slammed down hard on his facial expression to keep his eyebrows from shooting up. Damus'' pupil? The man only occasionally gave him a copy of a spell book and had him do menial chores and tasks - nothing along the lines of a pupil.

    "Of course I was Your Highness, how could I refuse such a determined request?"

    Rhinese, no, Princess Rhinese turned to Crimson. He didn''t often take note of how physically attractive the women he met were -like Emma, Sherry, or any of the female members of the harem squad- but he definitely had to for her.

    Her chestnut brown hair was allowed to hang free with a pair of creamy white ribbons gently entwined with it which only served to highlight the soothing nature of the color.

    Her face was perfectly balanced, everything from her full lips to the gentle curve of her eyebrows all adding up to be a breath-taking beauty that toed the line between real and impossible.

    Like Crimson, her eyes were definitely her most outstanding feature. They were a warm and gentle brown that promised trust and patience, but carried an almost unyielding will with flecks of flittering gold floating through them. The gold flecks weren''t stagnant, but were continually floating slowly around in a manner that was hypnotizing.

    She was wearing a green dress that was modestly cut with sleeves that were snug around her forearms. It was loose in the right places and tight in the right places to show her slim figure and highlight her natural beauty - a complimentary piece instead of overruling.

    Crimson mentally snorted, he was getting sentimental just because his "most beautiful women he''d ever met" list had a new first place.

    Princess Rhinese smiled at him warmly, which seemed to highlight the glares of the fox-kin and the Uluu before she spoke, "Welcome, my name is Princess Rhinese al voth Alda, I am the first princess of Alda and I am very excited to meet you, [Priest] Damus has been vaunting to me about you quite a bit. Would you please introduce yourself to me?"

    Crimson bowed respectfully once more, and did his best to match the formal manner of their speech while his mind went into overdrive to figure out what the girl''s game was.

    "My name is Crimson, I am an Adventurer of the [Brass] rank, but I don''t believe myself to be deserving of such high praises."

    His mind continued to turn, why didn''t she just out him? If she did that she could do whatever she wanted. Maybe she just wanted to blackmail him? It would make sense, and it would explain why she hadn''t said anything yet.

    Crimson''s train of thought was sent askew for half a second as she giggled, then responded, "My, I am certain you deserve all the praises your teacher has laid at your feet. Don''t be so humble, it has no place here. I''d suggest you brag then give evidence for what you say, or just accept things as is - downplaying your strengths is considered dishonest."

    A bit of his nature slipped through and he couldn''t help the roughness of his response, "And if I feel I''m being honest?"

    Damus clapped a tight hand on his shoulder, assumedly to keep him from saying anything else, but his piece was done.

    Princess Rhinese looked a little...forlorn as she responded, "Not everyone considers honesty to be important - not in politics."

    She looked quietly into the distance for a moment, then refocused on him, "Well, where are my manners? My maid''s name is Sariya and our chaperone for the day possesses the name Richard."

    Sariya bowed, then Richard dipped his head slightly without taking his eyes off them.

    Princess Rhinese gestured at the two chairs across from her and implored, "Please sit, it wouldn''t do to have my two guests remain standing."

    After sitting, Damus took over the conversation and spent the next hour talking to her, sharing stories of the [Champions of the Gods] and discussing more about the gods themselves with her.

    As he quietly listened, Crimson was able to figure out the purpose of all the stories: they were there to build the Princess'' faith in the gods.

    He wasn''t sure exactly how -since it wasn¡¯t a stat- but faith and the [Holy] attribute seemed linked in some way, so these stories would greatly benefit someone who needed to strengthen their faith. The Princess would probably be taking a [Holy] attribute [Class] once she turned 16, so it made sense having someone there to help her grow that faith to better capitalize on her strength. There might be more or less to the matter, but he lacked information.

    At the end of the hour, Damus seemed to be preparing to leave, but Rhinese...Princess Rhinese stopped him with a gesture.

    "Hold on one moment good [Priest]. I thank you for the teachings you have shared, I shall take them to heart, but there is something else I would like to attend to."

    She smiled warmly at Crimson, but all he could see was a shark''s smile in her beautiful face.

    "Would you please give me a showing of your magic?"

    So that was why she warned him about humility earlier, it was an indirect warning not to hide his abilities from her. With what she''d seen last time, there was no point in hiding anything either.

    Choosing to remain silent, Crimson decided to use [Magic Light] as the spell, and combine a few Chapters to show off so that she wouldn''t complain.

    While he didn''t need to, he pointed off to the side of the room and made a larger and brighter than average magic light appear ten feet away after taking a few seconds longer to hide at least some of his capabilities from her - even if she already knew about his speed, that didn''t mean Damus knew.

    The reactions in the room to the spell were as follows: Damus stared at it with a rigid expression; Sariya''s tail hair stood on end and she covered her eyes, apparently remembering what happened last time; Richard''s expression didn''t change, but his hands tightened into fists; Princess Rhinese gave him a radiant smile with glittering eyes.

    She spoke after a moment, "That is good enough, I think you will be able to fulfill my second request."

    Crimson''s eyes narrowed slightly before he caught them, it was finally time to see what her game was.

    To his shock, she bowed to him and spoke, "Would you awaken my mana?"

    Crimson''s taut expression blanked from surprise.

 Chapter 13: A Battle of Words and Wills

    Chapter 13: A Battle of Words and Wills

    Rhinese watched Crimson closely, he was trying so very hard to hide his emotions, but the little tells he had were constantly making it clear what he was thinking. It was actually a relief to her to see that he didn''t have enough guile to hide his thoughts - having someone like that around was nice.

    Inspecting, she could tell that he was more than a bit shocked; he seemed to be trying to figure out a response. From what she could already tell of him, he knew what he wanted to say, but doing so while maintaining formality seemed to be what was holding him back.

    After a long moment, he spoke with a hard expression, "Your Highness, I believe there are far more capable individuals out there than I, I also lack the knowledge needed to do such a thing, so I am unable to fulfill your request."

    Rhinese could see he was about to continue and outright refuse, but Damus spoke before he could, "That is right Your Highness, if you would like your mana awoken I would be all too happy to assist you in the process or, if you''d rather, I can request the Temple''s [High Priestess] to do so, she would be most happy and willing to help you in this matter. We would be all to happy to assist. A-"

    Damus was cut off before he could continue by the hand that Rhinese held up. She wasn''t interested in having this old imp touch her mana, and he was far inferior in appearance, motive, and character to Crimson. It had also become apparent that Damus hadn''t done anything to teach him, they didn''t have any form of Master-Student relationship.

    Rhinese coldly decided to crush any opposition he might have by having them both answer a question - considering the pride of this slime he wouldn¡¯t be able to take the loss well, it would be a good chance to alienate him.

    "Very well [Priest] Damus, if you believe you have the best qualification for this matter, then we shall put that confidence to the test."

    The [Priest] gave an almost imperceptible flinch, challenging someone on their boasting was both an insult and a challenge. If Damus failed then he had just made a fool of himself, if he succeeded then he would just reinforce his previous statement. Either way, it would be a plus for her, he''d feel far more reluctant to push her toward a [Priestess] [Class]. He was far too arrogant to allow someone who directly challenged him remain near him without a good reason, this minor slight would become something to haunt him, and give Rhinese a slightly greater measure of freedom in the future. Something she¡¯d never been in a good position for in the past. Crimson¡¯s relationship with him would be an unfortunate casualty if everything went according to plan, but she would do everything she could to pay him back for it.

    Carefully keeping her face neutral, pretending as if she didn''t know what she had done, she spoke, "The test is simple, I will ask you both a question, but while you answer we shall have Crimson step out of the room so that he can''t hear your answer. You may listen to his answer so that you may see what I see. Is this acceptable?"

    Damus clenched his jaw slightly, almost imperceptibly to anyone who wasn''t looking for it, then responded, "If you believe that this will best help...then I shall submit to your test...Your Highness."

    Rhinese felt a little smug at his response, he had slighted her by waiting so long to add the "Your Highness," something he would never do unless he felt truly insulted. Truly a politician.

    Smiling at her new hope she said, "Please step right outside the door Crimson, we will have Sariya retrieve you in a moment."

    He bowed to her, then stepped out, his steps were a little quiet for how the room amplified sound, but Rhinese dismissed the detail.

    Once the door closed she turned to Damus, "What is magic, and where does it come from?"

    He frowned, "This is common knowledge, Your Highness."

    She gave him a tight lipped smile, "Please answer regardless, I want you to pay close attention to how your answer and his differ."

    He rubbed his hands together for a moment, then slowly spoke, "Magic, is a gift from the Gods given to us to face against the threat of monsters. It allows us to manipulate the forces of nature and carry out the Gods'' will within in their domain. Magic users devote their whole lives to comprehending its secrets, but there is still much that remains beyond the sight of mortals.¡±

    Behind her, Richard grunted in approval at the answer and she could see Sariya nod in agreement.

    Rhinese allowed the room to remain silent for a total of five minutes while the discomforting pressure in the room built, then nodded, "Yes, a perfect answer. Now let us hear what your...pupil has to say." she looked behind her, "Sariya, please call for Crimson."

    She bowed deeply, "Yes, Your Highness."

    Opening the door revealed Crimson on the other side leaning against a wall with his eyes closed and his arms folded. His eyes opened and he looked over at them with his silver eyes scattering the light a little.

    Rhinese beckoned him into the room and he once more returned to his seat after she pointed to it.

    "Now, I shall ask you the same question that I asked [Priest] Damus." Rhinese thought furiously as she spoke out the pre-planned phrase, how could she lure him into saying what he knew? Someone who was able to learn so much magic with out a [Blessing] certainly had a far greater understanding of it than "common knowledge," she''d need to lure that out of him. She''d already laid the foundation for the first part of her bait, but she needed something else she could add.

    "Please, speak freely, [Priest] Damus was able to give me quite an in-depth answer, it took quite a while to answer fully, so do your best to respond fully if you want to make your master proud."

    Rhinese could see his mind moving furiously as he thought, trying to figure out what was going on, which was a good thing because he didn''t notice the dubious looks she was receiving from the other people in the room in response to her lie. She''d need to apologize afterward, but she needed Damus out of here before she has a real conversation with Crimson, making him mad would make him leave, and there was a good chance he¡¯d abandon Crimson here, she¡¯d apologize to him then - she wanted to keep him as a friend after all.

    "My first question is this, what is magic?"

    He frowned at her for a moment, then responded, "I believe that is a matter of common knowledge, magic is the ability to use and manipulate mana to influence the natural world. Pure mana is unable to affect anything but itself, so it requires one of the affinities to be tied into the structure before it can interact with the physical world. The mana needs to be formed into a proper shape then the element needs to be placed inside, once it''s inside the spell is complete and casted. So magic is simply the ability for humans to move beyond the limitations of their flesh."

    Rhinese nodded while carefully hiding her excitement as she processed the new information, "Yes, keep going. [Priest] Damus was able to tell me that much and far more, what else?"

    Rhinese felt a little bad about what she was doing. While he certainly was perceptive, he didn''t have enough practice seeing through lies to tell what she was doing, it was a testament to his suspicion that he seemed to be sticking to what he thought was "common" knowledge, despite the fact that what he said certainly wasn''t common, but a matter of scholars - if even they knew all that. The fact that he was also giving a ¡°real¡± answer and not regurgitated nonsense won her approval, and the contents of his answer lined up perfectly with a lot of rules of magic - even if Rhinese wasn¡¯t aware that magic had something like a ¡°structure.¡±

    Rhinese watched as the suspicion in him won out and he responded, "I am quite sorry, but a high ranking [Priest]''s wisdom far surpasses mine, Your Highness."

    Well well, Crimson was far better at deception than she had given him credit for. He was trying to misdirect her by convincing her that the [Priest] knew more, but that wasn''t actually what he said. After all, it''s true, a [Priest]''s [Wisdom] would be a lot higher than his, the [Class] gave stats to [WIS] which meant that someone like Damus who was over Lv. 50 would have a [WIS] far, far above his -who lacked even a [Blessing]- but it wasn''t directly answering the question she asked.

    No matter, she wouldn''t push the issue and move on to the next question - if she tried to force it out of him he''d just feel that his suspicions were confirmed. She also had a idea to bait out a real answer this time, it just relied on an assumption, but at this point he''d already proven himself to know more than Damus which meant he won, but she was actually interested in the answer to her second question, so she''d ask anyway.

    She also happily noted the veins on the [Priest]''s forehead showed the depths of his anger. Having a child demonstrate a greater knowledge than him would be a difficult thing to swallow - he''d probably need to chew for a while to get it down.

    "Very well, for my second question: Where does Magic come from?"

    She could see that, unlike Damus, this question caught him off guard. He started to respond slowly, "What...do you mean when you ask that question?"

    Rhinese raised an eyebrow, "I am leaving the question vague on purpose, do your best to answer it according to your understanding."

    He cocked his head and was so wrapped up in his thoughts that she could figuratively see him forgetting to hide his thoughts and emotions: which ran freely across his face, most particularly in his eyes, which just seemed like open windows into his racing mind.

    "Well," he responded slowly, "magic comes from within us. Mana is already housed in our bodies even before receiving a [Blessing], so at least the essence of it doesn''t come from the [Blessing]. If I had to guess, one of three events happened in the past."

    Rhinese''s assumption had been correct, she noted happily, he was the same type as her. There are two types of people who love reading: those who share and those who keep. The second group keep what they''ve read to themselves, the first group has to share what they''ve learned for one reason or another.

    As a member of the first group, Rhinese just had to share the things she learned, she just wanted so badly for someone else to know what she knew and wanted to talk to them about it. Kaine had pretty much been the only one strong enough to listen to her ramble on and on. To explain her behavior: she was just trying to help him see how amazing what she''d learned was, but with him being busy preparing for his role as Regent Prince, Sariya had been her victim as of late, but the fox-kin had developed a habit of falling asleep in the middle of her excited storytelling.

    Fortunately for her, it appeared that Crimson also fell into the first group with her, it would be great to actually have someone to talk to about things, not as a lecture, but as a discussion. Well, that assumption was counting her share before she beat the boss, but she could still hope for the future.

    Crimson continued, "The first two possible events I think stared everything magic related are pretty similar, but it becomes a matter of the order of events. The first one is that humans knew magic before the gods started giving their [Blessing] to us, which allowed us to become stronger and stronger, surpassing our limits.

    "The second one, and the one I think is more likely between the first two, is that we always possessed mana, but we couldn''t use it until we received the [Blessing] from our gods, once we had that [Blessing] we realized it was possible to use magic without it so we pushed for that."

    Rhinese found herself drawn in, "Why do you think the second one is more likely?"

    "Well, our method of casting magic without a [Blessing] is really sloppy, it''s all built on using imagery and emotions to cast the spells which are inconsistent at best - practically crippling at worse.

    "This stands as a contrast for what I''ve heard and read it''s like with the system provided by the [Blessing], which is a simple input-output system. You pay your mana, you cast the spell. It''s very precise and usable which just highlights the useless nature of magic without a [Blessing]."

    Crimson distractedly ran his hand through his black hair and mused, "I''ve even been told that spells can appear as a [Skill] in the [Blessing] which just seems to indicate to me that spells are fake versions of [Skills]. As an example¡± I know [Magic Light] as a [Spell], but it also exists as a [Skill].¡°

    Rhinese leaned forward and excitedly interrupted, "That doesn''t make sense, to me it just seems like there are just spells special enough to appear as [Skills]."

    Crimson nodded, ¡°Yes, I was about to explain that, but there are a few other pieces of information that make me think that a [Spell] is a fake [Skill]. A spell has a dead end once you finish the last chapter of the book, but if you receive the spell as a [Skill] it can continue to grow. Not only that, but the really damming piece of evidence comes from a question I asked a lot of the [Priests] and [Priestesses] at the Temple: How did you get your [Class]?"

    Rhinese cocked her head while hiding the fascination that wanted to appear on her face, "Why would you ask that?"

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    He waved a hand to dismiss her question, "Simple curiosity, I''d heard that there were a few different ways to complete the requirements for the same [Class], and the Temple seemed like the best way to test that since the vast majority of its members have the same [Class].

    "Anyway, what I learned was that a lot of its members gained the [Class] because the Temple gave them a copy of [Treatment: Holy] after they got their [Blessing], but there was one [Priestess] who took the [Class] simply because it showed up in her options due to her high affinity with [Holy]. When I heard that I asked her a question: how did you learn healing spells if you didn''t start with one?

    "She told me that when she first got to choose her [Class Skills], [Lesser Healing] was an option, so she took it. I found that so interesting I went and asked the others who I''d previously asked if they''d been given the option to learn [Lesser Healing] when they were choosing their [Class] [Skills]. Everyone answered "yes," but the vast majority didn''t take it because the Temple already has copies of the spell to give to its [Priests], so they didn''t want to waste a [Class Skill] slot by taking it.

    "The interesting thing about that was that every one of the -admittedly few- [Priests] who took [Lesser Healing] were considered more talented in the art of healing, and they didn''t have to deal with the constant deterioration caused by learning a spell with a spell book. Even with the [Blessing], keeping the imagery provided by a spell book straight is difficult at best, which means you need to go back and re-study the spell frequently to make sure you can still cast it at an appropriate level.¡±

    ¡°I made a fascinating realization as I considered this point, and this realization came from the question: If the [Blessing] makes magic far more simple, why do you need to keep studying the [Spell] even after gaining the [Blessing¡¯s] support? I only have a few guesses, but they are certainly worth testing when I get my own [Blessing]. One idea is that the Gods designed them that way to push people toward [Skills]¡­but I digress.¡±

    Rhinese felt deeply troubled as she stared at him, if what he said was true than it would deeply affect not just her, but everyone. Glancing behind her, she could see the intense focus both of her friends were giving him, despite the fact that neither of them were usually interested in lectures like this. Even Damus was no longer angry, but had pulled out a pad of paper and was taking meticulous notes with a fervor she''d never seen from the man before.

    It was only fortunate that Crimson didn''t notice that, he might realize that he was saying stuff he didn''t want to say.

    Rhinese kept her focus closely on him as he continued, "All these factors plus the fact that only fairly basic level spell books can be seen under normal circumstances leads me to a conclusion: magic as we know it came from another source. Continuing off the second series of events I proposed, what if we all had mana to cast spells, but couldn''t use it until we got the Gods gave the first [Blessing]? Those individuals who gained the ability to move their mana were suddenly able to take magic [Classes], and gained [Skills] to cast spells, but the unfortunate fact of the matter was that most wouldn''t be able to get a specific magic [Class] -let''s take [Pyromancer] as an example- since they wouldn''t have a high enough affinity for [Fire]. Well, that would limit quite abruptly the amount of people that could use truly powerful fire magic, so it''s possible that the gods created [Spell Books] as a way for people with lower affinities to still gain that same strength, but they were only meant to be used as a starting point to allow these people to gain the real [Skills], not meant to be used as a replacement like I saw at the temple.

    "From there, it''s possible that someone discovered that even those without a [Blessing] could learn the spells in these [Spell Books] which resulted in our current status. All this does raise some interesting questions about the nature of true [Spell Books] versus a lot of the spell books you see today, along with questions about the limitations of [Spell Books], but it doesn''t really have anything to do with your question."

    His eyes which had become unfocused due to deep thought suddenly cut into hers and she jolted a little at the force of will behind them.

    "Does this answer your question Your Highness?"

    Rhinese took a second to gather her thoughts then responded, "Yes, it does. [Priest] Damus, do you still feel that Adventurer Crimson is unsuited to be the one to awaken my mana?¡±

    ¡ª¡ª

    Crimson froze, he had gotten so caught up in her question that he forgot to hold back. All the assumptions he''d made, the dots he''d connected, what he''d learned - it was all out in the open without much thought of the consequences.

    Well, it all depended on what he wanted, but even he wasn''t sure of that. He was keeping his capabilities hidden mostly because it was his first reaction, not really because he''d weighed both sides. Mainly, what he wanted at the moment was to get away from the Princess who held his fate in his hands. By that measure he had certainly failed.

    However, from the other side it was probably better to see what the Princess wanted, if she hadn''t outed him there had to be a reason, a reason he needed to find out so that he could maintain the status quo and be left to his training.

    Crimson quickly placed his priorities in order: 1: Training, 2: Personal Freedom, 3: Avoiding annoying things that interfered with the first two, 4: Make money so he could get a semi-decent weapon, 5: Find Party Members.

    That fifth one would be bumped up the priority list as he got closer to his birthday.

    Well, by his priority list his interaction with Rhinese would only benefit point 4, he could charge an insane amount to awaken her mana and that could possibly get her to back off or pay up - if she didn''t decide to blackmail him - but, unfortunately, his time with her infringed on the first three points. He was at a complete loss here - completely in the red.

    Crimson glanced to the side to see Damus looking at him with piercing eyes, his truth reading [Skill] was in high gear and had been from the second they''d entered the room. Considering how much the man used it, maybe it had a second effect?

    He set the thought aside to think about later as Damus finally broke the eye contact and responded to Princess Rhinese''s question, though he appeared to have a hard time choking out his response.

    "I do not feel he is unqualified as a scholar, but I have a hard time saying he is qualified by blood or station to awaken the mana of such an important person as yourself. He has only demonstrated an above average knowledge of magic, not that he is worthy to awaken the mana of Your Highness."

    Crimson could read Princess Rhinese''s expression very easily this time, it could be summarized in a single word: checkmate.

    "So you acknowledge his knowledge, but did you also forget his display of his magic? That was a [Magic Light] that used the [Metal] attribute and had been modified in three different ways, do you think any of your apprentices under Lv. 20 or even Lv. 30 could achieve the same thing?"

    Damus blustered a little, "Possibly one or two could¡­but it doesn¡¯t change his station-¡°

    Princess Rhinese cut in, ¡±Yes, but none of them could do it under Lv. 10. Crimson has displayed a remarkable amount of talent surpassing that of even the most notable of geniuses without even possessing a [Blessing], to undervalue his achievements based solely on his social status spits directly in the face of the equality taught by the Gods and their [Priests]. If anything, I''m abusing my position to gain access to such a fabled talent."

    Damus was silenced, unable to respond to the comment. Even Crimson -with his lack of political acumen- could see what she just did there. IF Damus continued to argue he would essentially be denying his faith, something that would ruin him just as much as if Crimson shared the existence of his [Hypnosis] [Skill].

    "I...will rescind my previous arguments Your Highness, if you have chosen this boy to awaken your mana, then I have nothing to say to it."

    Damus stood brusquely, "Unfortunately, I am currently short on time, so I will leave the boy in your care. Begging your pardon Your Highness, but we shall meet again next week.¡±

    Maintaining a serious expression that -to Crimson¡¯s eyes- mocked Damus, Rhinese spoke, ¡°Richard, please escort [Priest] Damus out.¡±

    The man in question shared a meaningful look with Sariya before rushing after the [Priest] who turned and walked out without being excused. After he had left the room, the Princess broke the icy atmosphere by laughing, not the giggles of earlier, but an actual happy laugh.

    Even Crimson was amused to see how much the man had broken down in front of Princess Rhinese, even if he felt more than a little troubled by the fact that he''d been left almost entirely to her mercy.

    He turned his attention to her and shifted his position on the padded chair that no longer felt comfortable.

    After her laughter had slowly faded she turned to him with a genuine smile.

    "I have to thank you for that, I really do hate that man, he isn''t very good at hiding his lust or the fact that he''s conniving - having the opportunity to strike at him with relative impunity was an amazing experience, I do apologize for any inconvenience it might have cause you.

    "I would also like to apologize for lying to you, but I think you would have hid a lot more if I hadn''t, and I couldn''t have that."

    Crimson inspected her closely, then flicked his eyes to the maid behind her before returning them to her.

    After a moment of quiet, Crimson spoke, since he was no good at games, he''d be blunt, "What are you doing?"

    She tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

    Crimson didn''t hide the frustration he was feeling, "What you''re doing doesn''t make sense, you found me in the castle two weeks ago in a library that was locked from the outside. I attacked your maid and ran, I''m clearly a danger! But you haven''t done anything. I don''t think someone with your clout would have a difficult time finding me, so why haven''t you done anything?"

    Rhinese folded her hands in her lap, then responded with a sad expression, "Before I answer that, I want to ask you a question. What were you doing in the Astral Library?"

    "Reading."

    "Why?"

    He just gave her a pointed look.

    She chuckled weakly, "You have a point, why does anyone read? To gain knowledge. Alright, I''ll change my question: what were you going to do with all that knowledge?"

    "I want to grow strong, beyond what is possible."

    "Did you or do you have any ill intentions against myself or the other members of the royal family?"

    "No."

    Rhinese nodded, "In answer to your question, I want a friend, someone I can talk to without dealing with formalities or political interest. When I saw you, I saw someone who was like me, who loved reading and I thought that it might be fun to talk to you about books, but then you proved yourself to not just be a book lover like myself, but to be a powerful individual.

    "I did a bit investigating into you, did you know that? No, you didn''t, that''s the "clout" you were referring to, but what I found was absolutely fascinating: in our age bracket there is no one who can rival you.

    "You''ve practiced with a sword beyond a normal degree, you''ve demonstrated a skill with magic that surpasses reason, and you''ve shown yourself to be dedicated and a hard worker. All these things together mean that you stand head and shoulders above anyone else our age. That gap will only continue to grow once you''ve gained your [Blessing]."

    "Get to the point."

    "My point is that you are a very desirable as an ally, both on a personal and professional level for me. So, I ask knowing nothing in this world is free, what would it take for me to buy your friendship?"

    Crimson looked at her coldly, his intent to show her how serious he was as he made eye contact, "I don''t sell friendship, I can''t pretend to be something I''m not."

    Rhinese set her jaw and firmly stared right back into his eyes without flinching, "Then sell me some of your time, I don''t need much. I just want someone to talk to, once a week at the very least. I''ll keep my mouth shut and allow you free access to the Astral Library and will even allow you to borrow books from it. If you want Royals you can have them, if you want special weapons or magical artifacts you can have them, all I want is a friend, and a teacher. My father won¡¯t know, Richard won¡¯t know, nobody but Sariya.¡±

    Crimson narrowed his eyes, ¡±I take it the second thing is what you actually want?"

    "Yes and no, I certainly want you to be my teacher since what I told Damus about you is completely true - something I believe with all my heart, but my intent from the first step was to try and become friends with you."

    She took a deep breath, "If you won''t sell me your friendship, then sell me the time I need to you to show that I''m serious." she lowered her head to him, "Please."

    Crimson sat back quietly and slowly traced the ribbons in her hair with his eyes while he thought. He...couldn''t say no. Yes, all the rewards she was offering were nice, but he didn''t plan on accepting any of them but the one in regards to the Astral Library.

    The real reason he couldn''t say no, was because he could see himself in her. While her body was whole -unlike his had been- she was just as trapped as he had been, maybe even more so. He at least could do and say what he wanted with the only limitation being his body, she was limited physically to this castle, verbally by courtesy and formalities, socially by her status, and even in desires by responsibility. She was trapped and just wanted a bit of freedom...he couldn''t say no to that, but she''d have to earn friendship, he would start small.

    "If you think I am good enough, I am willing to be your teacher, being your "friend" is something we''ll discuss later, but I''ll remind you that I don''t know if I have the requirements to fulfill your request."

    She gave him such a brilliant smile it made him immediately regret his decision, beautiful women are always trouble.

    "I have the utmost confidence in you! Now, about the matter of awakening my mana, do you think we could start now?"

    He shrugged, "Sure, do you mind if I touch your shoulder?"

    "Huh?" she turned as red as his name. "Ah, um...yes, please go ahead."

    While Crimson didn''t know the normal process of awakening someone''s mana, he had a method he thought would work for him, if he failed he could just tell the truth and explain that he only had an idea of how to do it, but if she wanted him to do it then he''d need an explanation.

    Crimson stood and approached Princess Rhinese as she also stood and looked very nervous. He couldn''t fathom why she would be, he was just doing what she''d requested, she knew what it entailed, right? As he arrived next to her Sariya arrived next to him and started to breathe down his neck with murderous eyes as he carefully placed his hand on top of Rhinese''s shoulder.

    Because of where the mana pool was in a person''s body the best place to touch closest to it would be the chest, but since Rhinese was a woman that was a definite no - even for a guy he''d still say no. The second best place would be the back, but the thought made Crimson extremely uncomfortable, so he chose the shoulder, the most benign place that was close enough for what he wanted to do.

    With his hand there he closed his eyes and focused on his mana, his idea was essentially to use his mana to stimulate hers and move it, which would fulfill the basic requirement needed to cast magic.

    He gently slid his mana into her body and was surprised at the extreme amount of resistance he felt for a moment, then it suddenly became easier as the mana entered some kind of pathway. His eyebrows shot up as he realized that he had the exact same "mana veins" as her, he just hadn''t really thought about it before - hadn''t taken notice.

    Setting aside the thought for further inspection later, he gently slid his mana until it touched the edge of hers, a simple brush along the edge was enough to make the mana spill out of the pool. Getting an idea, he grabbed the mana with his and entwined them like the ribbons in Rhinese''s hair, and gently guided it down her right arm to the tips of her fingers. He slid the tips of his fingers down the path it took as it reached her palm, and he placed her hand under his.

    With a gentle pressure, he pushed the mana outside her body, and used his mana to entwine it into the shape of [Magic Light], not sure which affinity she would be most adaptive to, and [Elemental Affinities] being easier to use than [Dynamic Affinities], he chose one that seemed to fit: [Wind]. There was a bit of resistance, but after a moment a pale green [Magic Light] appeared above her palm and she gasped in shock.

    Opening his eyes, Crimson saw the pale face of Rhinese, there was sweat beading up on her forehead, and she was trembling.

    Nervous that he might have done something wrong, Crimson took his hand away from hers and took a few steps back. She continued to maintain the [Magic Light] and stared at it in fascination.

    After a moment, she flexed her fingers and made it disappear, then she stared at her hands in intense concentration for a moment, before expelling a breath.

    She then looked at him, "Could you help me create a [Holy] one? I don''t think I have any affinity for [Wind]."

    He extended his hand once more, and she placed hers on top of it. He reached out with his mana once more and found that she had some mana sitting in her veins, slowly leaking out from her failed attempt.

    Grabbing it with his mana, he gently slid it back above her palm and formed the requested [Magic Light] for her. It was surprisingly quite a bit easier than the first one he''d made with [Wind] - her [Affinity] for [Holy] was high enough to override the increased difficulty of the [Dynamic] nature of the [Affinity].

    After the [Holy] [Magic Light] appeared the most beautiful woman he''d ever met, a high ranking Princess of unrivaled grace and elegance started crying with a bright smile on her face as she cupped the little [Magic Light] in both of her hands.

    Crimson scratched the back of his head, there were two things he definitely couldn''t handle: beautiful women, and crying women. The combination was killing him.

 Chapter 14: An Endless Debt

    Chapter 14: An Endless Debt

    Could he ever understand? Would he be able to? Would he ever know how great the debt she, First Princess Rhinese al voth Alda owed him?

    It...was impossible for even her to express how monumental it was. Could a child ever express how great a debt they owed to their mother? Could a people define a debt owed to the king? Could any of the blessed races count how much they owed the Gods just for their [Blessing]?

    Rhinese felt the same, she could never repay Crimson fully.

    With his help, she felt that a path had opened up to her, one that she had closed off to herself, knowing that it would leave her weaker in the end, but with his help she had a head start that few would ever have, even Kaine wouldn''t be able to get a greater head-start than her.

    Crimson''s touch sending his mana into her had been unnoticed, then she was suddenly able to feel it, and it felt unpleasant at first, then got worse, like someone was pouring a cold liquid into her body then sending it further in, it had felt so unpleasant she had wanted to yank away from his grip, but there was no way for her to get away, it was like there was something pinning her in place, preventing her from escaping.

    When he had started retracting the cold after a long moment, she had felt something familiar and...warm replacing it, something that hadn''t been there before she couldn¡¯t pinpoint any specific location for it, but it was a rush of warmth flowing through her body.

    He had pulled that warmth down her arm to her hand, then used his cold to push it out of her hand and do...something to it. As he''d done that "something," she''d had a certain feeling. It was hard to describe, but it was a feeling like nostalgia where it was slightly inexpressible, but it was also completely familiar. There wasn''t any longing there, but a feeling of fun and even a bit of confidence, as well as a few other emotions.

    Rhinese had stared at the pale green [Magic Light] in shock, before trying to re-create it. After a few seconds, she just couldn''t get that warmth to follow what she wanted it to do -she just couldn''t get the right feeling- so she turned to Crimson.

    "Could you help me create a [Holy] one? I don''t think I have any affinity for [Wind]."

    After the words were out of her mouth she realized how much she''d overstepped her bounds, just what he''d been able to do so far would cost her thousands of Royals for a regular tutor over the course of months, which was worth far less than what he''d been able to do in minutes, he was certainly in the position to bleed her of all her personal savings and even a decent amount of the royal treasury, but to her shock he didn''t even comment about cost or anything! He just reached out and grabbed that warmth that was sitting in her arm from her attempt to create a [Wind] [Magic Light] and easily formed it into a [Holy] one.

    This one made sense to her, much more than [Wind]. It was firm and unyielding, she could feel faith, hope, and love wrapped through it - it was easily the most beautiful thing she''d ever seen.

    As she stared at the [Magic Light] she had felt happy, no - overjoyed! To the point of tears! It was easily one of the happiest moments of her life! To be able to cast magic, to be able to see hope for her future as something other than a puppet meant to be sold off to the most important lecher -even if she had made her peace with that- was something to make her happy.

    The reason why Rhinese felt so unnaturally -by the standards of others- overjoyed could be explained by one of her beliefs: the fairness of the Gods. She believed that the Gods rewarded efforts - real efforts, not half hearted ones. Unfortunately, not everyone held the same belief, something that could be explained by two true stories.

    The first is the story told of a man who decided to learn as many trades, skills, weapons, and magic as possible, to gain access to as many [Classes] as he could once he gained his [Blessing]. He wanted to see if he could gain rare or unusual [Classes] that would help him move up in the world, but once he gained his [Blessing] he only had five [Classes] to choose from, all of them very basic.

    The second story is told of a woman who pursued the opposite, a single thing to the absolute extreme, she focused all of her efforts day in and day out on it for years, yet at the end she had over twenty [Classes] to choose from, many of them rare. Those who tried to re-create the miracle failed or succeeded on a minor level.

    There were other stories, of course, of people who tread the happy medium and found themselves rewarded or left desolate, all seeming to prove the existence of fickle Gods who favored some over others, but Rhinese wasn''t satisfied with that. It just didn''t match her understanding of the Gods, especially the God of Truth and the Goddess of Darkness who -despite being polar opposites- had rather similar ideologies taught by their followers.

    So she believed in fairness, that the Gods rewarded more to those who were truly devoted or cared, not those just seeking for the sake of greed. Those who tried to re-create the woman''s success didn''t care about the art they devoted themselves to, but to the end result of that art. Some tried the same thing as the man who tried everything and found greater success in it, which only served to reinforce the general perception of the Gods'' will.

    All this was confusing to her and everyone else, but she refused to believe that the Gods would not be fair. She believed that if she put in sincere time and effort she could truly rise above and be blessed for her efforts.

    With Crimson''s help, she could choose a different path than the one she was locked on to, but the hard thing with that was the fact that it would make it impossible for her to ever pay off her debt to him. The mere fact alone that she could feel any sense of ¡°warmth¡± or ¡°cold¡± meant that whatever he¡¯d done probably increased her [Affinity] to [Mana] to an insane degree! The people even able to get a general sense for it like here were almost unheard of! Mere rumors that were secreted from many! She would have to inquire what she could do to pay off the debt.

    Well, she wouldn''t ask him for now; he''d agreed to sell her his time, so now it was time to negotiate the price, both for his time, and for her mana.

    She wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked into his, he looked very uncomfortable, like a lost child. It was enough to make her giggle, to which he glared at her.

    Easily reading what his eyes were telling her, she responded, "Sorry, sorry, but you just looked so funny there I couldn''t help it!"

    Rhinese glanced at Sariya to see that she was still glaring at Crimson.

    Sariya was the type to hold a grudge until there was a reason to drop it, so it would probably be a while before the two would be on speaking terms.

    Looking back at a glowering Crimson, Rhinese cleared her throat and spoke, "Well, about the matter of payment..."

    Crimson nodded, "I''ll accept your offer and will use my time in the Astral Library effectively, there are already a few books I have in mind to check out if you don''t mind taking care of it immediately."

    Rhinese smiled warmly, first the books? He truly was like her!

    "Certainly, but before we go I''d like to know what else you want."

    He gave her a look and said, "I told you what I want."

    Rhinese felt a twinge of annoyance, "Yes, but what else do you want? Access to the Astral Library isn''t enough as repayment. At most, I can take it as buying your time, that leaves me with two other things to pay you for!"

    Really, she couldn''t imagine what she''d need to give for his salary if he was going to be her teacher, the library could only cover his time, she''d need something for his actual teaching, and something for her mana being awoken.

    He just gave her a blank look which just increased her irritation, "Two other things? What are you talking about? You''ve bought my time and my teaching with the Library, and awakening your mana just goes in hand with teaching you."

    Rhinese placed her hand on his shoulder and reeled him in until their noses were almost touching, the fire in her eyes blazing, "The Library doesn''t hold enough value to cover your time and your teachings, just the first one, and you certainly can''t count awakening my mana under teaching me! This and that are two separate things!"

    Crimson narrowed his silver eyes at her then, to her absolute shock, reached up and placed his index finger on her forehead and gently pushed her away, forcing her to release her grip.

    Beside them, Sariya hissed a little and seemed to be reaching for a weapon of some kind, but a few finger flicks from Rhinese stopped her.

    He then spoke, "Are you determined?"

    Rhinese set her jaw and responded, "One thing I was taught was that everything has value, you show how much value you give that thing with how you pay for it. If you pay a low price, then it has a low value - if you pay a high price, then the value is high. This is regardless of the "actual" value. What I was taught was that I need to give something the value it deserves, it''s a principle of my father.

    "You may place the value of your time, your teachings, and your awakening as low, but I see the value for what it is, and I want to at least try to pay for what it''s worth.

    "The Astral Library only has enough value to buy your time, but not your teachings. For awakening my mana, the Astral Library is actually over paying since I could get practically anyone that has awakened mana, regardless of whether or not they have a [Blessing], with the proper knowledge to awaken it for me, the difference is just in the amount of time it takes for them to do that. Since you were able to do it with a single session in less than five minutes I''d value that at 5000 Royals. Would you accept that?"

    Crimson gave her a look like she''d just forced a lemon into his mouth, then he croaked out, "I don''t think it''s worth that much..."

    "Why are you arguing against yourself on this?"

    "I have a hard time taking hand outs."

    Rhinese nodded in satisfaction and put her hands on her hips, "Good, you''ll have no issue with what I''m saying then, I''m just trying to pay a fair price. Usually, the practice of awakening mana involves repeatedly casting spells with the path of the spell traveling through a person -holding hands as an example- until the emotional wavelengths match up, a quite difficult process.¡±

    He set his eyes firmly on hers for a long moment, then slowly nodded, "Very well, I can accept the price, please just know that I feel 5000 Royals is a bit high for a few minutes work. The guild was charging 500 Royals."

    Rhinese snorted, "It would have taken them two months, 32 sessions, or 128 hours for that kind of price point. A high quality awakener usually costs 2000 Royals and takes 15 hours over the course of two weeks. That''s what it cost my brother."

    Rhinese watched with some amusement as the wheels in his head turned for a moment, then he nodded to accept her words.

    "Fair."

    Rhinese smiled happily, "Good! Now, for your teachings?"

    "I will need to think about that, you''ll also need to see the value of my "teachings" before you decide."

    Rhinese sighed, she had wanted to it all taken care of -as much as possible for an impossible to pay debt- immediately, but what he said was true. For herself, Rhinese didn''t believe that waiting to see what he had to teach would decrease the value like he seemed to think - she thought it would actually increase the value. Only time would tell.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The next few months seemed to drag slower than ever; he had seven months remaining until his birthday, but it couldn''t seem any further away.

    During that time, Crimson had maintained a firm schedule that was only rarely interrupted by annoying...encounters, occurrences, and events.

    Simply, he had to carry his bokken at all times. One of the requests he''d taken had forced him to travel through the slum Phases to find a lost little girl, he''d had a run in with a gang while there, and since then they''d been in a small scale war with one another.

    It wasn''t like he hadn''t tried to diffuse the situation, but that he''d failed miserably in the attempt and had been forced to fight back when they attacked.

    Since all of them were under Lv. 5 it had been pretty easy. He''d broken some bones -theirs- called the guards, and walked away scot-free. Well, it turned out that they had friends - a lot of them. So every time they saw Crimson they''d showed an apparent lack of awareness as they¡¯d launch an attack no matter who or what was around. Fortunately, the attacks had dropped off quite a bit after the first few weeks, but the downside was that Crimson had been followed for quite a while.

    The only reason Crimson was able to notice the person following him was because they were using a very wasteful stealth-type [Skill] which made them very easy for him to detect. The [Skill] was just constantly bleeding mana from -what he assumed was- inefficient usage.

    Well, with that person following him the guards had shown up quite quickly after each run in and the only time he''d run into a gang member over Lv. 10 someone had stepped in to interfere.

    While he was grateful, being followed had forced him out of the secret passages out of a desire not to reveal them. Normally, that would have crushed his ability to do delivery requests, but he''d gotten pretty good at using the rooftops to get around, that was only a bit slower than the secret passages by this point.

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    He''d also gotten quite a bit better at jumping and climbing as a side note.

    Crimson had noticed something annoying about delivery requests though: they were dropping off.

    Most businesses couldn''t afford to hire an Adventurer like him too often, so when someone who actually took delivery requests showed up, a lot of them had been withdrawn after the first few times he''d finished them.

    There was an interesting balance between usability and expense for these businesses. For one: hiring an adventurer allowed them to catch up or even get ahead of schedule, but on the other hand: putting out requests too often would actually put them in the red financially.

    The businesses out there would STILL hire him, even if it was usually just once a week or every other week depending on the business. The only one that dared to hire him twice a week was Hunnie''s Tailoring, but they had enough business that it actually made quite a bit of sense to hire him that much.

    It was unfortunate, but he was only able to make 1585 Royals in those two months of delivery requests, versus the 1350 in his very first month. Rather frustrating to see such a drop off like that, but what could he do?

    Well, what he did was turn his attention away from delivery requests to a few other odd jobs requests (342 Royals), then to scribing requests.

    From the three months of scribing requests he''d done, he''d made 7,000 Royals. Which was nice, but he was starting to face the same problem as delivery requests. Not only that, but he was starting to become enemies with the other [Scribes] since he wasn''t only taking their income, but their XP.

    He''d actually made the conscious decision to hold off on the scribing requests -a little- earlier that week when he''d heard some of the other [Scribes] crying in the guild bar after he''d completed four requests within a week.

    He was left scratching his head about what to turn to next, but he''d been eyeing apprenticing requests - less for the money, more for the experience, but he still certainly needed the money.

    It was an unfortunate reality that, even with over 10,000 Royals in his account, he still didn''t have enough money. The katanas he was looking at had a range between 8,000 and 10,000 Royals, so he definitely didn''t have enough for armor or stilettos after that. If he could maintain the current pace to his birthday he wouldn''t have an issue, but his gains were dropping off intensely quickly, so by his own projections he would probably only have 25,000 Royals or so by his birthday - definitely not enough for the quality he wanted.

    Certainly, if he wanted to get lower quality equipment he could find stuff at a lower price point, but he wasn''t exactly one to cheap out on equipment. If it was any indication of the quality he found tolerable: most Adventurers got their starting weapon on a loan for about 500 Royals. Crimson''s standards were way higher than that - he didn''t want to be replacing his weapon with every level.

    His concerns with money aside, everything was going well. His training with Mars was pushing forward and he was actually able to trade blows with the bear-kin. Well, he WAS. Mars stopped decreasing his stats as much as he did in the past and started using a few more [Skills] which had widened the gap between them once more. The upside to that was that he finally finished [Dancing Autumn Leaf] which turned out to only be a step above the basic "[Adventurer''s Style]" in quality, so he''d been rejoicing when he found [Cruel Tempest] in the Astral Library which was a big step up from [Dancing Autumn Leaf].

    He''d also finished Chapter 7 of [Vengeful Flash] which increased his staying power in a fight with Mars an insane amount, and pairing that with a Chapter 9 version of [Twin Steps] almost let him get hits on the bear-kin with his efficient counters, all backed by a -recently gained- Chapter 2 version of [Amzair].

    Progress with [Amzair] was insanely slow, but if he could just reach Chapter 3 he believed that he could at least get Mars once before the bear-kin raised his stats again.

    As far as his time with Verity went, it was quite a bit more successful - even if it had been a few weeks since they last sparred. She had a tendency to get cocky which was easy for him to take advantage of, plus the fact that she was a far less skilled fighter than Mars with far fewer [Skills] that were all of a lower level. It wasn''t like he could thrash her or anything, she was still tens of levels above him, but it was like trying to climb a tall mountain instead of a sheer cliff on the tallest mountain in the world.

    The downside to that was her latching onto him more strongly. Whenever he used the guild library to study she''d always magically show up which made things difficult. He was trapped using the library so people wouldn''t question where he was getting all the books he had, but it was still annoying for him to deal with the interference.

    Verity also kept trying to get him to buy her lunch, but it wasn''t going to happen. He was doing everything he could to keep his expenses low. He''d even dropped himself to two meals a day and was considering one. He already forgot to eat with some level of frequency, so it probably wouldn''t make much of a difference. Being hungry all the time was annoying, but his stomach had finally shrunk, so it had gotten better.

    The only time he could say that he got three good meals were every Highday when he was spending time with Rhinese.

    He''d show up first thing in the morning, snuck into the Astral Library via the secret passages, was given a plate of fruit from a grumpy Sariya, and spent some time reading until Rhinese showed up after Damus finished with her.

    Rhinese would read and Crimson would split his time between practicing and reading. For himself, he was less worried about practicing there -he could check out books now- but it served as good practice for Sariya.

    She''d clued him into her [Class] and he''d been helping her train her [Skills]. She''d ended up taking [Shinobi] which was an assassin type class which used/required a high affinity for [Purity].

    Apparently, his time with her was helping her [Skill] levels to shoot up extremely fast - even at Lv. 3 she just wasn''t a match for him, so he was enjoying the position Mars had over him for her.

    She mostly focused on the knife, so it was also a good opportunity for him to practice facing someone using a knife, and for her to face a sword.

    They were forced to hold back a bit during training sessions so as to not cause significant injuries where there were no healers around, but it was mainly Crimson holding back. He was too used to being forced to fight above his own limits, so restricting himself felt uncomfortable.

    Regardless, Crimson was helping her on all accounts to improve, so she had warmed up to him fairly quickly. Combat training wasn''t even their favorite type of training together - it was stealth.

    Sariya''s stealth [Skill] was the thing to see the most improvement in their time together because he could detect it. Since she was forced to be more and more careful the [Skill] level had shot right up and she was close to hitting Lv. 10 with it.

    Since Rhinese didn''t want to know what kind of [Class] Sariya had -for some reason- the fox-kin had informed him far away from her mistress that when she¡¯d maxed her stealth skill, she''d try to evolve it - even if her odds of doing so weren''t very good.

    Crimson had stared at her in confusion when she''d said THAT. What part of [Skill Evolution] or [Skill Advancement] was random? From his talk with Raften, he knew that it was a matter of concentrated effort and intention. So if these people stepped back and let the "gods" bless them with the opportunity, then of course they wouldn''t progress; it''s like waiting for a house to build itself!

    The only way a [Skill] could [Evolve] or [Advance] would be if you made an earnest effort with focused intentions and kept pushing yourself to achieve it. From there, other conditions had to be met, but the conditions would be laid out when the first step had been completed.

    He''d told all that to Sariya who''d immediately asked where he''d heard that, to which he''d responded "research." She didn''t really believe him, but he''d convinced her to try with the argument that she wouldn''t lose anything by trying.

    He could only hope that she would try, she was sorta like Rhinese''s bodyguard and he didn''t fancy losing either of them. He''d ended up befriending them both, so suddenly they became important to him on a personal level, which marked the moment he started to push Sariya harder than ever to improve.

    With a sigh, Crimson stepped back from a Sariya who was flat on her back in a very un-lady like position on the ground.

    Her face was completely coated in sweat and her chest was heaving from the force of her breathing.

    As a contrast, Crimson''s breathing was even and he only had a few drops of sweat on his forehead.

    Well, it wouldn''t take long for Sariya to recover. Even if her [Class] skimped on [CON] it had plenty of [VIT], so she recovered quite a bit faster than he did.

    Crimson extended his hand to her, "Need help?"

    She shook her head slowly like it weighed a hundred pounds, "No, I want to stay here for a while, the floor is nice and cold."

    With a shrug, Crimson retracted his hand then started making his way to the back of the first floor of the library where Rhinese had set up home base.

    Approaching her, she didn''t have her nose two inches from a book like usual, but she was morosely staring at the ceiling while deep in thought.

    Tracing her sightline, Crimson made a dim [Magic Light] appear at the edge of his new 17 foot range in the direction she was looking which made her jump slightly, then she looked at him.

    "Oh, hi Crimson. How did it go with Sariya?"

    He folded his arms, "It went well. What is going on with you?"

    She airily waved her hand, "Nothing. Anyway, I think I might finally be able to finish the fifth level of [Magic Light] today! Well, finish at your standards, if we went by a regular tutor''s standards we would already be on Lv. 6, maybe even 7."

    Crimson''s eyes bored into hers without relenting, which made her start shifting to avoid them. She tried and failed to speak a few times during the next minute before she gave up.

    "Fine! I''ll tell you."

    Crimson nodded.

    "I really hate when you communicate like that you know, your eyes were telling me: "Rhinese, you wanted me to be your friend! Well, friends help each other out. You need to tell me so that I can help you." blah, blah, blah! Can''t you just say all that out loud?"

    In amusement, Crimson just responded with another pointed look, to which she responded by throwing her hands up in the air and said, "Fine fine! I''ll get to the point! No need to be so pushy."

    She took a deep breath, "My older brother -Kaine- The Regent Prince just announced his [Class] to the family. It''s tradition for the upper class to wait a 2 to 6 months before announcing their [Class] so that they have time to train and [Level] since "friendly" duels are common."

    The air quotes around "friendly" were practically palpable.

    "Since Kaine announced his [Class] after just two months a lot of people will take it as a challenge, but I''m not worried. He got a High-Grade [Class], the Gods have truly blessed him."

    Crimson tilted his head, "So what''s the problem then?"

    Rhinese started biting her lower lip a little, "He used his [Bloodline] to help him..."

    She appeared to zone off for a second before snapping to her self as she seemed to realize what she said, "Not that I''m saying using a [Bloodline] is a bad thing! In fact, I''d say the opposite! If he hadn''t used his [Bloodline] to gain the best possible [Class] then I would condemn him for stupidity, but...the issue is that it''s just a reminder for me."

    Crimson gently sat down next to her and did his best to show how supportive he felt through his body language - speaking felt like a bad move.

    Rhinese continued, "I...don''t like my [Bloodline]. The men of my family all have a high affinity for [Water] and [Ice], but the women all have a high affinity for [Holy]."

    Noticing his confused look, she said, "It''s not that I dislike having a [Bloodline], what I hate is that it forces me to choose a path I don''t want to take! If I want to become strong, strong as I can be, then I need to take a [Holy] affinity [Class]. Look at Kaine, with our [Bloodline] he was guaranteed of a Mid-Grade [Class] at the minimum, but only if he took something related to [Water] or [Ice]. This is something my family knows from records, no one ever gets a Low-Grade [Class] unless they turn away from their [Bloodline], but not only that: Kaine also received a greater blessing from the Gods and even gained a High-Grade [Class]."

    Rhinese fell silent and Crimson sat back.

    The longer he''d spent with her, the more he realized how trapped she was. He''d felt that connection with her those months ago because he realized that she was trapped, differently from the way he had been, but trapped none the less. Their time together since then had only reinforced the opinion further and further until it felt like an unmovable mountain, now he had the flag to put on top of it with this last detail.

    After a long moment of thought, Crimson stood and wove through the rows of shelves, past Sariya who was still on the ground, to the stairs where he grabbed a book off the third floor before returning to Rhinese.

    Slamming down in front of her on the table, she jumped and glared at him. He ignored the glare and questioned, "What do you know about [Rituals]?"

    The glare easing from confusion, Rhinese spoke, "Well, aren''t [Rituals] something in the [Blessing] which allows us to gain unusual abilities that are available to everyone?"

    "The vagueness of your response shows that you''ve never looked into them."

    Rhinese winced a little.

    Crimson opened the book and began to page through it slowly while he continued to speak, "I''ll speak to your understanding, [Rituals] are a sacrifice to the Gods preformed through your [Blessing]. You are right that performing them allows us to be gifted with special abilities. One I''ve seen personally, a common and easy one to get I might add, is a [Stat Limiter] which allows you to reduce a specific stat by a certain amount from its true value for each time you purchase it. It''s not a permanent effect and can be changed quite freely, but it is still very useful."

    In layman''s terms, [Rituals] were the [System Store] where goods were bought with special monster materials instead of money.

    Continuing his explanation Crimson said, "The interesting thing about [Rituals] is that we don''t know them all. There are only a few available when you first gain your [Blessing] and the amount doesn''t increase with time, [Levels], [Skills], or anything else. The interesting thing with that, is all [Rituals] CAN be preformed from step one, only so long as you have the proper materials. They just aren''t listed in the [Blessing], so most people never discover new ones. Though in rare cases your [Level] or other factors does influence them.¡°

    Rhinese nodded with a curious expression, "I never knew that, but...why are you telling me this?"

    Crimson gestured at the open page in front of him, "This book lists a few of the recipes for [Rituals] that aren''t already in the [Blessing]. Specifically, these [Rituals] are for increasing [Affinities]."

    Rhinese froze for a long moment, then gasped with she realized what he was saying. Crimson was torn between annoyance and amusement as he noted that even when gaping like a fish, the First Princess was still the most beautiful girl he''d ever met.

    With a broad smile, Crimson asked, "So, which affinity do you want to increase?¡±

    ¡ª¡ª

    Since Rhinese was too stunned to learn magic that day -or even respond to his question- Crimson decided to work on [Resonance]. He''d been unable to cast it as of yet, but he felt he was close.

    It was an extremely interesting art to cast magic through movement, he could feel the spell be partially formed while still within his body, only for the process to continue on the surface of his skin, but he was still missing that last step to get the spell to work.

    The annoying thing was, he learned the first level of [Kindle], [Gather Water], [Erosion] [Breeze], [Spark], [Orient], [Heat], and [Chill]. All in less than a day each, but [Resonance] had him completely hung up.

    Well, amid the frustration was excitement. If he could just get the hang of [Resonance] it would open up a whole new realm of possibilities.

    After some practicing and feeling like he was just missing something for a few hours, Crimson walked back over to Rhinese to see if she''d come out of her shock yet.

    Fortunately, she had, but it appeared she told Sariya what he''d told her, so the fox-kin was currently occupying the role Rhinese herself just escaped with her tail drooped to the ground and her ears laying against her head with her mouth open.

    He didn''t know why they acted like this every time he told them something new, but it was a consistent behavior, hopefully they''d finally get used to new reveals so that they could stop wasting time in the future.

    Rhinese glared at him as he walked up then accused him, "Are you doing this on purpose?"

    "Doing what?!"

    "Making things hard for me!"

    Crimson felt more than a little hurt as he responded, "I''m just trying to help, you''re the one that asked!"

    "I''m not talking about that! We still haven''t agreed on a price for you teaching me, now you throw this in! Are your trying to kill me?"

    Oh, so it was one of her weird stubborn moods. No point in arguing with her without a good reason, better to just dodge and move on.

    "Well, that aside, did you get the list of materials you need for the affinity you want?"

    Rhinese glared at him for a moment before "hmph-ing" then responded, "Only technically. There are different material requirements required for different levels, and it only has up to rank 7, so there''s quite a bit of room for me to gather them. The issue comes in the fact that I don''t know how strong my current affinity is to the one I want to raise, so even if I gather all the materials if it turns out I''m rank 4 with the affinity not 5 like I''m assuming, then it''ll make things difficult."

    Crimson shrugged, "It''s not a big deal. Just a bit of extra time that will be worth it to you in the end if this truly matters to you."

    Rhinese nodded slowly, her expression brightening. "I still have 7 months to my birthday too! There should be enough time for me to gather all this!"

    Crimson smiled, "Good, since you''re in a better mood, we can finish Chapter 5 of [Magic Light] today."

    Rhinese nodded excitedly and moved to practice with him watching her like a proud parent.

    It was true, she had finished Chapter 5 of [Magic Light], but Crimson wanted her to be able to cast the spell silently without using any keywords like people normally do.

    Since casting [Magic] with the "normal" method is all about imagery, people found short cuts to assist, like word association. Crimson disapproved, he wanted Rhinese to be able to cast the spell silently since it would be a greater help to her in the end, and she agreed since she had a weird sense of pride when it came to his suggestions.

    They continued to work to the end of the day and Rhinese was able to finish Chapter 5 to his standard and start Chapter 6 right before it was time to go. He said goodbye and left.

    A quick night in his Inn after finally finishing Chapter 10 of [Gather Water] after so long putting it off -easily the most useful of the basic elemental affinity spells- Crimson showed up at the oddly crowded guild first thing in the morning to a devastating piece of news: A Natural Dungeon had been found near Falst.

 Chapter 15: The Other Story

    Chapter 15: The Other Story

    Verity sat in the corner of the guild humming to herself with an amused smile on her face. That dastardly Silver Eyes, he¡¯d gone and done it.

    She¡¯d just been sitting there, minding her own business as Nayre and Crook had gone out to buy some supplies for their next dungeon run to the [Hallowed Graveyard], then Silver had burst into the guild behaving like he¡¯d eaten some kind of interesting mushroom.

    He¡¯d rushed the counter, waving energetically and shouted, ¡°Hiya Sherry!¡±

    Sherry? Like the alcohol? It was an expensive one¡­

    Smokey looked at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion, "Hello Crimson, was your last request so enjoyable?"

    Speaking so loudly than was needed he bobbed his head and spoke with a smile, "Yeah! [Priest] Damus was awesome! He had me write a letter for him!¡±

    The whole routine was a lie, she could tell that easily. He went on to detail a ¡°deal¡± offered by the Temple on [Lesser Litch Hearts]. The more he spoke, the more apparent the lie became.

    Well, it was probably only a lie to her. She could see that Silver didn¡¯t have a strong connection to Smokey, in addition to the negative connection of manipulation he was forming with the room around him. It was quite dastardly of him to do that.

    Glancing around the room, she noted with a smirk how most of the Adventurers occupying the Silver and Gold ranks were now projecting auras of greed. Having punched several of the [Lesser Litches] out of commission, she knew that it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for a lot of the adventurers here to kill them. They were quite weak, moved individually, and had very low levels for the difficulty of the dungeon they occupied. They were even weaker than the standard zombies in the [Hallowed Graveyard]!

    What made them tough to kill then? They called for ¡°friends.¡±

    Verity and the rest of [Cliff] were skilled enough that even if one did call for its friends they could handle the situation, they just needed to be more and more careful as they moved closer to the center of the dungeon and the [Levels] of the monsters grew - something that wouldn¡¯t be an issue for these wannabe hunters if they stayed on the outskirts and did nothing to bother the mini bosses or the greater monsters of the area.

    Since the goal of [Cliff] while they were in Falst was to help Survival get her [Lesser Undead Purification] to Lv.10, giving her a chance to Advance it to [Undead Purification], they had spent a bit of time hunting [Lesser Litches] since Survival could use the weight of her stats to kill them quickly, despite her low [Skill Level].

    After facing a few of those, they¡¯d stopped helping her raise the [Skill Level] as the needed experience wasn¡¯t enough, so they¡¯d been forced to seek out new prey.

    As Crimson turned and left the room, he saw the amusement on her face, and made an unconscious expression of condescension. Whatever his plan was, he thought that she couldn¡¯t interfere with it. His connection to her also had a feeling of mild competition, but it was probably something he wasn¡¯t aware of. If she had to guess, he wanted to be stronger and she, as a Black Gold rank, was definitely strong.

    While the feeling of competition felt nice, the condescension was nothing short of infuriating. With him out of the room, she felt the desire to ruin whatever his plan was.

    She stood and called out loudly to the room, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you believe what he just said, he¡¯s just trying to trick you all.¡±

    Instead of the expected reaction of outraged support, she got booed and jeered at. An entire room of men and women mocking her and saying that she wouldn¡¯t get the money all for herself.

    Her face turning red, she was about the beat the lot of them until their HP was 10%, but a weighty gaze made her freeze. Turning, she made eye contact with the Guild Suppressor who was sending a silent threat: ¡°Go on, start a fight, but be prepared to deal with the consequences.¡±

    Gritting her teeth, she clenched her fists and forced herself to sit down. The rest of the rough spent another minute laughing at her, then turned to more ¡°important¡± matters - like falling for a simple trick. After another minute listening, the rest of her party walked up, and she jumped up to run over and meet them.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The next day, Verity stood in the guild training field in the backyard of the guild. She was squared off against Nayre, and they were both standing in the sand biome training arena. The logic behind using that arena was preparing for the looser soil of the [Hallowed Graveyard] by using a more extreme terrain. If they really wanted to prepare, they would swap between this one and the mud biome, but they couldn¡¯t really afford to be that dirty due to the plans they had later.

    With a relieved expression, Verity spoke, ¡°Thanks for agreeing to my selfish request, I really need to blow off some steam.¡±

    With a cheerful grin, Nayre responded, ¡°Certainly, I could hone a bit more of my [Skills] as well, but¡± he cocked his head to the side, ¡°why do you need to blow off steam?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that I lost a game that I shouldn¡¯t have.¡±

    Nayre shrugged, then suddenly used his [Shield Call].

    Verity felt the pull on her body, but quickly used it to her advantage as she jumped backwards, then used the pull like a slingshot to increase her speed while layering her [Acceleration] [Skill]. Blurring so fast even her own eyes could barely keep up, she arrived in front of Nayre while low to the ground.

    Setting her feet, she gave a mighty uppercut with her right arm that would have sent pretty much anyone else flying, but only knocked Nayre back a step as he slid in the sand, he had used his shield to disperse most of the force.

    Shrugging it off like nothing, he returned the blow by slashing overhead with his sword then lunged forward into a shield bash when she dodged it. Moving quickly she slid around the shield and was given free access to his torso, which she happily used by slamming her elbow into his gut while grabbing his shield arm with the other hand, and used the force of his movement to flip him over her.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t slam flat into the ground as he got his feet under himself and recovered remarkably quickly. Without even turning, and before Verity could react, he stabbed backwards with the sword he¡¯d reversed while in the air. Blow for blow, he¡¯d also nailed her in the gut, but since it was only a wooden sword it just winded her and destroyed the actual weapon since it couldn¡¯t handle the force applied - its durability was depleted instantly.

    Their spars continued on, round after round, they shattered three more of the wooden training swords. They remained fairly even throughout the time, with Nayre¡¯s ingenuity and cunning allowing him to bridge the gap created by Verity¡¯s higher [Level], [Skills], and combat instinct. It was that ability to plan and overcome every situation which had won her respect to begin with, and the reason why she was in his party to this day, but all good things must come to an end, and they couldn¡¯t afford to break any more swords since they were charged a fee for each one they broke.

    50 Royals each! How expensive!!!

    The spar ended with these disheartening words, ¡°Verity, since you¡¯re the one who called for this, you get to pay the fee.¡±

    Morosely, she wandered off, and noticed Silver sitting in the corner of the yard, what was he doing? He seemed to be just sitting against the wall, was he napping? No, a boring looking man walked up to him and ran away a second later as Silver¡¯s eyes turned from fascinating to scary.

    Curious, she made her way over to Silver. When she got close, a bright light appeared right in her face, blinding her. Which one was it¡­[Magic Light], right? The basic lighting spell. Wow, she hadn¡¯t seen this one in years. Specs, the [Mage] for her party, had been using [Weir Light] for the past few years and had been using [Greater Magic Light] for years before that.

    She stood rubbing her eyes for a moment and he made his [Magic Light] disappear.

    "Why did you do that to me?"

    "You walked in on my training, it wasn''t intentional."

    She let out a low menacing chuckle, "Really? Since I helped you out with your training, you can help me with mine. Oh, by the way, you have a bit of blood on your nose.¡±

    Crimson wiped the blood off, then responded to her comment, "I don''t think I''ll be any help to someone of your [Level], I don''t even have a [Blessing]."

    The grin on her face grew wider, "I know, you told me before, but I think you can help with this since you''re a mage. You know some attack spells, right?¡±

    Mages were so easy to beat up in a sparring match. Specs now refused to even step in a ring with her because of how many times she¡¯d beaten him.

    "No. I just started learning magic earlier this week."

    She dropped the smile and stared at him in surprise, "You''re kidding! I heard magic was really hard to learn!" she tapped the tip of her chin thoughtfully, "If you only started earlier this week, then I guess it was an exaggeration.¡±

    Specs was always one to exaggerate and worry after all, she¡¯d have to mock him for being an imp. She loved using this monster to insult him; he always hated the comparison between him, and the conniving, cowardly, and pathetic monster.

    Putting that thought on hold, a predatory smile spread across her face as she started to continue, she would push him into the training match!

    ¡°Well-¡°

    A sudden bang stopped her following words as she whirled to see the cause. It was two bear-kin who had burst out of the back door and¡­which one was the Guild Master again?

    It was the bigger one, right? Or was it the second big one? She couldn¡¯t remember, and they looked too similar.

    They shared a weird moment with an extremely calm looking Silver, and ignored the boring guy as they went back inside. A moment later, her came back out.

    "Um...if the [Brass] rank class could come to me..." his voice echoed weakly across the area, barely intelligible.

    Silver sighed, closed the book he¡¯d been holding, and stood.

    "We''ll talk later, Verity."

    She looked at him, surprised, "You remember my name?"

    "You stand out," he responded simply and walked away.

    She stands out? What does that mean? Between her and him, he¡­yeah, she probably stood out more. Here hair was a golden blonde that really stood out in a crowd, in addition to being an elf with [Aural Reading], plus her high level¡­but that didn¡¯t stop him from standing out in his own way.

    Yet it was definitely weird, he should stand out far more, but he had a relatively weak presence, he wasn¡¯t the type to be remembered or to stand out, unless you made eye contact, then he became unforgettable.

    Verity had noticed it, the weight of will behind his eyes. Put in physical terms, it was like most people were carrying 5 pound weights in their eyes, while Silver was carrying 100 pounds. That kind of strength was hard to forget, even if it was hard to see.

    Shrugging, Verity walked away and started humming. She¡¯d need to meet up with him later, she still needed her revenge.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    A few days later, on Dasday, [Cliff] stood outside the white misty barrier that led to the [Hallowed Graveyard]. The gate was nestled at the bottom of a valley, about three and a half miles from Falst, a quick jaunt for people of the strength of their [Level].

    The fog itself was nestled in a giant gate, one tall enough that even if everyone in her party stood on each other¡¯s shoulders they still wouldn¡¯t be high enough to touch the top and wide enough that a party double their size could walk in side by side with space to spare. There was a rusted iron fence that extended a short distance on both sides of the gate and the moss covered, partially rotten doors stood wide open to welcome challengers.

    Taking a few steps to either side, Verity could see that there was nothing interesting behind the actual structure, just a plain field, the gate itself was a portal.

    Turning to the party, Nayre spoke, ¡°Well, I hope you¡¯re all ready once more, our goal today is to venture in deeper than we have before. We¡¯ve moved on from small fry like [Lesser Litches], [Zombies], or [Ghouls]. Our goal today, is a [Blood Wight]¡± with a sly glance at Verity and an amused smirk, Nayre turned to Specs, ¡°Specs, please review [Blood Wights] for us.¡±

    With a fine finger adjustment of his glasses and his stark white hair spilling over his face and clear eyes, Specs responded in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t you start calling me that too, I still haven¡¯t been able to get Verity to stop after all these years!¡±

    The party started laughing at him, and he blushed furiously as Verity began to proudly smack Nayre on the back while raucously laughing.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Snapping, he spoke, ¡°Shut you mouths! You want an explanation? Listen and you¡¯ll get it!¡±

    The laughter subsided aside from a few gasping giggles from Verity, who was ignored by Specs as he started his explanation.

    ¡°[Blood Wights] are a [Profane] type monster, they take the appearance of long-limbed humans, lacking anything that is not bone, and this bone appears to be coated in blood. They fight primarily with their claws. The primary danger with them is that they have [Skills] based around recovery, they wound their opponents and steal their health to recover, they can also cause a [Curse] that reduces our ability to heal. While they aren''t undead, they are [Profane], which means that Ruth will be able to use her [Lesser Undead Purification] on them, though the effect won¡¯t be as apparent.¡±

    Verity cocked her head, ¡°How is that supposed to work then? [Lesser Undead Purification] is for use against undead, but if our target isn¡¯t undead¡­how is that supposed to work?¡±

    Specs let out a long sigh that made her irritated enough to want to punch him, ¡°Would you please learn more about this stuff? You¡¯re such a [Barbarian].¡±

    She took a swing at him, ¡°Hey, my [Sub-Class] is [Berserker], not [Barbarian]. Don¡¯t insult me!¡±

    ¡°My apologies¡­to [Barbarians] everywhere for the comparison. They at least have some form of mental capacity - even if it is simple. [Berserkers] lack even that.¡±

    ¡°Why you-¡°

    Baggage cut in, the oddly stout -dwarf like- Elf wasn¡¯t a fan of wasting time, ¡°Could you two cut it out or start dating already? We need to get a move on.¡±

    ¡°¡°I would never date him/her!¡±¡±

    With a sigh, Nayre smacked them both on the back of the head, ¡°He¡¯s right, we don¡¯t have time to waste on this, please continue Nathaniel.¡±

    Specs took a deep breath, shot another glare at her, then spoke, ¡°Nayre, Ruth, and I reviewed our options, and we believe [Blood Wights] to be our best target for the moment. Their high survival, plus the weakness [Profane] type enemies have toward the [Holy] [Affinity] means that we can spend a decent amount of time fighting the same one and pinning it in place so that Ruth can keep casting [Lesser Undead Purification] on it over and over again. We¡¯re going to just give this a try and see if it is effective since, if this works, [Blood Wights] would be the best enemy to face at our current strength.¡±

    Verity nodded, that made sense. The most important thing for leveling a [Skill] like [Lesser Undead Purification] was sheer volume of casting. Survival had mentioned that the [Skill] had stopped at Lv.3 after all, better to find a bit of a tougher enemy to temper the [Skill] on since the other enemies died to quickly to make them worth the time taken to find a replacement.

    Nayre spoke up, ¡°Any questions at this point?¡±

    ¡°How far in do we need to go, and what dangers might we run into?¡± Crook asked.

    He and his sister, Survival, were both from the southern desert and had the dark skin of the people from there, though Crook had shaved his head, his hair color was still apparent from the thick black beard, his eyes matching the same color.

    ¡°We¡¯ll circle around the outside to come in from the east, then have to go about mid way to to the Derelict Mausoleum, the location of one of the three bosses of the Graveyard. The danger is..or should be, rather minimal. There is a wandering mini boss, but she usually spends her time near the Monolith at the center of the Graveyard, guarding the Tomb of¡­well, what is probably the third boss.¡± Specs said uncertainly.

    ¡°Probably?¡± Asked Crook.

    ¡°Well, a good rule of thumb is that the amount of bosses matches the amount of mini bosses, with rare exceptions like the Goblin Manor. There are other clues to indicate that there is a third boss, drawings on walls, wandering patterns of enemies, and other reasons, but it¡¯s way too deep for us to go into here, we need Verity awake.¡± Specs said.

    The team glanced at her, and she nodded sagely in agreement.

    Returning to the discussion, Nayre asked, ¡°So if there are three mini bosses, do we need to be worried about the other two?¡±

    ¡°Well, they both fall under hunting ground type mini bosses, they stay in a fixed area, and both are guarding actual bosses. Both are vicious in their own right, but we won¡¯t have to worry about either with the route we¡¯re taking, but as is we may only be strong enough to face one of them, so we¡¯ll need to make sure we don¡¯t wander out of the area we¡¯ll be in.¡± Specs said.

    With that, Nayre finalized a few other details that Verity didn¡¯t find important, they all checked their equipment one last time.

    Line up in front of the misty wall, Verity pressed her hand up against it, then pushed her way into the mist, as per her usual habit - she¡¯d run into too many other parties face first to not be cautious. It was practically a form of initiation for new Adventurers to crash into another party while entering or exiting a dungeon.

    Walking through the mist was always just a few steps, but it was always an unpleasant experience since the mist buffeted at her like a dry gritty wind. It didn¡¯t have any of the cool comfort -or water content- of real mist. Whenever they passed through the mist it always felt like it was passing straight through her, an uncomfortable feeling that had never disappeared no matter how many times she entered a dungeon.

    Stepping out on the other side, she was greeted by thick coat of fog rolling gently over a plain of black soil, with interspersed graves of different styles and ages, from brand new to weathered, and everything in between.

    There was no clear path made by the spacing of the graves, but the wearing of thousands of footsteps had formed several meandering paths that lead into the fog. Normally, a dungeon would repair any damage done to itself, but apparently the path wasn¡¯t considered damage¡­unless it had always been there.

    Verity didn¡¯t know, and she couldn¡¯t be bothered to wonder which way, the only reason she even knew that little detail was because Specs was standing next to her talking to himself, again. This is why he couldn¡¯t get a wife.

    The party formed up and, as planned, they circled around the outside of the dungeon, very carefully avoiding the center as the reached the eastern side, having entered from the western side. Along the way, they came across small groups of extremely weak zombies and ghouls that Nayre took care of using his killer combo of [Shield Call], [Burning Shield], and [Shield Bash]. Two of those three [Skills] had been sitting at Lv.10 for years, and Nayre had been praying to the Gods every day that they would evolve.

    The fact that Verity had evolved her [Gusting Blow] into [WindFist] had made him cry: ¡°The Bloody Tears of Jealousy.¡±

    Regardless, Verity always found it funny to see ten or so zombies flying through the air all at once at Nayre who was trying not to retch at the doubly horrible smells of rotting, then burning flesh in change. Afterwords he would always curse the dungeon.

    Despite the time and importance the [Hallowed Graveyard] held for their party, none of them liked it there. Undead gave horrible rewards, stunk, and were always disgusting to look at. Not to mention the low visibility, gloomy atmosphere, and high danger presented by the terrain of the dungeon. It was such a miserable experience that they had actually decreased the amount of time they spent in the dungeon in comparison to their usual raiding strategy.

    Not only that, but since the drops from undead were so bad, they could barely afford to pay for their lodging! They¡¯d been forced to cut down their time in the [Hallowed Graveyard] even more, so that they could hit up the [Crystal Cavern] to make money to support their stay. Well, Nayre, Survival, and Specs went. It was low level enough that they didn¡¯t need the entire party.

    That said, nobody was particularly mad about spending less time in the [Hallowed Graveyard], which just went to show how nasty it was since they usually put about forty hours a week into dungeon diving, but with the [Hallowed Graveyard] they barely put in ten.

    Admittedly, they hadn¡¯t been diving the [Hallowed Graveyard] too long, but that didn¡¯t make it any less miserable.

    Verity sighed as a punch from her sent a [Bone Wight] - apparently a weaker cousin of the [Blood Wight] - flying a fair distance to crash into another group of [Bone Wights] that were all neatly line up as they charged her, and made them all tumble to the ground. With perfect timing that matched her pace, Specs cast a [Flame Pillar] right after they all hit the ground, burning through their heath instantly.

    He quickly put it out to avoid burning the treasures they left behind, and Baggage used a quick [Skill] to call them over to him to collect them, where upon he grunted in frustration.

    ¡°By the gods Specs,¡± he heavily stressed the nickname the mage hated, ¡°stop burning everything. Its value is already low enough, if it¡¯s damaged then it looses whatever value it had!¡±

    Specs was truly repentant as he responded, ¡°Sorry Lund, I missed the timing with putting the fire out, it¡¯s really hard to judge when these things are so weak.¡±

    With a glance, Verity was amused enough to smother a giggle as she noticed the shared bond of greed between them grow stronger.

    Not noticing the troublesome elf, the two comrades threw away the scraps of bone and joined the rest of the group as they pressed further and further to the center.

    They paused for a break at one point, and Crook and Specs used that time to consult with each other while inspecting a roughly drawn map. After whispering with each other for a few minutes, Crook addressed Nayre,

    ¡°We aren¡¯t far from where [Blood Wights] will start to spawn, about five more minutes of walking. Since they¡¯re a patrolling monster we¡¯ll stay put once we reach that point, no point in increasing the risk presented to ourselves. Is that acceptable, Leader?¡±

    Nayre nodded in response, ¡°Sounds good, about how often can we expect to see them?¡±

    Specs considered the question for a moment, ¡°Well, if I recall correctly, it should be every half hour, but I¡¯m not sure how accurate information of that type is.¡±

    After a few more moments of deliberation where Verity spent her time boredly playing keep away with a [Skeleton¡¯s] skull, the rest of the team came to a conclusion,

    ¡°Verity, break¡¯s over, stop bullying that [Skeleton] and put it out of its misery, we need to get going.¡±

    ¡°Yessir!¡± With a mischievous grin, she drop kicked the skull off into the mist, and watched as the rest of the body ran desperately after it, before joining up with the rest of her team.

    They moved for a few more minutes, then stopped and settled in to wait. Fortunately it wasn¡¯t a long one as a [Blood Wight] made its way jerkily out of the fog heading their way. There may have been a [Zombie] that started forcing itself out of the ground to help it, but Verity ¡°accidentally¡± stomped on its head as she charged the [Blood Wight].

    Ew, now her boots were covered in brain bits and rotted pieces of flesh and bone.

    Making a mental note to hire someone to clean them later, she took in the appearance of the [Blood Wight] as she tried to figure out the best place to attack it.

    Her role for the moment was to lead the thing around like a beast-kin on a leash and let Survival cast her [Lesser Undead Purification] on the thing over and over again. When Verity got tired, she¡¯d swap with Nayre, who would swap with Crook, and loop. Baggage was to keep a look out so they wouldn¡¯t be ambushed, and Specs was keeping an eye on things to step in if anything went wrong.

    The light of [Lesser Undead Purification] surrounded the thing and it flinched. It was an odd mixture of effective and in-effective as the [Skill] was used against an opponent other than its intended purpose, but who also carried a weakness to similar types of [Skills].

    Verity gave it a few seconds, and those few seconds were all it took for the thing to recover, the wounds on its body closing.

    [Blood Wights] looked like in-humanoid skeletons made of blood. The proportions were way too off to be human or any of the other blessed races with extremely narrow and long bones, and arms that were way too long and drug a foot on the ground behind them, tipped with long claws.

    After the [Blood Wight] looked ready to move once more, Verity gave it a rough love tap right in what passed for its face, and proceeded to run in circles around a group of a few graves near the party, the [Blood Wight] being shockingly fast as it did it¡¯s best to keep up with her. About every eight seconds it would be hit with another light, but the amount of time it was staggered decreased with every casting of the spell, to the point where it was entirely unfazed by the damage it received every time the spell hit.

    Verity also had to give it a bop on the nose with every cast of the [Spell] to ensure that the thing didn¡¯t stop hating her, and kept up the process until her [Fatigue] hit 30, where she called for a swap.

    Nayre¡¯s strategy was different from hers, rather than running around he chose to slowly push the thing back with his shield and pursue it to gently push it back a few times, from there he would back up to his starting point where he would stand in place and wait for the [Blood Wight] to charge him, deflect the claws, push it back, and repeat.

    Crook had a similar strategy to her, once Nayre had him take over, and things were going smoothly, until a low tension warning came from Baggage, ¡°Hey Verity, isn¡¯t that the [Skeleton] you were playing with earlier?¡±

    Standing up from where she¡¯d been dealing with the depressing state known as boredom, Verity looked over to where he was pointing.

    ¡°Hey yeah, I think it is.¡± She laughed, ¡°You can even see my boot-print on its skull!¡±

    Nayre and the rest of the team¡¯s tension shot through the roof at her words, then the [Skeleton] pointed at them while turning its head to gibber behind itself. Panicking, Nayre shouted, ¡°Amos, kill the [Blood Wight] now!¡±

    Without hesitation, Crook turned to kill the [Blood Wight], but a knife flew out of the fog right next to the [Skeleton], crossing the distance to strike him in the arm, his last second dodge had saved him from it hitting him in the heart, but unfortunately he had a [Blood Wight] right on his tail whose claws were instantly taking advantage of the sudden decrease in distance.

    Before any of them could react, the claws tore huge gashes into his shoulder, and he stumbled back, his armor had fortunately prevented a fatal injury.

    Quick as he could, Specs used a high level [Cutting Gale] to shear apart the [Blood Wight] while Verity rushed in to grab Crook, Survival sent a healing spell over Verity¡¯s shoulder to heal him as her dash was interrupted by another knife.

    Having more advanced warning than Crook, she quickly used her right gauntlet to deflect the knife, but received a minor cut in the process. Instead of falling to the ground after her deflection, the entire knife started to glow red and pursue her.

    It had locked on to her using her blood!

    Yet another four knives flew, past Verity to strike the rest of her group, all of them neatly deflected by Nayre who was far, far more cautious after seeing what happened to Verity.

    Desperately dodging the knife, she couldn¡¯t see what the rest of her team was gasping at in horror far behind her, where the knives had been coming from, but she could definitely see whatever it was streak past her to slam a bloody axe into Nayre¡¯s shield, trying to get past him to Survival.

    It was a dark haired girl with dead eyes, she was wearing a white voluminous dress with the entire front covered in blood and her throat slit. Her bloodless white feet flashed as she tried, and failed to kick Nayre¡¯s shield out of the way, and was instead forced to use it as a springboard to dodge Specs¡¯ [Spell].

    His spell was accompanied by a horrified scream, ¡°It¡¯s [Bloody Mary], the roaming mini boss!¡±

    Verity internally cursed at his words, then gritted her teeth and layered several [Skills] together: [Precise Aim], [Blade Lock], and [Iron Palm], all into her left gauntlet since that one was designed to be better for grabs. Timing carefully, she took some damage as she grabbed, then crushed the knife as it tried to stab her eye out.

    Wincing, she could feel as the wound inflicted some kind of curse on her, but gritted her teeth and pushed through as she rushed over to Crook and scooped him up off the ground.

    Turning, she could see that Nayre was holding his own against the psycho monster, but neither he not Specs could land a blow against her, the whole mess turning into a dance of blades and magic that could have been pretty if not for the adrenaline and terror coursing through everyone¡¯s veins.

    Casually, she smashed the skull of the [Skeleton] who caused this mess as it tried to sneak up on her, then began to sprint at the [Bloody Mary] with Crook over her shoulder. The monster didn¡¯t notice her in time as she slammed her heels into its back, knocking it down.

    Nayre bellowed, ¡°Retreat!¡± And they all started to book it. The [Bloody Mary] recovered almost instantly and was hot on their heels as they sprinted their way back across the dungeon.

    Shouted apologies were given to the other parties they ran by, as they were then killed before they knew what hit them by the [Bloody Mary¡¯s] axe. One party saw them coming and was able to start running, but their pure [Stats] were far below [Cliff¡¯s], which meant that they were only able to avoid becoming prey for two seconds longer than the other parties, a new record.

    Up ahead, they could see the mist gate and pushed themselves even harder. Specs was now being carried by Nayre, and Survival by Baggage as their [Fatigue] crossed 80 and they couldn¡¯t keep going any more. The time bought by the other parties had been wisely used to pick them up. Verity herself was about to cross 79 [Fatigue] and knew that Nayre wasn¡¯t far behind. Since Baggage had the highest [CON], he was probably doing the best.

    Diving, they were barely able to make it through the mist before the [Bloody Mary] made mince meat of them, where they were greeted by an angry crowd of Adventurers that had just been reborn from being killed.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The next day, Verity had to weep as her savings were almost entirely emptied to pay the reparations that the Guild Master had ordered her entire party to give. Compensating five full Adventurer parties had been so expensive, and that was after splitting the cost with the rest of the team! They¡¯d also been banned from the [Hallowed Graveyard] for a month!

    The only upside to the whole mess was that Survival had gotten her [Lesser Undead Purification] to Lv.4.

    On a personal note, Verity¡¯s team blamed her for causing the mess since she hadn¡¯t killed the [Skeleton] before it grabbed the roaming boss, so she was banned as they raided the other dungeon to try and recoup as much of their lost money as possible. Unfortunately, the [Crystal Cavern] was a Lv.35 dungeon, so aside from the money there was no benefit to people of their high level going there - the only thing in there that could give delicious XP was the boss!

    Verity felt lost and forlorn, she had nothing to do, there was no-one interesting to train with like back home, and she had no money!

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± The question came from behind her.

    Whipping around, she saw Silver standing behind her.

    She let out a long sigh, ¡°Not really, no. I messed up really badly yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Did you fix the mistake?¡±

    ¡°As best I could.¡±

    ¡°Did you learn from it?¡±

    Her head drooped down onto the table and she spoke weakly, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    She could see Silver shrug out of the corner of her eye, ¡°Then move on and focus on something else.¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you needed a training partner? I¡¯m currently free since my teacher is busy, wanna spar?¡±

    A broad smile slowly broke through the despair on her face, ¡°Sure!¡±

 Chapter 16: A Natural Disaster

    Chapter 16: A Natural Disaster

    Verity ran panting to the guild so that she would be there when it opened. There was something big, something horrible that had been discovered last night: A Natural Dungeon.

    It wasn¡¯t far from Falst, just about 10 miles, but that made it the first location that would be attacked in the event of a Dungeon Break. What was most scary was that nobody was sure when it formed, so they couldn¡¯t be sure of when it¡¯d break until someone went inside.

    A Godmade dungeon was fair in that regard, it would give breathing room for you to step in and take a look without being attacked, but it was impossible to be certain with a Natural one, nothing was ever predictable ¨C anything could happen.

    Verity almost ran into Silver as he stepped into the guild. She was tired enough, from not sleeping the night before, that she almost killed the kid in a moment of lapsed control.

    Glancing behind himself at her, Silver raised an eye brow and his expressive eyes mirrored the words he spoke, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Verity put her hands on the knees of her trousers, full of regret for not putting more stats in [VIT], panting as she responded, ¡°Haven¡¯t¡­you¡­heard¡­the news?!¡±

    His eyes sent a clear ¡°no.¡±

    ¡°A Natural Dungeon has been found near here!¡±

    As she watched, his silver eyes flashed and sharpened like a griffin focusing on its prey, ¡°What [Level] is it? What kind of monsters inhabit it?¡±

    That one guild employee stepped up, Verity didn¡¯t remember her name, but she was the one with the strongest bond with Silver. A familial one too.

    ¡°We don¡¯t know yet. The Guild Master should be back soon with the details. We can only pray that it isn¡¯t above Lv. 40. [Cliff], her party,¡± Sister pointed at Verity, ¡°is the only one currently here above Lv. 40.¡±

    Silver looked at Sister with an odd expression, his eyes had become half closed and his mouth a straight line. He maintained that expression for a long moment before he spoke, ¡°You just had to put down a flag, didn¡¯t you? Well,¡± he looked at Verity glumly, ¡°I wish you all the best in clearing the Lv. 45 dungeon this is gonna turn out to be.¡±

    Sister slugged Silver on the arm, ¡°Don¡¯t talk like that! It¡¯ll be fine, just a nice Lv. 22 Natural Dungeon! NO, Lv. 5!¡±

    Silver looked at her with pity and gently patted her on the shoulder before he turned to Verity, ¡°Want to spar while we wait?¡±

    Verity grinned, ¡°Sure!¡±

    She needed to get her mind off things, and sparring with Silver was always fun, he always seemed to know just what she¡¯d do and try to slip in her guard, the only reason he failed as often as he did was because her stats were a lot higher and she had [Skills], something he lacked, but she¡¯d be excited to see what he could do when he finally got his [Blessing].

    They moved out back and Verity put on some soft leather gloves. Since he didn¡¯t seem to mind how much damage he¡¯d take every time she hit him, she didn¡¯t need to use the stupid padded ones.

    She did need to gain [Stat Limiters] with the [Rituals] for her [STR] and [AGI] when they first started sparring. Her [STR] was close to breaking 200, so a casual punch from her would be enough to turn him into paste, but it was all worth it since her [Martial Mastery] had shot up insanely quickly while fighting the kid. She¡¯d finally broken the Lv. 50 barrier on it which had made their time in the [Hallowed Graveyard] much easier for her, fighting bare-handed against the undead was usually a pretty bad idea, but with the increase in damage that the [Skill] brought along with the bonuses she got at Lv. 50 she had a fun time in the dungeon¡­well as fun as it could be in that miserable dungeon¡­blessedly, they hadn¡¯t run into [Bloody Mary] again.

    It made her regret the fact that she¡¯d neglected the [Skill] for years, she¡¯d had it since she turned 16, yet she hadn¡¯t really trained it since then, just content to let it rise on its own.

    Full regret there, now tempered by the fact that Silver had just smacked her in the head with his wooden katana.

    Verity glared at him as he shook out his stinging hands. Even if he hadn¡¯t hit her that hard the [STR]-[CON] difference would hurt quite a bit.

    She sunk lower in her stance and activated [Accelerate], one of her few support [Skills], and lunged at him like she¡¯d been shot out of a bow.

    She crossed the distance faster than he should be expecting, but he used that weird footwork technique to evade her grab with casual ease.

    She¡¯d lowered her [AGI] too much!

    He put a blow into her side that would have gutted her instantly in a real fight if it wasn¡¯t for her [CON], then with ethereal grace he slid out of her reach, forcing her to use [Accelerate] once more.

    He tripped her! Since when could he crush her one sidedly like this? Sure, it had been a few weeks since they last sparred, but how could he change so much since then?

    As she stood he took a few steps back to give her breathing room and assumed a ready stance once more.

    Fine, if he wanted to play, she could play with him.

    She tightened her right hand into a tight fist, then activated her signature [Skill]: [Windfist]. It was the only [Skill] she¡¯d managed to evolve, the original being [Gusting Blow] which increased her attack speed using [Wind]. With the evolution, the wind didn¡¯t just up the speed, but also caused damage as well.

    In her left hand, she used the [Skills] [Precise Aim] and [Blade Lock]. She¡¯d go for a sword grab, then hit him with the right hand. Since it was just a wooden sword she wouldn¡¯t need to use [Iron Palm], which really helped her ration her rather meager MP. That [Skill] was such a drain¡­

    Verity used [Accelerate] once more and crossed the distance to the waiting Silver. He once more used that odd footwork to slide out of the way, but she had a [Skill] up her sleeve he didn¡¯t know about.

    She quickly activated [Fulcrum] and used her right foot to pivot on the spot, channeling the momentum of her run to spin and grab his shoulder. Since it wasn¡¯t his sword [Blade Lock] wasn¡¯t as effective, but it still stunned him momentarily, enough for her to punch him in the gut with her [Windfist].

    The surging gale rushed forward as the blow hit and blasted him back ten feet to roll to a stop on the ground.

    For anyone else, Verity would have been worried, but for Silver there was no need to. He just spat out some blood, then rolled himself over and began to use [Treatment] on his damaged stomach and waited while Sister rushed over to assist.

    Sister began to lecture him like she did every time she healed him, a big waste of time if Verity had any say in the matter, but the lecture only lasted as long as the healing, so it didn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°Why do you keep doing this to yourself? Are you trying to die? What will you do if Mars or Verity forget to hold back one of these days? They could crush you like a goblin!¡±

    Easier than a goblin, he had nothing to protect himself from someone with a [Blessing] aside from pure skill.

    Pure skill that let him almost erase the most dangerous gang in Falst in less than two weeks if the rumors were true, but even the ¡°most dangerous¡± gang in Falst wouldn¡¯t have anyone over Lv.15, so they were small fry in the end. The only reason someone like the Guild Master, the King¡¯s Arms, or Verity hadn¡¯t stamped them out was their low threat level. They usually didn¡¯t kill anyone either, so interceding felt pointless. It was similar to hunting cockroaches, in the neighbor¡¯s house.

    Silver hopped back to his feet and his eyes flashed as he grabbed his weapon and focused on her once more.

    ¡°Again?¡±

    Verity casually reduced the [Stat Limiter] on her [AGI], being forced to use so many [Skills] against a small fry like Silver had been embarrassing, ¡°Again.¡±

    After a few hours of sparring Verity received news that made her curse: [Cliff] had been summoned to the Guild Master¡¯s office while the rest of the guild was waiting with bated breath for news.

    She lined up with Nayre and her other party members in front of Second Big¡¯s desk and stared the bear-kin in the eyes as his gaze swept over the party.

    His brother ¨CBig- stood next to him and exuded a focus with enough intensity to almost rival Silver.

    After a long moment, Second Big spoke, ¡°We have investigated the dungeon, it is a Forest-Fortress type terrain with [Earth] and [Life] affinity monsters.¡± Second Big let out a slow breath, ¡°It is Lv. 45.¡±

    Verity¡¯s expression mirrored Silver¡¯s when he¡¯d discussed what the [Level] of the Natural Dungeon would be with Sister. Did he have a spell or [Skill] that let him see the future or something?

    Nayre grimaced next to her, ¡°How bad does it look?¡±

    Second Big heard two different questions hidden in that first one, they all did.

    ¡°Unfortunately, there are special rules in place. The first reduces the effectiveness of [Fire] type spells and [Skills] by half. The second increases the rate at which durability is consumed.

    ¡°While I didn¡¯t see the boss, I feel comfortable in stating that I believe that you can complete this dungeon.¡±

    Verity allowed a wry smile to cross her face. The special rules wouldn¡¯t affect her, so their Attacker would be completely uninhibited. The biggest issue arose with their mage.

    He wasn¡¯t [Fire] focused, but all of his most damaging and effective spells were. Not only that, but Nayre¡¯s vicious combo of [Burning Shield] and [Shield Call] would be negated.

    It would be tough, but not impossible for them. The biggest worry would be durability.

    The advantage they held would be when they faced [Earth] type enemies since Verity¡¯s [Windfist] would be a hard counter to them. The rest of her teammates would be in trouble since [Earth] based enemies were usually rough on durability, which explained the second rule.

    The real big issue arose with the [Life] affinity enemies. Which meant that they were plant based. Since [Fire] was their hard counter that meant both of the special rules were in place to make this dungeon a hell for anyone who tried to conquer it.

    The only sign of hope in the end was the fact that Natural Dungeons didn¡¯t have reborn enemies. When they formed, the monsters that were in it were the monsters it had. The only exception being in races that could reproduce, but that wouldn¡¯t be an issue for them: [Earth] types usually couldn¡¯t and [Life] types were usually too slow to affect anything.

    ¡°Usually¡± being the key word. You could never be sure with a Natural Dungeon.

    Second Big cleared his throat with a sad expression, ¡°We didn¡¯t receive an alert saying we were the first to enter the dungeon, and we were attacked immediately after we entered.¡±

    Sorrow crossed the expressions of Verity and everyone else in the room, there had already been a life or lives lost to this Natural Dungeon¡­

    Nayre took a deep breath and spoke, ¡°H-how was it? Can you help us with this one?¡±

    Both Bigs shook their heads with grim expressions, and Big responded, ¡°The Overlevel Penalty stopped us completely. Short term, it wouldn¡¯t be too bad, but we won¡¯t be able to help you.¡±

    Nayre cut in, looking horrified, ¡°There are special rules on the Overlevel Penalty too?¡±

    Big nodded, ¡°Yeah, nasty ones. We take double damage from [Earth] and [Life] attacks, are more weak to [Debuffs], all [Skills] cost double, this is in addition to the usual Penalty, and we will be under the same rules as you. Quite frankly, we¡¯d be more of a hindrance than a help.¡±

    Verity bit her lip as Nayre backed down. Most people would refuse to ever suffer a Overlevel Penalty, so the fact that both Bigs had been willing to give it a try before discovering the extra penalties was more than generous.

    She gave them almost enough respect to call them by their actual names, but decided that they hadn¡¯t quite reached that point.

    Silver had long reached that point, she just kept calling him that because it was more fun this way.

    Second Big spoke, ¡°If there¡¯s any good news here, it¡¯s that the dungeon won¡¯t break open for 6 weeks.¡±

    Well that, at least, was a good piece of news. They wouldn¡¯t be forced to push for the center, they could just chip their way in bit by bit until all the enemies but the boss were dead, then face it fully prepared. It made sense why Second Big thought their chances of beating it were pretty good, the final issue just came in the form of the boss itself.

    Second Big continued his speech, ¡°I invoke then, The God of Truth to witness this agreement, this contract. As the Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Guild Master, I have also been requested to extend this offer not just on behalf of the guild, but on behalf of the Kingdom of Alda as well: in exchange for the [Black Gold] rank party: [Cliff] completing the dungeon known as [Nature¡¯s Retaliation], we will be offering 40,000 Royals up front to help assist in preparation. Out of consideration for the second rule of this Natural Dungeon, we will also be offering free repairs for all of your equipment.¡± Second Big paused to look them all in the eyes one by one, ¡°The reward for completing this request is a weapon from the Royal Treasury for each of you, and 100,000 Royals for your whole party. Please, live up to our expectations.¡±

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Verity stood in front of the black mist that coalesced in front of her. It was thick, not allowing her sight to pierce more than an inch or two into it and the whole of it was formed into an intimidating wall.

    She really was happy beyond all belief that the dungeon had been found as early as it had been, but as she stared at the wall of mist she was forced to combat dread and confusion.

    Dread, because she¡¯d never entered a Natural dungeon before, the Godmade ones had the mist too, but it was white in color, so this mist stood as a stark and clear contrast. From step one, it was clear she was in over her head.

    What made her confused was that she didn¡¯t know how anyone had found the dungeon. They¡¯d entered a cave in the mountain, passed through a near labyrinth of tunnels, and at the end of it they¡¯d found the wall of mist.

    Well, it didn¡¯t matter how it was found, the fortunate thing was that it had been, and they had plenty of time to clear it. Well, plenty for a Natural Dungeon. Usually, her party liked to spend plenty of time [Leveling] before they rushed the boss, taking months or years to do so, but with the lack of rebirth, it should be possible for them to push straight to the end within the time limit.

    She glance at her teammates to see how they were doing.

    Nayre was doing as well as could be expected, he was nervously polishing his new shield. They¡¯d bought it using the preparation money and a generous donation since his old shield was forged and enchanted to support his [Burning Shield] [Skill], and they all agreed it was best to outfit the Defense to prevent the front line from crumbling. Their weapons were good enough, but if Nayre¡¯s shield broke then it would be over for them.

    Looking at Specs, well, he seemed fine. He was just panicking while counting the number of Healing and Mana Potions they had. Normal enough for him in the situation.

    What worried her was the twins, they were both human, male and female, but they had the dark skin that the people of the southern desert had. Crook and Survival were whispering to each other in low tones and¡­ah, nope. She didn¡¯t see that. That was disgusting.

    Baggage was doing fine, he seemed to be doing the best of the group. He was just quietly meditating.

    Verity took a deep breath and checked her gauntlets once more. The left one gave her a bit more freedom to perform grabs and the right one was better suited to punching. It was a weakness in her fighting style: she was entirely reliant on her hands.

    To her chagrin, she remembered a lecture Silver had given her. It was along the lines of ¡°you¡¯re a [Martial Artist], yet you don¡¯t use your legs in a fight!¡± He¡¯d then proceeded to lecture her on learning ALL aspects of her [Class] to best grow her strength. The cocky boy didn¡¯t even have a [Blessing] but he was telling her how to use hers¡­shockingly, she felt regret for not listening. For some weird reason, Silver always seemed to know what he was talking about. He had also been the one to help them the most so far, so his words had extra weight in her mind.

    Well, her regret was something she¡¯d act on later, experimenting in a Natural Dungeon with a new fighting style was a good way to get herself killed.

    Her preparation finished, she waited as one by one the other members of the group stood beside her in front of the Dungeon Mist. After everyone had silently arrived there, Nayre spoke, ¡°Ready?¡±

    The group nodded, silence felt necessary for the moment.

    ¡°Let¡¯s begin the raid.¡±

    As planned earlier, Nayre and Verity stepped in first with Crook following a few seconds later, last were Specs and Survival.

    As she passed through the mist she didn¡¯t feel the usual warmth from it, but a coldness that pierced her to the bone and seemed to cut her soul. Stepping out on the other side, she found mounds and mounds of bodies: Treants.

    It looked like Big had been understating when he¡¯d said that he and Second Big had been attacked. There had to be well over 40 bodies strewn about, none of the materials had been collected either.

    A moment later, she got an alert:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-

    Entered: [Nature¡¯s Retaliation]

    Level: 45

    Type: [Life]/[Earth]

    Break: 1003 hours, 20 Minutes, 38 Seconds

    Rules:

    1: Decreased effectiveness and increased cost of [Fire] affinity [Spells] and [Skills] by 50%.

    2: Increased Durability Consumption.

    3: Only one party at a time may challenge [Nature¡¯s Retaliation]

    Good Luck brave ones, protect the people from nature¡¯s retaliation.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity gave a hollow chuckle. The Bigs hadn¡¯t mentioned the third rule ¨C not that it was an important one. No parties strong enough to clear the dungeon would dare come close.

    There had been an incident in the past where a Natural Dungeon appeared and a call of help had been sent out. The thing was that the people who requested help lied out of desperation about how much time they had until the Dungeon broke, so when the parties arrived on the scene it was just in time to be massacred.

    Since then, the trust hasn¡¯t existed that would get anyone to travel to an area where there was a known Natural Dungeon, not until it was definitively clear or broken.

    It had kinda become ¡°this is your problem until it becomes a danger to me, then it¡¯s our problem.¡±

    It was a troublesome attitude in times like these, but Verity couldn¡¯t blame them. Fear of the unknown was normal, but a glimpse of known threat but remained mostly unclear was even more so.

    Breaking her out of her reverie, Nayre said, ¡°Amos, go scout ahead, we¡¯re gonna do this Attack and Retreat style, I don¡¯t want to lose any of you to this dungeon, so there can¡¯t be any mistakes.¡±

    Crook responded, ¡°On it boss.¡±

    He then slipped off like a shadow into the surrounding forest.

    Currently, they were on a low hill with the Dungeon Mist occupying the zenith, the hill itself was clear, but there were trees surrounding it on all sides, and from their raised position Verity could see a fortress off in the distance.

    It was a fairly squat thing, seeming to only have one floor, but the single floor was far too tall for a regular building, stretched to be three stories in height with a giant stone dome in the center. For all that it didn¡¯t go up, it certainly sprawled out.

    It lacked any windows and the whole thing was made of a tightly fitted bland grey stone. Final thought: nothing about it was appealing to her.

    Specs next to her spoke, ¡°Well, looks like we don¡¯t have to guess where the boss is.¡±

    Verity nodded at him, ¡°Yeah, but we won¡¯t be going there for a while. Better to clear out everything in the surrounding forest before heading in, we don¡¯t want to be surrounded. The mini boss will probably be somewhere out here too.¡±

    Specs snorted, ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me, help me tell Nayre we need to be thorough before we head for the center.¡±

    She nodded once more, and they waited with some amount of trepidation as Crook slipped out of the brush and approached them.

    ¡°I have good news and I have bad news.¡±

    Nayre responded, ¡°Let¡¯s hear the bad news first.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more than just Treants.¡±

    Grimacing, he asked, ¡°What else?¡±

    Crook shrugged, ¡°What do you expect? I saw Aulrine, Wood Golems, Weeping Willows, and Forest Nymphs.¡±

    ¡°By the [Blessing]¡­this is going to be a tough one.¡±

    Crook seemed to have fallen into a state of either denial or apathy as he responded, ¡°Yeah, those Aulrine and Forest Nymphs will kill us for sure.¡±

    Nayre flashed a fake cocky grin, ¡°We¡¯ll manage, what¡¯s the good news?¡±

    ¡°They aren¡¯t too clumped together, the Aulrine and Forest Nymphs especially are solitary.¡±

    Verity spoke then, ¡°Well, at least there¡¯s a good side to this. Don¡¯t forget, we can leave to prepare for the Aulrine and Wood Nymphs, we just need to focus on the others first. The Treants won¡¯t be too much of an issue, but we should probably hunt the Weeping Willows first, no need to wander into their territory unexpectedly.¡±

    Nayre nodded, ¡°Agreed. Amos, lead us to our prey.¡±

    Crook led them through the forest. While he was silent as he moved, the rest of them made enough noise to rival a Minotaur in a glassware shop.

    Verity shook her head in amusement. The only person she¡¯d seen move as quietly as Crook was Silver, he had this habit of walking without letting his shoes make too much noise, but she wasn¡¯t sure how he did it.

    After a winding route, that had them freeze in place for a moment as a Wood Golem passed by, they reached a clearing with a tree in the center.

    The tree itself had extremely long and flexible branches that hung low, near the ground. The leaves on it were of a melancholy blue, and on the trunk they could see a face that had a constant stream of tears pouring from its eyes.

    It hadn¡¯t noticed them, or pretended so, as they did a quick planning session.

    After it was over, Verity, Nayre, and Crook surrounded the tree from three different sides, and began to move forward in unison, step by step until the expression of the tree suddenly turned malevolent and the low hanging branches suddenly rushed the three of them.

    Verity lost track of what the other two were doing as she watched the spearing branches rush toward her.

    Contrary to the thought she¡¯d had earlier, she would be trying out a few new tricks in the dungeon. Silver had given her a few ideas after seeing her [Skills] in action during their sparring match the day before and the moment seemed like a good idea to try them out.

    Verity activated [Accelerate] and lunged to the side, barely making it a step and a half to the side ¨Cjust outside the targeted range of the branches- before using [Fulcrum] to pivot on her left foot. She also activated [Windfist] and used the momentum from the spin generated by [Fulcrum] to slam the blow into the overextended branches which completely shredded them. The force of it was easily beyond the strength of her usual blows, making it almost like she had 250 [STR] instead of almost 200.

    With so many of its branches suddenly destroyed, the Weeping Willow abruptly turned the greater portion of its attention to her. She¡¯d pulled too much of its focus!

    Once more activating [Accelerate], she launched herself backwards and right out of its range.

    That didn¡¯t stop it from trying to reach her as it lashed out repeatedly at the ground right at the edge of its range, which allowed Specs a clear line directly to its face, and he sent [Wind Blades] crashing into it over and over again. He¡¯d gotten the spell to Lv. 10, so the cool down time for each of the castings was low enough for him to repeatedly cast it in a short amount of time.

    Speaking of cool-down, Verity checked her charges on [Accelerate], it had three charges, i.e. three instant uses, but after those first three the cost to use it increased an insane amount. With time, the charges would come back, but she was still a decent 15 seconds from getting a second one.

    That was really unfortunate since she could see a few Treants trundling their way.

    Using her final charge of [Accelerate], she rushed over to Specs, Baggage, and Survival while her party members slammed the last few blows into the Weeping Willow, killing it.

    Glancing, she saw that [Windfist] still wasn¡¯t ready to be used again, so she used [Palm Strike] on the Treant that tried to attack Specs while he was distracted.

    The thing formed a ¡°V¡± as her palm dug into the center of its body, right where the stomach would be for a person, and sent it flying back a bit.

    It was still alive, but the Treants weren¡¯t strong enough individually to pose a threat to their party, the issue was that they moved in groups.

    They were extraordinarily tall with the proportions of dwarves, made entirely of wood and bark with only four fingers, lacking a thumb, and with very roughly formed physical features. Features that no longer mattered after what happened next.

    A [Wind Blade] from Specs slammed into its neck and took care of what HP it had left from her initial attack.

    Verity glanced at the other Treants that were approaching her and cracked her knuckles in response, time to get to work.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Over the course of the next few weeks [Cliff] came up with a few different strategies to deal with the various monsters in [Nature¡¯s Retaliation].

    Moving deftly, they cleared out the Weeping Willows without too much of an issue, but every time they killed one they had to deal with a wave of Treants coming for them.

    The Treants didn¡¯t need a strategy, just making sure they were constantly giving a bit of ground during a fight prevented them from being surrounded, which allowed them to easily dispatch the Treants.

    For Aulrine, they were much easier than expected due to an idea Silver had given them from his research. Aulrine were flower monsters, roughly the size of a human, and stationary. They were constantly letting off scents and smells to lure their prey in where they drained them of their life.

    Aside from the obvious advice of ¡°cover your nose¡± from Silver, he¡¯d also suggested that they let one of the group pretend to fall for it and send Crook around behind the Aulrine to poison it with a thrown dagger.

    The biggest help Silver had given there was with what kind of poison to use, he¡¯d suggested [Rotted Sap] which they could actually get from the Weeping Willows.

    While Silver hadn¡¯t been any help for the Forest Golems ¨Cno help needed anyway- he had been very helpful for the Forest Nymphs.

    The Forest Nymphs were humanoid with green skin, eyes, and hair. They had the ability to freely hide themselves in trees and were extremely stealthy.

    The usual strategy was to burn the trees they hid in, but with Rule 1 in place Specs couldn¡¯t cast [Fire] spells strong enough to do the job, so Silver had suggested that they use Aulrine pollen to get the Forest Nymphs to lower their guards, then have Verity grab them, Nayre hit them with a ¡°Aggro¡± ¨Cwhatever that meant- [Skill], or Crook hit them with a [Rotted Sap] coated knife.

    It was unfortunate how their debt to Silver was growing so fast. He had been a major help at every step and that was all despite the fact that he never set foot in the dungeon or directly touched their equipment.

    After they finally cleared out the Forest Nymphs, they turned their attention to cleaning up the Treants. It was a fairly easy process, but they¡¯d been forced to retreat on several occasions to prevent any loss of life.

    With everything else out of they way, they felt safe to engage the 10 Forest Golems that were around.

    Each Forest Golem was about as tall as five Verities, strong, tanky, and slow. Killing a single one wasn¡¯t difficult, but it was a process that took them four hours to pull off.

    Verity ended up gaining a level in her [Martial Artist] and [Berserker] [Classes] during the process which made her very happy.

    The added [STR] each [Class] gave her were well appreciated as they were able to cut the time for the second Forest Golem down by a quarter of an hour.

    They took a day for each Golem, making sure to rest after every encounter to keep themselves at their peak and their [Fatigue] low.

    Finally, the forest was cleared, and the whole team had Leveled at least once, putting them in a much better position than before.

    Verity had turned off the notifications for her [Skills], but she was excited to take a look when she had more time. She was certain that she¡¯d finally gotten another Level in [Windfist] and the long-stagnant [Fulcrum], and was overjoyed to see that [Accelerate] had a slightly shorter cool down.

    After a day of rest to prepare, they stepped into the fortress at the center of [Nature¡¯s Retaliation].

    Like she¡¯d noticed four weeks ago, the fortress only had one floor, but had a vaulted ceiling. The floor itself was bare and there were no decorations or anything, but the enemies were obvious. Lining the walls, evenly spaced, were statues. There were a few consistent types and they all stood at attention, pretending to be the dead stone that they looked like, but certainly weren¡¯t.

    Glancing at her party members, she was happy to see that everyone else was glaring at the statues and seemed to have understood what they were.

    So they were in the [Earth] portion of the place then? Great, the durability on their weapons would plummet. It hadn¡¯t been too big of an issue up to the current point, but it was clear that they would be feeling how much that second rule hurt in a moment.

    Taking a deep breath, Nayre led the group forward into the room, only for the door to slam shut behind them.

    An unnatural and spine cracking laugh echoed around them, completely inhuman and terrifying in a primal way.

    For herself, Verity had frozen with a surging sense of terror the second the doors closed, but the laugh was almost enough to drive her mad from the fear. Everything, her hands, her eyes, her feet, her stomach, her long ears, they all trembled with a fear that seemed directed at her sanity.

    A second later, a notification appeared in front of her. It was the same one she¡¯d seen when she first entered [Nature¡¯s Retaliation], but there was one difference: it focused on Rule 3:

    ====

    3: Only one party at a time may challenge [Nature¡¯s Retaliation]

    ====

    The words wavered and blinked for a second, before reading thus:

    ====

    3: Only one party can challenge [Nature¡¯s Retaliation] at a time. Their challenge must fail or succeed before another may enter.

    ====

    The rule was clear: finish or die.

    It would definitely push them toward ¡°die.¡± They were locked in a building full of [Earth] type enemies in a dungeon where durability was consumed faster, it was meant to be a death trap.

    Silver¡¯s eyes flashed in her mind, and she cursed herself for her weakness, he would never let fear swallow him like this. They knew going in that they could die, it was obvious. Suddenly, she became more scared because it seemed like the danger changed? No, it had remained the same the entire time. After all, anything could happen in a Natural Dungeon and happen it did ¨C only their dropped guards could be blamed.

    Verity turned to Nayre who was frozen in fear and slapped him, hard. It served as a wake up call and helped him focus on her.

    ¡°Can I have control?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Verity turned to Specs slapped him then spoke, ¡°You and I will take care of all the small fry here. We need to conserve our durability as much as possible. That means just us, the rest of you will stay a step back and keep yourselves ready for the boss. We¡¯re all going home heroes today, got that?¡±

    She got a bunch of jerky nods from the group of of usually hardened professionals, then got to work.

    She was forced to remove her gauntlets, but she could function without them anyway. Better to save them for the Boss.

    Verity had Specs use [Wind Bullets] to pull the statues one by one to the center of the space outside of the other¡¯s attention range, and engaged them one by one in single combat where she emerged victorious each and every single time with some minor help from Survival. She was forced to wait a bit between each encounter to recharge her MP so that she could use [Windfist], but it was worth it to survive each encounter.

    They continued to use the same strategy for every room, every hallway, and every courtyard until the reached a pair of great doors.

    They took a vote, and left the doors behind, choosing instead to hunt the remaining statues, no need to risk the boss calling on them during the fight. Once every enemy was dead, all with the exception of the boss, they stood in front of the door, ready to enter. They chose to wait till the next day and slept on the cold ground before returning to the door first thing in the morning.

    Verity placed her gauntlets back on her arms and the rest of her party armed themselves once more. It was time to finish or die.

 Chapter 17: Death of the [Windfist]

    Chapter 17: Death of the [Windfist]

    Tension rushed through the guild main hall and the whole space reeked of body odor from the nervous sweat people were letting drip down their faces.

    Crimson sat at the bottom of the stairs leading to the loft as he let his eyes rove around the space, alighting on different people to gauge their reactions. They ranged anywhere from confused to concerned, scared to denial, and one or two who actually seemed excited.

    All of them were waiting for the announcement of what [Level] the Natural Dungeon, the time until it breaks, as well as the type. It was very important to establish those things to know what they needed to do.

    If the [Level] was low enough then those driven by greed would try to raid it regardless of the danger since the rewards for even a few hours in a Natural Dungeon could beat days or even weeks of effort in a Godmade Dungeon.

    If the [Level] was high then cowards would immediately begin trying to desert Falst to avoid the possibility of getting killed, the same would be true if it was close to breaking.

    The uncertainty of it was what scared everyone to the point of ignoring their usual behavior and habits. Even the Harem Squad was affected as the five of them stood at the back of the space.

    Abel had his head in his hands and seemed to be mumbling to himself while the elf was sitting on the ground with her arms around her knees crying. The dryad just seemed shell shocked and the red-haired cat-kin was comforting her blue-haired sister.

    Crimson couldn¡¯t help but sigh to see all this.

    These were supposed to be people used to living on the edge between life and death, who faced danger everyday! Yet the second an incident happens they all go to pieces. It was sad.

    That wasn¡¯t to say that Crimson was completely removed or didn¡¯t care ¨C he did! It was just that he felt the reactions of everyone else to be off-putting and disappointing. He knew the danger just as well as everyone here; he knew that there was a chance he could die if the place broke open, but he refused to cower like the rest of the guild seemed to be content doing.

    He also had a better idea of what the [Level] was than anyone else as well, [Cliff] had been the party summoned after all. It stood to reason that the flag Emma had planted earlier might actually be waving.

    Discontented to sit there without doing anything, he set to work on his mana and spent the next hour trying to increase his range from 17 to 18. Progress was slow and was measured in fractions of an inch which was annoying for him, but it made sense that things would slow down and become harder and harder. The fortunate thing was that he could freely control his mana within a 14 foot distance from himself, so it was worth it to keep pushing his maximum range.

    After that hour, the sound of heavily stomping boots came out of the hallway to Crimson¡¯s left and he looked down it to see Lars approaching the main area.

    While there wasn¡¯t much sound to begin with ¨Cmostly crying or low moaning- the second Lars stepped into the guild¡¯s main hall the entire space went entirely silent. The only sound was his thumping boots as he went to stand in front of the reception desks.

    After a moment, he spoke heavily, ¡°For those of you who don¡¯t know, there was a Natural Dungeon found a few days ago by a foraging farmer who got lost in a cave looking for mushrooms. He did his best, but it still took him a day to find his way out of the cave where he informed us immediately.¡±

    By ¡°us¡± Lars probably meant everyone with ears in a hundred yards of this guy, only then had the information had made its way to the guild. They wouldn¡¯t want information like this to spread freely under most circumstances, but if you don¡¯t control the source stopping the spread of information is severely difficult, which was probably an understatement.

    Lars continued his speech, ¡°After receiving this information, I went personally with Mars to inspect this dungeon today.¡±

    The entire guild gulped and leaned forward with their breath caught in their throats.

    ¡°The Natural Dungeon found is Lv. 45. It has about 6 weeks until it breaks open, which is plenty of time for the competent team ¨Cwho has agreed to undertake the task to clear this Natural Dungeon- to prevent any external loss of life.¡±

    Lars probably didn¡¯t want to be telling everyone this, but if he didn¡¯t after the information became public knowledge he¡¯d have a riot on his hands.

    The Guild Master did his best to project confidence as he spoke once more, ¡°The party that has been selected is the [Black Gold] rank party: [Cliff].¡±

    The lack of options make a selection easy. The Overlevel Penalty would guarantee that Lars and Mars wouldn¡¯t be touching that dungeon, so there was literally no one else but [Cliff].

    Technically, the Overlevel Penalty wasn¡¯t too bad. It just reduced the stats and [Level] of a person who was more than 10 [Levels] stronger than the main boss. The reduction just restricted the stats to what they would be if the person in question¡¯s [Class] [Levels] were within the max range. It didn¡¯t affect [Skills], [Titles], [Affinities], or stats gained in other ways, but people still refused to subject themselves to it since the loss of strength felt ¡°like having a piece of my soul ripped out.¡±

    Crimson just thought they were babies, but he hadn¡¯t experienced it in person, so it might be a little unfair to say that, which was why he just thought it instead of saying it.

    Regardless, that was the main effect of the Overlevel Penalty, but the secondary effects included preventing XP gain ¨Cwhich felt like a given- and increased difficulty gaining [Skill Levels].

    All the factors combined meant that people didn¡¯t usually raid dungeons too far below their [Level].

    Crimson still saw the value in it: almost all dungeons had specific loot and there was no reason to lock yourself out of it for some penalty. So why not go get some good loot?

    Crimson let the thought go and focused on the rest of the guild.

    The news had a different effect for different people, some reacted with hope. Since there was already a party to challenge the dungeon, plus the long time until it broke, left them with some measure of hope that they wouldn¡¯t be in danger, but there opposite side was equally prevalent ¨C the side that focused on what [Level] the dungeon was.

    The second group were teetering on the edge of a full scale panic induced melt down, which made Crimson want to throw his hands into the air in exasperation. They had six weeks to worry, if they front load all the panic then their little hearts won¡¯t be able to take it.

    For himself, Crimson¡¯s reaction was more in line with ¡°how can I help?¡± since sitting around being useless wasn¡¯t exactly his style, not since he got a functioning body.

    ¡°Because of the importance of the Natural Dungeon we will be assisting [Cliff] in whatever way we can. The Guild will be providing support in the form of repairing the weapons and armor of the party as well as providing funds for them to reoutfit themselves. If any here could offer additional support it would be greatly appreciated.¡±

    Crimson put his head on top of his interlocked fingers and slowly surveyed the guild. While it wasn¡¯t surprising, it was saddening to see no one step forward. He even took a long hard look at those who he knew could help in someway, but didn¡¯t. Selfish to the end, even with the threat of death they couldn¡¯t be swayed to sacrifice something replacable.

    Crimson snorted silently and moved soundlessly down the hallway Lars had just vacated ¨C he wasn¡¯t interested in calling attention to himself, so he¡¯d talk to Verity in person.

    Crimson walked up the stairs and found [Cliff] waiting in the hallway outside the Guild Master¡¯s office speaking in hushed tones. They all looked a little depressed and a cloud of gloom completely overshadowed them.

    ¡°Oh hey, it¡¯s Verity¡¯s little friend! How are you doing kid?¡± Nayre asked, completely pale in the face, but pretending to be fine.

    Verity looked at him with confusion, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± She didn¡¯t look any better than Nayre.

    Crimson looked at the team for a long moment. Then removed a slip of paper and a pen from his belt pouch, wrote on it, then pressed his guild card against it.

    ¡°Here¡¯s my contribution.¡±

    He handed the slip to Nayre who took it looking confused.

    ¡°Contribution?¡±

    He waved to Verity then walked away as a long drawn out shout echoed from Nayre as he read what Crimson had written on it.

    It was a little frustrating to be out 13,000 Royals in one move, but this was more important ¨C he could always make more money. He still had a bit left over so he would survive until he could make more, but it was still annoying.

    He returned to his spot on the stairs without another word as Lars continued his plea to help in any way to the crowd of adventurers. Some at least had the decency to look a little ashamed as his desperate eyes roved them.

    From what little Crimson knew of Lars, the bear-kin would probably be angry to be the Guild Master right now. The position put handcuffs on him to control the actions he could take ¨C even if he wanted to help more than he was, he just couldn¡¯t.

    From his time helping the guild during his first week in Falst, Crimson knew a lot about the guild¡¯s policies and rules on the administrative side. In this situation, the Guild Master would be capped at giving 10,000 Royals from the guild ¨C giving any more would interfere with favoritism laws. IF he did want to give more it would have to be unofficial and out of his own pocket. For such a high ranking adventurer the general public would think that they were rich, but most of an adventurer¡¯s wealth was found in their equipment ¨C not their bank account. Even Lars ¨Cfor his almost unheard of high level- probably wouldn¡¯t be able to give much. If Mars helped then they could probably give a decent amount. Even so¡­

    Looking to his left, a stunned [Cliff] walked out of the hallway and Nayre approached him holding the slip of paper tentatively.

    ¡°Um¡­¡±

    Before he could continue Crimson pointed at the door, ¡°You can cash that at the Merchant¡¯s Guild.¡±

    Nayre slowly closed his mouth and, with a stunned expression, walked slowly out of the guild with a shocked party following behind him.

    Feeling the pressure of eyes, Crimson glared at the rest of the guild with an annoyed expression as the whole of the room stared at him with a confused expression.

    The attention was unpleasant.

    After the majority of the adventurers had dispersed Crimson privately approached Lars.

    ¡°What can I do to help?¡±

    The bear-kin looked at him in surprise, then responded, ¡°Would you be willing to do some work as a scribe? We¡¯d have you take care of the logistics for this dungeon raid: securing supplies, organizing the craftsmen to help us uphold our side of the deal, and handling the finances of this operation.¡±

    He nodded, ¡°Sure.¡± He then looked Lars dead in the eye, knowing he wouldn¡¯t flinch even with Crimson pushing with all of his intent, ¡°My pay will be fair, yes?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    He got to work immediately, performing his duties as outlined, as well as mediating between the [Smiths] and the adventurers who were helping out.

    Apparently, there was bad blood between the groups because the adventurers thought that the [Smiths] were Royal grubbers who overcharged their prices by an unrealistic amount. The [Smiths] were insulted by the idea of charging any less for their work.

    There was a whole sense of pride on the [Smiths]¡¯ side that Crimson didn¡¯t really care to understand, but caught on to it fairly quickly which made it possible for him to mediate between arguments. Since he was a ¡°Scribe¡± he was seen as a neutral party, which made him the only choice around to mediate.

    Annoying, but whatever.

    At the end of the first day raiding the dungeon known as [Nature¡¯s Retaliation] the party left bearing grim tales of the monsters to be found inside.

    Crimson listened, then went to work researching those monsters.

    The Forest Golems and Treants were dismissed immediately, so his focus went to the Aulrine, Weeping Willows, and Forest Nymphs.

    What his research turned up was pretty depressing:

    Aulrine were a nastly lot that focused on mental debuffs and when they perceived danger they would release a poisoned pollen and call for back up. Their normal pollen wasn¡¯t something to laugh at either, the mind control effect was one of the worst kinds Crimson had found in all the books he¡¯d read. Even Damus¡¯ [Skill] was a child¡¯s toy to a man¡¯s greatsword by comparison.

    That was just for Aulrine, for Weeping Willows, they were a bit more straight forward: they just used their razor leaves to hack apart anyone who got too close to them. The interesting thing to note with them was that [Rotted Sap] could be found in them, IF they were killed without using [Fire], and the body was left in place for a few days. It was an extremely nasty paralytic poison with a cruel health drain and a chance to inflict [Blindness].

    Armed with that information, Crimson turned his attention to the Forest Nymphs. They were tricky stealth based enemies that could sink into the wood of living trees like water. They had a host of nasty poisons on their claws that would ruin anyone¡¯s week: [Paralysis], [Drain], [Blindness], [Confusion], [Slow], and others. Fortunately, they wouldn¡¯t ALL be applied at the same time if a member of [Cliff] was hit, maybe just one or two ¨C three if they were unlucky.

    Well, they certainly were unlucky, they were in a dungeon that made [Fire] magic practically useless, so they needed to find an alternative to that.

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    Crimson found the answer after Verity bragged to him about how she¡¯d stacked her [Skills] to damage a Weeping Willow like he¡¯d suggested. Once he¡¯d heard that they could kill one, he had suggested that they use the [Rotted Sap] to combat the Aulrine.

    The best way to do that would be to keep it from releasing it¡¯s poisoned pollen or calling its fellows.

    After watching [Cliff] argue amongst themselves for a good minute after telling them that, Crimson had suggested that the most effective way to deal with that would be to distract it then hit it from behind before it had the chance.

    From there, he¡¯d had the idea a few days later to use the Aulrine pollen with [Rotted Sap] to lure out the Forest Nymphs and kill them.

    Everything went relatively smoothly after that with those strategies for [Cliff]. Apparently, they had a few close calls, but since everyone was still alive Crimson was content. Though, it was hard to stay content.

    All of his research, talking to [Cliff], managing the costs of repairing their weapons, all of it drove home how nasty a Natural Dungeon was.

    The three biggest threats of the Dungeon were all relatively stationary and extremely territorial, but the Forest Golems weren¡¯t under the same restrictions or instincts, so their presence could drive the unwary into the territory of an unexpected monster.

    Top it off with a wave or two of Treants after every encounter and it drove home the fact that the the whole dungeon was designed to force you into a nasty situation and wear you down to nothing.

    The experience made Crimson appreciate the power of a good scout ¨C he¡¯d need to make sure he got a good one for his party¡­or just be the scout himself. Options¡­

    Setting aside the thought for later, he continued to do his best to aid the work from his side, but after the first week of intense labor, there was just nothing for him to do since he had all the budgets made and the shifts and laborers managed, so he spent his time at the guild on call for anything that went wrong.

    He spent his time training and reading to combat the frustration he felt from not being able to do anything more, but it didn¡¯t do much, just drove home his weakness all the more as Mars was holding back less than usual because of the same frustration, and his lack of progress on [Resonance] became all the more clear.

    He spent a month stuck in that loop, the entire time he didn¡¯t get to meet with Rhinese, so he was pretty sure that she¡¯d be furious when he did show up, but leaving when he might be needed at any moment was hard, so he¡¯d have to accept her anger and beg for forgiveness.

    ----

    One Saturday afternoon, just about four weeks after the dungeon had been found, he was in the guild library studying as per usual. He had a book that he¡¯d brought with him from the Astral Library a while ago and was completely fascinated by trying to understand it. Key word being ¡°try.¡±

    It was a completely different language from any other he¡¯d knew or had come across, and that was saying something! Crimson was passibly fluent in: Elven, Dark Elven, Druidic, Catanese, and several archaic forms of the Common Tongue. He also knew a few words from several other languages like Kibear, Uluuin, and Humango.

    Shockingly, there was a language specifically for humans, but he barely heard it because most humans just spoke the Common Tongue for convinence. What was more shocking ¨Cto them- was that he didn¡¯t know how to speak it, but he could only blame that on his low exposure to it.

    Considering how comprehensive his knowledge of languages was, it was shocking that he had come across one that didn¡¯t even bear a passing resemblance to any other language he¡¯d found.

    To put it in terms that would be familiar to the people of his old world: it was like Japanese.

    Japanese had three different character systems and it was possible to find all three in a sentence, the same was true for this language, and the character systems correlated fairly well too. For example, with the first character system: Hiragana.

    Hiragana was the most simplified form of the written Japanese language, it was phonetic in nature which actually made it simpler than English in that regard, but the fact that you had a word that could have different meaning without a different spelling made it sometimes difficult to understand with just Hiragana, so Kanji was used as well.

    Kanji were the complex characters, that the Japanese actually took from the Chinese, able to express the difference between words with the same spelling, but which made written Japanese infutiatingly difficult to learn how to read, that was before adding Katakana onto the mix, but it was just used to express foreign words in a written form for the Japanese.

    Crimson had tried to learn all of them, but in the end had waved the white flag. If he¡¯d been truly motivated he would have stuck with it, but it had just been an impulse, so the desire was easily quashed.

    That was, unfortunately, not true with the characters he was looking at. He¡¯d already identified and could understand a few of the most basic characters, but that wasn¡¯t much, and he was far from understanding any of the more complex words or ideas.

    The way this language differentiated from Japanese was interesting. It also used three character systems, but while two of the three were fundamentally similar ¨Cif not synonymous- the middle of the two was different.

    This language didn¡¯t have its own version of Katakana. Instead, it had something more similar to cursive in the English language, but the fascinating thing was that even if he found a character he knew used in it, the meaning of it was fundamentally changed by the connected and surrounding characters.

    To top it all off, his ability to comprehend languages using whatever [Skill] or ability he had didn¡¯t function as well for this language. He actually had to spend a decent amount of time studying each character individually to parse out its basic meaning. It was annoying, not the challenge, but the fact that he was so driven he couldn¡¯t just move on from it as a waste of time.

    Well, he had to set it aside for the moment anyway. He¡¯d gotten a letter from Damus earlier that day and he needed to draft a response. It was a request from the [Priest] to release the information Crimson had given during his interview with Rhinese a few months back.

    Apparently, he¡¯d waited so long to ask so as to conduct the experiment himself to test the voracity of Crimson¡¯s words, which he personally applauded since taking the words of a 15 year old kid as the gospel truth would be the sign of an idiot for this kind of thing.

    Well, Damus had confirmed that Crimson had told the truth and wanted to buy the information from him so he could ¡°disseminate¡± the information. He was fairly certain that he¡¯d be selling the information off to the highest bidder before sharing it ¨C the man was greedy in the extreme after all.

    Crimson didn¡¯t have any issues with the request: he felt duty bound to share the information, but didn¡¯t want to be tied directly to it ¨C that would just be a hastle. He could also use it as an opportunity to bleed Damus dry since the [Priest] had abruptly stopped relying on him to spread rumors after the visit with Rhinese ¨C his pride had taken too much of a blow.

    That had abruptly cut off Crimson¡¯s access to new spells, so he¡¯d use this as an opportunity to get at least one spell outta the man.

    Crimson smiled in amusement to himself as his eyes traced the penmanship of the letter, it had been written by Damus himself and the hand writing was not only poor, but the frustration the [Priest] had been grinding though as he wrote it also bled through. Being forced to ask permission from Crimson probably felt like letting a dog bite him on the butt and leaving it there, but Damus couldn¡¯t dodge around him since Rhinese would definitely stand up for him if he tried to share the information without Crimson¡¯s permission.

    Rather than deal with that fall out, Damus was doing everything properly and almost certainly hating every moment of it.

    It brought Crimson no small amount of sadistic pleasure to know that. He hadn¡¯t really like the [Priest] before, but hanging around Rhinese and getting hit with wave after wave of her opinion on the man had only made that opinion sink to the depths of distaste and disgust.

    In the end, his final thought was: a pig may be dirty, but cooked properly it becomes delicious.

    The sound of the library door opening gently brushed past him and his ears twitched with strain to hear the steps of the person walking in. After a moment, he smiled. Verity! Those were her steps! But¡­

    Crimson¡¯s proud smile slid to a ferocious frown, the tempo was wrong. She didn¡¯t normally walk like that, her steps were more even, and she certainly didn¡¯t drag her feet, did he make a mistake?

    Looking behind himself, he was surprised to see that he was correct about the person, and horrified to see the condition she was in.

    Verity, with her gold blonde hair and green eyes, was usually the picture of beautiful vitality and burning emotions, but the Verity he was looking at was the opposite on every account. She was pale ¨Clike she¡¯d suddenly become part Uluu over night- her long ears had drooped, her face was devoid of all emotion, and all of her movements were lazy.

    A sense of doom overshadowed him and gloom rose in his heart ¨C if she was acting like this then she¡¯d certainly lost a party member or more to [Nature¡¯s Retaliation].

    Crimson abruptly stood and helped her into a seat without saying anything. What could he say? No words he could say would be able to comfort her. Maybe someone else would know what to say, could lift or share her burden, but he didn¡¯t know how to do any of that. The only thing he knew how to do was¡­be there.

    He felt helpless: Verity, one of his few friends in this world, needed help, but he couldn¡¯t offer anything meaningful.

    Unsure, he stood next to her chair as she sat there with a dead expression, her hands neatly folded in her lap, then he slowly reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

    She flinched, and Crimson swiftly started to remove his hand in response, but quick as a viper lunge she grabbed his hand and squeezed it so tightly that he could almost hear his bones creaking.

    He tightened his grip in return as the expressionless mask she was wearing started breaking down. First with one sniff, then with a second, then she started sobbing.

    Crimson reached out and gently placed his left hand on the hand she¡¯d used to grab his, and waited while the sobbing continued.

    Feeling a little awkward, he also crouched down to be at the same level as her. It turned out to be a good thing for her as she was able to more easily hold his hands, but a mistake for him as he got to watch the gut wrenching expression she was making.

    After a few minutes of crying, Verity slid to the floor and pulled him closer to cry on his chest. It wasn¡¯t a romantic action, but one that was a pure expression of despair seeking solace in another. Even as her tears whet his shirt, all he could wish was that he could help in a more tangible way. He¡¯d do everything he could, but if he couldn¡¯t do anything¡­

    Well, there was something he could do. He wrapped her in a hug and gently began to rock back and forth. Her sobs became a little more choked, but her grip tightened so he continued doing it.

    After a few minutes of this, the door to the guild library opened once more and Crimson felt a surge of bloodlust that allowed no mercy.

    HOW DARE SOMEONE INTERFERE WITH VERITY¡¯S MOURNING!!!

    He gently pressed a hand to the back of her head to keep her from looking up as his face twisted into an expression of pure murderous rage was he glared with all of his intent at the the person who rounded the bookshelves.

    It was Lars, who had opened his mouth to speak, but for the first time he flinched when he met Crimson¡¯s gaze, and took a few steps back.

    Crimson mouthed two words at him with all the force of his rage: GET OUT!

    The bear-kin Guild Master nodded slowly, then walked out without any hesitation.

    After he left Crimson was able to calm himself and he refocused on Verity.

    After an hour of her crying she spoke for the first time, ¡°They¡¯re all dead. Nayre, Amos, Ruth, James, Nathan¡­ They¡¯re all dead. If I had just moved a little faster¡­ If I¡¯d just been a little stronger¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t know if his words would help, but since she¡¯d come to him for comfort he¡¯d try to help despite his uncertainty, ¡°I would advise that you never say ''if'' like that.¡± He looked up and remembered something he¡¯d long repressed, something he now let bleed through in his words, ¡°''If I¡¯d just trained that one [Skill] a little more. If I¡¯d raised my [Level] a little higher. If I hadn¡¯t hesitated. If. IF IF.'' Stop. Just stop. You¡¯ll never be able to sleep again if you keep saying that. Your friends wouldn¡¯t want that.¡±

    Verity¡¯s grip had started to tear great holes in his shirt while she quietly listened, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to care.

    He just continued, grinding out a thought process he himself had had once before.

    ¡°Instead of staring at the ¡°Ifs¡± and becoming trapped in the past, look for a source of strength that will help you as you move forward¡­ I am sorry this happened. I am so, so sorry. I don¡¯t know if what I said helps, but if there¡¯s anything you need, please let me know.¡±

    She nodded, her tears continued unabated for hours beyond that though her sobs had long stopped, and eventually she fell asleep using his lap as a pillow.

    He chuckled a little at that, ¡°Isn¡¯t it usually the girl who gives the guy a lap pillow? Well,¡± he looked at her face, then brushed her hair off her forehead sadly, ¡°I¡¯ll let it slide this time. You need it.¡±

    ----

    From that day, three months flashed by, which left three until his birthday. Verity had attached herself to him for two weeks, then completely disappeared for over a month before showing up again. She collected the reward for completing [Nature¡¯s Retaliation], then disappeared once more.

    He¡¯d spent his time doing what he usually did: training, reading, learning magic, teaching Rhinese, and making money as best he could. He also started taking apprentice requests to try out different crafting trades to see what fit him the best.

    He¡¯d reached a few conclusions during those three months: the first being that he couldn¡¯t train with swords or magic all the time ¨C he needed something else to break it up, especially when he hit a wall. For all the scribing requests he did, it was possible that he could do that, but he didn¡¯t find it satisfying even if he was good at it.

    He did find making things with his hands satisfying, so he directed his focus there to gain a basic understanding of the different kinds of production [Classes] that were out there to see which one he wanted. He¡¯d found that he enjoyed pretty much all of them ¨Cnot talking about leatherworking- so he¡¯d been forced to start narrowing down his options in a different way. He¡¯d thrown out any and all [Smith] [Classes] because of the facility required. He planned on moving a lot and he didn¡¯t exactly have a way to carry a forge around with him, so that was no dice.

    That pretty much left things he could train on the road while traveling with materials he could find with decent ease. That meant there were pretty much three production [Classes] that really caught his eye: [Alchemist], [Tailor], and [Enchanter]. Of the three, [Enchanter] didn¡¯t really fit his requirements, but the art was so fascinating to him that he was having a hard time eliminating it; he had the same trouble eliminating [Alchemist] as well. It had some similar issues with a facility and tools.

    It was something to think about as the rest of his training moved at quite a decent clip as he refined his fighting style further and further.

    As far as his magic went he was still considered a breathing impossibility, and that was before he¡¯d started his current experiment.

    He¡¯d had the idea to try pushing his mana out of the veins in his body and control it within his body. The idea had been mostly a curiosity experiment, but as the mana had started settling into his body in an unusual way he¡¯d kept doing it. It was a long and slow process, but one he was curious to see the result when he was finished, which about covered what had progressed with his magic, but as far as other things. Well¡­

    In terms of pure skill, he was first place by a margin the size of the Grand Canyon.

    Even Lars and Mars weren¡¯t as skilled as him even if they could beat him without twitching a finger. It had only served to reinforce a simple fact: people focused way too much on stats here. They neglected [Skills] and skill in a way that boggled Crimson¡¯s mind, so his position as first wasn¡¯t actually a difficult one to obtain and keep.

    The only real contender for second place was actually Abel since he¡¯d gotten down on his knees and begged Crimson to teach him how to fight. The kid had a high talent and could possibly outstrip him at some point, but his work ethic wasn¡¯t high enough to do so, and that was after having the best work ethic in the guild after Crimson ¨C Mars and Lars not counted.

    Abel had ended up getting his [Blessing] not long ago and had selected the [Knight] [Class]. Since he¡¯d also met some of the extra requirements the [Class] had even advanced to be mid-grade and became the [Regal Knight] [Class].

    The rest of Abel¡¯s party ¨Cnow dubbed [Everwood]- had solicited Crimson¡¯s help as well, and they all had at least mid-grade [Classes] with Midori actually getting a high-grade one ¨C she¡¯d spent more time listening to him.

    He had face palmed when they confused correlation and causation. They were all attributing their [Classes] to the mercy and blessings of the Gods and almost completely discarded the idea that their own efforts were what allowed them to gain those [Classes].

    The most annoying thing was that Crimson couldn¡¯t technically say that they were wrong since Abel had said, ¡°The Gods have seen our efforts and have decided to bless us for them!¡±

    Technically correct, but wrong. Their efforts allowed them to complete the requirements for higher grade [Classes], the Gods hadn¡¯t done anything, they were [System Administrators] ¨C so they wouldn¡¯t be so directly involved unless there was an issue or if they wanted to give a quest.

    Midori had been the only one to listen when he explained that, but she wasn¡¯t doing a good job UNDERSTANDING, so he¡¯d given up. He had been able to impress her with the idea that the harder she worked the better, so he¡¯d been forced to walk away content with that.

    It really was hard to dig out something that was so deeply ingrained into the culture. That didn¡¯t stop him from trying, and with his new-ish job he was in a good position to do so.

    With his high skill level and knowledge he¡¯d actually ended up as the [Brass] rank teacher after that last guy ¨Cwhose name and face he couldn¡¯t remember- had left.

    He¡¯d done his best to help them with their chosen weapons and had done a good job acquainting them with the theoretical knowledge as well. He knew his short comings, so he also had experienced adventurers come in and share their experience.

    Overall, he was very happy with his class¡¯s progress, the fact that he had some [Bronze], [Silver], and even a few [Gold] rank adventurers attending was something he calmly ignored. He got paid extra for it anyway, what did it matter?

    It was one Thursday after he¡¯d finished teaching for the day that he went to the guild library where his stack of books and notes were waiting. Since he was the only one who ever went in there it was pretty safe hiding his notes in the check out desk, so he grabbed them and made his way back to his usual spot when a familiar face surprised him.

    ¡°Verity, what are you doing here?¡±

    She looked good, she actually had color in her face this time, was thinner than in the past, but no longer looked emaciated from lack of food ¨Cforce feeding her had not been fun- and she had a serious expression on her face.

    ¡°Hey Crimson, how are you doing?¡±

    His eyes bored into hers, ¡°I¡¯m fine, the real question is: how are YOU doing?¡±

    She nodded firmly, ¡°I¡¯m fine. I took your advice: I decided to think about the future. I asked myself: how could I stop everyone around me from dying again? I thought about it long and hard, too hard actually! It¡¯s obvious: I need to get a healer [Class]!¡±

    Crimson looked at her with a bemused expression, ¡°Don¡¯t you already have three [Classes]? I don¡¯t think-¡°

    She responded firmly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I already reset my [Blessing]. I want you to help me get a healer [Class] and in exchange I¡¯ll be the healer for your party!¡±

    The smile on his face was replaced by a look of shock, ¡°You did what?¡±

 Official Announcement

    Okay, to most of you this is absolutely no shock, but to some you have no idea (because you didn''t read my author notes or the comments). ETB will be going on hiatus for about 6-7 months due to IRL circumstances. During such a time I will still work on ETB when I have the time, and as such there are a few things I would like to consult with ya''ll on.

    The first is Skill Ranking. I''ve scratced my head over this a bit, and I''ve decided to take it to ya''ll. Pretty much, what do you want me to do to let you know a skill is awesome at a glance? Rareity? Ratings? I''ve got skills set up on a tier system already, but that measures how many times the skill has undergone progression. A tier 10 skill could still be a newbie one just as well as it could be a world ending one, so it isn''t a good metric of how awesome a skill is. Also, do I even need a skill ranking? Would you guys even want that? Please let me know.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Crimson''s second name. Okay, so this one is more for fun. What do you think Crimson''s second name should be? These names can (and probably will) change as he and the rest of his party grow stronger, but do you have any you want to chuck my way? I have a few ideas myself, but I want to chuck this out there in case anyone can come up with something cooler.

    Thanks for your time! I''ll be going off grid next week, but I keep plugging away when I can so that we can all enjoy the best version possible of Crimson''s story. Thanks for following me so far, see you with the next chapter when the hiatus ends!

 Chapter 18: Facing Forward

    Chapter 18 - Facing Forward

    Verity stared at the dark wood of the ceiling and took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She was standing in the hallway outside the Guild Library, prepared to enter the dungeon to confront the boss.

    The irony of seeing Crimson as an existence similar to the boss of a dungeon wasn''t lost on her. Just a few months ago, he was a weakling -still lacking even the [Blessing]- with some interesting skills and fascinating eyes that she could beat up in her sleep, but the current ache in her bones and muscles reminded her that the situation had been reversed. While he still lacked a [Blessing], she lacked a [Class], the backbone of a [Blessing].

    She''d thrown it away.

    Verity leaned forward with her arms folded tightly over her stomach and took yet another deep breath, before clenching her jaw and jerking upright, her hair whipping all over. No matter how long she waited or put it off, it wouldn''t change what she had to do!

    She forcibly twisted her lips into a smile, though it felt to her like nothing more than a vain attempt, and stepped into the library while trying to pretend with every single one of her actions that she was ''cheerful,'' that she was ''her.''

    It was exhausting, how had she ever moved like this so easily? She''d once been moving like this normally! Yet now, it felt not only tiring on her body, but her mind, and even down to her soul. It was only more draining once she reminded herself of the reason for the act: she needed Crimson''s help.

    He was the only one she could trust and rely on, and potentially the only one that could help fulfill her request. Were there others? Certainly, but she knew what kind of puppet strings would be attached to her if she went to them. She would lose a lot of what she wanted and needed to them. She would not be able to redeem herself on her own terms.

    Doing her best to cheerfully bounce her way over to Crimson''s "throne," the energy she was fakng faded away and she approached it with some measure of disappointment; he wasn''t there yet.

    Taking another deep breath, she gave up on the cheerful act and sat in her usual seat, but she couldn''t sit still, her nerves were pushing her to twitch and fidget. She stood up and paced the room, flipped through a book about magic for a minute, then threw it back in irritation, and sat down in Crimson''s seat.

    What could she say to convince him to help her?

    Sitting in his chair, she tried to imagine herself as him. How was he, normally? He was...focused. The first word to describe him could only be focused. Whatever he was doing was always given his utmost in time and attention, stealing that focus was one of the most difficult tasks.

    Crimson was also extremely intelligent, though, he was a bit of an airhead. He had a way of parsing through information that always stunned her; she couldn''t even imagine what it would be like to think like that, but if she had to deal with being air headed as a consequence, then she could deal with not being that smart.

    He had this way of not noticing other people that made her scratch her head. If anyone meant him harm, he''d immediately be able to figure it out, but if they were taking a neutral or even positive stance against him then he''d have no clue. It was like he could only understand negative emotions.

    From her time being around him, she knew that he didn''t even notice the stares that followed him whenever he went in the guild. He probably didn''t notice the weight of the rumors following him, even if he knew about them because of his tendency to hoard information. He certainly didn''t know the impact he had on his students.

    Yet, despite all the information he had, despite the intelligence he wielded, he still often made choices based on emotion. It was a fascinating thing to watch, and she''d only seen it happen a few times, but Crimson didn''t always make the ''smartest'' choice.

    Usually, it was in smaller, almost insignificant details. His hatred of spears for one, or his love of delivery requests for another.

    Crimson, with all his intelligence, wouldn''t normally dismiss a weapon like a spear out of hand, it was an excellent weapon and a worthy contender for a main weapon, yet he dismissed it almost derisively. Wouldn''t it be smarter to consider it thoughtfully? He''d certainly been thoughtful with every other weapon as far as she''d seen when they had both first arrived at the Falst Adventurer''s Guild.

    When they''d both first arrived, it had made sense for him to take delivery requests as well, it was a good fit for someone who was just starting out, but he should have swiftly moved on from them. The effort put in, for the money gained was not equivalent in the slightest.

    Falst was a large city, running back and forth across it would be exhausting and the chance of getting lost or mugged were very high depending on the parts of the city he sprinted through, yet he kept taking those requests!

    Verity certainly wasn''t as smart as Crimson, but she definitely knew more about being an adventurer, he was doing nothing more than wasting time!

    It was stuff like that that made her wonder how bad of an airhead he was¡­

    Though...it...couldn''t be said to be all bad, that same mentality made him take care of her even when she was...the way she was after losing Nayre and the rest of her friends. He was the one who kept her alive, the one who gave her a reason to think that she could keep living.

    She needed to repay her debt to him...or at least, that was what she was telling herself, but in reality, she needed him a lot more than he needed her. He was the only ally she dared to face.

    After that thought, it was like a [Curse] had set in, one to increase her heart rate and stress! What if she failed? She knew she had baggage! She was still scared! She didn''t want to lose anyone else ever again!

    That last thought...was probably part of the reason why she couldn''t choose anyone but Crimson. No matter what happened, or what enemies they faced, she could never imagine Crimson dying like Nayre. He always worked hard to be competent. He pushed himself and was constantly working on something, an honest, earnest, and concentrated effort that could never be beaten.

    It was after that thought that Verity realized that there was only one way to convince Crimson: telling him the truth. She''d have to match every inch of his hard work with hers. Any thoughts of faking cheer or hope, of pretending to be fine all disappeared, and in its place was raw determination.

    She would even use ''that'' as a trump card.

    With a click, she heard the door open and the oddly muted rhythmic thump of shoes from Crimson''s steps. Rounding the corner, he made eye contact with her and she mustered all her will not to flinch in the face of it, even as her doubts began surging once more in the back of her mind.

    Speaking calmly, but firmly she said, ¡°Hey Crimson, how are you doing?¡±

    His slanted, silver eyes bored into hers, ¡°I¡¯m fine, the real question is: how are YOU doing?¡±

    She nodded firmly, and the truth poured out of her lips, a little too fast, ¡°I¡¯m fine. I took your advice: I decided to think about the future. I asked myself: how could I stop everyone around me from dying again? I thought about it long and hard, too hard actually! It¡¯s obvious: I need to get a healer [Class]!¡±

    Crimson looked at her with a bemused expression, ¡°Don¡¯t you already have three [Classes]? I don¡¯t think-¡°

    She responded firmly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I already reset my [Blessing]. I want you to help me get a healer [Class] and in exchange I¡¯ll be the healer for your party!¡±

    The smile on his face was replaced by a look of shock, ¡°You did what?¡±

    Verity winced a little at his dumbfounded expression, then ploughed on, "Well, I knew that I couldn''t get a healer [Class] for obvious reasons, but in the end this is the only thing I could think of!

    "If I got rid of my old [Classes], I knew I could get a new one, and since you''re teaching the [Brass] class I knew you could help me. You''re also the only one I really trust around here, you won''t do anything to...take advantage of me."

    Internally, Verity winced at the desperation in her voice, along with the fact that she kept talking about ''her'' not ''him.'' While he sometimes operated on emotion, Crimson was mostly a logical creature. If she didn''t do something to appeal to how she''d be of use to him, then she''d never be able to join his party. He''d probably help her since they were friends, but she''d never be able to stick with him.

    As she opened her mouth to try and continue her desperate tirade Crimson spoke with a tired expression, "I believe that you had a whole host of other options before coming to me. Why then, did you do this?¡±

    Panic rose in Verity¡¯s chest, before it slowly began to disappear. After a moment, she said, ¡°Because I did what I thought would make me happiest.¡± A bitter smile crossed her face as she continued without looking at Crimson, ¡°I¡¯ve always done what I thought would make me happy, I¡¯ve been very true to my instincts and emotions, and I¡¯ve always relied a little too much on my [Racial Skill], [Aura Viewing]. It¡¯s been easy for me to know who to trust and who to hate, including you.

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°When I first met you, I didn¡¯t like you that much. Your Aura was a little sickening, full of pain and loss, and burning with a hunger that scared me, but at the same time you were so fascinating. Everything I saw that scared me was tempered by a strange and innocent kindness that you try to hide. You had such strong positive bonds with everyone you met, that fostered such good relationships. It wasn¡¯t just everyone else though, your very existence encouraged me to be better, to become stronger, more reliable, trustworthy, and determined.

    ¡°I had been stuck at Lv.45 of [Martial Mastery] for five years, but the second I met you, got to know you, and saw the bonds you created, it Leveled Up. I was even able to hit Lv.50 in a very short time thanks to your help. You¡¯ve done nothing but good for me, even for as much as you initially scared me.¡±

    Verity laughed, then hiccuped as her vision misted over and tears started to roll down her cheeks, ¡°It wasn¡¯t even just me. Nayre, and the rest of my dear, dear comrades grew as well. You helped me, and I helped them. The impact you¡¯ve had helped us all see the future where we fulfilled our dreams once more. You can laugh at me if you want, but I wanted to reach Level 60 and propose to my dear one. It was such a simple, silly little dream, but his parents wouldn¡¯t approve if I wasn¡¯t worthwhile, so I set out to become strong.

    ¡°All our dreams were quite similarly simple: making money, getting famous, going on adventures...the only really worthwhile dream among us all was Nayre¡¯s. He wanted to be a hero and protect people from monsters. He wanted to be strong enough to walk into any Natural Dungeon and clear it without anyone getting hurt. He wanted to reach so much further than me, all the way to Level 100.¡±

    Verity reached up and started brushing away her tears, when she looked up, she saw Crimson looking at her with concern, and a bit of anger. Focusing a little she activated her [Racial Skill], and rather than his face, she saw instead his Aura.

    Since she¡¯d reset her [Blessing], [Aural Reading] had reverted once more to [Aura Viewing]; it took a lot more effort and MP to use, was quite a lot less effective, and could only be used between her and a target instead of two separate targets, but it still helped her understand a few things. Any Aura could be defined by several colors, but there were primarily three colors she could consistently see: a color that represented them, a color that represented what emotion they were feeling, and a color that represented their relationship/perception of her. She could see more or less than that depending on her relationship with the target of the [Skill], but she was close enough to Crimson to see all three colors.

    The color that represented him was easy: it was crimson, matching his name, and the reason why she¡¯d eventually settled on calling him Red instead of Silver. The color representing his relationship with her was white, and finally the color representing the emotion he was feeling most predominantly was a sickly pale green.

    White was a good color for a relationship. It represented a pure relationship without any ulterior motives.

    This specific color of green was unease.

    If things continued as they were, she¡¯d fail to convince him.

    The panic she kept trying to bury emerged once more, and she started speaking fast again, ¡°I want to join your party because you can help me get everything I want, but it won¡¯t just be a one sided relationship, if you help me then you¡¯ll have a better healer, and you¡¯ll be able to go further. You¡¯ll be able to reach Level 100 if you side with me, and because of my [Aura Viewing] you¡¯ll be able to find other party members who are trustworthy.

    ¡°So please,¡± she stood and kicked her chair out of the way to kneel on the ground, ¡°please, let me into your party.¡±

    ------

    Crimson stared at the top of Verity¡¯s golden head. She was kneeling on the ground with her hands balled up on her knees. He could see that she was trembling and her breathing was bordering on hyperventilation.

    If pressed, he couldn¡¯t claim that recruiting Verity was a bad idea. She¡¯d do what he said and would work hard, she was trustworthy and determined. Essentially, she was perfect. There was just one glaring issue.

    Crimson wasn¡¯t good for her.

    He couldn¡¯t fathom the reason, but she¡¯d latched onto him hard enough to ignore other options like returning home or finding a different party to join. It might have been hard, but they were better options than resetting her [Blessing]. Yet she was begging him to allow her to join his party, not for them to form a party together, not for him to join hers, but for her to join his.

    While simple, the phrasing was extremely important. It was a declaration of submission. If he¡¯d been a well known or powerful adventurer, it would have made plenty of sense for a lot of people to ask, he¡¯d even had plenty of offers from his own students to form a party together, but for Verity to do it made no sense from any angle, including the most important one.

    It wasn¡¯t like Verity to do that. She was prideful and cheerful, energetic and a bit scathing, merciless and kind. She wasn¡¯t the type to submit, not like this. The Verity Crimson saw kneeling before him was...broken.

    No surprise really, but the answer wasn¡¯t joining him. He would only serve as a crutch, something to prevent her from ever healing. A more apt analogy would be a tourniquet, something that prevents death, but still deals permanent and crippling damage if it was the only thing that was relied on, instead of proper medical attention.

    Crimson spoke in a very measured voice, ¡°No.¡±

    Was it easy to tell her that? No. It wasn¡¯t. It cut him to the very core, he wanted to cry, he wanted to give her a big hug and tell her that she¡¯d be the best healer ever, that they¡¯d reach Level 100 together.

    He continued as her body spasmed from the answer, ¡°You need to go home. I¡¯ll help pay the cost for some Gold ranks to escort you there.¡±

    This was the best he could do¡­

    Closing his eyes, he tried to steel himself both to her pain, and the sharp agony in his chest. He clutched the arms of his chair to try and stop his hands from trembling even harder than Verity¡¯s and stayed like that for a long moment, before he was greeted with a series of cracking noises.

    Confused by the noise, he opened his eyes in time to be met with a fist.

    The impact resonated in his ears, snapped his head back, and knocked him out of his chair.

    A low and menacing voice echoed in the room, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare pretend to know what¡¯s best for me. Don¡¯t you dare to reject me just because you think it¡¯s ¡®right.¡¯ You know very well that I¡¯m the best person to join your party. I¡¯m hard working, talented, experienced, and we know how to work together.¡±

    Looking up at Verity, her green eyes were still red from the crying she¡¯d just been doing, but the rest of her face was red from rage. She reached down and grabbed him by the collar, then yanked him to his feet to get nose to nose with him.

    ¡°Stop acting all uppity and by the Goddess of Wisdom agree to form a party with me!¡±

    Crimson couldn¡¯t help it, a smirk crossed his face.

    Without saying a word, he reached up and grabbed her collar as well, and tried to shove her away. When she tried to yank him back, he yanked as well and catapulted his forehead into hers with a loud crack of skulls smashing together, sounding almost like billiard balls striking each other, staggering Verity.

    Admittedly, he was a little woozy from that maneuver too, he staggered a few steps, then stepped forward toward Verity who¡¯d leaned over from being stunned to kick her on the side of her knee.

    She wasn¡¯t a former [Martial Artist] for nothing. Noticing what he was doing she stepped a little to the side to allow the kick to glance instead of hit dead on, then gave him an uppercut that he barely stopped from hitting him under the chin, but almost certainly bruised his forearms.

    Back and forth they traded blows, holding nothing back as they did the best to beat their emotions into each other. It would have probably gone on much longer than it did, but the library door was suddenly knocked off its hinges and Sherry charged into the room.

    ¡°Stop! What are you two doing?!¡± she roared.

    She stopped just shy of their fight and took a deep pull on her pipe, before blowing out. An invisible force caught hold of Crimson¡¯s wrists and calves then yanked him to the other side of the room, the same happening to Verity on the opposing side.

    He took a good look at the woman he¡¯d just been fighting with. Her clothes were completely askew, but fortunately not showing anything important. She had blood running down her forehead, a broken nose, and bruises on pretty much every piece of available skin aside from her throat. He could also see her favoring one leg over the other.

    He was in worse shape. One of his eyes was currently swelling and he was having to take short, shallow breaths because she¡¯d winded him. He could tell from a lot of prior experience that he¡¯d broken several ribs and at least one of the bones in his right arm, in addition to having a layer of bruises just as thick as hers.

    Despite it all, he couldn¡¯t help the big grin that crossed his face once more and he told Verity, ¡°I¡­*gasp*...will...consider...your application.¡±

    He got a grin full of literal blood in response as she responded while out of breath, ¡°That...offer...has passed, I¡¯ll make you beg to join my party.¡±

    Crimson was overjoyed. The pathetic, whining, simpering Verity was long gone. While she might not have completely recovered from her grief and whatever trauma she had, she could and would bounce back, and he¡¯d make sure that she would bounce back stronger than ever.

    ¡°I think we¡¯ll have to meet each other halfway on this one.¡± Crimson said, ¡°And we¡¯ll place the decision on hold for now, I don¡¯t even have a [Blessing] after all is said and done, but,¡± he made direct eye contact with her and pushed with all his intent to show his sincerity, ¡°I¡¯ll help you make your dream come true, and as many of the dreams of your fallen comrades that you want to take up.¡±

    Verity didn¡¯t flinch in response to his eye contact as she responded, ¡°You cocky goblin, if you¡¯re going to throw yourself at me like that, how can I say no? Fine, we¡¯ll ¡®wait¡¯ to make the official decision until after you get your [Blessing].¡±

    ¡°Would you two care to explain what in the world you two are talking about?¡± Sherry asked in her usual drawl, ¡°What was going on up here?¡±

    Crimson shrugged at her, ignoring the flash of pain through his arm, ¡°Nothing special, just a little communication.¡±

    Verity laughed, ¡°Yup, that¡¯s all that¡¯s going on here, you can let us go now.¡±

    Sherry looked back and forth between them a few times before throwing her arms up into the air, ¡°Fine, you can ¡®communicate¡¯ or fight all you want, just make sure you do it outside in the training field, not here. I expect you two to clean up your entire mess, pay for damages, and never do this again! And yes, you¡¯ll pay to fix the door too!¡±

    Crimson looked at the damaged room for the first time. The damaged items totaled: one smashed chair, a few shelves on a bookcase broken, and approximately 30 books scattered across the floor. Plus some blood scattered around...and the door that Sherry had broken.

    He did feel a twinge of guilt over the books sitting on the ground, but he couldn¡¯t say that they were more important than the moment he¡¯d just had with Verity.

    The force holding him and Verity disappeared, and he slowly walked over her to start using [Treatment: Purity] on her wounds. It took almost twenty minutes for him to finish healing her, as she started to bug him about teaching her how to use the spell, then it took a further hour to heal himself.

    Once he was finished, they looked around the room, and started cleaning.

 Chapter 19: A Matter of [Class]

    Chapter 19 - A Matter of Class

    Verity stood with her arms loaded with books as Crimson placed the last few he was holding onto the repaired bookshelf while she was mentally screaming about her own boredom. Once they¡¯d put the books she was holding back as well, they sat down.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Crimson said, ¡°I¡¯ll hear you out this time. What kind of healer [Class] do you want, and why?¡±

    She glared at him, ¡°You should have agreed earlier!¡±

    He shrugged, ¡°I regret nothing, and don¡¯t pretend like you do, I know you needed that.¡±

    With a sigh, Verity agreed with him, then after a moment then spoke, ¡°I was thinking of fully specializing into healer [Classes]. I know my odds of getting a rare [Class] are low, so I thought that if I got three [Classes] I could make up the slack.¡±

    Crimson nodded thoughtfully, ¡°So you want to make a failed build.¡±

    Verity glared at him, ¡°Don¡¯t call me a failure, you want another beating? What¡¯s a build?¡±

    He had the nerve to ignore her threat and said, ¡°A build is the way that you choose, develop, and train your respective [Class] and [Skills]. Anything and everything you have control of goes into a ¡®build.¡¯ It¡¯s literally just a term referring to how you ¡®build¡¯ yourself.

    ¡°Anyway, the reason I¡¯m calling it a failure is that doing that would make you overspecialized. Overspecialization is when you focus your [Stats], [Skills], and everything else too much into one thing.¡±

    Verity looked at him in surprise, ¡°That¡¯s possible? I thought putting all your attention on one thing is good. You know, like getting really good at one thing makes you better than everyone else?¡±

    ¡°That isn¡¯t actually a bad concept,¡± Crimson said, ¡°but the issue is that a single [Class] is enough for you to achieve the specialization needed, more than that is overkill. It¡¯s a balancing act between focusing too much and focusing too little. If you put too much into a single kind of [Class] you¡¯ll have an excellent distribution for [Stats], but you¡¯ll lose out on [Skills].¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense, if you take three of the same kind of [Class] you¡¯ll get three times the amount of [Skills] for what you are already doing.¡±

    ¡°Technically correct but, unfortunately, reality begs to differ. As you [Level Up] you occasionally gain [Skills], right? When you get all of the exact same or too similar [Classes] then you¡¯ll have a lot of [Skill] overlap, where you¡¯ll be getting [Skills] you already have or, depending on how the Gods decide to handle things, [Skills] that differ too much from how you fight, rendering them effectively useless.¡±

    Crimson could see the cloud of question marks figuratively floating around Verity, so he decided to give an example, ¡°Let¡¯s take a standard [Skill] to explain the point. When the [Priest Class] reaches Lv.5, they¡¯ll receive the [Skill]: [Commitment]. It¡¯s a [Skill] that increases the effectiveness of [Holy] type [Skills]. What would happen if you took three [Priest Classes] Verity?¡±

    ¡°It...probably wouldn¡¯t be three times stronger, based on the fact that you¡¯re using it as an example.¡± Verity looked a little confused, but he pressed her for a guess and she said, ¡°Well...I think...it might be confusing if you get all three as [Skills]. They¡¯re passive [Skills], and I know that sometimes [Skills] don¡¯t work well together, so these three might conflict and...I don¡¯t know...you might only be able to use one at a time? Or none of them?¡±

    Crimson nodded, ¡°You¡¯re more or less correct. It does vary on a person by person basis, but it ranges to everything from not working at all to accidentally canceling, to unknowingly swapping between them; there is a whole host of issues with it, but with some training you can decrease some of the downsides I just mentioned. It doesn¡¯t take care of the issue with the fact that they are so similar that they cancel each other out, so you can only use one at a time, but you can kinda make it work.

    ¡°Here¡¯s where it gets nasty: you now have three passive [Skills], only one can be used at the same time, which means there¡¯s no point in training all three, and in training just one of them you may accidentally activate the wrong one of the three, which could be especially detrimental -and more likely- in a fight.

    ¡°All you did by having three [Commitments] is waste two [Skill] slots that could have been occupied by something worthwhile and useful.¡±

    Verity stared at the floor and thought for a moment. She knew Crimson was smart, she also knew that he did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions, so odds were she could trust what he was saying, but it meant that she¡¯d have to rethink how she did things...could she really only take one healer type [Class]? Thinking over their conversation, she remembered something with a flash of insight.

    She looked back up at him as he was writing something into a journal, ¡°Hey Crimson, you said it was possible for something else to happen?¡±

    His gaze intersected with her¡¯s for a moment before the pressure of it softened as his thoughts turned inward.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right,¡± he said, ¡°It¡¯s extremely rare at Lv.5, but it is possible to receive a different [Skill]. You know how people receive different [Skills] as they [Level Up], even with the same [Class]? It¡¯s an extension of that. The Gods look at you as you grow and give you a [Skill] that compliments your current fighting style, which means that you don¡¯t get any worthless [Skills].

    ¡°The reason why it¡¯s so rare at Lv.5 is because people rarely have a developed fighting style that early - you could explain it as expressing individuality - which means that there¡¯s no point in giving them a [Skill] that differs from the standard one. Frequently, people who overspecialize don¡¯t go out of their way to develop the individuality of their own [Class], so when they take their current, or extremely similar, [Class] as a [Sub-Class] they¡¯ll receive the same [Skill].

    ¡°For those that do develop their fighting style before reaching Lv.5 with the [Sub-Class], they might no longer be a match for the usual [Skill] they¡¯d get, but they might not match with any of the others either, so the [Skill] they get might be completely useless to them. There isn¡¯t a large pool of [Skills] available at Lv.5 in any case, so the odds that you get a [Skill] you don¡¯t match with is high. What happens is that the Gods sometimes decide that the experience you have is different enough to warrant a different [Skill] from what you already have, in this case then they¡¯re thinking that it would be better to give you a [Skill] you could potentially use, but aren¡¯t quite a match for instead of one that you already have. Don¡¯t ask me why they only decide to do this sometimes, I don¡¯t know, and I¡¯m still looking into it.¡±

    Verity wanted to pat herself on the back for following his lecture, but her brain felt fried. The short version was that she should take [Classes] that are different because ones that were too similar would get in each other¡¯s way. Whether by getting [Skills] so similar that they couldn¡¯t work together or by getting a [Skill] so different from how she fought that it would just be a waste.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m following so far,¡± she said, ¡°how different do they need to be?¡±

    He stared at her for a long moment in dead silence. She could see him organizing his thoughts behind his liquid metal eyes, he then spoke, ¡°Do you know what a play is?¡±

    Confused, she responded, ¡°If you¡¯re referring to a stage performance, then yes, I know what a ¡®play¡¯ is.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I mean,¡± he said, ¡°I want you to imagine that a [Class] is like having a role in the play. The more you throw yourself into the performance and accurately portray it to your interpretation of the role, the more believable it becomes. If you only half commit, people will have their immersion ruined and they¡¯ll just see the actor in costume, not the character you¡¯re playing.

    ¡°[Classes] are similar to that role, the better you act your part, the stronger you get, and much like it¡¯s possible to have multiple parts in a play, it¡¯s possible to have multiple [Classes].

    ¡°Your primary [Class] is a leading role in the play and your two [Sub-Classes] are minor roles that come on when your leading role doesn¡¯t need to be on stage. If all three of your [Classes] are ¡®Priestess A,¡¯ ¡®Priestess B,¡¯ and ¡®Priestess C¡¯ the audience isn¡¯t going to care which one of the three you¡¯re playing, they¡¯re so similar it doesn¡¯t matter, but if you have three distinct roles then they¡¯ll be much more engaged.

    ¡°To answer your question, the three [Classes] you take need to be distinct enough to tell them apart without issue, but you should also take [Classes] that play to your strengths.

    ¡°Going back to the play analogy, if you¡¯re tall, you should apply for roles that need a tall person. If you¡¯re good at dancing or singing you should do those things, but if say, you can¡¯t sing at all, but are phenomenal at character acting, then that¡¯s what you should stick to.¡±

    Parsing through what Crimson just said, she spoke once more, ¡°My old [Classes] were: [Martial Artist], [FistFighter], and [Berserker], how did I do?¡±

    He hummed to himself for a second, then said, ¡°Two out of Three. [Martial Artist] and [Berserker] are both different, but physical [Classes] which means they¡¯d have a bit of synergy. They are distinct from each other.

    ¡°[FistFighter] is the weak link, that one is already covered by [Martial Artist]. They are different enough that it probably wasn¡¯t too much of a hindrance for you, but for them to be that similar there was definitely some clash.¡±

    After hearing that, everything clicked into place for Verity, ¡°I get it, so [Priest], [Dancer], and [Martial Artist] wouldn¡¯t clash, but [Minstrel], [Dancer], and [Bard] would.¡±

    ¡°They could, but I¡¯m personally not too educated about those three. [Dancer] might not clash with either of them, but aren¡¯t [Minstrel] and [Bard] pretty much exactly the same [Class]?¡±

    Verity shrugged, ¡°Don¡¯t know, I just mentioned it because I¡¯ve seen the combination before.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Crimson shrugged back at her, ¡°I highly recommend you look into any [Class] you want and carefully consider it before just ¡®going for it.¡¯ If you can get [Classes] that work well together but are distinct then that¡¯s ¡®synergy¡¯ and I highly recommend that you aim for it. It¡¯s also possible to take two completely different [Classes] and build them so that they work together. A common example of that is a [Magic Swordsman]. It is composed of two extremely different [Class] types, magic and physical, but they can be very powerful.¡±

    ¡°However, in my opinion it¡¯s better to take two separate [Classes] than get combination type [Classes] like [Magic Swordsman]. You¡¯ll actually have the stats to back that kind of fighting style and your pick of [Skills] from either side to fuse together. What you¡¯re doing is creating synergy where there¡¯s potential instead of seeking out existing synergy.¡±

    Verity nodded and thanked him for the advice, she felt like a bit of an idiot for not thinking so deeply about her [Classes] in the past. She¡¯d just taken whatever looked good and cool, without thinking about them working together. Hearing Crimson who, again, didn¡¯t have a [Blessing] put so much thought into it drove it home.

    There was just one final question, ¡°What [Classes] are you going to take, Crimson?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be taking a High-Grade [Swordsman Class], a magic type [Class] - probably [Mage] or [Elementalist] if there isn¡¯t anything more interesting - and a production [Class].¡±

    Verity felt like smacking, ¡°Isn¡¯t that the exact opposite of my problem??? I wanted to ¡®overspecialize,¡¯ but with those three it feels like you don¡¯t have any focus at all!¡±

    Crimson inspected her for a moment, then said, ¡°I will open my response by saying that you¡¯re not wrong, but you¡¯re not right. There really is no way to go wrong, no matter what [Classes] you pick. Even what I told you about ¡®overspecialization¡¯ might be permissible and powerful depending on how it¡¯s handled.

    ¡°However, there is certainly a way of doing things that is more sensible, and a way of doing things that is more personal. What is ¡®sensible¡¯ would be taking similar, but different [Classes] and specializing those [Classes] into only the things useful to you. An excellent example of this would be [Assassin], [Thief], and [Scout].

    The killing power of the [Assassin], the stealth of the [Thief], and the detection of the [Scout], by specializing those three [Classes] in that way you would create an excellent synergy, but you could also specialize it differently. Instead of focusing on killing ability for [Assassin], you could focus on the method of killing, or on hiding yourself. Similarly choosing different specialization paths for the other two [Classes] to support the different focuses and make up the deficits.

    ¡°Most [Classes] have three main distinct paths that can be taken to specialize the [Class], you can choose how many of the three you pull from, whether that be all and generalize the [Class] or one and specialize it.

    ¡°Now, bearing that in mind, let me answer your question. I¡¯m considering these three styles of [Classes] because I believe that I can MAKE them synergetic, and not only that, I believe it will even be easy.

    ¡°By focusing on sword skills and magical ability I¡¯ll be better at hunting/killing whatever monsters I come across, and by taking a production [Class] I¡¯ll be able to take the items I get from killing monsters and turn them into weapons or items that will make me better at hunting monsters, creating a positive feedback loop.¡±

    Verity cut in, ¡°Yeah, but that means that you also have [Skills] of three majorly different types. If it was just one kind of [Skill], like magical, then you only need magic training, but when you split between magical and physical then you either need to double the time you spend training to keep them equal, take twice as long to train them, or let one type become vastly superior to the others.

    ¡°Fine though, I can accept combining magic and physical type [Skills], those [Classes] exist and can be quite powerful. What I can¡¯t accept is the addition of a production [Class], which is not only completely different but takes anywhere from three to ten fold the time invested in a regular [Class]. There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll be able to manage it all! Tell me what you¡¯re feeling, not what you¡¯re thinking. I bet it¡¯s your emotions doing the talking there.¡±

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    He chuckled, ¡°You¡¯re not wrong; as far as what I¡¯m feeling is concerned, then it¡¯s that I like all three disciplines, and can¡¯t choose one over the other. I also feel that it¡¯s important to have a change of pace since working on one thing to the exclusion of others causes burnout, I also feel it¡¯s really interesting, I like making stuff with my hands just as much as I like fighting, but¡± Crimson nodded, ¡°That¡¯s why I accept that I¡¯m not correct in my thinking, at least as far as everyone else goes, but I think that this approach is perfect for ME. I¡¯m not telling you to do the same, but telling you that I¡¯ll do this, and who knows? Maybe I¡¯ll change my mind, maybe an even better [Class] shows up and I want it instead, who knows? That¡¯s why it¡¯s exciting.¡±

    Verity felt her irritation rise, ¡°You¡¯re contradicting yourself, you told me to carefully think over any [Class] I take, then say that if something interesting shows up that you¡¯ll take it!¡±

    Crimson waved his forefinger at her, ¡°I have not contradicted myself. You¡¯re just making the assumption that I¡¯d go to take a [Class], look at the available list, and immediately take an interesting [Class]. That is an incorrect assumption. Instead, I¡¯d see that [Class], and hold off on choosing a [Class] to do some research.¡±

    She calmed down, ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s my mistake¡­¡± she said apologetically.

    Crimson waved dismissively, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯re not in any rush, and I¡¯m just sharing what I¡¯ve learned with you, which has left you with a lot to think over, so let¡¯s leave the rest of this discussion for another day. I have business to take care of in the Temple in Phase 1 anyway, so it¡¯s good to stop here.¡±

    Crimson cleaned up his notes and neatly stacked the books he had on the table as she watched, before standing up to leave.

    After walking a few steps, he stopped and turned to her, ¡°Actually, you should come with me, it¡¯ll be a good opportunity for you to speak to some [Priests] and learn about one of the main healer type [Classes].¡±

    Verity blinked a few times, before shooting to her feet in excitement, ¡°Yes! I¡¯d be happy to go!¡±

    They walked down to the reception desk of the Guild and Crimson waved down Sherry, that Dark Elf who stopped their fight, was always smoking, and had horrible taste in jokes. Verity didn¡¯t think very highly of her, but she seemed competent enough with her job. Back when she¡¯d had [Aural Reading] she could see that both of the receptionists who worked with Crimson thought of him as a younger brother, but that connection was definitely weaker with the Dark Elf.

    She could also vaguely remember that Sherry also viewed Crimson¡­competitively? To call them rivals was a gross simplification of the relationship they had with each other. The most amusing part of their relationship was that Crimson didn¡¯t actually think much of her, he was mostly indifferent to her existence and was even frequently annoyed by her.

    Verity¡¯s own relationship with her could be defined as just barely above strangers.

    Crimson spoke, rousing her out of her thoughts, ¡°Sherry, what do I owe you for the door?¡±

    Waving a meticulously maintained finger at them, the Dark Elf said, ¡°No, you will BOTH be paying, you are both at fault since you were ¡®communicating¡¯ so you will equally split the payment! As far as the price! I don¡¯t know, we¡¯ll have someone take a look at it and get back to you. Probably around 40 Royals each, 5 for the ¡®communication¡¯ and 35 for the actual door, but it could be higher.¡±

    It was at that moment that Verity decided that Sherry¡¯s drawl was very annoying. It grated on her ears and had nothing¡­kinda nothing¡­to do with how much money she was about to be robbed out of.

    That was a weekend of binge drinking¡¯s worth of money right there! She¡¯d normally make it last three weeks, which meant that she wouldn¡¯t be able to drink for three weeks! This Imp!

    Next to her, Crimson seemed to be in just as much pain over the lost money, but unlike her, he wasn¡¯t angry.

    He said, ¡°When can we expect an invoice?¡±

    ¡°Probably by Fallday later this week.¡± The dark elf of truest evil said.

    Verity had no idea how the color representing her was a friendly yellow, it made no sense with how wicked she was.

    Moping a little she looked around the guild. Considering it was about two or three in the afternoon, it was fairly packed, with some eating a late lunch in the guild restaurant and some just sitting at tables chatting. There was even a larger group than there used to be inspecting requests on the boards, some of the people in the guild were even vaguely familiar looking to her.

    When she¡¯d first arrived, it had been a lot more quiet, and far less crowded. Those that came felt a little lifeless, like they were empty of anything worthwhile. They just came to the guild, worked enough to live, then left, repeating this schedule day in and day out, but in the intervening months something had changed, it was livelier, happier, and no longer felt empty.

    She glanced at Crimson, part of the cause for change. Like her, others had seen how hard he was working and it inspired their competitive instincts, gave them hope, and just gave them the desire to work harder. It was an oddly compelling thing about him - especially when he normally wasn¡¯t even slightly charismatic.

    The conversations, both Crimson¡¯s and the guild members continued to drone on as the guild¡¯s front door opened and an unfamiliar party of three walked in. Appearance-wise, they were pretty much standard adventurers, just especially bland looking ones. They all shared an aura color of bland grey; it was honestly shocking to Verity how boring and uninteresting they all looked to her.

    Glancing at their equipment, she could see that it was all cheap and poorly maintained - chipped, cracked, and dirty like the owners couldn¡¯t be bothered to look after them. In that kind of condition, the durability on it all had to be less than 10%.

    While still dealing of the shock of how¡­bland? Boring? Pathetic. Pathetic the three men looked, they walked up to another one of the receptionist and struck up a conversation. They were apparently traveling south to explore the [Shifting Dream] dungeon, and were just passing through Falst.

    [Shifting Dream], like [Goblin Manor], was a Lv.15 dungeon that had creatures with Levels as low as 5, but it attracted a lot of people because it had a lot more valuable creatures inside. It was a dungeon that used a lot of illusions, but the [WIL] requirement to deal with them was extremely low, making the dungeon a lot easier to explore than it should be.

    Even their choice in Dungeon was boring.

    With a sigh, Verity was about to dismiss them completely from her mind when one - the stupidest looking one - looked over at her and a lewd grin appeared on his face.

    Before she could think anything more than, ¡®oh great, not again¡¯ he¡¯d started swaggering over. He clearly thought she didn¡¯t notice his eyes roving over her body.

    ¡°Hey there beautiful, how¡¯s about you grabbin¡¯ a drink with this me?¡±

    Verity could not be bothered with this kind of idiot, never could, and never will, and she¡¯d never gotten good at turning them down. She just Leveled Up enough that if they tried to force her after she said no, then she¡¯d punch them out, rather than deal with them.

    Allowing the disgust to appear on her face, she bluntly said, ¡°No, I have other things to be doing, and I wouldn¡¯t drink with you anyway, I already have a fiancee.¡±

    Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Crimson¡¯s aura - the color representing his strongest emotion - flash a surprised bright yellow, before turning a cautious orange.

    A sneer appeared on the man¡¯s bland face, ¡°This kid here? Ha! How about you spend some time with a real adult, not this scrawny¡­oh ho? What¡¯s this?¡±

    Verity watched as Crimson turned to stare the man down - she could see him lightly avoiding direct eye contact as to not use that weird ability of his, but he was very clearly annoyed. For some reason, the pathetic man in front of her was staring at Crimson with a surprised but warm grin.

    ¡°A High Human? I haven¡¯t see one of those in years. No, wait¡­those freakish eyes of yours aren¡¯t apparent as the ones I¡¯ve seen before, a half? HAHAHA!¡± The man¡¯s expression warped to an evil grin before he roared out with a mocking laughter and turned to his comrades, ¡°Hey, check this out, we¡¯ve got a Chimera here! He¡¯s half High Human!¡±

    The other two walked up and, after having seen Crimson¡¯s slanted eyes, gagged and took a few steps back. The first pathetic fool slipped around to sling his arm around Crimson¡¯s shoulder and spoke to him in a low voice that Verity could hear, ¡°Listen here, the Guild is a respectable place for real people, not Chimera like you, so do us all a favor and get lost.¡± The man¡¯s expression warped like he smelled something horrible, ¡°We can¡¯t have everyone else forget their appetite like my friends and I have.¡±

    Verity watched Crimson as he did his best to hide the expression on his face, but he was still easy for her to see through: he was stunned, he couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. He even looked a little sickened.

    Sherry behind the counter spoke up, clearly able to hear it just as well as Verity, ¡°Hah~? What kind of nonsense is dribbling from those nasty lips of yours?¡±

    The guy tightened his arm around Crimson¡¯s neck and jerked him around so Sherry could get a good look at him, and had an indignant expression as he responded, ¡°You didn¡¯t know he was a Chimera, right? Now you know, so let¡¯s get this foul thing out of here, it¡¯s already ruined the building by being here, let¡¯s not allow it to make things any more foul.¡±

    The man jerked his arm a few times wrenching Crimson back and forth as he struggled both futilely and silently to get free from the overwhelming strength holding him in place.

    ¡°If you want, I can drag it out for you, I¡¯ll already need to burn my shirt, no need to dirty your pretty little hands over it.¡± He said while giving Sherry what he probably was a suave grin, but just made him all the more disgusting.

    Verity stepped forward and spoke loudly, ¡°Release my Party Leader!¡±

    With how loudly she spoke, they caught the attention of the entire room, more witnesses were a must so that Crimson wouldn¡¯t be held at fault for anything, and by tying herself directly to the victim she could personally interfere without becoming problematic.

    ¡°You?¡± The man¡¯s once friendly, if lewd eyes, held a strong look of pity as he looked at her, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, you probably didn¡¯t know, but you don¡¯t need to worry, I¡¯m here, I¡¯ll protect you from it.¡±

    Verity¡¯s once clear thought process started to get a little murky as red began to cloud her vision, ¡°The only protection needed here is for HIM from YOU! Let him go, now!¡±

    The man responded looking angry, ¡°What are you saying? Why are you making me seem like the bad guy here? I¡¯m not, it¡¯s this THING!¡± He once more shook Crimson whose face had started to turn red.

    Looking at Crimson, Verity¡¯s red vision cleared immediately as she began to fear for his life, ¡°You¡¯re killing him!¡±

    With a disappointed expression, the guy loosened his arm enough for Crimson to breathe and turned back to her, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s sad that I can¡¯t, but even the law has a bit of kindness toward those who have been abandoned by the Gods.¡±

    In the background, Verity could hear some people getting angry, she could hear many voices of support for Crimson and was even dimly aware of some of the owners of those voices standing up to make their way over.

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t been abandoned,¡± she roared back, ¡°the Gods love him, he deserves everything in the world, unlike goblins like you!¡±

    The guy responded furiously, ¡°See now, what you¡¯re saying doesn¡¯t make sense, but a Chimera like this thing deserving nothing? It does,¡± he stuck his face next to Crimson¡¯s and spoke with his teeth bared, ¡°You¡¯ve been abandoned by the Gods, you¡¯re weaker, you are cursed with [Rizvim]! And not only that, none of you are ever grateful to your parent races. Show some filial piety, yeah? I¡¯m a human, one of your parent races, so you shouldn¡¯t dirty the space I¡¯m in with your unholy existence! Makes plenty of sense, see?¡±

    As a result of his rage fueled rant, the man once more tightened the grip on his arm, far more tightly than before, and Crimson began to futilely fight once more, this time far more desperately.

    For the first time, Verity watched as panic crossed Sherry¡¯s face and she hurriedly loaded her pipe with a collection of plants and lit it, behind her, she could hear as the people who where approaching to interfere suddenly began to rush; they all had one goal - stop the man before he could kill Crimson!

    Verity had no time to move, no time to react, and nobody else could reach him before he acted. She watched as Crimson suddenly bared his teeth with his entire face red. He grabbed something out of the air and desperately slammed his hand back against the man¡¯s face. They began to struggle back and forth rapidly with strong desperation in both of their actions before the man abruptly released Crimson, who dropped to the ground and clutched his neck while gasping for air. [Treatment] spells were cast on both his hands.

    The man who had abruptly let go of Crimson was also desperately clutching at his face - Verity was shocked to see him hacking water out of his lungs and pure desperation on his face as he tried to breathe once more. After he finished purging his lungs of water, the man puked and laid on the ground trembling as he gulped down air.

    The man¡¯s two other friends reacted furiously and tried to jump at Crimson, but the other Guild Members grabbed them before they could hurt him.

    Thrumming against her ears were the shouts of the other men, of Sherry, of her own shouts, and the sound of her shoes against the ground as she desperately dove for Crimson to check on him.

    Stretching from his collarbone to his jaw was a bruise showing the early signs of forming, he looked almost like he was strangling himself as he kept applying the [Treatment] spell to his neck with a faked calm expression. Seeing that, Verity was struck with a desperate desire to be able to use healing magic, but since she couldn¡¯t and had no idea what else she could do she just rubbed his back. She was also finally able to process what just happened.

    For any normal person, it was probably a bit of an extreme move from Crimson to fill the man¡¯s lungs with water, but considering the men were silver rank it was actually holding back quite a bit. Being silver meant being at least Lv.20, which meant that they would have at least 120 more stat points than Crimson, normally with that kind of difference it would mean fighting will everything he had, but having absolutely no chance to win, so it was actually more shocking that Crimson¡¯s attack worked than anything else. Fortunately, he¡¯d been able to take the man by surprise since he¡¯d thought that Crimson wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt him.

    Looking around, she finally recognized the people who¡¯d stood up to help, they were all Crimson¡¯s students! The ones grabbing the three were the Gold ranks in his class! At the orders of a coldly furious Sherry, they each grabbed the three on the arms, one on each side, and threw them out into the street.

    As they were being dragged out, Sherry stepped out from behind the desk and strolled after them, like an odd entourage while cleaning out, then repacking her pipe with some very nasty looking plants, and finishing it off with a paste that she pulled out of her [Storage], before lighting it with a subtly wicked expression.

    Laying on the street, the Dark Elf spoke to the group, ¡°By my authority as [Guild Suppresser], you are hereby banned from the Falst Branch of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Any and all stores associated with this branch will not be doing business with you, and you are all to pay a 200 Royal fine to the next branch you visit. Have a nice day!¡±

    She then blew a large smoke cloud from her pipe all over them, which seemed to be sucked into their skin before she stepped back inside.

    One of the two who¡¯d stood by got back up to argue with her, but right as he passed the doorway into the guild he stopped dead and covered his nose while gagging, and quickly retreated.

    The three stayed outside for a couple minutes looking miserable, glaring at Crimson, and shouting how unreasonable and unfair their treatment was before they slowly left.

    Verity watched it all, stunned, then felt just as miserable as the three guys had looked when she realized that she had been completely useless through the whole encounter. She¡¯d just shouted at them!

    She watched as the guys who helped Crimson checked on him in concern, then clapped him on the shoulder before leaving one by one. He was finally on his feet as he treated each of them warmly and then patiently waited for Sherry to sit behind the desk once more, a strong red line on his neck.

    At this point, the confusion and misery in Verity exploded out and, marching over to Crimson, asked in a hushed voice, ¡°Are you okay? What did you just do? How did you do it?¡±

    He glanced at her, ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he waved casually with a shaking hand, ¡°what, specifically, are you referring to with your questions?¡±

    In a moment, she understood that he didn¡¯t really want to be fussed over, so she accepted his desire to act tough and decided to focus on her other questions instead.

    She spoke in a whispered shout, ¡°That water in his lungs, the cold air, what spells did you use? And,¡± she rounded on Sherry, ¡°What did you just do to them?¡±

    Verity was also stunned to remember that she¡¯d stopped her and Crimson¡¯s fight earlier in the same method, she¡¯d just assumed it was a [Telekinesis] spell or [Skill], but after what she just saw she couldn¡¯t think that anymore!

    Crimson shrugged, ¡°I actually used a combination of spells, [Gather Water], [Manipulate Water], and [Chill]. I used [Chill] to lower the temperature of the water I gathered using [Gather Water], then used [Manipulate Water] to shove it down his throat. If I¡¯d been thinking more clearly, then I would also have used [Chill] to freeze it in place, but it¡¯s probably better that I didn¡¯t.¡±

    Crimson informed her of everything he¡¯d done while waving a finger in the air, like he was teaching one of his Classes, and continued ¡°I used cold water because it would shock him more, and take away a lot more of his reasoning power than room temperature or hot water. It was a bit of a gamble because he could have inadvertently tightened his grip instead of releasing me, but it worked out in the end.¡±

    ¡°Regardless,¡± he said, ¡°the interesting one wasn¡¯t me, but Sherry. You don¡¯t know what [Classes] she has, right? Try asking her.¡±

    [Classes]? There was a [Class] or [Classes] that would let her do things like that? After that thought, Verity immediately wanted to hit herself over the head. She¡¯d seen plenty of weird [Classes], there was no reason for this one to surprise her.

    She still needed to ask which [Classes] they were though, just to satisfy her curiosity. Turning to Sherry, she asked, ¡°What [Classes] DO you have?¡±

    Sherry smiled mischievously, and took her sweet time refilling her pipe before she responded, ¡°My [Sub-Classes] are [Aromatherapist] and [Herbalist]. My primary [Class] is [Aulrine], a monster [Class].¡±

    [Classes] all about smell? Really? She did all that with smell?

    Crimson smiled warmly at Verity, ¡°I was telling you about picking things that all work together without clashing? Sherry has done it perfectly. Three things that all work together without clashing. If you saw her playing those roles in a play, you could tell which one was which without any issues.¡±

    Verity nodded slowly and jerkily, before sinking deep into her thoughts. If that kind of power was possible using just smell, what could she do with her [Classes] to make them work together to create a powerful effect?

 Chapter 20: Reason

    Chapter 20: Reason

    Crimson and Verity finished up in the Guild and headed out with a request in hand.

    Verity was still stunned at¡­well, everything. Crimson was Half High Human? Sherry¡¯s [Classes] were all based around smell? There could be people stupid enough to care about the existence of Halfs?

    As they walked, she couldn¡¯t keep her questions to herself, and decided to ask the one about Crimson¡¯s race first, since that one seemed like it would have the fastest answer.

    After a quick deep breath she asked, ¡°So, you¡¯re Half High Human, what¡¯s your other half?¡±

    With a long sigh, Crimson shoved his hands into his pockets and looked up at the castle over their heads, ¡°I have no idea, up until this point I wasn¡¯t even sure that I was, in part or in whole, a High Human, but I was suspicious about a few things. It¡¯s hard finding information about High Humans here - there aren¡¯t a lot of books and all the ones I¡¯ve been able to find just say that they ¡®have funny eyes¡¯ and are really magically inclined. I certainly fit that description, but that really isn¡¯t enough information to be certain. Finding information about Kosoka was nigh impossible in Falst, so I don¡¯t even know anything about what I¡¯ve been informed is my homeland.¡±

    Verity was surprised that Crimson, the personification of research and knowledge didn¡¯t even know what his race was¡­wait, he didn¡¯t remember his homeland?

    ¡°What do you mean you own¡¯t remember Kosoka? Did you grow up somewhere else?¡±

    He glanced at her in surprise, ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you already? Well, apparently I fell into a Fairy Circle and I don¡¯t know anything before that. I don¡¯t even remember falling into the Fairy Circle.¡±

    Fairy Circle? Weren¡¯t those things used by more magically inclined races to teleport? They had some pretty steep [Stat] requirements to use without incurring a harsh penalty. Verity hadn¡¯t been able to reach that requirement, so she¡¯d never dared to use one. The same was true for her old party members. It was no surprise that Crimson¡¯s memory had been messed up if he had used one. Though, he did seem a little too well put together for someone who claimed to have no memory¡­he might know more than he¡¯s letting on.

    With a glance at his aura, Verity didn¡¯t feel the need to press him on it - he didn¡¯t have any bad intentions and she could tell that he was at least telling the truth he believed since he wasn¡¯t actually that good at lying.

    Lightly moving on, she asked, ¡°Well, do you have any idea what your second race might be?¡±

    He paused for a second, then said, ¡°Not really, I¡¯ve been doing my best to eliminate some of the possibilities, but it¡¯s difficult to be certain. For example, you¡¯d think it would be easy for me to say that I¡¯m not Half Dark Elf, but it¡¯s not. While my skin color or ears don¡¯t fit the bill, that doesn¡¯t mean that it¡¯s no longer an option.¡±

    Verity looked at him with abject confusion, ¡°But, if you don¡¯t have the skin color or the ears, doesn¡¯t that mean that you can eliminate it as an option? I can¡¯t see a reason why you can¡¯t.¡± She paused, then worried that she¡¯d overlooked something obvious and he¡¯d think she was an idiot, so she quickly added, ¡°I haven¡¯t really interacted with many Halfs, so I¡¯m just confused since it seams easier than you¡¯re making it.¡±

    He nodded at her kindly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, there aren¡¯t many Halfs to begin with, but you have definitely interacted with more than you think. There are four broad categories of Halfs: Abhorred - Halfs born between parents of different races that were incompatible for one reason or another, pretty much the stillborns or those who die not long after birth, Prime - Halfs that take after one parent far more than the other, Forgotten - Halfs that fail to strongly take on the traits of either parent, and Favored - Halfs that strongly take on the characteristics of both parent races.

    ¡°With these four categories in mind, it becomes difficult to narrow things down. I could be a Forgotten, in which case I would have no idea where to start, and pretty much no way to eliminate possibilities until I met my parents, which would directly answer the question.

    ¡°I highly doubt I¡¯m a Forgotten, It¡¯s most likely that I¡¯m a Prime and I take mainly after my High Human parent. If I¡¯m a Prime then it is easier to eliminate races with more extreme traits like Dark Elves and Uluu. That just leaves two options of the four left for consideration, Abhorred is easy to eliminate since I¡¯m alive, but being Favored muddies the waters just as much as being a Forgotten since the distinct traits may have been lost.¡±

    Crimson let out a long sigh, ¡°Do you see why it¡¯s been so hard for me? I¡¯ve made such little headway that it¡¯s unbelievable. My suspicions only peaked enough for me to start researching that little detail two weeks ago, and I still have yet to eliminate any possibilities. It¡¯s reaching the point where I¡¯ve just created a chart of ¡®more¡¯ or ¡®less¡¯ likely.¡±

    Verity was both shock and amused at his words. Shocked because it should be way easier than what he was saying, and amused because his aura had an irritated red and exasperated blue pulsing back and forth with almost every word.

    She said, ¡°Well, it¡¯s only been a few weeks, there¡¯s a lot of research out there that¡¯s taken years.¡±

    He looked really annoyed and she could see him bite his tongue before he spoke, ¡°Well, it isn¡¯t the cause of my recent irritation, but just something else adding to it. I¡¯ve just¡­been realizing my limits.¡±

    Verity glanced around, then led him into a quiet courtyard without anyone else around before quietly allowing him to vent.

    ¡°As of late, I haven¡¯t been able to make any progress on the projects I put my all into, and it¡¯s not a matter of intelligence or time, but a realization that I just can¡¯t do it. My mind literally can¡¯t handle spells stronger than the ones I already know, my body can¡¯t keep up with the things I want it to do, and I just can¡¯t find information on the things I need to know. No matter how much effort I put into the things I want to work on, I get no where. It¡¯s been very irritating, frustrating, infuriating, and the moment I just had,¡± he reached up to feel the bruise circling his neck, ¡°Brought it all home instantly. I couldn¡¯t do anything!¡±

    Crimson¡¯s voice started to warp, the irritation which had been mostly hidden was now out in full force, his entire body was shaking from the force of it, and Verity glanced around once more to make sure they were alone before turning her attention back to him.

    ¡°I just¡­want to improve. I don¡¯t want to be useless, I don¡¯t want to be trapped or stuck, I want to be able to improve, no matter what it is I¡¯m doing I just want to be able to get better. Every metaphorical step I take feels like it covers half the distance it used to, then half that distance, then half again. Over and over again I just feel like my goals are getting more and more impossible as they sit tantalizingly just out of reach.¡±

    He smiled bitterly at her, ¡°Sorry for taking it all out on you, I couldn¡¯t keep my mouth shut, so please just forget what I said.¡±

    Verity stared at him for a long moment, then in a spark of brilliance said, ¡°If you can¡¯t go forward, go sideways.¡±

    Crimson looked like he¡¯d been struck by lighting, and froze for a long moment before laughing to himself. Louder and louder his laughter rose, a pure and boisterous noise that contained a tinge of relief. It lasted a few seconds before trailing off into silence.

    He looked embarrassed as he said, ¡°Thanks. Sorry for being an idiot.¡±

    She smiled sweetly at him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, but if you don¡¯t want me telling people then my healer [Class] had better be rare and powerful. I won¡¯t settle for anything less than a High-Grade [Class].¡±

    She then turned and started to stroll toward the Temple once more before he could respond.

    He appeared on her right side and casually said, ¡°You¡¯re quite evil, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    She winked back at him, ¡°Not in the slightest, now about [Classes], tell me about Sherry¡¯s [Classes]. They¡¯re all about smell, but only one of them is a combat-type. How is that supposed to work?¡±

    ¡°Ahh,¡± he said, ¡°Actually, Sherry is the reason why I¡¯m confident that I can pull off three separate [Class] types. [Aromatherapist] is a support type [Class], [Herbalist] is a production type, and [Aulrine] is a monster type. None of them -not even [Aulrine]- are meant for direct combat, but because of how she¡¯s built her [Skills] to maximize her abilities she is extremely effective.

    ¡°She can use her smells to cause status effects, control the smoke created by her pipe to attack, create barriers and boundaries, and that¡¯s just what I know about! She definitely has more going on that I haven¡¯t seen. She built her abilities around her primary [Class], [Aulrine], and I plan on doing the same.

    ¡°I¡¯m vague on the [Classes] I plan to take because I¡¯m still doing research, and as I develop my fighting style I may come across something better than what I currently have planned.¡± He looked over at her, ¡°You have a basic idea of what you want already, you just need to flesh it out more, get a stronger image so that you know what kind of [Classes] to work toward.¡±

    She nodded, then asked, ¡°What kind of things could I potentially work toward?¡±

    ¡°A good question,¡± he said, ¡°It might seem like a stupid and obvious question at first, but it¡¯s an important one. Since you want a healer type [Class], your first question should be, what kind? Each of the basic three types have their own strengths and weaknesses; you need to consider all sides carefully. If you want a rare [Class], you could try experimenting with: strong and specific desires, unique methods of healing, a certain philosophy behind healing, times when you heal, or any of a thousand other little things that may end up helping you meet the criteria for a rare [Class].

    ¡°A [Class] is fundamentally rare because it¡¯s more specific, it¡¯s like having a named character in a play. You have a general idea of what kind of personality they have, so your interpretation of the character doesn¡¯t have as much room as a background character, where they¡¯re almost completely a blank slate. They can potentially backfire¡­be a problem if you don¡¯t actually want to stick to that role, which can cripple the [Class].¡±

    She¡¯d never heard that word before, ¡®backfire,¡¯ but the rest of what he had to say made sense. He also avoided answering her question directly!

    ¡°Crimson.¡± She said angrily.

    ¡°Yes?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Stop dancing around the answer, what are my options?¡± She asked.

    He glanced at her with an exasperated look, ¡°I¡¯m giving you freedom, and you want to be locked in to certain options? No, I¡¯ll give you some answers, but you need to embrace the [Class] you want to become. Be the person you want to be and finding that answer starts today, right here.¡±

    Verity looked up from their conversation and realized that they were right in front of the Temple.

    Crimson continued to speak, ¡°While we¡¯re here, I want you to find the answer to one question: Why do people take the [Priest Class]? That is your assignment today. You can do whatever you want to get that answer, just don¡¯t start any trouble.¡±

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Before she could agree or disagree to the assignment, Crimson walked into the Temple, leaving her on her own in front of it.

    ¡®Why do people take the [Priest Class]?¡¯ All he wanted her to do was find the answer to that question?

    In a confused daze, she walked into the Temple. She¡¯d never been inside the Temple in Falst before and it had been¡­years since she¡¯d last stepped foot into any Temple.

    Inside there was a large room with a vaulted ceiling. To call it a room wasn¡¯t doing it justice it was¡­massive. Verity felt a little bad that she didn¡¯t know how to describe it, but not only was the ceiling at least a hundred feet over her head, it extended for several hundred feet in front of her. The whole place was shaped like a rectangle, and extended far in front of her. There were two opposing hallways cutting the room in half and on the opposite half of where she was standing there were a bunch of really long benches that faced a raised platform of dark wood.

    There were great statues carved into the walls, four on each side of the entrance and one on the back wall, above the platform. It was embarrassing to Verity that she couldn¡¯t immediately identify which statue was for which god.

    There was¡­Truth, Death, Love, War, Wisdom, Magic, Nature, and Art. Those were the gods, but which was which¡­well, she could tell, she wasn¡¯t completely dense, but it was embarrassing to not immediately identify them.

    The big room had a lot of people moving around and there were some [Priests] in robes cleaning, talking to people, sitting on the benches, praying, and doing other things; yet, despite it all, the room was quiet. Everyone was either not talking or speaking in hushed tones. There was a strong feeling in the air that made her want to be quiet too. It wasn¡¯t just that the other people were being quiet - if she was alone in the Temple she¡¯d still want to be quiet because of that feeling.

    Standing off to the side of the entrance, she saw a Priestess waving at her, both a greeting and an invitation to speak together.

    Slowly, she made her way over to the woman. She was quite young, probably in her mid or late 20s and quite lovely, if in a muted way. Her robe was a deep and quiet green, her clear blue eyes promised kindness, beautiful dark purple hair was gently pulled over one shoulder, and the only jewelry she was wearing was a hair pin that highlighted her beauty - even her aura broadcasted perfect serenity.

    Verity was of two minds after seeing her, the first was that the Temple knew who to station at the door to be inviting, the second was that of a bit of intimidation. The woman had an appearance that screamed, ¡®I am a [Priest], this is how they are¡¯ and Verity knew that¡­she didn¡¯t.

    Her appearance and behavior was both a little flashy and rowdy, she didn¡¯t really go out of her way to make herself look pretty and she certainly never acted like a perfect lady, so seeing a priestess like this one was a little¡­off putting, almost like she was trying to join an exclusive Guild only for perfect humans.

    Interrupting her spiraling self depressed thought process, the woman spoke, ¡°Hello, is this your first time at the Temple here in Falst?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I mean, no!¡± Verity said in a bit of a panic, ¡°I¡¯ve been to a Temple before, just not this one.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± The priestess said warmly, ¡°If you¡¯d like to pray, the pews in the nave are available. If you¡¯d like counseling or guidance then I can introduce you to a senior priestess. If you¡¯d like to make an offering to the male gods, please head down the left hall, right hall for the goddesses. You¡¯ll find their statues in individual alcoves. If you stand in need of something else I or one of my sisters would be happy to help you.¡±

    What was a nave? What was a pew? Alcoves? She didn¡¯t know anything!

    Verity nodded slowly while trying to ignore how red her face was from embarrassment, ¡°Uh, well¡­I¡¯m actually here because, well, a friend told me I needed to get an answer to a question.¡±

    The priestess gently tilted her head in confusion, ¡°What kind of question would that be? Would it be about their [Blessing]? Are they unclear on how to worship the gods? Do they need another explanation of the ways of the God of Death? Oh, perhaps they¡¯d like to join the clergy?¡±

    Verity shook her head, ¡°No, the question is¡­well, I suppose for you and for anyone else who is willing to answer it but, ¡®Why did you take the [Priest Class]?¡¯¡±

    The priestess placed a finger over her mouth thoughtfully, ¡°That is a very interesting question and others will have a far better answer than I but, for me, I just wanted a good [Class] where I wouldn¡¯t be a burden on my family since my father had a hard time getting past Lv.10 as a farmer, but¡± She smiled extremely happily, ¡°I met my husband working the door like I am today, so I suppose that this [Class], this position has been nothing but good. Does this answer the question?¡±

    Verity was a little stunned at her answer, this incarnation of a perfect [Priest], this gorgeous woman, just wanted a stable job? That was it? It was¡­underwhelming.

    She thanked the woman -admittedly thinking far less of her and certainly no longer intimidated- then started walking through the Temple, though a little embarrassed, she stopped every Clergy member who didn¡¯t seem occupied to ask the same question time and time again, she got a wide variety of answers, ranging from the expected ones like ¡®faith¡¯ or ¡®love of the gods¡¯ to ones based in kindness like ¡®helping people¡¯ as well as answer that she didn¡¯t expect. For some it was a matter of convenience, others were forced into it, still others chose to follow the same path as family members or because they had a role model. While she sometimes received the same answer to the question, the feeling and intentions behind the answers changed.

    There were some who loved it, hated it, were bitter, found joy where they could, or were desperate to find something. They were all individual in their reasons and beliefs, they all had different levels of faith and different reasons to serve the gods. Many were genuine about their service, but there were also some who seemed callous and indifferent - there were even some who were annoyingly arrogant! It was such a broad spectrum she found any preconceived notions she had to be completely blown out of her head.

    Wandering while deep in thought, she stopped in front of each statue in the main hall to stare at it for a moment one by one, then sat on the bench in the very back row of the ¡®pews¡¯ in the ¡®nave¡¯. It was a moment of quiet reflection for her, and the question she was supposed to answer bounced in her skull once more.

    Why do people take the [Priest Class]? It might be faster to to answer why they don¡¯t! She couldn¡¯t imagine what answer Crimson wanted her to give him, why did he ask her a question that didn¡¯t seem to have any answer?

    Verity reached up, brushed her hair behind her long ears, then pressed the tips of her fingers into her temples, while she hated that her thought process kept spiraling she she needed to find an answer.

    What could it be, what could it be, why do people take the [Priest Class]? Faith, desire, force, feeling, convenience, indifference, and even greed. Did she have to submit an essay to answer Crimson¡¯s question or¡­

    Her thought process stopped as she considered something.

    Maybe¡­he didn¡¯t want her to answer the question. Maybe he wanted her to understand more about what goes into choosing a [Class]. Maybe he had another lesson he wanted her to learn.

    She suddenly remembered what he was telling her about his decision for his [Classes], that his choice was for HIM, and might not work for someone else. Every time he spoke to her about [Classes] he always pointed out that they were individual, he tried to help her understand the upsides and downsides to everything explained, but never explicitly closed off any options, always using language like ¡®I can¡¯t recommend that¡¯ or ¡®it won¡¯t be as good¡¯ instead of saying ¡®never, ever do this¡¯ or ¡®always do this.¡¯

    Crimson always left open options for her to decide, just offered advice.

    What was it he said? ¡®Be the person she wanted to be¡¯ well, what did she want to do? When she imagined herself as a healer¡­she could do anything. No one would ever die on her watch, she would be able to protect and strengthen her party, she¡¯d be able to keep them safe at all times. That was the kind of healer she wanted to be.

    ¡°Yo,¡± she heard a voice from behind her, she immediately recognized it a Crimson¡¯s so she stood and turned, ¡°how are you doing Verity? Were you able to find the answer to my question?¡±

    His aura was a curious silver just like his eyes, almost like it was waiting to reflect her answer back at her.

    Regardless, she smirked at him, ¡°Yes, there is no answer! You just wanted me to learn that I need to put a lot of thought into what [Class] I take and that I need to not rely on you to decide which one I take.¡±

    He made an annoying noise with his mouth that made her feel like she made a mistake and shook his head at her, ¡°Wrong, there is an answer - I told you all that earlier, the fact that it took you this long to realize it is concerning. The answer, is that everyone you spoke to today has a part to play. They all have a reason why they needed to take that [Class], no matter what that reason was, they took the [Class] because there was something they needed to do.

    ¡°From relieving a burden upon their family to trying to help others or serve the gods, they all had a reason why they needed to take a [Priest Class], yes, even those who were forced by family or circumstances. You need to ask yourself why you need the [Class] and what part you need to play, though.¡±

    He smiled at her warmly, ¡°Based on the lesson you told me you learned you¡¯ve already given that some thought. I did actually want you to be able to learn it, so I¡¯m glad it sunk into that thick skull of yours eventually.¡±

    He reached up and gently knocked on her head, then turned and started walking before she could retaliate.

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Annoyed and confused, Verity followed Crimson down one of the hallways, the one on the right for the female gods. Verity¡¯s shoes clacked on the stone and Crimson¡¯s steps were oddly silent, per usual, as they passed a few rooms with great big statues in the center before entering the third one.

    Looking around the room, there were bookshelves carved into each of the walls with fake stone books place on them, the ceiling had a mural depicting constellations and the ground beneath her feet was covered in mathematical formulas that had been carved into the stone.

    Finally, in the center of the room was a statue three times as tall as she was standing on a plinth that came up to her waist with a small brazier in front of it. The statue was wearing a robe with a hood that obscured her eyes, but exposed her lips and the hair that spilled down it, as well as emphasizing her figure. She was holding a stone book in one hand and was making notes in it with a pen in the other.

    ¡°It¡¯s said,¡± Crimson said, ¡°that the Goddess of Wisdom uses her ''infinite wisdom¡¯ to guess what will happen, then writes the future in her book, that she keeps a complete record of the past, present, and future and is overjoyed whenever someone comes along an upends her ability to guess the future. I don¡¯t know how accurate that information is, but it¡¯s interesting to think about.¡±

    He glanced at Verity with a serious weight in his eyes, ¡°I want you to imagine for a second that you live in a world where you don¡¯t receive [The Blessing of the Gods], where you don¡¯t know if the gods exist or not. In this world, you can¡¯t prove that the gods exist and you can¡¯t prove that they don¡¯t, there are some people who claim that they do and follow the gods all their lives, but there are others who mock them for that belief.

    ¡°In this imaginary world, you can never be sure, and you will constantly ask yourself which it is. Do they exist? Don¡¯t they? Should I worship them if they do? How am I supposed to worship? So many questions, so much uncertainty, and so much to try and convince you one way or the other.

    ¡°Verity, what side would you take? Would you stick with it? Even if people mock you for what you believe, even if they laugh at you, whether it be believing in the gods or not, can you stand by it forever? Would you regret it, rejoice in it? I want you to think about it for a bit.¡±

    Verity thought for a second, then opened her mouth to respond, only to slowly close it when she saw Crimson place a finger over his mouth and make a low ¡®shush.¡¯

    ¡°Look,¡± he said, ¡°I really hate just giving people answers. I love sharing information, but as I¡¯ve worked with more and more people as a teacher I¡¯ve found there¡¯s far less joy in just giving an answer. When I leave hints for my students it means so much more when they find the answer themselves. For me and for them. There¡¯s a lot I want you to learn today, and I¡¯m not giving you answers, I¡¯ll give you information, I¡¯ll give you advice, and I¡¯ll support you, but I will not make decisions for you. I have no use for a sheep who blindly follows everything I tell them to do without any will of their own.

    ¡°I want a party member, someone to trust and stand by me, who can help me see and notice things I¡¯ve missed. I also want the best for you, I really do.¡±

    It was touching how genuine he was. She could never actually remember hearing anything like that from anyone but her parents before. That was what trust was for him, she realized, an investment from both sides. Not just relying on each other selfishly with high expectations, but a genuine care for the other.

    She felt a tear slide down her cheek and warmth flooded her chest. She only had one thing to say. Bowing deeply, she said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    He glanced off to the side in embarrassment, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about it. Anyway,¡± he abruptly changed the subject, ¡°I brought you in here for a reason. I want you to write a prayer to the Goddess of Wisdom.¡±

    ¡°A prayer?¡± She asked, ¡°I¡¯ve never written a prayer before!¡±

    He waved casually at her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about it, just write what you need wisdom for and anything else you want the Goddess of Wisdom to know, then burn it. Easy.¡±

    He handed her a pen and paper, then stepped out of the room while refusing to tell her what exactly what to write. He even grabbed a curtain that had been hidden in a slot in the wall and pulled it over the entrance for privacy.

    After hesitating a lot, she wrote out her prayer and burned it. Watching the flames curl around the paper, she watched as the sparks coming off it were flashing gold and green as they gently rose a few inches above the flame before disappearing. After the paper was completely consumed, the flames looked no different than normal ones, and she once more had that feeling that made her stay quiet earlier returned more strongly than ever, and she could finally identify it.

    Reverence.

    She bowed to the statue, then stepped into the hall where she found Crimson waiting.

    ¡°Finished?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said.

    They walked through the Temple together and Verity, with her decent [PER] stat of 14, heard people whispering about the bruise on Crimson¡¯s neck, like she had all day that day. The thing she heard the most was anger toward whoever did it, nobody doubted that he was alright.

    She hid a mischievous smile from Crimson and thought that she might have to return later to tell them where he got it. Those three would never be able to show their faces anywhere in Falst ever again.

    After they split, she realized that she never asked Crimson why people would hate Halfs.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Goddess of Wisdom,

    Please, help me live up to Crimson¡¯s expectations.

    I want to repay every bit of kindness he¡¯s given me.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Later that night, Crimson stood on his bed and kicked his blanket ten times for every embarrassing line he¡¯d said and moment he¡¯d had that day. It took a while and his leg was extremely tired after finishing.

 Chapter 21: What the Future Holds

    Chapter 21: What the Future Holds

    Verity jolted awake in the middle of the night, covered in a cold sweat and trembling. Trying to slow her heartbeat and breathing she slid out of bed and over to the sink in the room.

    She stripped off her clothes and began to aggressively wash herself with cold water while muttering to herself, ¡°It¡¯s just a dream, it¡¯s just a dream.¡±

    The room was too dark to see herself in the mirror, but she knew that if she could see it, her face would still be warped in fear, there was no comfort to be found, no peace, but she had hope.

    She imagined herself as the perfect healer once more and promised to herself that she would never let that dream come true, and she would never let it haunt her. She would see it again, but it would become her strength, not her fear.

    After a moment of reaffirming that, she realized she was shivering from something besides fear as the cold air in her room brushed against her exposed and wet skin, and she allowed herself to feel the cold for a long moment, before drying off and returning to bed.

    She had the dream once more.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson was up first thing in the morning, as per usual. Over time, he noticed that he was sleeping less and less, and it wasn¡¯t a matter of cutting down his sleep schedule, it was just that he found that he needed less sleep to feel fully rested than in the past. Four hours of sleep every night felt comfortable and he literally couldn¡¯t sleep more than five, it felt like trying to sleep twelve hours instead of the normal eight.

    It was part of the reason why he¡¯d started to guess that he wasn¡¯t human. Humans in this world still needed 8 hours of sleep every night. Those with a higher [CON] stat could ignore that requirement fairly easily, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that they needed that much sleep.

    For a young, teenaged human like Crimson had assumed he was, he needed closer to ten hours of sleep a night, not less than half that amount.

    Doing a little research, he found that humans and dwarves needed a little more sleep than most other races, approximately between 8 and 9 hours, while Elves and Dark Elves needed 6. There was no information for Uluu or High Humans, and as far as the Fairy Races go, he only had an extremely small sample of information for Dryads in the form of Midori - the Dryad in Abel¡¯s party [Everwood]. She slept just as much as the rest of her party, so he couldn¡¯t really nail anything down.

    That was the first thing that really made him question his race and other things only added to the question. He barely needed to eat anything and the amount and variety he needed had only decreased more over time, bit by bit. He could eat just bread every day for weeks and be fine, which was especially weird since the human body needed a lot of nutrients to function properly.

    That said, he still tried to keep a decent diet and get the nutrients he thought he needed - no need to risk scurvy or any other heath problems - and was content with where he was health wise.

    He was the strongest, fastest, most flexible, and most informed he¡¯d ever been! Yet¡­he¡¯d hit a wall in his growth.

    He¡¯d hit walls before, they just needed him to push through with training and he was fine, but the current wall wasn¡¯t one that could be solved with simple training, and he could feel its effects in a bunch of different areas.

    First, he couldn¡¯t make any progress on [Amzair], the body tempering book he¡¯d been working on for the better part of a year, almost since he¡¯d arrived in this world, yet he couldn¡¯t get to chapter 3, his body literally couldn¡¯t handle it due to his lack of stats.

    There was the same problem with magic, once he¡¯d mastered all the basic spells he¡¯d tried to branch out and learn the ones of just slightly better quality, but had been unable to. It was like the time he¡¯d tried to unlock the mana locks by grabbing each pin individually instead of his pin cushion method, he got a headache and a low grade fever as his head just couldn¡¯t manipulate or control the mana like he needed to. To add insult to injury he still hadn¡¯t been able to learn the movement type spell [Resonance].

    Fortunately, he¡¯d been able to continue making progress on fighting styles which brought him a lot of comfort¡­until he realized that bringing out the power of those styles was different from using the motions.

    He¡¯d been able to master [Twin Steps], [Vengeful Flash], and even reached chapter 8 of [Cruel Tempest], but he couldn¡¯t go any further on those, they should have been more powerful than they were in his hands, anyone using the styles would be able to use them to do more than he could, but he just couldn¡¯t utilize them properly. Out of frustration and a desire to actually utilize the forms he was using properly, he picked up some easier katana styles that focused on different aspects of fighting and easily mastered them: [Rumbling Mountain], [Creeping Vines], [Primal Jaguar], [Wandering Brook], and [Troubled Mind].

    It was only possible for him to master them all so easily because he¡¯d been working on much harder styles. Similar to lifting weights, after lifting 200 pounds it was easy for him to lift 50.

    [Rumbling Mountain] was a heavy style, focused on smashing through an opponents guard and dealing damage. Really nothing special because everyone he faced was stronger than him.

    [Creeping Vines] required him to practice a bit of hand to hand combat as it used grabs and kicks to ¡®creep¡¯ behind the opponents guard and kill them. It was why he¡¯d been able to stand his ground against Verity in the fight they had.

    [Primal Jaguar] was a ferocious style relying on controlling distance, quickly charging in and backing away to harry the opponent until they died. [Twin Steps] made it all the more powerful.

    [Wandering Brook] was an elegant style of smoothly transitioning between attack and defense, it gently led the opponent into where they needed to be to cinch victory. He liked how much control it gave him during fights, it also just felt cool to use.

    Finally, [Troubled Mind] was all about feints and disrupting the enemy, it was most useful on an enemy with ¡®human,¡¯ or near ¡®human,¡¯ intelligence, but it had some chapters on using it for monsters. This was the single most scary style for any of his students to face. Even Mars hated facing it - even if Crimson still couldn¡¯t get more than one hit in during their bouts.

    Crimson also had one set aside that he planned to start learning [Giant Slayer], a style all about fighting monsters, something he needed a lot of experience with.

    None of the styles he¡¯d been learning as of late had been ones that he¡¯d grabbed from the Guild Library, but they were all from the Astral Library. None of the ones in the Guild Library had a high enough quality to bother with.

    Four of the five he mastered and the one he was going to work on were all just below [Twin Steps] as far as difficulty in learning and practice, but matched it in quality. [Troubled Mind] was actually a little harder to learn since it required learning a lot about things Crimson hadn¡¯t utilized before. It had been very fulfilling to learn how to use.

    Admittedly, they all shared the same problem as the previous styles Crimson had learned, he couldn¡¯t bring out their full power! He tried to content himself and bury his frustration, and acknowledged that he needed to get the [Blessing] to be able to go any further¡­

    He¡¯d forced himself to be fine with that until yesterday.

    Being so hopeless, helpless, and useless just drove home how his efforts were worth as much as hot air in the summer without that [Blessing]. He didn¡¯t doubt his training would be useful when he got it, but that was ¡®eventually¡¯ and he wanted something he could do ¡®now.¡¯ Immediately.

    Those feelings had bubbled over and he had shouted at Verity, something he wasn¡¯t proud of, and she had given him an answer that wasn¡¯t an answer, but it was SOMETHING.

    Fine, he couldn¡¯t progress forward with the styles he already had, but his approach of learning different styles -going ¡®sideways¡¯- was something he could do immediately. He could also put more effort into learning about production [Classes] and preparing for which ever one he wanted to take. He could put more effort into teaching others and his experiments, and he could do something that actually made him excited: he could learn how to use a wider variety of swords.

    His main weapon was a katana, and he was passible with a longsword, but what about great-swords? Rapiers? Khopesh? There were so many different sword types and he only knew how to use a few. That wasn¡¯t even counting the fact that he¡¯d done nothing to practice with daggers, and he already knew that he wanted a stiletto as a sub-weapon, yet he never truly trained with one.

    Well, he would. He would practice with everything he could get his hands on until people thought he was a monster. He¡¯d learn more about hand to hand combat, and learn at least the absolute basics of every other weapon he knew of, then he would take all the skill he¡¯d built up and all the styles he learned to improve his ability with katanas - he¡¯d create his own fighting style! He would grow stronger!

    With a vicious grin, Crimson arrived in front of the Guild and sat down on the step to wait for Emma, as per his usual routine.

    While waiting, he checked the status of his mana. He¡¯d been spreading it throughout his body and it had been going well, not fast, but well. It had been especially slow as of late after he¡¯d filled the majority of his body with it, but based on his estimations he should be done with it in time for his birthday.

    That meant there was another problem to tackle: Verity.

    After yesterday, she¡¯d have a much better idea of what kind of [Class] she wanted, but he wanted to go over the positives and negatives of the three basic types of healer [Class], then he¡¯d take a step back and let her polish herself, only offering help when she needed it.

    It was probably best if she learned [Treatment] for each of the basic affinities: [Holy], [Purity], and [Life] which would also help her get a better feel for which one she preferred, then it was a matter of securing a spell book for [Lesser Healing] of the affinity she settled on. He¡¯d also help her track down the materials she required to perform the [Rituals] needed to increase her affinity to the chosen affinity.

    After that it was just practice. It was hard to be certain exactly, but unlocking a [Class] was only the first step. It was best to continue training before actually accepting the [Class] to increase the [Grade] of the [Class], something a lot of people hadn¡¯t realized were directly proportional since there were some people who naturally increased the [Grade] without extra training, but even that could only go so far.

    By his own estimation, Crimson would certainly qualify for a High-Grade [Swordsman Class]. He might need to do a little training first, but he was at least qualified for a High-Grade [Class]. Keywords being ¡®at least.¡¯

    He¡¯d come to suspect as of late that there was something higher than ¡®High-Grade¡¯ and if those suspicions were true, then he would not settle for anything less. Even if his suspicions turned out to be false there was no way there wouldn¡¯t be a pay off for doing extra training, so it was all worth it.

    While he was ruminating, he heard some familiar footsteps, they weren¡¯t Emma¡¯s, but Verity¡¯s. Looking over, he saw that his deduction was correct as Verity quietly sat down next to him.

    The silence between them was comfortable as they waited for the Guild to open.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson stood in front of his class, he was explaining proper party etiquette for dungeon exploration and he honestly couldn¡¯t tell if his audience was rapt, or zoned out - he couldn¡¯t tell in the slightest. Either way, he knew at least some of it got through, so he didn¡¯t worry too much.

    To finish, he actually passed the lesson over to Verity who confessed some past sins regarding a monster train in the [Hallowed Graveyard], kind of a warning to those who don¡¯t think anything of his lesson. However, they didn¡¯t call them a monster train in this world, but a monster rally.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    He casually sat down among his students next to Lena and Mortimer. Mortimer was one of his most¡­amusing students. He was hard working and reliable, but had an issue with arrogance that sometimes made him rough to work with.

    His long hair was a muted orange color and his eyes matched his hair in color, framed by weak cheekbones, a very pointed chin, and dark skin. If it were Crimson¡¯s old world, he would be described as having a skin tone reminiscent of the Hispanic ethnicity. He was only a little shorter than Crimson and showed strong signs of getting taller than him in the not too distant future. He was quite lanky and had zero sense of balance or coordination, but he also had a pretty good head for magic; he had just paid the Guild and the sessions to awaken his mana would be starting soon.

    Crimson would not personally be awakening his mana since he didn¡¯t really want to gather any more attention than he had, but he did plan on assisting him when he started to learn magic, he had been the one to make the suggestion after all.

    He couldn¡¯t say that he knew too much about Mortimer personally, but the kid was certainly a sponge for his lessons. If he worked hard he¡¯d really go far.

    Lena was similar, but opposite in a lot of ways to Mortimer. She was tiny, very tiny for a girl her age, but she didn¡¯t look young, which was really weird. Height wise, she could qualify for being ten, face-wise she looked more like she was in her early twenties. It was an odd conundrum, but after waffling back and forth for a long time, Crimson decided that she didn¡¯t qualify as a loli, just short.

    Her height aside, she was a White Tiger-type Beast-Kin with white hair and fur which was long and straight down her back, and blue eyes that constantly caught the eye. She had a very balanced face that she always wore a calm expression on, and she was well loved by everyone.

    She had a strong understanding of how people worked and of the material they worked on, she often acted as Crimson¡¯s teaching assistant during classes, and she had even informed him that she planned to take an [Instructor Class].

    He¡¯d joked that she was after his position as teacher of the Brass Class - she immediately agreed.

    Contrary to what most people might expect, Crimson had welcomed her as his replacement with open arms. He didn¡¯t plan on working as a teacher forever and he would eventually have to leave Falst, so having someone to step up was comforting.

    So comforting, as a matter of fact, that he¡¯d already handed in his resignation letter to Lars, the final working date was two weeks before his birthday in two months. Lars had been quite confused why he¡¯d handed him the letter so early, but Crimson just shrugged and said that he wanted him to know.

    The Guild Master was also made aware that Crimson was grooming a successor for the position, so there was no hard feelings about the matter, though he did push for Crimson just to keep the position since he¡¯d done a pretty good job with it so far.

    After he dismissed the class, Crimson turned to leave with Verity to head to the library when he was stopped by Lena.

    ¡°Crimson?¡±

    He turned to face her, ¡°Yes?¡±

    She smiled up at him confidently, ¡°My sixteenth birthday is in five days, I won¡¯t be able to come to class for a little while because of it.¡±

    Crimson looked at her in surprise, then smiled warmly, ¡°Congratulations! Make sure you don¡¯t take a [Class] too fast. Practice and train before you do to increase the odds of the Gods blessing you with an amazing [Class].¡±

    Lena nodded vigorously with her ears twitching and her tail swishing, ¡°Of course! I¡¯ll be here tomorrow and the day after, but starting from then I¡¯ll be gone for a week.¡±

    Crimson cheerfully agreed and left after wishing her well again.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity sat in the library, quietly waiting for Crimson to show up. He stopped to talk to that tiny girl about something, and she¡¯d felt a little uncomfortable just hanging around eavesdropping, so she¡¯d left ahead of him.

    There was a lot that she¡¯d learned the day before that stuck with her, and the thing that had been ringing in her head for the last couple hours had been that random tirade Crimson had about living in a world where nobody knew if there was gods. It had been seemingly random, out of place, maybe even pointless, but Verity figured that there was something, a lesson, that she could take out of it, and she had a decent guess.

    It was Crimson encouraging her to make a choice then stand by it - stand by what she believed in, and to ignore what anyone else had to say. Well, ignore might be a bit too extreme, but she could just interpret it to mean that she shouldn¡¯t care about what other people think of her.

    Maybe it was also an encouragement to take the [Priest Class]?

    While wondering that, Crimson silently took a seat, making her jump slightly. He was too quiet!

    ¡°Did your little after class chat go well?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Very well, Lena is receiving her [Blessing] this week, hopefully I¡¯ll have a replacement soon.¡±

    Verity nodded slowly, she knew that teaching took a lot out of Crimson, he had so much he was working on at all times that she had no idea how he didn¡¯t just die of exhaustion. Teaching was also a source of frustration for him, after having watched him a long time she recognized that he was a teacher of the hard working students, he didn¡¯t really have the ability to change someone or to get them excited about learning like some teachers did, but he put a lot of effort into those that put effort into themselves.

    Those who studied under him and were willing to work hard would go very far as he encouraged and directed those efforts, but he refused to force anyone who was lazy to work hard. He was unwilling to push someone who didn¡¯t want to push themselves or to teach someone who didn¡¯t want to be taught.

    It was his biggest failing as a teacher.

    Because of the way Crimson taught, there were a lot of people who couldn¡¯t keep up with his method for one reason or another, but for those who were willing to work and strive, he would happily adapt and work with them.

    From Verity¡¯s position as one of his ¡®students¡¯ she felt he was an amazing teacher because she fit into exactly the category that he could work with. She worked hard and put in effort so he put time an energy into her and they both saw respective success as they worked together. Their relationship had been like that from the time they¡¯d started sparring together as he gave her advice on how to fight better.

    Admittedly, she had been quite arrogant so there many times she refused to listen to his advice, but when she did, mostly good things happened.

    Interrupting her reverie, Crimson sighed to himself as he was writing something down. It was a sigh that was loaded with frustration.

    Inspecting the upside down characters carefully, she slowly read out what he¡¯d written:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Fighting Styles

    <ol>

    <li>[Giant Slayer] Longsword (adapt for katana usage)</li>

    <li>[Stinging Nettle] Rapier (very traditional, need to find nontraditional)</li>

    <li>[Shattered Earth] Great-Sword (possible integration with longsword forms?)</li>

    <li>[Nobility] Longsword (should potentially move up in priority, excellent style, potentially modify [Wandering Brook] using it. Need to borrow copy from R.)</li>

    </ol>

    Note to self: need to inspect AL for more style books, these are only the ones I remember off the top of my head. Should I develop a priority list for sword types or try to learn all of them to the same basic level? How far should I push my growth in those other sword types? I also need to address my funding concerns. Goal: become a monster with the sword, fulfill requirements for highest-grade class. High Priority.

    Magic

    <ol>

    <li>Verity - get copies of [Treatment] for her (talk to High Priestess Rei?)</li>

    </ol>

    Note to self: I¡¯m completely deadlocked with magic, the only way I can really preform experiments is through others, Verity as¡­primary test case? Also, I need to investigate the skillful use of the spells I have as a potential road for development. Goal: preparation for a Sub-Class, lower priority.

    Production

    <ol>

    <li>[Alchemist] an excellent potential road for growth, lacking in funds to fuel that kind of growth, lacking in resources. Might have to set this one aside.</li>

    <li>[Enchanter] There¡¯s something here, not sure what it is, but I have absolutely zero interest in a standard [Enchanter Class], but there¡¯s some compelling potential for rare types of the [Class], needs more investigation.</li>

    <li>[Blacksmith] yeah, not happening. Interested, but the requirements for a facility are even worse than for an [Alchemist] in some ways.</li>

    <li>[Tailor] simple and easy, no extreme requirements, but growth would be slow. A boring option, not going to take this one simply due to lack of interest¡­doesn¡¯t change fact that I will continue practicing.</li>

    </ol>

    Note to self: I¡¯m also in a deadlock here, I have justifications for and against pretty much every production [Class] out there, and no way to narrow it down completely. I¡¯ll see what happens in the future, maybe something will change to influence my decision. Also, there are some production [Classes] I would normally expect to see that I haven¡¯t found any trace of, more research needed, AL?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity sat back in surprise, there was some things written that she couldn¡¯t understand, but she couldn¡¯t believe that Crimson didn¡¯t just¡­know, what he needed to do. He had to really think things over and prioritize. It wasn¡¯t something that came to him instantly.

    Crimson sat there tapping his finger on the desk staring at his list deep in thought as Verity started to laugh to herself.

    How often did she need to get the same messages before she finally understood them? Work hard, put in effort, stick with it, and never settle. He didn¡¯t, and he tried to teach her those things several times, hopefully she finally got it this time.

    Crimson glanced up at her and they made eye contact, she felt a bit of weight behind those eyes, but unlike when she first met him that weight wasn¡¯t trying to crush her, it was just there.

    ¡°What¡¯s funny?¡± He asked.

    She shook her head, ¡°Nothing, I just realized that I should listen when the Gods are trying to teach me something.¡±

    He nodded, ¡°Sure, they can see a lot more than we can, if they choose to they can give us quite good advice.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of good advice, I¡¯d like you to give me some. What¡¯s the difference between the three basic healer [Classes] you keep mentioning to me?¡±

    He looked at her with an expression of genuine concern, it was even in his aura!

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡± She demanded, ¡°It¡¯s a real question, and a lot of people don¡¯t know, not just me!¡±

    He looked at her with a bemused expression that clearly communicated ¡®you sure?¡¯

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m very ¡®sure!¡¯¡±

    ¡°Well, okay then. Do you know what the three basic healer type [Classes] are?¡±

    Verity winced hard enough for even dense Crimson to see it, then said, ¡°[Priest]¡­[Pure~] something¡­plant something.¡±

    Crimson shot her a pained grimace, ¡°[Priest], [Pure Hearted], and [Druid]. Each has a respective tie to [Dynamic Affinities]: [Holy], [Purity], and [Life].¡±

    She quickly defended herself. ¡°I knew that much at least, I just didn¡¯t know the [Classes] because I¡¯ve never needed to know them, Ruth was a [Priest] so that¡¯s the only one I know about.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± he said, ¡°since you don¡¯t know anything I¡¯m going to start by dispelling a notion that a lot of people have: no, there isn¡¯t one among these three that¡¯s more powerful than the others, don¡¯t ask me to tell you which one is better, none of them are, they all have their advantages and disadvantages.

    ¡°Any differences between the three¡¯s capabilities comes down to individual differences, not differences between the [Classes]. If you have a higher affinity for [Holy] then [Priest] will be more powerful for YOU; the same is true with the other two [Classes] respectively. The grade of the [Class], [Titles] you have, your [Stats], and your equipment all have an influence, but once you take these external factors away they are evenly matched.

    ¡°Their healing ability is about the same, so if [Affinities] or personal preference isn¡¯t making the decision for you, then you should look at the secondary abilities of each [Class].

    ¡°[Priest] has spells strong against the undead and other [Profane] enemies, as you should know from Ruth, [Pure Hearted], and [Druid] are the same for their opposing attributes - [Corruption] and [Death] respectively. Though, I must admit after telling you that: you shouldn¡¯t use that knowledge as the final decision, just a factor.

    ¡°The real thing you need to be aware of is that [Priests] are considered the highest damage dealers of the three, their [Golden Light] has a strong boost in attack damage and burning away profane things, they can just do the most to hurt their opponents of the three, they can also use their faith for interesting miracles.

    ¡°[Pure Hearted] are better at defense, they have the ability to create barriers and defend the people they¡¯re looking after, it¡¯s also the best [Class] at removing debuffs.

    ¡°[Druids] are the tricky ones, they¡¯re the best at inflicting buffs and debuffs and they even have minor control over plant life, ah, you¡¯d probably know ¡®buffs¡¯ and ¡®debuffs¡¯ as ¡®blessings¡¯ and ¡®curses.¡¯¡±

    Verity closed her eyes, trying to process all the information he just threw at her, then opened them after a second of thought, ¡°What priority should I assign to determining which one I should work toward?¡±

    He thought for a second, then said, ¡°Preference, [Affinity], secondary focus, [Skills], [Titles], then [Equipment].

    ¡°Clarification? Secondary focus is the stuff like [Golden Light] and [Barriers]?¡±

    Once Crimson had confirmed it for her, she opened her [Blessing]. Out of the air in front of her, a scroll popped into existence, it looked like one made of paper in perfect condition, but when Verity touched it to unroll it, it had a texture more like smooth glass, and it was completely weightless.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Name: Verity

    -Race: Elf

    -Age: 46

    -Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Black Gold (Bronze)]

    -Active Title: [Empty]

    -Titles: Capricious, Haunted

    -Health (HP): 100/100

    Regen/s: 1.5

    -Magic (MP): 130/130

    Regen/s: 1.0

    -Fatigue (FP): 40

    -Status: Fatigued

    -Class: [Empty]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Status:

    Strength (STR): 14

    Agility (AGI): 11

    Constitution (CON): 11

    Vitality (VIT): 15

    Intelligence (INT): 13

    Wisdom (WIS): 10

    Perception (PER): 14

    Willpower (WIL): 15

    Charisma (CHA): 13

    Luck (LUC): 60

    -Affinities

    -Elemental

    Fire: 6

    Water: 5

    Earth: 4

    Wind: 6

    Lightning: 5

    Metal: 5

    Magma: 5

    Ice: 5

    -Dynamic

    Holy: 5

    Profane: 5

    Purity: 5

    Corruption: 5

    Life: 5

    Death: 4

    Mana: 5

    Void: 5

    -Skills

    -Racial: [Aura Viewing] 2/10

    -Class: None

    -General: [Martial Mastery] 8/100

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity didn¡¯t bother reading the rest of her [Blessing], choosing instead to focus on the things that Crimson mentioned. As far as her personal preference, she didn¡¯t really have any, he¡¯d cut that off with the mention of them all being equal in healing ability. She didn¡¯t have any [Affinity] to any of the three, which meant that wasn¡¯t a factor.

    She didn¡¯t understand enough about the Secondary Focus of each [Class] for that to be the deciding factor, nor did she have any relevant¡­anything! She was pretty much a blank slate.

    Verity let out a long sigh, flicked her wrist to make the scroll containing her [Blessing] disappear, and let her head drop onto the table, Crimson had gone back to staring at his list, in that moment, she could feel that they were both united in their frustration about the future.

    It was a bit comforting.

    After a bit, Crimson got to work on other things, less than an hour after that, he stood and informed her, ¡°I¡¯ve got to go work on requests, find all the books on this list and read them, they¡¯ll help you learn more.¡±

    He handed her a piece of paper with a long list of books on it, then stepped out, leaving her on her own.

    She screwed up her determination and started reading the books on the list, looking for ones that seemed short or easy, but was surprised to see a little note from him at the bottom of the list, ¡®Keep Highday free to meet with me¡¯ is what it said.

    She was a little confused why he didn¡¯t tell her in person considering they were just together, but decided to accept it.

    The next day, she got the bill for the stuff they broke and they had to pay 86 Royals each.

    The day after that, on Fallday, she got another note, ¡®Meet me in Phase 6 at 5 in the morning tomorrow.¡¯

    On Highday, she got the shock of her life as Crimson interacted with a statue to open a hole in the ground.

    There were secret passages in Falst? How awesome!!!

 Chapter 22: Final Preparations

    Chapter 22: Final Preparations

    Verity stood at the Singing Bard statue in Phase 6, waiting for Crimson like his oddly secretive message had requested. She didn¡¯t know why he didn¡¯t just ask her normally, like a sane person, but he must have a reason.

    She let out a long sigh and glanced at her [Blessing], wincing once she saw her [Fatigue] was at 45. She hadn¡¯t slept well in a long time, and it was having a harsh impact on her ability to function. She couldn¡¯t let Crimson find out.

    With the rhythmic tap of footsteps ringing out, she turned around to see him jogging up to her. He was a bit sweaty, but looked invigorated and cheerful. He stopped nearby and used a spell to create water and wash himself off, only approaching when he was clean.

    ¡°Good morning Verity.¡±

    ¡°Morning.¡±

    She didn¡¯t have time to say anything beyond that before he grinned at her mischievously then, without saying anything else, turned to face the statue, pressed three of the strings on the statue¡¯s lute with one hand, stepped one one of the toes, and jabbed both the eyes in one swift motion using the other hand. There was a loud clunk and the statue slid off to the side, revealing a glowing blue circle on the ground Crimson stepped onto it, turned around, and maintained the grin as the circle started to sink into the ground with him on it.

    Verity¡¯s jaw dropped, then she quickly rushed forward to drop onto the platform next to him before it could go deeper than his waist. Together, they were lowered into a dim passage, the walls were curved and made of a dark brick - like the rest of Falst, and there were torches placed infrequently on the walls, making the space mostly dim instead of completely dark.

    While she was still stunned and processing, Crimson made a couple of [Magic Lights] appear and told her to follow him.

    He led her along the passage for a time, then abruptly stopped and faced the wall that curved away from them, stuck his smallest finger into a hole she hadn¡¯t noticed, and rotated his hand to the right a quarter turn. There was a loud clunk and Crimson swiftly removed his finger from the hole as the wall started to lower into the ground.

    Verity finally finished processing what she was seeing and hearing. It¡­was¡­so ¡®cool!¡¯ It was amazing enough for her to use the nonsensical word that Crimson said a lot! That was how awesome it was!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Falst has secret passages!¡± She shouted gleefully.

    Crimson looked at her in amusement and didn¡¯t respond as he led her through the the doorway he¡¯d opened into another passage, these ones were made of stone instead of brick, they were smooth enough not to pose an issue, but since it lacked brick it felt like¡­they weren¡¯t supposed to be there.

    They passed through passage after passage, taking turns, following curves, and just making Verity as lost as could be, if Crimson abandoned her she¡¯d be doomed to die, without question. It almost reminded her of a dungeon she¡¯d been to before, the [Viper¡¯s Den], it was quite the nasty one, Nayre had been force to buy a smaller shield and use a short sword instead of his usual kit.

    Verity continued her reminiscence before being broken out of it when they reached a spiral staircase and it finally occurred to her to ask where they were going, but when she asked all she got back was ¡®you¡¯ll see.¡¯

    She forced herself to ignore the irritation she was feeling from the response and they started ascending the stairs. After five minutes her calves were burning, by fifteen her thighs were and she was completely out of breath.

    ¡°Crimson, *pant* how high are we going?! It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going all the way up to the castle¡­¡± she stopped dead in place, ¡°Oh Gods, that¡¯s exactly what we¡¯re doing, aren¡¯t we?!¡±

    He grinned at her again, ¡°Good job, you got it on your first guess.¡±

    She gaped at him like an idiot as he started climbing again.

    ¡°Why would we do that? Are you trying to get us thrown into prison? Are you trying to get us killed?¡± She demanded rapidly.

    ¡°I have an appointment with someone who lives here.¡± He said.

    ¡°That¡¯s it? I need more details than that!¡± She shouted at him, but he ignored her and just kept climbing the stairs - he wasn¡¯t even breathing that hard! This God¡¯s Cursed Golem!

    She was able to ignore her pain as she bothered him for twenty more minutes, it took a total of forty-five minutes to climb the stairs, and no matter how much she bothered him as they climbed he refused to stop or tell her anything! They were so dead! They were going to be caught and killed!

    They took a break at the top of the stairs, she got the chance to take a deep breath, and Verity was able to calm her mind enough to realize something: Crimson knew where he was going, he¡¯d done this before and was fine. He¡¯d also claimed that he had an appointment, so hopefully they¡¯d be fine and she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about a thing, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that what they were doing was extremely daring!

    Crimson started to lead her down another hallway, this one lit by slats in the ground on each side of the path - when she glanced down one she saw the ground far below them.

    Verity didn¡¯t have vertigo, she didn¡¯t fear heights, but looking at the ground far below them through that slat was making her reconsider her opinion on it.

    They finished crossing and came across a solid-looking wood door, there was another hole in it and Crimson stuck his finger in it without hesitation, after a twist the door opened easily to reveal a wood door.

    It was quite anticlimactic, but there was probably something else to it, or Crimson wouldn¡¯t have brought her here, and he certainly didn¡¯t disappoint because he hit a button that made the giant wall split, then each half slide to the side granting them admittance to¡­a library?

    Well, that wasn¡¯t good, Verity had been planning to do something interesting today.

    As she followed Crimson she took note of the grand painting of the night sky on the ceiling and of the cylindrical shape of the library, lastly, she notice the fact that there were people on the ground floor of the library. Her jaw dropped as she recognized one of the two women waiting for them - First Princess Rhinese al voth Alda!

    The last time Verity had seen her had been when she received the reward for clearing [Nature¡¯s Retaliation], not a pleasant memory, but she was certainly a pleasant woman.

    She sunk deep in her memory to try and remember everything she could about the Princesses Aura, before she¡¯d reset her [Blessing] she¡¯d been able to see more about people from their Auras and the Princesses¡¯ was¡­pure, similar to Crimson in that sense, she was genuine as a person and her aura had been full of pure gratitude and compassion, she was also the only one among the Royal Family to genuinely console Verity after she¡¯d lost her party, taking the time to speak with her after the official rewarding ceremony. Because of that, she honestly thought very highly of her.

    So, how did she know Crimson???

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    To put it mildly, Rhinese was very confused. Who was the lovely elf following Crimson? A girlfriend? No, they didn¡¯t act like it, there was no attitude of intimacy in their behavior, and she didn¡¯t perceive any form of affection in his eyes.

    Probably¡­a fellow student? Elves were hard to pin down in age, but since she lacked a strong air of maturity she was probably only a few years older than Rhinese herself. That assumedly being the case, it would make sense if they were both learning from Crimson.

    She stood and greeted him, ¡°Hello Crimson, how are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing well Rhinese, how are you doing?¡± It had taken her a while, but she¡¯d finally broken him of his forced formality, which was a welcome relief to her, and a shock to the elf who seemed like she¡¯d keel over in shock.

    With a blink, Rhinese realized that she recognized the elf. What was her name¡­Veil? No, Verity! It was her party that cleared [Nature¡¯s Retaliation], the highest leveled Natural Dungeon to appear in years. It had been months since she¡¯d seen her, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that she hadn¡¯t recognized her, but she did feel guilty to not immediately identify her - especially considering the sacrifices she¡¯d made for Falst.

    Knowing that, she was pretty confident that she wouldn¡¯t be one of Crimson¡¯s students, even for as impressive as he was, there wasn¡¯t much he could teach to someone of her Level - even less considering the fact that she wasn¡¯t a magic user, but a master of physical combat, taking away pretty much everything Crimson might be able to teach her from the equation.

    To make up for her mistake, she used an especially kind tone in her greeting, ¡°I¡¯m doing well. How are you [Windfist] Verity?¡±

    Verity visibly winced and Rhinese was immediately concerned that she¡¯d done something to offend her.

    Verity bowed to her and said, ¡°My apologies Your Highness, but I no longer qualify for the title [Windfist], I reset my [Blessing], you see. So I can¡¯t lay claim to the title anymore.¡±

    To say that Rhinese was shocked would be an understatement¡­to be frank, if bordering on offensive, she¡¯d been under the impression that many people would rather kill themselves than reset their [Blessing] - especially if they¡¯d been as high a Level as Verity had been.

    Feeling extremely awkward, her apology was loaded with as much sincerity as she could manage as she bowed to Verity - ignoring Sariya as she protested the bow.

    ¡°My deepest apologies¡­I am so very, very sorry, but I am glad to see you in good heath before me.¡±

    Part of what had made Verity hard to recognize¡­was that the first and, formerly, only time she had seen her, she¡¯d looked like an Uluu without the markings, which only heightened Rhinese¡¯s joy at seeing her alive. Her party had been Falst¡¯s heroes, and they¡¯d paid a high price for it, because of that, Rhinese thought that it was her place as the First Princess to treat her with all the graciousness she deserved, even if it wasn¡¯t enough to express all her gratitude.

    Rhinese inspected Verity closely as she straightened up, and noted with mild amusement the discomfort in her body language. It said a lot to her character that she behaved that way, it spoke of humility, a very desirable trait.

    Verity slowly responded to her, speaking in a measured voice that was clearly uncomfortable with formality, ¡°I don¡¯t need such an outpouring of gratitude, I know my party and I wouldn¡¯t have changed our mind on what we needed to do, given the chance to change out minds.¡± She gave Rhinese a weak smile, ¡°I just need to be the one, the only one, to carry on their memory.¡±

    ¡°That is a wonderful attitude to take, you do the memory of your comrades an honor, may you meet them again in another life!¡± Rhinese said.

    She noticed Crimson inspecting her closely, he seemed to approve quite strongly of their conversation, and he also seemed happy that they were on good terms. From the subtle shift in his shoulders to his expression, the placement of his arms, and even how he pointed his toes she¡¯d been able to tell what he was thinking. Even with pointers from her he was still very easy to read! That was even discounting how is eyes pretty much told her what he was thinking at all times!

    Verity expressed her gratitude for Rhinese¡¯s well wishes, then an uncomfortable silence fell on the group, prompting all three women to turn to Crimson as he seemed least bothered by the quiet.

    He quickly introduced Sariya to Verity, then sat them all down at the usual table, the table Rhinese had found him sitting at all those months ago.

    He then steepled his fingers and stared firmly at Rhinese, then at Verity in turn for a moment before speaking, ¡°Rhinese, I need a favor. Could you teach Verity what you know about the [Pure-Hearted] [Class]? She¡¯s looking at getting a healer [Class] and I figured you¡¯d be my best primary source since¡­well, your circumstances. I thought about asking Emma, but I believe that you¡¯d be more helpful to Verity, she and Emma don¡¯t get along very well.¡±

    Her circumstances? Ahh¡­that. She smiled bitterly, then responded, ¡°Yes, I can see why you¡¯d think that, but bear in mind that I¡¯m not exactly a primary source, I don¡¯t have my [Blessing] either, my birthday is in two months.¡±

    Crimson nodded, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re a little older than me, but that¡¯s not important, the point is that you¡¯re as qualified to talk about the [Class] as I am about the [Swordsman Class], and your circumstances will be beneficial to Verity. So, will you do it?¡±

    Rhinese spoke, ¡°Yes, I¡¯d be happy to help, would you mind joining us for the interview?¡±

    Crimson stood, ¡°No, sorry. I have training I need to do, and a certain fox-kin to beat up, I¡¯ll leave you two to it.¡±

    He strode off, and Sariya spoke in an angry voice, ¡°How dare he ignore your request like that Princess, the nerve!¡±

    Verity flashed a bitter smile and Rhinese chuckled before speaking, ¡°Rather than ignoring me, he was thinking of her. It was his awkward way of giving us privacy, and¡­¡± she eyed Sariya, ¡°him threatening to beat you up was him saying that you should allow us a private discussion.¡±

    Sariya looked very uncomfortable for a long second, then swished her tail in annoyance before charging off between the shelves after him, leaving parting words in the air, ¡°We¡¯ll see who beats who up!¡±

    Verity and Rhinese both laughed at that before a long moment of silence fell. She could see that the elf was thinking long and hard about how to broach the topic, while she just chose to be patient and give her as much time as she needed.

    A few minutes later, Verity asked, ¡°What can you tell me about the [Pure-Hearted Class]? I don¡¯t really know much about it, Ruth, the healer for my party, was a [Priest], and I never really cared to learn much more about them.¡±

    Rhinese neatly folded her hands in her lap and thought about her answer, she couldn¡¯t let her old instincts guide her to share too much information too fast, it would overwhelm Verity.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s start with the basics. You might know this, but each of the three healer [Classes] draw power not just from an affinity, but from a feeling or emotion as well. For [Priests] it is faith, [Pure-Hearted] rely on determination, and finally [Druids] use love. I learned about it from Crimson - for some reason these emotions stimulate your ability to connect with the respective affinity for each of the [Classes].

    ¡°Because of that, you need to understand how ¡®[Pure-Hearted]¡¯ isn¡¯t just a [Class], but a goal. You seek to become pure in heart yourself, you use determination to refuse [Corruption] and seek [Purity], and because of that you recognize injuries as ¡®impure,¡¯ the desire to harm others is similarly so.

    ¡°If you seek to take up the [Pure-Hearted Class] you need to ask yourself where your desires originate from, are they a pure desire to help? Are they motivated by the commandments of the Gods? Do they come purely because you love all living things? Certainly, these desires intertwine and interweave, but which do you want to draw your strength from?

    ¡°That is the first, and most basic essence of the [Pure-Hearted Class], other things are recognizing that it is the [Class] that works the hardest to protect through it¡¯s barriers, it holds no wish to harm, unlike a [Priest] that holds scorn for the Gods enemies. Neither does it wish to bog down others with strength that doesn¡¯t belong to them, it merely keeps everything as [Pure] as possible.¡±

    Rhinese felt quite apologetic as she added, ¡°Sorry if this doesn¡¯t seem like a real answer, it¡¯s mostly a philosophical one, but I¡¯m not Crimson and I can¡¯t tell you with absolute precision which is the best of the three, I can¡¯t pull out any numbers, I can¡¯t give any definitive answers, and I¡¯m quite biased, but please, if there is any questions you have that I can answer more fully than the one I¡¯ve just given, please inform me.¡±

    Verity sat in silence for a long moment, then said, ¡°I learned many important things this week, but ones of those is that I learned that the reasons why we choose our paths is extremely important. Why did you decide to take a [Pure-Hearted Class]? I heard the women of the Royal Family have an extremely high affinity for [Holy], so why choose this?¡±

    Rhinese¡¯s smile was quite a sad one, and she spoke with sorrow, ¡°I don¡¯t think my answer will help, but I can tell you how it started. It¡¯s not even a real story, it all just started from a feeling.¡±

    ¡°A feeling?¡±

    ¡°Yes, a feeling. I felt trapped. I¡¯m the First Princess of Alda, and I love this country with all my heart, I love the people, I love the land, I love everything about it, and I love my father, the king, but sometimes it¡¯s hard, I don¡¯t feel like I get to choose what I want to be. My meals, my clothes, where I slept, how I spent my time, and who I associated with were all decided for me. I was quite young when it really hit home, I don¡¯t think anyone around me noticed, not even my brother, Kaine, but I wanted to run away.

    ¡°I wanted to start making decisions for myself, and be who I wanted to be, but that desire clashed with another desire; I wanted to do everything I could for my country. These two desires didn¡¯t clash at first, but I got to go on a tour of the kingdom not long after I¡¯d realized how trapped I was.

    ¡°My father taught me many lessons on that trip, and above all, I learned how much I love Alda. It was made clear to me how unique my position was, I¡¯m the First Princess! I¡¯m in a position to help and encourage! I wanted to with all my might, but the feeling of incarceration refused to go away, so I turned to books, and found my freedom there.

    ¡°I devoured book after book, and among the many stories I came across, the one of Naylee the [Sweet] touched me. She was easily the most acclaimed [Pure-Hearted] to ever live, the only one holding this [Class] to reach Lv.100, and her philosophies touched me. She was determined to never let anyone she met walk away injured, she pushed herself, at the cost of her own heath, to help others.

    ¡°It was written that her barriers would never be breached, that her healing was so powerful it even convinced the God of Death to wait a little longer before separating people. She was truly an icon!

    ¡°For the first time, I found something I¡¯d truly wanted, something that would allow me to make a choice for myself and still fulfill the desire I had to help my country, but it won¡¯t be easy. Everyone around me wants me to take up the [Priest Class], they want to push me along path they have planned out for me that includes everything but what I want.¡±

    Rhinese stared at Verity, dead in the eye, and though she didn¡¯t have the same power Crimson did, she tried to show her with the strength of her will how serious she was as she said one final thing, ¡°I will decide my own path, and I will show everyone around me that this is the right path.¡±

    They fell silent once more, but instead of breaking it or allowing it to be broken, Rhinese stood and walked towards Crimson and Sariya, leaving Verity with her thoughts for a moment.

    Once she reached them, she found Crimson staring down Sariya with a wooden knife in his hand and she stared right back at him holding her own knife. Rhinese noted with some amusement that her tail hair was standing on end, but both were uninjured, so she had no idea what kind of training they were doing.

    Crimson noticed her, and called a halt to their training, and all three together returned to where Verity was sitting.

    He spoke to her, ¡°Did you get the answer you needed?¡±

    Verity shrugged back at him, and Rhinese felt guilty at her response, ¡°Not really, just more to think about.¡±

    Crimson grinned, ¡°Good, thinking is important, if you rush this then you¡¯ll regret it. For now, I¡¯m going to give you one last thing, then I¡¯m going to leave you on your own. There¡¯s no one but you who can make the final decision on which [Class] to take.¡±

    He pulled a folded piece of paper from a pocket and handed it to Verity, who unfolded it and started to read over what was on it. Rhinese couldn¡¯t help her curiosity, so she read a couple words, then immediately recognized the contents.

    They were [Ritual] ingredients for increasing [Affinities]!

    Specifically, she could recognize the ones for increasing [Purity] since she¡¯d gone to a lot of trouble to gather those ones herself, but there were three sets of ingredients on the list, [Holy] and [Life] as well?

    ¡°Here,¡± Crimson said, ¡°these are [Rituals] to increase your affinities to 7, pick one and bring it up to that point, it¡¯ll help you qualify for a higher grade [Class] when you decide which one you want. Besides,¡± Rhinese watched his mouth quirk into a smile, ¡°if you raise an an affinity and do some heavy training you might find a rare [Class], or something even better. Good luck.¡±

    Rhinese could see how stunned Verity was, but she seemed to be taking it better than Rhinese herself had when Crimson had first showed her it was possible to raise her affinity for [Purity]; rather, Verity was probably more used to how impossible the things Crimson did were.

    Rhinese smiled, even if she wasn¡¯t able to help Verity like she deserved, it was good that there was someone looking out for her.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    As the days passed, Crimson was caught between his unending annoyance at his own ability to truly become stronger, and his joy that he schedule was opening up more and more. Lena was taking over teaching duty for the Brass Class more and more, which left him more as a class advisor than the actual teacher and gave him a lot more free time. Since he no longer had to plan lessons and his attendance was more to lend moral support to her he was free to work on other things with only a token effort toward the class.

    The only thing that kept him from quitting outright was the pressure from Lars to end at the time he¡¯d already appointed in his previous resignation letter. He felt a little guilty about taking paycheck for doing nothing, so he set aside time to work on something that had bothered him from the moment he¡¯d started learning to fight: ¡®The Basic Adventurer¡¯s Style.¡¯ Calling it a style was a disgusting overstatement.

    To describe it as: ¡®how to not hit yourself with your weapon¡¯ was more accurate, and it didn¡¯t even do a complete job teaching that! Crimson had viewed it with derision from the moment he¡¯d started learning [Dancing Autumn Leaf] - it wasn¡¯t even that good of a fighting style to begin with, yet it made the ¡®Basic Adventurer¡¯s Style¡¯ look like a child swinging a stick!

    A child might actually be able to fight better without the style¡­

    Well, regardless of Crimson¡¯s opinion, he set about improving it. Even if he wasn¡¯t skilled with all the weapons used, he knew enough about fighting with and against them to make a marked improvement when he set about fixing the ¡®Basic Adventurer¡¯s Style.¡¯

    It was a simple philosophy that he stuck to: three forms for each weapon, one for speed, one for defense, and one to hit hard. It was inspired by a game he¡¯d liked back on earth, so he couldn¡¯t claim true originality, but by arranging it like that it allowed him to create a clear focus to work with, and, while basic, it could actually be considered a true fighting style.

    By and far, the style was most refined for swords which was obvious considering who was making the improvements, but by involving people who actually used the other weapons he¡¯d been able to slowly refine and improve bit by bit until it was satisfactory.

    Lena had helped out quite a bit - her weapon was a hammer - so it was also being taught in the Brass Class with her help, leading to an increase in the quality of guild members¡¯ fighting ability.

    Because the ¡®True Adventurer¡¯s Style¡¯ - as it was now being called - was designed to be effective, foundational, and accessible it gave even the most experienced Adventurer¡¯s something to learn, making them better fighters, and over the course of the two months Crimson worked on the project raised the average level in the Guild by 6, there were now a record amount of Silver Ranked Adventurer¡¯s and Falst now had three parties of Black Gold Rank - a massive qualitative change.

    Crimson couldn¡¯t take the whole credit for it, he worked with a lot of people to see it through, and it was they - not he - who helped disseminate the ¡®True Adventurer¡¯s Style.¡¯ He had been so focused on refining and working on the actual style that he hadn¡¯t been able to personally teach it to a lot of people - the most he¡¯d done was create a Style Book with basic sketches which had been copied and shared around a bit.

    That had been enough for him to content himself with the pay he¡¯d received for the Brass Class.

    In the Class, Mortimer had finished having his mana awoken just a week before Crimson resigned, so he¡¯d left him with a long list of things to read and a small book full of notes he¡¯d taken to help him learn and use magic effectively. Since he¡¯d taken a step back from his teaching role, he wanted more time to work on his final preparations to receive his [Blessing], so that was all the help he was selfishly willing to offer Mortimer.

    He did feel bad about not doing more for him.

    He also felt bad about not being able to help Rhinese more as well, she¡¯d hit a roadblock similar to Crimson¡¯s and, unlike him, it had come quite early. She had been unable to learn any spells beyond [Magic Light], but unlike Crimson she couldn¡¯t even push herself hard enough to get a fever, just a headache from concentrating too hard.

    Because of that, he didn¡¯t really have much else about practical magic he could teach her, so they spent a long time discussing theoretical magic. She had a wonderful perspective and a sharp understanding, so the discussions were mutually beneficial, not just a one-sided lecture.

    Verity did her best to listen, but a lot of what they talked about went over her head, and she ended up playing with Sariya who didn¡¯t even attempt to follow their conversations - despite the fact that she had a magic [Class] and would greatly benefit from it.

    It was annoying to Crimson, but since it wasn¡¯t his place to say anything to Sariya he¡¯d squelched his annoyance and kept his mouth shut.

    Verity was a different story, he was in a position to say something to her, but he chose not to. He wasn¡¯t her mother, it wasn¡¯t his job to babysit her, and forcing her to do something wouldn¡¯t achieve anything. He¡¯d given her a lot of advice and he was willing to give her more, but she needed to make decisions for herself, she needed to make efforts on her own, and she needed to be self motivated.

    By those three metrics, he¡¯d give her a two out of three. She was extremely motivated and worked hard despite her limitations, pushing past them to achieve more and more things. With a recommendation from Crimson, she¡¯d been able to borrow copies of all three versions of [Treatment] and had mastered them all quickly before moving on to [Lesser Healing] where she was making great progress, nearing the point where she could be considered to have mastered them.

    There was just one problem: she hadn¡¯t made a decision, she was putting her efforts in them all equally. If he didn¡¯t know better, he¡¯d assume she was trying to overspecialize and take all three of the [Classes], but by her own admission she was just indecisive.

    He decided to view it positively, she wasn¡¯t just sitting around with a wishy-washy lack of commitment, she was working hard with a wishy-washy sense of commitment. The only hope he had left was that she¡¯d get a rare [Class] for all the effort she put in.

    She had also been working hard to secure the [Ritual] ingredients, but he wasn¡¯t sure how it was going, he knew that they were mostly easy to gather, but there was about one ingredient per usage that was hard to get, and because of supply and demand it was also expensive, so he could understand her having a hard time finding it.

    He could only wish her the best.

    For as much as he wanted to help and support, it wasn¡¯t like he had a huge capital either. He was currently working with 9,000 Royals, a massive sum, yes, but no where near enough for what he needed. The most basic sword of the quality he found acceptable was at least 10,000, though he had to admit that his standards had been raised over the past few months due to his training.

    He was quite irritated, but he had no one to blame but himself. Because of his priorities, he cared more about his future growth than earning money, so he¡¯d spent a lot of time on apprenticing requests, and he¡¯d even become trusted enough to do more than the most basic of tasks like moving ingots or sorting ingredients. That aspect made him jump for joy.

    Well, regardless he wasn¡¯t able to help Verity with her problem and though she assured him that she wasn¡¯t endangered by her purchases, it was still tough for him to sit back and do nothing, even if part of that ¡®nothing¡¯ was self imposed by his desire to give her back a sense of independence - something he could tell she appreciated.

    As far as his other goal: becoming a monster with the sword¡­he honestly couldn¡¯t measure that. He had gotten a lot better, training with pretty much every sword type he could get his hands on to a basic level. Just like his goal with the ¡®True Adventurer¡¯s Style¡¯ he¡¯d broken each sword type down into three parts: basic, advanced, and support. He learned a very basic style to begin with - about the level of [Dancing Autumn Leaf] if not a little better - then a more advanced style - like [Cruel Tempest] - and then finding a style to support the fighting style he chose - similar to [Twin Steps].

    Did he know how to use every sword ever? No, definitely not, there were so many types and variations that he¡¯d be dead before he became competent with them all, but he got a strong feel for the major types and some unique variations.

    Going by his favorites - which was also an indication of his overall skill - he excelled the most with katanas which was a give, from there it would be swords similar to longswords, though he was a bit partial to hand-and-a-half type swords - more commonly known as a bastard sword. He had quite a bit of fun with two-handed great swords, they were quite satisfying to use and he was quite surprised to realize that he had enough strength to use one, but there was a bit of an issue with his weight, because while he was strong enough to lift, swing, and use a greatsword, that didn¡¯t mean that he had enough mass to make full use of its capabilities.

    If he had a [Blessing] and increased [Stats] he could make up for that deficiency, but not at the moment.

    He had to admit something as well: he hated rapiers, they were far too delicate and their overt reliance on thrusting was far less effective than it should be. Back on earth where people would die if you stabbed them in the right place they could be really good, but in this world with people who can survive being stabbed in the throat it became far less effective. Still usable? Of course, but not as effective as it otherwise should be.

    He found that he quite liked sabers though, something that surprised him. Saber on saber dueling was quite fun, elegant, and strategic. It held a certain satisfaction that was missing elsewhere. It would probably be a lot more fun if he had someone who was as good, if not better than him, at fighting.

    That wasn¡¯t to take away from the other kinds of swords he liked, he loved them just the same, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that saber dueling felt different and fun.

    He¡¯d also finally started working on knife fighting, and for as much as he disliked rapiers, he found that they helped him get a good foundation in the philosophy of knife fighting, not to mention the host of his other skills coming into play. He ended up putting more effort into learning the knife than he had some of the sword types that he¡¯d learned, and the styles he¡¯d learned were called, as follows: [Thief¡¯s Caution] a style about fast reactions and responses - specifically going from a non-combat to combat state, [Darkened Future] a style about ending the fight as fast as possible with feints leading to a single lethal blow, [Murderous Calm] was a style that traded blows and whittled down an opponent with heavy armor and few opening, [Rest] became a scary style very quickly when Crimson finally understood that it had some similarities to [Troubled Mind] - being a style all about controlling the battlefield until the end, specifically about controlling bloodlust and using it to misdirect the opponent.

    Finally, there was [Cat¡¯s Prowl], a style he honestly couldn¡¯t believe he¡¯d overlooked. It wasn¡¯t exactly a knife style, but one about being stealthy, it was one among a bunch he¡¯d glanced at, but the one he¡¯d finally chosen to learn because it was shockingly amazing. Other styles focused more on concealing his presence, or hiding his bloodlust or ill intent - all good things yes, and he planned to learn them, but [Cat¡¯s Prowl] was all about not standing out rather than blending in. It was about becoming so unimportant that he became not worth note or notice. It was becoming an ant on the ground or a single leaf on a tree, or a cat on the prowl.

    Completely beneath notice.

    He¡¯d come far and trained a lot, he was quite proud of himself, and as he sat at the desk in his room, just three days from his birthday, doing a nightly review of his progress and goals, Crimson was quite satisfied with everything he¡¯d gained, even if he fell short on money. He¡¯d resigned from the Brass Class, Rhinese had ¡®graduated,¡¯ Verity was making progress on her own, he¡¯d practiced and trained, his magic completely filled his body, he was in peak health, he had a party member, and he was ready.

    He was quite shocked then, when his rumination was interrupted with an agonizing pain coursing throughout his body, it shut his mouth and left him unable to scream, it was the greatest agony he¡¯d felt since being in his crippled body.

    Up and down, through his body the pain coursed, like lightning bolts rushing up his limbs and across his chest, and a deep fear settled in his bones as he realized that his heart had stopped beating.

    In terror, panic he flailed with arms he could barely control to smack himself in the chest a few times, trying to force his heart to beat but was unable to do anything. As darkness started to swallow his mind, he could feel it start pumping once more, and he passed out.

    He opened his eyes just a few seconds later in a place he recognized: Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir, and there was a person he recognized sitting in front of him as well.

    ¡°Yo!¡± Raften said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re not dead, but we need to talk.¡±

 Character Directory (CH.1-22)

    ETB Characters Draft 3

    =Main Characters:

    -Crimson:

    Protagonist, A Main Character, 16 years old, Brass Rank Adventurer. He is Half High Human and the other half is unknown, he is originally from Earth where his full name was James Ransom. As James, he spent most of his time indoors due to being crippled from birth. Due to his circumstances, he doesn¡¯t do particularly well in social circumstances - though he is improving - and he has a wealth of random knowledge. He can¡¯t cook at all, but he has excellent handwriting and some basic skill with sketching. As Crimson, he has spent the past year preparing to receive the [Blessing of the Gods], spending that year studying about the world, learning magic, practicing crafting, and weapons training - specifically swords. Because of his knowledge he acted as the Instructor for the Brass Class where he found a great deal of success. He worries that Verity isn¡¯t taking things seriously, and wants the best for her since they plan on forming a party together. Hates losing, but is the type to stew over a loss rather than explode. He plots for the day when he will beat Mars black and blue. Current concern: ¡°I don¡¯t have enough money.¡±

    Crimson Stands at 5¡¯10¡± and wishes to be taller, he has black hair and silver eyes that have an unusual appearance where they look like rippling metal. His eyes are slanted and he has epicentral fold that are easily ignored. He is extraordinarily thin, to the point that anyone looking at him would worry whether or not he has enough room for all of his organs. Despite his thin frame, he is extremely strong and fast. Isn¡¯t particularly handsome, but isn¡¯t ugly either. Usually wears plain and simple, but clean clothes that help him blend in, though that is an unintentional side effect.

    -Verity:

    A Main Character, Elf, 46 Years Old, Bronze Rank (Formerly Black Gold). Verity is the last surviving member of a party named [Cliff], where she acted as an Attacker (DPS). After her party died she was overcome with grief and decided to turn to Crimson, who she was friends with. After a period of self-isolation, she reappeared with the desire to gain a Healer [Class]. She is great at reading and understanding people due to her [Racial Skill: Aura Viewing]. She admires Crimson¡¯s strength and trusts him deeply, but she worries about him quite a bit since she thinks he doesn¡¯t have any social awareness. She is currently making a gamble that will get her in a lot of trouble with him if it doesn¡¯t pay off. She also finally found a way to really thank him, and is eagerly waiting for him to get his blessing. Current concern: ¡°My abs aren¡¯t as pronounced as they used to be, I need to exercise more.¡±

    Verity is shorter than Crimson at 5¡¯7.¡± She has shoulder-blade length golden yellow hair and strong emerald green eyes. Her features aren¡¯t particularly extreme in any way, but she does have high cheek bones and a a cheerful face. Physically, she is healthy and muscled, with a lot of calluses on her hands from her past experience as a martial artist. Her nose is tweaked a little from having been broken in the past, and she has small scars on her torso and limbs, but none are extremely apparent. She likes dresses but can¡¯t afford nice ones, so the ones she wears are all in muted colors, though they have been modified to highlight her beauty.

    =Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir

    -Raften The Overseer

    A flippant, impulsive, and childish God. He served as Crimson¡¯s introduction to his new world and prepared a body for him. Raften claims that he needs the soul Crimson has for some reason, though it hasn¡¯t been made completely clear, it seems that reason is to kill a powerful enemy. What kind of God he is hasn¡¯t been made clear, nor why he has the title ¡®Overseer,¡¯ but he is a very powerful God. He also has a strong love of Video Games and is quite the weeaboo. Appearance-wise he is mostly invisible with the only part of him to be visible being his torso. Current concern: ¡°Should I get a body pillow?¡±

    -God of Earth

    A God of Truth, the God of Earth is a compassionate God who is heavily limited in what he can achieve, but does everything he can for the people of his planet. He intentionally placed Crimson -then called James- with his parents John and Marla because he recognized the importance of them being together. He also bribed and distracted Raften for years to keep James alive. Current Concern ¡°Will I ever be able to wipe out world hunger?¡±

    =Royal Palace

    -Rhinese al voth Alda:

    First Princess of Alda, the kingdom the story begins in. A bookworm and rather lonely, she was mostly raised by tutors and her brother who she loves dearly, but in a healthy way. She considers herself Crimson¡¯s student and owes a great debt to him - one that he thinks has been paid back though she disagrees - she is skillful enough to negotiate most tense social situations and is skilled enough at facial reading to see through people who have a maxed [Facial Control Skill]. Despite that, she still has a bit of an endearing childish side. Because of her [Bloodline] she has a high affinity for [Holy] and everyone around her believes that she will take a [Priest Class]; she, however, wants to take the [Pure-Hearted Class]. Crimson is currently helping her realize that dream. She has mastered the [Magic Light] spell with Crimson¡¯s help, but has been unable to learn any other spells. Current concern: ¡°If being up too late reading causes me to sleep in again, Father will ban me from the library for a week.¡±

    Rhinese is a bit short, standing at 5¡¯2¡± but has a noble and gentle atmosphere that makes her seem taller. She has Chestnut brown hair that falls to her hips and is frequently twined with ribbons. Her eyes are brown, like her hair, but there are golden flecks floating around in them. Yes, the flecks actually move, which gives her eyes a bit of a hypnotic feel. She has full lips, curved eyebrows, and symmetrical features. She doesn¡¯t have much in the way of muscle, but she is healthy, and has a full figure. She has a full time nutritionist and trainer keeping her in perfect shape. She doesn¡¯t particularly care about what she wears so long as it is modest, her sense in fashion has been influenced by her brother.

    -Sariya:

    A Fox-kin maid in service to Rhinese, though she was formerly assigned to Kaine vir ank Alda. Hyper and cheerful, she holds a grudge for long periods of time and still doesn¡¯t like Crimson that much. She mostly lets her mistress do the talking and enjoys spending time with her. She has taken a [Shinobi Class] and Crimson has been helping her train, he even suggested her second [Class: Illusionist]. Current Concern: ¡°It¡¯s hard to stay awake on the job.¡±

    Sariya is a bit taller than Rhinese at 5¡¯5,¡± since her animal side is a Red Fox her hair and fur match those colors, she has big eyes, and a small mouth and nose, giving her a childlike impression which is only worsened by her hyperactive nature. She wears her maid uniform exclusively.

    -Kaine vir ank Alda:

    First Prince of Alda, he is Rhinese¡¯s older brother and is currently undergoing his Regent Prince test to ensure that he¡¯s ready to be the next ruler. He practically raised Rhinese and loves her dearly (in a healthy way). He loves to humor his sister and - though he hates it - has distanced himself from her during his test period to protect her from prying eyes. He is similar to Rhinese in many ways, or rather she is similar to him in many ways. He has taken a [Class], but we currently don¡¯t know what it is. Current concern: ¡°How many ink jars have I gone through today?¡±

    Kaine is quite tall at 6¡¯0¡± and looks a lot like Rhinese, possessing a similar gentle atmosphere, similar facial features, and same hair color. Where he differs is that he has a stronger jaw and icy blue eyes instead of brown - he also wears square framed glasses. He mostly wears suits or formal robes that cover everything below his neck, and frequently cover even his neck. He even goes as far as to wear gloves to show as little skin as possible. This sense of modesty has influenced Rhinese to dress similarly.

    -Richard

    An Uluu in service to the Aldaean royal family. His Uluu marks cover his face, arms, and assumedly his chest. He is a plain looking man despite his strong build. Hair color is Ginger, eyes are Hazel. Hasn¡¯t made much of an appearance. Current Concern ¡°I need a nap.¡±

    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    =Guild

    -Sherry:

    A Dark Elf of uncertain age and, as she is always sitting, height. She is the Guild Suppressor and is extremely strong, her [Classes] all being ones that use smell, scents, and smoke to fight. She is constantly smoking, but doesn¡¯t sound like a chainsmoker, which is a result of a [Skill] that allows her to smoke without issue. She like how hard working Crimson is and tries to mess with and tease him, but fails since he doesn¡¯t respond. Current concern: ¡°I want a new pipe, this one is too plain looking, but it¡¯s hard to find one with better stats.¡±

    Sherry has dark skin, even for a Dark Elf, purple hair, and black eyes. To take advantage of her high charisma stat she wears extremely revealing dresses to lower her opponent¡¯s guard and give a greater chance for her other attacks to work. She always wears a lot of make up to further highlight it and wears a perfume she made herself to give others around her positive feelings towards her. It sometimes works a little too well.

    -Emma:

    An employee of the Guild, she works at the front desk and has a strong passion for her job. She also really wants a boyfriend, but is stuck since she doesn¡¯t have much opportunity to meet good men who AREN¡¯T Adventurers. Brass Rank was originally her suggestion and was done to help her younger brother, but since she¡¯s responsible for the project she pushes hard to find even more recruits for it. Because of the recent class size she¡¯s been quite smug to Lars. She is also the best healer in the Guild, a verifiable genius of healing, despite the fact that she only recently hit level 38, she is a strong enough healer to be able to effectively provide support to people 10 Levels above her in a combat situation. Out of combat, she is effective enough to heal people 15 Levels above her. She sees Crimson like a little brother and treasures the prayer he wrote for her to the Goddess of Love. Current Concern: ¡°I need to get a haircut for my blind date next week. He¡¯d better not be an Adventurer.¡±

    Emma is 5¡¯6¡± and is quite pretty, she has light brown, almost tan hair that has been pushed back and falls to the base of her neck (post haircut). Her eyes are a light green that sometimes seems to border on white. While she is fairly light skinned due to her job leaving her inside all the time, she has made a point to spend some time in the sun to ensure that she isn¡¯t pale. She mostly wears the guild uniform, but makes sure to wear cute clothes on her day off, with an especial fondness for necklaces.

    -Mars:

    Brother of the Adventurer Guild¡¯s Master of Falst, title is the [Spear Titan], Bear-kin. Mars is currently Crimson¡¯s personal instructor, though they don¡¯t do much but spar since Crimson spends most of his time training anyway. He is known to be at least Lv. 90 and is a celebrity in Falst. He was originally only supposed to be visiting Falst for a month to see his brother, but extended his time there and earned the ire of his Party Leader. He gets angry easily, but cares a lot about the next generation. Current concern: ¡°I need to eat a bigger breakfast.¡±

    Mars is a massive Bear-Kin, standing at 7¡¯1¡± he towers over most people and is broad. His animal race is a brown bear, so his hair and fur match those colors. His skin is well tanned and has massive scars, especially on his arms. His face has noticeable frown lines, and his strong jaw and brow give him a poor impression. He wears whatever has the highest stats.

    -Lars:

    Guild Master of Falst Brach of the Adventurers Guild, and Mars¡¯ brother. His title is the [Shield Titan] and was in a party with his brother, but he has since retired from the front lines as an adventurer and is still adjusting to life as a bureaucrat. He has determined that a part of his role as Guild Master is pushing people down the path that will allow them to become the strongest. His motto is: ¡°A Shield is for defending and a weapon is for attacking.¡± Which is to say, ¡®do what you¡¯ve been made to do.¡¯ Because of that motto, Crimson gives him a headache because he is good at a large variety of things, and he has more or less given up on encouraging (forcing) him down a single specific path. Current concern: ¡°I need to kick my brother out, he¡¯s been freeloading for almost a year now, and I¡¯ve had enough.¡±

    Lars looks almost exactly like Mars, but he had stronger frown lines and is 6¡¯11.¡± Wears formal robes to match his status.

    -Mortimer:

    One of Crimson¡¯s students, he is aspiring to learn magic. He is arrogant, but well intentioned. Despite his brief appearance and description he is a character to remember for the future. Current concern: ¡°I wanna throw a fireball.¡±

    Mortimer is Hispanic looking, he has long hair that is a muted orange color and his eyes matched his hair in color, framed by weak cheekbones, a very pointed chin, and dark skin. Currently 5¡¯9¡± with strong signs of getting taller in the future.

    -Lena:

    Another of Crimson¡¯s students, she took over his position as instructor of the Brass Class and enjoys teaching very much. Current concern: ¡°Having Crimson around was nice, handling the class on my own is a little overwhelming.¡±

    To quote from the text: ¡°Lena was similar, but opposite in a lot of ways to Mortimer. She was tiny, very tiny for a girl her age, but she didn¡¯t look young, which was really weird. Height wise, she could qualify for being ten, face-wise she looked more like she was in her early twenties. It was an odd conundrum, but after waffling back and forth for a long time, Crimson decided that she didn¡¯t qualify as a loli, just short. Her height aside, she was a White Tiger-type Beast-Kin with white hair and fur which was long and straight down her back, and blue eyes that constantly caught the eye. She had a very balanced face that she always wore a calm expression on, and she was well loved by everyone. She mostly wears pants for convenience.

    =Harem Squad

    -Abel:

    Leader of the Party [Everwood], and internally dubbed by Crimson to be leader of the Harem Squad, he is a stereotypical masculine pretty boy with white blonde hair and blue eyes, the type to get a lot of girls to fall in love with him. He is, like any good harem protagonist, very dense. He is also very emotional, which isn¡¯t a bad thing, but Crimson is often annoyed by it. While he has good intentions, he is also selfish and overbearing. Crimson goes out of his way to avoid him as much has possible, but still assisted him in getting a decent [Class]. He has recently been very busy grinding in the dungeon. Current concern: ¡°Cecilia has been acting weird recently, she¡¯s been really clingy and making me food. For some reason, that makes Ruby and Sapphire mad.¡±

    -Midori:

    The only member of the [Everwood] party Crimson happily associates with, she is humble enough to take Crimson¡¯s advice and is eager to get strong, putting in the most effort of anyone in her party. She is also a pureblooded dryad with vines embedded into her arms and calves. Her green hair also has vines entwine in It and she has green eyes as well. She also hates the cold with a passion. Current concern: ¡°I need to sunbathe more, the tips of my vines are starting to turn yellow.¡±

    -Cecilia:

    Extremely air headed and with poor impulse control, she often does things that other don¡¯t understand, but they make perfect sense in her head. She is more intelligent than she seems, she just doesn¡¯t spend enough time controlling her impulses or being more specific in her wording to get that across, winning Crimson¡¯s disdain. She has recently been very aggressive in trying to win Abel¡¯s affection, but Sapphire has been getting in her way. She has light blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, as well as¡­generous¡­proportions. Current concern, ¡°When I eat that cloud, will it taste like cotton or wool?¡±

    -Ruby:

    Hyperactive and loud, this red haired cat-kin likes Abel and is competing for his affection, despite not having been interested in him in the past, something has since changed to make her interested. She is often kept in check by her sister, Sapphire, who she looks exactly alike aside from hair colors. She has sharp incisors, a pixie cut, angular features, and a big mouth. Current concern¡­? Due to her inability to respond, we have interpreted her current concern to be that she would like her sister to remove her hands from her mouth that she may speak.

    -Sapphire:

    Dangerous, very dangerous. Crimson, after careful avoidance and observation, has determined that she is in fact a Yandere and should be avoided even more determinedly. She originally comes off shy and withdrawn, the bookish cute type, but she is very dangerous. She does have a sense of restraint and won¡¯t kill Cecilia, but she isn¡¯t above subtly giving her bigger portions at dinner to try to fatten her up and make her unappealing to Abel. She has yet to realize that it isn¡¯t working. For her appearance, refer to Ruby¡¯s description, but change the hair color to blue. Current Concern: ¡°My sister won¡¯t stop embarrassing me, no matter what I do.¡±

    =Others:

    John Ransom:

    Crimson¡¯s father when he was on earth. John is a gentle giant of a man with sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a very compassionate disposition. He loved his son dearly and did everything in his power to have a normal father-son relationship with him. He also worked himself to the bone to afford their house, and his son¡¯s medical bills. A true example of quiet strength and the power of parental love, he still mourns his son quietly. He and his wife have moved out of their old house to a more affordable place where he doesn¡¯t need to pull as much over time so he can spend more time with her. In accordance with his son¡¯s dying wishes, his wife is currently 5 months pregnant and he¡¯s thinking that it might be time to start pulling more hours to save up for child care. He declined to respond when asked about his current concern.

    Marla Ransom:

    Crimson¡¯s mother when he was on earth. Marla is the exact opposite of John. Her natural hair color is ginger that looks almost orange, but she frequently dyes it to be a bright, vivid red. She is a woman of extreme passion, and no matter what emotion it is, whether it¡¯s joy, anger, or sorrow, she feels it intensely and loudly. It didn¡¯t stop her from being sharp and capable in a crisis, especially considering how many hospital trips she had to make with her son, who she loved dearly. She is currently 5 months pregnant and feels very guilty about it. She worries that by having a second child she¡¯ll be trying to replace her son, and she feels horrible about that. John frequently comforts her as she cries. Despite it all, she remains hopeful about the future. Current concern: ¡°My feet are too big to fit in my shoes, and I don¡¯t want to buy new ones.¡±

    -Madame Hunnie:

    A Tailor Shop owner in Falst. She also occasionally acts as a mentor to Crimson to teach him the art of sewing. Crimson met her on his first request as an Adventurer and impressed her greatly. She is a giant of a woman, loud and intimidating, but she is like a dog that is all bark and no bite. The worst she¡¯d do is cut your pay. She is very tall, has watery brown eyes, and a bull like face.

    -Evans:

    A Farmer and Leatherworker that employed Crimson when he first entered this world. He¡¯s friendly and has a child that is nearly a year old. He loves his wife very much, but has a bad habit of getting on her bad side. Their marriage is extremely stable despite that.

    -Symia:

    Evans wife, she has a young daughter and is patiently waiting to have another child. She loves her husband dearly, but he often angers her and she feels the need to make it clear to him why she¡¯s mad. She is a Half, being half Dryad, half Human. Her daughter is named Lillia, a name suggested by Crimson who still worries that he cursed the child with a bad name.

 Chapter 23: A [Blessing]?

    Chapter 23: A [Blessing]?

    Crimson stared at Raften with a stunned expression, then posed a very important question.

    ¡°Why are you in a hot tub playing a dating sim?¡±

    Like he¡¯d asked, the mostly invisible Overseer was sitting in a hot tub, a towel wrapped around his invisible head, and his unseen hands holding a controller, while on a massive Tv in front of him a dating simulator was running.

    Crimson was completely nonplussed, then thought about it for a second and accepted it. He¡¯d forgotten how random Raften was. Though that did nothing to help the fact that he was in a bit of a bad mood, being struck by sudden pain and left on the verge of death was¡­annoying - to put it mildly. Extremely mildly.

    ¡°Ahh, this? Don¡¯t worry about it! Want to join me?¡± Raften said gleefully.

    ¡°No.¡± It was a cold response, and there might have been a bit of bloodlust in it, but he was working hard to conceal it.

    ¡°Ahh, well, that¡¯s fine. Anyway, how was connecting to the system?¡±

    Crimson¡¯s face twisted in confusion, ¡°I haven¡¯t connected to the system, that¡¯s three days away.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t see Raften¡¯s response clearly due to his mostly invisible nature, but Crimson guessed that he shrugged.

    ¡°It¡¯s your fault for making assumptions, and you know what they say about assumptions? They make an-¡°

    Crimson cut him off before he could finish, ¡°Get to the point. What assumption did I make?¡±

    ¡°You assumed that it was your birthday on Earth that counted, not your body¡¯s birthday. Well, not that it matters too much. It¡¯d be easy to make that mistake, but I am surprised that it never occurred to you. I thought you were smart?¡±

    Crimson winced, Raften wasn¡¯t wrong, but hearing that kind of insult from him was especially derogatory, but it didn¡¯t make him angry since it was true. Looking back on the past eleven months, he was surprised that it hadn¡¯t occurred to him either, but he¡¯d never had a reason to question it.

    It wasn¡¯t like Raften had ever given him a hard date, he¡¯d just said that Crimson would connect to the system on his 16th birthday, it had been a complete oversight that it hadn¡¯t been the birthday he thought it was¡­

    But that meant that his body was sixteen, that meant¡­that his body had a birthday.

    ¡°Raften, what is going on with my body? What race am I?¡±

    The voice that echoed from the Overseer was languid, and rather frustrating to listen to as he said, ¡°Well, as you surmised you are a Half, and I can confirm that you are Half-High Human. I know it¡¯s hard to find information on in Falst, but Kosoka is the ancestral home of High Humans. Your old man is the High Human by the way.¡±

    Crimson¡¯s brows creased as he asked, ¡°And my mother?¡±

    A chuckle was heard, like that of a mischievous child and Raften said, ¡°Go to Kosoka when you¡¯re stronger. Maybe about Level 50? You¡¯ll be able to find her if you do some investigating.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re not inclined to tell me now?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Raften¡¯s cheerful voice clashed with Crimson¡¯s icy one, ¡°It¡¯s more fun if you find out on your own, and it will be more meaningful to you as well. Besides, if I told you then it would be a problem, I can see how you¡¯d respond.¡±

    Crimson gritted his teeth, extremely tempted to enact some form of violence on the flippant God, but knowing that it wouldn¡¯t help if he did, so instead he asked, ¡°Can you at least tell me my¡­¡±

    Crimson froze, realizing that even though he was claiming both the body and the parents of it, they weren¡¯t actually his.

    Raften chuckled, ¡°I assume you were about to ask about your mother¡¯s race? Not telling, but I¡¯ll narrow things down for you a little, just for fun. Your mother is a member of one of the Fairy Races.¡±

    Crimson, still caught in the dismay over his realization, was dealt an extra blow as he suddenly had to deal with an even wider pool of races than he¡¯d originally surmised, and he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to get anything more out of Raften regarding his mo-¡­his body¡¯s mother.

    ¡°I think you still need to answer my other question, whose body is this? You told me that you made it, so I didn¡¯t have any issues living in it, but now I find out that I¡¯m riding around in someone else¡¯s body have to track down their parents. What is going on?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re over thinking it, that body is yours. The occupant before you was merely an artificial spirit keeping the body alive until you could claim it. It is your body, and everything about it is yours to own and claim completely guilt free - including YOUR parents.¡± Raften said in the most serious voice Crimson had heard him speak in, though that might just be because he seemed close to failing a route in the game he was playing.

    The answer still wasn¡¯t good enough for Crimson, so he asked, ¡°But you said you made the body, how does that line up if it has parents?¡±

    Raften¡¯s response was heavy, ¡°Because I had to interfere to allow you to survive. You¡¯ve been wondering what kind of Half you were? Without my help, you¡¯re Abhorred. You would be dead, but with my help you became Favored.

    ¡°Allow me to tell you what kind of God I am, what my [Authority] is. I am a God of [Possibilities], you might rather call me a God of [Time] or [Realities], but it is more accurate to say that I am a God of [Possibilities], and I used my [Authority] to interfere and allow you to survive, then I worked with the God of Earth to create an artificial spirit to keep your body alive until you could claim it.

    ¡°Crimson, that body is yours, it was tailor made to fit your soul and anyone else who tried to occupy it would die. Also, that name that you hate so much? That came from your mother, not me. Claim what is yours and stop lamenting over something that doesn¡¯t matter. IF need be, I¡¯ll grab the God of Earth and have him use his [Truth Authority] to make you understand that I¡¯m being honest.¡±

    The words Raften said were heavy, they could easily have belonged to someone shouting or enraged, but his tone was mild and firm, and because of what he said, Crimson dropped to his knees, stunned. Any single revelation Raften had given him today wasn¡¯t too shocking, but the combination - as well as the person sharing the revelations - shocked him enough that it felt like his mind had short circuited.

    It was unreasonable, and he knew it, but he was furious at Raften. He hated that he had to find out this way, he abhorred the idea of having to find the parents of this body and look them in the eye knowing that he wasn¡¯t their son. It felt like he was stealing someone else¡¯s future, regardless of Raften¡¯s ¡®comfort;¡¯ it didn¡¯t change how he felt.

    ¡°Well,¡± Raften said, cutting through his thoughts, ¡°we¡¯re getting off topic, there were some things we needed to discuss.¡±

    Crimson got shakily to his feet and faced the flippant God, ready for whatever else he¡¯d be hit with.

    ¡°First, you will be receiving a [Rizvim], yours will be called [Rean], which will prevent you from being able to read [Skill Descriptions].¡±

    Crimson felt his anger surge further, a [Rizvim] were a kind of limiter, placed on a [Blessing] to weaken the holder. They were similar to curses he¡¯d seen in games back in his old world: a level where you had half health, attacks of a certain type did less damage, slower xp gain, and others. They were very rare, to the point that he could say that it was probably one of the things he knew the least about, but Halfs, specifically Favored, were the most frequent recipients of [Rizvim].

    Raften continued, ¡°You¡¯re quite lucky to receive a [Rizvim] like this one, [Rean] is exactly the thing you need to propel your strength even higher.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what do you mean, ¡®propel my strength higher?¡¯ Isn¡¯t the point of a [Rizvim] to weaken the person with it? Kind of like balancing an overpowered weapon in a video game?¡± Crimson asked in surprise.

    ¡°No, definitely not! You know how people grow the most under pressure? It¡¯s that kind of idea, a [Rizvim] is there to put pressure on you to help you grow to even higher heights. Let me answer before you ask, there are three types of [Rizvim]: Give, Take, and Twist. Most people don¡¯t even think of the Give type as a [Rizvim], they just see it as an additional gift from the Gods, but there are some that get pretty nasty. Those under this category might give a specific [Skill] or conditional buff.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Take and Twist types that people mostly think of when they talk about [Rizvim]. Take removes something from you, stuff like slower XP gain or a loss in [LUC]. Twist, takes something you already have and changes it. There¡¯s actually a guy traveling to Falst right now who has a Twist type [Rizvim], it forcibly changes all of his emotions in battle to rage, and he has to work hard and constantly to control his temper.

    ¡°Like I said earlier, [Rizvim] are there to help you grow stronger, either by overcoming them, using them, or avoiding them. It also helps us out quite a bit on the administrative side, but I¡¯m not really allowed to talk about that. We did argue for a while about which [Rizvim] we should give you, but the Goddess of Wisdom and I agreed, then got everyone else to agree, that withholding information would be the best kind of [Rizvim] for you. Your inquisitive nature means that it won¡¯t be a handicap, but a learning curve, and the [Skill] I created for you at your request will fill in any gaps that may form.¡±

    Crimson folded his arms in thought, but didn¡¯t get any time to process what he¡¯d just heard as Raften continued speaking, ¡°The second thing I wanted to talk about is that you¡¯ve been quite troublesome to us. When I originally placed you in that body you had a Rank 7 Affinity for Mana, rare, yes, but not a problem. Over the course of this year, you have increased that Affinity to Rank 10. That¡­has never happened. Literally, it¡¯s never happened before, we don¡¯t have any way to deal with it, we don¡¯t have enough data to create the infrastructure to support the kind of abilities you¡¯d gain from it. What kind of monster are you?¡± Raften let out a long sigh, ¡°Because of that, your Affinity will ¡®officially¡¯ be set to Rank 9 until we collect enough data to create a Rank 10.

    ¡°Unfortunately, we also don¡¯t have the infrastructure for Rank 9, so your current capabilities are more in line with Rank 8. We do have about 80% of the Rank 9 infrastructure set up, so we¡¯ll need your help if you want to speed up the process. I¡¯ll send the details later via [Quests].

    ¡°So, if you wake up and wonder why your mana doesn¡¯t listen to you like it used to¡­that¡¯s why. Since you¡¯re smart, you¡¯ll eventually realize that this is a good thing, but I¡¯ll leave you to figure that out for yourself.¡±

    Raften fell silent, the only sounds were the gentle burble of the hot tub and the clicking of the controller in his hands.

    Crimson dearly wanted to take the time to process everything he¡¯d learned and shout at Raften a little, but knew that he was probably on a time limit, so he pushed past his momentary frustration and curiosity to ask some questions that he¡¯d had since learning more about the system.

    ¡°Raften, how much time do we have?¡± Crimson asked.

    ¡°A few hours, why?¡±

    ¡°I have some questions for you.¡±

    ¡°May I have mercy on myself.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson woke up on the ground as sore as possible. Everything hurt, from his bones to the follicles of his hair. That, from what he¡¯d heard, was fairly normal.

    Connecting to the system wasn¡¯t a simple or pleasant experience, and it was normal for people to take a few days off before, and almost a week after their 16th birthday to deal with the pain.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    No, the concern was that even his mana veins hurt. Like Raften had warned him, the mana that had once suffused his entire body was now completely confined once more to his veins, and it felt sluggish in comparison to how it had been in the past. It felt like someone had drained all the blood from his body and replaced it with molasses.

    With a groan and a heave, he pushed himself up off the ground and staggered over to his bed stiffly. Normally, pain wasn¡¯t an issue for him, he could push past or ignore it, but this kind was especially difficult, and was only exacerbated by the strong sense of hollowness he felt from the apparent lack of mana in is body.

    He crumpled on his bed and stifled another moan. After laying facedown on the bed for a moment, he smacked his lips a couple times. His mouth had the disgusting feeling that only came with not brushing his teeth before bed for weeks: a combination of bad breath and odd feeling teeth from the built up crud on them.

    A strong and startling realization hit him as he laid on the bed: he was hungry, the hungriest he could ever remember having been in his life time. He was also extremely thirsty, like he hadn¡¯t drunk anything in a day. The two basic needs clawed at him and forced him to take action.

    With a strong force of will, he got up, brushed his teeth, and slowly limped down the stairs to the front room. After asking the owner of his inn, he found that he¡¯d been out for approximately two days, which was a bit stunning, but certainly not a record time for speed or longevity. Verity had informed him that she¡¯d been out for four days when she connected, and he¡¯d heard of people who were up and about after just six hours - though they¡¯d probably been in the same condition he was currently in.

    With a sigh and a wince, Crimson paid the owner 40 Royals to send his son out to buy food, and the owner got him a pitcher of water which he drained twice before his son returned.

    Out of concern, the owner offered to take him upstairs to his room, but Crimson declined - he¡¯d had enough of people ¡®assisting¡¯ him in his past life. He¡¯d honestly rather crawl up the stairs than be carried. It would be another story if he was gravely injured, but he could still move - albeit with difficulty.

    He tried to sit on his bed and missed, landing directly on the ground next to his bed. With a deep sigh, he embraced his own uncharacteristic sense of laziness and devoured the food that had been purchased for him. Bread, fruit, a few meat skewers, and some alcohol that he casually set to the side - he¡¯d give it to Verity later.

    He found a vegetable approximating a carrot at the bottom of the bag and began to gnaw on it as if he was taking our his repressed frustration on it.

    He¡¯d learned a lot from Raften, this interview had been far more informative than the previous one had been, though the last one had more as far as quantity, the most recent discussion was qualitative, and extremely so at that. Even the questions Raften refused to answer were informative.

    They even set a return appointment: when Crimson [Progressed] at Lv.50. It was an important thing to note, since Raften had refused to tell him any specifics about how the system functioned beyond Lv.50, and had mostly dropped hints and suggestions to help him prepare.

    As to be expected though, the first few conversation topics of his meeting with Raften were a bit¡­overshadowing. Like a cut on the pad of a finger, it just wasn¡¯t something he could ignore or forget, but the unfortunate thing was that he didn¡¯t have an answer.

    Should he seek out ¡®his¡¯ parents? Avoid them? Should he have any guilt for being the new owner of his body? He didn¡¯t have any answers, and he probably wouldn¡¯t for a while. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t like he had a true time limit, but it did seem like Lv.50 would force his hand.

    With another sigh, he laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, all he could do now would be to wait. It was galling, but there was nothing to do but wait, and wait, and wait.

    He spent an hour, staring at the ceiling, forcibly restraining his desire to cast magic, study, or work out. Raften had given him a few warnings about waiting until at least 12 hours after his [Blessing] had finalized to do anything to raise [Skills], and it gnawed at him, like leaving a worm to crawl under his skin without stopping it or doing anything.

    Finally, after the sun had set, he heard a chime in his ear, and a few words appeared in the air in front of him:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Connected.

    -Prioritized Manual Installation Complete¡­

    -Stand by¡­

    -Calculating¡­

    -Completed.

    -Welcome, access [Blessing]?

    <Accept> <Reject>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson grinned, finally!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Request Accepted.

    -Calculating User Data¡­

    -Stand by¡­

    -Administrator Assigned.

    -Manual Settings Applied.

    -Generating Basic Information¡­

    -Generating Basic Statistics¡­

    -Error, difficulty reading data set [Race], contacting Administrator¡­

    -Manual Race Set.

    -Procedures Complete, verify information:

    -Name: Crimson

    -Race: Half (High Human/???) -Age: 16

    -Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Brass]

    -Active Title: [Empty] [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] [Rean]

    -Titles: Lucky

    -Health (HP): 40/100 Regen/s: 1.7

    -Magic (MP): 190/190 Regen/s: 2.0

    -Fatigue (FP): 70

    -Condition: Weakened

    -Class: [Empty]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Status:

    Strength (STR): 17 Agility (AGI): 15

    Constitution (CON): 14 Vitality (VIT): 17

    Intelligence (INT): 19 Wisdom (WIS): 20

    Perception (PER): 19 Willpower (WIL): 22

    Charisma (CHA): 7 Luck (LUC): 90

    -Affinities

    -Elemental

    Fire: 5 Water: 5

    Earth: 5 Wind: 5

    Lightning: 5 Metal: 7

    Magma: 5 Ice: 5

    -Dynamic

    Holy: 5 Profane: 5

    Purity: 6 Corruption: 5

    Life: 5 Death: 5

    Mana: 9 (10) Void: 2

    -Confirm Information:

    <Confirm>

    -Information Confirmed.

    -Reading Preliminary Data¡­

    -Administrator has applied a [Skill Set]

    -Acquired [System Instincts]

    -Due to overflowing data, User will receive 4 relevant [Skills]

    -Acquired [Sword Mastery]

    -Acquired [Mana Influence]

    -Acquired [Mana Sense]

    -Acquired [Linguist]

    -User has met the qualifications for over 10 [Skills]

    -Two [Skills] will be randomly generated from qualified pool

    -Acquired [Secret Sense]

    -Acquired [Basic Calligraphy]

    -Applying new [Skills]¡­

    -[Title(s)] gained:

    -Acquired [Linguist]

    -Acquired [Mentor]

    -Applying Titles¡­

    -Applied [Skills] and [Titles]

    -Calculating [Classes]¡­

    -Remaining Calculation Time: 12:59:45

    -Administrator note: Get some rest Crimson-chan, don¡¯t forget that you can¡¯t Level ANY [Skills] until this timer runs out in 13 hours. ;P

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson looked at his [Blessing], his initial excitement had burned out due to Raften¡¯s note. ¡®Crimson-chan?¡¯ This Gods cursed weeb!

    With a sigh, he looked over his [Blessing] once more. Like he¡¯d expected, his [Inventory] - which had ten slots - was empty, he didn¡¯t have any [Rituals] revealed, and he still didn¡¯t know his mother¡¯s race!

    Well, aside from those few points he was quite happy with his [Status]. There were definitely some [Rituals] he¡¯d need to preform to get everything exactly how he liked - like the one to add a clock to his [Blessing] - but he felt he¡¯d done well in preparing during the year.

    He didn¡¯t know the average stats for a High Human, but a regular human had stats around ¡¯10¡¯ as the average, while Crimson¡¯s stats, when averaged out, were about 16.5, leaving him with quite a running start¡­though he did have to admit some confusion since he¡¯d calculated his [STR] and [AGI] to be higher than the presented value based on comparisons to other people. His estimate had placed them both above 20, which was a conclusion he¡¯d reached after armwrestling a lot of sweaty men and women, as well as racing them.

    He supposed the difference could be down to technique, but it would require more testing to be certain.

    Rather, there were three things on his [Blessing] that he found more interesting than anything else, and they were all in the [Skills] portion of his [Blessing]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skills

    -Bloodline: [Eyes of Change: [???] 1/10]] 1/10, [???] 0/0

    -Class: None

    -Sets: [System Instincts: [Skill Peak] 1/10, [Locked], [Locked], [Locked]] 1/10

    -General: [Sword Mastery] 1/100, [Mana Influence] 1/10, [Mana Sense] 1/10, [Linguist] 1/10, [Secret Sense] 1/10, [Basic Calligraphy] 1/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    As could be expected, he had a [Bloodline], it didn¡¯t surprise him too much, though there had been a decent chance it would have been a [Racial Skill] instead of a [Bloodline] because of his mother¡¯s influence. It was definitely responsible for his weird eye contact ability, the one that allowed him to push with his will, though what was confusing was that his [Bloodline] was very odd to look at. Because of [Rean], he couldn¡¯t be certain of how it worked, but it seemed like there was a [Skill] in a [Skill]. Maybe it was a [Skill Set]?

    It was his best guess since [System Instincts] was a [Skill Set], and they were both laid out similarly.

    The second thing that caught his attention had been [System Instincts], [Skill Sets] were rare, but whether or not they were valuable was up in the air. Each of the [Skills] in a [Set] all had their own individual levels, and the [Set] itself had a level. To [Progress] a [Skill Set] all the [Skills] in the [Set] had to be Lv.10 as well, which mean that progress was staggered and difficult, but the upside was obvious: you got several [Skills] for the price of one.

    It appeared that [System Instincts] had four [Skills], but that he only had access to the first one. He could probably gain access to the others by working on the first one, maybe he had to max it? Again though, he had an issue with figuring out what it did.

    [Rean] was quite annoying¡­but he had to admit that finding out on his own what it did sounded a little more appealing than just getting it handed to him. He was a bit concerned that he might be screwed in the future by not having access to [Skill Descriptions], but since there was no way to undo a [Rizvim] he might as well make the best of it.

    ¡­There was no lying to himself, once he¡¯d worked past the shock of it, he reveled in the fact that he¡¯d gotten a [Rizvim]. Even if Raften hadn¡¯t explained that they were technically a ¡®good¡¯ thing, he would have been happy. Since his previous understanding of [Rizvim] were that they were there for balancing reasons he took it as a bit of a mark of pride that he was powerful enough to need balancing.

    It gave the mental image of a bunch of internet forums screaming for a ¡®nerf¡¯ which was a great feeling¡­not that he¡¯d be lauding his ¡®nerf¡¯ over anyone else, they¡¯d just think him crazy and avoid him for being ¡®cursed¡¯ by the Gods.

    The third thing that caught his attention was something that he genuinely had no idea about: ¡®[???] 0/0¡¯ What in the world was that? Since it appeared under [Bloodline], was it something he got from his mother? His father?

    Raften told him that he was ¡®Favored¡¯ which meant that both his parents had a strong influence, so that could be it.

    With a sigh, he was forced to set the third one aside. He had no clues and nothing to go off, even if he did research - which he would - it probably wouldn¡¯t turn up anything.

    He chuckled to himself after he let out yet another sigh. He¡¯d sighed a lot that day, it had been nothing like he¡¯d imagined or expected. He thought that there would be fanfares, whooping, cheers, and excitement - all from him!

    He thought he¡¯d get something awesome, it was literally called ¡®[The Blessing of the Gods]¡¯ and yet the day, or rather days, had been nothing but disappointment. The only way it could get worse would be¡­no, better not finish that thought. He¡¯d jinx himself.

    With a groan and a heave of effort, Crimson got to his feet, brushed his teeth, then collapsed back into bed. Since he had to wait, he might as well spend the time sleeping - not like he had the strength to do anything else anyway.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The first thing Crimson felt when he woke up in the morning, was panic. It wasn¡¯t because of anything crazy like being under attack or anything extreme, rather, it was the absence of his usually ever present mana. In his groggy, sleepy state, he¡¯d forgotten what had happened the previous day and had expected his mana to suffuse his body like normal, not ooze along like molasses in his veins.

    With a grimace, he forced himself out of his bed, stretched, and walked over to the basin that he filled with water. From there, he proceeded to wash the cold sweat that had appeared on his body from the momentary panic, then glanced at his window to check the time using the light. It was about¡­7am? He¡¯d really slept in.

    There was still an hour left on the timer, and since he could move better than yesterday, he decided to work out his stiffness with a morning run.

    Stiffly and shakily, he made his way down the stairs, his leg muscles groaning with every step, but their cries were ignored at he waved casually to the very concerned owner and stepped outside.

    He stretched with long and slow movements, then started walking. After a few steps he tried to kick it up to a jog, but his muscles didn¡¯t want to cooperate and his punishment for trying to force them was eating a mouthful of dust. His arms had been stiff enough that he hadn¡¯t been able to move them fast enough to catch himself.

    Gingerly, he pushed himself back to his feet, and like a dog that never learns, found himself back on the ground after trying to run once more.

    He had never been so grateful for an empty alley. It allowed him to maintain some dignity as he bit back the tears of frustration that had built up and threatened to fall while he laid in a pathetic heap on the ground.

    He had been remarkably positive about this whole mess. He¡¯d tried to look on the bright side when he lost a significant portion of his strength, he did find some things to be genuinely happy about, but it didn¡¯t stop the disappointment and frustration he felt from overflowing.

    The biggest feeling he had, the biggest thought he was suppressing, was simple, so simple is slipped out from his lips, ¡°It wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this.¡±

    He clenched his teeth. It was truly what he thought. He¡¯d had well laid out plans, a careful consideration of the future, but in a moment a lot of them had been destroyed. Getting a [Blessing] was supposed to be a perfect moment for him, like he¡¯d thought last night, it was supposed to be something worth celebrating, but instead he was laying in an alley, crying.

    He knew, logically, that it was similar to an investment. He lost a lot of his strength to invest it into the system and eventually he would gain far more strength than he had before, but it didn¡¯t stop how he felt. Logic could channel emotions, not erase them, and despite how much he prized logic, it wasn¡¯t comforting.

    He hated how pathetic he was, getting worked up over what was essentially nothing. He would get back his strength, the soreness was only temporary then he could get to grinding [Skills] and [Stats], he¡¯d be able to learn new spells, and he¡¯d be able to start training to get a [Class], but the reason why he was so worked up was simple: it felt like he¡¯d become crippled once more. He felt trapped again and it hurt.

    For the first time in almost a year, he wasn¡¯t just crying from frustration or loss, he was actually crying because he missed his parents. He cried for Verity¡¯s loss, for all the pain he felt, and for everything he missed. He cried because it was the only way he could vent everything.

    Laying in that dirty alley, Crimson was finally able to let out emotions he¡¯d kept trapped for months and felt a wonderful sense of relief for it. He¡¯d tried to ignore how homesick he was and how much he missed his parents.

    In this world, he had high expectations for himself and others did as well. He had to hold himself to a high standard, be the one in control, and always have an answer. Because of those expectations, he¡¯d never been able to be what he was: a 16 year old kid.

    Once he¡¯d cried himself out, he wiped his tears, and stood with a slow and creaking motion. He wasn¡¯t far from a secret passage, and he wanted some privacy for what was to come.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    0:13¡­

    0:12¡­

    0:3¡­

    0:2¡­

    0:1¡­

    -Calculation Finished, [Class] feature activated.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 24: Preparations Reward

    Chapter 24: Preparation¡¯s Reward

    Crimson sat in a one of the secret passages of Falst, his creaky and non-cooperative body having made it difficult to walk there, and giving him plenty of time to regret his overreaction.

    Logically, he knew that there was nothing wrong, but the combination of the disappointment he felt and the shock of Raften¡¯s revelations had overwhelmed him. Though, the thing that had really sent him over the edge was his resistant body. He¡¯d spent fifteen years crippled and useless, his body frequently didn¡¯t do what he needed it to back then, and the pain he felt plus the difficulty he had in moving brought back all those memories and touched on a fear of his - that he¡¯d be trapped in his own body once more.

    That fear had been what drove his strong desire to learn healing magic, it gave him both insurance and confidence, allowing him to move without hesitation to do what needed to be done.

    He hated how pathetic he was.

    With a sigh, he banished the thought from his head and focused on the screen that had appeared in front of him:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Class] calculation complete.

    -Generate [Classes]?

    <Confirm>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Before he hit the button, he sat back in thought. He wouldn¡¯t be taking a [Class] today, most of the people of this world would, but that was a mistake. It was one thing to reach the minimum requirements for a [Class], and another thing all together to increase the [Grade].

    He¡¯d spent the year learning, studying, experimenting, and preparing for this day, he wouldn¡¯t mess it up in a moment of reckless idiocy.

    His [Blessing] would generate as many [Classes] as he¡¯d met the minimum requirements for, no matter how many there were, but it would recommend five specific [Classes] to him, ones that he showed more promise in than any other. Crimson wanted to see if he knew the system well enough to guess those five, which would assist in his research.

    The first three were obvious to him: [Swordsman], [Mage], and [Scholar]. Those three without question would be among the five. He was confidant enough to bet half the money he¡¯d saved up on it.

    The last two would be tricky. Considering the time he¡¯d spent, there would be either a [Scout] or a [Messenger] [Class] because of all the delivery requests he took, though it could be a little different. He strongly suspected that he¡¯d have met the requirements for a rare [Class] there.

    The last slot he was the least certain about, and there were two [Classes] he thought possible, the first being a [Craftsman Class]. He suspected that one over any specific production [Class] because he¡¯d split his time so much that he couldn¡¯t imagine the [Blessing] recommending [Blacksmith] or [Tailor]. It would generalize and give him [Craftsman] for a recommendation, but that was assuming that it didn¡¯t instead recommend an [Instructor Class]. He had spent a fair amount of time throughout the year teaching others, so it was possible.

    There were, of course, other possibilities, but he thought those five the most likely of all his possible options. Scratching his chin - which had lacked stubble since the moment he¡¯d entered this world - he hit accept on the [Blessing].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Confirmed.

    -Generating [Classes]¡­

    -Completed.

    -Displaying recommended [Classes]:

    -[Swordsman], [Magus], [Scholar], [Pathfinder], and [Mentor]

    -Other [Classes]:

    -[Craftsman], [Ronin], [Samurai], [Knight], [Runner], [Assassin], [Shinobi], [Rune Mage], [Investigator], [Mage], [Galvamancer], [Hydromancer], [Pyromancer], [Aeromancer], [Geomancer], [Electomancer], [Magmancer], [Cryomancer], [Pure Hearted], [Priest], [Druid], [Spiritualist], [Hermit], [Blacksmith], [Tailor], [Alchemist], [Herbalist]¡­

    -Select a [Class]?

    <Accept> <Decline>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson nodded thoughtfully to himself, in total, there were about 45 [Classes] on the list, counting the recommended [Classes]. He couldn¡¯t tell how he¡¯d done enough to meet the minimum requirements on some of them, like [Hermit], since that one didn¡¯t fit his behavior very well - he spent a LOT of time with people.

    Looking at the five recommended [Classes], he wanted to smack himself in the head. [Magus] made a lot more sense than [Mage], but he¡¯d completely overlooked it in his mental considerations. [Mage] used elemental affinities, but [Magus] utilized all affinities, both elemental and dynamic, which fit Crimson far more.

    Like he¡¯d guessed, he had a rare version of a [Scout Class]: [Pathfinder], but he couldn¡¯t tell what the exact difference was. It could possibly just be more powerful, but he wasn¡¯t in the position to find out since he didn¡¯t plan on taking it as a [Class].

    Looking over the list once more, his attention turned to two specific [Classes] among the teeming list of [Classes], the first: one that he couldn¡¯t ever remember doing anything even tangentially related to: [Spiritualist].

    He had never done anything related to it, not in the slightest, and couldn¡¯t fathom why it was on the list. He stared at it for a long moment, then made a mental note to look into it further in the future.

    He then turned his attention to the next [Class] that had caught his eye: [Rune Mage]. Looking at it, he could hear the thrum of his heart in his ears, the blood in his veins accelerate, and his breathing speed up as a huge grin crawled onto his face.

    He had never, not once in all his research, come across a [Class] called [Rune Mage], nor any kind of magic that used [Runes]. It was a concept he was familiar with due to his time in his old world, but it seemingly hadn¡¯t existed in this one, so he¡¯d moved on assuming it didn¡¯t exist, but with this [Class], he had a hint, no not even a hint, a clue. The only thing he¡¯d done that was related to [Runes] was in that old book he had, the one that took an insane amount of study for him to even get a glimpse of understanding, even with his supernatural linguistic ability.

    The thrill of discovery thrummed through his veins and his eagerness swelled, he¡¯d have to figure out how to use those [Runes] to cast magic!

    His heartbeat didn¡¯t quell in the slightest as he turned his attention to something else, something extremely important, and he stretched. No, he didn¡¯t stretch physically, he stretched magically, using the mana he carefully hadn¡¯t interacted with in several days to reach out. It resisted him, like muscles that hadn¡¯t been used in a long time and moved as slow as molasses, but as he continued to push it sped up.

    Little by little, his mana accelerated through his body, going from molasses to honey, bit by bit it improved, before he abruptly hit a wall. He couldn¡¯t make it go any faster, and the answer why was given to him in a moment.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Level Up!

    -[Mana Sense] 1>Max

    -Rewarded: 10 PER for Max [Skill]

    -[Mana Influence] 1>Max

    -Rewarded: 5 INT, 5 WIS for Max [Skill]

    -[System Instincts: [Skill Peak] 1>2]

    -Requisite Data met:

    -[Mana Sense]:

    -<Advance> <Evolve>

    -[Mana Influence]:

    -<Advance> <Evolve>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson grinned again. He¡¯d need to [Advance] the [Skills] before his mana would get faster again.

    There were two ways to raise [Skill Levels]: Quality and Quantity. Either by performing the related action over and over again - which had diminishing returns - or performing the action with great ability. Crimson¡¯s natural abilities were overwhelmingly higher than the [Skills] he¡¯d been given, so it was no surprise that they¡¯d level up fast. From what Raften told him, being an [Administrator] for the [Blessing] was similar to being a programmer for a game back on his old world, but had several differences.

    Essentially, the System the [Blessing] was running on was incomplete, which allowed for more freedom and branching paths as new forms of power appeared, but if someone like, say, Crimson came along and blazed a completely new trail, then they had a difficult time dealing with it they didn¡¯t have the code in place to give to him. People in this world usually started on a blazed path, then, if they put in real effort, slowly started to forge their own, utilizing code that already existed. As they worked and strengthened themselves the Gods collected data from the people¡¯s actions and used that data to create new [Skills] to give to the people as they got stronger.

    It was a slow and contemplative process, the Gods got time to put the ¡®code¡¯ together in programs to give to people and had plenty of time to tweak it as necessary. That meant that all they had to do in a lot of cases was take preexisting lines of code, tweak them a little, then grant them to the person who earned the relevant [Skill] or [Class].

    In Crimson¡¯s case, he was pretty much an extremely advanced program or video game that the system could barely run, so in the analogy the Gods had lowered a lot of his ¡®settings¡¯ to buy themselves time to write the code they needed to support him at his true capabilities. The easiest way to do that was what they did: gifting him [Skills] so far beneath him that they actually limited him. He¡¯d be able to build the [Skills] up himself and they¡¯d be able to collect the data he generated from it to craft him more appropriate [Skills].

    His [Skills] would level up extremely quickly until they reached his actual ability, then he¡¯d be able to start growing them normally like other people did.

    Another way Raften had explained it to him was that the ¡®data¡¯ he generated was similar to building blocks. The Gods would take the blocks he gave them and combine them into a pleasing or useful shape, then hand them back to him as [Skills]. In this analogy, the reason why they were having a hard time with him is that they had to figure out how to build a completely new structure. For other people they already knew how to build it, but with Crimson they had to figure it out from scratch.

    Why was that the case when [Skills] like [Mana Sense] and [Mana Influence] seemed too basic? That was the thing, they weren¡¯t, they were extremely rare [Skills].

    Crimson knew from personal experience that most people couldn¡¯t even detect the mana in their own bodies, and if they could it was only to the extent of being able to tell that there was ¡®something¡¯ there. They couldn¡¯t identify the exact location - most of the people he¡¯d asked thought that mana originated in the stomach - nor could they tell the amount. [Mana Sense], to them, would have a more concrete, but still vague feeling.

    As far as [Mana Influence], most people didn¡¯t deal directly with their mana. They treated it more like troops they commanded from a control tower instead of actively using it like Crimson did. They told it to do something and it happened or it didn¡¯t. For Crimson, he had to lead his mana through every single step, every single tiny little moment.

    There were of course upsides and downsides to each. To use an analogy from his old world, Crimson was like the scientist that could mathematically calculate how to throw a baseball, but couldn¡¯t throw it well, while everyone else were like baseball players that could throw the ball well, but they had no idea how to calculate it mathematically.

    Crimson hit <Advance> on both of the [Skills]; he didn¡¯t need to <Evolve> them from what they were yet, he just needed them to do their current job better.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Accepted.

    -Calculating¡­

    -Please wait.

    -¡­

    -¡­

    -[Skill: Intermediate Mana Sense] generated!

    -[Skill: Intermediate Mana Influence] generated!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson reached out with his mana and used magic to form the wall behind him into a comfier seat, then settled in to grind his two mana related [Skills] up.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Level Up!

    -[Intermediate Mana Sense] 1>Max

    -Rewarded: 10 PER for Max [Skill]

    -[Intermediate Mana Influence] 1>Max

    -Rewarded: 5 INT, 5 WIS for Max [Skill]

    -[System Instincts: [Skill Peak] 2>3]

    -Requisite Data met:

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    -[Intermediate Mana Sense]:

    -<Advance> <Evolve>

    -[Intermediate Mana Influence]:

    -<Advance> <Evolve>

    -Accepted.

    -Calculating¡­

    -Please wait.

    -¡­

    -¡­

    -¡­

    -¡­

    -[Skill: Advanced Mana Sense] generated!

    -[Skill: Advanced Mana Influence] generated!

    -Level Up!

    -[Advanced Mana Sense] 1>Max

    -Rewarded: 5 PER for Max [Skill]

    -[Advanced Mana Influence] 1>Max

    -Rewarded: 3 INT, 3 WIS for Max [Skill]

    -Requisite Data met:

    -[Advanced Mana Sense]:

    -<Advance> <Evolve>

    -[Advanced Mana Influence]:

    -<Advance> <Evolve>

    -Accepted.

    -Calculating¡­

    -Please wait.

    -¡­

    -¡­

    -¡­

    -¡­

    -[Skill: Sophisticated Mana Sense] generated!

    -[Skill: Sophisticated Mana Influence] generated!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It took him five hours to reach that point. He was quite happy with his progress, and he could only describe his stats as monstrous. He had three reasons for just stopping there. The first was the splitting headache he had as a result of his [PER] doubling, which could have been a lot worse if he hadn¡¯t raised his [INT] and [WIS] along with it.

    The second reason was that he could tell that this was the last time he wanted to [Advance] these two [Skills], the next time he Maxed them he¡¯d want to evolve them. How could he tell that? [System Instincts: [Skill Peak]]. That [Skill] gave him four pieces of information, it was extremely simple: he knew when a [Skill] was ready to [Advance], when it was ready to [Evolve], when it was ready to be [Fused], and when it was no longer progressing along a certain path with a [Skill], or to phrase that fourth on differently, he could tell when it would be useless to [Advance] the [Skill].

    In this case, he could tell that he wouldn¡¯t get much of an improvement from [Sophisticated Mana Sense] and [Sophisticated Mana Influence]. If he [Advanced] them again, it would be a negligible difference - unlike the previous [Advancements].

    The third reason he¡¯d stopped was an admin message from Raften. It said:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Administrator Announcement: Yo, I¡¯ve decided to hold back some of the data from the [Skills] you maxed, so your stat rewards are a little lower than they should be, but I¡¯ll be using that data elsewhere. It would also be dangerous for your stats to grow too high too fast, you can probably feel it right now, so don¡¯t worry Crimson-chan, I¡¯ll look out for you!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Raften calling him ¡®chan¡¯ again aside - he found it extremely annoying - he nodded thoughtfully at his message, then accepted the result. He knew enough about the System that Raften¡¯s decision to use some of the data Crimson generated elsewhere was a good call. Better for that data to be used in a new magic related [Skill] than just some stat points. Between a [Skill] and pure stats, Crimson knew which one he valued more.

    The headache Crimson had, also indicated that Raften had a point about his stats growing too high in a short amount of time. He¡¯d need to adjust to his current stats before raising them again¡­but that only applied to his mana related [Skills]. He still had two other [Skills] he could raise, ones that he could work on even with his body not working properly.

    He stood up stiffly, stretched - physically this time - then hobbled his way back to the inn, stopping to buy food on the way there. He noticed that he got a lot more hungry than he used to before the [Blessing]. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that his mana wasn¡¯t as present as it used to be? That was the only real major difference when doing a ¡®before/after¡¯ comparison.

    He¡¯d need to do research on that.

    Back at the inn, he grabbed his book, the one he thought was related to the appearance of [Rune Mage] in his [Class] options, then set about trying to learn more.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It was five days later that Crimson¡¯s body had finally recovered enough for him to resume normal activities. At the end of those five days, his [Blessing] looked like this:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Name: Crimson

    -Race: Half (High Human, ???) -Age: 16

    -Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Brass]

    -Active Title: [Linguist] [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] [Rean]

    -Titles: Lucky, Linguist, Mentor

    -Health (HP): 100/100 Regen/s: 1.9

    -Magic (MP): 370/370 Regen/s: 3.8

    -Fatigue (FP): 0

    -Condition:

    -Class: [Empty]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Status:

    Strength (STR): 17 Agility (AGI): 17

    Constitution (CON): 14 Vitality (VIT): 19

    Intelligence (INT): 37 Wisdom (WIS): 38

    Charisma (CHA): 7 Willpower (WIL): 22

    Perception (PER): 44 Luck (LUC): 90

    -Affinities

    -Elemental

    Fire: 5 Water: 5

    Earth: 5 Wind: 5

    Lightning: 5 Metal: 7

    Magma: 5 Ice: 5

    -Dynamic

    Holy: 5 Profane: 5

    Purity: 6 Corruption: 5

    Life: 5 Death: 5

    Mana: 9 (10) Void: 2

    -Skills

    -Bloodline: [Eyes of Change: [Eyes of Will] 3/10] 1/10, [???] 0/0

    -Class: None

    -Sets: [System Instincts: [Skill Peak] 4/10 [Locked], [Locked], [Locked]] 2/10

    -General: [Sword Mastery] 3/100, [Sophisticated Mana Influence] 8/10, [Sophisticated Mana Sense] 9/10, [Intermediate Linguist] 3/10, [Secret Sense] 2/10, [Advanced Calligraphy] 6/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The rewards he¡¯d gotten from progressing [Linguist] and [Basic Calligraphy] gave him some stats in [AGI], [VIT], [INT], and [WIS]. They hadn¡¯t been as extreme as the stats he¡¯d gotten on the first day, but they made a difference.

    There had been another difference to appear in his [Blessing]. His [Bloodline] no longer just said [Eyes of Change], but now read like thus: [Eyes of Change: [Eyes of Will] 3/10] 1/10. It had happened when he¡¯d intimidated a low level pickpocket with his eyes while buying food. The really fascinating thing was that he hadn¡¯t gotten an alert for the change, he had just noticed the change when he checked the alert he got for a [Skill] leveling up. He honestly wan¡¯t sure what it meant. Was his [Bloodline] a [Skill Set]?

    After some thought, he decided to recruit Verity as a¡­volunteer test subject. To figure out what was going on.

    It was also funny to see that him just living his day to day life had been enough to raise [Sword Mastery] a few levels. It meant that he was utilizing his training even in non training, non combative situations, something he took as a great sign.

    Crimson quietly walked into the Guild, he was there a little later than he usually was, so it was already open, but it was still early enough in the morning that he was the only patron in the Guild. Emma was sitting at the front desk, but she was resting her head on her hand, her eyes were closed, and with his increased PER he could hear that she was breathing slowly and deeply.

    He grinned then quietly walked past without waking her. He couldn¡¯t blame her for being tired, she worked most days and was required to be at the Guild inhumanly early. Well, he wasn¡¯t one to talk, he was up earlier than this on a regular basis. Even during his break he¡¯d gotten up early, and today he¡¯d just taken a longer run than usual to luxuriate in the physical activity that he¡¯d been restrained from for a little over a week, which was why he arrived a little late.

    He went to the yard out back, then walked into the washroom. He stripped off his shirt and instead of grabbing the water with a bucket, used magic to form it into a tendril that wrapped around his chest like a snake, cleaning him before he dumped it on the ground across the room from him. In other words, he shot it at the far wall for fun.

    Because of his spell, he didn¡¯t have any water left on him despite it having just cleaned him, so he just put his shirt on and strolled back out.

    One upside to the mana [Skills] he had was that they made him more precise in utilization. He¡¯d always been adept at constructing the [Skills], but he hadn¡¯t been so good at using them dexterously, which usually hadn¡¯t been a problem, but that was only the case since the spells he used on a daily basis were used in a burst or he just needed to maintain them without any further adjustments.

    He couldn¡¯t count [Magic Light] as a sustained type spell because of its exceeding simplicity, but in the case of manipulating water or the other elements after he¡¯d created them - like he¡¯d just done - he had found it difficult in the past. It took a lot of minute adjustments to the spell¡¯s weave and had been hard to maintain, but with the combination of his [Sophisticated Mana Influence] and his higher stats, he now found the task easy.

    The mana [Skills] were still lacking compared to what he was used to - especially in speed - but they made up for it in helping him with things he wasn¡¯t so good at, like had just been mentioned.

    Crimson slowly began to stretch, practicing [Amzair] to push his body to the limits and was delighted to find that he could go a little further than he used to. That hard, impassible wall he¡¯d felt for the last few months wasn¡¯t there. It was still difficult, but he could sense that he was actually making progress!

    He couldn¡¯t help himself, he pushed himself, hard, and got his reward.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Stats Up!

    -+1 STR for Exertion

    -+1 AGI for Exertion

    -+1 CON for Exertion

    -+1 VIT for Exertion

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He grinned, sweaty and trembling, not even able to stand as his muscles ached and screamed at him in a pleasant way. Unfortunately, he would only be able to train to get stats up to a certain point. Normal humans could only train for 10 stats in each area except LUC, which was fixed.

    Elves could train for a higher amount [AGI, VIT, WIS, PER] points than humans, but as a trade off the couldn¡¯t get as many stats out of [STR, CON, WIL, CHA] which he found interesting. Each race could gain a certain amount of stats from training, but no more than that specific value for their race. It wasn¡¯t dependent on Level or anything but training; however once they trained for that amount they couldn¡¯t increase their stats any more through training.

    For example, if Crimson was a pureblooded human he would only be able to get 9 more stat points each in [STR, AGI, CON, and VIT] since he just earned one point in each, but since he was an odd Half, he had no idea how much he could train for. He might hit his limit with the next stat point, or he might have 12 more left in him. There was no way for him to know since that Gods cursed fool, Raften, refused to tell him.

    His hands still trembling Crimson applied healing magic to his muscles. This kind of soreness his magic could heal, unlike the soreness he had from receiving his [Blessing]. He¡¯d tried¡­several times to heal that soreness.

    After almost fifteen minutes, he could finally move normally. He did one more light stretch, just to limber up his muscles, then pulled his beloved bokken from his [Inventory]. Since he had his [Blessing], he could finally read the description for it:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Lv. 1 Wooden Bokken

    -A stick of wood, carved into the shape of a katana, but lacking a tsuba. It was made with a practiced hand for practice. It has been both well used and well maintained by its owner.

    -+1 Attack

    -Durability: 4/5

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He took quite a bit of pride in the description stating that he¡¯d taken care of it, and he was relieved that he was actually able to read the description. [Rean], he¡¯d found through testing, only applied to [Titles] and [Skills]. It might apply to [Classes] as well, but since he didn¡¯t have a [Class] he couldn¡¯t test that one yet. He didn¡¯t think so though.

    With a deep breath, he slowly took a stance with the bokken. That alone was enough for his [Sword Mastery] to jump a few Levels. He knew it would be easy to raise its level up to his actual ability, but it felt suspiciously fast despite that.

    He started going through the motions, starting first with [Dancing Autumn Leaf] before going through the motions of each and every one of the fighting styles he knew. He swapped weapons to a longsword then did the same. He continued the process, slowly moving through forms, swapping weapons, then moving to the next one. When he finished the full roster of swords that he could use with proficiency, he once more picked up his bokken and moved through the motions again, this time even faster.

    He looped once more and when he picked up his bokken yet again, he pushed himself in a different way, putting ferocity in for that loop, then precision, then tranquility, he looped through the different swords time and time again, putting different feeling behind the motions.

    ¡®Philosophy¡¯ determined how and why a sword was swung, ¡®feeling¡¯ determined the intended result. With anger, someone might die; with kindness, they might learn an important lesson, and so on. It went on and on for hours. His PER made him vaguely aware of people passing by. He could tell that some of them were stopping to stare and others seemed to call out to him, but he intentionally didn¡¯t let himself hear them. He would allow nothing to break his concentration, he sunk even deeper, and forgot their existence. They didn¡¯t matter, nothing did but the swords that passed through his hands.

    He meditated on his swords, he contemplated them. In them, he sought understanding, and they seemed to speak to him, he understood, more than ever before, how to improve. His strikes, his footsteps, and even his breathing became more intentional. There was a meaning and cause behind each tiny motion, and he could tell what a difference it was having. It made him aware that he¡¯d only scratched the surface of what swords could do.

    When he was forcibly broken from his meditation, he found himself flat on his back with the butt of Mars¡¯ spear on his chest. The man was scratching the thick scruff on his chin looking at Crimson with an amused look.

    Doing a quick perusal of himself and his surroundings, Crimson was surprised to find that he had several broken bones, and what added more to his surprise were the other adventurers standing around him, staring at him with slack jaws. Verity was in that crowd.

    With a dry mouth, thirsting for water, he asked Mars, ¡°What, precisely, happened while I was practicing? Why did you knock me down?¡±

    With a grunt, the Bear-Kin responded, ¡°I called out to you, but you ignored me for almost half an hour. My patience ran out, and this was the result.¡±

    Mars let him up and Crimson started to heal his own wounds. The broken bones would probably have put anyone else unconscious from the pain, but not Crimson, and the explanation laid right here:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir]:

    [Fortune] [Tolerence]

    [Mana Sensitivity] [Language]

    [Influence]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Unfortunately, [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] was classified as a [Title], so Crimson couldn¡¯t read the description, but he knew that [Tolerance] was what allowed him to have such high pain resistance. It did nothing to reduce the actual pain he felt, but rather it helped him have a clearer head and control his body better when suffering great pain. In other words, it helped him tolerate pain better.

    [Mana Sensitivity] was probably responsible for his ability to feel his own mana, he could probably lay a lot of the praise for his magical accomplishments at its feet, likewise with [Language], it was why he knew so many languages, but he didn¡¯t know what [Fortune] or [Influence] did.

    All he knew was what Raften told him, that the [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] would take something he¡¯s already good at, and amplify it. Crimson already had a good pain tolerance back on his own worlds, but it was strengthened. That being the case, he would still have found great success with magic without the [Blessings], and probably would have done well learning any languages he set his mind to, but with the [Blessings] it became something supernatural.

    He hauled himself, and checked his [Blessing] while mentally double checking that it would be invisible to everyone else.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Level Up!

    [Sword Mastery] 3>45

    -Unique data has been stored.

    -Rewarded: 5 STR, 3 AGI, 1 CON, 1 VIT for Mastery Benchmarks

    -+1 WIL for Exertion

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He knew that [Sword Mastery] would level up fast, but not THAT fast! He wanted to jump up and whoop at the sight, but remembered that he was surrounded by watching eyes and restrained himself, and ignored Mars when the bear-kin called him on his excitement.

    Crimson abruptly remembered that Mars had mentioned calling out to him, so turned to him and asked, ¡°What did you need, Mars?¡±

    ¡°What [Class] did you end up taking, kid?¡±

    Crimson shook his head, ¡°I haven¡¯t taken a [Class] yet, but I hope to soon.¡±

    Mars¡¯ eyebrows shot up in surprise, ¡°I have a hard time believing you don¡¯t have access to even a single [Class].¡±

    ¡°No, I had some options,¡± better to undersell the amount of [Classes] he had to choose from. ¡°But I want to become stronger before taking a [Class], I think the Gods will give me a [Class] with a High-Grade if I do that.¡±

    Again, he was underselling his knowledge and understanding, but better to do that than have people question him about things he couldn¡¯t talk about.

    With another grunt and a sigh, Mars nodded at him and left. Crimson, with his enhanced [PER] heard him mutter something under his breath about a ¡®monster,¡¯ maybe he had to go raid a dungeon later? There was no way he was calling Crimson a monster, he was still weak.

    Verity walked up to him from the dispersing crowd and caught his arm with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that you were that good with a sword!¡± She said excitedly.

    Crimson scratched his head, ¡°I¡¯m only a little better than I was the last time I practiced, it isn¡¯t a big deal.¡±

    ¡°NO!¡± Verity shook her head emphatically, ¡°I¡¯ve already known for a long time that you¡¯re a really, really good swordsman. Even before today, I can¡¯t think of a swordsman I¡¯ve seen that¡¯s as skilled as you, but the difference between the last time and today is like the difference between Lv.1 and 100!¡±

    Crimson was surprised at the force behind her words, she was pushing with all her might to FORCE him to understand how amazing she thought it was, but he honestly didn¡¯t agree. Today only made it clear to him how much further he had to go, complementing or being content with just this level of skill would be an insult.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal Verity, I have a long way to go, so don¡¯t get so worked up about that little thing.¡± He said.

    She punch him in the arm, it would definitely bruise, then said, ¡°NO, you don¡¯t get it! There was something about it that was hypnotizing, watching you with the sword now, it felt almost like I could get better at fighting myself. I couldn¡¯t tear my eyes away, and neither could anyone else! Mars got so excited after watching you for half an hour that he challenged you while you were in that trance, you actually hit him a few times! He had to release some of his [Stat Limiters] to beat you down!¡±

    Crimson looked at her with a troubled expression, then decided to just ignore what Verity had to say. He couldn¡¯t ever allow himself to think that he¡¯d done enough, that he¡¯d gotten strong enough, or it would make him stagnate. He couldn¡¯t stagnate when he¡¯d just started! Also¡­her words were a little embarrassing, and he felt that she was overselling his skill.

    With a shrug and a sigh, he went and washed himself off, then he and Verity went to the library. Once there, she told him, ¡°Hey Crimson, guess what?

    He glanced at her and used his eyes to ask, ¡®what?¡¯

    With a big, proud grin, she said, ¡°While you were gone, I got the [Skill: Mana Influence]!¡±

    He smiled back at her warmly, ¡°That¡¯s great, congratulations! What level is it at?¡±

    She made fists in front of her chest in a sign of how pumped up she was, then said, ¡°After a week of work, I got it to Lv.2!¡±

    Crimson¡¯s smile became forced and he felt extremely awkward, he felt it better not tell her that he¡¯d reached Lv.2 of that [Skill] in less than ten seconds. It might damage her pride.

    Unfortunately, she noticed his change in expression, ¡°What is that look?!¡±

    ¡°Nothing, keep working at it, that¡¯s a really rare [Skill], and it¡¯s hard to Level up.¡±

    She nodded a couple times with a smug expression, ¡°Yeah, yeah, I think I might¡¯ve set a record for Leveling up this [Skill], everyone else that I¡¯ve heard about with [Mana Influence] took a few weeks to get to Lv.2! There aren¡¯t even that many people with this [Skill] anyway, so I¡¯m probably the best of the best!¡±

    Verity wasn¡¯t slow, by normal standards she would be considered insanely fast, a genius, it was just that Crimson was so far out of normal standards when it came to mana that it made her efforts seem pathetic and her words ring of empty pride. Unfortunately, that truth did nothing to make Crimson feel any less awkward about devaluing her efforts.

    Changing the subject, he started to ask her about he progress while he was gone.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Mars walked with heavy feet into the office of the Guild Master, his brother, and sat down on the chair placed to the side of the desk, it had been sized specifically for him, and he was more grateful than he¡¯d ever been for its presence. Looking up, he saw Lars staring at him with a raised eyebrow, then he said, ¡°We need to talk about the Monster.¡±

 Chapter 25: A Choices Meaning

    Chapter 25: A Choice¡¯s Meaning

    As a result of the conversation between the Falst Guild Master and his brother, a letter started to make its way to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild Grandmaster. Crimson¡¯s status had officially changed.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson sat with Verity in the Guild Library, she was still swollen with pride from reaching Level 2 with the [Mana Influence Skill] and didn¡¯t seem like she¡¯d calm down anytime soon.

    He was focused on something important: trying to figure out how to use runes to cast a spell. It was not going well, to put it lightly. Drawing them, circling mana through them, and slamming his forehead against them did nothing. He tried a bunch of different variations of the first two things as well, tearing the paper the rune was on, setting it on fire, throwing it, and more - he did all those things on paper he prepared, he wasn¡¯t going to damage his book - he was making no progress at all.

    He continued grinding his teeth over it for a while, before noticing that Verity was trying to catch his attention, ¡°Crimson? Hello~ Crimson! Hey Red! Silver, look at me! Come on~ I need to talk to you!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± He asked, ignoring the embarrassment he felt from not noticing her plight earlier.

    ¡°Are you okay? You were slamming your head against a book.¡± She said with obvious concern and maybe a bit of amusement.

    He grimaced in response and replied, ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m just not making any progress on my current project.¡± He heaved a sigh, ¡°I¡¯ll set it aside for now. I wanted to achieve something before moving on, but I only have so much time.¡±

    Verity tilted her head in confusion, ¡°Is there some kind of deadline that I don¡¯t know about?¡±

    ¡°I want to participate in the ¡®under Lv.25¡¯ category of the yearly Falst tournament. That¡¯s only a little over a month away, which means that I have to get my [Class] before then.¡± He said.

    Verity looked at him in surprise, ¡°You want to get a [Class] and reach Lv.25 in a month?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to rush to a high Level like that, I would just be setting myself up for failure if I don¡¯t properly train my [Skills]. I¡¯m also not that interested in winning, I merely want to test myself and learn more about unusual [Classes]. Many travel from all over the continent to participate and spectate, so odds are that I¡¯ll be able to face a [Class] I¡¯ve never seen before. Best way to learn about a new [Class] like that is to fight them. Just watching can only teach you so much.¡±

    Verity nodded slowly, ¡°I guess that makes sense, but what kind of [Class] are you after if you don¡¯t feel like a month is enough time? It makes sense for me, but considering how talented and hard working you are, I think you could unlock and increase the grade of a [Class] in a fairly short time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m after a [Swordsman Class].¡±

    Verity actually sputtered in shock, then with a swift motion and embarrassed expression wiped the spit that she¡¯d accidentally gotten on the table from her sputtering before she said, ¡°You¡¯re after such a common [Class]? You¡¯re worried about it taking you a month? With how good you are, I bet you could get a high grade version of it instantly.¡± She slumped in her seat in disappointment, ¡°I knew you wanted a kind of [Swordsman Class], but I thought you were after a rare version. I can¡¯t believe you were after something so¡­mundane when you¡¯re so awesome.¡±

    Crimson carefully and forcibly cooled the irritation he felt in response to her words, whether or not she realized it she had just mocked him, but considering who he was speaking to he knew that she wasn¡¯t actually trying to hurt him, getting mad wouldn¡¯t achieve anything.

    The tone he used apparently was a little intimidating because she flinched a little as he started speaking, ¡°Do you think that rare means better? If you do, let me disabuse you of that belief. Rare means rare, that it is something you don¡¯t see or interact with often. A rare [Skill] is a [Skill] that not many people have, a rare [Class] is a [Class] not many people have. It could be rare because it¡¯s powerful, or it could be rare because it¡¯s bad. A [Class] could be common because it¡¯s actually a good [Class], or because it¡¯s an easy [Class] to get.

    ¡°For example, the [Craftsman Class] is a rare [Class] because it is bad, not because it is hard to get. Well, saying that it is bad would be going too far, rather, it¡¯s too unfocused. Since it incorporates elements of pretty much every production [Class] it would require you to split your attention too many different ways to actually grow strong with it. Having a [Class] that¡¯s too focused can have the reverse issue where it¡¯s only strong in extremely specific situations. With a broad [Class] you¡¯d essentially have to cherry pick what parts of the [Class] you want to focus on to make it actually good.

    ¡°I will admit that both types of [Class] still have their place, and done right pretty much any [Class] can be strong, but picking a [Class] that is hindered by it¡¯s lack of focus can make the path to strength very difficult, while have a [Class] that is too focused can be just as difficult, just for different reasons. Be cautious and wise in your choice, and don¡¯t bite off more than you can chew.¡±

    Verity asked, ¡°Bite off more than I can chew?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an idiom that means that you shouldn¡¯t take on more than you can handle.¡±

    She nodded with a look of understanding, then sat back in her seat with a¡­guilty expression? Why did she look guilty? He knew that he wasn¡¯t too good at reading people, but he¡¯d been with Verity long enough to understand her to an extent, so why was she feeling guilty?

    ¡°By the way,¡± she said, interrupting his thoughts, ¡°what¡¯s going to take you so long before you get your [Class]?¡±

    Crimson looked her in the eye and pushed with his intent to help her know he was serious as he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to reach Lv.100 with [Sword Mastery] before I take up a [Class], and that¡¯s just the minimum, if I could get one other sword relevant [Skill] up to Lv.10 before then, it would be even better.¡±

    Verity stared at him, directly facing the force of his will, completely frozen as she seemed to be reeling from the revelation.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to go¡­that far?¡±

    ¡°The Gods don¡¯t allow effort to go unrewarded. I believe there¡¯s something better than a High Grade [Class], and I want to find out what it is.¡±

    Verity nodded her head a few times, then grinned, seemingly reaching some realization that she chose not to elucidate him on.

    She spoke before he could ask, ¡°Thanks for all your help Crimson, and thanks for introducing me to High Priestess Rei.¡±

    He nodded slowly, because of the bridge he¡¯d burned with Damus, he had ended up forming a mutually productive relationship with High Priestess Rei, which had been an unexpected development. Since he spent a lot of time helping at the temple he had caught her attention, and ever since they met she¡¯d been helping him with his experiments. As per their deal, he had also assisted her [Priests] in growing stronger and even helped develop a training regimen for them.

    He didn¡¯t really think much about it since all he really cared about with it was his experiments, but it would probably have had a pretty big impact on Verity since she was working to a healer type [Class].

    With a shrug and a wave of the hand, he responded to her, ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal, just don¡¯t cause High Priestess Rei any problems.¡±

    Verity nodded, then froze, after a second she jumped to her feet, ¡°I actually have an appointment with her soon! I need to go!¡±

    She waved to Crimson, then dashed off before he could respond.

    He chuckled wryly to himself, then looked at the table where she¡¯d been sitting and let out a sigh before starting to shelve the books she¡¯d left out.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity dashed through the streets of Falst, dodging other people and obstacles on her way to the Temple. Rei was quite a patient person, but Verity did feel bad about making her wait at all.

    She was forced to slow her pace as she got closer to the Temple. She might get in trouble for running in the holy space and that would just slow her down even further.

    She wove her way through the crowd and made her way through the corridor on the right, heading toward the end of it. The clergy she passed recognized her and let her pass without issue as she reached the door at the end of the corridor.

    Opening it let her into a hallway that she quickly strode down until she reached a staircase. On the third floor, she stopped for a second to get her heavy breathing under control. Even after all these months since she¡¯d reset her [Blessing], she still couldn¡¯t get used to have so much less [VIT] than she was used to, so she frequently pushed herself too hard without thinking since her instincts told her that she was strong enough to handle it.

    She pulled out a handkerchief and glanced around to make sure that she was alone before quickly wiping off as much sweat as she could. She didn¡¯t want to weird Rei out by smelling badly in addition to being late.

    Once she finished, she made her way over to a door not far from the top of the staircase and knocked politely, a muffled voice responded so she opened it without any hesitation.

    Inside the room, a tall woman in a plainly cut, but beautifully embroidered robe stood. She was a Lion-kin, and was easily three heads taller than Verity, with beautiful golden hair and the fur on both her ears and tail was clean, but despite the efforts toward hygiene, they weren¡¯t well organized. Her hair spilled down her back messily and Verity could practically see the tangles from where she was standing in the room. Her gorgeous robe was wrinkled and looked like it had been slept in, but it was at the very least clean.

    She had high cheek bones and a prominent nose, giving her features a noble cast, but that was completely offset by the lazy expression she was wearing. Most of all, and what Verity had been forced to adjust to the most, she had a gaping hole where her left eye should have been, with a dark scar spilling across the skin above and below the eye, her remaining eye was a lovely amber, and she also had a long scar across the bridge of her nose.

    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Rei was a woman who cared nothing for how she looked and how others thought of her, but she was extremely well respected by the common people, even if politicians thought her crass and vulgar. It was their loss to think like that.

    Rei¡¯s lazy expression was warped by the smile she directed at Verity, and she said, ¡°How¡¯re ya doin¡¯ Verity?¡±

    Verity smiled back, ¡°I¡¯m doing well, Crimson just lectured me again, but that¡¯s normal.¡±

    ¡°Well, the boy¡¯s lectures are always useful, so you shouldn¡¯t complain about them.¡±

    Verity shrugged, ¡°I know they are, and they mean a lot to me, but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that he lectures me all the time!¡±

    Rei gently punched the top of her head, ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re a golem, if you actually had a brain between those ears he wouldn¡¯t have to lecture you so much.¡±

    Verity spoke with fake indignation, ¡°I¡¯m not a golem! I remember everything he tells me!¡±

    ¡°But you don¡¯t always understand it. If you¡¯d just be willing to ask more questions he could actually brag about having a smart student.¡±

    Verity shrugged again, then said, ¡°So, what are we doing today?¡±

    ¡°I finally have an answer to you question, and you were right in your guess, but are you sure you want to be going behind Crimson¡¯s back for this?¡± Rei asked with some amount of concern.

    Verity nodded firmly, ¡°I want to surprise him.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯d find this to be the good kind of surprise, he might see it as you chucking out all of his advice.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not chucking out all of his advice, I¡¯m using his very wise words to do something very stupid. Not only that, he indirectly told me it was possible just a few minutes ago.¡±

    Rei let out a long sigh, then nodded, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s begin.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    With a strong sense of purpose, Crimson cleaned up his study materials. Considering what he was about to do, he couldn¡¯t help but feel the weight of importance and excitement battling in his veins, causing his hands to shake. There was one last thing he needed to achieve today, one that would have a rippling effect on him.

    He made his way out of the guild in the late afternoon light, waving a goodbye to Sherry as he left. He strolled over to the statue in Phase 2, and after checking to make sure no one was looking, entered the secret passage there. He moved through the passages until he reached the great door, the one he¡¯d never been able to unlock. Unfortunately, he found that was still the case after trying it once more, but he hadn¡¯t made the attempt with much hope, so the lack of success didn¡¯t bother him.

    Instead, he pulled out his bokken. His [Sword Mastery] was currently Lv.46, just 4 Levels away from 50. He¡¯d reach that benchmark before bed today, and he¡¯d wanted to reach it in a private location, so Mars stopping him before he hit it actually turned out to be a good thing.

    He took a slow and measured breath, then slowly sunk himself back into the mentality he¡¯d had earlier that day. All that mattered was the sword in his hand, but he pushed it a little further than before, rather than just letting his bokken speak to him, he asked it questions, sought to understand it. He refused to be passive - just letting things ¡®come¡¯ to him would never work, he had to reach out for the things he wanted, and he wanted to know his bokken.

    He didn¡¯t know how long he stood there, silently entreating his wooden sword, but eventually he felt that he understood his bokken, not just on a base or simple level, but he understood it as well as he understood himself. Truthfully, it wasn¡¯t that hard, a sword was far more simple than a person, especially a simple one like this, but it was still an achievement, and that achievement had a mind numbing result.

    With a single swing of the bokken, his [Sword Mastery] became Lv.47. With a thrust, it became Lv.48, after a sweep it was Lv.49, and after an iai, it became Lv.50.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Level UP!

    [Sword Mastery] 49>50.

    Benchmark reached!

    Calculating¡­

    Receive questions?

    <Confirm>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Lv.50 was a turning point for [Mastery Skills], it served as an opportunity to gain a philosophical center to [Mastery], and it would ask questions, not just for the Gods¡¯ sakes, but for the user¡¯s by helping them verbalize and define what they wanted.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Accepted.

    First Question: What is a sword?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson knew how to cheat on this test, but he wasn¡¯t going to, honesty was the best policy. Even if that answer was a bit stupid.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Input Answer: My Will

    Confirm Answer?

    <Confirm>

    Accepted.

    Second Question: What do you hope to gain from the sword?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson had chosen the sword through process of elimination, he¡¯d found them the most comfortable weapon to use and the katana to be the most comfortable type of sword to use, but that was just how he¡¯d started, his weapons had become the extension of his determination, his will. They represented a path for him and he used them to wield his determination.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Input Answer: A Future

    Confirm Answer?

    <Confirm>

    Accepted.

    Final Question: What kind of sword would you want to wield?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson stared at the question for a long and thoughtful moment, then answered the question.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Input Answer: One that will never fail me or anyone I love.

    Confirm Answer?

    <Confirm>

    Accepted.

    Generating a [Skill] based on answers¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It was a good thing he¡¯d learning how to cheat the answers here from Raften, not because he wanted to cheat, but because it gave him an idea of what kind of answers to give. If he hadn¡¯t known that, he would have taken the questions literally. Answering ¡®all of them¡¯ for the third question, while a powerful answer, is stupid. It¡¯s too broad of an answer to gain a significant source of power.

    He took a few deep breaths, trying and failing not to be nervous as the [Blessing] continued to process his answers. The ¡®cheat sheet¡¯ given to him by Raften had been vague to begin with, all it did was give him a series of inputs and outputs, the cheating part was when Raften blatantly told him the most powerful [Skill] it was possible to generate from this, and the answers to give for it.

    That meant he only had a vague idea of the result and had no idea what specific [Skill] he was going to get.

    Regardless of the reasons he had and excuses he made to himself, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he hated how nervous he was feeling. Emotions were annoying.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Utilizing Stored Unique Data¡­

    Calculating¡­

    Calculating¡­

    Possible [Skill] choice(s): {10}

    Administrator has applied modifications¡­

    Possible [Skill] choice(s): {1}

    One possible option, [Skill] is being automatically applied.

    [Skill]: [Sword Kinship] has been applied automatically.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Of course, he couldn¡¯t read [Sword Kinship¡¯s] description, so what did it do? Just by feeling, he could tell it was a passive [Skill], but nothing else.

    He rapped his knuckles on his arm¡­no, he wasn¡¯t made of metal, his fingernails and teeth weren¡¯t any sharper, and none of his stats changed. It wasn¡¯t an active [Skill] - he double checked that - and none of his [Affinities] or [Titles] changed, so that left¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Lv. 1 Wooden Bokken

    -A stick of wood, carved into the shape of a katana, but lacking a tsuba. It was made with a practiced hand for practice. It has been both well used and well maintained by its owner.

    -Attack +3 (+2)

    -Durability: 6/7 (+2)

    -Familiarity: Intimate

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    His bokken had become about 3 times stronger out of nowhere. It was definitely [Sword Kinship]. Based on what he was seeing, it had added the [Familiarity] stat to his sword, which in turn had boosted the ability of the weapon itself.

    He was left with a lot of questions because of it.

    A part of him expected to be annoyed, but he was really excited to experiment and find out exactly what it did. With a grin, he charged back toward the guild. He needed to find out if [Sword Kinship] applied to every weapon, if it applied broadly to a specific type of weapon, and if it applied to individual weapons.

    With a broad grin, he pushed himself to sprint even faster through the secret passages.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Rei let out another long sigh as she looked Verity in the eyes and started to speak, ¡°There is a healer [Class] that uses all three affinities: [Holy], [Purity], and [Life], but I¡¯m not sure you should take it. I¡¯ve heard Crimson¡¯s lectures about [Classes] too, and this seems like a horrible idea.¡±

    Verity shook her head, ¡°You haven¡¯t heard those lectures as many times as I have, I¡¯ve heard them at least five times and nine other rants besides. He speaks like lawyer, so you have to pay careful attention to his wording. He always make certain to point out that every [Class] is viable, but that some [Classes] will be far more difficult than others to make strong. It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s too ¡®specific¡¯ as he puts it or too ¡®broad¡¯ they are still [Classes] that can be used. He¡¯s literally told me before that every [Class] is designed in a way to allow you to specialize it with what you need.¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s talked about the danger of [Skill] overlap and conflicting [Classes].¡±Rei shot back.

    Verity waved dismissively, stopped, then chuckled a little to herself. She¡¯d just imitated Crimson with that gesture, and she was very proud that she did.

    Ignoring Rei¡¯s confused look, questioning her laugh, she said, ¡°Those are two different things. You¡¯re worried about taking several [Classes] that are similar, while I''m trying to get a single [Class] that does a lot of things. There won¡¯t be any overlap if it¡¯s just one [Class].¡±

    Rei rubbed her remaining eye slowly, then spoke, ¡°Do you have any basis for this foolish confidence?¡±

    Verity grinned, ¡°Crimson has never once said that it was impossible, just that it was hard.¡±

    Rei grunted, then said, ¡°What do you need?¡±

    ¡°I need spells, lots of them. I¡¯ve mastered [Treatment] for all three Affinities, so I need to start on [Lesser Healing] for all three as well, in addition, I also need copies of [Lesser Barrier], [Holy Purge], [Detoxify], after I master those six, I want [Healing Bolt] in the [Life] Affinity, along with [Absorption Barrier], [Lesser Undead Purification], and-¡°

    Rei covered her mouth, ¡°Are you planning on bleeding me dry, girl? At what point do you plan to take a [Class]? From the way you¡¯re talking, it seems like you never will. What¡¯s even the point of learning all those spells?¡±

    ¡°I need to learn all those spells to make my [Class] become better. Crimson doesn¡¯t plan on taking his [Class] until he reaches Lv.100 in [Sword Mastery] - if that¡¯s his minimum requirement, then mine needs to be just as high as his.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but when will you take the [Class]?¡±

    Verity blushed, ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I need to have done enough to define my [Class] clearly.¡±

    ¡°Define?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Crimson once explained that [Classes] are like roles in a play, if the role is clearly defined with a lot of nuance, it stands out to the audience and becomes more memorable, or in the case of [Classes], more powerful. I want a [Class] that can do everything that the basic healer [Classes] can do, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I should actually train in everything. If I focus more on healing with the [Life] Affinity, defending with [Purity], and supporting with [Holy], I will be - as Crimson has put it - cherry picking what I need and making a broad [Class] more focused.¡±

    Rei looked at her for a long moment before the gaze from her one eye hardened, ¡°Your confidence doesn¡¯t just come from him, certainly a lot of it does, but not all of it. What do you know, girl?¡±

    Verity shuffled her feet in embarrassment, ¡°Well¡­uh~ hmm¡­ It¡¯s¡­my mother.¡±

    ¡°Your mother?¡± Rei asked, raising the eyebrow over her good eye.

    ¡°Yeah, my mother has the [Cultivator Class], its an extremely broad [Class], all about growing plants. She grew everything from food, to flowers, herbs, to trees, and everything in between. She had a talent for growing that I¡¯ve never been seen before, and it was all done with a [Class] that everyone regards as a ¡®bad¡¯ [Class].

    ¡°¡®It¡¯s weak¡¯ everyone said, ¡®you can¡¯t grow trees well¡¯ they said, ¡®you can¡¯t grow anything well,¡¯ they said, and my mother proved them all wrong. She became better than them all, she could grow anything better than anyone, and I know I can do the same thing.

    ¡°If I was on my own, I would never be able to do it, I¡¯d just pick the [Druid Class] and move on with it, but I have a secret weapon, I have Crimson on my side. My mother gave me proof that it''s possible to make any [Class] powerful, my benefactor will give me the tools to make it reality.¡±

    Rei nodded slowly, then said, ¡°Paying me back for all those spells is going to be very expensive.¡±

    Verity shot her a wide toothy grin, ¡°I¡¯ll pay you back when I¡¯m Lv.100.¡±

    Rei smiled back at her for a second, then grabbed her ear, tightly and firmly, then said, ¡°No, we¡¯re going to work out a monthly payment plan, and for as long as you¡¯re in Falst, you¡¯re going to be helping out here at the Temple to make up for what you can¡¯t afford to pay us.¡±

    Verity tapped Rei¡¯s arm firmly and insistently, hollering that she gave up as Rei firmly began to lecture her about debts and responsibility while she flailed wildly. It wasn¡¯t for a few minutes that they got to work, and Verity¡¯s bootcamp began.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Meanwhile, Crimson ignored the sea of extremely confused and concerned stares as he experimented with giving a Greatsword a pep talk to see if doing that would affect the familiarity. Unfortunately for his public image, it seemed to be going well.

 Chapter 26: An Odd Dream

    Chapter 26: An Odd Dream

    Verity staggered into the Guild owned Inn, exhausted beyond all belief. She had a large stack of spell books neatly wrapped and placed in a simple rucksack on her back. It was quite heavy since none of them were thin books, and spell books were unnaturally dense for their size, each being about twice as heavy as a book should be. If she¡¯d known that she¡¯d be borrowing so many books from Rei, she would have cleared space in her [Inventory] to store them.

    As per the deal she¡¯d made with Rei, she was only borrowing the books. Rei had offered to sell them to her, but she had looked at that price and tried not to scream. She might not be as uptight about money as Crimson was, but even she didn¡¯t want to pay 20,000 Royals just for books. She did technically have the money, but she was planning to use it elsewhere and couldn¡¯t afford to give it away. She had another debt she needed to pay first as well as materials to buy for [Affinity Rituals].

    She walked carefully past the inn owner - an old lady with intense and scary eyes who stared at every patron - and to her room. Once in the room itself, she ignored the desk in the corner and plopped on the ground with her bag of books. Ruffling through it, she found the copy of [Lesser Healing] for the [Life Affinity], and set about reading it. As she did so, a scroll unfurled in the air in front of her and words started to appear on it, like an invisible hand was writing them.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The Gods have noticed your study.

    They extend their help to you.

    Would you accept their assistance?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity looked at the offer for a long moment. She hated it, hated it so much, but she wasn¡¯t Crimson - even if she wanted to be able to do what he does, she didn¡¯t know how to learn magic on her own - without the Gods¡¯ help - and now wasn¡¯t the time to ask Crimson to teach her how to do it. It was late and she had no idea which inn he stayed in. Not only that¡­she wanted to do as much as she could without him. The resolution she¡¯d made to herself was that she¡¯d be a help, and not a hinderance to him. He had his own training and issues to look after, and while advice was fine on occasion, constantly disturbing him would only inhibit them both.

    She gritted her teeth and sighed through them before informing the Gods that she would accept their help.

    Immediately, the invisible hand started writing again.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The Gods have heard your plea, and will assist.

    Continue reading the chapter, you have 9 more pages to go.

    Chapter read: 10%

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    With a sigh she resumed reading. The chapter told the story of a meadow, it spoke of the creatures that traveled through it and those that lived in it, it spoke of the plants and the sky, and it did so with language that could practically make her feel she was there, she felt the strong thrumming of life, it was a feeling of nostalgia and vitality, and as that feeling grew in her more and more strongly, she felt as if it were all real.

    Like a whisper, Crimson¡¯s voice started speaking, and that voice told her about spell books. It wasn¡¯t a [Skill] or anything special, just Verity¡¯s memory of his lectures. Imagining him explaining it to her made it easier to remember.

    The whisper told her a spell book was special, not just because of the words written on the page, but because of the magical nature of the book. It had the ability to generate stronger feelings, emotion, and imagery than a regular book. They were impossible for people to create, and could only be earned from dungeons or very rarely from [Quests].

    Fortunately, the whisper continued, they weren¡¯t single use items and could be used over and over again, but the ability to use them over and over again was necessary to prevent the spells from degrading over time, which meant that there frequently was a situation of one person to one book. In cases like the Temple or the Guild they could distribute or permit access to a broad variety of spell books due to the people gathering there, lending them out at needed and helping those who were tied to the organization to maintain their abilities, but anyone who took a magic type [Class] needed to have spell books for themselves, they couldn¡¯t afford to be in a position where they needed to wait on someone else to return the spell book they needed.

    The voice stopped as her Crimson Archive finished sharing the information.

    There was, of course, an exception to that piece of common sense in the form of Crimson, who had all of his spells perfectly memorized. His very existence was unfair whenever she really thought about it, it was a good thing he was on her side. Case in point, Verity knew all about spell books because, who else, Crimson, otherwise she¡¯d never have learned anything about them since it was the kind of knowledge that she would have laughed at having a year ago.

    Slowly and methodically, she finished the chapter. Even though it was only ten pages, the imagery was so strong that it took a while to process, so she finished at about a page every two minutes, which was normal for someone of her [WIS], but when the difficulty of the spell was accounted for, then it was a little on the fast side.

    [INT] was required to remember spells, and [WIS] was needed to learn them, which meant that all spells had a minimum stat requirement. [Lesser Healing] had a requirement of 13 in [INT] and 11 in [WIS] to learn - it was technically possible to still learn the spell if she was a little off, but it was more difficult. With a lower [INT] the spell would degrade faster and with a lower [WIS] it would take longer to learn, but only up to a point. If the requirements became high enough, then it was just impossible.

    Fortunately, all her time studying meant that she¡¯d gotten an extra [WIS] stat just a few days ago, allowing her to clear the requirements.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    You have finished reading the chapter.

    The Gods consider you.

    They have agreed to support you in casting this spell.

    You may now use the spell [Lesser Healing].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    With a nod, Verity held up her hand and, with a quick glance at her [Blessing] to read the incantation said, ¡°Bless this child with life, [Lesser Healing].¡±

    After a few seconds, her hand started to glow and a gentle and faint beam of green light was emitted from her palm.

    She looked over her [Blessing] and noted the cost - 5MP to cast, and an additional 5 per second. Expensive, but it did heal 10HP per second, so it was a very good [Skill] for new healers, or at least that was why Crimson had recommended it to her. It did have the disadvantage of only having a range of 3 inches which was practically no range at all, but apparently it was a good place to start.

    She couldn¡¯t wait to start learning spells like [Healing Bolt] and [Healing Arrow].

    With a long sigh and a yawn, she put all the books on her desk and went to bed. Even though it was still early, with the sun still setting, she wanted to start getting up at the same time as Crimson, but no matter how early she¡¯d gotten up he was already awake. What time did he wake up?!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson sat on his bed, the sun had set and he¡¯d been forced to rush back to his room since being out late in the part of town his inn was located in remained an extremely bad idea - even after a year living there. His bokken was stretched across his knees with another wooden sword - a Longsword - was resting beside him. He¡¯d bought it cheaply for 50 Royals, the quality wasn¡¯t great and he didn¡¯t plan of keeping it, but it was important for his experiments.

    As it turns out, talking to weapons didn¡¯t do much for building familiarity, the more important thing was him trying to actively understand the sword, or - he realized in a facepalm worthy ¡®no duh¡¯ moment - to become more familiar with it.

    The best way to become familiar with a weapon didn¡¯t exist. Some might disagree with him, but that was the answer he¡¯d reached after thinking about it and experimenting. There were methods, but no best way. The methods he found that worked for him were probably the same methods that worked for everyone else: using it, maintaining it, and meditating with it.

    The reason why he didn¡¯t think that a best way existed was because none of the methods, or any combination of two was enough to reach the ¡®Intimate¡¯ rank of familiarity, which he¡¯d found to be the max, it took all three methods.

    The five ranks were as follows: ¡®Unknown,¡¯ ¡¯Alien,¡¯ ¡®Acquainted,¡¯ ¡®Confidant,¡¯ and ¡®Intimate.¡¯ Moving from the first to second rank was extremely easy, but moving from Confidant to Intimate was quite the process.

    He grabbed the wooden sword and stood up while setting his bokken to the side. He walked slowly to the center of the room while weighing the sword in his hand and inspecting it. That was all it took to bring it up to ¡®Alien¡¯ - it was unfamiliar, unknown, it wasn¡¯t ¡®his¡¯ yet, but it wasn¡¯t like he knew nothing about it.

    He slowly began to loop the blade through the air, it was elegant and showy, but impractical for a real fight. With slow and measured steps he fell into a kata, a practiced form, and carefully controlled his sword to not hit the walls or ceiling.

    It was a common trope he¡¯d seen in fantasy books that fighting in a tight space with a sword was nearly impossible. He disagreed, it was certainly difficult, but fighting with a sword in a tight space wasn¡¯t impossible, but that was only with the caveat that full power swings weren¡¯t going to happen.

    After a few minutes of swinging it around, he sat down with the sword and began running his fingers over every inch of it, inspecting and interpreting it. He didn¡¯t try to fall into the meditative state that he¡¯d used in the past, rather, he wanted to try a different method to see what would work.

    He frowned as his fingers were catching on small splinters, the whole things was rough and shoddily made which was a little frustrating to him. He had fully known what kind of quality he¡¯d been buying, but that didn¡¯t mean that he was happy to see a sword treated so casually.

    Crimson stopped and cocked his head for a second, then went over the thoughts he¡¯d just had once more. After a long moment, he smiled.

    ¡°I¡¯ve come a long way,¡± he said to the empty room, ¡°Back when I first arrived here, I wouldn¡¯t have thought anything of this cheap sword beyond a dissatisfaction of a poor quality product.¡±

    Now, he cared about it, not because it was a product, but because it was a sword - something he¡¯d considered an extension of his own will. It meant that he was indeed playing the ¡®role¡¯ of a [Class], not just to cynically fulfill a role out of a desire to gain strength the most efficient way, but also because he was becoming the role. He was truly becoming a swordsman. It was a good feeling.

    He launched himself back to his feet and in one swift motion performed three quick slashes at the air, exerting an extreme amount of control to keep all three of those slashes for hitting the wall. He felt so giddy, and he didn¡¯t know how to deal with the feeling, so he kept slashing, he even utilized [Twin Steps] to make it harder on himself, rapidly moving through the room, step by step he adjusted his swings to his steps, utilizing and adapting to fighting in the confined area.

    He wasn¡¯t perfect, he heard the quiet clank of wood on wood more than once, but it was never a solid hit on the walls, just a gentle brushing. It was just a matter of practice to keep it from happening again, especially since he wasn¡¯t used to fighting in a confined area.

    A thought tickled his mind, and in a moment he shifted the philosophy of his movements. Instead of adapting his swings to his steps, he started adapting his steps to his swings.

    Crouching slightly with an overhead chop, stepping twice to keep a sweep from hitting the walls, spinning slightly to keep a thrust from putting a hole in the walls - he pushed his movement further and further, and he reveled in it. It had been a while since he¡¯d had such tangible improvement with the sword. It was one thing to learn a fighting style he considered easy and making a lot of progress with it, and another to take something he did consider challenging and feel himself improving with it.

    In a moment, he stopped, then inspected the sword. The cheap wood was a little dented at the tip from the gentle brushes with the wall, but it was minor enough to be nothing more than a nitpick, it wasn¡¯t even enough to drop a durability point, and it was minor enough that it might have gone unnoticed to the untrained eye, but Crimson knew what he was looking for.

    With a sigh, he started to stretch as he took a look at his [Blessing], then stopped dead at what he saw.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Minimum Requisite Data has been met¡­

    User has the potential to gain the [Skill: Footwork].

    User has the potential to gain the [Skill: Ul Byrn]

    Generating [Quest] for [Footwork]¡­

    Generating [Quest] for [Ul Byrn]¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson was stunned for a few second, then grinned. He didn¡¯t know what [Ul Byrn] was, but he had a vague idea of what it meant. Ul should mean something like ¡®of¡¯ or ¡®from¡¯ or a similar idea, while Byrn was even harder to define in English. It was something like¡­progress, adaption, and interpretation, all at the same time. The language of origin was unknown, but it was a language he had seen before, even if he didn¡¯t know much of it beyond a few words. He¡¯d never heard it spoken, but he¡¯d seen a bit of it in writing. Coming across it now was almost as exciting as a new [Skill]¡­almost.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Generated [Quest] for [Footwork]:

    [Steps upon the ground]

    Withstand blows from an opponent with 30 STR (subject to change) or more without falling 0/50

    Utilize 4 different types of footwork effectively 0/25

    Recover from a broken stance 0/100

    Utilize footwork to dodge blows from an opponent with (at minimum, and subject to change) 25 STR 25 AGI 0/10

    Reward: [Footwork]

    Time Limit: [N]

    Failure Condition: [N]

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    <Accept> <Reject>

    Generated [Quest] for [Ul Byrn]

    [Beginning of a Legend]

    Reach Lv. 100 of [Sword Mastery] 58/100

    Defeat a powerful foe 0/10

    Steal a sword style from an opponent during battle 0/1

    Propagate a sword style 120/5 (Completed)

    Reward: [Ul Bryn]

    Time Limit: [N]

    Failure Condition: [N]

    <Accept> <Reject>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [Steps upon the ground] wouldn¡¯t be hard to finish, he could probably do most of it within the week if he got Mars to help - even if some of the requirements were ¡®subject to change¡¯ - but his expectations for [Ul Byrn] had been raised. What would it do? Reaching Lv.100 of a [Mastery Skill] was already practically unheard of, and that was just the first requirement. The second one, ¡®defeat a powerful foe¡¯ was extremely annoying to him. What constituted a ¡®powerful foe?¡¯ Was it relative to his strength? Relative to the max level? Was it influenced by the race of the foe? He needed some clarification on this one¡­

    Well, he wouldn¡¯t get it, so he needed to figure out what a ¡®powerful foe¡¯ is.

    The third requirement seemed extremely interesting, he already had experience getting ideas from his opponents, but it seemed like the goal of this one was to take someone¡¯s style exactly as they used it. That struck him as¡­ a bad idea. People were fundamentally individual, their skeleton structure, habits, muscular development, experience, preference, and philosophy all influenced their fighting style. Even learning an established style from someone else bred differences.

    Those differences were important, for good or for ill, as the style started to suit the user¡¯s needs more. As it is adjusted it becomes mildly warped - something Crimson loved - which meant that trying to take someone else¡¯s style resulted in a poor fit. It was similar to stealing someone else¡¯s clothes. Yes, you could steal their clothes, but they won¡¯t fit right unless you modify the clothes.

    While fascinating, trying to use someone else¡¯s style as they did would just weaken him for all the reasons he¡¯d laid out¡­well, the requirements didn¡¯t seem to be enforcing the theft. He could either stop using it or adjust it to fit him after the theft.

    It was really hard for him to explain, but stealing someone else¡¯s form gave him a visceral sense of repulsion - one that he knew shaking off would be unpleasant. The [Skill] had better be good to make him do such a distasteful thing like that to get it.

    The last requirement was the easiest one for him - it was already done. It was probably the result of him creating, then teaching others the [True Adventurer¡¯s Style]. He had a lot of people help him as he worked on it, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that he¡¯d been the one to lead the project and the one to build the sword version of the style from the ground up by himself - even if he got help with the other kinds of weapons. However, he was surprised to see how far it has spread.

    He tapped the sword in his hand on the palm of the other hand as he considered the requirements as a whole. Whatever the final [Skill] did would be a result of all the things he¡¯d done to meet the requirements, so what kind of result would be produced? There was a general theme - the sword - but it wasn¡¯t specific enough for him to know what it would do. If he had to identify a secondary theme, it would probably be skill. Everything it was asking him to do required a high amount of skill, so maybe it would help him in learning new sword styles, but then there was the aspect about him teaching others, which threw a wrench in things.

    After thinking about it for a few minutes, the best conclusion he could reach would be that [Ul Byrn] was an analysis type [Skill], or a buffing [Skill], but there was a chance it could be a debuff [Skill]. He let out a long sigh, as he continued to think.

    These [Quests] were the normal way people gained [Skills] and even some [Titles]. They were usually difficult, but as data was accumulated the requirements could be adjusted in various ways, either by reducing the difficulty or changing them all together. The point of them was essentially that the Gods saw the potential to make a [Skill] from the data that had already been collected, and the [Quests] were there to get the last of the data needed to form the [Skill].

    It was actually quite easy to get some [Quests], but fulfilling them wasn¡¯t always easy. Verity probably had to do some annoying things to get [Mana Influence], but nothing near as crazy as Crimson had to do for [Ul Byrn]. The Gods would try to adjust the [Quest] to a difficulty that they thought would be possible for the recipient. In Crimson¡¯s case, Raften knew he was competent, so he gave Crimson requirements that had a high quality - which meant that they were difficult - while others might have to deal with more volume.

    It was a novel experience for Crimson who had gained all his previous [Skills] from having so much data that they were just given to him. The system had called it ¡®overflowing data.¡¯

    It was all quite exciting to him, but with a glance outside, he could see that the moon was rising quite high in the sky, and decided that it was time to wrap things up. He wiped down his sword, used magic to clean himself, then he sat on the ground and started to mess with his mana.

    He was trying to see if he could once more make mana suffuse his entire body, like it had before it had been jammed back into his mana veins by getting his [Blessing]. It was hard to quantify the effect that having his mana fill him like that had done, but he certainly felt like his casting ability was faster, and that his mana reacted more quickly to his will. Knowing that, and hating how empty he felt, he started working to get it back.

    It was¡­unpleasant, at every level. In the past, when he¡¯d done this before, it hadn¡¯t felt like his mana had been fighting him at every step, but with him being under the system it suddenly hated hanging out in the space between his veins. It constantly tried to slip out of his skin, but he didn¡¯t let it, and the resisting mana felt extremely disgusting, like he¡¯d swallowed a bunch of live insects and could feel them bouncing around inside. It almost made his very heart feel ticklish since his mana center was set in a position mirrored to it.

    Ignoring his body, the sensations he felt, and everything trying to stop him, he continued. He started shivering from head to toe the violent shudders ripped through him and his teeth started to chatter, but he refused to stop. He continued to push more and more mana into the empty space. As the shudders elevated to be near something like a spasm, he set a goal for stopping. He wasn¡¯t sure why his body was rejecting what he was doing, but once he¡¯d filled every inch of the empty space and held it there for a minute¡­no, thirty seconds, he could stop.

    He slowly started curling into a ball and wrapped his arms around his chest. The shudders, though violent, had pretty much stabilized, which gave him some room to think. Why was this happening? He wasn¡¯t doing anything that would cause damage to his body, mana was literally a part of who he was, and he had done it before, so why was he reacting like this?

    The only reason why he continued was the knowledge that what he was doing wouldn¡¯t damage him, there was no ¡®if, and, or, but¡¯ about it, it just wouldn¡¯t damage him. It wasn¡¯t even a unique trait of his, it was just how bodies with whatever this mana organ worked, so whatever was going on was caused by something else, but what?

    He gritted his teeth a little to stop them from clicking so loudly and to express his irritation. His mind was a little muddied, so his thoughts had just been caught in a loop, thinking essentially the same things twice.

    Getting closer to finishing, Crimson¡¯s shaking didn¡¯t intensify, but it became uncontrollable as the chattering of his teeth was heard through out the room, and his trembling legs forcibly straightened themselves, causing his head to slide on the rough floor. There was a flash of pain from there, he¡¯d probably cut his head on a splinter.

    If he didn¡¯t know any better, he¡¯d have thought that he was having a seizure.

    The count began, it was a long, slow thirty seconds until he could let go. During that time, he started to wonder if he was just being stupidly stubborn. There shouldn¡¯t be anything wrong with what he was doing, but maybe something had changed that he didn¡¯t know about? There was certainly something wrong, he couldn¡¯t deny that, but what was happening ran contrary to all his understanding of mana.

    Five.

    Four.

    Three.

    Two.

    One.

    He let go, and contrary to his expectations, his mana didn¡¯t immediately flee, but it left in a slow trickle, like it was reluctant to leave him. As it continued to flow, he realized why he hadn¡¯t stopped - he didn¡¯t want to. The emptiness was slowly returning, and it hurt, he hated feeling like this, he hated it, hated it, hated it.

    He gritted his teeth, then turned over and slammed his head into the floor, hard. There was something very wrong with him. His mind was all over the place and he couldn¡¯t think clearly, he wanted the mana back, but never wanted to do that again. He wanted to do it again, but he never wanted the mana back. For once, he couldn¡¯t understand his own mind or body. They were in complete discord.

    Maybe there was something in his [Blessing]?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Unique data detected.

    Unique data detected.

    Unique data detected.

    All unique data sets have been stored.

    Continuing data collection¡­

    Stats UP!

    +2 INT for Exertion

    +3 WIS for Exertion

    [Skills] MAXED!!!

    [Skill: Sophisticated Mana Sense] 9>Max

    Rewarded: 6 PER for Max [Skill] (partial data withheld)

    [Skill: Sophisticated Mana Influence] 8>Max

    Rewarded: 3 INT and WIS for Max [Skill] (partial data withheld)

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson stared fixedly at the alert. He¡¯d generated three types of ¡®unique data¡¯ with what he¡¯d just done, which meant that there were three factors contributing to whatever was happening¡­or at least it should¡­he wasn¡¯t sure if he could trust his own logic at the moment.

    Looking at the rest of his [Blessing], there was no change aside from some lost health. About 3HP from the splinter plus bleeding, and a further 2 from the blunt force trauma caused by the floor. No titles, no changes to affinities, no new [Skills], nothing that really stood out. The stat changes were welcome, as were the max [Skills], but not an explanation. Well, there was actually one thing.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Name: Crimson

    -Race: Half (High Human, ???) -Age: 16

    -Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Brass]

    -Active Title: [Lucky] [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] [Rean]

    -Titles: Lucky, Linguist, Mentor

    -Health (HP): 95/100 Regen/s: 2.0

    -Magic (MP): 50/420 Regen/s: 4.4

    -Fatigue (FP): 60

    -Condition: Exhausted, Tired, Recoil

    -Class: [Empty]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Status:

    Strength (STR): 18 Agility (AGI): 18

    Constitution (CON): 15 Vitality (VIT): 20

    Intelligence (INT): 42 Wisdom (WIS): 44

    Charisma (CHA): 7 Willpower (WIL): 22

    Perception (PER): 44 Luck (LUC): 90

    -Affinities

    -Elemental

    Fire: 5 Water: 5

    Earth: 5 Wind: 5

    Lightning: 5 Metal: 7

    Magma: 5 Ice: 5

    -Dynamic

    Holy: 5 Profane: 5

    Purity: 6 Corruption: 5

    Life: 5 Death: 5

    Mana: 9 (10) Void: 2

    -Skills

    -Bloodline: [Eyes of Change: [Eyes of Will] 4/10] 1/10, [???] 0/0

    -Class: None

    -Sets: [System Instincts: [Skill Peak] 4/10 [Locked], [Locked], [Locked]] 1/10

    -General: [Sword Mastery] 58/100, [Sophisticated Mana Influence] 10/10, [Sophisticated Mana Sense] 10/10, [Intermediate Linguist] 3/10, [Secret Sense] 3/10, [Advanced Calligraphy] 7/10, [Sword Kinship] 3/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [Recoil] was the only thing he didn¡¯t recognize. [Exhaustion] meant that his physical recovery was reduced and [Tired] meant the same for his mana regen, but he didn¡¯t know what [Recoil] was. He stared at his [Blessing] long enough that his sight began to blur. He needed sleep.

    Absently, he headed to bed while applying a healing spell to the back of his head. He would need the sleep to clear his head.

    As he slipped into the warm embrace of sleep, he had a dream, something that never happened to him, and he dreamed of a place he recognized - Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    At eight years old, Verity was an adorably clumsy child. Her hair was constantly askew and made her head look like it was three times larger than it actually was, but that all just made her even more adorable. She lived in Rad¡¯in with her mother and they were quite happy together. She was really, really good friends with the local Jeweler¡¯s son, she liked him a lot.

    She walked down the road of her home town, heading toward her home after a long day of play. Her town was in the middle of a wasteland, there was nothing for miles around it, but within a few miles of the town there were trees and plants, a river, and more. Despite the desolation that surrounded her home, they had used their [Skills] to carve out a home for themselves. The elves had grown the trees themselves, they had created life where there originally was none, they may have been driven from their homes by a [Natural Dungeon] breaking open years ago, but these new homes were even better.

    Well, Verity just thought the new ones were better, she didn¡¯t remember the old ones, she¡¯d just been a baby when they¡¯d fled. Her father had died buying them time, but because of his sacrifice and the sacrifice of a bunch of other really really strong guys, they¡¯d been able to allow most of their village to get away.

    They¡¯d ended up living where they did because they found that plants could grow there, and there weren¡¯t any [Natural Dungeons] anywhere near them. It was hard, they had been forced to grow all of their food from scratch and nearly starved but, miraculously, they¡¯d been able to grow everything they needed to in the area. They didn¡¯t have a dungeon, and there weren¡¯t monsters nearby, so strong people were in short supply, but [Life Weaver] became both a necessary and beloved [Class].

    It was hard, but they were strong, and Verity¡¯s Momma was the best of them all, the rest were just too stupid to see it!

    Verity grinned broadly at the sight of her mother, she looked a bit like Verity would if she was a lot taller, but she always had an expression on her face like she wasn¡¯t there. Her Momma was really smart, but it was the weird kind of smart, one that made her stupid. Verity loved her anyway!

    The smile disappeared off her face as she saw who was talking to her Momma, it was that annoying neighbor that always like to yell at her for stupid reasons.

    ¡°Get rid of that Gods useless [Class] already! You¡¯re do nothing for Rad¡¯in with how weak you are, and your loud noisy gremlin is nothing but a drain on resources! I¡¯m surprised the Elder hasn¡¯t already banished you,¡± any further words from the woman were cut off as Verity punched her in the back, hard, right over that spot next to the long bone that was soft and hurt when she didn¡¯t drink enough water.

    Verity ran around her to stand in front of her Momma with her arms spread out to protect her, ¡°Stop yelling at my Momma you banshee!¡±

    The ugly elf¡¯s face twisted, ¡°How dare you?! Get lost in the abyss you gremlin! I¡¯ll talk to the Elder and get you both banished for this! I¡¯ll see you both dead for this!¡±

    The woman continued to rant as Verity¡¯s Momma gently pushed her inside the house. Verity sat angrily on the bed of their one room house. Outside, the shouting continued, and it made Verity want to go back out and punch her, but after a few minutes the sound dwindled and the banshee left.

    Verity¡¯s Momma came into the house then, smiling at her, said, ¡°Verity, dinner¡¯s ready, please wash up.¡±

    Verity stood up angrily, ¡°Why does that old lady yell at you Momma? She¡¯s doing it all the time, and I don¡¯t want her to do it anymore!¡±

    She gently patted Verity on the head, ¡°She doesn¡¯t like my [Class] sweetie, I don¡¯t have [Life Weaver], just [Cultivator].¡±

    ¡°Why is that a bad thing Momma? You can grow all kinds of plants, not just make thinks out of plants!¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± her Momma hesitated, ¡°There¡¯s a little more to [Life Weaver] than that, but my [Class] is really hard to make strong. It¡¯ll take me a long time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine Momma, you¡¯re really young, and she¡¯s over a hundred!¡± Verity shouted, waving her arms over her head.

    ¡°Hush, don¡¯t talk about people like that.¡±

    ¡°Why? She deserves it, she¡¯s a banshee!¡±

    ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s right, you did call her that. Come here Verity.¡±

    Verity froze, realizing that she¡¯d made a big mistake.

    ¡°But Momma!¡±

    ¡°No buts, come here.¡± Verity walked over to her Momma and was forced to sit on the table with some creep roots in her mouth as punishment for saying something so nasty.

    As she sat there, sulking and hating the bitter taste of the root, she look around her house and felt really sad for some reason. As she looked, the room started to blur, then disappear. Within a few blinks, Verity found herself standing, the lingering taste of bitter from the creep roots lingering in her mouth as she stood on a glowing platform of white stones. She was no longer eight, she was four decades older, and only slightly more mature.

    She looked around the platform, beyond the edge was a wall of dark mist that twisted and turned in the air. There wasn¡¯t any breeze, but it still moved. The whole area just felt¡­empty.

    Turning around, she saw a path of the white stones, leading off into the distance. After some hesitation, she started to follow the path. It wound on, further and further before eventually reaching another platform. This one wasn¡¯t empty.

    The large platform was filled with bookcases with hard boxes that had colorful pictures and little statues of girls. In the center of the platform was a weird chair that had wheels and five legs. On the chair was¡­a floating robe? There was some kind of hard thing that kept going ¡®click clack¡¯ floating in the air in front of the robe which had a rope attached to it leading to some kind of black box with moving paintings on it.

    She had absolutely no idea what she was looking at.

    While she stood in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on, she noticed a glowing¡­thing, like a wraith floating in the air just behind and to the side of her. She didn¡¯t sense any malice from it, but its form was really inconsistent. It was vaguely humanoid, but the size was constantly changing, like a flickering flame.

    Before she could think more about it, a voice interrupted her thoughts.

    ¡°Welcome to this place, Verity of the Barren Wastes.¡±

    Verity jerked around and saw that the weird chair had spun in place, and the floating robe was facing her.

    ¡°My name is Raften, I¡¯m the Overseer and I¡¯ve been waiting for our meeting for a long time.¡±

    Verity winced and gasped, his words cut through her like knives to her soul. It felt like a single shout from him would be enough to end her. She knew it in her bones, this was a God, but not one she¡¯d heard of.

    Not knowing what else to do, she bowed in respect to the unknown God, ¡°This Verity greets the mighty God, Raften.¡±

    The oddly shaped device was placed on a small table and the robe made motions like it was being worn by somebody who stood. It moved closer to her, speaking all the while, ¡°You were an interesting factor in things. You could have failed so many times, yet you stand before me. I have no choice but to respect his decision in this matter, you¡¯ve shown yourself to be quite resilient. It doesn¡¯t feel great that he ignored those I set before him thought¡­¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, God Raften, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Verity said, nervously. It didn¡¯t seem like was going to destroy her, but those words still cut into her, she was afraid her very existence would melt away in his mighty presence.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s no matter. I suppose you would like an explanation, unfortunately, I won¡¯t be the one to give it. We don¡¯t have enough time, and your soul isn¡¯t as strong as his, if you stay here too long your existence will crumble, and I¡¯ll get in a lot of trouble with a lot of other Gods and Crimson.¡±

    Verity jumped, then shouted without thinking, ¡°How do you know Crimson?!¡±

    ¡°Well, he¡¯s like a prophet of mine. No, that¡¯s a bad way to put it. Just ask him. Anyway, I¡¯ve called you here for a reason.¡±

    The God stopped speaking as a ripple appeared in the air in front of him, with every passing ripple, more and more words appeared until a full contract was in the air.

    Verity stared at the contract, it was quite plainly written and was quite short, but before she could read it all, the God spoke once more.

    ¡°The terms are simple, for as long as you remain loyal to Crimson and support him, you¡¯ll receive power and my support. You¡¯re also to not reveal his personal secrets without his expressed permission and you¡¯re to help in achieving his goals. I imagine that won¡¯t be an issue for you, since you¡¯ll be able to get what you want as long as you stick with him.¡±

    She felt for the first time, the pressure of this God¡¯s eyes, it reminded her of what it was like to make eye contact with Crimson when he was mad, but infinitely worse.

    Despite that, she mustered her courage. She didn¡¯t mind agreeing to stay loyal to Crimson and help him out, even with no promise of power in return, she¡¯d already promised herself that, but power was dangerous. Accepting it blindly would just lead to ruin.

    ¡°What kind of power are you offering?¡±

    A booming laugh resounded from the God, he then said, ¡°He really has influenced you, hasn¡¯t he? You¡¯re normally the type to blindly agree or disagree, not think things through. This is such a good change!¡±

    The laugh started once more, then he said, ¡°It¡¯s simple, you will receive the [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir]. Think of them as five specific ¡®buffs¡¯ that make you even better at things you¡¯re already good at. They¡¯re permanent, but they might take a little while to develop, so you¡¯ll probably receive them one at a time. You don¡¯t need to worry about it, Crimson has the same [Blessings], he can attest that they¡¯re powerful and useful.¡±

    Verity sat quietly in thought, then read over the contract again. It laid out everything he¡¯d said, and even mentioned something about being her protective God.

    In the end, there was one thought that won out - she¡¯d be able to achieve her dream, she could help Crimson, she¡¯d be able to become strong.

    She signed on the dotted line.

 Crimsons Journal - The Gods

    Crimson¡¯s Journal #3:

    The Gods

    Introduction:

    In my study of the Gods, the first and most important thing to mention for someone of my background is that the Gods do exist, this is not a matter of question or debate. However, knowledge of their existence does not preclude a study of them, rather, I feel it encourages the study far more, not to prove or disprove, but to understand.

    Despite our certainty regarding the existence of the Gods, the collective understanding of their personalities and roles has been extremely subjective, to the point that multiple ¡®denominations¡¯ have formed surrounding those interpretations of belief, something I will cover further on, but suffice it to say, I can in no wise gather a comprehensive list because of how varied those beliefs are. I will make mention of a few more popular interpretations, but will not go further.

    Role:

    The general consensus is that the Gods provide [Blessings] to their chosen races, they allow those races to strengthen themselves and to raise themselves to greater means and heights. I certainly agree with this consensus, but the issue I take is with the minutia of this belief. I understand the role of the Gods to be more in line with a system administrator, but I do have several problems with this interpretation. Those problems are not in the simile itself, but in the mental images that I have accompanying that job.

    I imagine Admins to be people full of creative passion and energy that has been burned away by tedium and exhaustion, that have become disillusioned with their once fulfilling careers due to foolish and demanding users, or by coworkers or bosses that have forced them to slave away and demean themselves. This image is not in line with the Gods. It appears that they enjoy their ¡®role¡¯ and work hard to see their job through.

    Best I¡¯ve been able to gather, they love when people develop new [Classes] and [Skills], even going as far as to play favorites with those who have made strides to innovate. As such, while the Gods play their role of granting strength well, they certainly like to encourage those who make greater efforts and strides. I personally like this kind of approach, it¡¯s similar to operant conditioning, the act of reinforcing good behavior with rewards, though the punishment in this case is relative weakness to what could have been achieved. This also makes me feel hopeful for the future, and indicates that any kind of positive forward momentum will be compounded to even greater growth.

    Worship:

    The Gods, despite their existence, don¡¯t enforce any kind of specific worship, and will only step in if that worship becomes dangerous to others. If they feel the need to step in, they shall elect a champion to ¡®take care¡¯ of the issue.

    There are, at the moment, three kinds of worship I feel the need to mention. I will leave extra black pages for any other information I feel the need to add, but for the moment, we shall start with these three. The first I shall make mention of is known as Progressive Pious Worship, this is the type adhered to by most residents of Falst, and the one supported by the Temple of Falst. Each of the words hold a specific meaning in this context.

    ¡®Progressive¡¯ is not used in the political sense I am familiar with, rather, it is used to mean something that moves forward - which meaning has a positive connotation. This simply means that the people who adhere to the ¡®progressive¡¯ mentality take a positive interpretation of the Gods attributes.

    Each and every attribute of the Gods can be taken positively or negatively depending on perspective. For a good example, and a less extreme one than some of the others, take love. Love - by ¡®progressive¡¯ definition - is more in line with familial love and more ¡®long term¡¯ affection. It acknowledges passionate love, but considers it only a stepping stone to more enduring forms of attachment. By contrast, the opposing interpretation disdains love for what it could be come: the root of jealousy. Once again, ¡®Progressive¡¯ takes the positive interpretation, and uses it as inspiration.

    The second word used is ¡®Pious¡¯ which means that certain religious ceremonies are used. There are several different types, but the word in this sense references the need for [Priests] to lead the ceremony. I have found that there are many ceremonies at the Temple that do not actually need a [Priest], but many of the major ones - Coming of Age, Death, Marriage, Child Blessings - do require a [Priest] to lead the ceremony. Typically, the [Priest] is of the same gender as the one receiving the ceremony, but this appears to be a matter of tradition rather than policy. I personally have conducted quite a few ceremonies myself, but in each case it was a ceremony that did not require proper oversight - mainly writing and burning prayers, which I am apparently a popular person to request for this task; I¡¯m not quite sure why.

    (As a note, most [Priests] in this world are not required to commit to celibacy, many denominations even encourage the taking of a spouse as an adherence to the Goddess of Love¡¯s teachings, so any practice of celibacy is considered an outlier rather than a rule.)

    The third word ¡®Worship¡¯ is just a blanket word used in the place of another term like ¡®church.¡¯ So this form of worship could be reworded to say: ¡°Progressive Pious Church,¡± but when I translate that word to English it doesn¡¯t sound right, so I use the term worship, which fills the same meaning.

    The second denomination I wish to speak on is known as the ¡®Reformed Upright Worship.¡¯

    ¡®Reformed¡¯ stands in opposition to ¡®progressive¡¯ and takes the negative interpretation, they then use that as a warning of why the traits are dangerous. There are more¡­negative usages of this term, but those border on cultish, and are wholly unpleasant and rare.

    ¡®Upright¡¯ clearly means that they¡¯ve shoved a stick ¡®upright¡¯ where the sun doesn¡¯t shine! These stuck up pricks are a pain in the neck and I can¡¯t tolerate them at all. Upright is actually supposed to mean something along a high standard, by the meaning of the word - which I haven¡¯t been able to capture in English - it means that they are supposed to practice self discipline and control, but I haven¡¯t found that to be the case.

    Based on the meaning of these words when they are placed together, this denomination is supposed to be a group that looks upon the attributes of the Gods, looks upon the negative extremes, then uses self discipline and mastery to avoid those things. Based off the words alone I would have guessed them to be monks or pessimists, but in practice they¡¯re prideful and intolerable, they completely ignore their own pride and see themselves as being better simply for how they worship the Gods. Thankfully, they¡¯re in a great minority, but I¡¯ve had enough run ins with them to warrant mentioning. To their credit, I have met a few of this denomination who are genuinely good people, and they weep for the state of those who are troublesome in their denomination.

    I make mention of the third simply because it is the one that most ¡®people¡¯ think that I adhere too, is called ¡®Orthodox Worship.¡¯ Orthodox, when used with a second term, usually means taking a broad perspective on the attributes of the Gods, understanding both the good and the bad, but loving it all the same. When Orthodox is used on its own, it is revered as the most pure form of worship, which is shocking to me, since not a lot of people ¡®practice¡¯ it, but does fall in line with my actions and philosophies.

    To understand, almost all denominations believe that Leveling up is a divine mandate, that we are commanded by the Gods to grow stronger and Level up. Many just level up a few times, then declare that they have done their part and it is enough, some push themselves further, and then there is ¡®Orthodox Worship¡¯ which epitomizes the love and worship of the Gods by never stopping. It is continual progress, simply due to religious fervor, fervor that I clearly lack, but that many people - [Priests] - believe I have.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    Some have even go so far as to declare that I must be a ¡®Orthodox Devoted¡¯ since I spend a lot of time helping others understand their [Blessings]. I have firmly denied both accusations, but for some reason this made the [Priests] really happy and they are even more determined in their beliefs. I have given up on disabusing them of this notion and have just appreciated the fact that they are more willing to help me and my ¡®friend¡¯ out.

    The Gods:

    With an understanding of their role and worship, we must make mention of those this text is about, namely: The Gods. I will set aside specific sections for each, and leave additional pages blank as I learn and understand more, but I will start with what I have. The Gods are as follows: God of Truth, War, Death, and Art. The Goddesses are: Goddess of Wisdom, Love, Magic, Nature, and Darkness. They all have names, but knowing those names is a privilege and not a right. Based on my research, the ¡®eldest¡¯ among them would be the Goddess of Nature, but the ¡®leader¡¯ would be considered the God of Truth.

    I will make mention of notable relationships between them, but it should be noted that these are matters of lore and belief, once more I would not declare these as absolute facts but as generally held beliefs. It is believed that The God of Truth and the Goddess of Darkness are married, that the Goddesses of Magic and Wisdom are twin sisters, that War is Death¡¯s apprentice, that the God of Art and the Goddess of Nature constantly fight and argue (mostly the God of Art¡¯s fault), and that the Goddess of Love is the one keeping everyone together as a mediator. Yet again, these are not verified facts, but broadly held beliefs, ones that I shall take a neutral stance on.

    The God of Truth:

    Attributes: Honesty, Leadership, and Justice. His attributes make him a popular choice to burn prayers to in the face of the law, regardless of which side you stand on. For some reason, finding information on him is hard despite his popularity. This reeks of intentional suppression of information. I¡¯ll need to investigate.

    After several months of investigation, I¡¯ve found the reason for the suppression: intimacy. Most who have information regarding the God of Truth have received that information as a matter of confidence. Based on my conversations with the few I could find who would tell me anythings, we can learn a lot about his character. The God of Truth is not brash and loud, but rather engages in quiet nobility. He respects those that seek to emulate the attributes he represents out of a pure desire rather than for praise and adulation. He will support anyone who fulfills his attributes to the best of their abilities, but only those who do so with quiet determination receive his respect. Those who abuse their leadership roles may run afoul of his rage.

    The Goddess of Darkness:

    Attributes: Deception, Independence, and Revenge. Interestingly, the Goddess of Darkness goes hand in hand with the God of Truth, she, in a way, also represents truth, but she represents hidden truths: lies, trickery, and misunderstandings. She is also considered a patron of thieves and assassins, but that depends on which denomination you are in. She also has concepts that all run exactly contrary to the God of Truth¡¯s, but from all accounts as well as the actions of their own worshipers, they are on excellent terms.

    From my research on her personality, she encourages those who create their own paths, regardless of the consequences. If I have to give her an archetype, she¡¯d be similar to a tough love mother, she¡¯ll make you work hard and encourage you, but the second you step out of line she¡¯ll give you a swift kick back into line. She seems to have a strong hatred of cruelty, which can be taken to mean: Deception without cause, Revenge without purpose, and Independence without meaning. For some reason, these are all considered ¡®cruel.¡¯

    The Goddess of Wisdom:

    Attributes: Perspective,Respect, and Scholarship. The only God I know the name of, Melia (Mee-Lee-ah). For some reason, she revealed her name to me, and I must admit that I enjoy knowing it. I do not know how I came to know this name, but suddenly I knew it. When I say it around others they forget it unless they are meant to remember, even if someone gets ahold of my journal and somehow translates it, then they will forget the name unless she wants them to remember. If I was forced to pick one of the Gods as my patron, it would, without question, be Melia.

    It is shocking to me that Melia doesn¡¯t have Mediation as one of her attributes, she teaches that all information is sacred and must be properly pondered, even the most ridiculous of theories must be properly considered before being thrown out. She respects everyone who seeks knowledge and understanding, but loves those who have a purpose for that knowledge and understanding. I understand instinctively that she has revealed her name to me because I have pleased her in my pursuit of knowledge, and my willingness to share what I learn, but I fail to see why it is a big deal. Regardless, those who abuse their knowledge to destroy others will be in great danger of her wrath.

    The Goddess of Magic:

    Attributes: Wonder, Control, and Change. I think the reason I haven¡¯t made a lot of progress with this Goddess is that, despite my intimate knowledge of mana, I haven¡¯t actually changed anything. I haven¡¯t invented new spells, I haven¡¯t taught others to cast magic the same way I do - I haven¡¯t found anyone sensitive enough to mana to do so - and I haven¡¯t used magic to enact any form of major change in the world. I can only hope to have the honor of learning her name one day.

    The Goddess of Magic love and respects mages, but extends that affection to even those that don¡¯t practice magic. It seems she¡¯s also a patron of [Skills] in some weird way that I haven¡¯t been able to define, so those who practice unique [Skills] seem to receive her approval. I have no other explanation for Abel receiving her favor if that isn¡¯t the case. It seems she hates those that purposefully hinder the progress of magic or disrupt other people¡¯s abilities to control themselves.

    The God of Death:

    Attributes: Tranquility, Separation, and Reconciliation. The inhabitants of this world believe in reincarnation, not an afterlife, so the God of Death is more beloved as a God of departure and separation. He is still feared, but these people have more confidence in what happens after death than the people I know, they just fear death for different reasons.

    I have found no information on this God.

    The God of War:

    Attributes: Conviction, Proactivity, and Prowess. Amusingly enough, he is also considered a God of hard work, I find this especially odd since that area is handled by the God of Art. As can be seen from his attributes, those who are hot headed tend to like the God of War. I quite like this version of War since he doesn¡¯t seem to like unnecessary wars, and he seems more in line with my mental image of a mythological hero than a soldier or a bloodthirsty warlord.

    From his personality, he respects those of great skill, he loves those who act rather than are act upon, and he upholds determination. Those with goals and dreams that they pursue sometimes receive his support. He hates unnecessary conflict. I don¡¯t know much about him, but I have a feeling I¡¯m not far off from learning his name.

    The Goddess of Love:

    Attributes: Affection, Bonds, and Mediation. This Goddess actually makes me nervous in a nebulous way. Her devotees can be quite scary, but my impression of her is similar to a big sister. That in of itself is shocking because I usually think of a normal Goddess of Love being either a ¡®mother¡¯ figure or a seductress, but this Goddess is neither.

    Devotion, loyalty, peacemaking, and supportiveness are all traits the Goddess of Love encourages. She wants people to find partners that they can commit to and wants everyone to live peacefully together. Honestly, she is very much a big sister, and wants to look out for everyone. Altruism is another trait she rewards. What she hates shares overlaps with the other Gods, but most of all, she hates betrayal.

    The God of Art:

    Attributes: Effort, Attentiveness, and Aspiration. I find that my personality and his have several points in common, I¡¯m quite surprised that I don¡¯t have a closer relationship with this God. If I had to define his personality, he¡¯s like a hermit¡­or otaku. The kind that has a hard time breaking out of his shell until you start talking about something he loves. He likes to get mad at the Goddess of Nature for some unknown reason.

    He pushes for hard work and an attention to detail, he loves those that constantly seek to do better and achieve more, but I haven¡¯t been able to figure out what he abhors.

    The Goddess of Nature:

    Attributes: Persistence, Patience, and Growth. The impression I get from this Goddess is like she is a ¡¯sleepy airhead.¡¯ She just kinda does things at her own pace and doesn¡¯t really do much. I have been able to learn more about her than the God of Death, but she seems less active than he is. Farmers, Hunters, and Travelers all turn to her for their prayers. Her attribute of persistence does differ from the God of Art¡¯s effort, hers is a slow burn and long term effort that can extend decades. She doesn¡¯t really argue back when the God of Art is angry with her, which just makes him even more angry.

    I feel that I really summed up her personality with ¡¯sleepy airhead¡¯ she is slow to bless and even slower to curse, I honestly don¡¯t know what sets her off since she¡¯s inconsistent with her punishments. I assume the destruction of nature.

    Punishments:

    Rarely and inconsistently, the Gods may decide to punish someone directly. Usually by depriving them of life. There seems to be no hard rule about this, so it needs more research.

 Unfortunately not a Chapter - Reader Involvement

    +Verity

    +Summary suggestions

    +Cover Thoughts

    +Use your vote elsewhere

    +Thoughts and Input

    +Health and Circumstances

    +Random Thoughts

    Point One: Recently, I''ve been hit with several complaints from people about being mislead...well, not really that recently. It''s been happening since about Chapter...16? I belive it was, and I feel I need to address it. The complaint is in regards to Verity. Some people don''t like her and only care about Crimson, that is perfectly fine, that''s your opinion and I can respect that, but the complaint I''m getting is that she''s ''suddenly'' being pushed into the limelight, that she''s ''suddenly'' taking a larger role. I actually tried to bring her in slowly, she''s been around since the early chapters, but I''ve slowly been growing her role since then.

    The issue though, is that some (only a few) have expressed that they would prefer if she didn''t have such a strong role, and feel betrayed that I''ve given her such prominence. I''ve thought about it a long time, and decided to bring it to the people despite the problems it may cause. If those problems spiral enough I''ll probably just delete this, but I hope it doesn''t reach that point. My question is this: what changes can I make that make it more apparent that we will have multiple perspectives? I''ve included the tag, but should I include some kind of warning? That feels stupid, but may be necessary. This is also asking about feedback for the eventual 4th Draft (no I''m not leaving this one, I''m just making notes for future reference) so even if I don''t make any immediate changes I hope that it''ll help in the future.

    I can''t get rid of Verity, she''s a prominent character and this has been planned from the beginning - from the first draft! And not only that, I plan on adding more! We''re quite close to meeting several of them for the first time, so I''m also using this feed back to try and improve their introduction.

    Point Two: I want to change the summary. I recently rewrote it, but I''m not sure I like it and I''m not sure it represents the story enough. Please give me feedback and if you want to try your hand at writing it yourself, then please PM me what you write, I''ll credit you if I decide to use it, and everyone who submits will receive a thanks in the next chapter. For anyone and everyone who decides to help me out with this: THANK YOU!!!

    Point Three: What are your thoughts on the current cover? I still quite like it, I feel Gimble did a good job, but I''m in reevaluation mode, and I''m putting everything under the microscope. (It''s also super eye-catching which is something else I love about it)

    Point Four: Royal Road recently implemented a voting system. I''m not sure I like it, I''m not sure what I think about it. Please use your vote elsewhere. Maybe in the future you''ll see me begging for votes, but for the moment, please use yours elsewhere - preferably for a smaller fiction that needs an audience, I''ve already got plenty of followers (thanks so much for following!) and don''t need it as much as other people might.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Point Five: Please submit any feedback you have, I''d prefer to receive it as a PM, but the comments also work. I understand the PM system is quite a pain. (Feedback would be: thoughts, likes, dislikes, [Skill], [Class], [Title] suggestions etc.)

    Point Six: I will continue trying to work at the pace I have been, but I want to make it clear about my health circumstances. I may potentially have either Thyroid issues or early onset Arthritis...and it''s almost definitely the first of those two issues. Unfortunatly, this manifests as join pain in my fingers that makes it hard to write. Because of my current circumstances I won''t be able to see a Doc about it until around mid-late July, and I''ll spend the mean time trying not to become an ibuprofen addict. No need for worries or concerns, I just wanted to share. Aside from that, I''m back in college, and I recently had my mid-terms, so the next chapter will be delayed. I''m sorry for the delay, but at the same time not sorry, that extra time gave me a brilliant idea for how to line things up so I can get a strike with the next few plot points.

    Point Seven: I really like it when you guys comment. It''s the only way I can engage with you and I just love reading your theories and ideas, it makes me so excited and happy whenever I get an alert about someone commenting. Do you like it when I comment back? Are you fine if I clarify or answer questions? Would you rather be left to your theories? I keep asking you all to engage, but what kind of engagement would you like to see from me?

    Would you like to start seeing more lore chapters? I do have a side story planned, but that won''t be coming up for a little bit, Crimson needs to be a lot stronger and he needs to have gathered his party.

    Are there any more details about Crimson''s magic or abilities that you want to know more about, or that you feel needs clarification? What about Verity or the [Blessing]? (Certainly there''s a lot you still don''t know about the [Blessing], I''m asking specifically from what''s already been said). Are there any stories or characters you want more time devoted to?

    How have I been doing with ''show, don''t tell'' these past 7 or so chapters? It''s something that''s important to me, and I worry that I''ve been telling too much.

    Here''s just a bit of a ramble to end things off. I''ve cultivated a writing style with a lot of set up and build up, but the payoff is a long time coming. I try to include a lot of plausibility in my writing like, "Oh, I could see that happening, it''s not just because the protag is protagging." Because of that I''m fine if Crimson occasionally loses, I literally have future losses, pain, frustration, and setbacks planned. Those things are all plausible to me, so I like using them, not only that, it makes him more human and things are more intersting. It''s natural conflict. The issue that comes with this, is that I write from Crimson''s perspective in the third person. You only know what he knows, so things aren''t always as they seem. He''s been lied to several times, misled, his opinon has influenced your understanding. How is that an issue, that seems normal? It''s an issue because there are times when someone lies to him, clearly lies, but no one takes a second to thing about it deeper, or you lack enough information to see what''s going on which necessitates a re-read. This is honestly why I like theories, it encourages you to think more deeply about what''s going on and points out potential flaws in my logic (I''ve certainly not been perfect). This is literally just a ramble, I don''t know how I would go about changing anything...literally as I wrote that an idea came to mind to help out a little. Unfortunately, I won''t be able to make use of it for a while, it requires a certain member of Crimson''s party...but it''s a good idea.

    Should I get an editor?

 Quick Review and Terms To Know

    Story Recap:

    After a life of being crippled, Crimson was given a mission, a new body, name, and reborn at the behest of a God by the name of Raften The Overseer, granted power, he is tasked with becoming powerful enough to kill the secret boss of his new world.

    Upon waking, Crimson found himself living on a farm as a hired hand under the care of Lars and his wife Symia - giving him time and privacy to adapt to his new - functioning - body.

    While there, Crimson learned about the Gods, taught himself how to use his mana, and ended up accidentally naming a child when he suggested a name the parents liked.

    After spending a week on the farm, Crimson began his journey to the capital of the country he was in: Falst.

    During his journey, he discovered that his eyes have a power to make people flinch with eye contact, he also met a party which he swiftly nicknamed: ¡®The Harem Squad¡¯ who were also going to Falst to join the Adventurers¡¯s Guild. Their leader, Abel, offered to allow Crimson to join them - an invitation he swiftly declined based on instinct, and separated from them.

    As is later revealed, this party was prepared by Raften to give Crimson comrades immediately, but it was a gift he elected not to receive.

    Upon arriving in Falst, Crimson acted as a temporary record keeper for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and joined the Guild officially as a member of the Brass Rank -a class of trainee adventurers for underage kids- after finishing his task.

    Crimson spent his time taking requests, studying, and exploring Falst - swiftly discovering the existence of secret passages in Falst due to his special affinity to mana. In those secret passages, he found a great door with a massive lock that he was unable to open, and he also discovered that one of the passages let out in the castle, into a hidden library called the Astral Library.

    Within the library, he found knowledge that couldn¡¯t be found anywhere else and utilized that knowledge to prepare himself to receive access to the system of the world on his 16th birthday. During his frequent visits, he was caught by, and befriended, the First Princess: Rhinese al voth Alda, and they chose to learn together, with her getting advice and second opinions from Crimson.

    Back at the Guild, Crimson got a mentor in the form of Mars, a Bearkin Adventurer and brother of the Guild Master, who firmly believed that the best method to help him learn how to use a sword was to beat the tar out of him with a healer on standby to keep him from dying.

    That healer was Emma, a guild employee who Crimson became fast friends with. He also befriended one of her coworkers - a Dark Elf named Sherry, who enjoys teasing him.

    Like that, months passed, with him training and befriending people all over town.

    Crimson did everything he could to prepare: tempering his mind and body, learning magic, the sword, and crafting skills - all looking to the day he would receive access to the system.

    He also built a relationship to the Temple through a mildly corrupt priest named Damus, before severing the relationship.

    As the deadline neared, he got a new comrade: an Elf named Verity, a former Martial Artist who threw her [Classes] away after the death of her old party, and chose to try and learn the path of a healer to make up for their deaths.

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Together, they will find more comrades, and face the future.

    SOME Terms and Concepts to know, will be updated as needed:

    Authority: a term for a God''s power. Authority is given to command specific things or concepts, and the amount of Authority a God has indicates their power over whatever it is.

    Amzair: Dark Elf Word for "Unity." It is also the name of a body tempering technique Crimson is studying.

    Blessing of the Gods: refers the connection individuals have with the system. It is the status that represents the individual and their progress, and each takes a different form based on the preferences of each individual.

    Bloodline/Racial Traits: Each Race has specific abilities that manifest, one to a person, as they grow up. These abilities can manifest before they gain access to the system. As is the case with Verity''s Aura Reading, which manifested at the age of 10. Racial Traits are only given to NON-HUMAN individuals - humans get Bloodlines. Not every human has a Bloodline, but the list of possible bloodlines is incalculable, where as most races have between 2 and 5 Racial Traits on average. Except in the case of Favored, each individual only manifests one Trait or Bloodline.

    Insults/Swearing: Insults are usually done by comparing a person with a monster, while people swear by the Gods. Normal insults and swearing, are not utilized in this world, rather, they would be called an imp, or incubus, or something along those lines.

    Mana: The medium utilized to cast magic and power skills. Its true nature is unknown. It is invisible to the naked eye and cannot be felt or detected by a normal person without special skills, but Crimson can feel and directly interact with/control his mana.

    Rizvim: A limiter placed on an individual that forces them to adapt and become stronger because of it. Crimson has a Rizvim that limits the information he can get from his status.

    Half Borns/Halfs: A individual born of two different races. They are often subject to heavy racism as many see the combination of two separate races as either morally wrong or detestable, because of that, many people have not educated themselves on them, leading to a lot of this basic knowledge not being common knowledge. There are a few kinds of Halfs: Abhorred, Forgotten, Prime, and Favored. Each of these names refer to the perception people have about how the Gods think of Halfs. The racist term for a Half is ''Chimera.''

    >>>>Abhorred: still born children or those who die young as a result of their mixed parentage. All races who receive a [Blessing of the Gods] are compatible to some extent, so even for parents who shouldn''t mix well, it is still possible for their children to not be Abhorred, and it is possible for highly compatible parents to have Abhorred children. It just depends on the individual child. It has been noted by Raften that Crimson''s body should originally have been Abhorred - if he hadn''t meddled with it using his Authority.

    >>>>Forgotten: one who has inherited the traits and abilities of neither parent. This is merely referring to the special abilities of the parents themselves, not their physical appearance. In the case of a race with special characteristics like wings, then these things - if they appear on the child - are underdeveloped or malformed. No forgotten have been named at this point in the story.

    >>>>Prime: one who has inherited their traits/abilities entirely from one parent. Once again, referring only to the special abilities and Racial Traits, not physical appearance. This is the most likely result of a human and any other race, with abhorred being the second most common (though far less likely than any other race), and Favored being the most rare, as it is only possible if the human possesses a Bloodline and still remains extremely rare in spite of that. Examples of Prime are: Symia, the half dryad wife of Lars who Crimson met when he first came to this world. This named character had a human and non-human parent.

    >>>>Favored: one who has strongly inherited the traits of both parents. Occasionally, these abilities mix together to create a new ability, different from that of both parents, or each ability can appear separately leading to Favored being generally more powerful and talented than others. This is the rarest type of Half. The only currently known Favored is Crimson himself.

    Uluu: A race that is heavily discriminated against. Their Racial Trait allows them to get monster classes and they are considered essentially monsters by some on the basis of superstition. They are humanlike in appearance, but are extremely pale, without the ability to tan. They also have tattoo-like markings that appear on their skin, which is the true stigma of the race. These markings can take any color or design, and cover the entire body. Halfs of the race have the markings as well, but are not entirely coated by them.

 Chapter 27: The Storm Wall

    Chapter 27: The Storm Wall

    Crimson watched Verity¡¯s outline blur, then fade away leaving just him and Raften.

    Raften spoke in a deeper and more serious voice than usual, ¡°I disagree with your choice. Her most likely future before your influence would have landed her dead by her own volition,¡± he let out a long sigh, ¡°You saved one person inadvertently, and destroyed another¡¯s future. Abel and his group are insanely talented, they¡¯ve got a high growth potential and stable personalities¡­¡±

    He paused for a second, ¡°The blue Cat-Kin aside, she¡¯s only relatively stable, but they were still party members that would have been able to see the end with you, but without you, they¡¯ll be lucky to gain any levels after 70. As far as your choice, well, Verity is¡­dangerous. She¡¯s very talented, has a good attitude, and excellent combat sense, but she¡¯s essentially one bad day away from being useless.¡±

    Crimson glared at him; Verity was stronger than that. True, she was still recovering, but losing loved ones was never easy and he personally thought that she was recovering quite quickly after her situation was considered. If something bad happened again, he¡¯d trust her to pick herself back up again.

    He opened his mouth to try and retort, only to find he couldn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Ahh, yeah, sorry about that,¡± Raften said in his normal light tone, ¡°I can¡¯t summon you here without good cause - you need to be on the verge of death to come here fully, which is just too much work so I decided that this encounter didn¡¯t require a full summon, just a projection; so you can¡¯t talk or interact with anything here.

    ¡°Here¡¯s where I give you some prophesies as The God of Possibilities! I¡¯d advise you take your time and get stronger, but try and keep a good pace between [Skills] and [Levels], I can see a future where we¡¯re in dire need of your services, and if you¡¯re under level then there¡¯s going to be big problems for¡­everyone.

    ¡°Keep an eye on that corrupt Priest, Damus. His heart started in a good place, but it¡¯s been been blackening reall~y fast.

    ¡°Finally, there¡¯s a nominated request coming your way in a few days, accept it, and leave Verity in Falst while you fulfill it. She needs time away from you. Well, that¡¯s only if you want her to be as strong as you believe she is.¡±

    Raften hummed for a long second in thought, then said, ¡°Oh, one last thing. You should read the children¡¯s book, ¡®A Lovely Little Lily Loves the Gods.¡¯ It¡¯ll help answer a question that you have. Bye-bye!¡±

    With those words, Crimson found himself abruptly ejected from the dream, and jerked upright, gasping in bed, sweat dripping down is forehead, and his blanket tangled around his legs.

    With annoyance, he jerked the blanket off and threw himself onto his feet to pace back and forth across the room. His head was spinning and he needed to organize the information he¡¯d gained in his head.

    First: from last night, he¡¯d learned that there was something wrong with his mana. The fact that it was causing him such severe pain was both confusing and a problem. With a flick, he cast a [Magic Light] with no issues, then double checked his [Blessing] to see that it still hadn¡¯t experienced any changes.

    From there, he stopped dead in place and slowly started to fill his body with mana once more. Unlike before, it didn¡¯t fight him at every step, and slowly started to suffuse his flesh, but he started trembling. It wasn¡¯t the violent seizure-like shaking of the previous night, but more similar to the uncontrollable shivers of an extremely bad cold.

    From that, he could deduce that there was still a problem, but he couldn¡¯t be sure what that problem was. He clutched his head for a long moment, then realized the only way to answer the question of ¡®what happened to him¡¯ would be to find out what mana is. It was a piece of knowledge with an unknown level of difficulty, so he mentally filed it as an eventual goal, but a very important one.

    Second piece of information: he was close to learning a few [Skills]. He¡¯d need to learn them before he gained his [Class], so he had a time limit of three weeks or so. [Ul Byrn] might be a bit of a hinderance to the achievement of said goal, but he decided to pursue it for the moment.

    Third: Verity had received the [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir], and was officially - if reluctantly - accepted by Raften. Since he didn¡¯t have access to his [Blessing], he¡¯d had no idea how long it for his [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] to fully form, but she would serve as patient zero for him to find out.

    Fourth: Raften¡¯s¡­¡¯prophesies.¡¯ There was pretty much nothing he could do about the first one. It was so vague that he couldn¡¯t guess what kind of pace he was supposed to maintain, which just made him want to hit Raften right on the top of the head with his bokken.

    As far as the warning about Damus¡­he¡¯d been remarkably quiet in the months after being so casually abused by Rhinese. He was hardly ever seen in public and was losing a significant amount of weight. It was honestly pathetic that just a few sly insults were enough to bring him to this point - there was probably something else going on that he was unaware of to bring him as low as he was.

    For the next problem, he¡¯d worry about the nominated request when it arrived.

    With a long sigh, he rubbed his temples, then went about a truncated version of his morning routine in a rush to get out the door.

    Stepping outside, he estimated that it was about four in the morning, several hours before the guild opened, but he had ways in that didn¡¯t require a key.

    After slipping through the secret passages and exiting into the guild archive room, he made his way to the library where he thoroughly checked the bookshelves for ¡®A Lovely Little Lily Loves the Gods.¡¯ If Raften recommended the book to him, there had to be a good reason¡­right?

    After about two hours of scouring the library he gritted his teeth in annoyance as he check the final shelf. He knew the library top to bottom after having spent a quarter of his waking hours in it, so he knew he hadn¡¯t missed anything, but the book wasn¡¯t there. Well, it wasn¡¯t shocking that a children¡¯s book wasn¡¯t in the Guild Library, but it was the only place he could look at this time of the morning, and he didn¡¯t think it likely for the Astral Library to have a copy, so his search was essentially nothing more than killing time.

    Emma would show up to unlock the guild soon, so it would be for the best if he left before then - he didn¡¯t want to answer any uncomfortable questions about how he got in, but just as insurance he unlocked a window on the fourth floor, then slipped in and out of it. By doing so, he ensured that if he was caught and questioned he could claim he got in the guild by climbing through a window, and more importantly remain honest under a [Detect Lie Skill] without revealing the secret passages.

    As he slipped down to the ground floor, he stopped on the second floor and pressed an ear to the floor to listen for any movement downstairs. His [PER] was high enough that if there was any movement, he should be able to hear it, but it was possible to overlook something.

    After a moment of silence, he slipped down the stairs and placed his little finger into the archive room door frame where the [Mana Lock] was, and opened the passage. His caution paid off as he heard the sound of the front door opening and he swiftly slid into the secret passage and closed the door softly behind himself.

    After several moments of deliberation, he decided to start investigating the different book shops in town. A few of them should be opening soon, so it would be best to scope them out. There¡¯s got to be somewhere in town that has the book.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity showed up to the guild first thing in the morning, for once she even beat Emma and sat impatiently, waiting for Crimson to show up. After a bit, she heard a familiar voice call out to her, ¡°Verity! What are you doing here this early? Where¡¯s Crimson?¡±

    Verity¡¯s eyes drifted over to a very tired looking Emma walking up to the guild and she responded, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m looking for him.¡± She gave the Guild Receptionist a wan smile, ¡°He¡¯s got some questions to answer.¡±

    Emma raised an eyebrow, ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound like you¡¯re going to ask him a friendly question¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe it is?¡± Verity responded contemplatively, ¡°I just learned something about him that he¡¯d hidden from me.¡±

    ¡°Is it a big deal?¡±

    ¡°A little bit, yeah.¡±

    Emma started unlocking the door as she responded after a long moment of silence, ¡°Did he have a good reason to keep it quiet?¡±

    Verity thought about it for a second, ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡±

    Emma gently poked her in the back of the head, ¡°Well, you trust him, right? Maybe you should wait until he¡¯s ready to tell you himself instead of confronting him about it. It would mean a lot more for him to tell you himself, by his own choice.¡±

    Verity sat quietly, processing the advice. She didn¡¯t even need to thing about it, she trusted him, but was this even a matter of trust? His god - Raften - had technically included them together, and given permission for Crimson to explain things to her, and she was technically owed an explanation.

    She wandered into the Guild while considering the problem, and sat at a table to wait. After considering it for a bit, she realized that she¡¯d been puffed up for a confrontation, ready to pick a fight with Crimson to find out what was going on, but she didn¡¯t really have a need to. Knowing him, he¡¯d calmly tell her when she asked; with that realization, she calmed down, and went up to the library to study magic.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson stood in a book shop, carefully inspecting the shelves at 8 in the morning, while the shop keeper behind him was doing the best he could to calm down. Crimson had surprised the shop keeper right as the unfortunate man opened his shop, and gave the man a fright with his sudden appearance. After a quick but thorough inspection, he left after double checking with the owner about the book¡¯s stock.

    By 8:15 he was in his next book shop, and by 10 he¡¯d checked all the shops that carried even a single book in town, and was charging through the secret passages to get to the Astral Library. As it was Gratday - this world¡¯s equivalent of Thursday - there shouldn¡¯t be anyone there. Stepping into the library, he surveyed the cylindrical library. Even after a year, he still didn¡¯t know everything about the library, but he did have an excellent understanding of how it was organized.

    He charged down to the lowest layer and started looking in all the likeliest places, once those turned up failures, he started looking in even the places with a slight chance. After hours of searching, it became 3pm, and he was forced to accept that it wasn¡¯t in the library.

    It was a children¡¯s book, how hard should it be to find?!

    Miserably, but swiftly, he made his way back to the guild, wanting to burn off some energy with a delivery request or two. The inside of the guild was packed, it being the afternoon, it was the most popular time for adventurer¡¯s to be in the guild. The stink of body odor mixed with the smells of smoke, alcohol, and oil as the boisterous sounds of conversation bounced off his skull.

    After a year working there, Crimson was very well known at the guild, and waved to a bunch of people who greeted him as he made his way to the line where the desk was. They only had Sherry and one other guy working the desk today, so the two lines snaked around the edge of the room, past the staircase, and along the wall. There was no way he¡¯d be able to get a request today.

    Restraining his annoyance, he shouldered his way through the part of the line that passed in front of the staircase and made his way to the library. Verity was studying at a desk as he slumped into the seat across from her and slammed his head onto the table, dealing a few points of damage to himself.

    He heard Verity set down the book, and silence reigned for a long moment before she said, ¡°Avoiding me?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t find what I¡¯m looking for.¡± He responded with a low voice.

    After another pause, she asked, ¡°Raften?¡±

    ¡°A God of Possibilities and Time, he manages my [Blessing] and gave me a task to kill a boss stronger than Lv.100.¡± He responded without hesitation.

    ¡°How¡¯d you meet?¡±

    ¡°He recruited me after I died in another world, gave me this body, and a mission.¡± Crimson said as bluntly as possible, while inside his guts started to squirm from nerves.

    ¡°You¡¯re a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir!¡± She exclaimed with surprise.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a from another world.¡± He said while trying to hide the nerves he felt.

    She nodded slowly and repeatedly, ¡°Yeah, that makes sense it felt like your knowledge was too¡­inconsistent for having just lost your memories,¡± she gave him a big grin, her green eyes twinkling, ¡°I¡¯m glad that¡¯s all cleared up, let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    Immediately, she started reading her book again. At a glance, he could see that it was a copy of [Lesser Healing], the best Healing Spell Crimson knew¡­but, didn¡¯t she have more questions?

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­going to ask anything else?¡± He asked slowly.

    Verity hummed for a second, then said over the top of the book, ¡°I spoke with Emma, and she had a really good point about trusting you to share your secrets when you feel ready, so I decided to only ask about the things I have a right to know, when you¡¯re ready and are certain that you trust me, feel free to tell me more.¡±

    Crimson quietly bowed his head and whispered, ¡°Thanks.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t really opposed to telling her everything if pressed, but it felt a little like baring his soul, to tell her everything. He wasn¡¯t worried that she would hate him or reject him for being something that he had hid from her, but in regards to who he was before¡­he didn¡¯t feel ready.

    That had been another life, a different ¡®him¡¯ and a person he never wanted to be again.

    He had been weak willed, lacked dedication to anything, held no passions, and genuinely hated himself. Looking back, he didn¡¯t understand why he¡¯d been that way. His body may not have worked, but he had a perfectly working mind, he had his sight, his hearing, and could talk. He had plenty of tools to better himself, but hadn¡¯t. He¡¯d figuratively spent his life staring out a window, wishing he could open it, but never attempting to.

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    What had changed about himself? His personality hadn¡¯t been changed by anyone, but¡­

    He tightly closed his eyes, and despite his intense pondering there was no answer. Abruptly, he was brought out of his meditation by Verity after she smacked him in the face with some loose papers.

    ¡°Hey! Are you alive? You haven¡¯t moved for five minutes!¡± She exclaimed with a concerned expression.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said, ¡°do you need something?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, could you explain your process for learning spells to me? I have to rely on the Gods¡¯ assistance to learn.¡±

    He tilted his head for a second then spoke while waving a finger in the air, ¡°My process won¡¯t help you, but here¡¯s a suggestion: when you¡¯re learning magic, what you¡¯re actually doing is engraving the path in your mind. Think of wandering through a maze, learning a Lv1 spell is wandering through the maze until you find the exit. You¡¯re slow and inefficient as you travel through it because you don¡¯t know the process to get to the exit.

    ¡°As you redo the maze, a few key points will stick in your mind, and you¡¯ll have a vague idea of where the exit is, but with every pass you get faster and faster as you learn the maze until you know the fastest route through it. All the Gods do is help speed up that process.

    ¡°Where the analogy breaks down is that you¡¯re not the one passing through the maze, but your mana is. You use mental images and emotions to tell it where it needs to turn, so if you don¡¯t clearly understand the path it needs to take, you won¡¯t be able to guide it through.

    ¡°With that in mind, your goal is to try to make the spell your own, the book teaches you the emotions and images you need to have, but you need to replace those artificial feeling with your own experiences. You can imagine a forest you¡¯ve visited better than a forest that the book shows you. This will help speed up the learning process and slow the decay of the spell.¡±

    Crimson nodded to himself a few times and proudly smiled at Verity, happy that she had asked.

    His process was extremely different from his advice -having learned his spells through rote practice and ¡®muscle¡¯ memory- but he¡¯d had a lot of experience helping Rhinese. They¡¯d done hours of experimentation to refine the process till they found what works best. It was completely obvious in hindsight, [Skills] worked the same way, as did [Classes] - they had to be embraced and altered to suit the user.

    He watched Verity tap her finger on the cover of [Lesser Healing] for a bit, happy that she seemed to value his advice, then his attention snapped back to the book.

    Where had she gotten it? The only place he hadn¡¯t thought to check: The Temple. What was the name of the book he¡¯d spent all day looking for? ¡®A Little Lily Loves the Gods.¡¯

    He bolted out of his seat in an instant and shouted ¡°keep studying¡± to a surprised Verity as he dashed out the door, jumped down the stairs, completely skipping to the next flight, and ignored the various shouts as he dashed through the crowd and out the door.

    Sprinting with as much might as he could manage and not still not run into anyone, he ran to the Temple and stopped right outside it to catch his breath. He quickly cast the spell [Manipulate Water] to throw all the sweat off himself, then compressed it all into a ball that he chucked down a nearby sewer drain.

    Once presentable, he walked through the door and went straight to one of the public libraries of the Temple. It had three such libraries and one restricted one. Two of them cost money to utilize, containing spells and other such valuable books, and the third was completely open to the public as a service, usually to help commoners learn how to read and containing books similar to the Adventures¡¯ Guild, ones that provided basic information on specific skills to help commoners learn a trade. More importantly, it also contained religious materials.

    It took him less than five minutes of searching to find ¡°A Little Lily Loves The Gods¡± there was no listed author, but it was a children¡¯s picture book with¡­to put it kindly, basic drawings. Bluntly, Crimson had seen better child¡¯s drawings.

    The text in the nine page book was as follows:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    A little Lily loves the Gods very much.

    She loves the Gods who gave her friends

    She loves the Gods who gave Rose the passion of fire

    She loves the Gods who gave Lilac the calm of water

    She loves the Gods who gave Anemone the cheer of wind

    She loves the Gods who gave Diascia the kindness of earth

    She loves the Gods who gave Delphnium the energy of lightning

    She loves the Gods who gave Gladiolus the helpfulness of metal

    She loves the Gods who gave Zinnia the determination of magma

    She loves the Gods who gave Orchid the focus of ice

    She loves the Gods who gave Her the loyalty of holy

    She loves the Gods who gave Hydrangea the choice of profane

    She loves the Gods who gave Dahlia the dream of purity

    She loves the Gods who gave King Protea the truth of corruption

    She loves the Gods who gave Amaryllis the joy of life

    She loves the Gods who gave Daffodils the hope of death

    She loves the Gods who gave them all the spirit to understand.

    She loves the Gods, because they loved her first.

    She loves the Gods, because they made her happy.

    She loves the Gods, because they help her.

    She loves the Gods, and so do her friends.

    You should love the Gods too.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    In addition to the drawings being bad, it was as basic as could be. It was like the author had an encyclopedia of flowers on hand and just randomly chose ones they had liked. It was also just bad for a children¡¯s book, the basic structure of the text would be helpful, but then complicated words and concepts were used, nothing a child would really understand.

    However, it did two things well. Firstly was the fact that it tied concepts and feeling to [Affinities]. Second was reducing the intelligence of those who read it, it was really good at that.

    All the [Affinities] in the book were arranged in the same order as could be found in his [Blessing], so he turned his attention to the line devoted to [Mana]¡­or at least tried to. There didn¡¯t seem to be a line for it, unless¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    ¡°She loves the Gods who gave them all the spirit to understand.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    That line seemed to be it, ¡°Comprehension¡± seemed like an excellent concept to be associated with [Mana], but ¡®spirit?¡¯

    Would that refer to a literal spirit? That didn¡¯t seem likely, so it probably referred to spirit in the sense of ¡®emotion¡¯ because that¡¯s how most people controlled their mana¡­or¡­one other option¡­it could refer to spiritual energy.

    If [Life] was a reference to [Vitality] - the presence of physical energy powering life, and [Death] was a reference to the opposite state - the absence of physical energy, then it would make sense that [Mana] was a form of spiritual energy, and [Void] was the absence of it, but he didn¡¯t have enough information to prove it or refute it.

    Pinching his nose, he felt a bit of a headache coming on as his thoughts ran in circles, unable to come to a decisive conclusion, before he decided that [Spiritual Energy] was more likely than any other option he could come up with.

    Considering that, it only opens up more questions about why he¡¯d had convulsions the night before. He could find nothing about it that could be explained.

    Sighing, he started to trudge back toward the entrance, but before he could make it more than a few steps out of the library, he was stopped by a wolfkin.

    A middle aged, but slim male wolfkin, only slightly taller than Crimson, with deeply tanned skin was what greeted his eyes as the man spoke, ¡°Excuse me, are you Crimson?¡±

    Crimson¡¯s eyebrows flicked up in surprise and confusion as he responded, ¡°Yes, can I help you with something?¡±

    Nervously, the man said, ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone to write a prayer for a coming of age ceremony. I look after a young girl,¡± he shook his head quickly and continued, ¡°I misspoke, a young woman, who will be coming of age soon. It is tradition in our tribe to celebrate a few months in advance and there is none who will truly celebrate with her, as the Chief¡¯s Heir Apparent will be having her coming of age ceremony at the same time.¡±

    He fixed Crimson with a nervous gaze, ¡°So I wanted to get her an amazing prayer she can burn, one that makes her feel special, and allows her to look back fondly on her Niv¡¯beln - her coming of age ceremony for years to come. When I asked a [Priest], he pointed me to you.¡±

    Crimson did his best to hide his surprise, he¡¯d been asked several times to write prayers for others, but he still didn¡¯t understand why he¡¯d been singled out. In their position, he¡¯d definitely ask the actual religious figures, not a sixteen year old kid.

    Apologetically, he said, ¡°You should probably ask another one of the [Priests], I know of one named Baylee who does an excellent job with event prayers, I could introduce her to you.¡±

    Crimson started to survey the area to see if he could find her, but was interrupted by the wolfkin, ¡°No, it has to be you. High Priestess Rei told me that you¡¯d refuse and try to get out of it, but that you¡¯re actually really good at writing thoughtful prayer full of praise with writing that looks like art. She said she personally asked you to write some prayers for her!¡±

    Those words were excitedly exclaimed and definitely overheard by nearby people. The piercing and greedy looks were painful to say the least.

    Crimson shook his head, ¡°Did she also tell you that I¡¯ve been asked to not write prayers for free? Since I¡¯m not a [Priest], I¡¯m not allowed to do it for free.¡±

    It was the truth, the hope was to encourage people to rely on the [Priests] before him, but with that kind of recommendation from Rei, people would definitely still come to him.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± the man said, ¡°it¡¯s only obvious that something of higher quality would cost more.¡±

    Assuming it actually was of higher quality.

    ¡°Name your price.¡± He said firmly.

    ¡°Give me your name first,¡± Crimson said.

    The man jumped, and flushed from embarrassment, ¡°Nav, my name is Nav.¡±

    Rhymed with ¡®have.¡¯

    ¡°Okay, Nav, here¡¯s the deal: we¡¯re not going to discuss this here, a lot of people are listening and this kind of thing is private. Let¡¯s see if we can borrow one of the consultation rooms.¡±

    One of the many duties of the [Priests] was offering advice on [Classes] and [Skills], it was similar to the practice of confessionals Crimson remembered from his past life, but the purpose was to counsel people on the paths they wanted to take. All the [Priests] who preformed consultations had sworn before the God of Truth not to reveal what they were told in confidence, and there was a strong punishment associated with breaking that vow, so they were considered trustworthy.

    Admittedly, the service was utilized more by the highly religious and commoners, most Adventurers would rather ask a trusted senior for general advice than get a real consultation.

    It was also one of the few duties Crimson had gotten out of in the Temple - despite the fact that Rei had tried to get him to do it.

    The permission was granted easily, and they sat down in what looked like a windowless conference room. On one wall was a chalk board and on the other, a book case filled with blank paper and writing instruments. There was also a plate hanging from a hook next to the door with a fire enchantment placed upon it, the purpose was to destroy any papers before the people left so they could retain their privacy, but to Crimson, it just felt like a perfect room for a secret meeting.

    After a long moment, Crimson spoke, ¡°A coming of age prayer is essentially a prayer for the life to come. It usually includes information that could be of a¡­private nature, so I will only be able to write about what you¡¯re beginning to tell me. If you want, we can take a more general route, but a lot of people believe that the prayers are less effective the less specific they are.

    ¡°Personally, I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the case, but it does make it easier for the Gods to help you if you are specific. It¡¯s the difference between saying ¡®help me¡¯ -which is general and vague- and ¡®help me lift this rock¡¯ which is very specific. You have to do a little inferring to figure out what they need help with in the first statement, and have a clear task in the second. So, what¡¯ll it be?¡±

    Nav scratched one of his wolf ears for a long moment, then hesitantly said, ¡°A mix? The young woman I represent and her father are very sickly. Her father doesn¡¯t have much longer to live and her life seems to be following the same pattern as his. Her mother is a very important person who doesn¡¯t have time for either of them and doesn¡¯t seem to care if they live or die.¡±

    He looked at Crimson with desperation in his eyes, ¡°Is that enough information to help you write the prayer?¡±

    Crimson snorted, ¡°No, I need more information, but about other things. Does she have any dreams? Does she want to be something or go somewhere? Does she have someone she wants to marry? The information you¡¯ve given me so far is great, it is probably the most pressing issue, but a coming of age prayer isn¡¯t just about one thing, it encompasses the life of the individual. Give me every detail you¡¯re willing to give up.¡±

    With a loud swallow and a deep breath, Nav nodded and said, ¡°Her name is Rhea, she¡¯s fifteen, and her mother is the chief of my tribe. She¡¯s an adorable girl who loves good food and long naps, but because of her poor health, she has a hard time enjoying either of those things. She¡­doesn¡¯t seem to have any dreams, but I think she wants to live a long life. She¡¯s completely devoted to her father - he was actually the one who asked me to order this prayer - and hates her mother for abandoning them¡­or at least I think she does, she¡¯s a little hard to read.

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t really have any friends, and she pretends that she doesn¡¯t want any. She¡¯s got a Grey Wolf¡¯s ears and fur pattern, with grey hair and gorgeous blue eyes but I don¡¯t get to see her them too often as she keeps her eyes almost closed. I asked, but she can apparently see just fine even if it looks like she¡¯s sleep walking all the time.¡±

    Nav¡¯s voice became more and more excited as he started throwing out random, almost incoherent details about this girl, ¡®Rhea.¡¯ Crimson sat back and listened to it all, mentally retaining useful details and throwing away everything else. The man seemed to really care about this girl, maybe he saw her as something like a daughter.

    After a long time, he wound down, then looked at Crimson in embarrassment, ¡°So, uh, is that enough?¡±

    ¡°Plenty, you could have stopped an hour ago, I didn¡¯t really need to know how adorable she was as a baby.¡± Crimson said dryly as he got up and grabbed a quill and ink from the bookshelf.

    After looking around for a bit, he found some fancy blank scrolls used for occasions like this, and grabbed one.

    He sat back down once more with his spoils and stared at Nav for a long moment before he started writing, organizing the information in his brain. Then, with quill to paper, he started to write a prayer. He didn¡¯t use an extremely fancy font, rather, he chose one with thin and angular letters, setting every letter on the line at an angle as he tried to represent the girl with the very manner of writing he was using.

    Just based on the description, Rhea and he had a lot in common. He¡¯d been a little more fortunate to have two loving parents and they were both in good health, but he knew what it was like to spend his whole life waiting to die.

    He first started with her wish for friends, requesting the Gods for her to have reliable and trustworthy people who would love and support her for her friends. He requested a husband for her that would seek to make her happy, and that she might find joy in helping him do the same.

    He then wrote of her desire to prove her mother wrong. He didn¡¯t know exactly where the words came from, nor if he understood her feelings right, but his hand moved automatically to write it, and he left it as is.

    He followed that by sharing the love she had for her father her gratitude for his love and presence, expressing her wish that he would live a long life, but lamenting her knowledge that he won¡¯t.

    Crimson¡¯s quill continued to flow, as he wove together the details he¡¯d gained until the final paragraph, where he wrote of her wish to become strong, and overcome her weaknesses. He wrote her prayer to one day reach Level 100.

    After sitting back, he flexed his sore fingers. He¡¯d written a lot, and at no point in the process did he feel he could stop, but the final result was one he could be happy with. Though, he did wonder about some of the things he wrote, because Nav definitely hadn¡¯t told him about any dreams she had.

    After a moment of consideration, he noticed that he had an alert from his [Blessing]. At that moment, he had a nervous premonition as he opened his [Blessing].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -All System Administrators have elected to award you a [Title].

    -Downloading data¡­

    -Installing¡­

    -Title: [Holy Interpreter] has been applied.

    -Note from Administrator Melia: Keep it up!

    -Note from Administrator: ROFL!!!! Lolololololol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson restrained a heavy sigh, but Nav noticed and asked in concern, ¡°Is there something wrong with it?¡±

    He shook his head, ¡°No, I¡¯ve done my best, and the prayer seems ready, I just remembered something I have to do.¡±

    Punch Raften.

    ROFL? For what??? What did the [Title] do? He could guess, but that guess wouldn¡¯t lead to ¡®ROFL¡¯ it would lead to him getting Rei¡¯s attention - again!

    Crimson waited for the ink to dry, then rolled up the scroll and handed it to Nav with a question, ¡°What can you afford?¡±

    Utilizing a sharp ¡®I¡¯m going to strike a bargain face¡¯ Nav responded, ¡°I won¡¯t go any higher than 500 Royals.¡±

    Crimson shrugged, ¡°Okay then, 300 Royals.¡±

    Nav, clearly not paying attention to what had just been said, responded, ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve twisted my arm, I can go up to 650, but no higher!¡±

    Crimson did is best to not show his amusement as he responded, ¡°You¡¯re a tough customer, but I have no choice but to do it for 300 Royals.¡±

    Nav blinked a few times, then grinned happily, ¡°Is that really enough? I was prepared to go up to 800.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I already think I¡¯m overcharging you, but you did take several hours of my time, so it¡¯s worth something to me.¡±

    Nav dumped a bunch of Royals from his inventory onto the table and slowly counted out 300. It took him a few minutes, but Crimson walked away happy.

    When Crimson got outside, he immediately cursed as he noticed how dark it was. He¡¯d have to be careful going back.

    Before they parted, he finally thought to ask Nav a question he should have asked a while ago, ¡°By the way, do you know why Rhea has poor health?¡±

    Nav nodded happily, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a bit of an open secret. She has a high [Affinity] for [Void], and an [Antithesis] for [Mana]. Anyway, I¡¯ve got to go, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild said they¡¯d finish processing my request in the morning, and I need to be there bright and early for it!¡±

    Before Crimson could respond to the information bomb Nav just dropped, the wolfkin ran off, seemingly toward Phase 5 where there were some decent Inns.

    Crimson¡¯s shock continued, as he found the next morning that the request Nav had given to the Adventurers¡¯ Guild had been for him. Nav was equally surprised by that one as well.

 Chapter 28: Travel to Lupaken

    Chapter 28: Travel to Lupaken

    Crimson sat in one of the private rooms of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild staring at Nav in shock and confusion. The whole room had been stuffed to bursting with Emma, Nav, him, about seven other male wolfkin of various ages, and a single middle aged female wolfkin.

    He and Emma were both squished onto a small stool, and the other sides of the table had wolfkin sitting shoulder to shoulder, with a clear amount of space allowed for the single wolfkin female, but not for Nav.

    Both Nav and the female wolfkin had a necklace with a complex symbol as the pendant, but there was a striking difference in the quality. Nav¡¯s was made of iron, and while it had obviously been well cared for, there was little patches of rust in the hard to clean places. On the other hand, the woman¡¯s necklace was made of fine gold, and well polished. Her clothes were also of superior quality to Nav¡¯s and the other wolfkin acted at her beck and call, but ignored Nav.

    Nav was the one speaking as representative, which further confused Crimson. From what he knew, wolfkin didn¡¯t appoint those of lesser stations to represent them if they could be there. At a guess - with the information he had on hand - he assumed that the woman was more favored, but Nav was higher in the hierarchy, which led to this convoluted situation.

    To add to the contradictions, the request was in Nav¡¯s name, but he¡¯d had little to do with making the actual request. He¡¯d just presented the basic information outline to one of the other clerks at the front desk before leaving the rest of the problem to Ryn - the female wolfkin - and heading to the Temple where Crimson had met him.

    There was something very wrong with those series of events, Nav should have been present from the beginning, so he was either neglecting his duties, or he was forced out. At a glance, it could be either.

    Interrupting his thoughts, Nav said without a hint of tension on his face, ¡°We are here as representatives of Reah, chief of Lupaken, the wolfkin tribe. Her Heir Apparent: Tsiva is coming of age soon, and we are in need of a calligraphist for the event. Your duties would be painting banners, scribing the speeches, and drawing up the certifications needed for the ceremony. As you come highly recommended by the Guild, we will be offering 1300 Royals as payment.¡±

    At those words, Ryn let out a low growl and glared at Nav, ¡°My associate misspoke, you will be paid 300 Royals.¡±

    Nav turned his attention to Ryn and spoke with a heavy voice, full of casual arrogance, ¡°My my, we can¡¯t charge such a small amount for such a big task, now can we? This exceptional adventurer is being summoned to another country, several days travel away, and is being given a very important task. It¡¯s obvious that the payment must-¡°

    Nav¡¯s words were cut off by another growl from Ryn, and the rest of the wolfkin became more obvious about their glares as they also joined in with low growls.

    Ryn spoke with unmasked fury, ¡°We were given this important task from Chief Reah, and you want to waste her money on this worthless weakling?¡±

    Nav coldly said, ¡°I still remain within the budget, if we hire this young man, we don¡¯t need to hire the three scribes we originally assumed we needed.¡±

    Still angry Ryn said, ¡°How is 1300 cheaper than 900 you slime trail?¡±

    Brushing off the highly offensive insult, he shot back, ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious that a worker with a higher [Skill] level should be paid more? He¡¯s received high recommendations from both the Merchant¡¯s Guild and the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. He¡¯s also known to have a very good relationship with the Temple, so based off that kind of backing, of course he¡¯d be paid more! I could even say that we¡¯re getting him for cheap since the nearest comparable scribes all quoted no less than 2000!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still 400 more!¡±

    Nav smirked at her, ¡°Not when you factor in that we¡¯d have to give room and board to three individuals! We¡¯ll likely lose a thousand Royals per individual considering how room prices have shot up as our kin travel to celebrate the Heir Apparent¡¯s coming of Age.¡±

    That shut her up, but only seemed to increase her fury.

    Nav turned back to Crimson and spoke with a mildly gloating tone, ¡°So if you would be so willing, would you accept the job for the rate I have suggested?¡±

    Crimson nodded lightly, cautiously watching the wolfkin males who seemed on the edge of tearing out Nav¡¯s throat. He had no idea why his presence was being used as a weapon, but he didn¡¯t want to side against Nav - even if he didn¡¯t know why the man was acting so differently to how he was the day before.

    After several more tense moments and a bit more negotiating, Crimson¡¯s final pay would be 1350 Royals, and Ryn looked like she¡¯d tear his head off and use it to beat Nav. Nav then filled him in on the intricate details, specifically: time. How long travel would take, how long he¡¯d be expected to be there, and roughly how many hours in a day he¡¯d be expected to work. They were to leave on Istday - Monday.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Moving as quickly as he could, Crimson spent the entire day preparing for the trip, packing food and other necessities. He also sat down with Verity and together, they came up with a list of spells for her to learn while he was gone. He also borrowed a [Purity Affinity] copy of [Heal] - the next spell in the chain after [Lesser Healing] - for an excellent deal from Rei. He had nothing else to do while traveling, so he figured that he might as well learn it.

    His only concern of what he would do after he learned the spell was solved by one of his most depressing purchases: a Lv. 3 claymore called [585th Claymore]. 500 Royals, and he still wasn¡¯t happy with the quality. It was the best thing within his price range, but¡­it was obvious that there was no heart in it. Even the name screamed ¡°My shift ends in two hours.¡± However, it couldn¡¯t be helped. He needed a proper sword for a journey like this, and everything else he owned were all purely for training.

    The thing at least had a good heft and a solid amount of durability.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    585th Claymore

    - Archetype: Heavy

    - Type: Sword

    - Sub-Type: Claymore

    - Quality: Mid

    - Level: 3

    - Attack: 18-23

    - Durability: 55/55

    - Familiarity: Unknown

    <ul>

    <li>Description: A basic claymore.</li>

    </ul>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    With everything in place, Crimson spent Highday at the Astral Library reading. He needed some alone time - away from the Temple¡¯s harassment. He¡¯d been getting a lot more requests to do prayers and perform other duties in the TWO DAYS after the coming of age prayer because of Nav¡¯s very public declaration of Rei¡¯s commendation. While he fortunately wouldn¡¯t receive any official requests on Highday - the Guild being closed - that didn¡¯t stop some crazy people from hunting him down to ask personally. Silently, he was grateful for the secret passages.

    Breaking his concentration, the door creaked open and Crimson turned to greet Rhinese and Sariya, only to be surprised how ragged they looked. He swiftly looked behind them as his heart rate shot up, worried the excessive exhaustion was a sign they¡¯d been interrogated and followed, but there was no one behind them, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

    Standing, he walked over to Rhinese - who seemed do be in poorer condition - to check on her as she stood in a daze in front of the closed door. He passed Sariya as she flopped in a seat, dropped her head on the desk, and immediately started snoring. Reaching the Princess, he gently supported her as he silently led her over to her usual chair.

    Unlike her usually controlled self, she dropped into the seat like a rock, and slumped in the chair with a long exhausted sigh.

    ¡°Are you okay Your Highness?¡± He questioned in his most formal voice, hoping to get a small chuckle out of her.

    She glared at him lazily, ¡°If you think you¡¯re being funny, know that it isn¡¯t, nor am I in the mood.¡±

    She groaned and stretched slowly, joints popping loudly, then let out a contented sigh as she finally relaxed. ¡°That¡¯s better.¡±

    Confused, Crimson sat down, ¡°What¡¯s with you? I¡¯ve never seen you this worn down.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been handed the droll task of escorting a special guest at the tournament next month. A Dark Elf Am¡¯zavac.¡± Rhinese said, shaking her head darkly.

    He slowly shook his head, ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of that term before.¡±

    She looked at him in surprise, ¡°Interesting, I thought you knew most everything at this point.¡±

    He gave her an annoyed look, and she continued, ¡°An Am¡¯zavac is the physical representation of an ideal. Essentially, the member of their race that most embodies a concept. You get all kinds: Strength goes to the one with the highest STR, and so on with all the stats, but then you get more interesting and subjective ones, like Grace, or Beauty, or Determination, etcetera. They don¡¯t even go out of their way to fill the titles, they¡¯re perfectly happy to leave them empty if there¡¯s no one good enough for it, and there are higher titles, ones that represent multiple ideals at the same time. While a higher title is held, the lesser ones can¡¯t be.¡±

    Rhinese started massaging her shoulders as she spoke with a tinge of annoyance, ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen and heard: the role sucks. It¡¯s completely honorary, they can lose it at any time, and they have to divest themselves of their original identity for the period they hold the title. They don¡¯t even get to be called or known by their own names, just the title they hold.¡±

    She rubbed her temples, ¡°The issue for us is that there¡¯s a lot of respect associated with being an Am¡¯zavac - even being a former Am¡¯zavac - to the point that even foreign countries like ours treat active ones like visiting royalty.¡±

    Crimson nodded slowly to show he understood, and she continued, ¡°This particular Am¡¯zavac is one of the most important ones: Elegance, a higher title that combines the ideals of Grace and Beauty. This particular Elegance is especially dangerous, having held the title longer than any other Elegance before her: a grand total of four years - from the moment she turned 16 to today.¡±

    He tilted his head in confusion, ¡°What makes this ¡®Elegance¡¯ dangerous? I need a little more information.¡±

    ¡°Like I said, Elegance is a higher title, which means that she is more treasured by her race. Even though she is still a student, she is frequently sent out to represent the dignity of the Dark Elves. If we mess up with her, the Dark Elves with have strong grounds to bankrupt us with ¡®apology¡¯ money. This particular Elegance is even more dangerous than usual because nobody has ever had time to be in the role. The previous record before her four years was five months - not enough time to adapt to or utilize newfound power to the fullest extent. She¡¯s had that time.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow, ¡°Was someone bought off to keep her in the position that long?¡±

    Rhinese thought about it for a long moment before she shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Others have found it suspicious and done the heavy work investigating but found nothing, in addition to that, everything I¡¯ve seen and heard about her indicates that she¡¯s got every right to the title. Not only that, but the dangers of bribing the Selection Committee that long far outweigh the risks. If they did manage to buy the title, you only need to buy it for a week, then auction her off like a rare drop to a noble. It would get you a lot more power, faster, and for infinitely less risk than this suspiciously long amount of time.¡±

    He mulled it over, then said, ¡°It still sounds suspicious to me.¡±

    She waved her hand dismissively, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, so long as she¡¯s recognized as an Am¡¯zavac we have to respect her, or risk angering the Dark Elves. Considering the importance of our trade relations with them, Alda can¡¯t afford alienating them in the slightest, so in addition to my usual lessons I¡¯m being drilled day in and day out to make sure that I don¡¯t make a mistake.¡±

    She clutched her head, ¡°I can still hear my tutor¡¯s voice, ringing in my skull. It doesn¡¯t leave when I sleep, when I eat, when I bathe - there is no escaping it!¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± he said in hesitant amusement, ¡°at least you¡¯ll have learned it all.¡±

    She threw a quill at him.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson waited outside the Adventurer¡¯s Guild first thing in the morning Istday, pack on his back, sword on his hip, and with a full inventory - waiting to be picked up by Nav¡¯s group. After an hour, Nav showed up and led him to a small convoy of a carriage, some wagons, and soldiers on foot surrounded by a dark and hostile atmosphere. All the guards glared at Nav as he got in the carriage with Ryn, and treated Crimson indifferently as he was stuffed into the last wagon in the line.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    Though they moved at a deceptively swift pace that made Crimson feel like he was riding in a slow car, it only took a few hours of travel before they stopped. Some of the wolfkin guards swapped with those in wagons. Those that needed to, relieved themselves, and Ryn went among her guards raising morale while shooting dirty gazes at Nav. Crimson felt like he was watching a preschooler hold a grudge.

    The rest of the day continued the same way as the sun beat down on their heads, stopping every few hours, rotating, and continuing. They didn¡¯t stop for a meal, and ate during travel. Crimson was also given food, so he gratefully held on to his rations for when he more desperately needed them.

    In the midst of it all, he spent his time learning [Heal]. It was a fascinating spell, and of all the ones he¡¯d learned thus far, almost rivaled [Magic Light] in its ability to build upon its previous versions. It took him most of the day to learn the first level, but he was impressed as its range already exceeded [Lesser Healing¡¯s] max range of three inches.

    When casting the spell, a beam of light came out of each of the pads of his fingers and formed a ball a few inches above his hand. When he directed it at a target, the ball then turned into a beam, but only extended a grand total of five inches.

    He was forced to stop his study as the day closed and they set up camp for the night. Nav came his way, hauling a bundle of canvas, sticks, and rope to make the hopeful offer, ¡°Want to share a tent?¡±

    Crimson responded, ¡°I have no idea how to set it up, but I¡¯ll help however I can.¡±

    Nav grinned and swiftly showed him how. Their tent was set up on the inside edge of the barrier that comprised the campsite - a fair distance from the rest of the tents.

    Deciding that they were far enough away as they laid in the tent, lit by a [Magic Light] Nav had cast, Crimson used a [Breeze] spell to create a barrier of air outside the tent so they could speak privately.

    ¡°Nav, why does everyone hate you?¡±

    After a long moment of heavy silence, Nav grinned while taking a swig of liquor, ¡°You see, I have a sense of what we call loyalty and integrity that they all lack. Everyone, both here and at home, used to love Alois - Rhea¡¯s father. He was a very powerful man, and we wolfkin - we respect power. We really should respect those with honor though.¡±

    He took a deep pull from the bottle, ¡°In the past, Alois was able to level up fast enough to outpace his weakness, but eventually, he hit the wall known as Lv.50, and his weakness caught up to him, ensuring that he¡¯d never break that wall. He¡¯s still powerful, in a way, but his strength is now about..¡± He tapped his fingers on the bottle in thought for a moment, ¡°Lv.25, I¡¯d say. Roughly half his strength with the [Blessing of the Gods] granting him extra power. Without it, I¡¯d say he would already be dead.¡±

    After a moment of quiet sorrow, he continued, ¡°With his strength in decline, he lost the respect of his wife, who had not only broken past the Lv.50 wall, but was showing no sign of slowing down, as well as the rest of his tribe. He couldn¡¯t be banished - seeing as he was the Chief¡¯s husband and Rhea¡¯s father, but his position only got worse as the Chief¡¯s daughter showed signs of inheriting his weakness.

    ¡°When it was revealed that she really did take after her father, he was no longer treated with apathy, but animosity. His blood was considered something like poison and he was made a pariah, and Rhea along with him.¡±

    Nav let out a deep and ferocious growl, one surprising for his slim form and that made all the other wolfkin growls Crimson had heard seem pathetic by comparison.

    ¡°They had forgotten who Alois was - he was our hero! Our party: The Mountain Wolves cleared no less than seven [Natural Dungeons] with our hero at the lead. He was brave, honorable, and wanted to make a better world for the next generation. Everyone adored him!

    ¡°We all cheered the day he proposed to one of our party members: Reah - the Chief¡¯s daughter. No one was better suited for her, and they were deeply in love. She could have been a [Tailor] or a [Farmer] or a [Champion of the Gods] for all that he cared, he just loved her.¡±

    Nav stopped for another moment to take a drink, seeming to drown in memories of happier days, before speaking once more, ¡°Everyone forgot. They forgot their hero, but¡­I didn¡¯t. I had followed Alois into the Abyss and back. I would never forget the debts I owe him. I will never forget his honor, unstained by the dirt everyone else tried to throw on it. I will never forget the Hero of Lupaken.¡±

    He looked at Crimson with a dark look, ¡°Why does everyone here hate me? It¡¯s because I¡¯ve kept my loyalty to the one who earned it. It¡¯s because I don¡¯t blindly show my belly to the ones with the highest [Levels]. It¡¯s because they understand deep down that I¡¯m right, and Alois should still be respected.¡±

    After a long moment of silence, he spoke for the last time that evening, ¡°And I¡¯ll be sent to my next life as a goblin before I let the same thing happen to his daughter.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The rest of the trip was relatively quiet, with deceptively swift progress. Crimson shared at tent with Nav every night, but the conversation topics were much lighter than the first night. His days were peaceful as well, with extremely profitable training.

    He spent time learning [Heal], started familiarizing himself with [585th Claymore] for his [Sword Kinship Skill] - which went up a level to 4. He also practiced his calligraphy to level up his [Advanced Calligraphy], which had just reached Lv.9, so he hoped to max it before arriving.

    He practiced with his sword, spending at least an hour each morning, and practicing at least a little during each of the longer breaks. Because of his efforts, he reached [Sword Mastery] Lv.64 in three days. The pace was a little too slow to meet his goal, but considering the fact that they were traveling it was a pace he was happy with. The time he spent ¡®accidentally¡¯ training his [Eyes of Will] and his [Intermediate Linguist] also paid off, with [Eyes of Will] going up a level to 5 and [Intermediate Linguist] going up four to Lv.7 from all the time he spent listening to the wolfkin language - called Kiiwolf - which just made him even more giddy. He was now passible in the language, and practiced speaking it with Nav at night.

    Unfortunately, his [Sophisticated Mana Influence] and [Sophisticated Mana Sense] both showed no sign of moving, and were sitting rather annoyingly comfortably at Lv.10, and he wanted to make progress with them somehow, whether it be [Advancement] or [Evolution].

    As an interesting side effect, when he reached Lv.5 for [Eyes of Will], he could now see the other person¡¯s will when he made eye contact. It wasn¡¯t a precise thing, usually only a general sense of determination or rage or joy, and it seemed to only occur with whatever part of their will was most dominant, but it was still fascinating.

    [Intermediate Linguist] also gained a new effect at Lv.5, but all it did was speed up the already insane rate at which he learned linguistics to even greater heights. He now only needed to hear a word once to remember it, and once he learned the meaning as well, it was slotted into his vocabulary. The stupid fast rate was a combination of the [Skill], his [Linguist Title], and his [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir]. He had a hard time imagining himself getting any faster, but there was definitely an [Advanced Linguist Skill], and he was dead set to learn it.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    On the last day of travel, Crimson stared at the spell book for [Heal]. It had just became Level 5 which increased the range of the beam to 6 feet, but that wasn¡¯t the important thing. He¡¯d just had a flash of insight.

    [Heal] built on a lot of what he¡¯d learned with [Lesser Healing], so it felt like a natural progression of his knowledge - as it should be - but what intrigued him was that a lot of the principles of [Heal] coincided with the principles of [Magic Light]. They used several basic structures in common with one another that made his progress with the spell extremely fast. It aroused his curiosity.

    Curious, he wondered for a time if they were compatible in anyway. After mulling it over for a bit, he decided to stop wasting time just wondering and attempt to apply the concept of a ¡®battery¡¯ from [Magic Light]. It allowed the spell to be maintained for a set amount of time without being supplied with mana, and it felt like the easiest thing to implement in the spell.

    ¡®Easy¡¯ quickly became a relative term as it took the whole morning to implement the change. The entire weave of the spell had to be adjust to support and interact with the battery, which was essentially pure trial and effort to figure out which aspects of the spell could and could not be changed.

    The end result was an orb that cast [Heal] in 360¡ã around itself with a 1ft range and quickly burned through the contents of its battery. The spell in this state was completely useless. It was less efficient than [Treatment], but with the cost of a much superior spell. He needed a way to make it actually useful before he could dub his modifications a success.

    Scratching his head, Crimson considered the problem for a long moment before a solution occurred to him: what if he used a ¡®string¡¯ of mana to direct the flow of the healing energy?

    This idea didn¡¯t take too long to incorporate into the spell - due to the simplicity of the structure of mana strings - and the orb suddenly became a lot more efficient, allowing him to tie the strings to a target and send a fair amount the power of the spell down the strings to said target.

    There was some significant loss, which confused him. Why did it do that? The spell could originally send its full might up to a distance of six feet, only dropping off in strength from then on, but even a few inches long string experienced some loss.

    It only took a bit of inspection to discover the root of the problem: the string itself wasn¡¯t meant to be a current for magic.

    Originally, the concept of a mana string was actually utilized to manipulate the spell from a distance, allowing it to be moved around without direct interaction. They were also used in the actual forming of the spell, allowing Crimson to form a complex spell weave a distance from himself, but they weren¡¯t actually meant to be a complex conduit. Certainly, he¡¯d used them in the past to sent pure mana into the [Magic Light] spell, but mana alone wouldn¡¯t be enough to put strain on the weave without being a significant overload.

    Crimson theorized that the reason the strings worked for the healing orb at all was that it shared enough commonalities with principles of mana transfer to semi-function, but with significant loss.

    The solution to the problem was obvious: he needed to create a structure in the strings that could sustain a better transfer. Essentially, he needed to make a wire, not a string.

    Irritatingly, he was interrupted by lunch, but he immediately got back to work when they set off once more. He wanted to finish his idea before they arrived since he was making significant progress.

    He wove the mana into a few different shapes to test different ideas. His first idea was to make mana mimic the shape of an actual wire, but that didn¡¯t work since the idea was essentially two independent structures - the inner ¡®wire¡¯ and the outer ¡®sheath¡¯ - that needed to interact with each other, but actually interfered.

    Crimson couldn¡¯t see the mana with his eyes, but he grumpily glared at the space where he¡¯d placed the weave. He knew that there ought to be a way to get the two structures to interact with no issues, but he didn¡¯t have the time or understanding to make it work, so he was forced to shift gears and try another solution.

    The next idea wasn¡¯t actually that different from the previous one - and he didn¡¯t truly expect it to work - but he used his mana to create a ¡®drinking straw¡¯ for the mana to pass through. It was just the wire with only the ¡®sheath¡¯ in place. To his annoyance, it actually worked better than the previous idea.

    The issues he could see were actually quite obvious: the mana, despite having what he perceived as a ¡®clear pathway,¡¯ didn¡¯t actually ¡®know¡¯ what it needed to do, which led to his next idea.

    The next structure could be likened as being similar in appearance to Chinese handcuffs, a small tube of woven fibers that were designed to restrict unsuspecting digits when pulled on. The purpose of Crimson¡¯s weave was actually to guide the mana to the spell, not restrict it. It acted as a driving force that would push the mana down the length of the tube and into the spell.

    After surveying the spell with some satisfaction, he realized a glaring issue and face palmed. He¡¯d originally set out to attach the spell to a person using the string so it could heal them, what he¡¯d actually created was a remote way to top off a spell that wouldn¡¯t be doing anything. He needed to take the spell out of the structure, not put mana in.

    After an hour of wrestling and reworking, his final working solution used the exact same structure as the final working version of the ¡®mana wire,¡¯ but incorporated aspects of [Heal] to allow it to both guide and retain the spell. It now operated at full power!

    With a few further adjustments, it gained the ability to freely follow around the person it was attached to, allowing Crimson to create a remote way to [Heal] people. With a satisfied grin, he sat back in contentment.

    He¡¯d successfully modified a spell into what could be called a brand new spell!

    His grin broadened even further as he realized that he could actually further adjust the weave with his experience to create a [Healing Bolt]. All he had to do was pack the battery full of a spell instead of pure mana - which he now found easy after his experience modifying the strings - and create a structure that allowed him to fire the spell at an individual.

    After a short amount of time and several adjustments, he had a working [Healing Bolt].

    Giddy, he tried to hold in his joy as he heard a guard behind him say to his cohort, ¡°Is he okay? It seems like he¡¯s having spasms.¡±

    Swiftly, he assured them that he was fine, then returned his attention to the two ¡®new¡¯ spells he¡¯d made, but his massive grin started to slowly fade as he realized some issues with real world use cases.

    Aside from needed a sight line and having a limited range, there weren¡¯t actually too many flaws with [Healing Bolt], it did what it needed to, and it had great utility with its simplicity. The issue came with [Healing Orb].

    The use cases he could see for [Healing Orb], or situations where it would be more advantageous than [Healing Bolt], were few in number, and left him quite stumped on its actual usefulness. He could imagine it being useful to stick on a tank at the front lines who would constantly losing health, but it would continue to [Heal] even when the person was at full health, wasting the spell.

    Its base spell: [Heal], was also a persistent type healing spell, which means that it would heal over time, not restore a certain amount of health in an instant like [Healing Bolt] could, which made another issue obvious.

    Another issue - but one he expected would be an easy fix - was that it currently required contact to be cast on a person.

    Crimson sat back and continued to analyze the issues, but before long he was forced to wave the white flag. He didn¡¯t currently know enough about how magic worked for him to create a solution to the problem he viewed as most important: only allowing the spell to heal when needed.

    The only attempt he made at actually resolving the problem using brute force resulted in a bloody nose, which he assumed was a sign that his stats weren¡¯t high enough for what he was attempting.

    Using water magic to clean the blood, he excitedly inspected the alerts he had from his [Blessing], the tension he¡¯d lost in his shortcomings returning in full.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Data has been sufficiently compiled.

    -Stats have been awarded for effort:

    +3 INT

    +5 WIS

    +2 WIL

    +1 PER

    -Unique Data detected¡­

    -Alert: similar data has been found in archive

    -Compiling Archived and Detected Data¡­

    -Compiling complete.

    -Minimum Requisite Data has been achieved.

    -Generating 2 quest(s)

    -Quest for [Skill: Magic Adaption] has been generated.

    -Quest for [Title: Mana Programmer] has been generated.

    -Name: [Developing Magic]

    - Requirements:

    - Achieve 50 INT

    - 45/50

    - Achieve 55 WIS

    - 49/55

    - Modify 5 Spells

    - 1/5

    - Modify [Healing Orb] to allow it to interact with a [Blessing]

    - 0/1

    -Reward: [Skill: Magic Adaption]

    -Time Limit: N

    -Failure Condition: N

    <Accept> <Reject>

    -¡­

    -Name: [Mana NERD!]

    - Requirements:

    - Modify 10 Spells

    - 0/10

    Reward: [Title: Mana Programmer]

    Time Limit: N

    Failure Condition: N

    <Accept> <Reject>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    While happy to see that he could earn new [Skills], Crimson was a little annoyed that he hadn¡¯t yet finished the other two [Quests] he¡¯d been given. Grimly, he swore to himself that he¡¯d make progress before he¡¯d left Lupaken.

    Not long after his vow, they arrived in Lupaken.

 Chapter 29: City of Wolfkin

    Chapter 29: City of the Wolfkin

    Sprawling was never a word that would be ascribed to Lupaken. Built into the sheer face of a mountain, its architecture climbed up, not out, with caves dug into the stone, connected by stone pathways that had been hewn into the mountain face. There was a waterfall to the far right edge of the cliff, falling into pools of water at different points of the cliff face to gather water, before ending up in a small lake at the bottom of the mountain.

    In awe, Crimson surveyed the whole location. Even being miles off, Crimson was forced to tip back his head to get a look at where the cave dwellings ended.

    As they approached the actual town, he saw over the top of the low wall that there were some buildings built on the ground, or more accurately, into the ground. While much fewer in number than the caves, they were half sunk into the ground, and were uniformly made of a stone that had a coloring somewhere between red and tan. Adjacent to the dwelling was the aforementioned lake, where they clearly got water.

    Passing through a wide opening in the wall, he was surprised. There wasn¡¯t a guard stopping people like they did in Falst, nor was there even a gate to stop anyone from passing through. The wall defenses - which he took as standard after all his time in this new world - only added to his confusion as it seemed like they weren¡¯t designed to keep out monsters, but funnel them into choke points. While few in number, there were at least some guards on the wall, tall wolfkin men and women standing proudly in well polished gear as they surveyed the people entering and leaving Lupaken with lazy eyes.

    The town didn¡¯t seem defensible in any way, were they deliberately inviting an attack?

    That was the only solution he could think of, as none of it made any sense.

    Once they finished passing through the choke point, he was assaulted by the oppressive atmosphere that surrounded the town. All the sounds felt muted as he listened to animals complain and people talk. He looked around, unable to pinpoint the source of the problem, but as he inspected more closely, an idea slowly started forming.

    None of the wolfkin walking the streets struck him as noncombatants. There weren¡¯t many foreigners, but the few that were there didn¡¯t seem that strong, but it felt like every single wolfkin there were constantly ready for a fight.

    It didn¡¯t seem to matter what their relative strength was, because there were some that Crimson could definitely tell that he¡¯d be able to beat in a fight - few in number as they may be - they all seemed, not just ready, but hungry for a fight.

    It all made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

    He¡¯d read about fighting will - a supernaturally strong determination to fight - as a fantasy trope a lot in his old world, he¡¯d even experienced it from his opponents and felt it himself, but he¡¯d never seen nor felt it in such abundance - it was the cause of the muted noise.

    Considering everything he¡¯d learned, he slowly formed a few conclusions about what he¡¯d seen. He might have enough information to run his ideas by Nav.

    They passed through the rest of the town at the base of the cliff, Crimson slowly inspected everything he could without gawking, and once they¡¯d reached the base the wagon turned off to the side and line up next to a line of other wagons.

    Glancing behind him, he saw that the carriage that Nav was in had turned the opposite direction and was trundling away. Still in motion, the door was kicked open and Nav jumped out of it while making rude hand gestures to the occupant - Ryn - and she threw a bag at him, which he caught handily. Ryn only slammed the door shut after making a few rude hand gestures to Nav.

    With a smug expression that he could see even through the tide of passing people, the wolfkin ran to Crimson before saying, ¡°Sorry about that, I¡¯ll show you to where you are staying.¡±

    Crimson nodded before grabbing his bags and hopping off the wagon. He slowly stretched, then followed the beckoning Nav.

    ¡°Hey Nav,¡± he asked, ¡°I¡¯ve got a few questions about this place if you could answer them.¡±

    ¡°Go for it.¡± Nav said.

    ¡°First question: Are only combatants allowed to live on the ground?¡± He asked.

    ¡°¡®Combatants¡¯ - what we call Hunters - and a few other rare exceptions. We use a rotation system. These Hunters all have homes in one of the Dens up there,¡± he gestured to the cliff face, ¡°where their families stay. The stronger ones have their Dens closer to the ground, while the weaker ones stay high up near the peak. Our chief has an impressive mansion right at the base of the cliff, and she¡¯s expected to be ready for combat year round.¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ Lupaken experiences the highest amount of Natural Dungeons in the east, right?¡± Crimson supplied with some hesitation, not sure if the information was correct.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nav said, bobbing his head in agreement, ¡°we don¡¯t really get the luxury of Godmade dungeons around here, the nearest ones are a few days travel away. We deal with roughly fifty Natural Dungeons a year, most ranging from Lv.15 to Lv.65, with the odd Lv.70 every few years.¡± Nav scratched his head uncomfortably, ¡°You¡¯d be amazed what a difference just five levels make.¡±

    Crimson slowly nodded in response, ¡°You and Alois got to clear some?¡±

    Nav said grimly, ¡°I told you, right? Seven - we don¡¯t even count the lower level ones, too many to count. It all happened during a period we call the Sifting Years, a period where dungeons that appear are all on the upper end of the range I gave you. They aren¡¯t constant, but they can happen every twenty years at the earliest, and the longest lull we¡¯ve recorded was fifty years.¡±

    ¡°When was the last one?¡± He asked curiously.

    ¡°Sixteen years ago, the last one ended, and it had lasted for three years. During that time, there were a total of nine Lv.70 Natural Dungeons. The second one, was bad enough that it wiped out almost all of our high level parties - the ones that could take on Natural Dungeons of that high level. Even the party that cleared it was left crippled and unable to continue. Their sacrifice left us, the [Mountain Wolves], just barely enough time to prepare and level up to the point where we could even attempt the next one - even if it took spending all of our waking hours grinding.¡±

    Nav stopped his story for a moment as they waited at the foot of the mountain, before a waiting wolfkin waved them forward. After walking out of earshot, he allowed a bittersweet smile to cross his face, then continued, ¡°We challenged the first one of the remaining seven when we were Lv.68 - it almost killed us. Fortunately, Alois - our dear, fearless leader - was stubborn and good at raising morale, so we somehow pushed through. By the Blessings of the God of War, neither that one, nor any of the following Natural Dungeons during those Sifting Years were as bad as the one that about ensured our extinction.¡±

    Crimson tilted his head, ¡°What made that one so bad?¡±

    Nav stopped with a far off look in his eye as he spoke, ¡°I didn¡¯t get to experience it, but apparently it was set in a series of canyons that would experience flash floods. In moments, the entire area would be flooded, and while the mage was desperately trying to cast [Water Breathing] on everyone, they would be attacked by fish type monsters - the size of my palm - that could eat an entire wolfkin alive in a minute.

    ¡°Once the flood waters receded, the surviving wolfkin would be assaulted from above by unidentified monsters that lived on top of the canyon walls, and from below, by snake type monsters.¡±

    Nav shuddered, ¡°Even the Abyss would be a kinder place than that. It was designed to wear you down in every possible way. The Chief at the time was in the party that cleared it - even he came back missing a leg, with half his party dead. They never told us about the Boss of the dungeon, even to their dying days.¡±

    Crimson and Nav walked silently for a few minutes as he processed what he¡¯d been told. They were slowly making their way higher and higher up the mountain face, passing switchback after switchback as Crimson swiftly began to be grateful that he wasn¡¯t afraid of heights.

    Once he felt that enough time had passed, Crimson asked, ¡°For my second question: why are the walls so poorly designed? Third Question: why were there no guards keeping people out of the city?¡±

    Nav shook his head with a disgusted expression, ¡°Ahh, yeah, that¡¯s because everyone down there are Hunters. Their job is to always be ready to fight. The issue is that there are enough weak people - both wolfkin and not - who pass through that they die way too often, pretty much every dungeon break. The answer to both of your question comes down to empty arrogance and tradition. ¡®If anything happens, we¡¯re strong enough to stop it¡¯ ¡®our ancestors always did it this way, we must keep the tradition alive.¡¯¡±

    Nav let out a low growl with a disgusted expression, ¡°I used to think like that too, but having spent time with those weaker than I, I realized what empty arrogance it is. We¡¯re risking and losing lives for no reason at all, yet we willingly accept and embrace it? Better that everyone is well protected!¡±

    Listening to Nav, Crimson couldn¡¯t help but think of the whimpering mess a single Natural Dungeon made of the Falst Adventurers. While he agreed that people needed to be protected, he was more familiar with the opposite extreme from Nav, where everyone was so over protected and coddled that they were unable to take action when needed.

    After a long moment, Nav spoke ¡°To the credit of my people, we¡¯re not completely unaware - even if we are unwilling to change. All the foreigners we invite to Lupaken will need to be able to fight in some measure.¡± He glanced at Crimson, ¡°That¡¯s a big part of the reason you were chosen, there aren¡¯t many scribes out there with fighting ability. I was able to convince that werewolf to take you because you were the cheapest of our options.¡±

    A wolfkin woman passing by gave Nav a disgusted look, and he apologized to her for his vulgar language. He was only forgiven after she cuffed him over the head, then walked off, wincing and holding her wrist from the backlash of the hit.

    Crimson watched in amusement then spoke once she was out of earshot, ¡°I don¡¯t think you have it as bad here as you think. It¡¯s certainly not perfect, but it feels like you only need to make some simple changes to fix the problem.¡±

    He nodded at Crimson, ¡°You¡¯re not completely wrong, a lot of my irritation comes from the fact that I¡¯ll never be in a position to enact change, I¡¯ve sided too strongly against our traditions.¡±

    Nav walked quietly for a long moment, then chuckled, ¡°I feel like you took the conversation in a bit of a different direction from what I was expecting, but it doesn¡¯t seem like anything will be changing soon, thanks for offering some comfort though.¡±

    Crimson tried to say something, but Nav waved a hand dismissively, ¡°Enough of that. Let me answer your third question: we do have guards, we passed them on our way here, but they were made up of every single wolfkin you passed.

    ¡°No matter which wolfkin you pick a fight with on the Hunting Grounds, you will either fight fairly, or you will be destroyed from all sides by furious wolfkin. The only noncombatants down there are just passing through as uninvited guests, or there as [Healers] - neither of which you should dare lay a finger on.¡±

    Crimson nodded slowly, and they made the long, slow, arduous trek all the way to the very top of the mountain face. Far up the cliff from the others, almost tucked away, was a Den dug into the mountain. Aside from its relative seclusion, there was nothing about it to set it apart from any other Den.

    There were strips of cloth hung across the entrance, and after pushing their way into the space, he was very impressed by the interior.

    Unlike the external impression, the interior was well made and lined with a mix of cloth and pelts hung on every wall, the rare gaps allowed him to see bricks instead of raw stone. It used glowing magic crystals for lighting and a large fireplace was set on the right wall. There was a small dining table in the center of the room, and he could see lit corridors leading to other sections of the Den, all aspects of the den were well lit, and well made.

    Aside from the lack of windows, he could firmly state that it wouldn¡¯t lose out to any home in Falst.

    As an aside, he also noticed that there was a wooden door for the entrance as well, it had been removed and placed to the side, but was designed to be re-placed easily.

    Nav moved forward and called into one of the corridors, ¡°Alois, I¡¯m back! Would you be willing to host some company here?¡±

    After a minute, Crimson heard the soft sound of steps on stone, and a massive wolfkin emerged from the corridor. Easily the tallest wolfkin he¡¯d seen, the man had to have been at least as tall as Mars, if not a little taller, with broad shoulders, a thick shadow of freckles and noble features.

    Unfortunately, his entire appearance was marred with emaciation, he was thin to the point that Crimson could clearly see the bones of his wrists and ankles, as well as his ribs from what peeked through the low collar of the man¡¯s shirt.

    Under the excellent lighting provided by the magic crystals, Crimson could see that his skin was a sickly grey, and his freckles only made the difference more stark. Even the fur of his tail and ears seemed limp and lifeless - seeming on the verge of falling out.

    When he made eye contact with Alois, he immediately formed a high opinion of the wolfkin, independent of Nav¡¯s praises. Seeing the will in this wolfkin¡¯s eyes, he couldn¡¯t sum it up in an emotion, but he could ascribe an ideal to it: nobility. The will within this shadow of a wolfkin was noble and unyielding, but tired. Crimson could only think it was unfortunate that someone of this caliber had fallen so low as to look like he belonged on his deathbed.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    After a heavy moment, Alois spoke with a deep voice that Crimson could feel vibrating the air, ¡°Why ought I provide space for this¡­human?¡± He glanced at Nav, ¡°He is human, right?¡±

    Nav blinked a few times then turned to Crimson, ¡°Uhhh¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a Half, one of my parents is High Human.¡± Crimson supplied helpfully.

    Alois nodded slowly, seeming to take great effort to do so, ¡°Why ought I provide room and board for this Half?¡±

    Crimson, with his high perception, was able to hear Nav gulp beside him as he swiftly pulled a scroll out of his [Inventory] - it was the prayer that he¡¯d written for Rhea.

    ¡°I owe him, and this is a request from me. He authored Rhea¡¯s coming of age prayer.¡± Nav said nervously.

    After staring at him for a second, Crimson realized from his abrupt change in behavior that it was the same Nav - the same version of Nav - he¡¯d met in the Temple.

    Alois reached out for the scroll and took it. After a long moment staring at the seal that been placed on it, he glanced at Crimson before slowly trudging down another one of the corridors.

    He and Nav waited in silence as several minutes rolled by, neither daring to step further into the Den, and waiting for Alois¡¯ return.

    Slowly, and with empty hands, Alois stepped back into the room and made his way over to Crimson. He was forced to tilt his head way back so that he could still maintain eye contact as the wolfkin stopped in front of him.

    ¡°Let me be clear,¡± Alois said calmly, ¡°If you dare to walk down that corridor during your time as my guest, I will throw you off the mountain.¡±

    Crimson nodded firmly, Alois¡¯ daughter was probably down there, and he wouldn¡¯t dare mess with her.

    After glancing down the corridor Alois came from, he couldn¡¯t restrain his curiosity and asked, ¡°Did she like the prayer?¡±

    Alois let the silence stretch for a long moment, then nodded, ¡°I did not read it, but it seemed to be something that she needed to read. As repayment, you are free to stay here without paying room or board.¡± He paused, breathing laboriously for a moment, then continued, ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m too pleased with your presence here, if it weren¡¯t for Nav¡¯s recommendation, I¡¯d not allow you to stay here. Your mere presence here means that you¡¯ve been hired for Tsiva¡¯s coming of age ceremony.¡±

    Crimson nodded simply, ¡°Yes, I have, but I hold no loyalty to her or to you. My services last as long as the contract does.¡±

    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nav wince and start to sweat, but Alois seemed content with the response, ¡°Good, I would find it difficult to be indebted to anyone who has sided with Tsiva, who only shows open hostility to my Rhea.¡±

    Those words explained a lot to Crimson, Alois didn¡¯t strike him as someone who wanted his daughter to be important, just happy. It made his hatred of Tsiva make sense - as she hated Rhea.

    Alois extended his hand for Crimson to shake, and he did so, with his hand being completely enveloped by the wolfkin¡¯s, but as they made contact, Crimson jumped and Alois winced and they jerked their hands away.

    At that moment, Crimson remembered what Nav had said ¡®Yeah, it¡¯s a bit of an open secret. She has a high [Affinity] for [Void], and an [Antithesis] for [Mana].¡¯ He¡¯d also mentioned that her condition came from her father.

    Alois spoke, ¡°By the gods, what was that? It felt like you casted an [Electric Hand] spell.¡±

    Crimson responded cautiously, ¡°I have an extremely high affinity for [Mana].¡±

    Alois considered, then nodded slowly, ¡°That would explain it. I have a high affinity to [Void], and a high antithesis to [Mana]. It is the cause of my weakness.¡±

    Crimson nodded along, unsure whether to pretend that it was his first time hearing about this, but the issue was resolved with Alois¡¯ next words.

    ¡°I see that you aren¡¯t surprised,¡± he said, ¡°Nav probably told you already.¡±

    Nav immediately stepped in to apologize, but was ignored by Alois, who said to Crimson, ¡°No matter. Have Nav cook something for you, I shall retire.¡±

    With those words, he slowly made his way back down the first tunnel, and Crimson looked uncomfortably at Nav, who seemed equally troubled.

    Nav said, ¡°Uhh, let¡¯s see what there is to eat.¡±

    After an awkward dinner, Crimson lay on top of a bunch of pelts with a blanket thrown over the top. His bed for the evening, despite initial appearances, was actually significantly more comfortable than the bed he was used to in his old inn, and was standard among wolfkin.

    As he settled in, he was about to consider Alois¡¯ problem, when his thoughts were derailed by a notice from his [Blessing]:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Interaction with [Void] detected!

    -Remaining requisite data has been collected.

    -Compiling¡­

    -Infrastructure has finished compiling.

    -Rank 9 [Mana] Affinity has been fully implemented.

    -Administrators have begun creating infrastructure for Rank 10 [Mana] Affinity.

    -3 of the 15 limiters on the User¡¯s mana capabilities have been lifted.

    -Saving changes¡­

    -Changes saved.

    -Administrator has elected to store the released data.

    -User¡¯s [Blessing] will experience no changes.

    -Administrators have requested the User to collect more data for Rank 10 [Mana] Affinity.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson was unsure whether he felt happy or sad at the alert. Rank 10 [Mana Affinity] was unknown territory, both for him and for the gods. Rank 5 acted as a ¡®neutral¡¯ [Affinity], as the Rank increased, the user gained [Affinity] up to a max of 10, but as the Rank decreased, the user gained an [Antithesis] down to a Rank of 1. The further away from Rank 5 an [Affinity] became, the more exponentially rare it became - for good and for ill.

    To his knowledge, the knowledge Raften had given him, no one had ever reached Rank 10 of any of the [Dynamic Affinities], so there was really no way to know what would happen, but he¡¯d made some guesses based on what happened when an [Elemental Affinity] reached Rank 10.

    When an [Elemental Affinity] was Rank 10, the user would no longer take damage from the affinity type. To use [Fire] as an example: they would absorb any fire spells cast at them, filling both their HP and MP. Any spells or [Skills] - collectively ¡®abilities¡¯ - that used the [Affinity] would experience a massive reduction in cost, and the power of the ability would see a similarly massive boost.

    The cost of that was the removal of every other [Elemental Affinity] - which would immediately be set to Rank 5 - and an extreme weakness to the paired [Affinity], which was immediately set to Rank 1. So in the example with [Fire], the [Water Affinity] would be set to Rank 1, and the user wouldn¡¯t be able to have [Skills] of any other [Affinity]. He didn¡¯t know all the details, but it had something to do with data allocation.

    It was difficult to imagine the exact same positive benefits happening to a [Dynamic Affinity], but it was likely that the demerits would be either the same or similar. Well, as likely as a blind guess could be.

    With a sigh, Crimson pinched the bridge of his nose.

    It was because of this looming problem that he¡¯d been dragging his feet when it came to learning magic. Compared to his time before Raften gave him the message of impending doom, he¡¯d only learned one spell: [Heal].

    Considering Raften¡¯s personality, Crimson wouldn¡¯t have gotten any magic related [Skills] if Rank 10 [Mana] would completely cut him off from magic - the Weeb God was at least reliable enough for that.

    In all likelihood, a [Mage] or more traditional [Magic Class] would never be properly open to him, so he needed to start looking for alternatives - his innate talent and personal fascination with [Mana] ensured that he¡¯d never be able to completely leave it be. On the other hand, he could be completely wrong and everything could be fine.

    Besides, even if the system prevented him from learning spells, he could still learn them on his own. There would probably reach a point where they became too difficult to understand on his own, but he would probably be able to overcome those hurdles.

    He took a quick look at his [Blessing] to ensure that everything was in order:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Name: Crimson

    Race: Half (High Human, ???) -Age: 16

    Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Brass]

    Active Title: [ Linguist ] [ Blessings of Trans''Du''Niir ] [ Rean ]

    Titles: Lucky, Linguist, Mentor, Holy Interpreter

    Health (HP): 100/100 Regen/s: 2.0

    Magic (MP): 450/450 Regen/s: 4.9

    Fatigue (FP): 0

    Condition:

    -Class: [Empty]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    Status:

    Strength (STR): 18 Agility (AGI): 18

    Constitution (CON): 15 Vitality (VIT): 20

    Intelligence (INT): 45 Wisdom (WIS): 49

    Charisma (CHA): 7 Willpower (WIL): 22

    Perception (PER): 45 Luck (LUC): 90

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Closing his eyes, Crimson decided to sleep. There wasn¡¯t anything he could do at the moment, so he decided to sleep to be ready for the next day.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity stared at the page of the spell book in front of her with bloodshot eyes. After a moment she started celebrating in a combination of jubilation and relief. She¡¯d finally mastered [Lesser Healing: Life]!

    After just a second of celebrating, she slammed her head down on the desk and breathed out an exhausted sigh. While [Lesser Healing: Life] was the first spell she mastered, it was one of three she¡¯d spent studying in the days since Crimson left.

    Right before he left, she had asked, ¡°When will I be ready to get a [Healer Class]?¡±

    He had raised an eyebrow, ¡°You can get one at any time, you know [Lesser Healing], so that should clear the minimum requirement, but if you¡¯re trying to do what I¡¯m doing, and get a High-Ranked [Class] - or higher - then master every version of [Lesser Healing] and at least one spell from each of the three [Affinities]. You should also get your [Mana Affinity Skill] up to at least Lv.5.¡±

    She had responded confidently at the time, but looking back on it, she¡¯d had no idea what she signed herself up for.

    Her brain just wasn¡¯t built for magic the way Crimson¡¯s was!

    After a long moment, Verity gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand. So what? What did it matter if Crimson was better than her? He wasn¡¯t going to be the party¡¯s [Healer], it was her! She¡¯d master these god¡¯s cursed spells and show off her shiny new [Class] to Crimson - she¡¯d even beat him to it!

    She nodded to herself a few times, it was going to be easy to beat Crimson to getting a [Class], she just had to master six spells, something that was clearly not impossible, but he wanted to master [Sword Mastery]! If it was anyone else, she¡¯d laugh at them and say it was impossible, but considering the fact that it was Crimson, she was certain he¡¯d do it, it would just be a slower and harder process than learning six spells.

    She stretched, then decided to take a break to move her body. While her new aspirations led her more toward magic, she couldn¡¯t forget her roots as a [Martial Artist] and still felt the strong need to move her body and exercise to work off stress.

    Verity also hadn¡¯t forgotten everything Crimson taught about leveling up [Skills], so her [Martial Mastery] had been leveling up at a rate she wouldn¡¯t have believed before. She¡¯d forced herself to learn a completely new style of fighting, and she¡¯d been lent some books from the Astral Library to help her learn¡­ but it wasn¡¯t going like Crimson had expected when he¡¯d helped her borrow them. She¡¯d never been good at learning from a book, but looking at the books and getting an idea of what they were trying to do at least gave her ideas.

    One big thing she¡¯d been doing recently was practicing kicking. Crimson had pointed out months ago how she never really utilized her feet in combat, always leaning more towards punching, which she had slowly realized over time as she¡¯d dealt with him.

    There were two ways to beat Crimson, overwhelming power like she¡¯d used in the past, or overwhelming him. Anything in between wouldn¡¯t cut it, so by only using her fists, she¡¯d limited her options and made it very easy for him to deal with her. If she could use her feet as well, she had a few more options and could potentially throw him off.

    Normally it probably wouldn¡¯t be enough, but he¡¯d gotten used to her fighting just one way at this point, if she suddenly changed it up on him, she might have a chance to beat him in one sparring match before being forced to come up with a new strategy. That was why her specific training was a secret from him, even if she¡¯d told him that she wanted to keep training her [Martial Mastery].

    To her surprise, he¡¯d encouraged the training. She¡¯d expected him to either dissuade her, or be indifferent to it, not happy about it. Upon asking him, he¡¯d explained that she needed a way to defend herself. Most [Healers] were viewed as an easy to kill supporting pillar of the party. If the [Healer] was killed, then the odds of the rest of the party dying skyrocketed, so he viewed her desire to train her body as a good thing, and provided her materials to help her improve.

    She couldn¡¯t be more grateful about who¡¯s party she¡¯d joined.

    With a quick glance at her [Blessing] before she got started, she was happy to be reminded that she was about to reach Lv.50 of [Martial Mastery]. A big grin on her face, she started stretching, then looked around for a victim.

    There weren¡¯t a lot of adventurers in the yard, the [Brass] class was there, but she wasn¡¯t interested in bullying kids, so she was happy when she spotted a Lv.3 adventurer who seemed perfect for beating up. She didn¡¯t really remember his name, but he was one of Crimson¡¯s old students.

    Sidling up to him, she threw an arm over his shoulder and said, ¡°Hey! How do you feel about sparring with this sister, huh?¡±

    Even though he towered over Verity, the discomfort on his face was strong, and he seemed like he¡¯d try to get out of it, so she cut off what he was about to say before he could get more than a syllable out, ¡°Great! I was bored, and needed some company.¡±

    She dragged him over to the sand pit and stood across from the kid, ready for a fight.

    He finally got a word in, ¡°I¡¯m a [mage]!¡±

    She started shadow boxing, ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll give you a few seconds head start to cast a spell. Ready, go!¡±

    After a yelp, the kid started chanting while holding out his hands. Despite what she¡¯d said, she was willing to wait until he¡¯d finished the spell, she wasn¡¯t interested in crushing him, she needed to spar.

    After he finished chanting, three spaces in front of him started glowing, then formed into weapons. A sword, a spear, and a hammer, all floated in the air in front of him. She could see the sweat on his forehead as he grabbed the spear, then launched the hammer at her head.

    With lithe foot work, Verity allowed the hammer to pass by her easily, then she swiftly approached. She elected to be a bit more cautious than usual as she hadn¡¯t seen this kind of magic before, but she could tell the kid completely lacked battle sense.

    How could she tell? Aside from a complete lack of confidence, he was making it way too obvious that he was trying to hit her on the back of the head with the floating hammer he¡¯d sent at her earlier.

    Even with it in her blindspot, Verity knew exactly where it was floating from where the kid¡¯s eyes were, so the second he launched it at her, she sidestepped once more, then stomped on it once it became lodged in the ground, breaking it easily.

    With a bit of a grin, she ducked low and stepped back. The sword flew over her head, and the spear he¡¯d jabbed at her couldn¡¯t reach her anymore. The kid had a bit more talent than she¡¯d given him credit for, but it wasn¡¯t difficult to step forward as he retracted the spear, stomp on one of his feet to keep him from fixing his stance, then land an uppercut that immediately knocked him off his feet, cancelling the spell he¡¯d cast.

    With a grin, she reached down and offered him a hand, ¡°You¡¯re pretty good, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    He sulkily ignored her hand and forced himself to his feet before he responded, ¡°Mortimer, and don¡¯t think you¡¯ve won just because you¡¯ve hit me once.¡±

    ¡°Oho¡± Verity said cheekily, ¡°can your MP still keep up?¡±

    He winced at that, ¡°Give me a five minute break.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity ended up spending a fair chunk of the afternoon sparring with Mortimer, the kid was growing on her. The fact that he also helped her pass the Lv.50 mark with [Martial Mastery] might have helped her positive opinion.

    With a glance at her [Blessing], she considered her answer to the questions:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The Gods ask the First Question: What is your body?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The question felt stupid. It had been stupid the first time, and it remained stupid this time. If Crimson hadn¡¯t explained the process to her, her answer the first time would have been ¡®me.¡¯ Instead, the stupid Gods weren¡¯t asking literally, but ¡®philosophically¡¯ which was just a headache.

    Before, she¡¯d answered that her body was her ¡®might¡¯ everything strong about her came from the body she¡¯d tempered in battle over the course of years.

    This time¡­what was her body to her? In a way, it was no longer her own, but that wasn¡¯t how she wanted to respond¡­wait, what had Crimson told her about healers?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Received Answer: A Supporting Pillar

    The Gods consider your response.

    They pose you this question: What will you gain from fighting this way?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The answer this time was easy.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Received Answer: Revenge.

    The Gods consider your response.

    They pose you this question: What kind of strength do you want to gain?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    In Common, the word Revenge had a slightly different meaning than in Elfen. It meant to ¡®repay in kind¡¯ to inflict pain equal to the pain received, but in Elfen, it meant to regain peace and joy. The Elfen meaning could apply to inflicting pain, but it could also apply to forgiving, or leaving, or anything that will bring back the joy that had been once lost.

    That¡¯s why she wanted Revenge, she wanted to be completely and fully happy once more. That was why she was walking her current path.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Received Answer: The strength to never fail my friends again.

    The Gods consider your response.

    They decide to supply you with one last question: You wish to be a [Healer], do you not?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity was surprised, she¡¯d never seen a fourth question, nor had Crimson mentioned anything about one. Had the Gods noticed her, personally? That was¡­touching and shocking.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Received Answer: yes. I never want my friends to die in front of me again.

    The Gods consider your answers.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity sat there in confusion, wondering if the Gods had fallen asleep as she¡¯d been waiting in eager anticipation for fifteen minutes before a change finally occurred.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The Gods have granted you the [Skill: Wise Evasion]

    [Wise Evasion] 1/10

    Description: Assists in the evasion of attacks, and provides a boost to defense while evading. Note: The Defense boost scales with WIS. Distance evaded increases with Level. Uses increase with Level. Note: Does not scale on the [AGI] stat.

    Charges: 5/5

    Mana cost: 50

    Recharge time: 20 seconds

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity cocked her head in confusion. Why would they give her this [Skill]?

 Chapter 30: Dangers of [Affinity]

    Chapter 30: Dangers of [Affinity]

    At half past two in the morning, Crimson¡¯s thoughts amounted to one thing: ¡®well, that was a lie.¡¯ He¡¯d peacefully gone to bed at roughly ten pm, a fairly normal time for him, but he¡¯d woken up at two, and hadn¡¯t been able to fall back asleep in the half hour since.

    He had gotten a full night¡¯s rest in four hours.

    Crimson, after logically putting the pieces together, realized it was obvious to him that a high [Affinity] for [Mana] somehow meant that he needed to sleep less. At a guess, he¡¯d also probably need to eat less from now on. That guess was the result of experience - ever since he¡¯d gotten his [Blessing] he¡¯d needed to eat more than before it, but now his appetite would probably decrease once more.

    Why?

    He had no clue!

    At best guess - and running under the assumption that mana is a form of spiritual power - then he needed less physical energy to support his body, so items like sleep and food which both help the body recover and gain energy became far less important. He didn¡¯t have enough evidence to prove or deny this theory, so he elected to accept it as the truth until proven otherwise.

    With a sigh, he rubbed his eyes, then sat up. He had wanted to ask Nav about items of Wolfkin culture, things to do or to avoid, but he¡¯d never had the opportunity. Because of that, it was for the best if he didn¡¯t go for a morning run - he might seem suspicious to the alert wolfkin. It was probably also for the best if he didn¡¯t really interact with any other wolfkin until he knew what would and wouldn¡¯t offend them.

    He walked to the front room and went to the fire place. Because of all the furs and decorations on the wall, the heat had been insulated pretty well, and it wasn¡¯t very cold, but he wanted something to do, and tending the fire wasn¡¯t a horrible idea - especially when he was confident he could keep it running purely with magic and avoid wasting firewood.

    With a flick of his fingers, he built, then cast the [Kindle] spell. From there, he spent half an hour tweaking with and messing with the spell until it did more than create some sparks like flint.

    It was pretty much just a candle, but he couldn¡¯t expand it any more, so he dismissed the spell and sat back to let his mana to recover. In the dark room, he thought about Alois.

    With the way that [Affinities] work, just having an [Affinity] to [Void] wouldn¡¯t be a problem, it was the fact that it was also paired with an [Antithesis] to [Mana]. If he even had just a Rank 5 [Affinity] to [Mana] there would have absolutely never been an issue, but from asking, he¡¯d found that he had a Rank 2 [Affinity]. To understand how dangerous that was, if it was Rank 1, he would be dead outright. It seemed that his [Blessing] was both killing him and keeping him alive at the same time.

    It was killing him because [Affinities] are fluid before the [Blessing] is received. They can even change day by day as the person changes, but after the [Blessing] is received, they¡¯re stabilized. It¡¯s still possible for them to change, but the conditions are few in number and difficult to achieve.

    It was keeping him alive because leveling up increases life span. Even with his [Affinities] killing him, the rewards he¡¯d received for reaching Level 50 should have given him years of life, enough to counteract the effects of ¡®Void Poisoning¡¯ for a time.

    He probably didn¡¯t have much longer to live.

    If he¡¯d had a Rank 4, or even Rank 3 [Affinity], Crimson could have done something. The [Rituals] he knew for [Affinities] covered every [Elemental Affinity] from Rank 3 to Rank 8, and most [Dynamic Affinities] from Rank 3 to Rank 7. [Mana] and [Void] were the exceptions - he didn¡¯t know any of the rituals for [Void], and [Mana] covered from Rank 3 to Rank 6.

    There was literally nothing he could do for Alois.

    Crimson sat, brooding in the dark for a time, before trying to modify [Kindle] once more.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Around the edges of the wooden door over the entrance of the cave, Crimson could see the first rays of dawn finding every crack they could and peek through. He had spent the entire night thinking frustrated with Alois¡¯ problem and failing to modify [Kindle]. The structure of the spell was simple, but he believed that would have been a help in modifying, but after a time, he¡¯d realized it was a hinderance.

    It was like trying to put a gallon of water in a small cup.

    Realizing that, he¡¯d been forced to rework the entire spell from the ground up, and had finally succeeded in creating a [Flame] spell, but¡­it was a failure. The spell was far too complex for the simplicity it should have. Since he didn¡¯t know what he was doing, there were a lot of redundancies in the design and it had been patched haphazardly together. [Lesser Healing] should have been a more complex and difficult spell, but this one was so poorly made that it made that one seem like child¡¯s play - it took him a full twenty seconds to cast in its current form.

    Part of the issue was unfamiliarity - he didn¡¯t work with fire magic very often - and part of the issue was mentality, his mind was full of other things and he couldn¡¯t concentrate properly.

    If only he knew more about the [Blessing]. If he knew the conditions to affect [Affinities] more strongly, he might have been able to do something. If he¡¯d met Alois years ago, before the man got his [Blessing], he might have been able to do something. Wait¡­

    From behind him, Crimson heard foot steps. Light, and soft, they were only barley perceptible, and they were coming from the forbidden corridor.

    Slowly turning around, his vision was greeted with an emaciated girl, thin as a twig. She was very short for a wolfkin, a head and a half shorter than Crimson, and her mottled grey hair was limp and unhealthy, but made her head look three times bigger because of its sheer volume. From the fur on her ears, to the fur on her tail, and the hair on her head, she gave the impression of a grey wolf.

    She had well structured features beneath it all, with thick eyebrows and eyes that were downturned at the corner, giving them a sleepy look. Her eyes as well were only barely visible, they were almost completely closed and he could only just barely see the flickers of clear blue underneath.

    Her lack of weight made both her jawline and her cheekbones stand out sharply, her sunken cheeks giving the already prominent features an eerie cast.

    She - Rhea - seemed to regard him for a long moment, before walking down another tunnel - the one leading to the kitchen - and leaving him confused.

    He couldn¡¯t tell what kind of person she was from that interaction, he hadn¡¯t been able to make clear eye contact with her, but she didn¡¯t seem very friendly at the very least - not that it particularly bothered him.

    Not long after she went to the kitchen, sweet and savory smells started to suffuse the room. Summoned by the smells, the two other wolfkin slowly appeared. Neither seemed bothered by the early morning hours, but Nav was supporting Alois to help him walk over to the dining table and slump into a chair.

    After sitting in a chair himself, Nav beckoned Crimson over to the table and sat him down before seeming to realize something and rushing into the kitchen - assumedly to help Rhea cook.

    The silence between Alois and him was quite heavy, but it wasn¡¯t awkward. Crimson was used to silence and Alois didn¡¯t seem to mind it either.

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    After waiting for a bit, Nav tottered in, carefully holding several dishes and doing his best to not spill or drop any of them.

    Crimson was a little intrigued to see a lot of red meat at the table for breakfast, much like with dinner. Unlike what he¡¯d had the night before, this ¡®beef¡¯ was cooked with a sweet smelling sauce, and a savory soup was served on the side. Rhea came a few seconds after Nav holding a wooden tray and set the cups from it one by one in front of each of them. The contents were literally hot water. Not tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or anything like that. Just¡­water?

    He did a quick glance around, to make sure that it was actually for drinking and not for something like washing his hands, but Alois was indeed slowly sipping at his, before thanking Rhea.

    Crimson mimicked him, taking a sip of the water, then stopping and staring at if for a few seconds. It was spicy, like a lot of ginger root had been added to the water.

    Glancing over at Rhea, he thanked her awkwardly, but only received an indifferent glance before she returned to her food.

    After finishing barely the meal - his appetite had decreased - Crimson sat back, completely unsure what to do, but fortunately Nav came to his rescue, whispering to him, ¡°You stand and bow to the host and the chef, then look to the sky and say ¡®viskor fylees.¡¯¡±

    Crimson nodded then repeated the ceremony, receiving a small bow from both Alois and Rhea before Nav did the same thing.

    ¡®Viskor fylees¡¯ after thinking about it for a long moment, he was able to understand that it meant ¡®I live another day¡¯ - not exactly what he¡¯d been expecting, but it sort of made sense.

    Both he and Nav sat down together, then Alois spoke heavily and slowly, ¡°Rhea, you are to escort our guest today. He is to join in viskor fylaum with the other young wolfkin. Join them as well.¡±

    ¡®Viskor fylaum¡¯ - ¡®I live tomorrow.¡¯

    Rhea looked at Alois pensively, then spoke, ¡°What¡¯s even the point? I¡¯m going to die anyway.¡±

    Surprising Crimson, Alois¡¯ voice changed, his tone became kinder, and he switched to Kiiwolf to say, ¡°The only one who decides if you get to live another day is you, you don¡¯t have to lay down and let death catch you. I¡¯ve taught you everything I can, you won¡¯t make my mistakes, and you¡¯ll be able to run for longer and make it further than I did.¡±

    She gritted her teeth for a long moment, then spoke, also in Kiiwolf, ¡°Father, I¡¯m already weaker than you were at my age. I don¡¯t have any chance! I¡¯m already too weak to hunt, too weak to gain any strength, and I¡¯ve still got a few months to my adulthood. The Gods won¡¯t bless me, they¡¯re leave me to rot!¡±

    Alois looked at her sadly, then said, ¡°You body may be weak, but you are smarter than I was, and your will is stronger than mine. You still have a chance, you still have a life before you.¡± After a long pause, he continued, ¡°For as long as I live, you shall not give up on your life, understood?¡±

    After a long moment of petulant silence, Rhea finally said, ¡°Fine. For you, I will still try. But once you die, it won¡¯t be long till I follow, no matter what you or I try. There¡¯s no fixing us, Father.¡±

    Alois chuckled gently, ¡°You never know what the God¡¯s have in store, they might already be preparing a way for you to over come this. I promise you this little pup, the Gods will not leave you to rot. You shall be greater than I ever was. Even your coming of age prayer contains that promise.¡±

    Rhea muttered in a low voice they could all hear, ¡°What god¡¯s cursed freak even wrote that thing. They know way too much.¡± She shuddered a little, and Crimson felt¡­very uncomfortable. If he was ever confronted, he would blame it on his new [Title: Holy Interpreter].

    He firmly ignored the piercing glances from the other two seated at the table, and did his best to make it seem like he was zoning out. Alois didn¡¯t know he could speak Kiiwolf, and Nav didn¡¯t realize that he was fluent - only passible on a basic level.

    Well, he couldn¡¯t speak it very well yet, some of the words were uncomfortable in his mouth, and forming the actual sentence structure himself was a bit difficult, but he could understand pretty much everything he heard at this point.

    After a bit of silence at the table, Rhea spoke to him in Common, ¡°Come on, my Father has directed us to attend viskor fylaum together.¡±

    He slowly stood, and she coldly led him out the door, he glanced back, feeling guilty about leaving his dishes behind, but was waved on by Nav who started clearing up the table.

    They started making their way down the mountain, the trip was about the same speed as when he¡¯d walked up because Rhea wasn¡¯t moving that quickly, but on his own, he figured that he¡¯d be able to make the trip in a quarter of the time. What was fascinating was that they were descending fast enough that it looked like the sun was setting. It was once just above the horizon, but was swiftly being covered. Glancing at the ground, he could see that everyone down there was still shrouded in shadow - the sun hadn¡¯t even made its presence known to them yet.

    After just fifteen minutes, the amount of caves they started to pass sharply increased, and they ended up stopping on the corner of one of the switchbacks, where a group of young wolfkin were forming up.

    At a glance, Crimson could tell that they were all roughly his age, with maybe a few years wiggle room of older and younger.

    He followed Rhea as they went to the edge of the group and started waiting, time passed, and even a few other races started to join the group. A few humans, some dwarves - even other beastkin. Once the sun - from where they could see it, had completely risen, an older wolfkin - seemingly in his thirties - walked to the front of the group and shouted for them to form into lines.

    Crimson just followed Rhea¡¯s lead and found himself in line with no issues, while some of the other races were getting shouted at.

    ¡°Heya Rhea!¡± He heard to his right and glanced over to see a very short young boy leaning across him to speak to Rhea on his left.

    The boy clearly wasn¡¯t a woflkin, but considering his height and build, he was either a twelve year old human, a dwarf¡­or maybe a leprechaun? He was a full two and a half heads shorter than Crimson - a head shorter than Rhea, and was just as thin as she was, but he looked healthy. He had a ruddy complexion, thin nose and lips, big eyes, an androgynous build, dark brown hair, and jade colored eyes.

    Rhea glanced across Crimson at him, then said briefly, ¡°Hello Talis¡± before turning her attention back to the front.

    ¡®Talis¡¯ grinned, then craned his head back to look at Crimson, ¡°She¡¯s not much of a morning person. She¡¯ll at least talk to ya at noon, even if she hates us both right now.¡±

    Crimson looked him in the eye, carefully clearing is mind to not pressure the kid, but curious as to what he¡¯d see from his will, and saw the oppressive, hungering greed that writhed in the kid¡¯s eyes. He could practically the kid slowly going mad from it.

    Coldly glaring at the kid, and couldn¡¯t hold himself back from saying something as he spoke slowly, ¡°You ought to be careful, or you¡¯ll destroy yourself.¡±

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Talis said in shock, but was unable to say anything else as the older wolfkin called everyone to order.

    They began to stretch as a group, led by the instructing wolfkin, then they were instructed to jog to the bottom of the mountain.

    Crimson didn¡¯t find that aspect of the exercise difficult, but paced himself to follow Rhea, who he could see becoming more and more angry with each passing switchback, before she finally spat at him, ¡°Are you mocking me?¡±

    He looked at her in confusion, ¡°No? I was just following you because you¡¯re the only one here I know.¡±

    She growled at him, ¡°Then wait for me at the bottom! You¡¯re mocking me by holding back right now, so get moving!¡±

    With a grimace and a shrug, Crimson took off, practically sprinting down the slope as he was introduced to the new experience of sprinting on an incline like this.

    It was less running, and more controlled hopping down the slope, but each landing had to be carefully done, or else he would fall or run into someone else. He had to carefully slow at each switchback - which was far more difficult than usual - before speeding up again.

    It took roughly three hours for him and Nav to climb to Alois¡¯ den the previous night at a walk, but it took half an hour for him to sprint to the bottom from where they¡¯d started. If he was more skilled at what he was doing, he might have been able to manage it even faster.

    Leaning down, he rested his hands on his knees and panted. This kind of running engaged a different kind of muscles than his usual type of running, so it was more exhausting than he¡¯d expected - especially since he¡¯d needed to be in careful control of his muscles at all times.

    Looking around, he noticed that he¡¯d been the fifth person to reach the bottom, everyone else who beat him looked older, and were less winded. The instructor was looking at him with some surprise, which made Crimson feel quite satisfied.

    Instead of just lazing around, Crimson started to stretch, allowing his burning and hot muscles to stretch comfortably as he went through the first three levels of [Amzair], the body strengthening form he¡¯d been learning for a year. With his raised stats, he could easily do the first three levels of it, but the fourth level was still far beyond his capabilities.

    After half an hour of that, Rhea finally caught up, and she collapsed, panting on the ground next to him. It took another ten minutes after that for the last straggler to show up - Talis, the kid who had spoken to Rhea at the beginning of the run.

    He wasn¡¯t breathing hard, and it looked like he hadn¡¯t pushed himself at all. Amusingly, Crimson wasn¡¯t the only one to notice, because the instructor walked up to him and started yelling, which didn¡¯t seem to bother the kid, until the instructor started shadowing him for the next aspect of the exercise: an obstacle course. After the course, they lifted weights, then ran back up to where they started. By that point, every one was exhausted - even Crimson, but he was happy about it. It had been a long time since all of his muscles were burning.

    Crimson was also very happy to be the first person to finish the run. By his own estimation he wasn¡¯t the fastest runner there - certainly the least experienced with running up slopes - but he was the best person there at pacing himself. The four who had beaten him to the bottom of the mountain during the first part of the run had gotten way too competitive over lifting the weights, then pushed themselves too hard during the run back, causing them to slow, and allowing Crimson to pass them.

    He slowly started to stretch, and waited for Rhea to come back.

    It had been a fun training, but he wondered when he¡¯d start his real job.

 Chapter 31: Clash

    Chapter 31: Clash

    It wasn¡¯t long until Nav showed up and walked over to Crimson with an amazed expression on his face to say, ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you for another half hour. Did you beat everyone else?¡±

    Crimson glanced back. The four who had beaten him earlier had shown up, one after the other a good three or so minutes after he arrived, and were looking at him with¡­ What expression would he even call that? It was somewhere between anger and excitement¡­maybe competitive? With a bit of eye contact, he realized that it was definitely a competitive spirit.

    He said, ¡°Yeah, I finished first.¡±

    Nav grinned, ¡°You just made some new friends. ¡®Viskiv alyees¡¯ this evening is going to be fun.¡±

    ¡®I die tonight.¡¯

    Acting confused, Crimson asked, ¡°I know ¡®Vis¡¯ is ¡®I,¡¯ and alyees is ¡®this night,¡¯ but what is ¡®viskiv?¡±

    The grin on Nav¡¯s face got even wider, ¡°¡®kiv¡¯ doesn¡¯t mean anything on its own, but when used with ¡®Vis¡¯ it means ¡®I die.¡¯ So the full phrase is ¡®I die this night.¡¯ It¡¯s a kind of combat training we do in the evening. I don¡¯t know where the name came from, but it¡¯s stuck for a hundred years or so - well before my youth.

    ¡°At breakfast, you said ¡®Viskor fylees¡¯ which means ¡®I live this day¡¯ it is a way of thanking the hosts for providing the means to live for another day.

    ¡°This training - the morning training you just finished - is called ¡®Viskor fylaum¡¯ which means ¡®I live next day.¡¯ It is training to live another day.¡±

    The grin disappeared from his face, and he continued heavily, ¡°Viskiv alyees is preparing to die. It is a very cruel combat training where broken bones and trauma are common. It is only for warriors, and it is used to prepare wolfkins to meet their ends with honor and strength. You¡¯ll meet yourself for the first time when you die tonight.¡±

    Crimson cocked his head to the side in confusion, ¡°I end up with broken bones regularly during my usual training. I wonder how different this will be.¡±

    Nav laughed at him, ¡°There¡¯s a big difference between this training and breaking a bone every few months. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll find out for yourself tonight.¡±

    Crimson wanted to argue but decided to keep his mouth shut. An argument wouldn¡¯t be productive for either of them.

    After a moment of quiet, Crimson opened his mouth and asked about wolfkin culture. The ¡®do¡¯s and ¡®don¡¯t¡¯s of living there. They finished their discussion after just an hour and continued to wait. It wasn¡¯t long after the conversation was over that the last two stragglers - Verity and Talis - arrived. It took Crimson an hour to run back, but double that time for the two of them, and they weren¡¯t that far behind the next person ¡ª the exhaustion was getting to everyone by the end.

    Talis in particular looked to be in bad shape, the instructor was still shadowing him and would start yelling in his ear if he slowed at all.

    Rhea, for how bad her health was, actually looked better off than the shortie. Her running form - while slow - was perfect and controlled. She¡¯d had an excellent teacher.

    Once she stopped running, her excellent form collapsed and she staggered over to them while Talis just crumpled onto the ground where he was. She instantly slumped against Nav at the first opportunity, and he supported her as she seemed like she¡¯d pass out.

    She tugged at the collar of her shirt and sniffed it. She immediately gagged and pinned her ears back before saying, ¡°I smell Gods awful. Kill me now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry miss,¡± Nav said, ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Let¡¯s get you and Crimson to the bath.¡± He turned to Crimson, ¡°Head back to the Den, it¡¯s the fifth tunnel, finish up quickly before the miss and I arrive.¡±

    Crimson nodded and started jogging up the hill. The sound of Rhea cursing behind him in response to his ability to still run was amusing to him.

    It didn¡¯t take him long to reach the Den, so he went immediately to the fifth tunnel and walked into a dark room. He cast [Magic Light] to see, and was greeted by a small waterfall, falling into an equally small pool of water. The only etiquette he¡¯d been told about baths here was to ¡®get clean¡¯ so he stripped and stepped into the water.

    It was very cold and clear. It only came up to his knees, but he swiftly found a bucket and soap to clean himself. It only took him a second to give up on the bucket - switching over to magic instead.

    Wet and shivering, he stepped carefully out of the water, then used magic to pull all the water off to dry himself, and got dressed. Yet again, he noticed a difference that came as a result of his new [Mana] Rank, but that wasn¡¯t in his [Blessing]. Since he was quite familiar with water magic, it was far more apparent to him that his control had sharply increased.

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    It was closer to what he remembered being able to do before he¡¯d gotten his [Blessing], but still just slightly slower. Because of his higher stats, he was better at building magic than before, but his ability to manipulate mana had been handicapped. Comparing the before/after difference, they¡¯d been roughly equal in speed for a while, but now he could clearly state that he was not only faster at building spells, he was far better at manipulating the spells than he¡¯d ever been.

    When he eventually reached the same mana control speed he¡¯d been at in the past, he¡¯d be quite a bit more powerful than ever before. That was even before taking into consideration that his stats would continue to rise and he¡¯d learn new [Skills].

    With a grin and another shiver, he walked out of the tunnel and started a fire in the fireplace to huddle beside it. He¡¯d gotten a lot better at dealing with the cold in the past year. He¡¯d spent all of his previous life living in a desert climate, with the temperature regularly reaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, and never dropping below 75 degrees in the winter.

    Falst had a pretty temperate climate, but it had gotten significantly colder than he¡¯d ever experienced before. It hadn¡¯t gotten cold enough to snow, but that had only been a surprise to him - with his limited experience with cold, he couldn¡¯t imagine how it could get much colder.

    After several minutes of shivering and messing with his pathetic excuse of a [Flame] spell, Rhea and Nav finally turned up.

    She still looked miserable, and Nav seemed to be trying to hide his amusement from her.

    Nav shot him a knowing sideways glance before saying to her in Kiiwolf, ¡°You¡¯ve really changed since you got that coming-of-age prayer. Did it say anything good?¡±

    She glared at him, ¡°Why should I tell you anything? It has nothing to do with you!¡±

    He grinned awkwardly, ¡°Well, I was the one who ordered the prayer, and I was also the one to give him the details he needed to be able to write it so I-¡°

    His words were cut off as she grabbed him by the collar and attempted to shake it, only for her efforts to be in vain as his [STR] was significantly higher than a weak girl who lacked a [Blessing].

    She growled low in his face, but Crimson could still hear it with his high [PER], ¡°What did you tell the [Priest]? How did you know all that? There¡¯s no way in the [Blessing] you could know any of that!¡±

    Nav¡¯s happy grin broadened, ¡°I didn¡¯t know much, but I told the scribe everything I could. He came highly recommended by the [High Priestess] even though he wasn¡¯t clergy himself. I don¡¯t even know what¡¯s in the prayer, but I¡¯m glad that it¡¯s helped you.¡±

    With a nervous premonition, Crimson slowly did his best to weaken his presence.

    Rhea snapped at Nav, ¡°You didn¡¯t even ask a real [Priest]? Who? Who wrote that Gods'' cursed prayer?!¡±

    Without an ounce of hesitation, Nav pointed at Crimson and said, ¡°I had him write it.¡±

    Rhea snapped her head to him and her eyes opened wide. For the first time, he saw right into her eyes and saw what kind of girl she was.

    Because of how his [Eyes of Will] worked, he usually couldn¡¯t see much unless a few conditions were met. The most basic condition of all was direct eye contact, without that, he couldn¡¯t do anything with his eye powers. Once that condition was met, what he could see was very inconsistent. He could usually only see the predominant ¡®will¡¯ that a person possessed. It could be described as something similar to their ¡®nature¡¯ or ¡®desires.¡¯

    A prime example of being able to see a ¡®will¡¯ would be that Talis kid from earlier. The greed writhing in his eyes was so omnipresent that Crimson couldn¡¯t learn anything else about him.

    He was usually only able to learn a single thing about a person through their eyes anyway. Unless the ¡®predominant¡¯ thing changed as eye contact was being made. It wasn¡¯t a [Skill] that would help him learn if someone was lying, and it definitely wasn¡¯t as useful as Verity¡¯s [Aura Reading] but on rare occasions, he could see more than he was supposed to.

    In Rhea¡¯s eyes, he saw two things. First: the mire of miserable despair. She saw herself as trapped with no way out and accepted it. Second: hunger. It was a hunger that defied the first thing he saw. It was the same hunger Crimson saw when he looked in the mirror. It was the same hunger he saw in Verity¡¯s eyes.

    It was the hunger to grow stronger.

    In many ways, being power-hungry was considered a bad thing, and Crimson agreed with a few points. Many of those who hungered for power only wanted the elation and control that came with it. Verity sought power to change herself, Crimson sought power for its own sake, and to prevent himself from ever feeling powerless again.

    Just with eye contact alone, Crimson would never have known why she hungered for power. His power wasn¡¯t helpful that way, in this case, the limitation was his ability to understand people, which was poorly developed, but he had written her coming-of-age prayer. He knew Rhea very well, despite having only a few interactions. He knew that she wanted to prove her mother wrong, that she wanted to escape death. She also wanted power for the same reasons he did: for its own sake, to never feel powerless again.

    In her face, he saw fear grow as she looked at him. It was the fear of someone who was able to look behind the mask, and she lunged at him to grab him by the collar.

    He was stronger than her, so it wasn¡¯t hard to wrench her hands off him and hold her wrists together to restrain her hands. They both flinched at the contact - his high [Affinity] for [Mana] and her high [Affinity] for [Void] causing them to feel repulsed by each other, but he refused to let go. He wouldn¡¯t just let her do as she pleased.

    She growled, glaring at him right in the eyes, and said, ¡°How did you know all that? How did you-¡°

    Her words cut off, and she continued to stare him in the eye.

    The other downside to [Eyes of Will] was that it was a two-way street. Just as he could see someone¡¯s Will in their eyes, so could they see his. In the past, they¡¯d only been able to see the surface of his Will, the most basic emotions he was feeling at that moment, but as the [Skill] had gotten stronger, he was able to see more, so people looking at him would also be able to see more. He could control it to some extent, but it took a lot of concentration and preparation - something he very clearly lacked at that moment, to enable her to see just as much of him as he saw of her.

    Crimson slowly let go of her hands, his skin was crawling from the instinctive rejection of the contact, but he forcibly controlled his instincts. There wasn''t any actual pain or anything like a physical repulsion - it was all psychological, so as long as he controlled those instincts there wasn¡¯t an issue with interacting with her.

    She backed away from him with an expression he couldn¡¯t understand, then turned and ran toward her room.

 Chapter 32: Despair

    Chapter 32: Despair

    After his confrontation with her, Crimson stared emptily after Rhea as she escaped him, her tail whipping behind her as her staggering steps led her into a swift retreat into her room. It was completely silent in the room for a long moment before Nav let out a long low whistle.

    ¡°What did you put in that prayer to make her act like this,¡± he asked suspiciously, ¡°I didn¡¯t think about it much before, but for her to be behaving like that¡­¡±

    He gave Crimson a hard stare, ¡°I¡¯d suggest you be careful. You might be a guest in this house, and I¡¯m not blaming you for doing what was asked, but Alois might not be reasonable if he sees her acting like that.¡±

    Crimson took a long moment to process what he¡¯d just heard, then had a strong feeling of impending doom as he stared at the passage leading to Rhea¡¯s room.

    After giving a solemn nod to Nav - receiving a troubled grin in return - he rubbed his tingling palms together - the after-effects of touching Rhea. Her [Affinity] for [Void] brought about a strong sense of rejection for him, an instinctive repulsion as if he had come in contact with rotting refuse.

    Nav wandered away, and Crimson stood awkwardly for a long moment before ducking outside. Just being in the Den was too uncomfortable.

    The sun was less than halfway into the sky, and a glance at his [Blessing] told him that it was about 10 in the morning. He had nowhere else to go, and no idea where he ought to be to perform the task he¡¯d been hired for, so he just leaned on the railing that ran along the side of the switchback.

    Looking down the mountain, he surveyed the area. Lupaken was a large town but was smaller than Falst by a significant amount. The homes on the ground at the base of the mountain weren¡¯t arranged for living, but to act as fortifications, being built in such a way as to generate choke points every few streets.

    The roofs were designed to be stood on, but all were angled just slightly toward the mountain to provide cover to anyone who decided to duck down - a perfect place for archers and mages.

    Contrasting Lupaken and Falst, Lupaken felt like a sharpened sword, well maintained, and kept in a sheath to be drawn at any given moment. Falst was more like an old wineskin, it had the potential to hold something amazing and valuable, but it had become rotten due to negligence and was no longer watertight.

    A presence appeared from the den and approached Crimson. The steps were heavy and slow, but powerful - it was Alois.

    Turning, Crimson suppressed - barely - his concern that Alois was there to enact retribution on behalf of Rhea, and quietly waited for Alois to either join him at the railing. Side-by-side, they surveyed the area, quietly inspecting the rough beauty of Lupaken.

    Alois spoke, ¡°I have never come across one such as you. For you to have a [Affinity] for [Mana] so great as to make your touch unbearable is¡­¡±

    He fell silent once more. Unlike the previous silence at breakfast, this one was uncomfortable, Alois¡¯ looming presence felt like a crushing weight and Crimson bit back the urge to take a few steps away from him. Just barely.

    Silence remained sovereign as Alois brought his hands out in from of himself, rubbing his palms together and flexing his fingers. He shook his shoulders a few times and bounced on the balls of his feet before turning to Crimson once more.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to move very well for years. The last time I was able to properly participate in combat was over a decade ago, the last time I was able to move as well as I have been able to today was five years ago. The only thing to explain this difference is you.¡±

    Crimson slowly tilted his head and met Alois¡¯ gaze.

    He had a lot of experience looking at people¡¯s [Will]. It had been one of the first powers he¡¯d gained when he¡¯d come to this world. It was the power he utilized with more accidents and incidental uses than any other, meaning he had used it on many people.

    There was no one whose gaze he dreaded more than Alois.

    He had met plenty of people stronger than the emaciated wolfkin, even those who were physically larger than him, but he hadn¡¯t dealt with anyone who had the same level of willpower.

    Even for Crimson, his will was stronger at certain points than others, he sometimes had to galvanize his will in preparation for eye contact to ensure that he would be able to properly pressure an opponent.

    Alois¡¯ will did not waver, it did not weaken, and it honestly scared Crimson.

    In Alois¡¯ eyes, Crimson saw a man beating back the reaper with nothing but the sheer force of will. Those eyes, meeting his, allowed him to see more than Alois¡¯ determination to live. He saw yearning and hope.

    He swallowed, opened his mouth to speak, then slowly closed it, and waited for Alois to continue.

    Alois bent down, allowing Crimson to maintain the crushing eye contact without tilting his head, and spoke, ¡°Is there anything you can do for my daughter? For Rhea?¡±

    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know. Maybe?¡± He responded hesitantly.

    Alois¡¯ fixed gaze sharpened, his yearning and hope burning even brighter, ¡°What would it take¡­what would I have to owe you, for you to even try?¡±

    Crimson shook his head, ¡°For an attempt? I¡­don¡¯t even know what I would be attempting. Would I be trying to heal her condition? Weaken it? Or would my goal just be to provide her with a short burst of strength like I¡¯m just some form of drug? I just¡­don¡¯t know.¡±

    [Mana] was Crimson¡¯s biggest area of study and the one he knew the least about. There were some clear ground rules, that he¡¯d figured out through experimentation, but he didn¡¯t know enough.

    Alois looked at him heavily, his yearning and hope waning until it seemed like they were flickering in and out of existence.

    After taking a deep breath, Alois spoke, ¡°I will do anything for my daughter. Anything. I¡­am sorry, but I require that you make an attempt to help her. No, you will save her.¡±

    Alois¡¯ gaze became colder, and Crimson felt danger at that moment, ¡°I will not harm you, I will not kill you, and I will not take anything of yours, but until you have saved my daughter, you may not leave Lupaken. Should you leave, I shall pursue you. Should you hide, I shall find you.¡±

    Alois paused, then spoke again with a more gentle tone of voice, ¡°My daughter is my everything. Even if I should be destroyed, I will get your help. If you make no attempt to run, hide, fight, or give up, then I shall be your greatest ally. I will protect you, shelter you, strengthen you, and uphold your desires and dreams with what little life I have left in my body. Everything that Rhea does not receive shall be yours when I pass.

    ¡°You need only save my daughter.¡±

    Pure and utter horror filled him, what had Alois just done?

    Crimson hated being threatened. He had spent his whole life caged by his own body, once everything else was stripped away, his very core was nothing but the desire and love of freedom - his freedom. This threat was nothing more than a cage, tightening around him, crushing his heart and everything he was. It took from him his hopes, desires, and dreams. Yet at the same time, he didn¡¯t want to leave Rhea to suffer - turning a blind eye when he could at least try something.

    He gritted his teeth, caught between two beliefs of his. He didn¡¯t want to leave the girl to suffer, but he also didn¡¯t want to become a prisoner to this wolfkin¡¯s threats. He had ambitions and desires, even the relatively petty desire to attend the Falst tournament in a few weeks would be lost to him now.

    Crimson¡¯s rage overflowed. It burned so hot it scorched his throat and left him unable to make a sound as he silently slammed his fist onto the rail in front of him, scraping some of the flesh off and causing a bit of blood to flow. He stared at it for a long, slow moment before turning to Alois to speak with a croaking voice:

    ¡°You just had to ask and offer a reward. You just needed to speak to me sincerely and look me in the eyes. Even just leaving me to think for a few minutes would have led to me offering my help for free. I don¡¯t want you or your daughter to suffer either, I do have a conscience. I would have helped, but now¡­¡±

    Crimson bit back another outburst of rage, suppressed some of the fear roiling in his gut, and took a few deep breaths to help keep his tone level as spoke once more, ¡°Now you threatened me. I want to help because there is a chance, no matter how small, that I might be able to help Rhea. However, by threatening me, you have made it difficult, nearly impossible, for me to agree.

    ¡°I will not be cowed, I will not be controlled, and I will not bow to your threats.¡±

    After speaking, Crimson slowly lowered his head into his hands. For the first time in a long time, he remembered what despair felt like. The sensation of falling into a dark pit, a noose around his neck. He felt like he couldn¡¯t breathe it was so strong.

    A successful negotiation required equal ground. It didn¡¯t require that both parties be equal in standing or power, but equal ground is requisite for an exchange to occur. Alois, believing that he couldn¡¯t reach that same ground had tried to forcibly equalize them, and had only sent them permanently askew.

    How could he resolve this? Even if Alois promised that his threats would be dropped, that kind of thing could not be forgotten. He could pretend as if they¡¯d never been made, but making that kind of compromise felt impossible. What could he do?

    WHAT COULD HE DO?!

    Nothing. He could do¡­nothing.

    He could neither completely refuse Alois, and suffer for it, nor could he just give in and accept the figurative collar. It was a life for a life, and Crimson¡¯s life held just as much value as hers - there was no way to tip the scales.

    He dropped to his knees and rested his forehead against the railing. In one conversation, he had lost everything.

    ------------

    Everything was going absolutely well for Verity. At her estimate, Crimson ought to have been in Lupaken for a week and she was certain that everything was going well for him. It was Crimson! He had a tendency to make everything go his way.

    As for her, she¡¯d been nursing a five-day headache as a result of her intensive studying. While a part of her wondered if it was worth it, she had succeeded in mastering [Lesser Healing: Holy]. She had originally planned on finishing [Lesser Healing: Purity] before [Holy], but it hadn¡¯t worked out that way. Of the [Spells] she needed to master before Crimson returned, she¡¯d finished 2 of the 6.

    On the other front, she was worried about - the [Ritual] for her [Affinities] - she¡¯d been making good headway. She¡¯d been attempting to gather all the ingredients and currently had everything she needed to reach Rank 6 in each of the [Holy], [Purity], and [Life] [Affinities], but at Crimson¡¯s advice her goal remained Rank 7 for each, and she was missing a few specific ingredients.

    [Holy] had been easy, Crimson¡¯s introduction to High Priestess Rei had given her an invaluable connection to get those ingredients. She was still missing a [Holy Crystal], but it would be delivered soon, possibly today or tomorrow. It had cost her ten thousand Royals, but she had plenty of the reward money from delving into the [Natural Dungeon] that had taken everything from her. She¡¯d probably be broke by the time she gathered the rest of the ingredients, but that wasn¡¯t too important.

    No, her bigger problem was the [Life Crystal] and the [Purity Crystal]. There had been a [Purity Crystal] on the market not too long ago, but she¡¯d been outbid by ten times for it, and her financial might couldn¡¯t compare to Rhinese¡¯s, the princess friend of Crimson¡¯s who had won the prize.

    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    It really annoyed her as Rhinese was her only competition for the [Purity Crystal]. Falst was a city of [Priests] and [Holy], which means that she should have had the greatest struggle and the mightiest competition for those materials under normal circumstances. It was a lucky break that she was grateful for as she now needed to wait for another one to hit the market.

    The [Life Crystal] was difficult to obtain for other reasons, [Life] was the most unpopular of the three [Support] type [Classes] in Falst. [Holy] was popular due to the [Hallowed Graveyard] and [Purity¡¯s] defensive nature made it useful regardless of environment, but [Life] - which specialized in the manipulation of plants and the detoxification of poisons - had no environmental advantages in the area.

    Neither the [Goblin¡¯s Manor], the [Slime Caverns], nor the [Hallowed Graveyard] allowed for much room for the manipulation of plants, and none of them had a strong reliance on poison, which led to the low popularity of the [Druid Class] in Falst.

    Her only lucky break in the task of obtaining the [Life Crystal] was the upcoming tournament in Falst. Many merchants were traveling from all over the continent to cater the event and hawk their wares, which led to low shipping costs and allowed her to request delivery from even further locations. While it would take a while, the one she¡¯d ordered ought to arrive just in time for the tournament.

    She still had a chance to beat Crimson to get a [Class]!

    With a big grin on her face, Verity pressed her fingers over her eyes and cast [Lesser Healing: Life]. It wouldn¡¯t actually stop her headache, but pretending like it would help did make her feel better.

    After a long moment, she stood up and left the guild library to meet up with Mortimer. His childish and confrontational nature was easy for her to take advantage of, so she always had a partner to spar with after egging him on a bit. It was unfortunate, but clear that the same temperament she found useful made it difficult for him to stay in a party for long.

    After reaching the ground floor of the guild, she spotted him at a table drinking what looked like ale and waved to him. He pretended to ignore her.

    Frowning, Verity stalked over to him and swiped the mostly empty mug of ale out of his hands before downing it in two long swallows.

    ¡°Hey, that was mine,¡± he hollered at her, ¡°you better pay me back!¡±

    She stuck her tongue out at him childishly, ¡°You¡¯ll have to beat me in a spar first!¡±

    The more childishly she acted, the more childishly he would behave, making it easier for her to get him to do what she wanted: fight!

    He agreed instantly and began to storm out of the room. Verity surreptitiously dropped a few Royals next to the mug as an apology to the waitstaff for the noise, then leisurely followed Mortimer out the back.

    Watching his back in amusement, Verity was tempted to give him a nickname, but that was an old habit she didn¡¯t want to fall back into.

    Most good people gave nicknames to indicate intimacy or affection - something positive. Verity had given nicknames to look down on others. It could have been for any number of reasons, but that was what boiled down to her arrogance - thinking she was better than others.

    Losing everyone in her party had proven to her that she was in no position to look down on others, so she¡¯d stopped using nicknames.

    Verity looked at Mortimer, who was standing across from her in the sparring arena chanting to summon his weapons. His favorite setup was the one he¡¯d used against Verity the first time they¡¯d sparred, a sword, spear, and hammer, but he¡¯d swapped a weapon out every now and then for their sessions to try and get her.

    Today, he summoned a very different setup: a dagger, a shield, and a bow. It was the first time she¡¯d seen him exclude one of his favorite weapons, which was interesting.

    She had five charges on her new [Skill: Wise Evasion] and had to use one immediately to dodge both the arrow he summoned with magic and the dagger. They shot at her faster than she could normally dodge, so she needed the support of her [Skill].

    [Wise Evasion] provided her with a short burst of speed as she stepped to the side, dodging both projectiles by a wide margin and she dashed forward. Mortimer still hadn¡¯t fixed his bad habit of tracking his remote projectile with his eyes, but it mattered less as the dagger was far more responsive than the sword and hammer combined.

    Whipping by her from behind, the dagger nearly hit her in the shoulder as she ducked. It got just a few feet past her, stopped dead, then flipped around and came right at her face.

    In a smooth motion, she reached up and grabbed the handle, trusting her gut instinct that she¡¯d be able to catch it.

    She immediately held the dagger up to protect the part of her chest she saw Mortimer was aiming for as it wrenched in her grip, trying to get away. She changed her mind almost as soon as she finished getting into the defensive stance, trusting her instincts as she stepped aside instead of trying to block.

    Her instincts saved her from an arrow to the knee as it became clear that Mortimer¡¯s aim with the bow could still use some work.

    He started summoning a new arrow and while he was, she took the opportunity to slam the dagger into the ground then stomp on it, shattering it and causing it to disappear in a shower of light.

    This time, Mortimer had the bow leveled at her, and she tensed, waiting to see which way she should dodge before realizing that he wasn¡¯t going to shoot at her yet, probably waiting for her charge.

    She flexed her hands a few times, mentally double-checking [Wise Evasion]. It still had four charges and the fifth had almost finished recharging. Perfect.

    She swiftly strung together three [Wise Evasions] to approach Mortimer faster than he could respond. She was rewarded with a yelp from him, but he didn¡¯t shoot yet, he¡¯d managed to control his gaze and fool her this time!

    She was blindsided by the shield, pitching her forward onto the ground. Mortimer seemed to aim where he thought she¡¯d land and fired.

    Growling, she trusted her instincts and activated [Wise Evasion] and tucked into a roll. She managed to pass through the spot Mortimer had been aiming at right before the arrow landed and was back on her feet.

    She used to have [Skills] that made it easier for her to track multiple targets in a mental space, but since resetting her [Blessing] she¡¯d lost that support, so tracking both Mortimer¡¯s aim and the shield became a lot harder than it would have been in the past.

    Mortimer was also being more clever than he used to be in the past by aiming not just at her, but at where he thought she¡¯d go. He was a quick learner, and a part of her was proud of him for it - she was ¡®technically¡¯ training him after all, but the other portion of her, her remaining arrogance, was annoyed that this brat had gotten anything over on her.

    He wasn¡¯t a monster like Crimson, but he was a genius, so underestimating him would only be to her detriment.

    She watched as his lips mouthed the number five. It seems he¡¯d figured out how many charges she had, and had been counting them. Maybe he was a bit of a monster.

    At that moment, one of the charges of [Wise Evasion] had been restored. Noting it, she decided to pretend that it hadn¡¯t. He might know how many charges she had, but that didn¡¯t mean that he knew how long it took for a charge to return.

    Sensing danger, she sidestepped and kicked the shield as it flew by her, obscuring Mortimer¡¯s vision for a few valuable seconds. It was enough for her to cross most of the distance between them.

    He sent the shield right back at her and demonstrated that he learned from his mistakes by having the shield stop in front of her face, blocking her sight, and leaving her lower body open as a target for his bow.

    Lithely, she fainted to the left and tricked him successfully as she juked to the right while the shield went left. He shot an arrow at her in a panic and the shield lurched back toward her.

    Making a split second - trusting her gut and her [Skill] she used [Wise Evasion] to dive right into the arrow. It had an effect that boosted her defense while she was using it, and while it was only a split second, it was just enough for her to be hit by the arrow without it piercing her stomach and simultaneously dodge the shield.

    It also put her in range of a knockout punch, an advantage she immediately used to hit him in the gut, right in the same place she¡¯d been hit.

    Mortimer hit the ground and didn¡¯t get back up, seeming winded. She started using [Lesser Healing: Life] on the bruise that was starting to form on her stomach. While the arrow hadn¡¯t pierced, it certainly hadn¡¯t felt great. She needed to be careful about using [Wise Evasion] that way, it only worked in this case because of how weak Mortimer was.

    If he had another level the arrow probably would have gone straight into her.

    After she¡¯d topped up her HP, she turned to Mortimer and used [Lesser Healing: Holy] on his gut wound. It was the least she could do after inflicting that wound, and she wanted to go another round.

    Like the first time, it was easy to provoke him into another round.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Stretching, Verity strolled over to the temple in Phase 1 of Falst. It wasn¡¯t too far, but she figured that she¡¯d check to see if the [Holy Crystal] she¡¯d ordered had arrived. A big grin appeared on her face as she saw a group of wagons by a side entrance. There was an excellent chance that she¡¯d be able to conduct a [Ritual] that evening!

    Suppressing her excitement, she chose not to run full force like she wanted to, instead, she walked just a little bit faster.

    Entering the Temple, she looked around and grabbed a familiar-looking [Priestess], ¡°Excuse me, have you seen High Priestess Rei?¡±

    Shaking her head, the young [Priestess] responded, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen her in several hours, she¡¯s probably been praying. You should check the Hall of Nine.¡±

    Verity thanked her then sauntered over to the hallway with all the statues of the Gods, with the braziers in front of them. There were nine alcoves, each holding a different statue, and as she walked down the hall she saw a large group of [Priests] in front of the statue of the God of Truth.

    Because of how short she was, she couldn¡¯t exactly see over the crowd into the alcove to see what was happening, so she tapped an [Priest] on the shoulder.

    ¡°Excuse me, what¡¯s happening here,¡± she asked politely.

    ¡°Ahh, dear child,¡± he responded warmly, he was younger than her, but she decided to let that slightly insulting phrase pass without challenge, ¡°one of the Head Priests, a faithful named Priest Damus, has managed to procure an offering of great value to present to the God of Truth, and we all get to bear witness!¡±

    Verity lightly ignored the slightly fanatical edge to the [Priest¡¯s] words and said, ¡°Cool,¡± when had she picked that word up from Crimson? ¡°Do you happen to know where High Priestess Rei is?¡±

    ¡°She should be arriving shortly dear child, why don¡¯t you join us in venerating the God of Truth and basking in his light?¡±

    Verity shifted uncomfortably, then verified, ¡°Rei will be coming here?¡±

    He nodded in response, turning his attention back to the statue with a gleam in his eyes.

    It would probably be better to wait here for Rei then, while she wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable with people who worshipped the gods excessively, like the [Priest] she¡¯d been talking with seemed to, she also didn¡¯t want to wander around and accidentally miss Rei.

    A loud clunk echoed through the hall, silencing the [Priests], as a large stool was placed next to the brazier, and a dapper man stepped onto it to speak.

    ¡°Hello my brothers and sisters in the faith, I am ever so overjoyed to speak with you at this time. We come together to¡­¡±

    Verity tuned him out and paid closer attention to him.

    Damus was only dapper at a glance. Looking closer, she could see that he had bags under his eyes and his mustache was ragged, both of which were subtle in their being out of place like they¡¯d been significantly worse recently and had since been put back in order.

    Her attention snapped back to him and his words when she processed that ¡®[Holy Crystal]¡¯ had been said and he reached into his robes to hold one aloft. A sinking feeling was felt in her gut and a sense of horror struck her harshly.

    Rei had only mentioned one [Holy Crystal] being found, not two. Which meant¡­

    Behind her, she heard running footsteps and turned to see High Priestess Rei sprinting toward them, a panicked expression on her face.

    Verity, gut feeling guiding her, whipped around to watch Damus. It wasn¡¯t extremely subtle, but his smug expression would be easy to wave off as being unrelated to Rei¡¯s actions.

    Speaking loudly, clearly, and only slightly faster, Damus declared, ¡°This [Holy Crystal] is hereby dedicated to the God of Truth,¡± and threw it into the brazier, where it disappeared in a shower of sparks, which floated up past the face of the statue, causing the eyes to glow gold.

    Verity was not a [Priest], and [Classless] as well. She wanted to shout, to stop him, but it would only make things worse if she did say anything, so she bit her tongue hard enough to make it bleed and waited for Rei to reach them.

    While the hall was big and would take time for even her to cross, Verity found herself extremely annoyed with the low [AGI] of the [Priest Class]. If only Rei had gotten there sooner!

    Finally reaching them, Rei glanced at Verity apologetically then stalked past her, the crowd of [Priests] diving to get out of her way.

    A loud, clear, and angry voice resounded from Rei, ¡°Damus, that [Holy Crystal] had been purchased by an adventurer!¡±

    Damus looked back at Rei with a baffled expression. Verity instinctively knew that he was gloating, and felt her face twisted in rage.

    ¡°Whatever might you be talking about High Priestess Rei? I discovered this vendor and purchased the [Holy Crystal] myself! I would never have done anything as crass or crude as stealing something that rightfully belonged to another!¡±

    Verity slowly stalked through the crowd, carefully restricting her expression that only wanted to twist further. It was yet another situation she was useless in!

    Rei gestured at Verity, ¡°I assisted this adventurer in purchasing it, I informed her, made the offer, and set the price for her acquisition of the [Holy Crystal]. Care to explain how you could not know these things? We keep quite clear records.¡±

    Damus stroked his mustache elegantly, looking at her with an imperious expression that could easily have been mistaken as concern for her.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said with ¡®concern,¡¯ ¡°let us double-check the records.¡±

    Verity heard Rei curse next to her under her breath, ¡°Gods, he planned for this!¡±

    Damus gestured at the [Priest] Verity had spoken with earlier and he went off to fetch the records. Returning, the same records were handed to Damus and he lick a finger to begin to turn the pages.

    ¡°When, might I ask, was this order placed? What is the adventurer¡¯s name?¡± He asked, more fake concern oozing off of him.

    Rei did an excellent job hiding her hatred, the hatred Verity only saw as a result of the [Aura Reading] she¡¯d activated a few minutes ago, while the [Priest] had been retrieving the records, as she said, ¡°Verity, two weeks ago on Istday.¡±

    ¡°Ahh yes,¡± Damus said like it was a sudden realization, ¡°the generous donor! Not often you see a commoner or adventurer offer as much as 10,000 Royals to the Temple!¡±

    Verity felt sick.

    Rei choked, then responded, ¡°10,000 Royals was the price we agreed upon for the [Holy Crystal], [Priest] Damus.¡±

    ¡°There is no way,¡± he responded firmly, ¡°you, yourself expressed great confidence in our records, and our records clearly show,¡± he turned the book around, ¡°that these 10,000 Royals were clearly a faithful donation!¡±

    ¡°A remarkably helpful one at that,¡± he said happily, ¡°I would never have been able to procure this [Holy Crystal] for our beloved God of Truth were it not for your generosity!¡±

    With a malevolent gleam in his eye, he said, ¡°She must have learned such charity from her fellow party member, Crimson!¡±

    Verity, Rei, they had both been had. Rei had dug them into a hole by demanding the records, while Verity¡¯s association with Crimson - who had excellent standing with the [Priests] of the temple, made her actions plausible. Any actions Rei could take now would only be seen as jealousy for not being the one to offer it herself. Verity would be treated as her scapegoat and receive some pity, but regardless, they had lost.

 Chapter 33: Lupaken, City of Wolfkin, City of [Natural Dungeons]

    Chapter 33: Lupaken, City of Wolfkin, City of [Natural Dungeons]

    Verity sat, stunned, in Rei¡¯s office. She wanted to be mad, but the events she had just experienced were so baffling to her that the only thing she could feel was confusion. She had bought something, it had been stolen right in front of her, and she had been thanked for it.

    She had never experienced anything quite like it.

    Rei was on the other side of the room sitting at a writing desk as she slowly ripped her quill apart in fury. After all of the tufts had been ripped off the quill, she stared at it for a long moment before turning to Verity.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry for this, I don¡¯t know how Damus manipulated things, but I promise you on my honor that I¡¯ll help you recover what has been lost. The next [Holy Crystal] is on me.¡± She forced a joking and friendly expression onto her face.

    Verity stared at her for a long moment, then asked, ¡°What are the odds that I¡¯ll win if I request arbitration?¡±

    Rei shook her head, ¡°Practically none, Damus is a devotee to the God of Truth, and in good standing with most citizens. He¡¯s also done something that would be called ¡®good¡¯ by many. Offering that [Holy Crystal] to the gods would be considered a better use of it than giving it to you. I don¡¯t know what kind of half-truths he had to use to manipulate the records, but he hasn¡¯t been punished by the God of Truth for violating any of his oaths - not yet at any rate.

    ¡°For the average person, that¡¯s enough proof that he¡¯s in the right. The oaths he¡¯s made seem absolute to outsiders, but he and I know they aren¡¯t.¡± Rei fell silent for a second, staring at Verity, ¡°I¡¯m sorry you got caught up in this - he wasn¡¯t always like this. I don¡¯t know where I went wrong, or where he went wrong, but he¡¯s been behaving badly for the past few years.

    ¡°We grew up together, we joined the Temple at about the same time, and we¡¯ve been comrades for years. We were a part of the first successful team to slay Alphis the Champion of Blood in the [Hallowed Graveyard]. We¡¯ve had each other¡¯s back endlessly! But two years ago, something changed. He backed away from me completely, we¡¯re even sleeping in separate rooms now, and it¡¯s only gotten worse as time passed¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait for a moment,¡± Verity said, forcefully stopping Rei with a raised hand, ¡°Sleeping in separate rooms?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Rei said, nodding with a surprised expression, ¡°We¡¯re married, didn¡¯t you know?¡±

    ¡°Uhh, no? I had no clue at all!¡±

    Rei gave Verity a wan smile, ¡°Well, we are. We¡¯ve been married for 25 years. 26 years in two months.¡±

    ¡°You two don¡¯t act like it!¡±

    ¡°We did at one point, but not anymore. Anyway, that¡¯s not important right now, what is important is what you¡¯re gonna do next.¡±

    Verity let out a long sigh, ¡°What can I do next but wait? I can¡¯t exactly ask you to buy another [Holy Crystal] for me, it¡¯s not your fault and I have a decent idea how much you¡¯re paid.¡±

    Rei winced at Verity¡¯s blunt words, but shook her head and said, ¡°I need to repay you for the actions my husband took. You don¡¯t need to worry, I¡¯ll go retrieve one personally.¡± She added in a low voice, as if talking to herself, ¡°It might take me a bit of time though.¡±

    There were only a few dungeons that could even drop a [Holy Crystal], and while the [Hallowed Graveyard] had the highest drop rate for them, it was common to go six months or more before seeing another one. The [Hellbound Exorcists] that dropped them the most often weren¡¯t desirable targets for most, which only heightened the issue. It would be difficult for Rei to hunt them on her own since they were creatures of [Holy] and [Corruption]. They were naturally resistant to the kind of damage she could do, and the Level penalty would only make the situation worse.

    Verity thought about it. She had a lot of the reward from the natural dungeon left, but she also had to buy gear and stood in need of other items. The was no real way for her to purchase a second [Holy Crystal] and still be able to do everything she needed to.

    Verity slowly shrugged, ¡°Sure, I can give you time. I¡¯m really sorry I can¡¯t pass up on your offer, but I can¡¯t afford to be left behind¡­¡±

    ¡°You plan on joining Crimson¡¯s party, yes?¡± Rei asked.

    Verity nodded. She had already joined, but until Crimson surpassed [Brass] class, he couldn¡¯t formally register a party with the guild, so it was informal.

    She grimaced at Verity¡¯s action, ¡°I owe that kid a lot, I¡¯d rather not owe him anymore. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to look him in the eye until I replace what is rightfully yours.¡±

    Verity¡¯s mind immediately caught on to what Rei had said, and asked, ¡°You¡­owe him a lot? How?¡±

    How does a High Priestess owe anything to a little kid?

    Rei gave her a long side glance, appearing to debate over what to say, then spoke, ¡°Look, you and I both know that he¡¯s not that strong, he¡¯s strong for his age, and he¡¯s strong by Falst standards, but by the rest of the world he¡¯s only a bit above average amongst his age group. Pure might is not where he excels anyway.¡±

    Verity nodded. Environment had a large effect on people, if he had been somewhere with a higher amount of average strength, he would have been more powerful. She had received that type of benefit herself, the Barren Wastes had helped her grow up stronger than she would¡¯ve in Falst.

    Rei continued, ¡°The only thing that puts him above average is his [Skill] with a sword. There aren¡¯t many that reach that high of a level with [Mastery Skills] - even in their old age, and I only know about how high it is because he told me.¡±

    Verity agreed, she knew that personally. Her [Martial Mastery Skill] had stalled once it reached Lv.40. Crimson seemed to know a trick of some kind that helped him avoid getting stalled there. It was also true that - physique-wise - he was completely average. Beastkin would probably consider him something like a bare minimum as their basic standard for physical ability was naturally higher. Elves would consider him to be on the upper end of average or the lower end of above average. Physically, his greatest talent was his endurance. He could perform any exercise without stopping for hours.

    When it came to magic, he had a unique and deep understanding of how it worked, but knowledge isn¡¯t a banner that can be seen waving in the air. The spells he knew how to cast weren¡¯t impressive, just the basics, so his knowledge went unnoticed by all but a few. Previously, he had been nothing short of a genius for being able to cast as many spells as he could before getting his [Blessing]. Once he received his [Blessing], his ability would only be rated as average - certainly not at the level of a genius. That kind of rating would necessitate learning extremely difficult spells, and not having an extreme understanding of the basics.

    However, Rei didn¡¯t know about the limitations the gods placed on Crimson - his Rizvim. There was more to him than either of them could see.

    Rei continued, ¡°While Crimson is moderately impressive in his own age group, there are really only two things that truly set him apart from others. The first is his fanatical devotion to working hard. He pushes himself inhumanly far for minimal payoffs and is willing to accept a significant amount of pain in the process. However, this difference less apparent in other countries where the people need to gain higher levels to survive. Additionally, there are others outside of Falst who are willing to push themselves as hard as he does, though they are few in number.¡±

    Rei grinned at Verity, ¡°But the other thing that sets him apart is unfathomable. He shouldn¡¯t stand out as much as he does, but he has a way of getting caught in your mind, and wanting you to do better.¡±

    Verity felt she partially understood what Rei was saying, but asked for clarification.

    ¡°Since Crimson showed up in Falst, people started to take notice of him. When he stands out, people see his effort and they feel inspired to change too. I don¡¯t have any evidence that it¡¯s him, just a gut feeling, but attendance in the temple is higher than normal, and our [Priests] have abruptly become a lot stronger. My gut feeling makes me think he¡¯s somehow the one who did it.

    ¡°I¡¯ve made progress on [Skills] that haven¡¯t grown for years, I¡¯ve felt more determined to level up, and it¡¯s not just me. Other people who were stuck suddenly overcame walls before them, became more motivated, and managed to move beyond where they were. I guess that it¡¯s all him causing these things.¡±

    Verity scratched her head with an awkward expression, ¡°Yeah, I know exactly what you¡¯re talking about. I couldn¡¯t make progress with my [Martial Mastery Skill] for years, then he comes along, and suddenly I level it up past 50 almost overnight. It¡¯s definitely him, and I don¡¯t know why it happens, and I don¡¯t think he realizes that it¡¯s happening, but it is.

    ¡°I could chalk it up to his advice, but to be frank, his advice wasn¡¯t so good back then. It¡¯s gotten better, and he still has a bad habit of giving vague advice at times, but just being around him has made me want to be stronger¡­and I don¡¯t know why.¡±

    Rei shrugged, ¡°Maybe a [Skill] or a [Title] he has gives that effect and he hasn¡¯t said what it is, which is fair enough. [Skills] are a very private thing, it¡¯s not often to reveal what you have to others.¡±

    Verity didn¡¯t feel the need to mention that Crimson likely wouldn¡¯t be able to tell if he had a [Skill] of that nature due to being unable to read [Skill] descriptions.

    ¡°Anyway, I got off track,¡± Rei said, ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do about your [Holy Crystal]. How soon do you need it?¡±

    Feeling a bit rueful, Verity said, ¡°As soon as possible. I need it before I can get my new [Class].¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± the apologetic look from Rei intensified.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson had spent the last few days miserable. It felt akin to a relapse. He¡¯d started going to bed later and getting up later - even if it was only a little. He was neglecting a lot of his usual training, and he¡¯d felt like there were lead weights in his gut and on his back. He could see himself regressing to the same wretch from his past life. The one who had chosen not to try.

    For the first time in a while, he loathed himself.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    In an effort to distract himself and set his misery aside, Crimson had been productive. His days were spent running back and forth, doing what he¡¯d been hired for, writing. He spent his time tracing words in large fonts on banners and signs. The wooden signs would then be painted, while the cloth ones would be embroidered. He¡¯d completely lost count of the number of words he¡¯d written, but it was no less than a few hundred. They were being hung at every street corner on the ground, and every switchback on the mountain. Many of them were hung outside of homes or places of relevance, and others were being attached to carts.

    Even in his depressed state, Crimson was still fast. He¡¯d finished most of the signs earlier that day, and had switched over to help with the stitching on the cloth banners. That task had finished less than a few hours after he joined in. Admittedly, he hadn¡¯t sped the process up much, if at all. The actual [Tailors] were excellent at their job and hadn¡¯t needed him, but he needed something to keep himself busy.

    His supervisor was Ryn, the servant of Reah who hated Nav. He¡¯d thought she¡¯d be petty and harass him, but she hadn¡¯t done anything of the sort. He was left to assume that she didn¡¯t bother him since he was doing his job well. She just kept giving him more work.

    It was part of the Lupaken culture for the heads of each household to send a formal greeting to both the Chief and their Heir during the Heir¡¯s Coming of Age Ceremony, this greeting was given in person verbally and recorded by a scribe like Crimson during the actual ceremony.

    Families of lower standing would send a written greeting with some rare exceptions. There were too many households to finish the ceremony in time otherwise. Crimson had been visiting those families with another Wolfkin as his guide, recording their words on a high-quality piece of paper, and keeping an inventory of what they declared they would offer as a tribute for Tsiva¡¯s - the Heir¡¯s - birthday.

    The Chief needed to be the strongest in the tribe. Offering support so the heir could get stronger as fast as possible was an encouraged practice in the tribe. For the families that couldn¡¯t afford to give anything, there was no punishment or discrimination, which Crimson found fascinating. There was a strong indifference towards wealth as a concept because all that mattered to the Wolfkin was strength. For the ones that couldn¡¯t offer material goods, it was common to pledge their skills and abilities to the heir of the chief to do what was needed. By that same token, it wasn¡¯t considered more noble to offer more to the heir, rather it was asked that everyone put the best thing they could offer forward.

    One of the families he¡¯d visited had a circumstance like that, they were reasonably wealthy, likely just barely in the upper class using human standards of wealth. They didn¡¯t pledge a single piece of money, rather, the youngest son was offered as a potential party member. Crimson¡¯s partner, a man who was guiding him to the different households to visit, in addition to actually leading the formalized part of the greeting, didn¡¯t even blink and had instructed him to record it.

    He spent his time between each house brooding about his situation. It was completely his fault, he was aware. He had nothing to lose by at least attempting to assist Rhea with her issue, and he genuinely wanted to try. Alois had offered a good reward for his efforts, and it was likely that helping her would allow him to study mana in a way he never had before, but¡­

    For as pathetic as it was, his response to being threatened was to completely reject Alois. Even after all his weak-minded brooding, the only solution he could see that satisfied his pathetic pride was waiting till the wolfkin died, then helping his daughter. He was close to his deathbed, close enough that a few years of waiting would see Crimson freed, but he didn¡¯t want to wait that long. It would be a waste of time, and he would only regress further. It would take opportunities and events away from him, things he didn¡¯t want to lose. So his frustration grew.

    It was in this circular logic that Crimson had been trapped for the last week, meals with Alois, Nav, and Rhea had a palpable tension in the air as the stress between them scratched the mood. Rhea - who seemed to be perpetually grumpy - grew angrier the longer the tension dragged on, while Nav seemed to shrink smaller in proportion to her anger. Crimson and Alois silently avoided each other, mutually frustrated at the other while simultaneously ashamed to look the other in the eye.

    Dinner of the third day, the one who finally cracked with the hair on her tail sticking up, was Rhea.

    ¡°What in the name of the accursed gods is going on between you two?¡± She roared at them with an extremely vulgar curse, food going flying as she gesticulated wildly. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of this, just punch each other in the face and move on!¡±

    Alois turned to her, ¡°I would advise you-¡°

    ¡°Stitch your mouth shut! I don¡¯t want to hear it, just fix it!¡±

    She was turning red in the face from her shouting. Crimson had a hand over the ear closest to her because of the noise.

    Alois attempted to speak again, ¡°Rhea, I-¡°

    ¡°Fix! It!¡± She growled out in a low voice.

    After a long pause, one Crimson felt no obligation to end, Alois spoke, ¡°I made a mistake I cannot go back on, I promised by my honor to do something horrible, and Crimson rightly refuses to back down.¡±

    ¡°And what would that be?¡± Rhea asked with a growl.

    ¡°He uhh¡­that he would¡­attempt¡­to treat your illness,¡± Alois said, awkwardly, with a completely straight back.

    It was Crimson¡¯s first time seeing Rhea surprised. The hair on her tail stood on end, more like a cat¡¯s tail than a wolf¡¯s, and her ears started twitching all over as she stared at Alois with her mouth open.

    Then, Rhea glared at the two of them with bloodlust, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you two. My ¡®illness¡¯ is something that can never be treated! Affinities are the way that they are. I have been cursed by the gods, there is nothing that can happen that will change that! If this boy promised or said anything to you, Father, then he is a charlatan.¡±

    She focused on Crimson, ¡°What did my father ¡®swear on his honor¡¯ to do if you weren¡¯t able to heal me?¡±

    Crimson responded bluntly, ¡°Lupaken is my prison.¡±

    Rhea let out a long sigh, ¡°Then, here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do-¡°

    Abruptly, a horn was blown. It was deep and loud, enough so to pierce into the room that they were in on top of the mountain. It echoed three times before falling silent.

    After a long moment of quiet, Alois spoke, ¡°Nav, go attend the meeting for us. Rhea, Crimson, we shall continue this conversation later.¡±

    Crimson was able to tell how serious the situation was, so he was willing to let the conversation go, but he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What kind of meeting is this?¡±

    Rhea was the one to respond, ¡°It means that a Natural Dungeon has been spotted. The meeting is to determine who needs to conquer it before it breaks open. If it¡¯s too late for us to do that, then we¡¯ll need to arrange defensive lines. Well,¡± she said, looking bitter, ¡°those who are strong enough will defend. The rest of us will cower like little slimes, waiting to be squished.¡±

    Nav, who was ducking out the door, said, ¡°don¡¯t be so pessimistic, I¡¯ll bring good news!¡±

    After Nav left, they all separated to their usual tasks. Typically, Crimson would be preparing for bed, but he went and sat by the fire to mess with his magic until Nav returned. He was trying to figure out what made a [Fire] spell over any other element, in the hope that it would help with his magic creation. It took Nav, with his higher stats, just 10 minutes to completely descend the mountain. So, theoretically, the soonest they could possibly hear anything would be in half an hour.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It was nearly three hours later that Nav barged back into the room, out of breath. He made enough of a ruckus that there was no need to tell Alois or Rhea, they popped out of their rooms immediately at the noise. Rhea arrived first, Alois last, and they all arrived around the kitchen table.

    Nav spoke first before anyone could ask, ¡°There was a [Natural Dungeon] sighted about 15 miles west-southwest of Lupaken.¡±

    Alois noted in a low voice, ¡°That¡¯s pretty close.¡±

    Nav gave a jerky nod in response, ¡°Yeah, our scouting teams managed to overlook it, being as close as it was. The dungeon will descend tomorrow.¡±

    The air in the room grew cold, Nav¡¯s words had a greater chilling effect than any blizzard.

    ¡°T-tomorrow?¡± Rhea asked.

    Before her question could be answered, Alois asked, ¡°What level?¡±

    With a big grimace, Nav said, ¡°I don¡¯t remember its name, but it is a [Level 53 Elemental Titan] dungeon. Since it''s going to descend, we won¡¯t need to worry about any restrictions, and the scouts reported no flying monsters, so the plan is to keep them from getting close. The Chief will be leading a party to hunt any [Boss] they come across, while three other teams are tasked with hunting the others. They set out immediately to surround the area, and map out what will be affected.¡±

    ¡°What kind of terrain will we have to deal with?¡± Alois asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s the best news of the day,¡± returned Nav, ¡°it seems like it¡¯s just going to be a small valley. Nothing like the lava lakes from six years ago.¡±

    Crimson listened quietly to all the news. It was surprising that they didn¡¯t search more diligently in areas closer to Lupaken, but it also answered a question he¡¯d been nursing for a bit.

    The entire city was extremely fortified, it was hard on non-combatants, and had a militaristic nature, but he couldn¡¯t see any threats. Well, here was his answer: they had to deal with an inordinate amount of [Natural Dungeons]. The closest [Godmade Dungeon] as the crow flies was five days away, but the most effective traveling route put Falst as the closest city to find a [Natural Dungeon]. That meant that all the Wolfkin became strong by fighting against [Natural Dungeons].

    The next thing he noticed was the attitudes around the table. The room had been a little stressed, but fine until Nav had mentioned that the Dungeon was Descending tomorrow. That was when Alois and Rhea had gotten stressed. Compared to Falst, they seemed a lot more used to this situation. Just hearing that a [Natural Dungeon] existed had caused panic in Falst, and it was nothing compared to this.

    The other thing that he noted was the verbiage. They might¡¯ve been speaking Kiiwolf, but the word they used definitely translated to ¡®descent¡¯ not ¡®break.¡¯ In Falst, the term had always been ¡°Dungeon Break,¡± not ¡°Dungeon Descent.¡± From what they were talking about with terrain, he had a guess, but now wasn¡¯t the time to ask.

    Alois and Nav started discussing other key factors involved with the situation, but what the were discussing included too many names Crimson didn¡¯t know to follow the conversation.

    Deciding that tomorrow would be a busy day, Crimson turned in, silently excusing himself and going to his room. Despite the stressful situation he would be facing tomorrow, it still didn¡¯t take long for the peace of sleep to take him.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson slept in as long as he could. It was a rare thing for him, but when he¡¯d woken up at his usual time - which he hadn¡¯t done for a few days - he made the conscious decision to roll over and go back to sleep. While he might not be involved in the Dungeon Descent, it would be for the best if he was as rested as possible.

    Blearily, he eventually got up at what he guessed was 09:00 and wandered out to the remaining scraps of breakfast. After wolfing down the small amount of food, he ignored the gurgling complaints of his own stomach, informing him that it wasn¡¯t enough, even for the small amount of food he usually ate. He showered, got ready, then walked out on to the path outside the den to discover where Alois and Rhea were.

    They were both leaning on the railing, their heads turned to the right to face the direction they¡¯d heard that the [Natural Dungeon] was in.

    There was two other people there with them. One was a familiar face, the other wasn¡¯t. The first was Talis, the kid from morning training with the greedy eyes. The other was a Dwarf who looked like him but was a little shorter and significantly more rotund.

    Crimson habitually walked quietly, so the only ones to notice him before he joined them at the rail were the wolfkin, with their better hearing. Rhea turned back to him, and with a grin that was all teeth, said, ¡°You¡¯re just in time, it¡¯s about to begin.¡±

    He opted not to lean on the rail and instead took a few steps back to get a clear view of what was going on. After just a few minutes of waiting, watching the forest, Crimson felt a massive wave of magic wash over him. It was like being next to a massive set of speakers right as they were turned on full blast. He could feel every inch of [Mana] in his body tremble in response to the wave he felt. Visually, it took a few seconds after that wave, but they could all see what happened next.

    A wall of dark mist slowly expanded upward and crept around to form a dome around an area. From the point of origin, assumedly the gate, it started to fade away, leaving behind, not a forest, but a valley. Even the sky above the area seemed to be a different color, more of a red, for a few seconds before it slowly matched the new biome.

    With a lump of nerves in his gut, Crimson squinted, and could just make out massive silhouettes stepping up out of the valley, only to be met with a few magic attacks. Even with his excellent perception, he couldn¡¯t see the individual wolf kin, but he could tell from how some of the silhouettes twisted that they were being attacked.

    Crimson didn¡¯t get to be an audience for long, as he felt another wave of magic at his back, rattling his [Mana] and his bones along with it. Spinning around, he saw, less than five miles away, straight east of Lupaken, another dome of mist started to form.

    He cursed instantly, then shouted, ¡°There¡¯s another one to the east!¡±

    Everyone jerked around, and he was surrounded by curses and gasps from the rest of the group.

    He¡¯d been the only one to notice.

    They all watched in horror as the dome finished forming, then slowly started to fade away like the first. This time, it wasn¡¯t a little mountain that was left behind, but what looked like a slice taken from a massive cliff. The second the dungeon finished manifesting, parts of the cliff started to collapse, no longer supported by whatever they had been connected to prior. Five miles was enough for Crimson to see at least decently clearly, so he could see that some of the monsters were caught up in it, but the bigger issue was the flying monsters he could see taking off from caves in the cliffside. Some were squished as well, but it was fewer than the ones on the ground.

    They didn¡¯t have one [Natural Dungeon] to deal with. They had two.

 Chapter 34: Siege

    Chapter 34: Siege

    Alois was extremely annoyed as he swung his [Flexible Vine], a type of saber with an enchantment that let him temporarily extend the blade. The extra length made it easier for him to reach the flying enemies that came to attack him. They weren¡¯t very strong, which was the only good thing about the second dungeon descent. They were between Lv.10 and Lv.15, weak enough to not pose a challenge to the weakened Alois.

    The issue was his endurance.

    It hadn¡¯t even been five minutes since the second dungeon had broken. In the few minutes it took all the flying monsters to arrive, Alois had Rhea bring him [Flexible Vine] from his display cabinet, and everyone else hid inside. He had also let out three long, slow howls, warning of danger. He then followed it with a series of shorter howls to indicate the direction of the new danger. Most of the wolfkin that had been left behind were watching the dungeon break their leader was dealing with, so everyone was outside to hear his cry.

    Those who could fight were readying themselves - those who couldn¡¯t fight started barricading themselves in the dens in the mountain. The chief had taken everyone Lv.30 and above to fight the dungeon break. It was a common practice to strengthen members of the community. However, that meant the most impactful portion of their fighting force was gone. With that portion gone, it only left wolfkin fighters who were ¡®evenly¡¯ matched with the monsters. Even 10 levels above these monsters would still be a difficult matchup for most wolfkins.

    The issue was hitting said monsters, flying enemies are a bane of melee [Classes].

    Alois had high enough stats that he could stand still and let himself be hit without taking damage. The issue was his low endurance, which meant that even this short five-minute period - a period when he hadn¡¯t been fighting the full time - had exhausted almost all of his strength. He was struggling to stand.

    He stood there, near the edge of the cliff by his den, and tried to catch his breath while ignoring the monsters that attempted to hurt him. They had long destroyed the railing with their most common method of attack, a coordinated charge. They had high INT and high WIS, so they worked well together, and they were using a form of persistent wind magic to move around and attack. They had almost comically straightforward attacks for how intelligent they should be.

    The other thing to note about the monsters - which took the form of pink and fleshy birds with extremely robust beaks - was that their STR, CON, and VIT were all low, but their AGI was high, meaning that even a glancing blow would be enough for Alois to finish them. If only his gods accursed stamina wasn¡¯t an issue!

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a break, go sit down.¡± Said a familiar young voice. A familiar young voice that belonged to a person who didn¡¯t have a [Class]!

    He whirled to roar at Crimson to get back inside, but his warning came too late as one of the monsters charged at the boy. Unlike the assault on Alois, it had deemed coordination unnecessary to kill the weak kid.

    Crimson, who was holding a large Claymore, started to get blown back by the wind magic the monster was casting. Alois had been hit by the same spell many times, and it was used to open up the target to a lethal blow. Unlike Crimson, he had been completely unaffected by those spells - he had plenty of passive [Skills] that increased his stability - and even if it had worked, a lethal blow to Crimson would have felt like a gentle touch to Alois.

    Horror changing to confusion, Alois watched as Crimson suddenly came to a stop. It was like the wind had completely stopped buffeting him, and he stooped into a defensive stance and caught the beak of the incoming monster on his sword. The monster had enough force to push him back a few feet, but his stance didn¡¯t completely break, and he managed to completely kill the momentum of the monster¡¯s charge.

    Crimson pushed the monster away, just far enough to get a clean swing at it, and made a mighty swing that slammed the monster into the ground. The monster didn¡¯t take much damage and immediately started to get up. Crimson attempted to attack it again, but another monster charged at him from the side, forcing his attention to switch, and he managed to block the second charge.

    It was a dance right on the edge of death. These monsters did have low STR, so even a few hits probably wouldn¡¯t kill Crimson, but that was only because the wind magic had stopped working on him. They used it to increase the damage they could do normally.

    Alois could only guess that he had some kind of [Magic Resistance Skill].

    Reluctantly, he accepted Crimson¡¯s invitation and walked over to the Den, ignoring the monsters that lunged at his back and attempted to peck his eyes out. He then leaned on the wall by the entrance to watch Crimson and recover.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It was a dumb thing he did. He didn¡¯t have a [Class], he didn¡¯t have any combat [Skills], and all he had to do was watch Alois slowly wear down the wave of enemies. They couldn¡¯t hurt the wolfkin, but he could kill them instantly. It was a once-sided, but slow, fight.

    Crimson didn¡¯t feel like his decision was that dumb though. He¡¯d been watching Alois fight the monsters and analyzed their attack patterns and their stats as best he could. He could tell that they were objectively stronger than he was, but his guess put them at Lv.5, which was a doable difference. He could fight combat [Classes] humans up to 10 Levels above him under the right circumstances - he specialized in single combat against a stronger foe after all his training with Mars, so while he would lose nine out of ten times in a fight against another, he still had a chance.

    Under that consideration, these monsters had pretty straightforward attack patterns, they were only charging at Alois, so as long as Crimson could see the attack, he could dodge it easily. If it was only a 5-level difference, Crimson was willing to bet that he could fight them.

    So he took that bet.

    The moment he was attacked, he felt a spell being cast that hit him, wind magic, and as it started to push him back he retaliated with his own mana. The [Affinity] opposed to [Wind] was [Earth], but the only [Earth] spell that Crimson knew was [Erosion], which wouldn¡¯t be helpful in this situation. Irritated, he just reached out with his mana and started using it to slash at the spell around him, causing it to break down immediately.

    A little surprised by how effective his counter was, he hadn¡¯t the time to dodge the monster¡¯s attack and opted to block it instead. After hitting it against the ground, he was frustrated to note that he¡¯d done barely any damage. Memories of a year ago, working on the farm came to mind. When he had gone to hunt slimes, it had taken too many jabs of a spear to kill one, while the hammer worked instantly. The sensation he felt while hitting this bird monster was similar to the one he¡¯d felt while stabbing that slime: like his attack was doing something, but barely anything.

    He attempted to pressure the monster to keep it on the ground, since these things worked together he considered the possibility he could use his fight with it to dissuade the others, but that plan was abruptly stopped as he was forced to block another monster that charged in on his left, allowing the first to get away.

    He wouldn¡¯t be able to focus one down long enough to kill it, but he could stand his ground and pretend like he was actually doing something to help Alois. For as little as it was worth, it would at least be good training for him.

    There was just one big issue, one he only noticed as he blocked the third enemy: his sword¡¯s durability. It was a Lv.3 claymore, and these things were hitting it pretty hard, so its original durability of 55 had decreased to 48. After blocking just three blows, it had fallen by 7 points. Once it hit 20, he would be in a lot of trouble. The 35% mark was dangerous for a weapon.

    However, he had been hit 3 times, yet it had only fallen by 7, based on that information, not all blows were taken equally, meaning he could compensate with technique!

    He easily dodged the next charge - just to ensure that he could charge them if necessary - and set up to block the next one. This time, he didn¡¯t firmly set his stance, he took the bird¡¯s blow at a bit of an angle and allowed himself to slide a bit. Glancing, the durability was 47 - better!

    But still not good enough.

    He had used every bit of experience he had in deflecting blows to try and prevent the durability dropping with that block, so there was still something he was missing.

    Opting to think about it for a moment over blindly trying again, he spent a bit of time just dodging the charges. The ones that came from behind him were the biggest issue, but it was also extremely hard for the monsters to come at him from that direction because of the mountain. Only one had managed it thus far, and it had been moving slowly enough that even after catching him by surprise, he¡¯d still been able to get away easily. He didn¡¯t have eyes in the back of his head, but he did have his mana, and these things were constantly trying to use wind magic on him, so they were constantly signaling their location to him.

    It was obvious enough that he might have a chance against them even if he were blindfolded.

    Because of that awareness, his favorite moment was when two of them charged him at once. When they did that, he could easily dodge in such a way as to cause them to run into each other. It was the thing that had dealt the most damage thus far.

    Theoretically, if he knew any attack spells, his most effective form of damage would be magic. Whatever their WIS was, he was willing to bet that the difference between it and his INT was bigger than the difference between his STR and their CON. None of the spells he knew were combat-oriented, and he hadn¡¯t developed any kind of attack spells.

    There was one other complication that made that impossible, and it was the thing keeping him alive: the fact that he was using his mana to disrupt their spells. There would come a day when he would be able to do multiple things in battle with his mana, but that wasn¡¯t today. So he couldn¡¯t use magic, and he couldn¡¯t kill any of the monsters attacking him. All that meant was that he was wasting time and energy since Alois didn¡¯t really need his help.

    The eyes burning into the back of his head refused to let him forget that fact.

    Crimson ended up fighting for a while. How long? He couldn¡¯t tell, but eventually, Alois called out, ¡°Switch out, I¡¯ll take over for a bit!¡±

    He immediately ducked out, allowing the first three-pronged attack to tremendously crash into each other, tangling one another up. He had another moment before he was attacked again, so he carefully kicked the group to send them flying off the cliff. They were still tangled, so they hit the ground with a sickening thump. They were still alive, from what he could see from a glance while retreating, but they wouldn¡¯t be a problem anymore.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Well, there was at least one way to deal effective damage. It was just extremely hard to reproduce.

    Crimson passed by Alois who caught the enemy¡¯s attention the second he stepped back out for the fight, allowing him to retreat without being harassed. Instead of hiding in the den, he opted to take Alois¡¯ spot next to it and watch the older wolfkin to see if there was anything he could learn by watching. He¡¯d been watching a bit earlier, but it hadn¡¯t been a close watch.

    Keeping his mana prepared around him to act as a warning signal, he decided to check his [Blessing], and was surprised by the amount of alerts he saw.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Calculating¡­

    -Note: User has not updated [Blessing] in some time. More frequent updates are encouraged.

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 64/100 ¡ª> 75/100

    -Skill: [Intermediate Linguist] 7/10 ¡ª> 8/10

    -Skill: [Secret Sense] 3/10 ¡ª> 4/10

    -Skill: [Advanced Calligraphy] 9/10 ¡ª> 10/10 (MAX)

    -Awarded 1AGI, 2 CON, 1 VIT, 1 INT, 1 WIS, 3 WIL, and 1 PER for Skill [Advanced Calligraphy] (MAX)

    -Skill: [Eyes of Will] 5/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -Skill Set: [System Instincts: Skill Peak] 5/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -Note: Rewards have been reduced by Admin. The difference will be stored as data.

    -Skill: [Sword Kinship] 4/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -Calculating¡­

    -Trained Stats!

    -Stat: 3 STR

    -Stat: 2 AGI

    -Stat: 4 CON

    -Stat: 4 VIT

    -Stat: 1 WIL

    -Stat: 2 PER

    -Warning: Stat Training Caps have been lowered by Admin by the quantity of <7>

    -Admin Message: Get a Class and I¡¯ll restore the amount. We¡¯re running into issues with you on the back end, and I need to mitigate them where I can.

    -Trained Stats: 4/5 STR,3/5 AGI, 5/5 CON, 5/5 VIT, 3/5 INT, 5/5 WIS, 0/5 CHA, 4/5 WIL, 3/5 PER

    -Quest Progress!

    -Beginning of a Legend

    -Requirements:- Reach Lv. 100 of [Sword Mastery]- 75/100- Defeat a powerful foe- 0/10- Steal a sword style from an opponent during battle- 0/1 (In Progress: 3%)- Propagate a sword style- 150/5 (Completed)-Time Limit: N-Failure Condition: N

    Reward:

    -Note: Requirements for the Quest: <Steps Upon the Ground> have changed

    Steps Upon the Ground

    -Requirements:

    -Withstand blows from an opponent with 30 STR or more without falling. <Depreciated>

    -0/50 <Depreciated>- Withstand blows from an opponent with 35 STR or more without falling.

    -6/25-Utilize 4 different types of footwork effectively

    -0/25

    Recover from a broken stance

    -60/100

    Utilize footwork to dodge blows from an opponent with (at minimum, and subject to change) 25 STR 25 AGI <Depreciated>

    - 0/10 <Depreciated>

    Utilize footwork to dodge blows from an opponent with (at minimum, and subject to change) 35 STR 35 AGI

    - 6/5 (Completed)-Time Limit: N-Failure Condition: N

    Reward: [Footwork]

    -Developing Magic

    - Requirements:

    - Achieve 50 INT

    - 45/50

    - Achieve 55 WIS

    - 45/55

    - Modify 5 Spells

    - 1/5

    - Modify [Healing Orb] to allow it to interact with a [Blessing]

    - 0/1

    -Time Limit: N

    -Failure Condition: N

    -Reward: [Skill: Magic Adaption]

    -Mana NERD!

    - Requirements:

    - Modify 10 Spells

    - 1/10

    Time Limit: N

    Failure Condition: N

    -Reward: [Title: Mana Programmer]

    -Applying changes¡­

    -Applied

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson sat, stunned to see a bunch of numbers shoot up at once. He quickly navigated to his [Stats] page.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Name: Crimson

    Race: Half (High Human, ???) -Age: 16

    Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Brass]

    Active Title:[ Linguist ] [Rean] [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] [Rean]

    Titles: Lucky, Linguist, Mentor, Holy Interpreter

    Health (HP): 100/100 Regen/s: 2.1

    Magic (MP): 410/450 Regen/s: 5.0

    Condition: Minor Fatigue

    -Class: [Empty]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    Status:

    Strength (STR): 21 Agility (AGI): 21

    Constitution (CON): 21 Vitality (VIT): 25

    Intelligence (INT): 45 Wisdom (WIS): 50

    Charisma (CHA): 7 Willpower (WIL): 26

    Perception (PER): 48 Luck (LUC): 90

    Affinities

    Elemental

    Fire: 5 Water: 5

    Earth: 5 Wind: 5

    Lightning: 5 Metal: 7

    Magma: 5 Ice: 5

    Dynamic

    Holy: 5 Profane: 5

    Purity: 6 Corruption: 5

    Life: 5 Death: 5

    Mana: 9 (10) Void: 2

    Skills

    Bloodline:

    >[Eyes of Change: [Eyes of Will] 6/10] 1/10, [???] 0/0

    Class:

    >None

    Sets:

    >[System Instincts: [Skill Peak] 5/10 [Locked], [Locked], [Locked]] 1/10

    General:

    >[Sword Mastery] 75/100, [Sophisticated Mana Influence] 10/10, [Sophisticated Mana Sense] 10/10, [Intermediate Linguist] 8/10, [Secret Sense] 4/10, [Advanced Calligraphy] 10/10, [Sword Kinship] 4/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It was an impressive list and he didn¡¯t have the time to process it all right now, but there was one, very little, yet very important thing that was in the bevy of changes that stood out to him. He noticed that there was now progress listed on the ¡®Steal a Sword style from an opponent during battle¡¯ from the [Quest: Beginning of a Legend].

    Assuming that 3% came from this battle, that would mean that because he and Alois were opposing each other, they were considered ¡®opponents.¡¯ Right before he¡¯d decided to join Alois, he¡¯d been watching the wolfkin¡¯s flowing fighting style and made a few mental notes about what would be useful to him. Was that enough to be considered ¡®stealing?¡¯

    Well, time to test it.

    Crimson began to genuinely study Alois¡¯ fighting style. It was one that used the nature of the curved blade of a saber to its advantage. Gently transitioning between attack and defense, it was a style that relied primarily on deflection to open up the opponent, followed by a lethal counterattack. It was extremely precise, and the stance was relatively weak compared to other styles Crimson knew, meaning that it didn¡¯t choose to hunker down in one place but flow from step to step using the force of the foes to move to the openings its deflections created.

    Alois was clearly extremely skilled, Crimson guessed that his [Sword Mastery] was higher, and it was a style that went from a subject of curiosity to a subject of desire for Crimson. It was a great style to learn, and he started internalizing what he could.

    He didn¡¯t let a single detail escape him as he watched Alois fight, and as the five minutes that Alois could fight were approaching the end, Crimson started approaching him to get a closer look. The monsters were still focused on Alois - probably an agro skill of some kind - allowing him to inspect a few details he¡¯d missed from his prior spot.

    His current sword wasn¡¯t designed for a fighting style like this, but Crimson had a lot of experience in adapting sword styles, so he could make it into something at least usable with his Claymore on short notice. The biggest problem was the extra length of the blade Crimson had. Alois used his long arms to make up for the decreased reach of the saber, which Crimson had grabbed a Claymore because it would add to his reach. That subtle distinction would interfere more than the weight difference, as Crimson was strong enough to easily wield the Claymore one-handed.

    Crimson would have to have a lower stance, and he¡¯d need to keep the handle closer to his chest to have the leverage he¡¯d need to mimic some of the moves, but he could do it.

    ¡°Alois, swap out!¡± He shouted.

    Stepping into the storm of enemies, he resumed his dance of dodging and blocking. Alois¡¯ style held the answer he had been looking for earlier. He could now block the enemies without losing any durability in his Claymore. It took a lot of focus, but he could do it. Now, he was losing 1 durability point about every 3 hits as opposed to 3 every hit.

    Behind him, he heard a deep throaty laugh, and the phrase, ¡°You sneaky little thief¡± was barely heard from Alois. He¡¯d recognized the style, the minor changes not hampering his recognition in the slightest.

    The day stretched long as Crimson and Alois continued to alternate. Crimson eventually managed to be left alone long enough to kill one of the monsters on his own, which made him very happy. At least he wasn¡¯t completely dead weight. He got one of them!

    ¡­it was only one though.

    It was about that time that the mass of monsters had decreased enough for him to look down the mountain to check on other people. There were cells like Alois and him fighting at different points down the switchbacks. Their killing pace was faster than Crimson¡¯s, but slower than Alois''s - during the brief periods he was active - which meant that part of the reason things had slowed down was their contribution.

    Calling it a ¡®flock¡¯ of flying monsters was too much of an understatement, these kinds of numbers would be better off competing with an insect swarm. There had probably been in the neighborhood of a thousand of these things. Weirdly, it was almost better that they flew since it meant that only a couple at a time could attack without interfering with each other. It created a situation almost like a choke point that allowed for a long series of one-on-one or two-on-one fights. If they had been goblins then wave tactics would¡¯ve overwhelmed everyone but Alois.

    Crimson was extremely grateful for the breather. While he had been switching off with Alois, which extended the amount of time he could fight, Alois would rest anywhere from half an hour to an hour, fight for five minutes, and leave Crimson to fight on his own during the rest of it.

    The only good thing about Crimson fighting was the fact that he kept the monsters who were focused on him from going to attack someone else. He was a minor distraction, but it was something.

    The most interesting thing occurred after Alois had noticed that Crimson was trying to steal his fighting style. He had started exaggerating some moves a bit, slowing down others to be more clearly seen, and he¡¯d started using more of the style than he needed for the level of enemies he was fighting. Crimson soaked it all up like a sponge, so they started to reach a point where Alois would verbally instruct him. One of the things he¡¯d been told in the one time they¡¯d both fought together was the philosophy of the style and its name.

    The name was [Virrak Tau], translated from Kiiwolf, it meant roughly to ¡®die at the hands of a pack [of wolves].¡¯ The idea was to combine attack, defense, and movement into a single action to simulate the feeling of a many-against-one fight. It was hands down the best, most complex style Crimson had learned thus far, and fighting with it all day had it¡¯s own, unbelievable rewards:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 75/100 ¡ª> 90/100

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Progress like that hadn¡¯t been possible since he first got the [Skill]. Just ten more levels in the [Skill], and he would finally reach the minimum condition he was willing to accept to get his [Class].

    Even after things slowed down, Crimson didn¡¯t stop fighting. He started to take advantage of the new pace to try and kill more of the flying monsters. The gaps were big enough that he could let up on the magic countermeasures to try using magic against the bird-like flying monsters. They were quite large, like a big dog, so he didn¡¯t consider pinning them with ice or burning them with his [Ignite] spell. Instead, he used an old move that he¡¯d used on a stronger opponent once before: he filled their lungs with water and froze it in place to force them to suffocate. It was quite effective, but they still died too slowly, so he had to wail at them with his sword while dodging other attacks. He managed to kill fifteen or so this way, which is how he managed to fulfill one of the requirements for [Beginning of a Legend]. When he looked at his [Blessing] to check its progress, it looked like this:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Quest Progress!

    -Beginning of a Legend

    -Requirements:- Reach Lv. 100 of [Sword Mastery]- 90/100- Defeat a powerful foe- 15/10 (Completed)- Steal a sword style from an opponent during battle- 1/1 (Completed: 100%)- Propagate a sword style- 150/5 (Completed)-Time Limit: N-Failure Condition: N

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The biggest chunk of progress could be seen in his other [Quest].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Steps Upon the Ground

    -Requirements:- Withstand blows from an opponent with 35 STR or more without falling.

    -95/25 (Completed)-Utilize 4 different types of footwork effectively

    -26/25 (Completed)

    Recover from a broken stance

    -300/100 (Completed)

    Utilize footwork to dodge blows from an opponent with (at minimum, and subject to change) 35 STR 35 AGI

    - 150/5 (Completed)-Time Limit: N-Failure Condition: N

    Reward: [Footwork]

    -Quest Completion!

    -Skill awarded: [Footwork]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    What a happy little surprise. Though he tried to act cool, Alois had started laughing when he saw Crimson celebrating over the new [Skill].

    The tide of enemies had been abated, and while a few strays were flying around, it could be said the fight was over. The biggest loss of the day was his Claymore. It had reached 20% of its durability and would be extremely difficult to repair. A Lv.1 [Repair] skill from a blacksmith would result in a 50% total durability reduction, and while he could find someone with a better version of the [Skill], it would probably cost more than the sword was worth. He decided to leave it to languish in his [Inventory] as he didn¡¯t want to break it or get rid of it.

    Looking out toward the giant dungeon, he saw that they were all dead, so he glanced down and saw that the Chief had just returned. A wave of arrows from a few of the archers in her squad got rid of the few that were left. Following that, Crimson decided to go to bed. Forget the shower, he couldn¡¯t lift his arms after the adrenaline ran out.

 Chapter 35: Alois, [Sword Master]

    Chapter 35: Alois, [Sword Master]

    Crimson groaned underneath the blanket. He hadn¡¯t been sore like this in a long time. His muscles all trembled in rebellion every time he tried to lift his arms or stretch his legs. His water intake had been low during the day long fight, so he¡¯d also experience a lot of muscle cramps. A bit of water magic and six slow trips to the toilet later, they had finally stopped cramping. Healing magic hadn¡¯t done a single thing to help him.

    Groaning again, he slowly rolled off his bed and clung to the side as he slowly lifted himself to his feet. He had to stretch, or it would be worse tomorrow. He wobbled over to the blanket covering the entrance and shoved through it head-first since it would take too long to lift his arms to move it out of the way.

    He immediately regretted that decision as he ran right into Alois, bouncing off the wolfkin like he¡¯d just hit a solid wall. He attempted to rub his nose, but swiftly gave up. Too much effort.

    Instead, he tilted his head back to look Alois in the eye, and was surprised to see the usually stoic wolfkin watching him with an awkward expression. Crimson had very little ability to read others, so he couldn¡¯t discern the cause of the face greeting him.

    They watched each other for a long moment, then Alois lifted his arms to show Crimson he was holding a pair of sheathed sabers. He glanced them over for a long moment, then looked back up at Alois. Before either of them said anything, Alois shoved the one in his right hand at Crimson.

    He grimaced a little bit, but then slowly brought his arms up to accept the sword. Glancing at the status page for it, he saw that it was a Lv.5 [Reliable Saber]. It¡¯s max durability was slightly reduced from it¡¯s original amount, but at 82 durability it was still better than his ¡®585th Claymore¡¯ in top condition.

    Slowly drawing the blade, he inspected it from top to bottom. It was extremely well maintained, and it had a lot of history. He could feel places on the wooden handle that had been worn smooth from use, and there were small nicks in the cross guard that he only noticed on close inspection.

    Alois spoke while he was wrapped up in his inspection, ¡°It¡¯s yours. You¡¯ll need it for training.¡±

    Crimson glanced up at him, ¡°I¡¯m grateful, but why? We¡¯re not exactly on the best terms.¡±

    Piercing gold eyes met silver ones, and their wills clashed as a result of Crimson¡¯s [Eyes of Will].

    Unlike the usual silence that followed their conversations at every step, Alois didn¡¯t hesitate and spoke, ¡°because I need you. I previously demanded your help. I was arrogant, desperate, and foolish, but that doesn¡¯t matter any more. What will it take for me to settle this score between us?¡±

    ¡°Look, I¡¯d be willing to try something to help your daughter, but I couldn¡¯t make even the slightest promise of the results!¡± He growled back, his anger from their original confrontation resurfacing.

    Instead of being met with anger, Crimson was met with calm, ¡°I am fully aware, but I still wanted you to try. Just shaking hands made me feel stronger than I have in years, so what could you do if you put your mind to it?¡±

    Crimson listened quietly. He agreed with Alois, but still, he couldn¡¯t forget the threat.

    ¡°I have an offer that you might find enticing,¡± Alois said, ¡°If you agree to help Rhea, I¡¯ll help you reach max level with your [Sword Mastery].¡±

    He froze, his sore muscles locking down, then slowly asked, ¡°You¡­what?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious, your [Sword Mastery Skill] is extremely high level, but it¡¯s not maxed yet. I¡¯ve been in your position before, but it took me a long time to overcome that wall. I estimate that you¡¯re at Lv. 85. It took me years from that point to reach max.¡±

    Crimson cut him off, ¡°It¡¯s Lv.90.¡±

    Alois stopped and stared at him for a second, ears twitching, then asked, ¡°has anyone ever called you a monster?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡±

    ¡°You are most certainly a monster, but no matter. I can help you reach Lv.100 within this year, if you¡¯ll let me.¡±

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Crimson shrugged, and said, ¡°a month.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be finished within a month.¡±

    Alois shook his head at him, ¡°There¡¯s no way, especially not on your own. I reached max level in 25 years working on my own, and progress was non-existent for the past few years.¡±

    Crimson grinned, feeling smug, ¡°Watch me, then.¡±

    ¡°No, take my deal, and I¡¯ll teach you. That¡¯s why I gave you that sword. You did a good enough job mimicking me yesterday, but this sword style, [Viirak Tau] is one meant for a saber. If you¡¯re so confident you could do it in a month, what do you think you could do in a week with my help?¡±

    Crimson fell silent at those words, then slowly spoke, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, if you can help me reach max level in [Sword Mastery] in a week, then I will do everything in my power to help your daughter.¡±

    Crimson¡¯s pride was worth a lot to him, ignoring the previous threat was impossible, the previous deal could never exist, but for this one? It wasn¡¯t a deal, it was a bet. It was to his benefit to study Rhea and Alois¡¯ condition, as that would help him with his own understanding of mana. He still had a lot to learn about magic, so the side of him that loves studying had been itching to work on them from the second Alois had brought up his offer. That desire had been buried under his pride, but it was difficult for that pride to rear his head against a man who was acting humble.

    Well, humble for a wolfkin at least.

    Alois grinned, ¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that, then. Come along, let¡¯s get started.¡±

    Crimson grimaced, his heart screamed to begin immediately, but his body refused to move very well. Any kind of training would be extremely difficult.

    That said, it wasn¡¯t his nature to give up without trying. His pride refused to let him back down from Alois.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Alois had never once taken an apprentice. He had been a frontline fighter from the very beginning, dragging his knuckles through the dirt and bleeding for any tiny bit of progress. Despite his health, he was one of the few people in the world who had achieved the impossible, and maxed the [Sword Mastery Skill].

    He had been forced to devote more time and attention to that particular [Skill] than any other as a result of his [Rizvim], his curse from the gods. It was called [Orlach], and the description only had one line: ¡®Cannot learn active [Skills].¡¯

    In many ways, that [Rizvim] had broken him, it was the very first thing he received after getting his [Blessing], and compounding that with his already poor health, he had despaired. However, wolfkin society being what it is, he didn¡¯t get the chance to wallow in his misery, and had been forced to prove to himself and others that he could be strong.

    His story mirrored the one he saw today in some areas, when he saw Crimson standing against a flood of enemies that he should have no hope against, but refusing to bend anyway. Alois had no choice but to see himself in the boy.

    Well, after his first encounter with a [Natural Dungeon] as a boy, and experiencing what it was like to fight against enemies stronger than him, he had thrown himself into training without a second thought. The fact that he, an outcast of wolfkin society, the pathetic weakling, had managed to stand strong where others had made him drunk on the excitement.

    He couldn¡¯t learn active [Skills]? So what? The gods reward effort, and they provided him with numerous passive [Skills]. It had only taken him a year to reach Lv.50 in [Sword Mastery]. He had received a [Skill] that increased the power of his attacks the longer he fought, and with that [Skill], he had been able to become a hero to his fellow wolfkin. Literally, his first [Sub-Class] was [Hero].

    After reaching Lv.50, progress had slowed down to a crawl. It took another year to reach Lv.60, and by the time he was 25 and had married Reah, he had finally reached Lv.75. Progress remained steady for a while, and by the time Rhea was 5, he had reached Lv.85. He had a break through that year, and had managed to reach Lv.90 at an impossibly fast pace. At 31, he had then had a greater [Sword Mastery Skill] than all but three people in the entire world. Then, at a pace a little faster than one Lv. per year, he slowly began climbing to Lv.100.

    He had been forced to retire before reaching that point. He had retired as a Lv. 75 [Sword Master] and a Lv.52 [Great Hero], with a Lv.99 [Sword Mastery Skill]. That had merely been a year ago. He had been 39 years old. His health had declined too much for proper training, but he had never once given up, so he turned to other training methods.

    A training menu that used combination of meditation, slow movement, and visualization had allowed him to finally bridge the gap, reaching Lv.100 in [Sword Mastery]. He hadn¡¯t told anyone, there was no point.

    It had been six months since then, and he¡¯d spent that time seeking peace with his mortality. His personal goal of maxing [Sword Mastery] had been achieved, he had achieved most of his other dreams as well. He¡¯d married the love of his life, a wonderful and gorgeous woman who would always hold his heart. They¡¯d sweetly and gently raised Rhea while teaching her everything they knew. Granted, it was a gentle upbringing by wolfkin standards, other races might¡¯ve considered it strict.

    He had achieved everything¡­he thought he had achieved everything, but Crimson had destroyed that peace of mind. Since his curse had passed to Rhea, he¡¯d believed that she would be forced to run from it like he had. He had never found a way to lift it, it had just been part of the way he¡¯d been born, so he¡¯d never even held a bit of hope in curing her.

    He also thought that just by reaching Lv.100 in [Sword Mastery], that he would be complete, but that gods cursed boy had ruined all of his tentatively held beliefs.

    Alois could only regret threatening him to the marrow of his bones and the pit of his gut. It had been quite a lukewarm threat to begin with. It wasn¡¯t his nature to hurt others, but to save them, so keeping Crimson trapped in Lupaken was the best he could manage. The boy had pride though, that gods cursed pride that Alois had.

    Well, the pride he had just lost, anyway.

    Seeing him fight like that, being reminded of his youth, and awakening to the desire to pass along his 25 years of experience, his pride faded away like a mirage. Whatever it would take, he would teach the boy.

 Chapter 36: [Class]

    Chapter 36: [Class]

    With a grimace of irritation, Crimson clung to the side of the mountain that Lupaken was built on. Alois had decided to bring him to his ¡®special¡¯ training ground, which so happened to be on the mountain peak. It normally wouldn¡¯t have been much of a climb - especially for Crimson who loved the urban climbing he¡¯d done in Falst - however, his sore muscles did not want to cooperate.

    He was in good company, as Alois wasn¡¯t much faster than he was. Glancing up, he saw that they were close. It was only a 20ft climb, extremely short for a mountain climb, even by the standards of his old world, never mind this one. Alois could¡¯ve probably jumped to the top if he was in good health.

    The climb took them twenty minutes, at about a foot a minute, Crimson felt annoyed with how pathetic that kind of pace was for him.

    At the top of the climb it leveled out a bit, but still curved upwards, before finally leveling out at the peak. There was a flat patch that had been worn clear of plant life by trampling feet. Crimson looked around, and for the first time he could see behind the mountain as well. Far off in the distance, he could see a hint of blue water on the horizon. He didn¡¯t have a sense of the scale, so he wasn¡¯t sure if it was a lake or the ocean, but it added a lovely ribbon of blue to the view.

    Alois spoke up after a few seconds to catch his breath, ¡°Get your saber out, and take a ready stance. I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve seen the ready stance for [Virrak Tau], so do your best and I¡¯ll correct it.¡±

    Crimson slowly but smoothly took a stance with the saber the Alois had given him. He had one foot before the other, his right hand relaxed to the side, and the blade in his left pointed forward with the tip angled down. It was a stance that worked well for lunging, and the position of the sword allowed him to attack or defend as the situation called for.

    Alois inspected the stance, and corrected him a bit. His sword was angled too far down, and his feet weren¡¯t far enough apart. After a bit more nitpicking, Crimson could tell when his stance was correct. It was the sense of a puzzle piece clicking perfectly into place, and he knew he had it right.

    ¡°Good,¡± muttered Alois, ¡°now I want you to imagine fighting an opponent stronger than you. Preferably not me, I¡¯m not a good reference in my current state.¡±

    Well, that was easy: Mars. He¡¯d fought the bearkin almost more than another individual. The one closest to second place was Verity. Imagining Mars was easy, and he knew how he would be overwhelmed, how he¡¯d be beaten down.

    He wasn¡¯t worried about hitting Alois - he couldn¡¯t hurt the wolfkin even if he tried - so he closed his eyes to strengthen the mental image. He then started to fight the mental image, but lost instantly. His unresponsive muscles had horrible compatibility with the imagined version who was moving at full speed.

    ¡°You lost instantly?¡± Questioned Alois, ¡°then turn down the difficulty a bit. You need to be able to rally with them. You¡¯re not moving well right now, so just have the mental image go slower to match your pace a bit more.¡±

    Crimson followed the instructions, having Mars slow to less than half, and he managed to block the first blow from the mental image. He kept going, continuing the rally, and as he continued to move his muscles loosened up a bit, so he sped up the fight to match his new pace.

    This continued for a short time, then he stopped dead, opened his eyes, and turned to Alois, ¡°may I have a quick moment to stretch?¡±

    After getting permission, Crimson started to work his way through the forms of [Amzair], the body refining technique that he¡¯d learned about a year ago. The book he had for it was incomplete, having only 6 chapters, and he was on the third. Since getting his [Class] he¡¯d finally had the stats to finish chapter three, but chapter four still eluded him. He still couldn¡¯t quite reach it, but he could tell that he was a bit closer as he moved through the forms. Unlike before, he could tell his issue was experience, and not stats. If he spent a long time practicing, he would be able to reach chapter four. Each chapter had significantly increased his fighting power as the style refined both balance and flexibility. The word [Amzair] was from the Dark Elf language and meant ¡®Unity,¡¯ so it was a style meant to unify the mind and body, as well as its movements.

    Alois watched him curiously the entire time, and Crimson did his best to ignore the eyes burning into the side of his head. After finishing, Crimson unsheathed the [Reliable Saber] once more and restarted the fight with the imaginary Mars.

    After some time passed, Alois stopped him, then began correcting his movements. Using a combination of words and demonstrations, Crimson adjusted his movements under the wolfkin¡¯s tutelage. It didn¡¯t take long before¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 90/100 ¡ª> 91/100

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He silently dismissed the alert and continued working. After a time letting Crimson work on his own, Alois spoke again, ¡°I want to you start doing something different. I want you to imagine you¡¯re fighting an opponent like yourself. Someone with weaker stats, but who is incredibly skilled and will dig into any tiny mistake.¡±

    With a nod, Crimson imagined Verity. She was a very [Skilled Martial Artist], and she¡¯d had a [Martial Mastery Skill] over 50 at one point. The issue she ran into was one that most other people did: missing the point of a [Mastery Skill].

    Using swords as the discussion point, most people were attempting to master a form or fighting style, not the actual weapon. The [Skill] is named very literally, and represents mastery over a specific weapon. So, when training, following a fighting style meant mastering the aspects of the weapon that the fighting style needed.

    Take Crimson¡¯s [True Adventurer¡¯s Style], which is a refined version of the [Adventurer¡¯s Style] - a style designed to teach adventurers how not to hit themselves when using a weapon. The original was extremely simple, to the point that achieving complete mastery over it it would only leave someone with a [Sword Mastery] somewhere between Lv.15 and Lv.20. It didn¡¯t utilize enough of the aspects of using a sword to contribute much at all to the [Sword Mastery Skill]. Crimson¡¯s tweaks to the style raised the bar, and completely mastering the [True Adventurer¡¯s Style] would give a [Sword Mastery Skill] somewhere between Lv.40 and Lv.50.

    A lot of the more ¡®basic¡¯ styles out there would be at least Lv.30 with perfect mastery, but a lot of adventurer¡¯s tend to pick up habits that they add to a fighting style, changing it with time. Maybe they originally learn a style focused entirely on attack, but then adapt it to get better at parrying and defense after some time. A person like this would have a higher [Sword Mastery Skill Level] than someone who had just perfected the narrow range of the original style. This key point was lost on most people, and one of the most defining differences between Crimson and other people.

    He was trying to master the sword, not a single fighting style. That was a huge reason why - despite considering his main sword a katana - he didn¡¯t hesitate to use any other kind of sword he came across. He wasn¡¯t trying to level [Katana Mastery], but [Sword Mastery].

    It also explained why Verity was as good of a fighter as she was despite the significantly lower [Martial Mastery Level]. She had created her own style and mastered it to perfection, but perfection of that style only needed Lv.45 or so, which left her stuck until he told her to branch out. It had immediately started leveling quickly because she wasn¡¯t very experienced with kicking, she was mastering a new aspect of [Martial Mastery], so progress came quickly.

    Even yesterday, progress had occurred quickly for Crimson because he was put in a position where he was forced to utilize all aspects of [Sword Mastery] against opponents of a higher level than him, so he was both forced to perform extremely well, and forced to improve at a swift rate. His own progress had been anything but smooth because of that.

    Today, fighting against mental images of skilled opponents, and working under Alois¡¯ tutelage, Crimson pushed hard, only stopping occasionally to drink some water. He sweat it out immediately, so he fortunately didn¡¯t need to stop to relieve himself, but his reward was that, by the end of the day¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 91/100 ¡ª> 94/100

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He wouldn¡¯t have been able to make this kind of progress on his own, he would¡¯ve been fast, sure, but he probably would¡¯ve only made it to Lv.91 if he was alone that day.

    With six days left in their bet, Crimson and Alois turned to return to the den. They opted to drop down as opposed to climb down, and Crimson was forced to use healing magic to make up for some of the damage before they went to have dinner.

    Sitting down at the table, Rhea walked over with the last few dishes. Crimson and Alois thanked her and Crimson performed the traditional meal greetings. Nav was exempt, as was the older man who had hid in the den yesterday, but Talis was there. The short - either dwarf or leprechaun - boy with greed burning in his eyes. Crimson still wasn¡¯t sure what was up with that, but it was dangerous.

    A short way into the meal, Rhea spoke up, ¡°so did you two resolve what was going on?¡±

    Alois and Crimson nodded. Hostilities had ceased, and a bargain was struck.

    ¡°Good,¡± she muttered.

    After another moment of quiet, Alois spoke, ¡°you should join us tomorrow, pup. I¡¯m training the boy.¡±

    Rhea waved dismissively, ¡°I¡¯ll be dead in a few years. There¡¯s no point.¡±

    ¡°Please,¡± he said. His tone conveying more than than a thousand words.

    She froze at that word, Crimson watched from the corner of his eye as a bit of meat fell off her fork while she stared at Alois. She set the fork down, then sighed, ¡°very well then. I¡¯ll join you.¡±

    Crimson glanced over at Talis who was watching the situation with amusement. The greed in his eyes hadn¡¯t left, but it was now mixed with other emotions. Maybe he was getting it under control a bit? It was possible he had some kind of [Skill] that caused him to experience that greed.

    While he watched, Talis glanced over at Rhea, then started laughing at her.

    She smacked him without looking, and he began to clutch his head in pain. He said, ¡°Ow, don¡¯t take it out on me, it¡¯s not my fault that you¡¯ve been so feisty this entire time! Just giving up out of nowhere was funny after all that effort.¡±

    She just smacked him again, more gently this time from the sound that the hit made. Crimson shook his head at that, then thanked both Alois and Rhea, then retired to bed.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Unlike yesterday, Crimson couldn¡¯t devote the entire day to training. Nav grabbed him right as the sun peeked over the horizon and informed him that he would need to miss the morning training, ¡®viskor fylaum.¡¯ They had to move quickly to try and catch up with the two days missed.

    Nav forced him to reveal that he was fluent in Kiiwolf, so he no longer needed a guide and translator for the interviews. After doing a bunch of those, someone quickly taught him their phonetic writing system, and he got to work inscribing the biggest banners of the lot with outlines congratulating ¡®Tsiva¡¯ - Rhea¡¯s cousin and the heir apparent - on her coming of age.

    The second banner was a prayer that was both double the size and double the effort. It would be burned during the ceremony to send the prayer to the gods. Once he¡¯d finished outlining all the letters in chalk, he then moved to helping with stitching a brilliant gold colored threat over the outlined area to form the letters. The thread was reflective, so it could be seen even in the dark so long as there was a little light.

    Once again, Crimson barely managed to make any progress on the sewing as the team of ten others finished entire sentences in the time it took him to stitch one letter. They were working very quickly, feeling as rushed for time as Crimson was. Once the stitching was done, the banner was spread out over a frame, and the edges of the banner hung down just above the ground. The corners were tied to stretch it taut, and chalk was left out so others could write their prayers as well.

    The power of the chief represented the power of the tribe, so the prayers were very heartfelt - especially after the double dungeon break incident. Looking around, Crimson could see other crews of people repairing buildings. Some of the people Crimson had interviewed for their greetings were among those crews, and he¡¯d had to interview one during a break.

    Preparation was in full swing at a fever pitch, but Crimson¡¯s role was officially over until the actual ceremony, which would take place the day after the bet between Crimson and Alois had ended. It would give him three days of leeway to finish up his business in Lupaken, then a week to travel back to Falst to just barely make it for the tournament sign up cutoff. It was a little too tight of a schedule, especially to keep his promise with Alois about treatment, but he didn¡¯t have a solution. He decided to put that all off for later.

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Nav grabbed him once more, and they returned to the Den. His muscle soreness was mostly gone, so he could move around without being inhibited. That was a great thing as he sprinted up the mountain to cut down the time to get to the top.

    The second he got back, he and Alois got to work. Rhea was passed out on a blanket by the training ¡®ground,¡¯ clearly exhausted after having worked out with Alois. He chuckled a bit at the sight, then he and Alois got to work.

    End of Day 2:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 94/100 ¡ª> 95/100

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    End of Day 3:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 95/100 ¡ª> 97/100

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    End of Day 4:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 97/100 ¡ª> 98/100

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    End of Day 5:

    No progress

    End of Day 6:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 98/100 ¡ª> 99/100

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It was the last day, and they had one level to go. Fortunately, he¡¯d made other progress during the week:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Intermediate Linguist] 8/10 ¡ª> 9/10

    -Skill: [Footwork] 1/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -Skill: [Sword Kinship] 4/10 ¡ª> 9/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    While the advantages of [Footwork] increasing were obvious, the advantages of [Sword Kinship] were less obvious, but more impactful. As [Sword Kinship] went up in level, Crimson got a better sense of how to actually use the sword. It was odd, but it felt almost like his [Reliable Saber] was telling him at times ¡°that¡¯s now how you do it¡± and it sped up progress significantly.

    There hadn''t been much progress on day five as Alois had needed to rest, and had so informed Crimson to ¡®meditate with his sword¡¯ for a while, which is when he got [Sword Kinship] from Lv.5 - which it had reached earlier in the week - to Lv.9. The amount of time he¡¯d spent devoted to the [Reliable Saber] and trying to understand the history engraved into it had helped a lot.

    His previous [585th Claymore] had a very shallow history. It was mass produced, chucked onto a shelf in a weapon shop, and Crimson bought it. That was it. The most eventful thing that happened to it was the double dungeon break that forced him to retire it. He¡¯d still gotten one level in [Sword Kinship] off of studying it and the damage it suffered, but it couldn¡¯t be compared to the deep history engraved into the [Reliable Saber].

    For the last day, Alois made the extreme decision that it was time for him and Crimson to fight. Before they started, Alois had Crimson sit down on the ground and sat across from him.

    After a few minutes of quiet when they were watching each other¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Eyes of Will] 6/10 ¡ª>7/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Alois eventually broke the silence and said, ¡°there¡¯s something important you need to understand about me. I have a [Rizvim], and it¡¯s not my health condition.¡±

    Crimson tilted his head, both in surprise and confusion. Why was Alois telling him this?

    ¡°There¡¯s a very good reason I haven¡¯t taught you any active [Skills], the truth of the matter is that my [Rizvim] is named [Orlach], and it means that I can¡¯t learn any active [Skills]. In exchange, the gods helped me learn many passive [Skills], and I found them much easier to level up and evolve or breakthrough. My entire strength is packed into each blow I land.¡±

    He grimaced at the revelation, ¡°That¡¯s an extremely restrictive [Rizvim]. Mine only prevents me from reading my [Skill] descriptions, it¡¯s called [Rean].¡±

    Alois grimaced at him in return, ¡°See, from my perspective, your [Rean] sounds worse than my [Orlach]. I get some positive benefits from mine, even if the restriction is brutal. I can¡¯t imagine not knowing what my [Skills] do or their limitations.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not all bad,¡± Crimson fired back, ¡°because I have to experiment with my [Skills] to find out what they do, I end up getting to know them a lot better, and I can find more creative uses for them.¡±

    Alois shook his head, ¡°I suppose it¡¯s a good thing the gods give us trials tailored to our circumstances.¡±

    Crimson shrugged back.

    ¡°Regardless,¡± the wolfkin said, ¡°I want to fight you with all my heart - especially because I¡¯m lacking in certain ways as your teacher. Because I can¡¯t teach you things that most people would expect, I¡¯ve been focusing on my area of expertise - passive [Skills]. You¡¯re right at the edge, all you need is one last push and you¡¯ll join me as one of the few people in the world with a [Sword Mastery Skill] at Lv.100. As such, I have a favor to ask.

    Please shake my hand, so that I might regain even a fraction of my old power.¡±

    Crimson immediately understood why Alois was making this request with such gravity. This would be an extension of the treatment that Crimson would attempt to provide to Alois, making it an extension of the original cause of their contention. The wolfkin was making this request as earnestly as possible in the hopes that he would agree.

    Not that he needed to go this far anyway, Crimson would¡¯ve done it even if the wolfkin had asked arrogantly, though he would¡¯ve resented Alois for it.

    Crimson made a counter offer, ¡°Let me touch your back instead.¡±

    Alois tilted his head, ¡°My back? Why?¡±

    ¡°To be closer to the source of your mana,¡± he said.

    Hesitantly, Alois asked, ¡°shouldn¡¯t want to touch my head then? If you¡¯re worried about any kind of offense that might come from touching my head, then don¡¯t be. I¡¯d be inviting you to touch it, you wouldn¡¯t be petting me like a dog.¡±

    Crimson noted that piece of culture so he wouldn¡¯t make a mistake like that in the future.

    He said, ¡°No, the source of your mana, the [Mana Pool] is on the opposite side of your chest from your heart. If you could feel it, it would feel like you have two hearts. One for blood and the other for mana.¡±

    Alois looked unsure, but said, ¡°very well, then, you may touch my back. Do I need to remove my top?¡±

    Crimson shook his head, then stood and made his way around the wolfkin to touch his back.

    There was an immediate sense of rejection, like the time they¡¯d shaken hands. It was like trying to shove two powerful magnets with the same poles together. Crimson ignored the sensation as best as he could and reached out with his mana. In a word, it was like reaching into a mire. It was dirty, disgusting, repulsive, and extremely difficult to push through it.

    The entirety of Alois¡¯s body was filled with the disgusting mana, like clotted rotting blood, and it took everything Crimson had to not run away and retch into the grass. He¡¯d rather have his ribs broken again over touching this. Pain was much easier to manage because of his [Blessings of Trans¡¯du¡¯niir].

    He forced himself to dig deeper, and had to forcibly grab his left hand with his right to keep it from jerking away. Even as he leaned into it, Alois held strong, though he could hear groans of pain from deep in the wolfkin¡¯s throat.

    Eventually, after an agonizing century of misery, Crimson reached Alois¡¯s [Mana Pool]. The second he felt it, he understood why Alois couldn¡¯t use active [Skills]. While the rest of the disgusting mana was like a mire, the layer around the mana pool was hard as stone. There were a few small holes punctured in at various places around the pool - places where the [Blessing of the Gods] was attached, and they were extremely thin.

    To compare them, for Crimson, it felt like there were massive stakes driven into his [Mana Pool] where the [Blessing] attached. It wasn¡¯t painful, but it needed a strong connection. For Alois, they were pinpricks, thin as a spider¡¯s web. Of course, the [Blessing] being what it was, he couldn¡¯t affect it, but he could touch it and see where it led. It was like the spots where the [Blessing] connected were small flashlights in a dark fog. Providing just enough light to see.

    Gritting his teeth, he decided to try drilling through the layer of hardened mana around the pool. Rather than grabbing a spot in the center, he went right up to one of the [Blessing] connections and did his best to drill in right next to it. He had no idea how long he stood there, but Alois¡¯s pained groans turned to dog-like whimpering, and he punctured a tiny hole into the layer, just enough to feel the pure mana on the other side, before he finally couldn¡¯t take it any more.

    Wrenching his hand away from Alois¡¯s back. He crumpled in a sweaty heap on the ground, and gasped for breath. Alois also slumped to the ground, and finally stopped whimpering. His ears were firmly pinned back and the hair on his tail was standing on end. Crimson thought he might¡¯ve knelt on it at some time during the process, so he¡¯d need to apologize for that.

    Alois recovered faster than Crimson and went from laying down to standing in a flicker of motion that was faster than Crimson could see. He¡¯d always felt powerful to Crimson, but the stark difference was so monumental that he felt oppressed just by being near him. It was very close to the feeling he got from Mars when he was being serious.

    Crimson finished catching his breath, then silently stood and unsheathed [Reliable Saber], before taking a stance.

    Alois stretched then pulled a saber out of his [Inventory], then took the same stance as Crimson.

    There was a long moment of dead silence, and then Crimson understood what Alois had been talking about when he said that passive [Skills] were where all of his power lay.

    There were three blows coming at Crimson at once, the only reason he could see that much was how high his perception was. One of the blows was a feint, so he ignored it, and used perfect form to deflect the second, the last he was forced to dodge as it came from a swift kick toward his legs.

    It didn¡¯t end, there was no pause as Alois began a long combo on him. It was clear the wolfkin had limited his stats down to Crimson¡¯s level - he¡¯d even asked about their rough values during day 3¡¯s training - and all this force, all this ferocity, this tirade of blows came entirely from technique, and from [Skills].

    Crimson saw for the first time someone who embodied the type of warrior he wanted to become: someone who could bridge the gap in strength with [Skill].

    Of course, Crimson knew the fighting style Alois was using. He¡¯d nearly mastered it, and understood the philosophies very well. Even being at the receiving end of ¡®being bit to death by a pack of wolves¡¯ like the meaning of [Viraak Tau] conveyed wasn¡¯t as shocking as it would¡¯ve been if he faced the style without preparation.

    Knowing all that, he couldn¡¯t just remain on the back foot, so it became a fight, one pack against another as Crimson embodied every inch of what the style represented. Alois was still more experienced, so he couldn¡¯t turn the tides, but they were evenly matched.

    The stalemate lasted for a time, in a fight, time loses all meaning leaving behind only adrenaline, so Crimson couldn¡¯t say how long it lasted. They both made attempts to break the stalemate, but what they¡¯d done only further extended it.

    He eventually realized that to overcome Alois, he would have to change how he fought. What if, instead of a pack of wolves overwhelming an opponent, he fought more like a lone wolf? In a pack, the wolves were able to cover for each other, mistakes were easier to deal with, and they could still get the prey even if one of them couldn¡¯t play their part. However, a lone wolf had no such second chances. Alone, even some kinds of prey could kill a wolf. That left no mistakes, they had to look for the perfect opportunity. Hid themselves, then strike.

    With a deep, though ragged, breath, Crimson started analyzing their fight through that new lens. They still clashed, but he had adjusted to Alois¡¯ rhythm, allowing him to think about what opportunities he could create and how he would exploit them.

    Watching, he waited, and in a moment that Alois knew he would step back, he stepped forward instead, too close for the wolfkin and thrust his saber up to Alois¡¯s throat.

    They didn¡¯t move for a few seconds, then Crimson muttered, ¡°A tie, huh?¡±

    While Crimson had been too close for Alois¡¯s sword to reach him, the wolfkin did have claws on his non-sword hand, and when Crimson had stepped in to thrust, so too did Alois thrust at him with his claws. Crimson knew the blow was coming and had attempted to block it, but failed.

    Alois had held back, but Crimson still had five small, bloody points from the wolfkin¡¯s claws. Two on the palm he had attempted to block with, and three right over his heart. It was getting blood on his shirt, which would be hard to get out without his usual laundry setup.

    Alois grunted, ¡°Good, you¡¯ve reached it.¡±

    Glancing, Crimson saw he was right¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill: Level Up!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] 99/100 ¡ª> 100/100 (Max)

    -Reward: [Skill]

    -Skill: [Footwork] 6/10 ¡ª> 8/10

    -Skill: [Sword Kinship] 9/10 ¡ª> 10/10 (Max)

    -Reward: 5 INT, 5 WIS

    -Skill: [System Instincts: Skill Peak] 5/10 ¡ª> 10/10

    -Reward: [Skill Unlock]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Glancing up from his [Blessing], Alois looked him in the eye, and said, ¡°I¡¯m extremely proud to see you do this. I¡­¡± he shook his head, ¡°Never mind, I¡¯ll leave you here to finish the process.¡±

    Turning, the wolfkin left, and Crimson turned his attention back to his [Blessing] to catch the other alerts.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Admin: Congratulations.

    -Admin Melia: You¡¯ve done well.

    -Admin Riskter: Want a job?

    -Admin Love: I¡¯m really proud of you!

    -Admin Art: Yes, yes, good job. Stop creating more work for us!

    -Admin Darkness: Admin Truth and I have been very happy to watch your progress.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson was surprised and confused to see so many admin messages. ¡®Admin¡¯ on its own was Raften. Melia was the Goddess of Wisdom, and formerly the only one of the nine gods who¡¯s name he knew, but Riskter was new, and he instinctively knew it was the God of War. Love, Art, Darkness, and Truth were the attributes that those gods ruled over, so that meant that their names were censored since he couldn¡¯t remember them.

    He had figured they wouldn¡¯t get so directly involved, but he should probably take it as a good sign.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Sword Mastery] has been maxed out.

    -Loading¡­

    -Generating Questions for [Skill] generation¡­

    -Admin redacted override.

    -Generation delayed.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson felt a moment of surprise, then irritation, then he calmed right down again. Typically interference like this meant good things, no point in getting up in arms about being denied a [Skill] here. Besides, it said ¡®delayed¡¯ not cancelled.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill: [System Instincts: Skill Peak] has been maxed out.

    -Conditions met.

    -Skill: [Class Peak] has been unlocked within the [Skill Set: System Instincts]

    -Admin override.

    -Notice: All other alerts have been paused until after [Class] acquisition.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson did get a new [Skill], but it wasn¡¯t what he was expecting. It was part of the [Skill Set System Instincts], and the first [Skill], [Skill Peak] hadn¡¯t exactly been very useful up to this point. It pretty much told him how far away a [Skill] was from being able to breakthrough or evolve. Like, he could tell that it would take quite a bit before [Intermediate Linguist] would generate a quest for him to evolve or break it through. He could tell that [Sword Kinship] was even further away, and he could tell that [Skill Peak] wouldn¡¯t progress until he¡¯d unlocked all the [Skills] in the [Skill Set].

    It wasn¡¯t currently extremely useful, however, [Class Peak] was practically screaming at him. He knew instinctively, beyond all forms of certainty that he was ready to get a [Class]. He could further tell that it would be a powerful one.

    Speaking of which, it was time.

    He had spent a year waiting, dreaming of the day he¡¯d get a [Class]. He¡¯d constantly been built up to believe that a [Class] would change everything. Just looking at how he was treated just for not having one, it was obvious that it would be a game changer.

    So, no more dilly dallying, time to open the [Class] menu:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Loading [Classes]

    -Admin override, [Classes] the user can pick have been restricted.

    -Displaying Recommended [Classes]:

    [Swordsman], [Samurai], [Weapon Meister], [Duelist]

    -All other [Class] options have been hidden.

    -Admin: this is temporary to speed up the data processing. It would take forever to calculate all the [Classes] you qualify for. You¡¯ll have more options for your [Sub Classes]

    -[Swordsman] has been selected.

    -Setting [Swordsman] as primary [Class].

    -Calculating¡­

    -Error

    -Error

    -Error

    -Data has exceeded expected bounds. Escalating to admin.

    -Admin override, [Class Grade] has been forcibly elevated.

    -Calculating¡­

    -Error

    -Error

    -Data has exceeded expected bounds. Escalating to admin.

    -Admin override, [Class Grade] has been forcibly elevated.

    -Calculating¡­

    -User has exceeded requirements for [Hidden Grade]

    -Progress to next grade? <y><n>

    -Y

    -Calculating¡­

    -Calculating¡­

    -Admin override.

    -Admin Melia override.

    -Admin Riskter override.

    -Admin Love override.

    -Admin Death override.

    -Admin Art override.

    -Admin Truth override.

    -Admin Darkness override.

    -Admin Nature override.

    -Admin Magic override.

    -Administrators are analyzing your data¡­

    -Waiting¡­

    -Waiting¡­

    -Waiting¡­

    -[Class Grade] has been set.

    -[Class] has been graded as [Exceed Grade].

    -[Swordsman] not sufficient to meet [Exceed Grade].

    -Adapting¡­

    -10 Administrator override.

    -Data from user has been allocated.

    -[Class] complete.

    -Setting [Class: Sword Savant]

    -Displaying Class:

    -Name: Sword Savant

    -Tier: Basic

    -Grade: Exceed

    -Description: NA

    -Level Rewards: 250HP, 4 STR, 4 AGI, 2 CON, 2 VIT, 1 WIL, 1 PER

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    His [Class] was called [Sword Savant]¡­and it wasn¡¯t [High] grade like he hoped, it was [Exceed] grade. It had both exceeded the god¡¯s expectations and his own.

 Chapter 37: An [Exceeding] Power

    Chapter 37: An [Exceeding] Power

    It was an anomaly. 14 stats per level and a bonus to his HP. For comparison, a [Basic-Tier Low-Grade Class] gave 6 stats per level. An additional two stats per level were provided with each grade increase, so [Mid Grade] would give 8, [High Grade] would give 10, and [Hidden Grade] would give 12. HP typically remained the same even with grade increases, and [Swordsman] was a [Class] that provided 200 HP per level, meaning that Crimson¡¯s 250 HP per level was unusual, even if it was a relatively small increase.

    Even with just that, Crimson¡¯s hopes had been greatly exceeded, that didn¡¯t mean it was over. There was more to getting a [Class] than just the name or stats, and that was to say nothing of the fact that there were the other rewards that he¡¯d earned.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Loading¡­

    -Opening [Class Skill] selection

    -Error

    -[Class Skills] for [Sword Savant] have not been set.

    -10 Admin Override.

    -Processing¡­

    -Admin settings: [Sword Savant] is to be treated as a [Low-Grade Advanced-Tier Class] moving forward.

    -Retrieving data¡­

    -Displaying [Class Skill] selection:

    -Low: [Draw], [Slash], [Block]

    -Mid: [Hone], [Cut], [Dodge]

    -High: [Mikiri], [Iai], [Parry]

    -Advanced-Low: [Sword Armory], [Divide], [Negate]

    -Please select up to <4> [Skills].

    -Note: Restrictions are in place. Selection of certain [Skills] will lower the number of [Skills] the user can select at this time.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson sat back and stared at the screen. From his [Class Peak Skill], he knew it was safe to select any of the [Skills] to see how they would affect the number of [Skills] he could pick, just so long as he didn¡¯t ¡®finalize¡¯ his selection he could change his mind freely.

    He quickly began selecting and unselecting [Skills] to see how they would affect the number he could learn. It worked out that he could learn 2 [Advanced-Low Skills], or 1 [Advanced-Low Skill] and 2 [High Skills], which were the only ways he could decrease the amount of [Skills] he could learn. In other words, the selection of an [Advanced-Low Skill] would reduce the amount he could learn. He could select all the [High Skills] and any of the lower ranked [Skills] if he so chose, provided all he wanted was 4 [Skills].

    Taking a deep breath, Crimson inspected the [Skills] as a whole, noting that they seemed to break down into three categories: Auxiliary, Attack, and Defense. Looking at them specifically - with his [Skill Peak] finally pulling its weight and giving him an idea of what each [Skill] did - he decided to exclude all of the Attack-type [Skills] from his selection.

    His logic there was straightforward, though many in this world might disagree, the Attack [Skills] on offer would force him to change the way he fought to cater to them. They performed specific actions, so he would need to manipulate opponents into positions where he could use them to deal a lot of damage. Could he work with that restriction? Of course, but that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to. He wanted to be the one to guide his [Skills], not be yanked around by them. That meant [Cut], [Slash], [Iai], and [Divide] were all no longer in the running for this selection.

    The hardest one of those four to leave out was [Iai]. He really wanted to pick it up. Really, really wanted to. However, in addition to the previous reason his second reason for taking [Iai] off the list was that it was weapon specific. It was one that he could tell was only compatible with katanas. If he was only going for a katana as a weapon, it would be great, but he didn¡¯t want to be restricted that way. Further, this logic could also be used to disqualify the other [Skills] as [Cut], [Slash], and [Divide], all of which had poor compatibility with thrusting swords like rapiers and estocs.

    Looking at the next category, he began to consider his options for Defense [Skills]. Surprisingly, the first he disqualified was [Negate]. It was a [Skill] specialized in countering magic, which was something he could already do without the [Skill]. If [Negate] worked differently from how he usually stopped magic - like the method he used with the flying monsters from the recent dungeon break - then taking [Negate] would be like accepting a poisoned gift. It could interfere with the way he already did things and he¡¯d need to fight it and force it to change to his will. There was no telling how long or how difficult that process would be, it would be better just to create a [Skill] like it himself so it was tailored to how he did things.

    It was actually very similar to buying clothes. Up to this point, all of Crimson¡¯s [Skills] had been bespoke, perfectly made to fit him based on his actions and training, but he was buying premade stuff right now. There was danger in buying things of the figurative ¡®wrong size¡¯ for him. For most people, this wouldn¡¯t be an issue at all because any [Skill] would become a source of strength, but Crimson was particularly picky, and he wouldn¡¯t get anything that didn¡¯t fit.

    Looking at the other Defensive [Skills], he didn¡¯t disqualify [Parry], but he wasn¡¯t very impressed with the other two. They were better choices than any of the Attack [Skills], but until he reviewed his other options he wouldn¡¯t really worry about them.

    Actually¡­Crimson sat back and stared at [Dodge] for a long moment, then decided to remove it from the pool. His logic was that his [Footwork Skill] was already filling the niche that [Dodge] would. They could interfere with each other, or they could reinforce each other, but he didn¡¯t feel the need to test which it would be. That left [Parry] and [Block] from the Defense [Skills] in the running.

    Time for the Auxiliary [Skills]. First up, [Draw]. His [Skill Peak] helped him understand that it was literally a [Skill] for drawing his weapon. He tilted his head one way, then back the other in thought. There was some appeal to him for this [Skill], the fact that he hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to learn it up to this point told him that it might be a bit too basic to come across easily. Same logic as it being difficult to learn a [Walking Skill]. It was such a common action that everyone would learn [Skills] like this unless the gods raised the difficulty to acquire them.

    That said, it seemed like a dead end to Crimson. When he tried to think about what paths it could evolve down later, it just seemed unlikely to become anything powerful for a very long time. If he was picking [Iai], it might¡¯ve been good to pair the two [Skills] as they were very complimentary. Since he wasn¡¯t, he timidly decided to set it aside as an option.

    [Hone] was next on the block, and it was chopped immediately. It was a worse version of his [Sword Kinship] in every way. [Hone] would allow him to provide a temporary damage bonus to swords. Good in theory, but in practice it would be better to just find a good blacksmith to make a sword, then use [Sword Kinship] to permanently boost its stats. There was a chance that he could layer the [Sword Kinship] and [Hone] on a sword at once, but the issue was that he didn¡¯t want to gamble on being able to do it. It was important for him to note that if he didn¡¯t have [Sword Kinship], this probably would¡¯ve been one of the [Skills] he selected.

    After [Hone] was [Mikiri]¡­he couldn¡¯t see any problems with it. His [Skill Peak] told him it did something like improve his visual acuity, but it seemed there was more to it than that, as the [Skill] needed to be related in some way to swords.There were¡­several reason he could think to try and disqualify this [Skill]. He¡¯d just finished the requirements for [Beginning of a Legend], and the [Skill] he¡¯d get from that seemed like it might overlap with [Mikiri], but¡­but¡­he was curious. It wasn¡¯t good, Crimson had a track record of doing stupid things because he was curious. It just so happened that it worked out for him most of the time¡­he hope this would be one of the times.

    He selected [Mikiri] and looked at the last [Skill] on the list. [Sword Armory]. He didn¡¯t even need to think about it, he was taking this one. He really wanted to grab a [Skill] from the [Advanced-Low] category anyway, so it worked out well. Between [Mikiri] and [Sword Armory] he could select one more [Skill], so he grabbed [Parry].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Selected: [Sword Armory], [Mikiri], [Parry]

    -Confirm selection? <y><n>

    -Y

    -Confirmed.

    -Skill: [Sword Armory] has been acquired.

    -Skill: [Mikiri] has been acquired.

    -Skill: [Parry] has been acquired.

    -[Class Skill] selection is complete.

    -Title slot has been granted.

    -Title: [Unparalleled] acquired.

    -Title: [Sword Master] has been granted.

    -Notice: Admin delay on notifications has ended.

    -Notice: Admin redacted has prevented the acquisition of [Skill Reward] as a result of [Sword Mastery] Max.

    -Notice: Admin redacted has an offer once all other alerts have been completed.

    -Notice: Admin redacted has removed the stop placed on [Sword Mastery], [Breakthrough], [Evolution], and [Fusion] can now proceed without [Skill Reward] acquisition.

    -Notice: Excess data from [Class] acquisition has been applied to [Sword Mastery].

    -Benchmark reached!

    -[Sword Mastery] can advance!

    -Select advancement:

    , <Evolution>

    -Notice: [Fusion] cannot be selected at this time.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson grinned. It had been a small gamble, but he was right, there was something after [Sword Mastery]!

    He eyed his options carefully, [Breakthrough] would grant him a better version of the [Sword Mastery Skill]. That was it. Something like [Greater Sword Mastery]. However, despite the simplicity, it was the better option of the two - for now. If he evolved it, it would probably become something interesting. Maybe it would turn into a [Skill] for [Virrak Tau], the fighting style Alois taught him. Maybe it would be a [Skill] for [Twin Steps], one of his better fighting styles. Who was to say? The issue with that is that his end goal wasn¡¯t [Virrak Tau]. His goal with his [Sword Mastery] was to learn from all the best fighting styles out there to create his own. Choosing the more exciting option here would just knee cap him.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Breakthrough

    -Confim? <y><n>

    -Y

    -Analyzing¡­

    -Skill Breakthrough!

    -Skill: [Sword Mastery] has become [Advanced Sword Mastery]!

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    -Title: [Sword Master] resonates with the new [Skill]

    -Title: [Sword Master] becomes [Sword of the Forgotten Path]

    -Error, data allocation for User is not sufficient.

    -Contacting Admin.

    -Waiting¡­

    -Waiting¡­

    -Waiting¡­

    -Another Rizvim has been determined to be necessary.

    -Rizvim: [Madit] has been applied.

    -[Madit]: Spells cannot be acquired as [Skills].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson was Lv.1, and already up to two Rizvim? He was getting more unique with every passing second. Compared to Alois¡¯ [Orlach], this was nothing. Not only that, but it probably didn¡¯t do anything to actually affect him. He cast spells in a fundamentally different way than everyone else, meaning he was already incompatible with [Spell Skills]. In retrospect, this was an obvious fact. The requirement to learn a Spell as a [Skill] was to study it to the max level - master it, in other words. Crimson had done so with several spells. From [Magic Light] to [Lesser Healing] he had met the requirements forever and a day ago, yet hadn¡¯t learned a Spell as a [Skill]. He could understand not learning some of them, it typically wasn¡¯t worth it to turn [Skills] like treatment into [Skills], but still, with the breadth of spells that he had, not having a single [Skill] for any of them was odd.

    Considering that, there was a certain amount of irony in the fact that the [Rizvim] that should have been detrimental to him was almost irrelevant. He might¡¯ve had a worse opinion of it recently, were it not for [Orlach] guaranteeing that everything else seemed like no big deal in comparison to the playful slap that was [Madit].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Quest: [Beginning of a Legend] complete!

    -Reward: [Ul Byrn]

    -Skill: [Ul Byrn] has been set.

    -Admin redacted: And with that, the rest of the alerts have been finished.

    -Admin redacted: I have a proposal for you.

    -Quest: [Healing the Soul]

    -Requirements:

    -Extend the life of Alois 0/1

    -Heal Rhea¡¯s condition 0/1

    -Time Limit: 5 Days

    -Failure Conditions: Requirements not met in time limit. The death of Alois.

    -Reward: Removal of a maxed [Skill]. A [Skill]. The name of Admin redacted.

    -Punishment: Excess Data will be removed. [Sword Mastery Skill Reward] will proceed as normal, quality will be forcibly reduced. Alois¡¯ death.

    -Admin redacted has forced the user to accept the [Quest].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crap. This was worse than the Rizvim. He immediately threw himself to his feet and began to sprint down the mountain to the den. He didn¡¯t know which of the gods had reached out to him while hiding their identity, he could narrow it down if he wanted, but rather than waste time doing that it was better to try and heal Alois and Rhea. The reward should be proportional to the punishment, but losing one of his maxed [Skills] was brutal. He could only hope that whatever [Skill] he got as a reward would be a sufficient replacement for it.

    [Advanced Sword Mastery] was safe, which was a relief, as were the other [Skills] he learned today. The ones in danger were his [Mana] related [Skills], as well as [Intermediate Linguist], [Advanced Calligraphy], and [Sword Kinship]. The hardest one to replace would be [Sword Kinship], so he could only pray that it wouldn¡¯t be the one taken from him.

    Reaching the edge of the cliff, he threw himself off without hesitation and used his [Footwork Skill] as a makeshift landing technique. He¡¯d previously hurt himself every time he made this jump, so the fact that he hadn¡¯t taken any damage was a great sign as it didn¡¯t slow him down.

    He burst into the den causing Rhea, Nav, and a pair of their guests - the dwarf and his son - to jump to their feet in surprise. Alois was a beat later. Crimson could see that whatever treatment he had applied so they could spar had worn off. He was forced to react as Rhea threw the knife she was holding at him right as she stood. It looked like an instinctive response to a threat, so he didn¡¯t hold it against her as he caught it, point first, aimed directly at his right eye. It was really easy to see when and where it would hit him, and the reason was readily apparent.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -Skill: [Mikiri] 1/10 ¡ª> 2/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Ignoring the [Skill] alert, Crimson pointed at Alois with the hand not holding the knife, breathing slightly heavily, and said, ¡°You need to come with me, immediately. I just got a [Quest] from the gods and it has a very strict time limit. I need every inch of your help!¡±

    Alois responded, ¡°Hold on, what is that [Quest], and why do you need my help?¡±

    A bittersweet expression crossed Crimson¡¯s face, and he said, ¡°it¡¯s to fulfill my end of our bargain in a short time. The punishment is severe, so we don¡¯t have any time to waste.¡±

    Alois stared at him with a heavy expression, then said, ¡°if you¡¯re trying to hold up our bargain, then I want you to start with my daughter.¡±

    Crimson froze, then sat back to think about it. He¡¯d already had a taste of what it was like interacting with Alois¡¯ mana, but he didn¡¯t have any for Rhea. Theoretically, with her being younger, it shouldn¡¯t be as bad. So he could try practicing on her, then treat Alois. The issue with doing it that way is that Alois wouldn¡¯t agree to using his daughter as a guinea pig. The other issue was that they¡¯ve both said that Rhea¡¯s condition is worse than Alois¡¯ was at her age, so she might be harder to treat for unexpected reasons.

    Rather than wasting time thinking about it, Crimson said instead, ¡°Then both of you come up to the training spot. I¡¯ll look at both of you. My [Quest] is to help you both, not just Rhea. I need to see what kind of conditions you are both in to best help you both.¡±

    Alois agreed, and the three of them left Nav to play host after Crimson returned the knife and went back up to the training spot.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Rhea had grown up knowing pain. Her joints ached and creaked from the time she was three. She had found it very easy to get hurt, whether that be bruises or breaks, and her stamina had always been extremely poor.

    She¡¯d developed a love of cooking because her tongue and her taste were one of the few things that didn¡¯t hurt her. It also became a way to help her ailing father, so she was glad to do it.

    She hated the gods, she hated this world, she hated her pain, and she hated the hope she now felt.

    She was flat on her stomach, and the most unpleasant sensation she¡¯d ever felt pervaded her entire body. From the tips of her toes to the top of her ears and the end of her tail, she felt like a presence was pushing on everything. It was almost like the sensation she felt when she was nervous, but rather than being just in her gut, it was in her entire body. Unpleasant beyond measure, she could only whimper pathetically.

    There was some comfort in the fact that it didn¡¯t seem comfortable for the invader either, she could hear Crimson biting back low groans, and cussing a few times. She hadn¡¯t heard him cuss no matter how difficult training became, but now, he was swearing up a low storm. She felt slightly less guilty about thoughtlessly throwing a knife at him after hearing all that.

    He moved back and forth between her and Father a few times, Father opting to sit with crossed legs and letting Crimson touch his back. It worked better for him, she knew he was tougher than she was, and was strong enough to not run from the invasion. If she wasn¡¯t pinned to the ground - sometimes with Father gently pinning her there - she would¡¯ve done anything she could to get away from the invasion.

    They were there for hours, into the dead of night. Eventually, Crimson announced that they were done for the night. Twitching a little bit from the memory of the unpleasant sensation, she stood and was surprised to find that actually, it was easy to move. In fact, it was extremely easy to move. She made a fist with both hands, and didn¡¯t feel the usual sensation of her joints creaking in protest. She jumped a few times. Her knees didn¡¯t scream.

    Whirling around she tried to ask a question, but was cut off before she could ask it by Crimson, who said, ¡°No, you¡¯re not healed. It¡¯s just a temporary treatment. I¡¯ve been experimenting with different methods to treat your condition, so let me tell you guys what¡¯s going on.¡±

    He sat down on the ground, clearly tired, and resumed speaking, ¡°Speaking frankly, I think Alois will be dead within the week if I can¡¯t figure out a permanent solution.¡±

    Rhea immediately panicked, but Father placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her from acting out. She looked up at Father, hoping he would tell her it wasn¡¯t true, but he shot down her hopes with a tearful expression.

    Crimson continued, ignoring their grief, ¡°I have two reasons to believe that this is the case. The first is that it is one of the punishments for failing the [Quest] I¡¯ve been given, the second is a result of the investigation I just performed. Let me tell you a bit about what I saw as I was investigating your conditions.

    Alois, I would describe your mana as being like a swamp. It¡¯s brackish, full of rotten mana, and congealed. Because you¡¯re older than Rhea, and have had this condition for much longer, your mana has settled in this corrupted state and is very difficult for me to move. Around your [Mana Pool] is where it¡¯s the worst. It¡¯s like there¡¯s a thick shell of stone around your [Mana Pool], and getting access to look closer at it is difficult, but I managed to use the technique from our earlier spar to dig in a little more and take a look. It also explains why you were given [Orlach]. Even without that [Rizvim], you wouldn¡¯t have been able to learn active [Skills] to begin with.

    Speaking to the second reason why I think you¡¯re going to die soon, frankly,¡± Crimson said with a grimace, ¡°It look¡¯s like your [Mana Pool] is about to pop.¡±

    ¡°Pop?!¡± Alois and Rhea said in unison.

    He nodded, ¡°Yes, pop. The [Void Affinity] has been eating away at your [Mana Pool] for decades now, the only reason it hasn¡¯t killed you sooner is the fact that increasing your level also reinforces your entire being, in other words, increasing your level made your [Mana Pool] more resistant to the effects of [Void]. It was a race between the [Void] and your level to keep it from killing you, but now that you¡¯ve stopped, it¡¯s made some serious progress. There¡¯s a few places where it¡¯s about to pass into the [Mana Pool]. I broke it up a bit especially in those weakened places, but I couldn¡¯t do much yet.

    Now,¡± he said, ¡°Before I continue talking about Alois¡¯ condition, let¡¯s talk about what Rhea¡¯s is like.¡±

    Given the shock she¡¯d just received from hearing the news about Father, Rhea sat down cross-legged across from Crimson and Father followed her lead.

    ¡°While Alois¡¯ mana is like a swamp, Rhea¡¯s is more like a deep, dark fog. You also have build up around your [Mana Pool], but it was so laughably easy to break through it¡¯s hardly worth mentioning. Quantity wise, Rhea has far more [Void Affinity] than Alois.¡±

    He turned to Father, ¡°What are your [Mana] and [Void Affinities] at?¡±

    Father responded, ¡°4 in [Mana] and 6 in [Void].¡±

    ¡°Pretty much the minimum bar to have this condition,¡± Crimson muttered in thought.

    He continued, ¡°Rhea has at least a 4 in [Mana] and a 7 in [Void]. If this were [Water] and [Fire] instead, it would be something to praise her for, but in this case it is killing her just like it¡¯s killing you, and it¡¯s doing so even faster.¡±

    Rhea knew that she was dying already, but hearing it from someone else was a bit shocking.

    Crimson glanced at her, ¡°When is your birthday?¡±

    Worried, Rhea responded, ¡°In two weeks.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s good that my quest deadline is within that period. Here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to try and do: we are going to try and change Rhea¡¯s [Affinities]. There¡¯s nothing I can do about Alois¡¯ [Affinities] - it¡¯s too late for him, and I don¡¯t know any [Rituals] to bring a Rank 4 [Mana] to a Rank 5 - so we¡¯ll need a stop gate method for him. I can try alleviate his condition and if I succeed, you¡¯ll be able to live a fair bit longer. How long? I don¡¯t know, but hopefully a decade or two.¡±

    Rhea and Father spoke over each other, Rhea asked about him, and he asked about her.

    Crimson held up a hand to stop them both, and spoke, ¡°To answer Alois¡¯ question, all we have to is bring Rhea¡¯s [Mana] up to Rank 5. We need to do this before she gets her [Blessing] and these values are locked in. My basic idea is to ¡®dope¡¯ her with [Mana] so the [Blessing] locks her in at least at Rank 5. Her [Affinity] for [Void] wouldn¡¯t be as much of an issue if it weren''t for her [Antithesis]. We solve that problem, her condition solves itself. She¡¯ll probably still get a [Rizvim] though. Additionally, I don¡¯t know if the damage that has already been done can be healed.

    ¡°To answer Rhea¡¯s question, Alois¡¯ [Affinities] are locked in, I don¡¯t know how to change them, and we don¡¯t have time to research possible [Rituals] to help him, so I¡¯m going to try and create a shield around his [Mana Pool]. [Mana Pools] are more robust than hearts, even the small interference I did while investigating allowed some of the damage to heal, so if we can shield his [Mana Pool] from the surrounding [Void], then he should survive a bit longer.¡±

    Rhea sat back, stunned and hopeful at the news. Crimson was very obviously worried about Father, and she was extremely grateful for that. The way he spoke, he seemed to believe that curing her would almost be no big deal. Father was his pressing concern, and for that, she couldn¡¯t help but hate the hope surging in her chest.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to borrow you again tomorrow, Rhea,¡± Crimson said, ¡°I have a potential solution to work over, but working on Alois is too hard, so I¡¯m going to use you for practice. I think I can use the same trick for both of you, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll even work.¡±

    Rhea tilted her head, ¡°What¡¯s the solution?¡±

    Crimson said, ¡°I¡¯m going to try and create a layer of [Mana] from your own [Mana Pools] to surround the real thing. Essentially, I¡¯m trying to artificially increase the size of your [Mana Pool].¡±

    Then they would have to find out if that was even possible. Anything, if Father could live even a day longer.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity¡¯s oldest memory was being carried by her sobbing mother as their home forest burned. She didn¡¯t remember the name of her birthplace, but she couldn¡¯t forget the cause of its destruction: a [Dungeon Break], creatures of [Fire] and [Magma] rampaging as they burned the village, the forest, and everyone fighting them.

    Elves had extremely bad compatibility with fire, and the [Dungeon Breaks] they¡¯d dealt with up to that point had been of a much lower level and a lot used the [Life Affinity], an [Affinity] they weren¡¯t weak to at the very least, so it had been believed that the area was safe. Many Elves had settled the area, building the largest Elf community on the continent.

    After the attack, they¡¯d scattered in all directions. Verity¡¯s clan and a few others banded together to settle the [Barren Wastes], and a [Class] that had been appreciated only as art previously - [Life Weaver] - had become necessary for survival.

    When she¡¯d turned 16, their little village had grown to a big enough size that they faced their first [Natural Dungeon]. Verity¡¯s first [Class], [Martial Artist], had been a rebellious result of her deciding to go challenge the Lv.5 dungeon. It was something she¡¯d chosen in the spur of the moment because she¡¯d grown up getting in fist fights with other boys in her little village as they tried to bully her friend.

    She¡¯d needed to be save from the dungeon in the end, but no-one had died, and she¡¯d reached Lv.6 in just a day. A pace fast enough to be worthy of legends. It was also the day she¡¯d earned the [Skill] that would later [Evolve] to become her second name: [Gusting Blow].

    It was then strange that her current position was as opposite to impulsive as one could possibly get. She¡¯d taken advice, spent long periods of time thinking, and had engaged in a lot of preparation.

    She¡¯d recently suffered a set back, one of the items she¡¯d purchased to increase her [Affinity] for [Holy] had been stolen right out in front of her, and she¡¯d been thanked for it. While that had shocked her, after getting a long night¡¯s sleep, all she could think about was how angry she was. A lot of impulsive behavior from her youth¡­and even recently, had been a result of her desire to help others and be active. She hated feeling useless, she hated being trapped, and she hated being useless. Did she mention that she hated being useless?

    She¡¯d decided to use that feeling to act, so first thing the next morning she found herself very publicly bowing to the ground to ask the Guild Receptionist Emma, for a favor. She needed Rei to get her that [Holy Crystal] as soon as possible, and the monster they needed to hunt so happened to use the [Holy] and [Corrupt] affinities - just like she swore that the goblin¡¯s offspring Damus used. Who in Falst had the highest level [Purity Affinity Class]? Emma. At Lv.40, with [Skills] that made her healing effective even for those more than 10 levels above her, she was the most effective party member to help Rei.

    Verity¡¯s pride didn¡¯t matter in the face of being useless, so she made this heartfelt plea as obviously as possible to demonstrate her seriousness.

 Chapter 38: Verityéˆ¥æªš Efforts

    Chapter 38: Verity¡¯s Efforts

    Seeing Verity bowed to the ground as she was, Emma took a few seconds to respond to the shock.

    ¡°That request of yours, what did you want to ask me to do so badly?¡±

    Verity turned her head to the side and peaked up at Rhea with [Aural Reading]. She seemed pretty open to the suggestion, so she sat back on her heels and looked at Rhea without getting up, ¡°I need to ask you to team up with High Priestess Rei for a dungeon run to the [Hallowed Graveyard]. She has a tank already, but they want to hunt [Hellbound Exorcists], even a low level [Purification] spell would be enough to deal severe damage to a monster like that. So we need your help, you¡¯re the only one I can think of who might know that spell.¡±

    Verity heard her mutter in a low voice, ¡°[Holy Crystals], huh? Interesting, wonder if Crimson is up to something¡­¡±

    She spoke up immediately, ¡°This isn¡¯t a request from Crimson, its one from me.¡±

    Emma looked at her in surprise, then blushed a bit, ¡°sorry, I wasn¡¯t aware you could hear me.¡±

    Verity watched as she glanced around the room, all eyes from the Adventurers there were glued to her as she knelt before Emma. Some went as far as to crane necks or stand on chairs to get a better view.

    Emma spoke after the glance, ¡°let¡¯s speak upstairs, where we can have a bit more privacy.¡±

    After leaving the reception desk to Sherry, they walked up to the third floor and walked in an office. There were wall to wall shelves full of paperwork, and a large pile on the desk as well, but everything was covered in a fine layer of dust - like it hadn¡¯t been touched in a year or two.

    Emma clumsily cleared a stack of paper from a chair and offered it to Verity. She stepped over the dropped papers, and delicately took a seat in the chair that immediately complained about her weight. It looked like the only thing holding it together was illusion magic, and that a stiff breeze could knock it over.

    Emma then cleared a space for herself on the desk, then looked back at Verity, ¡°Okay, you¡¯re after [Holy Crystals] since you¡¯re hunting [Hellbound Exorcists], unless you¡¯re after their [Skill Stone]?¡±

    Verity shook her head, ¡°No, your first guess was right. I¡¯m after [Holy Crystals]. I need one to get my [Class].¡±

    There was some confusion in her aura, but it suddenly cleared and was replaced by surprise, followed by a cry from Emma, ¡°are there rituals that make [Classes] more powerful?¡±

    She hesitated, decided being honest was the best move, then said, ¡°sort of, I¡¯m after a [Ritual] to increase my [Affinity] for [Holy], I read about it in a book, and I¡¯m hoping that increasing my [Affinities] will help me with getting a good healing/support [Class].¡±

    Eventually, Emma ventured to say, ¡°so this really is a request from you, not Crimson?¡±

    Verity nodded.

    Emma sighed, then said, ¡°well, thank you for being honest with me. I know it would¡¯ve been easy for you to take advantage of my friendship with Crimson.¡±

    She had been keenly aware of the issue, and that was precisely why she was emphasizing as much as possible that it was her request. It was important for her to do everything she could on her own before turning to others. In this situation, she had to demonstrate her resourcefulness to Crimson. She would be a useful party member, she just hadn¡¯t the opportunity to show him yet.

    She kept quiet, typically she would prefer to respond and be chatty, but this wasn¡¯t the time for that.

    Emma stared at her for a while, then asked, ¡°Verity, I understand why you want the [Holy Crystal], but why didn¡¯t you just buy one?¡±

    Verity gritted her teeth, then said, ¡°because the last one I bought was stolen out from under my nose by Priest Damus.¡±

    ¡°Damus¡­the Truth Devotee?¡± asked Emma.

    ¡°Yes, him. He hates Crimson and because we¡¯re in the same party, he has a vendetta against me too. I still don¡¯t know how he did it, but he manipulated the records and took my [Holy Crystal] to offer to the God of Truth. Not even High Priestess Rei knows how he got away with it.¡±

    Emma sat back in thought, ¡°this is news to me, why hasn¡¯t he been punished yet?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I mean when I say that Rei doesn¡¯t know how he got away with it. By all accounts, he¡¯s skirted every inch of his oaths to finagle the truth.¡±

    Emma let out a low sigh, ¡°since you¡¯re the one asking, I can¡¯t do this for free. What can you offer me?¡±

    Verity quietly reached into her inventory and pulled out a staff. It was one of her old party member¡¯s equipment. One of the few items she hadn¡¯t sold after giving up her [Class], it was the only thing that she could offer Emma that would be worth her time.

    She looked at it for a long moment, rubbing her thumbs gently over it, then proffered it to Emma on open palms.

    ¡°This is a Lv.45 staff, it should have a market value in the several hundred thousands of Royals. Should be enough to cover things, and if you don¡¯t want to use it, then you can just sell it.¡±

    Emma stared at it in shock. Verity knew she¡¯d seen it before, and knew why it had ended up in her possession.

    She shook her head to snap herself out of confusion, then said to Verity, ¡°I can¡¯t accept this. If you¡¯re serious, you could just sell the staff and buy a new [Holy Crystal], there should be no need to just give it to me.¡±

    Looking back down at the staff, Verity responded as matter of factly as she could manage, ¡°It¡¯s a Lv.45 staff for healing [Classes]. I might be able to find a buyer - especially in Falst, and I might be able to sell it for a lot, but¡­I can¡¯t bear to treat this staff so callously. You¡¯re the only one I know and can trust to take up this staff, and if you can¡¯t just ¡®take it¡¯ from me, then just hold onto it until I¡¯m a high enough level to use it.

    One [Holy Crystal] for renting a Lv.45 staff? That seems quite fair to me, but what matters, is you.¡±

    Their eyes met, and Verity watched her. It went unsaid, but there was another reason she needed Emma. Certainly, she could just buy another [Holy Crystal], but the issue wasn¡¯t the amount of money she had, it was the stock. There was no telling how long it would take for another [Holy Crystal] to hit the market, and even less certainty that she¡¯d be able to snatch it up. She¡¯d managed it the first time because of her affiliation with the Temple, and while Rei was a reliable ally, until they found out how that goblin Damus stole her [Holy Crystal], she would be very cautious about dealing with the Temple.

    Emma spoke, ¡°If it¡¯s just a rental agreement, then I accept.¡±

    Verity nodded, then they both spoke at the same time, ¡°let¡¯s get this in writing.¡±

    Verity grinned, ¡°Crimson?¡±

    Emma grinned back, ¡°Crimson.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It had been eight days since Crimson left for Lupaken, and Verity showed her face for the second day in a row at the Temple. She¡¯d just finished negotiations with Emma, now she just needed to report to Rei, and see if an idea she¡¯d been nursing had merit.

    She grabbed a [Priestess] as she walked by and asked where she could find Rei, only to be informed that she was otherwise occupied. Verity nodded, then asked her to pass along a message to Rei, telling her that she had a visitor waiting in her office.

    Winding her way through the grand hall, then various hallways, she found her self experiencing confusion that slowly turned to suspicion. Where was¡­everyone? There was no area of the Temple that was devoid of people, and yet, she hadn¡¯t seen anyone for the past few minutes.

    Following her instincts, she started walking more quietly in a slight crouch. She opened up her senses as much as possible, straining her ears and looking every way she could to assess the situation. She further utilized her [Aural Reading] to survey the area. Even if a person was being subtle, most low level [Stealth Skills] wouldn¡¯t be able to hide their Aura, so Verity would know immediately the second someone entered her sight.

    Empty and quiet, she cautiously continued her journey to Rei¡¯s office, and heard the first sound other than her own breathing. Rustling, cabinets opening, paper, and heavy steps. Whoever was in there was banking on there not being anyone around to catch them.

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    Verity weighed her options, then mentally said, ¡®whatever,¡¯ and burst into the room as casually and noisily as possible. It would be nice if she could pretend to be more surprised, but she couldn¡¯t.

    The person rummaging through the room was Damus.

    He jerked around to look at her from a safe that was hidden in the wall. She saw a glint of metal as something was slipped into his pocket. She could tell that it wasn¡¯t money, no Royal looked like that despite their varied appearances, but she hadn¡¯t gotten enough of a look to tell.

    They immediately reached a stalemate, Verity wasn¡¯t sure how to act, since a direct confrontation might result in her death, but she couldn¡¯t pretend she hadn¡¯t seen anything.

    Thinking quickly Verity said, ¡°Oh, Priest Damus? Did your wife send you here to grab something for her?¡±

    That obviously wasn¡¯t the case, but if she provided him with an excuse, they could both walk away from this situation. He might not kill her even if she directly called him on it, in fact, it was highly unlikely that he¡¯d even hurt her. However, likely is not the same thing as certainty.

    Better to get away safe, even if it meant possibly being on the back foot for a future encounter.

    Damus immediately grabbed the excuse she spoon-fed him, straightened and said, ¡°I was merely grabbing her journal for her, we are conducting a rather important ceremony today, and her duties require her to remain.¡±

    What a load of griffin dung.

    Even as he triumphantly held up the journal that he grabbed from the safe, Verity could see the deep guilt and nervousness in his [Aura]. She didn¡¯t even need that to see how poorly he was lying¡­but how was he lying?

    Wait¡­half truths. It was obvious in this situation.

    He had grabbed the journal right before she spoke to her, meaning that he could safely use the past tense with out giving away what he was actually doing. He didn¡¯t actually answer her question, so Rei didn¡¯t send her, but the rest of his statement was probably true. It would explain why the hallways were so empty, as well as why now would be a good timing for him to investigate her room.

    ¡°What about you,¡± he asked, breaking her out of her thoughts, ¡°why are you here?¡±

    Verity could lie, but unlike him, she didn¡¯t need to in this situation.

    ¡°High Priestess Rei and I have business. We¡¯ve been trying to sort out the situation with the [Holy Crystal].¡±

    In a flash of brilliance, she added, ¡°In fact, would you mind helping her out with it? I know it was a problem of the records, but Rei has promised to replace it, and it would be dangerous if she was to go into the [Hallowed Graveyard] alone to hunt [Hellbound Exorcists]. I image she could use all the help she can get!¡±

    Damus gave her a frosty smile, then said, ¡°if the situation permits me, then I suppose I could lend my assistance¡­¡±

    Verity responded with a big grin, ¡°Great! I¡¯ll let Rei know you¡¯re on board.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no what I¡­¡± he started to say, before she cut him off.

    ¡°It really means a lot to me that you¡¯re going to help Rei get the [Holy Crystal] for me. I really need it for a [Ritual], and I have no idea when I would be able to buy another!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­yes¡­well, I act according to the situation.¡±

    Verity nodded, and he made an excuse before making a hasty retreat. It would¡¯ve been nice if she had a [Skill] for picking pockets so she could get back what was stolen, but she had to let it go.

    She settled into wait for Rei, and pulled out one of the Spellbooks she¡¯d been studying. She¡¯d been making good progress as of late, and while she¡¯d been thrown out of the groove by the [Holy Crystal] incident, she decided to mimic a Crimson habit by studying at every possible bit of down time.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity¡¯s conversation with Rei went well, and she successfully abused her authority and her marital status to drag Damus along to the [Hallowed Graveyard] the next day. As such, she found herself returning the favor, and rifling through Damus¡¯ office.

    She wasn¡¯t going to let Damus off easily, so she¡¯d been trying to think of a plan to get back at him. The only thing she could think of was to get him out of the way so she could do some investigation, which was the idea she¡¯d wanted to run by Rei.

    Since he had successfully ¡®agreed,¡¯ to Verity¡¯s proposition, she used Rei¡¯s position as his wife and his superior to force him out of the temple for a bit. Rei provided her with a reasonable excuse to snoop around, cleaning and organizing stuff in the offices of the higher ranking [Priests]. It would let her do to Damus, what he¡¯d done to Rei.

    While it was both a moment of luck, and a moment of brilliance, Verity wasn¡¯t one to overlook an unexpected lucky drop. She was very grateful to Damus for being such a goblin, or none of this would¡¯ve worked out.

    To aid in her snooping task, Rei loaned her a very rare and very expensive artifact of the God of Truth, a [Record of All Things]. It was a weakened version of the original, as it had once been a [Skill]. The previous owner was a man who was simultaneously [Elder Priest] and a [Champion] of the God of Truth that had died some time ago.

    Verity, of course, only knew this because Rei had told her while strongly cautioning her to be careful with it. It would be extremely difficult to destroy, but it was a desirable target for any thief.

    The original version, back when it was a [Skill], was far more impressive, recording everything the user saw and interacted with, but this version could only copy words that were pressed up against its pages it did maintain the property of ¡®endless¡¯ pages though. As such, while Verity was organizing documents on Damus¡¯ desk, she started by touching each document to a new blank page, one by one. The words would then appear, but each letter would be backwards. She didn¡¯t know why it worked that way, but Rei had told her not to worry about it.

    Rei had told her that they would be gone for four days at the shortest, so she had time to act like she was properly doing her job - she was actually organizing the office to be fair, it wasn¡¯t like she was just pretending to clean.

    She was very grateful for the time, as it also gave her time to study magic on her own. Something broke in her brain, and things started making more sense, so she¡¯d actually started increasing her pace - despite the fact that she was studying less.

    She¡¯d been instructed by Crimson to master a total of 6 spells, but because of the issues with both the [Holy Crystal] and the [Purity Crystal], she decided that she¡¯d need to master a few more. Something she¡¯d learned from Crimson was how every related [Skill], [Affinity], and [Title] would play a role in determining the [Grade] of her [Class].

    Before, they¡¯d settled on using [Rituals] to supplement her [Affinities], meaning she should reach the bar for a [High Grade Class], but she couldn¡¯t afford to force Crimson to wait while she secured all the ingredients in the event, so she shouldn¡¯t forget that the [Affinities] were a means to an end, and not the end itself. If she couldn¡¯t secure the ingredients for the [Rituals] in time to get a [Class] at the same time as Crimson, then she would still need to take up the [Class].

    Crimson would probably rather she wait, their goal was a [High Grade Class], so he wouldn¡¯t accept anything less than that, so her plan was to learn more spells to add to the pile and make up for the loss in [Affinity]. Even if she managed to secure the ingredients in time, this new goal would only be for her good. As Crimson always told her: ¡°the gods reward effort.¡±

    Unfortunately, she had lost a lot of Rei¡¯s assistance. While she didn¡¯t have any bonuses to magic as a result of being lionkin, she had a good understanding of spells, and Verity had frequently turned to her to get unstuck. She still needed to pay Rei back for all the books she¡¯d rented, so she was extremely indebted to Rei for all she¡¯d done.

    However, there was still an issue Verity was facing: defining her [Class]. She needed to take everything that she¡¯d been studying and turn it into something cohesive. She knew for sure that she¡¯d get¡­she was expecting to get a [Life Crystal] about at the start of the tournament, so it would be for the best if she used [Life] as the foundation for the [Class].

    Her original list of six spells to learn in preparation for her [Class] were: [Lesser Healing] - for each affinity -, [Lesser Barrier], [Holy Purge], and [Detoxify]. She¡¯d finished mastering each of the [Lesser Healing], and had learned the first level of [Holy Purge]. [Detoxify] was at Lv.3, and [Lesser Barrier] was at Lv.8. She¡¯d selected all of the most basic [Skills] for each category of [Healing Class], so, since she was already extending her goal from 6 to 9, it would also be a good opportunity to define her [Class]. She could learn [Healing] for the [Life] element, [Rejection] for [Holy], and [Barrier] for [Purity].

    In order from most important to least important, [Life], [Purity], and [Holy] would receive her focus. Part of the decision was her own taste in [Affinities], part of it was the current situation, and part of it was simply that she thought that [Holy] wasn¡¯t as good for a as the others. [Priest] was a healer [Class], but it focused a lot on the offensive nature of [Holy Light], the innate use of [Holy]. Verity didn¡¯t need to be hurting the enemy, that job would be left to others in her party, so it was better to focus on things that would let her help them.

    She¡¯d originally asked Rei for [Absorption Barrier], [Healing Bolt], and [Lesser Undead Purification], but it was better to change to the other ones. [Healing] was a better quality version of [Lesser Healing], while [Healing Bolt] was a variant of [Lesser Healing], it had range, but it wasn¡¯t that much more difficult to learn. [Healing] would be, it was a spell above what even Crimson had learned. [Absorption Barrier] had a similar problem, it was just a variant of [Lesser Barrier] that was better suited to blocking magic. [Rejection] was where her decision was the most interesting. [Lesser Undead Purification] was a type of combat [Skill] for [Priests]. It had a very narrow range of targets, and it would make her more combat focused - something she didn¡¯t want.

    [Rejection] was technically a combat [Skill] as well, but it¡¯s effect was to knock back enemies that were too close. It had a fast casting time, but in exchange it didn¡¯t do any damage. That made it perfect for Verity¡¯s purposes.

    Breaking herself out of her reverie, Verity returned to sorting documents. While she was to focus on the three main office of the Temple, that of Rei¡¯s, Damus¡¯, and a third belonging to someone she didn¡¯t know, she still had a lot of work to do.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It took 5 days for Rei and co to return, [Holy Crystal] in hand. Verity and Rei agreed to let the party members take sole ownership of the other drops - depending on the agreement she would have been entitled to more, but they hadn¡¯t done a good job hammering out everything in writing - and Rei even agreed to knock a small amount off Verity¡¯s rental agreement.

    She and Rei made the exchange, Verity received the [Holy Crystal], and Rei received the [Record of all Things] containing all of the information Verity had cheerfully pilfered without trying very hard to hide her actions. It would take her some time to analyze everything she¡¯d recovered - especially since the letters were backwards - but hopefully they¡¯d get something to stick it to Damus.

    She¡¯d made a lot of progress in other areas too.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Your [Skill] has grown

    -[Mana Influence] 3/10 becomes [Mana Influence] 5/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    She¡¯d also managed to master [Lesser Barrier] and [Detoxify], but [Holy Purge] was still only at Lv.6. She¡¯d still have the remaining three spells after that one.

    Finally getting her hand on a [Holy Crystal] wasn¡¯t the only stroke of fortune, a [Purity Crystal] had just appeared on the market, apparently a [Dungeon Break] had occurred and so the market was flooded with drops of various [Affinities] and ranks. She¡¯d managed to get a very good deal on it, and bought it for 8,000 Royals. It would¡¯ve taken her 20,000 or more to outbid the princess, so she was very happy with this result.

    Further,

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -The gods have seen your efforts.

    -You have received the [Skill]: [Magical Study]

    -[Magical Study]

    -Description: The ability to study magic. Boosts learning speed and spell retention.

    -Cost: Passive

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Despite her setbacks, Verity had corrected course on her own accord, with her own efforts. She would not be left behind when it came time to take up a [Class].

 Chapter 39: Rolling with the Punches

    Chapter 39: Rolling with the Punches

    Crimson typically needed less sleep than other people, but that was unfortunately not true for wolfkin, so first thing in the morning he was alone in the Den main room.

    He hadn¡¯t slept enough by his own standards, but he was so stressed it was hard to fall asleep to begin with. He had someone¡¯s life riding on his shoulders, and his own circumstances weren¡¯t great either. His deadline for Rhea and Alois was five days, but the deadline for the tournament registration was soon enough that to make it in time, he¡¯d have to leave by the end of tomorrow at the latest. He didn¡¯t like his odds, but even if he left after the five day time limit, he¡¯d at least be able to attend it as an audience member.

    Not ideal, but his goal was to learn from the other tournament participants, he could just keep an eye on his favorites and ask them to spar at the guild afterwards.

    Even with that back up plan in place, Crimson refused to relax. He desperately wanted to attend the tournament in person, it gnawed at him. He would give up on it if he was forced to, but he didn¡¯t want to reach that point.

    His current efforts were a result of that concern.

    As such, he was trying to figure out how to create an artificial [Mana Pool] within his own body. There were two key points he had to achieve, first: he had to create a permanent structure to contain the mana. Second: because the mana would be consumed over time by the [Void], he¡¯d need a way to replenish it from their original pool. This would likely mean that he¡¯d need to tie it in some way to the [Blessing].

    Those connections wouldn¡¯t be fully formed for Rhea until after her birthday, but since her treatment would be easier, he wasn¡¯t that worried. He was currently operating under the thought process that treating one would help the other, but Rhea would be his practice partner since Alois¡¯ treatment would require an additional step.

    Crimson already had an idea on how to address the first point, he had some experience in creating a weave of mana that could hold inert spells - like with his personally modified spell: [Healing Orb] - and it gave him ideas on where to start.

    That said, the thing that had helped him the most in determining where to start was investigating their physical conditions. Studying how [Void] and [Mana] interacted, and seeing how it suffused the body was awe inspiring. Crimson¡¯s body was structured fundamentally differently, his mana almost completely filled his body¡­or at least it did before the [Blessing] restricted him to Rank 9 [Mana].

    The difference was still stark between them. Rhinese and Verity both had veins to carry the mana through their bodies, and once he¡¯d freed it up to move, it followed those pathways with ease, but Alois completely lacked those veins. Crimson eventually found traces of them, like discovering artifacts of a dead civilization, but it had taken a while. On the other hand, Rhea still had hers, but they were being eaten away at, and likely would disappear at nearly the same time that Alois would die, were they both to go untreated.

    It explained the time limit if nothing else, as well as why he was forced to take the [Quest].

    He found that it was actually quite easy to make pockets of mana in his own body, and he could even make something that held together even if he wasn¡¯t trying too hard, but the issue was the other part of its behavior: filling it with mana after its creation.

    While he didn¡¯t need to be able to remove mana from the artificial [Mana Pool] for this specific case, it would be something he¡¯d need to revisit later.

    After three hours of experimentation, just barely before everyone else got up, he managed to create it, but¡­it was very disappointing in its current state. As he stared at the tiny, minuscule, almost imperceptible amount of mana in the artificial [Mana Pool], his focus was broken by an alert from his [Blessing].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Quest Created!

    -[Quest]: Jeffery, we need more power!

    - Requirements:

    - Expand the Artificial Mana Pool to hold the equivalent of 100 MP.

    - 1/100

    -Time Limit: N

    -Failure Condition: N

    -Reward: [Skill: Mana Puddle]

    -<Y> <N>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He had created something that was recognized at least, but holding a measly 1 MP would not be enough by a long shot.

    He inspected the weave once more, then started to fiddle with it, trying to expand the weave, but it just shattered, and the progress on the [Quest] went from 1 to 0. It only took him a minute to recreate it, but trying to hold more was very difficult. It felt like something just beyond him, so he gave up on that approach. It was deja vu.

    About a year ago, back when he¡¯d first started exploring the secret passages of Falst, he¡¯d attempted something too difficult for him: picking a magic lock by grabbing the individual pins and rotating them. He¡¯d failed, and came up with another solution: use a ¡®pin cushion¡¯ of [Mana] to grab all the pins at once.

    Because of that sensation of deja vu, he felt that there was another solution, another line he could follow. Instead of expanding the size of the current one, he made a second one, and started on working to link them together. It took a bit of time - about 20 minutes - but eventually, he got everything lined up and they combined to form a single point. The [Quest] progress went from 1 to 2.

    Emboldened, he made a third point and tried to combine it with the first two. It fought him in a way the first one hadn¡¯t, practically rebelling at the interaction. Clearly, it wouldn¡¯t work, but if it worked for just the two smaller points, it should also work for the two bigger ones. There wasn¡¯t a fundamental difference in the weave or the purpose.

    To experiment, he made a fourth little mana point and combined it with the third. His prior experience made combining them an almost instant process. Left with two points of two [Mana] each, he attempted to combine them, and just like the two smaller points, it immediately sucked together. However, this one didn¡¯t hold 4 mana, it held 5.

    By this time, everyone else had gotten up. He inadvertently ignored them, so he was surprised to be broken out of his reverie by Rhea smacking him on the head with the handle of a wooden spoon.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    He definitely wasn¡¯t a good houseguest for the meal, his focus was entirely on the fledgling [Mana Puddle] inside him, and trying to expand it. He worked and combined another four small points into a puddle that held 5, then combined the two to get a total of 25. There was definitely some kind of scaling factor for the growth, but it was one that didn¡¯t make sense. 2 and 2 to get 5, then 5 and 5 to get 25? What kind of mathematical function was this?

    He didn¡¯t have time to worry about it, but he¡¯d need to come back to it later. He also didn¡¯t have the time he needed to make another 25 MP [Mana Puddle], so unfortunately, it was the furthest he could go for the moment. He¡¯d definitely work on it after Rhea and Alois went to bed though.

    Breaking out of his reverie, he dragged Rhea up to the peak once more, this time they brought a bedroll to make things more comfortable.

    Inspecting Rhea¡¯s [Mana], he forced his way through the fog of [Void] and reached her [Mana Pool]. While he¡¯d only noted two main points about how he needed to create this artificial [Mana Pool] for Rhea previously, there was a 0th item: he had to make the [Mana Pool] with her [Mana]. His [Mana] and hers were so fundamentally incompatible that the second he stopped controlling it, her body would immediately reject it.

    While the [Void] would try to consume her [Mana], it also sought to destroy the [Void], so they would eliminate each other as time passes. Whichever has the higher quantity will win. Alois used a different method to live this long, and Crimson would be using a different solution over sheer quantity for him, but this was the essence of Rhea¡¯s issue: he needed to increase the average amount of mana that persistently remains in her body to counteract the effects of the [Void].

    First step of doing that was actually drawing her [Mana] out of its [Mana Pool]. The times he¡¯d done it previously all he¡¯d had to do was tap the [Mana Pool] and it would easily flow out, but there wasn¡¯t resistance for them. For Rhea, he had to drag it, kicking and screaming out of its [Mana Pool]. It fought him like a toddler throwing a fit.

    After a bit, he managed to wrestle a bit out, and he tried to guide it into the shape he¡¯d used for his [Mana Puddle], but it kept falling apart. He couldn¡¯t create a dense enough weave to survive the encroachment of the [Void Affinity].

    He¡¯d been working on Rhea for an hour at this point, and he realized this method wasn¡¯t going to work, not with his current methods.

    He sat back and stared at the sky while trying to think of another option. It was clearly possible to treat both Rhea and Alois - he wouldn¡¯t have been given a [Quest] for it otherwise, but that meant that either his approach was fundamentally flawed, or maybe¡­

    Maybe he wasn¡¯t strong enough.

    With a mental flick, he opened his [Blessing] and began to inspect any and every possible road he could see to improve himself.

    [Affinity]? No, he was stuck at Rank 9 until the gods figured out how to program the system to deal with Rank 10.

    [Skills]? [Sophisticated Mana Influence] and [Sophisticated Mana Sense] were the foundation that allowed him to even begin the process of treating them, but they were currently dead ends. They were still pretty far from being able to progress in any way, so there was nothing useful there.

    Other [Quests]? [Mana Puddle] might help him understand more about the problem, but it was a solution that wouldn¡¯t work for Rhea, as proven by his testing. However, there were two others.

    [Mana NERD!] would reward him with a [Title], and [Developing Magic] would reward him with the [Skill Magic Adaption].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Mana NERD!

    - Requirements:

    - Modify 10 Spells

    - 1/10

    Reward: [Title: Mana Programmer]

    Time Limit: N

    Failure Condition: N

    -Developing Magic

    - Requirements:

    - Achieve 50 INT

    - 50/50

    - Achieve 55 WIS

    - 55/55

    - Modify 5 Spells

    - 1/5

    - Modify [Healing Orb] to allow it to interact with a [Blessing]

    - 0/1

    -Reward: [Skill: Magic Adaption]

    -Time Limit: N

    -Failure Condition: N

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    While [Magic Adaption] didn¡¯t seem very useful in this case, the final requirement of learning how to interact with a [Blessing] would probably be very useful for treating Alois.

    However¡­[Mana Programmer]¡­should he gamble on it?

    As a quick experiment, he cast the [Gather Water] spell. A sphere of water slowly grew in the air, then began to drip out of the bottom. He continued to inspect the weave for a bit, then made a very simple modification by having form the shape of a flat disk and having the water fall evenly out the bottom, instead of at a single point. A small modification like this, which he would have struggled with just a short while ago, was so easy it didn¡¯t even take him a minute.

    The experiment paid off, and both of his [Quests] advanced, going from 1 to 2 modified spells recorded. Crimson had changed [Gather Water] into [Shower].

    The bar was a lot lower than he thought, this modification was so easy that he immediately tried to apply it to [Kindle], and have it make a taller fire. He succeeded, but the [Blessing] didn¡¯t count it this time.

    Question, what did he learn here? Answer, that his modifications had to fundamentally change the purpose of the spell. [Gather Water] was typically used for drinking water, it was the second most commonly learned spell in the world, but his modifications wouldn¡¯t be convenient for drinking, it would be great for watering some plants or taking a shower. It was distinct, even if the distinction was small, meaning it was worth it to gamble on [Mana Programmer].

    His slightly taller fire wasn¡¯t fundamentally different, if he could make it hotter it would probably work, but he didn¡¯t know how to do that yet.

    After some quick thinking, Crimson reused the trick he¡¯d created with his modification of [Healing Orb] to capture the flame of [Kindle] in a small sphere, then launched it into the air. He had created a [Flare] spell, and the system counted it.

    Crimson continued the process, quickly experimenting with different methods of modification to try and fulfill the requirements. [Orient] became [Track], and instead of pointing north, it would point in the direction of the highest nearby quantity of a specified [Affinity]. [Chill] and [Breeze] were combined to make [Cooling Breeze], [Warm] and [Breeze] became [Warm Breeze].

    [Spark] modified to become [Arc].

    [Erosion] and [Create Water] became [Mud].

    [Erosion] was modified again and became [Stone Cutting].

    [Kindle] and [Create Water] became [Steam].

    For the last one, Crimson sat down to inspect the points where the [Blessing] connected to his mana pool. It was very fascinating to see the structure it created around his [Mana Pool]. The mana weaves for it were so complex Crimson couldn¡¯t understand what each one did, but all the recent experience he¡¯d gained working with [Mana] now helped him understand the general flow.

    Using that understanding, he was able to piece together a spot that he would be able to interact with. Using a metaphor, Crimson was allowed in the lobby, but he didn¡¯t have the security clearance to go any further. He could pass messages through the lobby to the other parts of the building, and messages could be passed back to him, but that was it.

    The [Blessing] was extremely intelligent, all Crimson had to do was bring the connections for [Holy Orb] to that ¡®lobby¡¯ and it immediately connected.

    He stared at it in fascination. Previously, the spell would just continually heal the person it was attached to, even if they had full HP it would continually burn through its supply until it vanished, but this version was just quietly floating next to Crimson, just above and behind his right shoulder, while a beam of golden light entered his back, right over the [Mana Pool].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Quest](s) Complete!

    -Rewards: [Title: Mana Programmer], [Skill: Magic Adaption]

    -Alert: Admin Melia has an offer.

    -Quest generated

    -[Quest]: Two Become One

    -Requirements:

    -NA

    -Time Limit: N

    -Failure Condition: N

    -Reward: The [Title: Mana Programmer] and the [Skill: Magic Adaption] are removed from user. [Skill: Magic Programming].

    -<Y><N>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    There wasn¡¯t any room for hesitation for Crimson, he determined that it was infinitely better to gamble on a [Skill] over a [Title], so he accepted the deal.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Quest] Complete!

    -Removed: [Title: Mana Programmer]

    -Removed: [Skill: Magic Adaption]

    -Reward: [Skill: Magic Programming]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson immediately felt a bit woozy, but it quickly cleared with a shake of his head.

    He then immediately tried casting a spell, and between a combination of his own experiences, his senses, and [Skill Peak], he understood that he could cast spells the way he always had, or he could cast them using [Magic Programming]. The difference was small, but had a large impact.

    [Mana] fundamentally responded to his will, that was how he moved it, and both his method and [Magic Programming] used will as the basis, but where [Magic Programming] differed was in what that will was directed at. Instead of willing each individual strand into the weave, he could now just will it to take the form of a chunk of magic. He couldn¡¯t use it to create an entire spell all at once - yet -, but he could use it to build the spell one chunk at a time.

    It was like he¡¯d gone from building sand castles one grain of sand at a time, to using a mold.

    The prior amount of effort it would take him to cast one [Magic Light] now allowed him to cast ten.

    His [Mana] felt a lot more responsive now, and the effect of even simple flicks of his will felt significantly more impactful. Maybe with this, he¡¯d be able to treat Rhea and Alois.

 Chapter 40: Racing the Clock

    Chapter 40: Racing the Clock

    Crimson immediately set out to test his theory¡­or at least he¡¯d tried. Adapting all 10 of those spells had taken a fair bit of time, so Rhea had left to eat lunch, leaving Crimson all by his lonesome.

    He hadn¡¯t even noticed her leave.

    He scratched his head awkwardly, then decided to use the break for a short run. Rhea took food very seriously, and the quickest way for him to fail the [Quest] would be to bother her while she was eating, then be sent into a coma. Nav had warned him in a low voice several days back that the only time she¡¯d ever bitten him was when he attempted to drag her away from dinner. That was just a few years ago.

    That in mind, Crimson elected to run laps around the mountain peak they used for training. It had many stones and awkward angles, so it made for a fun and interesting experience to run on. As he ran, the thing he wanted to test was how effectively he could use his new spell while moving.

    If there was an area he was lacking in when it came to using spells, it was multitasking. It took him so much effort to cast even simple spells that he would freeze up to concentrate on it, so other actions were interrupted. However, with [Magic Programming], he figured he¡¯d be able to more easily perform other actions.

    ¡­Suffice it to say, he still wasn¡¯t able to multitask. It seemed like it was a long way off still, but because he was now faster at casting spells, the time he¡¯d spent frozen decreased. It was a good sign, and a token of proof that his methodology wasn¡¯t wrong.

    Rhea eventually came back holding a basket and he put an end to his run.

    ¡°Lunch,¡± she said.

    He thanked her, and took the basket and quickly wolfed it down. He didn¡¯t eat a lot under normal circumstances, but he also hadn¡¯t been able to focus on breakfast that morning, so he devoured it quickly.

    It was mid afternoon, probably about 3 or 4pm, his deadline remained tomorrow evening. The [Quest] deadline was in 4 days. ¡­While he¡¯d forgotten until this moment, tonight was actually the celebration for the Coming of Age he¡¯d been hired to scribe for, so he¡¯d probably get another hour to work on Rhea before he was forced to head down.

    He set to work as swiftly as possible, and found that his mana¡­well, previously he¡¯ had to slowly work his way through Rhea and Alois¡¯ mana. Alois¡¯ was denser, so it was harder and took longer, but Rhea¡¯s wasn¡¯t easy either - it just resisted him less. Now, he passed through the [Void] like molten metal through ice. It reacted more violently to him, acting almost like a wounded animal lashing out as it attempted to eat into his [Mana]. It was a fair response, he was trying to destroy it after all.

    The [Void] definitely wasn¡¯t sentient, in the same way that a magnet wasn¡¯t sentient, but it exhibited certain behaviors that made it feel that way. It¡¯s nature was to destroy Crimson¡¯s mana, while his nature was to destroy [Void]. They were completely incompatible in every measure.

    After Crimson was forced to stop at the hour mark, he did a quick inspection of his work. There was a lot less [Void] than before, but the amount of [Mana] remained the same. To put it in terms of [Affinity], he¡¯d managed to temporarily turn her Rank 7 [Void] into Rank 6. It wouldn¡¯t last long, he could already see it starting to build back up since there wasn¡¯t anything to hold it back, but it was a good sign that he¡¯d be able to treat her.

    Worst case scenario, he¡¯d lower her [Affinity] for [Void] without increasing her [Affinity] for [Mana]. Her quality of life would still be heavily impacted, but the severity would be minimal in comparison, so long as he could bring it down to Rank 5. His initial idea was still the best move.

    Letting Rhea up, he asked, ¡°How do you feel?¡±

    Rhea stared at her hands for a long moment, then stomped a few times. After a moment of hesitation, she took off in a sprint, following the same route Crimson had taken during his run. She was fast! Faster than he was!

    She started moving around like crazy, hopping, zig zagging, running backwards, forward rolling, and even several attempts at cartwheels. It took her a few to nail it.

    Crimson smiled fondly, it she was experiencing what he¡¯d felt the first time he¡¯d been able to walk for the first time. His love of running was derived from that selfsame feeling, and it would never change.

    Turning, he left her to it. He¡¯d need to hurry, so he sprinted down the peak. The [Healing Orb] he¡¯d created earlier was still attached to him, so while he made a mistake jumping down the cliff again, the damage was healed immediately.

    He was also reminded that it was still there. Upon inspection, it was close to falling apart, but it was impressive that it had held this long. He dismissed it intentionally, then continued to run down the mountain. Less than five minutes after he started the run down, he was passed by a streak of grey in the form of Rhea sprinting with wild abandon down the hill.

    It seemed that even for wolfkin standards, Rhea had very high stats¡­at least very high [AGI], though he¡¯d need to arm wrestle her to see if she also had more [STR] than him.

    He couldn¡¯t keep up with her, but it was great motivation, so he pushed himself even harder. He only shaved a few minutes off by the time he reached the bottom of the mountain, but considering how incremental progress with running times was, it was a great improvement.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Exertion: 1 AGI, 1 VIT rewarded!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Rhea was collapsed in a sweaty puddle by the entrance to the switchbacks. He could see a big grin on her face as he passed by, so he paused, then attached a [Healing Orb] to her. It wouldn¡¯t help her stamina, but he could see scratches and bruises from her frolicking that it would help.

    He continued, and tried to make his way to the square where the biggest banner was - the one they¡¯d burn - but he was grabbed out of nowhere by the scruff of his neck by his wolfkin guide and dragged off to a fancy looking building he hadn¡¯t visited yet.

    It was made of the same stone as everywhere else, but it had several statues on the roof and an extremely large porch. He could probably fit fifty or more people on it with ease. In the middle, there was a few decorated boxes with a blanket placed over the top, and a wolfkin girl with midnight black hair and fur sat cross legged on it. She was trying to put on an air of authority, but it was easy to tell that she felt a bit awkward. There was a large crowd of wolfkin gathered around the porch, waiting.

    Wolfkin culture typically had tables and chairs pretty low to the ground, it was common to eat while sitting on the floor on rugs, which made Alois and Rhea¡¯s den the exception. Likely because it would be harder for them to sit and stand than a more ¡®traditional¡¯ chair.

    Crimson was unceremoniously dragged up onto the porch while wolfkin stared and a few of them laughed, then dropped into a desk that was perpendicular to the ¡®throne¡¯ that Tsiva - or at least the girl he assumed was Tsiva - was sitting on. There was a stack of paper, and a host of writing implements. He¡¯d been briefed on this previously, he just needed to record what was being donated and it would later be transferred to more ¡®appropriate¡¯ paper.

    They didn¡¯t start for another twenty minutes or so, it fortunately wasn¡¯t Crimson that slowed everything down, but he chose to use that time to work on expanding his artificial [Mana Puddle]. By the time they started, he was up to 32 Mana total.

    There was an opening speech that he couldn¡¯t be bothered to listen to. Just the typical drivel at events like this, but there were some unusual points. The first was that the one giving the speech was Reah, Rhea¡¯s mom. She was the spitting image of Rhea, though she was a lot taller. She had a noble bearing, and was very popular based on the reactions from the crowd.

    The second thing that stood out was that the speech included a howling segment, and the other wolfkin joined in. Crimson had to cover his ears for that one.

    After the speech ended, part of the crowd started to form a line in front of the porch, while another part formed a circle and wolfkin of various ages started to wrestle with each other while a few others started to play instruments in the corner.

    It didn¡¯t take Crimson long to realize that he was ill suited for parties as he watched all that. Alcohol, food, and blood flowed freely at a wolfkin party.

    He didn¡¯t have long to watch, as he was forced to write at lightning speed while the people who¡¯d lined up started presenting gifts that were placed on the porch in a pile. A couple swords here, some money there, and and endless assortment of knickknacks that were useful for combat. Potions, talismans, and the like.

    Crimson was forced to move very quickly to keep up with it all, but occasionally a wolfkin would approach that was injured from the festivities. He took it upon himself to offer a [Healing Orb] to everyone who approached in a poor condition. Most accepted, and the one that refused was immediately smacked upside the head by his wife, then accepted it.

    Crimson wasn¡¯t a high level [Healer], but [Healing Orb] was derived from a spell that was still useful around Lv.30, so it was pretty effective for most of the wolfkin who approached him.

    Eventually, a trio of familiar faces approached the ¡®throne¡¯ at the same time. Alois, Reah, and Rhea approached at the same time. They were the last in line. Crimson¡¯s social skills were quite poor as he was all too aware, but even he could tell there was some kind of friction in the mood.

    Rhea held food, clearly something she¡¯d cooked herself, and both Alois and Reah had small boxes of unknown contents. Crimson recorded it all, and shot a [Healing Orb] at Rhea without asking if she wanted one. She¡¯d been wrestling, and was sporting both a cheerful grin and a broken nose.

    It was difficult to express in words how much it warmed his heart to see her playing like this. Aside from the time he¡¯d gotten to know her from Nav, she had just seemed like an irritable and stand offish person. Now that she was free of her pain, Crimson could only see himself in her. He needed his treatment to both work, and be permanent.

    Also¡­depending on what kind of [Class] she wanted, it might not be a bad idea to invite her to his party once the treatment was done.

    Alois had demonstrated how a [Rizvim] could be used as a source of power, and Crimson fully expected Rhea to get one. He had also been noticing the entire time that she was in better shape than her condition should¡¯ve allowed her to be in. She always ran with perfect form, she was extremely skilled with a knife in the kitchen, he¡¯d seen the after effects of her training with Alois, and she¡¯d successfully thrown a knife at his eye from 20 feet. That was all before he¡¯d alleviated her condition to an extent.

    Now seeing her run around, he was certain she¡¯d be an excellent ally. Crimson was the DPS of the party, Verity would be the [Healer], and he still needed a tank and a ranged fighter. That was the bare minimum for him to consider his group a balanced party. Preferably, there would be one or two other people, though he had no idea what roles they would play. Maybe a second tank or healer.

    If Rhea was interested in any of those things, he would invite her without hesitation.

    After Alois, Rhea, and Reah finished giving their gifts, Tsiva got up for the first time from her ¡®throne¡¯ and joined in the festivities. Crimson¡¯s job was done. Once they¡¯d burned that massive banner, he¡¯d be able to leave.

    He quietly remained at his desk, and kept working over his [Mana Puddle]. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t use [Magic Programming] for this, he wasn¡¯t familiar enough with the [Skill] to apply it to pure [Mana], and its intended purpose was to cast magic more easily - he was working with pure [Mana]. There was a big distinction between them.

    You can have [Mana] without having magic, but you can¡¯t have magic without [Mana]. So, while he could apply [Magic Programming] to some of his [Mana] use, he lacked the practice to use it for such a delicate task like this.

    Crimson was more familiar with the process by this point, and he had a 5 and a 2 left over from his down time, so he quickly made a pair of 1s, then combined them up the chain until he had his second 25.

    Combining the two 25s was a lot harder. There were a lot more connections he had to make and he had to hold them all in place individually. Herding cats would¡¯ve been easier, but Crimson was quite experienced at this point. He knew that he could just apply a layer of mana over the finished connections like a bandage to hold them in place.

    If the [Mana Puddles] had a physical form, it would¡¯ve looked like a silver-blue fog was slowly spreading between two spheres while they slowly pulled themselves apart.

    It took an hour, and at this point the sun was well down, Crimson managed to tie the last little bit together, and fortunately just in time, as someone clapped him on the back and disrupted his focus. If it had just been a few seconds sooner, he might¡¯ve been forced to start over and lose an hour of effort.

    Looking back, he saw Nav, who said, ¡°I hear you know magic. Do you happen to know a fire ball spell of some kind?¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Crimson tilted his head for a second, then responded, ¡°Sorta, it doesn¡¯t deal any damage, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be helpful to you.¡±

    ¡°Can it burn things?¡±

    ¡°I think so, it¡¯s similar to the spell [Kindle].¡±

    Nav nodded, then asked, ¡°would you mind lighting the banner? It¡¯s always a fight to get it lit.¡±

    Crimson glanced over and understood why. A couple [Mages] were using magic to suspend the banner in the air high over their heads. It contained all the prayers and wishes of the people, so burning it was necessary to release those wishes to the gods.

    There were very few magic users amongst the wolfkin, so it was likely that they always had to go looking for someone to light it, that pair of [Mages] were likely to be the only wolfkin with that [Class]. Crimson wasn¡¯t necessarily the best choice to do this, just the most convenient one.

    He nodded at Nav, and they shoved their way through the crows. A large circle had been formed around the area where the banner was floating, and the wolfkin were quietly watching it hang in the sky.

    Reaching the group of Rhea, Reah, Alois, and the woman of the hour Tsiva, Crimson cast [Flare], holding the spell in his hand, he said, ¡°Ready.¡±

    After a long moment, Reah turned to him and nodded, so he shot the [Flare] at the banner. It was a good thing it was such a big target, because Crimson had no experience shooting this spell with accuracy. It was even only his second time using it.

    He managed to catch some tassels at the bottom, and immediately it went alight. It seemed like they¡¯d coated it in a flammable substance to make the burning easier, which made him very grateful since he was worried that his [Flare] wouldn¡¯t be enough.

    While the crowd silently watched it burn up in the air, many of them adopting reverent or prayerful stances, Crimson worked his way back through the crowd. Popping out the other side, he began to jog back up the mountain. This was an event for the wolfkin. His job was done, so he thought it best to excuse himself. Burning the banner was just a bonus action.

    Using some [Magic Lights], Crimson climbed back up to the training area on the peak after he¡¯d finished all the switchbacks. He had finished the [Quest], which meant that-

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Quest] Complete!

    -Reward: [Skill: Mana Puddle]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He had a new [Skill] to look at.

    He inspected the [Mana Puddle] inside him, and was surprised to see that it was now attached to his [Blessing], but not his [Mana Pool]. The structure of the weave had also changed from what he¡¯d been doing before. It was slight, just a small change, but he could see that it did a few things. The first was that it was now permeable, he could both draw [Mana] from it, and add [Mana] to it. He had to do both manually, but that meant he now essentially had another reserve of [Mana], and one worth 1/5th of his current total [Mana].

    A 20% increase was not bad, but he had emptied his [Mana Pool] several times in the process, dealing with the lightheadedness that comes with emptying it like that. So it was an exchange rate of several thousand [Mana] to store 100. The efficiency was horrible, but it was worth it.

    The second thing that was important for him to notice was that the change that had been made to the weave was¡­for lack of a better word, incomplete. It was like seeing a werewolf that had only half transformed. It seemed like the [System] wanted [Mana Puddle] to be designed in a certain way, but the way he¡¯d originally designed it was fundamentally incompatible with how the [System] wanted it to be. This was very important to understand, as it provided hints that pointed to how he could make the [Mana Puddle] differently for Rhea and Alois.

    Instead of his method of tying tiny drops together into bigger ones, he now understood how to make a single [Puddle] that could expand. He further understood that he would need to make it so that it attached to the [Mana Pool]. His method required direct control of [Mana], an ability unique to him, so by connecting it to the [Mana Pool] it could pull from that source.

    With a flick, he tried casting a [Magic Light] from his new [Mana Puddle]. It didn¡¯t work. After a bit of experimentation, he found that he could pull it out of the [Puddle], then use it normally. It wouldn¡¯t behave like he hoped, but that was likely a result of his own design. He¡¯d make it to expand for Rhea and Alois. Regardless, it would still store extra [Mana], so there was no reason to complain. If he had any issues, he could just improve it over time.

    Unfortunately, that left Crimson at a dead end. There was nothing else he could train, no books to read, and no time. He would need to heal Rhea and Alois with just his current set of [Skills], so hopefully they¡¯d be enough.

    It would likely be a while before they returned, so Crimson lit up the area around him with [Magic Lights] and grabbed the [Reliable Saber] out of his bag. He needed to train his new [Skills].

    [Mikiri] would require an opponent, as would [Parry], but he still had [Sword Armory] to inspect, as well as [Footwork]. Fortunately, [Sword Armory] behaved just as expected and added two slots to his [Inventory] that could only hold swords. If he could point at one expected detail, both storing and retrieving the swords involved a time delay that didn¡¯t exist with his usual [Inventory]. It took him 10 seconds to store a sword, and nearly a minute to retrieve it.

    Clearly it was meant to be storage, not a hidden weapon to pull out like an assassin.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Skill] Level Up!

    -[Advanced Sword Mastery] 1/100 -> 2/100

    -[Footwork] 8/10 -> 9/10

    -[Sword Armory] 1/10 -> 2/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Were the results at the end of his training. He wouldn¡¯t be able to train [Footwork] any more after this, or risk losing it to the ¡®reward¡¯ of his [Healing the Soul Quest].

    Alois came up to check on Crimson sometime after midnight. He¡¯d been quietly staring at the stars for a bit, annoyed that he couldn¡¯t train further to protect his [Footwork] from potential destruction. [Sword Armory] could hold an additional sword now, but it was too early to see if each level would expand it, or have another effect. Nothing to report about the new level of [Advanced Sword Mastery], but he¡¯d need to reach Lv.100 before [Sword Savant] was Lv.25.

    Should be manageable.

    Crimson turned to Alois, and asked, ¡°How¡¯s your energy level? Can I take another look at you?¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Alois said, ¡°That¡­would it be for the best? I¡¯d rather you treat Rhea.¡±

    Crimson nodded, ¡°Yeah, I initially thought that treating you would be harder, but after working on Rhea all day, I expect that it¡¯s the other way around. Your [Mana] will be harder to work with, sure, but I have learned a lot about what I¡¯m doing, so I think you¡¯ll be easier in some ways.¡±

    Alois nodded, then said, ¡°Very well, Rhea has already gone to bed, so I wouldn¡¯t be taking this away from her anyway.¡±

    Crimson gestured to the bedroll, and he got to work. Using the new knowledge he gained from [Mana Puddle], and the new force he could generate behind his [Mana] from [Magic Programming], he managed to carve his way into Alois¡¯s [Void] much easier than in the past, and drag some of his mana out of the [Pool]. He formed a little space to work in, right next to Alois¡¯ blessing and started working on the structure for the [Mana Puddle], he even managed to form it, but the second he relaxed the [Void] rushed in and destroyed it.

    While it¡¯s destruction was frustrating, the way it broke down was interesting. It looked like the [Void] had already been eating at it before he finished, so it was weak during every step of the construction. Now that he looked, he could spot little whips of [Void], unnoticed in the sheer volume of the congealed stuff.

    Annoyed, he began violently attacking the surrounding [Void], carving it away violently to destroy it. He was dimly aware that he was burning through his [Mana] too quickly by doing this, but his frustration was such that he couldn¡¯t care.

    He even emptied the new [Mana Puddle] to eke out every bit of destruction that he could manage.

    Despite his rampage, he destroyed maybe 10% of the [Void] build up before he ran out of [Mana] and his influence was ejected from Alois¡¯ body by the opposing natures.

    Extremely light headed, Crimson dropped to the ground and clutched his head. A headache was starting to form.

    Alois bounded to his feet, seeming stunned by how he felt. He asked, ¡°Did it work, did you manage it?¡±

    Crimson weakly spoke, ¡°No¡­ran out¡­of¡­MP.¡±

    Unfortunately, his [Condition] was also listed as [Depleted] in his [Blessing]. His [Mana] wouldn¡¯t start regenerating again until that [Condition] went away, so he needed to just wait while the headache gnawed at him.

    By instinct, he reached for his [Mana] to cast a healing spell to try and alleviate the headache, only to feel like an idiot. Cast a healing spell, with what [Mana]? That was the source of the problem!

    ¡°If I got you some [Mana Potions], do you think that you could keep doing what you were doing?¡± Alois asked.

    Crimson thought about it through the haze, then said, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t hurt at the very least. I could make more progress destroying your [Void] build up before it comes back.¡±

    ¡°How much do you think you need?¡± The wolfkin asked.

    ¡°I burned through 600 MP to destroy about 10% of the [Void], so I¡¯ll need at least 5400 MP worth of [Mana Potions], preferably more so I can actually start the treatment. I think¡­¡± Crimson groaned, ¡°¡­I think I¡¯ll try destroying it all if you¡¯re offering [Mana Potions], should make the actual treatment easier.¡±

    Alois nodded, then ran off.

    10 minutes later, Crimson still hadn¡¯t lost the [Depleted Condition], so his headache had worsened to the point that it had become a migraine. It was bad enough he couldn¡¯t feel it any more, and the only reason he could tell there was an issue was because his vision seemed to be lagging and he had zero sense of balance.

    Alois came running up, and grabbed a box out of his [Inventory] to set on the ground.

    ¡°Each [Mana Potion] restores 200 MP, so we should have more than enough,¡± Alois said.

    Crimson dragged himself over to the box with one arm, then heaved himself up to look over the edge. Unlike the typical mental image of a fantasy potion, these were actually quite small bottles. They were tear drop shaped, with the mouth of the bottle being at the fat end of the drop. They were small enough that each bottle looked like it could hold about a shot¡¯s worth of energy.

    Crimson didn¡¯t drink, and Verity preferred beers and ales, so he was basing that guess on what he¡¯d seen of other guild members drinking.

    He reached out and grabbed one, pulled the cork with his teeth - grimaced at the taste of it - then downed the bottle in one gulp. He immediately felt a lot better. The migraine ceased to exist, and he popped to his feet in one go.

    After a few seconds, even his [Depleted Condition] vanished. There was, however, a new problem. He had a condition¡­one he¡¯d never had before, and one he¡¯d never expect to have [Intoxicated]. Indeed, he felt a bit woozy, and his sense of balance was now disturbed for a different reason. It wasn¡¯t as bad as the [Depleted] status, but it didn¡¯t feel great.

    There were a few explanations for why he was now [Intoxicated], and he immediately went to test the most likely possibility, and downed another [Mana Potion]. Between that, and his natural regeneration, he was once more at max MP, but he didn¡¯t feel any more drunk like he expected.

    He closed his eyes for a minute and slowly siphoned [Mana] into the [Mana Puddle]. It took about 1 MP/s, so it took him 100 seconds to fill it back up. Crimson boasted an MP regen of 5.5 MP/s, so typically it would only take him about a minute and a half to get from empty to full. [Depleted] was a truly nasty condition.

    He glanced in the box, there was about 30 bottles, well, 28 now, so there was enough to treat Alois.

    Crimson waved him back onto the bedroll, and staggered his way over to it, box in hand. [Intoxication] didn¡¯t feel great, he¡¯d heard there was euphoria associated with intoxication, but he didn¡¯t feel any of that. Might be the difference between alcohol intoxication and whatever he was experiencing.

    He set the box down, and got to work immediately. Fortunately, being [Intoxicated] didn¡¯t impair his [Mana], so he dug in and was annoyed to find that more of his work than he¡¯d like had been undone. Maybe 2% of what he¡¯d destroyed had come back.

    He rampaged once more, but this time he paid close attention to the amount of mana he had left, and when he had emptied his [Mana Pool] and had just 10MP left in the [Mana Puddle] he downed another pair of potions.

    The [Intoxication] worsened immediately. The first one made it worse, but the second one didn¡¯t, so that meant he was getting drunk off of a sudden influx of [Mana] when he was out. Considering how much of his body was full of [Mana], as well as how much he was used to having, it was a plausible result.

    His speech was slurred now though, so hopefully it would wear off soon.

    Resuming his work, he chose to drink an MP potion every time he burned through 50% of his [Mana], and that kept the [Intoxication] from getting worse. He worked for hours, and finally, Alois¡¯ body was free of the major [Void] accumulation. It still kept trying to appear as thing wisps of smoky [Void], but that stuff was easy to stamp out - it only took a few MP. Right in time too, as he downed his last MP potion to begin the actual treatment.

    Now that he didn¡¯t have to fight through a swamp of coagulated [Void], it was so easy to form a [Mana Puddle] in Alois that it wasn¡¯t even funny. He created it to surround his [Mana Pool] and even attached it to the [Blessing].

    Alois informed him that a new [Skill] had appeared in his [Status], one that didn¡¯t have a level: [Protective Mana Seal].

    Crimson¡¯s quest progress marked Alois as done. He hadn¡¯t cured the wolfkin, but he had extended his life.

    Instead of celebrating with Alois, Crimson elected instead to take over the vacated breadroll¡­braidboll¡­bedroll! To deal with the [Intoxication]. Hopefully sleep would fix it. Even his thoughts were muddied by it.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson missed the deadline to leave.

    Alois had carried him to his bed in the Den while he was in a drunken stupor. He then proceeded to sleep for 8 hours - an unusually high amount for him - then woke up with a throbbing headache and couldn¡¯t work on Rhea. It was early evening when the headache cleared and Crimson swore off alcohol.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He wanted to swear off [Mana Potions] too, but they were too useful to do so. They¡¯d have to be an emergency item.

    In other news-

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -[Magic Programming] 1/10->4/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    This was a great sign for Rhea¡¯s treatment.

    His headache now cleared, he left his room and was about to call for Rhea to go back up to the peak for more treatment, but she was eating, so he chose instead to silently join them. Too dangerous to interrupt her.

    After the meal, he and Rhea headed back up to the peak, during the climb, she said, ¡°Whatever you did to me yesterday has worn off. Please redo it today.¡±

    Crimson glanced down at her, making eye contact and nodded. She visibly flinched at the eye contact, but he immediately used a leg to catch under her arm and let her get a new hold. The fall wouldn¡¯t be dangerous from this height for Crimson, but he didn¡¯t know for Rhea.

    Finishing the climb, they returned to the bedroll and Crimson got to work.

    First thing he realized was that he couldn¡¯t rampage the same way for Rhea. Her [Mana Veins] were still intact, and he would risk damaging them with that kind of brutal assault. He could be a little violent, but rampaging was a no go.

    Working efficiently, but methodically, he destroyed all the [Void]. It only took 50MP, compared to Alois she was significantly cheaper to treat¡­MP wise of course. A big help for that was likely his additional levels in [Magic Programming].

    There was a problem he was running into: how to ¡®dope¡¯ her. He needed her to have a lot more [Mana] than she currently did, and he needed to keep the amount of [Void] down. He didn¡¯t have a [Blessing] to tie into, so he couldn¡¯t use the [Protective Mana Seal] that Alois had, not even mentioning that it wouldn¡¯t actually cure her, just extend her life like Alois¡¯.

    His [Quest] was to cure her.

    He sat in thought, occasionally destroying any [Void] that started to reappear. It really like the area around her [Mana Pool], as well as everywhere she had a major joint. Shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and neck. She¡¯d mentioned joint pain before, so this likely explained it.

    After some thought, he came up with a few possibilities, and got to work. Hours passed, and progress went well. He¡¯s passed mana throughout Rhea¡¯s [Mana Veins], and they¡¯d rejuvenated relatively quickly for the severity of the damage. Now that the veins were repaired - and the [Void] was cleared - he found it much easier to bring her [Mana] out of her [Mana Pool] now. What he¡¯d done is use the [Veins] like a highway system and created nodes in each of her joints that would slowly disseminate [Mana] to destroy the [Void] that appeared.

    He used his experience from creating [Track] to develop a spell that attracted [Mana] to specific points like a magnet, then slowly sunk it into her body. The body is an absolute territory, what Crimson had done up to this point was subverting that territory, but trying to cast a spell inside another person¡¯s body was like dancing naked into private property with a pair of shotguns. The body tried to do everything it could to reject it, so he wrapped it firmly in his [Mana] to disguise it, then installed the spell on each of the nodes. Rhea¡¯s own [Mana] would act as a battery to keep the spell running, but it wouldn¡¯t last forever. He¡¯d have to do maintenance on it until her birthday, but¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Quest] Complete!

    -Processing reward¡­

    -Reward: Averia, Goddess of Nature reveals her name to you.

    -[Sword Kinship] has been pillaged for its data.

    -Removed: [S*0nB 7nsh1p]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    All 10 gods curse it, that was the one [Skill] he didn¡¯t want to lose!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Processing¡­

    -Processing¡­

    -Warning!

    -User is about to be granted an [Artifact] type [Skill]! It will persist beyond the User¡¯s death!

    -Warning!

    -User is about to be bound to a permanent [Skill]. It cannot be fused with other [Skills].

    -Warning!

    -Admin Averia: Would you quiet down already¡­

    -Admin Averia Override. All warnings have been suppressed. Option for refusal has been removed.

    -Reward: [Skill: Blade Spirit]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Never mind. He wasn¡¯t mad anymore.

 Chapter 41: Jubilation

    Chapter 41: Jubilation

    For Alois, it had been the most shocking two weeks of his life. None of the other experiences he¡¯d had even came close. He¡¯d experienced two [Dungeon Descents] at once, had seen someone max [Sword Mastery] within a month of getting their [Blessing] - he¡¯d asked Crimson when his birthday was -, and he¡¯d been treated for a terminal condition. While it hadn¡¯t gone away - he could still feel it slowly gnawing at him - the severity was so greatly decreased as to be almost unnoticeable.

    The morning after Crimson had finished treating Rhea, he had explained what he¡¯d done to treat her to them. He¡¯d started by reducing the amount of [Void] in her body by destroying it, then he¡¯d created a ¡®canal¡¯ system of [Mana] that guided it to various parts of her body, and had created ¡®nodes¡¯ at points of larger build up that spread the [Mana] out like a ¡®watering can to destroy the [Void].

    Alois felt he followed the explanation well enough, but he was utterly baffled at how any of this was possible, as well as how Crimson had figured any of it out.

    There was one big downside, apparently, Crimson would need to maintain what he¡¯d created until Rhea got her [Blessing], so he¡¯d made this offer.

    ¡°Rhea, what kind of [Class] do you want to have?¡±

    His daughter sat in thought for a long moment, he could see from the slight twitching of her ears that she was unsure, but eventually, she said, ¡°Honestly? I don¡¯t really care. I never thought I¡¯d live that long. I want to be a [Cook], but that feels more like a [SubClass] than a [Class].¡±

    Alois watched Crimson take in that information. After a long moment, he spoke, ¡°I will not push you into taking a specific [Class], but I would like to offer the idea that I have several positions open in my party, and I¡¯d like you to join it - depending on what kind of [Class] you want, of course.¡±

    Alois let out a low warning growl. Crimson¡¯s words could be interpreted as a threat that he would only help her if she took the [Class] he wanted, and Crimson amended his words, ¡°I think it¡¯s best that you choose a [Class] you want. I¡­am rather clear about my desires. These past few days have demonstrated that your physical ability and combat senses are remarkably high for someone with your condition. I very dearly want you for my party, but I am currently taking the role of Attacker, and I have someone to be the Healer, but I don¡¯t have a Defender or Ranged attacker.¡±

    He continued, ¡°I know you¡¯ve said you don¡¯t have any preferences, but now that you have the chance to, I don¡¯t want to you sacrifice your will for mine. Just, think about it. I¡¯ll help you regardless, but I will require that you travel with me to Falst no matter what. I have something I need to do there. I¡¯m willing to pay for your transportation, and I¡¯ll sponsor you while you¡¯re in Falst so you can try out all kinds of things, so don¡¯t feel pressured.¡±

    Of course, as a father, Alois was nervous about sending his daughter into the world, even more worried about sending her out into the world with a man, but Crimson had demonstrated himself to be a man of character, and had a undeviating interest in swords, to the point that Alois wondered if he felt any kind of attraction to women.

    There was also the point to consider that it would be good for her education to step out of the Den. She¡¯d spent her entire life in Lupaken without leaving, it was probably filled with mostly negative feelings for her, so letting her out into the world would be good.

    Under normal circumstances, Alois would be able to follow, but a [Natural Dungeon] could appear at any time, and he was now able to fight, so it was important that he remained to help with any that appeared.

    The gods were typically nice, typically. One [Natural Dungeon] would appear at a time. They would get a break of anywhere between a few days to a few weeks after when the Dungeon would¡¯ve broken open if they failed to clear it before another one appears.

    Nav had informed Alois of the results of the investigation, it was determined that the time limit for the higher leveled [Natural Dungeon] was significantly longer than expected, while the lower leveled one had a shorter time limit than usual. It allowed them to appear with their usual timing, but still break open simultaneously.

    The investigation had yet to reveal why neither of them had been discovered. Some had suggested bad timing, the Coming of Age Ceremony was something that the entire city prepared for, but something still smelt wrong to Alois.

    He absolutely hated to think this way, but part of him suspected insidious intentions. It was either that, or disgusting levels of incompetence, and he knew their teams were better than that.

    Alois didn¡¯t weigh into the discussion between Crimson and Rhea, beyond giving his permission for her to make the decision, these kinds of negotiations were very important, it was a hallmark of adulthood - especially among Wolfkin - to find a group to work with. No matter what the result, he could only be proud that she would be scouted by someone as monstrous as Crimson.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you to Falst, sure. I think it¡¯s only fair since you¡¯ve done this much¡­but I¡¯ll need to think about it. I think there is more room in your party than you¡¯ve said.¡± She eventually said.

    Crimson bobbed his head, ¡°You are likely right. I need to be more flexible.¡±

    Alois, and seemingly Crimson, picked up on the fact that she wasn¡¯t very interested in being a Defender or Ranged. Whatever she chose, it could only be something that would make him proud.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson and Rhea left in the late morning that same day, and Alois saw them off. It was a bittersweet farewell. He loved to see his daughter looking so happy and excited. Her tail was furiously wagging the entire time as she got ready to leave. She didn¡¯t have much variety in clothes, and practically nothing in terms of personal items, so Alois had made sure to include her favorite kitchen knives.

    Crimson was carrying them in his [Inventory] for her to keep them in good condition.

    It ended up being fortunate that Alois stayed behind, a [Natural Dungeon] around Lv.40 was found the next day.

    Stalking into the meeting to decide the group that would assault it, he was the highest leveled person in the room. Reah, his wife, had left a few days back with some of the younger members of the pack to participate in the Falst Tournament, so that left him in charge as the strongest person in the room.

    Precisely one person challenged him on it, an old party member named Ryn who¡¯d been angry at him when he retired. It was bad enough that she¡¯d had a long running feud with Nav. Challenges like this were dealt with swiftly, and Alois subdued her instantly. The rest of the wolfkin looked at him in shock, some of them started to break out into grins. Nav started whooping, then howling, and other members joined in.

    Alois couldn¡¯t help but grin, ¡°I¡¯m back, now let¡¯s get to work.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Rhinese al voth Alda found herself very grateful that she wasn¡¯t the Regent Princess. Kaine could have the position, she didn¡¯t want it in the slightest. The reason why was sitting next to her as they looked out over the fighting grounds of the colosseum.

    To her right, a Dark Elf, captivating and fascinating beyond description sat with her eyes closed, and was quietly waiting for the tournament to begin. She was an Am¡¯zavac, a person representing a Dark Elf ideal that served as an example to other Dark Elves how to behave.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Her position gave her no direct power, but it gave her influence among her people greater than Rhinese¡¯s was among her own. A single word from her could cause an international incident, a single gesture could get Rhinese confined to her room for a month.

    Her name was Elegance. She had another name, but as long as she was Am¡¯zavac, she had to go by her title, and it was an incredibly imposing title. There were certain Am¡¯zavac titles that were ¡®worth more¡¯ than others. The more meaning the title contained, the more dangerous¡­the more influential they were. Elegance was a higher title, containing the meaning of two lower ones: Grace, and Beauty.

    If it were any other race, Rhinese would¡¯ve assumed it was a lip service or beauty contest, but Dark Elves didn¡¯t give the kind of freedom she needed for that kind of flippancy.

    Gleaming white hair, eyes like polished rubies, skin a bit lighter in color than a typical Dark Elf - rumors indicated she had some human heritage a few generations back -, and tall, her physical appearance alone was a form of intimidation. If she were to name one flaw, it would be that she tended to look very angry when she had a neutral expression.

    Rhinese had a lot of practice reading expressions, so she wasn¡¯t offended by it, but anyone less informed might have thought her to be perpetually angry with the world. She¡¯d seen Elegance smile twice, the first had been a fake, and only made her look more intimidating. The second smile had been a genuine one, and had been so lovely as to make Rhinese question her preferences in a partner.

    She¡¯d snapped out of it quickly, the cause of why she was so fascinated was clear: Elegance had a ridiculous amount of [Charisma] based [Skills]. Even now, several lower leveled members of the audience were hypnotized by her, including other people sitting in the box with her.

    Rhinese had attempted to count the number of [Skills] she could notice, and gave up after 7. There was one that made her presence compelling, one that made her words compelling, one that made her face compelling, one that made her actions compelling, and on and on it went!

    The first time Rhinese had met her, she¡¯d been stun locked by how swiftly her attention kept bouncing between different aspects of Elegance. It was like being distracted by dozens of important conversations at once.

    Glancing at Elegance once more, she noticed that the Dark Elf wasn¡¯t waiting as patiently as she¡¯d originally thought. It was subtle, but there were signs in the twitching of her fingers that she was very excited.

    Rhinese felt a little proud at seeing that. Falst was the host of the biggest tournament in the world, one of only two yearly tournaments, and the second one was restricted to Lv.50 and above, so participation was significantly lower. Every year, Alda worked hard to put on the tournament. It always put strain on the locals, but they were willing to put up with it because of the economic boom it always brought.

    Shipping rates were very low, so there were always a lot of foreign goods, and the increased number of people meant that locals could sell their stock at prices above what they did during the rest of the year.

    When they¡¯d first started hosting this tournament at the behest of the God of War, there¡¯d been issues with locals pricing things so high as to cause riots, only compounded by many of them forming gangs to intimidate the foreign sellers. It had caused such a nightmare that it took years after the first tournament to recover attendance to the same point. They¡¯d laid down rules and started to strictly enforce them to prevent that in the future.

    Rhinese hadn¡¯t been alive for those events of course, but she was firmly drilled on the history of the Falst Tournament - also called the Tournament of Exhibition due to it being overseen by the God of War - to the point that she even knew the names of all the winners in all the categories for each of the 50 years it had been running.

    There were a total of five categories to compete in: Under Lv.10, under Lv.25, under Lv.45, under Lv.50, and Open. A person was allowed to participated in the category the qualified for, as well as the next category up, so Rhinese - being at Lv.3 - could participate in both the under Lv.10 and under Lv.25 categories, but there was an unwritten rule that you didn¡¯t participate in the category above. It was considered boring for the audience since the conclusion was obvious. It was an official rule that you couldn''t participate in the category below your intended one, though that should have been obvious, there were still some people who tried to slip in anyway.

    The only exception was the Open category, anyone could participate in that category, in the past, it was even opened up to those at Lv.100, but had since been restricted to those Lv.50 and under - so long as they hadn¡¯t broken through with their [Class]. The rules for the open category meant that everyone had a fair shot because all stats had to be restricted to 10. Victory was determined based on points, while typically it was first to 50% health.

    Murder would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and there were observers that sought to prevent anything like that from occurring. There hadn''t been a death since the first tournament, but there were always psychos who decided to try their luck.

    Cheering in the crowd started to grow as people walked onto the Arena, Rhinese didn¡¯t have very high [PER], but there were magically enchanted lenses spaced evenly across the balcony that showed a zoomed view of the field, so she could clearly see a familiar face: Crimson.

    That wasn¡¯t good, this wasn¡¯t the participants, these were the staff managing the tournament.

    There¡¯s no way he wasn¡¯t good enough for the preliminaries, so he must have missed the deadline somehow. They hadn¡¯t been meeting regularly for a while, and Rhinese¡¯s memory was quite fuzzy because of the amount of drilling she¡¯d undergone, but she did recall he¡¯d gotten a request that made him leave Falst.

    That mean¡­her attention was completely side tracked, and the cheering paused for a second. Elegance had an excited smile, a genuine one.

    Rhinese felt blessed for a fraction of a second before snapping out of it. One of Elegance¡¯s [Skills] seemed to encourage positive feelings toward her, and much like all the others, it was passive, so there wasn¡¯t a way for her to turn it off, but it made things very difficult for her.

    Rhinese was a little annoyed that Crimson seemed just as fascinated as everyone else. She¡¯d hoped he was immune considering his high [WIL] and tolerance to pain, but that wasn¡¯t the case.

    After a momentary pause, those with higher levels or higher [WIL] snapped out of it, including one of the members of the staff, the Tournament Master, the TM.

    ¡°A greeting to our gracious attendees! I am your TM for this tournament, Draven! I am a Lv.32 [Grand Orator], and I am honored to have held this position for the past 15 years! We are further honored by the biggest turnout on record! Both among participants that passed the preliminaries, and among the audience! We are grateful for the support you offer, and are proud to introduce our team to help you have the most enjoyable experience!¡±

    He went on to salute the Royalty, Rhinese¡¯s parents weren¡¯t in attendance and neither was Kaine, but they¡¯d be there for the finals. So he bowed first in the direction of Falst, then at the box Rhinese was in. He then welcomed the foreign dignitaries, clearly naming both the wolfkin chief and Elegance in his greetings as they were closely allied nations. Following that, he introduced the referees for each of the categories, the leader of the three Healer squads, and other important members of the staff.

    Despite how over the top it was for him to introduce that many people, it was a necessary part of the ceremony, the God of War had clearly expressed his desire for those involved to receive proper recognition. The one thing that left Rhinese confused was the fact that he hadn¡¯t introduced Crimson yet. He was on the field, and was clearly separated from the Healer squads, so he didn¡¯t have a clear role.

    Eventually, they did reach Crimson though, he was very last.

    ¡°Finally, for those of you who are in attendance for the first time this year, we typically invite a special commentator to join me in commentating the matches! Typically we would ask the Guild Master, but he had declined this year, and recommended this individual instead! Now, if you¡¯re a Falst resident, he needs no introduction, even if you are not a Falst resident, you likely know his influence if not his name. Please welcome the creator of the [True Adventurer Style], the Falst Runner, the Legendary Mentor, the Orthodox Priest! Please welcome, Crimson!¡±

    Crimson bowed neatly to the box, then to the rest of the crowd. It was easy to tell where the Falst residents were, he was a local celebrity, so they were cheering quite loudly in comparison to the rest of the crowd. Fortunately, cheering was considered polite, so Rhinese was also able to cheer for him, just with more restraint.

    The zoomed in view also let her see that he was blushing.

    ¡°Now Crimson¡± said Draven, turning to him while holding out a magic circle that was floating above his palm, ¡°I hear that you recently got a [Class], mind sharing it with us?¡±

    Crimson lightly replied, his voice echoing over the crowd, ¡°It¡¯s a sword-user type [Class]. You¡¯ll have to forgive me for keeping the rest of the details to myself.¡±

    Draven grinned into the mic, and turned to the crowd, ¡°Now isn¡¯t he so humble?¡± He turned back to Crimson, ¡°I have been informed by the Guild Master himself that your [Class] is High grade, so there¡¯s no need to be so humble!¡±

    Crimson shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s something like that. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Well well, we shall let your humility win out today, but let¡¯s ask you this, what are you looking forward to this tournament?¡±

    ¡°I, like everyone here, am excited to see unique and [Skilled] warriors battle before the God of War. He will be directly watching the participants today, so do everything in your power to prove yourself to him, and he will reward you. Victory, defeat, it doesn¡¯t matter. Fight with honor, fight with all your might!¡±

    ¡°And with those rousing words, let¡¯s get this Tournament of Exhibition started!¡±

 Chapter 42: Dangerous Mockery

    Chapter 42: Dangerous Mockery

    Rhinese was fond of Crimson¡¯s commentary, it was very direct, calling out mistakes and offering advice to the fighters. She was fond of it entirely because it was funny. It was also rather sparse, Draven took the lead rather constantly, only occasionally turning to Crimson to ask his opinion and getting such comments as, ¡°It¡¯s impressive that he¡¯s able to keep his feet under him while fighting that way. I would constantly worry about falling over in his position. I would suggest practicing a firmer stance in the future. Though it¡¯s too late for today, I believe that he will cleanly lose this bout unless his opponent makes a significant mistake.¡±

    Crimson¡¯s predictions tended to be on the mark, if he said a fight would be close, it was. He rarely directly called out a winner, and tried to indicate a path of victory for the underdog, but since he wasn¡¯t running the show, many of these comments came either too soon for the fighters to get what he was saying, or too late to help them.

    In other words, he wasn¡¯t a very good fight commentator. He sounded more like a teacher critiquing a students performance than a person to hype up the crowd for the results of the fight. There was such a clear gap in how he perceived the tournament and how everyone else perceived it that Rhinese could only find it hilarious.

    Elegance next to her appeared to have a similar sense of humor, because hints of her amusement would leak through every time Crimson made a tone deaf comment, which was pretty much all of them.

    The funniest part of it was the one participant who took all of his comments seriously and had managed to get further in the tournament than he had any right to. It was the only Lv.5 participant. Most of the ¡®real¡¯ participants were exactly at Lv.10, some of them even intentionally kept their level that low for this tournament. There were 32 participants for the day, and 22 of them had participated last year.

    Last year¡¯s champion had also been participating for 6 years, so there was a problem that her family - as the tournament organizers - hadn¡¯t managed to solve yet. The purpose of the tournament was to distinguish oneself before the God of War and win [Skills], [Titles], and other rewards, but there hadn''t been any notable rewards in 2 years because of the stagnant roster.

    The current state of affairs was the end result of experimentation with different rules and limitations on participation which had ended poorly. Participants, as people were often want to do, sought every loophole possible to mess with the tournament. Some were malicious, others were greedy, and others still were just being controlled by Alda¡¯s enemies.

    Alda had a poor relationship with the southern most country on the continent, Alhamist, a desert country. Open warfare between countries was forbidden by the gods, so their conflict was primarily found in the economy and in events like this one, where there were subtle gaps that could be taken advantage of.

    The current champion was also from Alhamist, and it was him and one other that took possession of the title on two year cycles, passing it back and forth like a children¡¯s ball to keep it away from other participants. The two year cycles were a result of a prior rule preventing a champion from participating three years in a row. It had been abolished this year.

    Whether it was the Guild or the Royal Family, they¡¯d all been scratching their heads over how to solve the problem. If the God of War was more amenable to their suggestions then they could solve the problem easily, but their extreme suggestions would undermine the purpose of the tournament.

    Rhinese felt that it¡¯s current form was already doing that.

    The under Lv.10 category was rife with issues, well, all of them were, but under Lv.10 was the worst offender. She hadn¡¯t been told what the change was for this year, but it would hopefully break this cycle.

    This was technically Day 3 of the tournament, the first two were all preliminaries that refined the participants down to 32 in each category - with the exception of under Lv.50, which could barely get 16 participants. The purpose of Day 3 was to bring the number of participants in each category down from 32 to 4. Day 4 would be the finals, and Day 5 would be devoted entirely to the Open category.

    Day 6 was the closing day, and only had a few matches. It was carefully arranged so that they wouldn¡¯t perform any of the festivities on Highday, it became an unofficial Day 7 that was devoted to worship.

    Falst was the location of the biggest Temple on the continent, so many took that Highday as an opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the Temple for worship. It was also particularly special in that it was the only Highday of the year that was devoted entirely to the God of War.

    With the exceptions of the God of Death and the Goddess of Nature, all the Gods had a Highday devoted only to them.

    ¡°It seems like this will actually be interesting, for once. Both participants appear to know what their doing.¡±This comment from Crimson reached her ears, so her focus on the field sharpened. It was the last battle of the day for the under Lv.25 category, it was last year¡¯s champion, a dark-haired, dark-eyed and dark-skinned southerner from Alhamist, against a much younger man. He was probably only a year or two older than Rhinese, which was on the extremely young end of the participants in this category.

    He had deep red hair that caught the eye, and looking at the magnified image, Rhinese could see intense purple eyes. He was quite good looking, with a sharp jawline, well formed features, and a thin scar across his jaw that gave him a wild look.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Considering how quickly his appearance caught her attention, he also likely had quite high [CHA], though it was practically nonexistent compared to Elegance.

    Crimson had once pointed out to her that a high [CHA] didn¡¯t necessarily change the appearance of a person, rather it changed people¡¯s perspectives on the person to be more favorable. Even if the base features were plain, a woman could still be the most beautiful in the room with high enough [CHA], enough to outshine any other.

    It was an extremely troublesome stat to deal with, and Rhinese was only grateful that she¡¯d had lifelong training to help her resist its influences.

    With a signal to start the battle, Rhinese watched as the much younger man slowly cornered the previous champion. It was a slow process, he appeared to be a [Guardian], so the champion was struggling to deal enough damage to outpace his recovery, so the typical win condition of getting the opponent to 50% of their health wasn¡¯t working.

    The much younger man had excellent combat instincts, though his actual [Skill] left a lot to be desired, his ability to adapt to his opponent and anticipate blows allowed him to ignore the gap, making the battle much more close than it should¡¯ve. Crimson was right again, both participants were excellent combatants, and it was the most interesting fight of the day.

    Eventually, time was called without a certain winner. It was extremely rare for this to happen¡­under normal circumstances. Again, issues with rule manipulation meant that there was a slate of years where it was very common, but normally one person would be able to win within the time limit.

    In cases like this, there were a few routes to determine the winner, and which route was taken was dependent on the Royal Family, Rhinese was the only representative that day, so she made the decision that the most common route would be taken.

    Standing, then stepping over to a gem set on the edge of Royal booth, she spoke into it, and her voice was sent over the crowd, ¡°the decision for this battle will be determined by the consensus of our commentators. You may have three minutes to debate before presenting your decision.¡±

    It was very rare in recent years for the Royalty to directly determine the winner because of concerns over favoritism, so this was the most commonly suggested solution¡­it was still highly contested by the manipulators since it took power away from them.

    The three main methods for dealing with ties like this was for the Royalty to decide the winner, the commentators to make the call, or for a ¡®sudden death¡¯ battle. The person with the lowest health after 1 minute would lose. The third one was favored by the manipulators, since they could still control the outcome.

    It was always endless problems, one thing after the other when it came to the amount of manipulation that occurred in the Falst tournament. No punishment was enough to stop the issues, and no rule perfectly closed all the loopholes, just created new ones.

    The three minutes up, Draven shouted into the magic circle that acted as a mic, ¡°We have reached a conclusion. The winner is¡­Fade! This young man-¡±

    Draven¡¯s word were cut off by a roar from the former champion, who said, ¡°This is unjust! You are manipulating the results due to favoritism! You don¡¯t want me to win again this year! How dare you mock this sacred tournament in front of the God of War, how dare you-¡°

    There was an interruption again, but this time, it came from Crimson, who stood in his seat. Rhinese could only see the back of his head, so she didn¡¯t know what expression he was making, but it was apparently scary enough that the former champion instantly shut his mouth, cutting off his own words.

    ¡°Manipulating the results?¡± He murmured into the mic, ¡°Favoritism? Unjust?¡±

    Rhinese felt a chill, ¡°Mocking the God of War? The one mocking him here, is you. Fade won, fairly.¡±

    The chill got stronger. It wasn¡¯t a physical thing, it felt more like a part of her deep down was shivering. Whatever was happening, she¡¯d never seen anything like it before.

    ¡°Fade, care to tell me what your [Class] is?¡±

    With a shocked voice, Fade spoke, ¡°I am a [Tenacious Guardian].¡±

    ¡°A-¡° Crimson choked on his words, whatever he tried to say was stopped, so when he spoke once more, it was a bit more hesitantly, ¡°Yes, a defensive [Class]. One tasked with defending others.¡±

    He turned to the former champion, ¡°What about you, what is your [Class]?¡±

    ¡°I am a [Fighter]!¡±

    An extremely common [Class]. It was typically considered a bad one because it spread itself too thin. It had actually been a bragging point for the former champion, the first year he¡¯d won, he fed the crowd some sob story about the [Class] and how hard he¡¯d worked to overcome the stigma, but-

    ¡°You lie. What is the name of your [Class]?¡± Was the blunt response.

    ¡°Huh?! How do you-¡° questioned the former champion before slamming a hand over his face.

    Rhinese leaned forward, eyes fixed on the former champion, his response was so obvious that she was almost shocked he¡¯d managed to lie about the [Class] to begin with. If it wasn¡¯t [Fighter], what was it?

    ¡°I am¡­¡± he looked hesitantly around the crowd, obviously nervous.

    Crimson didn¡¯t wait for a response, and merely stated, ¡°Your [Class] is [Slayer]. One specialized in harming others. Now tell me, between you and Fade, who did their job better? The man who had practiced hard to hurt others, but couldn¡¯t even take 50% of the HP of his opponent, or the man whose job it is to endure and protect others, who kept his HP from dropping below that threshold?¡±

    ¡°The reason you lost,¡± Crimson said, ¡°is simply because you¡¯re not very good at your job.¡±

    Silence fell for a long second. Rhinese was baffled. How did Crimson know all of that? The former champion had managed to keep that a secret for years, was he just guessing? Or¡­

    Crimson had started to glow, and when he spoke, it was like two people were speaking at once, with a much lower voice subtly adding strength to Crimson¡¯s, ¡°If lying about your [Class] was your only crime, you would merely be unfit to participate in my tournament. Do you think me blind? Do you foolishly believe that I cannot see the bribes you have paid? The threats you have made? Your crimes have built for years. I watched and waited, hoping that you would change, but now you have done enough, that I must punish you.¡±

    Silence fell for a moment, then the booming double voice echoed out once more. Crimson no longer needed the mic to be heard, ¡°Your [Titles] are forfeit. The [Skills] I blessed you with are forfeit. House Tryalsti of Alhamist is prohibited from participating or sending representatives for the next decade. Should your actions continue, and your crimes continue further, dare not to think that my next punishment shall be so light.¡±

    There was a sound of cracking, a short glow, then the former champion fell to his knees and retched onto the ground, covering it in sick.

    ¡°Leave this sacred place!¡± Were the final words before Crimson stopped glowing, and the chill he was emitting vanished, leaving nothing but a deafening silence.

    While the chill that Crimson had been emitting had stopped, it hadn¡¯t quite left Rhinese. She realized, that for the first, and likely only time in her life, she had heard a god speak.

 Chapter 43: The Judgeéˆ¥æªš Tyranny

    Chapter 43: The Judge¡¯s Tyranny

    Silence ruled the arena, the haunting words of the God of War piercing the hearts of everyone who heard them. Rhinese was just as stunned as everyone else was, but she was one of the first to recover. This wasn¡¯t unprecedented, but it was only the third time it had ever happened at this event. The first time was during the first tournament. He had chastised the Royal Family for mismanagement, and it had led to Rhinese¡¯s Grandfather failing the Regent Royalty test.

    The second time was to praise a warrior for exceeding performance - that had happened on the fifth year, the tournament that the Royal Family finally got things mostly right, and the modern tournament followed an identical format - just with a few minor changes to specific rules.

    All this is to say: Rhinese had never suspected that something like this would happen in her lifetime.

    The God of War¡¯s typical approach was to deny rewards. In the past, that much alone was a sufficient warning that something was going wrong, but it hadn¡¯t been enough for the past few years. It seems the problems had finally built up enough for the God of War to directly vent his rage.

    She always knew that he directly watched the tournaments, it was hard to get his attention otherwise, but¡­

    Forcing herself out of the spiral, Rhinese stood, walked over to the gem in the balcony, touched it, and spoke, ¡°A consensus has been reached, and it has been upheld by the Highest Authority. Enacting the punishment set by the God of War, you are permanently disqualified. Do not return to Falst. If you wish to resist, you will be provided with a writ of banishment from my Father. For the sake of whatever dignity you have left, I advise you leave quietly.¡±

    Rhinese felt a little pity for the scourged man. He was clearly out of it, and was covered in his own sick, but the pity she felt was not strong enough to give him a break. She was currently acting as a representative of the Royal Family, decisiveness was a requirement. If her actions went too far, she¡¯d be reprimanded by her Father, but if she didn¡¯t go far enough, she might be reprimanded by the God of War.

    Weakly, the former champion stumbled to the edge of the arena where he was captured by soldiers and dragged off. They¡¯d dump him out of the arena, and if Rhinese had been a more cruel person, she could¡¯ve gone a lot further. Not as far as execution, that hadn¡¯t been the direction the God of War had given, but any and every form of humiliation was open to her.

    She elected not to take the path of cruelty.

    Once the former champion had left, Rhinese spoke once more, ¡°Resume normal operations.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation from Draven the [Orator], he finally spoke, ¡°Well then. ¡­That was quite the, uh, experience.¡±

    He had lost a lot of the energy he¡¯d had before the incident.

    ¡°Though that was fortunately our last fight of the category, meaning the finalists for the under 25 category are: Fade¡­¡± he listed the 7 others, but Rhinese didn¡¯t really care to remember any of the others.

    Instead, she focused on Fade, who was walking off the field. He was incredibly pale, especially for a human. Pale enough that she suspected that he wasn¡¯t actually one. She might have not suspected anything if it weren''t for Richard, one of the strongest men in Alda, and an Uluu. She¡¯d been around them long enough to recognize physical characteristics that the average Falst resident might overlook.

    Fade was missing the characteristic tattoo-like lines that crisscrossed the bodies of Uluu, but as she looked closer, she could tell that he was completely covered from the neck down. Her suspicions grew.

    The rest of the day ended without incident, there was only one category left, but it seemed like a lot of the excitement had been drained from the audience and Draven. The only one that seemed relatively unaffected was the cause of the problem, Crimson, who continued to act exactly the same as before, giving tone-deaf commentary and being overly blunt.

    It was early evening when the last fight ended. Day three was the least attended of the three ¡®main¡¯ days of the tournament. Day four and Day five typically saw similar numbers between each other, Day six saw the highest attendance among high ranking individuals. The exhibition fights on that day were considered the most important by many ¡®in the know.¡¯

    Rhinese tapped her fingers thoughtfully. It was a very strange day, and with Crimson involved, as well as the changes that had been made to the finals tomorrow, things would be very, very interesting.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    ¡°We are now beginning the final rounds of the Tournament of Exhibition! My greetings to His and Her Majesty, and many of our foreign visitors! After three days of blood, sweat, tears, and godly intervention, we of Falst, are proud to present you with the changes that have been made for this year! In their wisdom, the Royal Family has decided that instead of fighting each other, the contestants will fight a champion who will decide the winner! For the Under 50 category, the champion is Soldier, an Am¡¯zavac of the Dark Elves from Adurnia! Bearing the [Soldier Class] at Lv.50 exactly, and having a [Spear Mastery Skill] over Lv.70, he is truly an excellent representative!¡±

    The cheers were so loud that Draven had to pause for well over a minute before he could resume speaking, ¡°The champion of the Under 25 category is a wolfkin of Lupaken, please clap for Rivea! Rivea bears the [Martial Artists Class] at Lv.25 and boasts the [Skill: Acceleration], she will truly bring out the might of each of our competitors!¡±

    As the names were said, each individual stepped out and performed a bow to the Royal Family, then the crowd.

    ¡°Finally, we are grateful to welcome a more familiar face. Sitting at Lv.1, with an unknown High-Grade [Class], please welcome the champion of the Under 10 category, Crimson!¡±

    Crimson also stepped out of the shadows and took a bow. Unlike the prior two, there were some boos mixed in with the cheers. There were many who disagreed with a Lv.1 contestant.

    Rhinese knew that there would be issues with the crowd, the rumors of the God of War speaking directly at the tournament yesterday had mostly neglected the name of the representative who the God of War spoke through - most of the rumors referred to Crimson as ¡®one of the announcers¡¯ which meant that many of the average members of the audience had no idea who they were booing.

    Everyone sitting in the private boxes knew better though, Rhinese was cheering, much louder than would be polite, and even those who typically remained quiet were clapping politely. There was no one who had a private box who lacked the resources to know the events of the prior day.

    Rhinese could afford to be a little more relaxed than normal. She wasn¡¯t the main representative, her Father in the Royal Box was.

    Draven continued, ¡°And with that, lets get this thing started. First: Champion Crimson versus the powerful Barok!¡±

    Barok was an older man, mid thirties, and everything about him was indicating that he was incredibly insulted to be fighting a Lv.1 Champion. He was much larger and wider than Crimson, and his gear was obviously better. Crimson didn¡¯t have any armor, and only held a simple saber, while Barok held a massive Warhammer and a shield.

    Everyone ¡®knew¡¯ the results of the fight, but Rhinese grinned. Not many people had actually seen Crimson fight seriously, not even her. There wasn¡¯t a doubt in her mind that he¡¯d win.

    She didn¡¯t recognize the saber though. Maybe he¡¯d bought it recently? His typical weapon was a bokken, and he¡¯d spent so long talking about how annoyed he was that his main weapon was a Katana - his explanation for why included words like ¡®weeaboo,¡¯ ¡®weeb,¡¯ and ¡®cringe,¡¯ so she still didn¡¯t understand why because he refused to define those first two words for her. All she understood was that he found it embarrassing for some reason. Maybe that embarrassment had finally boiled over and caused him to choose a new weapon?

    It was certainly an odd saber though, it had a weird kind of silver mist, almost imperceptible to the eye under the harsh sun, but easy to notice with the magnification that Rhinese had access to. It didn¡¯t hug the entire blade, but seemed to steam off it in several points. Probably some kind of enchantment.

    ¡°Begin¡± was roared by Draven, and Crimson began to casually walk at Barok. He seemed bored.

    Barok came out swinging, attacking Crimson viciously, and Rhinese vaguely recalled that Crimson had several scathing remarks for him the prior day. Potentially another reason for his outrage.

    Crimson responded with an air of indifference. Typically a Warhammer would shatter a small weapon like a saber, but Crimson deftly deflected it, and used the momentum of the clumsy blow to trip his opponent.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Barok threw himself back to his feet after a moment to catch his breath. Crimson could¡¯ve ended the fight there by placing his saber to the downed man¡¯s neck, but from his attitude up to this point, Rhinese knew that he¡¯d continue the fight until the time was up. He was the one deciding the victor, so whatever standards he wanted to use were perfectly fine, along with his approach to the matter.

    In the time it took for the round to end, Crimson tripped Barok four more times in the exact same way, punched him under the chin with the guard of his saber, and disarmed him three times. It felt more like a humiliation event than a round from the tournament, which was a feeling compounded by the fact that she noticed that Crimson was talking the entire time during the fight. Probably offering advice. Regardless, no one was booing Crimson anymore. Even at Lv.1, his [Skills] were oppressive.

    Elegance was sitting with her once more, so she glanced at the Dark Elf Woman to gauge her reaction. She seemed to be having a good time, which wasn¡¯t the mood most of the audience had, but Rhinese was happy to see it. Her favoritism was making this event a lot more enjoyable.

    Draven¡¯s commentary pierced her musing, ¡°Now with the time up, let¡¯s get general impressions from my colleague, one moment!¡±

    He awkwardly hopped the wall dividing the commentary box from the stadium floor, then ran over to Crimson with his mic.

    ¡°What did you think of your opponent?¡±

    ¡°It is my hope that the rest of the contestants do not display the same inability to learn from their mistakes.¡±

    Draven puffed up his chest and flexed to show off his non-existent muscles, ¡°But with strength like his, does he really need to?¡±

    ¡°Of course! Learning is a fundamental gods-given right, to stagnate, to not develop the [Skills] and [Classes] they have [Blessed] us with is nothing short of wasteful! There is a phrase I know, ¡®resting on your laurels,¡¯ which means to decide that your efforts have been sufficient and you no longer need to improve yourself. It is my hope and my determination that fewer people will ¡®rest on their laurels¡¯ and become the kinds of men and women the gods would have them become! That is one of the expressed purposes of this event!¡±

    Crimson¡¯s impassioned speech finished off his opponent, and Barok walked off stage with his head hanging low. He didn¡¯t seem to notice the sting his words had inflicted though.

    Draven ran back to the box and introduced Crimson¡¯s next opponent. It was a young human, tall and lanky with darkly tanned skin that had done surprisingly well - even for only being Lv.5. He was introduced as Mortimer, his [Class] was called [Weapon Caller], and the battle began.

    Crimson was obviously a lot more gentle this fight than the last one. Mortimer started the fight by summoning two shields and a dagger, and tried to use them to effectively corner Crimson, but deft motions and effective footwork made for a slippery opponent.

    Like before, she could see Crimson running his mouth the entire time, and as she watched, Mortimer¡¯s fighting got even better with every passing minute. Unfortunately the battle didn¡¯t go to time as Mortimer ran out of MP, and his weapons vanished. He surrendered of his own accord after that.

    During the interview afterwords, Crimson said, ¡°A very novel way of fighting, I imagine it must be very difficult to keep track of that many weapons, so I feel his control over them is rather lacking. It would be better for Mortimer to spend time practicing with a single weapon until his control was perfect before adding another. Three at once left too many gaps for me to take advantage of, but with a little more experience, I can see Mortimer doing very well in the future - he just needs to work on his MP efficiency.¡±

    Quite high praise, coming from Crimson. This Mortimer would likely be scouted by a party even if he didn¡¯t win - so long as he was a local.

    The third round was as brutal as the first. Mortimer was the only one of the top 4 who hadn¡¯t participated in a previous year¡­and the only one who didn¡¯t have blood in common with another participant. The other three finalists were all brothers that had worked for years to dominate the competition, so Crimson was obviously punishing them.

    His opponent was another large individual, built for power over all, Bren was using a great shield and a spear. He was a better fighter than Barok, and seemed to be out for revenge. He kept attempting attacks that would normally be illegal, but Crimson didn¡¯t put an end to the fight, choosing instead to deal with the blows with ease by deflecting them. Bren was only tripped once, but he kept letting quick cuts and kicks from Crimson through his defense, so he was obviously being worn down.

    As the time neared, Rhinese saw Bren say something to Crimson, and whatever it was, it was a big mistake. Crimson¡¯s immediate response was to slip in close, grab the spear, and smash the pommel of his saber against Bren¡¯s hand, hard enough to break fingers. As Bren hollered in pain loud enough to be heard from the private boxes without any kind of sound amplification, Crimson attacked again, slamming the pommel into his temple and knocking him out immediately.

    Such level of violence was typical of a more usual tournament round, but it was out of character for Crimson. Breaking his fingers especially, the knockout wasn¡¯t out of character.

    Crimson made a few hand signs, and Draven announced, ¡°Participant Bren has been disqualified! Furthermore¡­¡± Crimson made a few more gestures. Rhinese knew them, so she was just as surprised as Draven when he said, ¡°Crimson has requested that he be barred permanently from participation? Really? That¡¯s¡­I mean¡­¡±

    He turned to the Royal Box and fell silent, awaiting the Royal Family¡¯s decision. After a moment, Rhinese¡¯s father spoke, his scratchy voice echoing across stadium, ¡°Pending. We will investigate at the end of the day. Participant Bren is to be detained, and the Judge¡¯s decision respected.¡±

    It had been a long time since a disqualification. The events of yesterday hadn¡¯t even been a disqualification, just the loser being banned by the God of War. Crimson seemed determined to completely upend the tournament this year, and Rhinese could only approve.

    There was no interview conducted this time, so they moved to the final round.

    ¡°Champion Crimson versus Blain! Begin!¡±

    Blain was the third brother, and looked similar to the other two. He used a spear and great shield as well, but he was a lot more tentative than his brothers, preferring to hide and hold back after what happened to them.

    He was the first one of the day who forced Crimson on the offensive, Crimson had spent the day dodging, deflecting, and counterattacking over being the one attacking, so it was a standout difference. He wasn¡¯t any less skilled on the attack, taking advantage of his opponent¡¯s caution to disarm him several times, even getting the great shield away from him about half way through, and forcing Blain to ward Crimson with the spear tip. He found a way in regardless of the attempts to stop him, and elected for punches and kicks over slashing with his saber. Probably some form of mercy.

    When the battle reached time, Crimson had this to say during the interview, ¡°My opponent has no idea how to fight a defensive battle. I could tell from the fight that he is like his brothers, and typically spends his time on the attack, but instead of sticking to what he knew, he chose instead to let nerves get to him and fight in a manner that he had no experience with. This was an incredibly disappointing fight. Blain is not in contention for the victor.¡±

    Draven asked dramatically, ¡°Do you need any time to ponder on your decision?¡±

    ¡°None, it¡¯s Mortimer. He was the only participant to embody the ideals of the God of War, fighting with honor and the determination to improve his [Skills]. He was also the only participant under the age of 30, which speaks volumes to the duplicity of the three brothers Barok, Bren, and Blain. This is my first time attending the tournament, but even a small child could tell that there¡¯s something odd about middle aged men participating in a category that should only have participants under the age of 18.¡±

    An awkward laugh came from Draven, then he turned to the audience, ¡°And with that, the winner of the Under 10 category is settled! Our congratulations to Mortimer, and a reminder to him and the other participants to not expect any rewards from the God of War until the closing day of the tournament! Now, on to the under 25 category!¡±

    The under 25 category went well, and the potential Uluu from yesterday, Fade, ended up narrowly taking the victory. Rhinese only knew it was a narrow victory because the wolfkin Rivea went into a lot of detail about her decision.

    The under 50 category was the only one that didn¡¯t have a single hiccup. It was hard enough getting enough participants for the category, but those who did show up were individuals who were trying to catch the attention of the God of War, they were desperate to do so. Many of them had hit a wall in their growth, and so hoped that a reward from him would allow them to overcome.

    That attitude was extremely common, so bad actors were swiftly weeded out by the sheer determination by the participants.

    With that, the end of Day 4.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson sat in a prep room of the colosseum, slowly breathing. There was a lot on his mind that he was forcibly setting aside, like he had the previous days. The second he¡¯d gotten back, he¡¯d been bombarded with information. Verity told him all about problems she¡¯d had with Damus, but they couldn¡¯t be addressed quite yet - the corrupt [Priest] had disappeared without a trace.

    He¡¯d also been banned from participating in the tournament. He had missed the qualifiers, so he wasn¡¯t expecting to participate, but they had banned him anyway. It wasn¡¯t an official ban - they might get in trouble with the God of War otherwise - but he was instead offered a deal: a paid position as a commentator and champion. He needed money for equipment, so he took the deal on one condition: that he¡¯d be able to participate in the Open category. Much to his joy, an exception was made, and today, he¡¯d be able to participate in the Open category.

    The excitement was practically making his blood boil.

    He glanced to his left. In the air, there floated a sliver wisp of light, his [Blade Spirit], invisible to all but him, it lacked any form of will, but responded instantly to his. Just thinking would cause it to move wherever he wanted, and whenever he touched the hilt of a sword, it immediately possessed it, causing the sword to give off a silvery smoke or steam. That was the only time others could see it in any form.

    The effect was quite simple. When it possessed a sword, the sword got one extra point of durability, and one extra damage. Well, it did at Lv.2. At Lv.3, it now gave 2 durability instead of 1. Lv. 1 only had the durability increase, no extra damage.

    It would be a slow growing [Skill], but Crimson had got it early enough in his career that raising it to a dangerous level was only an inevitability - he hoped to one day be able to kill a Dragon with a Lv.1 sword.

    It was a good successor to the previous [Sword Kinship], containing the same basic idea of improving the weapon over the user, but the previous [Skill] was specific to each sword. Getting the full bonus from the [Sword Kinship] took a lot of time, but this new one was able to carry the bonuses between his swords. He¡¯d already tested that idea with his claymore.

    It was a perfect [Skill], and while the bonuses were smaller than [Sword Kinship] had been, it was still a new [Skill], Crimson fully expected it to surpass [Sword Kinship] shortly.

    Considering he¡¯d gotten the [Blade Spirit] from Averia, the Goddess of Nature, it would be more accurate to call it a [Familiar-Type Skill] over an [Artifact-Type Skill], but it was considered an [Artifact-Type Skill] because the spirit had a life span independent of his, so when he died it could be granted to another by Averia. That didn¡¯t bother him, but it was odd to think about.

    ¡°We¡¯re getting started, participants, head to the arena!¡± He heard being shouted in the distance. It was time to get started.

 Chapter 44: Blood Racing in Excitement, A Worthy Rival

    Chapter 44: Blood Racing in Excitement, A Worthy Rival

    For Crimson, sparring and battling were part of his every day life. He¡¯d sparred with Mars, Verity, and dozens of other adventurers. He was extremely experienced in person-to-person combat, and enjoyed it. He loved facing an opponent who was objectively stronger than he was, and overcoming the difference with [Skill]. It was hard, but that was what made it satisfying.

    In a fight there were three key factors that a person could have: strength, ability, and adaptability. If you had overwhelming strength, it could deal with any amount of ability, no matter what kind of [Skills] or experience a person had, there¡¯s nothing they could do against an opponent with stats an order of magnitude higher than theirs. The same logic applied to ability and adaptability. If you had a specific area that was significantly higher than your opponent, then you could win - even against ¡®impossible¡¯ odds.

    A few weeks back, Crimson had fought flying monsters that attacked Lupaken. He was objectively much weaker than his foes in several ways, but he had overwhelming ability that allowed him to overcome their strength.

    Obviously, it is best to have copious amount of all three things, but he was focused only on a single area. Just by looking at Crimson¡¯s [Advanced Sword Mastery], it could be inferred that he would be more [Skilled] than almost any opponent he could face, but he was lacking in strength, and he wasn¡¯t sure about his adaptability.

    Adaptability could be applied to the idea of a ¡®Trickster,¡¯ someone who overcomes impossible odds with clever tactics and strategy, great enough to overcome strength and ability.

    Adaptability was likely Crimson¡¯s weakest area.

    As he walked out onto the stadium floor, the sun just barely cresting the edge of the arena to cast light onto the battle field, Crimson surveyed the three by three grid that had been made in the arena floor.

    He didn¡¯t dare glance up at the private boxes, Rhinese and a woman - whom he inferred was Elegance - were boring holes into the back of his head with their eyes. Rhinese he could understand, but why Elegance? She¡­he shook his head. She had [CHA] and Charisma based [Skills] in such a great amount that even just thinking about her would fascinate him.

    Draven was alone in the announcer booth today. The deal was that Crimson would join him the second he got out, and they¡¯d done everything they could to paint a target on his back.

    He was the number one seed for the Open Category, and that would make a lot of the other contestants angry. A 16 year old kid, being deemed the most likely to win by the tournament staff? How insulting for them.

    Typically, being seeded in a tournament was a matter of respect, of being told ¡°you¡¯re too good for the lower categories,¡± but that wasn¡¯t the case here.

    He quietly listened through the announcements, bowed to the Royal Family, and waited for his name to be called. Because there were nine squares, there were nine seeded individuals. The Open category had too many people to get through in a reasonable amount of time, so the concurrent battles were the solution.

    Using the Royal Box as the main point of orientation, the upper left corner was the ninth seed, and it increased going counterclockwise around the edge, until it reached the top center, which was seed two. The centermost square was the first seed - the hardest slot to occupy.

    Crimson technically shouldn¡¯t have known which seed he was, but the nature of the deal he¡¯d made meant that he was informed prior to the event, though he¡¯d only found out this morning.

    Interestingly, the fifth seed was Mortimer, the winner of the under Lv.10 category, and the second seed was Fade, the winner of the under Lv.25 category. The bulk of the contestants were from those two categories, but the third and fourth seeds were both from the Under Lv.45 category, and there was no one attending for the under Lv.50 category. They stood to lose too much if they lost to someone weaker. Crimson found that pretty boring, since the purpose of the Open category was to give people the chance to learn and grow from each other.

    Damaging blows were forbidden, they were all provided gear, and their stats were enforced at 10 for everything except [LUC], which was effectively immutable. Crimson and everyone else had already been checked to ensure their stats were properly limited, and any removal prior to the end of the event would result in a criminal prosecution. It was designed to be an ideal space for learning and growth, independent of competition or spite, but in practice it became more like a vanity project.

    It could also be considered legalized smurfing since it was typically very dangerous to attack someone who was a lot lower in level than you. If you wanted a penalty from the gods, attacking someone with a 20 Level difference was the fastest way. That meant that honorable people tended to not participate in the Open category, despite the rules allowing for it so long as you could qualify for any of the other categories, which is to say, Lv.50 and under.

    Crimson was announced as the first seed, and he headed to the centermost square and took a stance with the [Padded Bokken] he¡¯d been given, the tip resting on the ground, and waited patiently for the competitors to be announced.

    His first fight would be against the ¡®weakest¡¯ competitor, since the point was to learn, the idea was letting the weakest learn from the strongest, so his competitor was the person who placed last in the Under Lv.10 category.

    Since neither he nor his opponent could deal damage to each other, each blow was assigned a point value, up to a maximum of three points. The first to score thirty points on their opponent would win, and if the time limit was reached, then the person who had scored more points won.

    After a long drawn out pause, the King stepped forward and spoke, ¡°I call upon Riskter, we beg thee to grant us thy blessing, grant us eyes that we might see, ears that we might hear, minds that we might understand, and hearts that we may learn. This is my prayer unto thee, so it is said.¡±

    At the end of his words, the entire colosseum glowed momentarily. After the glow faded, symbols started to appear and disappear in the air, twinkling like stars.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Alert: Riskter has increased [Skill] acquisition rate.

    -Alert: Riskter has increased [Skill] growth rate.

    -Alert: Riskter has temporarily applied the [Skill: Increased Learning Rate] to all within the boundary.

    -Admin Riskter has requested the user to equip [Titles]: [Divine Interpreter] and [Mentor].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    As requested, he swapped his [Titles], and mentally commanded his [Blade Spirit] to leave the practice sword he was holding - he¡¯d get in trouble for dealing any damage - then turned his attention to the nervous opponent standing across from him. Crimson could easily stomp on his opponent, especially at this level, but instead, when the round began he carefully began offering advice and suggestions to the young man to help him learn from the experience.

    His primary desire for the day was to learn and grow, and if he helped others do the same in the process, it would only be fair.

    As they neared the time limit of three minutes, Crimson gently struck his opponent once. The blow was rated as only one point because he struck in a non-lethal area with little force, but the score was 1-0, so when time was up he won.

    He was the only one who gave the courtesy to fight his much weaker opponent to the end of the time limit.

    They got a one minute break, then shifted positions. Everyone who won moved up a square, while the losers stayed put, and the next person in line stepped onto the last rated square. The loser of the center square had to leave to go to the back of the line, for those in the lower ranked squares, losing three times in a row meant going to the back of the line.

    There was no room for error with Crimson, and if he got out at any point, he had to return to commentating - he wasn¡¯t allowed to go to the back of the line for another chance.

    If the Open category was truly open to people of all levels, there would be no way for him to stand a chance, he¡¯d be out instantly on the second round, but between the dregs of the Under 45 category, and the bulk of the fighters being from the Under 10 category, Crimson had a chance. A small one, but he did have one.

    The minute up, Crimson opened his eyes to greet his next opponent. If the tournament staff weren¡¯t drunk, he¡¯d be facing the person who should have been the real first seed. The person who had demonstrated the most [Skill] during the bouts. Crimson had been one of the ones to nominate him, so the anticipation of facing Fade directly was nigh uncontainable.

    Fade had red hair that was similar in certain aspects to Crimson¡¯s eyes: it shifted colors. From a lighter red, to a darker one, each strand of his hair seemed to be ever so slightly different from the ones around it.

    His eyes were a matte violet, and intense. He was conventionally attractive, and taller than Crimson by a large margin, giving him a reach advantage. In his right hand was a large one-handed axe, and in the left was a shield. They were both padded like Crimson¡¯s bokken, but the intensity of the wielder would make a weaker willed person forget that detail.

    Crimson made direct eye contact with him, trying to glimpse his will before the battle began, and he flinched at the unexpected gaze. Fade was¡­barely contained rage. It whirled like a firestorm within his eyes, and was further offset by the friendly expression he had on his face. Crimson had never seen anyone this angry, but he had seen someone consumed by this much greed: Talis.

    They squared up, Crimson holding his sword with the tip pointed at Fade¡¯s eyes, and waited for the signal to begin.

    Fade spoke to him in the moments before the bout began, ¡°Thanks for standing up for me yesterday, and I¡¯m sorry for eliminating you here.¡±

    On the face of it, Fade¡¯s words were correct that Crimson would lose, a higher level almost always meant more [Skills], but they had a much more even playing field than anyone who didn¡¯t know Crimson would think.

    He responded, ¡°Don¡¯t apologize, and I won¡¯t either. Fight with everything you¡¯ve got.¡±

    Fade looked surprised for a moment, then grinned widely, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The signal was given to begin, and Fade immediately charged at him.

    Crimson knew from the second that he started to move that a lot of the tricks he used on less skilled foes wouldn¡¯t work here. It would be a head on fight.

    Fade aggressively slammed the shield at him, trying to knock him off balance to open him up for a heavy blow, but Crimson stepped around to the right, hiding behind the shield to try and attack his legs, but Fade jumped back the instant Crimson started to swing.

    He had very good instincts.

    After a few more exchanges with neither side landing a point Crimson had a realization. At this rate, they would run out the time, and Crimson would lose. Typically in the case of a tie, the person who had been there the longest would be favored for the victory, but for the center square, the challenger was given an advantage.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    Crimson stepped up his game, the point of this tournament was to grow, so he decided that even if he would lose, he¡¯d learn something from Fade and get some [Skill Levels]. Pushing [Footwork], [Parry], [Mikiri], and [Advanced Sword Mastery] to their limits in a set of reckless moves to try and suppress Fade.

    He spent a minute of the three on the offensive before backing down. Fade was specialized in defense, Crimson was struggling to find any advantage against an opponent nearly as slippery as him.

    Fade¡¯s [Axe Mastery] wasn¡¯t a very high level, and neither was the other [Skill] he showed Crimson, [Shield Bash], nor did he seem to have more combat experience, but his instincts were excellent. He seemed to have a seventh sense for each of Crimson¡¯s attacks, and was deft at handling each one. Likely, the only reason he¡¯d struggled during the finals of the Under 25 category came down to stat differences, but without those differences, his instinct was worth just as much, if not more, than any [Skill].

    That didn¡¯t mean Crimson couldn¡¯t win, it just meant that he had to shift from a strong offense to playing chess. If Fade¡¯s instincts and defensive ability were this overwhelming, then the only option was to lure him into a situation where no amount of either of things would save him.

    With half the time left, Crimson began plotting as he exchanged blows, focusing on learning Fade¡¯s habits to find a gap. He tended to relax a little every time Crimson backed off, lowering his shield slightly. He would tense up too much whenever Crimson advanced, and every time Crimson successfully dodged or blocked a blow that seemed like it should hit him, he got a little angrier, Crimson could see it in his eyes. It contrasted against the obviously overjoyed grin that got bigger every time this happened.

    He was honestly a bit confused about what Fade was feeling. He seemed thrilled, overjoyed, but with Crimson¡¯s [Eyes of Will], he could see the rage there.

    He made firm eye contact with Fade every chance he got. No matter how many times he tried it, Fade would still flinch, seeming unable to adjust to the sudden pressure of Crimson¡¯s will.

    That was another gap he could use, but not yet. He had an idea, so he started making eye contact intentionally every time he backed off, and every time he approached, he focused his gaze on Fade¡¯s axe or shield.

    They began to near the end of the time, and with a quick test, he saw that he had properly ingrained the habit into Fade, then charged at him while staring at his axe. When he was just out of Fade¡¯s reach, he stopped dead, using [Footwork] to kill his momentum and looked Fade in the eyes, Fade relaxed, ever so slightly, and Crimson dove into that gap with reckless abandon. He barely got past the shield, used his arm to receive Fade¡¯s axe, and slammed his own bokken into Fade¡¯s collarbone, where it met up with the base of his neck. The instant he landed the blow, time was called.

    There was a tournament staff member watching Crimson, and he walked over to Draven where they spoke in a low voice for a minute, then he announced, ¡°3 points to 2, Crimson wins for a lethal blow!¡±

    Crimson had been tuning out the crowd as much as possible, but the deafening cheers broke through his concentration, and he looked around. The cheering was the loudest he¡¯d heard the entire tournament. Their fight had been the closest, most intense of any that had occurred that week. They were essentially evenly matched, Crimson¡¯s ability, and Fade¡¯s adaptability were extremely similar, so it was nothing short of luck that Crimson managed to win, and his strategy paid off. Even the other contestants - who had all finished their fights after a minute - were watching them with stunned expressions.

    Fade turned to leave, but Crimson caught his arm in an iron grip, and he turned back to Crimson to make eye contact once more. He still flinched, but it wasn¡¯t as bad as during the fight.

    Crimson spoke, ¡°Would you be willing to give up your [Class]? I have an opening in my party for a defender, and you¡¯re the best of any I¡¯ve ever met.¡±

    The rage he saw in Fade¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t matter, just so long as it could be controlled and channelled, it would be worth it for a guy this good.

    Fade looked surprised, and hesitated, ¡°Look, I¡­my [Class]¡­¡±

    ¡°Is utter garbage. It¡¯s a Mid-Grade [Class], right? I can help you get a better one, if you let me, you can even choose the same [Class] once more, but I can help you get a High-Grade one, or even better.¡±

    Confused, Fade said, ¡°Better? There is no such thing as better than High-Grade¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course there is, there¡¯s Hidden-Grade and Ex-,¡° His words cut off, seeming to catch in his throat. He tried again, ¡°¡­and Ex-,¡° the choking sensation once more.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Admin Riskter: We request that you keep Exceed-Grade a secret. We don¡¯t have the means to support many of these [Classes].

    -Admin Melia: We are open to negotiation, go to the temple this evening to pray with your [Holy Interpreter Title] equipped and we¡¯ll talk.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson grunted, then spoke, ¡°Regardless, the gods reward efforts and ability. There¡¯s no way that someone like you should have a Mid-Grade [Class], you deserve so much more, and if you join my party, I¡¯ll help you get it!¡±

    Fade looked at him, for the first time, Crimson saw other emotions in his eyes than rage. There was fear, uncertainty, doubt, and hope. Crimson could capitalize on that hope.

    ¡°Tell you what, don¡¯t give me your response yet, go to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and ask about me. Emma, Lars, Mars, Verity, and Lena will all be able to vouch for me. I await your favorable response.¡± Crimson let go of Fade¡¯s arm at those words, and the larger man stumbled away, seeming lost.

    The minute he was supposed to get for a break was almost over after that discussion, but Crimson quickly checked his [Blessing] to see if any [Skills] had leveled up.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Skill] Level Up!

    -[Skill: Parry] 1/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -[Skill: Mikiri] 2/10 ¡ª> 4/10

    -[Skill: Footwork] 9/10 ¡ª> 10/10 (Max)

    -[Skill: Sword Armory] 2/10 ¡ª> 3/10

    -[Skill: Advanced Sword Mastery] 2/100 ¡ª> 8/100

    -[Skill: Ul Byrn] 1/10 ¡ª> 2/10

    -[Skill: Eyes of Will] 7/10 ¡ª> 9/10

    -[Skill: Blade Spirit] 3/10 ¡ª> 4/10

    -Generating Quest¡­

    -Quest: Setting an Example

    -Do not lose for the rest of the day 0/1

    -Bonus: Do not take another point for the rest of the day 0/1

    -Time Limit: 5 Hours

    -Failure Condition: Losing

    -Reward: Undecided

    -Accept? <Y><N>

    -Admin Riskter: I will reward you appropriately, set an example to strive for.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He could only describe it as a bounty. That was probably two or three weeks of training right there. His [Eyes of Will] had been pretty stagnant, so that was likely two or three months of progress.

    He couldn¡¯t help it, and physically expressed his joy by hopping around a little bit. He heard some loud laughter from the front row, and glanced over to see Verity who was holding her gut, doubled over in laughter at seeing that. She was loud enough to be heard as far away as he was, so it was likely that most of the audience could hear her.

    Crimson flushed, feeling extremely embarrassed, and with a cough to try and dispel the feeling, turned his attention to his next opponent. He had a moment before the battle began, so he quickly hit ¡®Yes¡¯ to accept the [Quest]. There was nothing for him to lose by trying.

    The next round was announced, and the shuffle of people moving to new spots took a bit longer this time since one person in each square now had to leave for losing twice in a row. The participants began to move up the the squares until they all had two participants once more.

    The next round began, and Crimson swiftly began to feel frustrated. His opponent was trying to use [Skills] to suppress him, but Crimson¡¯s [Skills] were superior, though lower in quality. His opponent used attack [Skills] one after the other, infusing his sword with different elements for each attack, and doing cheeky things like throwing dirt in his eyes. This man was clearly a bad actor who just wanted to stomp on the competition.

    Crimson eliminated him in a minute, while only counterattacking, going as far as to kick him in the fork of the legs after the dirt incident. The implication was, ¡°you want to fight dirty? I can too.¡± It didn¡¯t deal any damage, but any man would have a moment of panic after being struck in that general area, so that would suffice as punishment. He tried to kick Crimson in the same place as revenge, but Crimson used that moment to knock him to the ground and stomp on his face, earning 5 points for those two blows.

    After his fight with Fade, he could only feel bored and frustrated with trashy individuals like this.

    The next fight was a lot better, it was Mortimer, the winner of the Under 10 category. Crimson had fought him yesterday, but was more than happy to do so again today.

    He had a pretty neat strategy, seeming to decide that the way to win was to get one blow on Crimson, then force a battle of attrition. He summoned a pair of shields for each hand and created a spear to float in the air between them, fending Crimson with the point.

    It was a good idea, and Crimson nearly got hit more than once, but Mortimer had paced himself poorly, nearly running out of MP and forcing him to dismiss the shields. Crimson was still coaching him the entire time, and had thus been passing up openings he¡¯d seen to continue to teach. He severely reprimanded Mortimer for pacing himself that poorly, punctuating his final line with a knock-knock on Mortimer¡¯s skull, earning him one point, as well as victory in the round.

    The most of the rest of the fights weren¡¯t worth going over in detail, but some of the [Skills] he came across were. Once of his opponents was an archer who could create footholds in the air, and used that to try and snipe Crimson. He had knocked her off it by throwing some of the arrows back at her, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground. Since the fall hurt her, causing her to lose 30% of her HP, he nearly got in trouble before it was determined that she would be disqualified for reckless [Skill] use. He was let off Scott-free.

    The next [Skill] was one that was subtle, but Crimson was too trained to not notice. The other man was a sword-user as well, and he had a [Skill] that increased the force behind his blows, each of his hits felt almost like Crimson would be knocked off his feet, so after blocking two of them, he started avoiding them and easily won the bout.

    There was a [Skill] that shattered the ground under his feet, he had responded by casting [Mud] and causing them to slip.

    There was one that just tried to bombard him with magic, seeming to have some kind of multi-casting [Skill]. This had actually been a tricky fight because what mattered was whether the magic made contact, not whether it did damage, so the defense he¡¯d used against the flying monsters from the dungeon break didn¡¯t work since it would look like the spells were making contact.

    There were a few other mildly interesting [Skills], but none of them were so compelling. He hadn¡¯t

    Prior to the final bout, Crimson glanced at his [Blessing] once more. His [Skill Peak] informed him that [Footwork] was ready to advance.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Skill] Level Up!

    -[Ul Byrn] 2/10 ¡ª> 3/10

    -[Parry] 6/10 ¡ª> 9/10

    -[Mikiri] 4/10 ¡ª> 5/10

    -[Advanced Sword Mastery] 8/100 ¡ª>11/100

    -[Footwork] has advanced!

    -[Footwork] 10/10 ¡ª> [Adaptive Footwork] 1/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He¡¯d been using [Footwork] for a lot more than just fighting, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that it didn¡¯t become something like ¡®[Advanced Footwork]¡¯ or the like.

    Crimson¡¯s blood couldn¡¯t help but pump for the final round. There was no better way to end the tournament with a rematch with Fade, who had fought his way up the seeds once more to face Crimson.

    A wide grin on his face, Crimson uncharacteristically greeted Fade with a handshake - a relatively uncommon act in this culture - and welcomed him on to the central square.

    The only words they exchanged, ¡°I won¡¯t lose this time!¡±

    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t even take a point this time.¡±

    Crimson could see the excitement he felt reflected in Fade¡¯s expression, there was even enough of it to break through the rage in his eyes. Both of them felt confident, and neither would give any ground, but there was one key difference: Crimson had improved by leaps and bounds in [Skills], and understood Fade¡¯s tempo. His instincts were great, and it wouldn¡¯t be an easy fight, but Crimson knew that he could win.

    The final key factor that brought Crimson confidence was exhaustion. Both he and Fade were extremely tired from the day of fighting, but Crimson had spent a long time building up his endurance, and was in better condition - even respecting the fact that Fade got a several hour break while he didn¡¯t.

    The fight began, and Crimson began to wield the might of his new [Skills]. With the improved [Mikiri], he could respond more quickly and more accurately to Fade, though he had to intentionally bait him into making ¡®lethal¡¯ blows to get that [Skill] to trigger, it didn¡¯t matter because his improved [Parry] let him handle the danger with ease. [Adaptive Footwork] made it easier than ever to perform moves that would be considered ¡®ankle breakers¡¯ in basketball. He had also finally identified what [Ul Byrn] was doing. It was letting him understand his opponents. He got a better sense of their combat style in a few blows than he would¡¯ve gotten with an hour of observation, and once he understood their fighting style, he could also understand how they would move and behave. It even worked on Fade¡¯s sharp instincts.

    Slipping around like an eel, he suddenly thrust, his sword making a ¡®cut¡¯ across Fade¡¯s arm, sinking the tip into his shoulder, before flicking the bokken up and smacking him on the side of the head with the flat of the blade. Those three blows earned him a total of 6 points.

    Though even with all the improvements Crimson had gained, Fade was still an adversary that pushed him to his limits. His [Skill] with the axe had gotten noticeably better, and his [Shield Bash Skill] came out a lot faster and more often. It was doable, but to ensure that he didn¡¯t lose any points, he was forced to resort to using magic.

    There were a couple times that Fade almost cornered him enough to lose a point, but a quick bit of water splashed in his face Crimson managed to get out of it the first time. He used [Arc] to make Fade jump back when his sword got caught by his axe, and he used [Flare] to create an opening by shooting it at him and forcing him to duck down.

    Crimson was forced to admit to himself that he was quite the hypocrite. He was using tactics that he would¡¯ve condemned if an opponent used it against him. It didn¡¯t feel great, but he was feeling greedy for the bonus reward that Riskter offered, and so decided to use magic in creative ways instead of just bombarding Fade with spells. If he wanted, he could just use [Manipulate Water] to smack him repeatedly from all sides and force a victory through a barrage of those minor blows, but he had more self respect than that - it wouldn¡¯t help him improve.

    With just a few seconds left on the clock, Crimson scored his thirtieth point against Fade, winning the bout without taking a hit. The exhilaration of victory was so great that it exceeded all the excitement he¡¯d ever felt in his life. This is what he¡¯d wanted, this is what he¡¯d needed. If he wanted more of this, he¡¯d need Fade.

    He offered Fade another hand-shake, and they both grinned at each other. Fade¡¯s rage as seen in his eyes was the most intense he¡¯d seen the entire day, but he was acting normal, so Crimson started to suspect that the rage was either unnoticed, or it was unnatural and being suppressed. Maybe he had a [Rizvim]?

    He bowed to the crowed, bowed to the Royal box, directly bowed at Rhinese while trying not to look at Elegance - he still got fascinated for a moment - before striding off the field to cheers. There were technically no winners or losers in the Open category, but everyone knew who the true winner was.

 Chapter 45: A [Class] for Verity

    Chapter 45: A [Class] for Verity

    Crimson and Rhea had just arrived in Falst from Lupaken, and he was instantly accosted by guild staff who dragged him before Lars like a kitten being hoisted by its scruff.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let you participate,¡± he had said, ¡°your abilities significantly out pace your contemporaries. It would be bad if you were to completely dominate the competition without a [Class].¡±

    ¡°I have one.¡± He¡¯d responded, still being held by the back of his shirt in the air by the guild staff who¡¯d caught him.

    Lars had grunted, ¡°It¡¯s about time. High-Grade, I assume?¡±

    Crimson had awkwardly shrugged, ¡°Something like that, I going to keep the details to myself. Is there truly no way I can participate?¡±

    A nod from Lars saddened him, but after that, he¡¯d been allowed to stand on his own once more. Lars had other problems on his plate - though he¡¯d declined to state what they were - and so gave Crimson a request to substitute for him as a commentator for the event.

    The pay was phenomenal, 10,000 Royals, and he had seen the physical pain it caused Lars to state that amount. A burst of inspiration hit him in that moment, and he made an offer: if they could let him directly participate in the tournament somehow, then he¡¯d accept a decreased pay. He didn¡¯t care about winning or any of the prizes, the opportunity to learn meant a lot more to him, so he further offered to decline any prize money or material rewards. It had given Lars a lot of pause, then he¡¯d been informed that they - the Guild and the Royal Family - would discuss it.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Sitting in the Guild Library, Verity watched as Crimson¡¯s eyebrows climbed his forehead as she told him about what he¡¯d missed. He¡¯d been mad when he heard about the theft of the [Holy Crystal], happy to hear that Emma had been willing to help out, and confused by the other revelations she gave him.

    Verity¡¯s story continued, ¡°¡­the writings I lifted from Damus¡¯ office indicate that he was acting under some kind of order. There¡¯s a cypher that¡¯s slowing Rei¡¯s progress in understanding what was going on, but he was ordered to take a puzzle box from Rei¡¯s office. He did so the day before Rei and Emma explored the [Hallowed Graveyard] for me, so they kidnapped him so I could gather what information I could.¡±

    ¡°While I¡¯m curious about the puzzle box,¡± Crimson said, looking deeply into her eyes, letting her see the confusion that rested there, ¡°I am more concerned about a fundamental aspect of this situation. How is Damus doing things that should violate his oaths? He should be crawling on the ground under a mountain of penalties.¡±

    Verity shrugged, ¡°That stood out to me too, but I can¡¯t pretend to know enough about the oaths he¡¯s made to understand how difficult it would be to break his oaths.¡±

    ¡°About as easy as me convincing you to drink ale tonight.¡±

    After a moment of processing, Verity said, ¡°Gods, how has he not broken his oaths yet?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking. The God of Truth has the easiest oaths of any to break. There¡¯s no way he wouldn¡¯t be hit with some kind of penalty for even telling half truths. Those oaths become more intensive as you get stronger, so Damus being over Lv. 50 should find them very easy to break on accident.¡±

    Verity suddenly started, and said, ¡°Wait¡­Rei told me something in passing. When they were hunting in the [Hallowed Graveyard], Damus seemed weaker than usual. She thought it was more to do with the fact that he didn¡¯t want to be there, but maybe¡­¡±

    Crimson tilted his head back and forth a few times as she watched him, then eventually said, ¡°Potentially, but the severity is nowhere near sufficient for the violations he¡¯s been performing, not only that, but we should see some kind of physical mark appear on his skin to indicate that he was being punished. It typically covers the face and neck, so there¡¯s no way we should have missed it.¡±

    After another moment of thought, Crimson shook his head and moved on, ¡°So, tell me more about this puzzle box.¡±

    ¡°Rei told me that it was very old, the Temple has been watching after it for decades, and nobody has known what it does.¡± She said.

    ¡°So no-one was able to open it?¡± He asked.

    ¡°No, they got it open, quite easily too, but it was solid all the way through. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the box would reassemble itself every few minutes, then it would have likely been disposed of, but the deciding factor was that it apparently can¡¯t leave Falst.¡±

    ¡°So Damus is still somewhere in Falst¡­¡±

    Crimson sat in thought for a second, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you think he managed to find a way into the secret passages?¡±

    Verity shook her head. She¡¯d been utterly shocked when he¡¯d introduced them to her, there was no way that someone like Damus would¡¯ve found a way in unless someone showed him, and Crimson had thoroughly established that he was the only one who could explore the space. His ability to sense mana and manipulate the magic locks that purveyed the space were unique to him, so there would be no way for anyone to even find the side passages, though the main passages were a possibility¡­?

    Crimson spoke after a moment, ¡°I agree, there¡¯s practically no way he found his way into a side passage, but even you don¡¯t need my help to explore the main loop around the city. Even if he did find his way into a side passage, there¡¯s no way we¡¯d be able to find him. It¡¯s a rat maze down there, it took me months to completely map the space in my head, and it was hard enough to gift me a [Skill] when I got my [Blessing]. I¡¯ll do a loop around the city in the main passage this evening, but I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ll find anything.¡±

    She nodded at his words. There was some wisdom in his statement. It didn¡¯t hurt to check, but a thorough sweep was beyond them at the moment. For one, he¡¯d already told her about the commitment he¡¯d made for the tournament. While his role wouldn¡¯t start tomorrow, he would be expected to be present and involved in other tasks during the qualifiers. There was no time for them to search the entire secret passages - especially because Verity would get lost if they separated, so there was no effective way to do so.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about the most important thing of the evening,¡± he said, ¡°how¡¯s your progress on your [Class]?¡±

    Verity gave him a massive grin, ¡°I have the [Holy Crystal] and the [Life Crystal], and I just found a seller for the [Purity Crystal] today. I¡¯ve already paid for it, and should be getting it tomorrow. Also, I¡¯ve almost finished studying the spells I need. How about you? You¡¯re probably stuck at Lv.99 [Sword Mastery], right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s actually [Advanced Sword Mastery] now. I have my [Class].¡±

    ¡°Gods curse it!¡± Verity swore.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson performed a sweep of the main passage under Falst, following the corridor around the entire city, but didn¡¯t find any sign of human presence. It had been a while since he last visited, and the dust buildup on the magic locks indicated that they hadn¡¯t been used the entire time.

    The entire next day was spent observing the qualifiers. He picked out a few people that looked interesting - ones he hoped to fight - and kept an eye on them. There were only two, so he was extremely disappointed with his observations. The first was a tanned, thin but short human who summoned weapons of magic to fight, the second was a very pale, very tall human with red hair and purple eyes.

    There were others who were as strong as or nearly as strong as these two, but it actively infuriated him to watch them. There were thirty year old men and women participating in the Under 10 and Under 25 categories, and it was clear that they weren¡¯t here with good intentions. They had intentionally kept themselves weak to trample on weaker foes, and for that, Crimson couldn¡¯t forgive them.

    Admittedly, he hated them more for the intentional stagnation of strength than the fact that they were trying to smurf. He didn¡¯t place much importance on anything else but the experience that would come with participation, so the fact that nobody would die tempered some of his frustration towards the injustice of smurfing, though only a little.

    He spent that evening helping Verity with her studies. She was extremely close to done, likely before the end of the tournament she¡¯d be ready to get her [Class].

    The following day was as boring as he¡¯d worried. He didn¡¯t feel like he learned anything from the fights he watched, and only a few of them were interesting. The biggest issue came during the final fight of the Under 25 category when his [Holy Interpreter Title] suddenly equipped himself, and he acted like a conduit to share Riskter¡¯s words.

    It was an odd sensation, he felt mostly like himself, but he felt another energy surging through him, something other than mana or blood, and his hands shook the entire time. He felt a certain¡­force, behind his words, encouraging him to say certain things, and discouraging him from saying others. A lot of the specific wording was actually left to him, but not for the punishment. Line for line, that was given as directed.

    The rest of the day had been boring, but if he had to list one exception, it would have been right at the beginning of the day, when he¡¯d seen a Dark Elf so compellingly beautiful that it felt like his brain took a vacation. All he wanted to do was drink her in with his eyes. He¡¯d allowed himself to do so for a short time, before eventually, and a bit reluctantly, shaking himself out of it.

    It was only when he got a bit of time looking away from her that he felt a bit embarrassed about his undivided attention. He didn¡¯t particularly enjoy people staring at him, he should afford her the same courtesy. She had given an extremely lovely smile at him though, and his beating heart had responded.

    Putting aside his own fascination, he was also forced to sneak out with a group of guild staff who¡¯d been hired to help run the tournament. There were a lot of people who were staring at him like ravenous wolves prior to the stealthy maneuver, and he didn¡¯t want to get caught up in their undesirable political games and religious fanaticism.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Once in Falst, he¡¯d immediately ducked into a secret passage and vanished, allowing him to get back to his inn easily, and preventing any of the crowd from catching him. There were more than a couple who tried, but the ones who did had levels low enough for him to dodge their grasp.

    All Crimson could pray was that the crowd would have short memories.

    His inn was now one shared with Verity, though in separate rooms and she was kind enough to host Rhea for him, in Phase 5. It was a fair bit more expensive, but he was good enough now that even without his [Class] he could earn the 45 Royals it cost for a 2 week stay in just a single day. It would be a rough day, but manageable. Verity had been the one to talk him into it, indicating that living next to the slums was a bit too dangerous for his notoriety.

    He had been forced to agree. There had been a run in with the local gangs a few months ago, and they¡¯d slowly become more dangerous to him with each passing day. He¡¯d still stubbornly held out, before giving in the night of his return to Falst. Part of the reason he¡¯d accepted was that Verity had already reserved a room for him since every Inn was full due to the Tournament. Even the dirt cheap one he¡¯d stayed at was completely full.

    He still wanted to pretend that he had made the decision, and hadn¡¯t been forced into it.

    He and Verity spent some time on the roof of the inn, lit by [Magic Lights] both he and Verity had cast, his with the silver steel color he preferred, and Verity with a pale green light. Her light was a little worse for reading, but she couldn¡¯t manually change the color like he could.

    ¡°¡­like that, see? By focusing on the intonation of this line here, I can actually shorten the next line of the spell!¡± Verity told him with glee, working on studying her [Rejection] spell.

    She¡¯d been repeatedly knocking over a barrel that Crimson had laboriously hauled onto the roof. It was empty, but still heavy, and more importantly, big enough to be awkward to get up flights of stairs.

    [Rejection] was her last spell. She¡¯d picked up the [Purity Crystal] early in the morning, and they¡¯d paid a neat little 15 Royal fee to rent the roof of the inn - the most privacy they could get without drawing suspicion. While she wasn¡¯t ready for a [Class], it was time to change her [Affinities] in preparation.

    He¡¯d agreed with her decision to invest in more spells, so he would actively dissuade her from recklessly grabbing a [Class] without reaching her goal. At all costs, he did not want her tripping at the metaphorical finish line.

    Speaking to the rarity of the [Class] she would get, he expected that her current efforts would get her a Hidden-Grade [Class], but¡­something felt a little short for an Exceed-Grade [Class]. His [Skill: Class Peak] was whispering to him, something he couldn¡¯t hear, but he got the feeling from it that she might never get an Exceed-Grade [Class]. He desperately wanted to prove the whisper wrong.

    Crimson folded his arms and watched as Verity held the twelve ingredients she needed for the [Ritual] in awkward arms. The recipe was ridiculously straightforward, but the conditions to meet it were rough. Fortunately, Verity met the hardest one: not having a [Class]. [Affinities] were an important part of a person¡¯s identity, affecting how they acted and other physical attributes, changing them like this could be dangerous, if certain [Affinities] weren¡¯t lined up correctly, though it was extremely unlikely - less than a tenth of a percent of chance -, Crimson was cautious by nature.

    Say, for example, Verity had an extremely high [Affinity] for [Death], this ritual might actually kill her in the same way that Rhea¡¯s condition was slowly killing her. What Crimson had done to Rhea was a much slower process, and he¡¯d laid a lot of ground work to help it go well, but if she¡¯d tried to perform a ritual like this, Crimson suspected it might have killed her - something that hadn¡¯t occurred to him at the time.

    The ingredients in Verity¡¯s arms started to glow, a [Shard], [Stone], [Gem], and [Crystal] of each of the three [Affinities] she was trying to increase. They rose up into the air, alighting in a cylindrical pattern around her, the [Crystals] forming a crown above her head. The glow wasn¡¯t harsh or bright, but gentle, enough that it wouldn¡¯t be noticeable when compared to the [Magic Lights] that Crimson had floating around. By pure happenstance they ended up being an excellent cover for the [Ritual].

    Starting from the [Shards] floating around her feet, each of the materials slowly dissolved into light of their respective color - Gold for [Holy], White for [Purity], and Green for [Life] - and with a snaking trail like smoke, was absorbed into Verity¡¯s chest and back, right over where her [Mana Pool] was.

    The [Ritual] wasn¡¯t long, maybe a minute at most, and when it was done, the light faded and Verity stumbled a bit, so he jolted out of his relaxed posture to rush over and lend her a shoulder.

    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve drunk an entire keg of beer¡­¡± she moaned, clutching her head.

    ¡°And you¡¯re clearly not at the fun part of that process,¡± he responded, a bit cheekily. He knew from her comment that she was okay, so his fears were unfounded, and he had the emotional leeway to tease her a bit.

    His reward for the comment was a light punch to his chest, and he grinned a little bit.

    He extended his focus into the arm he¡¯d wrapped around her shoulder, and extended [Mana] from it down into her body to inspect the condition of her [Mana]. It was still in a turbulent state, the forcible introduction of the new [Affinities] were causing a war between them and the ones that already existed in her body. He hadn¡¯t considered the possibility, but it seemed a consequence of doing the [Ritual] with this many [Affinities] meant that she¡¯d lose any others she¡¯d had before this moment.

    Rhinese likely didn¡¯t suffer this consequence, she hadn¡¯t been as greedy as they¡¯d been. He¡¯d need to ask her to be sure though.

    ¡°It says,¡± Verity said with speech slurred by tiredness, ¡°that there are 6 hours before the changes take effect.¡±

    Crimson nodded, that seemed relatively quick compared to all the wait time he¡¯d been hit with after initially getting his [Blessing]. He didn¡¯t like to remember that week very much. Not his finest hour.

    Verity continued, ¡°That¡­just leaves¡­[Rejection]¡­¡±

    She fell asleep against him, so he slung her over a shoulder and carried her to her room. At his request, Rhea helped her to bed, and he went to bed himself after washing up.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The next day made up for all the previous tedium, his fight with Fade, and his subsequent de facto victory over the Open category meant that he was riding high on elation, but he had one last thing he needed to do that day.

    He¡¯d been invited by the gods to the Temple for¡­something, it was likely in relation to how he was forcibly stopped from mentioning Exceed-Grade.

    There was a small private room in the temple, one that was rarely used, but it fulfilled a very important purpose: it provided a place for all the gods to be prayed to at the same time. The Hall of Nine had the statues segregated from each other, meaning he would have to burn prayers for each statue, which wasn¡¯t realistic for something like this.

    It wasn¡¯t truly a prayer, but Crimson still burned a piece of paper that he had written, ¡°You called, I heard¡± to get the gods attention. It was a polite enough greeting, though not a formal one. It was utilized by favored servants who had a lot of familiarity with their master, and Crimson felt that it was appropriate.

    His [Blessing] opened of its own accord as the prayer finished burning.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Notice: Goddess Melia will be acting as representative.

    -Admin Melia: We desperately request that you keep the existence of Exceed-Grade hidden from the general public. You may inform your close allies, but do not attempt to help them reach that Grade. Supporting your [Class] is already straining the System, and we couldn¡¯t handle any others at the moment.

    -Admin Melia: Further, we request that you get a few levels. This information is to be kept secret, but the system is designed to allocate resources depending on the User¡¯s Level. We have fought the system to get you the resources you deserve, but it is too difficult to do for more individuals. A second might be fine, but a third or fourth? The consequences would be severe.

    -Admin Melia: We have some understanding of your nature, and offer you this deal: should you uphold our requests, then we shall grant your allies two bonus stats per level, as well as the ability to select one additional [Skill] from the selection. We are not able to give them access to Advanced-Low [Skills], but the additional [Skill] they can receive will be worth the repayment. This is, of course, assuming that you will help your allies receive a Hidden-Grade [Class].

    -Admin Melia: We shall only offer these bonuses to your direct party members who earn a Hidden-Grade [Class]. A High-Grade [Class] will forfeit these bonuses. Do you accept these terms?

    -<Y><N>

    -Input: y

    -Received.

    -Designating¡­

    -Users bearing the [Title: Blessings of Trans¡¯du¡¯Niir] in near proximity to the Primary User will receive an additional [Skill] from [Class Skill] selection and bonus [Stats] each level. These benefits will be removed in the event that the title is lost.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson found the terms acceptable, and it explained the feeling he had about trying to get Verity to Exceed-Grade with her [Class]. It was unfortunate that he would have to give up on it, but the value of not infuriating the gods was worth more. If it so happened that one of his allies somehow got an Exceed-Grade [Class], it would be a happy accident¡­nothing more.

    The best part of this deal was removing the need for him to force Verity to train more before getting a new [Class], since he was certain she¡¯d cleared the conditions for a Hidden-Grade [Class] after finishing [Rejection] earlier that day, there was no need to delay.

    He rushed back to the inn in Phase 5 and grabbed Verity from her room. She¡¯d made sure to attend the tournament despite the headache not leaving her, and had stuffed cotton into her ears to reduce the noise of the crowd. It hadn¡¯t been enough, so she¡¯d been resting since she got back from the tournament. It hadn¡¯t stopped her from studying [Rejection] every down second she got though.

    It was a bit callous for him to grab her in this situation, but she was just as eager as he was, so when he asked, ¡°You wanna pick up your [Class] right now?¡± She instantly popped out of bed, clutching her head in pain, and they rented the roof once more.

    The barrel was still up there, and Verity settled on it while Crimson plopped down on the ground to watch her. After a long, uncomfortable moment, Verity glared at him and said, ¡°Some privacy?¡±

    Ahh, right. Watching this process would be similar to asking Verity to let him watch her change. He¡¯d forgotten in his excitement.

    With an embarrassed blush and an apology, he left and settled on the flight of stairs leading to the roof to wait.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity turned back to her [Blessing] after the door clicked shut. Crimson was really quite brilliant up until the moment he was an idiot.

    In the past, her [Blessing] had appeared to her like a scroll unrolling in the air. It appeared to people in different ways. Some heard their own voice whispering in their ear, some had to find a mirror to interact with their [Class], and others could only interact with their [Blessing] in deep meditation. Crimson had interviewed a bunch of people on how they interacted with their [Blessing], and while a lot of people had refused to answer his questions, enough had for him to tell her about the result: it wasn¡¯t random, it was based on the perception of the user.

    He had described to her in detail how he interacted with his [Blessing], and after a time, her [Blessing] changed to be like his. No longer a scroll appearing in the air, it was now a slate of green translucent metal that let words flow across the surface like water.

    Navigating it by tapping the [Blessing], she opened the [Class] selection for the first time in years.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Recommended [Classes]: [Druid], [Priest], [Sanctor], [Martial Artist], [Drunken Brawler]

    -Other [Classes]: [Healer], [Veteran], [Boxer], [Defender], [Guardian], [Berserker]¡­

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity grimaced at the list. It was a lot longer than it had been the first time she¡¯d gotten a [Class]. Not only that, but the [Class] she wanted was ¡®not¡¯ recommended. Crimson had initially warned her about this crazy path she chose, before swapping over to helping her carry out her desires. It seemed even the gods didn¡¯t want her to choose this path, but she had carved it out herself. It was the path she wanted, the one she needed, so she didn¡¯t hesitate.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Healer] selected.

    -Confirm? <Y><N>

    -y

    -Confirm? <Y><N>

    -y

    -Are you truly sure? <Y><N>

    -y

    -Accepted.

    -Setting primary [Class] as [Healer].

    -Loading¡­

    -Loading¡­

    -Data has reached a certain threshold.

    -Forcibly increasing the Grade to Mid.

    -Loading¡­

    -Loading¡­

    -Data has reached a certain threshold.

    -Forcibly increasing the Grade to High.

    -User has met the requirements to proceed to Hidden-Grade.

    -Proceed? <Y><N>

    -y

    -[Class] has been set as Hidden-Grade.

    -Processing¡­

    -Processing¡­

    -Downloading¡­

    -Installing¡­

    -Loading¡­

    -[Class] has been set.

    -User granted the [Stellar Healer Class].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 46: Learning to be Discerning

    Chapter 46: Learning to be Discerning

    Verity smiled at the [Class] name. She¡¯d managed to get a Hidden-Grade [Class]? That was everything she could¡¯ve hoped for!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Displaying [Class]:

    -Name: Stellar Healer

    -Tier: Basic

    -Grade: Hidden

    -Description: A new path on an old route. Healing is an art, a calling, and a dream. Heal, for it is your meaning. Heal, for you are nothing without it.

    -Level Rewards: 150HP, 4 INT, 4 WIS, 2 PER, 2 VIT, 1 CON, 1 CHA

    -Admin Interrupt.

    -Notice: Your [Affinity] changes have been finalized and applied.

    -[Fire] 6 -> 5

    -[Wind] 6 -> 5

    -[Earth] 4 -> 5

    -[Holy] 5 -> 7

    -[Profane] 5->4

    -[Purity] 5 -> 7

    -[Corruption] 5->4

    -[Life] 5 -> 7

    -[Death] 4-> 3

    -Admin interrupt removed.

    -Loading¡­

    -Opening [Class Skill] selection.

    -Displaying [Class Skill] selection:

    -Low: [Lesser Undead Purification], [Knock-back Barrier], [Detoxify]

    -Mid: [Bless], [Damage Reduction], [Enhanced Recovery]

    -High: [Divine Might], [Recursive Purity], [Infused Life]

    -Please select up to <4> [Skills]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity had been drilled on the [Skill] selection for over half an hour by Crimson earlier, so she could only give a chagrined smile at her past self who had chosen things that ¡®sounded good¡¯ at the time. Her [Class] had been Mid-Grade, so she¡¯d been able to choose 2 [Skills] from a selection of 6. This time, being able to choose a bounty of 4 from 9 felt like eating too much good food.

    One of the things she¡¯d been grilled on was to look for patterns in how the [Skills] were arranged, so she started by opening and reading the description for each [Skill], one by one.

    The first column of [Skills] were all ones that would be associated with a [Priest], the second a [Sanctor], and the third [Druid]. She¡¯d decided that [Life] would be her primary attribute for [Healing], so she¡¯d need to pay careful attention to the last column.

    The first row, all the Low-Grade [Skills] were very basic spells, she already knew [Detoxify], though not as a [Skill], but a [Spell]. The Mid-Grade [Skills] were all also active [Skills], but the High-Grade were passive [Skills].

    There was some logic to it, but mostly on gut instinct she threw away all the Low-Grade [Skills]. She had Crimson, she could get them as [Skills] later - so it would be better to not waste a selection here.

    That left the Mid and High-Grade [Skills].

    It was a tough decision, no matter how she sliced it. The Mid-Grade [Skills] all leaned into secondary aspects of the original three [Classes], they all focused on enhancements of some kind. She cared the least about [Holy], but this version of the [Bless Skill] did exactly what she wanted from that part of her [Class].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Name: [Bless]

    -Description: Call upon the might of the Gods to enhance the damage of a weapon for 3 minutes. Additional MP can be used to increase the enhancement at the cost of duration or the duration can be increased by sacrificing the bonus. +1-3 attack.

    -Cost: 50~150MP

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    She didn¡¯t care about the offensive nature of [Holy], that was more suitable for [Paladins] in any case, but this, the ability to provide enhancements? Exactly what she wanted from it. Unfortunately, it was only after talking to Crimson after he got back that she realized that she might¡¯ve made a mistake in learning [Rejection] over something more relevant, but he had just encouraged her to finish it over pivoting, so here she was, grateful the gods hadn¡¯t given her [Divine Smite] as an option.

    Though her choice would be a bit easier if it had been included.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Name: [Damage Reduction]

    -Description: Grant an ally the ability to resist damage by rejecting the corrupted state of damage for 3 minutes. Additional MP can be used to increase the reduction at the cost of duration and vice versa. Reduces Damage taken by 5-15%, failure occurs if the damage dealt would exceed 10% of the ally¡¯s max HP in a single blow.

    -Cost: 50~150MP

    -Name: [Enhanced Recovery]

    -Description: Use the might of your life to grant allies an increased recovery rate for 3 minutes. Additional MP can be used to increase the recover rate further at the cost of duration and vice versa. Natural Regeneration increases by 5-15%. Naturally occurring conditions like Exhaustion will not impede regen.

    -Cost:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Gods curse it all, they were all perfect, and to say nothing of the High-Grade [Skills]!Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Name: [Divine Might]

    -Description: The effect of all [Holy Affinity] [Spells] and [Skills] increase by 1%.

    -Name: [Recursive Purity]

    -Description: The effect of all [Purity Affinity] [Spells] and [Skills] increase by 1%.

    -Name: [Infused Life]

    -Description: The effect of all [Life Affinity] [Spells] and [Skills] increase by 1%.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Incredibly simple, yet incredibly powerful. She had to pick all three. The 1% wasn¡¯t much now, but even if it went up by 0.1% per level it would be worth it. These were the kinds of [Skills] that would act as a foundation that would only pay off more the longer she had them. She might have other avenues to learn the other [Skills], but she had no idea how she might learn these ones on her own.

    She quickly selected all three of the High-Grade [Skills], which meant that she was forced to revisit the tough decision of the last [Skill]. Crimson had given her the details about the deal with the gods, so she knew why she could choose a fourth [Skill] and why she was getting more stats than she should, but the additional choice was giving her a headache.

    She slightly missed how flippantly she¡¯d chosen [Skills] the first time around. She¡¯d grabbed whatever seemed good, then had went with friends to try alcohol for the ¡®first¡¯ time. Her mother wasn¡¯t much of a drinker, but she¡¯d snuck wine and beer from her friend¡¯s parents. She¡¯d drunk herself under the table quickly, not understanding her limits.

    It had been a lot of fun.

    However, she now had to deal with Crimson. He had already informed her that no decision she could make here would be a mistake, but that some decisions were better than others. He¡¯d been trying to tell her not to stress over the choice, but she understood what he actually meant was, ¡°I¡¯ll train you till you¡¯re strong enough for my tastes.¡±

    If she chose poorly here, she might be thrown into a nasty training regimen, one she could only curse herself for agreeing to participate in.

    One of the pieces of advice Crimson had given her about tough decisions like this one was to break the [Skills] down, piece by piece, and inspect not only what they were, but what she thought they could become.

    After glaring at the selection for a few minutes, she carefully set aside [Bless]. It was very good, exactly matched her desires, but it wasn¡¯t what she needed. Her role was more so Healing and Recovery. She would definitely pick this [Skill] up later, but for now, it was important to keep to her priorities.

    Considering the priority she¡¯d given to [Life], that meant that she should chose [Enhanced Recovery], but¡­the natural recovery rate wasn¡¯t very good. Even with the bonus, she couldn¡¯t be sure it would be very good. A [Minor Regeneration] spell would be superior in every situation she could think of.

    [Damage Reduction] was great too, but there was a glaring issue: ¡®failure occurs if the damage dealt would exceed 10% of the ally¡¯s max HP in a single blow.¡¯ In other words, useless against bosses. Blows like that were common, so this would be useful more for crowd battles. It would excel in those situations, and it¡¯s not like every hit from a boss was guaranteed to exceed 10% of a target¡¯s HP in one hit. It might work very well on a defensive [Class].

    She glared at them more, swore a couple times, then selected [Damage Reduction]. She could strengthen it to get rid of the 10% limitation! However¡­her finger hesitated over the confirm button. She slowly retracted it and unselected [Damage Reduction]. She hadn¡¯t decided to change her mind, but her uncertainty overruled her impulsiveness.

    Crimson had told her that he would leave the choice entirely to her, and not weigh in at all, but she needed the second opinion, so she grabbed him.

    They both sat down on the ground across from each other, and he listened quietly as she described what choice she was battling. She elected to keep the three High-Grade [Skills] secret from him. It would be a fun surprise in a little bit, and they weren¡¯t [Skills] that she needed any input on from him. She had made the decision, and she wasn¡¯t going to change it. He¡¯d likely have made the same decision in her position, but she could never be certain. He frequently did things that defied logic.

    Once she finished describing the Mid-Grade [Skills] to him, she paused for a breath, then continued, ¡°I decided not to get [Bless] because it is the least useful of the three for what I need right now. I need to get my [Class] firmly defined, and since I want to use [Life] as my primary attribute, I should probably pick [Enhanced Recovery]. It isn¡¯t very good, but it¡¯ll help define my [Class] and it could get good enough to be useful. I think [Damage Reduction] is the best one, even though it can fail, it still provides a benefit that will be useful in a lot of situations and maybe I can get rid of the failure point, or I could learn other [Skills] to help it.¡±

    After a moment of thought, he said, ¡°Tell me what that last part of [Enhanced Recovery] said again.¡±

    ¡°Naturally occurring conditions like Exhaustion will not impede regen,¡± she quoted, feeling a little confused why he would focus on that detail.

    He stared at her quietly for a long moment, she knew to brace herself for the eye contact, and accepted it willingly to see what kind of emotions were floating around in his eyes.

    She even flicked on [Aura Viewing] to see if it told her anything different, but of course it didn¡¯t, so she shut it off to save the MP. He was already an open book, she could practically read his mind when he openly made eye contact with her like this.

    There was interest, that was the most dominant emotion, but it was only obvious that he would be feeling that way in this moment. [Skills] fascinated Crimson, he thought about them more than anyone she¡¯d ever met. Constantly analyzing, experimenting, dissecting, and never letting up.

    The secondary emotion was caution. He had firmly impressed upon her how much he didn¡¯t want to sway her choices here. It was her [Class], and her decision. What did it matter if he thought he knew better? They were two different people.

    He eventually spoke again, ¡°How valuable do you think that feature of [Enhanced Recovery] is?¡±

    Verity responded immediately, ¡°Not very, especially not for this kind of MP cost.¡±

    ¡°Did you go into every fight well rested and in optimal condition?¡±

    ¡°Every fight that I could.¡±

    ¡°Who is your party leader?¡±

    Verity hesitated. She could see a future where Crimson picked a fight with a boss after forcing the entire party to exhaust themselves, but even then, a simple healing spell would almost always be a more effective and efficient option. She could image a very specific set of situations where it would be better, but they were too specific.

    ¡°Let me ask about the other [Skill] then. How easy do you think it will be to remove the condition that causes it to fail? How quickly will you be able to at least lighten it?¡±

    She had no idea, there was no way to know, so she shook her head in response.

    ¡°You are-¡° Crimson cut himself off, clearly not offering advice was difficult for him.

    ¡°Let me ask this then,¡± he said, changing tactics. ¡°Between removing the condition that causes [Damage Reduction] to fail, and the potential paths that [Natural Regeneration] could take, which do you think is more valuable to have? Bear in mind, we will eventually get you both since you care a lot about them both.¡±

    She wanted to pick [Damage Reduction], but the point he was guiding her to reach was that picking up [Enhanced Recovery] now would let her start getting it to the point that it would be useful sooner. It might not necessarily be one she would seek out later, but she was guaranteed to go after [Damage Reduction] and [Bless]. It wasn¡¯t a completely useless [Skill], none were, but Crimson seemed willing to bet on what it could become over what it was.

    With a sigh, she realized that this line of logic was similar to the one she used to praise how good the three High-Grade [Skills] were. They weren¡¯t very good now, but with time they could become truly monstrous. Crimson was essentially making that argument, though indirectly.

    Reluctantly, she chose to believe in Crimson, who was trying his best to not lead her, but doing a very poor job. He only wanted her to be as strong as she could be, he would never intentionally steer her wrong on this. It was also a really good idea to define her [Class] early, so those advantages helped tip the scales for her.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Selected: [Enhanced Recovery], [Divine Might], [Recursive Purity], [Infused Life]

    -Confirm selection? <Y><N>

    -y

    -Confirmed.

    -Skill: [Enhanced Recovery] as been acquired.

    -Skill: [Divine Might] as been acquired.

    -Skill: [Recursive Purity] as been acquired.

    -Skill: [Infused Life] as been acquired.

    -[Class Skill] selection is complete.

    -[Title] slot has been granted.

    -Title: [Healer of the Neglected Path] acquired.

    -Title: [Trinity Healer] acquired.

    -It has been determined that a [Rizvim] is necessary.

    -The Administrators confer.

    -[Glast]: [Skills] you once knew are now impossible to learn. Does not apply retroactively.

    -Admin: You have committed to a new path. This should not be a problem so long as you remain committed. It was the lightest [Rizvim] that we could apply to you.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity quietly looked at the result for a long moment, then opened her status page.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Name: Verity

    Race: Elf -Age: 46

    Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Black Gold (Bronze)]

    Active Title: [Medic] [Healer of the Neglected Path] [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] [Glast]

    Titles: Capricious, Haunted, Medic, Healer of the Neglected Path, Trinity Healer

    Health (HP): 100/100 Regen/s: 1.5

    Magic (MP): 160/160 Regen/s: 1.5

    Condition: Good

    Class: [Stellar Healer]

    Sub-Class: [Locked]

    Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Status:

    Strength (STR): 14 Agility (AGI): 11

    Constitution (CON): 11 Vitality (VIT): 15

    Intelligence (INT): 16 Wisdom (WIS): 15

    Perception (PER): 9 Willpower (WIL): 16

    Charisma (CHA): 14 Luck (LUC): 60

    Affinities

    Elemental

    Fire: 5 Water: 5

    Earth: 5 Wind: 5

    Lightning: 5 Metal: 5

    Magma: 5 Ice: 5

    Dynamic

    Holy: 7 Profane: 4

    Purity: 7 Corruption: 4

    Life: 7 Death: 3

    Mana: 5 Void: 5

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It looked so alien to her, but it was the new her, the new path she¡¯d take. The abyss could take that [Rizvim] for all she cared. She would not deviate.

 Chapter 47: Terrifying Warning

    Chapter 47: Terrifying Warning

    Crimson and Verity were in the room she shared with Rhea, he needed to tweak the [Mana] keeping Rhea from slipping back into [Void] on a daily basis. One of his goals had been to create it using only her [Mana], but he¡¯d failed in that goal during the treatment, so it was his [Mana] that provided a lot of the structure that held the weave together.

    It was too late for him to change it, so he had to fix it daily to deal with her body¡¯s natural rejection of a foreign substance. If he was more adept, he could try matching the properties of his [Mana] to hers by tweaking the quantities of [Affinities] floating through it. It wasn¡¯t a guarantee that would be better, but it would be a fascinating experiment if nothing else.

    Verity was present for each of these treatments, acting as chaperone for propriety¡¯s sake. She seemed to be investigating whatever new [Skills] she¡¯d gotten from her [Class]. Crimson was admittedly not very good at reading people, but even he could see how smug she was acting after getting her [Class]. She¡¯d hadn¡¯t told him what the other [Skills] she¡¯d picked up were, but she seemed to think they were good.

    Crimson felt guilty for pushing her to take [Enhanced Recovery] over [Damage Reduction]. What was more important was her choice in the matter, but he genuinely thought [Enhanced Recovery] would be more useful in the end. He was gambling on the ¡®Naturally occurring conditions like Exhaustion will not impede regen¡¯ becoming something like ¡®healing and recovery cannot be prevented.¡¯

    There were ailments out there that prevented any kind of recovery, and while it might be more effective to encourage her to focus on spells and [Skills] to remove status conditions, he was curious enough to push her into making this gamble.

    He felt really bad about doing that, feeling like a manipulative scumbag. He didn¡¯t necessarily ¡®know better,¡¯ he just had a better general idea. She had more experience than him though - she¡¯d been good enough to reach Lv.50 with a Low-Grade [Class], making up for her lacking stats. Ignoring that fact wouldn¡¯t be good for him.

    Finishing up the maintenance, Crimson stood and stretched a little. He was fairly tired after the day of fighting he¡¯d done, but there was one last thing.

    He sat on the ground by Verity¡¯s chair and said, ¡°okay, you don¡¯t need to hold back any more,¡± to her.

    She grinned, and said, ¡°My [Class] is Hidden-Grade,¡± he nodded, it would have been surprising for her to be anything less. It was more confusing that she hadn¡¯t reached Exceed-Grade, but the gods probably prevented that one after they made that deal.

    She continued, ¡°It is called [Stellar Healer], I get 14 stats per level and the four [Skills] I picked are [Enhanced Recovery] - as per your recommendation -, [Divine Might], [Recursive Purity], and [Infused Life]. The last three all have 100 levels instead of 10.¡±

    Verity looked at him with a massive grin, a combination of excitement and smugness, and said, ¡°[Divine Might], [Recursive Purity], and [Infused Life] are all passives. [Divine Might] increases the effectiveness of all my [Holy] spells and [Skills] by 1% at Lv.1. The other two have the same effect for their [Affinities].¡±

    Crimson reached a hand high over his head and got a high-five from Verity. Not really a cultural norm here, but he¡¯d done it a few times, and she¡¯d taken to it with passion. It allowed him to better convey his personal excitement for her better than words.

    These three [Skills] for her would act as an underlying power for her [Class], much like his [Advanced Sword Mastery], it would act as a perfect foundation moving forward. Passive [Skills] like those were also among the hardest to learn, so he couldn¡¯t think of a better choice she could have made.

    He was too drained to have a stronger reaction, so he said, ¡°I promise I¡¯ll help you learn the [Damage Reduction Skill] you wanted. Sorry for misleading you.¡±

    Verity shook her head at him, ¡°I only expected to get 3 [Skills] anyway, and I got the 3 I really wanted, so if my only cost is taking one that you think will be good, then its okay with me, but I want an explanation now.¡±

    Crimson nodded and said, ¡°I think you might be able to turn [Enhanced Recovery] into a [Skill] that prevents ailments and conditions from preventing you from healing us. Imagine fighting a boss who uses a [Skill] that prevents us all from regaining HP, either naturally or from your healing. If [Enhanced Recovery] could let us prevent those kind of dangerous situations, then I think its worth gambling on. Also, if you manage to evolve it just right, you might be able to get it to enhance how much healing we receive from healing spells or [Skills].¡±

    Verity sat back in thought, processing what he¡¯d said, and he stood, dusting off his backside. Leaving her to her thoughts he went to bed. There was something else he wanted to do with her, but he was too drained to work on it, and it would likely take a couple days, but he wanted to see about getting her an [Artificial Mana Pool].

    Rhea¡¯s currently didn¡¯t qualify as such, but he¡¯d learned a lot about working with [Mana] from helping her, so he figured he¡¯d be able to create a functioning one for Verity. If the system could pick it up as a [Skill], then it might actually work right.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The last proper day of the tournament was just a few exhibition matches, just some important people over Lv.50 fighting each other. It was the most exciting day for many, but Crimson could only feel bored. What he cared about was fundamentally different from everyone else. These matches had no commentary, so his job was done. He was still on-call as tournament staff, but he wasn¡¯t assigned to do anything, so he had watched the matches in the hopes of seeing something interesting or helpful.

    What he ended up seeing was people with high levels bashing into each other recklessly, led around by their [Skills] as opposed to using them. There was one particular individual that was simply a one trick pony, and kept performing downward smash style attacks. From a spectacle perspective, they were certainly the best fights, the staff had to repair the ground after every fight as a result of the powerful clashes and [Skills].

    Despite all the [Skills] on display, Crimson could only lament how unskilled they were. He probably wouldn¡¯t have felt so strongly this way if it weren¡¯t for his fight with Fade. He¡¯d been looking forward to this tournament for months, and aside from one or two exceptions, had been left severely disappointed.

    Granted, one of those exceptions was the best two fights of his life, but still¡­

    They eventually reached the end of the festivities, it was probably around three or four in the afternoon, and the award ceremony began. Draven started by inviting the tournament staff on to the field, Crimson joining them, and they took a bow before the crowd who cheered.

    He then turned the time over to the king, who said, ¡°It is the will of Riskter a small reward to all the tournament staff who worked so hard will be granted. Each person will receive 1 stat point that they may use on any of their stats. Speaking for myself, though it is small compared to what the participants will be awarded, I hope the amount we¡¯re paying you is satisfactory.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    It was. This was the best paying job, not just for Crimson, but any member of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild under Lv.30, that could be found. No danger, and high pay? Literal fights would sometimes break out over the opportunity.

    The extra stat was nice too, but he planned to sit on it before deciding what to apply it to.

    Draven dismissed the tournament staff after a few other well wishes from the king, and called all the participants to the field. Crimson elected to just stand still, so he stood out in the sea of people, and some in the stands pointed at him, recognizing him from yesterday. He could no longer hide in the crowd like he¡¯d wanted to.

    It was a bit arrogant to just stay there as he did, but he wanted to be present, on the field, as a participant. Regardless of what rewards he might or might not receive, it held a lot of meaning for him to be directly on the field.

    Draven didn¡¯t say anything to him, so he remained confidently in place as the participants streamed onto the field. Anyone who passed the qualifiers was eligible for rewards from Riskter, so there was significantly more people than he¡¯d seen during the tournament. That also meant that everyone who participated in the Open category was there.

    Fade walked up and stood next to him on one side, Mortimer stood on the other.Crimson heard some murmuring from the crowd at that sight. The three best performing participants of the Open category, side by side made for quite the sight.

    It felt a little awkward for Crimson though. He was shorter than both of them, Fade by over a head, and Mortimer by a few inches, so being sandwiched between them felt a slight bit claustrophobic.

    Looking up, he saw the king had bowed his head, eyes closed. After a long moment, he raised his head and spoke, ¡°All participants, regardless of placement will receive 1 Level¡¯s worth of experience toward their [Primary Class] as a reward, or 50% of the experience needed for [Breakthrough] if they are at the level cap.¡±

    That was clever. Very clever indeed. In one move, the God of War had disqualified many of the people abusing the rules to dominate the competition. Bullies who felt inadequate in the more dangerous categories had intentionally held their levels back to try and soak up what rewards they could. Now, those same people who had carefully controlled their levels couldn¡¯t terrorize the Under 10 category any more. The same was true of the Under 25 category too, but to a smaller extent.

    Crimson covered his mouth and smiled. He almost didn¡¯t get his hand in place in time to cover the grin, but he had the sense to realize that he might provoke a fight if his glee was too obvious.

    Since Riskter had spoken through him, some of the other participants were already directing their discontent with the situation at him, seeing him as the cause of the situation - though he firmly believed that their blame was misdirected. The only ones who should actually be mad at him were the ones he judged for the Under 10 category since that was more personal.

    The king¡¯s booming voice echoed again, ¡°Now, we will have the winners of the Under 10, Under 25, Under 45, and Under 50 categories step forward.¡± Once they were in place, he said, ¡°The winners of the Under 10 and Under 25 categories will receive a [Skill]. The winner of the Under 25 category will also receive a [Title]. The winners of the Under 45 and Under 50 categories will receive a [Skill] level each, to apply to the [Skill] of their choosing.¡±

    The winner of each category had to receive something, they had won after all, but it appears that only the Under 10 and 25 categories had winners that actually deserved to win. The [Skill] level was a pity reward. Valuable to some, and on the face of it, very good. It was on the level of the rewards that had been given out for the past few years, but after seeing that another winner got a [Skill] and the second got a [Title] too, it became clear how much less impressive the ¡®reward¡¯ of a [Skill] level was.

    The king called some other people forward, ones who had particularly distinguished themselves and who received specific rewards. Stats were the most common, though one person was given a warning as their reward, letting them know that a [Natural Dungeon] would be appearing in their home town soon. Ignoring propriety, they turned and sprinted out immediately. It was one of the participants for the Under 45 category.

    Crimson could only appreciate the decisiveness. He couldn¡¯t remember how that person performed, but he could always appreciate a person of character - especially considering what a cesspit the tournament had been.

    The king wound down, then after a long moment of hesitation, said, ¡°Crimson, step forward.¡±

    He had been the only one to be addressed by name, but he wasn¡¯t sure what that meant.

    ¡°Riskter wishes to directly commend you on your achievement. You are not the first to hold the central square for the entire duration of the Open category, but you are the first to do so while losing so few points. You shall receive a [Skill] and the effects of a few of your [Titles] will be strengthened. Speaking for myself, you shall be provided a bonus to your pay as tournament staff for excellent work.¡±

    Crimson bowed deeply, it was hard to be excited when the weight of the stares around him made it hard to even move, but he could still show gratitude just fine.

    The king said, ¡°In the name of Riskter, I call upon everyone here to seek greater heights, use the examples of those you admired during the tournament to refine your [Skills]. Do not content yourselves, disaster encroaches, and those who¡¯s preparations fall short shall find their lives cut short as well.¡±

    That was¡­an extremely strong warning. Though events of this nature were few in number, it wasn¡¯t unheard of for the gods to offer advice or instructions to those listening at the end, but this was a direct warning. What could it be referring to? If it was a [Natural Dungeon], then why not say that¡¯s what the problem is?

    Crimson felt very nervous trying to consider the implications, but his thoughts had no direction to move in, so he could only quietly deal with his mounting anxiety as the last few details of the tournament wrapped up and they were all dismissed. His [Blessing] tried to give him a few alerts for his rewards, but he ignored them.

    The second he could, he broke out in a run, head ducked low to try and keep people from recognizing him, and dodged through the crowd to reach the point where Verity and Rhea had been sitting, relatively unscathed.

    Head ducked as much as possible, he glanced around, trying to spot where they¡¯d gone. Fortunately it hadn¡¯t been too far, and they came back to the spot after seeing him run up like that.

    ¡°Crimson, what¡¯s going on?¡± Verity demanded.

    ¡°You heard the warning?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Yeah, what do you think of it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we¡¯re stepping up some plans immediately.¡±

    ¡°Plans?¡± Verity asked, confused.

    ¡°More like ideas, but whatever, let¡¯s go!¡±

    He led them back to their inn as fast as possible. Verity was the slowest of the three, so they matched her pace, but they stood out as they ran to Falst. Once in Falst, he managed to lead them both into a secret passage, and once they got back in the inn, he first did a quick round of maintenance on Rhea¡¯s [Mana], then had Verity take her place.

    It took a hours of work, but compared to treating Alois, it was much easier to create an [Artificial Mana Pool] for Verity. He kept tweaking it until she mentioned that it appeared in her [Blessing] as a [Skill]. It apparently only held 10MP in its current form, but that would grow with time.

    He went and crashed in bed immediately after finishing treatment.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    After dropping Rhea off at the ¡®day-care¡¯ that was the [Brass] class of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, he and Verity went to hit up one of the [Godmade Dungeons], [Goblin Manor].

    They caught a wagon there for a few Royals each, and though the ride was bumpy, it was worth it as they got to the dungeon faster. Some of the other people in the wagon looked familiar, and he¡¯d gotten some appraising looks from strangers, but he was so wrapped up in the anxiety that he didn¡¯t pay them much mind.

    While he waited for the wagon to arrive, he finally had enough room to breathe to check his [Blessing].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Level Up!

    -[Sword Savant] 1/25 ¡ª> 2/25

    -Admin Riskter: The determination with which you take on those stronger than you is admirable. May this assist you in your journey.

    -[Skill: Defense Pierce] acquired.

    -[Title: Mentor] becomes [Master].

    -[Title: Holy Interpreter] becomes [Holy Envoy].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [Defense Pierce], from what he could discern using [Skill Peak], would allow him to still deal a small amount of damage to a target, even if their CON is higher than his attack. It was simple, but it could likely become an extremely good utility [Skill].

    Like Riskter said, it would give him a chance against opponents too strong for him to fight.

    Arriving, he and Verity disembarked from the wagon with everyone else but the driver, and together, they walked over to the fog wall. Crimson had to be careful, he needed to be stronger to face the warning that Riskter had given, but if he focused on his level too much it would only be to his detriment.

    For now, the goal was Lv.5. Hopefully it would be enough.

 Chapter 48: Goblin Manor

    Chapter 48: Goblin Manor

    Crimson pushed his way through a wall of white fog, thick enough that he couldn¡¯t see his hand in front of his face. He felt almost like the fog was entering his body as he moved through it, chilling his bones and cooling his organs. It perturbed his [Mana] too, so the sensation likely wasn¡¯t in his head.

    On the other side of the fog wall, he stepped out to see a valley with towering mountains forming a tear drop shape around it. The ground of the valley sloped upwards, toward the tip of the tear drop on the opposite end. At the tip of the tear drop was a large manor house, partially built into the side of the mountain with three distinct stories as determined by the windows, but each floor was two or three times the height that a typical human dwelling would be. Criss-crossing the area between him and the manor was large gouges in the ground, chasms filled with murky darkness.

    [Goblin Manor]. The first dungeon Crimson had set foot into. His sense of urgency went to war with his excitement at finally entering a dungeon. He felt like he¡¯d just gotten out on summer break and could finally play to his heart¡¯s content.

    He stepped to the side to allow Verity through. The fog wall was big enough that she likely wouldn¡¯t have run into him even if he remained where he¡¯d been, gaping at the sight like a fool, but it was polite to give her the proper space.

    He and Verity surveyed the area together, and she said, ¡°It¡¯s weird to see the sky like this.¡±

    He glanced at her, ¡°Do most dungeons not let you see the sky?¡±

    She tilted her hand in a so-so gesture that he¡¯d taught her a while ago, and said, ¡°Well, typically the dungeon is in a Castle, or a Cave. Sometimes it¡¯s an underground village. So you sometimes get peeks of the sky, but being under it like this is rare for [Godmade Dungeons]. It¡¯s nice.¡±

    Crimson grunted in response and asked, ¡°Our goal is to reach Lv.5 today, I have a general idea about what¡¯s effective for leveling, but you have more experience. Any thoughts?¡±

    Verity gave him a sidelong glance, then said, ¡°The stronger the things you fight, the faster you become stronger. If you fight something that¡¯s too weak, you won¡¯t get any stronger, but I bet you already knew that, right?¡±

    ¡°In different terminology,¡± he responded, and waited, hoping she¡¯d have more to add.

    After a moment, she said, ¡°Well, I always found that progress came in bursts for me. I would sometimes spend forever to level up once, while other times I could blast few a few levels in a single day. I always get very tired after a day of leveling, whether it¡¯s my mind or my body, it¡¯s all tired, and it frequently hurts.¡±

    Crimson nodded once more. She reminded him of the experience he¡¯d had when he raised his mental stats - INT, WIS, and PER - too quickly in a short amount of time. It took a major toll on him, giving him headaches and messing with his ability to function.

    He was fundamentally a preparation fiend. He pushed himself as hard as he did to try and be ready for every possible situation, so he carefully filed this information away. If they pushed too hard today, they might get too exhausted to continue and lose all the progress they¡¯d made. They might not actually die in a [Godmade Dungeon], but the penalties for dying weren¡¯t light.

    ¡°About how much leveling can you safely do in a day?¡± He asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. When I first started out, I got in a bet with one of my party members and picked a fight with a group of monsters two or three levels above mine. Managed to get 4 Levels from the situation, went from Lv.6 to Lv.10 in one day. I couldn¡¯t move for a day after that.¡±

    ¡°When did the tiredness set in?¡±

    ¡°Most of it hit after leaving the dungeon. I started feeling it a bit before we left, but it wasn¡¯t unmanageable.¡±

    Crimson considered that. He was currently Lv.2. Lv.10 was the minimum level to get his first [Sub Class]. While there would be some value in rushing to Lv.10, there was also a lot of value in gradual progress, getting used to new strength as it was accumulated.

    He was actually facing that issue at the moment. He hadn¡¯t had a moment to slow down and focus on himself, adapt to his new [Skills]. He¡¯d been recklessly charging from one task to the next, and felt half baked because of it. Certainly, he¡¯d had opportunities to use his new [Skills] - sans-[Defense Pierce] - in live combat, but the value of training the [Skills] in a controlled environment was superior in his opinion.

    A blade was forged in fire by a craftsman, not in blood by a warrior on the battlefield.

    The [Skill] he could honestly say he needed to spend the most time with was [Mikiri]. It was a [Skill] that would save his life, so understanding its limitations would be imperative. Certainly, he still didn¡¯t understand [Ul Byrn] properly, but he at least had enough of an idea to realize that it was something he wasn¡¯t able to train yet. It was, much to Crimson¡¯s annoyance, a [Skill] that would have to be refined in live combat or sparring.

    He glanced at his [Blessing] to verify the stat increases from the Level he¡¯d been given as a reward from Riskter.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Name: Crimson

    -Race: Half (High Human, ???) -Age: 16

    -Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Brass]

    -Active Title: [Holy Envoy] [Sword of the Forgotten Path] [Blessings of Trans''Du''Niir] [Rean] [Madit]

    -Titles: Lucky, Linguist, Master, Holy Envoy, Unparalleled, Sword of the Forgotten Path

    -Health (HP): 350/350 Regen/s: 2.6

    -Magic (MP): 500/500 Regen/s: 5.5

    -Condition: Good

    -Class: [Sword Savant] 2/25

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Status:

    Strength (STR): 25 Agility (AGI): 26

    Constitution (CON): 23Vitality (VIT): 28

    Intelligence (INT): 50 Wisdom (WIS): 55

    Charisma (CHA): 7Willpower (WIL): 27

    Perception (PER): 49 Luck (LUC): 90

    -Skills:

    -Bloodline:

    -[Eyes of Change: [Eyes of Will] 9/10] 1/10, [???] 0/0,

    [Blade Spirit] 4/10

    -Class:

    -[Advanced Sword Mastery] 8/100, [Parry] 10/10, [Mikiri] 5/10, [Sword Armory] 2/10

    -Sets:

    -[System Instincts: [Skill Peak] 10/10 [Class Peak] 2/10, [Locked], [Locked]]

    -General:

    -[Ul Byrn] 3/10, [Sophisticated Mana Influence] 10/10, [Sophisticated Mana Sense] 10/10, [Intermediate Linguist] 10/10, [Secret Sense] 4/10, [Advanced Calligraphy] 10/10, [Adaptive Footwork] 1/10, [Defense Pierce] 1/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson noted with some surprise that [Class Peak] had gotten a Level too. He didn¡¯t quite remember when that happened, so he scrolled through some other messages until he found it. It seems that it went up when his Level did, so he might have that one done by the time that he reached Lv.10, which would unlock the next [Skill] in the set.

    After a satisfied nod, he turned to Verity, and asked, ¡°So, how do dungeon explorations typically go?¡±

    ¡°Typically, the leader picks a direction, and we go there, killing everything in our way and trying to find some good loot.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit too simplistic.¡± He said, a bit exasperated.

    She shrugged in return, ¡°You asked. Sometimes there¡¯s more of a process to it. Some scouting or preliminary info gathering, but you rushed us in here too quickly to do that properly.¡±

    He grimaced, then sighed. Of course, he¡¯d read up on the [Goblin Manor] a bit, so he likely knew more about the dungeon than Verity, but she had experience that he craved. She was not being as helpful as he¡¯d hoped, so he dug once more, ¡°Anything else? Something your party would do? Something I should keep an eye out for?¡±

    Starting to look annoyed, she said, ¡°Retreat is always a good option, better to lose an encounter than die.¡±

    He nodded. That one was obvious, and he could see from Verity¡¯s reaction that his thoughts were showing on his face, and she got more annoyed.

    ¡°Look,¡± she growled, ¡°what my party did got them killed. I¡¯d rather you find a better way, one that will prevent us from dying.¡±

    Feeling he was on dangerous grounds, he accepted her words, then said, ¡°Okay, I guess we¡¯ll just go that way and see what we find.¡±

    He pointed to the left, and rather than walking straight toward the manor, he opted to explore the edge of the map. It was typical video game logic to outline an area like this before filling it in, hugging the edge where possible, though the shape of the map was a factor.

    The fat part of the tear drop, the side of the valley he and Verity was on, was clear of the chasms for a little bit, but once the drop started to narrow, the chasms appeared. That gave them a little field to explore. There were some goblins wandering around, but Crimson ignored them. Small fry like this weren¡¯t were the time or energy unless necessary.

    Crimson could fight humans up to Lv.10 with extreme effort, his experience and the weight of his [Advanced Sword Mastery] allowed him to overcome the monumentous stat difference. That meant that to actually profit more than just some EXP, he needed to take on harder enemies.

    Going around the edge, they eventually found a goblin that looked a little tougher than the others. It was still a skinny twig, mostly naked aside from a loincloth, and it had a big round gut despite all its ribs showing. Green skin, black eyes, floppy ears, and hairless, the thing that made Crimson think it was stronger than the others he¡¯d seen was the fact that this one was armed. A simple club, but it was something.

    Crimson stopped before charging, and glanced at Verity, ¡°I was originally planning to hit Lv.5 today, but after what you said about being tired, I¡¯m planning on shooting for Lv.4. Would you be willing to push yourself to that point too?¡±

    3 levels for her, 2 for him. He would likely be fine, but 3 was closer to the limit she¡¯d mentioned, so she probably wouldn¡¯t feel great tomorrow, but he would leave the decision to her.

    She waved a hand casually, then said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. Ideally all the members of a party have the same Levels. Tomorrow¡¯s Highday anyway, I¡¯ll just spend the day sleeping.¡±

    He nodded, and turned the enemy before him. It didn¡¯t take him long to feel bad for the thing.

    Crimson¡¯s damage wasn¡¯t great but it took 6 good cuts on the thing¡¯s body to kill it. That meant that it just suffered has he viciously tore it to ribbons. It tried to attack him at some point, but a basic parry completely disarmed it.

    He was targeting its chest with his strikes, trying to hit places that would be considered ¡®solid¡¯ blows, but he avoided critical areas like the stomach or neck. He wanted to see what it would take to kill it with regular blows, but there was a twinge of regret to that now.

    Watching the goblin fall to the ground and fade away, leaving some item drops on the ground, all Crimson could feel was pity.

    Crimson turned to Verity with a grimace and said, ¡°Too weak to be helpful. Let¡¯s go straight to the-¡°

    He was cut off by her as she wordlessly pointed at the drops, mouth agape.

    Looking back, he wasn¡¯t sure why she was reacting that way, then stopped, frowned, and counted the drops. 1, 2¡­ Then recounted 1, 2, 3, 4. There were 4 of them.

    That seemed oddly high.

    Turning to Verity, he asked, ¡°How do enemy drops work? I¡¯m unfamiliar with this topic.¡±

    With a gulp, she said, ¡°Well, there¡¯s a common drop, an uncommon drop, a ritualdrop, and a [Skill Stone] drop. It¡¯s not uncommon to get a couple common drops, but typically you don¡¯t get this many, especially because¡­¡±

    Crimson turned to look at the drops again. There was 4 of them, and each were unique, which meant¡­

    ¡°Is that one of each?¡± He asked.

    Verity nodded jerkily, then punched him in the shoulder, a big grin blooming across her face, ¡°Look at the [Skill Stone]! If it¡¯s useful, you can absorb it!¡±

    He nodded, then bent over and scooped up the [Skill Stone] and inspected it.

    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Skill: Cut]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He tossed it to Verity. She looked at him in surprise, then glanced at the description, and her excitement turned to disappointment.

    ¡°What¡¯s it say?¡± He asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s an active [Skill], some MP for an attack, but it¡¯s exclusive to claws. Useless to you and me.¡±

    Crimson nodded, thoughtful. He vaguely recalled the goblin trying to attack him with its claws right before he dealt the final blow. Maybe it hadn¡¯t been a trick of the light that the claws had been glowing.

    It had died before Crimson could stop to verify, so he hadn¡¯t worried about it.

    He inspected the other drops, and was a bit revolted. The common drop was an ear, the rare drop was a tooth. The ritual drop was a [Earth Shard], the lowest ranking [Earth Ritual Material]. That was the only one of the three he was happy to shove into his pack. He put the [Skill Stone] into his [Inventory] though.

    Even if it was useless to them, it was still a [Skill].

    They resumed their exploration, and he asked while they walked, ¡°So for the [Skill Stone] drop, is it always the same [Skill]? Is there a chance that I would get a different [Skill] if I killed the same kind of goblin?¡±

    ¡°No clue, that was the sixth [Skill Stone] I¡¯ve seen in my life. This is the only one that¡¯s been a let down though.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± he said wryly, ¡°it did come from a low level goblin. If it dropped a [Skill] like [World Ending Slash] or whatever, I think I¡¯d be more worried than excited.¡±

    She bobbed her head in agreement. A few of the smaller goblins attacked them as they wandered, but Crimson didn¡¯t bother to kill them. He just kicked them out of the way and moved on. Even at Lv.1 as a [Healer], goblins of this level were beneath Verity, to say nothing of him.

    They didn¡¯t follow, most of them were too winded to get up after his kicks anyway. He could try experimenting with them to see what kind of drops they had, but it wasn¡¯t worth it. He needed to find another one like the first one he¡¯d fought for an accurate comparison, and he didn¡¯t fancy hunting a bunch of these weaklings for his test.

    They found a pair of goblins wielding clubs, about at the point right before the chasms began. Verity needed to participate in the fight somehow to get EXP, so she cast [Enhanced Recovery] on him with the duration increased as much as she could, and he went to town.

    Since there was two of them, he chose caution over cockiness. He could likely be reckless against enemies of this calibre, but if he messed up, he¡¯d never heard the end of it from Verity.

    He took down the first one as quickly as he could, slashing it across the throat and seeing the popup:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Critical Hit!

    -Target inflicted with Rapid Bleeding!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It fell to the ground, gurgling and clutching its throat. Crimson couldn¡¯t see its health bar, that was a [Skill] he didn¡¯t have, but he could see the life draining from its eyes.

    The other one had been surprised and froze, watching the first die, then turned to Crimson and aggressively attacked.

    Crimson opted to experiment with this one a bit. It took another 6 slashes to the chest to die, so Crimson, with 25 STR, wielding the [Reliable Saber] which gave a +5 to his attack, could deal a total of 30 damage per hit. Adding on his [Blade Spirit] brought it up to 32. Of course, goblins did not have 0 CON, it probably wasn¡¯t high, but it likely wasn¡¯t that low either. If he guessed that a goblin¡¯s CON was 10, like the average of the humans, then that meant he was dealing 20 damage per blow. At 6 blows, that gave the goblins roughly 130 HP. Considering Crimson had started with 100 before getting his [Class], that didn¡¯t seem unreasonable.

    He inspected the drops, and said, ¡°That¡¯s disappointing. I don¡¯t see another [Skill Stone].¡±

    That earned him a punch from Verity.

    They got two common drops from the first one, and an [Earth Shard] from the second, not a bad haul according to Verity, but infinitely disappointing compared to the first one they killed.

    They moved on, Verity¡¯s [Enhanced Recovery] was subtle, but it meant that he didn¡¯t need to stop for a break with this level of exertion. A happy side effect.

    Bored of this level of enemy, Crimson suggested heading directly to the manor, and Verity agreed. It seems that he wasn¡¯t the only one bored.

    They had to find a path through all the chasms, which took a bit of time with how they snaked around at one point they crawled across a tree that had fallen across a shorter section, and they were ambushed a few times by sneaky goblins. They were of the same quality he¡¯d been killing up to this point, so he opted to kill them.

    He also ended up swapping one of his titles for [Lucky] in the hopes that it would increase the item drops, and it did, but not as much as he hoped. They killed 4 more, and not a single one dropped a [Skill Stone], though one dropped three commons, and another dropped a rare and common drop. The other two both dropped [Earth Shards].

    Verity chatted at him on occasion. He was mainly listening, so it couldn¡¯t be said that it was a stimulating conversation for her, but she seemed to be using it mostly to kill boredom, so it worked out well for them both.

    The tear drop wasn¡¯t too long relative to a straight distance, but with the amount of exploring they did, it took 2 hours to reach the manor. It would probably take a quarter of that on the way back.

    The doors swung open on their own, and Crimson stepped into the hall with Verity, and a rush of motion immediately occurred, it was an ambush!

    The hall had a grand staircase up the center, and balconies branching off on either side, extending all the way around the upper layer. There were 3 goblins up top using slings to throw stones at them. These goblins were of a much higher quality than the ones they¡¯d seen up to that point. Fully clothed, no longer emaciated, and even wearing a few pieces of armor, it was clear that they were also more intelligent.

    Actually, it seemed there was 4 goblins. Crimson found that out the hard way when a large rock crashed into his shoulder from overhead, taking 10% of his health with it. He wasn¡¯t wearing armor, and it was a pretty big rock, so he was knocked off his feet by the hit and lost another 1% of his HP to the fall.

    Part of the idea behind hitting up the dungeon was to get the funds to afford armor, and this just reaffirmed the necessity.

    Two other goblins on the same level charged him, one using a wooden pitchfork and the other using a large rusty kitchen knife. They had clothing of a similar level to the ones up top, and seemed to actually know what they were doing with the weapons they were holding.

    The one with the knife went after Verity, and the pitchfork one went after him. Jumping to his feet, his right arm dragging a bit from the blow he¡¯d taken he backed up under the balcony so he wouldn¡¯t get another rock dropped on his head, and moved closer to the corner. Currently, only three goblins were able to attack him from this position. The pitchfork one, and the two furthest of the four goblins up top. He could hear the one right over head running around the balcony, likely to find a place to hit him again, so he needed to take care of this quickly.

    In a typical party, he would probably be more worried about covering for Verity, but a glance at her told him that her experience left her a lot better off. She hadn¡¯t taken a hit, and was doing a very good job positioning herself so that the knife goblin was a meat shield. These goblins were smarter, but not smart enough to realize that they could hit their fellows with their stones, so Verity¡¯s meat shield had taken a few blows to the back and was clearly suffering for it.

    Crimson fell into stance for [Virrak Tau], deflected the pitchfork with [Parry], and sunk his blade deeply into the throat of the goblin before him. It wildly flailed at him, the blow slowing it and causing it to panic, but not killing it. He also didn¡¯t get the alert for the Rapid Bleeding Condition, so it was likely that his blow hadn¡¯t been enough.

    Dodging a few rocks, and glancing back to make sure he wasn¡¯t putting himself too deep into the corner, he found another opening and sliced at the pitchfork, right at where the goblin was holding it.

    The wood cracked a little bit, and was accompanied by the wet thump of a saber slicing off the first two fingers of the goblin¡¯s right hand.

    Crimson¡¯s own right hand was still useless, the pain was deep enough to keep him from moving it too much. He could still think and act in fierce disregard of the pain, but the pain was a warning that the damage to his right arm was severe. He could heal it himself, but he had the presence of mind to leave it to Verity since it was too dangerous to stop and try to heal himself.

    Taking another route, and swallowing his pride, he fired a couple [Flares] at the goblins in the upper balcony, forcing them to duck down, and giving him some room to attack the pitchfork goblin again. It had moved the pitchfork to its other hand, and was cradling the injured hand under the arm pit to try and staunch the blood.

    There was some kind of intelligence to these creatures, limited as it was, and Crimson forced himself to suppress his fascination. This was not the time!

    He struck swiftly, feinting toward the hand holding the pitchfork before slashing the goblin¡¯s throat again. This time, he did manage to inflict [Rapid Bleeding], but it kept coming at him unlike the other goblins he¡¯d inflicted with that status condition. Clearly, it had a lot more health.

    A barrage of [Flares] toward the upper balcony bought him the room for another blow, but his MP was starting to get a bit low. He had a lot of MP, but he¡¯d also been recklessly firing [Flares] to get space to attack.

    He called to Verity, ¡°[Barrier]!¡± Trusting her, he aggressively stepped forward and swept the goblin off its feet with a kick. It¡¯s stance was messy because of the blows he¡¯d given it, and easily landed face first on the ground.

    Crimson stomped on its head and reversed his saber to slam the tip into the back of the thing¡¯s neck. The blow landed true, and with a rattling breath the goblin faded away, letting his boot hit the ground. Dimly, he noted a new notification from his [Blessing].

    His trust in Verity paid off as a rock bounced off a [Barrier] that appeared just in time to keep him from getting hit in the face. The [Barrier] immediately fell apart. They were taking on enemies above their by seemingly a significant margin, so he was grateful that it held up enough to stop the blow at all.

    He moved away from the corner toward Verity and slammed his good shoulder into the goblin holding the knife, knocking it back, and letting him and Verity retreat out of the manor once more.

    The door closed once they got a few steps away, and a glance around showed no other nearby goblins, so Verity started using a healing spell on him.

    Under optimal circumstances, it would only take 100 or so seconds for Crimson to recover all of his MP, but the exertion and stress of the encounter slowed his MP recovery to a little less than half, so it too five minutes for it to recover.

    Crimson could only blame himself, under typical video game logic, enemies wouldn¡¯t ambush immediately upon entering a new location. Devs knew to give players a second to understand where they were before they got attacked.

    Certainly not the case here, it couldn¡¯t even be considered arrogance on Crimson¡¯s part, just stupidity and a lack of experience that he would let an ambush like this get him.

    Verity had expected it, and she handled the encounter flawlessly, not taking a single hit, and offering support when needed. The gap in experience was clear to him, and he was forced to acknowledge something he¡¯d known for a while: he was overspecialized. He excelled in single combat under controlled conditions, in essence, Crimson was a duelist.

    He¡¯d been find during the double dungeon break because Alois had been covering for him, and even in this case, with Verity taking some of the heat off him, if he hadn¡¯t had that support he wouldn¡¯t have gotten off so easily.

    He ran through his thought process with her, explaining his thoughts, then waited for her opinion. He didn¡¯t like it.

    ¡°You¡¯re being too hard on yourself. Most newbies would have died immediately under an encounter like that.¡± She told him.

    ¡°Rather, I¡¯m not being hard enough on myself. I¡¯m supposed to be this all powerful swordsman, a [Sword Savant], but I get my butt handed to me in a pathetic manner on my first day.¡±

    She shrugged, ¡°Sure, but I didn¡¯t warn you either, I could have, but I didn¡¯t. You still managed to survive and win the encounter. We got away alive, that¡¯s winning, you even managed to kill one of them, that¡¯s excellent progress for today.¡±

    Crimson shook his head, ¡°We¡¯re not calling it here. I got a level off that, and I¡¯d bet good money you did too.¡±

    ¡°So, what? We¡¯re going to take on some other goblins?¡± Verity said with resignation.

    ¡°You know me, we¡¯re going right back in there.¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± she said with a sigh.

    They took a break to let Verity recover her MP again, then approached the door once more.

    This time, Crimson was ready. The first goblin, the one he¡¯d killed, hadn¡¯t respawned yet, so he charged forward. It elicited a small cry of surprise from Verity. He¡¯d seemingly put himself in a stupid position by going to the center of the hall, in plain view of all four of the goblins on the upper level, but now that he knew what he was looking for, he dodged the two stones that came at him from the left and the right, while the one that had hit him the first time was focusing on Verity, so with just a few steps before reaching the knife goblin, he carefully watched the goblin standing at the top of the stairs.

    It sent a stone right at his face, and rather than dodging, he let it get close, too close, but [Mikiri] activated, and he paired it with [Parry] to deflect the stone into the face of the knife goblin. It had lost most of its force with that maneuver, but it surprised the knife goblin long enough for Crimson to get by and charge up the stairs at full speed. His STR, enhanced beyond the levels of a normal human, when paired with his AGI allowed him to take the stairs four at a time, reaching the top in a flash and allowing him to sever the sling of the goblin before it could loose another stone.

    The freed stone slammed into the wall behind the goblin, and Crimson turned, scooping up the cradle of the sling and taking off in a sprint around the balcony to similarly disarm the other goblins. His aggression kept their focus on him, keeping Verity free, and a well timed [Barrier] from her kept the one on the right side from hitting him in the side of the head.

    Their accuracy with the slings was remarkable, probably a [Skill] of some kind.

    Destroying and retrieving the remnants of the second, then third sling goblins he glanced back and saw he was being chased by the knife goblin and the three formerly sling goblins.

    They were just throwing the stones they had as ammo at this point, but their throwing ability sucked, and the stones lacked the force that the sling provided, so there was nothing to worry about. Reaching the strait toward the last sling goblin, he used the [Mikiri]+[Parry] combo to keep his nose from being caved in and got in close.

    Having seen that his goal was to destroy the sling, this goblin tried to hide it from him, leaving its neck completely open. Crimson had leveled up, which meant his damage had gone up by 4, and that small difference allowed him to cut deeply into this goblin¡¯s throat, inflicting Rapid Bleeding.

    Grabbing it¡¯s arm, he then slung it over the balcony and let it drop to the floor with a sickening crunch. It wasn¡¯t dead yet, but it would be soon. Turning he saw that the knife goblin was bearing down on him, too close for him to use his saber, so sidestepping the knife, he punched it in the face with the finger guard, its nose broke under the impact, and sent droplets of blood flying as it staggered back a few steps. Just far enough for his blade to swing.

    By virtue of holding its face, it was protecting its throat, so he slashed across its stomach. Backing up to avoid a few rocks, he stepped back in and performed a series of quick cuts, one to the face, and the rest to the body and gut.

    He was forced to back off again. He hadn¡¯t managed to inflict Rapid Bleeding, and it was regaining its senses. If it were just him against the knife goblin, he wouldn¡¯t have struggled. It was a bit tanky, but that was it. It wasn¡¯t that skilled. The issue was that he instinctively kept dodging the rocks being thrown at him, cutting off his attacks.

    Some of them hit the knife goblin, so at least he wasn¡¯t the only one distracted by the onslaught.

    Fortunately it stopped for a moment and gave him just enough room to disarm the knife goblin and stab it deeply through the neck. With a heave to the side, he left it in a half beheaded state, and it started to fade away before even hitting the ground.

    Glancing at the last three goblins, Crimson turned and began to run once more. He needed to kite them to get a bit more space.

    It worked out well, the nearest goblin reacted the fastest, and began pursuit.

    The second it got away from the group, he cast [Lesser Barrier], keeping it separated from the rest of its group long enough for him to about face and let it run onto his blade, it¡¯s own force shoving his saber through its chest and traveling up to the hilt.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Critical Strike!

    -Lethal Blow!

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    He sent a mental command to his [Blessing] to stop alerts. He didn¡¯t need those minor distractions right now.

    Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to worry about pulling the goblin off his blade as it started to fade away, letting him immediately prepare to face the remaining two goblins who had broken through his [Lesser Barrier] quite easily.

    Two versus one? No problem no that he didn¡¯t have to deal with the hail of rocks.

    He took a formal stance, then danced with his blade, letting it sing into openings with grace and ferocity. His footwork kept them out of reach of their claws - which he noted were not glowing - and they both crumbled one after the other.

    He leveled up again.

    He leaned up against the balcony, sweat dripping down his face, and grinned down at Verity, who grinned back at him, arms folded.

    There were likely more elegant solutions to this fight than the one he had used, but experience would be his teacher now, and he could only be satisfied.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Class: [Sword Savant] 4/25

    -Status:

    -Strength (STR): 33 Agility (AGI): 34

    -Constitution (CON): 27Vitality (VIT): 32

    -Intelligence (INT): 50 Wisdom (WIS): 55

    -Charisma (CHA): 7Willpower (WIL): 29

    -Perception (PER): 51 Luck (LUC): 90

    -Skill Level Up!

    -[Mikiri] 5/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -[Advanced Sword Mastery] 8/100 ¡ª> 9/100

    -[Blade Spirit] 4/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -[Ul Byrn] 3/10 ¡ª> 4/10

    -[Adaptive Footwork] 1/10 ¡ª> 2/10

    -[Defense Pierce] 1/10 ¡ª> 4/10

    -[Class Peak] 2/10 ¡ª> 4/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 49: What Lurks in the Dark

    Chapter 49: What Lurks in the Dark

    Crimson quickly looted the drops of the goblins he¡¯d just killed. He also noted that the [Enhanced Recovery] Verity had cast on him had run out a bit ago. Hopefully she would still get the experience for the kills.

    Among the drops, there was another [Skill Stone]. This one was for [Fling], another that Crimson didn¡¯t have a use for, but he held it up for Verity to see, then slipped it into his [Blessing] while she rattled off a list of cusses.

    [Skills] were great, but [Skills] that would force him to fight differently would be a problem. Crimson had a ranged option - magic - so he didn¡¯t need a [Skill] that would take away from his time training more useful ones.

    Verity wouldn¡¯t have a use for this one either, but he offered it to her when they met up again. She punched him in the arm again, then declined it sweetly.

    Looking around the room again, Crimson noted that there were four doors on the first floor they were on, not counting the entrance. One each on the left and right wall, and one on each side of the staircase on the back wall. The top of the stairs had a door, with two more directly over the ones on the left and right wall.

    That said, the manor wasn¡¯t in very good condition. The wood was frayed or broken in several places on the bannister, and the tiles they were walking on were dirty, dusty, and cracked in several places.

    The goblins who attacked them all used rudimentary weapons, so environmental story telling would indicate that the set up was that they took over a manor they found, maybe after killing the previous inhabitants.

    There weren¡¯t any paintings to help that thought, but there might be some further in that could help verify that theory.

    After a moment of surveying, Crimson turned back to Verity and asked, ¡°What level are you at?¡±

    ¡°Level 4,¡± she responded, seeming bemused by the abrupt progress.

    ¡°Good, then lets head back for today. I¡¯d love to explore more, but I don¡¯t want to risk getting another level.¡± He said after a moment of thought.

    Verity shook her head at him, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard anyone say they want to be careful not to get a level.¡±

    ¡°Sure, we need to make sure the repercussions aren¡¯t too severe, and we also need to spend more time training our [Skills]. Balanced growth is what I¡¯m shooting for. Also,¡± he said wryly, ¡°I can think of a group of people who intentionally kept their levels low to terrorize weaker opponents. They just got disqualified from participating in their respective Tournament Categories.¡±

    Verity fell silent for a long moment, staring at him with piercing eyes, before finally saying, ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to say anything, but it¡¯s hard to bit my tongue when you¡¯re this unobservant.¡±

    A flash of concern, and the sudden appearance of a stone in his gut made Crimson worry about what she¡¯d say next.

    ¡°We need to worry about revenge from the tournament participants. You saw that they were getting mad at you? Yet, you didn¡¯t pay enough attention to note that those same people followed us here today.¡±

    He frowned, then tilted his head in thought. Now that she pointed out that detail¡­he realized that the people he¡¯d vaguely recognized on the wagon were tournament participants. He¡¯d been so wrapped up in his own stress that he hadn¡¯t given it any further thought.

    ¡°So,¡± he said, his thoughts blazing, ¡°you think we¡¯re going to have to fight our way out of here?¡±

    Verity nodded, with an expression that said, ¡®he finally gets it!¡¯

    Crimson grimaced, then lightly asked, ¡°You weren¡¯t going to mention it to me?¡±

    ¡°Sure, you need to make mistakes to learn from them. You wanted my experience? You make mistakes. Its not like I¡¯ve never died in a [Godmade Dungeon]. I¡¯ve had to give up on a lot of things I¡¯ve wanted and needed to get stronger, and I¡¯ve even lost new [Skills] to dungeon wipes. I want you to be strong, but your current level of strength has made you careless.¡±

    ¡°Oh you¡¯re cautious against the strong alright,¡± she said, continuing, ¡°but against people who you think are weaker, you tend to drop your guard too much. You are blind to people of the same kind as you, someone who intentionally hunts those stronger than them. I thought I¡¯d just let you figure it out the hard way, but if I don¡¯t point it out, I¡¯ll lose my mind.¡±

    Verity¡¯s criticism was quite scathing, but Crimson wasn¡¯t bothered by it. Rather, this is the kind of stuff he wished she¡¯d told him right when they got in the dungeon, while he was questioning her. It was something that would help him learn and grow, so he could only accept her words with gratitude and excitement.

    It was a mistake to forget the malice he¡¯d been subjected to. In the future, if someone treated him poorly, or directed ill will against him, he would note them, just to make sure a situation like this wouldn¡¯t repeat.

    ¡°Thank you, I will take this warning to heart.¡± He said.

    She nodded, then asked, ¡°So, what are you going to do? I agree with your guess, we¡¯ll have to fight our way out, but I don¡¯t know how. They could try killing us with a monster swarm, or just use overwhelming numbers to destroy us. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be right near the entrance, the odds of getting caught are really high the closer to the entrance they are, and they won¡¯t want to be interrupted. Newbie killers act like this, murdering people in a [Godmade Dungeon] then doing everything they can to get away with it. Even if they¡¯re caught and punished, the punishment isn¡¯t too severe for killing another person in a [Godmade Dungeon]. I think that¡¯s stupid. Just because the death isn¡¯t permanent, doesn''t mean it didn''t happen. They are still the kinds of people to murder others callously or for their own amusement.¡±

    Crimson, having worked for the Guild for about a year now, knew the rules as well as the punishments associated with them. They pretty much just amounted to a slap on the wrist and a few fines. He¡¯d heard about the incident from last year, where Verity¡¯s party had accidentally caused a monster train - called a monster swarm here - that had killed several parties in the [Hallowed Graveyard]. If they¡¯d only gotten one party killed, it wouldn¡¯t have been so bad, but several? The fines do not increase linearly.

    Meaning that even if Crimson and Verity are killed in the dungeon, the repercussions for doing so will be nonexistent, since they were only a single party of two people.

    The reason the fines were so low amounted to the Guild and the country intentionally turning a blind eye to misconduct to allow duels to take place. It wasn¡¯t frequent, but tacit approval of the dungeon as a location for duels to the death saved lives.

    Dueling was much less common these days though, but he¡¯d read about a time when they were nearly daily occurrences.

    So, if dueling was tacitly approved, why were the fines implemented when duels, by definition, had to be consensual? Simple, because there was a trend of people intentionally getting in duels, losing, then turning around and claiming murder, which had been more heavily punished back in those days. A prison sentence and a large fine.

    It created a lot of situations of ¡®he said, she said,¡¯ and the solution was just to create a blanket punishment fine so resources wouldn¡¯t have to be spent on investigation, which was the current state of affairs. The idea was that just two people fighting would be a duel, so keeping the fine low allowed them to fight without much issue, but increasing it in terms of the number of people killed and the number of parties killed should prevent a murderous rampage. There were still obviously ways to get around that.

    Regardless, by entering the dungeon as early as they had, before the tournament goers had left, Crimson and Verity had painted massive targets on their own backs, and it was his fault.

    With a sigh and a grimace, he realized that just thanking her for her criticism wouldn¡¯t be enough, so he said, ¡°Look, Verity¡­I¡¯m really sorry I got us in this mess. If I¡¯d paid more attention, or if I hadn¡¯t come here in a panic, we might not have to be dealing with this trouble.¡±

    She had turned away right before he¡¯d spoken, so she turned her head back causally and said, ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t mind. You¡¯re still learning, but don¡¯t repeat your mistakes. Though, I wouldn¡¯t have blamed you for today regardless. I know how much that warning from the God of War impacted you, so I can understand wanting to be strong enough to face whatever it is, but this is still a lesson you need to learn.¡±

    He nodded, then they both walked over to the door. Between their fight and discussion, it had been roughly a half hour since they¡¯d reentered the manor. More than enough time for the crowd that nearly surrounded the entrance to form.

    A quick count told him there were about 30 people glaring him down, and he could only be grateful that it wasn¡¯t higher. Making eye contact with a few of them, he could see a kind of maniac rage lingering in their eyes.

    After Verity¡¯s warning, he was being more cautious, so he spent a moment longer on that thought than he normally would. Normally, it would be impossible for this many people to be feeling the exact same emotions in identical ratios. This wasn¡¯t natural.

    Heightening that unnaturally, there was a distinct path left open, the one directly in front of the door. The four other paths were completely blocked by the press of bodies.

    He exchanged glances with Verity, and they slowly walked down the path toward the crowd. They were a little short on options, with no way out, and Crimson didn¡¯t feel like they could talk their way out of it, so facing things head-on was the best move they could make.

    It was likely still a dumb decision on his part, yet another mistake he¡¯d made that day, but he made it anyway.

    The crowd didn¡¯t attack them, just stared, and Crimson looked down the path they kept open. It was one of the narrower ones, chasm stretching into darkness on either side of the path.

    There was a man waiting on the center of the path, glaring at Crimson. He wasn¡¯t one of the ones he¡¯d seen on the wagon this morning, but Crimson recognized him anyway: it was one of the finalists for the Under 10 category. Crimson knew personally that fighting him wouldn¡¯t be hard, but that was under ideal circumstances.

    This wasn¡¯t the tournament, this wasn¡¯t a safe zone, it was a battlefield.

    Making eye contact, Crimson was surprised, then confused. There was a sensation like he was looking at two people at once. The first had the same mania as the others he¡¯d seen, but deeper in those eyes was another presence, one that was inspecting him with cold indifference combined with a small amount of impatience.

    There was something profoundly wrong with these people, it wasn¡¯t just Crimson¡¯s actions, there was something else going on here, but [Mental Interference]-type [Skills] were forbidden by the gods, it was nearly impossible to learn [Skills] to directly control another, though [Skills] that influenced emotions and perceptions were common. Because of that, he could easily explain the mania he was seeing, but that other presence¡­

    He was broken out of his thoughts by a hollow voice, ¡°I am quite the generous man. If you duel me, I will let you go free.¡±

    Crimson¡¯s eyes narrowed, once again, Verity¡¯s warnings rung in the back of his head, and after a moment of thought, he noticed a key detail missing from the finalist¡¯s words.

    ¡°And my companion here?¡± Crimson asked in a low voice, his tension obvious.

    The presence in the finalist eyes, the second one that wasn¡¯t him, strengthened, and the man¡¯s voice took on a slightly different sound, like there was a slight echo, ¡°We will not kill her during our fight, but if I kill you, then her life is forfeit. I will behead her myself.¡±

    Good luck with that, even as a [Healer] Verity had more combat experience than anyone else here. If he were a betting man, then he¡¯d put good money on her being able to get away on her own if that did happen. She might not win a direct fight, but in a chokehold like this path, she might have a good chance of getting by the only guy blocking their way forward.

    Crimson glanced around, frustrated. There was definitely a trick or a trap of some kind in this, but he couldn¡¯t figure out where it was.

    Probing, he asked, ¡°What are the rules of this duel?¡±

    A jagged grin crossed the face of the finalist, and he held a finger up, ¡°Single combat, no one else can interfere directly with us two. No other rules, just continue until one of us dies, sound good?¡±

    He could work with that, winning the duel wouldn¡¯t be hard, but there was still something wrong. If the finalist was going to break his word, the outcome would be the same as if no deal had been made, so accepting it as is was his only option. There was no reassurance he could seek from an individual like this anyway.

    Crimson glanced at Verity, and she looked back at him, calmly accepting, and nodded. He nodded in return, then said, ¡°Very well. No one else may interfere.¡±

    He stepped forward, drawing his sword. He didn¡¯t expect his opponent to be so kind as to announce the start of the duel, so as he saw the man start to move for an attack, he immediately said, ¡°The duel begins!¡±

    It was pedantic, but it was possible that the finalist had chosen not to announce the fight to keep the non-interference from being a binding rule. Having an ¡®official¡¯ start would at least put the rules in place - even if they wouldn¡¯t be respected.

    The very first moment their weapons clashed, he heard a shout behind him, Verity! So that was their trick! He hadn¡¯t checked to make sure they wouldn¡¯t touch her.

    She was an excellent combatant, but they all rushed her at once, and they weren¡¯t trying to hurt her, a quick glance in a a gap he created for himself revealed them shoving her off into one of the chasms, the one on the right. She didn¡¯t go down easily, but Crimson was so distracted between her plight and the fight that he couldn¡¯t end it quickly enough to help her before she tumbled into the darkness.

    He vaguely remembered an adventurer referring to the chasms as a newbie killer on their own, deep enough to survive the fall, but with monsters dangerous enough that death would swiftly follow. So she should not have died from that fall, that meant their best chance of survival was-!Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Free of the distraction of trying to watch behind himself, he whipped his [Virrak Tau] into high gear and slammed the tip of his saber into the finalist¡¯s shoulder after a deft parry, sinking it deeply in.

    Unfortunately, the man behaved in a manner he didn¡¯t expect, and stepped into the blow, causing the saber to sink in all the way to the hilt, and grabbed the hand guard. Recognizing the danger, Crimson immediately let go and stepped back.

    The finalist roared, ¡°He has struck a lethal blow! I¡¯ve been inflicted with [Rapid Bleeding]! The duel is finished!¡±

    Unlike with Verity, they armed themselves immediately to charge at Crimson, and the finalist dropped to his knees, ripping the saber out of his own chest in a fit of mania, and immediately started to bleed out.

    It only took a short moment for him to bleed out, Crimson had stabbed an artery, and [Rapid Bleeding] was an ailment, which meant that a regular human under the same wound without the ailment wouldn¡¯t bleed out as quickly as the finalist did in this moment. Disappearing in a few seconds and leaving Crimson¡¯s saber laying on the ground.

    He made a split second decision - there wasn¡¯t enough time for him to grab his saber, the crowd nearly on him, so he dove off the side of the chasm, and prayed that he wouldn¡¯t land on Verity.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity looked around the darkness around her, cupping a [Magic Light] in her hands, a big grimace on her face. She knew there would be some kind of treachery, but it occurred in a form she hadn¡¯t even had time to prepare for her. The crowd had surrounded her in the moments before the fight began, and she¡¯d instinctively thought they were forming a fighting ring to watch the fight, and so hadn¡¯t been prepared to be grabbed and pushed off the edge by a group of men. She¡¯d managed to knock one of them out with an uppercut to the chin, inflicting the [Daze] ailment, but his staggering form had instantly been replaced, and her arm grabbed to prevent another knockout.

    The fall hadn¡¯t been very far. The darkness down here was magical, oppressive, and brokering no light. Even her [Magic Light], which was usually bright enough to make a torch jealous, barely lit a few feet around her.

    She couldn¡¯t say she knew much about the [Goblin Manor], but even she¡¯d heard that the monsters of the chasms were impossible to beat for low level adventurers, and the simple reason for that was this darkness. A goblin with a spear could stab her in the back without entering her ring of light, so any kind of ambush would be near instant.

    She backed up, intending to put her back to a wall, and it took more steps than she expected before her back hit the wall. Based on that information, the chasm was wider at the bottom than the top indicated, which would prevent her from climbing out. The only chance she¡¯d have would be to fight her way out.

    As she was considering all that, she heard the loud thunk of boots on stone as someone landed in the chasm near her.

    It could be Crimson, but if it wasn¡¯t, then she wanted to get the jump on them.

    She extinguished her light and held her breath, listening closely. Tensed up, she listened for any indication of sound. Anything at all. It was dead quiet, which meant it was Crimson. He had the habit of walking as quietly as he could.

    She reached out her hand again and started to recast [Magic Light], but before she could, she was abruptly lit up by a silvery [Magic Light], her intuition had been correct. She looked him in the eye, inspecting his condition, and asked, ¡°You win?¡±

    He shrugged, ¡°I killed him, but since we¡¯re both down here, I would call that a loss.¡±

    ¡°You feel alright?¡±

    ¡°A bit off. Killing a man, even if it¡¯s not permanent, feels disturbing.¡±

    Verity nodded, ¡°Good, killing people should never come easy, but it¡¯s important that you can do so when you have to.¡±

    Crimson grunted back at her, and she recast [Magic Light]. It didn¡¯t do anything to expand their visibility.

    They surveyed the darkness, and Verity asked, ¡°So, how much trouble do you think we¡¯re in? Think we can climb out of this mess?¡±

    ¡°Not likely. There¡¯s a barrier over the top of the chasm. You can get in easily enough, but there¡¯s no climbing out. There must be an intended exit.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any info on these chasms?¡±

    ¡°None, pretty much every adventurer who falls here dies before they even see what enemies are down here. Some have gotten glimpses, but nothing clear enough to identify what¡¯s down here.¡±

    ¡°Which means the enemies down here are specialized for stealth attacks?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    She felt a little disheartened at that ¡®yeah.¡¯ Enemies specialized in stealth - especially at low levels - were easy to kill, but only so long as you could catch them before they could kill you. In darkness like this, there would typically be no way to catch them, but she was with Crimson, so he might have something. If she were on her own, best chance would be running.

    ¡°Do you have anything to sense monsters in stealth?¡± She asked.

    A sword slowly appeared on his waist, a claymore, and he drew it while he responded, ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ve extended my [Mana] around me as much as possible. If anything walks through it, I¡¯ll be able to sense them unless they have a [Skill] to disguise their [Mana].¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your range?¡±

    ¡°About 20 feet. That should be enough time to react unless they¡¯re too fast.¡±

    Verity nodded, and Crimson took the lead, sword at the ready. She wished a bit that she could do something similar, have a spell ready in the moment before it¡¯s cast, but she didn¡¯t know how to do so, or if it was possible. She¡¯d need to ask Crimson about it at some point later.

    They started walking through the darkness, Crimson had confidently walked off in the direction to their left, and that was presumably the way toward the entrance, though they had no way of knowing if it was the way out of the chasms.

    The only walked for a scant few seconds before Crimson tensed up, sword at the ready, looking a little to the right of the direction they¡¯d been facing, and slowly rotating his head further to the right.

    Based on the way Crimson¡¯s head was facing, Verity could easily figure out where the enemy was, so she immediately stepped behind Crimson, and put her back to the wall again. She needed to be out of his way and safe for fights like these. She didn¡¯t have his perception abilities, so she was dead weight, and enemies like these typically targeted the weakest members first.

    That would be her.

    After a few minutes of stand off, where the creature tried to edge around Crimson in the darkness to get to her, he deliberately turned his body alone slightly away from where the creature was, giving an opening, before suddenly turning and striking into the darkness.

    A clash of bone on steel was all that greeted them, as his sword luckily managed to intercept some kind of whip-like object with a dagger like bone on the tip. It had been going straight for Crimson¡¯s heart. It didn¡¯t move like she¡¯d expect of a whip, so it was likely a tail or a tentacle of some kind - unless it was another type of limb she couldn¡¯t think of.

    While she was trying to figure out what it was, Crimson attempted to snatch at the - assumed - tail, but missed and had to jerk his hand back to avoid getting cut.

    The tail retreated into the darkness and Crimson took another ready stance. He let out a low cuss and Verity heard him mention something about ¡®low durability.¡¯ If that was the case, then they were likely in a lot of trouble.

    The standoff continued, with a few more clashes. The monster constantly targeted Crimson¡¯s heart, so figuring out where the creature was aiming allowed him to block the blows better.

    Eventually, Crimson abruptly backed up, near where Verity was, and asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you have any spells you can use here?¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but I don¡¯t think any of them will help. It¡¯ll just be trying something else.¡±

    ¡°[Rejection]?¡±

    ¡°It would have to get closer.¡±

    ¡°[Barrier]?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t trust it to hold up, typically monsters like this have abilities that let them destroy armor and defensive magic easily when they¡¯re in stealth.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll go for plan B. I worry about my claymore¡¯s durability if this continues, and if my last sword breaks, then I would just assume we¡¯re dead.¡±

    ¡°Plan B?¡±

    Instead of answering, he abruptly charged into the darkness. The second he stepped beyond Verity¡¯s circle of light, she couldn¡¯t see him anymore, though she still should¡¯ve been able to see his light, the magical nature of the darkness prevented even that.

    What she heard from the darkness was pretty muted, like she¡¯d pulled a blanket over her head, but she heard a crash, an inhuman screech, the sounds of breaking bones, and then the low moaning of a monster in pain.

    She called into the darkness, ¡°You get it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Crimson said, dragging a scrawny black monster, about the size of a child, with a tail that was about 10 feet if she had to guess. The tail was broken in several places, and he was dragging the thing by it. He had a large gash on one arm.

    ¡°An imp?¡± She asked incredulously while healing him, ¡°That¡¯s whats down here? We¡¯ve been terrified of a monster this pathetic?¡±

    She caught herself, then hurriedly corrected the statement, ¡°Well, pathetic is a bit much, but imps have a reputation of being weaker than goblins. Goblins are at least adaptable, but Imps all fight the same way.¡±

    Crimson glanced around them, then said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t that hard when I was aggressive, but staying on the defensive meant playing right into it¡¯s strategy. The environment is our biggest enemy here, not the imps.¡±

    Verity nodded in agreement. Even as a [Healer], she¡¯d likely be strong enough to punch a regular imp to death, but the trick was doing that while she couldn¡¯t see when and where it was attacking. That was the part that would get her killed.

    ¡°You must¡¯ve run pretty far into the darkness to kill it, the sound was muffled.¡± She said.

    ¡°Not at all, I was just five steps away. The darkness must have a sound dampening effect.¡± He responded, sounding interested.

    ¡°Must be there to make it easier for them to ambush us.¡± She said after a moment.

    ¡°I think everything about this place is meant to make it easy for us to be ambushed.¡±

    She was inclined to agree.

    Crimson spoke after a moment, ¡°I think I¡¯ll be able to handle them one at a time in the future, but if two or more show up, I worry about protecting you.¡±

    A valid concern, but not one that could stop them here. If even one of them made it out with their levels intact, Verity would count that as a win, and she told him as much.

    In response, he said, ¡°There¡¯s no point if we don¡¯t both get out of here with everything intact. I¡¯m worried about what might greet us outside if we don¡¯t have a few levels on us.¡±

    That was a good point. There might be people at the entrance willing to escalate this from harassment to murder. Crimson had already been hard enough to fight at Lv.1, but with a couple more levels on him would get him stats more than double his contemporaries.

    Verity knew, because she was also at Lv.4. She¡¯d gotten a total of 42 stats for 3 Levels. That was ridiculous. Absolutely mad!

    With her old [Class], a Low-Grade one, she would¡¯ve had 18 more stats from those level ups. Their stats put her and Crimson in direct competition to a Lv.9¡¯s stats. To say nothing of how much Crimson had gotten from training and maxing [Skills].

    That meant that their opponents would be praying that they¡¯d die down here, assuming there was an ambush waiting for them.

    ¡°Huh,¡± Crimson said, freezing while he looked at the air in front of him. His [Blessing]?

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Hold on, I maxed one of my [Skills] earlier, and I¡¯m trying to make sense of what I¡¯m seeing.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson stared fixedly at his [Blessing], trying to interpret what he was seeing.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Skill Level Up!

    -[Eyes of Will] 9/10 ¡ª> Max

    -[Skill] Max reward: 5 WIL 2 PER

    -[Eyes of Change] 1/10 ¡ª> 2/10

    -[Eyes of Will] can now be removed from [Eyes of Change].

    -Please select another [Skill] to take the place of [Eyes of Will].

    -Compatible [Skills]: [Mikiri], [Ul Byrn], [Sophisticated Mana Sense], [Secret Sense]

    -Select one: <____>

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson flicked out his [Mana] in a quick pattern to verify that they were alone still - it was just them and the crippled imp -, then turned his attention back to his [Blessing]. He¡¯d wondered about [Eyes of Change] forever ago. He¡¯d assumed that it was a [Skill Set] of some kind, but apparently it was a [Skill] that held other [Skills].

    ¡­

    He needed a moment to process before he finally broke out and honed in on which [Skill] he could swap [Eyes of Will] with. [Secret Sense] was chucked out instantly. Not helpful in this situation.

    [Ul Byrn] was a [Skill] he didn¡¯t understand enough, so he disqualified it on that ground alone.

    Between [Mikiri] and [Sophisticated Mana Sense], both could potentially be useful in this situation, but he suspected that [Mikiri] would be more useful in this situation, if only because he wasn¡¯t sure if the ambient [Mana] in the air would rend him blind if he chose [Sophisticated Mana Sense].

    It could also allow him to see exactly where his enemies were in this darkness. There was just no way to know, so rather than gamble on the dangerous option, Crimson chose the safe one.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Mikiri] has been slotted into [Eyes of Change].

    -[Eyes of Will] becomes [Aura of Will].

    -[Mikiri] becomes [Ru Mikiri]

    -[Eyes of Change: [Ru Mikiri] 1/10] 2/10

    -[Aura of Will] 1/10

    -Note: [Skill] progress will be tracked separately independently when slotted into [Eyes of Change]. [Skill] levels will be reset unless [Eyes of Change] are Lv.3.

    -Note: [Skills] cannot be removed from [Eyes of Change] unless they have reached Max.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Verity suddenly grabbed his arm and turned him to face her, her eyes boring into his. There was no sensation of clashing wills, he couldn¡¯t see it any more. No surprise there, but it felt strange to not get that peek.

    She spoke in a rush, ¡°Your eyes have changed color!¡±

    He blinked, then asked, ¡°What color are they now?¡±

    ¡°They still have some silver to them, but there¡¯s yellow streaks, like lightning, that seem to be floating over the silver. I can see them moving.¡±

    He reached up to touch his eyes, a little surprised by the change. Did that mean¡­this entire time¡­his eye color was the result of a [Skill]?

    His thoughts were interrupted as the Imp he¡¯d drug over tried to crawl away, still whimpering pathetically. He finished it off quickly, stomping on the back of it¡¯s neck, and letting it disappear.

    They didn¡¯t have claws, and what they had in the way of teeth weren¡¯t meant for fighting, so once he¡¯d shattered the thing¡¯s tail it had been effectively rendered harmless. Regardless, it was still careless for him to forget to finish it off. He¡¯d gotten caught up in talking to Verity, then in what was going on with his [Blessing].

    He reached down to loot it, and got another surprise. There were four drops again. One of each kind.

    He reached for the [Skill Stone] first and inspected it. It contained [Weak Presence]. Now that could actually be useful. Not just for him, but Verity as well.

    He handed it to her, expecting another punch, but this time, she just sighed and accepted it.

    After she¡¯d had it for a second he said, ¡°It might be a good idea for you to take it. It¡¯s not a great [Skill] yet, but it is a stealth [Skill]. It could be incredibly useful for you in the long run.¡±

    She thought about that, then nodded and said, ¡°Sure, but it might be more useful in your hands than mine.¡±

    There was some truth to that, but between him and her, she needed it the most right now, so he insisted that she take it.

    Verity was a bit reluctant, but he said, ¡°Look, I want us both to get out alive here. If this [Skill] does anything to help you survive, to help those things ignore you, then I¡¯ll take it. We can come back and grind for this [Skill Stone] later so I can have one, but the priority is getting out of here.¡±

    She sighed, then clenched her fist, breaking the stone and absorbing the [Skill].

    Crimson stared at her in interest. Her presence had gotten weaker. It was the sensation that came from knowing another person was in the room. That kind of minute emotional pressure.

    It was subtle, but hopefully it would make a difference.

    The other objects he looted were a rib bone - the common drop -, and the tail bone, the part that formed the weapon on the end of the Imp¡¯s tail for the uncommon drop. The [Ritual] material was a [Wind Shard].

    They resumed exploring after Verity cast [Enhanced Recovery] on them both, maximizing duration once more.

    It didn¡¯t take long for them to be ambushed again, and Crimson immediately began to feel the effects of [Ru Mikiri]. It felt like attacks were approaching in slow motion in comparison to what he was used to. His dynamic vision had sharply improved, and he could see every little flex of the Imp¡¯s tail muscles as it stabbed the sharp bit at him.

    It didn¡¯t allow him to go any faster, but he could see how he¡¯d need to move sooner to be in position to deal with attacks, so he could now easily grab the imp¡¯s tail with one hand, and sever it with his claymore in the other, inflicting the [Dismember] ailment.

    The difficulty dropped by such a sharp margin that Crimson could only be amazed. The [Skill] level was shooting up pretty fast too, and as it did, it became even easier for him. He no longer needed to grab the tail to sever it, he could just place his sword where it needed to be and watch as the imp severed its own tail.

    That was phenomenal. [585th Claymore] still hadn¡¯t been repaired, and it¡¯s durability was in a critical state. The only reason it could still do decent damage was a simple one: [Blade Spirit]. The small boost to attack and durability were all that was keeping the claymore limping along. He¡¯d been hoping to repair it, but it might have to meet a permanent retirement after this.

    They continued to explore. Verity was still being targeted by the imps, but it was a slight degree less, and it improved as they explored. She mentioned it to him when [Weak Presence] reached Lv.3, though that took a few hours.

    Crimson was pretty thoroughly lost by this point. The darkness was so oppressive that he couldn¡¯t discern any land marks, and dungeons were extremely quick to recover from damage, so he couldn¡¯t make any marks that would help.

    The one indication he had was that some passages they went down were free of enemies, while others weren¡¯t. Crimson guessed that getting in fights meant they were going the right way, so by the time they¡¯d killed everything down there they might find an exit.

    The one issue with using enemies as the indication of which way to go was that they would respawn, so there was a chance, albeit slim, that they were going in circles. he¡¯d killed no less than 12 imps in that time frame.

    They had been against the left wall for the entire exploration, to have a reference point, so if this were a traditional maze they would reach the exit at some point. The concern there was that this wasn¡¯t a traditional maze, but Verity didn¡¯t have a better idea either.

    Eventually, they found a passage that opened up, presumably into a big room, though Crimson couldn¡¯t tell due to the darkness. His visibility dropped noticeably as they entered the room, the darkness surging closer. He felt a presence on the edge of his [Mana], and immediately readied his claymore. This presence felt a bit bigger than the previous ones, maybe an Elite Imp of some kind?

    Regardless, he stepped forward quickly. Even if it was reckless, the usual imp attack pattern would leave him at a massive disadvantage if he was on the defensive. He was under [Enhanced Recovery] - Verity had been recasting it every time it wore off -, and she was poised to cast any spells she might need to back him up.

    A tail rushed out of the darkness, significantly faster than the ones he¡¯d been dealing with up to this point, and even with [Ru Mikiri] he only just managed to parry it. Doing so took a serious chunk of durability from his claymore, and, in horror, he quickly had to deflect a second tail. He was also finally close enough to see the thing in the light, and his horror battled with excitement as he saw a name hovering over the large imp¡¯s head:

    [Mulgis, Imp Overlord]

    It was a [Boss] monster.

 Chapter 50: On the Knifeéˆ¥æªš Edge

    Chapter 50: On the Knife¡¯s Edge

    It said a lot about Crimson¡¯s mentality that he was too focused on trying to counterattack to let any panic set in. Unlike the other imps, who were significantly shorter, Mulgis stood about as tall as Crimson. It was covered in muscles, and the eyes that greeted Crimson were glowing red.

    It still had the dark black skin of the other imps, likely an adaption for an ambush predator, but another thing that set it apart was the fact that it had two tails.

    The regular imps preferred to attack straight on, curling their tails over their head to strike at people¡¯s hearts, but Mulgis preferred to attack from the sides, his greater height meant that trying to attack overhead would be a longer reach than attacking from the sides, and it allowed him to pincer any opponent.

    While Crimson¡¯s counterattack was blocked, he managed to cut deeply into Mulgis¡¯ arm, but failed to inflict any ailments. He was forced to back off by another rush of attacks from the tails. The preliminary motion of the attack gave him enough warning to get out of reach, but only just. Mulgis also had tails that were longer, probably 15 feet as opposed to the 10 of its lesser kindred.

    He was forced to block the first of the two tails and lost another large chunk of weapon durability. He had started with 20% earlier that day, 11/55, and [Blade Spirit] increased the durability by 4 points, putting it at 25% or 15/59. The fights he¡¯d engaged in had decreased it down to 8/59, or about 14%, and those three blows from the boss had brought it down to 4/59. In other words, the only thing keeping his sword together was the boost from [Blade Spirit].

    If he let go of it at any point in this fight, his claymore would shatter, and he would be left helpless!

    The worst possible move against imps was to be on the defensive. They were glass canons, and even this boss continued the trend, but he was forced on the defensive to protect his claymore.

    ¡°Hang in there!¡± He muttered to it, praying it would last. The slightly glowing silver smoke that gently came off his blade seemed to flicker in response.

    Mulgis didn¡¯t charge after him, opting instead to circle around in the dark, trying to get at Verity.

    They grouped up once more, and Crimson stood between her and Mulgis. The worst move he could make would be allowing her to die before him.

    Silence ruled the darkness, broken only by Crimson¡¯s low ragged breathing. He was keeping it together, but a part of him dearly wanted to panic. It was only his intense focus on the boss that kept him from losing his mind to the stress. If only he hadn¡¯t lost the [Reliable Saber]!

    The stand off didn¡¯t last too long before Mulgis began to slink closer, the only giveaway to his motion was the [Mana] Crimson had extended around himself.

    Crimson gestured for Verity to step back and they both moved away, in a direct line backwards. He needed a bit of extra time to think, and while the confrontation was inevitable, if he could just think of a way to get in close, he was sure he could deal a lot of damage.

    If the attacks only came from the side, then Mulgis would actually be a tiny bit easier to approach than the regular imps. The direction they attacked from acted as a natural means of fending off his approach, but with that slight difference from Mulgis, there was room for him to slip in.

    Though he was faster than his lesser kindred, Crimson had spent a large chunk of that day adapting to how imps fought, [Ul Byrn] exerting its subtle influence on his ability to fight. The reason he was able to react to the two initial attacks could likely be chalked up to a combination of [Ul Byrn] and [Ru Mikiri].

    If he was able to adapt fast enough, then he¡¯d be able to parry Mulgis¡¯ blows without losing any durability.

    Left with no other choice, Crimson abruptly broke into a sprint, and his [Mana] told him that the boss paused in surprise before launching an attack.

    Instead of parrying or blocking, Crimson slid on the ground, getting under the attacks and popped up in a pair of quick slashes at Mulgis. His first blow had been aiming for its neck, and failed to reach its mark. His second blow was targeting the place he¡¯d attacked the first time, this time with even more force, and that one managed to land, cutting off the boss¡¯ right arm a little below the elbow. Mulgis made a sound for the first time, a loud screeching wail.

    Animals typically fought like crazy when cornered, so Crimson immediately backed off as fast as he could, going as far as to put his back to the boss to sprint away more quickly.

    It ended up being a good move, even with the extra speed he was still hit on the back by one of Mulgis¡¯ wildly flailing tails, right on the edge of it¡¯s reach, and taking off 10% of his health with that single blow. It couldn¡¯t have even been considered a real attack, since it was a slashing blow as opposed to a stabbing one, but it still did that much.

    He could not afford to take a real attack from this boss, it might kill him outright!

    Gritting his teeth, he returned to Verity¡¯s side and put his back to her. He could feel the blood trickling down his back from blow, a cut that extended nearly the whole length of his back.

    She immediately saw the problem and got to work, casting a healing spell on him.

    Under normal circumstances, he would be able to heal himself, but he needed his [Mana] to track Mulgis, so he couldn¡¯t afford to retract it long enough to cast any kind of spells.

    Good thing he didn¡¯t, Verity only had enough time to stop the bleeding and close the wound, restoring only 2% of his health in the process before the boss charged at them with reckless abandon.

    He stepped forward, making sure Verity would have some space as he focused on the charge, his entire being tensed for the encounter. The first blow came from the left, and he deflected it with his sword and twisted in closer to the boss, barely dodging the second. He was too close for a proper swing, but the way he¡¯d deflected allowed him to use the force to reverse his blade, grabbing it by the blade and using the pommel to land a vicious mordhau uppercut to Mulgis'' chin.

    He swore as the boss staggered back. That moment he¡¯d reversed the blade he¡¯d relinquished it, just long enough for his [Blade Spirit] to leave it, and it¡¯s durability had immediately become negative. Large cracks covered it¡¯s entire length, and it shattered, the pommel in his hand crumbled to dust, leaving him empty handed.

    It was unexpected, and the boss used his surprise as a gap to attempt another lunge. The only thing that kept him alive was Verity, who had circled around and tackled Mulgis from behind, grabbing its tails.

    His CON was definitely higher than Verity¡¯s, she could be killed instantly!

    Thoughts of retreat, confusion, or anything else disappeared, leaving only the unrelenting determination to save his friend!

    He didn¡¯t need to track something that was right in front of him, so he finally had the room to do something else with his [Mana]. None of the spells he knew dealt high damage, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t do anything. He dual cast [Magic Light] and anchored both of them right in front of the boss¡¯ face, one over each eye.

    It screeched in pain, struggling to get free of Verity¡¯s desperate grip and trying to cover its eyes with its remaining arm.

    Crimson dove in, tackling it, and knocked it to the ground, careful to make sure it wouldn¡¯t land on top of Verity. He nearly failed in keeping it off her, but the success gave them some room to work, though not much.

    He hesitated for a fraction of a second, before lunging to where Verity was desperately trying to hold on to the tails. He grabbed one of them, and Verity was forced to let go of the other so they could both latch on the first. They both struggled for a moment, then managed to twist the tail into a short loop, near the tip. Crimson grabbed the tip, right under the dagger-like bone, and Verity grabbed the other side. Between the two of them pulling with all their might, a sickening crack was heard.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    They attempted to do the same to the other tail, but didn¡¯t have enough time as the boss responded to the pain and flailed with its remaining arm and tail, trying to hit them.

    Crimson and Verity backed off at the same time, mutually recognizing the danger presented by pursuing the other tail.

    The boss was still flailing on the ground, so Crimson used that opportunity to dig his belt knife out of his [Inventory]. His [Blade Spirit] refused to enter it, so none of his usual [Skills] would work with it. It also only had 15 durability and didn¡¯t provide a bonus to attack damage. To call it an emergency weapon would be generous.

    It was all he had.

    [Magic Light] had been cast in a rush, so it didn¡¯t last as long as he¡¯d hoped. It wore off and Mulgis got to his feet, groaning in pain.

    Crimson and Verity backed off even more as it launched a vicious tail attack at them, and lost sight of it in the darkness. He grimly extended his [Mana] out to track it, and he could perceive that Mulgis was approaching them, and for the first time, it was making enough sound for them to hear the approach. The sound of bone on stone, its broken tail dragging behind it, was subtle, but he could just hear it.

    They¡¯d broken Mulgis¡¯ left tail and severed its right arm. That meant that Crimson wouldn¡¯t have to worry too much about attacks from his right side during the approach, but the boss was desperate enough to use its arms to attack, despite their purpose being more for defense.

    It was still safer than dealing with the tail.

    Crimson loosely rolled the knife in his hands, contemplating his options, or at least he tried to. For the first time, Mulgis was the one to charge them, and it was fast!

    Tensing up, he was surprised to be greeted by a punch instead of a strike from the tail, so he blocked the fist with his dagger. 1/3 of its durability was lost immediately.

    Durability was like inertia, something with high durability lost it more slowly than something with less durability. His broken claymore was still a usable weapon at 10 durability, but this knife wasn¡¯t usable at its max of 15.

    A sense of danger, an instinct beyond his comprehension triggered, and he pushed off the fist with his dagger, jumping back and running into Verity, but he wasn¡¯t fast enough to completely dodge the blow from the functioning tail, which had attempted to stab him in the side. It left a long gash, diagonally across his chest, and he could feel where it had cracked a rib or two. He lost 25% of his health from that blow, 67% left!

    Mulgis pursued the attack, this time the tail tried to slash across his throat, but an excellently timed [Barrier] from Verity gave the extra millisecond he needed to get out of the way. It shattered immediately, but slowed the tail just enough!

    The boss had left itself open, so with a push from Verity and a mighty step forward, he attempted to ram his knife into its throat.

    It was blocked by Mulgis¡¯ remaining arm, his knife sinking deeply into the arm and catching there. Crimson immediately tried to let go and step away, but Mulgis¡¯ tail whipped around, aiming for his heart once more, and he sacrificed his left arm to take the blow.

    Both he and Mulgis had their weapons buried in each other¡¯s arms, but the fundamental difference between the two was that Crimson had 35% of his HP left after that blow, while Mulgis was still likely above 80% or more.

    Verity dove on the tail that was stuck in his arm, dragging it to the ground, and wrenching it free of his arm. He was immediately inflicted with the [Bleeding] ailment!

    His HP rapidly decreasing, Crimson grabbed his knife with his right hand, and wrenched with all the might he could muster, and severed the bone, leaving the arm dangling by a thin strip of flesh and tendon.

    Gritting his teeth, his chest flaring with the pain of his broken ribs, he rammed the knife into Mulgis¡¯ neck, trusting in Verity to keep the tail pinned. It pierced, but only barely, not enough damage!

    Stepping in, eyes wild, Crimson slashed like a madman at its throat, once, twice, five times! Right as he finally inflicted [Rapid Bleeding], the knife shattered as well.

    His health was at 22%, and rapidly decreasing, he could only count his blessings that he only had the [Bleeding] ailment and not the [Rapid Bleeding] ailment. He¡¯d likely already be dead.

    His eyes blurry, he realized that he couldn¡¯t focus enough to use magic, and so lunged at Mulgis, slamming his good shoulder into the boss¡¯ gut, and knocking it over as it thrashed in vain.

    Verity was dragged along with it¡¯s movement, the tail was flailing wildly enough that it slamming her against the ground was clearly doing damage, so Crimson turned and stomped on it. He wasn¡¯t strong enough to break it, but the flash of pain caused it to pause for a second, a second that he and Verity used to barely get away.

    Mulgis lay on the ground, bleeding out, though not quickly enough for Crimson. Its health pool was no joke.

    He coughed, then forcibly stopped himself from coughing again, the pain in his chest from the broken ribs nearly knocked him out. The only reason he was still rational could be chalked up to his [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir Title]. Without the first blessing, [Tolerance], he would be dead.

    His HP was at 10% when Verity finally cast healing magic on him. Her doing so helped his head clear up a bit, so he joined her, and between the two, they managed to outlast the duration of the [Bleeding] ailment, though only just. At 6% HP, Crimson had survived, and the ailment had disappeared. They were both out of MP, and both had the [Exhausted] ailment. Neither their MP, nor their HP would recover until they¡¯d rested for a bit.

    They collapsed on the ground, pained, tired, but alive. So long as the boss didn¡¯t manage to outlast its [Rapid Bleeding] ailment, they¡¯d won.

    It still took a few more minutes beyond that for the boss to disappear, and Crimson and Verity received alerts from their [Blessing].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Sword Savant] Level Up!

    -Outlasting Adverse Victory!

    -The difference between your level and [Mulgis, Imp Overlord] was 5 or greater!

    -Rewards increased!

    -Recorded first kill of [Mulgis, Imp Overlord]!

    -Rewards increased!

    -The Administration is pleased with your achievement.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson coughed, laughed, and coughed again. Next to him, Verity had started giggling in exhilaration. They¡¯d done it! They should¡¯ve lost after Crimson¡¯s claymore, but they¡¯d done it!

    If Verity hadn¡¯t been there, he would have died helplessly. She was worth ten times her weight in gold!

    A grin on his face, Crimson asked, ¡°How much HP do you have left?¡±

    ¡°About 40%,¡± came the casual response.

    ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s unfortunate. I was hoping that I¡¯d be able to protect you enough to not lost a single point.¡±

    ¡°Your tone doesn¡¯t seem that disappointed.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m too happy that we did it. My hands are still shaking,¡± he said.

    They were, the second what they¡¯d done had started to catch up to him, his hands had begun shaking uncontrollably. Whether it was pain, exhilaration, or trauma, he couldn¡¯t tell, the cause, but it meant he was alive, and that¡¯s all that mattered.

    A chuckled greeted him, then the words, ¡°The boss shouldn¡¯t respawn for the next 48 hours, and no other monsters will come in here. I¡¯m going to pass out until my [Exhaustion] is gone, then I¡¯ll heal us both.¡±

    Crimson gave her a grunt in response, then passed out himself.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson was a bit groggy when he woke, his sore ribs were still getting to him, but they weren¡¯t as bad as before. Cracking an eye, he saw that Verity was healing him. The [Exhaustion] gone and his [Mana] recovered, he joined in, and they got him healed, then worked together to heal Verity.

    She¡¯d managed to get up to 80% through natural regeneration, so healing her to full was a casual effort at best.

    They got up, Crimson straightened his clothes, and they walked over to where the boss had been, [Magic Light] in hand. The magical darkness had receded significantly, the visibility of light had gone from a couple of feet, to over 15. It seemed that Mulgis had some kind of [Skill] to strengthen its effect.

    The drops on the ground were: 2 uncommon drops - Mulgis¡¯ knife-like tail bones -, a [Ritual] drop - [Wind Stone] -, and one [Skill Stone].

    Of course, his interest was immediately on the [Skill Stone], and he scooped it up to inspect it. [Darkvision]. That was an excellent [Skill], and Crimson turned to Verity holding it out for her to see.

    After inspecting it, she nodded and said, ¡°I think you should absorb this one.¡±

    Ideally, they both would at some point. They¡¯d need to farm this boss for more, a [Skill] with this much utility was too much to pass up.

    He accepted though, and crushed the [Skill Stone] in his grip, absorbing the [Darkvision].

    Scooping up the remaining drops, his backpack was completely filled by their addition. They¡¯d need a better method for transporting materials in the future, because Crimson planned on being a more efficient hunter in the future.

    [Darkvision] was still only Lv.1, so [Magic Light] actually provided more visibility at this point, but he would¡¯ve needed to maintain the spell for Verity¡¯s sake in any case - she was still recovering MP from the healing she¡¯d done.

    They went to the back of the boss room, and found a small altar with a button in the center. There was a slot the size and shape of Mulgis¡¯ dagger-like tail bone, so Crimson put one in, and the button responded to his touch.

    With a sudden and a shake, the entire altar and the small area around it began to rise into the air, lifting them up, out of the darkness, and into the dungeon proper.

    They stepped off the altar after Crimson retrieved the tail bone, and it slowly lowered back into the darkness. The land contracted, the dirt swirling to close off the entrance to the boss room. They were right next to the entrance. A few adventurers near by were staring at them, mouths agape. He surveyed them quickly, and determined that they weren¡¯t from the mob that had attacked them earlier.

    Crimson grimaced, and glanced back, toward where he¡¯d dropped his [Reliable Saber]. Verity stopped him, saying, ¡°If we step outside first, even if you die while retrieving it, it won¡¯t matter. We won¡¯t lose the [Skills] or Levels we gained today, but we need to exit and re-enter the dungeon for this to work.¡±

    He nodded in acceptance, and they both grimly stepped outside. He was braced for a crowd to be at the entrance, but aside from the guard watching the entrance, and a few adventurer¡¯s milling about, there was no one else there.

    The Leveling exhaustion Verity mentioned set in immediately, he felt like he¡¯d been stretched in all directions at once, and the memories of healed injuries, still remembered by his body, ached at him.

    He groaned, then turned around, determinedly strode into the fog wall once more, then pushing past his aching, he sprinted through the dungeon, only stopping a couple times to kick goblins out of his way. He stole a club from one of them, and used it to fend off others as he finally tracked down his [Reliable Saber]. It was lying right where he¡¯d left it, the mob had apparently not bothered to mess with it in any way.

    His beloved and solitary weapon in hand once more, he raced back to the dungeon entrance and met up with Verity. They needed to return to Falst to report what had happened.

 Chapter 51: Tail End of Calamity?

    Chapter 51: Tail End of Calamity?

    The first thing Crimson did after sitting down in the wagon was scroll back through the logs in his [Blessing] to see what other changes had occurred after the fight with Mulgis. He¡¯d completely skipped over them in his excitement over [Darkvision].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Skill] Level Up!

    -[Aura of Will] 1/10 ¡ª> 2/10

    -[Ul Byrn] 4/10 ¡ª> 5/10

    -[Advanced Sword Mastery] 9/100 ¡ª> 11/100

    -[Ru Mikiri] 1/10 ¡ª> 7/10

    -[Adaptive Footwork] 2/10 ¡ª> 3/10

    -[Defense Pierce] 4/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -[Darkvision] new!

    -An extreme effort was exerted! Additional stats awarded.

    -Achieved a type of Adverse Victory! Increased awarded amount.

    -Achieved an Outlasting Adverse Victory! Increase CON reward.

    -2 STR, 2 AGI, 4 CON, 2 VIT, 1 WIL, 5 PER

    -Displaying Status.

    -Name: Crimson

    -Race: Half (High Human, ???) -Age: 16

    -Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Brass]

    -Active Title: [Lucky] [Sword of the Forgotten Path] [Blessings of Trans''Du''Niir] [Rean] [Madit]

    -Titles: Lucky, Linguist, Master, Holy Envoy, Unparalleled, Sword of the Forgotten Path

    -Health (HP): 1100/1100 Regen/s: 3.6

    -Magic (MP): 500/500 Regen/s: 5.5

    -Condition: Tired

    -Class: [Sword Savant] 5/25

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Stats:

    -Strength (STR): 39 Agility (AGI): 40

    -Constitution (CON): 33 Vitality (VIT): 36

    -Intelligence (INT): 50 Wisdom (WIS): 55

    -Charisma (CHA): 7 Willpower (WIL): 36

    -Perception (PER): 59 Luck (LUC): 90

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    That was no small amount of stats to get from a single boss fight. He¡¯d need to go back for a round 2. Maybe if he maintained the level difference, he could get a bunch of extra stats from grinding the boss?

    Next to him, Verity snored, head on her knees as she napped during the ride back. They¡¯d napped for at least three hours considering the amount of daylight left, it was amusing that she could already sleep. Crimson felt like he¡¯d already had most of a night¡¯s sleep.

    It was early evening, the spring sun was still up, but would be down soon enough, and there was a nice cooling breeze brushing across Crimson¡¯s face as he surveyed the hilly terrain that passed by.

    The creature pulling the cart was a monster, so they were moving at quite a quick pace, probably about 20 or 30 miles per hour, and the only reason they weren¡¯t bouncing enough to vibrate the teeth out of his skull came down to how well maintained the road was. Completely smooth, it was a blessing Crimson was grateful for.

    At this pace, it didn¡¯t take too long to reach Falst, but there was a problem. Crimson had to do a double take, then tapped Verity¡¯s back rapidly to wake her up to get a second pair of eyes on the city. Maybe there was something wrong with his eyes?

    Groggily, she said, ¡°Wha- what is it? You better have a gods cursed good reason, or I¡¯m going to beat the tar out of you.¡±

    ¡°Just wake up, do you see a cloud of smoke rising from Falst?¡±

    Verity turned and looked at the sight he was seeing, seeming stunned as well.

    Falst was shaped like a crown, a circular base portion forming the walls, the massive arches that reached up to support the castle that hung over the city, and the castle itself added to the crown-like appearance. Normally, aside from the massive crystals hanging from the underside of the arches, there was nothing in the air between the city and the castle, but today, there was a cloud of smoke hanging between the city and the castle. Portions of the smoke were red from unseen flames.

    The breeze that Crimson had enjoyed was too light to disperse the smoke, so the smoke was amassing in a dangerous way, surrounding the castle as it slowly ascended.

    It wasn¡¯t like there¡¯d never been a fire in Falst, half the buildings were made of wood after all, but there were more than enough people who knew water magic to make it a non-issue. Any fires that appeared were quickly dealt with before they spread.

    For there to be this much smoke, there had to be several massive fires in the city.

    The wagon came to a stop, it cresting a hill had been what allowed Crimson to see the smoke, and it seemed the driver wasn¡¯t going to continue, so he grabbed Verity by the arm and they jumped off the wagon and began running to the city.

    Crimson knew some water magic, so there might be a bit he could do! Even if it was only a single person, a single room, he wanted to do something to help!

    He ended up leaving Verity in the dust, and forced himself to slow. It was of the utmost importance that they remained together. There was a good chance that this much fire was caused by arson. If they were forced to fight, then they needed to be in a position to have each other¡¯s back. The real world wasn¡¯t as kind as the dungeon, death would be permanent.

    It didn¡¯t take long for them to run the distance to Falst. The gate was unmanned, and the reason why was obvious when they passed through the gate, but stopped before entering the city proper. Guards were gently trying to corral a pack of completely silent citizens, holding torches or fire balls. The second they saw something flammable, they would subject it to the blaze, spreading the fire further.

    This group of people appeared to be under Lv.10, based on how they were moving, which meant that the guards with an average level of 24 would have to be very careful not to hurt them too much. While the gods might not punish them for behaving violently against weaker people in a situation like this, the instinct to hold back was so ingrained that Crimson could understand why they weren¡¯t taking more decisive actions against the group.

    Occasionally a member of the mob would get separated from the others, and a few guards would descend on them to bind them, either with rope or magic, and drag them away thrashing to get away.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    As he watched, he noticed another unusual phenomenon. Some members of the group would randomly drop to the ground, and begin weeping or stare around themselves in shock and horror. It seemed they were being controlled.

    Crimson no longer had [Eyes of Will] equipped, so he couldn¡¯t see their will to see if they were afflicted by the same mania he¡¯d come across earlier that day, but their behavior was similar, being dead silent with wide eyes and taking violent actions.

    That said, the situation seemed a bit under control. There weren¡¯t many guards, but they were very effective at keeping the mob as a relatively contained group. The burnable stuff nearby had been doused in water - some of it was singed from an attempt - and the size of the mob was slowly decreasing every few seconds.

    As Crimson inspected the sight, he stepped out of the archway, into the city proper, and was immediately hit with a pressure on the back of his skull. It wasn¡¯t a physical pressure, but a mental one. It wormed its way into his [Mana], and he could feel it tearing at his sanity, trying to incite feelings of frustration and anxiety, but unfortunately for whatever this magic was, his body was his absolute territory. He was at his most powerful with his [Mana] while it was in his flesh, so with a focused effort, he shoved the influence out of his [Mana], causing the pressure on his head to vanish.

    Next to him, Verity was clutching her head, groaning. After a moment, she fell silent and her eyes began to stretch wide. Recognizing the signs, Crimson immediately tackled her, and while using a grab to hold her in place, he stretched his [Mana] into her body, finding every pocket of the influence he could, and shattering them.

    It was much harder to do in Verity¡¯s body than his own, her [Mana] fought him and the influence, so it was a three way battle between them. Crimson knew what he was doing though, and after a few minutes of wrestling with her, he managed to extricate the last of the influence from her [Mana], causing her to fall back panting, sweat slicking her forehead.

    ¡°You good now?¡± He asked, trying to slow his breathing.

    She nodded, so he continued, ¡°It seems like whatever is going on is only affecting people with a low level or low WIL. None of the guards seem to be having any issues, and the only ones I¡¯m seeing riot are low leveled.¡±

    ¡°What could have caused it?¡± She asked.

    He was about to respond, but felt another wave of influence strike them. He beat it back again - it was easier this time - and turned to Verity, intending to pin her again, but after she shook her head a few times, she beat back the influence on her own.

    He grimaced, and she grimaced right back at him. It seemed that the origin of the influence was near the center of Falst, based on the direction of the wave he¡¯d felt.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head to the city center. Whatever is causing this needs to be stopped.¡± He said.

    Verity raised an eyebrow at him, ¡°What do you expect we can do if this is only targeting low leveled people? We¡¯re the targets here.¡±

    ¡°Find the source, then find someone strong enough to deal with it.¡±

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s the best thing we can do in this situation.¡±

    They bumped fists, then headed into an alley way to avoid the mob. They wove through the streets, avoiding groups of guards and some regular - higher leveled - citizens capturing the rioting mobs.

    Most of the fires were contained, but Crimson used some water to put out a small one that went unnoticed as they passed a particularly violent mob. He was running a bit low on [Mana], and his [Tired] condition meant that his recovery was slowed a fair bit, it was maybe a little less than half of normal?

    The real problem was that even the amount he recovered was used up immediately to fight off the waves of influence. It took Verity over five seconds to shake it off with just her WIL, and it would probably take him a few seconds with his WIL alone, but they couldn¡¯t afford to be frozen for a few seconds, so he used his [Mana] to throw it out, escaping every attempt to control him near instantly.

    The influence didn¡¯t attack in a consistent pattern, they once got five minutes to themselves, and another time they barely recovered in time to be hit by another wave of it.

    It normally took 20-30 minutes - traffic dependent - to reach the center of Falst. This area was the most under control, with members of the Temple using [Barriers] to create prisons to hold the mobs. There was even a small triage where rioters were being healed of the mania one by one.

    It wasn¡¯t fast enough.

    Crimson surveyed the area, waiting for the next wave of influence to get an idea where to head next. It took a few minutes, but eventually he was hit hard from in front of him. It seemed he was close.

    He began to work his way forward, shoving his way through crowds and dodging around mobs. He had to shout more than a couple of times that he was sane to keep from being captured, and the fact that he could speak was taken as proof that he wasn¡¯t infected.

    They reached the fountain at the center, and he stopped to wait for another wave. It didn¡¯t take long this time, just a few seconds and he got hit by the strongest wave yet. It took Verity 10 seconds to recover, and he burned through 5% of his [Mana] to get rid of it.

    It was¡­in the fountain?

    A frown turned to fury as Crimson remembered the fact that one of the entrances to the secret passages was in the center of the fountain.

    He stepped into the fountain and sloshed his way to the center. A few people called his name, but he ignored them. Typically, he¡¯d use his [Mana] to keep the water off himself, but between wet socks and mind control, he¡¯d take the wet socks.

    He shoved his way through a curtain of water to enter the central chamber, and his socks weren¡¯t the only thing wet anymore.

    Drenched from head to toe, he surveyed the chamber, and was frustrated to make eye contact with Damus of all people.

    The corrupt [Priest] was leaning up against the wall, legs draped into the open trap door that led to the secret passages, his eyes wide with the same mania that afflicted Falst, and cradling a menorah that had twisting wisps of black smoke trailing off it, but there were no candles.

    Crimson reached out with his [Mana] instinctively, and after touching it, was certain that it was the source of the problem. Whatever it was, the [Mana] inside was screwed up with the [Corruption Affinity] in a way he¡¯d never seen anywhere else. He could feel it eating away at his [Mana] as he prodded at it, and was forced to sever his connection to that [Mana] when the corruption began to creep along it.

    Damus was much stronger than he was, there was no way he could resolve the situation on his own, so like he¡¯d told Verity, he backed off to find someone who could resolve the problem. Damus¡¯ empty eyes boring into the back of his skull as he left.

    Sloshing his way back through the fountain, he stepped onto bricks that became drenched by the water running off him, and shook himself to get even more water off.

    Verity backed away with a small cry as she got hit by some of the water droplets.

    She immediately returned when he stopped shaking and asked, ¡°Nothing?¡±

    ¡°No, Damus. He seems to have found a [Relic] of some kind that¡¯s causing this mess. I determined that it would be best to find someone who can suppress him.¡±

    ¡°Damus? He¡¯s the cause of all this?¡± Questioned a voice that approached.

    Turning, Crimson saw Rei running over, not far away, a small group of [Priests] following after her.

    Crimson thumbed at the fountain and said, ¡°He¡¯s under the center piece, holding a menorah that seems to be the cause of this problem. We¡¯ll need someone specialized in [Purity] to deal with it, I¡¯ve never seen that much [Corruption affinity] in one place.¡±

    Rei glared with her one eye, her lion ears twitching, tail lashing, teeth gritted. She didn¡¯t hesitate, and stepped into the fountain, stalking to the center. After a moment, she walked out, dragging Damus by his collar. He was still cradling the menorah - it seemed like she hadn¡¯t tried to take it from him. Likely a good idea.

    She chucked the soaking wet Damus onto the bricks near Crimson, and he kept a death grip on the menorah.

    Staring at him for a long moment, Rei eventually stepped out of the fountain and dragged her husband away, toward the temple. Crimson glanced at Verity, and she shrugged back at him.

    Unsure as to whether they should follow, they eventually settled outside the temple entrance. Close enough to be grabbed quickly, far enough to not be under foot.

    Once Damus was in the temple, Crimson stopped feeling the waves of influence. It seemed like there was something about it that acted as a barrier, so Rei had made a good move to prevent the damage from spreading.

    Without the additional waves of influence, the mania cleared up quickly, and within 15 minutes nearly everyone was sane once more.

    Was this the disaster the God of War had warned about?

    Troubled, Crimson looked around the central plaza once more. Injured people, half burned buildings, and nary a person who wasn¡¯t exhausted enough to drop.

    As the last of the fires were put out, Falst became dark, the sun long set. He spotted [Magic Lights] appearing over different crowds, letting the clean up continue.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson and Verity ended up assisting where they could in the recovery efforts. Moving people, healing them, passing out water, and just doing what they could. They did stay within shouting distance of the temple which limited their actions to an extent, but just sitting around had started to feel awkward quickly.

    They came across a few familiar faces as they worked, including Rhea - who Crimson dragged off to the side to perform maintenance on her [Mana] -, Fade, Mortimer, and Talis of all people. The latter three all received only tired nods of recognition from Crimson, and they all continued their work without stopping to chat. It was surprising to see Talis here, but it shouldn¡¯t have been. The last he¡¯d seen of the greed filled kid, he¡¯d been leaving Lupaken for Falst to attend the tournament. The other familiar faces he¡¯d seen were all important people who entered the Temple. The guild master Lars and the king with his entourage.

    It wasn¡¯t until morning that Rei stumbled out the Temple, clutching her head and appearing mad enough to spit fire. Crimson happened to glance up at her right as she spotted him and waved him over. He pointed at Verity - who was working nearby - and tilted his head in a silent question. She considered it for a second, then nodded, so Crimson tapped on Verity¡¯s back to get her attention and pointed at Rei.

    They both stepped away from the cart that they¡¯d been passing out blankets from, and the placed they¡¯d been was immediately filled by others.

    It was nice to see people band together in the face of a disaster like this.

    After working their way through the crowd to Rei, she spoke to them, ¡°Come inside, we need to talk about what happened.¡±

    He nodded, and they all went inside. He braced himself as he entered the temple, expecting to be hit with a wave of influence, but there was nothing.

 Chapter 52: Disaster Recovery

    Chapter 52: Disaster Recovery

    The temple was being kept void of people except for the three of them, they made their way deep into the temple, working their way down a spiral staircase, and eventually reaching some cells.

    Crimson was vaguely aware of this space, but it generally wasn¡¯t used. Criminal prosecution was the domain of the Crown, so at most these were holding cells for the rare occasions that a [Priest] or [Priestess] committed a crime. In the entire year he¡¯d been in Falst, Crimson had only ever known them to be used once. A particular [Priest] had gotten too drunk while celebrating his wife¡¯s pregnancy, and it was used as a drunk tank until he sobered up.

    A relatively harmless use by any standard, so it was chilling to see them used for their intended purpose.

    In the hallway next to Damus¡¯ cell, there were a few chairs set up surrounding both the cell and a table next to it. On the table there were a few items. The first was a lantern shaped like a perfect sphere, it was giving off a blue light and he could feel a bit of [Mana] coming off it. Next to it stood the menorah. It was surrounded by a golden barrier with streaks of silver running through it.

    That explained why he wasn¡¯t hit by the influence while in the temple, but why were they brought here? If the goal was just to explain what they¡¯d seen, then a quick discussion in the main hall would have been the best move. Both Crimson and Verity could be seen as prime targets for the menorah¡¯s influence, so bringing them here could be seen as foolish.

    Sitting in one of the chairs was the king, so Crimson bowed to him in a formal stance with Verity before turning his attention to the cell, where Damus was chained to the wall. His head lolled off to the side, eyes vacant and staring at the menorah.

    ¡°We need every piece of information you have about this situation, boy.¡± Growled Lars from where he stood, leaning against the wall. It was probably a matter of necessity since the chairs were too small to fit him. He then stopped and frowned at Crimson, ¡°What¡¯s with your eye color?¡±

    Rather than question or argue, Crimson concisely explained the details of the last 24 hours. Starting with their excursion to [Goblin Manor], explaining the ambush by the maniac mob, briefly mentioning Molgis, mentioned his new eye color was the result of a [Skill], and finished by talking about what he knew about Damus and the menorah.

    After he fell silent, a long sigh followed from the king. He was a man with a delicate build, being of average height with a narrow waist and narrow shoulders. Crimson could see the resemblance to Rhinese in his face. More pretty than handsome, he didn¡¯t look like a reliable king, but he certainly acted like one.

    Crimson could feel the weight of authority rolling off him like a fog, enticing obedience. It wasn¡¯t a [Skill], he couldn¡¯t feel any [Mana], but it was pure authority from a man who knew he had it.

    The king spoke, saying, ¡°If I am to understand this correctly, you are a monster.¡±

    That was uncalled for.

    He continued, ¡°Putting aside the matters irrelevant to this situation - you will need to speak to your Guild Master after we are done - I will start with two specific questions. First: how long have you known about these ¡®secret passages¡¯ under Falst? We sent a few soldiers to explore and they seem to be quite extensive. Second: how did you identify where this menorah was, and further identified that it was full of [Corruption] with a mere glance?¡±

    It was unfortunate that thing were coming out this way, but Crimson was in a position where revealing everything was necessary, so he said, ¡°For your first question, I found them the day after I set foot in Falst. That was about a year ago. For your second question, I didn¡¯t recognize the [Corruption] with a glance, I interacted with it using my [Mana].¡±

    ¡°Then,¡± growled Lars, ¡°why didn¡¯t you report the tunnels under Falst the minute you found them?¡±

    ¡°I assumed that the people who needed to know about them already did. That kind of stuff will be in the city plans from its construction, so if they were going unused, I thought it was for a good reason.¡±

    It didn¡¯t help that he¡¯d already been primed by ten years of fantasy and fiction writing, so embracing secret passages as a regular thing was a part of his life was a thing he¡¯d accepted without thought.

    ¡°And yet you used them.¡± Noted the king dryly.

    ¡°Without a problem for about a year.¡± He responded, probably a bit too casually given the weight of the situation.

    Lars buried his head in his hands, and let out a long sigh. After a moment of silence, the king spoke up, ¡°Do not spread this information around, but Falst was not built by mortal hands. We have no city plans. It was given to us fromthe Gods.¡±

    Crimson tilted his head in interest and confusion, that would explain why events dating back several hundred years were murky for Falst. Alda had an old capitol called ¡®Alda Morne¡¯ that was in use before the abrupt change to Falst, about 200 years ago.

    He¡¯d once assumed that the history of its construction was intentionally obfuscated due to the secret routes that had been made.

    The fact that it was built by the gods would also explain why there was such extreme architecture. Building a castle in the air like this would be difficult and expensive, something people typically wouldn¡¯t do unless there was a necessity.

    ¡°Very well,¡± Crimson said, agreeing to keep it quiet. Verity offered a similar affirmation from next to him.

    ¡°Good. Now, for my next question,¡± the king said, ¡°how did you find the menorah?¡±

    Didn¡¯t he already ask this question?

    ¡°I sensed it using my [Mana], and traced it back to the source. Once there, I interacted with it using my [Mana] to determine what [Affinity] it was aligned to.¡±

    The king sighed, ¡°Your answer didn¡¯t make sense the first time, and it hasn¡¯t made sense the second time. If you¡¯d said you had some kind of sensing [Skill] it would make perfect sense, but¡­[Mana]? You used an [Affinity] to interact with an object full of another [Affinity] to determine what was inside? That makes no sense whatsoever.¡±

    Ahh, that¡¯s where the confusion was.

    ¡°It¡¯s an innate ability I have. I can directly sense and manipulate my [Mana]. If I had to liken it to a sense, it would be a sense of touch. I can feel my [Mana], and I can feel when other sources of [Mana] make contact with it.¡±

    Everyone in the room - sans Verity - stared at him before glancing at the blue lantern on the table. Lars and Rei had expressions that communicated, ¡®that explains a lot,¡¯ while the king just seemed troubled and surprised.

    While they were dealing with their shock, it would be for the best to consider where his limits were on information sharing.

    Talking about Raften? Not a good idea, he wouldn¡¯t say anything about the god of flippancy and weebs. That would be a great way to get in a lot of trouble.

    He was more or less fine giving away any information that reflected in his [Blessing], with the exception of [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir]. While he might get in a bit of trouble if information was leaked, it wouldn¡¯t be too extreme, and he would do everything he could to make it outdated information as soon as possible.

    He was uncertain to what extent he should talk about Rhinese. That was the most troublesome point. It would probably be best to only mention his relationship to her if he was directly asked. He¡¯d probably need to talk about and potentially show off the secret passage that led to the Astral Library, but that was a necessary loss. If the king didn¡¯t actually know about the secret passages, then having one in his own home would be untenable. Regardless of whether the passage that led to the rest of the castle was a one way door controlled by Rhinese.

    After another moment of silence, the king said, ¡°That is quite a unique ability. Is it the result of a [Skill]?¡±

    ¡°I will keep that part to myself, if you would allow it.¡± He responded, hopeful. [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] was a [Title] directly given to him by Raften. He¡¯d be on dangerous territory if he needed to speak about it at length.

    The king surveyed him for a long moment, then glanced at Lars and Rei before turning back to Crimson, ¡°I will allow it. Then let me ask you this instead, how well do you know these secret passages?¡±

    Internally, Crimson breathed a sigh of relief, then opened his mouth to answer the king¡¯s question.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    After getting information wrung out of him like a wet cloth, Crimson felt for the first time that he could sympathize with his own treatment of Raften. Maybe he¡¯d take it a little easier on the poor god.

    Maybe.

    He wasn¡¯t set free before he was forced to promise that he would guide a group of soldiers through the secret passages, and show all the main entrances. There were too many to effectively close them all off, so the easiest to access were prioritized.

    The main reason he hadn¡¯t been hauled into the passages immediately came down to the soldiers being spread too thin. Disaster relief had exhausted pretty much every guard and soldier in the city, to say nothing of Crimson himself having been up all night, and so it was decided that there would be a single day given for rest.

    Stretching and yawning, he looked up at the slices of sky visible between the pillars supporting the castle. It looked to be mid morning, so he¡¯d have time to take care of business before passing out.

    Verity was already a shambling corpse next to him. Her VIT and CON were lower, so she got tired more easily and stayed tired longer than he did. She had kept it together for the meeting, adding input where needed and being generally helpful to him, but the second they¡¯d gone up the stairs to the main floor she¡¯d started to lose energy. He would practically have to carry her to the inn.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Crimson gently grabbed her by the arm and led her toward their inn, which was just a few minutes walk away. She followed him like a sleepy child and was more than happy to collapse into her bed, fully clothed.

    Returning back to the central plaza, he surveyed the area. Most of the urgent disaster relief was finished, the injured treated, and food provided to those who¡¯d lost everything. Most of the people still milling around to offer help were dragging as much as Verity was, and were blearily trying to recruit construction teams to clear rubble.

    Crimson didn¡¯t have a builder¡¯s skill set, but he was strong enough to move things, so after a quick check to see that the shops were still closed - for very obvious reasons -, he joined a group and they headed to the slums.

    Compared to the size of Falst, the damage was pretty moderate, averaging to two houses per block that showed burn damage, and maybe one in every five of those burned houses were unsalvageable. Half the buildings in Falst were made of stone to begin with, and pretty much all of those were untouched.

    Deep in the slums, they found a group of shacks and lean-tos that had been hit pretty hard, and got to work clearing rubble. One of the instructions he¡¯d been given were to set aside the workable pieces of wood, and there weren¡¯t many.

    Charcoal dust and ash scattered from his finger tips as he moved heavily burnt pieces of wood as directed. For as tired as he was, his muscles complained just as much. His grip strength nearly failed him on a few occasions, certainly a result of the lack of sleep he was running on, but he pushed through.

    The work continued for several hours before they finished up with most of the slum. Wood that wasn¡¯t workable enough to be useful, but not burned enough to discard were handed back to the residents to use as firewood. Some of the wood was converted into charcoal well enough that it was handed back as well.

    The most structurally compromised and useless pieces of wood were loaded onto a cart and dragged outside the city to be burned. From Crimson¡¯s perspective, he was glad they handed back more than was sent to be burned. It would be easy to claim it was for a moral reason, but the reality was that it took them less work to return the workable wood to the residents. It being a morally kind option was just a bonus.

    Once freed from his volunteer work, he made his way tiredly back to the central plaza. It was late afternoon, so he was glad to see that a few shops had opened up. He was after a back up sword or two to keep on himself for emergency situations.

    The better sword shops weren¡¯t open, but there was one that sold some cheaper options, so he browsed carefully. He checked the bend, the edges, and the handles of each sword he looked at, trying to determine the more useful ones.

    Whenever he touched a sword, his [Blade Spirit] would enter it, and he tried to see how it responded to each sword he put it in. The differences were subtle, but after a dozen or so swords, he was greeted with the alert.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Skill] Level Up!

    -[Blade Spirit] 7/10 ¡ª> 10/10

    -Note: [Blade Spirit] cannot be evolved or fused.

    -[Blade Spirit] has met the requirements for advancement.

    -Advance? <Y><N>

    -y

    -[Blade Spirit] 10/10 becomes [Blade Spirit] 1/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Concern came before excitement, and Crimson checked the bonuses to make sure that his progress hadn¡¯t been reset. Just by holding a sword, he could see that Attack was getting a +5, and Durability was getting a +6. It seemed that while the name hadn¡¯t changed, his [Blade Spirit] had improved.

    Eager, hoping this would be an effective way to farm EXP for the [Skill], he began investigating every weapon in the shop that his [Blade Spirit] would enter. Unfortunately, there seemed to be some serious diminishing returns on this method, and he only got his [Blade Spirit] up to 2/10 after looking at all the weapons he could find. The reason it got that high could likely be tied to the fact that the last few swords he¡¯d looked at had both been Lv.5, while the rest had been Lv.3 and under, so maybe the quality of the sword would affect EXP gain?

    That felt like a reasonable theory, it was more surprising that he¡¯d gotten the quantity of EXP he did from lower ranked weapons.

    Of course, there was one more detail about his improved [Blade Spirit]. It was a small one, but it would likely grow stronger with time. He¡¯d been paying very close attention to how the [Blade Spirit] acted as it entered weapons, and as he did so, he took note of the ones it seemed ¡®happier¡¯ to enter. For those ones, it didn¡¯t delay entering, and it delayed leaving the sword for a fraction of a second. The lower quality ones were the other way around, with a delay on it entering the sword and leaving it the instant that he stopped touching it.

    As he embraced these observations, he felt a very weak, general sense of approval and disapproval from the [Blade Spirit], strengthening his observations. It didn¡¯t have intelligence like a human, but it seemed to have some kind of will.

    With this new sense, he went back over every single sword again, ignoring cries from the clerk to just ¡°buy one already.¡± Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t find any amazing swords hidden among the lower quality ones, but there were three that felt ever so slightly more acceptable, and they were within budget so he bought them all.

    Two of them were very plain longswords, and bore the same maker¡¯s mark. They were only Lv.3, but his [Blade Spirit] would help make up for their lower stats. The last one was a rapier, and it was Lv.4. Of all the swords he¡¯d worked with, the rapier was among his least favorite, but he could appreciate the elegant fighting style they encouraged. His own reluctance ended up serving as the deciding factor to getting it, as his goal was to be good with ALL swords, not just the ones he liked.

    That meant that training with the rapier would take higher priority than other styles of swords to get rid of that particular weakness.

    After a fierce haggling session where neither Crimson nor the clerk lost their smiles, he managed to get all three for less than 1000 Royals. It was a significant investment, but he¡¯d also gotten a very good bargain¡­or at least he thought he did. The clerk¡¯s glee clued him into the fact that he might be paying more than they were worth, but without his [Eyes of Will], it was impossible for him to be sure.

    800 Royals lighter, Crimson left the shop, shoving the two longswords into his [Sword Armory], getting a level off of that, and shoved his [Reliable Saber] in after them. He equipped the rapier and stretched. His muscles had been very tense during his inspections, so the relief felt amazing.

    It was late evening, and he¡¯d gone in the shop during late afternoon. No wonder the clerk was happy to get him out of there - he¡¯d been browsing for somewhere between three and four hours.

    Sighing, Crimson realized that his last order of business might not be fulfilled, but he wasn¡¯t going to give up without at least trying, and headed for the guild.

    Stepping through the doors, he was nearly knocked off his feet by the press of bodies spilling out from the bar of the guild. There were cries for more alcohol from every corner of the room, and he could see the two receptionists on duty nursing headaches.

    Grimacing, he shoved his way through the press, and popped out on the other side, the force sending him slamming into the reception desk. He managed to protect himself a bit, but there would likely be bruising, so he cast a healing spell while looking at Sherry, the most familiar face among the present receptionists.

    She took a pull on her pipe, looking at him in bemusement, and he asked, ¡°Do you happen to know where Fade is?¡±

    He had to shout to be heard.

    An amused expression appeared on Sherry¡¯s face, and she pointed with the end of her pipe into the middle of the overcrowded bar. He wasn¡¯t tall enough to see over the crowd, and hopped up to sit on the desk. It gave him the extra bit of height he needed to see Fade, Verity, and Mortimer engaging in a drinking contest. Well, he assumed Mortimer was participating. He¡¯d already passed out. Completely red in the face, Verity clashed mugs with Fade and they downed another round while the crowd cheered.

    Crimson grimaced at the realization that Verity would be horrible to deal with tomorrow. He didn¡¯t know any spells to cure hangovers, and wasn¡¯t aware of any existing. It might need to be something he invented. Later though, he had a miserable journey to make.

    He hopped off the counter and nodded at Sherry before turning to shove himself back in the crowd. It was a horrible journey, all of his senses were assaulted. The rancid smell of body odor mixed with alcohol made him nauseous, and the loud noise induced a headache that worsened to the point of making him even more nauseous. He was running into people constantly, and the swirling press of bodies were a bit disorienting. It was also extremely hot, which was just insult to injury.

    Eventually though, he managed to reach his [Healer] and her drinking buddies.

    He gently rapped on Verity¡¯s skull with a knuckle, causing her to sputter, spilling drink down her front - some of it came out her nose.

    She turned, furious, eyes watering, and came up short when she made eye contact with Crimson. He was giving her a very pointed gaze, and for as socially dense as he was, even he could see the guilt cross her face.

    He thought she¡¯d given up drinking for a while, but it seemed that old habits were hard to break. If she would binge drink like this as a result of her abstinence, moderate drinking would be better. He¡¯d leave her to make that decision though. So long as her actions didn¡¯t harm him or any of their future party members, he was willing to step back and not say anything.

    Not today though, they had commitments tomorrow, and she was taking herself out of commission.

    She shot him a last hopeful look, which he met with apathy, so she turned and finished the last few sips of her mug. Once finished she tried to stand, but Crimson had to brace her as she stumbled. This was easily the most drunk he¡¯d ever seen her.

    Members of the crowd near them booed Crimson as he started to lead her away, but some of them chose to make room for him instead, allowing him through. After just a few steps, he turned back and glanced at Fade, who was looking at him of the edge of the mug he was drinking from. He made a gesture, inviting Fade to follow them, which he considered for a moment before saluting with the mug in acceptance and following. His steps weren¡¯t unsteady like Verity¡¯s.

    The crowd let him through, and he was grateful for it. He had no idea how he¡¯d force his way through while also hauling Verity. It was hard enough on his own. The vacated table became a battle ground as people rushed to fill the empty seats, which cleared ever so slightly more space for them to move.

    Once they broke out, Crimson happily took a deep breath of the cool evening air, grateful to be out of the crowd.

    Fade leaned up against the wall by the door, and said, ¡°This about your offer?¡±

    Crimson nodded, grateful he picked up on it so quickly.

    The taller man gauged him with heavy eyes, then said, ¡°I am¡­considering it, but you need to know a few things about me before I take this step.¡±

    He leaned Verity up against the wall, then sat down next to Fade, who slid down next to him. Verity was still coherent, enough so to be considered an active part of the conversation, but he wasn¡¯t expecting much of her.

    After a moment, Fade said, ¡°First of all, I am half-Uluu, half-human. A Chimera, and a bastard Chimera at that. We¡¯ll save my sob story for later, but it should be easy for you to understand that I¡¯ve spent my entire life being mistreated. I¡­hated everything, for most of my life. My entire world was a prison that hated and mocked me at every turn, but I still have a dream. I want to love this world, and who loves the world most? The one who saves it. I want to be a hero.¡±

    Fade turned to Crimson, meeting eyes with him, and continued, ¡°If you can swear to me that you¡¯ll help me with my silly, childish dream, then I¡¯ll pledge my axe to your cause.¡±

    While Crimson didn¡¯t have [Eyes of Will] anymore, even he could see the dead seriousness in Fade¡¯s eyes as he mentioned his dream. Though he called it childish and silly, he clearly didn¡¯t feel like that was true.

    Crimson couldn¡¯t fault Fade¡¯s dreams. He at least had one, which counted for a lot. Even if pressed, Crimson couldn¡¯t come up with a dream any more powerful than wanting to become stronger. It was admirable to see this kind of raw belief right before his eyes, so he nodded at Fade.

    ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t see why there¡¯d be a problem with that. I¡¯m the one who scouted you out and asked you to throw away years of work, I¡¯m willing to make more concessions if you want me to, but my requirement is that you never give up. We will reach Lv.100, and we need to be very powerful when we do so, no false ranking. I can¡¯t lose reliable comrades to sloth or indifference, if you do take my offer, you need to be committed.¡±

    Crimson was showing a bit more bravado than he felt. If Fade turned out to be a disappointment, he¡¯d readily abandon him for another. The same was also true for Verity, but he knew her, and knew that he would never be forced to do that. She¡¯d demonstrated that much to him when he¡¯d tried to turn down her request to join him.

    Fade looked at him quietly, nodded a few times, and said, ¡°Very well then, I¡¯ll accept your offer. My axe is yours. You help me become a hero, I¡¯ll help you reach Lv.100.¡±

    Verity leaned past Crimson, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget your determination. Working with Crimson can destroy you if you aren¡¯t careful. I¡¯ve seen it a couple times, he has very high standards. That said,¡± she grinned, ¡°welcome to the team!¡±

    Crimson nodded and murmured, ¡°Welcome.¡±

    Fade looked at them, a whirl of emotions crossed his face and he bowed his head for a moment before looking up once more and saying, ¡°Thanks, it¡¯ll be good to work with you.¡±

 Chapter 53: Fade

    Chapter 53: Fade

    Fade stared up at the underside of the great castle high above him, then glanced at the boy next to him. He wasn¡¯t sure what to make of Crimson. He seemed very popular in Falst, something Fade had never experienced. He had at least one reliable comrade, Fade had always been alone.

    He was a bit jealous of the man, who seemed younger than him.

    Of course, for Fade, even jealousy was rage. Since getting his [Blessing] the gods had cursed him beyond what he was forced to live through each day. They broke open his brain and forced his very being to drink in the endless rage. It seeped from his brain, down his spine, and through his chest.

    He spent the first 6 months of his time after getting his [Blessing] in prison. Every time he¡¯d gotten out, he¡¯d immediately picked another fight. His level had been low at the time, so he wasn¡¯t a threat even if he had flown into violent rampages, but whether it was bar brawls or fights in alleys, he still managed to find his way back into prison.

    In a way, he¡¯d started to consider that time a blessing. He¡¯d been able to learn to control himself to an extent. It wasn¡¯t perfect, he had to vent the rage frequently or it would continue to build up until it overflowed, but he could live in society. As he refined his rage, not even minor slights would be enough to cause him to lose control. It actually became a driving force at one point. His desperate need to vent his rage had caused him to spend a lot of time in dungeons, and his level had grown quickly.

    He had grabbed himself a Mid-Grade [Tenacious Guardian Class], and had been proud that it was something better than Low-Grade. In his home town, hardly anyone had a Mid-Grade or High-Grade [Class], so it had been an empty and worthless pride.

    One that was swallowed by rage, of course.

    At 17 years old, Fade had probably broken records for fastest person to reach Lv.25 from Lv.1. There had been some others to reach Lv.25 in a year, but six months was practically unheard of.

    He was going to throw that all away for someone he was jealous of, and hated against his own will. He¡¯d agreed more or less agreed impulsively, and had hidden his curse from his new party members by disguising it beneath another fatal flaw.

    But¡­

    Fade reminisced about the fight he¡¯d had with Crimson during the open category. He¡¯d barely managed to keep his rage in check, almost losing it a couple times, but at the same time¡­to fight an opponent that slippery and [Skilled] was awe inspiring. Part of him was willing to join the party just to keep access to a sparring partner like that.

    That was all before mentioning Crimson¡¯s promise to help him get a better [Class]. As far as Fade was concerned, Crimson¡¯s existence was proof that it was possible. A Lv.1 kid against men and women more than 10 Levels above him shouldn¡¯t stand a chance in any universe - even with the forcibly equalized stats, but he had won regardless.

    Well, in the end he wouldn¡¯t regret this decision. It was a hard one, but as he watched Crimson supporting his drinking buddy of the evening Verity, he decided to move quickly.

    There were a few [Rituals] for resetting the [Blessing]. The most commonly used one was one that got rid of a single [Sub-Class]. The least commonly used one was a total [Blessing] reset. There were a few [Rituals] between those two extremes. Some targeted specific [Skills], others targeted other aspects of the [Blessing]. There was even one that would only get rid of [Classes] and leave everything else intact.

    As he walked to the Temple to get the recipe, Fade mused on which [Ritual] he would ask to use. Frankly, there wasn¡¯t much difference for him, whether it was a full reset or just the [Classes], he only had a [Skill] or two that hadn¡¯t come from his [Classes]. They would be easy enough for him to re-earn, and maybe he could get better ones.

    It was late at night, and though the Temple proper was closed to the public, there were some [Priests] milling about the plaza to help anyone who needed it, so he approached one and asked, ¡°Could I conduct the [Ritual] to reset my [Blessing]?¡±

    The [Priest], actually a young Priestess, looked at him with interest, and said, ¡°You¡¯re Fade, one of the winners of the tournament, right? Why would you reset your [Blessing]? You just got some rewards from the God of War, so why would you want to throw it all away?¡±

    Fade grinned and she blushed, ¡°I got an invitation to join a party, and I want to be at their level!¡±

    Still red in the face, she asked, ¡°Oh, really? Whose party?¡±

    ¡°Crimson and Verity.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± The slightly enraptured look disappeared from her face, changing to one of excitement.

    ¡°He¡¯s so strange, isn¡¯t he? So powerful, but he spends a lot of time cleaning and taking delivery requests. There were a lot of us in the Temple hoping he would invite us, but even the ones who got directly asked were turned down. If he asked you to join, then you must be very powerful too!¡±

    Fade shook his head, forcing a chuckle and a smile through the rage that wanted to twist his face into a scowl or a sneer, and said, ¡°Well, I might be now, but I¡¯m about to throw it all away. He¡¯s promised me that he would help me become even stronger if you can believe it.¡±

    She nodded, ¡°Of course I can! More of us have been getting better [Classes] because of his advice. I can¡¯t even think of a new [Priest] in the past year who took advice from him and got anything less than a Mid-Grade [Class].¡± Her chest puffed up with pride, and she continued, ¡°I got his help too, you know. I was assigned to cleaning duty with him a lot, so I got to chat with him about it. Because of him, I got a High-Grade [Class]!¡±

    Fade listened with interest, fascinated that this random Priestess would speak so highly of Crimson. She asked him to wait a moment, then raced to the Temple to complete his request.

    The [Ritual] could be conducted alone, but for religious reasons it would be better to perform it in the presence of a [Priest]. Fade debated with himself for a moment before deciding that he was willing to do that. He was far from faithful, hardly ever praying or even respecting the gods, and why should he? They had cursed him. His hometown in general wasn¡¯t very religious either, so he had very little exposure to the gods or their worship. After the recent experience of hearing a god, The God of War, speak through Crimson, he figured that it might be a good idea to try a little harder.

    Hopefully they would be willing to overlook the lifetime he¡¯d spent cursing at them.

    While he waited, another [Priest] approached him, and he struck up another conversation, and brought up Crimson once more to see how the man would react. The man had good things to say as well, but there was something odd about the compliments. Frowning, Fade ended up visiting with several more of the [Priests] milling about, asking about Crimson each time.

    To wit, each man and woman would have something to say about Crimson that was very flattering, but in the same breath that they spoke their comments they also insulted him. Words like ¡®strange,¡¯ ¡®freak,¡¯ ¡®odd,¡¯ and ¡®monster¡¯ were accompanied with complimentary words like, ¡®hard-working,¡¯ ¡®brilliant,¡¯ ¡®kind,¡¯ and ¡®spiritually powerful.¡¯

    Fade didn¡¯t get too long to dwell on this incongruous set of interactions before the Priestess returned, a small bag in hand. He met up with her and accepted the bag. Inside there was two [Ritual] materials: a [Holy Shard] and a [Death Shard].

    He dumped them out onto his palm and inspected them in the dim light. The materials were very cheap, the cost for the two of them would barely be enough to cover a couple drinks of cheap alcohol, but something this small and insignificant represented two doors to Fade. The first led to his destruction, the second led to his dreams.

    Under the watchful eyes of the Priestess and a few other [Priests] who had joined to form a circle around him and provide a modicum of privacy, he conducted the [Ritual], and for some strange reason, he felt lighter. Like a load had been taken off his shoulders. The feeling only lasted for a moment before he got hit with a wave of pain and nausea from his stats abruptly dropping down to where they¡¯d started. He staggered, and one of the bigger [Priests] stepped forward to brace him, helping him barely keep his feet.

    The [Priest] asked Fade where his Inn was, but his Inn had burned and was no longer open, though he¡¯d saved all of his possessions safely. He hadn¡¯t yet worked out where to stay, so he sheepishly said that he had just joined a new party, and didn¡¯t know where they were staying. After they sorted exactly whose party he joined, the bigger [Priest] whisked him off, taking him to the Inn where Crimson was staying.

    After a moment of discussion, Fade crashed on the floor of Crimson¡¯s room with his permission, borrowed blankets cradling his agonized form, and he slept deeply. More deeply than he ever had in his life.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    The next week was a blur for Fade. He spent a couple days coming in and out of a fitful sleep before his body had finally recovered enough for him to move about stiffly.

    In that time, he¡¯d had a strange dream of a bodiless God in a dark void, had gotten a new [Title: Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir], and barely got to see Crimson at all. The first time he¡¯d seen Crimson after that first night, the too thin kid had practically skipped into the room while whistling. Fade hadn¡¯t been coherent enough to ask until later, but apparently he¡¯d been paid a lot of money for a request from the Guild.

    ¡°A stupid amount of Royals.¡± As Crimson had put it for him.

    When asked what a ¡®stupid amount¡¯ was, the answer he got was somewhere in the ballpark of 50k Royals. It was more money than Fade had ever seen in his life, though only by a little bit.

    Aside from Crimson, there were two other people he got to see regularly. The first was Verity, who he expected to see, and the second was a wolfkin girl who he was introduced to after a couple days. Her name was Rhea, and Fade was fascinated by her.

    He had an appearance that was appealing to most women, and he could even get good deals when buying stuff if the clerk was a woman. He didn¡¯t think much of Verity¡¯s lack of interest. Something about her made it seem natural that she wouldn¡¯t be attracted to him, but Rhea was odd. She had stiffened up at the sight of him, something he¡¯d seen plenty of times before, but instead of then greeting him with a lovestruck look, she had growled at him.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    He had no idea what to make of her.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson had spent the last week leading an expedition team through the secret passages under Falst. They were exploring a few hours at a time each day, their slow progress the result of extremely detailed mapping offered by the team. Even with the maps, they still needed him as a guide to get through the passages. Many overlapped each other, going over or under each other, so even with an accurate map it was extremely difficult to read. It was much faster and more convenient for them to defer to him to lead the way.

    For the most part, it was quiet, with him guiding the team through different tunnels, first leading them straight to the Astral Library, then following their whims this way and that as they explored in a seemingly random pattern. After two days of wandering, they¡¯d asked him to lead them to any landmarks he could think of. They¡¯d seemed defeated when they asked him to do that, and the only explanation he received as to why was that the passages were ¡°more complex than expected.¡±

    It was a good thing they asked, as he¡¯d been warned not to use them unsupervised anymore, but there was a place he wanted to inspect.

    There were hundreds of minor entrances into the secret passages, but of all those minor entrances, there were only five ¡®major¡¯ entrances. The first led to the fountain at the center of Falst, the second let to the Guild, the third led to the Graveyard, the fourth led to the main passage that went in a large loop around the entire city, and the fifth and final one led to the Astral Library. He¡¯d led them there first as it represented a security risk to the castle, and he figured he¡¯d get in trouble if he held off on showing it off.

    Now, those were the entrances, where did they all lead? To a door, a little taller than him, and very wide. That door was the most likely suspect in Crimson¡¯s mind of the origin of the menorah that caused the riots in Falst. He wasn¡¯t worried about what was behind the door, he was accompanied by the Uluu Richard, who was Lv.83, so almost any danger would be blown away by him instantly.

    Now, assuming that the door was the source of the menorah, then that small metal piece that Damus had stolen while he was in Lupaken was the key to that door he¡¯d been wondering about. He¡¯d been informed that it had a cylindrical center, which was probably the key that was meant to be used to get through the passages normally. Crimson¡¯s method of bypassing the [Mana Locks] using his [Mana Pincushion] technique was a surprisingly effective substitute, but not enough to get through the main door he¡¯d been wondering about for a year.

    Once they arrived, Crimson¡¯s suspicions were validated. The once empty lock in the center of the door was filled with bits of silvery metal, matching the description he¡¯d been given of the stolen item.

    The ground was scraped from where the door had opened outwards, but that was the only other sign that it had been opened. Even when Richard pulled on it, it remained sealed shut. Whatever Damus had done in there, the room had sealed itself off afterwards.

    The rest of the exploration was pretty typical, but part of him couldn¡¯t stop lamenting the loss of the Astral Library. It was a location in the castle, and while he didn¡¯t need to bring up how much time he¡¯d spent up there, he was certain he wouldn¡¯t be allowed back in the future. Not without very special permission at least.

    Aside from the exploration, he was very happy with the payout he¡¯d gotten. The Guild Master, Lars, had called him in, changed his rank to Bronze from Brass, and provided two separate rewards and a request. The first was for reporting the first kill of Mulgis, Imp Overlord, and that was worth 15k Royals. It wasn¡¯t a common event in the Falst branch, but it was Guild Rules to pay a lot for a detailed explanation of a first boss kill in a Godmade dungeon. The second was a payout for finding Damus which allowed the madness to end. That one was worth 35k.

    It was a stupid amount of money, but he was then further promised another 20k for showing all of the secret passages. It would probably take a full month, but he couldn¡¯t earn 20k in a month with his old methods, so it would be time well spent.

    He even got weekends off.

    Unfortunately, Crimson ran into a very emotionally difficult problem. He¡¯d just gotten a windfall of 50k Royals. Selling the drops they¡¯d gotten from their first dungeon trip - and splitting it evenly with Verity - got him 63 Royals. Added to his preexisting savings, he had about 60k Royals to his name. He really wanted to burn through it all buying new gear, and most especially high quality weapons. However, he gritted his teeth and held himself back.

    He could buy weapons and armor right now, but with his [Blade Spirit] elevating any sword he held, he could wait a bit more, and buy a higher leveled sword. It was difficult to be patient, but he could only grin and bear it.

    It was actually fascinating for him to note that his love of swords outweighed his hatred of spending money. In his right mind, even thinking of dropping a couple hundred Royals put him in a foul mood, and here he was thinking of spending 50k. The phrase ¡°easy come, easy go¡± was starting to make a lot more sense to him after this emotional battle.

    There was one thing during this week that excited him even more than that windfall though, and it was a small thing, but both Fade and Rhea had reported to him that they had a weird dream and a new [Title] after they¡¯d woken up. Raften had accepted both of them as his party members.

    Crimson could only be thrilled.

    At the end of the first week, on this world¡¯s equivalent of Friday, Crimson sat down with everyone in his party for the first time. Verity to his right, Rhea to his left, and Fade across from him as they sat on the floor in his room.

    He first looked at Fade and asked, ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°Better, I¡¯ll be back in full fighting shape in a few days.¡± Fade responded comfortably.

    He turned to Rhea, ¡°When is your birthday again?¡±

    ¡°Next week.¡± She responded with a big grin.

    He grinned back. It would work out well that both Fade and Rhea were working toward their [Class] at the same time. It would give them the opportunity to compete and encourage each other like he and Verity had. He wanted one more party member, but unless he had a reason to recruit another, they wouldn¡¯t get the same opportunity to compete with someone on their level.

    ¡°Okay, I expect you both to get training as soon as possible after you¡¯ve recovered. Our goals aren¡¯t as pedestrian as a mere High-Grade [Class], I want to help you both achieve a Hidden-Grade [Class]. We need to determine what kind of [Class] you want so we can set goals to help you get a [Class] of that kind of Grade. Rhea, you still thinking about what you want to do?¡±

    She nodded, seeming a bit frustrated.

    ¡°Okay, keep thinking about it. I want one more party member, so choose whatever you want to do, and I¡¯ll recruit someone for that last spot to fill a need. Though it¡¯ll probably need to be some kind of ranged or magic-using [Class].¡±

    Verity chimed in, ¡°What about Mortimer then? He¡¯s got a magic [Class], and it¡¯s both powerful and unique.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what Grade it is?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s High-Grade.¡±

    ¡°Do you think he¡¯d be willing to discard it to try for a better Grade?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I can ask though.¡±

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    She nodded, then leaned back, seeming pleased.

    That could be a problem solved provided that all goes well. There was just one last order of business for this mini meeting. He reached into his [Inventory] and pulled out the [Skill Stones] that neither he nor Verity had touched. [Cut] and [Fling].

    Showing them, he asked, ¡°Do either of you two want these [Skills]? Verity and I don¡¯t have a use for them.¡±

    Rhea immediately held out her hand, ¡°I¡¯ll take them if you¡¯re offering.¡±

    ¡°[Cut] is only useful for claw-type weapons, and [Fling] seems to be used for slings.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll use a claw weapon. I¡¯ll try one out at the Guild tomorrow and see if I like it or not.¡±

    Crimson shrugged, then handed her both of the [Skill Stones]. He did glance at Fade to see if there were any objections, but like both Crimson and Verity, he didn¡¯t care about the [Skills] despite displaying some initial excitement at the sight of the [Skill Stones].

    Rhea tucked them away, and Crimson turned to Fade, ¡°So, are you after another [Guardian Class]?¡±

    He nodded, ¡°Yeah, I think it¡¯ll help me most as I try to become a hero.¡±

    Rhea sniggered at that, and his expression immediately turned hateful before he forced it back to neutral under Crimson¡¯s watchful gaze. He seemed to be a lot more on edge than he had a few days ago. A little less in control.

    Crimson¡¯s eyes narrowed. He¡¯d need to keep a close eye on that. Fade had demonstrated that he could control it, and more importantly Crimson could see how much he wanted to control it and how hard he worked to do so. It was the main reason he was still willing to give Fade a chance, despite the potential danger.

    ¡°You can laugh,¡± Fade said darkly, but with a composed expression, ¡°but heroes are the best. They will always stand up for the weak, and no matter how many times they¡¯re knocked down, they get back up again until they win.¡±

    Crimson nodded, ¡°Ergo the [Guardian Class], a VIT based defensive [Class] focused on regaining lost health as opposed to not losing it to begin with.¡±

    Fade nodded, ¡°I considered [Defender] for a while too, but the issue I saw with people who had it was that they became useless quickly as the damage added up. They became too reliant on [Healers], and quickly got beaten down once they lost that [Healer].¡±

    ¡°You could train it to the extreme,¡± Crimson noted, ¡°Get it to the point where you don¡¯t ever take damage from anything.¡±

    Fade snorted at that, then said, ¡°Sure, but there¡¯s levels between 1 and 100. I need something that can carry me there.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Crimson murmured, inspecting Fade.

    After a moment, he said, ¡°Give me a few days to do research, and get me a list of as many [Skills] as you can remember from the [Class Skills] that you got to choose from. I¡¯ll create a list of goals for you that will guarantee that you get a Hidden-Grade [Class] by the end of it. I also highly suggest you keep a close eye on you [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] and let me know as it develops.¡±

    Speaking of which, he opened his [Blessing], ignoring a couple alerts, and inspected his [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir]: [Fortune], [Tolerance], [Mana Sensitivity], [Language], [Influence]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [Tolerance] would explain his pain tolerance. [Mana Sensitivity] spoke for itself, and [Language] is probably the reason why he could learn new languages so quickly. Raften had told him that these [Blessings] would take an inherent talent that he possessed, and enhance it to a supernatural extent. So, by that logic, maybe [Fortune] would explain why his luck with enemy drops was so good? His LUC was impossibly high to begin with, but it didn¡¯t fully explain how much he saw for rewards.

    Verity had told him that she expected a single common drop for every two enemies she killed, but he hadn¡¯t yet killed an enemy without it dropping something for him. This could explain it.

    He still had no explanation for [Influence]. He hadn¡¯t notice its affect in any way, but he¡¯d keep looking.

    Verity chimed in, ¡°How many did Raften say would we get?¡±

    ¡°Five.¡±

    She nodded, then said, ¡°I see three right now. [Keen] which apparently boosts my PER stat, [Vigor], which allows me to recover from Ailments more quickly, and [Aura], which boosts my [Aura Viewing Skill].¡±

    Crimson nodded, and Fade chimed in, ¡°I see one. It¡¯s called [Entice], and it boosts my CHA stat.¡±

    Well, there had been a very firm pattern established. The first [Blessing] was related to a stat, which meant that [Fortune] was ¡®blessing¡¯ his LUC stat. With that in mind, he asked, ¡°Did you see a jump in your stats when that [Blessing] settled in?¡±

    Verity and Fade shook their heads. That meant that his LUC stat was likely naturally that high, so it had another affect that he couldn¡¯t yet see. Again, his best guess was the enemy drops, but it might have other effects.

    All of the stat ones seemed useful. Since Fade was a Tank, CHA was a required stat for him, so anything that boosted it would be phenomenal. Verity having boosted PER could be very useful too, but he would have to ask her what that meant.

    They all turned in for the night after chatting for a bit longer to finalize plans and get to know each other better.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    First thing the next morning, Crimson went to the Temple with Verity. It was finally open for normal operations, and he was grateful because he had to make a request that had likely never been made before. The [Priest] he asked immediately escalated his request to Rei, who entered the conversation swinging.

    ¡°You what a WHAT?¡±

    ¡°A [Ritual] to prevent EXP Gain. I want to be able to fight monsters without Leveling Up.¡±

    ¡°Just¡­why?¡±

    ¡°So I can challenge myself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re seriously a monster, you know that?¡±

    ¡°If you keep saying it, I might actually turn into one, you know.¡±

    Rei sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll go ask the gods, hopefully they won¡¯t endorse this insanity.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long. Five minutes later, Rei returned with two small bags. She handed one to Crimson, and looked at Verity, seeming to hope that Verity wouldn¡¯t request one, but ended up reluctantly placing it into her awaiting palm.

    Crimson peeked inside, and spotted a [Purity Shard] and a [Purity Stone]. The [Shard] wouldn¡¯t be worth much, but the stone was, so he looked up and asked, ¡°How much do I owe you?¡±

    Rei sighed, ¡°25 Royals each, and this is as much as I can discount it for you. I should be charging 100 Royals, but favoritism wins again. The [Shards] are free of course, a service from us, but [Purity Stones] are not common around here. I do need to get some compensation for them. This [Ritual] should give you a shackle you can put on your [Class], and you can remove it at will. Please remove it as soon as possible.¡±

    Crimson nodded and paid up. They had a dungeon to hit up.

 Chapter 54: Fighting A Losing Battle

    Chapter 54: Fighting A Losing Battle

    After conducting the [Ritual] for No EXP, the color of his [Class] changed, becoming blue. When he tapped on it, it turned red and would no longer receive EXP. It was a bit unusual for it to not be a [Skill] or a [Title], but he lacked any explanation as to why it would be different this time.

    Of course, he left it on red. The point of today¡¯s excursion was to spend time in the dungeon to develop his [Skills], not grind levels.

    He glanced at Verity, then at the group of people moving in and out of the [Goblin Manor] dungeon. After a second of thought, he pulled Verity aside where they could get some privacy, and asked, ¡°So, did you make any progress this week?¡±

    She gave him an exhausted look, but shrugged, ¡°Kinda. I spent a long time earning and improving [Skills] this week. I volunteered at the Guild to heal people between sparring matches, and that helped a lot.¡±

    ¡°Which [Skills] did you learn?¡±

    ¡°I managed to convert my [Healing] to a [Skill], and the gods have given me a [Quest] for a few others, but I¡¯m still working on the other problem you asked me about¡­¡±

    Crimson nodded, ¡°That¡¯s decent progress for a week. What level is [Heal]?¡±

    ¡°4.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s decent, let¡¯s see if we can get it up to 6 today.¡±

    ¡°You planning on getting hurt a lot?¡±

    ¡°I expect it to mostly be natural progress, but if needed, yeah. Much better to get hurt in a controlled circumstance than somewhere like a [Natural Dungeon].¡±

    Verity inspected him intently for a moment, then shook her head, ¡°I¡¯ll work hard so it doesn¡¯t come to that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it.¡±

    She flashed him a quick grin, then said, ¡°It seems like you have something else to say?¡±

    ¡°¡­am I seriously that easy to read?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen books harder to read than you.¡± She said, her grin turning mischievous.

    Crimson sighed, then said, ¡°I wanted to run today¡¯s schedule by you. While you seem fine to defer to my decisions in most cases, you are a member of the party, and you need a say. So, I wanted to ask if we should focus on grinding out [Skill Stones] for [Weak Presence] and [Darkvision], or if you think we should try hunting down the other boss.¡±

    Verity steepled her fingers, then said, ¡°Which are you inclined to?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m mostly fine either way, both will be forms of progress. I¡¯d love to get used to fighting Mulgis, but there¡¯s also something appealing about seeing how I can do against the other boss.¡±

    ¡°¡­I think it might be a good idea to take on the other boss, but we should be prepared to fail.¡± She eventually said. ¡°It¡¯s more a miracle than anything else that we managed to beat Mulgis under those circumstances, I fully expect the other boss to be nearly impossible for you right now.¡±

    ¡°So, to translate, you think I need to be humbled.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put it that way, but you need to learn more caution.¡±

    Crimson tapped the rapier on his waist. If Verity was going as far as to say it, she probably had asked around at the Guild about the main boss of [Goblin Manor]. If she knew what he did, then she also knew that this boss was essentially a hard-counter to Crimson. Of course, he wasn¡¯t the type to back down to those kinds of threats, but she must genuinely believe they would die if they faced the boss.

    It was a very unusual mentality for someone of this world, to be willing to take on a fight where loss was a given. The penalties for dying in a [Godmade Dungeon] were steep. All progress made during that dungeon visit would be lost, that meant that if a new [Skill] was learned or levels were gained, death would wipe those things out. That was just the first punishment. The second was the forfeiture of EXP for the next week. It was possible to get out of the time limit sooner, but a ¡®donation¡¯ of EXP would need to be made. The amount varied depending on how much progress was lost from the death, but the minimum was at least a level of experience.

    Most people in Falst who ran into this issue would rather wait out the time limit than perform the ¡®donation,'' but Crimson wasn¡¯t exactly known for his ability to hold still, he¡¯d rather just make the ¡®donation¡¯ so he could get back to things as soon as possible. Not that it mattered anyway, it didn¡¯t prevent [Skills] from improving. The message from the gods was clear, at least to him: ¡°improve your [Skills] to avoid this in the future.¡±

    The last punishment was the most extreme to him. If losing progress could only be expected, and the loss of EXP was an inconvenience at best, then what could the last one be?

    Equipment degradation. Equipped weapons and armor would lose 25% of their remaining durability. This was effectively the same as them losing about 12% of their max durability in the worst case scenario, when someone with a low level [Repair Skill] looked after the weapon. Even in the best case scenario, it was likely for the max durability to decrease at least a little.

    Apparently some ¡®crazy guy¡¯ who Crimson considered a kindred spirit had tested whether un-equipping the gear would prevent this, but the gods had instead punished him by removing 30% of the durability. The only method that had been found to work was if that gear was passed to another party member for them to run out of the dungeon.

    Crimson could only salute the sacrifice of the man who tested all this by letting himself intentionally die in the dungeon. It was also highly likely there were other loopholes, but he hadn¡¯t caught wind of any of them.

    He stared at Verity for a moment after breaking out of his thoughts, then said, ¡°Let¡¯s take on the boss first, while avoiding as many fights as possible on the way there. I¡¯d rather not lose anything good. One good attempt to fight it, then we¡¯ll go into the chasms to farm for [Skill Stones].¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a good plan.¡±

    They made their way back into the dungeon. Crimson, having learned at least a bit more caution, disabled the goblins who attacked them on their way to the Manor. He¡¯d either use a kick to break their legs or use his rapier to sever important tendons. It might¡¯ve been seen as cruel, but for other parties it was a blessing. All of the goblins Crimson crippled were finished off in less than a minute after they moved on. A certain party had begun trailing after the both of them for the free easy prey.

    Most of the goblins in this area weren¡¯t worth much, being Lv.1, so Crimson wasn¡¯t worried about what profits he might be passing up. Rather, he didn¡¯t want to run the risk of finding another [Skill Stone] as it would force him to leave because he wouldn¡¯t want to give it up.

    He could easily see himself getting caught in a loop of progress and setbacks.

    They were ambushed the second they entered the mansion once more, but unlike the first time, Crimson was both ready and stronger. He used [Adaptive Footwork] to weave between the stones being flung at him, knocking some of the more problematic ones away with [Parry].

    Two quick flashes from his rapier left the first two goblins crumbling to the ground clutching slit throats, [Rapid Bleeding] swiftly draining them of their remaining life.

    He wove through another wave of stones, then broke out in a sprint up the stairs, but this goblin managed to dive out of the way of his blow, and only received a cut on the back from him.

    He ducked down, dodging a pair of stones that smacked into each other, right where his head had been, then used the low stance to perform a powerful thrust, skewering the goblin hard enough to hear the thunk of his blade hitting the wood wall behind it.

    With a twist and a wrench of his blade, he effectively bisected the goblin in his exertion to get his rapier free. It flexed quite far as it did so, but returned to straight and true after vibrating for a second.

    He dove off to the side, trying to get away from another set of stones, but one of them crashed into his calf, deeply bruising it, but not breaking anything.

    Tucking into a roll at the end of his dive, he let out a short hiss of pain before shaking it off and racing around the upper balcony to kill the last three goblins. After making short work of them, getting hit once in the arm in the process, he made his way down to Verity to be healed.

    She was leaning up against the wall by the door, looking quite proud of him. It wasn¡¯t a perfect encounter, but it was much better than last time. He hadn¡¯t been forced to resort to magic, and Verity hadn¡¯t needed to act as a decoy. It was impossible for him to suppress the exuberant grin on his face.

    Verity¡¯s [Healing] as a [Skill] immediately showed her marked improvement, taking her only a few seconds to recover the 15% of his HP that he¡¯d lost. Her newfound swiftness confirmed to him that he¡¯d rushed into the dungeon too early. While he¡¯d been ready, Verity hadn¡¯t had the [Skills] to back up her efforts yet.

    After she finished, Crimson looked up at the ceiling, and said, ¡°I can¡¯t even bear to look at the drops. Should we leave them behind?¡±

    She shook her head, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a good idea. Better to take them with us so we have the option later.¡±

    ¡°Even if we¡¯ll lose them anyway?¡±

    ¡°Even if we¡¯ll lose them anyway.¡±

    It was extremely painful for Crimson as they collected the drops. The common drops, worth less than 3 Royals each, weren¡¯t even worth the weight or space they took up to carry them, but Verity scooped them up anyway. The best margins came from the uncommon drops, of which they found three. As for the part he found painful, they found two [Skill Stones]. Both [Fling], sure, but even so, they were [Skill Stones].

    Verity put those in her [Inventory] since he couldn¡¯t bear to look at them.

    They explored further into the manor after Verity cast [Enhanced Recovery] on them both. It was huge by human standards, but smaller than a video game dungeon. That was actually a problem as the difficulty ramped quickly. If the goblins they¡¯d fought in the entrance hall had been Lv.3, then the ones in the next set of rooms were Lv.5. The enemies after those were Lv.9, and the ones after those were Lv.14.

    Crimson still didn¡¯t have a good instinct for estimating levels, so those were Verity¡¯s estimations, but he was willing to agree. The Lv.5 goblins had gone from rudimentary weapons made from farm equipment used by the Lv.3 goblins, to real weapons, but of a low quality.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    The Lv.9 ones were not only armed, but armored, and gave Crimson some trouble as he had to be very precise with his thrusts. It would¡¯ve been good practice if he weren¡¯t so worried about his rapier¡¯s durability.

    It was fortunate that the size of the groups they fought decreased in proportion to the Level. The Lv.9 goblins would have groups of 3 at max.

    It was especially a relief for the two Lv.14 goblins they fought who were alone.

    Towering over Crimson, they used heavy weapons and even attack [Skills] to try and beat him down. He¡¯d been on guard, so while he¡¯d been hit a few times, they were all glancing blows, and he never went under 50% of his health. [Adaptive Footwork] was really carrying its weight.

    For the drops they¡¯d gotten, the common drops were worth more than the lower level ones, so they were worth taking, but against Crimson¡¯s expectations, he didn¡¯t receive one of each drop a single time. His [Fortune] aspect of the [Blessings of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] hadn¡¯t stopped working, and he still had his [Lucky Title] equipped. Clearly, there was some other condition he was missing about triggering the ability. That said, he still got some good drops. The best thing so far was an [Earth Stone Ritual] material.

    As they explored, Verity recast [Enhanced Recovery] every time the previous duration ran out, so they were in tip top form when they reached a final hallway, another hulking Lv.14 goblin guarding the door at the end.

    The other two Lv.14 goblins had each given him an item that said ¡®1/3 of a key,¡¯ so this was likely where he¡¯d get the last one.

    He took a ready stance with his rapier, and glared at the goblin. The goblins got bigger in proportion to their level. At Lv.14, they were as tall as Fade, who was a lot taller than Crimson. They had a reach advantage, they had a weight advantage, and the sheer volume of muscle and fat acted as a natural barrier that made each of his attacks barely inflict a scratch.

    There was a trick to it, fortunately, and he¡¯d struggled the most with the first of the three goblins, but the actual application of the trick was still difficult. For some odd reason, trying to shove the tip in straight did nothing, and slashing attacks similarly had no effect. It was pure dumb luck that he figured out the trick to make this thrusts work. He had to stab at an angle that would cause the flesh to bunch up under the tip of his blade, then, with a step towards the bunched flesh, he could then slide the rapier straight in, dealing a surprising amount of damage for the Level difference.

    Why did this work? He could only assume that either [Defense Pierce] was a weirder [Skill] than he thought, the goblins had some kind of [Skill], or the innate nature of the flesh had some magical properties.

    He¡¯d have to study this later.

    Sizing up the goblin in front of him, he focused on its weapons. It was wielding a hammer in one hand, and a short sword in the other. Considering how large the goblin was, it made the short sword look like a short dagger.

    He¡¯d need to be careful, especially to pull off the trick.

    Moving lithely, he charged in, Verity keeping a close eye on him from behind, ready to cast a [Barrier] at any moment. She¡¯d saved him more than a couple times already today, and he could only be grateful.

    The goblin was aggressive and swung at him with the hammer, [Ru Mikiri] triggered and everything seemed to slow down. It wasn¡¯t like time stopped, nor was it a powerful enough [Skill] to make everything seem like it was traveling in slow motion, but it was more than enough allow him to position the tip of his rapier, letting it dig into the goblin¡¯s wrist, then with a small step he let the force of the goblin¡¯s blow drive the rapier home, passing straight through the arm and even scraped against its stomach without piercing.

    Instead of immediately retracting his blade Crimson stepped into it once more, dragging the cutting edge of his rapier through the goblin¡¯s arm, down to its elbow. He didn¡¯t have the force to cut all the way through bone, but the extra room his cut provided made it easier for him to extricate his blade and step back.

    The step turned into a dodge as it swung the short sword at him, and once more, he managed to use [Ru Mikiri] to cut that arm in the same way.

    The goblin couldn¡¯t hold on to either of its weapons with how severe the damage was, and while Crimson hadn¡¯t managed to inflict [Rapid Bleeding], he had inflicted [Bleeding], so it was losing HP with every passing moment.

    That wasn¡¯t fast enough, especially when dealing with a cornered animal. The goblin went berserk and charged at him, trying to bite him.

    That kind of reckless action wasn¡¯t anything new to Crimson, so he smoothly stepped in right when the goblin would be most off balance and tripped it, causing it to smack face-first into the ground.

    He placed his blade on the back of the thing¡¯s neck, got the flesh there to bunch up, then brought his rapier up to a vertical position and rammed it home. He had carefully aimed for a fleshy part of the back of the neck so he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the spine, and fortunately his aim was true - he¡¯d learned he could do this with the second Lv.14 goblin - allowing him to then wrench his blade off to the side, and finally inflicting [Rapid Bleeding].

    The goblin finally breathed its last, and disappeared, leaving its drops behind.

    Crimson panted a little bit, and noticed that the duration on [Enhanced Recovery] had run out very early in the fight, probably right as it began. If it were under normal circumstances, he would worry about whether or not that meant that Verity would receive EXP for the fight, but where their goal was to work on [Skills], it didn¡¯t matter.

    Looking at the drops, Crimson cursed. One of each. Maybe he was more dense than he thought. He¡¯d finally put together the final condition for [Fortune] to trigger.

    He had to kill the enemy without any help.

    Verity was grinding [Enhanced Recovery], so they¡¯d both been under its effects for the entire day. There hadn''t been a time where she hadn¡¯t been helping him, either with that, or with a [Barrier] or [Healing].

    It seemed that the other condition was that it was once per enemy type. He¡¯d already put that together, but between those two conditions, everything fell into place.

    Verity walked up after hearing him curse, and looked at the drops on the ground. She let out a defeated chuckle, and asked, ¡°So, it looks like you figured something out. Mind sharing?¡±

    ¡°I expect this is a result of my [Fortune], the aspect of my [Blessing of Trans¡¯Du¡¯Niir] that boosts my LUC. The two conditions are that I have to kill the target without any help, and that it will only work once per enemy type.¡±

    She whistled in response, then said, ¡°I need to figure out how to get mine to work then. Well, what shall we do? Turn back? I imagine you don¡¯t want to lose this [Skill Stone] - especially when its new.¡±

    He muttered a low curse once more and scooped up the [Skill Stone]. [Robust]. Seemed like a defensive [Skill] of some kind. This would be best to put into Fade¡¯s hands.

    Grimacing at it for a moment, he turned to Verity, ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t want to lose this, but I¡¯m also not interested in turning back.¡±

    He inspected it for a moment, then passed her the [Skill Stone], ¡°Please store this with the others. Should I die, run. Try to make it out with all the [Skill Stones].¡±

    Verity nodded and slipped it into her [Inventory], removing an uncommon drop for it to take the place of, then sliding that into her backpack.

    They each carried one to share the load, but hers was noticeably more full than his was today, and for just the reason they¡¯d gone over, so she could run and try to make it out with some of their profit.

    Crimson had lost sight of the fact that he¡¯d attempted to give up on the drops for this boss run.

    He scooped up the [Earth Stone] and passed it to her with the two other drops, and picked up a fifth one that had been under the common drop. It was the last third of the key, and they snapped right into place when he put them together, the seems between each of the chunks fusing together.

    The boss was likely behind the door at the end of the hall, so Crimson approached it and unlocked it with a key, prepared to just peek in for the moment, but the room beyond was empty. That reminded him, some of the adventurers mentioned that the room right before the boss was a safe room, where monsters couldn¡¯t go.

    He opened the door widely and stepped in, still on guard just in case, before relaxing. There was another door on the other side of the room, this one larger than the one they¡¯d just stepped through. Imposing, threatening, and for the strange way his brain worked, inviting.

    The room had some disintegrating couches, and carefully testing one of them, he found it held his weight, so he settled into recover all of his resources. That didn¡¯t last long, as the second Verity had tried to join him on the couch it collapsed under their combined weight. Grumbling, he picked himself up, scattering wood dust everywhere, then remembered to act the gentleman and helped Verity to her feet as well.

    They each sat on separate couches this time, and this time nobody ended up on the ground, much to his relief.

    After a moment of quiet, Crimson said what he¡¯d been musing on, ¡°Would you be willing to let me take on the boss alone?¡±

    Verity chuckled at him, ¡°You getting greedy now that you¡¯ve figured out your ability? Want to beat this boss first attempt too?¡±

    Crimson shook his head, paused, then nodded, ¡°Yeah, I suppose it is greed, but mainly because I don¡¯t want to lose the drops we¡¯ve already gotten. Specifically the [Skill Stones]. If my ability only triggers once, then I especially don¡¯t want to lose [Robust]. I¡¯m also greedy enough that I want to take on the boss anyway. Would you be willing to go along with my selfishness?¡±

    ¡°What would you have me do?¡±

    ¡°Wait here, I¡¯ll fight my heart out, die, then come back to grab you.¡±

    Verity sighed, then said with venom, ¡°Sure, whatever. Do what you want, leave the girl alone and bored.¡±

    He bowed apologetically, and she let out an intentionally heavier sigh before saying, ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll support you in this, but you owe me. I¡¯ll work over what little [Skill] training I can in here. You better be grateful I understand how crazy you are. Other party members would be running from you now.¡±

    ¡°Yet you beat me into letting you join.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she grinned, ¡°that was fun. I felt so much better after that. We should do it again some time.¡±

    ¡°Maybe some other time. Verity, thank you.¡±

    She nodded, then waved, ¡°Do your best, there¡¯s no shame in dying here! Die here, so you¡¯ll never die for real in a fight.¡±

    He stood, nodded, then walked over to the big door. His hand were shaking a bit. He was trying to be as casual about it as possible, but he knew that he was walking to his death. Even if he knew logically it wouldn¡¯t be permanent, his body couldn¡¯t help but react.

    He first checked his rapier. It had about 60% of its durability left. He¡¯d been using it a bit too recklessly. He needed to practice techniques to help preserve durability during long dungeon runs. Buying a new sword every time was not a realistic solution.

    Crimson refused to let nerves keep him any longer, and shoved open the door, entering the boss room.

    Just like he¡¯d heard, the boss was sitting on a throne at the far end of the room. It was too big for a throne obviously made for humans. The throne was resting on a dais, and at the base of the dais, banquet tables had been set up to act as platforms for archers. There were two of them, the Lv.9 variant. There were a pair each of knight-type variants and rogue type variants. He was essentially facing two full parties of goblins, plus the boss.

    As Verity had said, this fight was practically made specifically to kill him. He specialized almost completely in single combat against a stronger opponent of human-like build and intelligence.

    He¡¯d managed against goblins fine enough because their build was decently human like, but against a group he would likely melt.

    That then begged the question, why would he subject himself to this? Because it wasn¡¯t in his nature to allow a weakness like this to persist. Today alone, he¡¯d forced himself to use a sword-type he didn¡¯t have much affection for, and he¡¯d been successful with it. During the day exploring, his [Advanced Sword Mastery] had shot up by 3 levels. Progress was obvious as he crushed a personal weakness.

    In a situation like this, outmatched, out numbered, and inexperienced, the only choice was to face the situation and learn how to handle it.

    Fortunately, though he did think he would die, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d go down easily. He had gotten some experience earlier fighting goblin parties just a little bit ago, so he understood some strategies that might work, but having to deal with two groups at once was a bit much for that strategy.

    He tightened his grip on his rapier, trying to stop the shaking, then charged in, his [Adaptive Footwork], [Parry], [Ru Mikiri], and [Advanced Sword Mastery] all working in tandem to help him practically erase one of the rogue¡¯s in a burst of action.

    The second he saw it start to fall, he took off in a dead sprint to the side, dodging a pair of arrows and keeping him from getting surrounded.

    Ideally, he¡¯d hunt the archers first, but he worried about both their elevated position, and the boss, who had initially been leisurely watching the proceedings, but after Crimson had killed one of the rogues he had started to chant in a guttural language.

    Expecting a magic attack, Crimson was surprised when he found that the spell the boss cast was a defensive buff. With [Defense Pierce], he still managed to get some damage through, but it was hardly anything.

    After some more guttural chanting as Crimson wove between arrows and charging goblins, the next buff increased their damage. Crimson immediately realized that when a blow he was certain would deal 5% of his health in damage did 15%. A 3x damage multiplier? How broken!

    The unexpected damage staggered him for a moment, and an arrow dug into his collarbone, cracking it and causing him to lose his grip on his rapier.

    He swiftly caught it with his right hand, then disengaged, sprinting back in an erratic manner to avoid more arrows. He didn¡¯t have the room he needed to cast a healing spell, so he decided to make another decision. Once the group of melee goblins had approached him, he sprinted through a gap in the formation, heading straight for the boss. [Ru Mikiri] helped him avoid some arrows, but one scraped past his ribs anyway, taking another 10% of his health.

    Gritting his teeth he stabbed his rapier at the surprised boss, and managed to stab into its shoulder.

    Doing so broke the buffs, he could feel the [Mana] they gave off brushing past them as it was released, like letting air out of a balloon.

    Hope rushed through him, but it was immediately dashed as that same emotion made him more aware of his pain, and dulled his reaction speed momentarily, and in that moment, a backhand from the boss took 25% of his health, the rings on the back of the boss¡¯ hand scraped across his face and cut deeply. Blood flowed into his right eye, further disorienting him, and leaving him fully open to the arrow that slammed into his thigh, he didn¡¯t even have time to worry about that as he saw a war hammer from one of the knight goblins approaching his face.

    Once it hit, everything went black.

    For the first time since leaving his old world, Crimson experienced what it was like to die.

 Chapter 55: Building Momentum

    Chapter 55: Building Momentum

    It remained dark, but Crimson became aware of himself. He flexed his fist a few times, then punched himself in the other arm, trying to see if the sensation of movement was in his head. The punched arm hurt, so he was able to move.

    The darkness was oppressive, it felt like it was wrapped around his face, so it threw him off a bit. He tried to reach out with his [Mana], and found that he lost control of it the second it left his body. He grimaced at that. It was an unpleasant feeling.

    Since he could move, he started to walk, and in just two steps he was suddenly greeted by a bright light. After blearily blinking his eyes for a minute, they finally adjusted enough for him to look around, though he needed to keep them squinted, and saw that he was outside the [Goblin Manor] dungeon. He¡¯d just exited the fog wall that made up the entrance of the dungeon.

    With a sigh and a stretch, he checked his [Blessing].

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -You have died!

    -For your hubris and weakness, face punishment!

    -Debilitations:

    -All dungeon progress has been lost.

    -EXP gain has been prevented for a week, or until the equivalent of [3] levels of EXP have been provided.

    -Your equipped weapons have lost 25% of their durability.

    -Your clothing has not been designated as armor. The condition for durability loss has not been met.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    At least his clothes had been spared. Looking further, he saw that his [Class] had a strikethrough over it, and written on top of that was the word ¡®Death.¡¯ Where the [Class Levels] usually appeared, there was now a timer, followed by a slash, then a 0/3 to represent the levels he needed to provide. At least it was properly spelled out.

    He glanced at his rapier¡¯s durability, then exchanged it after seeing how low it was.

    [Repair] would be expensive in the long term. Low level [Repair] was cheap, but 50% of the missing durability would be taken from the weapon, so the damage added up quickly. It was possible to find a few specialists out there with a [Perfect Repair] or equivalent [Skill], but they typically served an exceedingly wealthy clientele, either high-level [Adventurers], or nobles.

    For a rapier as cheap as this, it wasn¡¯t worth a major investment into a better [Repair], but at the same time, permanently losing a weapon felt horribly unpleasant. He¡¯d probably retire it when it¡¯s max durability reached 50% of the original value.

    Hanging one of the longswords on his belt in place of the abused rapier, he turned around and walked back into the dungeon.

    He took the same route as last time, working his way to Verity. While he might¡¯ve lost the [Skill Levels] he¡¯d gained from [Advanced Sword Mastery], his body still remembered what it felt like to be at that slightly higher level, so he recovered them in about half the time.

    He breezed through the early encounters of the dungeon, and even managed to pick up another pair of [Fling Skill Stones], bringing the total he¡¯d found that day to five. It was a very high amount, so it helped soothe his frustration.

    He was trying¡­very hard to suppress the emotions he felt from dying. There were very few situations he¡¯d been in since getting his [Class] when he¡¯d actually failed. He had faced countless mild setbacks, and he would never pretend that treating Alois and Rhea was easy, but he¡¯d never objectively failed this bad.

    He¡¯d taken down one goblin, then had been crushed like a bug. He knew from Guild Records that the boss was Lv.15, ten levels higher than him, but it didn¡¯t feel like the fight was impossible. His strategy could use some work, and he hadn¡¯t been able to get the space to use magic. Maybe if he¡¯d had Verity to provide even a bit of back up, they might¡¯ve done it.

    Objectively, he knew it would be better to wait until at least Fade had gotten his [Class] before trying again, but he wasn¡¯t one to back down from a challenge like this. That meant that he¡¯d need to earn a lot of money to afford cheap swords for future attempts, and he needed to figure out what conditions he needed to meet to win. What [Skills] could he obtain? Evolve? If he trained for another stat increase, would that slight edge be enough?

    He¡¯d need to ruminate on the problem before deciding on what those would be, and next time, he¡¯d come back with a winning formula.

    Unfortunately, he¡¯d forgot to pass the key to Verity before entering the boss room, and the progress reset also included the items that he had in his [Inventory] from the dungeon exploration, so he had to hunt the trio of Lv.14 goblins once more. Two had moved, but the last one was still guarding the locked door.

    It was noticeably harder without Verity, but he was nothing if not tenacious, and despite being forced to retreat twice to heal, he managed to bring them all down.

    With a click, the pins in the lock settled in to place and he opened the door. Verity was sitting where he had left her, but she now had a book in her hand that she was attentively reading.

    Her efforts had really started to pay off, so it was nice to see that she hadn¡¯t given up on improving herself at every opportunity.

    He walked over and tapped her on the arm, causing her to jump, recognize him, swear, then punch him in the arm. It was a good hit, but Crimson¡¯s CON was higher than in the past, so it didn¡¯t hurt.

    ¡°My bad.¡± He said, having not meant to sneak up on her.

    She stood, ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡±

    ¡°I died,¡± he responded dryly, ¡°how do you think it went?¡±

    ¡°Well, you could¡¯ve died after a hard won battle, or you could¡¯ve gone down in 6 seconds. Which was it?¡±

    ¡°I took down one goblin before the boss buffed the rest of them, then managed to break the buff by hitting the boss, but was immediately hit from all sides.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know what the expression on her face meant. It was a combination of disappointment and satisfaction.

    ¡°It could¡¯ve been worse,¡± she said, ¡°now you realize that you can¡¯t win every fight you pick?¡±

    ¡°Of course I can¡¯t, but I¡¯m training to make sure I¡¯ll be able to later.¡±

    She slapped her forehead, ¡°Then you missed the whole point!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I get it. You¡¯re trying to teach me some caution, as well as where my limits are.¡±

    ¡°I was also trying to correct your attitude, but it seems I failed!¡± She growled out.

    Crimson tilted his head, ¡°What kind of attitude do you want me to have?¡±

    That brought her up short, then she awkwardly said, ¡°Well¡­I wanted you to be at least a little torn up about losing¡­maybe a few tears from the pain of death?¡±

    ¡°So you just really wanted me to suffer.¡±

    ¡°No. No! I just want you to be set up for success.¡±

    She looked at him for a moment, then rubbed her forehead and said, ¡°This worked on me, so I thought it would work on you too.¡±

    Ahh, that explained a lot.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°Well, we are different people. I guess you¡¯ll just have to point it out in the future, when my attitude is wrong.¡±

    She sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you if I seen anything genuinely problematic. I¡¯m going to let it go for today though. It seems the problem is with me and not you this time.¡±

    Crimson nodded, then they left the safe room. The enemies he¡¯d fought his way through hadn¡¯t respawned yet, so they left the mansion without any fighting.

    Once outside, Verity asked, ¡°So, we going to head back?¡±

    ¡°I was thinking that we should grind for [Skill Stones] in the chasms.¡±

    ¡°¡­So you intend to take on the [Imp Overlord], again?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll probably need to kill him dozens of times.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re taking this way too lightly.¡±

    ¡°I have a fresh sword, this one won¡¯t break immediately.¡±

    She sighed once more, she¡¯d been doing that a lot today, and they headed down into the chasms to become the Imp¡¯s death gods.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Fade was at the guild training grounds, a few days after their first party meeting, doing pushups. Rhea was now isolating herself to deal with the impending [Blessing] that she was about to receive, and Crimson and Verity kept hitting up the dungeon. He took note of their activities, but he wasn¡¯t too caught up in what they were doing. His body finally felt like it was finally in top form, and he needed to get to work grinding his [Skills].

    The list Crimson had given him yesterday of [Skills] he would need to get included: [Improved Recovery], [Ailment Resistance], [Attract], and [Roar]. Along with the list, he¡¯d been given a [Skill Stone] for the [Skill: Robust]. It was his first time holding a [Skill Stone], so it had taken him a bit to get over his awe, but he¡¯d eventually broken out of his daze and absorbed it. It was amazing how numb to [Skill Stones] he was becoming.

    Crimson had handed Rhea a total of ten [Fling Skill Stones], and also gave her the [Skill Stone: Weak Presence]. After doing that, he had expressed frustration at a ¡®stubborn boss¡¯ for not dropping its [Skill Stone] more often.

    Fade could only grin in a daze, but that swiftly became rage too. This gods cursed condition of his was something he couldn¡¯t dwell on, since thinking about it would constantly increase the rage until he went absolutely mad. That had been the first reason why he¡¯d been put in jail.

    Setting that dark history aside, he was forced to realize very early on that common sense went out the window when it came to Crimson. He knew for a fact that he had two more [Weak Presence Skill Stones], and that was only so they could discuss why it would be a bad idea for Fade to learn that [Skill].

    It hadn¡¯t taken much convincing to realize that the Tank being less noticeable was a bad idea. As for Rhea, she¡¯d promised to return [Weak Presence] to Crimson if the [Class] she chose would be harmed by it. After she said that, he became aware of something, an interesting effect to see in Rhea, then recognize in himself: trust.

    In other parties he¡¯d been in, temporary as they had been, if a [Skill Stone] had popped up, everyone would¡¯ve fought over it - even if they didn¡¯t need it. In this party? If Crimson or Verity found a [Skill Stone], they always reported in that they had found it, and gave it to the one who needed it the most.

    Take yesterday, for example. Crimson had gotten a [Skill Stone] for [Darkvision], and he had left it up to them who would get it, with both the promise and understanding that he would get enough for everyone.

    Gods curse him for it, but Fade believed him without question, and [Darkvision] unanimously went to Verity, who was already active in the dungeon.

    Finished exercising, he stood, inspecting his impending opponent.

    It was the kid from the tournament, Mortimer, who Verity had suggested as a potential party member. He was lanky, with darker skin, and dull orange hair and eyes. Crimson had asked him and Rei to vet the guy when they got the chance after he¡¯d declined Verity¡¯s suggestion that he start over for a better [Class]. He was already Lv.5, and didn¡¯t want to give it up. Fade wasn¡¯t sure whether to blame him for that decision or not. Only time would tell.

    He was a little fascinated to feel like he was already being treated like a trusted comrade. His opinion was as equally valid as the senior members of the party, and he felt respected. It was a great feeling.

    If Crimson only knew what affect his casual actions were having¡­

    Going back to the matter at hand, Fade had yet to finalize his decision on Mortimer, but he was leaning more toward ¡®yes¡¯ than ¡®no¡¯ - even if only on a temporary basis. He was a little worried about the kid¡¯s attitude, but there was always time to change. If he too ended up getting swept up in Crimson¡¯s pace, then he¡¯d be a fine comrade.

    Fade didn¡¯t have any equipment to use, so he borrowed training weapons from the guild to use against Mortimer for this bout, a shield and an axe. All of the equipment he had was Lv.14 and higher, so he couldn¡¯t use any of it for a bit. He¡¯d sold all his low level weapons to help him afford better ones when he upgraded, and that decision had unexpectedly come back to haunt him.

    Squaring up, Mortimer summoned a massive greatsword, a knife, and a shield, then sent the two weapons after him.

    Just looking at Mortimer gave him an immediate sense of what he was planning. It was instinct beyond logic for Fade, and from that he knew that the knife was the decoy, while the greatsword was the real attack.

    It would be easy to assume it was the other way around, as the greatsword was attention-getting, but Mortimer was trying to use Fade¡¯s prior combat experience against him to make him focus more on the knife.

    He pretended to fall for it, but all the while, his instinct hummed within him.

    He deflected a stab from the knife with his shield, twisted to avoid an attack from the greatsword, then stepped once more to dodge the knife, and used the shield to deflect the second blow from the greatsword. The attack he was waiting for hadn¡¯t come yet, so despite the rage within him egging him on, struggling in impatience, Fade waited while playing a defensive game.

    He didn¡¯t have any talent for things like parrying, his weapon choice wasn¡¯t suited for it any way, so his axe was useless as he dodged around, but he kept it at the ready anyway, waiting, watching. Eventually, Mortimer seemed to pick up on the openings Fade had been intentionally leaving, and attempted to use the move he was waiting for.

    The dagger shot at him, just barely visible from the corner of his eye. As it caught his attention, the greatsword seemed to disappear from view, but instinct told him where it was. Above!

    It whipped at him, spinning end over end as he side stepped the dagger right into the path of the greatsword. If he hadn¡¯t known about it bearing down on his head, he might¡¯ve been in trouble, but he did, so he swept his shield overhead, deflecting it by him and straight into the ground.

    It stuck at an angle, and a quick blow from the back of his axe drove it deeper into the ground, making it stick, and giving him time to shatter Mortimer¡¯s Shield in 6 powerful blows. While he¡¯d been pretending to play along with Mortimer¡¯s long con game, he¡¯d been conning him, and had naturally edged closer with his dodges, without the boy noticing.

    It was far more strategic than he usually fought, but what could he say? His fight with Crimson had impacted him. He¡¯d need to strike a better balance between ferocity and strategy moving forward - especially because he¡¯d need to be acting within a permanent party.

    He sparred with Mortimer a few more times, and despite having fewer levels, he didn¡¯t find any of them harder than the first. He won every single time. If he had to point out a specific flaw with Mortimer, it was that he was too impulsive. He tried to act with strategy, but his strategy began and ended with the weapons he chose to summon.

    He didn¡¯t do anything like abruptly changing a greatsword to a shield, nor did he let the weapons languish to make Fade forget about them. He made some half hearted attempts to use himself as bait, but his [Class] wasn¡¯t physically based, so even when Fade walked into those traps, he could beat Mortimer down before the trap finished its work, just with his physical stats.

    Fade¡¯s STR and AGI were only average, so the fact that he was able to perform such a one-sided mindless beatdown meant that those stats were below average for Mortimer.

    He was willing to say yes to Mortimer joining, but he¡¯d need to put in some more effort to be on the same page as the rest of the party. Each of the four current members were power-driven, and had both the goals and the motivation to act on that desire. Mortimer might be power-driven, that remains to be seen, and he might have lofty goals, but whether he had the motivation was another story.

    With enough motivation, even pride can be disrupted. Fade was living proof.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Rhea moaned in pain, alone in the room she shared with Verity, but the pain was worth it. Reflected in her eyes was a stone covered in writing, conveying everything about her existence.

    Unfortunately, one of the first things written was:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -The gods grant you Rizvim, may you be undaunted.

    -[Ul Madit] has been granted.

    -[Ul Madit]: Spells cannot be learned nor used.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    While she wasn¡¯t surprised at all, she was grateful that it wasn¡¯t worse.

    The first thing she did was reach into the bag under her bed, slowly, and drag out the bag of [Skill Stones] that she¡¯d put under there. It was heavier than before, so Verity had likely added another one or two while she¡¯d been unconscious.

    She shattered [Fling Skill Stones] one after the other in her grip, and immediately was left with a maxed [Fling]. The first one taught the [Skill], and each successive one increased the level. Progress for cheap, all it took was killing hundreds or thousands of goblins, or one Crimson.

    Crimson had gotten progressively more mad as the week passed on, as mentioned to her by Verity, and the reason was the boss, [Mulgis], had not wanted to drop [Darkvision]. Based on the fact that she¡¯d just found one in the bag, he¡¯d finally managed to luck out.

    She broke that too, and a small area, like a bubble, around her in the dim room seemed just a bit brighter. Just bright enough to read.

    There were a couple [Cut Skill Stones], and she broke those too. The last one in the bag was for [Weak Presence], but as promised, she didn¡¯t use that one. She still honestly didn¡¯t know which [Class] she wanted.

    Verity had once mentioned that she had a road of infinite possibilities before her, so rather than worry about all those choices, she should just pick the one that sounds right. They were pretty words, but worthless to her.

    Rather than a road of infinite possibilities, she felt more like she was hovering over a dark void of disappointment, despair, and woe.

    Nothing felt right, and any decisions she made felt like they¡¯d be wrong, so she was just going along with the options right in front of her. She didn¡¯t have a reason to want or need [Fling], but maybe it could help. Because she¡¯d decided to pick up [Cut], her weapon of choice would be a set of claws. There would be no deeper reason, and she was more worried about the fact that her flippancy didn¡¯t worry her.

    She saw how much Crimson, Verity, and even that bonehead Fade thought about their decisions. Fade had even asked Crimson if he could have a little extra time to pick up an additional [Skill], which had been met with wholehearted approval.

    She¡­wanted to get stronger. She had the motivation to do it too, but she didn¡¯t have anything to point these feelings at.

    All she needed was a spark, a little idea, a hint, and she¡¯d go all in on it. In the mean time, she¡¯d worry about the low-hanging fruit in front of her¡­once she no longer felt so sore. Two more days in bed, and she should be back in action.

 Chapter 56: Inspiration for Rhea

    Chapter 56: Inspiration for Rhea

    The last week for Crimson had been an exercise in madness. He wanted nothing more than to be in the dungeon day-in and day-out until he¡¯d gotten all the [Skill Stones] he wanted, but other commitments got in the way. He was still contractually obligated to help the survey team map out the secret passages, and he had social responsibilities to his party or others.

    That meant he¡¯d gotten only a small amount of time in the evenings to hunt Mulgis, meaning he could only perform 3 boss kills a day. Verity couldn¡¯t always accompany him, so he¡¯d died a couple times until he¡¯d improved to the point of being able to fight on his own. His [Skill] progress reflected his efforts:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -[Skill] Level Up!

    -[Advanced Sword Mastery] 9/100 ¡ª> 14/100

    -[Ul Byrn] 4/10 ¡ª> 5/10

    -[Blade Spirit] 2/10 ¡ª> 6/10

    -[Adaptive Footwork] 2/10 ¡ª> 4/10

    -[Darkvision] 1/10 ¡ª> 5/10

    -[Defense Pierce] 2/10 ¡ª> 4/10

    -[Secret Sense] 4/10 ¡ª> 5/10

    -[Ru Mikiri] 6/10 ¡ª> 9/10

    -[Weak Presence] 1/10 (new) ¡ª> 6/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    [Ru Mikiri] in particular was interesting, as it meant that he¡¯d be able to switch the [Skill] in his [Eyes of Will] soon, which was probably for the best. It was such a powerful [Skill], that he¡¯d started to worry that it was leading him around by the nose.

    Crimson, in his infinite paranoia, could only think of a future where he came across a boss that could inflict the [Blind Ailment], and if he was completely reliant on a [Skill] like this, he would melt in that scenario.

    The rest of his [Skill] gains had been pretty good, though [Advanced Sword Mastery] had slowed a fair bit once he¡¯d gotten used to Mulgis. The [Imp Overlord] was so reliant on the dark environment that his actual attack patterns were very monotonous. While Crimson might still be pushed to his limits in some ways, his swordsmanship was no longer being tested like it needed to for growth.

    It was unfortunate, but setting that aside, it was time for a party meeting. It seemed like this would be a weekly thing. Mortimer still hadn¡¯t been given an official invitation as Rhea hadn¡¯t vetted him yet, but Fade had given a half-approval. The reason he gave was that Mortimer didn¡¯t measure up to the quality of the rest of the party, but that he should be given a chance to change.

    The members present were the usual suspects. Verity, with her green eyes and golden hair, long ears framing her face. Fade, with his deep purple eyes, vibrant red hair, and the rare event of wearing a short-sleeved shirt to show off his Uluu marks. Rhea, with her mottled grey hair, blue eyes, tall wolf ears, and wolf tail that was tapping the wall behind her. Crimson, who still had silver eyes with lightning bolts passing through them.

    As a side tangent, Fade had shown Crimson his Uluu marks - at Crimson¡¯s request -, which were a tangled nest of black lines that traveled from the tips of his fingers, up his arms, and met directly on his spine. They didn¡¯t extend much over his chest, just a few inches onto his pecs from either side. They extended further down his arm pits than they did across the front.

    The temptation to poke and prod at Fade like a test subject had been very powerful. He¡¯d never interacted with an Uluu this close before, and his desire to investigate was high.

    Fade had answered a few of his questions and let him touch the lines. Apparently they changed as he grew up. They apparently only started as thin white bracelets around each wrist, and they¡¯d darkened in color as they¡¯d spread more across his body.

    The lines themselves didn¡¯t have a physical sensation, they felt as much like regular skin as any tattoo would. Magically though, that was another story. They were streaming rivers of the [Corruption] and [Profane Affinities], closer inspection let him see the black was two slightly different shades, each representing an [Affinity]. It was similar in principle to what Crimson had done to artificially increase the amount of [Mana] in Rhea¡¯s body, but the scale was something to behold.

    If he¡¯d been able to study an Uluu up close like this before treating Rhea and Alois, it would have been a significantly easier task. Just seeing how elegantly the [Affinities] were woven into Fade¡¯s body gave him inspiration for how he could improve his [Mana Puddle]. It was like comparing a cave painting to a masterfully painted canvas. He was almost ashamed to see that he had even been slightly successful in his efforts to create an artificial [Mana Pool].

    As thanks to Fade for helping him with that, he made an offer to make an artificial [Mana Pool] for him last night. It was a good thing he hadn¡¯t had anything lined up that Highday, as it had taken all night to create one for Fade - battling through buffeting currents of [Corruption] and [Profane] - then improve Verity¡¯s.

    Some of his basic ideas were still applicable, so he hadn¡¯t needed to completely dismantle Verity¡¯s [Artificial Mana Pool], but it was very close to that.

    As for Rhea well¡­

    ¡°What is your [Affinity] for [Mana]?¡±

    With a big grin, Rhea said, ¡°5.¡±

    Crimson couldn¡¯t help but celebrate that news with his entire body, jumping up and down a few times before calming himself. Rhea had joined in, though not with the same level of neighbor disturbance. Verity was laughing at him, and Fade was very confused for a moment before he chuckled.

    Once he settled down, extremely red in the face, he said, ¡°That¡¯s awesome. We¡¯ll need to see if an [Artificial Mana Pool] would work for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like that a lot.¡±

    ¡°How about everything else? What [Rizvim] did you get?¡±

    Fade shot him a strange look at the question, but Crimson ignored it and kept his focus on Rhea.

    ¡°[Ul Madit], I can¡¯t learn or use spells.¡±

    He nodded, ¡°Sure, that makes sense. It¡¯s not ideal, but there are [Skills] that have spell-like effects without being spells. They¡¯re less versatile, but we¡¯re not out of options.¡±

    He got confused looks from the room, but now wasn¡¯t the time to dive into a lecture on [Skill Classification], so he moved on.

    ¡°Fade, would you tell everyone here what you told me about Mortimer?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s pretty good, I dare say a genius¡­by normal standards. I worry that he might not be able to keep up with our group.¡±

    Crimson tilted his head, ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have anywhere near the same level of dedication and motivation that we have. Even Rhea, who literally just got her [Blessing], burns with both of those emotions.¡±

    He considered that, then verified, ¡°But you still give your approval for him to join?¡±

    ¡°On a temporary basis. I suspect he won¡¯t be with us for long unless he has a sharp attitude change.¡±

    He nodded, then said, ¡°Okay, now, could you tell me about your progress this week? As much as you are willing to share.¡±

    Fade nodded, then said, ¡°I¡¯ve been sparring and training a lot this week. Got some additional stats, and as far as the list goes: [Improved Recovery], [Ailment Resistance], [Attract], [Roar], and [Robust] were the [Skills] you asked me to learn. I used to use [Attract] and [Roar] a lot before, so I¡¯ve already got them back, and they¡¯re Lv.5. They¡¯ve stagnated, I need to use them in live combat to see more results.¡±

    Fade continued, ¡°As for [Robust], that is Lv.3, and I¡¯m getting close to learning [Improved Recovery] and [Ailment Resistance]. For [Improved Recovery], it¡¯s a matter of time as the only requirement I haven¡¯t met for the [Quest] is to recover 1000 HP via natural recovery. It¡¯s slow going, but I¡¯m about half way there. I¡¯ve been inflicting myself with the [Bleed Ailment] after Verity used [Enhanced Recovery] to also try and pick up [Ailment Resistance]. I should probably learn them both at the same time this week, provided you¡¯re still able to lend me Verity.¡±

    Fade¡¯s training was why Crimson hadn¡¯t been able to take her to the dungeon every day. It had been his own idea, since it would be a better environment for her to train her [Skills] and research what he¡¯d suggested. Verity had been the one to make the final decision, and had only agreed to let him go on his own after he demonstrated that he could beat Mulgis without her help.

    Crimson responded, ¡°Of course, that¡¯s up to her, but,¡± he turned to her, ¡°I¡¯ll throw my request in with his as well. You¡¯ve really been speeding things up for him.¡±

    Verity nodded, ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s mostly just me studying in the corner while Fade cuts his legs up or spars. It¡¯s not a big deal, I just mainly worry about you, Crimson.¡±

    Fade and Crimson thanked her for her help, and Fade continued his report, ¡°As for the last [Skill] I asked about, [Strong Presence], I¡¯m still working on it. The gods haven¡¯t given me a [Quest] for it yet, but a few more offerings and visits to the Temple should be enough.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a couple of [Wind Stones] from Mulgis, take those with you next time. They should speed things up.¡±

    By burning a prayer with [Ritual Materials], you could make a direct request to the gods for a specific [Skill]. The amount and quality of [Ritual Materials] was completely unknown, but it was cumulative, so eventually they would offer the relevant [Quest].

    The idea of offering [Ritual Materials] with the burnt prayers was something Crimson knew from his talk with Raften, but most people would just burn prayers on their own, without the added step. It sometimes worked, but it wasn¡¯t a consistent method. The issue was that it was considered a ¡°rich man¡¯s¡± method. Crimson wasn¡¯t the only one who knew about it, but most people wouldn¡¯t think to offer expensive dungeon drops with a prayer.

    Oh, it had been tested, but the general belief was that it had to be a single massive offering, restricting it only to the rich. Enough people had tried and failed with smaller offerings that it seemed like a pointless effort.

    It was an unfortunate history, but Crimson hadn¡¯t exactly been secretive about what he and his party had been doing, so it seemed that the method was starting to spread. However, it was mimicry without understanding. It seemed there were some people who thought it was random chance, like a gacha game. In a way, this was true, as not knowing the thresholds made it feel random, but it wasn¡¯t.

    Fade nodded, then said, ¡°When was the goal you set? You mentioned having one, then didn¡¯t say when it was.¡±

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Crimson blinked twice, then said, ¡°My bad, I got side-tracked. The answer is typically about a month. It¡¯ll vary a bit based on the individual, but I managed to max out [Sword Mastery] in a month. I feel like most things are doable in that time.¡±

    After his words, Fade and Rhea both stared at him in shock, while Verity just seemed proud. For some reason, he¡¯d thought that Rhea knew about it, but apparently not.

    Fade took a moment to collect himself, then said, ¡°That¡¯s everything for me.¡±

    Crimson nodded, and turned to Verity, and she said, ¡°I found it.¡±

    He grinned, then said, ¡°You¡¯ve been holding out on me.¡±

    ¡°Better to explain it with everyone here.¡± She responded smugly.

    ¡°Explain what?¡± Groused Rhea.

    ¡°Well, an issue we were running into in the dungeon was the fact that I don¡¯t have any ranged healing spells. The obvious solution is to just learn one, but Crimson had a suggestion.¡±

    Crimson chimed in with what he¡¯d asked before, ¡°Why don¡¯t we see if there¡¯s a [Skill] that lets you use your current [Skill] at range?¡±

    Verity nodded, ¡°Yes, I learned a while ago from Rei that ranged healing spells gain that advantage by sacrificing ability. All the ranged healing [Skills] or spells I could learn with my stats would all be significantly worse than my current [Healing]. Even at max, they would be worth less than my Lv.6 [Healing].¡±

    Rhea muttered to herself, ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what that was¡­¡±

    Verity continued, ignoring her comment, ¡°So when Crimson made his suggestion, I realized what he was getting at immediately. I did some digging, and I came across a few options. The most obvious was just to find a [Skill] that increases the range of magic, but I wasn¡¯t impressed with what I saw there, so I did some more digging and came across another couple of possibilities.¡±

    ¡°The first is to get a [Skill] that lets me delay spell effects, cast [Healing] on you all, then allow it to take effect when needed. I didn¡¯t like this method. Seems really tricky to do in a fight. That then led me to the next method: touching people from a distance.¡±

    Crimson said, ¡°She¡¯s phrasing it poorly, but that¡¯s the basic idea. I¡¯ve seen concepts where you ¡®mark¡¯ a target, and so long as they¡¯re marked you can have an effect on them. The most common one I saw was dealing increased damage against enemies, but I figured that it could also be used on allies.¡±

    Verity pointed at him, ¡°So I started using his idea to dig. While I couldn¡¯t find any historical precedent, the [Wind Stones] you gave me, and a couple [Holy Shards], allowed me to get the [Quest] for the [Skill].¡±

    Crimson was a bit surprised to hear that. She must¡¯ve really wanted to surprise him. Considering how excited she was acting, that meant that she either already had the [Skill], or was very close. Rhea was acting like she knew something.

    ¡°[Healer¡¯s Mark] is the name of the [Skill]. I got it just last night. Rhea helped me test it. I have to make contact with one of you to place the mark, but once it¡¯s placed, I can still heal you even if I can¡¯t see you.¡±

    Verity turned to him, expectant grin on her face, and he was more than happy to oblige, giving her a big high-five with a grin exceeding hers.

    She was satisfied, and finished by saying, ¡°Aside from that, I¡¯ve gotten some [Skill Levels] in pretty much all of my [Skills]. The most important one to report is that I¡¯ve gotten my [Magical Study Skill] up to max. Your turn, Crimson.¡±

    He nodded, then glanced at Rhea to see if she had anything, but at a gesture from her to continue, he said, ¡°This week, I¡¯ve been caught up in the secret passages under Falst, and I didn¡¯t get anywhere near as much time as I¡¯d like in the dungeon or for training. Like Verity, I¡¯ve gotten [Skill Levels] in most of my important [Skills]. One of my [Skills] - [Ru Mikiri] - is very close to max. My [Advanced Sword Mastery] is Lv.14, and my goal is to have it at max before my [Class] is Lv.25. It should probably take a little more than a year at this rate, but I should be able to speed it up with some dedicated training.¡±

    ¡°This week, I¡¯ve managed to kill [Mulgis, Imp Overlord] 25 times. Every five times is about 1000 Royals, which is nice, but I¡¯m only a little above breaking even as I go through a sword for every five attempts. Profit is between 600 and 800 Royals depending on the sword and how long it lasts. Money is going to be a serious problem moving forward.¡±

    Fade grinned at him while resting his head in his palm, ¡°You¡¯re such a monster. I love it.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem that surprised by his pace.¡± Verity said.

    Fade pointed to a blanket that Crimson had draped to very carefully cover up his shame, but he didn¡¯t do anything to stop Verity as she pulled the blanket aside to see a stack of 6 swords of various types. They were all on their last legs, each having less than 10% of their durability left.

    Verity let out a low whistle, then said, ¡°You could go through less by buying a better sword you know.¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡­well¡­I don¡¯t need a better sword yet. I do want one, but I don¡¯t want to drop tens of thousands of Royals on a sword I¡¯m only going to use for a couple of months. Besides, I have a [Skill] that lets me make even the weakest swords stronger.¡±

    Fade asked first, but everyone seemed to want to, ¡°What [Skill] is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called [Blade Spirit]. Its classified as an [Artifact-type Skill], but it should be more accurately referred to as a [Familiar-type Skill]. It gives a boost to the attack and durability of swords I¡¯m holding.¡±

    All three of them stared at Crimson. Rhea seemed the most surprised, Verity seemed the most exasperated, and Fade was somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.

    Fade turned to the other two and asked, ¡°Could you two help me brainstorm a better word for him than ¡®monster¡¯? I don¡¯t think its going to be good enough anymore.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help,¡± Verity said helpfully, while Rhea said, ¡°Monster is still fine.¡±

    ¡°Leave it,¡± Crimson said, wanting to move on. He said, ¡°Anyway, that means that its more important that we get you all kitted out. Fade, you know what you¡¯re looking for in a good axe?¡±

    He nodded, ¡°Sure, I¡¯ve bought a few, and I think I have a good eye.¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow, let¡¯s hit up the shops and find out what kind of budget we need for some decent gear. Everyone should be targeting Lv.5 weapons. Rhea, I¡¯ll go with you. I know what quality weapons look like, even if I know nothing about claws.¡±

    Rhea seemed a bit reluctant, but agreed.

    ¡°Great! That¡¯s the plans for tomorrow settled. Now, Rhea, what are you thinking for your [Class]?¡±

    ¡°I still have no clue.¡±

    He sighed.

    Fade cut in before he could say anything else, ¡°Hold on, this entire time you¡¯ve been talking about Mulgis, what about the other boss of [Goblin Manor]? Hoarhokim or something like that.¡±

    Crimson noted that Rhea and Fade shared a glance as he started to respond.

    ¡°Horrakin? I¡¯m still trying to figure out my strategy to deal with him. It feels like I¡¯m just a little short of where I need to be. Maybe a few extra [Skill Levels] or stats would close the gap I¡¯m feeling. It could also be that I need to learn a new spell to break his magic.¡±

    Rhea asked, ¡°He uses magic?¡±

    Crimson nodded, ¡°Yeah, the boss has a bunch of subordinates at Lv.9, and rather than fight himself, he uses buff spells to increase their attack and defense. I go from being able to kill them in a few seconds to barely damaging them at all. I also died extremely quickly from their hits. Stuff that should have dealt only 5% of my health was dealing 15%. I got cornered and absolutely destroyed without being able to do anything.¡±

    Suddenly, a hand clamped down on his arm, and he turned to Rhea who was staring at him with fierce eyes.

    She growled, ¡°That. I want to do that.¡±

    ¡°Be surrounded and die helplessly?¡±

    ¡°No! I want to be able to strengthen my allies! I want to use those ¡®buffs¡¯ as you called them!¡±

    Crimson froze for a long moment, then whooped in excitement, ¡°That¡¯s perfect! Brilliant! Genius! Yes, that¡¯s exactly what we need!¡±

    Rhea didn¡¯t hold back this time when she celebrated with him. They did a little jig around the floor while Verity and Fade stared at them like they were crazy.

    Part of Crimson¡¯s excitement came from how stuck Rhea had been. While he couldn¡¯t understand what it was like to have that much motivation and not be able to do anything with it, he could empathize with how stuck she was feeling.

    Their excitement took a few minutes to calm down, and Verity had ended up shrugging half-way through and joined in, still seeming bemused. Fade only seemed to think they were even more crazy, but he had started grinning, seeming to enjoy the raw unabated joy he was witnessing.

    Once they settled down once more, Crimson said, still grinning, ¡°Get a better idea of exactly how you want to do this. What kind of buffs you want to focus on and the like, as well as whatever else you can do during or after the fight. If you can tell me, I¡¯ll get you a list, and maybe there¡¯ll be a [Class] already out there that we can use for reference. If not, we¡¯ll have to make it up and hope the gods play along.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± She said.

    Crimson looked around for a moment. He had a lot more he could say, but they¡¯d been meeting long enough. He could bring up [Sub-Classes] later.

    ¡°Great. If anyone doesn¡¯t have anything else to say, then I think we¡¯re all good to go to bed.¡±

    They all indicated they were done, and their second weekly meeting had ended.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Rhea got up groggily in the morning, hating the late night she¡¯d had. She and Verity had pretended to go to bed, but had instead snuck out to a bar. She¡¯d never drunk proper strong drink before, and Verity had offered to coach her on her first time. It had ended poorly, as she¡¯d drunk well over her limits and made a fool of herself.

    She had vague memories of demanding that Verity pet her tail, and complaining about every little thing and every person in her life. She¡¯d even complained about Verity to her face about her bad sleeping habits. Verity had been drunk enough to just agree, not seeming to connect the ¡®Verity¡¯ of Rhea¡¯s complaints with herself.

    She glanced at Verity, in the cot on the other side of the room. She was awake, and she looked at Rhea with the same groggy expression and said, ¡°The last step to enjoying alcohol is not caring about what you did while drunk.¡±

    Wise words, but Rhea was done with strong drink. That was too much to let go.

    Rhea hauled herself out of the room after a few mumbled words at Verity, and discovered that describing the time she¡¯d woken up at as ¡®morning¡¯ was generous. It was nearly afternoon.

    She grimaced once more, then looked up at the sky she could see between the castle arches. It was cloudy and grey. It looked and smelled like there would be rain.

    She didn¡¯t have to wait long until Crimson showed up hauling a massive bag full of his retired swords to grab her and go shopping. He was till working on the request to map out the secret passages, but they didn¡¯t spend all day down there. The most critical paths were known and mapped - as he¡¯d told her - so the kingdom was diverting more resources away from the project, but keeping enough in place to see it through to the end.

    She honestly couldn¡¯t care, but was grateful that it gave her the chance to recover from her hangover before Crimson caught her.

    Crimson took her from shop to shop, investigating the claws they could find. It wasn¡¯t exactly a common weapon type, so they failed at more than one shop to even catch sight of one. After the 6th shop, Crimson started wondering aloud about a custom request, which made her cringe.

    Rhea understood that he was going to buy her the weapon, and she already felt incredibly bad about that, but she could accept paying him back over time. It was a different story if the price was more than ten times what she¡¯d originally expected, and she felt horribly guilty about asking that much of him. It didn¡¯t matter if he¡¯d get it back, she already knew how much he hated spending money.

    As they were walking down a side road, she spotted a familiar face and called out to him, ¡°Hey Talis, how are you doing?¡±

    The short boy looked up from the roadside stand he was working. It was a thing of very simple construction, but looked sturdy enough to support the curios placed on top of it. The sign hung on the front advertised repair jobs in addition to appraisal services.

    Crimson let her take the lead, watching curiously.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been well, how are you, Rhea?¡± He asked, his fake friendliness in full force.

    ¡°I¡¯m cured now. I don¡¯t have to worry about dying before I¡¯m 20 anymore.¡±

    ¡°Congratulations!¡± He said lightly, his fake friendliness turning to fake joy.

    ¡°Thank you. So, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°I do this in every town we visit. While my father is off selling his wares, I get a bit of practice in by running my own little shop. It¡¯s humble, but that¡¯s also because my only investor is my father, who wants to challenge me.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s business?¡±

    ¡°Very good! I¡¯m the only one charging prices as low as this for a Lv.5 [Repair], so I¡¯m quite popular.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got [Repair] at Lv.5?¡± Crimson asked, cutting in to the conversation.

    ¡°That I do! 35 Royals per item.¡±

    ¡°I can see why you¡¯re popular,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯d expect that kind of price for a Lv.2 repair.¡±

    Talis grinned and nodded a few times, his merchant face had come out in full force, and with how childlike he looked, many people wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize it for what it was.

    Rhea watched as Crimson set his massive bag on a section of the stand that wasn¡¯t covered in wares, then slid the top off so Talis could see the contents. He said, ¡°I¡¯ve got 6 swords here, I¡¯m willing to pay full price, but if you¡¯d give me a bulk discount I¡¯d appreciate it.¡±

    Talis carefully pulled one from the pile - it was a rapier - and inspected it. After a moment, he said, ¡°These all look to have about 10% of their durability left. With a Lv.5 [Repair Skill], but you¡¯ll lose 36% of the max durability, which is 40% of how much durability is missing.¡±

    ¡°Well, I either have to retire them now, or have you repair them here and get them to limp along a little longer.¡±

    Talis nodded, then said, ¡°I¡¯m fine with giving you a bulk discount. How about 30 Royals per sword?¡±

    Crimson nodded, then paid the 180 Royals.

    ¡°I do repairs in the evening. Come back tomorrow to pick it up.¡± Talis said.

    ¡°Will do, I¡¯ll be back in the afternoon.¡±

    ¡°That works for me, see you then.¡±

    Talis seemed very happy about the transaction, but Crimson paused before they left and asked, ¡°Hey, would you be willing to sell dungeon drops for me in exchange for a cut of the profit?¡±

    The short boy tilted his head, intrigued, and asked, ¡°What kind of drops? The guild will give you a better price for common drops.¡±

    Crimson pulled a [Fling Skill Stone] out of his [Inventory] and passed it to Talis. Rhea was surprised to see how quickly he was willing to show off he had a [Skill Stone] on a public street. They¡¯d certainly caught a few people¡¯s attention.

    Talis took the stone and inspected it as well, then said, ¡°I could probably get¡­maybe 100 Royals for it? It¡¯s a very low price for a [Skill Stone], but the [Skill] also isn¡¯t very good.¡±

    Rhea watched as Crimson eyed Talis. It was her first time seeing him scratch his palms in thought, but after a moment, he said, ¡°The guild offered to buy them off me for 63 Royals. If your cut keeps me above that, then I¡¯d like to sell them through you.¡±

    Talis looked at the stone for a moment once more, then said, ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ll take 20%. You¡¯ll get 80 Royals, and I¡¯ll get a tidy little profit.¡±

    Both Crimson and Rhea were surprised, and he asked ¡°So low?¡±

    Talis chuckled, ¡°Actually, the price is very high. I¡¯m buying your good will.¡±

    Crimson seemed to consider that, but said, ¡°Well¡­if you need a bigger cut, let me know. I¡¯d rather honestly give you a bigger cut than have you cheat me behind my back. Not that I think you will, but¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s always a good thing to bear in mind with merchants.¡± Talis said with the most genuine smile Rhea had seen that day. It was still fake, but better than the others.

    Crimson nodded and they walked off. Rhea glanced back and managed to get a glimpse of the cold, piercing expression on Talis¡¯ face as he looked at Crimson¡¯s back.

 Chapter 57: Economic Factors

    Chapter 57: Economic Factors

    Crimson continued along the street. Now that he no longer had to deal with the soul-scarring sound of his sword collection rattling in a bag, his steps were a little lighter.

    Rhea caught up to him after a minute, seeming thoughtful. She glanced at him a few times, clearly having something to say, but he didn¡¯t prod her. It would be better to let her get her feelings together.

    They checked the last shop Crimson had any respect for while she kept her silence. There were about 8 weapon shops in Falst that he though had decent weapons at decent prices. There were a few that were more luxury focused that had earned his respect, but obviously price was an issue at locations like those.

    Someone in his home world might¡¯ve been surprised at how many weapon shops there were, but most of them were fairly small locations. Even if all 23 of the weapon shops in Falst were combined together, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to rival a small department store.

    Once more, they struck out as the next shop, and Crimson was left annoyed and out of options. He¡¯d have to custom order a set of claws for Rhea. If he was already going to need to order custom, it might just be better to get something at a higher level.

    There were level restrictions on equipping gear, with the exception of Lv.5 and under, you had to have a [Class Level] that was the same level as the weapon. There were some [Skills] that changed those requirements, but they were few and far between.

    That was only on the user side though. There was a blacksmith technique called a ¡®shackle¡¯ that lowered a weapon¡¯s stats in exchange for lowering its level requirements. The shackle could be removed later, as levels were gained. The quality of the shackle determined how many levels it could reduce the requirement by, so there was a method of putting several low-quality shackles on a weapon then removing them one by one as levels were gained.

    Crimson had been thinking of using this method himself. He¡¯d been thinking about a Lv.15 katana with shackles on it has his first true weapon, but the price was rather high, especially if he wanted a custom job. The first one he had priced out was 15,000 Royals, and it had already been sold months ago. If he ordered custom, it could tack as much as 5,000 Royals on that eye-watering high price.

    He couldn¡¯t go spending that much on himself, especially when he had an entire party that needed gear. His entire week hunting Mulgis had net him only 3500 Royals. It was high, sure, but not high enough for him to justify a purchase like that. He had close to 65k Royals to his name. Between the four of them, he could afford to drop 15,000 Royals each.

    He wasn¡¯t sure what Verity¡¯s money situation looked like, so he just assumed by default that he¡¯d need to cover for her. He knew Fade only had living expenses, but would have to starve to afford a Lv.3 axe, to say nothing of the shield that he needed to have for his role. He was completely responsible for Rhea, so there were no questions there about needing to pay for her.

    If the Crimson of 6 months ago had been told that he¡¯d be able to casually make 3500 Royals in a week, he¡¯d have been ecstatic. It would have given him every cause and reason to celebrate, but now it felt like a drop in the bucket.

    Once he was done with the mapping request, he might even be able to double it¡­but there was a problem. The uncommon drops - the tail bones - that he got from Mulgis had an inflated price. If he flooded the market with them, that price would drop. It was technically a healthy thing, but it did mean that he would run into issues.

    The best thing he could sell would likely be [Darkvision]. That [Skill] would be worth a very pretty penny if he could sell it, but for the moment he¡¯d rather hoard what he could for future allies.

    Scratching his head a few times in frustration, he glanced at Rhea who made eye contact with him for a moment. It seemed that little bit of eye contact was enough to give her the push she needed, because she started speaking.

    ¡°Do you mind¡­if we find a private place to speak?¡±

    Crimson glanced around. The nearest private place would be in the Temple, in one of the counseling rooms, but he couldn¡¯t use those outside of official business. The secret passages were off limits, so that left¡­

    He gestured for Rhea to follow him, and they entered a narrow alley. He glanced back at her and said, ¡°Follow me as best you can.¡±

    After that, he scrambled up the wall next to him using gaps and decorations for footing and hauled himself up on to the roof. This building happened to have a very vaulted roof, so there was a natural privacy barrier created by distance.

    He glanced back over the side and was happy to see Rhea following him with almost no issues. Her physicality really was impressive. If he were a pettier man, he would¡¯ve been jealous.

    He did offer her a hand which she accepted for the last little bit. The lip of the roof took practice to deal with.

    They settled on the center of the roof, and after catching her breath, Rhea said, ¡°I need you to understand something about Talis.¡±

    Crimson perked up. His new business partner had caught his attention in several ways, and any information about him would be worth hearing.

    ¡°He is¡­insane. Genuinely insane. It¡¯s an open secret that he has a [Rizvim] that drove him crazy.¡±

    Crimson nodded. That would be the greed he¡¯d seen, back when he still had [Eyes of Will].

    Rhea continued, ¡°He¡¯s a half, his mother is a leprechaun, and his father is a dwarf. You¡¯ve met his father a few times at my den.¡±

    They had met, but Crimson never remembered being properly introduced to him.

    ¡°I suppose the last detail that you really need to know, is that Talis is 19, and he doesn¡¯t have a [Class].¡±

    Crimson froze at that, then looked at her. Sure, his racial combination made him seem really young, but he was that old? Not only that, no [Class] in three years? What was going on?

    He asked, ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he have a [Class] at his age?¡±

    Rhea sighed, then said, ¡°Because his father forbid him from getting one. He decided it would be dangerous for Talis to get a [Class] before he got his [Rizvim] under control.¡±

    Of course, if Talis had truly wanted to get a [Class], there was nothing his father could do to stop him. Just a few button presses in the [Blessing]. If he still didn¡¯t have a [Class], that meant he agreed with his father, and had been obedient. That also meant that despite his supposed madness from the [Rizvim], he was still rational. There was a logic or code that allowed him to function.

    ¡°If he hasn¡¯t gotten a [Class] by this point, hasn¡¯t that established that he can control himself?¡±

    ¡°Talis does well when bound by rules and authority, but in an absence of those things, he would rampage.¡±

    Wasn¡¯t that most people? That didn¡¯t seem like a problem.

    Rhea noticed his casual attitude and sighed, then said, ¡°Look, I¡¯m just saying to be careful. He can¡¯t feel any emotions. Just greed.¡±

    Yeah, that matched up with what he¡¯d seen in Talis¡¯ eyes. He said, ¡°Like Fade?¡±

    Rhea screwed up her expression, then said, ¡°No, not like that guy. I¡¯ve been watching him. He does feel other emotions, they just turn into anger or rage at some point. Talis can¡¯t feel anything but greed.¡±

    ¡°Interesting,¡± he said, ¡°So I guess he¡¯s been forbidden from getting a [Class] because its easier to control him at a low level. The damage he could do if his greed runs rampant will also be negligible.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s about it. Just be careful. He¡¯ll be trying to manipulate you at every opportunity. That comment about him buying your good will? He¡¯s already gotten a read on you and knows to be straightforward to endear himself to you.¡±

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    Crimson nodded in thought. Maybe¡­?

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Fade was sparring with a group of the [Brass Class] the day after he¡¯d gone shopping. The teacher of the class, a tiny tigerkin woman named Lena, was using this chance to help her students practice coordinating with each other. Fade was using it as a chance to practice using [Roar]. It was an equal exchange since he couldn¡¯t enter the dungeon.

    He wouldn¡¯t be able to enter a dungeon until he got his [Class], but for his goals, he needed to grind - as Crimson put it - [Skill Levels] for [Roar] and [Attract], both [Skills] requiring live combat to be trained.

    They were more effective on monsters than humans, but the increased difficulty actually made humans the better choice for grinding the [Skill]. The issue was getting willing subjects to work with. He had started to reach the point of desperation before Crimson had stepped in yesterday.

    He had contacts in the guild, and had suggested to them that they could hire Fade to help with the [Brass Class] as a training dummy. It wasn¡¯t much compared to a dungeon run, but at 7 Royals an hour, he could at least afford to help pay for the room he and Crimson were sharing.

    Being paid to grind a [Skill]? The gods would curse him again if he complained too much, so he worked as happily as he could, though that turned to rage after a bit.

    Rhea was off in another corner of the training grounds, using a sling with one hand to slam rocks into the center of a target. She never erred, so he wasn¡¯t sure what her purpose in training the [Skill] was. She had a wooden claw weapon on her left hand, so maybe it was just to practice doing other things while wearing it?

    The claw weapon was shaped like a gauntlet with three blades mounted to the back. It wasn¡¯t an easy weapon to set down, so her left hand was restricted entirely to using it.

    Verity was also on the training grounds. She had marked Fade with her [Healer¡¯s Mark] and was using him to help grind it. It wasn¡¯t a perfect [Skill], there were restrictions, but they would get better with time. The first restriction that they all wanted to fix was the one that caused the quality of the [Healing] to drop sharply with distance. Just the difference of a few feet could reduce the effectiveness of her [Skill] by 20%.

    The second restriction was that she could only place one [Healer¡¯s Mark] at a time. That had been a source of disappointment for her when she¡¯d first figured that out, but Crimson had viewed it positively.

    He turned his attention back to the group of four that were attempting to surround him. He let them, with instincts as good as his, that wasn¡¯t as much of a handicap as it would be for a normal person. Being outnumbered was where he was most experienced anyway.

    The first person attacked him from behind, and he twisted casually and used his shield to knock them into the next person who charged, calling them to fall together. The third person was a girl, so he flashed her a charming grin and caused her to pause for a moment. That minuscule bit of time gave him the room he needed to knock the fourth person back with his wooden axe.

    She attacked him with daggers while he was turned away from her to deal with the fourth person, but he used his shield to knock them out of her hands before using a shield bash to knock her off her feet.

    ¡°Fourth group out! Fifth group get ready!¡± Called Lena.

    Fade helped the girl to her feet with a charming smile, and said, ¡°You did very well. Practice more and you¡¯ll go far!¡±

    She blushed, bowed, and backed off. She was too young to drink, so she was too young for him to pursue, but she was quite pretty.

    He set up once more, and like last time he started the fight by using [Roar]. It was an enemy manipulation [Skill]. It made them direct attacks at the user more than others. Crimson had referred to it as an ¡®aggro¡¯ [Skill]. Short for aggravation. Fade would likely end up adopting that bit of slang too¡­and it would be unintentional.

    Against intelligent humans, [Roar] would just make them angry at him, but if they could overcome that, it wouldn¡¯t be very effective. For monsters, they would exclusively target him.

    Due to his [Rizvim], Fade was particularly weak against [Skills] like this being used against him, so he needed to train more to cover that weakness. No one else in the party knew it though, so he¡¯d need to find someone else.

    He beat down this next group just as easily. They¡¯d seen how he turned the attacks of the previous groups against each other, and tried attacking him one at a time. That just made his job even easier, and he beat them down without any problems.

    Fade didn¡¯t even have an advantage in stats, but his experience and his instincts made him an insurmountable foe for these guys. Crimson was the only one he could think of that would give him a challenge.

    Speaking of Crimson, he just showed up at the training grounds. Fade watched him glance around to spot the three of them before approaching Fade.

    He had a massive bag hanging from one shoulder, and there was a low clanking sound with every step. It was probably full of the swords he¡¯d gotten repaired. Once Crimson got close, he reached into the bag and pulled out a wrapped package and chucked it at Fade, who caught it.

    Unwrapping it, he found the axe and shield he¡¯d priced out yesterday. The axe was Lv.5 with a sturdy construction, it had been 1300 Royals. Pricy for Lv.5, but low enough that Crimson hadn¡¯t held back on buying it. The shield had been the bigger thing he¡¯d been picky about. Also Lv.5, this one had boosted durability as the result of specialized treatment. It was 2000 Royals.

    He felt apologetic about letting Crimson buy them for him, but comforted himself by promising to pay him back. 3300 Royals wasn¡¯t a small amount, but he could earn that much in a month back when he¡¯d first gotten his [Class], and considering the pace set by his new party leader, he might be able to earn that much even faster.

    He raised the axe in a grateful salute to Crimson who had already started walking away without saying anything. It went unnoticed, so he¡¯d need to be sure to thank him later.

    Stowing his new axe and shield in his [Inventory], he turned back to keep ¡®working.¡¯ He still had a long way to go.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Rhea glared at the target in front of her as she fumbled with her sling. Using it to hit the target was as easy as blinking with a max [Fling Skill], but the issue was loading it and getting into position with only one hand. The ends needed to be held to properly cradle the stone, so she couldn¡¯t let go of them, but she also needed to reach the pocket that held the stone.

    Her current process involved letting the pocket rest on the lip of the pouch hanging from her waist while she transferred the the stone to it, but it wasn¡¯t a clean process. It wouldn¡¯t be viable in a real fight.

    Some footsteps approached her from behind, and she turned to see Crimson who was surveying her. She¡¯d just gotten into position with the sling, so she demonstrated her accuracy for him, and hit the target in the center once more.

    He watched her throw a few more stones, then she said, ¡°I don¡¯t think this is going to work. I need two hands to use the sling properly, and while I could practice using it with one hand and eventually get good at it, I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s worth the time or effort to do so.¡±

    He nodded, then said, ¡°Do you have to use a sling to activate the [Skill]? Could you activate it while throwing the stones instead?¡±

    Rhea considered it, then scooped another stone from her pouch and focused on it. It wasn¡¯t natural, [Fling] wasn¡¯t meant for throwing, but after a minute of focus, she was able to force it to activate and she threw the stone. Her accuracy was terrible, but it had activated.

    She turned back to him, ¡°I can, but it¡¯s not very effective.¡±

    ¡°Then try evolving [Fling] into a [Throw Skill] if you don¡¯t think training with the sling is worth your time. It¡¯s up to you.¡±

    He turned and left after that, but it didn¡¯t take her long to make the decision that she¡¯d rather have [Throw] than [Fling], so she got back to work.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Crimson was back at Talis¡¯ booth the next day. He¡¯d done a good job with the weapon repairs, so he was having the shorter man repair his sword from the dungeon run he¡¯d done yesterday after checking in on his party members.

    His other purpose was to sell some drops through him. Talis was only taking [Skill Stones] to sell since he wouldn¡¯t be able to make any margin on common or uncommon drops. Crimson could¡¯ve tried selling boss drops to him, but he lacked a buyer for them, so they just kept to [Skill Stones].

    Today, he had three [Weak Presence Skill Stones] to sell. It was a subtle [Skill], but a good one with room to grow, so Talis had offered to sell them for 250 Royals each. The guild had offered him 122 Royals each, so even with the 20% split they were doing, it was a great profit. Crimson would never say no to an easy 78 extra Royals.

    He¡¯d even offered a 30% split this time. As far as he was concerned, Talis was a rogue element that needed bribing to keep in check, so he was willing to lose a bit more money to keep him honest.

    Talis had declined with the same reason.

    Crimson said, ¡°Well, if you¡¯re sure, then we can keep it at 20%.¡±

    Revealing knowledge could be dangerous, but he figured that Talis assumed he already knew, so he said, ¡°I¡¯m aware of your [Rizvim], and I know how hard it is to fight an emotional manipulation one like that, so let me know if you need extra to appease the feeling.¡±

    Talis stared him down, considering him for a long time before eventually saying, ¡°It¡­doesn¡¯t work like that. My greed makes me want to get things, get money, but once I have it I lose all interest in it. It doesn¡¯t matter how much or how little I get, I lose interest.¡±

    ¡°As far as I¡¯m concerned,¡± he continued, ¡°just selling these [Skill Stones] will scratch the itch for me. I could take a 0% split and feel just as emotionally satisfied. I won¡¯t do that of course, emotional satisfaction doesn¡¯t pay for guild fees, but you don¡¯t need to worry about me turning on you like that. Maybe it would¡¯ve been an issue a few years ago, but not anymore.¡±

    Crimson found himself fascinated, and asked, ¡°Is there anything else you can tell me about how it works?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Talis said while tilting his head, ¡°It makes my [Racial Skills] stronger.¡±

    ¡°Are you willing to share those with me?¡±

    He shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. It means very little if you know. Rhea probably told you I¡¯m a Chimera, but I¡¯m a Favored one. I got a [Skill] from both my mom and dad. My dwarf [Skill] lets me understand the condition of objects I touch. My [Rizvim] strengthens it so that I can also get an idea of how much something is worth. It¡¯s not perfect, but I get a general sense of what most people would be willing to spend.¡±

    Crimson blinked twice, then nodded. That explained why Talis was able to immediately price items he had handed over to sell. It wasn¡¯t like there was a market price on [Skill Stones], but his ability still gave him an accurate enough sense of the price to make Crimson think there was an MSRP without questioning it.

    ¡°For the second one,¡± Talis continued, ¡°my leprechaun [Skill] is called [Avarice], and it lets me inspire greed in others. My Rizvim makes the feeling even more potent.¡±

    ¡°Are you using it on me right now?¡±

    ¡°Always.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything?¡±

    ¡°Your WIL must be higher than my CHA. If it isn¡¯t, then you¡¯re just not very good at noticing your own feelings. Its a subtle feeling, what makes it potent is the fact that it¡¯s hard to ignore. You¡¯d have to be emotionally braindead to not notice, but it¡¯s possible.¡±

    Crimson nodded, intrigued, then glanced up and noticed the time, ¡°I¡¯ve got to go, but I¡¯ll be back tomorrow.¡±

    Talis nodded and waved him off. He had more grinding in the dungeon to do.

 Chapter 58: Blinding of Truth

    Chapter 58: Blinding of Truth

    Crimson only had a moment to be grateful that he had finally finished mapping out the secret passages before being kidnapped by Lars. Kidnapping was definitely the word to use, as he had been literally dragged off by the back of his shirt by the bear-kin.

    He couldn¡¯t fully blame Lars, he had been the one trying to run out of the guild to finally celebrate being done with the task that had been eating up all his time, but as he dangled helplessly from Lars grip, the best way to describe what he was feeling was¡­ Well, it was the same kind of relaxed indifference he saw in kittens being carried by their mothers.

    He was just content to go along with the kidnapping.

    After being summarily dropped into a chair, he tilted his head as far back as possible to look Lars in the eyes, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been summoned to the palace. I¡¯m supposed to escort you.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that beneath a Guild Master?

    ¡°Not today. I¡¯ve been summoned too.¡±

    ¡°Am I supposed to bring anyone else?¡±

    ¡°Verity.¡±

    Speaking of her, Emma led her over to where they¡¯ve been conversing from the training grounds out back. It had been a bit since they talked, so Crimson waved at Emma with a friendly smile. She flashed him a quick grin and said, ¡°I brought her as you asked, Guild Master.¡±

    Lars grunted and sent her away. He then gestured for them to follow him, and he led them to the dark short building on the other side of the fountain from the temple. It had purple lines full of [Mana]. A year ago, Crimson had attempted to determine what those purple lines were doing, and had failed utterly. He hadn¡¯t even been able to determine the [Affinities] present in the lines.

    Brushing up against them, he still wasn¡¯t able to learn much, but it was a marked improvement from his first attempt. At least he could tell that the main [Affinity] present in the lines was pure [Mana], though there were undercurrents of [Holy], [Purity], and, oddly, [Corruption]. That information only left him a bit more confused about the purpose of the lines, but an informed guess led him to believe that it was likely an enchantment to protect the building.

    He did notice something new about it that he hadn¡¯t last year though. Despite their best efforts to match them, the dark stone was actually a different type from the other dark stone buildings in Falst. Half the buildings in town were made from wood, while the other half was made of dark stone.

    The only reason he could notice that the stone used in this building was different from the others was his higher PER. It allowed him to notice the fact that the color wasn¡¯t exactly the same, and there were minute striations in this building that weren¡¯t present in the others.

    The king had said that the gods had given them this city, so maybe this was a building built after moving in? If so, then the purpose would be to disguise that it was built later.

    It was an odd detail that lacked a proper explanation, and he didn¡¯t get the time he wanted to ponder it as they were led into the building.

    Crimson and Verity exchanged glances as they felt a dozen or so eyes boring into them. He could just see the glint of arrowheads in the slits in the walls and ceiling of the hallway, pointing at them in the head and the heart.

    It was Crimson¡¯s second time coming this way, and the sense of discomfort he¡¯d felt the first time was only stronger this time.

    Lars, like Damus had been, seemed un-petered by the arrows and led them to a door. He conducted the same procedure of talking to someone through a slit in the door, and they all had to show IDs.

    In the center of the room was a small shack, a familiar door frame was set into it, like the ones Crimson was used to seeing in the secret passages, and an older man exited from it holding a [Mana] key, which he used to unlock the door for them.

    After crossing the bridge, while steadying Verity against the wind, they entered the castle and were led to a room deeper in. It was a conference room, though that probably wasn¡¯t the name the people of this world would give it. There wasn¡¯t a chair at the head of the table, but a few feet beyond it was a raised dais with a throne.

    The king was sitting in the throne clutching his head. He seemed profoundly exhausted by everything. One of the reasons why was readily apparent, as a thin man with brown hair and blue eyes who looked a lot like the king was lightly tied to a chair in the first seat at the table to the throne¡¯s right. Opposing the thin man was Damus, but he was chained up instead of just tied up.

    High Priestess Rei, Rhinese, and Richard were also present, but not all of them were sitting. Rei was next to her husband, and seemed to be there to keep him in check, and Richard was standing next to the king and staring down Damus.

    A chair, much larger than the others, had been prepared for Lars and he settled into it. Crimson and Verity settled in chairs next to him after being beckoned to do so.

    After a moment of quiet, the king raised his head and looked around the room. He said, ¡°It¡¯s time to hear the report on the events of the disaster last month. Those who are here are either involved or important enough to need to know these results. I expect that none of the things we talk about today leave this room. Richard.¡±

    Richard bowed and stepped forward, ¡°The Former Priest, Damus, is the primary offender in causing the riots as a result of interfering with a dangerous artifact that had been hidden in a vault under Falst. He stole an artifact from the Temple, and used that artifact to open that vault. Additionally, he has repeatedly engaged in acts that ought to have violated his oaths as a devotee of the God of Truth.¡±

    He took a breath, ¡°It appears that Damus had outside help, some form of outer god or the like, as all over his [Blessing] were things to hide his actions from the God of Truth. [Titles], a [Skill], and his [Condition] all had effects to hide his profanity. We can¡¯t get any answers out of him as his mind is still gone, but there can be no other explanation than outside help to achieve this.¡±

    He continued, ¡°We¡¯ve traced the odd behavior back as far as we can, and have determined that he had been engaging in this contact for approximately a year, with the first occurrence of problematic behavior occurring a short time before last year¡¯s tournament. His behavior was largely dismissed with the understanding that if he stepped over the line the God of Truth would punish him for it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s common for there to be a medium when an outer god is involved,¡± cut in Rei, ¡°but we haven¡¯t been able to track down any suspicious individuals tied to my husband that would have allowed him to make contact. It¡¯s very likely that whoever that individual is, they¡¯re a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir who was led to him. They probably made a deal and left quickly to avoid being tied to his actions, so its unlikely that he was receiving instructions regularly. It¡¯s also possible that the full instructions are in the coded notes that we took from my husband¡¯s office, but we still have yet to decipher their meaning.¡±

    Richard waited for a short moment after she fell silent, then said, ¡°We don¡¯t have any other information to add on this Rak¡¯a¡¯niir, and we expect that we won¡¯t be able to again until this person pulls this stunt with someone else.¡±

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    He said, ¡°Going back to Damus, his behavior was typically erratic, but a consistent behavior is that he took advantage of the blinding of the God of Truth to engage in market manipulation. He used his position to drive up demand for specific drops, secured unfairly advantageous deals with lies, and most notably used his position to steal a [Holy Crystal] from Miss Verity.¡±

    He gestured at Verity, seeming to expect her to say something, so she said, ¡°Why is this ¡®notable?'' It seems consistent with everything else he¡¯d done.¡±

    Richard nodded, ¡°It¡¯s notable because this harassment forced him to take more extreme actions than usual. Most of the prior market manipulation he¡¯d engaged in in the past could possibly have still been done without violating his oaths, though they would¡¯ve been very close to breaking them, but he had to be more overt than usual to steal from you.¡±

    He said, ¡°The thing that was the biggest giveaway was the fact that he¡¯d need a collaborator to falsify the transaction records. We tracked down and questioned the individual in question, but it appears that Damus had tricked him into helping. He had verbally relayed the contents of the purchase receipt to the recorder, and as he did so he lied about the contents. This is, of course, where he messed up, as this left a trail for us to investigate.¡±

    He continued, ¡°Near as we can put together, it seems he was trying to prevent his handwriting from being present in the book, but he wasn¡¯t able to dispose of the original purchase receipt, which is how we determined what happened.¡±

    Crimson tilted his head, why was this incident so important? It was negligible in comparison to the menorah incident. It was probably only worth a brief mention, not an in depth explanation.

    Richard spotted his expression and asked, ¡°Yes? It seems you have a question.¡±

    Crimson ventured to ask, ¡°Why focus so much on this incident? This mattered a lot to Verity and our party, but it doesn¡¯t seem worth the attention of this group.¡±

    Richard nodded, ¡°Yes, your point is valid, but by investigating this, we found a secret room in the dungeon.¡±

    Found a secret room in the dungeon was a turn of phrase meaning something similar to ¡®falling down the rabbit hole.¡¯ It was an annoying one for Crimson, as he¡¯d taken it literally more than once.

    ¡°Damus had been reckless, but he¡¯d used High Priestess Rei¡¯s caution against her. She started taking over tasks that should¡¯ve belonged to him, and in doing so, he was able to bait her into being away from her office to search the place, and in the process stole the artifact. High Priestess Rei informed us that Miss. Verity caught him in the act, but wasn¡¯t able to prevent the theft, and reported it to her as soon as possible. However, our investigation determined that he had made several attempts before succeeding, and the time Miss. Verity caught him was the successful one.¡±

    Crimson rubbed his hands together, processing that information. This had all been happening right under his nose, and he¡¯d never noticed anything. Granted, he¡¯d been in Lupaken for this particular incident, but in retrospect, Damus¡¯ actions were far too strange for a devotee of the God of Truth.

    In his own defense, when he¡¯d first met Damus he hadn¡¯t understood enough about the religion of this world to realize how profoundly against the logic of the world for him to be doing what he¡¯d done.

    Richard allowed a moment of silence, checking for other comments or questions, then continued, ¡°After the theft, it took Damus a fair amount of time to actually find the vault. He confined himself to the secret passages, and likely wandered for some time before finding and opening it. We have mapped those passages with the help of that young man there,¡± he gestured at Crimson, ¡°and believe that to be a feasible conclusion.¡±

    Crimson chimed in, ¡°The vault has completely sealed itself. I couldn¡¯t find any way to open it when we investigated. So we don¡¯t know if there¡¯s any other objects of danger or value in there.¡±

    Richard nodded, then said, ¡°There is something else strange about the incident though. The first person to be affected by the menorah was His Highness, Prince Kaine. He abruptly set his study on fire, then escaped into the city where he burned three more buildings before being caught.¡±

    The king spoke with a low voice, ¡°And you¡¯re certain that Kaine was the first? There wasn¡¯t anyone else affected at the same time?¡±

    ¡°That is¡­well, Your Majesty, Prince Kaine was the first to start burning things and behaving violently in Falst, but it appears that others were affected earlier in the day. Many reported husbands, brothers, daughters, or wives as behaving strangely during the day. Prince Kaine was under the weather prior to his violence, so it is likely that we misunderstood his condition.¡±

    Lars grunted and pointed at Crimson, ¡°This one suffered from the rampage too. He and his party were attacked while exploring the [Goblin Manor] by a mob. We believe this mob to have been controlled by the same phenomenon.¡±

    ¡°They acted differently from the ones in the city though,¡± Verity said, ¡°they didn¡¯t try to burn us, and they were able to carry on a conversation with us.¡±

    ¡°To clarify,¡± Crimson said, jumping in, ¡°Only one of them could talk with us. The others were completely silent, and aside from being under the obvious control of the one who could talk, they behaved the same as those we saw in the city.¡±

    ¡°Anything else stand out to you from this group?¡± Asked Richard.

    Crimson tilted his head for a second, then said, ¡°The group was made up of tournament participants who despised me. The one in charge was one of the finalists from the Under 10 category, one I personally fought, but he didn¡¯t fight the same way when he confronted me.¡±

    Crimson thought about it for a moment, then just decided to share the information, as it would be important, ¡°I had a [Skill] at the time called [Eyes of Will]. It allowed me to get a glimpse of what people were feeling when we made eye contact. When I made eye contact with the ringleader, it seemed like he was being directly controlled by something else. I don¡¯t know what, but the only thing I can think of is that the menorah is sentient.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re talking about the [Skill] like its gone.¡± Noted Lars.

    ¡°I technically still have it, but I can¡¯t use it anymore. My [Bloodline] affected it in a strange way, changing it into another [Skill] - [Aura of Will] - that I don¡¯t know how to use.¡±

    ¡°Is that why your eyes are yellow now?¡± Asked Rei.

    Crimson nodded.

    ¡°When did the change occur? Can you tell us what the rioters were feeling?¡± Asked Richard.

    ¡°The [Skill] changed not long after the initial attack. I couldn¡¯t tell you what the people in Falst were feeling, but Verity might.¡±

    Everyone turned to her, and she said, ¡°Their Auras were completely dominated by Fear and Anger, to an unnatural extent, but that¡¯s all I can tell you.¡±

    Some other theories were thrown around, but none of them were conclusive. There were two things that were clear, Damus was the one who caused the problem, and the Menorah was the sources of the mania. Any other information was conjecture. It was an informative and unhelpful meeting.

    At the end, the King spoke, ¡°Now I have two other items of business to address. The first is to rebuke my daughter, Rhinese, for discovering this ¡®Astral Library¡¯ in the castle, then not reporting it. In light of this lapse in judgement, we would typically place her on probation, but the circumstances being what they are, well, that brings me to the next item. As a result of this incident, Kaine has failed the Regent Royalty test by succumbing to the evil artifact that controlled him. Rhinese, you will be officially announced as the Regent Princess next week.¡±

    She looked completely stunned by the announcement, and immediately argued, ¡°Father, I don¡¯t believe its fair to fail Kaine for this. Many others were controlled, there¡¯s no reason to-¡°

    ¡°Rhinese, you did not succumb to the artifact, yes?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. I managed to fight it off, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Kaine failed. You did not. If everyone under level 10 had been affected, then your case would be valid, but he is Lv.10, and you are Lv.6. In his weakness, he hurt the people he was supposed to protect, and it is for that reason that he has failed.¡±

    Rhinese lowered her head, and for the first time, Kaine said in a low and slow voice, like he was zoned out, ¡°I accept your decision, Your Majesty. I believe this to be wise.¡±

    ¡°But brother!¡± Rhinese turned to him, but he didn¡¯t respond to her, or even look at her.

    Crimson knew how close they were from how she had talked about him, so seeing this was a bit heartbreaking.

    ¡°That is all the items of business for this meeting. You are all dismissed.¡± The king said.

    Crimson and Verity stood and bowed to him, and turned to follow Lars but Rhinese called out, ¡°Crimson, a moment please.¡±

    He turned back to her, and she approached him and said, ¡°Two things. I¡¯ve got a letter for you, and I¡¯ve got a favor to ask.¡±

    He tilted his head in confusion, then said, ¡°A letter¡­for me? From you?¡±

    She shook her head, ¡°Oddly enough, it¡¯s from Elegance, the Am¡¯zavac who visited for the Tournament. She left a few weeks back, but it came up that we knew each other, so she left a letter with me for you.¡±

    Why would that Dark Elf write him a letter? Strange¡­

    Rhinese continued, ¡°As for the favor, could I hire you to consult with my younger sister? She needs her [Mana] awakened, and I want her to get as much help as possible¡­¡±

    Crimson nodded without any resistance, ¡°Just send for me when you find a good time for me to come over.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said with a smile, ¡°please wait here for a moment. I¡¯ll go grab the letter.¡±

    She returned a few minutes later, and Crimson slid the letter into his [Blessing] and left with Verity after shooting another long glance at Damus, who was now being surrounded by guards and hauled away. Kaine only had one person leading him.

    Crimson and Verity returned to the Guild with plenty to think about. It was still early, but it felt like the day should¡¯ve already ended.

 Chapter 59: Battling Stagnation

    Chapter 59: Battling Stagnation

    Crimson, using a falchion from his collection this time, parried the first of Mulgis¡¯ tails, knocking it way out behind him, and in the same smooth motion, turned and stepped, parrying the second tail so it slammed into the first tail, causing them to become stuck by impalement.

    His back was to Mulgis, but that wasn¡¯t a problem as the pain of skewering his own tail had caused him to flinch, allowing Crimson to turn and slip his falchion under Mulgis¡¯ right armpit and sever a tendon in the arm, rendering it useless.

    Mulgis attempted to back away but Crimson stepped forward and used a faint toward the boss¡¯ legs to open it up for him to disable the other arm in the same way.

    Arms and tails out of commission, Mulgis was practically helpless to Crimson, unable to stop the sword from cutting into its throat in three quick moves that carefully avoided hitting the spine.

    He¡¯d learned that the hard way. Trying to behead the boss would take more durability than he wanted. As is, he already sacrificed a point of durability each parry of the tails, and he couldn¡¯t afford to lose it any more quickly.

    It was better than it had been at first. Mulgis¡¯ tails had a significant amount of force behind them, and had shredded through durability like Crimson¡¯s swords were made out of balsa. Practice had allowed him to be more efficient in his parrying, but he still wasn¡¯t skilled enough to completely remove the durability loss.

    He inspected Mulgis as the boss faded away. He had fought the boss more than a hundred times, and had long since stopped getting [Skill Levels] from it. He wasn¡¯t progressing anymore, and it was driving him insane. Until he had enough money to outfit the party, Mulgis was the most efficient source of income, but for any other reason than money, this fight was a waste of time.

    His initial irritation stemmed from the revelations of earlier that day. Getting the timeline of events on the Damus incident had been helpful, but he¡¯d been left with more questions. One of his most pressing questions, was: ¡®is that the only artifact in that vault?¡¯

    If it was, problem solved, they could all move on, but on the off chance that it wasn¡¯t, then that meant this could happen again. Maybe the next time would be worse, but there was no way to be sure.

    The fact that a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir had been brought up during the meeting was a bit disturbing.

    Crimson himself was a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir, though only technically. His mind and his memories were from another world, but his body was from this one. When he¡¯d done research into them, he¡¯d found that most Rak¡¯a¡¯niir were harmless. Since they weren¡¯t born here, they couldn¡¯t receive a [Blessing of the Gods], and weren¡¯t subject to the same rules for magic.

    They weren¡¯t a very common occurrence, but they did happen, and they were well documented as a phenomenon. The two main ways that a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir ended up here were first: that they were involved in a magical accident of some kind, and second: that they were brought here by a god, like Crimson.

    So that meant that the theories about a rogue god sending a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir to cause trouble made sense. Only gods could interfere with gods, so for Damus to be hidden from the sight of the God of Truth¡­

    He was in agreement with the theory that it was a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir.

    The fact that this Rak¡¯a¡¯niir hadn¡¯t left any trace of his or her influence was a great cause of concern. If one was running around causing mischief, then there was no telling what other things he might¡¯ve do-

    Crimson froze, then dropped to the ground cross legged.

    He had a thought, no, not even a thought, the shade of a thought, and he needed to grab it. What had triggered this shade? He¡¯d been thinking about other incidents. Hadn¡¯t he been involved in another major incident recently? Hadn¡¯t he recently experienced an unprecedented disaster in Lupaken? What if¡­

    What if that had also been the mischief of a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir?

    It had seemed strange to everyone that the second dungeon had gone completely unnoticed, and even the first was only noticed mere hours from when it descended. Accusations, questions, confusion, and more had flown around as he listened. There had been an explanation, but it was an unsatisfactory one.

    Even the ones who had accepted the explanation seemed reluctant to do so.

    He didn¡¯t have any proof at all, but¡­if that was the case, then it did explain a lot, but what could he even do? At the very least¡­he¡¯d send a letter to Alois. He¡¯d probably like to know how Rhea¡¯s doing anyway, so he could see if she wanted to write a letter to him too, and send them all in one envelope. The idea was also appealing because it would save money.

    Course set, he stood once more and grabbed the boss¡¯ drops. He¡¯d gotten very lucky this time, and [Darkvision] had dropped. He exchanged it with a [Ritual] drop that was sitting in his [Inventory], then scooped up the pair of tailbones and walked back to the beginning of the dungeon.

    He had a backpack next to the entrance of the room, and it was full of uncommon drops and the [Ritual] drops that he couldn¡¯t fit in his [Inventory]. It was his eleventh time killing the boss today, and the tailbones weren¡¯t small, so the pack filled quickly.

    Unfortunately, they had also started selling for a bit less than in the past, so even Mulgis¡¯ usefulness as a money farm had decreased.

    He probably had enough space for a few more things, and the time to kill the boss one more time before the last wagon of the day went back.

    He¡¯d probably need to apologize to Verity when he got back though. He¡¯d abandoned her to rush off to the dungeon, leaving her to explain the situation to their party members. Crimson was more than willing to overlook the king¡¯s request that the discussion remained secret to tell Rhea and Fade, and Verity had agreed to explain everything to them, though she¡¯d asked him to lend her one of his research journals for the explanation.

    It might be for the best if he also revealed that he was a Rak¡¯a¡¯niir¡­ Well, maybe. There wasn¡¯t really a reason to keep it secret, but it also felt very odd to reveal. He¡¯d need to think on that decision once more.

    Tossing the tailbone he hadn¡¯t put away between his hands, he approached a plinth that had appeared outside the boss room. Typically, a boss respawned every few days or so, but it was possible to revive them early by using up one of the boss¡¯ drops. When he set the tailbone in a slot on the plinth, the entire structure disappeared, and he could sense a great and violent shift of [Mana] that calmed after a few seconds.

    Before he went in, he pulled out and inspected the letter from Elegance. He still hadn¡¯t opened it, and he wasn¡¯t sure what was stopping him. There was a sense of impending¡­something. Doom wasn¡¯t the right word, but looking at it made him feel like there was a large shadow in the distance, and he hadn¡¯t established whether it was friend or foe.

    Whatever was in this letter, he needed to resolve his other concerns first. It wouldn¡¯t be good to put off forever, so he¡¯d read it after sending the letter to Alois. He¡¯d send his other feelings of frustration away with that letter so he could address his other concerns.

    He shoved it back into his [Inventory], sighed, then approached Mulgis¡¯ boss room. Time for another monotonous fight.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Fade absentmindedly rolled a bone from dinner around between his teeth, stewing over what Verity had told him and Rhea about while they all ate in the room.

    He spoke around the bone, ¡°¡­I thought Rak¡¯a¡¯niir were weaker than children? The gods don¡¯t [Bless] them, so there¡¯s no way for them to level up or get [Skills]. How could one cause trouble?¡±

    Verity shrugged, ¡°I borrowed Crimson¡¯s research notes on Rak¡¯a¡¯niir,¡± she held up a well worn journal, then flipped to a page in the middle, ¡°and he notes that while Rak¡¯a¡¯niir can¡¯t receive the [Blessing of the Gods], if they were brought here by another god, then there¡¯s a chance that they might have some other power. Forbidden arts like mind reading and mental manipulation have been mentioned as powers some Rak¡¯a¡¯niir have had.¡±

    ¡°Could there even be one that could hide a [Priest] devotee from their god?¡±

    Verity shrugged, ¡°I guess its possible, but there¡¯s no way for us to know. I don¡¯t know enough, and Crimson¡¯s research didn¡¯t focus much on the possible powers they might have.¡±

    Fade started to use the sharp side of the bone to clean his teeth, considering.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    Eventually, Rhea cut in, and said, ¡°It¡¯s not like we can do anything about it, so why not move on?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, there¡¯s nothing we can do right now,¡± Verity said, ¡°but we should keep our eyes peeled for someone like that as we travel.¡±

    Fade asked, ¡°Would we even be able to tell?¡±

    ¡°Crimson might.¡±

    Rhea and Fade nodded at that. He was such a ball of oddness, it would be a minor thing compared to everything else if he could recognize Rak¡¯a¡¯niir on sight.

    ¡°Well,¡± Fade said, ¡°I suppose we should move on. Though, it feels weird to meet like this without Crimson, so I guess we shouldn¡¯t report in.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Rhea said, ¡°I¡¯ve got business to take care of if we¡¯re done.¡±

    She¡¯d been throwing stones every chance she got, and her accuracy had sharply improved abruptly. It seemed she wanted to become even more accurate. Fade had been amazed with how quick her growth was, and he¡¯d seen Crimson praise her more than once for her progress.

    Crimson had shown Fade the list of [Skills] he¡¯d been working over for Rhea to get for her [Class], and he had seemed really stressed over whether those [Skills] were right for what she wanted to do. He had spent time tweaking the list every night, and still hadn¡¯t given it to Rhea, so the only [Skill] she had to work on right now was [Throwing]¡­ and maybe [Darkvision].

    Fade had learned all the [Skills] on the list Crimson had given him, and was just working on grinding them up to Lv.10, as instructed. His [Blessing] currently looked like this:

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    -Name: Fade

    -Race: Half (Uluu/Human) -Age: 17

    -Affiliation: [Adventurer¡¯s Guild: Gold]

    -Active Title: [Fiend][Raashm][Blessings of Trans''Du''Niir]

    -Titles: Battle-monger, Devil, Cursed, Fiend

    -Health (HP): 100/100 Regen/s: 2.7

    -Magic (MP): 100/100 Regen/s: 1.0

    -Condition:

    -[Classes]:

    -Class: [None] 0/0

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -Sub-Class: [Locked]

    -[Stats]:

    Strength (STR): 13 Agility (AGI): 11

    Constitution (CON): 22Vitality (VIT): 27

    Intelligence (INT): 10 Wisdom (WIS): 10

    Charisma (CHA): 19Willpower (WIL): 16

    Perception (PER): 14Luck (LUC): 20

    -[Skills]:

    -[Meditation] 8/10, [Expression Control] 6/10, [Emotion Resistance] 7/10,[Robust] 6/10, [Attract] 9/10, [Roar] 10/10, [Darkvision] 2/10, [Improved Recovery] 4/10, [Ailment Resistance] 2/10, [Demanding Presence] 5/10

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    For his year of desperately running around become a hero, he only had three [Skills] for it. [Meditation], [Expression Control], and [Emotion Resistance] were the only ones that survived when he purged his [Class]. They were the only [Skills] he had learned through his own efforts. Looking at the list now, he could only see it as pathetic.

    Just with his own efforts, he had learned 5 new [Skills] in less than a month, with two others from [Skill Stones]. Feeling proud of himself wasn¡¯t a common feeling for him, but every time he looked at his [Skills] he would feel it until it vanished into rage.

    His abysmally low LUC stat would probably still bother him no matter how much time passed, but after a year of seeing it, it no longer made him angry.

    In less than a week, he¡¯d probably be ready to get his [Class].

    The girls had long since left while he was deep in thought, so he shifted to sit cross-legged and breathed deeply. [Meditation] was one of the means he had to control himself. It was a twice daily ritual for him to meditate, reasserting control over himself. Some days were worse and he had to meditate an extra time, but they weren¡¯t too frequent.

    After a bit, he cracked his eyes and spotted that Crimson had slipped into the room. The kid was dead silent when he wanted to be, which was most of the time. Fade frequently didn¡¯t notice him enter or leave rooms, and sometimes forgot about him after a bit of time in the same room without interacting.

    It was a good trait in a scout, so he wouldn¡¯t complain so long as this power wasn¡¯t used for pranks - which it hadn¡¯t been.

    Crimson was staring at the list for Rhea once more, contemplating. He seemed really stressed over guiding her to the [Skills] she wanted and needed.

    Fade decided to cut into his train of thought. It would help him more than brooding over things.

    ¡°So,¡± he called out, feigning a casual tone, ¡°what¡¯s the plan moving forward?¡±

    Crimson didn¡¯t look up from his notes, but said, ¡°Get everyone their [Classes].¡±

    ¡°And after that?¡± He wanted to push Crimson to shift his mind to something else.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a concrete plan, but I do have an inkling of one, so long as I can get everyone on board.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have a problem with that. So long as I get what I want, I¡¯m not too fussed about when and where it happens. So long as I become a hero, that¡¯s all that matters.¡±

    ¡°Rhea and Verity?¡±

    ¡°Verity is even more willing to go along with anything you have to say than I am. Rhea acts indifferent, but she¡¯s also fine with whatever you have planned. I don¡¯t know what she wants or why she wants it, but she¡¯s relying on you like the rest of us. She does hate me though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s random.¡±

    ¡°I thought so too.¡±

    ¡°No, I was talking about you bringing up her hatred of you. The reason she hates you is really clear.¡±

    Fade was shocked to hear Crimson, of all people, claim to understand someone easily.

    ¡°Why then? I¡¯m too stupid to figure it out.¡±

    Crimson looked up from the paper in front of him for the first time, then glanced back at Fade.

    ¡°¡­It would be to your best benefit if I don¡¯t tell you. If you don¡¯t figure it out soon, we¡¯ll probably return to Lupaken eventually, and it will be all too clear.¡±

    Fade suppressed the rush of irritation that he felt, then said, ¡°So, what? You think it matters how I find out?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It matters a lot.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± He nearly growled the word, but managed to restrain his tone and expression just enough to not seem hostile.

    ¡°Because you don¡¯t actually care. Verity has already figured it out, and even I have, for a socially inept as I am. If you truly learn to care about Rhea, then the reason she hates you will become obvious. That reason will probably also vanish when you properly understand her.¡±

    Crimson turned to face him completely, and made solid eye contact, silver and yellow eyes boring into Fade¡¯s purple ones. ¡°Rhea is a person who has been hurt her entire life. If you want to know how, and why, then try to get to know her. She might not like you, but you are a comrade. She can¡¯t avoid speaking to you if you treat her well.¡±

    Fade opened his mouth after a moment, but Crimson cut him off, ¡°To continue answering your question, let me tell you this: when fighting a boss with a Level greater than your by 5, the rewards from that boss are boosted. You get better drop rates, and [Skills] increase faster - up to a point. So, my shadow of a plan is to get everyone to Lv.5, and see if that bonus increases if there¡¯s a 10 level difference.¡±

    He continued, ¡°If there¡¯s a reward for a 10 level difference, then we¡¯ll need to find a place where the boss is either Lv.15 or Lv.20, and keep our levels accordingly low. In other words, Horrakin need to die before we leave Falst.¡±

    It was clear that Crimson didn¡¯t want Fade to talk about Rhea anymore, which explained the abrupt change in topic, but he still found it strange. He was very good at understanding people. What they thought and what they wanted, so being told that he wouldn¡¯t be able to understand one little girl just because he didn¡¯t care enough was baffling.

    He allowed the topic change though, and said, ¡°So, the plan is to get me a [Class], get Rhea hers, and take on the boss? Me tanking, her buffing, Verity healing, and you killing everything? We going to bring Mortimer in on this?¡±

    It was a given to Fade that Mortimer would join. He struggled to keep a party, and in the short time that Fade had known him, had been kicked out of no less than two. It would probably be three by tomorrow.

    Fade waited for an answer, but noticed that Crimson was completely frozen. As he watched, his party leader slowly began to rub his hands together in thought. Something about his casual question had sparked something in his party leader, and it seemed like an important one.

    Eventually, Crimson slowly said, ¡°No¡­we need to kill Horrakin before Rhea gets her [Class]. I would bet three of the swords from my collection that Horrakin will drop a [Skill Stone] that will teach her a buffing [Skill]. If we can find out what that [Skill] is, then it might help me settle on what [Skills] to recommend to her.¡±

    Crimson¡¯s eyes snapped into focus, locking on to Fade¡¯s, and said, ¡°Change of plans. I hate to pass up the money, but I need to spend time focusing on [Skill] grinding. I need to be strong enough to beat Horrakin on my own to guarantee that I can get the drop, and Mulgis isn¡¯t cutting it anymore.¡±

    It was the most lively Fade had seen Crimson in a while, so he grinned, enjoying the happiness radiating from his party leader for as long as he could before it vanished into a sea of rage.

    He ignored the rage, and said, ¡°I need to start carrying my weight anyway. I¡¯ll start taking requests at the Guild and cover the expenses for the room. You don¡¯t eat much, so I can cover food too. Just focus on the goal in front of you, and we¡¯ll all work to see it through.¡±

    Crimson smiled at Fade, to which he asked, ¡°What¡¯s with that smile?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to take you as long as I worried to learn to care about Rhea. You might think you¡¯re helping me, but you¡¯re helping her right now.¡±

    Fade shook his head in amusement. Crimson had a really odd way of seeing the situation, one that seemed like a large stretch. His perspective was frequently odd, even considering hundreds of Royals of profit a week as being just ¡®barely¡¯ breaking even. Seeing this situation as Fade helping Rhea, and not himself, was a strange conclusion that no one in their right mind would reach.

    Still seeming amused, Fade watched as Crimson absently pulled a letter out of his [Inventory] and opened the envelope, but didn¡¯t pull out the actual letter, seeming a little zoned out.

    Curious, he asked, ¡°So what¡¯s with the letter?¡±

    Crimson jumped, then glanced at what he was holding and swore. He jammed it viciously back into the [Inventory], seemed to regret it, and slowly pulled the letter out again.

    He tapped it, and rolled it end-over-end in his hands before eventually sighing and saying, ¡°Well, I suppose my curiosity got the better of me. Guess I¡¯ll just deal with an extra problem on my plate.¡±

    He pulled the letter out of the envelope and read it. He read it twice more with a frown, then passed it to Fade who glanced at the contents. It was an invitation to Al¡¯laivis, the Dark Elf Nation of the Adurnia Republic of Nations. It included details on the dungeons in the area, and mentioned that there would be so

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    To Crimson,

    I was greatly impressed by your performance in the recent tournament. Your fame preceded you, and I was glad to see you exceed every expectation that I had.

    This is a formal invitation from me to your party to come visit Al¡¯laivis in the Adurnia Republic, my hometown. I would be delighted by your presence.

    Features of my hometown include a Lv.15 dungeon, with both a Lv.15 and Lv.20 boss, as well as the Grand Academy.

    Though you may not yet know what you seek, I dare to say that you will find it here.

    Yours truly,

    The Am¡¯zavac who represents Elegance.

    P.S.

    Treasure your most trusted allies. Those who fall short will likely betray you.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    It was a strange letter. Fade didn¡¯t know much of Dark Elves, and even he knew how important Am¡¯zavac were. For one to provide a direct invitation to Crimson was almost mind numbing. The post-script was very strange, out of place, but fascinating.

    He looked back at Crimson, who commented, ¡°I don¡¯t dare reject the invitation of an Am¡¯zavac. Looks like our next destination is set. I don¡¯t see any kind of time frame in the letter, so let¡¯s finish up business here and head there next.¡±

    Fade nodded and handed the letter back. It seemed that Crimson had managed to crush a few roadblocks today. It made him quite happy to see.