Chapter 135:

“I can tell from the look on your face that you have experienced something similar?” Arthur asked, leadingly.Nick paused to think. With a sigh, he concluded there wasn’t much reason to keep this secret, especially since everyone already knew about his involvement in Sashara’s appearance. “Yeah, I received a strange notification the other day. After the goddess descended, I got a normal amount of Exp for something else and then a single one for participating in the . Is that something I should be concerned about?” Normally, he wouldn’t make hasty conclusions, but lately, life had been extremely chaotic.

“Ah, that makes sense.” Was the reply he got. Nick stared, making it clear how little that solved things for him.

Arthur smirked, giving his tired face a surprisingly boyish appearance. “You didn’t really think you had a role in summoning her, did you? I know you aided Marthas in summoning the magma beast in the dungeon; you should recognize just how tiring and how much effort such a feat requires. If you truly wanted to summon a god, you’d need either a profound connection to them—which is likely what she relied on this time, given she possessed the Vicar—or the willingness to sacrifice far more than you could possibly give at this moment.”

Nick nodded, breathing more easily.

“Does that mean that I played basically no role in the ?” He asked, just to make sure.

“Indeed. Well, you were probably the catalyst that grabbed her attention, but ultimately, it was all her doing. She supplied the energy needed for her descent, and the vicar provided the body for her to inhabit. I wouldn’t be surprised if he received some significant benefits, though I’m not sure I would have paid that price… Being possessed by a god often makes people too enthusiastic for my taste.”

A sound from outside the room startled Nick out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Rose enter with a tea set. It was an amusing sight, considering that the young woman appeared far more suited to tending to the fields than serving drinks, but the serious expression she wore told him that she wouldn’t take a joke without offense, so he suppressed his amusement.

“Ah, just some of the preserved citrus juice, Rose,” Arthur said, stopping the woman from pouring milk into his cup. He then turned to Nick and grimaced. “I’m trying to avoid too much dairy. I used to have terrible reactions as a kid, and once I became strong enough to disregard the effects, I made a point to ingest as much as possible. Unfortunately, whenever I’m temporarily weakened, I have to stop lest my stomach rebels.”

Not really sure what to say, Nick nodded and took his own cup. It was hard to reconcile the image of the lightning warrior, the strongest man in Floria, with the elder complaining about indigestion issues.

When he went to sip, he was surprised to discover that he really liked the brew. It was a black tea, which wasn’t very common around these parts, given all the various herbs available, and it felt oddly nostalgic. “This is very good, thank you.”

Rose sniffed as if it were no surprise, before turning around and leaving without another word.

“I repeat myself, but you’ll need to forgive her. She’s quite self-conscious about her humble origins and has spent years refining the skills necessary for a proper lady, even though she isn't suited for it at all. She’s a good kid, just a bit awkward.”

Again, Nick nodded, not particularly interested in the topic. There was a peculiar dynamic between the two, sure, but while he was nosy, he didn’t need to know everything.

Once he finished his tea, Nick placed the cup back in the tray and tried to take back the reins of the conversation, as there was much he still wanted to learn. “So, you think that my path isn’t broken, then?”

Arthur took a moment to answer, savoring the last of his own tea, before finally nodding. “Yes, I’m certain it’s not. I don’t doubt you've gone through significant growth in the last week, which has probably made you much more susceptible to mana channel damage or other esoteric injuries. However, you would know if your path was broken. There would be a terrible feeling of emptiness within you, and you’d be desperate to fill it. I’ve never experienced it myself, but I was told it’s unmistakable.”

Stolen novel; please report.

That didn’t sound like a pleasant time. Also, the bit about leveling up causing issues was very interesting—he might have to ask more about it later. “Well, that’s a weight off my shoulders. As for my second question…what would you say is the most important thing to know if I wanted to get to Prestige?”

At this, Arthur smiled, and Nick got the impression he’d passed a test. “That is an excellent second question. I would have expected you to inquire about the best places to learn magic or even whether I had some powerful grimoires lying around, but it’s good to see that you are thinking long-term. You already seem to possess a considerable amount of power, especially for your age. I’d wager it would take you only a few months under a proper teacher to round out your build and surpass the best of your peers.”

Those were all questions Nick would have liked to know the answer to. Still, if he had learned anything about this new world, it was that people were very cagey about their knowledge of the System. While he would always appreciate expanding his magical arsenal, he had to prioritize.

Seeing that Nick had no follow-up, Arthur began his explanation, “I imagine that at this point, you might already have a decent idea of how to reach Prestige. Level 100 is certainly the most obvious obstacle, and it takes time to reach that point. I don’t know in absolute terms, but among adventurers, only one in two or three hundred may ever reach that level.”

He gestured toward a wall, where Nick saw several metal cards proudly displayed. The furthest one was a wooden card with the letter F carved into it. It looked very old, which clued him into the fact that this was probably Arthur’s first adventurer ID. “As you might have realized, those are all my guild cards. Back when I was a rookie, Floria was quite different, as we had two competing guilds, but the population was only slightly higher…”

He trailed off, gaining a faraway look. Nick waited for a minute before coughing politely. Arthur shook his head and smiled apologetically, “Anyway, as I was saying, only one in hundreds ever reaches level 100. And even that isn't enough to achieve Prestige. The guildmaster when I was starting out was one such man. He had gotten there pretty young, when he was in his forties, but he remained stuck ever since. It was a source of great frustration for him, and eventually, he delved too deeply into the Green Ocean, looking for something to help him cross the boundary. He never returned.”

Nick hummed to show that he was listening. It was interesting to learn that even after reaching the threshold, someone who should possess many resources, like a guildmaster, remained stuck. This only made him happier with his choice of question, as he had no intention of suffering the same fate.

“No one else in town had any idea how to help him, not that he would have accepted assistance from someone he deemed weaker. It was only years later that I learned what he had lacked. When I was passing through Alluria in my twenties, a time when I worked as a caravan guard for many merchants to earn some coin, I met a man named Theodosius. He was a ranger and a mighty good one at that. It wasn’t my first encounter with a Prestige class, but it was the first time I met one who gave me the time of day. We spent many nights guarding the caravan together, and he took me into his confidence after realizing I had some talent of my own.”

Nick sat up in his chair. Like most old people, Arthur seemed to have the unfortunate habit of taking too long to get to the point, but he would endure many “wasted” mornings like this if it meant learning this much.

“I eventually told him the story of my old guildmaster, and it took Theodosius only minutes to realize where his failings had been. The man, a Knight, had reached level 100 through constant battles against monsters, often in the forest. It was very rare for him to duel any man, and I had never seen him take quests to slay beasts that attacked nearby settlements.” Here, Arthur paused, giving Nick a meaningful look that indicated he wanted some kind of response.

Nick took a moment to think. “Fighting monsters in the forest for years, probably decades, gave him access to far more Exp than most people ever get, but he didn't acquire it by engaging in activities directly related to his class. His path probably didn’t break, since battling monsters is still seen as something Knights should do; however, pursuing that solely for the sake of power, without ever assisting the weak and maybe even rejecting such a responsibility…”

Arthur smiled, very pleased. “Indeed. There were other reasons, of course. His skill set was heavily skewed towards adventuring and away from a proper Knight build. More importantly, he hadn't achieved any Feat related to his class. But the main thing that held him back was how he lived his life and how he used his power. Take this as a lesson, young Nicholas: you shouldn’t allow your class to dictate who you are, but you should not be blind to what it says about you. The System assigns people the class they are most suited for, but it is possible to alter it with enough resources. If you are not willing to follow your Path, seek to change it before it’s too late.”

Going back home took Nick considerably more time than it had taken him to reach Arthur’s. Not due to anything physical slowing him down, but because his mind kept going a mile a second, trying to fit all the new information he’d received into his understanding of how the world worked.

Nick had no interest in participating in another dungeon raid anytime soon—not that he expected to come across one either. There was much he needed to study and develop, and his conversation with Arthur had provided him with even more ideas.

If he wanted to avoid the old guildmaster’s fate, he needed to get experience doing Occultist things.