[ Back in the blighted dungeon… ]

Gabriel sat on a pile of defeated rock monsters. The production crew was just on the other side of the bridge, retaking the same scene over again for the hundredth time.

This was a safe place.

Gabriel focused his breathing and summoned his status screen.

[ Name: Gabriel ]

[ HP: 24/24 ]

[ MP: 6/6 ]

[ Class: Warrior/Demon ]

[ Level: 2 (7/30) ]

[ Strength: 10 ]

[ Dexterity: 8 ]

[ Sturdiness: 10 ]

[ Intelligence: 10 ]

[ Souls: 6.15 ]

–

[ Skill Points: 4 ]

"Interesting." Gabriel gazed at his stats. "Because I had both of my Sigils level up, I earned four skill points. But how should I spend them?"

Given that one of his Sigils was a Warrior Sigil, one of his most important stats would surely be Strength. It felt like the only logical thing.

Strength is for warriors. Dexterity is for marksmen. Intelligence is for mages. Sturdiness is for increasing HP.

However, he had a unique Demon Sigil. While the other three Sigils were easy to figure out, he had no idea about this one.

"Souls… It seems like the more powerful enemies I defeat, the more I get. Still, I have no idea what it might do."

There was something he could check. Black Dynamite told him about the [ Abilities ] screen, that bore all the powers he earned by leveling up his Sigils. If he could check that, it might give him an idea about what to increase.

"Abilities!" Gabriel ordered, and as expected, a list appeared before him.

[ Warrior Sigil ]

[ "Fighting Spirit"; "True Grit" ]

–

[ Demon Sigil ]

[ "Soul Absorption"; "Elevated Sense", "Power-Key Reading" ]

Gabriel hovered his finger over the abilities. To his surprise, this brought up descriptions of what these abilities do.

Fighting Spirit was a level one warrior passive. It did nothing more than raise his stamina, but that allowed him to do difficult actions without running out of breath, which was good.

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True Grit is what he earned for leveling up. This was an ability he could subconsciously activate to drain his stamina for extra damage resistance.

It would make him run out of breath way quicker, but also defend him from huge attacks. Currently, it made physical attacks deal 5% less damage.

"Five percent looks pretty small. However, it says this ability becomes more powerful as I evolve my Sigil. And even now, this could give me an edge in an even fight. I have to lower my pride and use this ability, even if it looks useless."

Next came the Demon Sigil.

Soul Absorption did exactly what it said. This was a passive ability that allowed Gabriel to collect the souls of his defeated enemies.

Though it did not say what those were good for, the next ability gave him a good hint.

Elevated Sense was another unique Demon Sigil passive, that enhanced Gabriel's perception based on how many souls he had.

"I see. This is why I could sense the rock monster even while it was hiding."

This ability opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Hearing, smells, his ability to perceive the world… If Gabriel could enhance these abilities without a limit, he could dodge every attack even before it could happen.

"I need my senses to be inhuman to fight Suzuki. He was strong enough already, but now that he has most likely surpassed me in levels…"

Gabriel gritted his teeth.

Suzuki had most likely surpassed him in levels. He had no way of keeping up with him, thanks to earning much less experience.

If he wanted to defeat that monster, he needed to use his limited resources as smartly as he could. He needed to bring out the most of whatever little he had.

There was still an ability that he earned as a level two Demon Sigil passive.

The description for Power-Key Reading was rather mysterious.

"Allows an understanding of Power-Keys."

Gabriel was left confused by this ability. At first, he thought that might mean a basic understanding of a certain language, but it looked deeper than that. Sadly, its cryptic description did not tell much.

He had to put it aside for now and focus on what was important: Defeating Suzuki.

Not wasting any more time, he opened his status screen again and gazed at the four possibilities.

Strength.

Dexterity.

Sturdiness.

Intelligence.

All four of his attributes were on an equal level, not counting Dexterity, which was his only stat weaker than 10.

As a Warrior, his abilities relied on Strength and Sturdiness. He needed these two stats to deal the most amount of damage and tank the most amount of attacks.

The choice was obvious.

Gabriel raised his hand and moved it to his attributes.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

The same noise rang out four times as he placed all his skill points into…

Dexterity and Intelligence?!

This was not a mistake on Gabriel's part. He chose to level up these two attributes willingly.

"Just as Vi said back in the heroes' guild, I will always be weaker than the other heroes. Suzuki will always be stronger, he will always deal more damage and tank more of my attacks."

"However, what Vi said to be a curse is actually a blessing in disguise. The Demon Sigil makes me more aware of my surroundings, it makes my perception better, and in return, I can dodge better and attack more precisely."

Dexterity. It raises stamina and furthers the user's speed.

Intelligence. Though mainly used for casting spells, it makes the user think faster and react better.

Gabriel was satisfied with his new stats. What he did was risky, and some might even say it was downright stupid, but he was confident about his decision.

He still had the technique and skills to be an amazing duelist. With a rapier in hand, he was a dangerous opponent who knew how to defend himself and deal some serious damage.

Unbeknownst to him, his Sigils were aware of his decision. They evolved based on the user's actions and soul, and what Gabriel displayed with his latter decision drastically changed which evolutionary path his Sigils will take…

[ Name: Gabriel ]

[ HP: 24/24 ]

[ MP: 8/8 ]

[ Class: Warrior/Demon ]

[ Level: 2 (7/30) ]

[ Strength: 10 ]

[ Dexterity: 11 ]

[ Sturdiness: 10 ]

[ Intelligence: 11 ]

[ Souls: 6.15 ]

Naomi approached Gabriel with a rather smug smile. He had an ice cream in his hand that looked exactly like a "chibi" version of Black Dynamite.

"Guess what, Gabriel!" Naomi proudly puffed out his chest.

"Did you take a pee?"

"No, even better! I got Black Dynamite, yes, the real Black Dynamite to invite me over! Your boy is gonna' go on a date!" He said and did a hip thrust in the air.

Gabriel was rather unenthusiastic about his achievement. Still, he decided to humor him.

"How does that benefit us in any way?"

"Don't you see? We got a national celebrity as our sugar mommy! Though, I'm still unsure about one thing… She said some other word instead of date, but I did not understand it. She said something like… She wants to "peg" me? Hah, I'm sure she just misspelled pet, as in petting me like a dog!"

Gabriel gazed at him with a blank expression. Slowly, he patted Naomi's back.

"Good luck."

"Thank you! Now, I think we should go and clear the rest of the dungeon." Naomi raised his fist enthusiastically. "Don't just stand around, Gabriel! I got a date I don't wanna' miss!"