For a moment, I wondered if he was confident that I was the Hero. If not, I might have the chance to convince him otherwise … but to what alternative, I had no idea, as I certainly wasn't expecting my new ability to betray me.

As I examined his face, I could see that he was confident in his declaration. "A notification?" I asked.

"I-it says I have joined the heroic party…" he said, too shocked to deny the declaration.

I shrugged. "Well, let me start by apologizing," I said, and he looked shocked. "I had no idea that would happen."

"Y-you mean, you don't want me," he said, suddenly reminding me of a little kid who had just learned that Santa wasn't real. Which meant, he knew enough to understand the implications of what exactly a Heroic Party was.

It seemed a dose of honesty would help me a lot. "I didn't say that," I answered. "I simply don't know much about it. You're the first person I added to the party. Now, tell me what you know, and we can have a reasonable discussion about it."

He looked shocked at my admission. "But how —" he started. I silenced him with a gesture.

"You're not the only one running away from people trying to use you," I declared. With his class confirmed as Assassin, his noble birth, and his current status, it had already drawn a reasonable picture of his situation, and my declaration clearly hit a chord.

Also, it had the benefit of being accurate.

"I … I see," he stammered, shocked and confused at my declaration. Understandable considering the almost mythical nature of Hero class conflicting with my words. Luckily, he was still too shocked and fascinated to question the disrepancies.

"Now, tell me what you know about the heroes."

"Nothing much other than the stories," he said. "I know that once summoned, heroes would fight against calamities to protect the world and serve the gods, and while doing so, they will also elevate some warriors to stand with them, granting them the ability to reach impossible heights," he declared with childlike wonder.

"Okay, sounds interesting. Then, let me ask you a question,, even if a bit late. Are you willing to join my Heroic Party, young man?"

He knelt immediately, his earnest expression enough to give me a desire chuckle. Still, since he was taking it seriously, I decided to respect him and kept my expression serious. "I, Limenta the exile, swear to follow the exalted hero until my death," he declared.

"Good," I said. "Now, stand up, and let's focus on something first. Suppress your Concealment."

"I — I don't know if that's possible," he stammered. I loosened my own control, and my existence gained that blurry quality, then, I suppressed it again. "As you can see, it's very much possible. That'll be your first long-term mission," I said. "Close your eyes, and try to meditate."

While he followed my command, I swung my sword, killing a beast … but, while doing so, I tried to use our connection in reverse. His eyes popped open in shock. "I … I received Experience," he declared.

"It looks like a benefit of your status, you can receive Experience from my kills if I desire. Very convenient."

He nodded. He looked surprised at the information, but said surprise went away after a flash. With the previous revelations about my true identity, it hardly had any weight.

"Now, try to get a sense of control," I said while I continued killing the beasts, testing the limits of the connection, but that didn't affect him much. Curious about the limits of the distance, I moved away, but even as I went a mile away, nothing changed, which was different from my Charisma connection.

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Convenient.

"Come, we're going to help you level up," I said as I gestured for him to stand up. He looked ready to run with me, but I grabbed him from the waist and lifted him instead.

"W-wait—" he started, but that was all he was able to say before I started rushing to the full extent of my Speed, revealing another secret … which was hardly a big deal after revealing my class. At this point, with the most important already out, revealing more secrets would enhance his loyalty.

Fifteen minutes later, we slipped into the outpost. "The outpost belongs to my guild," I explained to him.

"Your guild —" he started, but that was all he was able to say before I expanded my Charisma to capture the Experience generated by the constant combat, and channel it to him. "Wow, how's this possible," he gasped.

"Just a few tricks I discovered, don't get too hang up on them. Just close your eyes and focus on controlling your Concealment," I ordered. It wasn't just the utility that made me ask that — though it would still help immensely — but I also wanted to use it as another test to understand the limits of the others.

The more I understood, the easier it would be for me to process it.

I kept channeling Experience to him for an hour, even triggering a mini beast wave to enhance the flow, so when we stopped, he had enough experience to level in quick succession. "How much Experience do you have?"

"Just a bit above three million," he answered, his voice colored in wonderment. "I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked.

"No, you're not," I said with a chuckle, then I dragged him again, this time to the headquarters. "And this is the guild headquarters."

"Will I join it?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Once you learned to suppress your Concealment," I asked him. "Otherwise, you'll be a target."

He nodded, his enthusiasm renewed even as I led him under the leveling ward. "Now, start leveling up, but if your Experience is sufficient, stop at level twenty-eight, so we avoid triggering the next promotion."

"As you wish, boss," he answered readily, too awed to ask about the reason. I wanted that, because I wanted to see if I could use Experience to somehow enhance his abilities like I had managed to do during my own promotion, and for that, I wanted to store some Experience before triggering it.

Before that, I wanted to have a talk with Zolast just in case.

Under the ward, he started leveling up, the distinct glow of leveling up surrounding him, and I counted the number of triggers. He stopped at sixteen. "What happened?" I asked.

"I … my experience is depleted. It's impossible," he gasped. "I should have enough to reach level thirty."

"And, how much experience do you need to level up?"

"One million, three hundred forty-four thousand, two hundred," he gasped, shocked.

I was less surprised. It was the exact number I needed to level up from twenty-six to twenty-seven, confirming an old suspicion.

"I see," I answered. "Don't worry about it. It's a side effect of being a part of my Party. It's harder for me to level up as well."

That required some further checking, but it seemed that the gods had the ability to reduce the leveling ceiling.

"W-what should I do now?" he asked.

"Now, we're going to go back to Town Maell, and you're going to work for me directly. How confident are you infiltrating the inner town with your enhanced concealment," I said. The leveling up already brought his concealment over fifty, and he still had his active ability to enhance it further.

"As long as I don't need to infiltrate the noble compound, not a problem!" he declared proudly.

"Good, then your mission is to identify the illegal connections between the merchants and guilds," I said. "We need resources, and the black market gives us the best option."

"As you wish, boss," he answered. "I can do it easily."

With that, once again I dragged him toward Town Maell, though, this time, I was slower, using the opportunity to explain the full results of my own experiences and the contacts I had made.

If I had the advantage of time, I wouldn't have mentioned anything about my discoveries and used them for another test, but with the recent changes, things had evolved.

Regardless, once we arrived at the house, there was still one more thing left. "Now, we're going to have some intense training, to make sure you can resist Charisma-backed orders in case you get caught," I said. "I hope you can resist pain," I said as I grabbed a stick.

"Of course, my lord," he declared readily.

"Good, now, grab your dagger and attack me," I ordered. He looked hesitant, but he still swung his dagger, the skill taking over. Before it could reach halfway, my stick had already landed on his diaphragm, cutting his breath.

"Don't use Health to heal, and stand up," I said. He followed that immediately. "Not bad, Attack again, and do your best to ignore my orders to stop," I said.

He raised his dagger and rushed forward, but halfway in, I flexed my Charisma as I spoke. "Stop!"

He froze as the Charisma hit, which ended up with another painful hit. "Stand up, and attack again," I repeated, and he pushed himself up.

I was curious just how much he would be able to resist.