To his credit, Limenta was able to handle my training for eight hours with limited breaks, and, toward the end, he was able to stop himself from speaking even under my full blast of Charisma.

It still made him freeze and left him helpless, but that was still better than I expected. With my secrets reasonably safe, I left him behind for his mission, and went back to the Town Yoentia.

Though, as I walked away, I came to a decision.

I was going to reveal the truth to Zolast. I trusted him, though that wasn't the reason for the sudden change of direction. No, I wanted to see if the Heroic Party ability had any chance to help him. His explanation about the curse from his god was very similar to what I could do through my connection, and Limenta said that the connection appeared at the same slot with the Divine Alignment.

Hopefully, it could be used to somehow replace his connection … and even if it couldn't, I still needed him to teach me magic.

When I arrived at the headquarters, Zolast was in his office, and the others were resting. "So, how was the latest dungeon run?"

"They lasted longer than I expected," Zolast answered. "About a week like this, and they'll reach their next promotion."

"Are you confident?" I asked.

"For Jertann, I'm certain, but it's a big gamble for the others," Zolast admitted. "However, even without the next promotion, their level should be enough to establish a proper foothold. Especially if we start supporting them with Stat stones and better skills."

"That's good, but maybe we don't need to wait for that," I admitted as I took a seat, wanting to start the discussion. "What do you know about Heroic Parties?"

He paused for a moment. "A difficult question," he admitted, though I noticed his attention jumping, catching the implication of mentioning it right after talking about their promotion. A promising sign. "It's one of the most important abilities of the heroes, maybe even the single most important one."

"Oh, really, how exactly is that?"

"The biggest reason the heroes could resist the calamity while the others can't is their quality to deny the call of the Ascension. Unlike the others, they can stay at the plane of existence past level hundred. The Heroic Party is their way of sharing that special quality with the others," Zolast said.

"Oh, sounds convenient," I answered. "And does it work with people that are already committed to a god?" I said.

Zolast frowned. "Technically, it should. Gods can do it, after all," he said after some thinking, but he didn't look as enthusiastic as I expected. "However, poaching worshippers is a very dangerous thing, and it's usually done between demigods and gods. I doubt that the hero would risk angering a god for a bunch of poor peasants with no worthwhile class to speak off." Or an old priest, he implied with his silence.

"Oh, do you think so? What if I insisted?" I asked.

Zolast waved his hand. "I doubt that even for your help he would make such a sacrifice…" Zolast started, but as he spoke, I started to grin in a very pointed, smug manner, waiting for him to make the connection.

My strange comments, my mysterious abilities, my very clear lack of information about the world, and my questions…

He paused almost a minute, his expression shifting from disbelief to shock, finally setting on resignation. "Wow, you look older than I expected," he commented after a long pause.

"Hey, I'm just a young hero," I answered.

He chuckled even as he stood up. "I need a drink for this talk," he said as he poured two glasses, both filled to the brim with hard alcohol. Some kind of hard moonshine, not his usual fare, but he clearly believed the moment deserved something with a kick. Only after passing one to me, did he start talking. "So, you're the lost hero," he said, asking for confirmation.

"Yes, I'm one of the heroes, the lost one. Though from what I understand, I'm a bit older than usual," I said.

"Oh, the summoners must have hated it," Zolast commented, chuckling.

"It seemed that way, though they seemed mollified when they saw they had received a nice old man willing to go with their plans," I said. Zolast laughed with me, knowing the absurdity of that statement, before getting serious. "So, how did you manage to escape?" he asked.

"Well, it started during the summoning. I was mortally wounded and trying to stay conscious, and in the process, awakened a stat called Resilience," I said.

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"You have awakened one of the forbidden stats. You're extremely fortunate," he said, then paused a bit. "Or, unfortunate. It tells a lot about the life you have lived before the summoning that you managed to wake up Resilience."

"Let me guess, gods don't like a stat that could reduce the impact of Charisma," I replied.

"Yes, anyone that awakens it is supposed to be executed, and even if they don't get caught, the gods are very proactive about cursing the stat holders."

"Nasty," I said, then I continued telling the story of my escape, not hiding anything in the process. At this point, I only had a couple of secrets I wanted to hide from Zolast, and they were more about operational security habits than a lack of trust, and none of them were actually related to the process of escape. I recounted the events from the castle with significant detail, including the Destruction skill I had received.

"So, that's why you have been questioning me about skills," Zolast commented about it once I finished my explanation. "It would be safer to remove it," he commented.

"But there are advantages as well, especially when fighting against the Corrupted. The ability to drain the mana from their spells before they can finish summoning these creatures is a significant advantage. Not to mention, as long as I have that, the god of destruction would do his best to shield me from the other gods."

"That's true. Maybe we can experiment further about discharging it safely so his hold never gets too strong."

"Not a bad idea," I answered, accepting his comment. "However, let's come to the important part of the discussion. Is there any risk in accepting my invitation to the Heroic Party?"

"Are you sure you want to waste a slot with me? There are limits, and there are far stronger classes that can support you—" he started before I cut him off.

"Nonsense. Even discounting everything, you're one of the few people I can actually trust. If I have learned anything, that's worth everything."

Zolast avoided my gaze, looking shy at my declaration. "If you're sure about that decision."

"So, how are we going to do it? Do we need to change locations, or can you use magic to block it?"

Zolast chuckled. "We're lucky about that. With all the curses my dear patron god had piled on me, our connection is pretty much non-existent at this point. It shouldn't be too hard to fake my death, especially since we're in the same physical location."

"That makes a difference?" I asked, curious.

"It makes a great difference. If we weren't next to each other, we would have needed a magical connection that would link us through the Astral Plane."

I remembered my own experiences, particularly during the first Promotion where I had been mobbed by hundreds of gods, piled by offers of power and riches. "And, let me guess, that creates some kind of presence the other gods could track easily."

Zolast nodded. "That's a reasonable explanation," he said. "And, since his curses are blocking the connection, I should be able to fake it as a death. It should work … at least temporarily, but I can't guarantee that they won't learn of it, especially with Bertnam poking around."

"Life is filled with risks, and I have a feeling he won't be the only god insulted by my actions … or my continued existence."

Zolast paused once again. "If you're sure," he declared, tense yet hopeful. I nodded, and he stood up. We moved to another room, where he started using a large pile of mana stones to create a very complicated magical structure. I watched carefully, more curious about the process than the complicated patterns, knowing that even with the assistance of Memory, the information I would be able to retain would be limited and useless.

With the most critical secret finally revealed, I could always ask Zolast for lessons; if we had the time.

He stopped half an hour later, the blue and glowing structure he created already trembling. "Stand here and use your ability," he said. "And, try not to linger in the astral world any longer than necessary. We could get caught."

I nodded as I used Charisma to create a connection, earning a surprised expression. "That's an interesting way to use Charisma," Zolast murmured, looking surprised, while I just smirked as I reached the mental touch, triggering the Heroic Party ability.

The moment I did so, I found myself floating in the same emptiness once more, which Zolast had called Astral world, and Zolast's presence was right next to me. However, the scene was different from the previous one.

The simplest difference was that Zolast's presence was far different than Limenta's. It was stronger, had more refined edges, possessed many more stats, and a few more skills. More importantly, in the place where there should be abilities covering some of his stats, there was an ill presence, suppressing his stats rather than enhancing them.

Another difference was the cage of mana around us, glowing blue in complicated, flickering patterns, dimming the sensation I was receiving from the outside. The connection my skill had with the outside was already inert, but with the mana cage, it was even dimmer.

That didn't apply to my connection with Limenta, which was strong enough to bypass the cage Zolast had created easily, allowing me to feel him. However, while he wasn't going through the promotion process, I didn't feel like I could easily manipulate his abilities.

Then, I turned my attention to Zolast and, more importantly, his connection to the outside. It was a weaker connection than what I had shared with Limenta; whether it was Zolast's flailing relationship with his old god or a general feature, I had no idea.

I would have loved the chance to examine that connection slowly, but I remembered Zolast's warning about being quick, and focused on my ability. With a mental push, a connection between us was created, and at the same time, the mana cage gathered around Zolast's connection with his old god, snapping it in half.

The cursed energy around his stats dissolved immediately. Soon, the darkness dissolved as well, and we found ourselves back in the room, the ward around us long gone.

[Hero Party: Member Acquired (1)]

Zolast fell to his knees, and I acted like I didn't notice the tears that danced on his cheeks, ready to leave him alone. But, as I walked, he called me. "Euon is not your name, is it?" he asked.

"No, it's Edward," I said. "Edward Hill." With that, I left him alone, went back to the study, and poured two more glasses, one for me, the other waiting for him.

The man who joined me ten minutes later was a different man. From the moment we met, he had a subtle slouch reflecting a vulnerability, a listlessness. It was gone, replaced by a subtle aura.

The wanderer was gone, and the high priest was back.