"Is it time?" I asked as I arrived at the secret dungeon entrance in order to level up once more, only to see Mahruss was still in the room, looking both excited and stressed.

It had been a week since Artmiss' successful raid on the Maell secret outpost, which led to another calm break. That might have been surprising for me when I was younger, but after years of experience, I knew that even the most intense confrontations had such breathers.

Of course, I also knew that such calm breaks were too important to be wasted on resting. They were more precious than gold, allowing me to take many actions.

My biggest challenge was to understand what exactly the Night Blades were trying to do. I was less successful than I had hoped at discovering what they were currently up to. The guildmaster was absent, and the mysterious young noble was gone as well. Luckily, not all was bad in that aspect.

The potential alliance between the Night Blades and House Maell was dead and buried thanks to my little trick.

In comparison, the other businesses and initiatives I had progressed in a calmer fashion. Both the Iron Traders and our forge were growing, though that mostly meant they were consuming more financial resources, rather than producing them. Luckily, we had a dungeon and two casinos to comfortably fund them along with the other expenses.

The casinos, in particular, were literally printing money, and all without my daily management. Mahruss was shaping out to be an even better manager than I had hoped, handling the operations well.

Naturally, I wanted him to get even better…Our business didn't allow people that rested on their laurels to survive.

Hence, he was here. I had asked Zolast to prioritize him over the others for the moment, both with abilities and the leveling. Well, except for Karak, who already had his third promotion successfully without a class upgrade. His disability was making him an unviable candidate in the eyes of his divine patron.

Asshole.

Since we had no way of changing his mind, we focused on a different path. We would prioritize his leveling first, followed by focusing on enhancing his capabilities with Stat stones, particularly his Perception, with Zolast selecting the best ones to limit the strain.

He would lag behind the rest when it came to combat capabilities, but I didn't care about that. Ultimately, we had thousands of fighters we could call upon in the case of an emergency. A reliable set of eyes were far more important, not to mention, he was coming along greatly in using his ears as well.

A lot of people underestimated someone with just one arm, resulting in loose lips.

The initial plan was to focus on Jertann and Silas after Karak. But with Zolast's curse gone, that priority had changed. My fear used to be a crisis happening during my absence, but now, we had a better relationship with the guards

And if worse came to worst, Zolast could always stop acting and show his full capabilities.

Not ideal … but the best we could do at the moment.

"Any excitement?" I asked Mahruss.

"Just a bit, boss," Mahruss said, looking jittery. "With all those abilities ... what if I can't get a class upgrade and end up wasting them?"

"There's no such thing as waste, so don't worry about that," I cut in. "You're more than your class and your Stats on the System. If you can get a better class, fine. If not…" I said, pausing a moment to push an exaggerated sadistic expression on my face. "There's always more training."

"Thanks, boss," Mahruss answered, somewhat relaxing after my words. He was still excited and stressed, but he didn't look like a wrong step would kill him anymore. With that, he walked under the leveling ward, and Zolast followed.

"Now, calm down and focus. Don't forget, the class change might hurt a bit," he said.

"How much is a bit?" Mahruss asked. Zolast smiled, soft enough to alarm Mahruss. "Is it too late to change my mind—" he said, one last attempt to joke before his words were interrupted as a glow spread from Zolast's finger and triggered his promotion.

Mahruss stayed frozen for a moment, then his eyes opened, followed by a deafening cry. Zolast immediately cast another spell.

This time, a healing spell, identifiable due to the color patterns of the mana he was using.

"Wow, just a bit of pain?" I asked. "I see that you're getting better at the noble art of understatement."

Zolast shrugged. "To be fair, I didn't expect him to react this loudly."

"Good news or bad news?"

"Definitely good news. He already earned a class upgrade, the pain comes from the process of change."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Let me guess. Since it's good news, a bigger difference means a greater gap between the old and the new class."

"Right in one," Zolast said, then paused a bit. "Admittedly, it's a bit surprising. His divine patron is just a demigod. They are not known for pushing such intense upgrades."

"What's your guess?"

"Either we managed to pile enough abilities to earn the attention of one of the gods, and he poached Mahruss from the demigod in question…" he explained, then paused, looking at me pointedly.

"Or, as it goes without them discovering my true location, the knowledge is spreading, and even demigods are getting greedy, hoping to be the one to find me."

Zolast sighed even as he cast a spell to block Mahruss' cries. "That's the likelier option."

"Fun," I said. "Luckily, I'm about to gain another level." Zolast looked at me questioningly. "The last upgrades to the outpost are performing better than we expected. I got almost twenty-five million points."

"Good, and how much was the next level up again?" Zolast asked even as he continued to use healing magic on Mahruss, but it didn't seem to be working much.

"Almost a hundred and two million," I said.

Zolast sighed again upon hearing that. "Truly, a lot…" he said. "Worse, the ratio is getting bigger and bigger. Not exactly a good indicator. I shudder to think just how much you'll need to get to level one hundred."

"One step at a time," I said. "There shouldn't be any problem as long as I trigger the next promotion with enough experience in store. Increasing life elevation would solve most of our problems."

"That's right," Zolast said with a sigh. "You already have the advantage of stat points, and your number of Awakened stats enhances it even more. If we could push the multiplier effect further, it should give you a decisive advantage." I nodded, thinking he was finished.

He wasn't.

"Speaking of Awakening stats, any success in awakening Intelligence?" he asked, not bothering to hide his teasing smirk. I sighed, which made him laugh out loud. "It seems that Intelligence is still your weak point," he mocked.

"Maybe we should work hard to find some more Intelligence stat stones for you, because you're reaching double-digits using that stale joke," I grumbled playfully.

That only made him laugh harder. He said nothing else for a while as he cast a few more spells on Mahruss before turning toward me. "Maybe we should consider trying to find a Stat stone for it. I still think that you're having trouble developing a conceptual understanding of what Intelligence is. It's likely why you awakened a stat like Memory rather than Wisdom."

Admittedly, my inability to awaken another Stat was getting frustrating, but I didn't say that out loud. The last time I said that, I had received a long chewing about being greedy. Admittedly, I could understand where Zolast was coming from, as I had ten different Stats, nine of which were naturally Awakened.

In a way, it was like a rich man complaining about the botched paint job of his newest yacht.

"Maybe, but I still feel like it's about the way it interacts with my personal philosophy. Intelligence is about designing new stuff and solving pointlessly complicated problems," I answered, still trying to understand my inability to awaken it. "Every other Stat, I was able to Awaken by linking it to my personal perception of power. I'm just having trouble fitting it to my personal perception of it —" I continued even as I repeated the trick of Awakening my other stats, but before I could finish, I felt a flicker.

It was a soft, fleeting sensation like a remnant of a dream, one that appeared and went away just as quickly.

At the same time, Zolast's eyes widened in a momentary shock.

"Damn it, you awakened Intelligence, didn't you?" I complained playfully. It was a wild guess, but I felt confident about that nonetheless.

Zolast just nodded, too surprised to even tease me, even pausing his casting.

"Don't forget to heal the poor boy," I reminded him.

"Right," he answered absentmindedly as he turned his attention to Mahruss, lost in thoughts. I didn't say anything, just watching the way his mana danced, trying to understand the differences. His mana flowed smoother, and the shifts were faster.

Zolast said nothing, his attention split between providing medical assistance to Mahruss and trying to understand his enhanced mana control … along with the other mental benefits of his Awakened Intelligence.

I closed my eyes, letting my thoughts drift toward the idea in an effort to copy it. I had a feeling that, if I could have focused on that momentary flicker I had felt at the time of his Awakening, I would have been a step closer.

But that opportunity was gone.

"Is it done?" I asked when I saw Mahruss collapse, exhausted yet elated.

"Yes, boss," Mahruss said, barely able to speak, despite his excitement. "I … I have a new class. S-something called Field Commander." He looked at Zolast. "I-is it a good one?"

"Interesting," Zolast said. "It's a rare class, even among the nobles. Strength, Perception, Charisma, and Agility. It's very good indeed. You might even get admitted to minor nobility if you wish. I'm sure Duke Yoentia would love to anoint you as a knight."

"Never," Mahruss declared, his tone firm despite his exhaustion. Good kid.

"Good work. Now, go to sleep. We have a lot of training to do once you are fresh."

Mahruss let out an exhausted chuckle. "Is it too late to change my mind," he murmured as he closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, falling asleep.

"I'll bring him to the healing wing just in case there's a problem," Zolast said. A good explanation, but it didn't match his tone.

"You just want to play with your newly Awakened stat," I said.

"No need to be sour," he said, but even as he said so, he cast another spell, and Mahruss started floating with him.

I didn't say anything else, just stepped into the leveling ward, and triggered my level up once more.

[-101,477,376 Experience]

[Level up!]

[Stat Points +10]

Another step toward a future where I was strong enough to actually retire.

[Class: Hero

Level: 46

Experience (0/118,117,440)]

[Health (800/800)

Mana (200/200)]

[ Experience: 0]

[STATS

Resilience: 50

Vitality: 40

Strength: 35

Agility: 35

Speed: 30

Perception: 50

Memory: 10

Charisma: 50

Attunement: 10

Concealment: 25

LOCKED…]

[Stat Points: 125]

[SKILLS: Archery of Destruction (0\X)]

[ABILITIES: Elevated Life - Intermediate - Human

Heroic Party (2) ]

[Alignment: Unaligned]

Another step forward...

Pity I didn't have the chance to rest even with Zolast busy with his new toy. The meat stocks I harvested from the Lord Beasts were about to be depleted once more, and I needed to arrange another delivery. I could carry them directly, but as they leveled up further, our team of blacksmiths started to consume more and more of it.

I could spend half of my precious time carrying cargo personally … or I could put my new trading company to good use…