"So, tell me, what the hell is Authority," I asked even as I poured the contents a huge sack into one of the crates, while Zolast cast a spell to maintain its condition.

We were alone in a secret storage unit located under the outer town casino, built below the underground training room by Zolast, using material that the other classes prepared. It was a room that was only known to the two of us, including the tunnel that was owned by me under a fake name — shell companies were useful in magical planets as well.

Hopefully, we would reveal its location to others, saving us from the menial work … but not until I was confident they wouldn't act too suspiciously in their effort to keep that a secret.

Zolast looked at me questioningly, which was enough for me to confirm that he didn't know what I was talking about. "I'm guessing it's not a philosophical question about the nature of power," he said.

"Unfortunately not, though that sounds like an interesting topic. Let's keep it in mind for our next tasting session," I said, before I gave a breakdown of the events with the cultists.

I knew what had happened was not exactly normal, but I was hoping that Zolast would have a general idea about it rather than looking at me in shock. "And, that's not another poor attempt to prank me," he said.

"Unfortunately, no," I confirmed.

"And, you're absolutely sure that the creature had transformed from a human and was not summoned," Zolast said. I nodded. "Previously, I would have said that that's impossible, but…"

"But you have already used that far too many times while talking with me," I completed.

"Invader destroyed, experience, and authority," Zolast repeated the keywords. "Let's start with the amount of Experience received. That's the only normal part. It's well known that creatures of the evil gods give far more experience compared to beasts."

"Assuming we ignore the fact that he had transformed from a human, I'm guessing," I reminded, which earned a deep sigh.

"Yes, ignoring that he had transformed from a human, therefore violating what I assumed to be one of the most fundamental tenets of the System. Humans aren't supposed to give experience."

I went back and grabbed another sack, once again shuffling the contents into the storage. "My best guess is that it's about the invader status. Any idea what it is?"

"No, but combined with the notification about Authority, it's safe to assume that it's another thing that gods hid from us, using us like serfs working on a farm."

"It makes sense for them to hide it then, especially with the implications hidden in the word. You can't covet something if you don't know it exists," I said. "And, if it works the way I think it works…"

"A way to influence the System?" Zolast guessed.

I nodded. "It makes sense. We know that they can grant classes and allow their followers to level up more easily. Maybe fighting against the invaders helped that."

Zolast paused for a moment, considering my words. "What about your dream about the birth of the god of destruction? It might explain why that cultist granted experience after his transformation."

"Makes sense," I replied. I understood where he was coming from. I had already considered the same point. After all, during that dream Set had shown me, there was a war between gods and some kind of invader from the void. Ignoring the clear propaganda of Set somehow sacrificing himself to the benefit of the public, it kind of made sense. "If the destruction mana was some kind of balance between normal mana and the nature of the void invaders, it should be possible for that balance to topple further enough for the System to register them as an enemy."

"Assuming that the System can be tricked that easily," Zolast said solemnly.

I was about to argue, but then I stopped, remembering that we didn't approach the System the same way. For me, it was a set of arbitrary numbers with nebulous rules. Once I accepted that they could give me power, I stopped exploring the nature of it further.

For him, it was one of the fundamental rules of how the world worked, a cornerstone defining its existence.

The idea that it could shift and wobble so easily was not exactly an easy realization.

However, his solemn silence only lasted a minute, punctuated by a sigh. "Just another thing," he said, accepting the realization. "It's a good point, though it leaves the question whether the Authority is something unique to heroes, or if anyone can collect it?"

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"I have no idea," I answered. "Actually, both can be possible. Maybe that's what makes it so valuable for the gods. Or maybe it's just about the fact that I don't have a divine patron to steal it. Either way, it means that I can collect it, which is enough."

"I hope you don't expect me to go join the military to hunt those beasts," he commented.

"You're too old for conscription," I answered with a chuckle. "Limenta, on the other hand …" I said, then stopping for a moment to curse. "I should have tested if concealment works against the corrupted beasts. I know it works against cultists. If it also works against the corrupted beasts, I might actually try joining the military."

"Worth a try," he said, his shrug ending that particular talk.

It wasn't the first time we had been working to decipher something about limited information, and we learned that it was better to stop once the direct implications of the available information were exhausted rather than lose ourselves in a sea of theory.

The rest, we handled while talking about less consequential topics, like Limenta's growing crush on Launara.

"I don't want to say it's completely hopeless. He had some amusing attempts at first, but his last gift actually managed to gain a lot of goodwill," Zolast commented.

"What was it?" I asked.

"He stole the personal recipe book of the Night Blades' lead blacksmith," Zolast said, laughing.

I erased my nonexistent tears. "Oh, they grew up so fast. I'm guessing our friends didn't react well to that lapse of security."

"They fired every single member of the team that was responsible for the security, including the ones that weren't working."

"Very good," I said in good humor, but then moved to a more serious topic. "Was their guildmaster around to intervene?" I asked.

"No," Zolast said, his tone losing its levity. Understandable. The question was, if the guildmaster wasn't around to intervene in such an important issue, what was he doing?

"And, how's Mahruss handling his new class?" I asked.

"Surprisingly well," Zolast answered. "Normally, a new class, especially one that was as fundamentally different as he had just gained, would require weeks to properly assimilate, but he's already moving around."

"It looks like my training worked," I said… Nothing else of importance was talked about for the rest of the job. After that, Zolast departed to accompany another group to the secret dungeon.

I decided to pay a visit to Mahruss.

He was still at the headquarters, using the training room, a blunted sword in hand as he attacked Karak, sparring to get used to his new abilities.

I used my Concealment to stay hidden as I slithered to a convenient shadow, watching their extended sparring session. It was more equal than I had expected. Karak used his spear to easily defend himself despite the great difference in stats between the two. He was constantly defending without attacking, but considering the ease he displayed, it was by choice.

I had a feeling that, if they fought for real, it would have been Mahruss who would have ended up dead, which was a great departure from before. A part of it was Mahruss' inability to use his abilities properly, but, to my surprise, it played a lesser role than I had expected.

Karak was using his Perception to the limit, reading Mahruss' moves just by the direction he looked and the way his muscles tensed, allowing him to move his spear to the correct defensive stance before Mahruss could start attacking.

With his new class, Mahruss' Perception was almost as high as Karak's, but he lacked years of habit and experimentation to put that into use properly. On the contrary, his Perception was actually holding him back whenever Karak baited him with a fake opening.

I barely held back a chuckle as I recognized the technique I had used to train Karak out of his over-reliance on his Perception. It was good to see them teach what they had learned.

And not just because it meant less work for me.

Interestingly, the disparity in their Perception was not Karak's only advantage.

He had a fascinating little device attached to his stumped arm, one that kept a mana stone in place, allowing him to drain it steadily to fuel his magic spear with mana to be able to resist Mahruss' overwhelming Strength advantage.

As for Attunement, it was a result of one of our rare Stat stones for it. My ability to use mana helped me greatly to better understand and counter the applications of mana. I asked Karak to receive one, hoping that he would better identify the magical threats as our most important scout.

Even for such an important role, we were only able to afford to spend one Attunement stone, as I had yet to find a source. And, since he only had a meager one stat point, giving fifteen mana storage even after his Life Elevation, I didn't expect him to use it in combat.

It was nice to see him develop it into a combat application without my intervention.

However, not all was well. As I watched them from a corner, I was steadily suppressing my Concealment, yet neither had noticed my presence. It was acceptable when I was using it in full blast, but once I had deliberately weakened it…

With a sigh, I grabbed a staff, suppressing Concealment completely, only when I was halfway to them — not using Speed in the process.

Karak managed to dodge my first attack. Mahruss wasn't so lucky, so he ended up with a bruise. "It's time for remedial training, boys," I said as I twirled my staff.

"Yes, boss," they responded in unison and attacked together without wasting time. After a number of training sessions, they knew exactly how I preferred to operate.

Pity that it didn't save them from several painful blows, Mahruss when he failed to defend against it, and Karak whenever he failed to anticipate Mahruss' sudden reflexive moves while paying attention to me.

"Mahruss, you're a human, not an animal. Use your mind before your reflexes," I warned. "And, Karak. You're paying too much attention to your opponent and not enough to your allies. Don't forget that your allies can harm you without trying even more than your enemies," I reminded, underlining it with another timed blow, where his attempt to block failed as his spear was blocked by Mahruss' desperate attempt to counter-attack.

"Yes, boss," they said in unison, enthusiastic about their training despite the pain.

They were learning.