B4 Chapter 57: Spoiled for Choice

It had been a while since Quintus had properly looked at his status. Since becoming Legatus, he'd lacked the time to properly review his skills and adjust them accordingly.

Of course, it had worked out in his favor so far. His particular brand of combat leadership had paid dividends in their first campaign in a way that investing into logistics and the like would not have. Even now, he remained confident that delegating those responsibilities to the officers and aides who were more inclined toward the work remained the best approach. He trusted them to do their work well. It was one of the reasons they'd been chosen for their roles.

But it was long past time to review his own progress. And given the eventfulness of their desert adventure, he had no doubt that plenty of gains awaited him.

Quintus headed briefly into the city and sought out the nearest class stone. Laying his hand against it, he watched for the golden particles to rush up its surface...

...And was immediately blinded.

When he finished swearing, he blinked the dots out of his vision and placed his hand back onto the stone. This time, he was able to read the words that appeared in front of him.

Information:

Name: Quintus Carius Libo

Age: 44 (XLIIII)

Class: Legionnaire – Legatus (Legendary)

Level: 9 (IX)

Experience: 120 / 5,400,000 (C̅M̅M̅M̅M̅M̅D)

Stats:

Strength: 32 (XXXII)

Dexterity: 27 (XXVII)

Constitution: 28 (XXVIII)

Charisma: 21 (XXI)

Wisdom: 18 (XXVIII)

Intelligence: 19 (IXX)

Free Points: 4

Titles:

Born to Fight

Bonds of Brotherhood

Bane of Cats (IV)

Bane of Spiders (III)

Bane of Ghouls (V)

Boss Slayer (III)

Craftsman (V)

Blood on Your Hands (IV)

Titanslayer

Warforged (I)

Crowd Favorite

Arena Champion (II)

Bane of Orcs (IV)

Hero of Legend

Inventor (II)

Bane of Wolves (I)

Bane of Birds (I)

Bane of Lizards (III)

Proselytizer (I)

Chef (I)

Architect (I)

Bane of Ants (III)

Bane of Scorpions (II)

Bane of Worms (I)

Emissary of Mars

Dragon Slayer

Skills:

[Sword Saint’s Blade] (Epic) - Lvl 7 (Individual)

[Lead from the Front] (Rare) - Lvl 25 (Individual)

[Tear] (Rare) - Lvl 30 (Individual)

[Tactician’s Awareness] (Rare) - Lvl 20 (Individual)

[Sure Footing] (Common) - Lvl 385 (Individual)

[Warpath] (Uncommon) - Lvl 240 (Legion)

[Coordinated Bulwark] (Rare) - Lvl 132 (Legion)

[Unity] (Rare) - Lvl 34 (Legatus)

[Rend] (Rare) - Lvl 29 (Legatus)

[Coordinated Offense] (Rare) - Lvl 35 (Legatus)

Level nine. It was a long time coming. In truth, he had expected it to take even longer than this, given the number of level ones his Legion had boasted at the start of this campaign. But he'd seen the reports, the irregular flickering of the men each time anyone touched a class stone. All of that fighting and the high-level opponents they faced had reaped them plenty of experience in their quest to catch up to their veteran counterparts. Enough to get his entire Legion up to level eight with him.

This meant that killing that dragon had granted enough experience to push the now unified Legion over the next level threshold---quite a windfall in its own right. Even for something several times their level, the gains were disproportionate. Maybe it would be worthwhile to start hunting the things to further fuel their growth.

Of course, none of this was considering the attrition they'd experienced during the campaign. Despite Tiberius's disapproval, he'd allowed them to refill their ranks using the most experienced men from auxiliary programs. They weren't as battle-seasoned as even his greenest men. Most had been pulling various guard duties or clearing monsters where the Adventurer's Guild was not able to keep up entirely. These men joined as a new crop of level ones that would need to be brought up to speed. But compared to the thousands of men he'd been leveling so far, a few hundred could be brought up to speed relatively quickly.

He knew that levels would come slowly, but that didn't stop him from wanting to push forward. Especially given how close they were drawing to level ten. Evidently, it was an important threshold of some kind, though he wasn't entirely certain of the details. In the meantime, all he could do was continue seeking out opportunities as they were presented and ensuring the less experienced men kept up with their training.

Quintus quickly assigned the extra stats. In addition to putting one in each physical stat, he also added one to charisma. As a leader, it probably would've been smart to place more into that attribute. But most of his role still demanded that he prioritize fighting ability rather than speeches and politicking. Besides, he knew of no better way to earn men's respect than leading by example.

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Even more exciting than levels were his skills. Though Quintus hadn't experienced much growth in the former, the latter had seen some rather impressive gains. [Sword Saint's Blade] had seen some rather impressive progress, especially considering its epic rarity. He could feel how much easier the skill was to use every time he held a blade and managed to integrate it smoothly into his combat style. At this point, it was no boast to say that he was the best swordsman across all of the Legions. He knew because he'd tested himself against the other aspirants to the title and found them at least a little wanting.

That was the least of the progress, though. His more leadership-oriented skills were the real highlight. [Lead from the Front] and [Tactician's Awareness] were the main recipients for obvious reasons. But even [Unity] and [Coordinated Offense] saw some rather impressive growth, more than doubling in level since taking up the mantle of Legatus. It filled him with pride that his men had performed well enough as a singular Legion to be rewarded in such a way.

The distribution of skill levels made sense given his role. If anything, that made the growth of his actual combat-based skills more impressive. Then again, he'd never seen a Legatus fight on the front lines like he preferred to. The way that this world turned men into such juggernauts truly was a revolutionary thing.

After looking over the numbers, he finally allowed himself to delve into the part he'd been most anticipating---the skill list. And he was not disappointed.

[You have new skill evolutions available. View available evolutions? WARNING: After viewing, unassigned evolutions will be permanently lost!]

More evolutions. The fact that it wasn't a surprise was a testament to how spoiled he and the other Legionnaires were for options in this world. But as he indicated that he did want to view the available evolutions, Quintus found his satisfaction only growing.

Available Skill Evolutions:

[Sure Footing] (Common) -> [World Walker] (Unique)

Finally. [Sure Footing] was one of the first skills he'd ever picked up. Despite a lowly common rarity, it had always proven worthwhile, especially now that its level was so ludicrously high. It had saved his life countless times and become a core part of his combat style.

Yet the option it was being replaced with... Unique was a rarity he had yet to encounter or even hear of. He quickly scanned through the rest of the skill list to confirm, but saw nothing else that matched that tag. Was this something truly so unheard of?

He wanted to inquire about it, but sending a message and having men research the matter would take no small amount of time. In the meantime, he'd be stuck on this decision, unable to move lest he lose the strange skill forever.

Shrugging, he decided to go for it. Watching nearly four hundred skill levels disappear in a puff of smoke was no easy thing. But no evolution had led him astray yet. Besides, the name certainly sounded promising enough.

Quintus felt a strange shift in himself as he selected the skill. He felt grounded, stable in a way that was difficult to put into words. And yet not in a way that made him feel unable to move. Rather, he felt as though with a mere thought, he could practically take flight.

That was interesting. He would have to test the skill and explore what it could do later. For now, though, there were other evolutions to explore.

[Rend] (Rare) -> [Rend and Tear] (Epic)

[Tear] (Rare) -> [Rend and Tear] (Epic)

Another strange one. Accepting the first evolution, the second disappeared as his two active offensive skills merged into one. Given the rarity upgrade, he assumed this would come with some improvement in their abilities. But the fact that the improvement opened up a new skill slot for him to use was benefit enough.

[Coordinated Bulwark] (Uncommon) -> [Aegis of the Legion] (Rare)

That gave him pause. The fact that the defensive backbone of his Legion had finally evolved was a matter of celebration. But the skill it evolved to... To his knowledge, it was the first time the Legion or Rome had been directly mentioned in the name of a skill. Even the [Emperor] class hadn't referenced Rome directly.

Obviously, he accepted it. Quintus himself spent more time in a shield wall than most Legates should, but the fact that he received this upgrade still surprised him. Why him and not a centurion who was constantly serving as a cornerstone to their formations? Because of his position? And why had he not heard of such an upgrade from the First Legion? Surely they would have earned something like this sooner?

Regardless, it didn't matter. This upgrade would benefit his entire army. He couldn't wait to see how much more robust their defenses became as a result. Though it did make him wonder about the First Legion's own growth. They had surely gained a lot of experience from killing four dragons, but that was a single engagement. Would they be able to keep up into the future?

Though it wasn't like the Third Legion would be flush with opportunities. Given the details of their latest assignment, Quintus resigned themselves to a period of relative rest on that front. But he would be certain they didn't stay idle.

He considered shifting about some of the Legion's high-level group skills, but decided against it. He no longer had a cohort, century, or contubernium to adjust, and the two Legion-wide skills still formed the backbone of their abilities. [Aegis of the Legion] and [Warpath] were a core part of their identity, and he had no desire to completely kneecap themselves simply to try something different.

Part of him rued the fact that the latter hadn't yet evolved into something else, something more impressive than uncommon rarity. But he pushed the thought away. The skill did what it needed to, and it wouldn't do to be ungrateful for the influx of high-rarity skills in other areas.

Finally, his titles. He'd kept the old titles from his time in the First Legion and noted a few new ones appropriate for their recent campaign. The [Dragon Slayer] title was also a welcome addition.

[Dragon Slayer: Slay a dragon. Increased effectiveness of attacks when fighting dragons. Nearby dragons that are aware of your presence will know that you possess this title.]

Of course. This only added to Quintus's desire to hunt those beasts down, now that they would prove even more effective against them. Though the last part gave him some pause. He suspected that possession of the title wasn't about to send any dragons fleeing for their lives, even if that would be the wiser move.

The First Legion undoubtedly also had the title now. He wondered how that would affect matters in the north.

Finally, his gaze fell upon one title in particular. One he'd been somewhat avoiding. [Envoy of Mars].

He stared at it for some time. It was no news to him that the gods were real in this world, actively able to touch its happenings. He'd seen enough to be certain of that. And yet for him to be recognized directly by Mars... He wasn't entirely sure what to say. He was even more speechless when he read its description.

[Envoy of Mars: Mars's will made manifest in the mortal realm. +50% to all physical stats during times of war. +50% to all mental stats during times of peace.]

That was no small number. Even [Arena Champion] only gave him a forty percent boost, and that during solo combat. Such an increase to his stats in practically any situation... He'd felt powerful, near untouchable as the campaign went on. Was this part of the reason why?

Pride in being blessed so mixed with uneasiness at the boon. In his experience, such gifts often came with a hefty price. He would need to discover the price of this one before it reared its head. He would need to visit a temple and soon.

Before he left, he had one last matter to consider---what skill to assign to his now empty slot. A long, long list of options greeted him, many of them easily able to be dismissed. His newest auxiliaries brought their own crop of skills with them as well, meaning there was no lack of options. But Quintus wasn't entirely certain what direction to go in.

He briefly considered something related to logistics, but decided against it. His own officers were plenty capable at that already, and attempting to infringe on their duties would simply make things less efficient.

One skill finally caught his eye. An unexpected one called [Regal Diplomacy], something he'd expect Tiberius to have on his status.

He wondered who in their Legion had managed to get this as a rare skill. Perhaps some noble from a fallen house? He knew that there were a few noble bastards or destitute nobles that had joined the Legion when the Empire had taken over.

He hesitated to take it. Everything else in his build was made for battle, for leading his men to victory in war. That was by design, as this world rewarded such specialization. But this... this would be quite a departure from that strategy.

And yet he remembered the conversation he had with Tiberius. As much as he didn't like it, the emperor was right. He was more than just a wartime leader. He was a noble, a man expected to be proficient in the ways of diplomacy and politics. He had to consider the bigger picture. A diplomacy skill might help him better assume that role.

It was one small concession amongst everything, a necessity of leadership.

Quintus finished his business and stepped away from the class stone. He noticed a small crowd of individuals discreetly waiting for him to finish, though none dared to rush a Legatus outright. Turning away, he headed further into the city.

He would speak with Gaius later tonight. In the meantime, there were preparations to be made for the upcoming campaign south. He wished that he could grant his men a bit more time to rest in the capital. Yet at the same time, the peace of the place made him feel itchy. It would be far better to return to the road again.