Chapter 38: Level 100

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Level 100

Finally, they had found the place they had been looking for. It had taken them much longer than Allan expected. More than one mimic had waited for them along the way, but most of those creatures were now dead. While the mage harvested medicinal flowers from the body of the last one, the others stood amid the carnage of the battle.

The valley fell oddly silent after the fighting ended, yet Allan’s body still dripped with blood, none of it his own. The mimic’s blood had soaked into his leather armor and clothes, leaving him looking far more battered and disheveled than he actually was.

He had faced the beast alone, using no special skills, only raw strength, quick thinking, and his sword. How? Because the reward he had been waiting for was finally ready.

Allan stood over the mimic’s corpse and opened his system, sending the points exactly where they needed to go.

[Status]

[Name: Allan Oakwood

Title: Scoundrel of Yggdrasil / Former Seventh God

Class: Investment Class

Level: 107

Vitality: 41/41

Strength: 938

Agility: 891 (Max)

Endurance: 864

Intelligence: 912

Perception: 887 (Note: Perception values represent the relative intensity of the stimulus and are used to quantify how intense a stimulus must be to evoke a response.)

Notable Characteristics:

Return scales with risk taken instant reward (Active)

Blood binding - emotional connection (Amelia von Arclight)

Resonance of a Berserker (Temporary link from Diva)

Skills:

Instant Investment (Class Skill)

Bloodbound (Blood Magic Skill)

Berserker Mode (Aura Skill)]

Allan stared at the numbers for a moment. He couldn’t help smiling. After everything he had been through, watching his stats climb like that felt good. Of course the dopamine rushed through his brain.

And he had finally crossed level 100, a threshold most adventurers would never even come close to reaching.

Unfortunately, he already knew what came next. The higher he climbed, the slower the climb would become. That was the hard rule past level one hundred.

Simply leveling the way he used to would no longer be enough. From now on he needed extra funding.

He scanned the area. The mage, Diva, and Lira were still there. Only the four of them remained.

His satisfaction drained away at once. In Yggdrasil, death had always been just a number on a screen. NPCs disappeared, parties were wiped out, and players simply respawned somewhere else.

"Three people have died," Diva said.

She still hadn’t put her sword away. Red was smeared across her fingers on the hilt, and the red in her eyes hadn’t fully faded.

"Say something about that before you start talking about your level."

Allan looked at her. "They’re dead," he said quietly. "They’re not coming back, no matter what we say."

Lira found herself standing between them without meaning to. Her shoulder almost brushed Allan’s arm, but her eyes stayed locked on Diva’s sword hand instead of his face.

The mage sat on a nearby rock. She hadn’t spoken a word since the fighting stopped, but after watching the two of them, she stood up and spoke.

"What happened, happened. Stop trying to blame everything on Sir Allan, Diva."

"Huh? You’re siding with him?"

"If he hadn’t been here, we’d all be dead already. I accept that. You should too."

Silence settled over them.

Diva looked down, unable to argue. Both of them were right.

Not long after, they reached the hollow where the medicinal flowers grew.

Pale clusters crowded the edge of the water, their sharp scent strong enough to sting the back of the throat. The mage got straight to work, cutting the flowers and placing them into the vases she had already prepared.

Lira and Diva helped. Allan didn’t. Controlling his strength, his vision, and his hearing after all those upgrades had become difficult.

His eyes could take in more than one thing at once. In the game, crossing level one hundred unlocked a sixth sense, the system’s way of congratulating a player for no longer being a rookie.

Now he was feeling those effects, but he forced himself to move slowly. Eventually they finished gathering the medicinal flowers.

It wasn’t easy. His body kept wanting to move faster than his mind could comfortably handle, yet he made himself stay careful and deliberate.

Once everything was packed, Allan motioned for Diva and Lira to come closer.

He spoke softly, though at his current level volume hardly mattered anymore.

"I guess you both have questions. A lot of them. About the hooded man and why he was after me."

Both women looked at him. "Yeah. He kept talking about Players this and Players that. What does that even mean? Players."

Allan explained carefully. He told Diva and Lira about the people called Players, beings who arrived with abilities no one else possessed, so strong that the System still tracked the marks they left behind. It seemed they had also created these psychos: a group determined to crack the world open and rebuild it in the Players’ names.

Diva narrowed her eyes.

"How did you know this?"

"Because my father might have been involved in something like that. I’m not certain," Allan continued.

"But I have a theory. Something you won’t like to hear, Diva."

Silence stretched between them.

"Go on," she said.

Water kept flowing over the stones as Allan spoke again. "Kael. She’s either involved in this or she knows enough about it."

Diva’s grip tightened on her sword. "You’d dare? She’s our leader, the one who trained an entire new generation of adventurers."

Lira sided with Allan. Her eyes went dark, ready to strike if Diva made a move.

Allan said nothing.

"I said it’s just a theory. No need to get worked up about it."

"Haa... I know. It isn’t." Diva loosened her grip and turned her head away first.

Lira relaxed, the darkness fading from her eyes. "Allan, I don’t trust her. Not even a little bit."

"Lira, she’s like you and Seris. You don’t see it now, but you will eventually." He watched her reaction. She said nothing, only slipped her arm around his.

He patted her head. "Now let’s go back home. I miss Seris’s scolding."

They returned to the city and headed straight to the guild. No one mentioned out loud how many of them had started the journey.

The guild hall was loud and lively when they walked in, yet the noise somehow made the whole trip feel even longer than it had been.

Kael took their report without changing her expression and examined the healing flowers with a more advanced analyzer.

She turned to Diva.

"Diva, from this day forward, you are A+ rank."

She looked at the mage. "You too. A+ rank." The mage accepted the badge.

"Allan Oakwood..." she said, pausing just long enough to let the tension build. "You are now promoted to A rank."

Allan nodded.

Kael then promoted Lira to B rank, a significant jump.

The mage looked at her badge, then slipped it into her pocket without pinning it on. "I’m out. See ya, suckers."

No one tried to stop her. Slowly, Diva walked out as well, with Lira falling into step beside her.

Once the corridor was empty, Allan stayed behind. He simply stood there, staring at his new badge.

"Allan? You want something?" Kael asked.

"Nothing. Just some simple answers to some simple questions."

"And those would be?"

"Why did you send the man after us?" he asked, looking her straight in the eyes.