Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Ajax was only brought back into the moment after Balthazar started walking towards a different aisle. He still could get his head around how the man had been alive for four thousand years, even the two hundred that normal people lived here seemed like a lot to him after he ended his first life before the age of twenty-five.

“How could you survive for four thousand years?” Ajax finally asked.

“I’m only three thousand nine hundred and seventy four.” Balthazar said cheekily but then continued to explain. “It isn’t a secret however, are you aware of the effects that stats have on aging?”

“All physical stats except Perception slow down the effects of aging, physical stats more so than mental ones.” Ajax answered.

“That is correct but it is not the complete truth.” Balthazar said. “While all the stats affect aging, even Perception, they do so at varying rates. Perception is by far the worst , then Wisdom and Intellect are next but both are quite a bit better and Mind is a good chunk above them. Then we reach the physical stats, Strength and Dexterity are about the same and are above Mind with Endurance being a decent chuck above them. That leaves us with Vitality, which is the opposite of Perception by being a solid bit better than Endurance.”

“Then why isn’t that knowledge better spread?” Ajax asked, confused.

“First of all, that is because most people don’t make it too far past sixty in their entire lifetime.” The old man answered. “ Not only that but most people, even in the non-human kingdoms, focus on an almost purely physical build despite access to magic because of the longer lifespan this grants.”

“I don’t see the issues with sharing the knowledge.” Ajax still answered.

“The stats also affect an aging body differently.” Professor Silvertongue answered. “Did you notice, in the previous question we spoke about the effect of stats on aging. Well the stats have a completely reversed effect on age.”

“Isn’t that the opposite of what you just said?” Ajax didn’t know what to think.

“No, what I mean by that is that as your body ages past its prime you’ll start to see your stats be given a penalty. There will be no numerical value reduced but an old man with four hundred strength can’t overpower a young man with even two hundred. But an old man with four hundred Perception still has better senses than a young man with three hundred and fifty.” Abbot explained. Finnd new chapters at novelhall.com

“The final piece of the puzzle is that stats applied only slow down the aging process after they are applied.” Balthazar said. “ Two people with identical stats and a common average build can have the same stats at around level eighty but one of them has aged half again as much as another simply because of the order they increased their stats in.”

“Wouldn’t sharing all this mean people would live longer on average?” Ajax asked.

“Yes, and perhaps one day it might even be a good idea to spread this information, after all making an educated decision on this would bring about a lot of good.” Balthazar nodded. “But how many commoners do you know that are getting a good education? This information is being distributed but only to those who also receive enough education to make appropriate choices.”

“This is the result.” Abbot said. “A very aged body, so much so that even with physical stats that surpass yours he has to rely on magical items and mental stats that mark him as a more than competent mage.”

“I made my mistake in going too far with my obsession with Vitality.” Balthazar admitted. “I managed to gain at least one hundred and thirty points in each of my stats through pure training over the years, with the exception of Vitality of course.”

“Ah here we are.” Balthazar said as he picked up one of the scrolls and handed it to Ajax. “The achievement Against overwhelming odds.”

Ajax accepted the scroll, while the parchment had the same thickness as the one that contained Bullying the rolled up scroll was a lot smaller meaning that the amount of information on it was much smaller, he quickly unrolled it.

Achievement : Against Overwhelming Odds

Requirements : kill an enemy at least twice the level you are alone.

Two discoveries cost.

Rewards : skill [Judge Threat].

In depth requirements : Kill an enemy beast or monster (humanoid are not acceptable) that has not been weakened in any way( Previous wounds, environmental damage, environmental disadvantage, exhaustion). Without any help provided, all magical or enchanted gear used has to be selfcrafted, plain weapons are allowed, buff skills or effects not allowed. Enhancement potions crafted by others are allowed so long as they only affect you and not the enemy.

Observations : Hidden reward, remove one instance of the punishments Bullying or Coward if afflicted when first achieved. Hidden rewards are repeatable twice for killing five enemies twice your level alone and again for ten enemies.

Note: Enemies killed inside the Dungeon only count if you are not part of a party delving the dungeon and are doing so alone, this regardless of any interference or lack thereof. Attempting to achieve this in a Dungeon is heavily discouraged.

Note : Killing a beast that has been well cared for in a natural environment does still count even if said beast was held in captivity as long as all requirements are met. (Monsters used for entertainment in a colosseum or ring fight.)

Note : Killing bound companions does count so long as the system believes the fight was genuine and the humanoid bound didn’t interfere to weaken the enemy in any way.