161. Augmentation - 5

161. Augmentation - 5

"Well, that was nice," I murmured as I felt the darkness dissolve around me once more, feeling my body transform as I took a deep breath, Resilience allowing me to push the pain back. The process of leaving the corrupted lands and being promoted was surprisingly eventless, allowing me to improve both of my Abilities.

The heroic ability had consumed all available experience I had in storage, suggesting that it might have been a better choice to delay leveling up a while, but I decided against it.

I simply didn't have enough trustworthy people to bring into the Party until Zolast found a way to trick their patrons and allow me to recruit them. Considering everyone with a useful class was recruited by a Divine Patron well before their teenage years, and I didn't have a way to upgrade their classes yet, that was the only reasonable alternative.

Unless I found someone like Limenta once again due to pure luck.

No, currently, leveling as quickly as possible was a far more superior option, and the benefit of Complete Life Elevation was hard to overstate, especially when combined with my abnormal stat points.

I was

[Class: Hero

Level: 60

Experience (0/379,072,224)]

[Health (754/1200)

Mana (140/900)]

[Experience: 921,271,294]

[Authority: 32,327]

[STATS

Resilience: 50

Vitality: 40

Strength: 80

Agility: 35

Speed: 30

Perception: 50

Memory: 10

Charisma: 100

Attunement: 30

Concealment: 25

LOCKED]

[Stat Points: 145]

[SKILLS: Archery of Destruction (0X)]

Soon, we were in a short street called Crystal Lane, one of the more expensive locations in the outer town, with several jewelers making the place more prestigious. And, the largest of those stores belonged to my counterpart.

As I walked forward, the door opened and a well-dressed servant stepped out. "Master Euon, please come in," he said, but his face twisted with barely suppressed anger.

It didn't help when I gestured for my guards to stay outside and defend, like I owned the place.

"Lead the way," I said, acting like I didn't notice the subtle isolation spell that surrounded the building. It increased the risk of a trap, but with their guildmaster still absent, it was my best way to learn what they were trying to do.

The servant led me through several display cases, each filled with gems and other jewelry, some carved to support wards and magic weapons, others purely ornamental, but every single one of them was bulky and tacky.

"Anything that caught your interest, Master Euon?" the servant asked. I shook my head dismissively, making no secret of my distaste.

"As you wish, sir," the servant said and opened another door.

One that opened to a nice dining room. In this room, there was another surprise waiting for me. The quartermaster was there, but not alone. He was accompanied by another man, in his thirties.

That mysterious guest was sitting while the quartermaster waited next to him as a sign of respect.

Then, there was another interesting detail. There was only one chair.

The disrespect was clear.

Interesting. Another member of the supporters of Night Blades, most likely. Just like that mysterious young man.

Before deciding on how to react, I spent a moment examining the mysterious party. He was dressed in black and gray. His clothing looked understated, however they were anything but. I didn't recognize the material, but considering I was able to feel a subtle presence of mana from the fabric similar to a magic weapon, they were clearly expensive.

He clearly expected me to stay silent even as he raised his wine glass, confident that he was in control. A basic power move, which I did my best to show it was working. It was easier to play along to understand what he wanted.

"So, you're the mysterious Euon," he said before he sipped his wine delicately, watching me with self-assured confidence. His motions were slow, and controlled. Not just due to stats, but also because he had the confidence of a man who knew he was the deadliest one in the room.

There was a dagger hidden in his left sleeve, and another one at the side of his calf. Prepared.

Unlike him, I only had my sword, an ordinary one, and my dagger, a magic one, but poor quality. The fact that he didn't use his guards to remove them was another insult.

Of course, that many insults drew an interesting picture. Was he disrespecting me, or was all of this a subtle test?

All of these thoughts flashed in an instant before I settled on a basic strategy. Confident and smart, yet not too smart. "Since there's no chair for me, I must be in the wrong room," I declared sharply. He looked satisfied with that, but that turned into a surprise when I turned and started to walk away.

This was the problem with the theatrical setups. An unexpected response was enough to ruin the whole show. I took three steps before he decided I had no intention of actually slowing down. "Apologies, Master Euon. It's just an oversight from the servants," he said, and then turned to the other occupant in the room.

"Bring us a chair," he ordered to the man who technically shared the exact same rank with me, who swallowed his dissatisfaction after a flash.

"As you wish, my lord," he said, bowing deep enough to confirm that I was dealing with another noble.

"I hope you don't take that personally, Master Euon," he said.

"Of course not," I answered, accepting the apology. "It's not your fault. Some people are just incompetent."

The rival quartermaster looked at me angrily as he placed the chair. Regardless, he had no choice but to swallow his anger. I made a show of giving him a smug smile.

Of course, the display had nothing to do with actually getting one over him. He was a non-entity. I just wanted our mysterious noble to believe I cared deeply about the rivalry between Dawn Hammers and Night Blades.

I sat down, and another servant poured me a drink, giving me my first challenge.

To drink, or not to drink