NOVEL SIMPLE That Isn’t Strong Enough – Chapter 257
Ally turns her attention to one of her screens. ‘Anyway, besides silly uses for psionics, you seem to have gained something with your victory. It looks like you went up a level.’
Doyle pulls up his notifications, only to find Ally was right, not that he doubted her.
{Level Gained!
Level goes from 4 to 5, Strength goes from 48 to 56, Agility goes from 60 to 76, Constitution goes from 67 to 77, Intelligence goes from 54 to 64, Wisdom goes from 104 to 128, Presence goes from 43 to 51, Destiny goes from 98 to 111, Karma goes from 84 to 111, Luck goes from 69 to 86}
The numbers look impressive with three of the stats already in the three digits, but Doyle remembers that some of the stat descriptions required four digits to unlock a better description. ‘So, what do the numbers actually mean? Like with Strength. When a human has 100 strength, what does that represent them being able to lift?’
Ally laughs, ‘Well first, you have to remember that each stat represents multiple things about a person. Strength doesn’t just mean how strong their muscles are. It can represent the toughness of their bones and how optimized their muscles are.
‘A man who swings a sword all day will look quite different from someone who focuses on punches. Though up to around 100, most people will see a massive increase in raw ability to lift heavy things. If I had to guess, the unfortunate Jack should actually have a three digit Strength score.
‘That is likely why he got knocked on his butt. Focused too much on physical stats over his mental ones. Anyway, while I can’t be sure, there are some tells that point towards this.
‘For most of his time delving there has been a general trend of his muscles getting bigger. Except over the last couple weeks, the trend has actually seemed to reverse. This either represents his muscles repositioning or becoming denser, both signs of a post 100 Strength on a human.
‘Of course, this isn’t certain, some people are just weird. However, going by what we know of him, my guess is the most likely outcome. Jack doesn’t seem to be the type to try and restrain his muscles for a slimmer look.’
Doyle, ‘So what about when someone gains a ton of points all at once? I think I would have noticed the muscles suddenly expanding.’
Ally shrugs, ‘The system might seem to be causing miracle after miracle, but it isn’t going to waste power taking someone from ten Strength to one hundred in a moment. It slowly feeds you the points one by one. So for massive gains below a thousand points it is quite possible someone might end up taking days to fully realize the growth.’
Doyle nods, ‘I guess that makes sense. Though why specify below 1k?’
Ally, ‘Well, it does still hold till the four digits, but at that point things tend to start getting conceptual. You can’t just keep building your foundation until you’ve perfected the concept of “Strength” or what have you.
‘Scratch that, you can, technically. Some very rare people manage it. The only problem is they tend to bottleneck hard. Just look at all the god’s of Strength out there. For you and everyone in Wolf’s Rest? Not an option. Even Jack has spread himself out too much to truly center on Strength.
‘Anyway, once you get into the four digits, stats become more conceptual. A human’s muscles don’t become “stronger”, but rather begin to embody certain concepts of Strength. This is basically when you get into the whole “unstoppable object meets an immovable object” and the answer of who wins comes down to which one embodies their concept better. That, however, is for later.’
Doyle sighs, ‘Fair enough, now let’s watch the town a little to see what kind of chaos this causes.’
Ally nods and brings up a few screens showing various places in town. On them, the first thing to attract their attention is that Ace is in Jim’s office.
Jim frowns, “Do you think we should postpone checking out the new addition to the fifth floor?”
Ace shakes his head, “Jack is from my team. That means I’m not leaving anytime soon, so you should use this chance to go yourself. Besides, you likely have better ways to identify what that monument does.”
Back in the dungeon Ally sighs, ‘I really have to wonder what they’ll make of it. Even if Jim has some kind of assessment or identification ability, the thing breaks the rules. Then again, you never know what the system will make of it. I guess we have to wait.’
Doyle nods, ‘At least we won’t have to wait long. Though speaking of the monument, the team which reported it seems to be talking to Melonie.’
Ally turns away from the screen showing Jim and Ace, focusing on the one Doyle has highlighted.
Melonie steeples her fingers, “For your first time through the dungeon, that is an impressive delve you just described. If not for certain reasons, I would be doubting your tale. Now, as you can probably tell, your chances of being on top of the pile here isn’t the best.”
Henry scoffs, “No matter how strong they are, I can match them!”
Melonie raises an eyebrow, “I highly doubt that, but just in case.” She reaches out her hand across her desk, clearly indicating the desire to arm wrestle.
Henry, in turn is more than happy to oblige and grasps her smaller hand and in a flippant way, tries to slam her hand down onto the table.
Melonie stares him directly in the eyes as her hand doesn’t even budge. Even when he tries to squeeze her hand, it instead feels like he is trying to squeeze a rock. This turn of events shocks him, but not too much as he wasn’t using his full strength yet.
Now knowing this wasn’t going to be easy, Henry pulls out all the stops. Veins stand up on his arm and his face turns red as he puts his entire strength and weight behind his actions. In fact, anyone in the know about arm wrestling would be able to tell that this isn’t his first rodeo.
Henry had clearly at some point studied the ins and outs of arm wrestling, while on the other side you might even accuse Melonie of using the worst form possible. Yet there she sits, as if nothing was happening with her arm solid as a rock, not even shaking or quivering from exertion.
On Henry’s side, things are the complete opposite. His arm is shaking and sweat is beading up on his forehead. Then, ever so slowly, Melonie brings her hand down onto the table until the back of his hand has touched it.
Melonie then makes sure that when she lets go his hand doesn’t release all the tension and break her table. With a sigh, she rolls her eyes, “Not bad. You’re probably the strongest normal person here. Going by pre-system standards you’re easily beyond the strength of an Olympian athlete.
“That isn’t strong enough. Ace, the leader of this town and not even a pure physical fighter, is stronger than I am. They’ve had access to this dungeon from square one, and none of the people in the inner ring have squandered it. Out here? Me and a few of my people are likely the only ones stronger than you.
“Of course, Strength isn’t everything and if we are just looking for people who can beat you, the number goes up quickly. If you try to bull your way through, chances are you will never catch up. Their paths are just that much weightier than your own.
“I’m not saying it is impossible, mind you. However, they are the founders of the first true town on the planet and the first branch of the Adventurers Guild. They’ve been at the forefront of exploring this dungeon from the very front as well and while I can’t be sure, there are likely secrets to it.”
Henry crosses his arms, “And what of it? If I’m so far behind, don’t waste my time, which could be better spent training.”
Melonie laughs, “I want you and your team. Right now, you could look at me as a kind of ruler in exile. The system recognizes me as the true ruler of the settlement just up river and yet a council of idiotic elders have been in charge. I’m sure you noticed.
“They want to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the system. Sure, they’re more than happy to sell stuff to adventures who are passing through and they let their guards level up. However, that is the end of it. There is a dungeon right next door and they aren’t making use of it!
“So I’m going to have to go and take it all back. If I just wanted to do so by crude force, we wouldn’t have had to leave in the first place. No, I need to prove them wrong at a fundamental level and your group would be a great help.
“For goodness sakes, you even have a true healer! Even this place only has one of those as well as a few apprentices. I’m sure that if given enough time they’ll have more, but the fact that even they only have one shows how rare they are. After all, even if they aren’t delving into the dungeon, healers should be drawn in from everywhere as there is more than enough healing to be done here.”
Henry leans forward, “So what, you want to act like figure heads? How will that let me grow stronger? If I wanted to lead some shitty settlement, I could have just stayed at the place we started.”
Melonie chuckles, “With that kind of attitude it is a good thing you didn’t stay. That path clearly doesn’t fit you.
“No, you wouldn’t work as a figurehead, at least not in the way I would want. Rather, I want you to put on a show! When I roll into town again, I want you to act as my champions when I challenge the council.
“You’ve already experienced being outnumbered in the dungeon so it shouldn’t be that hard to beat every single guard they have all at once. Their minions only take the bare minimum, and the paths they have access to are thin and weak. I honestly doubt even their highest level guard had more than plus five a level to strength.
“Plus, they don’t even have any mages. The idiots have completely foregone magic! This isn’t even some religious nonsense, they just mistrust the system so much that they won’t even touch the stuff.
“Anyway, as you take their guards down in a display of strength, your healer can be getting them back on their feet. A true one, two punch to their sensibility. All the while we can have your sneaky party member go around and tag the council and other important people with chalk. That way, once the fight is over we can not only prove your group’s might and magic, but also the ability to have taken them out without even being noticed.”
Henry snorts, “Easy! But why don’t you do it if you’re so strong? Also, you still haven’t explained how that will help me get stronger.”
Melonie rolls her eyes, “Like I said, if I just wanted to roll into town and take names, we wouldn’t have had to leave. Plus, I want to hide my own power so when they inevitably try something I can surprise them. As for how this will help you?
“It will set you on a path that fits who you are. You don’t want to stick around setting up all the bureaucracy, you just want to prove your Strength. Doing this will likely result in a path that allows you to truly show off your power.
“After all, it will be for an audience of an entire settlement and a large one at that. At the moment, there are few places where you could show off before a larger crowd.”
The rest of Henry’s team clearly know their boss quite well as they all sigh and get ready to join up with Melonie. As for Henry himself? He’s a little caught up in the ideas that just got tossed his way.
