Refusing My God’s Advances

I nodded along, even more, thankful that I had come to Daryle with this problem. That was an extremely good idea. I wasn't used to fighting, so, even with my game experience, I hadn't thought about that.

"Wow, thank you for that information, brother. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You telling this might actually save my or someone else's life one day," I said, but then nodded.

"Well, you kept up your end of the bargain and helped me more than I could have hoped. Now, it is time to check out your stats!" I laughed, and Daryle did a fist pump and came over to stand beside me.

"I can't wait to see! I'm... Level... yeah, was 384 last time I checked, but I know I haven't reached 400 yet," Daryle explained, and frowned.

"How do you know you haven't?" I asked.

Daryle's cheerful expression became dark as he explained everything to me. "Every 100 levels changes your job, or class, which you can feel. When that happens, those without blessing have to find a retired hero to see what new skills you have. The problem is that many people can't even afford this service until level 300. I am lucky, and the castle pays for it because I am the head knight. The knights and squires under me have to pay for their own."

"That feel's counter-productive. You are the kingdom's army, right? Why field men that weren't at their full potential?" I asked, and Daryle sighed. The topic seemed to weigh on him, but I needed to know.

"It's the damn heroes! While they don't have nearly as powerful of a blessing as you do, they still can take on an entire squad of knights with ease. That means that our kingdom has no control over them, and they charge whatever they want! Things are different in the North and West, but not in a good way," Daryle explained, clearly agitated.

Rather than press the subject, even though I wanted to know more, I activated Identity on Daryle. It would help get his mind off things. Maybe in the future, I could do something about that, and make off like a bandit, but it would have to be minimum effort with a decent reward. 

Level: 392

Name: Daryle Mordel

Physical Power: 24034

Magical Power: 17111

Agility: 23922

Technical Knowledge: 5323

Arcane Insight: 8700

Resilience: 20808

I just shook my head in defeat. I couldn't even come close to his lowest stat, even if I added all my stats together for fucks sake! 

The really perplexing thing was how he could have such precise control over his power and speed. I was literally half a percent of this guy, yet, he evenly matched me each time I got stronger. 

Just how insane was that?!

"Umm... you okay, brother?" Daryle asked. "You don't look so hot. Maybe seeing my stats was a bit much?"

"Stats? No, that isn't what bothers me. I mean they are mind-blowing, but that isn’t it," I said after realizing that I was bent over, breathing heavily, and my face was cold from the blood draining from it. 

I straightened up and slapped my cheeks before turning to face Daryle with a serious look. "How do you have so much control?"

Daryle chuckled. "I see. Yeah, from our stats, you are less than a percent of me in some stats, but I am just below the plateau. Since I am so close, I can fight evenly with anyone with needle-point precision. That will change once I hit 400, I am sure almost all my stats will be over one hundred thousand."

"I see," I said, and thought about it.

If your stats ballooned that much, you would need to be able to have precise control. Even then, it would only be for the mundane things. God, this was a lot to process.

"You think that is wild?" Daryle asked, and I focused on him again. "MARY! Come over here! We got an Identifier!"

There was a gust of wind, and Mary appeared before me with a smile. "Really? And you are willing to... Wait, is that your full Power Rating chart, Daryle?"

With a smug look, he nodded. "I am getting closer to 400! It won't be that long now, master! Only another 6 to 8 months!"

This made Mary laugh out loud like a crazy woman. "Leon will reach it in less than 2 months!" She cackled, her words stabbing into Daryle as she turned to me. "I can feel a slight increase in your power, but you haven't killed any monsters."

Poor Daryle's smug look was practically knocked off his face. He deflated like a balloon until he was sitting on the ground, holding his knees, and mumbling to himself about being a failure, and his work had been all for nothing.

I raised an eyebrow, giving Mary a sheepish look. "That wasn't very nice."

Mary snorted at my comment. "Will do the lazy good for nothing good. Knowing how fast you will progress will make him want to grow stronger. Maybe, with your help in the future, you could help him reach the same level as Aria. You might be the key to help all of us."

That sounded like a lot of work, but I sure wasn't going to tell Mary that. I was still curious though. 

"Why do you think so all of a sudden?" I asked, and Mary smiled.

"Someone who has been blessed by a god from outside of this world is clearly destined for great changes. I know you wish to have peace with the ones you love, but do you understand how far that goal might take you?"

I didn't particularly like the words or the tone of her voice, but I understood what she meant. Hamazon proved that there were other worlds out there, but why should I have to worry about the other worlds if they all have heroes?

Mary offered her hand. "Take my hand. I would like to show you something."