Progressive Growth

"Brutus. Lucielle. Give your report."

Within the throne-room, standing in front of the Royal Council, the two most powerful members of the United Human Alliance knelt as they spoke.

Of course, they took turns.

"The Otherworlders are advancing faster than expected." Brutus spoke first.

"Their growth rate is monstrous—and this applies for both Groups."

A month passed since the Otherworlders arrived in H'Trae.

Their schedules continued as usual, with their curriculum only getting progressively more difficult as they continued their training and classes.

The Alpha Students, after learning the basics of Spells and Chanting, were already moving on to the advanced stages.

As for the Beta Students, they had already begun to learn Chanting, and while a few had some difficulty with it, some had already gotten the hang of it.

Since their foundations were rock solid, they were able to learn much faster and easier than normal.

Other than Magic, they were also training their bodies in Martial Arts. Those with Skills that had to do with Combat Application were the fastest learners, and they excelled greatly at Martial Arts.

However, those with low affinity towards it had to struggle with the swords, daggers, spears, or whatever weapons they were utilizing.

Needless to say, even after a month of arrival, the students still had a lot to learn.

"Given about two months, we should be ready to proceed to the next phase of the plan." Lucielle added, with Brutus nodding to her proposed estimate.

They both agreed that their students were not prepared for the rigors of the conflict that existed outside the comfort of their safe haven.

However… the clock was ticking.

"There's no time left." Conrad Listrio, Grandmaster of the Royal Council spoke up.

He looked concerned, and rightfully so.

Their Nation was on the verge of collapse, and they needed help desperately.

"The timetable has been moved up. Make sure they're ready in a month."

This absurd request surprised both Lucielle and Brutus, and while they would have liked to protest, the expressions of the Royal Council made it clear that they couldn't budge on the decision.

"It pains me to do this, but… we have no other choice." Grandmaster Conrad sighed.

"Please… I know I'm asking for a lot, but please make it possible."

Once they heard their Grandmaster make such a request, using a humble tone and a strained face, Brutus and Lucielle knew they could not refuse.

"Understood!" They jointly responded.

"Thank you."

The Royal Council took turns thanking Brutus and Lucielle for their work.

However, despite the words of gratitude that filled the room, no one present was oblivious of the reality of their current predicament.

Time was running out, and sooner or later… the world's saviors would have to step into the spotlight.

For now, though, the students were to remain learners.

… Well, almost all of them.

********

"Alright. So, let's see…"

Rey was standing right in front of the entrance to the Seventh Floor, his eyes fixated on the seals that were heavily put in place.

"… I think I'm all set."

For nearly two weeks, he had been coming to this place and training.

Even though he had exterminated the horde of monsters here on his very first day, he decided to remain on the sixth floor for a while.

There was a lot he hadn't quite understood about his Skills, so he purposed to learn more about them.

And now, after all this time, he finally felt he was ready.

"Status Window." He mumbled to himself.

[STATUS WINDOW]

- Name: Rey Skylar.

- Race: Human (Otherworlder)

- Class: Commoner (F-Tier)

- Level: 9 (2.01% EXP)

- Life Force: 15

- Mana Level: 25

- Combat Ability: 30

- Stat Points: 24

- Skills (Exclusive): [Doppel]

- Skills (Non-Exclusive): Nil

- Alignment: Neutral

[Additional Information]

You possess the weakest Class, but the strongest Skill. You can only be described as an 'Overpowered Weakling.'

[End Of Information]

"Hehehe…" Rey smiled as he looked at his Stats.

It wasn't bad at all—not in the slightest.

He thought back to the moment when he was worried about not being able to Level Up since he didn't get the [You Have Leveled Up] notification, but apparently, that wasn't how it worked.

Rey had indeed Leveled Up—eight times even—after completing the Sixth Floor.

He just didn't get any notification.

The reason he didn't feel stronger after his Level-Up was because his Stat Points weren't automatically distributed among his Stats, but instead kept as they were.

Rey got 3 Stat Points for every Level-Up, and he had to manually attribute Stat Points to whatever Stat he wanted to improve.

'So far, I've avoided adding Points to any of my Stats since I want them to grow more naturally…'

There were two major ways to improve Stats.

One was through rigorous training, and the other was by Leveling Up.

The first method got increasingly more difficult the higher one's Stat Points became.

As such, if a person's Combat Ability Stat was 1, it would take relatively easier methods to make it turn into 2.

However, if it was 10, a lot of training would be required to bump into 11.

Thanks to this mechanism, Rey tried his best to naturally grow his Stats before adding his Stat Points to the mix.

'But… it seems I've reached my limit. They're not increasing anymore.'

That meant he had to attribute his Stat Points now.

'Alright. I have a total of 27. I'll pour 7 into my Life Force, and the rest should go into Mana.'

Once Rey finished allocating the Stats on his Status Window, he smiled and confidently examined everything.

He remembered the time when everything was in single digits, and he felt a strong sense of satisfaction that he had made it this far.

'Adonis and the others are still in Level 1, but I bet they have Stats that are similar to mine.'

Classes greatly influenced growth rates, so he wouldn't be surprised if their Stats were in two digits.

'They should also be able to Level Up faster than me, and I'm sure they'll get more than 3 Stat Points per Level Up.'

Such was the benefit of a solid Class.

To compensate for that, he had powerful Skills. However, he had to study over time on how to best utilize them, while also being considerate about his Mana usage.

'Fortunately, I've found the perfect hack.' Rey smiled to himself.

He had tried various combinations in his time here, and by using Buff Skills, he could raise his Mana Level to the triple digits, albeit temporarily.

"With that in mind, and knowing the difficulty of the Sixth Floor, I think I'm ready for the Seventh." Rey muttered in confidence.

As he stared down the locked gate of the Dungeon Floor, his lips began to curl up.

Before he realized it, he was grinning widely.

"Let's begin!"

*

*

*

[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

For those who aren't commenting or supporting, please do.

It encourages me greatly.