Chapter 42 (1/2)

“Answers first,” Randidly said firmly, tightly gripping the coin. It was around 10 am, and they had successfully made it back to their village after his light assault of their nextdoor neighbors. Hopefully that demonstration was enough to cow Constance, but Randidly wouldn’t bet on it. Although in the short term, his revenge was not likely to be forthcoming; he would want to grow much stronger before he dared reveal himself in front of Randidly again.

Maybe his eviscerated tongue and vocal cords would give him pause, however.

Nul nodded rapidly, his excited palpable. “Yes, yes. Each Village may form its own ‘kept’ Dungeon, typically in the Trainee Tier-”

“No,” Randidly shook his head slowly, his gaze never leaving Nul’s eyes. “Bigger answers. How could their guide have this coin?”

Nul stilled, his expression instantly becoming bland and noncommittal. “...I don’t know what you mean.”

“I think you do.” Randidly saw Daniel gasp, making the same realization he did. He held up the coin. “I haven’t seen one of these. And not to be arrogant, but if I haven’t been able to find whatever is making these and kill it, I doubt anyone over there has either. And if it didn’t come from the any of the people here…”

Nul looked troubled. “...This… is not something I can speak of, I promise you. I am bound. But suffice to say… Your suspicions are not unfounded. All guides are not created equal… Which brings me to the perfect opportunity to bring you the good news! I too, have a gift, and it has just been unlocked as your Village Chieftain got his Soul Skill up to Lvl 100.”

Nul’s smile did nothing to dispel Randidly’s suspicions. If it didn’t come from the people, it came from there guide. All guides weren’t created equally… He was bound…?

But Randidly supposed it would end up being worth it, if the dungeon warped time like the dungeon he had been stuck in. “So what is your gift? Is it as valuable as this?”

“Perhaps you should be the judge of that… you seem rather intelligent.” Nul said smartly, smirking at him.. “It is something called Class Inheritance… Very simply, due to my influence, there is an item you can purchase from the Accessory Shop called a Mentor stone. Using that will force a connection, giving an individual a path Disciple of the Individual who used the stone. When that path is complete, if you bring them to me and the mentor was from my village… I can make sure they can obtain a similar class.”

Randidly stilled. This was obviously a similar method to what Shal had used with him. If it were true, and they could reproduce classes with more powerful growth rates…

But the fact that Shal could do it made Randidly’s eyes narrow with suspicion. Was it really something due to Nul, or was it something that every village unlocked at a certain level…?

“What do you mean by similar?” Daniel asked.

Nul shrugged mysteriously. “It is hard to say. But there is some potential for change. The higher ranked the class, the higher the possibility is that the class might degrade into a less powerful subset. But conversely, the lower tiered classes might evolve.”

“So,” Nul asked, turning to Randidly. “Will this gift of mine be useful?”

“Do you have… nothing else?” Randidly asked, his voice light.

Nul’s face soured, and for a long time, he said nothing. And then he finally said, “There is a path you may take, were balance is ended, and one half may feed off the other to grow stronger. If you do so, and afterwards I am still alive, I will be able to answer your questions.”

At the end of this small speech, Nul’s face was red, and his whole body trembled. Randidly suspected it was a ruse, bu in a way, there were similarities to what the other spirit had said about being one half of a whole. Thoughtfully, Randidly handed over the large black coin.

***

“The easiest way is to just give the different ranks tiers of equipment, but I simply don’t have enough high quality materials.” Sam said unhappily.