Chapter 133: Praise Me!

Silence settled over the dining room while Gavin, Malik, Mina and Elara stared at Jaxir.

An Archmage wasn’t the sort of title any of them expected to hear from someone sitting at Level 8. Most of the names they associated with it belonged to rankers who had already climbed far beyond the first Tier.

Jaxir looked around the table and started to wonder if he had missed something again. This time, he had.

The government’s problem with Divinity had always been that they started taking the game seriously too late. Once that changed, they rushed every talented player they trusted through Levels as quickly as possible in an attempt to close the gap, which meant those players gained character Levels much faster than they developed the abilities underneath them.

Most of the government’s better talents were only around Mage or the equivalent contingent Title for their own Class, despite being much further into the game than Jaxir.

People capable of pushing beyond that were rare enough for the government to track with considerable interest. Jahbri was one of those exceptions, especially when her Title was considered alongside her Level and the fact she was a Healer.

Jaxir had landed inside a similarly absurd category after joining Divinity what felt like a few days ago.

The government knew almost exactly how little time Jaxir had actually spent inside the game. They had his account creation date, his login records and the long stretch where he disappeared almost completely while he was hospitalized and then recovering under Dr. Obrey’s supervision.

Tier 1 was the easiest point in Divinity to build a foundation far beyond your Level, but nobody in the room confused easier with easy.

Maybe one percent of sufficiently talented Magic players could become Archmages while they were still inside Tier 1. With billions of people playing Divinity, that still represented a huge number across the game’s history, though most of those people had started much earlier and were already in Tier 3, Tier 4 or somewhere even further beyond. Jaxir’s late start had placed him in the much smaller group that still possessed that level of foundation while remaining beneath Level 11.

The government kept information on every active Tier 1 Archmage they could identify. Even after including every server across the world instead of only this one, the current number sat below five hundred.

Somehow Jaxir had joined that group after spending a large portion of his short time inside Divinity either injured, unconscious or banned from somewhere.

"Hm." Jaxir brought up his status screen and skimmed the abilities listed beneath his Mind section. "I guess I’m still decently far from Grand Archmage, but I haven’t been in many proper battles recently, so I think I can get there before I cross Level 10 into Level 11."

Nobody answered him, which made Jaxir glance away from the screen and find the same four stunned expressions waiting for him. He thought about the title progression for another moment before realizing there was something he had never bothered asking.

"By the way, is there another Title beyond Grand Archmage?"

Gavin opened his mouth, paused, then seemed to remember that someone eventually had to respond. "Before we get to whatever comes after Grand Archmage, can you explain what you mean by ’decently far’?"

His eyes dropped toward the status screen floating in front of Jaxir.

"Sure." Jaxir looked back at the numbers to make certain he remembered them correctly. "Cast is Level 41, Channel is Level 43, and Attune is Level 47."

Another silence followed, somehow heavier than the first. Jaxir had already crossed Level 40 with every one of his Magic Root Abilities, with Attune only three Levels away from what he assumed would be the next major threshold. Progress had slowed considerably after Level 40, but he still couldn’t see himself reaching Level 11 before dragging the other two across Level 50 as well.

Nick suddenly slapped a palm against the table and pushed himself out of his chair. Niri made an offended noise when their wrestling match ended without warning, but Nick ignored her and walked around the table before wrapping both arms around Jaxir.

"I’m never leaving you."

"Thanks, buddy." Jaxir laughed and patted him once on the back before pushing him away. "Now I want to hear yours."

Nick froze for a fraction of a second, then waved a hand as he returned to his seat.

"Fine, fine, I’m Nick, Level 10, Melee Class, and I’m wearing a Level Restraint treasure, so I won’t be becoming Level 11 anytime soon." He leaned back in his chair and grinned. "I’m also a Knight."

The government’s team looked at him again, this time with considerably less shock than Jaxir had earned but enough to satisfy Nick.

Knight was already well beyond the normal foundation expected from a Tier 1 Melee player, and suddenly the Commander’s willingness to accept him made a little more sense. Nick apparently hadn’t spent all his time sneaking around in expensive shoes and getting dragged into Jaxir’s problems.

Nick spread his arms and looked toward Mina and Elara. "Don’t rush me all at once, ladies."

"It’s kind of lackluster after Jaxir’s performance." Elara looked him over and shrugged. "You really should’ve gone first."

Nick raised his middle finger toward her without hesitation. "I’m only two Levels in Combo away from Knight Commander, so you can eat shit."

Elara’s face soured while Nick settled deeper into his chair with a victorious smile.

Jaxir chuckled as he looked between them. If Nick was that close to his next contingent Title, the man had been hiding considerably more than Jaxir originally thought when they first met.

Then again, Nick had held his own against a posessed player back then, not to mention the fact the elites that a faction of a church would choose for such a rare opportunity couldn’t have been simple either, and Nick had been doing well on his own until he was teleported into the maw of the Demi-Goddesses.

Jaxir himself had barely stayed alive back then and suffered at the hands of those elites even before they were possessed too, so maybe the warning signs had always been there.

"My turn, my turn!" Niri scrambled onto her chair before anyone could stop her, then stepped directly onto Jaxir’s dining table with both hands planted against her hips.

Every person in the room turned toward her while she puffed out her chest and lifted her chin.

"My name is Niri, I am Level 11, and I am an Archmage." She looked around the table with complete satisfaction. "Praise me!"

Elara immediately burst out laughing and pulled Niri off the table into her arms. "Yes, yes, you’re the greatest Archmage in the whole world." Niri accepted the praise without the slightest shame and wrapped her arms around Elara’s neck.

Jaxir didn’t laugh with them. His eyes remained fixed on Niri while he thought back through everything he had seen since meeting her, from the places she had appeared to the things she seemed to understand that no little girl should.

Too many oddities had piled up around her for him to dismiss that declaration just because it sounded ridiculous.

Nick was still laughing while Elara started smothering Niri with enough affection to make the girl squirm. Jaxir leaned back in his chair and studied the smug little face peeking over Elara’s shoulder, his amusement fading as old details started rearranging themselves in his head.

He was almost completely certain Niri had just told them the truth.