Chapter 126: Master Negotiator

Encrid was in the Third Office, which had long since been reorganized and was now known as the Watcher’s Office.

It was an ordinary evening. The stove was burning, the lamp was lit, and Encrid was sitting behind his desk while watching Gus practice a stance drill on the flagstones outside the window.

The boy had grown again.

When they had first come north, Gus had been nearly a head shorter than Encrid. Now, he stood taller than him. His shoulders had broadened considerably, filling out his old coat so much that the garment looked almost ridiculous on him.

Encrid watched him for a moment before using Appraisal without giving it much thought.

By now, checking people’s status had become a habit.

[ Name: Gus ]

[ Age: 17 ]

[ Realm: Ascendant ]

[ Star Level: One Star - Vermilion Star (Ascendant) ]

[ Star Ability: Ember Veil ]

[ Talent: ▮▮▮▮▮▮ ]

[ ERROR: Value exceeds display parameters. ]

Encrid leaned back in his chair and stared at the panel for a while.

The boy was seventeen.

It had been more than a year and a half since Encrid had first brought him to the Wall. Back then, Gus had been small and thin, with fear written plainly across his face. He had barely known how to speak to people, much less how to fight.

Now he was an Ascendant.

Gus had opened his first Star only three weeks after Encrid began teaching him. Nine months later, in the spring, he had opened all his channels and broken through into the Ascendant Realm.

Two months after that, he had awakened a Star Ability.

Ember Veil.

A Star Ability was the Star expressing itself through the person who carried it. From the knowledge Encrid had gained from the novel, he knew just how difficult it was to awaken one.

It was not something every cultivator could achieve.

Many cultivators went their entire lives without awakening a Star Ability, especially those who did not have access to a Roamer Core or another suitable means of forcing their potential to emerge.

Yet Gus had awakened one at seventeen.

And he had reached the Ascendant Realm at the same age.

Encrid felt a faint sense of inferiority as he looked at the boy’s status.

Then, despite himself, he opened his own panel.

He did this perhaps once a week.

It was not a particularly comfortable habit, but he kept doing it anyway.

«« Main Menu »»

[ ▸ Status ]

[ ▸ Skills ]

[ ▸ Narrative Quests ]

[ ▸ ─────── (Locked) ]

[ ▸ ─────── (Locked) ]

[ ▸ Narrative Relevance: 2.78% ]

There was no change in the Main Menu except for his Narrative Relevance, which had increased from the time he ad first arrived in this world.

Encrid sighed before opening his Status.

«« Status »»

[ Name: Encrid Gannon ]

[ Age: 24 ]

[ Realm: Ascendant ]

[ Star Level: One Star - Azure Star (Ascendant) ]

[ Star Ability: None ]

[ Star Connection: None ]

[ Titles: ░░░ ░░░░░░░ | Fourth Son of the Gannon Family | Scoundrel of the North ]

He had also broken through into the Ascendant Realm, but apart from that, there was nothing new.

Encrid opened his Skills.

«« Skills »»

[ Gannon Family Swordsmanship « ★★★★★★ » - E (31%) ]

[ Appraisal « ★★★★★ » - E (67%) ]

[ Alcohol Tolerance « ★★★ » - A (0%) ]

[ Noble Etiquette « ★★ » - C (2%) ]

[ Horsemanship « ★★ » - E (52%) ]

[ Master Negotiator « ★★ » - D (12%) ]

This was the panel that had changed the most.

His proficiency in several skills had increased during the past year and a half.

Appraisal had broken through F and reached E proficiency, putting him more than halfway toward the next level.

His Gannon Family Swordsmanship, however, was another matter.

It was by far the hardest skill for him to improve. No matter how much he trained, his proficiency barely moved.

’As expected of a six-star skill.’

Encrid could not help but feel a little disappointed.

Still, there was good news.

He had gained a new skill.

It was not a combat skill, but Encrid was still rather proud of it.

[ Master Negotiator ]

[ Skill Grade: ★★ ]

[ Proficiency: D (12%) ]

[ A passive ability that helps the user read the room, understand competing interests, and turn difficult negotiations into favorable outcomes. You know when to push, when to concede, and how to find the hidden path where everyone walks away believing they won. ]

Encrid closed the Skills panel.

There was only one part left.

The most important one.

He opened his Narrative Quests.

«« Narrative Quests »»

[ THE SWORD BEFORE ITS LEGEND « ★★★★★★★ » Quest Progress - 16% ]

[ THE WALL AND THE UNSEEN « ★★★★★★★ » Quest Progress - 0% ]

[ THE KING BEFORE HIS CROWN « ★★★★★★★ » Quest Progress - 33% ]

«« Hidden Quests »»

[ THE ONE WHO LIGHTS THE WAY « ★★★★★★★ » Quest Objective - 1 / 3 ]

Encrid now had four quests in progress.

Three were Narrative Quests, while the fourth was a Hidden Quest.

More importantly, all four were seven-star quests.

That alone was enough to make Encrid sigh.

But there was still more.

Two unused rewards remained beneath the quest panel.

« Quest Rewards - Unused »

[ Temporary Realm Limit Breakthrough Token (Lv: Max) ]

[ Temporary Proficiency Token (Lv: Max) ]

Both were extraordinary items.

Encrid had deliberately kept them unused.

They were his emergency cards, the things he would rely on if everything else went wrong.

In this world, having something that could save his life was never a bad idea.

Finally, there was the last section.

«« Narrative Relevance »»

[ Current Value: 2.78% ]

[ Golden Tip: A special event will be triggered when Narrative Relevance reaches 10%. ]

When Encrid had first arrived in this world, his Narrative Relevance had been exactly zero.

Now it was 2.78%.

The difference might have looked laughably small.

But to Encrid, it was anything but.

It had taken him more than eighteen months in this harsh world to reach that number.

Eighteen months of surviving, learning, training, making decisions, and slowly changing the course of a story that was never supposed to include him.

He was not disappointed.

If anything, he was more motivated than ever.

He wanted to know what would happen when the number reached ten percent.

And after that, what would happen at twenty?

Fifty?

One hundred?

What exactly would the system consider a special event worthy of triggering?

Encrid wanted to see it.

He was still thinking about it when someone struck the office door hard enough to rattle the entire frame.

Encrid frowned at the unnecessary display of force, but let it go.

"Come in."

The door opened, and a young runner from the Central Bastion hurried inside.

He looked no older than sixteen.

Judging by the way he was breathing, he had run all the way there without stopping. He bent forward with his hands on his knees, desperately trying to catch his breath before he could speak.

Encrid waited.

After several seconds, the boy finally straightened.

"My Lord, the Council has been called for an emergency session."

Encrid’s expression changed immediately.

He put his pen down.

The relaxed atmosphere of the office disappeared.

"Why?"

The runner swallowed before answering.

"I don’t know, my lord. I was only ordered to call you immediately."

Encrid stood.

An emergency Council session was not something that happened without reason.

And judging by the urgency with which they had sent for him, whatever had happened seemed very serious and Encrid had a couple of guesses as to why.

"Let’s go."

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