Chapter 21: Blessing from the Goddess of Cupcakes

[EMERGENCY QUEST COMPLETE]

[Survive Commander Holtz’s Combat Assessment!]

[Objective fulfilled.]

[Settlement processing...]

Zishan completely forgot about his aching ribs as he kept pumping his fists forward like he was waiting for the winning lottery numbers to appear. ’COME ON! COME ON! MAKE IT PERMANENT! I’VE SUFFERED TOO MUCH!’

[SETTLEMENT CONFIRMED]

"Hell yeah!" he screamed, startling the people around him.

[EXP: 14,500 — SETTLED]

[Level: 20 — CONFIRMED]

[+20 STR — PERMANENT]

[+30 WIL — PERMANENT]

[+10 PER — PERMANENT]

[Shadow Mana Affinity — PERMANENT]

[Shadow Severance — PERMANENT]

Another System panel came up.

[Shadow Severance]

[Tier: Grandform]

[Perfected Glimpse: Removed]

[True Mastery: Beginner]

[Residual Insight: Retained]

The perfect understanding disappeared from Zishan’s mind almost instantly.

He could still remember what Shadow Severance was supposed to do and how the technique should feel, but many of the tiny corrections that had guided him throughout the assessment were no longer naturally obvious.

But Zishan did not give a fuck.

There was only one thing in front of him that mattered.

[Level: 20]

His eyes widened.

Then, he started laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone around the open ground looked at him.

Zishan dropped onto his butt again because his legs were too exhausted, but that only made him laugh harder. He moved his feet and hands like a crazy kid. "LEVEL TWENTY! HOLY FUCK! I’M LEVEL TWENTY!"

He had been Level 1 earlier. Then, a Quest brought him to Level 10. Now, another Quest had brought him all the way to Level 20.

He had gained nineteen Levels in less than a fucking day. ’THIS IS ABSURD! SO ABSURD! THIS SYSTEM IS FUCKING BROKEN!’

[The Dumb Host appears pleased after being repeatedly struck.]

’I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT! LOOK AT MY LEVEL!’

Commander Holtz approached while returning his sword to its sheath. He had watched Zishan get thrown across the ground several times, nearly lose consciousness, and struggle to remain standing until the end.

Yet the idiot was sitting in the dirt laughing while moving his feet and hands like a toddler.

The commander frowned. "Who gets happy because he got beaten?"

Zishan immediately pointed at himself with a wide smile on his face. "Someone who became Level 20 because of it!"

Commander Holtz stopped walking.

Maela’s head turned toward Zishan so quickly that several strands of her hair fell across her face.

Zishan was still smiling when he realized that both of them had become very quiet.

"...What? Why..."

Commander Holtz walked closer. "What did you just say?"

"I just said I’m Level 20..." Zishan replied, trailing off the last number as though he was teasing somebody.

"You were Level 10 before the assessment."

"Yeah! That’s why I’m happy!" He was still smiling.

Commander Holtz stared at him for several seconds before a faint layer of Mana passed across his eyes.

The commander’s face went rigid. "You really are Level 20."

"That’s what I’ve been saying!"

Maela came closer as well, looking at Zishan as though she was trying to decide whether hitting him on the head would somehow make the situation easier to understand.

Commander Holtz, however, looked much more serious. "How?"

Zishan’s smile weakened. "Hard work? I guess?"

The commander did not react.

Zishan tried again. "Natural talent?"

However, the commander was still frowning.

"Blessing from the Goddess of Cupcakes?" he continued.

"Walker—"

"Fine! I don’t know!"

That part, at least, was technically true enough.

Commander Holtz looked toward the damaged ground behind them before returning his attention to Zishan. "People do not simply gain ten Levels because someone assesses them."

Zishan stopped smiling completely.

Then, the commander continued, "Quests are not random. If you enter a Fold, you can receive one. Killing Magic Beasts or other beings can produce recognized progression rewards depending on the circumstances. Guilds also issue official requests from people, organizations, and other beings, and those requests can become proper Quests."

Zishan listened more carefully.

"There was no Fold here," Commander Holtz added. "You killed nothing, and no one issued you an official Guild request. I tested you. That should not have given you enough rewards to gain ten Levels."

Zishan slowly directed his thoughts toward the System. ’System.’

[Yes, Dumb Host?]

’Is what he’s saying true?’

[Correct.]

His eyebrow twitched. ’YOU COULD HAVE FUCKING TOLD ME THAT MY QUESTS AREN’T NORMAL!’

[The Dumb Host never asked.]

Zishan almost screamed.

Instead, he took a deep breath because Commander Holtz was still staring at him.

The commander eventually decided not to continue questioning him in front of everyone. Whatever he was thinking remained hidden behind the same serious expression he normally wore.

"You passed the assessment," Commander Holtz eventually said.

Zishan took a deep breath and said, "Of course I did. I cut your sleeve."

"That is not why you passed."

"It contributed emotionally at least!"

Commander Holtz ignored that and looked toward the eastern horizon. "Your mobility is useful. Your healing ability is already beyond what your records suggested, and you now possess enough offensive capability to defend yourself if something reaches the support lines."

Zishan immediately became suspicious again. He remembered what Maela had said earlier.

Someone useful on the battlefield.

"Oh no. Oh no! NOO!" He grabbed the hair on his head.

Commander Holtz looked back at him. "Effective immediately, you’re being reassigned to the Eastern Battlefield. You’ll move with the next group returning to the forward support formations."

Zishan stared.

The distant eastern horizon flashed.

Several seconds later, another explosion rolled across the battlefield.

He slowly looked toward Commander Holtz. "You beat the shit out of me just to decide that I deserve to go somewhere people are going to beat the shit out of me even more?"

"You passed."

"THAT DOESN’T ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

But Commander Holtz already walked away.

Zishan remained sitting on the ground with his entire body aching while Maela began checking the worst of his bruises. He wanted to complain. He really wanted to complain about everything! This was his first day, and so much had happened that stressed the fuck out of him.

Then, the System panel drifted back into his vision.

[Level: 20]

Zishan stared at it. His lips slowly curled upward again like a psycho.

He had been Level 1 when he woke up on that battlefield.

’IMAGINE, I WAS LEVEL 1! AND NOW, I’M LEVEL 20! NINETEEN LEVELS CROSSED IN ONE DAY! WHO’S MORE BROKEN THAN I AM?! WHO WOULD DARE CALL ME AN NPC AGAIN?!’

And he had not even distributed the fifty-seven Stat Points he had accumulated yet.

Zishan completely forgot what he had been complaining about.

"WAHAHAHAHA!"

Maela stopped examining his shoulder. "Why are you laughing again?"

Zishan stared at his Level with shining eyes. The Eastern Battlefield suddenly looked a little less terrible. If getting beaten by Commander Holtz could give him ten Levels...

What the hell could the actual battlefield give him?

"I’M SO FUCKING FIRED UP!" he screamed as he balled his fist up in the air. "LET’S GO!!!"

Meanwhile, Maela looked at him like he was an idiot. ’Did the commander use too much force on him somehow?’

✦ ═〔 PRECEDENCE 〕═ ✦

[STATUS] (Updated)

Name: Zishan Walker

Race: Human

<anno data-annotation-id="7956363c-3af5-73a4-c8aa-6892b728dd9d" data-title="Level: 20">Level: 20¹</anno>

Ascent: Unascended

<anno data-annotation-id="c9fbe99f-99ed-2e8e-3298-fd44a59e4624" data-title="Experience: 0 / 2000">Experience: 0 / 2000¹</anno>

Mana: 12 / 90

[BASIC STATS]

<anno data-annotation-id="7d088b8c-0959-5070-1ac9-f3c92048725f" data-title="STR: 51">STR: 51¹</anno>

VIT: 41

AGI: 32

<anno data-annotation-id="8b396801-3a7d-b043-27ce-c9b1327e7f26" data-title="PER: 38">PER: 38¹</anno>

INT: 27

<anno data-annotation-id="7df7010f-c71e-cbd8-9f4d-924f4be87110" data-title="WIL: 40">WIL: 40¹</anno>

<anno data-annotation-id="36492828-23d2-ec4e-ad26-6e9d0d474e13" data-title="Distributable Stat Points: 57">Distributable Stat Points: 57¹</anno>

[MAGIC]

Mana Affinity(ies): Life, Wind, Shadow

Magic Profession(s): None

[BLOODLINES]

Main Bloodline: Unidentified

Grade: Unreadable

State: Dormant (Partially Active)

Other Bloodline(s):

(1) Ashen Banner Bloodline

(2) Eternal Wellspring Bloodline (Fragment)

[PHYSIQUE]

Main Physique: Unknown

Grade: Unreadable

Measurement: Failed

Other Physique(s): None.

[SKILLS]

Trace-Tier Skill(s):

<anno data-annotation-id="19c202f2-996b-1391-a995-8334f792d497" data-title="(1) Rift Steps">(1) Rift Steps¹</anno>

Form-Tier Skill(s):

<anno data-annotation-id="8e728cae-2c16-e246-bb32-fd3cba8278bf" data-title="(1) Appraisal">(1) Appraisal¹</anno>

<anno data-annotation-id="a35adcf1-8973-6e0b-1a19-a1dcee0e32cc" data-title="(2) Verdant Weave">(2) Verdant Weave¹</anno>

<anno data-annotation-id="7bae3d6a-f540-3667-78f9-7df6290d7aa1" data-title="(3) Stormwing Rend">(3) Stormwing Rend¹</anno>

Grandform-Tier Skill(s):

(1) Shadow Severance

Mastery: Beginner

Status: Permanent

<annotations style="display: none;">Commander Holtz’s assessment Quest rewarded 14,500 EXP, which takes Zishan exactly from Level 10 to Level 20.1,000 + 1,100 + 1,200 + 1,300 + 1,400 + 1,500 + 1,600 + 1,700 + 1,800 + 1,900 = 14,500 EXP. Therefore, Zishan reaches Level 20 with 0 accumulated EXP toward Level 21, whose requirement is 2,000 EXP.+20+10+3010 Levels × 3 = 30 new Distributable Stat Points; 27+30=57 unused Stat Points.Mastery: ProficientMastery: BeginnerMastery: BeginnerMastery: Beginner</annotations>