CHAPTER 85: QUIET NIGHT (2)

After a delicious meal and a friendly, laughter-filled chat, they could finally relax and look at the sky.

There were stars. There was the moon illuminating a characteristic red hue.

It all made Louis wonder if they were in another world, but even Laura had no idea.

"Will all the floors from here on out be like this?" Louis asked, but she shook her head negatively.

"I have only reached Floor 21 so far, although I should be able to ascend a bit more with my current strength. From Floor 11 to 19 are different dungeons, generally like the ones we saw on the first 9. Floor 20 has a different world to it, but it is a place of Rest. It is on fire, and solar pellets occasionally fall to earth. That’s why this is the quietest of the Rest Floors."

"So, Floors 10, 20, 30, etc., are Rest Floors?"

"Possibly."

"I see." He nodded.

He couldn’t imagine a world where solar pellets fell to earth, but it was certainly something he would like to see. Though already, that left this place more than peculiar and could hide secrets unimaginable to him.

The mystery seemed to intensify with each new piece of knowledge he had about it.

Besides, he had seen Laura’s strength today. She was strong, stronger than he thought she would be. Possibly her level was above 80.

Which, by the way...

Despite killing that Level 60 Boss earlier, he couldn’t level up to Level 25. He had to assume that the "experience" had been split between him and Laura.

But not being able to level up after killing a Level 60 Boss was a pitiful situation.

He wanted to sleep with 10 extra stat points and his stat boost unlocked.

Even for leveling up, he wasn’t getting the stat points he should. According to the system, they would be accumulated and given to him all at once when he reached level 25, but it still made him uncomfortable not having them.

"Hey. What level are you exactly?" Laura asked suddenly.

He was forced out of his thoughts to answer her.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me."

"Hm?" She looked at him, a little confused. "Why wouldn’t I believe? I have to assume you’re above Level 80, right?"

He smiled and shrugged.

Yes, she found that hard to believe.

A Level 80 at barely 16 was too much of an exaggeration in talent.

At the Royal Academy, where the most talented people in the Empire go and even foreigners come to study, a person of that age and strength didn’t exist.

She did not know if anyone had ever been so strong at such a young age at any time in its history, but she was sure of one thing: The most powerful students of today did not compare to his in talent.

Even she, one of the most talented because of her young age and high level, was already over 20 years old really, and just hovering around the 80 level.

But he had managed to reach that level at only 16.

His talent was too high.

Louis didn’t want to reveal his true level because he had learned that raising stats is not as easy as his Class makes it look. It could attract unwanted attention.

And thinking about it...

He had originally not realized the potential of his own earned Class and made a mistake. If he had told his father how good his Class was, maybe he wouldn’t have expelled him and at least let him prove himself.

Obviously, he didn’t want to prove to them that he was worthy and that’s a fact, since he was supposed to be that bastard’s son and he still kicked him out like a dog, but if he had had the chance to stay in such a rich Clan, wouldn’t he have matured much faster?

Even afterwards, he could have disassociated himself after taking advantage of them.

He had thought about it the night he had been killing horses in Velfast, but unfortunately, the idea came to him too late.

But well, he didn’t know if he really could have matured. Someone threw to kill him in front of the eyes of the gods, and no one noticed.

That’s why it’s also possible that he was dead at this moment, because while incredible talents attract good looks, they also attract bad ones.

And he knows it. There are more bad people than good.

Here, at least, he could run away from whoever was chasing him. Over there, he would have no choice but to die.

’Sigh, stop thinking nonsense, my brain. There is no such thing as "if there were". Things are the way they are and are not up for discussion.’ He told himself with a little scolding.

While he was lost in thought again, Laura had taken out her rifle for maintenance and to check the bullets.

She set about arranging them carefully and counting them in a way that stunned Louis.

Either she was too neat, or she was too bored.

"What are you doing?" he asked suddenly.

She smiled. "Doing maintenance on the bullets."

"Hm? I just see you counting them."

"Yes. I must know how many bullets I spent, so I know the monthly budget. That’s doing maintenance on them, too."

"Budget?"

"Bullets are expensive, you know? Especially for rifles like this one. A little box of 10 bullets can cost me 9,900. If it weren’t for the academic scholarship, it really wouldn’t make sense to be an Armamentalist. Everything is so expensive." She sighed.

"Gun maintenance has a cost if I do it out there, so I had to learn to do it myself. I have to sell runes, amulets with runes, or even chanted rituals to stock the rest of the monthly budget because working in some organization takes time away from my studies..."

Even though she was complaining, Louis listened to her attentively.

’Of course, 10 bullets at 9,900 Jens is expensive, if you look at it from the point of a student not yet working.’

’Being a sniper, she would normally have to spend fewer bullets than the rest, but if the battle spreads out like before because the core failed, she might have to spend several additional bullets, and each bullet spent is 990 Jens spent. It doesn’t pay off at all.’ He thought.