Chapter 6 - The Bet

While focusing on finishing quests, Paul significantly increased his stats and became considered a friend by everyone in the village, even the dwarves and elves who generally didn’t like humans. Everyone viewed Paul as reliable and hardworking. Physically, he hadn’t changed much at first glance, but a closer look revealed that his muscles were now perfectly defined. Though he didn’t have the massive build of the soldiers, he still possessed their strength. Of course, he wasn’t more powerful than the average soldier from the army, as he lacked combat skills and battle experience. Paul’s stats showed he was an H-ranker, but that was only because he hadn’t been to the guild tester yet.

The next day, Paul woke up to find a large amount of food and some new clothes on the table next to his bed.

Paul knew who had brought him the food and clothes.

"Thank you, Nori."

He ate all the food and then tried on the new clothes he received from Nori.

The clothes were a huge improvement over his previous ones. They included a pair of black pants, a white shirt, and brown furry boots. He also noticed he had received some light, reinforced leather armor and a pair of gloves that went up to the elbow. The leather armor, which included a hood, was comfortable and light but still offered protection. The gloves were similar to the armor but had bits of metal for increased protection. The armor provided light protection and looked good on Paul. He didn’t put on the hood, though.

Paul then looked at his hand. Although he couldn’t see the bracelet, he could finally see what he had gained in the last two weeks.

"Show updates."

**Stats Update**

Due to your actions since the last time you checked, you have increased the following stats:

+220 Health

+200 Mana

+159 Agility

+90 Strength

+30 Endurance

+240 Stamina

+20 Intelligence

+23 Wisdom

+70 Charisma

+10 Luck

+300 Fame

+94 Fighting Spirit

**Skills Update**

Because of your actions since the last time you checked, you have acquired the following skills:

- Stealth

- Listening

- Deception

- Iron Will

**Skill Combo**

By reaching an advanced level in Running and an intermediary level in Climbing, you have acquired a new skill: Parkour, which starts at the intermediary level.

**Quest Update**

You finished all 265 quests and received a total of 10 gold coins and 660 guild points. By completing a large number of quests in a short time, you received a bonus of 140 guild points and an additional 100 fame.

You now receive a 20% discount from every shop owner you helped.

Paul was shocked. The hard work had paid off. He was satisfied with the rewards he received for completing all those quests. Next, he wanted to see everything else he could.

“Status.”

**Name:** Paul Silver

**Title:** Weakling

**Guild Level:** H

**Guild Points:** 835

**Health:** 237

**Mana:** 224

**Strength:** 104

**Agility:** 179

**Endurance:** 33

**Stamina:** 260

**Wisdom:** 64

**Intelligence:** 76

**Charisma:** 85

**Leadership:** 0

**Luck:** 338

**Fighting Spirit:** 94

**Fame:** 405

“Show skills.”

**Skills**

- Humble Mask

- Aura Shift: Intermediary LVL.2 (12%)

- Memos

- Identification: Beginner LVL.9 (87%)

- Mana Sight: Beginner LVL.6 (0%)

- Creature Tamer: Beginner LVL.7 (0%)

- Perception: Intermediary LVL.3 (60%)

- Parkour: Intermediary LVL.2 (50%)

- Naturas: Beginner LVL.2 (21%)

- Detective: Beginner LVL.5 (91%)

- Deception: Beginner LVL.5 (23%)

- Stealth: Intermediary LVL.1 (10%)

- Listening: Intermediary LVL.3 (0%)

- Iron Will: Intermediary LVL.8 (60%)

“So, some skills reached intermediary, even the new ones… I probably used them without even realizing it. I’ll check them later.”

Paul then remembered that he still had the bodies of the three wolves and the horned pig in the ring. He took them out, touched the pig, and said, “Slayer’s Touch.” He was notified that he received 5 guild points. He did the same with the wolves. Each grey wolf gave him 10 guild points, and the black one gave him 20. He absorbed them back into the ring.

Paul went out and headed toward the guild testing facility. On the way, people recognized him; everyone was smiling and thanking him for his help. The soldiers watched him with confusion, having no idea what was going on. Paul felt quite proud of his achievement. Just two weeks ago, everyone had ignored and distrusted him.

The soldiers were already a bit suspicious of Paul, but when they tried to approach him at the next corner, he vanished. They reported to their captain that Paul was heading to the village center. Paul, unaware of this, was too busy enjoying the attention.

When he reached the guild testing facility, just before he went in, a hand grabbed him from behind and threw him onto his back. Confused, he looked around and saw that he was surrounded by soldiers holding their swords ready. Paul realized that the one who had thrown him was Captain Rocka, who was smirking at how weak Paul seemed.

Rocka said to Paul, who was dusting himself off, “You have been reported suspicious! Show me your stats! Fast, before I behead you!”

Thinking quickly, Paul used Humble Mask to lower all his stats to an average of 30 and displayed them for Rocka to see. Rocka looked at the window and suddenly exclaimed, “You’re Paul Silver!? The one engaged to the woman I desire?!”

“Yes, I am. A pleasure to meet you… Ah, who are you?”

Paul asked with a straight face, tilting his head as if pretending not to know him. Rocka turned red with anger and said proudly, in a loud tone, “I am Rocka, Knight Captain of the 12th Division of the Royal Army of Calvarno. I am one of the heroes sent to protect this village from the cursed advents!”

Then he stopped, and all of a sudden, the soldiers started applauding. They didn’t look happy.

"It looks like they are made to do this quite often."

Rocka then examined Paul’s stats more carefully and began laughing. “Hahahahahaha, are you telling me that she loves such a weak worm like you??? Even your title is Weakling!!! Hahahahahahahaha!”

“I may be weak, but you would lose to me.”

Rocka stopped laughing and, with an angry face, asked, “Are you challenging me to a fight?!”

“No, no… nothing like that.”

“I want to make a bet with you—a bet that you will surely lose.”

Paul had learned while following the soldiers at night that Rocka loved to fight and win. What he loved even more than fighting were women. But what he loved most was gambling—he loved to win.

“Hohoooo, a bet, you say? And what makes you so sure I would lose?”

“Take the bet, and you’ll see.”

“What is this bet and its conditions?”

“If you win the bet, I will never see Mrs. Onca again and will be your slave for three months. I will do whatever you want. But if I win the bet, you must leave Mrs. Onca alone and owe me a favor. While the bet is on, you cannot bother Mrs. Onca. What do you think of these conditions?”

“Interesting… but what are we betting on?”

“I bet that while the two suns remain in the sky, you can’t find the advent in this village, prove that he is an advent, touch his head, and say ‘CAPTURED.’”

Rocka didn’t hesitate and agreed to the bet. They shook hands, and the bracelets shined, creating a contract between Paul and Rocka. Paul had expected Rocka to agree to the bet but hoped he would hesitate.

Paul knew Rocka would accept because he had overheard Rocka talking to the mage about how the kingdom’s most famous seer predicted that an advent would appear in the village. The seer never made mistakes, so Rocka was convinced an advent would appear. He accepted the bet, confident he would win. Rocka ordered the soldiers to return to their posts and walked away, feeling as if he had already won.

After the soldiers left, Paul let out a small “Heh…” while smirking.

When the soldiers were gone, Nori appeared next to Paul and kicked his shin. Paul started hopping on one leg in pain.

“What did you do that for?!”

“What do you mean, what I did that for??? What did you do!? Why did you make that bet with him?! What if you lose?!”

“Stop, calm down… Don’t worry, I won’t lose.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Trust me… and until the two suns disappear, he won’t bother you. After that… well, we’ll figure something out.”

“I hope you’re right. As a thank you for this, I transferred 200 guild points to you.”

Nori and Paul then went their separate ways. Paul headed back to the guild

testing facility and entered. The old lady there started smirking when she saw him.

“Hehehe, the Weakling returned. I heard some rumors about you even here, where people only visit once or twice a week. So? What do you want?”

“I’m here to check if I still get the same rank.”

“You do know that you still use up guild points even if you get the same rank, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, just head to the crystal and repeat the drill. The crystal will automatically absorb the required guild points. For you, H rank will use, if I remember correctly, 600 guild points. So be sure you will rank up.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Thank you.”

Paul activated Humble Mask, lowering only his luck to 50 while leaving the rest unchanged. He placed his hand on the crystal, which emitted a bright light and then stopped. It was exactly the same as last time. The first thing he did was check his title.

“Well, at least it’s better than the last one.”