Chapter 30: Chapter 29: To Become the Strongest

“I have no idea what you mean. I am an official of the Church and there are more than enough questions surrounding the girl’s abilities for me to call for an Inquiry and bring her into question.” Vittorio said defensively.

“In order for an official Inquiry to be called, the Church needs to first inform the local rulers of the nature of the Inquiry. I don’t recall you ever coming to my home to speak of the girl.” Bryce said with a dismissive scoff. “On the subject, why has an ‘official’ of the Church chosen to come to the home of a commoner before making his presence officially known to the head of state?”

“...I have only recently arriv…”

“Bullshit! There has been someone tracking you for the last two weeks as you scurry around my city like the fat rat you are!” The Duke interrupted the man, spittle flying from his mouth. “You have exceeded the time window for being considered ‘fashionably late’ for your introductions, so I can only assume that you are NOT in my lands on official business. Meaning you do not receive the benefits of diplomatic immunity.”

“...Are you threatening me?” Vittorio said coldly.

“No. Unlike a certain slimy bastard, I don’t do threats and ultimatums.” Bryce snorted. “I’m merely informing you that you are nothing more than a common criminal, guilty of attempted extortion of a ward of the state, under my family’s guardianship by order of the King, and as such, you are under arrest.” 

“I am a Cardinal of the Holy Empire. Regardless of my adherence to the red tape, the Empire won’t just stand by and let you arrest me.” Vittorio scoffed, though his eyes looked genuinely concerned.

“They will. No one would try to defend a bastard who tried to blackmail a 5-year-old.” Bryce said flatly, as if being forced to explain things to an idiot.

“But I did no such thing.” Vittorio said. “Even if you accuse me of such crimes, it is simply your word against mine.”

“(The one who requested us to retrieve the girl was Her Holiness herself. Therefore it has to be done, regardless of the means. So, will you come with us willingly, or will we be taking you with us for questioning?)”

Vittorio paled as he heard his own voice being played out behind him, turning his head to see a hitherto unnoticed figure leaning against the wall. A man with dark blue skin and horns as curved as his smile. “Sorry to say it Cardinal, but your words sound pretty ‘damning’ to me.” Typhus said, his pearly whites on display as he held up the recording stone.

“Master Typhus!?” Mehal said, bowing to his old teacher. Several of the people in the kitchen, those who had never seen the Half-Demon before, screamed and jumped away from him in shock.

“Professor!?” Scarlet shouted, confused rather than scared. “When!? How!?”

“Hey there kiddo.” Typhus said with a half solute, his spade's tail swinging behind him. “Will and I have had our eyes on the Cardinal for a while now, so I snuck into your house long before his arrival. By the way, those things you said about layering runic formulas to decrease cast time for rituals. Clever. Very clever. But do you of all people need to be worrying about mana efficiency? Just use aluminum. It’s way cheaper and easier to work with than crystalized mercury.”

“But… But I didn’t even notice you.” Scarlet said in disbelief.

She had used her [True Sight] many times in order to search the visitors for hidden items or associates. She should have seen him.

“Come on now, I am one of the Big Ten, the King’s Shadow. You’ve got to give me some credit.” Typhus said proudly. 

“You…” Vittorio said, staring at Typhus, his face going purple. “I see that you are still enlisting the help of this Demon.” He spat angrily towards the Duke.

“Good to see you again too, asshole.” Typhus huffed.

“This proves nothing! It is the fabricated trickery of a Demon!” Vittorio shouted.

“I will love seeing you try to convince people of that one.” Bryce huffed, feeling annoyed that Typhus was stealing the spotlight in front of his grandson. 

Not that Vittorio was even listening. His eyes were moving from the Duke, to Typhus and then to Scarlet. It registered with him that the girl knew of the Half-Demon man. 

That was it. That had to be the reason for Scarlet’s reluctance to meet with the Pope. This Demon must have already done something to her. He was probably behind the incident with Jonathan as well.

It was all the work of that monster who had always smiled smugly from behind the King’s cloak.

“Unacceptable.” He said, trembling with anger. “This is completely unacceptable! Exposing her to Demons like this one! Was it not enough when you allowed the Oracle to become corrupted and her talents go to waste! Now you are ruining this child as well! I will not allow it...”

Vittorio’s rant came to an end as an overwhelming killing intent pressed down on him. “What did you just say, bastard?” Bryce said coldly as he took a step forward.

The bodyguards were momentarily shocked, but they managed to react. The two fighters getting between the Duke and the Cardinal with drawn swords. Not that the Duke cared at all.

The grip on his wine bottle flipped as he moved towards the frightened Cardinal, the house door still in his second hand, mostly forgotten.

The first of the two swordsmen guards charged Bryce, attempting an rapid overhand slash, only to have his thrust parried by the door, before the wine bottle was thrust forward, slamming into the man’s face hard enough to send him flying backwards into the far wall, blasting him straight through it. Blood flying out of his shattered nose.

The second guard tried to be on the defensive, holding up his sword to block the Duke’s follow up swing.

Contrary to what all good sense would say, the sword was smashed to pieces by the wine bottle as it glowed with the strength of the man’s mana within it. The unlikely weapon coming down onto the man’s head and flattening him against the ground.

Bryce walked over his body as he moved towards the Cardinal, who was retreating backwards, back into a corner.

Aqua was startled, but started to try to stammer a spell in order to protect the Cardinal, as was her duty, but her words were stopped as Typhus shoved a finger into her mouth, pressing down on her touch. 

“Best if you stay out of this dear. It would be a shame for you to get hurt for no reason.” The Half-Demon said as he quickly sapped the young woman of her mana, causing her to collapse to her knees in sudden exhaustion.

Bryce pinned Vittorio against the wall, his wine bottle pressed up to the man’s throat as he pushed him hard against the wall, choking him. 

“Her name was Jessica, and she was my little sister. She was a brave, kind and beautiful woman.” The Duke said, his words reverberating heavily in the air. Some of the madness of alcohol in his eyes as he stared into the Cardinal’s terrified face. “You have no right to talk about her like she was some kind of tool, you fork tongued bastard.”

"I take offensive to that." Typhus said, sticking out his own forked tongue.

"Fuck you Typhus." The Duke snapped.

“So… So strong.” Scarlet said in disbelief.

The drunken man had just casually one shot two Tier 7 fighters with nothing but a wine bottle. How? They were all of the same Tier of Class, yet he was so much stronger than they were. Stronger than the difference in level could explain.

Then, Scarlet noticed something that made her momentarily forget about the Duke’s unusual strength.

Wine was continuing to pour out of the bottle as the Duke held it upside-down. More wine than could have fit inside of such a small container.

Was it spatial distortion? No, it didn’t feel like that. It felt more like [Transmutation Magic].

“An Alchemist’s Flask!?” Scarlet shouted in surprise, seeing the pinnacle of Alchemic achievements in front of her, being used as an impromptu bludgeoning weapon. “L… Lord Dalhurst, sir! Can I have a closer look at that bottle!?”

“Huh?” Bryce said, startled out of his bloodlust as he looked down into the earnest eyes of little Scarlet as she stared at his wine bottle. “Ah… Yeah. Sure.” He said, removing the bottle from the Cardinal’s throat, letting the man collapse down to the ground, the pool of wine soaking into his already soiled red clothes.

“Thank you so much.” Scarlet said as she took the bottle and started to cast every identification spell she knew on it. Which was a considerable repertoire. 

She couldn’t believe it. It was a real Alchemist’s Flask. A bottle capable of performing [Transmutation Magic] to change something as inconsistent and chaotic as air into another form, in this case, alcohol. Even basic [Transmutation Magic] on solid and mostly stable materials was extremely difficult and complex, but the matrix of magics inside of the bottle was on a completely different level.

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The bottle itself was made of a reinforced synthetic diamond, harder than even a normal diamond, with the magic structure perfectly suspended inside of the crystal. 

This was a Tier 9 magic item.

“Amazing.” Scarlet said as she tried her best to grasp the different materials it was made from and how to create something similar to it herself.

“It is pretty good isn’t it. I’ve certainly gotten a lot of good use out of it.” Bryce said as he looked down at the girl’s bright face. “You really are interested in it, aren’t you?”

“Yeah!” Scarlet said with a rapid nod of her head. “Some day, I’ll be able to make magic items of this quality. So I need to take every opportunity I get to look at them.”

“Oh, you are going to make one are you?” Bryce laughed, then, to everyone’s surprise, each reached down and ruffled the girl’s hair. “Well, I look forward to seeing what you will create in the future.”

Scarlet blinked and looked up at the man in surprise, feeling his hand on her head.

“Well, I need to go and toss this trash into the dungeons, before he wakes up and starts to complain again.” Bryce said, taking the bottle back from Scarlet and grabbing the Cardinal by one of his legs, dragging him behind him in the same manner he had been dragging the broken door just moments ago. “See you around kids! Hope you have a good night! Don't stay up too late!” 

...And with that, he was gone, leaving Scarlet very confused.

“Are you alright, Scarlet?” Maria asked, checking on her daughter.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Scarlet replied.

That was right. She was fine. Despite having been touched by a man who was a complete stranger, she felt fine. Her own grandfather felt a little bitter at the sight, as he couldn’t hold his own granddaughter without her having to fight down her shivers.

“Grandpa… He really is strong.” Charles said as he looked at the unconscious Holy Knight on the ground, and the sword that was in pieces. Charles’ hands tightened. “How… How did someone like him get to be so strong?”

“Well, he wasn’t always a drunk.” Mehal said. “He was quite motivated in his youth. Though the secret to his strength is that he started from the bottom and worked his way up, the same way I did.” 

“Huh? What do you mean?” Charles asked.

“I mean that when it came time to choose his Class, your grandfather purposely chose a Tier 1 Class.” Mehal said.

“What!?” Charles said in shock.

“When you undergo Class Change, you get to keep your old Class Skill, some of which are passive bonuses. Not only that, but it provides a small boost to your stats, which gets amplified with each Class Change.” Mehal said.

“What? But if that is the case, then why would anyone want to start at a higher Tier?” Scarlet asked, having never heard such a thing before.

In the video game, everyone started at Tier 1 and worked their way up. So this kind of difference didn’t exist. But she had also never seen it mentioned in any books.

“Most people don’t even know about it. Class Changes are rare, since growing levels beyond your Class Level is so hard. Though even if they did know, just starting at a higher Tier is safer.”  Mehal said. “Even as a level 69 with all of your skills, your raw stats are only equal to that of a level 20 with a Tier 3 Class. Training up from Tier 1 isn’t just difficult, it's dangerous. I can’t tell you the number of times I have almost died because of my choices.”

...It was true. If you started out at Tier 1, you start out with a Class Level of 1, with mediocre skills and almost no bonuses. It was barely any different to having no Class at all when it came to battle. To even reach level 50, and getting a Tier 3 Class, is an insurmountable struggle for most people.

While Maria could easily have knocked around a level 60 monster at level 46 because of her Tier 4 class, it would take all seven kids working together shooting at one that couldn’t even move for several minutes just to kill one. That gap in stats was real.

The normal logic for hunting monsters with minimal risk is to target monsters that are 5 levels lower than the average of your Base level and your Class level, while in a group of 10 or more people. This means you will grow a level for every 500 encounters, when your two levels are equal. Which was why so few people ever Class Changed.

And even if you could boost your Class Level by hunting strong monsters without dying, you wouldn’t Class Change if you didn’t fulfill the requirements by mastering your Class Skills. Forcing you to grind them out before you can continue to advance. And if you got stuck and couldn’t grow to where you could have just started, your children’s growth would suffer for it.

Leveling up from square one would be incredibly difficult and dangerous. It was no wonder people preferred just to take the head start provided by starting at a high Tier Class. For Nobles, who had to worry about their bloodlines as well, it was worse than suicide. 

“It is difficult and risky, but the results speak for themselves. Someone who started out their journey as a Tier 7 is no match for the Duke. Even if they have reached Tier 8, they would still be at a disadvantage against him.” Mehal said, looking over the mess that the man had made. “Because of the benefits of multiple Class Changes, I can hold my own against a monster 15 levels over me, and It is how 10 Tier 7 and 8 fighters were able to defeat a level 250.”

“Why did you tell me this sooner?” Charles asked angrily. “Was all of my hard work was for nothing? Even if I reach a Skill Level of 150 before I turn 10, it won’t matter. I’ll still have to start from Tier 1 if I want to be strong.”

“...I didn’t tell you because your entire motivation was based upon leveling up your skills in order to get the highest Tier starting Class possible.” Mehal said calmly. “I was going to hide it from you until you reached the end of where your level of talent and dedication could reach you, then tell you of the choice you would have to make. You can either accept the Class you have earned and improve your family’s situation that way, or you can gamble it all for the sake of power like your grandfather’s.”

Charles was conflicted. On one hand, there was the respect and honor of his house. In the other, the power which he had craved since he had been told stories of his grandfather’s exploits when he was still barely old enough to understand words.

Charles’ feelings for his grandfather were mixed ones. The man was a living legend, as well as the one who ruined his household and the reason why Charles’ inherited talents were so weak.

“Grandpa… He risked everything in order to get that kind of power?” Charles said, not able to see his grandfather as being the kind to be motivated to do anything difficult.

“It's because he was desperate for that kind of power.” Typhus said, getting the child’s attention. “When he was young, assassins broke into his home in order to kidnap his younger sister, and his father, despite being a Tier 6 Sword Berserker, was powerless to stop them. That event was what convinced old Bryce to attempt the ‘Bastard’s Gambit’.”

“The Bastard’s Gambit?” Charles said, confused.

“That’s what they call it when someone decides to purposely take a Tier 1 Class. Because only a noble’s bastard, who has nothing to lose, would take such a risk.” Mehal stated. “Charles. If your intention is to inherit your family name and restore your family’s reputation, I suggest you forget about taking that gamble. ...But if your intentions are to one day fight the battles that no one else can. Then it is the only way forward for you.”

Before Charles could think of how to respond, Leon let out a proud roar that shook the room. Charles looked at his partner in surprise before smiling. “You’re right. We didn’t work this hard to settle for mediocrity.” 

“That’s right! Let’s shoot for the top!” Scarlet said, getting pumped as well. 

“Huh? You’re going to do it too?” 

“Of course I am! Something like starting at Tier 1 is only a minor setback anyways.” Scarlet said. “My goal is to reach Tier 9. Whether I start at Tier 1 or Tier 6 doesn’t make that much of a difference.” 

...Tier 9?

Even in Charles’ wildest ambitions, he hadn’t considered Tier 9 as even a possibility.

(Yeah. Tier 9. Let’s do it!) Leon said, fired up by the idea of it.

“This does mean we are going to have to change our priorities to help us get through those lower Tier Classes as fast as possible. I wish I hadn’t already spent my Talent Points.” Scarlet grumbled, before she seemed to remember something and round on Typhus. “Professor, could you please get me more reagents!? Pretty please!?”

“Ah… More of them? You’ve already used up all the ones I gave you?”

“Well, almost. But I am going to need a lot more if I am going to train up my [Magic Equipment Crafting] skill. We will need the best magic items I can make if we are going to power through the lower Tier Classes without any trouble.” Scarlet explained.

“...I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right. What skill are you training?”

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