How? How? How? How? How?!!

"How?" he gasped.

How was he so high-leveled? Any pleasure in the realization that his Identification skill was higher than Lariel's, was squashed by that immense level difference.

4 levels of difference, and they got harder as they got higher. The amount of exp needed to reach that level was enough to get almost ten people to their level 5. And this not counting with the exp lost when killing the lower level goblins. To get to that level, you needed to find very specific Goblins on the first floor. There weren't that many that could give a decent exp to a level 14 person.

Then it hit Kan. There weren't enough of those Goblins on the first floor. Lariel had gone to the second. Alone. The floor with the highest adventurer deaths recorded in this Dungeon. People underestimated just how much the number of goblins grew from floor to floor and were quickly overwhelmed. Lariel must have understood what that 'How?' meant and kindly answered, closing his book.

"Not gonna lie. It was not easy..."

Uff, that might explain some things. Maybe Lariel had just gone with another adventurer party. If they were strong enough they could hold their own on the second floor and farm to that point.

"At one point I was even below one-tenth on all my Health, Stamina, and Mana. I should have taken some potions," he shrugged. "Oh well, I decided to take some next time, and also learn some area of effect spells. Not very easy to fight off dozens of those goblins at the time with mana bolts is it?"

How would Kan know? He had never fought dozens of goblins at a ti-

Whaaaat? Dozens at a time? Below one-tenth? On all three? What the hell has he been doing?

Contrary to any of Kan's expectations, Lariel had not been careful. He had thrown himself to the wolves. In this case, Goblins, and came back the leader of the pack, in this case, much much stronger, being followed by an army, or at least the numbers to make one, of dead Goblins that is.

And even now, he was training. Well, reading a skill book that he would probably use, so yeah, training. Another thing that Lariel had mentioned was the Mana Bolts. He had used them so much that he referred to them as being used to kill a bunch of goblins. Kan himself could only throw a couple of dozens before he ran out of mana. Maybe he could fend off a horde of goblins for about 20 seconds with them. But surviving and continue using them? He did not have the mana for that. How high is his mana? His tag was rogue, not mage. Did he invest his free stats into Int? But how would he keep that up? Sure, if his class gave him one stat in everything, then he could go for spending his free stats in Int, but it likely wasn't. There was no class that well-rounded, only up above in a couple of hundreds of levels could you dream of finding a class that gave stats to everything.

"So. What have you been up to? I can see that you are a Level 10 Mage. Is the XP you are earning in a party worth it?" Lariel seemed genuinely interested, and so, Kan pushed the previous thoughts out of his mind. For now. He would still ask Lariel for his secrets the next day.

Kan sit on the bed next to Lariel's desk and went on to explain what he thought of being in an adventuring party. It had its benefits and its drawbacks. The benefits were, of course, the relative safety that you had in numbers, and the fact that where you lacked in one area, there were others there to fill that role for you. You had to do less, compared to alone, and you could carry more things to sell. Lariel smiled at that part but said nothing. Kan wanted to save up for a storage ring, but first, he had the orphanage contract to finish.

The drawbacks were obvious. Less XP, because your presence alone managed to get you at least 1 exp from each kill. The more you contributed, the bigger your share of exp was, obviously, but it did slow down leveling, as demonstrated by Lariel. Another drawback was the money. All money was divided ten ways, then, they would vote for the one that contributed more in that day, and he would receive that share. That was what Ivan had determined. Today's vote had gone to Ivan with 3, Kan with 3, and Ezekiel with 3, so Ivan created another rule. If there was a tie, which was not rare because they were nine, the money would go to a fund to buy stuff for the party, mainly food and potions. Kan had agreed with this. Ivan, himself, and Ezekiel were the three clear best at the party, but Kan knew that once he had enough money to buy a healing skill book, or managed to get the skill through Mana Manipulation, he would come ahead and earn that tenth part.

Kan then explained to Lariel the functioning of the party. The front rows, tanks, back rows, middle rows, etc. All the roles that each one did in their party. Kan was, of course, support, while Ezekiel was the scout and Ivan was the tank.

Lariel maybe a few questions here and there, but most of the time it was just Kan speaking. At some point, Kan saw that he had been talking for so long, that the other roommates had already entered. He also noticed their shocked faces while gazing at Lariel, which was probably due to the fact that they used Identification on him, or at least tried. The range wasn't that great. Some more time later, they went to dinner at the orphanage's canteen where all the other room's occupants joined together in one noisy bunch.

Ivan had joined the conversation not too long after, the rage and envy that he had felt towards Lariel all long gone. And so, the time passed. Kan asked Lariel what he had been reading, and Lariel dismissed it as a future plan that he would talk more about after. Ivan asked to see their training tomorrow, and both Lariel and Kan agreed. Then they all went to bed. Kan was the one the kept awake the longest, or so he thought, before seeing a small mana light construct inside Lariels sheets, and his clear figure, reading.

-------

Ivan was on the training grounds behind the orphanage with Lariel and Kan. He had seen Lariels Level 14, and then he had glanced at his own status.

Name: Ivan Geldian

Class: [Warrior (Shield Of Pride)]

Level: 11

Health: 603/603 (Regen: 0.6/sec)

Stamina: 470/470(Regen: 0.55/sec)

Mana: 270/270 (Regen: 0.28/sec)

Strength: 34

Vitality: 40

Endurance: 22

Dexterity: 14

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Willpower: 10

Perception: 20

Free Stats: 0

Bonus Stats per level: +2 Vit, Str | +1 End, Per | +1 Free Stat | (7 Total Stats)

Skills: (341 Total Skill Levels)

General:

Identification Level 12 | Dodge Level 26 | Running Level 7 | Sprint Level 4

Weapon Related:

One-Handed Sword Mastery Level 36 | Sword Mastery Level 31 | Weapon Proficiency Level 30 | Basic Two-Handed Sword Mastery Level 24 | Basic Mace Mastery Level 9 | Basic Spear Mastery Level 9 | Basic Axe Mastery Level 9 | Basic Dagger Mastery Level 8 | Basic Bow Mastery Level 7

Shield Mastery Level 33

Miscellaneous:

Physical Fitness Level 43 | Basic Protection Of God Level 14 | Spirit Of The People Level 13 | Pride Of The Protector Level 12

Resistances:

Basic Mana Resistance Level 5 | Basic Fire Resistance Level 3 | Basic Water Resistance Level 3 | Basic Earth Resistance Level 3

He couldn't complain that much. His class gave him decent stats, along with his hidden class bonus, and received skills, he had been able to keep on the vanguard of leveling in his party, with the only level 10 classes being Kan and Ezekiel. He had been proud at that time, thinking that he did better than even Lariel could have done. Only to find that Lariel was four effective levels above him. Surpassing him yet again. But strangely, he did not feel anger. Last night's talk had been illuminating. Kan wanted to become powerful enough to protect the ones he liked. Ivan had already known that since the time training when they were seven years old.

Ivan had told them both that he wanted to become powerful enough to live a happy peaceful life in some corner of the kingdom with his future wife and kids. Ivan had then told them both that he was a son of a Baron. Kan was a bit surprised by that, and kind of started treating him differently. Not in a way that bothered him. It was only with a bit more respect than he was used to being treated with. And not because he was a noble, but because he had been abandoned by his family, and decided to not pursue a path of violence and revenge.

Lariel, for his turn, just said that if Ivan became powerful enough, his peaceful life would be more likely, since fewer people would bother him. Lariel had also mentioned that his goal was to kill that one King Slime and avenge his parents. He would then open an academy where he would take in people determined enough to find power without abusing it, no matter the background. That was his goal. Teach the next generation without interference, and for that, he needed to become powerful enough to kick away ANY interference, kingdoms, and powerful beasts both.

Ivan gave it some thought and even considered sending his son there, if he had any, to learn with the one that best him. But that was for the future.

Right now, in front of him, Lariel and Kan were sitting down face to face. Ivan couldn't see it, but they were having a battle over the control of mana. He occasionally saw some spells flying towards Lariel, trying to distract him, but the target individual did not even allow the barest hint of recognizing them, making them disappear as quickly as they appeared.

"This isn't fair. How high is your Mana Manipulation?" Kan complained.

"Level 39, why?" That was what Ivan liked about Lariel. Straightforward honest dude. He had even said something the day before. ' If I lie or hide, it is because I am too weak to tell the truth. And I don't want to be weak.' Simple, and true. But still. It was hard to hear Lariel say that like it was nothing.

They kept talking some more, and then Ivan heard something interesting from Kan.

"What is your secret?" Simple question, directed at Lariel. The silver or is that white? haired guy by his turn just sighed.

"Yeah, forgot about that. Sure you want to know?"

"Yes," came the immediate response, from both Kan and Ivan. Ivan hadn't really thought about answering, but his subconscious did him the favor.

Lariel eyed Ivan with his deep lime green eyes. Ivan wasn't really scared of Lariel. Lariel was taller than him by a couple of centimeters, but that could change in the future when they grew older. He was muscular without being bulky. Lariel had that feel of someone that trained but remained with a normal-looking frame. Although his muscles were noticeable under his shirt. The reason why he wasn't scared even though Lariel could probably crush him if he wanted, was because they were roommates. And friends. Kind of at least. For about 9 years.

"For you, I don't have much to say," he started, instantly making Ivan deflate. "because the biggest part of my power comes from magic and from my class hidden attributes. But know this. Even if your Strength and Vitally are in the four digits if your dexterity and agility are nothing but crumbs compared to them, how do you expect to kill a monster faster than you? You can't kill it with your immense strength if you can't hit it, and your health won't last long if you can't catch it or flee from it and it keeps attacking you. There must be a balance on everything. Just because you don't have the specific skill for the job, doesn't mean you can't do it. You just have to take the rough path."

With that, he turned to Kan, leaving Ivan to think about what he had said.

There must be a balance on everything...