A blue screen hung suspended in mid-air, drawing the attention of everyone present. Despite giving off no light of its own everyone could see it with perfect clarity. It was undeniably a status screen. In this case, James’.

“Well Damn.”

Status

Name: James

Class: Heavy Swordsman (Lv. 10), Guardian (Lv.8).

HP: 450/450

MP: 250/250

STR: 39

END: 45

DEX: 28

AGI: 21

INT: 25

WIS: 22

Titles:

{Frozen Survivor}, {Resistant}, {Tenacious}, {Slaughterer}, {Wandering Swordsman}, {Sword Adept}, {Defender}, {Saviour}, {Giant Slayer}

Unique skills:

[Touch Of Frost], [Last Stand], [The Blood Of My Enemies], [Sense of the Apex].

Skills:

Strong Arm (Lv. 16), Cold Resistance (Lv. 27), Ice Resistance (Lv.6), Heat Resistance (Lv. 21) Fire Resistance (Lv.5), Blunt Resistance (Lv.7), Fist Arts (Lv. 23), Rage (Lv. 11),

Heavy Swordsmanship (Lv. 39), Fatigue Resistance (Lv.9), Sword Spirit (Lv. 13), Alcohol Tolerance (Lv. 26), Poison resistance 12).

Azrael, along with many others could only look at the screen. Word like ‘ridiculous’ and ‘monstrous’ came to mind, along with a slew of other similar ones. What was with his massive endurance and strength!? As ridiculous as the stats were, accompanied by the titles James held, they told a story that even Azrael had to admire. James’ unique skills sounded just as ridiculously powerful as the man’s stats and titles! [Last Stand]? [Sense Of The Apex]? What even? And all of that was without even looking at James’ skills. The man had so many passive resistances that coupled with his endurance score and his titles he might as well have been a walking tank. Actually – Azrael looked at the status again – the man was a walking tank. A truly ridiculous walking tank with a massive sword.

“I see” said James, his obnoxiously calm statement breaking the silence.

Behind them chatter broke out as the villagers exclaimed over the displayed status. There were cries of shock, awe and surprise from all around. Only Azrael stayed silent. Inside was slightly dying. Another player had found out about the status stone. Was it a mistake putting it in the middle of his village? It probably was, but he wanted his villagers to be able to see their own growth. James scrutinised his status again, before turning to Azrael.

“What about you?”

There was a gleam in James’ eyes that Azrael wasn’t sure he liked. It was the same look he imagined a child got when it discovered a new toy. Azrael considered the merits of showing off his status and was about to refuse when he saw the gazes of the villagers.

“I suppose this lord can let let you glimpse at his majestic power.” Azrael smirked back at the big man.

Azrael pressed his hand to the stone plate and the blue screen briefly flickered before the information updated.

Status

Name: Azrael

Class: Runist (Lv.5), Sorcerer (Lv.6), Lord (Lv.5), Thief (Lv.1)

HP: 410/410

MP: 400/400

STR: 28

END: 41

DEX: 32

AGI: 25

INT: 40

WIS: 44

Titles:

{Sinner}, {Heretic}, {Master of Status}, {Rune Master}, {God Watched}, {Lord of the End Forest}, {Teacher}, {Oath Maker}, {Void Touched}, {Trickster’s Blessing}, {Void Walker},

{Marked By Purity}.

Unique skills:

[Status], [Elemental Mana], [Aura], [@#%& Self], [Shadow Step], [Footwork]

Skills:

Weaving (Lv.2), Crafting (Lv.16), Spear Arts (Lv.20), Mana Sight (Lv.26), Mana Manipulation (Lv. 33), Soul Sense (Lv.15), Mana Control (Lv.32), Dramatic Flair (Lv. 11), Stealth (Lv. 24), Calm Mind (Lv. 21) Lord’s Domain (Lv. 2), Lord’s Insight (Lv. n/a), Leadership (Lv.6), Void Shaping (Lv. n/a), Reinforcement (Lv.24), Dagger Arts (Lv.32), Meditation (Lv.30), Mana Transfer (Lv.5), Craftsman’s Eye (Lv.1), Intimidation (Lv.6), Search (Lv.10).

Generally, Azrael wasn’t someone to flaunt stuff. Show off occasionally? Sure. But in general, he was someone who would rather conceal, than reveal, his strength. Still, it felt good to show off to his people, even if a player was present. He hadn’t actually had to many chances to show off in this game, so it felt doubly good. Thankfully the status plate didn’t display his ‘Human’ percentage. He wasn’t sure what was up with that, but it was a bit of information he’d rather keep hidden.

Everyone’s silence as they looked at his status was equally refreshing. The range of emotions that he saw in people’s eyes was varied. Alena, who had pushed her way through the crowd, had respect and determination in her eyes. Hugh had appreciation, while between the rest of the villagers there was a mix of awe, shock and blinding reverence. James too looked at the status, his eyes wide. They narrowed, however, as he turned to face Azrael and Azrael saw that they were calculating and competitive.

“You truly are worthy to be my opponent”

Azrael pulled his hand off the status plate and the blue screen flickered out of existence. James’ wasn’t finished though, but his tone took on a confused note.

“But why do you use daggers if you are spec’d as a mage?”

“It happened.”

“But why are you so weak?”

“I think that’s just you.”

“And your endurance. For a squishy mage it’s too high. Did someone beat you up a lot?”

Azrael thought of Mors and their ‘training’ sessions.

“That’s… a long story.”

Fortunately, Azrael was saved from any further questions by Alena. Completely unexpectedly Alena pushed past both Azrael and James, a determined look in her eyes. She slammed he hand down onto the status plate, as if she were challenging the gods themselves to a duel.

Status

Name: Alena

Class: Villager (Lv.3), Shadow Scout (Lv. 4),

Spy Master (Lv.2)

HP: 250/250

MP: 240/240

STR: 23

END: 25

DEX: 28

AGI: 19

INT: 24

WIS: 21

Titles:

{Azrael’s Oathbound}, {Silent Hunter}, {Trainer}, {Observer}.

Unique Skills:

[Status], [Shadow Cloak].

Skills:

Dagger Arts (Lv.28), Meditation (Lv.14), Trap Making (Lv.19), Stealth (Lv.24), Housework (Lv.23), Leadership (Lv.12), Intimidation (Lv.17), Tracking (Lv.17), Hunter’s Intuition (Lv.6).

If nobody was watching, then Azrael would have facepalmed. With Alena’s status for all to see it would be obvious to James that something was strange about the village, the status plate and Azrael. Firstly there was the status plate. Secondly, Alena had [Status] as a unique skill and lastly, Alena was {Azrael’s Oathbound}. It wouldn’t be too hard for anyone with two braincells to figure out that there was a link between Azrael and the status plate.

“Interesting” James murmured, and Azrael braced himself, “It seems this village has many interesting people.”

Azrael inwardly sighed. Yeah. There was no way James hadn’t noticed.

“Fight me.”

Azrael paused. What?

James was looking at Alena, who still had her hand on the status plate.

“Little shadow lady, you interest me. Fight me.”

Alena’s fingers flashed and Azrael translated.

“She says ‘gladly’.”

“Good. I like her.”

Azrael looked at the two, who were staring off and grinning at each other. Had James really not noticed, or was he pretending? James retrieved his massive sword from where it rested, causing Azrael to re-evaluate the situation. Nope. James was just a battle junkie. He’d overlooked everything else in order to look for an interesting fight. Azrael put a hand between the two of them.

“Another time. Don’t fight while everyone’s celebrating.”

“But what’s a good party without a fight?” James whined.

“You had your arm wrestling earlier.”

“That’s not a fight! That’s a manly challenge.”

Alena fingers flashed something at James and derision flooded the link between them. Azrael decided some things were better left untranslated. Escalating the situation would not help.

“Another time guys. Another time. Not now.”

Neither of them moved.

“Weapons away. Now!”

Reluctantly, both of them took a step back and Azrael breathed out a sigh. It was mirrored in the collective, as many of the villagers had backed away, expecting the two to suddenly start fighting. Azrael noticed some villagers who’d backed right away. They were probably those who had lost something or someone to a ‘Chosen’.

Now though, the tension slowly ebbed and people began moving in again. People, all of a sudden, were eager to show off their own stats, jostling with each other to get a spot in the line. One by one, the remaining twenty or thirty villagers stepped up to the status plate, showing of their stats, skills and titles. Titles were few and far between amongst many of the villagers and there were no unique skills.

While Azrael was mildly irritated at the carefree attitude the villagers displayed with revealing such personal information, it was also interesting to witness. The status was a cumulation of a person’s history and achievements. [Lord’s Insight] only revealed a person’s name and classes, so seeing peoples skills and matching it to their stats and faces was… very educational as their lord. Many skills were generic [Villager] type skills, however practical they might be, but a few still caught his eye. This was either because of the skill itself, or the level a person had cultivated the skill to. He made a mental note to check in with those people in the coming days.

He’d have to talk to the villagers about disclosing personal information to outsiders, but that was a problem for another time. For now? He decided to just enjoy the remaining festive atmosphere.