After hearing Zahariel's tale, almost everything in this world fell in place. People have no faith because of Lucifer's curse. It means they have trouble believing in the intangible. One practical effect is that they also cannot hold religious jobs. And looking at the job listings written on the parchment right in front of me it means that from the four of us, only Marcy could be afflicted by this curse. Zahariel is a seraph, he is a divine being. I am a transmigrated soul, I was never cursed to begin with. But Helen? Why is Helen not affected by the curse?

"Why are you staring at me this much, Beowulf?" Helen asks in an amused tone. "You usually just stare into the emptiness when you are thinking."

"It is because Helen is a very special person. I think that of all the people born in this world, you are the most special one."

"Stop it! You are making me embarassed."

"But it is true." I tap on the little box where the 'Apprentice Acolyte' job is listed. Zahariel follows my finger and makes an amused look.

"I am forced to agree with Beowulf, given the evidence."

"Hey, it means I am cursed?" Marcy asks with a meek voice that does not fit her.

"I don't think so. You gave a huge proof that you can have faith, Marcy," I tell the redhaired scout.

"Then why can't I use the Acolyte job?" Marcy is dismayed by the lack of magical jobs in her list.

"The jobs usually follow one of four archetypes. Fighter, Rogue, Mage or Cleric. Or in your own guild's words, Prowess, Agility, Magic... and Faith. The reason Marcy can't have the Acolyte job is the same that makes you not have the Magician job."

She looks at me with a pleading look. "Am I not cursed then?"

"You abandoned your town. Your mother. The man you had a crush on. Your childhood friend Cloude. Everything to follow one crazy girl that was in love with a monster, something considered taboo by your society. There is no way you would do such a thing if you were under the effects of the curse."

Marcy looks at Helen and both their eyes shed tears. "Helen is special. I agree with you boys. Helen is the most special girl in the entire world." She then stares at me. "You make sure never to hurt her. But I'd like to use any magic..."

"Yes. I would never hurt my own bride. But I know Helen is not a girl that can be comfortable being protected after all she went through. This is why I agreed to go to that dungeon."

I wait for my words to sink in. The little scared girl that soiled herself in that campsite is long gone. In her place a beautiful and strong woman blossomed. One I am blessed to call mine.

"I am going to power level the four of us. I am going to make each of us so powerful we won't lose to any A-rank one-trick pony the guild brewed. I will make you so powerful you won't need to be protected. It won't be easy, it won't be painless. you wouldn't come with me if you were not able to believe in me."

I have grasped enough of the system of this world to draw an almost optimal leveling strategy. And now that I can change jobs and party up without depending on the guild, it is time to burn the points I have been hoarding. I don't think I'll need [Humanization] this much anymore.

"I will get another loot crate. A big one this time."

"[Loot Crate Maniac {King's Skill}!"

150,000 points spent. 22,807 ponts available. [281,102 / 1,000,000]

As the energy leaves my body to create the magic circle, something goes wrong.

Energy Expended Surpassed Safety Threshold. Soul Vessel Damaged by 8%.

The pain from the soul vessel damage makes me cringe, but it does not hinder the skill's activation, continuing on its own. Seven concentric glowing magic circles stack one over the other creating a cilinder of light, spinning with different speeds. They all begin to descend slowly, and when the highest one gets closer to the ground, a jeweled chest begins to appear above the circle, like it was coming into the light.

After I recover, I open the chest. Inside there are seven crystals, six of them sparkling and the seventh of obviously a lower grade. It seems I've scored big despite the damage. Only one of them was downgraded, but I also got the maximum quantity for the current level.

The skills I earned this time were Sacrifice Aura (S), Reduced Cost (S), King’s Item Box (S), Water Mastery (S), Enchanter King (S), Spatial Magic (S), Staff Mastery (B)

Skill Info:

Sacrifice Aura (S)

Allows user to take 10 + x 7.5% of all damage taken by a party member. Aura radius is 10 + x 7,5 feet.

Reduced Cost (S)

Reduces the base cost to activate any skill or spell by 10 + x 5%.

King’s Item Box (S)

Allows user to store matter in a sub-dimensional space. Does not work for living creatures. Time does not pass for stored matter. The maximum load of the space is 200 + 100 * ^3 pounds.

Water Mastery (S)

Increases the efficiency and power of all water and ice magic by 25% per level. User is healed by x10% of all water and ice damage taken. Allows free movement and survival over or in water or ice. Immune to cold weather temperatures.

Enchantment King (S)

User can enchant items up to S rank. MP cost vary by material, type and strength of enchantment.

Spatial Magic (S)

Allows the use of space magic. Gains one spell on every odd level and another at level 10. Spell {Dimension Anchor} learned.

Staff Mastery (B)

Increases the power of any spell cast wielding a staff by x 10%. Greatly raises chance to block melee attacks while wielding a staff. Grants a chance of learning a martial technique on every level above 5.

Two of them were listed in the golden ticket. But it seems I can't abuse this tier of Loot Crate Maniac. It will erode my soul vessel If I draw too big. I think I'll make a test. The tier immediately below should be safe.

"[Loot Crate Maniac {Lord's Skill}!"

12,750 points spent. 8,057 ponts available. [281,102 / 1,000,000]

Again the swirling magic circles appear, but this time they are less impressive than the King rank. There are only six rings. The chest is silvery with golden filigree. It is a shame the chest doesn't remain behind for too long.

This time five crystals came. Dragon Claw Style (A), Magma Magic [C], Elemental Trap (B), Lord’s Tailoring (A), and Summon Elemental (A). There was no damage either. So King rank and above is banned.

Skill Info:

Dragon Claw Style (A)

Empowers claw attacks with draconic power. Increases attack speed, accuracy and damage. Grants Dragon powers on claw attacks. Technique {Flame Claws} learned.

Magma Magic [C]

Allows the use of magma magic. Gains one spell on every odd level and another at level 10. Spell {Create Magma} learned.

Elemental Trap (B)

User can create and deploy magical traps that use elemental magic using Mana Crystals. Time to deploy is 10 minutes, reduced by minutes. Strength of trap depends on the Crystal.

Lord’s Tailoring (A)

User can craft clothing of great quality. Increase the rating of any clothing and armor created by 1 up to A.

Summon Elemental (A)

Can summon elementals. Strength of the elemental increases with level. Lasts 2 + minutes. Learns to summon one random elemental type every odd level and a special one at level 10. {Summon Earth Elemental} learned.

I have enough points left to cast [Humanization] once, and there are the pemadras Kareena gave me to pay for the job crystal.

"Now all that is left is to explore this [Set Title] option. Is there anything similar to this in the guild, Marcy?"

"Adventurers rank B or higher can set their titles with the assistance of the guild master. Maybe you can do the same."

"I'll make an experiment. I will set [Mithriadist] as my title." This title reduces poison damage by half and also halves the duration of poisons. After setting it, my status page displays "Beowulf the Mithriadist" in the name field. The title effects doubled. Now poison damage and duration is quartered. I can unset the title or set another.

And with this improvement, I'll consume the wyvern pemadra. The two B-rank ones that came in a bundle will be kept aside for making traps or as an emergency measure.

13,765 points spent. 21,822 ponts available. [294,867 / 1,000,000]

I had to get Helen to burn all her MP to keep me from dying, and after she went into MP exhaustion I triggered Vitality Booster. The poison wore off before vitality booster ended its run, but the effort paid off.

Skill Paralysis Resistance level 5 obtained. Skill Poison Resistance level 9 acquired.

The poison virulence was a thousandfold more than the one used in poisoned arrows. For it to last almost half an hour even after all the reductions, it is something that could kill almost any living creature.

This warehouse will remain empty the entire winter. It is not like people stockpile stuff during the winter. I'll put a {Dimensional Anchor} here. The spell does nothing in itself, but creates a marker for other spatial spells that require one. My bet is that I'll pick up some teleportation spell later. And it works to train proficiency in the skill.

I told them to choose their titles. Helen chose [Friend of Monsters] and Marcy [Skirmisher]. Zahariel has no titles yet. He is five days old, but is already behind me. The skill allows me to see all the titles a party member has.

Now we need to train some 1 front 3 rear party formations and get to sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day.