“Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out,” I say while forming my hands in a ‘T.’ “Okay, I understand how serious you are about this, but please understand that this isn’t about money or rare materials for me to do whatever. Heck, I’d feel terrible taking this much from you by itself just for showing you my status.”

“If it’s not about the money, then what is it?” Ms. Umeiyon asks while her eyes widen.

“Listen, I may not know how much friction the races, kin, or whatever have with each other, and I respect you to go out of your way to look for help from the outside, but … you’re asking a lot from a total stranger who may or may not have anything to do with this, and do you even know how long this cause will take until we’re able to complete it?”

“Well … no, but—”

“So, this is a long-term kind of deal, and if you’re investing so much into one guy for this task, then this could be something that may take the rest of his life. I don’t think all the money, Chaos Ore, or whatever in the world would be enough to have guys like me drop everything and risk myself into helping a cause that they may not even want me to be a part of. Do you get me, Ms. Umeiyon?”

“You think I wouldn’t seek outside help if I didn’t know that?” she asks before taking a deep breath to sigh. “I get it. I know I would be asking a lot out of you, and I may be a tad aggressive in what I can offer as payment, but I don’t know where else to turn. No one in my kind is willing to give my idea a chance, and if that wasn’t bad enough, they mocked me for it.”

“What?”

“They took my idea that could possibly save us, spat on it, and rubbed it into the dirt. Seeing as how I wasn’t needed in their eyes, I put myself in exile and came all the way out here on my own. I had hoped that actions would speak louder than words, and if there’s even a small percentage of it succeeding, I’m willing to take that chance and try it, and if it does work, maybe then others would follow my example. I know I could’ve just come up with better, more realistic options, maybe give it up altogether, just continue living it out in exile and never deal with those bastards who mocked me ever again, but …” Ms. Umeiyon starts sniffling as her eyes well up in tears. “I don’t want us all to die out like this. I want to leave a physical, living mark in this world that would last hundreds, thousands of more years that we were here, that we existed. I know we’ll still die in due time, but I still want us to be remembered as we are, so that future generations would look back and see how far they’ve gone to keep our bloodline alive, and maybe better in ways we could never have fathomed, but I can’t do this just by myself.”

“Ms. Umeiyon …”

She takes a moment to gather herself and wipe away any stray tears before grabbing my shoulders and look at me straight in the eyes. “If it’s not money or rare materials, then what is it that you do want, Jinma Kotori? Name it, I’ll do anything if it means I can see a glimpse of hope, that my work up to now won’t be in vain, just please, show me your status—”

“Okay, okay, I will show you. Word of warning though, you should be careful of what you say to people. You’ll never know what they want from you, and your work just may actually be in vain in that way. Lucky for you, I just have one condition that isn’t very extreme, but if it doesn’t work out for you in the end, do keep what I said in mind in the future, all right?” I ask as I take a sleeve and help wipe away the tears streaking down her cheeks while she sniffles.

“Thank you, and yes, I’ll take your word for it. Now, what is your condition?”

“It’s very simple, actually. Since it seems like we’d be working together for quite a while, I need to see what kind of person you are so I’ll know you’re someone I can trust. That said, to see my status, all that I ask is that I see yours, stats, skills, and all.”

For a moment, Ms. Umeiyon’s complexion pales. Even when she shakes it off, she breaks into a cold sweat. “O-Okay, I see your point, and you make a valid argument. Very well, I accept those terms. Now, how should we go about this?”

“Let’s just stand side-to-side, pull up both of our statuses at once, and we’ll see what each of us has to offer from there, like so.” I step over to Ms. Umeiyon’s side and huddle close enough to her shoulder, but not actually touch it as we face the same direction. “We’ll just spread it all out and we can see what we want to see from there. Sound good?”

“Y-Yes … it sounds reasonable enough.”

“All right, we’ll pull them up at once on the count of three. Ready?” I ask before she nods in response. “One. Two. Three.”

““Status open.””

At our command, four window screens spread out in front of us. Ms. Umeiyon and Nyra gasp when they see my status windows, and honestly, I wonder if my eyes are going bad from how bonkers the numbers and everything else look.

~~

Kotori Jinma

Race: Human

[New Class(es) Added: Mage]

Class: Brawler [Mage (only seen by the user)]

[History: Brawler LV 173, Mage LV 124 (only seen by the user)]

[New Title(s) Achieved: Merciless Demon, Impregnable, Hydromancer, Atmomancer, Hexmancer, Umpquamancer, Mr. Shakedown, Torture Expert, Monster Genocider, Ultimate Underdog, Fearsome Underdog]

Title: Merciless Demon, Natural-Born Brawler, Impregnable, Studious, Seeker of Knowledge, Pyromancer, Hydromancer, Atmomancer, Hexmancer, Umpquamancer, Mr. Shakedown, Torture Expert, Monster Genocider [Formidable Underdog, Ultimate Underdog, Fearsome Underdog (only seen by the user)]

Equipment: Roughed-Up Slacks, Spider Silk Shirt, Cursed Misfortune Tanto of Nyra

Stats:

[Sentients Killed: 7]

LV: 173 (+21K, +90) [124 (+21K, +102)]

HP: 3000/3345 [2085 (965+1120) [+1260 (20+1240)]]

MP: 3597/3597 [2190 (943+1247) [+1407 (40+1367)]]

ATK: 6533 [4982 (3561+1421) [+1551 (10+1541)]]

DEF: 113280 [4394 (3264+1130) [+1270 (20+1250)] X 20]

SP. ATK: 4811 [3379 (2142+1237) [+1432 (75+1357)]]

SP. DEF: 101840 [3787 (2677+1110) [+1305 (75+1230)] X 20]

AGI: 3995 [2491 (1112+1379) [+1504 (5+1499)]]

LUCK: 5 [33 (18+15) [+17 (5+12)] X 0.1]

EXP: 14/17300 (+~1040000) [1700/12400 (+~724100)]

STR RES: FIRE, WATER, STORM, TERRA, HOLY, CURSE

SP: 495 (+234)

[BP: 520 (only seen by the user)]

[TAL: 0 (only seen by the user)]

Ability: Violently Tempting Challenger

Dragon Scale Defense

[Obina’s Champion (only seen by the user)]

~~

Kotori Jinma

[Skill(s) Leveled Up: Poison Resistance LV 8, Slugger Style LV 7, Money Grubbing LV 6, Sadistic Smile LV 5

[Skill(s) Revealed: Focus LV 10, Devil Eyes*

[Skill(s) Evolved: Focus LV 10 >> Hyper Perception LV 6

[New Skill(s) Learned: Drunken Style LV 5, Darkness Manipulation LV 5, Curse Magic LV 4, Size Up LV 4, Meditation LV 4, Demon’s Slash LV 4 [Slash LV 3 and Wide Slash LV 3 have been integrated into Demon’s Slash LV 4], Multi-Slash LV 3, Circular Slash LV 3, Mow Down LV 3, Water Magic LV 3, Storm Magic LV 3, Water Blast LV 3, Wind Cutter LV 3, Debilitating Defense LV 3, Sluggish Speed LV 3, Baneful Poison LV 3, Alcohol Constitution LV 1, Sway*, Intoxicated*, Sturdy Shell*, Magic Sense*, Mutilation*, Monster Bonus*, Underdog’s Second Class*, Status Sorting*

Skills:

Passive: Poison Resistance LV 8, Slugger Style LV 7, Cooking LV 7, Merciless Style LV 6, Throw LV 6, Resourceful Weapon LV 6, Money Grubbing LV 6, Hyper Perception LV 6, Drunken Style LV 5, Darkness Manipulation LV 5, Fear Resistance LV 5, Stealth LV 5, Despair Resistance LV 4, Protective Style LV 4, Curse Magic LV 4, Fire Magic LV 3, Water Magic LV 3, Storm Magic LV 3, Baking LV 3, Housekeeping LV 3, Massaging LV 3, Alcohol Constitution LV 1, Studying MAX LV, Catch*, Intimidation*, Sway*, Intoxicated*, Sturdy Shell*, Devil Eyes*, Magic Sense*, Mutilation*, Monster Bonus* [Size Up LV 4, Underdog Bonus*, Status Sorting*, Underdog’s Second Class* (only seen by the user)]

Active: Glare LV 7, Heavy Throw LV 6, Demon’s Palm LV 6, Blowback Punch LV 5, Man Killer LV 5, Sadistic Smile LV 5, Meditation LV 4, Demon’s Slash LV 4, Multi-Slash LV 3, Circular Slash LV 3, Mow Down LV 3, Scare*, Taunt*

Spells: Pyreball LV 3, Flame Burst LV 3, Water Blast LV 3, Wind Cutter LV 3, Debilitating Defense LV 3, Sluggish Speed LV 3, Baneful Poison LV 3

~~

Nyra is so surprised she couldn’t form a coherent sentence. I then remember one of the notices I saw from last night.

That’s right! I got some other Underdog skill that lets me get a second class! Holy shit, how could I even get these numbers?! Wait a minute! Why did my LUCK go down?! Obviously, I had a lot to say about the ridiculous EXP I gained as well as many questions, like why ‘Devil Eyes’ is a skill that was ‘revealed’ and not ‘learned.’ If I had used that before, when? Where? How? Why? Unfortunately, I’d have to worry about those questions later as I don’t have enough knowledge and facts of this world to go off of.

Right, just calm down. I now just need to see Ms. Umeiyon’s … statuses.

It’s when I peeked over at Ms. Umeiyon’s windows that I thought I got more surprised with hers than my own.

~~

Umeiyon

Race: Lizardman [Dragon]

Class: Sage [Dragon]

Title: Blessmancer, Master of Sanctity, Grandmaster of Light, Hydromancer, Master of Downfall, Grandmaster of Aqua, Atmomancer, Master of Winds, Housekeeper, Studious, Seeker of Knowledge [Wielder of the Archaic, Dragon in Exile]

Equipment: Rags

Stats:

LV: 75 [759* / 10]

HP: 33741/33741

MP: 31189/31189

ATK: 4951 [49513 / 10]

DEF: 5467 [54678 / 10]

SP. ATK: 5732 [57324 / 10]

SP. DEF: 5770 [57702 / 10]

AGI: 1362 [13623 / 10]

LUCK: 2784

EXP: 754/7500 [75900 / 10]

STR RES: WATER, STORM, HOLY

SP: 571

Ability: None

~~

Umeiyon

Skills:

Passive: Water Magic LV 8, Holy Magic LV 8, Storm Magic LV 7, Diagnosis LV 7, Housekeeping LV 4, Studying MAX LV, Water Boost*, Water Amp*, Storm Boost*, Storm Amp*, Holy Boost*, Holy Amp*, Magic Sense*, Hide Magic*, Magic Synchronization*, Magic Synthesis* [Ancient Magic*]

Active:

Spells: Water Blast LV 8, Heal LV 8, Freezing Breath LV 7, Sacred Breath LV 7, Arrows of Light LV 7, Icicle Needle LV 7, Wind Cutter LV 7, Turbulent Breath LV 6, Sanctity Lance LV 5, Divine Punishment LV 5, Iceberg Crush LV 5, Avalanche LV 5, Hurricane LV 5, Lightning Lance LV 4 [Ancient Magic*]

~~

“You’re … you’re a …” I trail off before I hear small giggles. I look to my right and see they were from Ms. Umeiyon, who grows into a fit of laughter hard enough to break into tears again.

“This is … incredible! To not only have such an ability that derives from our race, but have twice the defenses as a normal one would! My expectations of you have been blown to smithereens!”

“Ms. … Umeiyon?” I ask before she abruptly claps her claws over my hands. Her reptilian, brilliant turquoise eyes sparkle with stars glimmering in them as she looks at me with a smile of excitement.

“Jinma Kotori! Become my mate, and let us begin a new generation of Dragons that the world of Raiza has never seen before!”

“… What?”