A Major Improvement

"Congratulations! You have completed the main quest Reforge Merick's Glory-Glory Spreads Throughout the Duchy of Will (stage one)!"

"Congratulations! You have received 5 free attribute points, 2 million experience points, and 10,000 gold coins."

Lister accepted the accessories symbolizing noble authority in the Duchy of Will, along with the document conferring his title.

The system announcement he had been waiting for finally sounded.

As he had expected, the key to the first stage of the main quest was reforging glory. Lister did not need to become a household name or earn a great reputation throughout the duchy.

Now that he had been promoted to viscount before most of the city's nobles, the first stage of the quest had been completed without a hitch.

The ceremony went quickly. Or rather, Will II had only gone through the motions to fulfill his promise.

Noble titles meant little in practical terms to the seven major professional families.

As for the title of captain of the city guard's seventh squad, that was an empty one as well.

The nobles in Weier Main City all nominally served the duchy and naturally held posts. Apart from them, there were also nobles with fiefs in various places.

The city's seven major professional families nominally belonged to the city guard, but in practice, they did not send troops to help Duke Will.

Lister himself had only just inherited his barony, and he had not yet had time to inherit the title of seventh squad captain.

Of course, the title itself was meaningless. The seventh squad's members were drawn from the professionals of the various families.

Apart from Lister, the Merick Family had no professionals, so everything remained as it was.

Lister quickly composed himself. Only after Duke Will II left did the people present finally offer him their congratulations.

"Congratulations, Lister."

Count Connor was the first to congratulate him, and Lawson, standing behind the count, also offered his congratulations.

"Brother Lister, congratulations on becoming a viscount."

A woman with equally pure white hair stepped out from behind Lawson and offered Lister her congratulations, her face alight with delight.

Judging by her face, the woman seemed young, around twenty years old.

Her features were exceptionally delicate, her nose was dainty, and her skin was fair. At first glance, she looked somewhat like the elves Lister remembered.

She wore a striking red-and-black Gothic princess dress.

For her looks alone, Lister would give her a nine, one or two points higher than Anna, whom his predecessor had pursued.

"Thank you! And you are...?"

The woman's expression changed instantly, and she looked at him in disbelief.

"Brother Lister, it's me, Erica! Don't you recognize me?"

"Erica...?"

Lister immediately remembered. This was the girl Butler Anke had mentioned, the one old Baron Mel had told his predecessor to actively pursue from the Conner Family.

"Haha! I was joking. I didn't expect you to come today, too."

As he spoke, Lister took another careful look at Erica Connor.

The system scan showed that her professional level was only 16, with an overall rating of F. Nothing about her stood out.

Aside from her truly stunning looks, she was utterly worthless when judged as a professional.

Lister was still a little puzzled, though. When looking for a woman, looks should at least have come first.

To be fair, Anna was not as beautiful as Erica.

The difference between the two in looks alone was obvious. Erica's features were so exquisite that they seemed almost perfectly proportioned.

Only when Lister's gaze slowly traveled downward did he finally notice the reason...

She was flat as a board. Remembering Anna's scorching, devilish figure after she had been bound, Lister felt that Erica was simply pretty, a beauty to admire!

As for her figure... it was indeed a little lacking. No wonder his predecessor had pursued Anna at all costs.

"Father said today was an important day for you, and that members of all our families had to be here."

"Hmph! Otherwise, after you went so long without coming to see me, I wouldn't have come at all!"

Erica wrinkled her nose slightly, putting on an almost cutely sulky expression. It looked as though she had been close to his predecessor.

That made sense. As children of the seven major professional families, they must have often met and sparred with one another.

At that point, Lister stopped paying attention to Erica and exchanged a few pleasantries with members of the other families instead.

After another hour or so, Lister finally finished socializing and returned to his family home.

In the castle, Butler Anke, who had already heard the news, was in high spirits.

"My lord viscount, the duke's butler just delivered a parchment granting you a medium-sized copper mine."

"Mm, it's in the Southern Territory. It belongs to our family now, so send some people to mine it."

"If we don't have enough hands, just hand the whole thing over to the Poly Merchant Association."

"Also, find me some books about the Kingdom of Yating."

Back in his room, Lister finally began to mull over the ceremony that had made him a viscount.

Will II had been straightforward on that point, delivering both the mine and the title he had promised.

It was no wonder he was held in high regard among the new nobles. His reliability alone impressed Lister. He was not the kind of leader who made nothing but empty promises.

But the reason Will II had given for promoting the Merick Family's title was worth pondering.

He had not mentioned Lister wiping out the Ghost-Eyed Giant tribe at all. He had merely recounted the Merick Family's history, described their contributions in general terms, and granted the promotion.

That alone was likely to leave quite a few of the new nobles privately dissatisfied.

They had fought tooth and nail for their noble titles, while a professional family like Lister's seemed able to get one whenever it wanted.

After a little thought, Lister stopped dwelling on it. It was all just a means for Will II to intensify the conflict.

As long as Will II did not immediately make a lethal move, it made no real difference to him.

Lister reopened his game panel.

"Experience points: 2,500,321."

"Free attribute points: 15."

The experience from the main quest, together with the experience from the associated mineral deposit, and the free attribute points from both.

Lister had made a killing this time.

Now it was time for another round of improvements.

"Congratulations! You have leveled up and received 4 free attribute points."

[Level: 26→30 (0/30,000)]

[Attributes: strength: 26→30, stamina: 20→25, intelligence: 20→25, agility: 20→25]

The four attribute points from leveling up, added to the fifteen he already had, made nineteen free attribute points, all of which he spent at once.

"Congratulations! The Merrick Breathing Technique has leveled up."

[Merrick Breathing Technique (passive, ungraded) LV14→LV20 (1/200,000): increases strength by 20 points]

[Saber Mastery (passive, ungraded) LV14→LV20 (1/200,000): increases saber technique attack damage by 100%]

[Merrick Saber Technique (grade C - rare) LV5-LV10 (1/100,000): accurately strikes the target, dealing 867-1,015 damage (increased based on strength). Note: the range and damage of Iai Slash have increased.]

[Will Breathing Technique (passive, ungraded): LV5→LV6: increases stamina by 6 points]

After upgrading and allocating points all at once, he had 30,000 experience points left.

Lister could not help but marvel that leveling up really was the easiest part.

Unfortunately, level had little to do with strength. It merely served as a barrier to raising basic attributes and skill levels.

The real drain on experience points was these passive skills.

"Congratulations! Your overall rating has increased."

[Overall rating: C→B (boss tier)]

Sure enough, improving skills was the real way to improve. His overall rating had reached a height he had never attained in his previous life: grade B.

That was a strength rating only the top players on the server could reach.

Only the top five or six hundred players on the entire server could attain an overall rating of A-lord tier.

Lister was very satisfied with his current status. Even monsters followed this overall rating system.

Grade C monsters were elite monsters, while grade B monsters were boss-tier monsters. Only from this grade onward could they be considered true bosses.

Lister could be considered a third-tier humanoid boss now. His strength had advanced by leaps and bounds in a short time!