Atomic and... Mob Character A?
The Hermes Familia's mansion was always filled with an atmosphere that was both laid-back and strange.
When I returned from the Dungeon and told Hermes what I had seen on the twelfth floor, his smile remained unchanged. As with any information he received, there was always something inscrutable in his eyes.
"A dragonman with black wings, a monster with blue flames, and a crystal that dropped..." He repeated it all absentmindedly, then nodded and beckoned to Asfi, who was standing nearby.
"Asfi, look into the abnormalities in the Dungeon, especially anything concerning the twelfth floor."
Asfi adjusted her glasses. Though her expression remained calm, I could tell she wasn't surprised by Hermes's instructions, as if she had expected them all along.
"Yes, I'll arrange for someone to take care of it immediately."
After giving his instructions, Hermes turned his gaze to me.
"Cid, you did very well this time." He smiled faintly, his tone gentle, as if what I had just told him were a trivial matter. "But I do have a suggestion. You've been back for a while now, and you haven't updated your stats yet, have you?"
"My stats?" I paused.
It was true. Ever since I joined the Hermes Familia, I had focused on keeping a low profile and had never asked Hermes to update my stats. To me, those were just numbers on the surface. True power came from training in the shadows, not a god's blessing.
Still, since he had brought it up himself, I saw no reason to refuse.
"Sure, why not?"
Hermes's smile widened slightly, and he clapped his hands. "Then come with me. Let's see how much potential our Hermes Familia's 'background character' has."
The corner of my mouth twitched. Something about what he had said felt strange.
Updating stats was a simple process. I just had to lie on a bed with my back to my god and let him place his hand on my back and update the data with divine blood.
When Hermes placed his hand on my back, I could feel a subtle flow of divine power. I paid it no mind, though. For ordinary adventurers, this was a perfectly routine procedure.
However, just as Hermes closed his eyes and began, I felt his hand tremble slightly.
"Hm?" I couldn't help frowning. Hermes was usually remarkably composed, so why had he suddenly reacted like that?
After a few minutes, he gently withdrew his hand. I heard the rustling of paper, and then Hermes's usually relaxed voice sounded slightly strained.
"Cid, would you like to... take a look for yourself?" he said slowly, a hint of hesitation in his voice.
I rolled over and sat up, reaching out to take the stat sheet he handed me. I had expected to see a bunch of ordinary numbers, but my gaze froze the moment it landed on the page.
Stat details [Adventurer information] - Adventurer name: Cid Kagenou - Familia: Hermes Familia - Level: Lv. 2 (level up!) [Stats] - Strength (STR): I → SS (increase: 999) - Endurance (END): I → SS (increase: 999) - Agility (AGI): I → SS (increase: 999) - Dexterity (DEX): I → SS (increase: 999) - Magic (MAG): I → ▆ (increase: ??) [Skills] - Mob Character A [Magic] - Atomic (atomic)
"..."
I stared blankly for several seconds before coming to my senses.
"Lord Hermes, is there a mistake here?" I held up the sheet and pointed at the numbers, my voice tinged with confusion.
"No mistake." Hermes leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest as he looked at me with a complicated expression. "These really are your stats. Strength, endurance, agility, dexterity—they're all SS. I've never seen that before... And your magic isn't showing up at all. It's completely black."
"Black magic..." I repeated quietly, looking at the figures again.
An ordinary adventurer's stats were usually ranked from I to S, but I had never heard of an SS rank in any record. This was beyond what the word "powerful" could describe in the ordinary sense.
But none of that was the point.
My gaze finally landed on the skill listed beneath my stats—
"Mob Character A."
What the hell is Mob Character A?! I couldn't help roaring in my head, a vein throbbing faintly on my forehead.
Judging by its name, it didn't sound like a skill that could help in a fight at all! The words "Mob Character A" were practically mocking my life choices! Who the hell had named this thing?!
"Cid, this skill..." Hermes had clearly noticed the skill's name too. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but he maintained a proper expression. "It's your exclusive skill. Perhaps it can help you achieve some sort of goal?"
Help me become a perfect background character? I couldn't help grumbling inwardly, my tone full of despair. Still, Mob Character A does sound... pretty consistent with my core philosophy.
If "Mob Character A" left me somewhat baffled, then "Atomic" left me utterly confused.
Because I considered nuclear bombs the symbol of "ultimate power," I had constantly pursued destructive power that could reproduce or even surpass a nuclear explosion. Through training, I had learned to compress my magic to the extreme, concentrate it to its limit, then release it in an instant to produce destructive power similar to a nuclear explosion. I could also control it precisely with magic, achieving attack precision beyond that of a nuclear explosion. But the problem was—
I had never used "Atomic" in this world!
"Why did it appear in my stats?" I looked at the words on the sheet, a chill running through me. Either this skill had been generated based on the awakening of my potential, or there was some connection I didn't yet understand between this world and the setting of The Eminence in Shadow as I imagined it.
"Atomic... What's the deal with this magic?" I muttered, staring at the magic section of the sheet with a complicated expression.
"What are you thinking about?" Hermes's sudden question brought me back to reality.
I looked up at the god who always wore that inscrutable smile, hoping to draw some information out of him, but Hermes had evidently anticipated my confusion.
"Don't worry too much about the names of the skills," he said with a smile. "Skills are generated based on an adventurer's potential and nature to begin with... Though these names are a little surprising."
"Surprising?" I frowned.
Hermes didn't explain. Instead, he looked over the stat sheet again, then suddenly chuckled.
"Even faster than Bell..." he remarked meaningfully, a note of amazement in his voice.
"Bell?" I repeated in confusion.
"Oh, he's an interesting kid from the Hestia Familia," Hermes said with a smile, a hint of praise in his voice. "It took him only a month to reach level two after joining the Hestia Familia. That already defied what people normally understood about adventurers. But now it looks like you're even faster than he is."
"..."
Hearing that, I didn't know how to respond for a moment.
I didn't think I had done anything remarkable. I had simply acted according to the philosophy of The Eminence in Shadow and dealt with a few minor problems in the Dungeon. But Hermes's words made me realize that my rate of growth seemed to be beyond the understanding of ordinary adventurers.
"So, am I standing out a little too much?" I asked cautiously, trying to find out whether my "Mob Character A plan" had already been affected.
Hermes shook his head gently, still smiling. "Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret for you. Your stats... won't be posted on the Guild's notice board for now, and I won't let the other adventurers know either."
"Why?" I asked instinctively.
Hermes gave me a meaningful look, as if he had seen through everything about me.
"Because I know you don't want to be the center of attention, right?"
His voice was gentle, but it seemed to strike a chord in my heart. Hermes was a god, and it seemed that no matter how much I disguised myself, he could always pick up certain clues from my actions and choices.
"...Thanks." In the end, all I could do was nod, tacitly accepting his proposal.
"Hehe, you're welcome." Hermes smiled faintly, then stood and walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he looked back and casually tossed out a few words:
"But, Cid, if one day you want to be the center of attention, or you're willing to show your power... remember to tell me. I'll arrange a suitably 'dazzling' stage for you."
With that, he left.
The room fell quiet again, leaving me alone with the stat sheet in my hand. The names "Atomic" and "Mob Character A" still echoed in my mind.
I Am Atomic... I silently repeated it once. For some reason, I found myself looking forward to the prospect of unleashing that skill in this world again.
But now wasn't the time.
A low profile, shadows, a background character... That was the philosophy by which The Eminence in Shadow operated.
End of volume one.