Effort Required?

Vivian's explanation finally made Shien understand why she had said that he had high growth potential in every aspect.

"Since you managed to defeat a Golem about ten levels above you under those conditions, your growth potential in every area must be exceptionally high for you to pull that off, right?"

That was what Vivian believed.

It was obvious enough. At the same level, a strength-based warrior would surely lose to one who was strength-based, defense-based, and even capable of using magic, wouldn't they?

Therefore, if someone had extremely high growth potential in every aspect, then whenever they leveled up, every one of their abilities could improve substantially. Their overall improvement would naturally far exceed that of those who only improved one or two areas.

Of course, that was without taking other factors, including skills, into account.

If someone had learned combat skills and could raise them to a certain level, then things would naturally be different.

Levels were hardware, while skills were software. Only with both could one possess truly formidable strength.

Thus, only those with sufficiently high personal levels and skill levels could be considered strong. Someone with only the former was like an idiot who grew in body but not in brains, while someone with only the latter was like a sickly person with a brain but no physique. Neither was a good thing.

In short, to assess someone's strength, one had to consider both their level and their skills together.

(Perhaps Shien is the type who has extraordinary advantages in level growth, but disadvantages when it comes to learning skills.)

Vivian thought so silently to herself.

Though ordinarily, that should have been impossible.

After all, as mentioned earlier, being able to reach level ten proved that one possessed a certain amount of talent. No matter how lacking they were, they should still have been able to learn some simple skills.

(What exactly is going on?)

Vivian looked at Shien and fell into thought.

Meanwhile, Shien was also lost in thought because of Vivian's words.

He had remembered one of the effects of his Unique Skill—Heaven's Grace.

Aside from its exceptional effects on acquiring and improving skills, Shien's Heaven's Grace possessed another effect—"When leveling up, all ability types increase by the maximum value."

Before this, Shien had never known what exactly that effect meant.

Now, he understood.

(This effect means that whenever I level up, all my abilities improve to the greatest possible extent, right?)

Strength, endurance, magic power, even reflexes—every aspect of his abilities could receive the maximum possible improvement whenever he leveled up. That was the true manifestation of this effect.

In Vivian's words, Shien's growth potential in every aspect was at the highest level.

This once again forced Shien to realize just how absurdly overpowered his cheat was, making him feel even worse.

(The more overpowered this cheat is, the harder it'll be for me to hide it.)

Shien sighed inwardly.

Then, Shien thought of another question.

(What standard does the level boost granted by the Holy Sword use?)

If the abilities that could improve upon leveling up varied from person to person and were related to one's talents, aptitudes, and training direction, then which abilities would the levels boosted by the Holy Sword improve?

And to what extent would they improve?

(It can't possibly be like Heaven's Grace, where every ability type rises by the maximum value, can it?)

At the very least, when using the Holy Sword, Shien could tell that his magic power had not increased.

As for his other abilities, judging by the rate of his current improvement, once he reached level one hundred, he seemed likely to be stronger than when the Holy Sword granted him level one hundred.

Thinking about it, Shien roughly came to a conclusion based on how it felt to use it.

(The levels boosted by the Holy Sword probably raise all abilities other than magic power evenly.)

For example.

When Shien leveled up himself, all of his abilities increased by the full value of "ten."

Meanwhile, the level one hundred granted by the Holy Sword distributed "one hundred" evenly among every ability except magic power. In other words, each level gave Shien an increase equivalent to "one" in every ability except magic power.

That way, once Shien reached level one hundred, all of his abilities would reach a value of "one thousand," naturally making him stronger than the "one hundred" boost brought by the Holy Sword's level one hundred.

Of course, that was merely an example.

Still, based on Shien's own sense of things, once he reached level one hundred, he would definitely be stronger than if he relied solely on the Holy Sword's level one hundred.

Setting everything else aside, the Holy Sword did not enhance magic power at all, while Shien's own level increases would improve his magic power. That alone was already a difference.

(But the Holy Sword has other effects too, so I can't say it's inferior to my Unique Skill.)

But then again, Shien's Unique Skill had other effects as well.

Both had their own strengths.

It was just that Shien possessed both of them.

(That must be why that Goddess believed I had the best chance of defeating the Demon King.)

Shien muttered to himself.

Then—

"Alright."

Vivian clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Now that we roughly understand Shien's strength, although he's still a novice, I think his potential is much better than we imagined." Vivian looked toward Tier and the others. "You think so too, right?"

Tier, Lumya, and Merika remained silent and gave no answer.

"What do you think, Tier?"

As if she had anticipated this reaction, Vivian turned to Tier.

"Let's continue on our way."

Tier gave no response at all. After a brief silence, she coldly tossed out those words and returned to the carriage on her own.

"Wait!"

"Tier!"

Lumya hurried after her at once, prompting Merika to hastily follow as well.

Their behavior, as though they were deliberately avoiding or fleeing from him, left Vivian helpless.

Shien did not think much of it and prepared to return to the carriage as well.

However, as he passed Vivian, she said something to him.

"I hope you won't blame them." Vivian sighed. "They don't dislike you. It's just that they went through some unpleasant experiences before, so they're overly wary of someone new like you."

Those words made Shien stop.

After thinking for a moment, Shien could roughly guess what had happened.

"A party of female adventurers with so many exceptionally beautiful members is bound to run into plenty of trouble."

Shien could understand that as well.

"I'll keep an appropriate distance, so don't worry."

Shien smiled at Vivian, then returned directly to the carriage.

Vivian was stunned for a moment, then became helpless again.

"That wasn't what I meant by keeping your distance..."

Vivian had merely meant that if he wanted to become closer to Tier and the others, he would need to put in considerable effort to earn their trust.

Who would have thought that Shien would immediately choose to keep his distance without the slightest hesitation?

"What a strange newcomer."

Vivian muttered to herself and returned to the driver's seat.

The carriage, which had stopped for a while, began moving again, its wheels rumbling as it continued onward.

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