Lowering the Barrier

Pete initially thought the God of Knowledge was playing favorites, that he and Rena had received different treatment.

But on second thought, he realized the truth.

"Oh, no."

When he had learned several spells before, [Hada's Hunger] had been during a life-threatening situation. With his survival instincts helping him, he had not had time to think much about it and succeeded on his first try.

Later, in the police station's interrogation room, [True Name Knowledge] had not been a complicated spell either. He had also learned that non-offensive spell in one go.

After that, whether it was [Arcane Missile] or the God of Justice's divine spells, he had never failed with those either. Every one of them had succeeded on the first attempt.

The so-called practice progress existed to tell someone where they had failed and how far they still were from succeeding.

If someone succeeded in one try without ever failing, of course there was no need for some progress bar!

So that was it!

Pete now even felt a little unaccustomed to this sensation of learning anything at once.

Back when he worshipped the Goddess of Magic, his path of cultivation had been nothing but setbacks!

The Goddess of Magic was not nearly as generous as the God of Knowledge. She would not break a spell down piece by piece and lay out every mystery and detail with absolute clarity.

Back then, to master a spell, Pete often had to spend enormous amounts of time and endure countless failures whose causes he could not even identify.

Now, he had Noven, the God of Knowledge, as his faith.

Spells?

Weren't those things something you could learn the moment you got your hands on them?

Because he had truly been caught in the rain before, Pete could truly understand just how important the God of Knowledge's aid to his believers was.

Over the course of the night, Pete witnessed Rena's training firsthand.

At first, Rena could only barely make her figure turn indistinct for an instant, far from achieving the effect of [Stealth];

Later, the effect of her blurred silhouette grew better and better. Unless someone watched carefully, they could hardly locate where she was.

Finally, when a faint glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon, Rena could gather the power of shadows and make her body completely transparent and illusory, blending entirely into her surroundings to the point where the naked eye could not distinguish her at all.

After a night of practice and tremendous progress, Rena was delighted. She happily shared her experience with Pete.

"Mr. Pete, the God of Knowledge told me I've now completed 70% of the progress."

"Once I can maintain the effect of [Stealth] without it dispersing even while moving, the practice will count as successful!"

Pete smacked his lips.

Even though he had expected it, that efficiency was still astonishingly fast.

The first step from an ordinary person into a profession was extremely difficult.

That difficulty did not only lie in training itself, but also in all sorts of external requirements and channels.

Becoming a professional was not as simple as praying to the corresponding god, then thinking, I figure this should work, and somehow learning the relevant spells, combat skills, or divine spells.

Without the correct method, the truth was that it would be difficult to succeed even after striving for an entire lifetime.

The proper method required going to the appropriate church, academy, or training ground, then paying a considerable sum as "tuition." There were also limited slots available during any given period.

Church deacons responsible for guiding newcomers would arrange dedicated venues and provide all kinds of precious items to assist with cultivation.

Most importantly, high-ranking professionals would periodically cast divine spells and ask the gods to turn their gaze upon the newcomers, helping them become professionals and reducing the difficulty of taking that "first step" as much as possible.

Yet the "considerable fee" required before even beginning that first step was enough to block vast numbers of ordinary people.

Pete's family baronial estate was located in a small town near the eastern Dark Forest in the Rayak Kingdom. An ordinary family in that town could work hard for a month and, after subtracting all living expenses, save at most a dozen or so silver coins.

After painstakingly saving for a year, they would barely have a little over one Rayak Kingdom gold coin.

Greenport's economy was more developed, and ordinary people in the lower city lived somewhat better, but the savings they could put aside each year generally remained below two gold coins.

The entry fee for becoming a professional was five gold coins even for the most affordable and accessible warrior profession.

That did not even include the costs of a warrior training their body or purchasing necessities such as weapons and armor.

One had to know that in Pete's hometown, a small house with a courtyard cost only a little over a dozen gold coins!

For an ordinary family to support a professional, the starting cost was half a house, and success was not even guaranteed.

That threshold alone was enough to make most ordinary people give up before trying.

But with the God of Knowledge, the situation had changed dramatically.

The first requirement of the rogue profession was to completely master the [Stealth] combat skill.

"While moving, remain invisible to others from five meters away and maintain it steadily for at least one minute."

Meeting those standards meant the combat skill had been mastered.

Judging from Rena's progress, Pete estimated that she would meet the standard after only a few more practice sessions!

Had she paid any cost beyond the effort of practicing?

None at all!

No gold coins!

No guide required!

Noven, the God of Knowledge, had already taken on the role of guide, and he was even more effective than the church deacons responsible for leading newcomers!

Aside from their so-called "bloodlines," one important advantage Rayak Kingdom nobles had over commoners was that nobles often possessed enough wealth to study and become professionals.

Commoners could usually only labor day after day, earning meager wages to survive.

When noble descendants became professionals, they could still remain nobles under the Rayak Kingdom's noble laws.

Commoner descendants remained ordinary people. They were still commoners.

But Noven, the God of Knowledge, seemed to be breaking that rule.

Pete thought about it.

Given his status, if he wanted to preserve the nobility's position, he ought to do everything he could to curb the spread of the God of Knowledge's faith.

Otherwise, if commoners could all become professionals, then naturally they could also be granted titles by the king and become new nobles.

What superiority would the original nobles have left?

Yet another voice in Pete's heart was shouting:

It was true that he had been born a noble, but nobles themselves were divided into ranks!

A minor border noble like him could not actually enter those core noble circles at all!

Those nobles of the royal capital had better family backgrounds and greater strength than he did. Whenever they mentioned descendants of minor nobles like Pete, they would usually dismiss them with a contemptuous, "From the border."

The gaps in every respect had never been something Pete could make up for through hard work alone.

That was why he had considered giving up. He had planned to come to Greenport, earn certification as a third-rank mage, then return to inherit his father's title and coast through life.

However, ever since he began worshipping the God of Knowledge and gained power from Noven, Pete felt his mindset gradually changing.

Was he really going to become a third-rank mage, then spend his whole life skulking around the border?

The means to gain power was clearly right in front of him!

As long as he worked hard, it was within reach!

An emotion called "ambition" was quietly rising in Pete's heart...

"I think I was too conservative before. Maybe our black market money-making plan can be a little more aggressive."

Pete raised his head and spoke seriously to Rena, who had finished practicing and was about to go upstairs for her morning prayers.