Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 446: I Expect Good Things From You [Part 1]

"Dim Dim!"

The little bun proudly pointed at the floating jet black skill book above its head.

Alex could read the title—which was embossed in gold letters—just fine. However, it took him some time to process the words.

When he finally did, his mouth hung open.

"Ten Thousand Heroes [EX]!?" Alex gasped. "D-Divine Ranked Skill?!"

Divine Ranked Skills were priceless in ELO. Getting even one required meeting extremely strict conditions. Ability was simply not enough. Luck was needed. A lot of luck.

Alex had not just been a top player. He had been in the cream of the crop and a Shield Savant to boot. And yet he had never once acquired a single Divine Ranked Item from his years of playing.

It was that difficult to even stumble upon Divine Ranked Items. Those who were lucky enough to have discovered such treasures were usually tight-lipped, unwilling to divulge the secrets to their success.

Of course, most of them were not exactly sure how they had gotten these priceless treasures either. Almost no one had ever replicated this miracle.

"Ahem!" Dim Dim stood even straighter, clearly enjoying the young man’s shocked expression.

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim pointed at Alex, making the latter blink.

"For me?"

"Dim!"

"Dim Dim, you’re the best!" Alex immediately grabbed the little bun and kissed its cheek repeatedly, making it giggle.

After patting the little bun’s head for a whole minute, he set Dim Dim on top of his head and grabbed the Divine Skill Book, eager to check its information.

———

< Ten Thousand Heroes [EX] >

"If Fate denies us victory, I will summon those who defy Fate itself."

— Although this skill book is called Ten Thousand Heroes, it doesn’t only summon Heroes. It can summon anyone, including Villains and Gods.

— You can only use this skill when certain conditions are met. Even if your life is in danger, there’s a chance that this skill might not activate.

— Heroes cannot be summoned at random. Depending on the environment and circumstances, an appropriate person will heed your call.

— You can only summon one Hero at a time, but there’s a small chance of summoning multiple Heroes after using this skill.

———

Alex looked at the Divine Skill Book with awe. Still in disbelief, he asked Dim Dim if he could truly use it.

"Dim Dim!"

"Thank you again, Dim Dim."

The young man no longer stood on ceremony and used the skill book to acquire the skill.

He then hurriedly opened his Status Page, wanting to check if the skill was really registered.

———

Divine Skills: Voice of the End, Ten Thousand Heroes [EX]

———

As his ecstasy from having two divine skills toned down a little, he noticed something interesting.

The Ten Thousand Heroes [EX] skill was grayed out.

A thousand horrible possibilities flashed through his mind, but he calmed himself down to ask Dim Dim for clarifications. The little bun explained that this was not a glitch as the skill would only light up once conditions were met.

This meant that Alex couldn’t casually summon a Hero anytime he pleased.

"Dim Dim, I have another question."

"Dim?"

"Can these summoned Heroes beat Paragons?"

The little bun jumped off Alex’s head and landed on the bed.

It said nothing, only looking at Alex with a mysterious smile.

"Is that a yes?" Alex pressed as he crouched down to meet the little bun’s eye level.

Dim Dim’s only response was to smile even wider.

"Fine." Alex smirked. "I guess I’ll just find out in the future, right?"

Dim Dim nodded. "Dim!"

As if waiting for that moment, the door of his room was thrown open and in strutted Chuck.

"Guess what, Alex?" Chuck asked.

"You enjoyed the spanking that Princess Xenia and Mary gave you?" Alex suggested.

Chuck’s face visibly reddened. For a brief moment, his composure crumbled. However, he soon cleared his throat and seemed to have bounced back.

"That’s not it," Chuck said. "Me? Get spanked by those two? Impossible. Let’s not talk about them and talk about this instead."

Chuck showed Alex the quest he had just taken from the Mission Hall.

———

< Escort Mission >

Escort Princess Xenia and Prince Edward to the Kingdom of Solara. Assist them as they check the state of the security and accommodations that will be used by the First Years during their field trip.

Quest Requirements: Rank 3 of any Profession.

Number of Escorts needed for the mission: 20

———

"An escort mission?" Alex arched an eyebrow. "Her Highness gave this to you?"

Chuck nodded. "Yes. The Student Council summoned her and Prince Edward earlier and assigned them to be the representatives of the First Year for the field trip.

"Their position requires them to travel to Solara a week ahead of the trip. They are responsible for making sure that our accommodations are safe and up to par.

"Before we hosted their students, they had also sent some people over to check our dormitory rooms. Think of it as the standard protocol for inter-kingdom events."

Chuck then leaned closer like he had a state secret to share.

"Most importantly, this is a good opportunity to talk with the Saintess in private and get to the bottom of her relationship with Renard," Chuck added. "We don’t want our guy to be used as some kind of tool just to avoid marriage arrangements by a noble family, do we?"

Alex smirked. "I didn’t know you cared that much about Renard."

"Well, he’s a member of our club." Chuck shrugged. "If we don’t watch out for each other, who else will have our backs, right?"

To Chuck’s surprise, Alex agreed readily.

"You’re right. Very well. Since Her Highness has personally handed this to you... Does that mean she has already signed all of our club members up as her escorts?"

"Yes," Chuck answered. "Actually, no. After much consideration, she decided to exclude Renard. It’s sad that his meeting with the Saintess will be delayed by a week, but it’s best that he arrives with the rest. He might get targeted if he were to go with us and that would be quite troublesome."

Alex applauded Princess Xenia in his heart, agreeing with her assessment.

The nobles from Solara had come all the way to their academy just to confront Renard not that long ago. That meant that the news of him being favored by their Saintess had already circulated among the upper circles.

’Fortunately, I managed to convince them to hold the duel during the field trip,’ Alex thought. ’At the least, they won’t come visit us to complain anymore.’

Since it would be an official duel, many people were bound to join the fun. Even Lady Celestria’s father, one of the Dukes of Solara, might come and watch the duel himself. Surely any half-decent father would want to see which lad had managed to charm his daughter.

Even if the King came to join the festivities, it wouldn’t be that surprising either. In that case, the duel would certainly become the talk of the town.

’Nice! That means more money for me,’ Alex thought. ’I need to make sure that those who watch the duel will pay gold for it.’

Although Alex had set the ticket at a thousand gold coins each, he knew he would be asked to lower the price.

Truth be told, he would still be happy enough even if he lowered the entrance fee to ten gold coins per head.

The Colosseum could easily seat over ten thousand people. If they managed to fill it up during the duel, then Alex would earn tens of thousands of gold coins without too much effort.

As much as the thought excited him, he set this matter aside for the time being.

It was time to give Chuck his gift.

"Chuck, take this," Alex said as he handed the skill, Burning Will [EX], to his roommate.

As soon as the troublemaker’s gaze landed on the red cover, his eyes immediately widened in shock.

"A-A Unique Skill Book?!" Chuck stuttered. "Are you selling this to me?"

"No." Alex shook his head. "I’m giving it to you for free."

Chuck’s expression immediately turned solemn. "There’s nothing free in this world except the air that we breathe. Alex, I’m your friend, so I deserve this bit of honesty. Tell me, do you plan to scam me? Are you planning to lure me into debt so you can treat me as a slave?"

"Enough with the drama. Just take it." Alex casually let go of the book and walked away, leaving Chuck to clutch it tightly like it was a holy relic that could not touch the ground.

While walking away, Alex stole a quick glance at his roommate. His lips curved just a little. Right now, Chuck bore an uncanny resemblance to a starving fish chomping down on a rainbow prawn without realizing it was attached to a fishhook.

"Are you sure this is free?" Chuck asked. "What’s the catch? I know you, Alex. You are just like me. We won’t give something away for free unless we need a favor from that person."

"You’re right. Although I said it was for free, this skill book has some strings attached to it."

"I knew it! So, what do you want? You can have anything except my handsomeness."

""...""

Alex and Dim Dim looked wordlessly at the thick-skinned young man, hoping to shame him out of his delusion that he was the most handsome man in the world.

However, since Chuck was as immune to shame as he was handsome, Alex and Dim Dim had to give up eventually when they could no longer endure the awkward silence.

Instead of admitting defeat, they decided to tell themselves that they were just humoring him for the time being so he could feel good about himself.