Kaio POV
Hmm, hmm today was a great day, I got exp and "money" from some idiot explorers who didn't even have basic healing items and still thought they could handle one of the Boss monsters (I still wonder if they even had any idea reality), one of my first challengers appeared, another one and now with friends (I almost felt like a father watching his son come home from school with new friends he made at recess, ok, that's too much strength, I admit) and I managed to find out how another favorite challenger of mine is.
And finally, 2 of the loots that I most wanted to appear appeared and as if that wasn't enough, one of my new favorites managed to unlock the boards practically on the first try. Aaahhh seriously I can't express how happy and satisfying today was for me <(￣︶￣)↗
But I can't feel so good yet, I still have a lot to do, plan how I'm going to do the Dabandada, how I'm going to discreetly spread out spies to find the order of the idiotic wizards (if possible, also the person responsible for sending the idiots here too), check whether my reserves will be able to maintain the connection with them, see if I can find out more about this god who "gave me a hand", plan in advance how I'm going to do the next floors, the distribution of items, what the locations will be like, etc. Seriously, there's a lot to do and also find out how to get more authority, because so far it hasn't increased, seriously, right people!!!
[This is a cumulative thing, you can't learn to run without learning to walk first. In your case, learn to crawl.]
'Damn, that hurt, and it hurt a lot, I've never been so cruel to you unnecessarily!.'
[No?!]
'OK Maybe I said some bad things every now and then, but that was before I managed to "unblock" you, you can't keep blaming me for that time now, right.'
[A grudge is a hurt that lasts for a long time.]
'But it can be alleviated with something or lost entirely right. Tell me what I have to do to stop being so...'
[So....]
'Slightly difficult to deal with occasionally but very helpful most of the time? (◡ ω ◡)'
[....]
'Please?!'
[Very well, but the price will be that you let me have a physical body as soon as possible.]
'Huh, that's all?'
[Yes, that's all]
I could hear Sys's voice of happiness when he said this, certainly this system knows something that I don't know about physical bodies, but for a change it won't say anything due to the lack of Authority. But even if I knew it wouldn't do much good, if my deductions are right then I'll still need to reach at least the 5th floor to be able to generate a physical body, and that will still take time, so I think it's okay to make that promise. As inconvenient as it is to not have a body, it is not unbearable either.
'OK, deal. But you will help me without making sarcastic comments.'
[None? None at all?]
'Not in relation to me.'
[Um, that would lose a lot of the fun. But well, how about I narrow it down to almost nothing and give some directions on how you could be more certain which challengers would be more likely to give more exp, and engage in more reprehensible conduct of the kind that few would care if they disappeared. ]
'You can do it?! As?!' Since when?! Why don't you let me know????!!!!!'
[Calm down, calm down, it's been a short time, but you finally accept the conditions.]
'....As long as you also answer my questions from just now, yes.'
[Of course, as far as your Authority allows. =)]
'.....'
I have no option in this case, right? So what happens!!!!
'Accepted.' I said with a total "voice" of defeat.
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Connor's POV
When we returned to the surface, we were, to say the least, surprised by the number of people who were in the stone room, more specifically in front of the stone table.
—Please be calm, we are still checking what happened, calm down, don't push, we are still seeing things.—We saw Mrs. Kamila at the front of the crowd trying to appease them, but without much success.
—But what's going on here, it looks like some elf came to the village while we were away.— But he said smiling.
—Actually, that would be quite possible.— Cali said, looking at the way people were acting. —Honestly, it's unbelievable that your village is still somewhat unknown in the kingdom, even though the Ordeal has been here for some time now.— She said with a contemplative look.
—And we do what we want things to calm down, do we get into trouble too or what?— Max asked looking at the confusion, generally he is a very impulsive person and likes trouble but it seems like this wouldn't be the kind of trouble he likes. That's why he ended up being on the back foot.
Soon after saying that, Anna was practically climbing his body.
—Hey, what's that for!!!
—Hey, I'm the smallest and the lightest. Would you like Mav to climb on top of you to see what's happening up ahead?— She asked, sitting on the shoulders of our big walking shield. How, she passed the huge shield across his back and reached his shoulders I'm not sure, she was very quick.
—And... Can you see anything?— Mav asked.
—... Wait... Just a little more, and... Damn!
""What it was?!""
—The stone counter at the end of the hall has changed!!—
""....""
Literally none of us knew how to react to that. The table at the end of the hall has changed, is that all?! Is that alone enough to cause so much confusion?!
—No, no, that's not it, it wasn't just the shape of the table that changed. She now has a crystal panel and a glass ball, and the panel is practically the same as the one that appeared on the crystal tablet!!— Anna hurriedly explained as soon as she saw our expressions, which in turn soon changed to disbelief.
Now it makes a little more sense, if this panel is the same as the board then everyone can not only see their "status" but also improve their bodies with points. Imagine, a farmer being able to get stronger and endure more hours of work without getting tired, increasing one point in his "status". This could help to greatly increase food production and distribution both on the farm and in the kingdom.
'Hihihi, now it's going to be much more difficult for that miserable old man to control the information about the Ordeal from spreading, you won't be able to keep the benefits of this place all to yourself now, Mr. Melinzer.' Anna thought, seeing the way people marveled at the new components added to the table and thought about how the greedy noble in charge of the village would react when he realized that his little plan to strengthen his private militia was practically over.
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POV 3 person
Too bad she was too far away to be able to read the inscriptions on the panel, if she had Connor's vision she would have noticed that this panel was a little different from the tablet they had found. More specifically, one thing was different, the fact that it didn't have the (+) icon regardless of whoever approached and put their hand on it.
Another obvious difference was the crystal ball that appeared, it acted as a karma meter, being an unexpected by-product of the jar of doom that Kaio had in his personal space within the dungeon core, which glowed a faint shade of blue to some, white for most and red for some.
And one thing that none of them expected, except for Anna, was that just as she had said, the appearance of these devices would end up having a profound impact on everyone's lives, both in the village and in the county where she was, it would impact the kingdom, the continent and far beyond, in ways that not even gods could predict.