The Only Thing I Can Upgrade is Strength chapter 34

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I clarified my most recent point to Sgar, “Well, I didn’t have to put all of my points in Strength, but if I’d distributed them in another way and forgotten about it… Without enough I really wouldn’t have been able to walk.”

Sgar nodded, “Everything makes a lot more sense about you now. Why you didn’t have levels, or years of training before becoming an adventurer. With your Strength growth I thought you probably had a Blessing of Strength, but I suppose it could be a weird otherworlder thing.”

“… Would it give it away if I asked where Blessings of that sort come from? Are people born with them or…?”

“In most cases, yes. Apparently a small number of people receive them for meritorious deeds or such, but that’s not very common at all.”

I nodded. If it was common, they would be pretty much meaningless. “Can people have more than one?”

“I… don’t know.” Sgar scratched his chin. “I haven’t heard of it, but maybe nobody has ever said it if they did. I would think not, because the gods can be pretty jealous.”

I hesitated to ask the next question, but Sgar was the only one who I would ask it of, even if I knew others more qualified. “Are… are the gods real?”

“Are they real? Where do you think Attributes and Blessings come from without the gods?” I waited, hoping he had more to say. “But of course, where you come from, I guess they didn’t have those things…” Sgar shrugged, “I can’t say I’ve ever seen a god, but there are those who say they have. Some were madmen, but others were reputable enough people. I guess it depends on whether you trust them. I’d say ask a cleric… but maybe that’s a poor idea.”

“Yeah, I thought about that. So, what do I do now?”

Sgar shrugged again, “Whatever you were going to do. Maybe explore a dungeon or something.”

“Right! That!” I pointed at Sgar to emphasize my point, “What are dungeons?”

“Oh yeah, I never really answered that. Dungeons are weird places that spawn monsters. Sometimes they have magic items or valuable body parts.”

“Wait, magic items appear in dungeons?”

“Some of them. You’re in for a more difficult fight if you find one though. A goblin wielding a magic dagger can be pretty dangerous.”

“So, where do the monsters and items come from?”

“From the dungeon.”

“Yeah but…”

“Don’t ask me. They just appear there.”

I frowned. I wasn’t sure how much energy it took to convert energy into mass, but the answer was “a whole heck of a lot”. “It’s impossible living things are created from nothing.”

“It happens. Well, they’re made from mana I guess?”

That was true, but even if ‘mana’ was pure energy that could be perfectly converted, it made no sense. Then again, did attributes and levels make sense? “I guess… if it happens, it happens. I’d like to know why though.”

“Well, I don’t know. Anyway, dungeons are great places because you know how strong the monsters will be, and they keep appearing. There’s also a constant bounty on them, because otherwise they keep getting more monsters and then they pour out onto the surface. It’s not a pretty sight.”

—–

It took me a bit to get the courage to go talk to Kantrilla, but I had a goal and had to talk to her before I left. “I’m planning to go to Ekralas, and hunt in the dungeons there. I’m hoping to become a better adventurer there.”

“Okay!” Kantrilla smiled happily, not that she ever really changed, “When do we leave?”

“Well, I’m planning to find a caravan or something going, but probably not more than a week.” I would miss Kantrilla, but a week to say goodbye was alright. It was just- then I realized, “Wait, you’re planning to come too?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, uh… don’t you live here? Everyone you know lives here too.”

“That’s right.” Kantrilla nodded, “It’s not that I wouldn’t miss them, but I do want to be an adventurer. I can’t really grow much here, with nobody else my age and level… Plus the monsters aren’t really ideal.”

“That’s true… there aren’t really many people our age here. Why is that? Did they all leave?”

“Ah…” Kantrilla’s expression darkened, and I thought I shouldn’t have asked, “Well, there was a magical plague… it swept through the city and not many young children survived- or the elderly.”

I realized that I hadn’t seen many actually old people in the city- except for Father Thomas. There were middle aged people, both adventurers and not, but very little in the way of the elderly. Father Thomas was an exception… but wasn’t he a powerful cleric? If he couldn’t cure the plague then nobody could. “Ah, I’m sorry to bring up such a sad topic…”

Kantrilla shook her head, “It’s alright. I don’t really remember it. I was only four years old. I just remember being really sick… and then I was in bed for a long time.” Then she smiled again, “Luckily I was dropped off at the church to be taken in when I was just a baby. When the plague came,  Father Thomas was around to help me right away! He and the other clerics saved many people from the plague, but it spread so fast and acted so quickly they couldn’t do it all.”

Ugh. She’d also been abandoned by her parents? Well, they’d left her somewhere safe, but she wouldn’t really know her parents. “Sorry I asked.”

“I told you, I don’t mind. I’m sad people died, but I didn’t really know anybody. I also got raised by all of the great clerics here. I don’t think anything could have gone better for me, personally.”

“Right.” I still detected some traces of sadness in her voice, but only a little bit. It probably really was just sorrow for those people she didn’t know, but I still thought it was rather tragic. “Well, if you truly want to come with me, I’ll let you know when I find a group to travel with, though we can wait if you want more time to say goodbye… Will you be able to pack your things up in time?”

“Of course. Adventurers don’t have many possessions unless they have a house… and I was raised in a church, you know? I don’t have many things… and Father Thomas and the others will take care of anything I don’t bring with me.”

I nodded, “That’s great.” I realized that I didn’t have anything that I would consider personal possessions besides practical things. Just weapons and clothes, for the most part. At home on Earth, I’d had all kinds of things. Though if anyone asked, I didn’t have any teddy bears. I was an adult, after all.

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