"Should we have left like that?"
It wasn't the first time Priya had asked the question. In fact, it was the third. Zarek had already showered, was lying in bed, his head half foggy and half lustful. But he also didn't have the strength to pin his girlfriend under him right now.
He was spent.
First, he had almost died more times than he could count, suffered his first truly gruesome wounds of this lifetime, barely healed himself, and then went and did it seven more times.
Was the process easier? Technically, yes, especially since his strength was far greater now. But the situation wasn't so simple. Managing the lives of so many people, directing them, training them, observing their weaknesses and strengths…
It was a mental load that he had taken on not long after already being almost completely spent.
The fact he had managed to stay on his feet at all was a miracle in itself. He certainly hadn't caught back up to where he had been in his other lives yet.
"Trust me…" Zarek mumbled.
"That is not an answer," Priya said, shaking her head. It was the same response he had given the other two times she asked. But this time, her hands patted at his crotch. "Tell me, and maybe I'll take charge this time."
Zarek's eyes snapped open. Seeing the sly smile in Priya's eyes, he knew he'd been had.
"Oh? Now you have some energy?"
Zarek cleared his throat. "I have the energy to just lie here, if that's what you're asking."
"Well, if you want to just 'lie there,' maybe you'll answer questions when your girlfriend asks them."
Zarek chuckled. "It's nothing to worry about. Even if they're angry now, they won't be for long because of who the head of the snake is. He'll figure it out."
"You're still being vague."
"I'm being vague because even I don't quite understand it completely right now. I'm not as talented in controlling Godsfall as you are. I can't see to the end of the road yet; I can only speculate. And just now, my Growth Potentials got scrambled and I have no idea what's going on."
"Scrambled?"
Zarek told Priya about the situation with the change to his status screen, at least in part. There were some things she didn't need to know, but since this was his last chance… if something went wrong, he couldn't possibly leave her in the dark about everything either.
"… Isn't that a good thing? Doesn't it mean that your Growth Potential isn't capped the way everyone else's is now?"
Zarek took a breath and shook his head.
"No. I very much doubt it. If it works the same way the extra Talent or the extra Skills do, then it means my Growth Potential is now reliant on those seven. I'm just not sure what the formula for calculating it is.
"If they're appearing as question marks right now, I don't think it means they're variable. It probably means my Scouting Skill is too low to decipher them."
"And that's not a good thing?"
"No. No, it's not. Because you can see your own Growth Potential just fine, right? And you have several in the S Class, but you don't even have a Scouting Skill."
Priya's eyes widened in realization. "So that means…"
"That means the question marks are there not because they're tied to something my Scouting Skill can't see through. And the only explanation for that would be the Growth Potentials of those seven."
"And that's not a good thing… again… because?"
"Variables aren't a good thing in this world, Pri. The less you know about what's going on, the more of a chance you have to die. It's like physics class. At first, you have no idea what's going on. It feels like you can answer one problem three different ways and achieve three different answers, all of which seem to be correct in their own ways. But it's only after you gain experience that you can easily decipher which paths are nonsense and which ones make the most sense.
"In this case, it feels like I'm back in year one physics, but there's no guide. The only way to see what's really happening is probably to get my hands on a Scouting Skill strong enough to see the Growth Potential of other targets, but…"
"But?"
"But that needs an S Class Scouting Skill, and I would need to get my hands on it before Counter Skills become commonplace. A weak Counter Skill wouldn't be able to block an S Class Scouting Skill completely, but it would be enough to protect at least that much information."
"Or…"
"Or?"
"Or you can get them to show you their status screens on their own."
Zarek blinked. That was… indeed a path.
Theoretically, if he could see their status screens—if his Growth Potential was linked to theirs as he expected—then whatever confusion was linked to his own status screen would also be cleared up.
It was hilarious. He was so experienced in so many things, but he didn't even think of such a simple solution.
Suddenly, Zarek relaxed.
There was a good reason he hadn't thought of this. In his experience, people were so protective of their status screens in the future that getting anyone experienced to do such a thing would be ridiculous.
But… if things went about as well as Zarek thought they would, very soon they would trust his judgment quite a bit. There were good odds that he could get away with it.
Then, maybe… he'd have reasons to keep this Quest that went beyond just getting his hands on information about the system.
"I knew there was a reason I kept you around." Zarek gave Priya a peck on the cheek.
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Priya turned away, about to run from the bed, but Zarek caught her waist.
"Don't run, I was promised rewards."
"Reward yourself!"
Zarek and Priya playfully wrestled until they started a completely different sort of heavy breathing.