Kai's true strength
Kai followed the knight, stepping into the carriage as the door closed behind him. "You asked to see me?"
"My god!" Kirlia gasped under her breath. She, alongside her daughter, was taken aback by Kai's great looks. Never before had they met a man who was so...perfect. His build, his face, his power, his way of speaking, and his chivalry, everything was perfect.
'If they're so stunned by my looks now, I wonder how they would react if I actually show them my true appearance with my 500 charm stat.'
"Ahem." Kirlia cleared her throat. "I wanted to thank you for saving the two of us. My name is Kirlia Gryff, and this is my daughter, Janna Gryff. If it wasn't for you, we would have been in a very tough situation, so I'm very grateful to you."
"It's all good. No need to thank me. Those bastards had it coming anyway. I'm glad you both were able to make it out safely." Kai stood up to leave when Janna stopped him.
"Wait!" She shouted, grabbing his arm.
"Uhh, yeah?"
"Janna, don't grab his arm! Be respectful." Kirlia reprimanded her
She lowered her head. "S-Sorry."
"Excuse me, but I never caught your name."
"You can call me Kai, Ma'am."
"Well, then, Kai. Allow me to repay you for your good deeds." Kirlia pulled out a bag of gold coins to hand to him, but Kai didn't accept them.
"I didn't help you to be rewarded. It was simply the right thing to do."
'Fuck man! She's so hot! And her tits are big! Should I hypnotize her? NO! Stop thinking with your dick you moron!'
"Wow, chivalry in this day and age, I respect it. However, I can't let our savoir leave empty-handed. Judging by the route you're taking, I'm assuming you're also headed to Vaudrille City, right? If you plan on seeking an education, I can give you a letter of recommendation at the Azmareth Royal Academy for Magic Arts."
Kai was speechless. This woman, obviously a noble, could easily give him a free handout simply because he saved her? Being kind and helpful always comes with its perks after all.
"Haha, thank you for that, however, while my overall destination is Vaudrille, I don't plan on going to school. I'm an adventurer and I'm traveling with my companion to each village, town, and city until we reach the capital."
Now, Kirlia and Janna were speechless. Kai, someone of his caliber was a simple adventurer? There was no way they could believe such a thing. In their heads, they assumed he was probably trained somewhere in secret and was now entering the world, but to think he wasn't seeking an education was baffling to them, especially with his strength.
Janna spoke up first. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
"Eighteen," Kai responded casually.
"W-What?! Eighteen?! That young?! You're the same age as me! I thought you were at least twenty-five!"
Kirlia's eyes shot up, seeing an opportunity to get her hands on something she should dare touch. "Kai, I have a proposition for you. You see, my daughter was accepted into the Hero Academy, the place where young warriors and mages train to become as strong as they can possibly be and lead the next generation. Students there can also bring their butlers and maids. I'll pay you ten gold coins a month if you work as my daughter's butler for her stay at the academy. You'll only be her butler on paper, though, and you can do whatever you please, as long as you help our family if they need your assistance."
Kai wasn't stupid. He grew up in the modern day, a time where companies would put in big, bold letters what consumers would want to see, and in small, fine print, the most vital information.
[GET 50% OFF YOUR NEXT PURCHASE IF YOU'VE BEEN SHOPPING AT OUR STORE FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS!...only after you spend $20,000 in one go and end up in debt.] Type shit.
'Look at this woman, trying to get me to work for her family. I'm not stupid. Hell, she probably worded it that nicely so I can fall in love with her daughter and marry her because of how strong I am. Sorry, lady, I'm not that stupid.'
"Sorry, I'll have to decline. I don't wish to join the Hero Academy at this moment. Thank you for the offer, though." Kai bowed respectfully.
'He's smart. It seems that nice words aren't enough to win him over. But I can't let someone of his caliber slip through my fingers! In times like these, when money can't win a person over, you simply show them a hand of respect, kindness, and friendship so they can come to you on their own.'
'Is probably what she's thinking.' Kai said to himself.
"If you don't wish to take the job, then I can't force you to. However, please accept this." Kirlia handed Kai a silver plaque with a crest on it.
"This is my family crest. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to contact us. I'll inform my staff and husband that you're an important person and friend."
Kai nodded and smiled, accepting the plaque since rejecting would only make it look like he didn't care about them at all, which he didn't, to be fair, at least for now, at least. He definitely added them to his fuck list.
"I will, thank you. Please travel safely." Once more, Kai was about to leave, then Janna stopped him again.
"Before you go, can I ask how strong you are? Since we're the same age, I want to know the gap between us in strength."
"Sure, I'm.....Huh, I don't know actually. I just 'train' and become strong. That's all. I never really measured my power."
'Now that I'm thinking about it, is there a power system or ranking in this world?'
The two women were shocked to hear this. This meant that Kai didn't even know how strong he was!
"Wait, do you mean you don't know how powerful you are?" Janna asked
"Well, I know I'm strong, but I don't know how strong I am compared to other people."
Kirlia then asked. "How strong do you think you are?"
"Uhh, probably stronger than my peers and more adults, but probably not the strongest person around," Kai answered honestly .
"Amazing! I didn't know someone could be so clueless about their strength!" Janna then took out an orb from her bag.
"Here, inject your mana into this. To properly measure a person's power, mages created this orb called the Power Meter. It converts your mana into numbers to gauge where you are. People who awaken mana are born with the ability to feel mana; however, getting stronger is a different case altogether."
Kai listened intently. Learning more about this world was never a bad thing.
"It takes luck, talent, hard work, and a determined mindset to become more powerful. To reach the pinnacle of power, you need to have all of them. Lacking one will limit your growth. If you don't have the talent for magic or martial arts, no matter how hard you train, you'll only go so far. The ranks are 0-100 Magic Points for a normal person. 101-300 is a Tier one Mage/Warrior, 301-500 Tier two Mage/Warrior, and 501-700 Tier three Mage/Warrior.
After that, this is where the luck, talent, hard work, and mindset come into play. 701-1000 Tier four Mage/Warrior, and the gap between them and a Tier-three mage is huge. Next up is 1,001-2,500 for a Tier five Mage/Warrior, 2,501-4,000 for a Tier six Mage/Warrior, and 4,001-6,000 for a Tier seven Mage/Warrior.
Now, after this, there is another huge gap in power, and people here get titles. 6,001-8,000 Tier eight Mage/Warrior, 8,001-10,000 Tier nine Mage/Warrior, and finally, 10,001-20,000 is a Tier ten Mage/Warrior, the pinnacle of strength without the help of a god. After being blessed by a god, you'll gain more power, and 25,000+ is the level of a Saintess/Paladin.
After that is 50,000+, the level of a Hero. Any person at this level or beyond is classified as a hero. However, there is one more rank, and this rank is only given to demons. If a demon has 100,000+, then they are considered demon kings."
Although Janna said a lot, Kai took it all in and memorized every piece of information.
'Wait! Does this mean I'm a Tier-10 Magic Knight since my magic stat is 10,000?'
He didn't have time to guess as Janna told him to place his hand on the orb.
When the readings came back, the orb shot out a number.
[10,500]
The same number as his magic stat.