Chapter 129
'Did she really just do that?' Vasiliki thought, her eyes widening in disbelief as she watched Dimitra swiftly close and lock the door to Bahamut's room.
Vasileios and Michalis immediately halted their tussling with Nikolaos, their mouths agape in sheer shock as the realization of what had just unfolded hit them.
Dimitra had skillfully outmaneuvered them all, securing the 4th position for herself.
Vasiliki couldn't help but let out a light chuckle, "Fufufu, I didn't expect that from her. It seems you will have to settle for 5th or perhaps even 6th place if you're not careful, Vasileios," she teased, her gaze fixed on the dejected young boy sitting on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.
However, Vasileios remained silent, his will to continue the fight for the remaining positions appeared to have been completely extinguished.
Nikolaos sat beside him, offering what little words of consolation he could muster, feeling a tinge of guilt for having done the same thing to Vasileios that Dimitra had just done.
Michalis appeared to fare no better, as he sat by the door to Bahamut's room, his eyes fixed on the ground, deep in contemplation.
The flames of determination that once burned brightly within him seemed to have been all but snuffed out.
In the corner, Eleni and Clair snickered quietly, thoroughly amused by the dramatic reactions of the boys.
Draco shook his head in disbelief, 'Why are they being so dramatic over something so trivial?' he wondered.
'What significance does levelling up a few minutes before the others hold for them?' Draco pondered, once again shaking his head as he decided to focus his thoughts on his own impending level up, which he knew would be the most challenging yet.
If Bahamut's words were to be believed, Draco was soon to experience a great deal of pain, so he sat in a meditative pose, determined to prepare his mind to endure what was to come.
Just as Draco was about to begin his meditation, Vasiliki approached him, waving both Nikolaos' and her own status sheets in front of his face.
He was supposed to have reviewed them earlier, but the distracting antics had made him forget.
Draco initially wanted to ignore it, opting to view the information later, but Vasiliki's persistence left him no choice.
"Draco nii, Draco nii, nii, nii, nii..." Vasiliki called out, eventually turning her pleas into a sing-song melody when she noticed he was trying to ignore her.
'Ugh, I can't concentrate,' Draco thought, mildly annoyed by Vasiliki's insistence.
"Sigh, fine, I'll look at it now," Draco eventually relented.
He knew that there was no point in getting angry at her; children could be frustratingly persistent at times, and it was his duty to deal with it.
Grabbing the sheets from Vasiliki, Draco began by examining her stats.
'Hmm, her stats are quite good. It would have been nice if she could have maxed out her physical stats, but that's asking for too much. She already has better stats than most adventurers could ever hope for,' Draco thought, his eyes then moving on to her new development ability.
"So you chose the mage development ability, huh? Can I ask why?" Draco inquired, his tone mild and curious.
The others perked up, eager to learn about Vasiliki's new ability.
Draco wasn’t planning to scold any of his familia members for their choices in development abilities.
He believed he had raised them to be wise enough to choose what would benefit them the most.
However, that didn't mean he wasn't still a bit worried about a few of them.
That is why, he wanted to at least hear the reasoning behind their decisions.
"Well, it was what I currently needed the most, and it was the best option amongst the choices offered," Vasiliki replied, her tone tinged with a hint of smugness.
Draco couldn't help but inwardly roll his eyes at her response.
"I see, it's a great choice," he praised, deciding to let her self-assurance slide for now.
"Of course, it's me you're talking about," Vasiliki said, her lips curling into a confident smile.
'Tsk, this girl...' Draco thought, but refrained from making any further comments.
Shifting his attention to the sheets in his hands, Draco began examining Nikolaos' status and development abilities.
As Draco's eyes scanned the information, a subtle frown tugged at the corners of his mouth.
His brow furrowed slightly as his gaze fell on the dreaded "0" in the magic stat.
'Ugh, something about a 0 in magic irks me in a weird way. It makes the stats sheet feel incomplete,' he mulled, his brow furrowing.
'Do I need to save up for grimoires? No, they're far too expensive and rare. Getting five of them would be an immensely heavy task, but...' Draco's thoughts trailed off, his mind grappling with the implications.
The idea of his familia members missing out on the potential of accumulating mind through excelia due to their lack of magic skills now weighed on his mind.
He was well aware of how rare magic skills were, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it shouldn't be something lacking, considering how special everyone in his familia was.
'Am I perhaps being too greedy?' Draco questioned himself.
'No, there's no harm in wanting everyone in the familia to have at least one magic skill, but the prices of grimoires...' he lamented, his frustration evident.
His train of thought was interrupted when Vasiliki spoke up, "Is something wrong with Nikolaos' status sheet? You seem troubled after looking at it." she asked.
"No, it's nothing," Draco replied, his eyes briefly flickering back to the sheet.
'Wait, can't I just make the grimoires myself?’ an idea popped in his head.
‘But that would require the 'mystery' development ability, which is also extremely rare. And am I willing to use one of my ability slots for that skill? Ugh, but I can make magic items and make money... what a dilemma.….' he thought.
Nikolaos, noticing Draco's distress, hesitantly asked, "Uhm, is something wrong with my status sheet after-all?" but Draco briefly ignored him.
Draco shook his head, deciding to put aside his concerns for now.
‘I should stop mulling over this for now. I can only pray to the gods and hope I get the 'mystery' development ability in my available options. From what I know, a strong imagination, rare materials and research are some form of requirements for it, and I might just meet those conditions,’ he thought, refocusing his attention on Nikolaos' status sheet.
His eyes narrowed as they landed on Nikolaos' choice of development ability: "Bone Crusher."
'Bone Crusher, huh? Not a bad skill, but...' Draco mused, his gaze meeting Nikolaos', who immediately felt a bead of sweat forming on his brow.
"So, why did you choose this skill?" Draco asked, his tone calm but probing.
Nikolaos felt a small sense of relief wash over him, realizing that Draco wasn't exactly angry about his choice.
‘Phew, doesn't seem like he's mad that I chose that skill,’ he thought.
'Bone Crusher, that sounds kind of cool,' Michalis thought, his interest in Nikolaos' skill increasing.
Nikolaos then proceeded to explain his reasoning and thoughts behind the choice, much to Draco's satisfaction.
Draco nodded approvingly after listening to Nikolaos' explanation.
"Anyway, it was a good choice. It's best to experiment with the skill to see how effective it can be in the dungeon," he commented, his voice calm and thoughtful.
Nikolaos let out a subtle sigh of relief, the tension visibly easing from his shoulders.
"By the way..." Draco began, his brow furrowing slightly as he considered his next words.
However, he was interrupted before he could continue.
At that moment, the door to Bahamut's room opened once again, drawing everyone's attention.
Dimitra emerged, her status sheet clutched tightly in her hand.
Vasileios, who had been thought to still be in a state of shock, instantly sprang into action.
He rushed towards the open door, his eyes burning with determination.
Michalis, who was positioned closer to the entrance, also made a dash for the room, but Vasileios had a head start, so they both arrived at the same time.
The deciding factor was a rather simple one.
Vasileios' simply had more stats in strength than Michalis which gave him the advantage, as he was able to easily push Michalis aside and entered the room, quickly locking the door behind him.
Michalis found himself sprawled on the ground, a look of disbelief and bewilderment etched across his face at how swiftly he had been overpowered.