39 Walkin'

"So let's start the next topic."

Hilde said with a clap of her hands, pulling Kumi out of her thoughts.

"Do you know what Levels do?"

Kumi shook her head.

'I didn't have a lot of time to go into Levels.'

She thought while waiting for Hilde to explain.

"Right. Well, Levels have a connection to your Properties. It is a little difficult to explain here... Levels are like small parts of your Property Grades.

Imagine you have an F in Strength and are Level 1 and you are fighting with someone who has an F in Strength but is Level 100. You will lose in Strength without even a chance to fight back.

Now try imagining you have a C in Strength and are Level 1 while fighting someone with a D in Strength but Level 200.

Your enemy will be slightly Stronger than you are but the difference in strength when comparing Levels and Grades is a difficult thing to perceive."

Hilde stopped and took a glance at Kumi who was looking in her direction with the same expression she has had this entire time.

"Hmm. Maybe I didn't explain it well."

Hilde muttered while Kumi was thinking to herself.

'I think I get the gist of it. Choose your fights carefully I guess?'

"I'll try and explain it a little differently."

Hilde stated and then continued her explanation on Levels.

"Why don't you think of it as simple Numbers?

Each Level increases your Properties by 1 but it is difficult to notice, almost invisible.

Minor Grades increase them by 40 or so, probably a lot more.

And Major Grades increase them by a few hundred."

Hilde explained while looking at the sky.

"That should be easier to understand. Right?"

Kumi nodded.

'Okay. Easy to understand I guess.'

"I'm going to guess that you don't know how to increase Levels?"

Kumi shook her head.

"Right. Well, there are a few ways. One of them is Cultivation. A difficult thing to do since you can only start doing it at a certain Age and with a certain Cultivation Technique. It takes a lot of time to try and start Cultivating. Cultivation is one of the fastest ways though.

Next is regular training. It is the slowest way to gain Levels but it helps a lot with Skill Levels so it is one of the best ways to train for almost all kids or youngsters.

Lastly, there is killing. It is the most dangerous of the methods. In terms of efficiency, it takes second place right behind Cultivation. Though if you start killing monsters and people a lot stronger than you and do it constantly, this way it is even faster than Cultivation to some extent."

Hilde then ended her explanation time with a simple Question.

"Did you understand everything I talked about?"

Kumi waited a moment before nodding her head.

'That clears up a lot of stuff for me. I doubt she is lying since it would be stupid to lie to me at this point.'

Hilde smiled at her response.

"That's good. Soon, you have to start training too, so you can get stronger just like I explained. The System is here to help with that so after each day, you can look at how much you've grown yourself."

Thinking about it for a moment, Kumi ended up asking.

"why?"

She asked with a slightly tilted head.

Kumi saw Hilde visibly flinch before letting out a light breath.

"Because soon a lot of bad people will attack this place, your home, and soon. You don't have to start training right now, you can just run around and explore to your heart's content until we are finished with preparing your training."

'Hmm. Well, it seems like she doesn't want to send me to war either, she just reluctantly believes it to be the only choice.'

Kumi thought before quietly mumbling.

"okay."

Hilde closed her eyes for a moment before standing up, her cup of tea empty.

"I'll leave you to explore now. You can go anywhere you want just not somewhere outside this place. Okay?"

Kumi nodded and watched Hilde leave.

'I guess participating in this war isn't really up for debate.'

She looked at the table in front of her before hopping off her chair and walking to the side of the stone road and entering the makeshift forest filled with trees.

'I guess I have to start preparing. What better way than a quick walk.'

And Kumi dashed into the forest, her Free Footwork Skill and experience with climbing trees coming in handy.

...

Hilde meanwhile had sat down in her office.

As she sat down and thought about the stress-filled future in front of her, someone entered the room.

"Ah. You're here. Good. Do you have all the training she has to go through planned out?"

Hilde asked as the woman who entered the room nodded her head.

"Great. She seems smart so you can go all out and let her learn by herself at some points too."

The woman, after a moment of silence, spoke her mind.

"Are you sure this type of fighter is best suited for her?"

"It fits her Personality, it is good for war and if she masters some of the Skills you can teach her, she can easily take a medium to large sized army by herself even if there is a Level of Property Grade difference."

The woman didn't speak after that, she only nodded, bowed slightly and left.

As the door closed behind her, Hilde was in deep thought.