Chapter 9 - Troll Ground Group's Situation

After the adventurers were done with their meals, Lia decided to explain the situation to Stray. "Adventurers have to have an Adventure Permit from either a Guild, a Noble, or a God, or else they will be banned from most places. Adventure Permits let you visit dungeons, take on any kind of quest, and allow access to places that most cannot enter." Stray nodded, understanding that it was probably like a driver's license, but for adventuring instead of driving.

Lia continued, but with a conflicted expression. "The better results you achieve on your quests, the higher your Adventuring Rank becomes, however if someone dies in your party everyone in that party returns to Rank 0 as a deterrent to those who romanticize the life of an adventurer. They then have to enter a probation period and must be led by a Rank 1 Adventurer, or be willingly banned from adventuring for life. The only problem is, Gareth comes from a wealthy noble family, and only got to Rank 1 by using money to succeed in his quests. After someone becomes Rank 1, they can join an Adventuring Party, but nobody was willing to let Gareth be their leader despite his constant bribes, so we got stuck with him." She explained, letting out a sigh.

Lance patted her back with concern, and turned to Stray. "Lia was our original leader, and she even had a Adventurer Rank of 22 despite only being a Level 5. Most Level 5 adventurers are around Rank 10 or 15, but her leadership ability and party tactics put her far above most.  We accepted a quest to explore a ruined temple in a swamp, but we didn't expect a devil's cult to be there. Holly, a Level 7 Bard and Avitus's girlfriend, sacrificed herself so everyone could escape. Even though we survived...both of my elbows were broken, Yuriko almost died of blood loss, and Avitus had to get both of his arms replaced."

They all remained silent for a moment, and Stray noticed both of Avitus's hands were clenched into fists. "Isn't Gareth a higher level then you all? His methods might be wrong, but isn't a burden right?" Stray asked. Lance shook his head. "You only need to train with the skills you have or fight others to increase your level. Gareth's been trained and tutored by hired professionals since he was 12, so while he is the highest level among us, each one of us could easily kill him one on one because of our experience in actual combat."

Stray nodded in understanding, and held his chin with his hand in thought. 'System, how do I give blessings? Can I give blessings? I seriously want to help these people out.'

{Host can use his [Religion] skill to bless people, objects, or places. Host is recommended to give a Blessing of Luck or a Blessing of Protection to them, as dungeons are very dangerous}

Stray mentally nodded, and activated his Religion skill. Focusing on the group, Stray imagined a protective dome around them when in danger. The group's bodies glowed for a moment, and they felt a warm sense of safety.

{Host I recommended to ask them to pray to you. Prayers grant you 1 Divinity and 100EXP each per prayer}

As the group got up to leave, Stray held his hand up with an awkward smile to stop them. "Hey could you pray to me real quick? Nobody's ever prayed to me before, I'm curious of what it's like." They were surprised but nodded, and each of them made a silent prayer to him. Stray heard several dings go off in his mind.

Waving to them as they left the tavern, Stray waited for a few minutes before leaving himself, and headed to the inn he'd stayed at before. Once getting there, he tried to pay for another night, but the innkeeper silently shook his head and tossed Stray's previous room key back to him. Slightly confused, Stray chose to just accept it, and entered his room. Locking the door behind him, Stray decided to try and level up, as while sleeping felt good, it was like eating and drinking in that he didn't actually need it.

'System, what's the easiest skill for me to train with so I can level up, also how much Divinity do I have now?' He mentally asked.

{Host I recommended to use the [Perception] skill to detect the presence of others within the inn, which can easily be done repeatedly}

[Divinity: 9]

Stray nodded, and activated his Perception skill. He could detect four other people in the inn, and heard a ding go off in his mind. Seeing he could level up, Stray guessed he must've been close to it already, and only needed a small push to get it. 'System, I'd like to level up.'

|[Select Stat] +1, [Select Stat] +1|

|Hit Points: 62 + 22|

|[Divine Talent]: "Every two levels, your talent increases."|

Putting both points to increase his Charisma, Stray was happy to finally reached his first personal goal of having 30 Charisma. He then decided to train his Perception skill more to push himself to level up once more, to reach Level 5 in one single rush. It took almost an hour and fifteen tries, but Stray was notified by the System that he could level up again.

|[Select Stat] +1, [Select Stat] +1|

|Hit Points: 84 + 24|

|Spell Slots: +2 Cantrip Slots|

|[Godly Domain]: "You may pick a domain to rule over as a god/goddess. Example Domains are: Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Death, Darkness, Trickery, War, Knowledge, Order, Family, and/or Chaos."|

Not one to go back in his word, Stray picked Nature as his domain just like he agreed to with Varis. He put both points into his Wisdom stat which was 34, because it wanted to bring it up to 40 now. Stray was happy about the new Cantrip Slots, and decided he'd try to learn more magic at some point. The thing that excited him the most however, was his new Godly Domain. He  moved his hand towards the wooden floor, and a flower grew and bloomed with an insane speed. Mentally and physically exhausted, Stray laid back onto the bed, and instantly fell asleep dreaming about different ways to control nature.