The day after Cid defeated Zard—also Day 3 of the "Great Feud" period—Cid finally managed to get out of bed and walk.
"Cid-kun, your complexion doesn't look good… are you sure you shouldn't rest more?"
Hestia stepped forward to support him.
Cid didn't refuse. Though his bad face wasn't really because of his injuries.
He stared at the sky outside the window and let out a long sigh.
"Hestia-sama… I kept thinking: maybe things have gotten to this point because I wasn't cautious enough…"
He'd taken a sword strike and been grievously wounded at the critical moment.
Isn't that the most standard "background character gets taken out" plot imaginable?
So why, in this world, did it count as a heroic feat?!
The only comforting news was that Shakti Varma and Astraea had teamed up to help suppress the information.
Not many people knew he survived a Level 7 sword—and those who did were all Level 3+ adventurers.
Cid tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
He spent the entire night failing to understand one thing:
He wanted to be a mob character—so why did it keep turning into this?
Becoming famous in one battle would be bad enough, but now he'd have to level up to Level 3 relatively quickly.
And this wasn't the first time this kind of thing had happened.
Why?
After thinking all night, Cid decided: instead of blaming himself, it was better to blame someone else.
"So I figured it out—what's wrong isn't me. It's this world!"
In a world with rigid level hierarchies, being a convincing mob character was just too hard!
Cid was certain this world of divine blessings was maliciously hostile to his background-character career.
So yes—this was the world's fault.
Besides the actor Kei Yonagi, how many people were more committed to "acting" than he was?
"Cid-kun… what are you even talking about?"
Hestia tilted her head.
He was speaking in common tongue, and she understood every word individually—
but put together, she couldn't make sense of it at all.
If this kept up, she'd be able to write a whole book:
"About the Thing Where I Absolutely Cannot Understand What My Familia Member Is Saying."
"Hestia-sama, I need to use the toilet—let go of me for a moment."
Cid decided to level up to reset his mood, then face his mob-character career with a more positive mindset.
So he had no reason not to level to Level 3, right?
Given the talent he'd displayed—and the fact that Hestia Familia had only just started—being stuck at Level 3 forever and never reaching Level 4 was… perfectly "reasonable," actually.
A Level 3 mob was challenging, but Cid never feared challenges.
Still, he had to be careful from here on out:
He absolutely could not give himself a "reason" to reach Level 4.
He entered the toilet, closed the door, and took out Astraea's forged divine blood.
Even though he had already switched Familias, the formal transfer ritual hadn't been completed yet—so the blessing crest on his back still carried Astraea Familia's pattern.
Cid squeezed out one drop of divine blood and smeared it onto his back.
"This time I should be able to level up… I wonder what Development Ability I'll awaken."
Level: 6
Strength: SSS 1999–10
Endurance: SSS 1999–10
Dexterity: SSS 1999–10
Agility: SSS 1999–10
Magic: SSS 1999–10
Development Abilities
Mystery D
Mage C
Smithing E
Healing E
Magic
Magic Compression
Simulated Nuclear Blast
Purgatory Peerless Explosive Heat Wave Cannon
Skills
Shadow
Master of All Arts
Balance Breaker
Cid first looked at the three Development Abilities he could choose from:
Luck
Mixing
Dominant Light (Ba-guang / "Overlord Radiance")
He immediately eliminated Luck.
As "Shadow," he didn't need luck to become the strongest.
(Though—sure—having luck might make it easier to "borrow" more loot.)
But the real reason he rejected it first was simple:
Everyone knew the Development Abilities offered at level-up usually reflected what you did before leveling up.
For example, when most adventurers reach Level 2, they often gain Abnormal Resistance—because of constant exposure in the upper floors, especially to poison monsters like purple moss.
Get poisoned enough and you build resistance. Makes perfect sense.
Now Cid looked at Luck and remembered what had happened recently:
"Accidentally" telling Astraea about the use of Firestones → huge contribution
"Accidentally" telling Riveria the curse was the key → huge contribution
Awakening powerful magic, surviving Zard's sword, and paving the road to Level 3 with "above-average" talent
To people in the know, nobody looked luckier than him.
If that was why Luck appeared… then he didn't want it.
Seeing that option just made him angry.
Being forced out of mobhood by those events—how was that "luck"?!
Cid somehow saw fate's mockery inside a single level-up menu and nearly started trembling in rage.
Looking at everything that had happened, could anyone still say the world wasn't targeting him?!
As for Mixing—it overlapped with Healing, but wasn't the same.
Mixing meant potion-making; Healing meant direct restoration.
Together, the synergy was excellent.
Cid had recently been researching universal antidotes and universal curse-breaking medicines, and he'd already made some progress—so this option likely appeared because of that.
But he still didn't pick it.
He'd already made progress—so what did he need it for?
That left Dominant Light.
Cid only needed to glance at it twice before choosing it.
It boosted the power of sword slashes and magic—and could even let the two stack.
With it, when he used Light Slash, he could add magic power on top.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was: if he could mix magic into Light Slash…
He could change the color of the slash.
Light Slash was strong, but there was one thing Cid hated:
It was too bright.
He was Shadow. Why would he want bright slashes?
"Now it's different. From now on I'll cut with a pitch-black holy sword—"
"And I'll rename the move… I'll call it Black Flash!"
Cid understood one immutable truth:
Being cool is a lifelong commitment.
And a move that matches the "Shadow Eminence" aesthetic is priceless.
If the opportunity exists, there's no reason to miss it.
Cid looked at his Skills.
At Level 5 he'd only had two—but now there was a third.
Its effect was simple… and outrageous.
Balance BreakerFor a short period, it breaks the body's limiter and boosts strength with no upper limit.Every use causes hair loss.
"Hiss!"
Cid sucked in a cold breath and immediately touched his glossy black hair.
This skill finally shattered the blessing's constraints and let him draw out his "true" power.
But the cost was catastrophic.
As Shadow, how could he become bald?!
"That's insane. I've never seen such an unfair skill!"
Cid decided:
Until he invents a universal hair-growth medicine, he will never use Balance Breaker.
Not even if it kills him.
....
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