Faust believed he possessed many flaws.
He was lustful, vain, and impetuous—a man entirely tethered to base desires.
Yet, these very flaws were the virtues Mephistopheles recognized in him.
But Faust’s strengths were also undeniable; he was a man who absolutely kept his promises and possessed formidable drive and determination.
He could endure, he dared to dream, and he dared to act!
Even without Mephistopheles’s help, Faust had the courage to contend for the world from a mere corner of it.
Now, with a fairy’s contract, he was even more willing to trample upon every taboo in existence.
As for his safety?
That was laughable. It was never a consideration; how could a man who feared death ever achieve greatness?
【Ah, Faust, please forgive me; that was my mistake. I promise never to do it again!】
Mephistopheles solemnly made this promise to his contractor, before continuing in an almost intoxicated tone:
【Let our fates intertwine until they cannot be unraveled. Oh, son of man, to think you would share life and death with me... how romantic...】
Faust did not share the fairy’s sentiment; he simply felt he had stated the obvious.
The prince of Qingxi read the letter once more and frowned.
"By the way, who does the Second Empire plan to send, and in what manner? This only mentions they want to discuss an alliance; the rest is just empty talk."
"They better not make a grand spectacle of it. Our Qingxi cannot afford to defy the world by being openly associated with dragons right now."
If the Second Empire actually announced an alliance treaty to the world, an encirclement net against the Qingxi Kingdom would likely be drawn up by the next day, and all those friendly neighboring countries would turn their backs instantly.
Associating with an evil dragon? That was more than just being a traitor to humanity; it was an act that demanded a heavy-handed response!
【I do not know. Lian only said she would send her child, but given the current situation, it will most likely be a secret mission. We should find out when the time comes.】
Upon hearing Mephistopheles’s words, Faust could only set the matter aside for now. Since Mephistopheles wanted the dragonfall, the only existing dragon nation in the world was his natural ally.
It was a bit different from what he had imagined... Faust’s original plan was to find a group of small nations similar in scale to Qingxi and huddle together for warmth, becoming the leader of the alliance to earn a place on the world stage.
The Second Empire... this ally was certainly strong enough. Their ability to hold an absolute advantage in a civil war already proved how powerful a true dragon was.
But no matter how strong a nation was, it could not withstand a siege from the entire world. Should he give up the entire forest for a single large tree?
【Is that really the case? Not necessarily. Our potential allies are many; only you can do it, and only you are qualified to do it.】
"Mephi, what do you mean by that?"
Faust now fully trusted Mephistopheles’s vast capabilities. Hearing the fairy say this, he immediately became interested.
However, Mephistopheles rarely failed to satisfy his contractor's curiosity promptly:
【We will talk about it when you plan to begin your hero’s trials. For now, finish receiving the gifts of the blessing.】
...........
Could Mephistopheles lie to him? That was impossible!
And so, while waiting for the special envoy from the Second Empire, Faust continued to receive the blessing he deserved.
This did not take much time because, before this, he had already felt a clear bottleneck during the persistent beatings from his elf teacher; his strength was improving slower and slower.
Until one day, the sensation of feeling reborn upon waking up vanished completely. Only then did Faust realize that his opportunistic strengthening had finally reached its threshold.
"Your growth has stabilized."
The elf martial saint naturally noticed this, though she didn't realize it was caused by the end of a cheat. She actually felt relieved.
After all, Faust’s progress before had been terrifying—he changed every single day. Why couldn't she achieve that back when she was undergoing her ascetic training?
Mystoria held the hilt of her sword and said,
"Perhaps I truly misjudged you. You seem very talented on the path of the martial saint. How about trying to switch paths? Our White Court martial saint is the most prominent sect for combat and trials in the Zhexuan Kingdom."
After this period of adjustment, the elf martial saint had originally come with the mindset of just completing a task. But the more she taught Faust, the more satisfied she became with this 'apprentice,' to the point where she genuinely wanted to take him as a student.
Passing the mantle of the White Court martial saint to a human... it seemed acceptable.
Faust chuckled and shook his head, declining politely.
"The path of the martial saint, huh... While I don't fear asceticism, unfortunately, I don't actually have much talent in that area. Most of it was the fairy’s help. The path of the sovereign monarch suits me better."
He knew his own situation. Faust relied entirely on information asymmetry to create the illusion of a super genius; essentially, he had exploited a bug to gain some of Mystoria’s martial saint experience and stats.
If he truly switched paths, he would immediately be out of his element.
Although this world had various paths that seemed very similar to 'game classes,' switching paths was nothing like a class change.
Every path required one to truly act out and practice its tenets to grow.
In other words, it relied heavily on talent. Faust knew he wasn't martial saint material. The path of the sovereign monarch, which only required satisfying greedy desires and continuous conquest, was already perfect for him.
"I see. Then it truly cannot be replicated."
Hearing this, Mystoria could finally understand Faust’s incredible speed of progress.
This was also the view of most people in this world: fairies were absolutely correct. Unless dealing with a dragonfall, one would never doubt the actions of a fairy.
The elf girl said with regret, "I was planning to pass on my legacy..."
Faust quickly said, "But Teacher Mystoria, you will always be my teacher! I still need more of your guidance."
Mystoria tilted her head. "Your current strength can already be called the cream of the crop among the 【Elite】 rank of the martial saint path. It is more than enough for you to go out for trials."
"An 【Elite】 martial saint?"
Faust’s eyes lit up with joy.
He really didn't know he was at this level. It wasn't because he was dull; it was just that the rank divisions were quite vague, especially since the martial saint path wasn't his own, making it even harder to detect.
After all, this wasn't a game world. It was impossible to truly quantify combat power and list detailed data.
Reality was too complex. Different personalities, habits, traits, and even equipment, mindset, and experience would drastically sway the outcome of a battle.
How could one possibly quantify that? By stacking power levels?
Not to mention, there were some occult paths that weren't even meant for combat. Using a combat-centric mindset to discuss them would be inherently biased. Furthermore, concepts like realm or status didn't have a strict grading system; you either had it, or you didn't.
However, even so, people had an objective need for categorization. Thus, using experience on a path as a standard, a general division was made:
【Apprentice】【Elite】【Master】【Hero】【Saint】
These tiers only represented an individual’s achievement on their path and did not reflect actual combat strength. Regardless, those who could reach the higher tiers were undoubtedly transcendent occult powerhouses.
Rate on N.U.
