Darius Supreme

The skill description for Analyze was pretty straightforward: [Deduce the characteristics of any item or person. The effectiveness of this skill is based on the Intellect stat.]

Going by the description, this skill was more like the Itemancer in the show he had seen, and it was definitely the aspect of this class that tied to the existence of the System Brand.

It was pretty logical. In order for Darius to choose who he should contract under the System Brand to obtain a method of growth unseen in Faust, he would first need to know their strengths and weaknesses!

The Analyze skill was his tool for such a purpose. The second half of the skill's description was even more interesting, stating that the effectiveness of the skill lay on his Intellect stat.

This, combined with the fact that the skill in question did not display a percentile value for its effectiveness, led Darius to believe that its utility was apparent no matter what level the skill was at.

However, he still decided to dedicate his next level's skill points to the Analyze skill in order to properly investigate what changes it could manifest when strengthened. For all he knew, there might be some hidden aspects at higher levels.

Speaking of his next level…

Darius sighed and ended his bout of relaxation. He was checking the utility of the Analyze skill, so he needed to go out and use it on people to ascertain how it worked.

Once that was done, he would have to resume his efforts in raising his level and honing his skills. It was imperative that he did so if he wanted to avoid getting overwhelmed by an enemy in the future.

The reason he had not gone all out to reach a higher level previously was because he had lacked a set home base. Living in the wilderness had been a real problem for him, no matter how calm he seemed about it.

With that in mind, Darius departed his room and walked through the decorated hallways of Shanks' manor. In truth, Darius knew he would have easily gotten lost if he did not have the mini-map to assist him in the back of his mind.

When he did exit though, he saw Portia talking to her brother Derek. Portia wore an aggrieved expression while Derek wore a comforting one, so Darius didn't need to be a genius to tell what they were talking about.

As he walked over to them, Darius first used Inspect.

[Derek Torniam - Level 1 Spearman

HP: 30/30 MP: 7/7]

[Portia Torniam - Level 1 Scholar

HP: 15/15 MP: 13/13]

'So their last name is Torniam, huh?' Darius noted.

He shook his head at how barebones the details given by the Inspect ability were. This skill had come as part and parcel of the Supreme System, not affiliated to any class or specific mechanic.

It only gave the name, level, class, HP, and MP of a target. This, Darius was used to. Now, it would be time to see the difference between the generic skill which was most likely included for all other classes, and his Itemancer specific Analyze skill.

[Detected target is of a Neutral affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]

[Name: Derek Torniam

Race: Human

Class: Spearman

Sub-class: None

HP: 30/30

MP: 7/7

Level: 1

Strength: 6

Agility: 4

Endurance: 5

Intellect: 7

Charisma: 9

Luck: 3]

[Detected target is of a Friendly affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]

[Name: Portia Torniam

Race: Human

Class: Scholar

Sub-class: None

HP: 15/15

MP: 13/13

Level: 1

Strength: 3

Agility: 2

Endurance: 5

Intellect: 13

Charisma: 11

Luck: 5

Physical Status: Healthy

Mental Status: Sad

Affection: Friendly lvl 3]

Darius was intrigued by the wealth of information, and the accuracy of it too. The first thing he noticed was that their HP and MP were calculated the same way his were.

Did that mean every 'NPC' of this world featured the same methods he did, assuming they were put under the sharp eye of the Supreme System? That was an exciting piece of information.

It would allow him to accurately gauge the strength and weaknesses of his foes as well as his allies. No to mention, it was a handy tool to find out how those around truly felt about him, whether they were loyal or just putting up a front.

Darius was already versed enough to detect such things on his own though, but having a sure-fire way to find out was much better than a gut feeling, or in Darius' case, deduction through behavioral analysis.

So, Portia was more intelligent than Derek, but Derek was more mobile and stronger physically. How stereotypical. At level 1 though, their stats were far worse than Darius'.

Another thing he noted was that their levels were shown, yet there was no mention of their Experience Points, Ability Points, or Skill Points, though Darius felt that the reason for this should be obvious enough.

Such things required the hand of the Supreme System!

'Hm, so it seems that the normal way to grow is to work hard? But how can people break past the limits and hunt monsters, fight dragons or even go above level 20 then?' Darius pondered.

This was the main question that bothered him. How did people in this world become stronger traditionally? So far, he had made many guesses, but that's all they were, just guesses.

Because looking at Darius' own growth, by level 20 he should be at least thrice as effective as the average man. Since this world had people from the Amateur stage to the Grandmaster stage, barr only the Supreme level beyond that, how had they acquired their power?

Was there a central system of power/growth that every native of Faust used? Or did every country or locale have its own system of power/growth that was unique and impossible to mimic?

Darius needed to know this as it was the only way to verify if the Supreme System was truly overpowered in how it handled Darius's growth, or if it was just average as Darius suspected it to be deep down.

After all, it made little sense for Vena and Caesar to give him something so powerful if they claimed he would struggle to even reach the Adept level. Not only that, but his struggles were precisely supposed to be their source of amusement, so him breezing through every obstacle that came his way just seemed unlikely.

Darius sighed and greeted the siblings. He decided that before anything else, he should quickly raise his strength and then acquire servants under his System Brand to follow him around.