Chương 126: Chapter 122. Breaking a wall

Like Bran had suspected, the Church of Henrexa was already filled with soldiers by the time Rayne and his party entered, and all of them were there for the same purpose. All soldiers in every warbands wanted to check their levels, and the gains they had made during the Pascar Plains campaign. The main hall was crowded, yet controlled, with priests moving through the groups in an organized manner, guiding them without any sign of chaos. It was clear that the church had expected this.

Whenever a warband arrived in the city, this was bound to happen, and this time, with multiple warbands present in Haven City, the preparations were even more evident. A priest also approached them and led them away from the main hall into a quieter section of the church. They were guided through a long hallway before being brought into a waiting room where three other groups of soldiers were already present.

The priest informed them that they would be taken into the shard room one by one, and Rayne guessed that there were several such rooms around the church to handle the number of soldiers. The wait lasted for nearly half an hour. During that time, Rayne and his party mostly stayed to themselves, making small talk and occasionally watching as other groups were called in and out.

Some soldiers returned with satisfied expressions, while others looked deep in thought, likely processing their results, and maybe even upset by their progression. Eventually, their turn came, and they were led into the shard room. The chamber was small but spacious enough to hold them comfortably. At the center stood a podium with a soul shard placed upon it. The stone was blue as before, slightly larger than the one Rayne had seen before, and pulsed faintly with a steady energy.

A priest stood beside it and instructed them to come forward one at a time, place their hand on the shard, and think about their status to see it within their minds. After a bit of discussion, Kesh stepped forward first. Rayne already knew the man's level was 28, and after a minute when he stepped back from the shard, he revealed it to everyone else too.

It was slightly lower than what Rayne had expected when he had first analysed his status, but it made sense given that Kesh had rarely fought alone, and Rayne himself had taken the lead in most of their battles, gaining a larger share of the experience. Jason went next, and unlike Kesh, his reaction carried a clear sense of satisfaction. He was at level thirty, but rather than his level, Rayne was actually more curious about his skills.

The man was actually one of the few soldiers to not have a common soldier class, instead being an [Axe Warrior], and he had wondered more than a few times about the skills that came with that class. Nate followed after him, also having reached level 30 long back, and surprisingly, he didn't have much reaction to it, simply leaning on the wall after telling everyone about his level.

Heins and Quinn both were at level 27, which placed them slightly behind but still within a reasonable range considering their roles in the army. The former was mostly in the rear while the latter was a scout after all. They also appeared satisfied enough with their progress. Bran went after them, and everyone knew he was already Level 30. However, Rayne noticed a slight shift in his expression when he removed his hand from the shard before he returned to his usual calm and controlled demeanor.

He did not comment on it, though he took note of it to ask the veteran later. In the end, Rayne was the last one left. Even though he already knew his own status, he still stepped forward and placed his hand on the shard. The process was the same as before. He focused his thoughts, and his status appeared in his mind almost instantly. There was little to no change. His level remained the same, and his skills had not progressed, which was expected given that he had not been involved in any real combat recently.

After a moment, he pulled his hand back and stepped away, his expression neutral as he told everyone his level. Though, there wasn't much reaction as it had been easy to guess because of his class advancement. All of them soon left the shard room and made their way out of the church, their purpose there done for the day. The open air outside felt a bit fresher after the enclosed halls, and without wasting much time, they moved toward a nearby tavern.

It did not take long for them to find a place to sit, as the place was half empty in the afternoon. They took a table together and ordered a few shepherd pies along with glasses of sugarcane juice, settling in more comfortably. Once the food was placed in front of them, the conversation naturally turned back to their statuses. Kesh was the first to speak, a clear sense of excitement on his face.

"So, how does everyone feel about their status?" he asked and continued without waiting for an answer.

"I honestly thought I would be around level twenty-five, but it's more than I expected." He paused for a moment, then added, "I also got a new skill. I think I picked it up during the fight with the necromancer." Jason nodded at that, taking a bite before speaking.

"Same here. I got two new skills. I knew about one of them, but the other one… I didn't even realize I had it until now." He leaned back slightly, a grin forming.

"Now that I know, I actually want to try it out." Hearing that, Rayne couldn't help but feel fortunate he could see his status anytime he wanted. For those with combat classes, gaining new skills often happened in the middle of battle, and while they subconsciously understood their use in the moment, the details could easily be forgotten afterward. Without a soul shard to properly check their status and descriptions, many of those abilities remained unclear until later.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Heins and Quinn spoke next, both sharing what they had gained from their status check. Heins looked particularly pleased with himself as he mentioned that he had received a spear mastery skill, something he had clearly been hoping for given his weapon of choice, and he did not shy away from talking about it more than once. Quinn, on the other hand, was far more reserved.

He mentioned that he had gained a scouting-related skill, but did not go into detail, only saying that it would help him track and locate monsters better. Everyone already knew about Rayne's skills, at least the ones he had revealed during training. Even Quinn had seen glimpses of it while watching from a distance during a few of the sessions. Because of that, no one asked him anything new, and the attention naturally shifted away from him. Surprisingly, Nate stayed quiet through most of it.

He did not talk about his level or mention any new skills, simply sitting there and drinking his ale as if lost in thought. It was unlike him. More than a few times, Rayne found himself glancing in his direction, recalling how the man had also acted strangely the previous night. At one point, Nate seemed to notice the gaze and looked back, but before Rayne could ask what was going on, the man spoke.

"I've been thinking," he said, turning slightly toward Bran.

"Do you get new skills or stats after level thirty without breaking the first wall?" The question drew immediate attention. Even Jason stopped chewing the slice of pie and looked toward the veteran, and the others followed soon after. Among them, Bran was the only one who could answer something like that with certainty, and they all knew he would not hold back information. Despite the attention, Bran remained calm. He took a slow sip of his ale before letting out a quiet breath.

"Yes and no," he said.

"What does that even mean?" Bran leaned back slightly in his chair before continuing.

"You don't level up anymore," he said.

"So you don't gain stats or skills the usual way." There was a brief pause as the man glanced at Rayne for a second. Then he added, "But that doesn't mean you can't grow. Like I've told you before, training matters. If you push yourself enough, you can still improve your stats. It's just slower, and it depends on how much effort you put in." He took another sip before continuing.

"There are also artifacts that can help. Some of them can increase stats or even grant skills permanently. But those aren't something any of you are going to get your hands on until you are sons of Lukara himself." Jason snorted at that, shaking his head slightly.

"Sounds like we're stuck then." Bran ignored the comment and went on.

"There's another way," he said.

"If you train something long enough, and I mean for months or even years, the gods grant it as a skill." Quinn let out a short laugh.

"The gods are too busy to care about us," he said.

"That would take forever without leveling." Bran shrugged at that, not particularly bothered.

"Then you break the first wall," he said, glancing briefly at Rayne.

"Like him." The table went quiet for a moment, gazes turning towards him.

"It's not impossible," Bran continued.

"Plenty of soldiers manage it. Even if you don't gain a mana skill or a special class, breaking through still puts you ahead of most. It just takes time." Kesh immediately snarled at those words.

"That's not possible," he said, shaking his head.

"We don't have the bloodline of dukes running through us." Rayne simply shook his head in response.

"Trust me, you won't like it too much." Jason huffed at that, leaning back slightly in his chair.

"At least it means getting past the first wall," he said.

"All I know is that I'll be stuck for years at this rate." Nate gave a small nod.

"Same here." Almost at the same time, both of them seemed to realize what they had just implied and glanced toward Bran with slightly awkward expressions, as if they had said something they shouldn't have. Bran, however, didn't seem offended. He simply shrugged, lifting his mug again.

"Don't give me that look," he said.

"I don't really care." Both Jason and Nate let out a quiet sigh of relief, and the tension that had briefly formed around the table eased. The conversation shifted soon after, turning into something lighter. Kesh started talking about the chances of any of them secretly having noble blood, and Jason joined in, throwing out exaggerated ideas about lost heirs and hidden lineages.

Even Heins joked that Jason looked big enough to be one of the northern lords, and for a while, the table was filled with casual talk and faint laughter. But Rayne wasn't paying much attention anymore. His mind had already drifted away from the conversation, returning to a thought he had considered more than once before. Now that the topic had come up again, it felt impossible to ignore. What exactly were the criteria to break past the first wall? For a long time, he had assumed it had something to do with mana.

Nobles had access to it, trained in it, and controlled most of the knowledge around it. Mana techniques were rare, and the army didn't teach anything, not even the basics. But at the same time, he knew that wasn't the full answer. There were soldiers who had broken through without ever learning proper mana techniques. It played a part, yes, but it couldn't be the deciding factor. So what was it? As Rayne continued to think, absentmindedly taking a sip of his drink, something began to take shape in his mind.

It started as a faint idea, something uncertain, but the more he thought about it, the clearer it became. When he applied it to himself, it made sense. More sense than anything else had so far. He must not have hidden it well, because before he realized it, the others were looking at him again. Bran spoke first.

"What's on your mind?" Rayne blinked once, pulled back from his thoughts, and looked at each of them before scratching the back of his head lightly.

"Just thinking about how someone can break past the first wall." Kesh replied immediately, as if the answer was obvious.

"By being a descendant of a noble?" Rayne shook his head.

"Casper isn't," he said.

"And she's a mage. She broke through the first wall long ago." That statement caught everyone off guard. They stared at him, clearly surprised, since most men in their warband always assumed that Casper was a relative of a baron. Rayne continued, his voice calm.

"It's not about blood. Maybe it helps, but not as much as we think." He paused briefly before adding, "I'm just a bastard, and I still managed it. But Fredrick didn't." That made them fall silent.

"House Lanrice has the resources," Rayne went on.

"They could have pushed him to level thirty, maybe even beyond the first wall, before sending him to the army. But they didn't. Why?" No one answered. For a few moments, the table remained quiet as they processed his words. Then Nate leaned forward slightly, his eyes focused.

"So there's a way." Rayne didn't reply immediately. He took a moment to go over his thoughts again, making sure it all aligned before finally nodding.

"Yes, there is." He paused briefly before continuing.

"And I think it depends on potential and your limits and how much you can push past it both physically and mentally."

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