If he hadn't known, Sean would have thought reaching 68 proficiency was impressive. Turns out, at a higher level, he wasn't even a Level 2 Orderer!
Heh~
Instead, it made Sean feel once again how hard leveling up was...
Originally, when his proficiency was in the sixties, he thought he should slow down a bit, afraid that if his level increased too much, he wouldn't understand anything and couldn't handle it well.
Now he realized he was overthinking it!
He still needed to keep training his proficiency, even if it meant doubling his practice and putting it on the schedule...
Looking at the water container magic tool in his hand, this kind of thing was quite convenient—it could actually test one's level.
"Is this thing definitely accurate?" Sean asked.
"It might not be accurate for high levels, but it shouldn't be wrong for Level 2 Orderer." Ignia leaned in directly to look.
The water droplets in the container had separated and remained motionless in midair, but then Ignia poked Sean's other arm again.
"Hmm~ You're not very sturdy either. You probably didn't improve through physical training... Could you actually know magic?" she asked curiously.
"Hey, how can a girl like you act this way! If I knew magic, I'd spar with you first." He couldn't tell others about his magic for now, as it might involve matters in the town.
Besides, Lucille had taught him magic because of a private deal between them—a secret not meant for outsiders.
Ignia stuck out her tongue.
"I'm not one of those noble ladies. I doubt you know any spells anyway. Without a professional wizard's guidance, it's very hard for an ordinary person to find their way into magic, and learning spells is extremely difficult."
Ha...
Sean could only laugh bitterly inside.
"I used to get up early to exercise, especially last winter when it snowed—I'd go for morning runs often," he said, offering a possible reason for his improved physique.
"That must be it. Many people use the simplest, most basic method to raise their level: training their body."
"Does it work?"
"Of course!" Ignia nodded firmly.
"If you keep exercising every day for a while, you'll notice changes in your body. If you can reach Level 2 Orderer, you'll feel it even more deeply."
Sean guessed this was probably one of this world's unique features.
Simply put, no matter the method—training, learning magic, or any other skill—they all unified into a way to raise your level, and as your level truly increased, the changes became more apparent.
Just like Danti, whose level was already Level 2 Orderer.
So he could unleash stronger attacks with his weapon. At home, Sean had once seen Danti practicing on a stone post; he could easily stab a short dagger into a flat stone block.
And the weapon barely got damaged!
That must be the benefit of leveling up.
"So, does every improvement lead to skill enhancement?" Sean continued asking.
But Ignia frowned with a look of [Not understanding!]
"I'm not sure what you mean by skill enhancement, but every method of improvement is aimed at reaching a higher level. I do know many wizards also strengthen their bodies. If they can't improve in magic, they look for other ways... That's why there are so many factions among wizards. But once your Orderer level reaches a certain point, it's hard to raise further, no matter what method you use."
Ignia recounted stories she'd heard to Sean, tales passed down through generations that had become a kind of guidance.
They told people that when hitting a level bottleneck, they could develop various ways to improve themselves... meaning it didn't matter what method you used, as long as it ultimately raised your Orderer level.
After hearing all this and connecting it to his own situation, Sean roughly figured out some paths.
Anyway, this world defined a single level system...
Then, regardless of the training method you used, as long as it achieved the goal of improvement, it worked.
That meant the world's occupational divisions would be numerous, and wizard factions would certainly be plentiful.
No wonder Lucille had said everyone understood magic differently—so that was the reason!
Maybe his own way of improving was different from others. Being able to see the attributes of most things made things much easier. He wondered if raising his level would let him see more attributes.
Sean looked out of the carriage.
Since they were still driving through Koga City, the roads were fairly flat, just a bit noisy with pedestrians.
"Where are we going now?"
"To the sewers. Didn't I tell you?" Ignia tilted her head.
Sean gave her a disdainful look.
"Did you?"
"Oh, don't worry about that... We'll just go take a look. You said you heard people talking about it, right? Perfect time to check it out."
"But didn't you say the monster was found on Brukkan Avenue? Why are we coming here?"
As they chatted, they passed many places, and by now they were probably far from Brukkan Avenue.
"We searched all day yesterday, and I looked around there alone for a long time before that with no results. After you reminded me, I thought maybe I started in the wrong direction—the monster might have already fled somewhere else." Though Ignia usually spoke playfully, she was serious when it mattered.
"Koga City's infrastructure was destroyed in a civil war over a hundred years ago. What we see now was built later. Brukkan Avenue was also constructed afterward, so it looks more prosperous than other areas. It connects to a farming zone on the city's edge..."
At this point, Sean felt Ignia must be a native of this city, and her family probably had some status to know these things.
He knew a bit about the civil war from over a hundred years ago...
It had been sung about in Taylor Mian Town for generations—wasn't it the battle that the great-great-grandfather Viscount Weigel fought in?
It wasn't surprising that many people knew about it, but city planning wasn't something ordinary folks would understand.
The carriage took them southeast. There was a canal here, but it was near where the city's canal water flowed out. Koga City had a water source, so it diverted water into the city and then released it.
This spot was one of the outlets.
As soon as he got off the carriage, Sean could smell the stench of livestock manure and sweat in the air.
"To the east, there's also a Koga City horse farm. This is where they sell young animals and pets."
So it was like a flower-and-bird market.
Sean thought to himself.
Just then, Ignia suddenly excitedly slapped Sean's shoulder.
"Sean, Sean! Look, look..."
She handed him the magic tool again.
In the water container, the two droplets he had separated earlier were now merging back together and pointing in a certain direction.