Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Chapter 38: Plans

[Profile]

Name: Cedric Stormrider

Age: 21

Race: Human

Class: Tier 1 - Swordsman

Level: 2

Titles: Jr.Undead Slayer, Scholar, Sword Child

Aptitude:

Body: S

Energy: S

Spirit: (S) - Locked. Tier 2 req.

Final rating: S+

Skills:

Actives: Sword Ki Lv.7, Kickboxing (M)

Passives: Vision (M), Learning (M), Ki Mastery Lv.7, Smell (M), Multitasking (M), Taste (M), Touch (M), Listening (M), Intuition (M), Footwork (M), Recovery (M), Tolerance (M), Tactics (M), Deception Lv.3, Willpower Lv.3

[Mandatory Task:]

: Hell Dive - Survive the Endless Undead Horde for 3 hours.

: Rewards - 100% Demon Soul gain, Clearance Streak +1

: Punishment for Failure - Failure Streak +1.

: Record: Clear Streak - 3, Failure Streak - 0

***

Staring at his status board, Cedric sighed dismissively.

Despite his, admittedly, glamorous stats Cedric could already sense that he was approaching the limits of his growth. This isn't to say that he's complaining, no. Of course not.

He's extremely grateful and satisfied with his overall growth so far. He had achieved feats that not many could boast about. Hell, it wouldn't be surprising if he turned out to be a unique existence by now.

With an S+ rating for his overall Aptitude, in addition to new skills: Deception, and Willpower, there's really not much he could squeeze out from his potential without levelling up and undergoing Tier Advancement.

Well, he could look for other ways to increase his arsenal/expertise. Like say; learning how to craft something, maybe studying another language, looking into other hobbies that might interest him, and so on...

But in terms of explosive combat force, he's already nearing the limits of what he could have. At least for a Lv.2 Swordsman, that is.

Yet even though he could clearly advance his strength by a large margin through simply leveling up, Cedric didn't feel like doing so.

What he pursued was the perfect foundation. Something that would set him apart from the rest. He wants to excavate every ounce of potential his body had, perhaps even go beyond it.

He wasn't interested in fame, glory, wealth, etc. Those would follow him eventually anyway. What he wanted out of this, was power. True power to ensure that he could survive in this cruel world and take control of his own life.

True power to make a change...

But he clearly still has a long way to go. So that means, no rest for him...

It's been roughly a week since Chief Brightstone called him into his office. Since then, Cedric lived like a hermit within the walls of the RMC.

He had built a simple hut around the area where he usually trains, claiming the spot as his. He didn't show himself around the other convicts since he wasn't interested in knowing anybody anymore.

Despite feeling lonely every now and then, Cedric was quite fond of the silence he received, all thanks to the small amount of freedom he was given.

As expected, none of the wardens troubled him for doing this. They were informed about his unique status and only observed him from a distance. Cedric obviously knows this since he can sense them.

His fellow convicts weren't aware of this arrangement though. That's because nobody told them. And even if they were told, it's not like they could do anything about the Chief's decision. They're not that brave or stupid to question their jailors. Besides, nobody comes around this area anyway, so Cedric wasn't entirely worried about his privacy.

While his temporary home might look shabby from the outside, it wasn't that bad on the inside. He wasn't lacking in furniture since he was practically a millionaire in terms of Demon Souls. Hell, everything he ordered for the house barely made a dent in his savings, so really, he had no problems at all.

Besides, Cedric has never been used to luxury. Well, considering his current status, it'd be surprising if he did. He's already grown used to a simplistic way of living. His house didn't have any electricity but that's fine with him. He's not one to use that many electronics anyway. The things he used had batteries in them which he could simply order online once they ran out.

Overall, it's peaceful, quiet, and slightly lonely. Compared to the sheer madness that this place had? His place was practically Heaven.

With his living conditions secured and more comfortable, Cedric was now facing a new problem altogether. In fact, it's the sole reason why he learned the art of Deception.

Demons are once again, proving to be a pain in the ass for him.

When he realized why the Chief had given him the mask, Cedric had been searching for a method on how to solve this problem. He doesn't know how much the Demons knew about him, but the sheer fact that they will now be watching him closely made him incredibly uncomfortable.

Honestly, in the grand scheme of things, this isn't surprising. It shouldn't be. After all, it happened multiple times already.

Demons are always watching. Consistently collecting information about notable humans that could pose a threat to their nefarious plans. With the Cult's appearance, their source of information grew even more and honestly, it's terrifying.

Once the Demons assessed the threat level of a person, they would make plans for them. If possible, they will eliminate the budding talents to lower the chances of Humanity's morale. They will stoop low, that's for certain, they're demons after all and they're at way so it's all fair.

Sometimes, it's very easy to forget that Humans and Demons are still at war because of the peaceful environment around them. If it weren't for the Hell Dives, Cedric wouldn't have guessed that they were at odds at all.

And that's precisely why he's trying to be cautious. Cedric was training to survive. If he had already registered himself under their radar, then that's the complete opposite of what he's trying to do.

The mask he was given wasn't a solution, only a temporary stopgap. Hell, it's already questionable whether it would work or not.

This mask would only cover his facial features, not his entire body. It wouldn't conceal or transform his physique into something else. It wouldn't hide the way how he moved or conceal his skills. Depending on how much the demons knew about him, this mask may or may not already be useless.

That's why he's searching for another way to divert the demons' attention away from him.

He planned on putting up a show, something he learned from the art of Deception. If he's already being monitored, then there's not much he could do about that. What he can do, however, is to control how much he will show to them.

Cedric planned on slowly tapering off. Like, he will show his face in Hell Dives, continue clearing it and, as time passes, slowly show that he couldn't keep up. Showcasing just enough strength to barely clear the task with so much difficulty. If they see that, then they will slowly but surely conclude their judgment of him, eventually diminishing his real threat and leaving him alone completely.

That being said, there are a lot of flaws in this plan. Mainly the fact that he'd be purposefully failing his Hell Dives.

If he goes through with this, he will also be slowing down his progress a lot. And that's something that he's very reluctant to do.

He couldn't accept that he would have to tone down his personal growth just to escape the Demons' scrutiny, mainly because it had to be convincing, and the Demons aren't dumb. One slip up and they will realize that he's hiding his strength, and while Cedric is confident about his skills, who knows what other methods the Demon has to discover his secrets?

Yes, he knows that that's probably for the best since it's only a small sacrifice to ensure that he lives, but he just didn't like that idea.

Remember, Cedric had grown this much in just a few months. It hasn't even been half a year since he had received these blessings yet he already possesses this level of strength! If he went through with this plan, he'd be delaying his growth so much that, he just knew, he'd regret it.

Knowing this, he could only think of other ways to do this, but so far, he didn't have any idea where to start. That's the dilemma he's facing right now.

Thankfully though, he still has some time left. On the next Hell Dive, he will show himself still. He would showcase as much strength as before. He would still be under observation and he wouldn't be able to prevent it, but at the very least, the Demons wouldn't move on him just yet.

That would buy him enough time to search for other options. So that's to say that he would be using the plan he made for now at least, right until he finds a more pleasing solution for this problem.

Suffice it to say, for now at least, nothing has changed. He has a lot in mind but he had time as well.

Of course, he wouldn't stop training even while searching for a possible way to solve his problem. He still has some room to grow and the sooner he reaches his limit, the earlier he could start leveling up.

He just hoped that he could find a solution soon because his anxiety wouldn't let him be a peace with this problem at hand.