Lament of the Slave

Chapter 17: Myths

I quickly collect my thoughts before asking the librarian, "Yesterday, you said that [Carpenter] gains experience from what he does. The more complex the items he produces, the more complicated material he processes, the more experience he gets. Right?"

"Yes," the librarian nodded, stroking his beard. "Of course, it was just an example. It applies to all classes."

"I thought nothing else. My question is, couldn't he gain more experience by killing monsters in the labyrinth?" I asked.

Mr. Sandoval stopped stroking his beard. "Why do you think that?"

"Don't seekers gain experience like that? From killed monsters? I mean, they absorb the part of their...live energy that will remain after their death, as experience." I tried to explain the concept that worked in most games.

"I don't know why you would think that, but that's not how seekers gain experience," said the librarian.

"Oh," I breathed, unaware of what to say next. After a moment's thought, however, I asked, "Then, how?"

So how do seekers gain experience? How did the warrior gain experience when it wasn't an exp from dead monsters?

"To put it simply, they gain experience in the same way as [Carpenter]. [Mage] because he casts spells, of course, the stronger and more complex the spells are, the more experience he gains. [Warrior] because he wields a weapon, fights with it, and engages in battles with a stronger enemy than the previous one. [Archer] shoots his arrows more accurately at greater distances and a harder-to-hit enemy. [Guardian] because he protects his party from increasingly powerful opponents, and the better he protects them, the more the system rewards him.

"As I said, this is very simply put. Everyone has to find out for themselves what the system allows and what not. But the essence of gaining experience itself is straightforward. You have a class; you just have to think about its nature, its purpose.

"I don't know what energy you had in mind that the killed monsters should leave behind, but their magic is stored in the magic core in their bodies. People can use it but not absorb it as an experience. They gain them through hard work and overcoming their limits," the librarian explained to me.

I thought that would be the case, hence I was afraid to hear an answer to my next question. "So how does [Slave] gain experience?"

Looking at me strangely, Mr. Sandoval asked, "You truly don't know?"

I sighed, "I have an idea."

"Go on," the librarian urged me to tell him more.

"Is it because [Slave] obeys the master's orders?" I asked, waiting for the librarian to confirm my concerns.

Mr. Sandoval stroked his beard before nodding. "Yes. But it's not just about obeying orders, but also about how well you obey them. Or when you exceed your master's expectations, or when you do something in his favor without giving you an order."

"So it's about the master," I sighed, my ears lowered in disappointment.

Instead of crying over my fate, I smiled sorrowfully and looked at the librarian,

"So, as a seeker, I won't become stronger!"

"You don't have to be sad." Mr. Sandoval shook his head, then chuckled and said, "If you want to become a seeker, you can. No one will stop you, and you can gain experience as [Slave] in the labyrinth as well."

"But don't I have to have a master to serve?" I asked puzzled.

"Master?" Mr. Sandoval smiled at my question, then answered joyfully, "You must first ask who your master is. He's someone who assigns you tasks. He is someone whose orders you follow. Doesn't that sound like an employer?"