Free Web NovelChapter 8: 8. Armour and higher level
A FEW HOURS LATER
ALEXANDER
A few hours later, I officially realized something horrifying. The hero armor attracted attention even when I was doing absolutely nothing. Walking back toward the guild city should have been simple, peaceful, normal. Instead, every single person we passed stared at me like I had personally walked out of a legend.
"Why is everyone looking at me?"I muttered.
"The armor."Noa walked beside me calmly.
"And your face."Scarlet nodded immediately.
"What does THAT mean?!"I almost tripped.
"It means Master became unfairly attractive."Scarlet answered honestly.
"Unfortunately true."Noa looked annoyed.
"You two are banned from commenting on my appearance."I pointed at both of them.
Neither listened. As we approached the city gates, the guards straightened instantly, one guard blinked several times.
"Sir, knight?"He tried.
"No."I froze.
"Then... noble?"The second guard looked confused.
"No."I said again.
"Royal escort?"First one tried again.
"NO!"I said even more annoyed.
"He is Master."Scarlet gently raised her hand.
The guards somehow looked MORE intimidated after hearing that.
"I think that’s the Holy Saint."One guard whispered to the other one.
"Why is a saint traveling with him?!"The second one paled instantly.
I QUICKLY walked past them before religion happened again. Too late.
"THE HERO HAS RETURNED!"Behind me I already heard.
"No. Stop. Please."I nearly died on the spot.
"Local rumor spread increased. Current public title: Hero of the White Saint. Probability of peaceful life: 0%."The system appeared.
"I miss being ignored."I groaned.
By the time we reached the adventurer guild, things somehow became worse. The front doors opened and complete silence hit us. Every adventurer inside slowly turned toward me, then toward Scarlet, then Noa, then back to me again.
"Who the hell is THAT?!"One adventurer stood up so suddenly his chair fell over.
"Wait."Another narrowed his eyes."...That’s the C rank summoner." free𝑤ebnovel.com
"NO WAY!"The guild exploded instantly.
"THAT’S THE BERRY GUY?!"Another one screamed.
"WHY DOES HE LOOK LIKE A FINAL BOSS NOW?!"Third one added shocked.
"Nope. I’m leaving."I grabbed my hood immediately.
It was too slow, because Michael spotted me from upstairs instantly. The guild master leaned over the railing, then froze completely.
"What the hell happened to you?"Michael asked.
"I accepted gifts from villagers. It was a mistake."I said hesitantly.
Michael jumped down from the second floor again because, apparently, the stairs were beneath him spiritually. He walked around me once, slowly. Examining the armor, the coat, the glowing silver lines, then my level tag.
"Level 4 already?"He asked.
"LEVEL 4?!"Adventurer asked.
"HE WAS LEVEL 2 YESTERDAY!"Another one added. "THAT GROWTH RATE IS INSANE!"
"I gathered vegetables."I rubbed my forehead tiredly.
"No normal person gets stronger from VEGETABLES!"Michael shouted.
"The potatoes were dangerous emotionally."Scarlet looked thoughtful.
"What does that even MEAN?!"I asked.
The receptionist from before slowly approached the counter while staring at me like I was becoming a natural disaster.
"Alexander."She said.
"Unfortunately."I nodded.
"Why are there rumors calling you ’The Hero of the White Saint’?"The receptionist asked.
"Her fault."I pointed at Scarlet instantly.
"I healed one dying man."Scarlet blinked innocently.
"ONE?!"I stared at her. "THEY BUILT CANDLES!"
"They also tried writing hymns."Noa crossed her arms.
"Hymns?!"Michael grabbed his head.
At the exact same time inside the Royal Adventurer Academy, Director Reynold was drinking tea peacefully. Then the academy doors burst open and a teacher ran inside, completely out of breath.
"D-Director!"He screamed.
"What is it?"Reynold frowned slightly.
"The expelled student, Alexander Blackwood-"He began.
"If this is about the gambling Skill again, I already handled-"Reynold sighed immediately.
"And? He returned from a village escort mission!"The teacher contunied. "They’re calling him the Hero of the White Saint."The teacher looked emotionally destroyed.
Silence. Reynold blinked once.
"What?"He asked.
"Witness reports say he now travels with a divine saintess and an A rank dark elf!"The teacher slammed papers onto the desk.
"An A rank WHAT?!"Reynold nearly dropped his tea.
"And apparently villagers are worshipping him now!"The teacher continued.
"No."The academy director slowly stood up.
"There’s more!"The teacher nodded rapidly in panic.
"There’s MORE?!"Reynold asked.
"He obtained ancient hero class armor and levelled twice in only a few days!"The teacher said.
Reynold stared blankly into space. Somewhere deep in the distance, his career began collapsing spiritually. Meanwhile, back at the guild, Michael was still circling me like a confused predator.
"Kid."Michael asked, confused.
"Yeah?"I asked.
"Kid." Michael said again, slower this time, eyes narrowing like he was trying to solve a broken weapon rather than a person. "How are you level 4?"
"I told you. Vegetables."I blinked.
A beat in the guild hall, someone dropped a mug.
"That is not an answer." Michael said flatly.
"It is literally the only thing I did." I replied. "I picked up cabbages. I carried potatoes, I suffered emotionally near onions."
"The onions were hostile."Scarlet nodded seriously.
"No they were not."I said.
"They made you cry. That counts as aggression."Noa crossed her arms.
Michael rubbed his face like he was physically resisting the urge to retire on the spot, then his eyes flicked to my armor again.
"That armor." He said slowly. "It’s not normal hero gear."
"I noticed." I muttered. "It also refuses to get dirty."
"It is recognizing your authority."Scarlet tilted her head.
"I don’t HAVE authority."I groaned.
"Correction: Hero class adaptive armor detected."The system chimed instantly. A translucent panel flickered in front of my vision. "Effect: Passive EXP absorption from environmental acknowledgment. Effect: Stat scaling based on external perception. Effect: Minor divine resonance amplification."
I froze.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"It means." Michael said slowly. "The more people think you’re important, the stronger you get."
"That’s illegal."I said.
"That’s not a thing." He snapped.
"So if more people worship Master-"Scarlet leaned slightly closer.
"NO."I gasped.
"Efficient growth method."Noa nodded once.
"STOP AGREEING WITH EACH OTHER."I shouted.
"So the armor is boosting your level because the villagers think you’re some kind of holy knight?"Michael exhaled sharply, then pointed at me.
"I didn’t ask them to."I said.
"They don’t care." He said.
As if summoned by the conversation itself, a sound came from behind us. A small bell, then footsteps.
"Excuse me!" A villager pushed through the guild doors carrying a steaming wooden tray like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Oh! Hero boy!" He said brightly.
"I am not-"I tried to explain it.
"I brought stew!" He announced proudly. "For the journey blessing!"
He shoved the plate directly into my hands before I could react. The moment I touched it I heard a ’DING’.
"Item received: Blessed village stew. Effect: Minor regeneration. Bonus: +EXP due to ’gratitude recognition event.’"The system flashed.
"Why is food giving EXP?" I whispered.
Michael stared at the villager and the villager smiled.
"I also told my neighbors about you." He added casually. "They’re preparing a small celebration statue."
"No." I said immediately.
Too late.
"Statue in honor of Master..."Scarlet clasped her hands.
"NO."I shouted. freewebnσvel.cøm
"Rapid reputation expansion."Noa looked mildly impressed.
"WHY IS THIS A GOOD THING TO YOU?!"I shouted.
The villager left happily, humming. The guild was now completely silent again.
"So eating food makes him stronger now?"Then someone from the back whispered.
"I think so." Another replied.
"Kid." Michael slowly turned his head toward me. He said carefully.
"Yeah?"I asked.
"If you eat enough soup... do you become a god?"Michaell asked with a grin.
"I don’t know," I said honestly. "I really don’t want to find out."
Scarlet gently watched the steaming bowl in my hands.
"It smells comforting." She said softly.
"That’s how it gets you killed." I replied.
"Recommendation: Continued positive social reinforcement advised."The system chimed one more time, almost cheerfully.
"I hate this thing."I stared at it.
Michael stared at me for a long second, then at the soup, then back at me.
"You’re seriously going to eat more of that?"He asked.
"I didn’t choose this life." I muttered. "It chose me."
"Then I will share the burden."Scarlet immediately nodded.
"No, you will not-"I tried to stop her.
Too late, she was already seated. Noa sat down beside her without asking. Michael sighed so deeply it sounded like his soul left his body for a moment.
"I hate this group."He said.
He still sat down, weirdly. I didn’t question it anymore. I just lifted the bowl again.
"Fine." I said. "If I’m going to be turned into a walking religion, I might as well do it on a full stomach."
I took another spoonful, warmth again, but this time it didn’t feel like pressure. It felt... lighter. Less like people watching me, more like, for a moment, nobody expected anything from me.
"’DING’. EXP GAIN: +12 Source: ’Shared positive emotional reinforcement within party unit.’"The system said.
"Why is it better when I’m suffering with others?"I paused.
"Because you’re still a weird system battery, apparently."Michael snorted.
Scarlet took a sip of her own bowl.
"This is acceptable."She blinked.
"That’s high praise coming from you." I muttered.
Noa drank quietly.
"Efficient recovery rate."Then nodded once.
"I swear both of you talk like manuals." I said.
For the first time since being kicked out, I actually leaned back, the guild noise outside felt far away, less like staring. More like background noise I didn’t have to survive every second of, my shoulders loosened, my armor didn’t feel as heavy. Michael noticed.
"You are calmer." He said.
"Don’t ruin it," I replied immediately.
"Master is stabilizing."Scarlet tilted her head.
"I’m not unstable."I said.
"You were arguing with vegetables earlier." Noa said.
"They started it."I groaned.
Then, unexpectedly, Michael let out a short laugh.
"Yeah." He said. "You are definitely insane."
"Thanks?"I said.
We ate in relative quiet after that. For once, no one shouted, no one worshipped, no one burst through the door with more soup. Just the clink of spoons, low guild noise, and the strange normality of sitting like a party instead of a disaster.
"External perception pressure temporarily reduced. Adaptive armor output stabilizing."The system flickered once.
"So I just needed to eat with people to stop the world from losing its mind about me?"I exhaled slowly.
"Yes."Scarlet nodded.
"Yes."Noa said.
"Unfortunately, yes."Michael said.
"That’s the dumbest power mechanic I’ve ever heard."I stared at my bowl.
"But it works."Scarlet smiled faintly.
I didn’t answer right away, I just kept eating, and for the first time since being expelled, I didn’t feel like I was about to explode into a legend. Just tired and full.
"I could live with this," I muttered.
"Don’t say stuff like that. That’s how cursed stories start."Michael immediately pointed at me.
I groaned, but I didn’t stand up. That alone felt like progress I enjoyed for once.
