Big Beard just couldn't stop once he started talking about his iron tree branch, constantly showing off. “In order to get the Enchanter to help me upgrade this thing, I risked my life charging into the kobold forest, slashed the kobold chief more than thirty times, and got the kobold chief’s soul essence. That guy, his attack power was off the charts! You should’ve seen it—a tree so big two people couldn’t wrap their arms around it, and he just flipped it with one shovel…”

“All right, all right, stop bragging. It’s like you were the only one there. Who was it that got beaten by the kobolds until he coughed up blood? Wasn’t it me who carried you back?” The other tall, thin warrior, who hadn’t spoken until now, cut in mercilessly, exposing Big Beard’s exaggerations.

William Carter ignored their bickering and started pondering Big Beard’s words. It seemed that equipment in this world was much harder to obtain than in games. Even though he knew it was unlikely, he still asked, “So, are there any enchanters who can make things like Dragonheart or Holy Sword? How much would they cost?”

“Dragonheart? Holy Sword? What are those?”

“Dragonheart is synthesized from a great axe and an orb of vitality. The full name of the axe is something like Himest’s Plunder.”

As soon as William Carter said this, Big Beard and the others all had strange expressions. “Kid, that’s a pretty cold joke. Himest is a legendary war god. Do you really think humans could make his weapon?”

Just as he thought, if equipment was this hard to get, skills were probably just as difficult. If only he had skills like Meteor Shower or Chain Lightning, dealing with kobolds would be a breeze.

So William Carter asked again, “What skills do you all have? How many skills can a typical hero learn at most?”

This time, Big Beard looked a bit embarrassed, scratched his head, and didn’t answer. The elven beauty smiled and said, “He doesn’t know any skills yet.”

Big Beard wasn’t having it and quickly said, “Skills aren’t that easy to learn! Usually, a warrior only gets their first skill at level eleven after changing class!”

The elven beauty chuckled, agreeing with Big Beard, then explained to William Carter, “There are four ways to acquire skills: passing a trial, hunting magical beasts and absorbing their soul essence, self-comprehension, and innate skills. Skills are ranked in seven tiers from lowest to highest: F, E, D, C, B, A, S. There’s no upper limit to how many skills a hero can learn—it depends on your own ability. Up to now, I only know one skill, the elves’ innate skill: Archer’s Talent. The skill itself is only E rank, and I’ve trained it to level two.”

“Innate skills are learned at level one, but for comprehension skills, you only get a chance at levels six, eleven, and sixteen. The chance at level six is pretty low; most warriors only comprehend a skill at level eleven, so what he said just now isn’t wrong.”

So that’s how it is. The Divine Persuasion skill he had must be an innate skill too. “So, how strong is Divine Persuasion?”

“No idea. They say that when Divine Persuasion is trained to the highest level, you can persuade powerful creatures like Undead Dragons, Two-Headed Dragons, Sand Kings, and Brood Assassins. Its rank shouldn’t be low.”

Persuade Undead Dragons, Two-Headed Dragons, Sand Kings, Brood Assassins? Weren’t those guys supposed to be heroes themselves? William Carter was new to this world and knew too little, so he didn’t want to ask too many questions and arouse suspicion.

So he decided to stick to the important points.

“Uh… If a class-changed warrior dies, is there any way to resurrect them?” After thinking it over, William Carter still asked this question, even though he knew it sounded stupid.

Sure enough, the three of them looked at William Carter with strange expressions. Big Beard forced a laugh, “Little brother, you may be a genius among class-changed warriors, but you really have no talent for telling jokes. How could someone come back to life after dying? Only in mythological stories are there things as heaven-defying as the Guardian of Immortality.”

William Carter had already expected this answer. To avoid them thinking he was crazy, he put on a sorrowful act and sighed, “Ah, there’s still no way… Sorry, Grandma, your grandson can’t fulfill his promise…”

The three were stunned, finally realizing that William Carter had asked this question out of a sliver of hope to save his grandmother.

The elven beauty shot a reproachful glare at Big Beard, then walked over to the teary-eyed William Carter, gently put her arm around his shoulder, and said, “Don’t be sad. With such an outstanding grandson, your grandmother must be very happy in heaven.”

William Carter had years of sales experience and was a master at acting. Even in his grief, he didn’t forget to bury his head in the elven beauty’s chest and take full advantage.

Big Beard was a simple man. Seeing that the sad atmosphere was all because of him, he was at a loss. The tall warrior, however, smoothed things over in time, “It’s getting late. Let’s head back to Bilo City and talk more there.”

Chapter Four: Bilo City Tavern

Through their interactions, William Carter learned everyone’s names. The elf was called Jenny, Big Beard was just called Big Beard, as people in the group usually preferred nicknames, and the quiet warrior was called Ryan. All three were around thirty years old and were level seven or eight.

It turned out their stats weren’t that great either—their strength and agility were only about seven or eight, and their intelligence was pitifully low.