I Will Be Unrivaled With The Skill [Sewing]! They Said It Was A Bad Skill, But With Effort, I will Make It A Hit~ - Chapter 74
Episode 74: “The Reward Theory”
As the long break ended and the second semester of the year began, Maior headed straight for Kito.
“Kito, how do you think I can raise my level?”
Maior, having come to the dormitory of the Royal Magic Academy, asked Kito with a tense expression.
“…Let’s go to the private room building first.”
Maior’s visit was sudden, but Kito, sensing the seriousness in her voice, started walking. There were no pressing matters at the beginning of the semester.
Without any conversation along the way, the two arrived at Kito’s room in the private room building. As always, the room was filled with various medicines.
After sitting down, Kito handed Maior some tea she had prepared herself before slowly opening her mouth to speak.
“Maior, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“Sorry. I just feel impatient…”
Maior took a sip of the tea. It had a refreshing and easy-to-drink taste.
“Seneca has been struggling because her skill isn’t a combat skill, right? But even so, she’s been applying it effectively and steadily growing stronger.”
Kito listened intently.
“Even Seneca is managing to do that, and yet… what about me? My skill isn’t a combat skill either, and on top of that, my combat skill without a skill is weak.”
Maior took another sip of tea.
“I know that just having 【Detection】 means I’m blessed with a skill, but sometimes I don’t know what to do with it.”
“So you thought raising your level might help.”
“Yeah. It might just be a way to put off the problem, but I also think it could give me some direction moving forward.”
As Kito listened to Maior, she organized her thoughts.
“Alright. I’ve been wanting to think about this with you, too. Let’s talk about leveling up. I completely understand the feeling of focusing on what you lack compared to those around you.”
Seeing Maior nod, Kito continued.
“But, Maior, we are surrounded by the most talented individuals in this country. There may be many areas where we fall short, but think about it—just a short while ago, we were nothing more than country girls. The fact that we’re even here and have anything we excel in is amazing in itself.”
Maior’s expression shifted as if she had just realized something.
“…You’re right. I’ve been losing confidence by comparing myself to others, but I forgot that just being in a position to be compared to geniuses is already an achievement. I let arrogance mix in, making me emotionally unstable.”
With that realization, Maior quickly recovered and focused back on the discussion about skills.
The two decided to start by analyzing what happened when Seneca reached Level 3.
Seneca’s level-up to Level 3 wasn’t as dramatic as when she had reached Level 2. However, it was still significantly different from commonly reported phenomena.
Typically, when one levels up, they gain new skill. However, in Seneca’s case, she performed the technique “Sewing the Air” first, and only afterward did she gain the skill that corresponded to it. It was completely reversed.
The same phenomenon occurred when Maior leveled up. In the midst of an extreme battle, she saw the afterimages of her enemy. After using that technique to defeat her opponent, her level increased.
In other words, rather than gaining new skills because of leveling up, it seemed as though the level increased because she had performed a new skill. This idea was the opposite of conventional wisdom.
As their discussion progressed, Kito began to feel uneasy. Before Seneca, the common understanding of leveling up seemed to be crumbling.
Based on this idea, Kito proposed that leveling up appeared to function as a reward.
By achieving certain results within a given level range, skills were granted as a form of reward. What if they thought of level-ups in that way?
The two became engrossed in this discussion.
For example, the achievement might be using a skill ten thousand times. Or it might be defeating a powerful enemy. It could also be drawing out a skill’s power to an exceptional degree. There were many possibilities.
Maior liked this “reward theory.” It helped explain the mystery behind skill growth.
It was known that those with the skill 【Detection】 experienced a boost in physical skills when they reached Level 2. When Maior leveled up, her physical skills had increased as well, but there was an unfamiliar phrase in the words that echoed in her mind during the level-up.
“Your physical skills have increased ‘significantly.’”
When she asked, both Seneca and Kito said they had also heard the word “significantly” when they leveled up.
However, when they asked their peers, none of them had experienced such wording. Some even dismissed it as a misheard detail.
According to Attalos, Seneca and Maior’s physical skill enhancements did indeed seem significant. Attalos initially thought that the two had learned a new technique, but since there was no sign of that, he was left confused.
Despite undergoing the same skill level-up, the degree of skill enhancement varied. If the “reward theory” was true, it could explain this mystery.
Maior and Kito developed the idea that the degree of growth upon leveling up depended on the achievements and level of accomplishment at that time.
If this theory were true, it would turn the world upside down.
Simply training by steadily increasing the number of skill usages would result in a slower level-up, and the benefits gained upon leveling would be reduced.
It made sense. Seneca, Maior, and Kito all had remarkably advanced sub-skills. Perhaps sub-skills were also granted in response to achievements.
Being cautious by nature, the two didn’t immediately conclude that the “reward theory” was absolute truth. However, they couldn’t shake their conviction that the conventional theory was flawed.
They agreed that from now on, they would have to examine things from both perspectives—the “conventional theory” and the “reward theory”—and continue their exploration accordingly.
“What if leveling up is more like a reward given to those who reach a certain point?”
Maior and Kito held onto that thought.
The next topic was: what should they actually do about it?
“We’ve talked this far, but in the end, isn’t what we’re doing basically the same as before?”
Maior said with a wry smile.
“That’s true. But if the speed of leveling up is also part of the achievements, then it does make me feel a little impatient.”
Kito, also smiling wryly, continued.
“But this whole discussion is an important clue. As long as we follow methods that make sense in both the ‘conventional theory’ and the ‘reward theory,’ we won’t go too far off track. A method that aligns with both opposing hypotheses should be close to optimal.”
Kito spoke with confidence.
The two continued their discussion for a while longer.
As their debate progressed, Maior began to feel that they had stepped into something far greater than they had imagined. She realized that her hands and feet had gone cold.
Looking at Kito again, her face seemed slightly pale as well. Perhaps, being more perceptive, Kito had realized it even before she had.
Their conversation gradually dwindled, and they found it harder to stay engaged in the discussion.
Maior tried several times to ask Kito the question on her mind, but something told her she must not say it out loud. In the end, she never managed to voice it.
Most likely, Kito felt the same way.
On the way back, Maior kept repeating the unspoken words in her mind.
“Hey, Kito. If the reward theory is true, then who is giving us these rewards? Who is evaluating us?”
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And then both of thembecome Heretic and Atheist ahahahahaha