Suppressing his excitement, Adam glanced at the Ability Panel on his status screen:
[Ability Panel]
[Talent: Player]
[Total Level: 1]
[Experience: 0/100]
[Jobs:
[- Basic Job: Genius, Level 1]
[Skill Points: 3]
[Passive Skill: Item Box]
[Active Skills: None]
---
Taking the Genius job had raised his Total Level from 0 to 1.
More notably, it granted him 3 skill points.
This jolted Adam's heart.
As expected, his Player Talent differed from YGGDRASIL's players.
In the game, each level-up allowed players to select three skills from their job's skill list, accumulating around 300 skills by level 100.
Of course, monsters like Ainz, with 718 skills, were rare even in YGGDRASIL. His Dark Wisdom special skill let him continuously learn new magic.
"Only skill points, no skill list? That's bad news."
"So, skills must be acquired through other means."
Adam's expression remained steady, but his mind raced.
His next steps were clearer now.
Crunch!
His teeth bit into the tough black bread, and he devoured it in under half a minute, finishing most of the loaf.
"Cough!"
His throat felt dry.
Eating so fast was a choking hazard.
Adam grabbed the black water skin Nfirea had given him, took a big gulp, and sighed in relief, a satisfied look crossing his face.
If anyone else had handed him the water skin, he wouldn't have trusted it enough to drink.
Standing up, Adam hooked the water skin to his belt and merged into the bustling crowd, heading toward the Royal Capital's center.
With so many eyes around, stowing the water skin in his Item Box wasn't wise.
"Since I'm here, I might as well watch this epic showdown."
A spark of anticipation lit Adam's face.
Nazarick's arrival was over four years away. Time was tight, but not so pressing that he couldn't spare a moment.
A sharp blade needs honing.
Gazef and Brain might not be as strong as they'd be in four years, but they were likely above level 20 now, a benchmark for human powerhouses in this world. Their match could yield valuable intel.
Before acquiring the Genius job, Adam had been too despondent to care. Now, with ideas for his job build taking shape, he felt a flicker of purpose.
The clash between the future Warrior Captain and future Shalltear's Nail Clipper was legendary, discussed fondly by powerhouses across nations even years later. It drew attention far beyond the Re-Estize Kingdom.
Gazef and Brain were already renowned prodigies before this match.
If Adam recalled correctly, Brain also held the Fighter (Genius) talent.
Amid the crowd, fervent discussions about the match swirled around him.
Most speculated on who would emerge victorious.
The heated debates and infectious excitement sparked an idea in Adam.
Others didn't know the match's outcome, but he did.
An event captivating the entire kingdom surely had betting pools.
If he bet on Gazef, even with low odds, he could earn some coin. He was dirt-poor, and food and lodging weren't free.
With this in mind, Adam eyed a young man passing by, clad in light leather armor, clearly an adventurer.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where the nearest betting pool is?" Adam asked, keeping his tone calm and direct.
From past experience, he knew that in such a lively atmosphere, straightforward questions worked better than polite hesitance, which could annoy people.
The leather-armored youth, caught off guard, turned to Adam with surprise.
He sized Adam up.
A flicker of disdain crossed the youth's eyes. "Outsider?"
Adam's gray-black clothes, short sword on his left hip, and water skin on his right blended well with the locals.
But his facial features and short black hair marked him as foreign to the kingdom.
"Yep, I just arrived yesterday." Adam replied, unfazed by the youth's condescending tone, his voice still mild.
"Hmph, figures."
"There's no betting pool." The youth said, waving a hand dismissively, his head tilted upward.
"None?" Adam was taken aback.
With such a grand event and throngs flooding the capital, a betting pool would be a guaranteed moneymaker for any organizer.
Especially for the kingdom's greedy nobles.
"It's all thanks to Princess Renner's foresight." The youth said, a smug tone laced with unabashed admiration. "Even an outsider must've heard of Princess Renner, the Pearl of the Kingdom, bearer of the 'Gem's Radiance.'"
"When the Royal Tournament began, Princess Renner proposed to His Majesty that gambling on a contest representing the nation's honor be banned."
"It tarnishes the kingdom's prestige and disrespects the warriors competing."
The youth's voice grew fervent, arms crossed. "Though some nobles opposed it, His Majesty ultimately agreed."
"Princess Renner is visionary, gentle, and compassionate…"
Seeing the youth's fervor, Adam stepped back expressionlessly and slipped into the crowd, moving swiftly away.
He'd grasped the situation.
"Princess Renner, huh?" Adam muttered, a wry thought crossing his mind.
Her popularity among the common folk was clearly sky-high.
A ban on betting pools?
Adam was certain that, while the proposal might've passed publicly, nobles were likely running underground pools regardless.
But for commoners like him, access was impossible.
So much for his get-rich-quick scheme.
"Gentle and compassionate? Describing the Golden Princess like that is…" Adam shook his head slightly.
On the surface, Princess Renner seemed kind, innocent, and devoted to the kingdom and its people, with a heart of gold.
In truth, she was a monster beyond ordinary comprehension, deemed a "mental heteromorph" even by Albedo.
She was the woman Emperor Jircniv loathed most!
Even the Draudillon Oriculus of the Draconic Kingdom, a centuries-old Dragon Lord who posed as a little girl, ranked only second on Jircniv's hate list.
***
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