Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Aaron looked at the ability section on his status panel:
[Ability Sheet]
Innate Ability: [Player]
Overall Level: Lv1
EXP Bar: 0/100
Classes:
Basic Class: Genius Lv1
Skill Points: 3
Passive Skill: Item Box
Active Skills: None
————
After taking the "Genius" class, his overall level had risen from 0 to 1.
In addition, he had gained 3 skill points.
This made Aaron's heart skip a beat.
His innate ability "Player" was indeed somewhat different from the players in YGGDRASIL.
In the game, every time a player leveled up, they could choose three skills from the skill list of their class. By the time they reached level 100, a normal player would have around 300 skills.
Of course,
monsters like Ainz, who had mastered 718 skills, were extremely rare even in the game. And thanks to his special skill "Dark Wisdom,"
in theory, Ainz could keep learning new spells indefinitely.
"Only getting skill points and no skill list… that's bad news."
"In other words, I probably have to obtain skills through other means."
Aaron's expression did not change as he thought silently.
But his direction moving forward had become much clearer.
Crunch.
Aaron's teeth sank into the surface of the rye bread with a crisp sound. He took big bites, and in less than half a minute, he had wolfed down most of the hard bread.
"Cough!"
His throat felt a bit dry.
Sure enough, eating this stuff too fast made it easy to choke.
Aaron picked up the black waterskin Nfirea had just given him, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp. Letting out a long breath, he showed a satisfied expression.
If this waterskin had been given by anyone else, Aaron would never have drunk from it.
He stood up.
Aaron hooked the black waterskin onto his own belt, then stepped back into the street, following the flow of people toward the center of the royal capital.
With so many eyes around, it was not a good time to stash the waterskin in his Item Box.
"Since I ran into it anyway, I might as well watch this peak showdown."
A trace of anticipation showed on Aaron's face.
There were still more than four years before the Great Tomb descended. Time was a bit tight, but not so tight that he could not spare even this much.
Sharpening the axe would not delay the chopping of firewood.
Those two might not be as strong as they would be four years later, but they should already be at least around level 20 now.
That was more or less the entry threshold for human powerhouses in this world. By watching their match, he could also gather some information.
If it had been before he obtained the "Genius" class, Aaron truly would not have been in the mood. But now, he already had some ideas about his future class build.
The duel between the Warrior Captain and the Nail Clipper was a fight that would still be discussed eagerly by many powerhouses from various countries in the future. And this battle did not just attract the attention of people from the Re-Estize Kingdom alone.
Gazef and Brain had already been widely known as genius-level figures even before this match.
If Aaron remembered correctly, Brain also possessed the talent "Warrior (Genius)."
In the crowd,
all kinds of commentary about the match drifted over from all sides.
Most of it was speculation about who would ultimately win.
This almost feverish discussion and excitement
made Aaron's eyes light up for a moment.
Others might not know who would win this duel, but he did.
For a contest that had essentially captivated the entire kingdom, Aaron felt there had to be betting going on somewhere.
If he placed an early bet on Gazef, even if the odds were not great, he should still make some money. Right now, he was dirt poor. Food and lodging both cost money.
With that in mind,
Aaron turned to look at a young man walking past him, dressed like an adventurer in light leather armor.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where the betting stalls are?" Aaron kept his voice calm and asked directly.
Drawing on a bit of life experience from his previous world,
Aaron knew that in such a lively atmosphere, it was better for strangers to ask their questions bluntly. Overly polite and roundabout phrasing would only annoy people.
The young man in leather armor, suddenly spoken to, turned his head toward Aaron with a look of surprise at the question.
He gave Aaron a quick once-over.
A hint of disdain flashed in the man's eyes. "Out-of-towner?"
Right now Aaron wore dark gray clothes, with a short sword hanging on his left hip and a waterskin on the right. He did not look much different from a local.
But his facial features and black short hair clearly did not match the kingdom's mainstream appearance.
"That's right, I only got here yesterday."
Despite the other man's slightly superior tone, Aaron's face showed no displeasure. He still spoke softly.
"Heh, thought so."
"There are no betting stalls." The young man in leather armor waved a hand and lifted his chin as he spoke.
"No?" Aaron was a bit surprised.
For such a grand event and such a huge influx of people into the capital, opening betting would be a guaranteed moneymaker for whoever ran the house.
Not to mention the notoriously greedy nobles.
"That's all thanks to Princess Renner's foresight."
Seeing the surprised look on Aaron's face, the young man in leather armor spoke in a slightly boastful tone, his voice carrying unconcealed admiration.
"Even if you're from out of town, you've at least heard of Princess Renner, right? She's the one people call the Pearl of the Kingdom, the lady who bears 'the radiance of the jewel.'"
"When the Royal Tournament began, Princess Renner proposed to His Majesty the King that they forbid any gambling or opening of betting on a match that represented the kingdom's image like this."
"It would disgrace the kingdom's honor, and would be disrespectful to the powerful warriors taking part in the contest."
As he spoke, the young man's voice grew a bit heated, and he folded his arms across his chest. "Although some nobles objected, His Majesty the King ultimately accepted her proposal."
"Princess Renner is farsighted, gentle, and compassionate…"
Seeing the leather-armored youth working himself into a frenzy, Aaron stepped back expressionlessly, then quickly slipped away with the crowd.
He had more or less figured out what was going on.
"Princess Renner, huh?"
Thinking of how obsessed that young man had looked, Aaron felt a bit speechless.
It seemed this Golden Princess's reputation among the commoners was quite high.
No betting allowed?
Aaron was certain that while this proposal might have been passed on paper, it could not be enforced in the shadows. There would definitely be nobles who kept running their betting rings as usual.
It was just that ordinary people would no longer have any way to participate.
So his get-rich-quick plan was dead.
"Gentle and compassionate? Using those words to describe the Golden Princess is really…"
Aaron shook his head slightly.
On the surface, Princess Renner seemed gentle, kind, innocent, always thinking of the kingdom and its people, and possessing a character as pure as gold.
In reality, she was a monster whose mind no normal person could comprehend. Even Albedo had called her "a heteromorph in terms of mentality."
She was the woman the Bloody Emperor hated the most.
Even the queen of the Dragon Kingdom—a Dragon Lord who had lived for hundreds of years yet liked to act like a loli—only ranked second in the Bloody Emperor's heart in terms of how much he disliked her.