Faust recognized he had many flaws.
He lusted after beauty, craved glory, had a restless mind. He was someone who hadn't risen above base desires in the slightest.
Though ironically, these flaws were what Mephisto considered virtues.
But Faust's strengths were undeniable as well. He absolutely kept his promises and possessed tremendous willpower and resolve.
He could endure, dared to dream, and dared to act!
Even without Mephisto's help, Faust had been bold enough to compete for supremacy from a corner of the world.
Now, with a Fae's contract, he was even willing to trample every taboo in existence.
As for his life and safety?
Laughable. That had never been a consideration. How could anyone who feared death accomplish anything?
[Ah, Faust, please forgive me. That was my mistake. I promise it will never happen again!]
Mephisto made a solemn vow to its contractor, then spoke in what seemed like an intoxicated tone:
[Let our fates intertwine inseparably. Heh, humanity... you would live and die together with me? How utterly romantic...]
Faust didn't share the Fae's sentimentality. As far as he was concerned, he'd simply stated the obvious.
Prince Faust read through the letter again, frowning.
"Speaking of which, who exactly is the Second Empire planning to send, and in what capacity? This only mentions coming to discuss an alliance. Everything else is just empty words."
"They'd better not make a big production of it. Aurum can't afford to openly associate with a dragon and risk universal condemnation right now."
If the Second Empire actually announced an alliance agreement to the world, by the next day a coalition against the Kingdom of Aurum would already be forming. All those currently friendly neighboring nations would turn on them instantly.
Getting mixed up with an evil dragon? That went beyond ordinary human treachery. It demanded a severe response!
[I don't know either. Ren only said she'd send her child, but given the current situation, they'll likely keep it discreet. We'll find out when they arrive.]
Hearing Mephisto's words, Faust could only set the matter aside for now. Since Mephisto wanted to Fall, the world's only dragon nation was naturally their ally.
Things weren't quite going as he'd imagined... Faust's original plan had been to find a bunch of small nations at Aurum's level, band together for mutual support, and become their leader, thereby gaining qualification to enter the larger stage.
The Second Empire... this ally was certainly powerful enough. Their ability to maintain absolute dominance in a civil war demonstrated just how formidable a True Dragon's power was.
But even the strongest nation couldn't withstand the entire world's assault. Should he abandon an entire forest for the sake of one large tree?
[Is that really the case? Not necessarily. We have many potential allies, and only you can achieve this. Only you are qualified.]
"Little Mei, what do you mean?"
Faust now completely trusted Mephisto's vast capabilities. Hearing the Fae say this immediately piqued his interest.
However, Mephisto unusually didn't satisfy its contractor's curiosity right away:
[We'll discuss it after you begin your heroic trials. First, finish receiving the blessing's gifts.]
........
Could Mephisto deceive him? Absolutely impossible!
So while waiting for the Second Empire's envoy, Faust continued receiving the blessings he was owed.
This didn't take much time, because even before this, through the elf teacher's persistent beatings, he'd already felt an obvious bottleneck. His strength was improving slower and slower.
One day, when that feeling of waking up completely transformed finally disappeared, Faust realized his shortcut to power had finally reached its limit.
"Your growth has stabilized."
The elf Martial Saint naturally noticed this, though she didn't realize it was because the cheat had ended. She actually felt somewhat relieved.
After all, Faust's previous progress had been terrifying, changing dramatically every single day. Wait, why couldn't I do that when I was training back then?
Mistoria gripped her sword hilt and said:
"I may have truly misjudged you. You seem quite talented on the [Martial Saint] path. How about trying to switch tracks? Our White Court Martial Saints are the Kingdom of Darkfold's most distinguished combat and trial school."
Over this time together, the elf Martial Saint had initially come with the mindset of completing a task, but the more she taught Faust, the more satisfied she became with this "apprentice." She'd even begun genuinely considering taking him as a disciple.
Passing the White Court Martial Saint's legacy to a human... perhaps that was acceptable?
Faust chuckled and shook his head in polite refusal.
"The Martial Saint path, huh... While I'm not afraid of rigorous training, unfortunately, I actually have no talent in this area. Most of it was the Fae's help. [Sovereign Ruler] suits me better."
You know your own situation best. Faust relied entirely on information asymmetry to create the illusion of genius. Essentially, he'd exploited a bug to gain some of Mistoria's [Martial Saint] experience and attributes.
If he actually switched paths, he'd immediately be out of his depth.
Though this world had various paths that seemed quite similar to "game classes," switching paths wasn't comparable to changing jobs.
Each path required genuine embodiment and practice to grow.
In other words, it heavily depended on talent. Faust knew he wasn't cut out to be a [Martial Saint]. The [Sovereign Ruler] path, which only required satisfying greed and constant conquest, already suited him perfectly.
"I see. Then it truly cannot be replicated."
Hearing this, Mistoria could finally understand Faust's inexplicable rate of progress.
This was also most people's worldview in this age. Fae were absolutely correct. Unless they Fell into dragonhood, no one would ever question a Fae's actions.
The elf said regretfully, "I'd been planning to pass down my legacy..."
Faust quickly responded, "But Teacher Mistoria, you'll always be my teacher! I still need much more of your guidance."
Mistoria tilted her head. "With your current strength, you can already be considered outstanding among [Martial Saint] [Elites]. Just going out to train would be more than sufficient."
"[Elite] among [Martial Saints]?"
Faust's eyes lit up with delight.
He genuinely didn't know he'd reached that level. Not because he was oblivious, but because rank divisions were quite vague, especially for [Martial Saint], which wasn't even his own path, making it even harder to perceive.
After all, this wasn't a game world. Combat power couldn't be truly quantified with detailed statistics displayed.
Because reality was too complex. Different personalities, different habits, different characteristics, even equipment, mental fortitude, and experience could all drastically influence a battle's outcome.
How could you compare and quantify that, by stacking modifiers endlessly?
Not to mention some mystical paths that weren't meant for combat at all. Discussing them in combat terms would be fundamentally skewed. As for realm levels and such, there was no grading concept. Either you had it or you didn't.
But even so, people had an objective need for... well, not beast fights, but classification. So using experience on one's path as the standard, they created rough divisions.
[Apprentice] [Elite] [Master] [Hero] [Saint]
These tiers only represented one's achievements on their path and didn't reflect actual combat power. But regardless, anyone reaching higher tiers was absolutely a transcendent mystical powerhouse.