I’ve spent some time inspecting Ubren, the Keepers Guildmaster and overseer, for the purpose of defeating him in this evaluation duel. My conclusion after pairing up our statuses together is that, he’s not that strong.

His level, stats, skills, or equipment are all below mine. It looks like I can beat him without going all out, but then my evaluation might not be so high. I’d better use something cool and explosive so he can give me a high rank. If I do well enough I might even skip past the Metal rank and join the top echelon of this Yorliss country.

I decide on using the most straightforward skill, Boost, to multiply my status 2 times. A rough guess at my level which has been steadily increasing in the background while I sleep, puts me around level 175, and with the added bonus of the Superhuman skill and from cultivating Qi Mastery to the 5th rank, it all adds to roughly 385-390 points averaged across the board.

This seems a bit overkill, but I’m sure the old man can handle it. Power surges through me as magic stirs and then, nothing…

Like smoke gone up, it’s gone. The power I was expecting just vanishes and leaves my body feeling languid and empty.

A new feeling rises in me, one of pain. Excruciating pain, like my organs are constricting and needles are stabbing into my heart. Something else is bubbling and rises up my throat.

I almost cough it out but hold my mouth shut, the taste of iron filling it. This is the taste of blood—my blood.

This might be the first time I’ve bled since my journey began. Things look bad but I don’t have the time or leisure to investigate.

Ubren received my signal to start beforehand and is in motion towards me with shield readied and the tip of his sword outstretched like a spear.

I can’t move my body, it feels like I’m dragging tons of concrete around. I can’t put up any resistance and all I feel is weakness. I feel weaker than I’ve ever been, like my skills and powers were reset to zero.

I can only try to swallow the mouthful of blood and tell Ubren to stop but I’m too slow. He reaches me and is poised to strike. I hope that he’ll underestimate me as I try to tell him telepathically, I’m just a weak little girl here!

But my telepathy skill fails and his sword is brought down on me. At least I’m not completely out of luck as my armor and other accessories are able to reduce the damage greatly.

My defense holds out as the strike connects with my breastplate, knocking me flying out of the ring. Envie and the girls catch me in a short moment. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, wondering just what sort of joke am I playing now.

Ubren is visibly confused, staring at me with eyes popping out. I smile in embarrassment to shake off the weird atmosphere. My body is aching like someone gave me a massage using a jackhammer.

Ubren 「 Maybe you’re not… feeling well, little one? Let’s take a break. 」

The girls and I retreat with his pardon as I try to bring up my status. The menu still seems functional but a look at my status leaves me speechless.

All my stats appear as something like Strength: 385(10), making my confusion worsen. Next to my status is in parenthesis (Weakened). I bet this will explain my current state.

Examining Weakened shows me that under this ailment all my stats are reduced and non-supportive skills are disabled.

Although this doesn’t show me why I fell into a weakened state after using Boost. It’s also baffling why my skill Abnormal Status Negation didn’t prevent this Weakened state.

I use the Crafting skill among the few that still work and grab some medicine from Lina. I never stock any magical potions since I have healing magic, so I can only make due after my regret.

I synthesize some strange new potion using some cold medicine from Earth, and some colorful herbs I picked up from Arcoul. I throw them all together and use the skill to create a potion of weird origins.

A glass bottle holding purple liquid materializes in the air and falls into my hands. I pop the wooden stopper and down the liquid. A soothing and mystical feeling permeates my weak body.

I name this potion Panacea, the fusion of scientific medicine and magic. I make a few more while I have the chance. My body feels better as time goes on.

Ubren and the girls lead me into the sickbay looking to call the guild’s healer. I refuse the good will and ask Ubren for his insight into my condition.

Ubren 「 If I recall correctly, you used a secret skill to amplify your strength, yes? Perhaps this is a backlash from such a potent skill. 」

Becca 「 A backlash can wreck my body so much? But I didn’t get any backlash the previous time I used it. What changed this time? 」

Ubren 「 I’m pretty sure that you reached the bottleneck, hence why your secret skill failed and the rebound hit you. 」

Becca 「 Bottleneck? 」

The old guildmaster goes on to explain that all mortals have a limit physically and spiritually that is hard to overcome. The limit exists at the Level 500 mark.

Things click in my mind as I recall that although my level wasn’t close to 500, my stats were already close to 400 before I used the boost. Apparently most people can only raise their stats and level to 499, and not a single point more.

The bottle neck is only a point’s separation but it represents the mortal limitations that everyone possesses. People that cross that threshold enter the realm of Demigods and transform qualitatively.

My guess is that the Dragon God Abaleyn and Priestess Dionyss are like the Demigod existences and beyond, with levels above 500. That would explain why I can’t examine their status with Analysis, all due to this bottleneck separation.

Maybe when I break into the power of level 500 I’ll be able to see their status more clearly. That’s something to keep in mind for the future.

Becca 「 So is there any way to overcome the bottleneck? 」

Ubren 「 The bottleneck is a natural barrier that has eluded many figures. Even the most famous Star ranked Keepers have failed to overcome the human body’s limits. Only one person in Arcoul’s history has overcome the bottleneck, albeit only briefly. 」

Becca 「 Who was it? 」

Ubren 「 The hero who took down the Demon God. 」

The hero? Well, no small wonder.

Unfortunately Ubren doesn’t know any more details. I wonder if Dionyss, the previous companion of the hero, would know about this?

In the future I plan to learn about this elusive bottleneck preventing me from raising my stats above 500. For now, I ask if Ubren will allow me to retake the test again. He shakes his head solemnly as he explains that his hands are tied.

Ubren 「 I already took exception to bypass regulations and give you the test. If I were to do so again without plausible action, some older members of the guild would object. Since the new guildmaster has yet to be decided, some unsavory oldies are eager to throw their weight around and weaken the guildmaster’s influence. In short, you’re out of luck. 」

And thus, I continue to remain at the lowly Glass rank. Am I really the hero of this story? Maybe that other hero I’m hearing about is the real hero here, and I’m just some clown.