Marasmus, who was currently assessing Darius silently, asked with a curious tone. "You… why are the laws of the Faust so fearful of you? What is… why are there newer and stronger laws overlapping my domain?"
Darius smiled widely even as he bowed. "Lord Marasmus, it is something unique to me, so please do not worry about it. You've lived for far more centuries than my feeble mind could comprehend, so I'm sure you've seen your fair share of battles."
"However, is there really a need to resort to such barbaric behavior? I would much rather genuinely like to barter with you on various matters so we may reach a concord. If you can feel the... uniqueness... surrounding me, then perhaps it will prove to you that my means may be beyond what you might expect a 'normal' mortal to have."
Marasmus didn't seem to be calmed down by Darius' nonchalant explanation.
The fellow would never personally understand how unsettling it was for these powerhouses like Marasmus, Kubrick, and others who had Master-stage stats and a strong connection to the core of Faust to encounter someone who made them feel like everything they knew was being overwritten.
The laws of the Supreme System covered over those of the Faustian system. While it allowed some elements of the latter to remain, it would change those it saw fit to fit the system's mechanics.
Everyone within its range would be forcibly quantized and given stats which was used to generate their HP and MP, as well as level and race. Their souls would be passively perused for all their skills and laid out in a table to decide their classes.
When Darius used Analyze, it just showed him these details. Analyze itself did not connect with a person and generate their stats, as that had already been done by the Supreme System.
When Kubrick had commented on Darius' 'uniqueness' with a smile, he hadn't been doing so idly. The great mage had felt greatly discomforted and had been trying to find out if it was intentional on Darius' part, so he'd know how to deal with the fellow.
However, Darius' response at the time had made it painfully clear that he had no clue as to how he was 'offending' these powerhouses, so Kubrick had let the matter go.
Darius was not fully aware of it, but he could infer from Kubrick's past behavior and Marasmus' current one that this was something that deterred these powerhouses for it was beyond their understanding.
So unlike the matter with Kubrick, here, Darius chose to act like he knew what the system was doing but at the same time pretending not to. The result excited him as it made the powerful Stonekeeper wary of him.
Of course, Marasmus would never fear such a thing, but at least it made him cautious towards Darius, which bought him enough time to continue his antics, which was really all he could ask for.
Darius Analyzed the undead silently.
[Detected target is of a Neutral affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Sino D'Mara
Race: Undead
Class: Stonekeeper
Subclass: Reaper
HP: 27,390/27,390
MP: 4,680/4,680
Level: 60
Strength: 166
Agility: 145
Endurance: 165
Intellect: 78
Charisma: 12
Luck: 0]
Darius froze for a split second, his mind quickly overwhelmed by what he saw. There was so much to digest from this simple character sheet that looked quite bland that Darius wished he could have a few extra days to do so.
However, as he was in the thick of it now, he had to analyze and digest what he had quickly and deduce the rest as he went on.
The first thing was Marasmus' name. It was not the name that he used now, but rather the name he had from his previous life most likely. Sino D'Mara sounded like a name from the Ludo continent which was Saharan in nature.
Darius noticed that there was a naming trend with Marasmus and Goiter, which were deficiency diseases. Could it be something random or did it have a special meaning to it?
Also, the fact that the character sheet showed his true name instead of anything else unlike the other Adept undead Darius had come across told him that there was something special about Marasmus, and it was not just his power.
That was something he would have to probe carefully.
Next was the confusion with his class. Darius was truly horrified by the fact that Marasmus was a Reaper. Most of his plans had factored Marasmus in as a caster-type undead.
It couldn't be helped, when one thought of clever/pinnacle main antagonists, one would usually think of Intelligence-type enemies that were known for being clever. However, Marasmus was actually a Strength-type undead which threw Darius greatly off!
Reapers were Commander Rank undead below the Dread Knight and Death Knight. They were monsters of the battlefield that had absurd strength, speed, and endurance but few skills.
Even Dread Knights and Death Knights didn't dare fight them. What made these two knight-class undead higher up than the Reapers was the fact that they had many versatile skills and used underlings to fight, while Reapers were basically like anime protagonists during their climactic rage mode.
Putting aside the horror of fighting a Reaper head-on - which despaired Darius for neither Mikey nor Joneson with their little combat experience would be able to do anything - he did not understand why Stonekeeper was his main class when it should be the sub.
This told him that being a Stonekeeper was not just a title, but it came with very powerful skills and notable abilities that surpassed even the Reaper class.
Finally, Maramus' stats were truly disheartening. Forget Master-stage, his Strength and Endurance were less than 50 points away from what Darius assumed to be the bottommost requirement for a Grandmaster!
How could anything Darius cook up compare to this?
All this sounded long, but with Darius's computational abilities, he had been able to calculate this all before he raised his upper body and moved to stand opposite the undead Reaper.
"Is my Lord willing?" He asked softly.
Marasmus pondered for a while, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes before nodding. "Fine, we can trade, but I reserve the right to reject any transactions regardless of any offer you make."
Saying something like this showed that Marasmus was not skilled in mercantilism, for such a thing was an unspoken rule and was frankly quite obvious. However, Darius merely gave him a humble smile.
"That is fair, my Lord. May we begin the barter?"
Marasmus nodded. "Start."
