10,000x Reward Multiplier: Hell-level Kingdom Building-Chapter 32: [0] What is a path?

It was a much simpler description than the first stage, but it was still clear and easy to understand. After all, the name of the skill was already self-explanatory.

Yet, he was still stunned by the realization that such a talent was in his possession.

A multiplier that would grow alongside him.

Others would kill to possess this kind of talent.

’I would no longer regret targeting smaller monsters with this multiplier by my side,’ he thought, with a faint smile forming on his lips.

With this, even the smallest rewards would gradually stack into something far greater over time.

Aside from the notification about the [Infinite Reward Multiplier] and [Shop], there were others.

[Inventory has been upgraded to 10 slots]

[You can now decide your PATH]

Among the two, the last one drew his attention the most.

"What is a path?" he wondered aloud, directing the question at the system, which, as usual, ignored him completely.

’What the fu... I am not even complaining, and you are still giving me the silent treatment?’ he complained inwardly, slightly annoyed.

If Floki were to assign a personality to his system, it would definitely be something cold, grumpy, and unnecessarily unresponsive.

’Now I have to find out myself whatever the heck path means because my system is just being a little bitch,’ he cursed inwardly.

[System is not being a little bitch.]

Floki paused.

He stared at the notification floating in front of him with a deadpan expression.

’So now it can talk?’

[Negative.]

Floki heaved a long sigh to calm himself.

After all, succumbing to the annoyance of his system was far beneath his mental maturity.

Just then, Jabba and the others finished what they were doing and began strolling toward him, each carrying several small bags filled with monster cores.

"Young master, I am curious. The monster core you found earlier from the hobgoblins, what color was it?" Anton asked with a curious expression, his stained black hair drifting slightly with the wind.

"Green. Why do you ask?" Floki responded, though he was also curious now.

Instead of replying immediately, Anton dug his hand into the bag and brought out a fist-sized crystal. It looked exactly like the one Floki had found from the hobgoblins, but its pigment was different. It had a light orange color.

"I think the monster cores we find represent the affinity of the monsters," Anton suggested, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.

A brief amused thought crossed Floki’s mind upon seeing this muscular, barbarian-like man trying to act like a scholar.

’Well, it is not bad to be both brawn and brain,’ he thought inwardly.

"You are right. It does represent their affinity. But why was the goblin’s core green? They do not possess any plant-based powers or anything related to that color. They even used fireballs, so it should be orange like the flame-wolves," Floki asked, deliberately trying to trouble his subordinate’s mind and see how he would respond.

The others tilted their heads slightly toward Anton.

Especially Angelina, who paid more attention to him than the others, her gaze holding more than just curiosity.

Anton, unwavering under the eyes fixed on him, placed his hand on his jaw in a contemplating pose. This only made it harder for Floki to hold back his laughter. Out of respect, he held himself back and did not let out any jokes that might hurt the pride of his follower.

"It depends," he said as he lifted his head after a brief pause.

"Maybe because the goblins are not purely fire-affinity users, their cores were not colored orange. Or maybe green is the basic color for every monster. It could even be because of their skin color," he explained.

Floki nodded softly, clearly impressed by Anton’s ability to come up with such possibilities instead of jumping to a single answer.

To be honest, he had not really thought much of Jabba and Anton as the smart type, given their muscular and aggressive appearance.

He reminded himself not to judge a book by its cover in this world. After all, a scrawny-looking Breeze effortlessly took down hobgoblins.

The others were also pretty amazed by Anton’s ’smartness,’ especially the women. Nonetheless, none of them revealed their true intentions on their faces, as they were still in recovery phases from trauma.

"I am curious, do any of you know what a path means?" Floki asked.

He did not know how to word the question properly so they could understand, so he came up with the simplest one he could think of, hoping they would get the gist of it.

"Path?" Anton asked.

"Yes..." Floki nodded.

"We don’t really know so much about stats," Anton began, then continued after a short pause. "Your father would have had a lot of knowledge about paths, as he was on the Warrior path. He usually made it known to everyone and advised people to practice what they love so when they reach their breakthrough point, they would be granted a path that benefits them."

Jabba also added, as he seemingly recalled something, "He mentioned that being a warrior means his strength grows really fast compared to his other qualities."

Anton and Jabba were the only ones who knew Ragnar Ironside.

When he was alive, Floki was still a teenager, and as a result, he was not deeply impacted with combat knowledge like the three sons of Herald the Hunter, who, even in their teenage years, were already expert hunters.

As a result, the two of them learned more about paths from Ragnar, who had taken it upon himself to teach them after their father died.

And now, the two of them exchanged that knowledge with him.

Recalling all they had learned from Ragnar.

According to them, there were different paths.

There were paths for mages, and based on what they were taught, mages do not grow as quickly in strength like warriors and instead grow more in the qualities that make spell casting easier and faster for them.

There were also assassin paths, which grow more in agility.

There were guardians, with their main progress being in defense.

They also listed paths like battle-mage, berserker, healer, and beast tamer. Unfortunately, they had little knowledge of these paths. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Floki was quick to deduce the essence of their explanation.

One’s awakened path defines their growth.

’So which path do I have, and is it possible for me to have many paths? I do not want to be tied down to a single path if they have such effects,’ he thought.

[Host’s thought is correct...]

The notification appeared, slower than usual, as if the system was deliberately responding this time.

Floki’s eyes narrowed slightly.

[Host can..]