The waiting period for the third quest alone was a week. Based on the scaling, the third quest itself might drag on for two weeks. Between the quest and the downtime, a single cycle was going to consume nearly a month of my life.
Across two quests, I was looking at a gap of two to three months where my growth would be stunted. In a world where every second counted, that kind of lost time was usually a death sentence. It wasn't something a person could just "compensate" for later.
Even with the massive advantage I held now, that lead was doomed to evaporate as others caught up. I was in a precarious position; I needed to participate in the upcoming war for the central zone of the continent, to carve out my piece of the "big cake" while it was still on the table.
I knew I deserved that seat at the high table, but I also knew my safety would be jeopardized if I went in weakened by a system penalty. I had been hoping to simply emerge unscathed with minimal losses.
