Xavier cast Telekinesis on one of the goblins. The little beast slammed into the wall behind it. Something cracked in the creature, just as it had the first time Xavier had used the spell on an enemy.
Only this time, the wall he flung the goblin at wasn’t as far away. It was right behind it. Xavier took an aching step forward, the pain in both his legs stabbing at him, his ankle—the one a line had been sliced into—threatened to give out.
It faltered, but not enough to stop him from doing what he needed. He lashed out with the little sword. The Lesser Goblin hadn’t made it back to its feet yet, so striking the little beast was easy enough.
You have defeated a Level 2 Lesser Goblin!
You have gained 200 Mastery Points.
You have gained 200 Spirit Energy.
Congratulations, you have reached level 2!
Your health has been regenerated by 50%!
Your Spirit Energy limit has increased by 100!
You have received +1 Intelligence, +1 Willpower and +1 Spirit!
You have received +5 free stat points!
All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown!
An odd sensation ran through Xavier’s body. It was similar to when he’d cast Spiritual Guidance, but even more invigorating. He felt like he could do anything. He was caught by a thrill of excitement, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Which he knew would look strange to anyone witnessing the scene. A young man in odd, grey robes killing green goblins, covered in their blood and smiling.
That didn’t put a stop to his feeling of elation, however.
The pain in his legs faded, and he could stand without difficulty. The remaining goblin looked afraid. You should be afraid, Xavier thought. He threw the short sword down, took his staff in both hands, then used Cast Element.
Energy ran from him and into the staff. The crystal at its top turned red, then fire flowed out of it. Flames streamed toward the goblin, which had turned and tried to run, but it wasn’t fast enough to outrun the spell.
The flames caught the Lesser Goblin, consuming it in seconds.
You have defeated a Level 2 Lesser Goblin!
You have gained 200 Mastery Points.
You have gained 200 Spirit Energy.
Xavier breathed hard. Still grinning. He looked around at the dead Lesser Goblins in the room. His grin faltered. Suddenly, he felt… embarrassed? As though he shouldn’t be smiling about what he’d just done.
He straightened and shook his head. The door to the lecture theatre was still broken, which meant more Lesser Goblins could find him at any moment.
At least I know I can handle myself now.
He took stock of the situation. First, he looked at his legs. His robes had slashes through them. They were covered in blood—his red and goblin green. He gripped his staff in his left hand and hiked the robes.
Xavier had only bandaged the first wound he’d taken, not others. He looked at the line in his ankle. All he saw was blood. When he narrowed his eyes and looked more closely, he found the wound almost healed.
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When I gained that level, it said my health had regenerated by 50%. That made him wonder what his health was. Did he have health points, like in a video game?
Health points! he thought.
Nothing appeared. He did, however, get a vague sensation, something that told him he was on the right track, almost as though he was beginning to get a feel for how the system worked.
Health status.
Your health is at 90%.
Had he really lost so much health in that fight? He’d taken perhaps three strikes, all to his legs—thank God those little beasts had been short. Looking down, he supposed he had lost a lot of blood. Perhaps I lost more health as I bled?
He wondered if that percentage would go up as time passed, and how quickly it would.
Xavier paused. He hadn’t been taken away from this place yet, which meant there were still goblins out there. At least, he hoped it would only be goblins…
Okay, what’s my next move? So far, he’d been blundering through on not much more than blind luck and sheer force of will. If he were to get out of whatever the hell this was alive, he needed more than that.
He had received 5 free stat points when he’d gained that level, along with 1 point into Intelligence, Willpower and Spirit. He didn’t know which did what, only that he was deemed to have a strong spirit by the System.
Whatever that means.
He looked at his attributes and personal information once more.
XAVIER COLLINS
Level 2
Strength: 5
Speed: 5
Toughness: 5
Intelligence: 8
Willpower: 8
Spirit: 11
Mastery Points until next level: 300/3,000
Available Spirit Energy: 800/1,300
Free stat points remaining: 5
Alright, Xavier thought. My Mastery points are 300 of 3,000, which means it takes three times as many Mastery Points to reach level 3 as it did to reach level 2. He supposed that made sense. In any video game he’d ever played, gaining levels became harder as one went along.
Why would this System be any different?
When he came to his Spirit Energy, he frowned, tilted his head to the side. He only had 800. How could that be possible? He thought back to all the fights he’d been in, and the notifications he’d received at the end of them.
Whenever he’d defeated an opponent, he’d received the same amount of Spirit Energy as Mastery Points. Shouldn’t his Spirit Energy be maxed out at 1,300, if that were the case?
Also, shouldn’t his maximum Spirit Energy only be 1,200?
One thing at a time.
He stood there for a moment, frowning. He should have 1,300 points of Spirit Energy, yet he only had 800. That was 500 less than he’d gained after killing six goblins and “winning” the fight with the Navy Seal.
Xavier stopped himself from tapping his foot as he thought it all through. The last thing he wanted was to alert any goblins in the area of his presence—though he imagined the fight’s noise must have travelled far.
He strained his ears but heard nothing. He was alone. For now.
Spirit Energy… where could that 500 have gone?
It clicked. He raised his chin. How many spells had he cast? He’d used Telekinesis twice, Cast Element twice, and Spirit Guidance once—he had yet to use Summon.
I used five spells. Each time he’d used one of the spells, he’d felt energy leaving him. That must have been Spirit Energy! And each of the spells had cost 100 Spirit Energy each!
Xavier couldn’t help but smile. It was like figuring out a little puzzle. Spirit Energy is mana. Except, since when did one gain mana from killing?
He shook his head. Just because this felt like a video game, didn’t mean everything would line up. How could it? This was real life, now. Unless I’ve had a stroke or a coma. Or, worse, some terribly vivid hallucinations and the goblins are actually classmates I’ve murdered.
Except somehow, those eventualities felt more ludicrous to him than what was actually happening.
He halted that line of thought immediately.
Okay, now I know where the Spirit Energy went. Why do I have a maximum limit of 1,300? His limit had been 1,100, when he’d gained a level, he’d gotten 100 added to his limit.
He looked at his stats again—his Spirit attribute was at 11, as he’d gained 1 point from the level up. That clicked then, too. At least, the math added up.
Each point in Spirit gives me 100 to my Spirit Energy limit. Each level gives me 100 as well. I was level 1 with 10 Spirit, so I had 1,100. Now, I am level 2 with 11 Spirit, so I have 1,300.
He figured there was an easy way to test this theory.
Xavier willed what he wanted to happen next.
You have added 1 point to Spirit!
Spirit increased from 11 → 12!
You have 4 free stat points remaining.
Xavier then thought to bring up his available Spirit Energy, seeing if he could only have that appear, instead of his entire stat sheet.
Available Spirit Energy: 800/1,400
He pumped his fist in the air, even though he knew he would look ridiculous doing so. He felt a bit proud for having figured that out, though he was a long way from getting a handle on the System and whatever had happened to the world, this felt like a good step in the right direction.
Before applying his other free stat points, Xavier moved around the room. Each of the Lesser Goblins he’d killed had a purse just like the first one. Coins jingling inside. Using one of the short swords, he cut the purses from their belts and shoved them into his satchel.
I wish I had some sort of bag of holding. Do those exist? He would find out. Assuming he lived long enough. He clenched his jaw, resolve settling into him. I’ll see this all through. Whatever it is.
He’d chosen Champion, after all. Now, it was time to live up to that.