Before Del could finish reacting to the bountiful rewards his body was surrounded by golden particles which flowed into his body signalling a level-up(or multiple ones in this case).
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 2!]
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 3!]
[You have 10 unspent Status Points(SP)]
"Marvellous! I needed these desperately if I was going to slay more monsters. This evens the playing field." Delvin called his status before deciding how to allocate his SP's
[STATUS]
Name: Delvin Mayes
Age: ???
Race: Half-Human (Android)
Title: Death-defiant
Trait(s): Neo(???), Comprehensive Analysis(???)
Level: 3 (2/100%)
Class: -/-
Subclass: -/-
Health: 38/38
Mana: 73/73
Stamina: 53/53
Stats: You have 10 unspent Status Points
STR: 10
AGI: 8
VIT: 4
END: 9
INT: 13 (-5)
WIS: 8 (-5)
PER: 6
LCK: N/A
Looking over his stats Del was tempted to raise all of his stats to a baseline of 10 but that couldn't be accomplished at the moment. Del's first priority was surviving, in spite of this he added 5 points into Agility.
"Being safe is fine and all, but if I'm not proactive and prepared enough I'll eventually get sloppy or lazy and subsequently get killed because of it." Raising his Agility would increase various parameters related to speed and flexibility like increasing Del's acceleration and his body's ability to rapidly change direction.
Del's logic in doing this was that increasing his agility would synergize extremely well with his already flexible and dexterous body allowing him to surprise enemies in fights.
"The exact limits of my physique skill are unknown, another puzzle to add to my journal for further examination upon Meri's return." He hadn't forgotten this would happen for at least another two weeks.
Regardless of his physique Delvin didn't feel comfortable with only adding points to such an offense-related stat so he did bump his VIT by three points which made is HP equal to his Stamina.
The final two status points were allocated to Perception; a stat whose effects had little impact when compared to resource-giving stats like VIT or INT.
But it was exactly Perception which had an effect in alerting Delvin of the Plague Hopper's movement back in the forest. Increasing the range of his vision and hearing as well as their sensitiveness to small details in the environment would allow Del to notice his opponents before they've even caught a wiff of him.
Increasing Perception would also make assessing another person's truthfulness more accurate and reliable. Being able to notice subtle differences in someone's tone of voice or facial expressions would give Delvin a competitive edge when negotiating with merchants or questioning someone's intentions.
Delvin was happy with his new status page which looked something like this.
[STATUS]
Name: Delvin Mayes
Age: ???
Race: Half-Human (Android)
Title: Death defiant
Trait(s): Neo(???), Comprehensive Analysis(???)
Level: 3 (2/100%)
Class: -/-
Subclass: -/-
Health: 53/53
Mana: 73/73
Stamina: 59/59
Stats: No unspent SP
STR: 10
AGI: 13
VIT: 7
END: 9
INT: 13 (-5)
WIS: 8 (-5)
PER: 8
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
LCK: N/A
"Increasing VIT and END will be a constant if I wish to survive, I'll bump some SP in them every other Level or so." Delvin noticed his vision seemed a bit brighter in the dimly-lit cave. "I can also hear the tender flow of the stream near the cave slightly louder; increasing Perception regularly also seems like a wise choice. But with only 5 Status Points per level I'll have to be cautious about spending every last one."
Del proceeded to make some quick jumping jacks in order to test his increased speed and flexibility. "113 in one minute. That seems like a minute increase, but I'll keep tracking results whenever I put points into Agility again."
Del sat on the moist, rocky floor of the cave again to inspect what items he was rewarded, "Hopefully there'll be some camping equipment or actual clothes." The clothes he got from the starter kit couldn't even be inspected and upon trying to inspect them all Del got was:
[Trash]
Del's hopes were high when he called his inventory and saw a milky-green shining crystal and nicely-decorated box.
He retrieved the crystal first.
< Grounded Mana Crystal > (Epic*)
-Artifact
You sense a dormant energy sleeping within the crystal. Its uses are unknown…
[IDENTIFICATION SKILL INSUFFICIENT FOR DETAILED DESCRIPTION]
[User is advised to increase the level of skill 'Inspect I']
The crystal was the size of Del's head and weighed far less than Del thought it would. "A child could throw this around like rag doll. But an Epic rated object, if the rarity of items is anything like those of skills this is a major find." Del put the crystal back into his inventory for further examination some time in the future.
"Now let's see what this baby has in store me." Del added while opening the plain cardboard box which was his second reward for finding the safe zone. Upon checking the item's description Delvin was left flabbergasted. "This has to be dumbest name I've ever heard."
< The Promising Survivor's Advanced Box of Supplements and Supplies > (Epic)
-Cache of items
TPSABSS are awarded to outstanding individuals who have shown their willingness to adapt and conquer their changed home worlds. Ten boxes are rewarded, their contents randomized and distributed among the Pioneers. Godspeed.
---
The contents of the box made up for the its stupidly long name, and they left Delvin practically drooling. "These trousers will make my dodging rate even more ridiculous… who knew a simple ring could carry such beneficial effects, hm hm, yes… Ah my babies, your power will give this robot the wings it requires."
< Promising Survivor's Trousers > (Rare)
-Leg armour
+10 Defense
+2 VIT
+2 END
Increased resistance to slashing and tearing attacks (Only in protected area)
Cooldown of 'Dodge' skill is lowered by -50% while equipped with this item
Set effect: 1/6 (Insufficient collected pieces)
A part of the Promising Survivor Set, these items offer weaker Status buffs in exchange for affecting certain skills.
< Dodge > (Tier 0, Rare)
Effect: Miniscule increase to reflexes and reactions when dodging enemy attacks. Works for physical and magical attacks.
Cost: 15 Stamina
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Duration: 5 seconds
Your monkey-like behaviour while traversing the forest coupled with the evasive maneuvers you executed during the fight with the plague hopper have been quantified by the system in the form of this skill.
Level 1/5
---
"Jump in with lunge into a dodge or feint to either side depending on the enemy's trajectory and activate dodge. Get them to waste stamina and cooldowns while the cooldown of lunge is reset and combine it with the second activation of dodge. But I'll be left with barely enough stamina to execute trust or slash, that's not even counting the stamina I'll end up using naturally during fights." Delvin's mind was racing with possible strategies and skill combos.
"This weapon will make it easier to dispatch enemies before my stamina ends up being a problem, and the ring will make sure that even if my fatigue runs high I'll always have an ace up my sleeve."
< Eshewed Spear > (Rare)
-Main weapon, Two-handed
Damage: 10/10
+5 STR
Increased damage against poison-related creatures (Miniscule)
All Spear-related skills deal more damage when equipping this weapon (Miniscule)
Crafted from a sky-branch of a young Eshew Tree, this spear is resilient to fire and poison type damage. Its pointed end is imbued with the power of nature and earth.
A crudely-designed weapon, its beauty lies not in its appearance but in its effectiveness in combat. True warriors have no need for flashy runes and intricate carvings; Created based on the needs of 'Delvin Mayes'.
< Nature's Grace > (Rare)
-Ring
+5 WIS
+20 Mana
Effect: Every 150 seconds the wielder may call forth a soothing power which regenerates 20 Health Points.
Crafter from ordinary wood, the ring's power comes from the green jewel socketed in its center, radiating a soothing aura that promotes healing and rejuvenation.
---
When Del put Nature' Grace on his middle finger he received a notification informing him of a new system tab called 'Armor and Equipment'. He opened the new tab and was presented with a miniature version of himself surrounded by empty green boxes.
There were a multitude of boxes, one for every piece of a human's anatomy: headgear, legs, shoulder-guards, gloves, necklace… Too many empty ones for Del's comfort.
Del noticed there was one more open spot for a ring on his other hand; he also noticed two open slots for earrings, and a pair of boxes for a bracelet and necklace. "I'll get quite blinged-out when all of this is fully loaded." He pondered on his future sultan-like outfits.
Inside the box were also ten servings of 'Decent Rations', rare consumable items which had more than 2000 kcal and were filled with various vitamins and nutrients. These rations were left in Del's inventory where they conveniently took up only one slot by stacking atop one another. "These stacks are most likely only for smaller-sized items, I'll try to find a harvestable herb and see how far these stacks can reach." Del wrote down.
Del swapped his old weapon and trousers and ate half a serving of one ration. A bland, grey block of mush whose effects justified its flavour, or lack thereof. "I'll eat the other half when the sun starts setting." He placed the old items in his inventory and proceeded to test his new strength in the confines of the small safe zone.
Delvin sliced and diced around the gravelly cave, whirling his spear as if it was an extension of his body.
"I must have truly been a formidable spearman some time in the past. My current skills would be equivalent to a student who had practiced a polearm-type weapon for 5 years despite not remembering almost anything." Delvin's footwork and balance needed work, he reasoned; his power and explosiveness also needed to be strengthened.
"There's many areas to improve upon and my knowledge's foundations need improvement but this level of skill will suffice with dealing with the pesky plague hoppers." Delvin could see feint shadows jumping around beyond the barrier of the safe zone. "You will be the fuel I require." He added, menacingly.
"Oh, I almost forgot about that-" Del called the final reward, something called an Achievement, located in the 'Traits, Titles and Achievements' Tab.
[ACHIEVEMENTS]
Pioneer I
-Awarded to the 10 forerunners of a newly-awakened world whose destinies shall be interwoven together, creating the intricate tapestry that will be the future of this world.
Can form: Base (Requires 10 compliant individuals; Current progress: 1/10)
…
…
Reach Tier 1 for further upgrades to this Achievement.
---
"A base of operations? That could prove to be useful if it came with some kind of buffs or perks; speaking of which the zone buff should begin any second now…" Delvin put the idea of a creating a base of operations on the back burner; he didn't want to deal with unfamiliar locals until he had some kind of leverage over them; be it in strength, health or wealth.
[Due to staying within the border of the Safe Zone you have received its associated buff] The system's robotic and monotone voice sounded in Del's mind.
[Experience from slaying monsters +25%. Combat Movement speed +10%]
[These buffs are effective for 6 hours or until you slay 25 monsters. Happy hunting!]
"Looks like the hunt will finally commence." Delvin said and stepped outside the protected cave's border in search of prey; his eyes glimmering with a menacing radiance.