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Etherious- A LitRPG Story
Chapter 74- Frog In A Well

Chapter 74- Frog In A Well

The tier-two system upgrade had brought with it a host of extra features that Arthur was pleased with. Considering its primary purpose was removing the bindings that prevented him from using unstructured magic, anything else was just the cherry on top.

Already, he'd found out a boatload of new information on titles and now he was about to check out his own presented in a more detailed format.

Tier 1 Titles [These are the weakest of titles, barely scratching the surface of the soul and hence count very little towards an individual's linear progression in power.]

-Unstable Strength (Survived the poison of an unstable monster core specialised in strength before unlocking a class) Increases strength attribute by 10%

It turned out that from Arthur's menagerie of titles, only one of them fell under tier 1 status. It was the one he'd gained after drinking the elixir made from the unstable core of the Draconic Liverthion, and it provided a measly ten percent boost to his strength attribute. Sure it would add up over time and yes, he did have other titles that provided a ten percent increase to attributes, but this one was only tier one.

As the notification stated, it would provide him very little benefit going forward and would contribute almost nothing to his class evolution. In all honesty, he probably would have gained more if the core had just provided a flat-out increase to the Strength stat instead. With his first title being a disappointment, Arthur could only move on and hope the others lived up to his expectations.

Tier 2 Titles [These titles are deep scars on the surface of the soul and thus produce a middling benefit towards the formation of one's class. They also very marginally shift the direction of one's skill growth]

Starting off the list of tier-two titles was the final one Arthur had gained. Reading through it, Arthur couldn't help but smile. Now he knew where he'd be putting his unallocated stats. I knew saving them was a good idea.

-Paragon of vitality (Possess a vitality of 500 whilst below level 100 as a human being. This is a KNOWN Title, meaning that it is one of the few whose conditions allow an unlock for every member of the human race) Increases vitality by 10%

Sure, this title only provided a ten percent increase like the Unstable Strength Title, but the difference here was that it was tier two. This meant that it would lead his skills down a vitality route and considering how that was his greatest stat by far with all his multipliers, he could hardly complain. And it's gonna help me unlock a rarer class.

Arthur was close to hitting 500 on a number of his other attributes and with his 266 points saved, he could directly hit a few immediately. Being a known title, Arthur was almost certain that variations existed for the other stats and he'd be stupid if he missed out on them. Still, he couldn't help that the unlock conditions were a little harsh. With ordinary humans gaining only 5 stats per level, it would mean they'd have to invest every single one of those into a single stat to gain the Paragon title.

It's okay for me what with all the bonuses I have access to but I can't see how it'd be useful for others when it only gives an extra 10 percent.

Arthur shook his head. He wasn't about to complain when the universe was unfair in his favour. It was about damn time.

-Underdog- (Kill a monster 10 times your level) Increases strength by 10%

Self-explanatory. There was very little to see here. Just a title he'd managed to gain before he unlocked the system when he was technically a level 1.

-Liquid vitality- (Possess extremely regenerative blood with unique properties) Increases health regeneration by 10%

Now this was a title he'd almost forgotten about. One he'd gained during whatever shenanigans the system got up to so he'd stay alive. It was one of his most useful ones. Ten percent faster health regen didn't sound like a lot, but once again, it fed into his greatest strength. Any more specialising and he'd feel like a min-maxing gamer. Though I can't say that's not the approach everyone should be taking to the new world.

Tier 3 Titles [These are titles that have scarred the upper middle layer of the soul and hence provide a moderate benefit to unlocking and upgrading one's class. They also shape and guide a person's skills]

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

-Soul Affinity- (Have an affinity for soul magic) Increases the amount of soul {Surface shell} that can possibly be absorbed per level, thereby increasing the number of stat points gained. The increase has been calculated as 60%

This was perhaps the first title Arthur had ever gained simply by virtue of his inherent affinity for soul magic. The system must have recognised it the second it touched his soul. Because of it, he gained 8 stats per level instead of the regular 5, which now that he thought about, was indeed an increase of 60%.

These were only the effects that he currently knew of. Having a greater soul capacity than the average human would no doubt come to show a whole host of other benefits in the future.

-Paid in blood (Use 80% of your health to cast an unstructured spell whilst below level 100) Increases vitality by 30%. Makes the use of health in future spells much easier. Affects natural progression of skills

This was the title he'd gained after his most recent fight and it was also the only one in his arsenal that stated how it'd further affect his progression. Perhaps it meant it simply had a greater impact in that regard than titles of the same tier. He wasn't certain.

Once again, it fed into his greatest strength which was vitality. He could never get enough of that stat, especially now that he knew he could use it as a resource to fuel his spells.

Tier 4 Titles [Not much is known about titles of this tier, only that they begin to scratch the surface of the lower middle soul layer. Anything else is just speculation or information you have not been granted access to]

Once again, Arthur was a little surprised to see how personable the system messages had become since getting the upgrade. It must be an upgrade to my personal ai or something of the sort. Arthur didn't want to consider that someone was out there, behind the screen, monitoring him.

-Half breed- (Successfully absorb a monster core as a human before awakening your magical affinities and levelling up) Raises constitution by 30% and gives one the ability to gain stats from further monster core consumption

This was definitely Arthur's greatest title and the source of his explosive growth. It was why he'd become as powerful as he was able to in the post-system world. It was a shame he'd be losing it soon. Well, I guess I'm not really losing it. Alyssia said that fixing my soul problem will most likely change the title, not get rid of it. Hopefully, whatever I end up with won't be any worse.

-Twice lived- (Die a True Death and be reborn) Doubles effectiveness of vitality

And that was it, the end to his current list of titles. He had no idea what the system meant by a true death and it didn't seem to be forthcoming with any details. Well, that list is about to get a little longer right now.

Arthur distributed his unallocated stats between endurance and intelligence, bringing them both up to 500 and unlocking the Paragon title series for both. He now had ten titles, a nice round number and one that was truly unheard of for someone at his level. It had cost him a grand total of 217 stats and he was left sitting with his remaining 49. Taking a look at his status, he couldn't say he was displeased.

There was just one final notification to get through before that. Reading through it, Arthur felt that it was perhaps the most important one so far. It truly opened his eyes to how big the universe was. He truly was a frog in a well.

Note: The stats displayed to you are your total stats and also your effective stats whilst on a tier-one planet as you currently are. The stat grade boundaries provided to you operate under the same system with marginal differences.

However, it must be noted that these are your effective stats ONLY in a tier-one world. On a tier-two planet, due to the heightened ether concentration present there, these stats are lowered in efficiency to 50% and on a tier-3 planet to 16.6%. This is why the constitution requirements to live on such worlds, outside of the children born there to parents of the relevant tier, is set to 1000. Proper gear is required to travel to planets beyond this tier.

Children born on tier-two worlds suffer these restrictions 20% less than those born on tier-one worlds and children on tier-three worlds 40%. Note that these children must come from lineages established on these planets, or rather parents who have reached an appropriate level of power.

Well, that was a lot to digest.

Arthur Ward Level 71

Unallocated stat points: 49

Strength-120(100) [1.2*]

Vitality-400--->560* [1.4* or 2.8*]

Endurance-460---> 550 [1.1*]

Constitution-260(200)

Agility-118

Intelligence-323--->550 [1.1*]

Willpower-250

Charisma-95

Perception-92

Health- 5100/11,200 (1232(560)/hour)

Ether- 874/5500(550/hour)

Endurance- 5485/5500(550/minute)