"So, I have more questions now."

"Mmm… ask away."

"The numbers next to my stats no longer have a plus sign, but I have a plus sign next to my level. Does that mean anything?"

She blinked. "Well, that's surprising, but I suppose not entirely, considering what happened. Let's see, let me demonstrate."

She reached over and picked up the third chair. I didn't think the chair was heavy, but she lifted the metal furniture like it weighed the same as a paperweight. Her arms showed no visible strain despite the effort.

"After becoming a Grimm, I had a STR stat of ten. All lore strains increase our STR by two, so I had a base stat of eight before the initialization. When I completed my first hunt, it was for a monster called an earth knocker. The thing is generally a friendly spirit, but this one had been separated from the earth and became corrupted. It murdered a family of six by the time the Grimms were informed. I killed it, granting me a title and stats. I got a plus one to STR, and it took a night of rest for my body to adjust. The next time I opened my status sheet, the plus was gone."

Throughout the explanation, she had kept the chair lifted into the air, her arm steady, without shaking once.

That's impressive and scary.

"I think I understand. What about the plus to my level? Does that mean I can level up?"

She placed the chair down. "Yes. You should get a notification if you open your status sheet and focus on the plus. Try it."

I did as she instructed and then felt something tingle inside my chest.

My status sheet temporarily disappeared, and new words appeared.

[ALERT]: New lore acquired. Lore Matrix Upgraded.

New Level: Level 2

+2 Granted by Lore Strain, +3 Granted by Upgrade

I looked up and found Astra waiting again. Clearing my throat, I glanced at my stat points. "Do I place these now? I don't even know what the stats do."

"The first level should place your stat points into STR, AGI, and CON, those being important for new pups to survive. Same with your second level, though sometimes people get one placed in INT or WIS if they're learning sorcery like I did."

I frowned. From how she described it, it sounded like the stats were auto-placed for them according to what they do.

But that's not true for me…

Name: Cain Veldman

Title: Crimson Hunter

Level: 2

Stats: (+5)

* STR: 12

* AGI: 12

* CON: 14

* INT: 13

* WIS: 12

* LUK: 13

Skills Unlocked:

* Summon Shadow Wolf

Passive Skills:

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

* Ember Soul

It looks like I get to choose where to place them.

"Can you explain what each stat does? I think I understand, but I want to be sure."

"With pleasure. You saw what strength does. It's how strong we are and how much force we can generate. AGI helps with speed and flexibility. Along with nimbleness."

"Like moving my fingers faster or something?"

She chuckled. "If you want to keep it simple, yes. Try some stretching exercises when you can; you'll find yourself a lot more limber." She reached over and lightly poked my skin. "Constitution is one of our most important stats. Care to guess what it does?"

If it works the way I think it does...

"It makes us tougher?"

"Vastly oversimplified, but when you boil it down, yes."

"What do you mean?"

"It boosts not just our toughness, but a high-level Grimm recovers from most wounds within the hour, sometimes minutes." Her smile dropped. "It also helps resist diseases and curses. More so diseases, but many curses have a physical affliction that our bodies can resist. It's why we have such a stringent requirement for hunts involving witches and hexers."

"That sounds terrifying. I see why it's important."

"Good, and don't worry. You almost always get a point in CON, especially in the early levels." She raised her hand and tapped the side of her head. "Mental stats like INT and WIS are a tad indirect."

"Does it make you smarter? Because that's very weird unless it deals with mana."

"INT helps memorization rather than make you smarter like some foolish pups like to believe. It also increases the amount of mana available to you."

So, it's not superhuman intelligence. That's almost disappointing.

"And wisdom works separately from intelligence. It helps mental fortitude and magical perception. Someone like me with high WIS can easily detect active spells or the presence of mana in the air. And more directly, it affects how fast you regenerate mana."

It was a lot to take in, and I felt a headache begin to form. None of the stats were surprising in their effects. Modern Earth used similar stats for all kinds of roleplaying purposes.

"What about LUK? That's Luck, right? How is that even a stat?"

"Ahh, the infamous stat." She shrugged. "Don't worry about it too much. It's nearly impossible to place a stat in LUK, and generally, that's only through special rewards from the system. As for what it does, that's also hard to answer. Ask any Grimm who hunted a monster with high LUK, and they'll tell you it's real. It's a thing of frustration. Things happen that shouldn't, and sometimes things hit harder than they should."

"That's…okay, I think I get it."

"It's frustrating, but few get enough points assigned for it to matter. And twenty LUK can be just as useless or helpful as ten."

That's not ideal, so I'll ignore the stat for now.

Bringing up my status sheet, I thought about how to distribute my stats. It would be good to put a point into the basics; it seemed important and expected. So, one point each went into STR, AGI, CON.

I debated adding another point to CON, but instead, I put one point into INT and WIS.

They're basically extra points, right? So, I'm ahead of the curve.

Only after I confirmed the final stat point did the memory of agony and fire inside my veins cross my mind. I sucked air through my teeth, clenching them shut, prepared for misery.

"What are you doing?"

I opened my eyes and realized that the hellfire didn't come. To Astra, I tensed up and flinched for no reason.

"Sorry, I suddenly remembered how painful the last time was, and I thought it would happen again. I…it didn't happen? How come?"

Her face softened, and she grabbed my hand. "It's okay. Only the first initialization hurts. You get a sudden injection of stats, and the lore strain integration is what messes you up. Don't worry about it; that's over. Stat points distribute slowly over the course of a day or two."

She squeezed my hand and let go, letting me collect myself.

"Thank you."

She clapped her hands and stood up. "I know the perfect distraction!"

I stood up and joined her. She began moving the tables and chairs to the side, so I helped and waited as she stepped back until we stood five feet apart.

With a wink, the lights in the room turned dark purple, and something touched the outside of my cloak.

Astra's hair lifted, caught in an invisible breeze. Her eyes turned a glowing yellow, cutting through the gloom. She raised her hand, and the silver chains around her wrist untangled and fell away.

The chains caught in the light, gleaming a bright purple in its reflective sheen. I stared, transfixed. The silver chains spooled into the air and then expanded around us like a cage. Throughout it all, a radiant smile brightened her face.

"It's amazing," I whispered.

Astra spread her arms wide, and the cage shifted with her movement. "This is my skill, Silver Manipulation."

"How does it work?"

She seized my arm, setting my hand on her shoulder before guiding my other hand to her waist. With a tap of her foot, a low melody began to play. It sounded like chime bells from a music box.

The silver chains weaved in and out as she guided me through a dance. They never touched us and flowed in beautiful patterns, each chain swirling through the air.

My excitement and wonder bubbled, causing me to laugh. "This is amazing."

Each step was a new chime, every turn filled with the clinking of chains. We spun around and around, Astra's body guiding me through the waltz.

When the music came to an end, the chains tightened around my arms, forcing one high while the other went to my side.

With a final chime, she twirled, dragging the chains with her. They spiraled like a whip, creating wind through the speed at which they spun. Her arms extended, and she ended in a deep curtsy.

The lights turned pink once more, and I clapped in applause.