Just one day of drawing in whatever essence I could see wouldn’t break me through to Tier 5–I knew that. But I still needed to cultivate in order to allocate my free stat points.
I’d gotten very good at meditating at this stage. Right after my training with Nic, I headed to my dormitory, convinced I couldn’t go any longer with 126 free stat points just sitting there and waiting to be used.
As soon as my door shut behind me, I hurriedly wiggled out of my armor, then replaced my sweaty jumpsuit with a fresh one from the wardrobe in my dorm. Once I finally settled onto my springy mattress, it didn’t take much effort to slip into a meditative trance like it once did. Allowing a sense of relaxation to wash over me now came effortlessly, and the ding that always accompanied the stat screens in my head came quickly. The darkness behind my eyelids lit up as glowing words revealed themselves to me:
STATUS
NAME: RAYDEN GRIM
TIER: 4
LEVEL: 24
24 OUT OF 45 LEVELS REACHED FOR TIER 4
I couldn’t get over seeing my name–my real name on the screen. I could go the rest of my life–however long that might be–without someone calling me “Clone #52” ever again. I found that unlikely, however, considering the AI version of Lord Solomon referred to me only by my blasted number. I was sure I’d come across another Lord Solomon AI at some point–most likely more than once. But I felt content to accept that at least I’d been able to change one thing: my stat screen.
STATS
MIGHT: 21
AGILITY: 18
VITALITY: 16
INTELLIGENCE: 21
WISDOM: 17
WILLPOWER: 18
FREE STAT POINTS: 129
Another three stat points, I thought. I had leveled up another level within Tier 4, giving me another three points. I better allocate them now.
If I remained honest with myself, the amount of points I needed to assign felt overwhelming. But now I had Nic’s suggestions ingrained in my brain, and I could deplete the free points before the number of points got too insane. I had no idea if they’d expire, either. Maybe the points would disappear if I decided to wait a while to allocate them. And that was yet another reason I wished I had Dex in my head to either correct or confirm my fears and questions. Having him present made life much more convenient.
I shouldn’t think about Dex now, I chastised myself. Nic said to focus on strengthening Intelligence, Wisdom, and Vitality…. But also to make sure the other categories were still steadily increasing.
I squirmed slightly within my meditative state, wishing that Nic had told me exact numbers on where I should allocate free points. I don’t like numbers, and I felt unsure about making these decisions by myself. I really wished Dex was here.
I mentally groaned. I really didn’t have the time to wallow in the sadness that came when thinking of my lost AI companion. So, I forced myself to continue with the task at hand.
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Now, I may have become proficient in entering a meditative state, but it was an entirely other thing to try to remain in said trance while counting through 129 stat points and deciding where every last one should go. My eyelids grew heavy from exhaustion–not relaxation–as I changed the allocation about a dozen times, having difficulty feeling satisfied with any decision.
Finally, after maybe my 14th time readjusting the stats, I felt like my allocation actually looked… decent.
STATS
MIGHT: 21 (+3)
AGILITY: 18 (+3)
VITALITY: 16 (+20)
INTELLIGENCE: 21 (+50)
WISDOM: 17 (+50)
WILLPOWER: 18 (+3)
FREE STAT POINTS: 0
Satisfied, I finalized the allocation. As soon as I did, the screen in my head went dark, and I started to feel the changes. I’d never had this much of a boost before. But I was increasing my stats by 129 points, so I should have expected an evident change.
Every muscle in my body started to buzz with an almost uncomfortable warmth. So much so that the feeling shocked me out of my trance.
My eyes flew open. Everything within me burned like my blood was boiling, yet I couldn’t stop shivering. I slid off the bed and began pacing, trying to shake the pain out of me, but nothing worked. I even tried jumping up and down to try to distract myself, but I soon had to collapse to the floor and catch my breath as my discomfort only increased.
The cloth of my jumpsuit that enclosed my arms and legs visibly began to stretch as my muscles expanded. It felt like I was intentionally flexing them, but I wasn’t. The muscles were growing, and the growing pains ached so much they brought tears to my eyes. But that I could handle. I’d barely even added any points to my Might and Agility. The burning, painful sensation that coursed through my veins and even my Soul seemed to come straight from my brain.
Something knocked back and forth in my skull, and a muddled thought arose…. If my other muscles, like my biceps and quadriceps, could grow from a stat boost, surely my brain could, as well. And I’d just allocated 100 points between Intelligence and Wisdom.
I dropped my head over my knees and groaned, unable to think as the process continued. My nose met with the bitter cold, hardwood floor, but that was nothing compared to what was happening inside my body at that moment. The only thing that I think helped me with the intense pain was the significant increase in my Vitality.
I grit my teeth and mentally convinced myself that I could handle this and that it would all be worth it. I continuously glanced at the clock above my desk, frustrated that not even a minute would go by. The mere seconds of discomfort went by agonizingly slowly. But then, once a minute finally did lapse, the pain began to fade, and I slowly stretched out my limbs underneath me and regained my composure.
I blinked my stinging eyes open and rolled onto my back, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. I laid my arms and legs out straight and reveled in a moment of no pain. Moments of no pain seemed to be few and far between for me these days.
Well, I will do everything I can to avoid that happening again, I told myself. I’d at least not save up so many stat points and use them all in one go like I just had.
I raised my hands over my head and studied the increased bulkiness along every part of my arms. The change was still subtle, but I couldn’t stop the satisfied smile that grew on my face.
I dropped my hands on my chest and stared up at the ceiling, still too exhausted to try to get up on my feet. My eyes widened as I continued to stare above. I could take in much more detail than I ever had. I could see every minuscule crack in the textured ceiling and even caught sight of a tiny, black beetle crawling in and out of one of the cracks in the top left corner. I studied the detail in the beetle's wings, seeing every vein in them and even every joint in its six legs.
I eased myself to a sitting position and rubbed my face. My head still hurt, but the pain was dull. I slowly rose to my feet and took another look at the clock above my desk. It was only three in the afternoon. I still had six hours before this “elite scout support” meeting that I had already decided to attend. I might as well see what Gareth and the others in charge of the experiment had to offer. But six hours would give me enough time to maybe scrounge up some food.
I should test what I can do now with my increased stats. But that wasn’t the priority. My stomach rumbled, and my increased stats called for Tier-appropriate equipment. The more I leveled up, the more my Tier 2 armor and spear became worthless.
I bent over to peer underneath my bed. The motion made me feel light-headed, but I forced myself to continue moving through it. Soon, the sensation dissipated, and I pulled out the satchel from underneath my bed and secured it around my shoulder. The landwalker core, still filled with glowing blue essence, resided at the bottom of my bag.
I also carefully pulled out every piece of my armor and precariously tucked them underneath an arm, along with my spear.
Three hours to find a buyer and sell the core and Tier 2 equipment for some credits, twoish hours to buy food and maybe some new equipment, then I’ll head over to the meeting.
I repeated the plan in my head three times, determined I would get my money’s worth for the landwalker core.
It shouldn’t be too hard, right?