Zack took a moment while they were busy to open his status page and review the differences.

Zackary ??

Level: 7

Exp to next Level: 58/2,210

Class: Arcane Mystic

Race: Dimensional Child

Titles: Child of the Portals, First to Second

Elemental Affinity: Space

Strength: 07.3 | 10

Intelligence: 15.1(+.2) | 13(+2)

Dexterity: 11.2(+2) | 13(+2)

Magic: 21.9(+.2) | 41(+2)

Constitution: 20.5(+2) | 25(+20)

Agility: 12.2(+.1) | 14(+1)

Abilities: Life Burner Lv. 4, Arcane Manipulation Lv. 0

SP: 23

Spells: Arcane Bolt Lv. 1, Arcane Armor Lv. 1

He was a little surprised to see his level was seven. Getting to five had been a no-brainer. He had thought that level six might even be possible, but anything beyond that was pushing it. People just didn’t give as much experience as the various forms of monsters.

Not to mention the experience jump that occurred at level five and beyond. That was always a rather severe shock to most unprepared travelers, and it would only continue to get worse. Especially when you realized the counter zeroed out with each new level. Thankfully, any extra experience you gained wasn’t lost when it happened. Making each new level a near monumental task of grinding out weaker enemies’ day-in-and-day-out.

Of course, that could be fixed by simply going deeper into the portals where the stronger monsters were. Assuming whatever corporation or military group you belonged to would let you. Not something that happened very often, if ever, in Albion.

His eyes trailed across the various stats. Noting the increases in both Intelligence and Magic. Further down, he saw the new spell he had gotten at level five and shook his head.

Arcane Armor was… a useful spell under the right circumstances. Any other time, it was a piece of trash.

It was an instant activation spell. Which was nice, but it constantly consumed magical energy to keep it running. For someone like him with a limited amount of mana, it was a terrible spell to use. On the plus side, if you knew an attack was coming, then you could just activate it. As long as you had enough energy, then you could be safe from anything.

If a normal mage had this spell. Then, depending on how high their intelligence stat was, and thereby their mana pool it was possible for them to instantly become unstoppable. For a little while, at least. If an attack was strong enough, then the armor could be damaged, and then even more mana was required to fix it.

He had rarely used it before, and he didn’t see that changing much this time. Though, he had to admit, it might have saved him from taking that spear to the chest if he’d had it before. Maybe.

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Moving on to his available status points, he grinned.

He’d already had nine points from before, and he got two extra points from his ‘Child of the Portals’ title for reaching a landmark level. Then everybody went from getting one status point per level to two when they reached level five and swapped their training class for a junior class. So, now he was getting four points for every level.

He was at an odd level, which meant he could place them wherever he wanted. The question was, what would be the best use of them?

Normally he would just dump them all into Constitution without a second thought. Thinking of the amount of ground they would need to cover, and the grueling pace they would need to set, had him second-guessing that. The bulk would still go towards it for sure. It was his lifeline. The attribute that allowed him to use more than a handful of spells before running dry.

The question was, could he spare those points? Every time his magic stat increased, the attacks got stronger, but the energy requirement grew as well.

Gritting his teeth, he went with his gut. Two status points went to Dexterity, raising it to fifteen the max his class allowed the attribute to be raised from points. One point went to Agility, also raising it to fifteen.

The last twenty points went to Constitution raising it to forty-five. With it that high, he wasn’t even sure how much damage that spear attack from before would do to him now. There were so many different variables that came into play, it was impossible for him to keep track of them. It was easier to just avoid it all and fight from afar when possible.

An intangible energy filled his body as the points came into effect, changing him in ways that only mattered on this side of the portal.

Closing his page, Zack smiled as Zara played with her bears. The suit had folded in on itself to better fit her after being turned into a puppet. It wasn’t a perfect solution, by any means. However, it would allow her to walk under her own power if needed. Not that he expected that to happen.

Unlike him, she had mana for days. In some respects, her class was the opposite of his. Her intelligence attribute was high, but her magic stat was mostly average. Which made sense. Her class didn’t seem to use spells to attack. It used puppets for everything, which depended on her mana to keep operating.

He snagged Zelda from behind and poked at her chest. “How are you feeling?”

Most of her fluffing had gone back to its proper places in her arms and legs.

The bear relaxed and wiggled her paw back and forth.

“You’re, okay? Are you sure? You didn’t seem too keen on having it inside you originally.”

Zara came up beside them, puffs of air coming from her red, smiling face. “Zelda says she’s gotten used to it. It’s more like a stomachache at this point than an actual problem. She still wants us to remove it when we get back, but she can ignore it until then.”

“Alright, but I’ll carry her when we get going. I’m the one that stuck it in her, so I’ll do what I can to make it easier on her.”

Zelda mimed wiping away a tear, and he sighed. “I can’t tell if you are being serious, or if I just got made fun of by a bear.”

Zara giggled and shook her head. “I’m not telling.”

Zack rolled his eyes and glanced over to where Jean was shoving the last of the items inside the other suit puppet. “What level did you get?”

“Six, and my new spell lets me modify the puppets. Like this.” She motioned to her suit and the modifications that he had already noticed. “If I level it up enough, I might even be able to give Zelda and the other’s proper mouths, paws, and everything!”

“Did you distribute everything already?”

She nodded.

“Good, then just keep using the spell while we run if you have the extra energy. You know how to level it up, and since we’re stuck in here, you might as well make the most of the time we have.”

Jean finished and called them over. “Zara, if you would have your puppet pick up Edith? Then we can get going.”

Zack placed Zelda where she could hang onto the back of his neck. George jumped onto Zara’s back and Aisha would run alongside them.

“Zack, how are your legs and arm?” Jean asked, taking his staff and tucking it in alongside Edith.

“They’re a little shaky, but getting better. I should be able to run, I think. As for my arm…” He shrugged. “It’s healing, but also still broken. Give it a few more hours and it’ll be useable. By tonight it should be completely healed.”

The teacher and military woman nodded. “Alright, from here on out, no talking or joking around. We are heading into the depths of an unknown portal with what should be very strong monsters. I know the two of you can handle yourselves.” She glanced at the bodies partially covered with drifting snow. “I saw that earlier, and I won’t ask questions for now. However, since we have no idea what is out there or how long we’ll be in here? We need to be careful, just keep that in mind.”

“Oh, one last thing.” Zack tossed her a mask and gave the other to Zara. “Hopefully these will help keep your faces and ears warm while we’re running.”

Jean put hers on with a grateful smile and spun around, taking off at a pace that she knew Zack could maintain. She would adjust it as needed for Zara or him, as they grew tired.

Unfortunately, they had already wasted too much time in getting ready. They needed to find another portal and get out before the invisible countdown ended and the change began. She had no idea what that entailed, but she knew being inside this particular Dimensional Fragment when it occurred was a bad idea.

Snow crunched underfoot as they ran, their boots digging into the top layer of the icy crust. Jean led them around the snowdrifts, the darkened portal fading into the distance behind them.

The group concentrated on maintaining their pace. Letting their thoughts fade in and out, as their minds numbed.