[Fire Tentacles] [Tier 3]

[Earthquake] [Tier 5]

[Water Whip] [Tier 0]

[Stone Bullet] [Tier 1]

[Ice Knife] [Tier 2]

Noah looked at the five spells he had 'learned'. He had no idea what they were, what they would do, or how to activate them, but here he was… he had 'learned' them. For god knows what reason, he had gotten the same quest five times now and he also somehow managed to finish it all five times by combing the big history book from end to end.

Now there were no more spells left in the book. "Am I going to get the same quest again?" Noah blinked and waited for the system to respond. And a second later, it did.

[Ding. You have leveled up]

[Ding. You have received 2 additional stat points]

[Ding. You have received 1 skill point]

[Ding. Bonus reward 1 skill point for fast level up]

Noah's eyes almost popped out of the socket as he stared at these bizarre messages. Granted seeing a screen flash in front of him was in itself something bizarre but this one took it to the next level. "Sheesh. No more quests now? I actually got stat points and skill points? This is not like a game system. This is a game system."

"Uf. Alright. I should see how the effect of these points is." Noah opened his status screen again to take a look. This, thankfully, was very intuitive so all he had to do was will it.

…

Name: Noah

Affinity: Chaos Element

Rank: N/A

Level: 1

Experience points: 0/500

Health: 100

Mana: N/A

Chaos: 0

Vitality: 5

Stamina: 5

Intellect: 5

Strength: 5

Defense: 5

Agility: 5

Available Stat Points: 2

Available Skill Points: 2

Unused Skill Slots: 1

…

Noah stared at the 2 stat points and 2 skill points he had received from leveling up. Stat points he understood but he did not quite grasp what the skill points were about. What can these be used for? He searched the system menu up and down but nothing was there. "Well, I guess I can worry about this later." He first wanted to try out the one that he was currently able to use! The stat points!

"Each of my stats already have 5 points in them. Now I have 2 more that I can distribute among these. Which should I focus on? Strength? I guess it is always useful to have more strength… Vitality is good. Stamina is also good. Intellect… hmmm… will this actually improve my intelligence? Defense is also good."

Noah's eyes then lastly fell on the final attribute, Agility. His eyes then hovered over this particular attribute without moving on. This was the thing that caught his attention the most as right now, this was the thing that could be most useful to him.

Noah did not have any delusions. The current him was extremely weak. So instead of adding those two points to strength perhaps adding them to agility would be more useful and helpful to him. Maybe after leveling up again, he could add the next points to strength. But that was something to think about later.

Noah quickly tapped and added the two points to agility. He wanted to see the effects. And just like he expected, he was not let down. Almost instantly he felt an odd sensation sweeping across his body. It was just a fleeting sensation but after that, it was as if his body had gotten lighter.

"Woah! Nice!" Noah forgot where he was and stood up in excitement. Thankfully, his roommate still had his head buried in the dirty mags so he was safe. He let out a small sigh of relief and then looked towards the door. "Hmmm. I need to test this out."

Noah hesitated for a second and then he was out of the door. There were school training grounds that he could use to run around for a bit to really feel the change in his body. And in this place, even in the nighttime, there should probably be one or two out training? So he assumed it was fine and walked over to the school grounds.

Just like he thought, it was very well lit and there were in fact several people training. Noah took a deep breath and started running. "Damn!" His lips curled upwards another inch with every step he took. He was really fast. He could feel it. It was freeing and amazing to run like this. The pleasant breeze grazed his face, carrying along with it the small sweat beads that dripped down on the sides.

Huff. Huff. Huff. Noah continued running. He did one whole lap but he still kept going, really wanting to move his body. For the whole of last week, he was too shocked and confused and did not even step out of his room. So after being cooped up like that, this felt heavenly. Noah grinned, his endorphins pumping up, as he finished another lap. But just as he was about to take the next step, another quest popped up.

[Ding. New Quest Available]

[Ding. Quest: Run 20 miles continuously]

[Ding. Reward: 100 experience points; 1 stat point]

"You… are… kidding… me… right? 20 miles? This thing is going to take forever to complete!" Noah frowned but he was also glad that he got another quest, not to mention a very good reward, some experience points, and a stat point!

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With this, he could increase his agility again if he wanted to! The quest was indeed good. Though it was crazy to aim to run 20 miles with his body, it was not as crazy as the learning spells quest. On the other hand, the spells quest was rather easy to complete. This one was going to take some effort. Could he even do it? "I guess I will try and find out."

Noah was thinking of taking some rest and starting but then he saw the quest go from 0/20 to 5/20. So he chucked out his thoughts about rest and continued running. He kept a solid but relaxing pace so that he didn't get tired out soon. His form was good and his strides were average, neither too short, nor too long. Everything was going smoothly.

Noah continued running without feeling any burden. Perhaps he could really finish it? But he was wrong… as soon as he hit the 10th mile, the tiredness and the weight of his body really started to sink in. A couple more miles later, his legs were crying. His muscles were screaming. And when he finally hit the 15th mile mark, he literally wanted to collapse on the ground. This quest suddenly felt impossible to complete!

Noah gritted his teeth and tried to keep running and it was at this point that he heard another familiar voice. "He He He! Would you look at that? Our school hero is running! Training so hard even though it's already nighttime!"

"Noah! Noah! Noah!"

Whistle. Whistle.

"Are you training to run away? Good. Good. That's probably the only thing you can do!"

Noah's lips twitched. He tried to ignore the idiots behind him but it was very hard to do so when he was dead tired and out of his wits. "Wait till I get stronger. I swear I am going to burn these bitches." He gritted his teeth. He was already pushing it and now these extras had also wandered over for some reason.

"Faster! Faster! If you run this slow, you will get caught by the monster!" Another round of heckling followed and a burst of loud laughter rang out. This really did not look like it was going to stop any time soon. There was a chance that it could even escalate.

Noah was far too tired to think straight but he was currently at the 17/20 mile and there was no way he was going to let something interfere now. He had sunk too much into this to let this get spoiled by a bunch of bullying brats. He looked around and without directly circling the ground to finish the lap like he did the previous times, Noah decided to continue running on the walking path that sort of went around the school throughout the entire campus. He had seen some students jogging here earlier today though, at this time of the hour, there weren't that many students walking around, except for one or two couples.

"Whatever. As long as I can get away from these idiots." Noah abruptly ran out of the training grounds in the middle of the lap, crossing the neatly mown lawn and reaching the walking path that was all the way on the other side of the training ground. Thankfully, with this, he was able to catch the group off guard and quickly put a good distance between them. He also felt a bit more energetic as if a new wave of adrenaline coursed through him and just like that, the 17th lap was over and now it was the 18th lap!

Noah continued pushing himself and strived his best to maintain the headstart he got. He had a feeling that he did not quite shake off his fans but as long as he finished this quest… then everything would be fine. "Just a little bit more. Come on. Come on." He gritted his teeth and dragged his body forward. Behind him, the group of students realized what had happened.

"Damn! This loser just gave us the slip! I think he ran away."

"What? Are you for real? This sucks. I was hoping to relieve some stress today before hitting the sack."

"Hmmm. I don't like this at all. If we let him get away now, that trash is going to think that he is better than us."

"Ya, you are right. Let's get him. Finish this quickly and head back. Otherwise, the beer will get ruined."

Unlike Noah, these guys were not particularly tired so it didn't take them too long for them to catch up to him.

"Fuck. Don't these bastards have any other job?" Noah panted. Though he did not turn around and look, he could hear their voices loudly and their footsteps were also getting closer. It sounded like a herd of buffaloes were coming at him. Huff. Huff. Huff. He breathlessly gasped. He was almost done with the 18th mile now. He only had 2 more miles to finish this darned quest but sensing the stampeding buffaloes behind him, that looked impossible.

"No. If I stick to this walking path, these idiots will easily find me and ruin all of this." Noah immediately strayed out of the walking path and ducked into the huge garden of the campus. This garden was densely packed with several trees, various plants, shrubs, and bushes and it wasn't too difficult to remain invisible, hidden behind some of the giant plants.

"This should buy me the required time." Noah threw caution to the wind and dove in between a bunch of trees, running through them to another part of the campus. A couple of minutes later, his followers arrived at the same spot but seemed to be completely lost.

"You have got to be kidding me! We actually lost him?"

"Why is this guy so good at running away?"

"This little bitch is going to pay for making me sweat like this!"

The bunch of students grumbled. However, they were also reluctant to leave because at this point they felt like they had as well sunk in too many hours. "Let's split and search. We are getting this bastard tonight!" The taller one in the group commented and everyone split up just like he suggested. If they were against someone strong, a tougher opponent, they probably would not have dared to split up like this but against this weakling… they did not even have to think twice!

Meanwhile… half a mile away, Noah was now in even worse condition as it was more difficult to run on the rough terrain compared to the smoothened-out training grounds. On the plus side, he was able to use the various plants and trees for support as he pushed himself forward, jogging almost at a snail's pace. This was it. He absolutely did not have any strength left to take even another step, no matter who was behind him.

"Come on. I am at 19/20. Can't this quest already be over? I will run another mile extra tomorrow. I swear." Noah gasped and trembled, his entire body soaked in sweat. He now had a whole new level of respect for the marathon runners back in his world. He panted heavily and slowed down to barely a crawl but there was no way he was going to fail now. He somehow kept pushing himself forward. "I will finish all the 20 miles, damn it. Move. Move." He muttered under his breath and dragged himself forward when suddenly a loud snap sounded behind him.

"Found you!" An annoying voice followed it.

Noah didn't have to turn around to see who it was. The person helped him out by jumping in front of him and blocking his path.

"Where do you think you are going?" A short lean guy smugly grinned. He, in no way, looked like a bully, and probably wouldn't be one if he was alone. This was mob mentality! Seeing the person taking out his phone to message others, Noah did not wait for him and turned around to run in a different direction. All he needed was a few more minutes.

"Heh. Do you really think that you can outrun me in this condition? What an idiot!" The other guy loudly jeered. That too, Noah looked like he was only barely holding on. One flick and he would crumble. The other guy also wanted to test this out and picked up a nearby sturdy stick. He then casually swung it at Noah to mess with him just for the heck of it.

Noah as well was too tired to notice it and only kept running forward. All of his focus was on that, but despite that somehow he managed to miss it as he clumsily scurried forward. The stick instead hit a nearby plant. The student chuckled and he did not care. He casually swung the stick again for a second hit. At the same time, unexpectedly, something rustled in the plant nearby, the one that he had hit.

RUSTLE! RUSTLE!

The sound grew louder and as the two turned to look, a huge wasp popped out of the bush! "What the hell is this?"

Noah was speechless. He had seen wasps, honey bees, and all sorts of nasty stingers before but the one in front of him was on a completely different level. It was the size of a cat! Or wait, even bigger! Just one hit from this guy could probably end him! Or wait, maybe he was overthinking? Perhaps all the animals and insects in this world were like this? But judging from the look of the guy, things were not so simple. Maybe this wasn't even a normal insect? He definitely needed to run away!

And from the looks of it, the other guy was also thinking of the same thing.

FUCK!

Both of them cursed loudly at the same time and then realized the obvious! There were two of them here and if they ran in different directions one could be saved! Noah was the first to think of this and quickly inched away while the wasp was still buzzing, probably trying to discern who attacked it and whom it should attack. Sure, he was dead tired and couldn't move even a single muscle but this was life or death. He had to do it!

And seeing Noah, the other one also snapped out of his thoughts. "Hey!" He shouted foolishly, alerting the wasp, and the insect that was silently buzzing until now… sprung into action.