I’m staring at my status screen. I can’t help it: I’m at 99% progress towards the next level and I’m just waiting for that number to tick over to 100%. My progress has been much quicker than I had expected it to be considering I was only looking after Lathani yesterday. This isn’t because I’ve had a fortunate encounter with Energy-rich, but easy prey. No, it’s due to my lacking calculations. Turned out, when I estimated three days, I forgot to account for the Energy I absorb while inactive. I’d thought about it, been grateful that even while I was looking after a cute nunda cub I’d still be making progress, but I didn’t actually factor it into my calculations.

I have been more fortunate in today’s hunting, partly because two of the three creatures actually hunted me rather than me having to chase them down. In the end, I’ve gained fourteen percent by killing four creatures and eating their hearts, better than the eleven percent of the day before yesterday, but it’s not ultimately this which has made the difference. When I checked my status this morning and realised I was already up to seventy-seven percent, I have to admit that my eyes boggled a bit. By the time I killed my last beast and saw that I was up to ninety-six percent, I decided to call it a day and head back to the cave.

Over the last twenty minutes or so, I’ve got to have checked my status a hundred or more times, anxious not to miss the moment I become able to level up. The only thing that over-zealous checking has taught me is that I don’t earn eleven units on the hour, every hour; no, it ticks up by one unit at regular intervals. I guess I could probably set my watch to it...if I had a watch, that is. Meh, it’s not like I need to catch a train or anything – a few minutes here or there isn’t going to make any difference. Anyway, I suppose the most important thing is that I actually have a relatively easy way of working out approximately how much time has passed between point A and point B as long as I look at my status screen at the start and end.

There! A frisson of excitement runs through me as I see the progress percentage has changed. Funny: I don’t feel any different. If it wasn’t for the number in front of me, I wouldn’t know anything about being able to level up. There isn’t even a notification that tells me. Well, I guess I’ll just have to keep an eye on the number in the future so I don’t miss the opportunity to level up next time.

Focusing on the box with the 100% in it, I think level up as hard as possible at the screen. A new notification appears, the status screen disappearing briefly.

Congratulations!

You have gathered enough Energy to push your body to the next level. Would you like to level up?

Y/N

“Yes!” I almost shout in my eagerness. It’s a little embarrassing, actually, even if the only ones around to hear are two nundas who probably don’t care. The words blur and reform.

To level up, please choose the stats you would like to increase. You have 6 points available. Warning: if you do not assign all points now, you will be unable to use them later. You can choose to delay your level-up, but you will not store any further Energy until you do. Do you wish to continue to level up?

“Yes,” I say, forcibly calmly this time despite my heart starting to thump hard, and my status page opens in front of me again. Different from before, each of the stats has a plus sign next to it, and there is a six at the top of the page. Six points...significantly better than it could have been, but still less than I hoped, especially considering what I’ve had to go through to get to this point. Making my choice doesn’t take much thought – I’ve spent plenty of time today thinking and planning about where to assign my points depending on the number I have available. I’d secretly been hoping that I’d have at least nine so six is a bit of a bummer, but I had made plans for if I only had two or three available, so at least it’s better than that.

I’ve considered and discarded multiple strategies. The System stone has made it clear that a min-max strategy taken to the extreme is not feasible since all the stats work together, but everyone seems to have one to three stats they focus on more than the others. It makes sense for a Farmer to have more stat points in the physical stats, compared to a Scholar who would have the reverse distribution. They wouldn’t go as far to call the other set of stats ‘dump stats’ though, as this would have negative effects on their chosen stats.

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For example, a Farmer who puts all his points into Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength would find that they are incapable of thinking through their activities of the day, as well as unable to build bonds with their animals and their land, and unable to motivate themselves to do anything. The Scholar with the reverse strategy would be in for frustration as their mind moves far faster than their body is capable of keeping up with, and would find themselves constantly beset by various malaises due to their poor Constitution.

So I need to keep my stats reasonably balanced, but it is very tempting to put more stats into my physical abilities as those are what are keeping me alive at the moment. Strength will improve my ability to do damage to my opponents, Dexterity improves my dodging and precision, and Constitution...well, it’s in the name. The only thing that stops me from just putting two points in each physical stat is the fact that Dexterity and Strength are relatively easy to train; the others aren’t, at least, not where I am now.

Constitution is best trained by surviving experiences that might easily have killed me, my experience with the wolvezard a case in point. The problem is that such situations can easily get out of hand and just plain kill me. Intelligence is relatively easy to increase for people who have access to a library or teachers; for me, not so. Wisdom seems to always be a bit difficult to work on actively. As for Willpower, if the knowledge from the System stone is to be believed – and I really, really hope it is, otherwise I’m completely sunk – then even people in Nicholas’ world aren’t quite sure how to train that.

So, ultimately, I make the decision to shore up my weaknesses a bit. Willpower isn’t really an issue at the moment thanks to Kalanthia’s blessing, so I don’t put anything there. Instead, I split the points unevenly among Intelligence, Wisdom, and Constitution: one, three, and two points respectively.

It’s fortunate that I don’t second guess myself as it seems to be impossible to remove a point once chosen. When the final point has been added, the status screen disappears and is replaced by another message.

You have chosen to increase your Wisdom Would you like to increase your Breadth or your Depth?

Breadth / Depth

I look at the message with bafflement. Breadth? Depth? What is it talking about? For once, the System stone knowledge is no help as nothing surfaces from whatever I absorbed. Either it was never there to begin with, or I lost it in the process of absorption. Guess I need to consider the question myself, then.

Breadth...a word similar to ‘width’. Depth, that’s a little more self-explanatory. If we were talking about a lake here, I’d know exactly what it was trying to describe, but it’s a little less clear when it comes to wisdom. Then again...maybe my image of a lake is helpful. Perhaps Breadth is about a wide sort of wisdom, and depth is a deep sort? I’m not sure that actually helps me in any way.

I breathe out a frustrated sigh. Perhaps Kalanthia would know, but when I try to move, I realise I’m rooted to the ground. It sends a flutter of nerves through me – just as well I did this back at the cave instead of out in the woods: it seems that I’d be helpless against an attack if one came!

In the end I don’t spend any more time debating over the meaning of the words. Ultimately, I decide that I’m having to be a bit of a jack-of-all-trades here, so Breadth is more likely to suit me than Depth at the moment. If the implications go deeper than that, I’ll have to just figure it out later. A problem for future-me.

I make my choice and the box disappears...but a moment later reappears with the same message. I click on Breadth again with a frown. When the box disappears and reappears a third time, I start wondering whether something’s gone wrong. Perhaps it doesn’t like me choosing Breadth? I try selecting Depth and this time the box disappears, not reappearing again a moment later.

I’ve only got enough time to briefly consider the fact that I chose to add three points to Wisdom and was offered the same choice three times before a strange feeling goes through my body. It’s almost like a lightning bolt in its power, but it’s not painful, just...strange. Then the prickling starts and I regret my thought about there being no pain. I grit my teeth as the prickles become more like pins and needles, and then those pins and needles stop pricking me and start stabbing me.

At the point when I think I’ll lose the battle against my voice and scream, it suddenly cuts out and the most heavenly feeling descends. All I can liken it to is having a painful massage which you hate at the time, but afterwards, once the aches have gone away, you feel so relaxed and loose and at peace with yourself. Like that, except times ten. I bask in the moment of bliss, my eyes closing.

Of course, it’s far too short, and the next thing I know, I’m puking up my guts. I’m not sure that’s actually a metaphor – as I stand, I realise there are more lumps in the mess than the food I ate several hours ago would account for. Plus, there’s the whole colour and smell: it’s black or really dark brown, and smells like a dead animal which has been left to putrify in a sewer for a couple of weeks. It tastes even worse.

Retching just at the taste and smell of it, I stumble away on legs that are as limp as a wet noodle. Once I’m far enough from the puddle of vile...substance, I use some water to rinse out my mouth and chew on some bird meat to try to clear my taste-buds. Incidentally, the killer-chickens do actually taste like chicken.

A quick dip into the System lore memories informs me that what happened is actually normal. While frustrated that I apparently missed this part of leveling up despite going over the knowledge I absorbed about levelling up while waiting for my Energy store to tick up to 100%, I’m also relieved that I’m not about to keel over dead. Apparently part of improving the body means clearing it of impurities formed by diet, living conditions, even genetic defects. It’ll probably happen a few more times – obviously, the number of times varies depending on the individual and their previous living conditions – but after a time, my body should have cleared its impurities and then I’ll just be building on steady foundations.

Unfortunately, right now I’ve just puked vile gunk just in front of Kalanthia’s cave, and from the rumble she’s making, she’s not very happy about it.