‘Are there any notifications that are important? Those that are not Level Up messages.’

I asked Clare as I settled on my bed. I had had my supper before coming to my room and the new clothes were hanged in the clothes rail. I had concluded that I would wear one of the new shirts just because Xan would be watching. I was a sucker like that.

For what I had got from that fight, I hoped something interesting. It was hard to tell what was new and it was hard to pay attention when I was in the middle of getting skewered by an arrow, with other arrows trying to achieve the same feat. It had been the first time in my life, all my lives, that something like that had happened. The closest I could equate to was when I got pierced through my leg by a thorn when I was a small boy. I was to blame. I was running around a thorny bushland with no shoes on, despite my mother’s many warnings. Why did people bother having kids again?

‘No.’

‘Really? Not a single gained Skill? I thought…’

I tried remembering if I had done anything new during the fight, but I came up blank. That was disappointing. I should have been trying all crazy things just to get him to quit the fight. The fanciest thing I could remember doing was using [Earth Grab] to swallow up his Mana potion. I should really have retrieved that, then I would have two spare potions, together with the Stamina one I didn’t use in the fight.

‘No.’

‘Okay. Show me all my information, with everything that has leveled up since I last checked bolded.’

‘Yes.’

I studied my information for a while, keeping my questions in check to field them after I was done. My Level had gone up a Level, and so had my [Constitution], [Endurance], [Vitality] and [Wisdom]. [Vitality] had even gained two new levels, that was something. As for my General Skills, only [Mana Manipulation] had gained a level, the others were dormant. And then there was my Skills.

Only a few had leveled up, and all of them had seen heavy use during the fight. [Acrobatics] I was doubtful about, that one hadn’t being used as much as I would have liked. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have suffered so many nicks and the near crippling shots. [Earth Grab]… I don’t think it saw use as much as it should have either. Then again, I was trying to hide it. The less my opponents knew I could potentially immobilize their whole leg, the better it would work when I actually used it. [Fast Dash], [Staff Shield] and [Staffs] were obvious and expected. I was actually surprised [Fire Ball] and [Wind Gust] hadn’t leveled up, I had been sure I had used them plenty.

‘Clare, how exactly do my Skills level? When I use them often? Or is there another criterion followed?’

‘Using them is not enough for a Skill to level. It needs to be used past its current abilities and used that way with proficiency.’

‘But my [Staffs] Skill is so high. Even [Hurtling Projectile].’ I pointed out.

‘The Skill [Staffs] is based on a basic weapon, anyone can teach themselves how to wield it averagely. You have been using it with above average skill, probably from prior knowledge of how staffs are used. The Skill [Hurtling Projectile] is a simple skill requiring little to master it. If you used it ingeniously, it would most probably become a new Skill.’

That was a lot to take in; and very disappointing to learn.

‘Clare, you just called my best Skills basic and simple.’

‘That is what they are.’

‘How do I turn them or gain Skills that are not basic or simple?’

‘You can keep doing what you are doing until you stumble upon them, seek out the knowledge from other sources, or seek someone who knows Skills that are not basic or simple and have them teach you.’

‘Are you saying that I need a teacher? A master?’

‘It is advisable, yes.’

Well, that sucked. Here I thought I would breeze through the whole thing without ever needing to be taught by anyone. I really didn’t like that, like at all. I decided to leave that for the future, and focused on the other peculiarities I had seen.

‘Why haven’t I gained a level in [Identify] at all?’

‘You do not use it.’

‘I use it. I… ‘

But then I realized that it was true. Other than checking out my own information, I didn’t bother with [Identify] at all. I relied on [Status] to check out other people. It usually gave more information than [Identify] at its current level, and I was a little shy on using [Identify] on other people. If I didn’t need it to check out my own information, I would honestly not have it. It was a broken System if I actually needed a Skill to see everything about me.

‘What about [Vitality]? It had been so slow to level up, and then all over a sudden, two levels in a day.’

That had been a surprise, the good kind. But I needed to know how that happened so that I could work with it. It would help me get more Health to work with, that meant I could stay in a fight longer.

‘Your body went through experiences that pushed it to the blink of death and still managed to recover.’

‘You mean getting shot through by the arrows?’

‘Yes.’

Fuck! That was not something I could work with. There was no way I was having my body shot full of arrows or any other thing that would work my [Vitality] just for the sake of improving it. Let it rise up at its own pace, I had managed to survive so far.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

But it was so far behind. Other than [Strength], it was my least leveled Attribute. There had to be a way of working it without putting my body through a masochist’s routine. Things like immunizations, those built immunity against diseases. What exactly was [Vitality]? Being healthy, as much as I could remember. But what did that even mean? I would need to have a chat with a well-versed healer to figure it out.

The talk about arrows reminded me about something else about the fight.

‘Clare, what happens if I get shot through the heart?’

‘If you do not receive immediate attention from a Skilled healer, you die.’

‘If I get shot through the head?’

‘If you do not receive immediate attention from a Skilled healer, you die.’

‘Even when my Health is full?’

‘Your Health, or HP, is an approximation or an average of the general health of your body as whole. Some parts of you are more essential than others. You will not die from an amputated arm, but you will die from the blood loss due to an unattended amputated arm. These essentials contribute more to your Health than the non-essentials. If they get hurt, your Health drops drastically depending on the degree of damage sustained.’

That was important information I could have used before the fights began. But in a way, I had been following those guidelines when inflicting damage. But all my attacks were blunt damage dealers, and not as powerful as something like a war-hammer. And that only left the head as the only viable option if I wanted to deal with the Heath. Stamina was easy, just get them to tire themselves out, while I kept mine up. Hopefully.

‘Clare, we need to work on an alert system for when my Status get low.’

I still needed to learn all the essentials that I should be going for and protecting. I knew about the head, the heart and the lungs. The blood was related to the heart, but still separate. I needed ways to get to these other essentials. Maybe it was time I started wielding a sword, or adding spear points to my staff. Anything that could get through to the inside of the body would be welcome. Wait…

‘Clare, what do magical attacks do to my body?’

I had just remembered what happened each time Braden’s dagger slashes passed through me.

‘They are called Mana Attacks, and they deal Mana damage to the areas that they pass through if they are slash or pierce attacks. Blunt attacks deal only physical damage.’

I could feel my head beginning to hurt from all the new information that I had gained from Clare. The Levels I had gained since the last time we had talked must have made more information access for me, or I had been asking all the wrong questions. I decided not pursue what exactly Clare meant by Mana damage, I could use the little experience I had gained as a framework, and focus on how to defend myself from them.

‘How do I completely stop a Mana attack completely? Not the reduction I was doing in my previous fight.’

‘The easiest to defend against is a blunt attack. Due to their physical nature, any physical means of defense will do. As long as it can actually defend against the force behind the attack. Those dealing both Mana and physical damage, or just pure Mana damage, will require a Mana Shield to defend against. The strength of the Shield determines how much defense it offers.’

‘And I am guessing my shield is not that strong?’

‘It is average for someone of your Level.’

‘Yeah. Yeah. It needs to be better. My opponents are better than me, way better.’

‘Yes.’

I shut my eyes as I tried to assimilate all that information I had gained, committing as much of it as I could to memory. When the next fight came, I had a lot of things to try. I just wished I had had enough time to actually practice some of them.

…

When I woke up, I somehow knew that I had an hour before the sun peeked over the horizon. I went through my morning routine before donning my new shirt and the boots, trousers and vest I had on the day before. I had decided against a belt for holding my potions in a fight. With how easily I had destroyed Braden’s, I didn’t want to risk mine so. My trouser pockets it would be until I figured a safer way to carry them. I also needed a third pocket so that I could have all the different types separate from each other.

When I arrived at the dining area, I could see people already having their breakfasts. I was sure most, if not all, were competitors. I passed by the counter leaving my order with the receptionist before joining Paul on our table. I had been late.

“I thought you would have gone home by now,” I said as I sat down.

“And miss all this luxury? I think not,” he said before finishing to swallow his food. “Besides, my son is taking care of things back home. And all my other children are off with their own families or doing their own things. No one will miss me if I’m gone for a week.”

“What about the early hours?”

“Habit.”

And he went back to his food as mine arrived, that had been faster than the day before. Like they had anticipated what I was going to order. What if I had gone with a different choice? I decided to do that the following day, if I didn’t get eliminated and kicked out. Wait…

“How long can you stay after you lose?”

“The whole week.”

I just smiled at that and began on my light breakfast. I had learnt yesterday that I would be on the first fight, which was scheduled to begin in two hours-time. I wanted to be as comfortable as possible but still have enough energy in me to go through the whole fight. My last fight had lasted for more than an hour. Damn potions.

“Who will you be watching?”

He looked at me with a wounded expression before asking, “How can you ask me that?”

“I’m not asking you to watch my fight, I just want to know if you will have information for my next fight,” I quickly defended. And then realized my statement could be construed as me being a megalomaniac.

“Thinking you have won even before the fight begins?” Paul asked in jest.

And I didn’t back down from my comment. “I’m not going into that arena with the intention to lose. No, thank you.”

“That’s the spirit,” Tes said as she took a seat next to me. “What are we talking about?”

“He wants to know which fight I will watch,” Paul said.

“Not mine, I hope,” Tes quickly said.

“I would tell you not to come to watch mine either, but I’m already going to lose, it wouldn’t change anything.” Lina joined us, taking a seat next to Paul.

“You haven’t forgotten about our agreement, have you?” I asked her.

And she gave me a very evil grin before answering, “No, I haven’t.”

“What agreement?” Tes asked.

I left that for Lina to answer her friend. But she just stayed quiet too, which created issues with Tes most of all. She looked back and forth between us, as she asked, “What agreement!?”

“Why don’t they want you watching their game?” I tried to divert the attention back to Paul, but Tes was having none of that.

“Don’t answer that question until they tell us about this agreement.”

“What question?” Oki asked as he joined us.

“Why Paul isn’t allowed to watch their fights,” I told him.

“Don’t answer him before –”

Oki spoke over Tes, completely shutting her down. “Please don’t come to watch mine either. He is a bad luck. If he watches your fight, you lose. Without fail. You don’t want him anyway near the arena when the fights are going on.”

“You guys have already being to fights?”

I had thought that the fights began with the Baronies. Was there another level of competition I didn’t know about?

“We had a few mock fights between the competitors. Whenever he was around, we would always lose,” Lina said.

“Well, there are only four arenas and each of us is in their own arena. If he wants to watch a fight, one of us will have to take it. And since all the others have expressed their desire for you not to be anywhere near their arenas, feel free to come watch my fight. And the one after that, you might see something that will help me come quarterfinals.”

“Are you sure you want him to watch your fight? It could mean the end of the climb for you,” Tes asked cautiously.

“Like I already said, I do not intend to lose in today’s fight,” I reiterated my previous statement.

“Neither does your opponent intend to lose,” Oki pointed out.

“Their intentions for the fight don’t matter, only mine do.”

“Ain’t that interesting. Maybe I will come watch your fight,” Paul said, rubbing his chin like a wise old man.

“Please do.”

Their food arrived then, and the three began digging in as I finished up with my breakfast.