Chapter 9: The Fruits of the Journey
With his mother’s guidance and help, Alexander had managed to traverse 56 of the Green Mountains’ 99 peaks in a little over a year. He had taken a long break to mourn and was now ready to take on the remaining 43 mountains.
Unfortunately, he realized that the terrain he was facing was becoming increasingly difficult to traverse. From hill-like mountains full of trees and covered in soft grass, he was now starting to face high cliffs, loose gravel, and intense changes in weather. Without guidance, his pace slowed significantly, though his determination only grew.
After another four months, he reached the peak of Slate Mountain on the same day as his second anniversary of starting Eden. Although this was only the 62nd peak in the mountain range, the youth still felt proud of himself.
When he scaled this peak, he got the familiar notification:
image [https://imgur.com/ekVKyb5.png]
After this, he was pleasantly surprised to get another notification:
image [https://imgur.com/r55FKQV.png]
Which was followed by:
image [https://imgur.com/4dKRfKD.png]
With the Mountains Blessing to support him, he trained diligently for a day’s worth of game time before retesting and admiring the view. If he wanted to meet with Allana, he would need to have the strength to do so. She was a growth-minded person, and after spending the last two years diligently training, he had no idea just how far she had managed to travel. She alluded that she was a very powerful player, though she refused to just give away everything.
Curious about his current strength, the youth inspected his character’s stats, which he typically didn’t pay much attention to.
In a soft voice, he spoke, “Status Window.” image [https://imgur.com/Jg5LdHd.png]
He first noticed his new Class, which he knew had the effects of decreasing nutrition requirements and a boost to his Mana and Intelligence. After this, he was more surprised that his HP had grown from 20 to 35. HP and Mana were the two stats that could not be raised with skill points. They would naturally increase with one’s level according to one’s HP/Mana Ratio, which was typically one-tenth of one stating value. As an elf, he would gain 2 HP and 8 Mana per level. However, his level was still 1 since he had yet to kill any Mobs or complete any missions. He hasn’t gained any skills or titles that would increase his HP or Mana, meaning he had Acquired these Skill Points.
Acquired Stats were gains from personal experience that essentially exercised one character. During his journey, he received countless wounds and recovered from them, thus tempering himself. The amount of work it took to gain these Acquired Stats was enormous, and only a few people deliberately tried to train them. A prime example was the need to meditate for a full hour of game time just to gain 0.1 Mana with the Meditation Skill.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The amount of work needed to gain Acquired Stats was terrible, but this method of training did pay off. This was evident in that his Mana Stata had increased from just 80 to 212. By dedicating his time to a skill many people called useless, Alexander was ecstatic to see his Mana was not the same as that of a different level 17 Elf, let alone other races whose HP/Mana Ratio wasn’t as mana-friendly.
Similar to this, the boy was impressed to see his Attack Stat had increased from 2 to 10 while his Defense Stat had increased from 2 to 14. Thinking of all the time he had been forced to Bonk Wild Mobs and all the injuries he received from falling and hitting rocks, he felt each point was well deserved.
His growth with his Agility Stat was even more impressive, rising from 4 to 36. This made sense, given how much he had been walking and running. Now that his Elven Running Skill was level 5, he got an entire 50% bonus to his Agility Stat. Seeing how much difference this made, the youth realized how useful leveling his skills could be when it came to boosting his overall abilities.
Still, his Agility could not compare to his Dexterity Stat, which had shot up from 1 to 93. After working himself to exhaustion every day he wasn’t surprised to have gained a lot of Acquired Stats. However, what really made the difference in this case was his Class, Hermit, which gave him an extra 50 points in dexterity.
However, drafting all his other basic stats was his Intelligence. He had been tutoring five days a week for the last 9 months or so, thus increasing his Acquired Stat massively. He had a +100 Int bonus from his Class and even an additional +20 In from his titles. Beyond this, thanks to his Teaching skill, reaching level 5, he got a 25% bonus to his overall Intelligence. Like so, this Stat has risen from merely 11 to 640. This was a terrifying value and incredibly useful for a character like him, who would likely pressure the path of magic.
Ironically, even his Intelligence Stat, with all its Buffs, could not compare with his Special Stat: Faith. Increasing by 1 point every day that he prayed for, plus his Adamat Rayer Title, allowed him to increase it all the way to 760. The boy didn’t know what a Faith Stat would be useful for, but he doubted it was bad. image [https://imgur.com/HKSHAd6.png]
Very pleased by these values, the youth then inspected his Skills. His Mediation and Basic Staffmanship were the highest, reaching level 9. Being a basic skill, his staffmanship did not require much talent to improve. Meanwhile, the sheer amount of time he spent meditating explained his great progress.
Likewise, the level of his Bonk skill had been on the rise. As the terrain became tougher, he began to encounter more Mobs that were growing in strength. It was getting to the point where he simply could not defeat these creatures. However, with a well-placed Bonk, his Elven Running, and Stealth, he could at least escape from them.
In honor of his mother, he continued to practice Plant Identification and Basic Medicine Synthesis. However, his advancement with these skills had slowed significantly without a proper teacher.
He regarded his other skills, such as Mental Resistance and Magic Affinity, as useless at the moment.
Lastly, he investigated his Title Window. image [https://imgur.com/zXUnu5w.png]
They were all rather unique and came with their own benefits. Some he was proud of, while others he wished he had never earned in the first palace. Still, they told his story and filled him with pride.
The youth finished his self-evaluation and decided to meditate. His body was still fatigued from his staff training and running, so he wanted to use his time wisely.
While considering his future and how his mother had hoped he could at least become a well-off Medical Sythesisier, he ponders the possibility of becoming a genuine Mage or Wizard, given his impressive Stats. These classes were harder to acquire and also required lots of resources to pressure. Ultimately, only the best of the best made it anywhere, where those left behind struggled for odd jobs. Still, many people would happily pursue this path, given how it allowed them to do the impossible.
His pondering was disrupted as he received a notification that made him smile:
image [https://imgur.com/8o3ZeOJ.png]
This was soon followed by several more screens:
image [https://imgur.com/FEjTr1Y.png]
Alexander was amazed by what he read and couldn’t help laughing with amusement and joy. The path he was walking was full of surprises, and he was excited about what the future would bring.