You know… lately, whenever I woke up I stated the degree of the pain I was in. I was going to do the same just now, but I, surprisingly don’t feel any pain.
“Aargh!”
Now I did. When I tried moving my body it started to hurt like it was about to fall apart.
…
a few dozen minutes later, I managed to get used to the new level of pain my body was in and I even could move without too many problems.
Slowly, yes, but it was worlds apart from the somehow still alive floor boss.
Half of it’s head was gone. Both of its front limbs were gone. It’s torso was so battered that if I tried to describe it now, the author would have to warn you of gore in the author’s note.
But the green flame was still weakly flickering with resentment at me. Let me put it out of its misery.
“Ouch”
It’s the first time that casting spells brought me pain. When I tried to command mana with Mana Manipulation, it felt like using a sprained hand. Whatever. In the end I cast a stone arrow at it and the thing died. How do I know it died?
It’s because of this:
[You have cleared the first floor of the “Dark Well Dungeon”. As the first person to clear the floor, bonus experience will be granted]
I haven’t leveled up? After all I went through? Sigh. Just how bad is it?
Whatever, let’s check our stats after what seemed like a long time:
Status:
Name: Victor Norman
Race: Human (Otherworlder)
lvl: 3
Current Class: None
Second Class: Locked
HP: 4/11
MP: 110/251
ST: 9/24
VIT: 1
STR: 1
DEX: 1
END: 5
INT: 5
(2 status points are available!)
Active Skills:
Adrenaline Rush (Rare, lvl 4)
Man Insight (Unique, lvl 1)
Mana Manupulation (Rare, lvl 3)
Mana Visualization (Rare, lvl 1)
Multitask (Very rare, lvl 6)
Passive Skills:
Demon's Blessing (Unique, Unranked)
Internal Mana Manipulation (uncommon, lvl 1)
Lesser Mana Regeneration (uncommon, lvl 3)
Lesser Stamina Regeneration (common, lvl 2)
Nesse Language (Common, lvl 6)
Self-Regeneration (uncommon, lvl 3)
Resistances:
Corruption Resistance (Advanced, lvl 3)
Mental Fortitude (Common, lvl 8)
Titles:
True Demon Ancestor's Messenger (Mythological)
Otherworlder (Outer Realms) (Unique*) (*A composite title made out of two Unique titles)
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Oh dear. My HP is 4/11. Am I dying? And my MP… It’s much lower than usual. I usually never allowed my MP to go so low. That’s why my thoughts are moving so slowly.
My Mana Insight… The trusty skill that I earned… somehow. I am still not sure how. But it’s still level 1. What other level 1 skills do I have?
It’s Internal Mana Manipulation and Mana Visualization. I’ve been using them for a while now, so shouldn’t have they grown better? How did I level my other skills?
Ah, it was through: 1) Constant use, like Stamina and Mana Regeneration and 2) it’s through other skills that are similar in how they worked that pushed the skill’s levels further, like it was with Mana Insight and Mana Perception.
I guess it can’t be helped.
“Ralph, how do I level these skills?”
“Use them more”
“But it’s so slow”
“That’s how skills usually are. Your other skills are growing too fast because of the various abnormal details about you. Especially the fact that the System is very loose when working with you because of the Otherworlder status you possess. Faster leveling of skills isn’t a good thing, actually. You are rather safe now, but it could become a problem in the future”
“Sigh, okay. If I kill the surviving minions, will it raise my level?”
“it should. Go for it”
“Yes, let’s do it”
…
[You have reached level 4!]
It took a while. I need to raise...
“What should I raise?”
“Go for Vitality. You can’t go wrong with it”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a long story, but… This world isn’t like a game. You can’t just level and sporadically raise your stats. For example, If you had 200 status points and put them all in Intelligence, you would die, because the balance of your body would be broken”
“And what about Vitality?”
“Think about yourself as a tower. When you build a tall tower, you need many things. A strong and wide base among them. Vitality is like a base. If you have enough of it, it means you can build on it. Also, the stats work for everybody differently, so there’s no universal rule on how you should raise your stats and in what proportions. But you should raise your Vitality right now, as you really don’t have enough”
“Okay”
VIT: 1 → 4
STR: 1
DEX: 1
END: 5
INT: 5
I don’t feel any different.
“How is it now?”
“There’s that thing called talent...”
“Where are you going with it?”
“The talented can raise their stat by one and make a huge difference...”
“I’m not sure I like where this is going”
“You talent when it comes to INT is good. Exceptional even. One of the best in the world, I’m not afraid to say it. You have the makings of a top-level mage with it. So don’t feel bad about it. You are lucky, so don’t feel bad about it…”
“Oh no”
“But your talent with VIT… It’s terrible. It’s so bad that it’s not an underestimation to call it an illness”
“Does it mean that...”
“You should raise your VIT a bit more. It’s still not in balance with other stats. For… three levels more raise your VIT. Otherwise, you may get crippled or even die later”
“If I had average talent with VIT… How much would be enough?”
“Just one to bring your stats into a balance. The amount you put in would be good enough for twenty levels more”
“And if I add the stat points I will gain in the next three levels to it, for how long will it last?”
“Ten levels”
“… Is… Is there any way to solve this problem?”
“There is… But it will be long and it will be very hard. But it will be worth it in the future”
“What is it?”
“Do you remember how I said that experience you gain is ultimately just lifeforce?”
“Yes. I don’t know what lifeforce even is though”
“You don’t need to. You won’t understand it anyway. The stat points you gain every level are a kind of instance of lifeforce in the material world. In order to fix the problem you have, you can save stat points for a while and when you have enough, I can guide you through a ritual that will use the stat points that you have to fix your flaw”
“Is this the only way? How many stat points do I need?”
“Yes, it’s the only way. I estimate it should be… 30 stat points”
“But as an Otherworlder, my level rises very slowly”
“It will be like this for a while”
“For how long?”
“Until you reach level 10 and get a class”
“So, what do I do?”
“Just work. You have been doing splendidly so far. You can raise your level quite easily if you learn how to fight efficiently and hunt this dungeon down. You can earn 16 levels here. It’s sixteen stat points for you. Your current abilities are enough to do it easily”
“Sigh. Guess I have no other choice”
I know I have other choices. I will think of them more. Still, thirty levels… It might be a bit tough. But if you think about it more, It’s better to solve this problem now, so it doesn’t drag me down later.
“Can you teach me how to fight, Ralph?”
“I will assist you”
“Does it mean you will teach me?”
“I will give you the directions to discover what to do”
If I went to the city… It wouldn’t be bad. But don’t have the documents. And in a world where monsters are common, I can’t expect humans to be kinder than they would be in my previous world.
For now, I’ll try to do things on my own. If things go bad, I will have Ralph notify me in advance, so the incident like that time with Lurus doesn’t repeat again.
“Alright, I’ll follow your directions for now”
I feel like I’m being manipulated by Ralph. I also feel that even if I try not to be manipulated by him, I’ll end up following his desires anyways. Let’s just hope he has no malicious plans for myself.
“Good”
…
Ralph didn’t have any malicious plans for me as I later found out. I still went through hell though