Chương 12: Gains

"Mr. Reeves, you should really check them out." Jonathan clicked the button on the side of his phone, locking it. There hadn't been any notifications for him anyway.

"You just want to hear more about my powers." Elijah rolled his eyes, "Now you're just doing it on purpose. They're called skills, not powers." Jonathan grunted.

"I'm serious. If you leveled up then you could probably put points into your Vitality and heal up faster. You're in pain, aren't you? Come on, at least look at your Status Screen. Tell me how many Free Points you have, and I'll shut up." Christ.

"Status Screen," Jonathan said.

"You don't have to-" Elijah cut off as he saw Jonathan's annoyed look.

"Right." The blue screen filled his vision, and he scanned his Status Window. Status Name: Jonathan Reeves - Level 7 Class: None HP: 82/110 MP: 100/100 Traits: (1/3) {Rage} Titles: <Choose Display Title> One Against Many Physical Stats: Strength: 16 Agility: 14 Constitution: 11 Vitality: 10 Magical Stats: Intellect: 11 Willpower: 13 Mana: 10 Wisdom: 11 Free Points: 12 Active Skills: [Rending Strike] (Novice - Level 2) Passive Skills: (None)"There are 12 Free Points," Jonathan said.

Elijah's head whipped to the side to stare at Jonathan with wide eyes.

"I'm tempted to slam the brakes on the car right now, just for emphasis. You have twelve Free Points?"

"Fuck off."

"What?"

"Sorry, I was just making the window go away."

"I- you… what?" Jonathan couldn't help but crack a smile as the agent stared with his mouth hanging open.

"Did you get all of those from completing the Rift Quest?"

"Completing the Rift Quest gives you Free Points?"

"What? No. When you accept the reward from the quest, you should get experience related to how much you contributed."

"Oh. Then, no."

"No?"

"I haven't accepted any quest rewards yet." Elijah slammed the brakes of the car. Jonathan couldn't keep it together anymore and began to laugh as they came to a halt. The double-lane road through southern Washington was empty, and the gesture was much more dramatic than it needed to be. But Jonathan found that teasing the younger man was fun in a way he hadn't had since taking his boys hunting.

"You're messing with me, aren't you?" Jonathan shook his head and held his injured side, doing his best to stifle the building's laughter.

"Twelve," Elijah stressed again while setting his head against his seat.

"That means you're at least level 5? That's crazy, but you completed the Rift without those points, so you have to be higher. Are you level 10?" At the last question, he sat bolt upright and looked at Jonathan with eyes as round as saucers.

"Do you have your class?" Jonathan almost missed the last question as it came out as a whisper.

"I'm only level-""Ah! Wait, wait. Sorry. You don't need to share this information." Elijah straightened again and seemed to remember himself as he regained his professional bearing. Raising an eyebrow, Jonathan gave him a few moments.

"Levels, skills, and traits are all private information." He gripped the steering wheel and began to drive down the empty road once more.

"Why?"

"Would you want a stranger to know what sort of home protections you have? Alarm, locks, weapons? It's the same as that. The difference is, now you're the weapon." Jonathan looked out of the window and thought through his situation.

"I'm guessing that whatever I tell you gets reported back to your supervisors?" When Elijah nodded, Jonathan shook his head. I wouldn't mind sharing with the kid; he seems knowledgeable. But I'm not letting some random organization out there get all of my information.

"It's like the damned cookies all over again."

"Huh?" He shook his head and decided that he could figure things out on his own. While they had been getting food, Elijah had explained a lot of basic information to Jonathan. Mostly going over terminology that was being used for Rifts, skills, stats, and more. The agent had also been kind enough to talk Jonathan through some of the basics of how the System windows worked.

Now that he understood that it all worked off of his direct intent and he only needed to know a few certain 'commands' to give the System, he felt a lot more comfortable navigating the menus. Jonathan followed the directions that Elijah had given him. He was interested in getting more specifics about the stats. While he knew what each of those words meant by their definition, he had to assume that they were more specific.

Elijah had confirmed his suspicions and said that physical stats all had modifiers and affected the body in a certain way, while magical stats all affected the ability to use magic. Last thing I need is magic. Physical Stats. The thought caused a window to appear. Physical Stats: This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Strength - 16 Agility - 14 Constitution - 11 Vitality - 10 Show me the descriptions.

Strength - (Physical Power) Represents pure physical power, determining a character's ability to lift, carry, and deliver powerful blows. As this stat increases, an Awakened One's muscles may grow larger, becoming more defined and powerful, allowing them to perform feats of strength with greater ease. Agility - (Physical Control) Governs how strength is applied. It focuses on speed, coordination, and explosive power through momentum.

Awakened with high Agility move more fluidly and with greater precision, their muscles becoming more defined. They appear more graceful, with quicker reflexes and smoother movements. Constitution - (Physical Capacity) Reflects an Awakened One's overall health, life points, and endurance. Those with high Constitution tend to have a sturdy appearance and strong bones. They can endure more physical punishment and recover from wounds more effectively.

Vitality: (Physical Regeneration) Governs natural health regeneration and stamina recovery. Those Awakened with high Vitality may appear more youthful and energetic, regardless of their age. This stat helps them recover quickly from exertion and maintain peak physical condition. Jonathan thought through how he'd been fighting so far and the toll that it was taking on his body. He realized that the moment he had been forced to fight without his {Rage} trait, he was reduced to such an injured state.

The thought took him back to the middle of the fight against the Chieftain when he'd landed a right hook so strong that it broke the stone carapace that protected the monster's face. At the same time, his bones hadn't been able to withstand his own force.

'Those with high Constitution tend to have a sturdy appearance and strong bones. They can endure more physical punishment and recover from wounds more effectively.' Jonathan felt confident that if he was going to continue his fight against the monsters within the portals- no, the Rifts- then he would need to be more durable. It wouldn't be safe or smart to rely solely on the regenerative abilities he gained from {Rage}. Vitality also drew Jonathan's attention.

He assumed that this because his trait said that it 'boosted physical power and regenerative abilities' the vitality stat would increase that ability to heal his injuries from a fight. Couldn't hurt to feel a bit younger, either. He felt like there wasn't really any frame of reference for how high he should have his numbers. But, to be thorough, he also pulled up the other descriptors for the magical stats before applying any of his Free Points.

He dismissed the idea of investing any points into those four stats, largely because he had no interest in the idea of magic. Jonathan had always trusted in things he could touch and see. He believed in hard work through sweat and the use of his hands. The idea of meditating and contemplating magical mumbo jumbo threatened to put him to sleep right there in the passenger seat. The normal definitions of those magical stats did make him smirk.

He knew that Emma would find endless amusement if she could see that his Willpower was naturally higher than both his Intellect and his Wisdom. She'd likely act unsurprised and call him an Old Dog. It had always been her favorite nickname for the times he'd been particularly stubborn or grumpy. Feeling a bit lighter at the thought of Emma guiding him through his choice, He looked back at his available points and decided to apply them in an even manner.

If the potential for self-harm or sabotage could come about because one of his stats was too high, it only made sense for him to bring them up together. He placed his points and smiled as the numbers went up. When they were applied, Jonathan felt like his skin was tingling and he felt tired for a time. The thought that something as simple as mentally applying points to a screen could have immediate physical benefits was astounding to Jonathan and just felt wrong.

I spent years in the gym and pushing my body through extreme conditions. But by this measurement, I'm almost three times stronger than when I started. Is it really equivalent like that? There has to be a gradual increase, right? It seemed to cheapen the entire experience to Jonathan. He shook his head and wondered if the concept of hard work was truly gone with time. He looked at Elijah, who was glancing at him more frequently than before, but stayed quiet to allow him to look through the windows.

Jonathan braced himself and willed the System to show him the notifications he'd been suppressing since his level 3 assault on the first rock troll camp. His eyes widened as he dismissed a large number of the rock troll slaying notifications as well as the level-up notifications that came from that assault. About midway through, he saw a notification that was new. Congratulations Awakened. You have completed Personal Quest: Culling Rock Trolls! You have one Personal Quest Reward available. Congratulations Awakened.

You have completed Personal Quest: Culling Rock Trolls! You gain: 1x Item Enchantment Token"Hmm," Jonathan said as a glowing blue light began to coalesce in front of him. He leaned back a bit and held his good hand out.

"Is that your quest reward?" Jonathan looked at the small token he held in his hand. It was circular in shape, with a metallic finish, but I couldn't tell what sort of material it was made from.

"Yeah…" He flipped it over and saw that on one side, there was an embossed image of a piece of armor, while on the other was the emblem of an axe. He set it in his lap, deciding to come back to it after he was finished going through notifications. There was another notification for title that he'd been awarded. When he saw that window, he directed his intent to get more information on the title, as Elijah had instructed him. Congratulations, Awakened! You have gained a Title!

You gain: Title - One Against Many Title: One Against Many Fight against ten or more opponents by yourself and win. +5 to all stats Jonathan nodded as he now realized where his additional stats had come from and it made more sense why he was so much stronger during his fight with the Chieftain. Next, he saw other kill windows from the two days he'd skirmished with scouting parties as he tracked the main tribe.

There were a dozen other notifications of killing the rock trolls as he entered the main camp and the final one stood out. You have slain Rock Troll Chieftain - Level 12 Lastly was a cluster of notifications signifying his completion of the Rift Quest, two more level ups, and one asking if he wanted to accept the rewards. When he accepted he was surprised by the response. Congratulations Awakened. You have completed Rift Quest: Slay the Chieftain! You have one Rift Quest Reward available. Do You Accept?

Yes/No Calculating Rewards. Processing… Reward Upgraded by System. You gain: 1x Uncommon E Rank Weapon Item - Ravager Greataxe More motes of light began to come together in front of Jonathan. As the group of lights grew brighter, they stretched out to take up significantly more space in the car. Both men's eyes went wide as it reached from one end of the car to the other. Elijah slowed the car down again, and they both waited for several heartbeats for an item to materialize.

Nothing happened; it was just a bright white line of light hanging in the air between them and from one window to the next.

"Maybe it needs more space? Here, roll the windows down," Elijah said as he rolled down both the driver and passenger windows. More blue lights floated up from where the item was forming and rushed toward Jonathan's chest. It reminded him of what he'd seen after killing the Chieftain. Experience? As soon as both windows were down, Jonathan held his hands out, and Elijah cursed as a massive greataxe formed in the air and fell into his waiting hands.

He grunted as he tried to grip it with his broken right hand, causing the heavy blade on Elijah's side to dip down. Elijah squeaked as the blade began to teeter down. Worried he might cut the young man, Jonathan twisted his wrist to lift the heavy axe head, only to be surprised as he moved the weapon with ease. Too much ease. The other side of the dark double-bladed axe head sunk two inches into the ceiling of the car.

Both of them stared in silence, trying to process all of the things that had happened, when two new notifications appeared in his vision, and golden motes of light began to rain around him. Congratulations Awakened. You have leveled up! You have 3 Free Points to distribute. Congratulations Awakened. You have leveled up! You have 3 Free Points to distribute. Jonathan ignored the pain in his side as he let the laugh roll from his belly.