The Leveling of Humanity CH 8: Leveling Up

The level-up screen hovered before each of them as they gathered in the middle of the room. The group took a moment to breathe in satisfaction from their first combat encounter before addressing their pending level-up statuses. Finally, Chase sat down and pulled up the screen, ready to proceed.

Congratulations! You have leveled up! Collect level-up rewards? Yes/No?

Chase nudged the yes with his mind, and the screen expanded.

You are level 2. You have 3 available stat points to distribute. Your stamina has been replenished. Your hit points have been replenished. Your mana has been replenished.

Chase pulled his stats up and saw he could choose where to increase his stats. Until now, he hadn't looked it over or considered how important his stat points would be for him.

Level 2

Human

Tactician

Strength: 0 (+)

Speed: 0 (+)

Stamina: 0 (+)

Mental: 3 (+)

Mana: 0 (+)

Spells: Unselected [1]

+3 Unused Stat Points to Distribute

Chase paused while looking over his stats at the three pre-selected assigned points in the mental score. Why do I already have points assigned, and why are all my stats zero? He knew that people would have naturally higher scores but didn't realize that everyone had zeroes as a base. He mentally pressed against the Spells: Unselected [1], and a new pop-up appeared.

You have an unselected spell available to choose from. Choose a new spell now? Yes/No?

Without hesitation Chase mentally selected yes and three options appeared.

Lesser Illusion: Create a fake image of an item or small object.

Blurred Image: Any creature looking at you has difficulty seeing you.

Minor Projection: An image of you rushes forward in a straight line until it makes contact with something.

Chase excitedly looked over the options before clearing his throat to get the attention of the others.

"I can pick a spell and have a few options." Everyone turned in unison to look at him, so he continued, "I can create a fake image of something, I can make myself harder to look at directly, or I can make an image of myself run forward."

"That last one is probably a distraction effect." Sofie said while nodding thoughtfully, "I'd probably go for that one myself. I'll bet it gets better as you level up more." Gary nodded in agreement with what Sofie said. Then responded,

"I got a spell at level 1, and I have the option to improve it now. It looks like it'll cost less mana if I level it up. Right now, I can cast it once if I use all my mana. I wouldn't be able to cast it twice if I improved it, but it wouldn't take long for a second charge. It might also be stronger or have a lower casting time. I'm not clear. The system is being kinda vague about it." Sofie nodded as well in agreement but asked Gary,

"Do you have a different option?"

"Yeah." He replied, "I could pick the Anthromorphic trait. I think that would give me claws or something. More of a beast transformation thing, I think. So I could focus spells or focus on being a melee fighter. Personally, I'd rather focus on spells."

"Then that's what you should do," Emily spoke up for the first time, "Be what you want to be. What's the point if we're not doing that?" Chase darkly recalled that Emily was feeling bitter about her own class selection, and he turned to address her.

"What are your options?"

"I already picked mine." She said with gusto, then gestured to Matthew while walking over to pick up one of the small stones that had clattered to the ground. "Let me see your bat for a minute? I'm going to enhance it." Matthew happily handed over his blunt weapon,

"Yes, ma'am, have at it." As he handed it over to her, everyone could see a ring of arcane runes swirl around Emily's hand as she placed it on the bat.

"Oh." She said in surprise, "There is a chance to fail the enhancement. I guess that makes sense... Well... Let's try it anyway." The runes started swirling around and around, she concentrated hard, and there was a visible strain on her face. The rings spun around in different directions. As she concentrated, the rings had pieces slide into the ring below it, and then they'd switch directions. There was a clear level of difficulty displayed as she tried getting all of the segments to align before connecting them with the next ring. The entire arcane structure around her hand turned red and shattered. Her face was crestfallen, and Chase grabbed her by the shoulder supportively.

"Guess that's what a failure looks like. I think I understand it a bit better. Do you guys mind if I try again with one of the other stones?" Emily asked the group while standing and walking towards the other two stones. No one opposed it, and as she walked over to collect the stone, Sofie turned back to Chase,

"I think you should take that distraction spell," She said earnestly, "I've played a lot of RPGs, and a distraction like that can be vital for aggro swings."

"What's an aggro swing?" Matthew asked, joining the conversation while watching Emily begin her second attempt at enchanting his bat.

"Oh, sorry," Sofie said, "Aggro means when someone or something has the attention of a monster or enemy. Remember when the boars turned toward us and charged after we killed the first one? That's because we'd gained aggro. An aggro swing means taking aggro off of someone and placing it on someone else."

"Makes sense," Matthew said, but his eyes were still on Emily's enhancement. She had gotten the first two rings to click in sync, but the third ring looked much trickier with three parts she would have to sync up with precise timing to lock mentally. As the spinning circles came together, it seemed like it was starting to glow green from the white it started with. Then, in the last moment, as she joined the rings together, the whole piece turned red and shattered.

"Ugh!" Emily exclaimed. She stood up and handed the bat back to Matthew. "I'm out of mana. I'll have to try again later."

"That's fine by me. I got something helpful myself," Matthew said proudly, "Critical Strike. It says once every ten hits. So I'll be able to hit for guaranteed double damage. Might be good in a long fight."

"Nice," Chase said while nodding to the older man, "I think I will take that distraction spell."

"I get extra stat points, so long as I can keep my stats as close to even as possible." Sofie said while stretching, "No spells or anything yet, but I think I'll get some soon. How many stat points do you guys get?"

"I got three stat points," Gary said.

"Me too," Chase agreed.

"Same here," Emily added. Matthew nodded his agreement as well.

"I get five," Sofie declared, "but the system stresses that I need to keep my stats as perfect to even as possible to get the extra 2 points. So it says that's my Paladin bonus feature."

"That's really cool," Emily said as the group began looking around. The tone of the group was clear. It was time to move on to the next room.

"Right is right?" Chase asked out loud to the group, who all responded in unison,

"Right is right!"