I didn't know there was such a bonus hidden in the scarecrow.

That's why I didn't think of investing stats in Power, Agility, and Physical Strength.

Even if I had known it, I would not have done so because I already chose Intellectual Power as the parental stat for Mutual Growth.

Anyway, I had the remaining balance of 1,000 stat points that I earned in return for achieving the max level in the third closed beta. Besides, I had another remaining balance of 1,300 stat points, which I noticed in one corner of the status bar.

And I invested all of them in Intellectual Power. All 1,300 stat points.

When I did it, I found a couple of stats that increased drastically. They were Stamina and Willpower. Of course, Willpower increased by 50%.

Level: 10

Health: 601,000/601,000 Mana: 536,000/536,000

Strength: 710 Agility: 710 Stamina: 2100

Willpower: 1,360 Intellectual Power: 2,010>>

"..."

I can declare confidently that I've never seen anything more beautiful than this.

I could not think of any other word to express my joy when I noticed the numbers on the status bar.

I was impressed by the numbers of Physical Strength and Health in particular because I thought I could never achieve those numbers while playing lots of elemental wizards, including ice-types. And that was the fate and limits of DPS wizards.

Of course, a paladin that focuses on shield series such as ice shield, fire shield, stone shield, and mega shield generally has higher Stamina and Health than ordinary wizards, but the mainstay is Intellectual Power.

The strength of those shields is only influenced by Intellectual Power alone and a bit of Willpower.

Anyway, my confidence soared when I noticed my Health was more than 600,000 and Stamina with more than 2,000, aside from Intellectual Power with more than 2,000 because I would not die easily or in vain because of high Stamina and Health.

And the fact that I would not die easily meant that I could take heavy magical attacks for a long time by investing the 'Iceman' trait and all the remaining stat points I would get in the future.

"Hhhhhh."

Without hiding my uncontrollable smile, I turned toward learning skills this time.

I was excited when I thought about using six skill points which were twice as many as what others would receive.

A huge tower was located in the middle of the Kotum Castle square.

When I approached the tower, the message rang as it always did in the first, second, and third closed betas.

[This a tower with the records of heroes' abilities.

-There are limitations based on an individual's abilities.]

"Search Ice-type magic."

I spoke out without any hesitation because the moment I got the 'Iceman' trait, it was safe to say that my path was already decided.

[Currently, there is ice-type magic that you can obtain.]

-Level 1 Ice Ball. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

: Throw only fist-sized ice balls at an enemy within 10 meters.

: Attack range and damage will scale with Intellectual Power.

: Upgrade to Level 2 and Level 3 Ice Ball is possible.

-Level 1 Ice Bolt. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

: Throw ice bolts with slight penetration power at an enemy within 10 meters.

: Attack range and damage increase scale with Intellectual Power.

: Upgrade to Level 2 and Level 3 Ice Bolt is possible.

-Level 1 Ice Shield. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

: Place a thin ice shield in front of the user.

: The thickness of the ice shield increases according to Intellectual Power and Willpower.

: Upgrade to Level 3, Level 5 and Level 7 is possible.

-Level 1 Ice Weapon. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

: Put cold ice on the weapon to inflict additional damage.

: Increases additional damage caused by ice, depending on Intellectual Power.

: Upgrade to Level 2 or Level 3 Ice Weapon is possible.

-Minor Frostbite Occurrence. (Passive, 1 skill point required, 500 gold rings required.)

: Casting all ice-based magic at the opponent inflicts Minor Frostbite at a constant rate.

: When Level and EXP are accumulated, it can be upgraded to usable Frostbite.

[Please click Skill for detailed descriptions of each skill.]

It was the same skill list as the one I obtained after achieving Level 5 during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas. But I wasn't puzzled because no matter how high my ability was, I would stay at Level 10 anyway. It's not a big deal compared to Level 5.

So, I opened my mouth casually and said, "Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt, Level 1 Ice Shield, Level 1 Ice Weapon, plus Minor Frostbite Occurrence."

I still had lots of usable skill points. Besides, I had not only mana that could keep the Ice Shield and Ice Weapon 24 hours a day, but also Ice Balls and Ice Bolt.

And I had more than 100 million gold rings.

So, I chose to obtain everything because if I didn't need it or needed a skill point later, I could delete it even if it required 5 times as many golden rings to acquire the skill.

[You have obtained Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt, Level 1 Ice Shield, Level 1 Ice Weapon and Minor Frostbite.

-A total of 5 skill points and 900 gold rings are required.

-Do you want to acquire 5 skills?]

"Yes."

I need an Ice Weapon, but I may not need an Ice Shield at all.

With over 2,000 Stamina and 600,000+ Health points, my stats were greater than that of Level 100, 200, or even 300 tanks.

I checked the message that said I acquired 5 skills and turned around.

However, I soon stopped in the spot before going further because I still had 100 million gold rings available.

So it was possible that I could wear a top-level item instead of an entry-level item, and a full set at that.

But I thought a little further.

'Hmm... I think I can level up quickly. So, I don't have to waste time buying and reselling that low-level item.'

I am confident that I can level up very quickly.

So, I didn't feel the need to wear expensive beginner items with good options because even without such things, I was more powerful than the Level 300 ice wizard that I achieved during the third closed beta.

Of course, my Intellectual Power is slightly lower, but I've got things that I didn't possess at the time other than 'Iceman,' which increases the performance of all ice-types by 30%.

So I turned back to head for a weapon and armor shop in order to purchase some basic equipment that I could buy cheap and resell later after using them rather than wasting time searching for auction places.

Of course, it's not because I want to save golden rings, and I don't need to because I'm a son of a very wealthy family.

So, I can use golden rings freely, but there's no justification that I should waste them.

In fact, I had experience doing part-time work for the first time after I was kicked out of the house half-willingly.

Moreover, I never failed to pick up the drops from the monsters, even if it was a bit of an obsolete miscellaneous item or just one golden ring because they were all by-products of my time and effort aside from their value.

***

Kotum Castle Armor Shop.

"All set. 3700 gold rings are required."

"Here you go." I bought gray nondescript leather gloves and leather boots.

Naturally, the only option I had was to add a few stat points, or increase the weak health and mana points, but I didn't care because they were cheap throwaway items.

Soon I left the armor shop and moved to a weapon shop. I purchased a wooden wizard wand, the most basic weapon that would boost Intellectual Power at Level 5.

And this time I boldly stepped outside of Kotum Castle because everything was ready on my end.