Mash got up and started looking around frantically, as his senses returned to him. The fight had ended, and he remembered his friends being safe. They were sitting around talking, and Mash tried pushing himself over to join them. He found that he couldn’t walk yet and rolled over to them like a log.

“I can’t believe you're two levels higher than us, it’s not fair.”

He heard Jill talk as he made his way over to them. Hearing the discussion, he was happy to realize that they were talking about levels. He knew that he probably killed the most rats and was eager to brag about his new level.

“It really isn’t fair, I should be the highest level since it was my buffs that did the mo-“

Luke sounded offended but stopped when he noticed Mash. Mash learned that Red was the highest level and was glad when he felt Luke’s buffs hit him. He immediately started feeling better, it was addicting and better than any painkiller he ever used. With the bonus stats, he was able to prop himself up to a sitting posture. His muscles still felt strained, but it was bearable now.

Looking around, he realized that they were all just staring at him. Red spoke first, sounding a little smug as she questioned him.

“What level are you?”

Mash grinned widely but paused to take in their expressions. He wanted them to look jealous but was only met with a series of smiles. They were waiting for his answer, and he obliged.

“I’m level 18 now. What about you guys?”

Mash couldn’t hide his pride if he wanted to, eight levels in a single night was ridiculous. Their expressions shifted, Red seemingly growing more smug while Jill’s smile broke.

“Danm, I was hoping you would beat her.”

Jill spoke sourly and Red burst into a laughing fit. Mash knew his face looked stupid, but just didn’t care. He just continued to stare blankly at Red, when the realization hit him.

“W-what? How?”

He wanted to ask her what level she was, and how she beat him, but was talking too fast to get the full questions out. He definitely killed the most rats, it shouldn’t have been that close. Red patted Mash on the shoulder, as if comforting a child.

“Sorry, Mash. I’m level 19, and we think its because I killed the boss. “

She didn’t sound or look the least bit apologetic, and he couldn’t blame her. Honestly, he wasn’t all that angry. They all grew significantly last night, and the joy he got from that reality hadn’t dissipated. She didn’t stop there and explained what had happened after she left. Jill and Luke added their own parts, and then Mash shared his own experience. They looked like they were impressed by his performance, but he was feeling the same way. He couldn’t match Red’s killing blow against the queen, and he felt a little jealous at the power she already possessed. He wanted to keep talking but kept thinking about how he would allocate his free stats.

“Give me a few minutes, I’m going to use my free stats.”

Mash spoke casually and was confused by the panicked expressions of his friends. They all yelled simultaneously.

“No!”

He could only understand Luke as his voice was much louder than the others, but he thought that Red had called him crazy. Mash remembered then, his immediate use of free stats was considered wasteful and foolish. He was about to explain, but was preempted by Red.

“Don’t waste your stats! Use them before getting your next class.”

She sounded like she was speaking to a child. Mash didn’t get angry though and proceeded to explain his reasoning.

“I get it, and while it is harder to get improvements at higher stats, I am not planning on spending years in this class to get the most out of my free stats.”

A person could spend years of his life raising his stats without raising his level, and it would be the most efficient thing he could do, but he wasn’t planning on taking it slowly. Even though last night was exhausting, he still wanted to go to the dungeon.

“I am not going to wait, and neither are you. We are going to advance quickly and level quickly. Once we’re level 200, if you still care, we can train then, but I don’t plan on slowing down until then, so I’m going to use my free stats to keep me alive as I push myself to gain levels.”

He spoke without a hint of doubt but was afraid to see how they would react. Jill and Luke both had the hesitant looks he expected, but oddly enough, Red was nodding along in agreement.

“You’re crazy.”

Jill spoke quickly, but Mash heard the uncertainty in her voice. She understood what he meant, whether or not she agreed with it. Mash didn’t have to respond though, as Red took his place.

“He’s right, and you know it. Afterall, you are the one who is in a rush.”

Red spoke directly to Jill but Luke seemed to accept it now as well. Mash was glad, even if they were his friends, he didn’t think that he would slow down for them. With everyone in agreement, they grew quite as they each focused on allocating their free stats.

Name: Mash Class: Wood-Forged Pseudo-Monk

Level: 18

Health: 311 / 420

Energy: 207 /1060

Fortitude: 42

Endurance: 57

Strength: 34

Agility: 40

Intelligence: 49

Wisdom: 41

Charisma: 24

Free Stats: 40

Skills: Persist, Mana-wood Creation, Artificial Meditation, Mana Sphere, Monks False Core

Persist: Go beyond your limits. Continue current action even after depleting energy. Stats improve while at 0 stamina.

Current Bonus: +100% stats

Artificial Meditation: You have stolen the techniques of mages and monks to form an artificial technique. Meditating will increase the rate at which your body recovers, even healing minor wounds.

Current Rate: +100% recovery

Mana-wood Creation: You know how deadly sticks can be. Forge your mana into wooden creations.

Mana Sphere (Passive): Your eyes just weren’t enough. Sense the changes in the mana around you.

Current Range: 5 feet

Monks False Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy.

There were a few things he wanted to accomplish, the first of which was trying to make his mana sphere larger. He didn’t know which stat had improved it but guessed that it was either his intelligence or wisdom. Wanting to use the least number of free stats as possible for this test, he raised his intelligence by one point. It would get to 50 and hopefully increase the range of his sphere.

He checked his skills again and saw that he was right, his sphere had grown to 6 feet. He didn’t want to use all his points on intelligence, but made a mental note to make it his default stat. Instead, he wanted to raise his other stats to get them to the same milestone.

He raised his fortitude, agility, and wisdom to 50 with some of his remaining free stats. He used another 10 on intelligence, to check if Mana Sphere’s range increased in intervals of 10. With his remaining 2 stats, he raised strength and charisma by 1 stat each. He didn’t have to worry about his endurance, since his Persist skill made it almost obsolete. Happy with his decisions he checked his class one more time.

Name: Mash Class: Wood-Forged Pseudo-Monk

Level: 18

Health: 312 / 500

Energy: 211 /1170

Fortitude: 42 → 50

Endurance: 57

Strength: 34 → 35

Agility: 40 → 50

Intelligence: 49 → 60

Wisdom: 41 → 50

Charisma: 24 → 25

Free Stats: 0

Skills: Persist, Mana-wood Creation, Artificial Meditation, Mana Sphere, Monks False Core

Persist: Go beyond your limits. Continue current action even after depleting energy. Stats improve while at 0 stamina.

Current Bonus: +100% stats

Artificial Meditation: You have stolen the techniques of mages and monks to form an artificial technique. Meditating will increase the rate at which your body recovers, even healing minor wounds.

Current Rate: +100% recovery

Mana-wood Creation: You know how deadly sticks can be. Forge your mana into wooden creations.

Mana Sphere (Passive): Your eyes just weren’t enough. Sense the changes in the mana around you.

Current Range: 7 feet

Monks False Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy.

Similarly, to the last time, his sphere being bigger was amazing, all his friends were now within its range. He could observe them as their powers rose when they allocated their own stats. He started meditating, while he waited for them to finish, glad for the opportunity to recover his health and energy.

He wasn’t waiting long, and they all were soon discussing the changes that they made. Nobody had made unexpected decisions, and everyone had raised their fortitude a small bit. They were talking openly, until Jill noticed Edmund approaching. They grew silent as he got within earshot. He started talking even before reaching them, uncaring of who listened in.

“Congratulations, you went above and beyond and passed your test. Honestly, I was expecting less than half the rats that showed up, and certainly no queens. Don’t worry though, I would have helped you if you needed it, but you guys seemed alright, so I let you be.”

Edmund said the words like he was stating the obvious, but his face did not give the same feeling. Mash highly doubted that he would’ve helped them. However, its not like Mash or his friends could even touch Edmund. An argument here would accomplish nothing, but it did annoy him since he couldn’t do anything. He noticed everyone else seemed equally annoyed, but Edmund wasn’t finished yet and simply ignored their expressions.

“Get some sleep. In the morning we will return to the guild, and you can register your team. Hope you can think of a name, but for now you should enjoy one of the few perks of being an adventurer.”

It only took Mash a second to understand what he meant, the people of the village were coming out and setting up tables and drinks. It would be a festival and they looked to be waiting for their group. However, Edmund sounded oddly regretful as he spoke. Mash didn’t let it bother him and went to join the festivities. His friends must have had the same idea as they all got up simultaneously.

Now, Mash was glad that he never revealed his age to his friends. They wouldn’t know he was technically too young to drink. He was supposed to be 15 years old at the very least, since that was when someone was considered an adult. He would just take one glass, only to satisfy his curiosity. He tried to make his way to the nearest table with drinks but was stopped quickly.

He wondered why he was singled out so much, but upon hearing the newcomer’s words understood.

“You should probably get cleaned up.”

The villager who spoke was an elderly woman who looked older than his grandmother. She had a towel in one hand and was pointing to a nearby water source. Mash answered as he grabbed the towel from her.

“Thank you, and I’m Mash.”

Mash was grateful and only lingered for long enough to hear her response.

“You can call me Lady Visslin, and its not much compared to what you and your friends have done for us.”

She had a gentle smile and sounded extremely grateful. She looked to have been a noble once but was now stuck in this village. Her clothing was obviously of a higher quality material than most other residents, but she didn’t seem out of place. She had probably lived here for a long time.

However, Mash didn’t feel comfortable with the gratitude and hastily moved to the water. The genuineness of her words got Mash thinking. He didn’t like this situation at all. Why were the outer villages so much weaker than the cities? Why did adventurers and guards let the village get ravaged, was it just for their exam?

This whole system was filled with problems. The views on stats were wrong. The limiting of stat allocation so that children would not grow up too quickly was illogical. The treatment of new adventurers was unfair, and the maintenance of the villages was done poorly. The knights and adventurers were apathetic to the concerns of those weaker than themselves. Who maintained this broken system?

Mash found himself considering that question as he started cleaning himself off. The water source was a small basin that filled itself with new water and would run off the ambient mana. Enchanted items like these were common in villages, as it was a reliable way to provide clean water. The water filled extremely slowly though, so Mash tried to use as little water as possible.

He was drenched in blood, and his clothes were torn in several places. Thankfully, he had changed into generic clothing, not wanting to risk his mending clothes. He just couldn’t bring himself to let his only nice pair of clothing get damaged. He wore it now that he was mostly clean, and used the water as a mirror. As he looked at his own image in the water’s reflection, he got his answer.

It didn’t matter who maintained the system, He would be the one to break it. For that dream, he needed to become a lot stronger. To the point where he could find and remove those that enforced that system. That thought felt right to him. He just hoped that he wouldn’t have to fight those he cared about to do it. At least he would be going to a dungeon soon, but for now he would enjoy the remainder of the night.