Calculating Experience...

Resolving Attributes...

Congratulations! You have achieved Level 3.

Name:

---

Age:

???

Titles:

Master of One’s Soul

Fame:

---

Level:

3

Class:

---

Health:

50/50

Health Regen:

0.05/s

Mana:

---

Mana Regen:

---

Stamina:

20/100

Stamina Regen:

0.1/s

Strength:

16

Intelligence:

26

Vitality:

5

Wisdom:

26

Agility:

13

Charisma:

5

Dexterity:

14

Luck:

14

Soul Force:

MAX

Soul Resilience:

MAX

At some point I really need to decide on a name. I actually had a few in mind, but it since I have not yet needed to use one I let the matter simmer in the back of my mind. Maybe I’ll just walk around with a blank name tag and a marker, so the first person I meet could just fill it in for me…

In any case, I was both pleased and confused by my new status screen. First, only level 3? Seriously? I figured that wrecking a whole horde of well-fed slimes would give me a bit more than that; even though slimes generally give little experience to begin with, the second slime I killed brought me all the way up to level 2. Sure, they aren’t made of silver and didn’t dash away after their first attack on me...but the rest of these things should have added up to quite a haul.

Also, aren’t my stat gains a little weird? I didn’t get to look at what I had at level 2, but from what I could remember at level 1 I am fairly certain that the distribution was not even. 4 points of strength, 1 point in agility, 4 points in dexterity, 1 point each in wisdom and intelligence, and 4 points in luck…and to top it off, everything was automatically assigned, instead of the usual free points that I could choose to distribute...hmm…

Now that I think about it, it actually makes a bit of sense. I didn’t perform any actions that would raise my vitality, for example, so naturally it did not rise. I put forth all my effort into each swing of my club since I needed to be sure I could burst each slime membrane and knock out the core, so my strength rose accordingly, along with my dexterity for controlling my weapon so well. Agility only went up slightly since I did not rely on speed so much as I relied on timing and counters, but it still went up at least. Thankfully my charisma didn’t change for better or worse, or else I would have to imagine someone actually likes seeing naked men covered in blue slime. It also seems that this stat isn’t so fickle that it could decrease on its own. I suppose my luck went up since I never got hit, and the only damage I took were from tiny cuts and scrapes from the environment. As for intelligence and wisdom…

Those two stats were unnaturally skewed to begin with. Unless...maybe they weren’t? What if the system took into account all the deductions I made based on my experience from previous iterations? It definitely did not account for all of my total accumulated knowledge, or else I am sure the numbers would be much higher - that is, if I chose to consciously think of every memory I have from these hundred lives, which would turn me into a driveling mess. How do I know? Experience. Enough said.

If that was the case, then I have a pretty easy way to increase both of those stats in later levels. Just observe the world around me, analyse what I see, use critical thinking to properly draw conclusions, and fact check whenever possible. Considering that my intelligence and wisdom both went up by 1 point each, and that I spent all of level two fighting and thinking no more deeply than keeping active track of my environment and opponents and the angles of my swings, I believe I could safely assume that those gains were made when I achieved level 2 and stayed the same through level 3. I don’t know how high the threshold is for increasing those stats, but at the very least this line of thinking should give me some progress whenever I level again.

Finally, I think I figured out how the leveling system works here, though I might need to gain one or two more levels to be certain. Rather than a seemingly arbitrary increase in power that adjusts my body for me, I think that the system examines everything that happens between one state of being and the next, then adjusts the status screen to reflect any changes. For example, I was an unknown entity when I first woke up, hence my lack of any stat value at all. Then I observed my situation, made deductions, planned according to those deductions, and acted out my plan, killing my first slime as a result. The system was then able to get a baseline for my stat values and awarded them to me along with my first level. Each time I gained a level after that, I either exercised my body and made it a bit stronger or used more of my mental acuity, and the system recognized my achievements. Basically, I have to put in the effort to get stronger, as opposed to artificially raising my power through using the system.

I wonder if others in this world recognize the distinction, though they shouldn’t have any other system to compare it to. For all I know, they could see things quite differently. After all, I have not yet seen everything related to the system and how it is used yet.

Actually, that reminds me...aren’t all the cores I knocked out called “Attribute Cores”?

They don’t quite sound like the beast cores I used to use in tome of the xianxia iterations I lived through, but they do seem to be very similar. In which case…

I scanned the ground around me and located the closest core. Crawling over to it (no one else to see me, so I’m not going to care about my appearance for now), I gripped it in my right hand and examined it. I didn’t have any sort of identification skill, so I could only rely on my physical senses. It was a small black sphere that fit easily in the palm of my hand. The surface was completely smooth, and I had to rub my hand on the dirt ground a bit to remove some slime or else I would have never been able to grasp it. I couldn’t tell if it had any particular smell, and I wasn’t about to taste it, so I could only use the few details I already picked up to distinguish it from other stones in the future.

Now, how to use it...judging by the name, I assumed that the cores could be used to increase my attributes, though I have no idea which one or by how much. Well, nothing else to do but experiment.

For my first attempt, I decided to simply place the core against my forehead and try to focus my thoughts into joining the core to my being. To be honest, I should have switched to a less compromising position - like sitting down, for example - but I felt rather comfortable on my left elbow and knees at the moment so I didn’t bother. Thankfully that did not inhibit my experiment, which actually surprised me when I succeeded.

You have successfully absorbed an Agility Core! Agility growth increased.

That...was a strange message. Even more strange was the sensation that flowed from the core into my body, what felt like a twinge of mana. It circulated through my limbs and settled into my muscles, as far as I could feel. I checked my status screen and saw that my agility value stayed the same, so maybe what the system message meant was that I would find an easier time increasing my agility when I work on it later? That seems like a very interesting proposition...would this growth increase stack with the other cores?

Slightly giddy with the idea, I finally got to my feet and ran around gathering up all the cores I could find. Some of them were knocked into odd places, as my focus during the fighting was to just get the cores away from the slimes rather than getting them into any particular spot. As I went, instead of trying to gather all of them into one pile, I decided to just absorb them all as I picked them up. I had no idea if there was a limit to how many I could absorb, or if there were any diminishing returns, but I simply did not have the means to carry them all and experiment in leisure. I still didn’t even have clothes. And while I did notice some clothing and sacks in some of the buildings I passed, I again chose to continue with my earlier decision, as I had no idea how long the cores would last. Would they disperse after a certain amount of time? I didn’t know if despawning was a thing in this world. No, it was better to simply do what I could and face any possible consequences later.

I discovered that not all of the cores were agility based. Roughly a third of them were actually vitality cores. I was excited at the first vitality core I found, hoping that it would directly increase my vitality, only to be slightly disappointed by a similar message as when I absorbed the agility ones. So, no easy fix to my low vitality.

I also discovered that I could absorb the cores right in my hand, without having to touch it to my forehead, which made me feel a little less silly in the end. With a few more experiments, I determined that I could absorb a core through any skin contact so long as I focused specifically on doing it. Whether the particular body part I absorbed it through made a difference or not, I had no idea, but I decided to start absorbing them through the skin over my heart. If anything, I might get a greater increase in growth potential per core that way. I wanted to place the agility ones directly against my leg muscles, but I still had no way of telling them apart from the vitality ones, so I left that idea alone for the time being.

When I finished with the last core, I noticed that my body was tingling with energy. I decided to sit down again and focus on breathing, working on getting what was possibly foreign mana to settle down evenly inside of me. I lost track of time in the midst of this, but eventually my body felt like it calmed down, though the sense of ‘freshness’ still lingered. Maybe I was getting too close to a possible limit, beyond which absorbing more cores would have harmed me...I’ll have to research this later as well.

I opened my eyes, intent on exploring the village and collecting anything useful, only to find a face inches away from mine.

“Aaahhhh!” I cried, toppling over backwards in an attempt to create some space. Just how deeply was I meditating to not notice this person?! Stupid, stupid mistake!

A burst of laughter from my observer stopped my movements. In that moment I realized that the person who startled me was female...and I’ve just shown her gooey, half-mast glory.

Yeah, that’s not embarrassing at all.

“You’re so weird! Why are you naked and covered in slime? Are you some kind of pervert?” She asked in rapid succession, not giving me a chance to respond. I really don’t like that sort of personality.

And really? Walking up to a naked stranger and asking him if he is a pervert at point blank range? Yet, I am the weird one?

I finally get myself into a less...awkward position, sitting back on the ground with one foot flat in front of me with its knee by my cheek. My other leg was curled up beneath the first, giving me an appearance that covered my genitals but allowing me to surge up to both feet in an instant if I needed to. After all, I knew nothing about this...young woman? She certainly doesn’t look old, but she’s clearly not some kid either.

Since she seems to now be waiting for an answer, and I finally have a chance to converse with a resident of this world, I decided to introduce myself properly. For this iteration, I chose to keep my original birth name from my original life, and the last name that I always used whenever I decided to do more than just ‘exist’ in an iteration. This time, I meant to do more than just exist...I intend to survive until I get the answers I seek.

Full name decided, I answered her. “Hello, my name is...Zareb Sindile.”