Jason thinks over what Peter had just told him when something stuck out to him. “How does that xp overflowing into stats work exactly? You mentioned it started at level ten, but Lily is already level 12. Did she miss out on a lot of stats because I didn’t know about this? Also, how many more stats can she get? Delaying my levels isn’t hard, what with how I’m not really going all that fast to begin with. On the other hand, how would I know she has gained as much as possible?”

Peter laughs, “Yes, everyone asks those things when they first learn about this. No one likes the answer either.”

Jason sighs, “There’s no way to know, is there?”

Peter shrugs, “Every being that the System counts as alive has its own potential. Even you travellers can’t escape this. Though I must admit the limits are a lot looser on you guys. As for how you can tell? Look for a star. Any stat that has reached its max base value will get a little star next to it. Sadly, there is no way to tell if you’ve always maxed the stat in the past as it only represents current possible max value.”

“Speaking of the current max, there are two things that determine this. Going up in level will increase your possible max. On the other hand, each bottleneck will cut off your potential max. If a person got plus one max agility every level then at level 24 they would have an additional 14 potential for it. If they never gained a single one of those points and broke through to level 25. They would have only a single point to gain because it has cut the previous potential off.”

“Of course that is just your natural potential. Stat points from leveling up aren’t affected by it. You’re looking only at the base stat. Also, there are things that can increase a creature’s potential, but they tend to be rare and highly sought after. After all, those clans with behemoths and leviathans will spend fortunes to increase their guardian beast’s potential. Even the low end treasures are rare. In fact, they are even more sought after. Those same clans will be trying to raise the next generation of guardian, and other clans will want to be raising their own.”

Jason nods, “Okay, so the important bits is I should try and get stars on her and my own stats.”

Peter rubs the bridge of his nose, “Like, no one goes for maxed personal stats. I don’t even necessarily advise it for your rabbit. Monster tamers are a special case. They will have skills that scale off of their monster’s stats. Even with that, most only max a single monster, the one that they have chosen as their life partner. Now a person maxing their stats? How in the heavens is someone supposed to do that?”

“For most people the points from gaining levels outweigh any gain through training or experience. Starting with level ten people are getting five points a level and it only gets crazier from there. People find it more than worth their time to just increase their level. Sure a person will eventually get stuck behind a bottleneck but earned points overwrite gained points so they won’t experience an increase in ability. People of course have tried for it, but there aren’t any rewards. Not even a title. About the only stat people even consider maxing is control.”

At the side Rosha tilts her head to the side. “Wouldn’t people want to max something like mana?”

Peter pauses at this and thinks back. “Oh right, I forgot to mention this only counts for normal stats, not auxiliary stats. Aux stats can be trained as high as you want, but they have diminishing returns. This actually makes it popular for people to work on them when at a bottleneck. Normal stats might not be worth it because it won’t actually boost them, but aux stats just are weird.”

Jason thinks about this new info. It makes some sense to him because most of the auxiliary stats seem to be pools. Though a couple things stick out to him. “What’s up with defense and any normal stat you get later on?”

Peter laughs, “You seem to have figured out most of the aux stats. Basically the various pools, stuff like Mana and Stamina. And that has you wondering about defense. After all, it isn’t exactly a pool. Yeah, someone sundering your armor can reduce it, but that isn’t really what we are talking about. What you’re suffering from is a lack of information.”

“Don’t worry, most travellers don’t bother with the difference in the first place so not knowing it is normal. Speaking of normal lets put a solid definition to what normal stats are. The so-called normal stats represent when your body is no longer normal. Ironic, isn’t it? Though I guess with you travellers, it isn’t so much the case as you all start with the basic three. Anyway, stats, all of them, only show up once you have developed them enough to be beyond the norm. What makes normal stats normal is they represent your body.”

“Your body? You might ask. Isn’t defense a part of my body? Let me learn you some facts. Defense isn’t actually your body’s defense, or even how much a piece of gear can protect you with its natural material. Otherwise a sheet of leather would be able to protect you just as much if not more than a decent suit of leather armor. After all, it covers more. Defense represents a non-specific mystical force. Some have called it the concept of protection.”

“If you want to talk about how much your body can take that would be toughness. Hp is actually similar to Defense, except it is more ablative. Now don’t get me wrong, zero hp still means dead unless there is some magic involved or very special skills. Anyway, you might have cottoned onto what aux stats represent already and yes, they are the external to your body. Now there are rumors of some people who have made stuff like their mana a normal stat but those all involve maxed locals.”

“Oh, and as for the normal stats you get later? Best scholars can figure is that they have all the potential you would have gotten in the last break available. So take that example with agility before. If he only gained agility after hitting level 25 he would have the 14 potential as well as the one for that level. Not perfect, so you still want to aim towards getting any important stats on a pet before they break the fourth bottleneck.”