Naturally, I copied everything onto my notepad. From what Masa observed, the "normal" values were about ten times our Levels, while the "High" values were about a hundred or so points higher than those. It was likely that each Level would increase the values by around ten, but we couldn't be sure until either of us levelled up again. Masa hadn't paid much attention to changes in the status values until I brought it up since he had been busy fighting or trying out magic while he was here. As I studied the differences in our statuses, I figured out that the only reason why he could see the numbers was because his Inspect was at Level 3 while mine was still at 2.

Well! That motivated me to level it up. I started inspecting everything I saw until my eyes hurt from the strain of concentrating so hard. Masa gave me a wry smile as he finished up his breakfast. He then collapsed the earth tents back into the ground and packed up his backpack, waiting for me to get ready. I just dumped the trash into my Void and washed my hands and face at the stream while Masa doused the fire and buried the remains of the fire under some more earth. I didn't think he had to leave the site that pristine, but he nodded in satisfaction at his handiwork.

After that, we set off. According to him, we should reach the tunnel to Kagawa in the evening if we made good time. From there, his home was only a short bus ride away. Ah, convenient public transportation. How I missed it while living in rural Malaysia where one couldn't get anywhere without a driving license. I was somewhat luckier than others since I had a butler to chauffeur me around, but he couldn't attend to all my whims all the time. These days I spent more time in Shyi'eld than my actual home if you counted the actual hours, so the point was moot anyway.

As usual, we fought monsters as we travelled, and at this point it was becoming more of a routine than an actual adventure. The scenery didn't change much apart from having more mountains in the distance. There didn't seem to be any monsters higher than Level 15 in these parts, which I certainly didn't mind. I would rather have boring fights than risk my life. We accumulated experience bit by bit until I finally levelled up first. I quickly asked Masa for the numbers and wrote them down, with the increase in values written in brackets.

Rynn Tan

Level: 25 (+1)

Attack: 278 (+18)

Endurance: 266 (+12)

Agility: 515 (+26)

Speed: 325 (+13)

Intelligence: 300 (+14)

Mana: 422 (+27)

From what I could tell, the numbers were pretty arbitrary, although the increase was higher for my agility and mana, which were "high" according to Inspect 2. I certainly didn't feel much of a change physically or mentally. The monsters were now easier to kill, but I attributed that to practice and familiarity rather than actual stats. It was nice to see the numbers go up, but I was starting to think that this levelling thing wasn't all Feyril said it would be. Ah well, at least the difference in Skills and magic were more obvious.

On the other hand, when I shared my thoughts with Masa, he said that he could feel a marked difference in his strength and stamina compared to before he levelled up. Maybe it had to do with how fast he had levelled up in three days compared to my safe levelling over an entire week. Like how one doesn't realise they are getting taller when they hit puberty until they measure their height? I certainly hadn't really noticed until I found that I was taller than my mum one day when I was fourteen.

Anyway, we made good progress in both our levelling and journey, and by the time the tunnel was in sight, I had levelled up eleven times while Masa levelled up eight times. My Inspect also finally went up to 3 and I could now see the numbers for myself. And with him actively trying to practice his magic as we walked, Masa's Elementalism made it to Class 2 while my Conjuration hit Class 3 since I was constantly using my Void. We were still in the dark as to what this meant, but I assumed it made our magic stronger or more advanced somehow. My Light affinity was still stuck at 1 because we barely needed any healing or shields while fighting the low-levelled monsters.

My excitement started to rise as we approached the tunnel. It resembled a large cave from a distance, but as we drew closer, you could tell it was not natural. The walls were covered in moss and fungi, but the stone below was clearly smooth as if it had been dug by machinery, or since it was Shyi'eld, perhaps by magic. We stopped just outside for me to take out my luggage and pack my clothing back inside. Masa kept his swords in a large cloth bag that he brought and I returned him some of his stuff I had been keeping in my Void. As he shouldered his backpack again, he winced and said, "I'm going to miss the convenience of magic once we're back in Japan."

"Well, you won't have to carry all this stuff all the time, right?" I pointed out with a laugh. "Speaking of convenience, I'm dying to visit one of the famous convenience stores in Japan."

"No problem," he said with a shrug as we entered the tunnel. "They're literally everywhere. The only thing more common than those are the vending machines."

"Great! I can't wait!" I couldn't keep the grin off my face as we stepped into Japan.