Half an hour later, Nael's eyes snapped open. The last of the raw essence had been refined, settling into his core as a stable pool of power.
His senses felt sharper, his mind clearer, and the minor aches from the battle had faded into a background hum of increased vitality.
He blinked, taking in the scene. Kira and her party were on their feet. Lyra, the healer, looked exhausted but alert, her hands now clean of blood. Jax the spearman was standing, though he leaned heavily on his weapon, his leg bandaged.
Loran, the poisoned boy, was conscious but pale, being supported between Kira and Lyra, his eyes glazed but open. They were clearly preparing to depart.
"You waited," Nael stated, surprised. He hadn't expected them to delay their retreat for him.
"Of course we did," Kira said, offering a tired but genuine smile. "We owed you that much."
"Thank you," Lyra added softly, her voice filled with emotion. "For everything. For saving him. For saving all of us."
Jax just gave a firm, grateful nod.
Then, to Nael's further surprise, Jax held out his spear. "Here. You might need this more than I will on my way out. Consider it a thanks."
Nael looked at the simple but well-made weapon, then at his own quarterstaff. The staff had served him well, but it lacked killing power. The spear was a superior weapon for a solo delve. He opened his mouth to refuse, but stopped.
He had already given them the safest route to the exit. They were a party, however injured, and could protect each other on the retreat. He was going deeper alone.
"Thank you," Nael said, accepting the spear.
With final nods of gratitude and respect, the group turned and began their slow journey back toward the dungeon entrance, leaving Nael alone in the quiet tunnel.
However, Nale didn't immediately start moving. Instead, he willed his Soul Tome into existence. It was time to see what his efforts had earned him.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Name: Nael
Age: 16
Class: Investor
Grade: Common
Level: 3
Essence: 30/500
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
He nodded, satisfied. He had used 300 essence to reach level 3, leaving him with 30 leftover. The requirement for the next level was a significant jump, but the payoff from the Patriarch had made it possible.
He turned the page.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Primary Stats:
Vigor: 190/190 (+50)
Aether: 170/170 (+70)
Focus: 338/338 (+108)
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
The increases were substantial.
'Good, let's do the math after seeing the attributes...'
He turned to the next section, eager to see the attribute gains.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Attributes:
Strength: 11 (+2)
Vitality: 14 (+4)
Agility: 12 (+2)
Intelligence: 19 (+4)
Wisdom: 30 (+10)
Charisma: 13
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
'Oh!'
Nael's eyebrows rose.
The gains were impressive and followed a clear pattern. His mental attributes, Intelligence, especially Wisdom, had received the largest boosts.
He quickly calculated it.
It seems like his Wisdom gets +5 each level up, while his Intelligence gets +2. As for the rest, they only get +1. Except for the charisma, of course.
This proved his guess about the Investor being a more mentally oriented class.
Then, his gaze landed on the primary stats again.
'Hmm... First comes the Vigor.' He wanted to get to know himself better first. 'Vigor is life force. Stamina. The fuel for physical exertion.'
Every swing of his staff, every desperate dodge, every running step drained it. The 50-point increase was a massive quality-of-life improvement.
He could fight longer, run farther, and take a few more hits before collapsing from exhaustion. It was the foundation of any delve.
Besides, it also governed physical skills, techniques, and such, making it the primary stat for most classes that relied on physical prowess. But for him, it was simply the stat that kept him alive long enough to use his brain.
'But I think I can learn a few skills to use it more effectively...'
But considering he was broke now, it was out of the question.
'Then comes the Aether.' His expression turned slightly more pensive. 'Aether is the energy for most of the skills. And the primary stat for most weaver classes.'
But this was the frustrating stat for him right now.
He had a significantly larger pool now, a 70-point increase, which was substantial. But as an Investor, he didn't know whether he could awaken active skills that actually used Aether.
It felt like having a full tank of fuel for an engine he didn't possess. The energy just sat there, untapped potential.
Thankfully, anyone could learn skills using special Skill Essences, provided they had the coin and the Essence was compatible with their class and stats. But that, of course, brought him right back to the problem of money. He sighed, a pang of regret shooting through him that the Patriarch hadn't been generous enough to drop one. Even if he couldn't use it himself, he could at least exchange it for something like [Fireball] or [Earth Wall].
'Maybe next time,' he thought, the sentiment feeling both like a hope and a promise of more danger to come.
Then he turned his attention to his highest primary stat: Focus.
This was, without a doubt, his most crucial stat. The massive 108-point increase was a direct result of his high Wisdom. It was the fuel for his supposedly true weapon: his mind.
Every complex calculation, every minute spent in the taxing process of refining essence, every second of intense concentration in battle would drain this pool.
This enormous reserve meant he could think clearly, plan longer strategies, and maintain his composure in life-or-death situations without his thoughts turning to panic. Well, it still depended on the person themselves, but yeah, that was the textbook explanation for it.
But... it was the stat that governed his ability to invest.
'I wonder what kind of skill I get after reaching level 5.' He mused, hoping it would be more practical than [Invest]. Though he doubted he would get an offensive type.
"Hah..."
He sighed, a soft exhalation of mixed anticipation and resignation. The fundamental nature of his class remained a mystery. He turned the page, expecting to see only the familiar entry for [Invest].
The crisp, glowing text of the ability was there, just as he remembered. But the Tome felt... thicker than before. His fingers, almost of their own accord, brushed the edge of the parchment, and it turned, revealing another page behind it.
'W-Whoa!'
His breath caught in his throat.
At the top of the new page, in script that seemed to be etched with light, was a title he had never seen before.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
[ Investments ]
Investments: 3/3
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
'Well, this is new.'
His gaze dropped down, scanning the information laid out in the Tome's distinctive, message-like format.
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
[ INVESTMENT #001 ]
[ Beneficiary: Mireille Solen ]
[ Status: COMPLETE | PENDING SETTLEMENT ]
[ Initial Capital: 2,000 Credits (Awakening Catalyst) ]
[ Investment Grade: SSS | Risk Assessment: Extreme ]
[ Return on Investment (ROI): CALCULATING... ]
━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━
Nael stared, his mind reeling.
'...Mireille.'
Nael shook his head, forcing his whirling thoughts to still. He focused on the cryptic text.
'Complete...'
That made sense. The investment, the act of providing the catalyst for her awakening, was finished. The transaction was done. But...
'Pending Settlement...'
The terms were frustratingly vague. It felt like a transaction that had been processed by the bank but hadn't yet cleared into his account. The investment was over, the outcome decided(probably), but the returns were held in some metaphysical limbo or on the way.
'But, how long though?'