(3rd person PoV)
"That last gathering quest was a hassle" Henryk insisted to gather a specific number of magic stones from floors as deep as floor fifteen. It costed them an extra two hours to gather the number they aimed for. They returned at 10 PM last night.
"Did you say something, Henryk?" Bell did not hear his whisper clearly.
"Anyway! Who wants to be the one?" He quickly brushed off what he said and asked for their consent to be part of the next experiment.
"I... can I be... the one?" Noland volunteered to be the subject for the coming experiments. He would not be harmed, so he wanted to contribute more.
"Hmm? Heh! Noland's going to take a step forward before you guys!" Henryk said those words to encourage Noland to step forward more. He needs to overcome his shy nature when it is necessary. Henryk will make sure Noland could do that before Henryk departed this world.
"Blanc, how many magic stones do we have? What monsters did they come from? What floor?" Henryk said.
"Noble father, at your earlier request, I separated them in these criteria. We kept the stones of 20 individuals from every monster on each floor down to floor seventeen" Blanc said as they were taking out the labeled sacs.
Everyone present saw Henryk's eyes change. His normally casual and lax expression changed to a stern one and his eyes were mercilessly judging them. The way he looked at Blanc made him feel like shrinking away from it.
"Blanc, what floor did you go to? Did you just say the seventeenth?" Henryk said. He remembers telling them to go only as far as the 14th. He also had a pretty good idea of what they did there.
"Yes, noble father" Blanc said.
"Blanc, do you know what dangers are present in floor seventeen?" Even his tone changed into one that sounded as if he was judging the other.
"Minotaurs and ligerfangs, noble father" Blanc said.
"By nature, there are hoards of them running around. Did you use Ouros's skill?" Henryk, knowing that they did so, asked them.
"Yes" Blanc talked less with each of his answers. By now, his fears came true. Henryk would punish him for going through with this.
"When was it you gathered these stones? Was it on the day of monster feria?" Henryk said.
"Yes" Blanc said.
"Who was the one that suggested it and who were those who supported the idea?" Henryk said.
Blanc was sweating from nervousness. He did not like the feeling of his father's eyes on him with such a judging gaze. Blanc looked away to avoid eye contact.
Ouros was about to step in to cover for Blanc, but Henryk raised his hand to tell him to stay silent. Ouros sat back down.
"I suggested the idea" Blanc said briefly, abstaining from telling on who agreed and who did not.
"I see that you are not saying who among them supported you. Are you willingly trying to cover for the rest of them?" Henryk said, fully intending on delivering a punishment, light as it is since it was a first.
Olympia was debating if she should spill it to Henryk.
"Yes, noble father. I was the one who initiated the idea and was the one to push for it the most. I should take all the blame" Blanc resigned to take it all than to leave the others to suffer from agreeing with him.
Henryk kept his eyes trained on Blanc for a few minutes while he thought of their punishment.
"Dad, we all agreed to this. We should share the punishment for it rather than shamelessly direct all the blame on one person. We're not shameless enough to abandon our brother for our benefit" Olympia did not want to blame only one person when many were responsible. It felt scummy to leave one person take the blame for an entire group. It also felt unfair when only one person was punished when the rest should have.
"I concur" Gracie was not shying away. She will shoulder it with them.
"Pa, I'm willing to take my part of the punishment" Gladia stepped in. She saw Olympia step forward before her and felt like she lost a race of some sort.
"Of course! We did it! We just had to make this mistake and be discovered!" Scarlet grumbled and waited impatiently. It brushed past everyone that Scarlet spoke her first words.
"Glorious father, combat could lead to many things. Punishment for recklessly going through combat when one shouldn't is appropriate" Alexander described a part of his philosophy of combat. The rest of the insectoids, not being able to talk, circled him as if to say they agree.
Noland was looking at Henryk but said nothing and turned away after standing near Blanc.
"Really, we should have seen this coming" Mont casually joined Blanc and Noland. He accepted that they are getting what they deserved for this mistake.
Silvius, who was shrunk using Fey's skill to fit inside the church, sat down silently. He did not participate in any of this. He did not need to take part in being punished for something he did not do.
"Since you came clean, I will water it down. Because of the rash decision to use [Claim] and the fact that you used it in floors that could have been dangerous for your level with no guard, many things could have gone wrong. We are lucky you came out fine this time. But what you accomplished was and would never be worth risking your lives for. Magic stones could be gathered at any time of the year. It was not limited to the last few days" Henryk chastised them.
"Blanc, for suggesting the idea, your next level-up will have a harsher condition than it was before. As for the rest of you, just by agreeing with that irresponsible idea, your level-ups will be delayed by an entire week after you accomplish the feat I had in mind. Ouros, for not disagreeing with that idea and for putting your siblings in danger for something that was not urgent or worth the risk, you will receive both punishments. Your next level-up requires fulfilling a harsher condition and it will be delayed an entire week. Does anyone disagree with these punishments?" Henryk said.
No one dared raise their voice. They knew they have done something they should not.
"But you fight by throwing yourself in death's face, father" Okay, maybe one did dare do it. Mont was trying to win a losing argument.
"I do that primarily with Ray's protection in mind, along with everyone else's, Mont. Did you have any high level protecting you?" Henryk said.
Mont averted his eyes. He knew that he lost.
"Just know that the next time you do this, you better have a safety measure other than your numbers, since Ouros's skill negates the advantage in it" Henryk said. He did not tell them not to do something like this again, but to prepare properly for it the next time.
They nodded their heads and stayed silent. None of them looked him in the eyes.
They felt relief that he reverted back to his usually casual demeanor. When they looked into his eyes, they were back to normal. They decided to move on.
"Go on, Blanc" Henryk said.
"Yes, noble father. The magic stones are separated into labelled sacks per your instructions. Melia's skill helped sort what magic stone came from which monster and what floor they belonged to. This was recorded in 'skill experiment#13'" Blanc handed the magic stones sacks and the experiment sheet to Henryk. The sacks individually contained 20 magic stones of a monster type from a given floor, containing the following:
- 120 goblin magic stones, floors 1-4, 8 and 9.
- 120 kobold magic stones, floors 1-4, 8 and 9.
- 60 dungeon lizard magic stones, floors 2-4.
- 20 frog shooter magic stones, floor 6.
- 20 war shadow magic stones, floor 6.
- 80 killer ant magic stones, floors 7-10.
- 20 purple moth magic stones, floor 7.
- 20 blue papilio magic stones, floor 7.
- 80 needle rabbit magic stones, floors 7-10.
- 60 orc magic stones, floors 10-12.
- 60 imp magic stones, floors 10-12.
- 120 bad bat magic stones, floors 10-15.
- 60 hard armored magic stones, floors 11-13.
- 40 infant dragon magic stones, floors 11 and 12.
- 40 silver back magic stones, floors 11 and 12.
- 100 wyvern magic stones, middle floors.
- 60 crystal mantis magic stones, floors 13-15.
- 100 lamia mormos magic stones, middle floors.
- 100 hellhound magic stones, middle floors.
- 40 almiraj magic stones, floors 13 and 14.
- 60 dungeon worm magic stones, floors 13-15.
- 60 minotaur magic stones, floors 15-17.
- 60 ligerfand magic stones, floors 15-17.
They totaled 75 sacks, with a staggering 1500 magic stones.
There was another sack to hold the excess magic stones that were of value. One was from the black monster, which was the rare infant dragon, and some ten-ish magic stones were those of the purple moths and blue papilioes as the floor used for skill experiments from #6-#11 was floor seven. #12 was conducted on floor 12.
"We will proceed by giving you a single magic stone at a time. Of course, Ray's also participating in this, taking half the magic stones for this experiment. Then, let me check something real quick" Henryk said.
(AN: From here, Noland and Ray's status will only be written in the form of their parameters for the sake of making it shorter for you to scroll down)
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: I0
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
(Line Break)
"Blanc, note this down. Magic stones used for healing don't get detected by [Fake Falna]. All of their worth's used during the healing process" Noland needed to eat one to heal an injury before. It seems to have been totally consumed for healing.
"Now, you will eat one from a goblin on the first floor. As an archer, your muscle strength's important. There is also the tested fact that dexterity affects archery. Do you want me to increase STR, DEX or do you want another parameter to be increased first? The choice's ultimately yours" Henryk said.
"Strength" Noland said.
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: I0
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
Parameter Points: 1
(Line Break)
"Ain't that interesting?" Henryk said while cupping his chin in thought.
Blanc looked at him for more context.
"A 'Parameter Points' counter was added right below the five normal parameters" Henryk said and Blanc noted it down.
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: I0 → I1
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
(Line Break)
"Aaaaaand.... they're gone.... Blanc, I know you can't see this bullcrap, but can you believe it? The new 'Parameter Points' counter disappeared as soon as it should've displayed zero parameter points..." Henryk said.
"Noble father, you should not stain your tongue with such improper words" Blanc did not want to hear his father utter these horrible words. He saw him high up and did not want him to drop low. "Also, I can believe it because you would not lie to us"
"Thanks for putting your trust in me, Blanc. Now then, shall we continue?" Henryk said, thinking wistfully of the joke that passed by Blanc's head.
They proceeded to test four more magic stones.
"The first was the only one out of five to give anything. Let's go through the remaining five stones"
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: I1
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
Parameter Points: 3
(Line Break)
"Three of the stones gave one point each and two didn't give anything. An idea's forming in my head, Blanc" Henryk said.
"What is it, noble father?" Blanc was curious.
"This's exactly why I wanted Ray to participate. If my theory's right, the higher your level, the stronger monsters you will need to gain points in you parameters. It works in the same principles as normal falna.
The falna the gods give to their children, the one on my back now, gives excellia on the bases of effort. The more effort you spend on a style of doing things, the more points go to the corresponding parameter.
My [Fake Falna] stated that magic stones replaced excellia. That could mean that stronger monsters are needed to gain points. As it is with normal falna, you either fight an opponent that forces you to actually try and come out alive, or you need to fight multiple weaker opponents. Those're the primary ways to gain parameter points normally.
Now, back to [Fake Falna], the 'excellia' coming from magic stones needs to either be of higher quality, in the form of a strong monster's magic stone, or be of higher quantity.
For example, if an adventurer fought a monster of their level, making them spend a sizable amount of effort to defeat it, they gain a good number of points in the parameters they used. If they decided to fight weaker monsters, however, they would normally need to fight a whole bunch of the stuff to get the same number of parameter points.
We need to make sure if it's the case or not" Henryk's partly analyzing nature resurfaced. "Oh, sorry. I tend to go on rants when something's this interesting"
"It is fine, noble father. I would love to hear more" Blanc reassured him. He too wanted to know more. This rant gave him an idea on what is happening.
"Then let's go through with the rest of these" Henryk shook a sack, making the stones inside jingle. "It's your turn now, Ray"
They used 10 magic stones.
"...None..." Henryk was witnessing his theory becoming clearer by the minute.
"No points at all after ten stones?" Blanc said.
"None at all, Blanc. We will go with the kobold stones next" They were taking them one by one while monitoring any stat points that may appear.
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: I1
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
Parameter Points: 6
(Linea Break)
(Ray)
STR: I0
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
(Linea Break)
"For Noland, three magic stones gave one. The others gave nothing. As for Ray, all ten were duds" Henryk said.
"It seems to be close to the result from the goblin magic stones" Blanc said.
"Yes, they sure do. We need to test more. We still have around a thousand one hundred and sixty stones to test on" Henryk felt a bit of regret that was quickly squashed when he saw Blanc's silent excitement. They forged on.
"Floor one's monsters are done. We will now start with floor two monsters. We will go with the order of goblins, kobolds then dungeon lizards"
(AN: We will do a quick time skip to when the experiment is already done, with a 'short' summary of the results for those curious)
(Line Break)
The experiment continued until the monsters' magic stones from the upper floors were gone. They either gave no points or gave only one point. In rare cases, they gave two points.
All that remains now are the magic stones from floors thirteen to seventeen.
(Linea Break)
(Noland)
STR: I1 → H176
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
(Line Break)
(Ray)
STR: I0
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
Parameter Points: 4
(Linea Break)
"Okay. Noland got about 176 points total! His strength will shoot over a new height now!" Henryk patted Noland's head a little. It made him silently swish his tail. "Remember to always practice your new strength to not lose control of it. I know you can be the best archer after training your aim for a while"
"Ray, you surprisingly got four whole points despite the difference in level/strength" Henryk put a hand on Ray's shoulder.
"Your participation already did what it was intended to, thanks. You could go to sleep if you want, I'd come later. But before that, tell me where you want these points to go" Henryk finally released her from the hellish experience of eating the horrible-tasting magic stones. They tasted awful, not that she would have told him that.
"Either AGI or MAG would do. I already got the defenses covered by my skills and development abilities" Ray sat down and watched the remainder of the experiment. As for what Henryk chose, he chose to increase her MAG to alleviate some of the exhaustion from her magic. Every point counts no matter how few there are.
(Linea Break)
(Ray)
STR: I0
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0 → I4
(Line Break)
"Blanc, do you think that either the infant dragons' magic stones or the transitioning from the upper floors to the lower floors would mean anything to the increase in points?" Henryk said.
"I suspect and hope, noble father, but I would never be certain without proof" Blanc said.
"Good thought, Blanc. It's never good to be certain of something without sufficient proof" Henryk said.
Henryk opened the first sack of middle floor monsters' magic stones. They took the first step to unimaginable success when Noland put that into his mouth.
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: H176
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
Parameter Points: 0 → 7
(Line Break)
Henryk's eyes shined with new light. Blanc, who understood what that meant, had a similar shine in his eyes.
"Now, Noland, you got seven points from that stone alone. Because the previous stones gave two different values of points, I guess they could either give more or less. Try another one" Henryk said as he handed him another magic stone.
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: H176
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
Parameter Points: 7 → 13
(Line Break)
"This time, we got six points. Next" Henryk noted.
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: H176
END: I0
AGI: I0
DEX: I0
MAG: I0
Parameter Points: 13 → 31
(Line Break)
"Alrighty, we got eighteen this ti..." Henryk's mind caught up with what his eyes saw. "Blanc, Noland got a whole lot of 'em points. He got eighteen of 'em. Am I dreaming?"
"No, noble father. You are awake. Despite how unbelievable it sounds, it is reality" Blanc said. The disparity between the upper floors and the middle floors proved to be high.
"Well, that's a welcome surprise! Noland, you may be the first to level up like this!" Henryk rejoiced.
"Yes, father" Noland was excited at the thought of leveling up. He still averted his eyes, though.
They continued giving him the remaining stones one by one until only 4 were left.
(Line Break)
(Noland)
STR: H176 → S999 🔒
END: I0 → S999 🔒
AGI: I0 → S999 🔒
DEX: I0 → S999 🔒
MAG: → S999 🔒
(Line Break)
They saw that the points given are between six-nine points and 18 points, the latter being a chance.
It happened approximately once every four times. That may also explain the reason why the upper floors' magic stones gave zero points or one point, sometimes two. Maybe if they had a level one monster, if that was even feasible, they could get different results.
Henryk also wanted to break the scale and force the stat to go over a thousand points, but there was a lock on the stat, barring him from increasing it any further. Noland could not get any more parameter points either.
"Noland, all your parameters are filled to their maximum. According to what I said minutes ago, your next level-up will be initiated a week later" Henryk said. "Although, this one will be the only level-up for any of you done without accomplishing something first"
"Sorry" They all said.
That day ended with a disappointed husky who regretted staying quiet when his siblings made the wrong move.