Chapter 13: Stat Upgrade
Leo paused to think for a while, quickly realizing just how weak his body was. Physically, he was severely lacking from what he used to be in his previous life—so much so that he could feel he wasn't even performing at his old level.
So even though the need to increase his Intelligence stat and boost his mana capacity felt urgent, he knew that meant little if his body couldn't keep up with his skills. His top priority was to get himself back in shape if he wanted to use the full efficiency of his combat skills.
Without hesitation, he placed one point into Strength.
A surge coursed through him instantly. His muscles tightened, and veins bulged slightly to the surface.
"This… this feels exactly the same as it did when I was in the military," Leo murmured, clenching his fists. Then a grin slowly spread across his face. "Doesn't that mean I was already twice as strong as a normal human back on Earth? Heh… this somehow makes me feel pretty nice."
He wasn't wrong. With his Strength stat now at 2.3, he was already more than twice as strong as an average person. Here, stats followed a simple, linear rule—two points meant twice as strong, three points meant thrice, and so on.
Of course, that wasn't the same for everyone.
Soul Rank acted as a kind of limiter—something tied to the quality of one's soul and determined just how much of that strength one could use.
For instance, a 1-star Beast Master's strength. No matter how powerful their soul was, their Strength would cap at ten stat points. But reaching that cap was a completely different matter for a Common Soul than for a Legendary one. A Legendary Soul could easily reach six attribute points, which was its Soul Rank value, within days if conditions were right, but a Common Soul might struggle for years just to reach its limit.
Leo's case, however, was an exception.
His System and Talents allowed him to grow faster, unlock his stats' full potential from the start, and even share those stats with his beasts, something others couldn't achieve unless they possessed rare talents or after they had reached the Soul Fusion stage with a beast.
"Now for the rest…" he muttered, thinking it through. "Let's put one point into Stamina and two into Agility. Being faster than your opponent is always useful—whether for confrontations… or running for your life."
*****
Stats:
Vitality: 1.2
Strength: 1.3 → 2.3
Agility: 1.2 → 3.2
Stamina: 0.5/1.2 → 1.5/2.2
Intelligence: 1.2
Mana: 11/96
Unallocated Stat Points: 4 → 0
*****
"Good! Now let's test this."
He bolted forward.
The sudden burst of speed caught even him by surprise.
In just ten seconds, he had covered nearly 170 meters.
"That's around… 60 kmph?!" His eyes widened. "Holy shit… that was awesome!"
He returned to his original spot within seconds, panting lightly.
"Phew…" Leo exhaled, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Yeah… I need to increase my stamina a bit more…"
Stamina: 0.9/2.2
He then began gathering the loot, picking up goblin cores one by one, until he paused; something shiny had caught his attention.
"Wait… is that a damn mana crystal?" Leo's eyes lit up. "Lucky me!"
Mana crystals were condensed forms of mana, usually found deep underground or occasionally inside beasts. They were common among higher-level creatures but rare among weaker ones like the goblins. They were expensive too—useful for restoring mana, conducting experiments, or research.
Even rarer were soul crystals, found only in one out of a hundred beasts, and were capable of directly increasing Intelligence.
"Better sell it," he muttered, tossing the crystal into his pouch. "An extra penny doesn't hurt."
After storing the goblin cores, he severed the three-foot goblin's head and placed it in a separate pouch before heading back.
But before he could get much further, his return was interrupted.
A hulking silhouette caught his attention: an orc. A large, humanoid creature with an ugly, pig-like face.
The orc was bruised, bleeding from several spots and was dragging a dead boar by its leg.
"Looks like it hunted that thing and got hurt in the process…" Leo whispered, crouching behind a cluster of bushes.
A sly smile crept on his lips. "A perfect opportunity."
But the moment he checked its status, the smile vanished.
[ Orc (Peak 1★) – Mortal Bloodline ]
Leo's heart sank.
"Peak 1-star…" he muttered, lowering his voice. "Dangerous… but worth it. Just by looking at it, I can practically feel the free XP I will get…"
Then his gaze shifted to the bloodied cleaver in the orc's hand.
"But I need to be extremely careful," he thought grimly. "He could kill me in a single movement."
He then glanced at his mana.
Mana: 15/96
"Why does it regenerate so slowly!" he hissed.
No choice. He pulled out the mana crystal and gulped it down.
Mana: 15/96 → 35/96 → 65/96 → 96/96
"Whoa… even a low grade is enough to completely restore me."
He summoned Shyra, crouching down to her level, and quickly began explaining the plan.
"Now you know what to do," he whispered.
Shyra gave a small nod before activating her skill and melting into the shadows, her violet eyes fading between the trees. Her mana was just enough to activate her skill once more.
Leo activated Stealth, knife in hand, and crept toward the orc.
The creature trudged along, snorting and grunting as it dragged its prey—until it suddenly froze.
Its instincts screamed.
With a heavy thud, the orc dropped the boar and turned sharply, scanning the woods. Then it spun with startling speed, its cleaver slicing through the air in a wide horizontal arc.
But what it saw left it stunned—a small black creature had appeared out of nowhere, leaping backward just in time to dodge.
Then a chill crawled up its spine.
"Gotcha!"
Leo's voice came from behind.
The orc twisted, its eyes widening—just in time to see Leo emerging from the shadows just like the creature a moment ago, his knife raised and ready to strike.
The orc tried to raise its weapon to defend…
But it was too late.
The blade sliced cleanly through both its eyes, blinding it instantly.
The orc roared in agony, swinging its cleaver wildly in every direction. But Leo had already stepped back, watching as the creature thrashed blindly, desperate to strike something.
Previously, Leo had instructed Shyra to sneak up on the orc and slightly reveal herself at the last moment to bait an attack from it before jumping backwards. And in that moment, Leo, who would already be behind it thanks to his speed, would strike from behind, blinding it. He didn't know if his knife could pierce the orc's skull, so blinding it seemed like the safest option.
The orc, distracted by the noise of the boar being dragged by itself, never even realized it was being approached from two different directions!
Then Leo noticed something strange.
The tissue around its eyes… had started regenerating.
"It's healing!" he hissed, immediately activating Stealth again.
The mana crystal's effect hadn't worn off and was still restoring his mana!