Chapter 18: Rewards

  Alex's stats had very small increases to them since he last looked at his status screen. This was explainable by the morning workouts that he was still doing and the bit of fighting that Garret and he had done while on their journey. That wasn't what had caused Alex's shock of course. It was his experience points.

  What the hell happened, where did these come from?

  Alex was pretty certain he would have noticed such an increase. He didn't just accidentally kill a boss monster while on the way here. The only thing he killed were those lizard people.

  He did remember swiping away the notifications that had popped up during that fight. He didn't actually read them at all. Can I go back and look at them then? Alex began poking around his status screen again, trying to find some way to explain the mystery.

  It wasn't until he finally just thought the phrase "message log" that he finally got something. He was shown a large display with a collection of the messages that the system had thrown at him since he got here.

  Alex ignored the very few recent ones and instead scrolled down to where he last remembered reading his pop-ups. It didn't take long at all, and he quickly got to what he was looking for.

  Alex studied the messages for a minute, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. At first, he only had more questions than answers. Such as how these two kills got him so much more experience than the badgers. Why the totals were so varied even between the two of them? Why one had question marks and one did not?

  Well, they were sapient enemies that time around. I have to assume that killing a stronger and smarter foe would give more experience, so that isn't too surprising. Alex thought through the possibilities rapidly. The question marks, I think is because I didn't learn the name of the first Kobold. The one Garret was fighting shouted out a name before I killed the second one. Ghirzu, it must have been that kobold's name.

  So if Alex’s assumption was correct, the system would not reveal specific information that he didn't already have. It was interesting given it was telling him they were kobolds, something he also didn't already know. The system also told him that the beasts he killed the first night were called forest badgers, as well. So it seemed there were some kind of rules dictating what the system showed him, and what it didn't. Which made some vague sense.

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  The second kobold was weaker, even smaller. It could have been a younger member of the species and not as experienced. Thus the disparity between the two point totals. Alex swiped up through his message log.

  Even if he added the two experience drops from the kobolds together, it didn't explain all the newly attained experience points on his status screen though. There was a whole one thousand that he didn't have a source for. It took him only a few seconds for him to get the answer though.

  That explained the sudden jump. He somehow completed a hidden quest. Celeste becoming their teacher seemed to have completed it for him without him having to really do anything. It also hadn't brought up a system message when it happened, which was another strange puzzle that added to the enigma which was the system.

  Maybe the system takes the idea of a hidden quest a little too literally? Alex decided not to try uncovering this particular mystery and just accepted the generosity that he was given.

  "Garret, how much experience do you have?" Alex asked.

  "Uh, let me see..." Garret's eyes became unfocused, the typical sign he was looking at a system screen. Just as quickly, his jaw went slack and his pupils dilated. "Holy crap!"

  Turned out that Garret also got himself a new buttload of experience for his own kobold kill, as well as the completion of the hidden quest. So the two of them were now looking at a sudden influx of potential power and knowledge, ready to start making strides towards their character build.

  "Did you get an item?" Alex asked.

  "Uh yeah, I don't understand what it means though," Garret said. "A ring that gives me mad hops I'd assume."

  A ring? Not a bracelet? So he didn't get the same item that Alex got. That was an intriguing factoid. He filed it away in his mind to ask Celeste about later. Right now they were more pressing bits of information he needed to fill the voids in his understanding.

  "Celeste," Alex caught the woman's attention as she continued cleaning up. "So if the stage and progression of our core determine the purity or potency of our spells and aether, and our body and soul need to contain that core, I'm guessing that there needs to be a minimum amount in each stat that one needs to increase their overall tier, right?"

  The secretly spry old lady merely smirked at Alex and nodded. It seemed she knew what Alex was asking, but was waiting for him to figure it out on his own. A rather annoying method of teaching, but for Alex, it was possibly the most effective. He was always one to try to compete and prove himself.

  "So, if my vitality is too low, I won't be able to contain the aether as it flows through my body when using this gathering technique. I'm guessing if my Intelligence is too low, then eventually my soul gate won't be able to handle the purified energy of a more powerful core when I tap into it either. Same with my willpower and the body gate?" Again, Celeste simply nodded at him, her apparent focus instead on the smudge marring the surface of the teacup held in her wrinkled hand.

  "Without a doubt, my muscles won't be able to handle the strain of high agility should my strength fall too far behind. So, do they all need to be roughly equal? What's the limits of a person putting everything into, say intelligence, or vitality then?" Alex looked at the old woman with studied focus, trying to get a glimmer of insight.

  Celeste simply shrugged and continued washing her cups. As if his question was really of no concern. He wasn't going to be given the answer directly. He had to assume he was thinking along the right path though, or else he would have been insulted by her instead of ignored.

  "Okay then, trial and error it is. What are you planning for your stats Garret?" Alex looked over at his friend. The stocky scout shot Alex a wink before his eyes unfocused. Alex barely had any time to scoff at the man's cockiness before Garret suddenly collapsed to the ground.

  Alex swiped away his system screen and ran to Garret's side without any hesitation. The scout was limp when Alex lifted him, cradling his head to pry open his eyelids and seeing the orbs rolling back in their sockets. The sudden convulsions that racked Garret's body didn't quell his spiking worry.

  "Hey, Garret, stay with me, man. Come on." Alex held the man carefully, the convulsions continued and he tried to stabilize his head for now. "Celeste, what's happening? Help me!" Alex shouted to the woman.

  "Eh?" She loomed over Alex as he held Garret's head and tsk'd softly. Her body language showed her to be more annoyed, than worried. "First time for you two huh? Well, get ready."

  Alex's eyes widened as a black liquid began to leak from Garret's nose, mouth, and ears.

  "And you'll be cleaning up after. Got it?"

  "What?" That was all Alex managed to say before Garret opened his mouth and puked a stream of blackened slime.

  Right into Alex's face.

  ?