Level-Up! [Laziness Will be punished with Stagnation]

[Arcane Augmentation deactivated]

Due to previous experiences, Vincel knew what was coming but knowing did not stop him from getting down to one knee. All injuries he had sustained in his tussle with the Dog-head Bat came to the forefront.

It was kinda like the aftermath of an adrenaline rush where past injuries finally start to hurt like a bitch.

Also, there was no way 3/50 HP did not mean his life was hanging by a thread.

Lea walked closer to him and thrust a wrapped ration at him.

"Eat"

Vincel took the ration with an appreciative nod. He felt too weak and was in too much pain to talk but none of that stopped him from devouring the ration.

[User has consumed Energy-recovery rations]

[HP +10]

[HP: 13/50]

The woozy feeling reduced and Vincel felt more energetic to the point where he was able to get back to a standing position and not feel like he would fall over.

"Thank you," he said to Lea.

"Don't mention it," the Mage told him with a smile while delivering comforting pats on his back.

"How did you get here so fast anyway?" Vincel asked.

He was grateful she arrived just in time to offer a much-appreciated assistance but it also seemed too fortunate.

"Didn't you notice?" Lea asked.

Vincel looked confused.

"Notice what?"

"That the Dog-head Bat was just circling around trying to knock you down. You both didn't get too far away." Lea told him.

Vincel's eyes widened a bit and he looked around at the collection of trees around the small clearing they were in.

"We didn't?"

Almost like an answer to his question, a panting Jilan emerged from the trees barely a second later.

Jilan's eyes went from a bleeding Vincel to the slumped body of the Dog-head Bat whose tongue was lifelessly sticking out and finally fell on his blood-covered club in Vincel's hand.

"Y-you did it. You killed it"

"With Lea's help, yes," Vincel said and held the club out to Jilan who stepped forward to collect it.

"Thank you for the club. It helped a ton"

Jilan pulled a cloth out of his pouch and began wiping the blood off the club all the while without taking his eyes off the Dog-head Bat.

"How about the other one?" Lea asked Jilan who finally looked away from the felled beast and at her.

"It should be dead. Last I saw, Kleon slashed its throat open but it still had a bit of fight in it.

I-I was kinda useless without my club so I decided to stop hanging around and come to find you."

Lea nodded and then gestured at the dead beast.

"Well, it's good you're here. You can help drag the carcass to the others."

Vincel was too weak and too injured to assist and so he could only watch as Lea and Jilan worked together to get the carcass moving.

Jilan pulled and Lea provided the occasional burst of water to make the movement smooth and reduce the effort Jilan would have to exert.

While he walked with them, Vincel's mind became occupied with a notification he had received from the system the moment the beast was confirmed dead.

[Ten Arcane Shards recovered]

'Ten Arcane shards instead of one.

That's a considerable increase but worth it, I think.

The Grim Wolf was hardly a threat once I used Arcane Augmentation but even with Arcane Augmentation, I still needed help to win against the Dog-head Bat.

Status screen'

-

<User Status Screen Updated>

[Training Arc]

[Name: Vincel Grey]

[Race: Human]

[Job: Arcane Initiate Lv.1 {91/100 Arcane Shards}]

[Specialization: None]

[Title: None]

[HP: 13/50]

[Arcane Mana Reserves: 29/100]

[Strength: 5]

[Stamina: 5]

[Agility: 5]

[Resistance: 1]

[Job Skills: Arcane Augmentation Lv.1]

-

'I'm Nine Arcane shards away from a level-up- and there's another dead Dog-head Bat just a little ahead. I can finally know what exactly all this shard collection has been building up to!'

There's something to be said about how much more energetic Vincel became. He gained a spring in his step.

The entire ordeal had been intense but there was also a sense of accomplishment Vincel felt looking back at it all now.

'I would never have dreamed of taking on such a beast before today. It's such a rush to have been a vital cause of its death.'

They got close to the clearing and Vincel heard Knowle say in a faraway voice.

"Should we go search for them? Something could have happened"

"Y-yeah we should" Aidan sounded conflicted and Kleon chuckled coldly.

"What? You don't trust me to wait with the carcass till you get back?" she asked.

Aidan said nothing which was enough to suggest Kleon was spot on.

Vincel broke through the collection of trees first followed closely by Jilan and Lea with the carcass of the Dog-head Bat. The eyes of Aidan, Knowle, and Kleon all rounded on them with Aidan smiling with relief which turned to excitement when he looked at the dead beast.

"You're all alive! And you killed it!"

Lea smiled back at Aidan as she and Jilan settled the dead beast down.

"Vincel brought it down and whacked it to death"

"He did?"

Aidan and Knowle's eyes widened in surprise as they looked over Vincel's injured self.

Kleon narrowed her eyes in suspicion as usual.

Vincel ignored them all.

He moved his bare feet purposefully on the soft grass floor of the forest and approached the dead Dog-head Bat, excitedly anticipating the notification.

'I didn't get here too late, did I? Can I even be too late?'

[Ten Arcane Shards Detected]

[Ten Arcane Shards Recovered]

[101/100 Arcane shards]

[Training Arc has Ended- From now on, the User will only recover Arcane Shards from kills he has made.]

Vincel's eyes widened.

'What?!'

Another notification was about to appear on the holographic screen but it cleared up and was replaced with an 'Important Notice'

[Important Notice!- As one who is on the path to Greatness, User will henceforth not be rewarded for cowardly avoiding fights just to reap unearned benefits.

The Training Arc was meant to gently introduce the User to his situation and upon a successful Level-up, it is no longer needed.

Laziness is frowned upon and punished with Stagnation.

All Arcane Shards must be worked for and personally earned.

Be warned- Should the User henceforth be in a fight and fail to deliver the killing blow, he will miss the chance to claim the Arcane shards his opponent possesses.]

'This- This- Wha-'

In all honesty, everything he was reading sounded fair enough to Vincel. He was just blindsided by the fact that he had not even been informed of the advantages he had been enjoying.

[Congratulations! You have Leveled up to Arcane Initiate Lv. 2]

[HP limit increased]

[Arcane Mana Reserve Limit Increased]

[User has received 8 Stat points to distribute]

[Would you like a description of all your stats to know which increase will best suit you?]

Vincel wasted no time giving an answer.

'Yes'

For strength, Agility, and stamina, he could easily guess what they meant and what increasing them would do but he was still confused as to why Resistance had not counted as a 'physical stat' when he used Arcane Augmentation.

That was why, when the descriptions rolled out on the screen, his eyes went straight to Resistance.

[Resistance: The gauge of the User's mental and physical defenses to attack.

The higher your resistance, the less damage you take from physical attacks and also the less vulnerable your mind is.

Resistance affects the user physically and mentally and as such, is unaffected by the stats increase gained through Arcane Augmentation.]

'Interesting. I guess my Resistance being 1 explains why ordinary scrapes were costing me 15 and 25 HP.'

While Vincel was staring right ahead at his status screen, the group was conversing, and eventually, it got to the point where Vincel had to be involved.

Aidan's voice pulled Vincel out of his private moment with the system so that he was able to pay attention to the conversation.

It was Heated.

"... He had a hand in killing the second one so he should have a say and a share," Aidan said,

"Also, unlike you, Kleon, he did not agree to get paid upfront. You waived your share of the Gate-Ranker so you will have no part of this!"