47 The Consequences of Stupidity

*SLAP*

Andromeda slapped Ai across the face before throwing her arms around her neck as she sobbed into Ai's shoulder.

"You idiot! Are you trying to kill yourself!?" Andromeda punched Ai in the arm with each word.

"Ameda, It's ok, they are healing me as we speak." Ai brushed the sobbing Andromeda's hair.

Just as Ai had lost consciousness from mana fatigue, she slipped into her Domain so that she could maintain some level of thought consciousness, she didn't expect the light created by the explosion, delaying Amari from catching her as she fell. Initially, Ai had the silly plan of falling from the bowsprit and have Amari catch her and land ashore, mysteriously disappearing from the deck so that the crew didn't ask them too many questions about Ai's insane power.

Alas, things obviously didn't go as planned, the explosion was even more powerful than Ai had assumed, and, in the end, she nearly died from her stupidity.

"It's bad enough when I spend hours mending the broken mana strands when you cast spells beyond your capabilities, but then you have to go and nearly die right after shattering hundreds of strands with a single spell!" Andromeda's attitude changed from sobbing hysterically to rage ranting as she glared daggers at Ai.

Ai had no idea how to respond, so she nodded and dropped her head. "I-i'm sorry, Ameda..." She apologized and bowed.

"You fucking better be, this is gonna take days to fix, and that doesn't even count the massive crack you made in your core, you'd better not cast a single spell until I'm done fixing the mess you made, and if you let this happen again, I will make you wish I was still insane!" Ai and Aiya looked at Andromeda in shock, she never cursed.

Ai nodded repeatedly responding with a simple, "Yes Ma'am!" as she turned her head, blushing at how recklessly she had gone about things recently.

"Hiya!" Andromeda threw her hands in the air. "I can't stay mad at you when you look that cute. Just, please try to be less reckless, ja?" Andromeda spoke as a strange accent surfaced, causing Ai to giggle.

"I promise I will try to be less reckless." Ai looked at Andromeda with a warm smile. "Thank you for all of your help, Ameda, I'm sorry for being so harsh on you." Andromeda blushed brightly and turned away.

Andromeda whispered something as Ai tilted her head. "Eh? What did you say?" "N-Nothing!"

Ai smiled as she sat back down on the cracked mana coil. "Well, after killing a Level 20 and a Level 21, I've gained quite a few more levels, If I play it safe but efficient, I'll reach Level 20 before the plague sets in."

"Emphasis on safe." Andromeda chimed in. Aiya nodded.

"Oi, I know, I know. I will play it safe. But on to my curiosity. Why the hell are the numbers so low? HP and MP are still too damn low, even for high-level monsters. It's like that stats are way overpowered and killing a higher level monster is as simple as shooting off a single powerful attack. In the old world, battles like with the wyvern were far more dragged out, the typical range of HP for a wyvern used to be in the hundreds of thousands, now it's like a few thousand max."

Aiya looked confused, but Andromeda smiled and nodded. "Well, you noticed that the stats themselves have changed, right? That is because, when the system faded from the world and was brought back through the use of the amplification marks, the old system merged with a new one that was being made for the new cycle of the world. However, since the new system was incomplete when it merged with the old one, the system became incomplete and broken, thus why it is so difficult to level up past 20."

"Actual Stats are based on the base stats shown on your status page. Each level multiplies base stats, with additional multipliers upon passing certain thresholds. The first threshold is when you go from Level 0 to Level 1, immediately multiplying all of your base stats by 2. The next threshold is from Level 20 to Level 21, and as the multipliers stack, this results in an exponential increase in actual stats, which is why the power difference between a Level 20 monster and a Level 21 monster is so drastic, their base stats also reach into the '30s at that point, which unlocks feat upgrades, further increasing the monsters specializations."

"The reason health is so low, even for these stronger monsters, is due to how Constitution works in the merged system, If you recall, the old system had both Vitality and Endurance, both of which increased HP, however, the new system condensed everything into one, and since the balance between Vitality and Endurance no longer exists, the value's are much lower. It's the same with Intelligence and MP, the old stats, Intellect and Mind, no longer exist, and as such, the value of mana is greatly diminished."

After Andromeda's long explanation of the merged system, Ai sat in thought for a moment. "Ameda, is there a way to increase the base stats without leveling up? I noticed that you get a bonus base stat point every 5 levels. With my prestige, I am sure I will hit 30 INT when I reach Level 20 and unlock my own feat, but I'm wondering about my companions."

Andromeda nodded. "Yes, although once an adventurer reaches Level 1, it becomes extremely difficult, as the requirements for increasing the stats increase exponentially. Say, at Level 0, if a person went on a short jog every day for a few weeks, they could increase their Constitution. However, a Level 20 would have to sprint for a whole year straight to gain a point."

Ai scratched her head. "Yeah, that wouldn't work. Do you think there is a way to fix the system?"

Andromeda shook her head. "Not that I know of. It might be possible in theory, but I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Go figure, I wonder if the demons and angels that will appear when the Cycle starts will run off of the same system, if that's the case, we might be able to just brute force our way through and end the Cycle that way."

Andromeda tilted her head. "Maybe, I wonder. We might stand a chance if that's the case. We still need to find a way to break through the limits, without having you go all out with every single monster."

Ai nodded. "Well if these feats are as powerful as you make them sound, once I hit Level 20, that shouldn't be a problem."

The three of them nodded. "Alright, so that's the goal for now. Hit Level 20, gain a feat, and somehow survive the Blood Plague Trials."

Ai hopped off of the mana coil and waved at the girls. "Alright, I can feel that my body has been healed, so let me go and talk my way out of another lecture. Bye ladies!" Ai faded away as she spotted Andromeda's glare. 'Eheheh, not that I'll be able to.'

Ai felt intense pain in her chest as her eyes slowly opened. She was laying in bed in one of the private quarters of the vessel. The only person with her in the room was Amari, who had her head down, sobbing quietly in her lap, holding Ai's hand.

She squeezed gently as Amari shot up, tears running down her face as she looked up at Ai. "S-sis! You're alive!"

"I'm ok, sis. Just a little sore." She smiled and lied as her voice was weak and the pain in her chest, her entire body for that matter, was rather debilitating.

"Tch. Damnit sis, you're not ok. You died three times even after the wound closed. Cid had to shock you back to life three fucking times before you finally stopped dying, damnit!" Amari slammed her fist down on the bed as a loud crack could be heard, thankfully the bed still stayed together.

"Three times, huh? Damn, I'm sorry sis. But could you take it easy on this little princess? Andromeda gave me an earful already and I promised her that I wouldn't be so reckless anymore." Ai chuckled and squeezed Amari's hand gently.

"Whatever, yeah, just... stop being so damn reckless, yeah?" Amari laid her head in Ai's lap again, squeezing her hand tightly.

Ai giggled. "Well, on the bright side, your little sis reached Level 14. I still have a long way to go before I can get over tentacles though."

Amari couldn't help but chuckle a little, even through her sobbing. "Stupid." She said with a smile.

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