15. Level Up

Castus wretched in his mouth and released his grip on the dagger. He turned around to see Ben standing very close behind him. Ben without hesitation grabbed the dagger from the body of the goblin and forced it back into Castus hand. "Good, one down, four to go."

Castus looked to Ben with pleading eyes, but he saw no sympathy in Ben's eyes. In fact for the first time Ben's gaze held malice. When Ben was looking at the goblins he didn't have that warm face anymore. It looked like he genuinely despised those helpless creatures. Castus wrapped his hand around the dagger and slowly stepped towards the remaining goblins. They no longer had the look of anger in their eyes. All Castus could see was looks of fear. The goblins had realized their situation and were now terrified. This didn't help Castus' mindset as he felt the guilt from killing the first. It had even been in self-defense, but that logic did nothing to soothe the guilt he felt of taking a life. Castus briefly considered telling Ben he couldn't do this, but that thought left his mind when he saw Ben's eyes again. Ben wouldn't just release the goblins. They would die, with or without Castus' action. Gritting his teeth his raised his arms, dagger glinting in the afternoon sun.

Killing the remaining goblins had been easier than the first. In fact, the fifth goblin's death barely weighed on Castus' mind. The guilt of the first still replayed in Castus' mind though. When the fifth goblin died, Ben gathered them together and burnt the bodies of them. Afterwards taking out a five glinting stones from the ashes. Ben's sunny disposition returned as he turned to Castus. "So how do you feel. Those five should have been enough to get you to level four, maybe five." It took a number of seconds for Castus' mind to start feeling out his body and he realized he felt a number of times better all of a sudden. He knowingly looked to Ben who nodded and turned around to give Castus some privacy as he opened what he learned was called a status screen.

Castus Gliston

Race: [Human]*

Level-2

[Attributes]

Strength-4

Vitality-3

Dexterity-3

Intelligence-5

Luck-2

Mana-23

Stamina-15

[Skills]

{Passive}

-Basic Ryden Language

-Basic Noble Manners: The skill owner will be able to act in a graceful manner befitting of a budding noble.

-Poison Resistance (minor)

{Active}

-None

{Racial}

-Not awakened

{Blessings}

-Blessing of Creation: One of the many possible Blessings that can be granted to transplants from the Soul Transplantation Corporation. Expand to see more detailed information.

Stat points: 5

Skill points: 1

Castus noticed a number of things had changed. His fascination washed away his guilt for the mean time. His physical attributes had increased, which he could feel within his body. His mana and stamina had increased which he couldn't immediately feel, but he knew would be useful. The new noble manner skill was something he sighed at, thinking back to the manners that Reid drilled into him. He eyes stopped at the stat and skill points that used to be zero, now had numbers in them. He looked to Ben asking the burning question. "Ben what are stat and skill points?" Castus closed the screen as Ben turned around.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Those are one of the most important things about leveling up. You can use those to help out stats you want to focus or improve weak areas. The stat points go into any of your body's stats, like intelligence or even mana. Skill points are a bit less straightforward. You can use skill points to upgrade the capabilities of acquired skills. I would hold off on using those for the time being. Speaking of skills you can also improve your skills through practice and repetition with them." Ben scratched the side of his head and awkwardly laughed realizing he had explained nearly nothing on the status screen. Castus still looked to Ben nodding in understanding though. Even if the information was late, it was good information.

Castus turned to his thoughts, considering where to spend the stat points. The words of Reid bubbled up in his mind, talks about his mana capacity needing to be increased to be able to cast magic. He quickly turned away from Ben and spent his stat points. Two into mana, one into intelligence, one into vitality and one into dexterity. He kept the words of Ben in mind, keeping his physical attributes level for the time being. He also thought of his blessing though and decided to invest into the positives he had. He noticed that the multipliers from his blessing still effected his stat points. The one point in intelligence turned into two but diminished in his physical attributes only resulting in half a point for vitality and dexterity. His mana though received the largest boon, jumping up to nearly fifty.

Castus turned back around to the waiting Ben who took out that device he had used when Castus had first started training. Castus heard him click his tongue. "Only level two? That should have been enough to get you to at least three and most likely four. Those goblins were level seven to nine." Ben grumbled to himself. The mention of the goblins brought back the painful experience Castus had just been through. The enthusiasm he was feeling left him. His face fell towards the ground. Ben noticed, putting a hand on his shoulder he spoke nothing. Ben remembered the first time he had to kill something when he was younger. The experience was still in his memories. After a minute passed, he spoke, breaking the depressing silence. "Castus, I know that was difficult and probably didn't feel good to do, but you're going to have to kill a monster again at some point. I don't know when, but it's part of life. The sooner you can accept that, the sooner you can become strong enough to protect yourself."

The words did nothing to help Castus' depressed attitude and feelings. Castus nodded his head with little interest. After that Ben ended the training early for the day. As Castus walked into his home he missed the expression on Ben change from his normal cheerful attitude to one of unwillingness. Like a great task sat before Ben that he didn't want to do but had to.

'I'm sorry Castus' Ben thought to himself.