Second part of the tutorial (Part1)

In New World Online, stat and skill points could be used to instantly increase the attributes and abilities of the player's character. If used strategically, these points could turn the tide of battles, giving players a significant edge in critical moments. However, to use them wisely, one had to accumulate and hold onto every point they earned until they encountered a situation where investing them could allow them to overcome a significant challenge or obstacle.

Leon knew all of this, but he was in a situation where he couldn't afford to hold onto the points he had.

The tutorial of New World Online was divided into several parts, and while he had only passed the first part, it was going to get progressively harder from here. He knew that if he didn't increase his strength before the second part began, he would face great difficulties.

A single slip up would result in death, ruining this golden opportunity of establishing a loyal fanbase.

How could he ever allow that?

So, he decided to invest his points immediately

Skill and stat points could be allocated through the player's character panel, which was accessible via the in-game menu.

With a command, Leon opened the menu. A translucent panel with a bunch of boxes showing different options appeared before him, hovering in mid-air.

Some of the options were blacked out, indicating that they couldn't be accessed at the moment. These locked panels included the map, events, gladiator arena, and miracle shop.

The rest of the options—such as the character panel, inventory, friend list, and chat panel—were available for use.

Raising his hand, Leon tapped the character panel option displayed on the screen with his index finger.

Immediately, a panel displaying all the details of his avatar opened up.

Character: Zeus

Class: Sword Dancer

Power Level: Level 1 early Apprentice stage 

Exp required to level up: 0/400

HP: 80/80

Stamina: 97/100

Physical Attack Power: 28

Damage negation: 3.5 percent

Defense: 700

Strength: 8

Vitality: 8

Agility: 8

Focus: 5

Stat Points: 3

Skill Points: 2

Passives:

Dual Weapon Mastery, Armor Proficiency.

Equipment:

Apprentice Blade Set:

Leather Chestplate: Grants 250 Physical Defense

Leather Gloves: Grants 150 Physical Defense

Leather Helmet: Grants 150 Physical Defense

Leather Boots: Grants 150 Physical Defense

Apprentice Swords: Two simple swords, each granting 10 points of damage.

Basic Skills: Slash, Guard, Quickstep

Abilities: N/A

Talents: N/A

The power levels in New World Online were classified into five major ranks: Apprentice, Adept, Master, Grandmaster, and Lord.

Each major rank was further divided into three stages: early, mid, and late stages.

For example, the Apprentice rank could be divided into the early Apprentice stage, mid Apprentice stage, and late Apprentice stage, with each stage consisting of ten levels.

Players gained 1 stat point each time they leveled up. Reaching the halfway point and the peak of a minor stage granted an additional stat point. The only other ways to earn stat points were by unlocking specific achievements or obtaining extremely rare consumables. 

Every class started as a Level 0 Apprentice. As Leon had leveled up by performing excellently in the first part of the tutorial, his current power level was at Level 1 early Apprentice stage. However, as he was yet to invest his points, his stats were similar to what Sword Dancers typically started with at Level 0. His stamina was 3 points lower because Level up in this game didn't reset stamina or HP. 

In New World Online, each stat had a specific impact on a player's capabilities.

Health points determined how much damage a player can take before dying.

Stamina affected how long a player could sustain physical activities such as running, fighting, or dodging. When stamina drops low, penalties are applied. If stamina falls below 30, the player would become weakened, with their stats temporarily reduced. If a player's stamina dropped to zero, they would collapse and be unable to move for a minute or until their stamina was slightly restored. Stamina could be recovered in-game by resting, sleeping, or eating. This mechanic was designed for realism and to add a challenge for players.

Vitality directly affects a player's health points. Each point in Vitality equalled ten points of HP. As Leon had 8 points in Vitality, his HP was 80.

Strength determines a player's physical damage output. With his current Strength at 8, Leon's physical damage would be 8 without any weapons equipped.

Agility influences a player's speed and reflexes. The higher the Agility, the higher the attack better and the ability to dodge attacks.

Lastly, Focus affected hand-to-eye coordination, significantly improving a player's accuracy in combat. However, Focus was also the key to unlocking the manual usage of supernatural abilities in the game. Mastering the manual usage would become mandatory for anyone aspiring to enter the pro scene of New World Online after the first quarter of this year.

In his previous life, this secret became common knowledge during an e-sport tournament held three months after the game's release. It caused many players who had invested their points in other stats to lament and regret their choices and desperately search for a way to reset their builds. The developers seemed to have anticipated this reaction, as they had already created a quest that unlocked a unique store for players, where they could buy the soup of oblivion to reset their stats and reallocate their stat points as needed. But completing this quest was hard, very hard!

If it weren't for the fact that, to increase his chances of passing the second trial, either his Strength or Agility stat needed to reach 10 to unlock a talent, Leon would have preferred to invest all his points in Focus.

When a stat reached 10 points, it directly influenced the player's talent tree. For example, 10 points in Strength unlocked the Mighty Blow talent, which increased the damage dealt by physical attacks, while 10 points in Vitality unlocked the Endurance talent, enhancing overall survivability by increasing health regeneration and resistance to physical damage. Similarly, 10 points in Agility unlocked the Fleetfoot talent, greatly enhancing movement speed and evasion capabilities.

After careful consideration, Leon invested two of his stat points into Agility.

System Notifications:

Stat points -2

Agility increased to 10

Talent unlocked: Fleetfoot - Increases movement speed by 15% and grants a 10% boost to evasion, making it easier to dodge enemy attacks.

Leon smiled confidently. With this new talent, he believed he could brute force his way through the challenges of the second part of the tutorial.

The viewers who weren't ignorant of the methods to complete the tutorial were taken aback.

"His choice is really unconventional."

New World Online had been recently released, but it had already been streamed by many pro players with huge followings. A lot of them had passed the tutorial using conventional stat allocations. The person who wrote this comment in Leon's livestream was one such person.

[CyberBlade]: "Shadow, even you are here!"

ShadowStrike was the second-best player of Digital Gladiators, and a guy who liked to remain low-key—only showing his face in front of the media when absolutely necessary.

His online alias was well-known in the gaming community. The chat buzzed with excitement upon seeing ShadowStrike—a name that carried weight and respect in the competitive gaming world—in Leon's stream.

"Wasn't that to be expected? You know how he is. Once his curiosity is poked, he can't resist checking it out," said GamerGoddess.

ShadowStrike wrote a troll comment.

"I didn't know you were interested in me." 

GamerGoddess wrote "Peh"

What GamerGoddess said was indeed the truth.

ShadowStrike had been enchanted by the piece of hot news Jason shared on his Y platform. Unable to resist the pull, he was now here, watching Leon's stream. And what he had seen so far was really interesting. He had been silently spectating until now, but Zeus's choice of stat allocation forced him to reveal himself in the chat.

The game was released six hours ago, at a time when it was midnight in the Free World, and the shops selling the VR systems for New World Online were closed. Leon had bought his system six to seven hours after it was released. Many who lived in the same time zone and weren't night owls were confused as to why ShadowStrike called Zeus's choice unconventional.

"What do you mean by his choice being weird?" one viewer asked.

"Care to explain?" another chimed in.

"The only thing I can say is that not even other Sword Dancers or Assassins from the Alliance of Darkness are allocating their points this way," ShadowStrike replied to the confused viewers. 

"I am still pretty confused." One viewer wrote.

"Let me explain it in depth," DragonSlayer123 said. "In this game, assassins are squishy and die easily in the tutorial. One Assassin invested all the points he gained from leveling up in the first two parts of the tutorial into Vitality. He got extra health points and managed to pass the entire tutorial, so now every Assassin and even some hedge magicians and shamans are copying him. As for Sword Dancers, most players prioritize increasing Strength to 10 first to unlock the Mighty Blow talent. It makes it so much easier to mow down groups of Imps and brute force their way through the tutorial. But God Zeus... he's taken a different path from them all. That's why Lord Shadow said God Zeus's choice is unconventional.

"Ah, I understand. Thanks for clearing up my confusion."

Another viewer commented, "If that's the case, why would he go for Agility over Strength? Does he know something we don't know about?"

"Maybe he doesn't know the standard strategies."

"That might be the case."

Leon had all of his viewers' attention. They were eager to see if his unconventional approach would pay off or if he was setting himself up for failure.

The person that was on everyone's mind was deep in thought.

"Imp Assassins still pose a threat to me."

The second level of Quickstep could provide a way to manoeuvre around the deadly danger posed by these stealthy enemies. In New World Online, each basic skill had three levels. Skills could be leveled up through repeated use in combat or by spending skill points.

Leon wasn't in a place to grind his basic skills through combat; he didn't have the time either, as he was in an area infested with Imps and other lurking dangers. He could be attacked at any moment.

Thus, he could only act like a morally bankrupt athlete who uses performance-enhancing drugs before a match to gain an instant boost in strength.

Spending one skill point, Leon leveled up Quickstep to the next level. Level 1 Quickstep only allowed him to dash in a straight line. But with the level 2 Quickstep, Leon could swiftly circle behind his enemy. It had a 2 second cooldown and allowed him to cover a distance of 10 feet in a flash.

Leon was unaware of the storm brewing in the chat, as he had closed it to focus entirely on completing the tutorial.

The dense forest around him was eerily silent, save for the occasional noise produced by the wind as it blew through the black leaves, causing them to rustle softly. There was no indication that he was near any monsters, making it seem like the perfect time to collect the loot from the Imp Assassin he had just killed. But before he could get it, an Imp pounced out from the bushes behind him. From the way it was dressed, it was clear that this, too, was an Imp Assassin. Its red eyes gleamed with malice as its sharp claws sliced through the air, barreling toward Leon's back.

The claws of an Imp Assassin were as sharp as a Dagger. If its attack hit its mark, those claws would sink into Leon's back and pierce his heart, instantly killing him!

As per the livestream, Leon's perspective showed nothing but the tranquil forest in front of him. But the live streams on Stream Net didn't force the viewers to see everything from.the player's perspective. The viewers have a clear view of his immediate surroundings. So they saw the ambush.

GamerGoddess's long and slender fingers flew over the keyboard. She warned in the chat. "Look out, Zeus!"

[DragonSlayer123]: "Behind you! Watch out!".