A Locked Stat

His lips curled into a smile when he noticed the level-up notifications.

'I really wish this type of quest popped up every day.' He thought.

'Host stats.' Harry called. Since he had levelled up twice, he was quite eager to see his new attributes.

—

[Host Stats]

[Name: Harry Morton]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 7]

[EXP: 340/5000]

[H/P: 80/80]

[Energy: 75/75]

[Strength: 23]

[Agility: 22]

[Stamina: 24]

[Perception: 19]

[Endurance: 24]

[Intelligence: 23]

[Charm: NULL]

{Stat Points: 15}

—

Harry nodded his head in approval as he observed his new stats. Although he just got EXP from completing a quest, that wasn't what made him level up twice.

He got 1000EXP from completing the Manaless mage's pride quest, that was only enough to make him level up once.

He was only able to gain more EXP because of the use of one skill: 'mana steal.'

***

-A few minutes ago,

Harry remained calm even as he watched Han's fist 'slowly' close in on his face. Then suddenly his eyes gleamed as an idea popped up in his mind.

He had already tried most of his skills, however, there were still two he hadn't tried out, not because he didn't want to but because he couldn't.

He knew he couldn't use Lightning strike since it would be overboard and would also drag too much attention to him—though he'd love to summon a bolt of lightning to roast and burn Han, it would cause more harm than good for him.

However, there was one skill he could use, 'Mana Steal!'

He couldn't test it out before because there was nothing to steal mana from, but now that Han was rushing towards him, what better time than now?

Harry stretched his right hand forward as he grabbed Han's fist. He applied some strength to his grip, just enough to prevent Han from freeing his hand. He then said inwardly, 'activate mana steal.'

An influx of notifications from the system flashed across his eyes.

[Mana steal activated]

[+500 EXP]

[+500 EXP]

[+1000 EXP]

He felt a warm sensation flow through his hand, compared to what he felt whenever he allocated his stat points or used accelerate, this one paled in comparison.

But Harry didn't care about the sensation that came with the skill and was only bothered about the EXP he was getting.

Harry held onto Han's hand for a few more seconds, he was expecting the EXP to keep pouring in as the skill remained active, however, the system's next notification poured cold water upon all his earlier excitement.

[-15 Energy points]

[Mana steal level 1 limit reached]

[Level Up!]

A frown appeared on Harry's face when he saw this. Limit? So there was actually a limit to the amount of EXP he could gain from mana steal?

He wasn't too bothered about the lost energy points, his energy automatically refilled after each level-up.

Since he couldn't get any more EXP from Han, he increased the grip of his hand, finally crushing Han's fist.

Although it seemed like mana steal took a lot of time, in actuality, it only took a few seconds. The little time in which Han was too stunned to react was more than enough for Harry.

[Host should increase the level of the skill. The skill would be able to steal mana a lot faster]

***

Harry's gaze stopped at the stat points as he pondered if he should allocate them now. 'I should wait for it to pile up first before allocating it.' Harry said inwardly.

Harry had subconsciously developed a habit of letting his stat points pile up. Contrary to one's expectations, he wasn't accumulating stat points in case of emergencies, it was simply because he loved the warm and refreshing sensation that coursed through his body whenever he increased any of his stats by at least five points.

He was starting to get addicted to the feeling—and he didn't even know it. The last time, he let his stat points get to forty before he distributed them.

Harry squinted his eyes slightly as he looked at the stat placed above his stat points.

Out of all his stats, his charm stat was the only one that was null. Although, he already knew the reason, he was still bothered.

The system had been with him for about a week and yet, his charm stat was still locked.

A slight chuckle escaped his lips, he found the situation ironic.

At first, he didn't allocate any stat point to it because he felt it was useless—at least for the old Harry. But now that his other stats had increased considerably, he felt like adding some points to his charm stat might not be a bad idea—unfortunately he couldn't even do that.

He decided to try his luck again by asking the system. 'So why is it locked?'

[…]

'How do I unlock it?' Harry asked the system through his thoughts.

There was no reply from either the system or the other voice.

Even a part of Harry expected this, it was still annoying.

He sighed, he knew better than anyone that he couldn't force the answer out of the system, so he just continued his journey to the lecture hall. "I guess I'll just figure it out later…" Harry muttered.

'This system is sometimes… weird. Isn't it supposed to guide me on this Manaless mage path? Yet… it seems to be confusing me even more?' Harry mused.

He shook his head and brushed the thoughts about the system off his mind, the more he tried to understand the system… the more questions rose in his mind.

****

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