Level up

[Level 3 Swamp Wolf successfully killed]

[You have earned 15 EXP]

[You have reached the necessary amount of EXP to level up…]

Arthur naturally was overjoyed.

Ever since he came to this world, there was one thing that allowed him to stay alive and not be mistaken for a mad fool: a magical artefact mimicking the gaming interface he was familiar with back on Earth.

The magical artefact was found in the belly of the swamp alligator he found himself in upon reincarnation. In fact, he would often think about how the ring was the origin of his reincarnation.

In Albion, there were two moons and days lasted for 24 and 32 minutes, if you used the same standards of time measurement as Earth. It was proof that his planet was not Earth, or any of the planet from the solar system, which were relatively well known. Gravity, too, felt a bit stronger.

However, his original excitement quickly dimmed over time. Rather than a gaming system, it seemed to be more of a hardcore levelling interface, in which the souls of the enemies he killed were absorbed by his ring, turning them into the resource called 'Experience'. The real divine-like perk of this ring, however, was how experience could be used. It was like a currency, which he could use to either increase his proficiency in skills, or level up.

[Name – Arthur Landragon

Class – Level 4 [Beginner Rank] Acolyte (0 / 900 EXP)

HP – 37 / 40 | Mana: 30 / 40

→ Experience Stored: 904

Attributes:

Strength – 6 | Agility – 3 | Vitality – 4 | Magic Power – 4

Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (38), Ice Magical Knowledge (18), Spell Reading (16), Scroll Copying (15), Archery (11), Deceiving (8), Acting (4), Trading (4)

Spell: Freezing Touch [Low Grade – Rank 0] (14)]

His body was only level 2 when he arrived in this world. Each level brought two benefits: an increase in magic power, which was the life and blood of all acolytes, and a free attribute point which he could invest in strength, agility or vitality. Hence, his level was completely determined by his value of magic power. The pattern was quite accurate, actually:

[William Steel – Level 5 Beginner Rank Acolyte

Attributes:

Strength – 2 | Agility – 1 | Vitality – 1 | Magic Power – 5

Spell – Flaming Arrow [Low Grade – Rank 0]]

William, with whom he completed the past hundred or so weekly patrol missions, was level 5. He was two years older, and if it weren't for the enormous amount of resources he had put into learning alchemy, which was a bet that didn't pay off, he would have perhaps reached level 6.

But perhaps the most striking difference concerned his physical attributes. While Arthur boasted rather high physical attributes, for 2 was the average for regular adults who were in a rather fit form, William clearly fit the cliché of the shut-in acolyte who didn't take proper care of his own body, staying in laboratories for hours, days perhaps, and very rarely exercised.

In comparison, Arthur was like a monster. Be it from the daily knight training he had taken the habit to go through, or the levelling ring that enabled him to acquire one physical attribute bonus point every time he increased his level, he had reached a realm of physical prowess that surpassed that of top Earth athletes.

Actually, his high physical attributes were also related to his birth. The Landragon family was a knight household, with all of his forefathers being knights, his most distant ancestor being said to have been a Grand Knight. Just like acolytes, knights were warriors who boasted supernatural strength. Rather than magic power, they pursued physical strength and martial prowess.

But even though anyone with proper resources and willpower could become a knight in proper time, few could become acolytes. You needed to awaken 'magical talent', which was beyond rare. Because of this, there was really too few acolytes, and by extension, magi, especially in small kingdoms like Dalia. Though acolytes boasted mysterious abilities, they weren't strong or numerous enough to control the nobles and kings like puppeteers. Rather, acolytes and nobles shared mutual agreements and contracts that allowed both parties to benefit greatly.

The magical academies completed missions for nobles, solved problems and studied monsters in exchange for resources. Nobles could solve their problems and hire strong acolytes with magic crystals. In the end, acolytes and nobles lived in symbiose.

Acolytes were divided in four ranks, because the difference between the weakest and strongest acolytes was just too wide.

After three years of observation, Arthur found out that it was quite easy to distinguish the ranks: Beginner Acolytes were level 1 to 8, Intermediate 9 to 14, and advanced 15 to 20. As for peak rank acolytes, there were none in the Ivory Tower, so it wasn't like he could draw any conclusion about it. However, he could guess that they had around 21 point of magical power and thus were level 21.

This strange ring had allowed him to befriend those who could bring him benefits and stand his ground against those who were just intimidating him. For instance, Dorian Sylvester, the Law enforcement leader who was in charge of investigating murders and assigning missions, had taken a liking to him and that was the reason why he and William had been given the relatively safe and rewarding patrol missions.

As to why Dorian Sylvester liked him, it is purely because both Arthur and Dorian were nobles. This was just pure discrimination, but it's not like Arthur would refuse such an opportunity.

Some, who offended him, were basically given a death sentence: Experimental subjects for Magus Rutherford, or compulsory missions in wars fought by nobles who requested support from the Ivory Tower…

"Level up", he thought.

[Levelling up…]

[You have lost 900 points of experience]

[You have levelled up]

[Because of your class, your magic power attribute increased by 1]

[You have earned one free attribute point to invest in Strength, Agility or Vitality]

Without hesitation, Arthur invested his free attribute point in Strength. He always increased strength, because it increased all of his muscular prowess. Unlike what people thought due to movies and anime downplaying real facts, cross swords were heavy, unbelievably so. They only weighed five or six kilograms, but even though swinging once or twice was no herculean effort, going through a battle and using knight techniques with such heavy weapons was beyond tiring.

Even if his stamina was rather high considering his vitality, it was better to increase strength, which could help finishing the fight earlier, and this, by extension, allowed him to boast better fighting prowess.

[Beep! Scan Complete!]

[Name – Arthur Landragon

Class – Level 5 [Beginner Rank] Acolyte (0 / 1 200 EXP)

HP – 37 / 40 | Mana: 30 / 50

→ Experience Stored: 4

Attributes:

Strength – 7 | Agility – 3 | Vitality – 4 | Magic Power – 5

Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (38), Ice Magical Knowledge (18), Spell Reading (16), Scroll Copying (15), Archery (11), Deceiving (8), Acting (4), Trading (4)

Knight Technique: Heavy Vertical Strike (8)

Spell: Freezing Touch [Low Grade – Rank 0] (14)]

It was pretty rare for him to gain such a high amount of EXP in just one day. In fact, most of the patrols were just about them counting plants and noting down the sightings of ghost maidens from a safe distance on a report. Sometimes, it required them to check the population of natives from Narth Island, basically savages living in barbarian tribes. However, it was fairly rare to encounter an opportunity to hunt magical beast. After all, neither Arthur nor William were strong enough to deal with anything stronger than a Swamp Wolf, or multiple beasts at a time.

1 EXP was the amount of experience he could make in one hour of optimized meditation in a calm environment with utmost focus, and with grade 2 talent, he could only meditate up to two hours a day before feeling magic fatigue, a horrible state in which he could not think clearly, like a hangover. This meant if he just relied on meditation like the other acolytes, it would take roughly more than three years for him to level up again.

The higher the level, the more difficult it was to level up.

These ridiculous EXP requirements to level up were enough for Arthur to better understand why there were so few intermediate rank acolyte in the tower. Without elixirs or potions to enhance growth or extraordinary talent, progress was too slow.