Getting Stronger

[Level 9 -> 12]

[Stats : 

STR : 7 -> 9

CON : 5 -> 6

DEX : 10 -> 12

INT : 4 -> 5

WIS : 4 -> 5

CHA : 10 -> 12]

{Congratulations on reaching Level 10, Player~! Wow, aren't you an overachiever hm~? Amongst the first 1000 Players to hit that milestone... I don't know whether I should be proud or if I should call you a no life try hard!

Ahem... anyways, as you've likely noticed, I am not a heartless God; no, I am magnanimous! Milestone levels - 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and so on - are going to be tracked and recored for my own personal research. No one else shall see this list - maybe - but as a reward for being such a grimey little gamer, take a free +1 to all stats~! 

Now get out there and do it again! Show me just how great you are at surviving and thriving in Eden... and don't die to early, for my sake~?}

When I made love to Alessia again to level up, I was jumpscared by this sudden prompt appearing in my mind, the System carrying the word of our new 'God' - the developer - directly into our minds on a whim, which surprised me so much I jolted awake.

"Kira..? Damn, is it your shift already..? Hng..."

Alessia sat up beside me, the nude Dogkin yawning before stretching as she looked towards me, our bodies melding together as she reached over and embraced me, placing a kiss on my lips.

My pounding heart was felt by her, and the blonde murmured "Nightmare?" before kissing me again, stroking my back and comforting me without much thought.

Feeling her warmth, her touch, helped to alleviate the anxiety that sprung up as I reread the words in the System, and I evened my breathing as I nodded, muttering back "Must've been..." before kissing her as well.

"Before you go... one more time?"

Giving me such a seductive gaze, the Dogkin accepted me as I draped myself on top of her, the usually dominant Alessia telling me she was 'too tired' to move and instead allowed me to do her as I pleased, which certainly helped as we embraced for a few minutes more.

Eventually though, I finished up inside her and pulled away, leaving the Dogkin to lay by herself as I cleaned myself off and got dressed, knowing that I couldn't go back to sleep now; both because it might be my shift, but also because... the thought of closing my eyes whilst I was being watched by this 'God' paralyzing me somewhat, placing me in a limbo where I wanted to sleep but felt like I needed to stay awake...

So I stepped out of our tent and walked out into the outpost, the cool, crisp air of the night helping to wake me up as I made my way towards one of the lookout spots, finding Paci leaning against a wall and looking out at Yngrave Forest.

"Oh, Kira! Is it that time already?"

Yawning, she rubbed at her eyes before looking towards the moon, shrugging as she said "A tad early, but if you're so eager, who am I to complain, right? Well, have fun~!"

Patting my shoulder, she yawned again and made her way towards her own tent, stretching and making a whole spectacle out of it that made me chuckle, before I took her spot and began to do some maintenance work on my falchion, running a small, normal whetstone over the edge and grinding out the rolls and chips from the battles yesterday, all while my eyes remained fixated on the forest.

Time slowed to a crawl as I kept watch, and I was left to plan out what I needed to do to get stronger, to reach a level that would allow me to protect myself, protect my friends - if I got any, same with real lovers - protect my home...

What would be the most optimal way to get stronger, and not just by raising my levels to a higher number, or raising my stats higher; I had already proven that levels and stats were just that - numbers - and that you could overcome a gap in those numbers to defeat someone so long as you had the right equipment, knowledge, and techniques.

So what could I do to get stronger?

Well, I needed better equipment first and foremost; I think - keyword think - that I could defeat another mortal that was at LEAST eight levels higher than me so long as I had some good weapons and armor for them; level 20 was a threshold for NPC's in the old game, separating the 'chaff' from the dangerous, capable NPC's.

Everyone in this troop was probably level 30 minimum, with Alessia and Trania being somewhere in the 40's, maybe even 50's; meanwhile, I was just now hitting double digits, but...

I had a good grasp on how to use my current strength to deal good damage; how to make the most of my dexterity as I dodged and danced with my enemies, whilst my charisma allowed me to disorient with my spoken spells.

All of that together could let me take down anything beneath level 20 NPC wise, and likely level 25 monster wise; at my current state, that was good, but not impressive.

I was no pot headed, armor less katana wielding badass that could beat the end game bosses without breaking a sweat; I was a good gamer, and good fighter, but not legendary.

But I was tactical, I was a bit sharper with my wits, and a bit more cautious with my fights, so maybe that is the edge I need to hone?

There were many roads I could take to get stronger, and as the sun began to rise, I sighed as I realized the most optimal path wasn't a single road, but...

A few steps down each; early game was the same for everyone, and it focused around getting the best gear for your current build, getting some better stats, and leveling.

Thankfully, I was apart of a large group of soldiers that wanted to do nothing more than help me grind out those levels by killing a monster that sold for some good money back at the Supply Depot, which I could use to buy myself some better gear.

Then I would need to rinse and repeat until I reach level 25, where I would need to shift myself from grinding to learning.

I needed to get better at fighting, I needed to learn some more spells, learn how to wield my current spells better, and learn how to better hide myself away from other players, because...

If there was anything that I knew from my many thousands of hours gaming, it was that the most dangerous enemy in any MMORPG wasn't the raid bosses, secret NPC enemies, hell, not even gravity.

It was your fellow players.