The Shadow Realm was an eerie place for ordinary people. The lack of ambient sounds, distinct smells, and color could unnerve just about anyone if left exposed to it for extended periods. But for Cynrik, he had never felt more at home. Thanks to his Dark Affinity, he felt an abnormal level of comfort every time he came here. While Brance felt exceedingly uncomfortable the longer he spent in the Shadow Realm. Light and Dark, as polar opposites, Brance felt itchy the longer he hovered in the Realm devoid of color. But this wasn’t the time for idle thoughts; Cynrik and Brance both inhaled slowly, holding it in for a moment, and then exhaled. By the time they finished, both of them were focused entirely on the task at hand.
[Hobey-Ho, let’s go!] Cynrik smirked as he said a quote near and dear to his heart. It happened to be from one of his all-time favorite novel series he had read during middle and high school back on Earth, and for some reason, he felt now was the appropriate time to use it.
With nimble fingers, Cynrik began punching in commands on his Status window. Each inaudible click caused a wave of foreign energy to course through his veins. But, unlike what he had expected, there was no pain, just a chilly after effect, like when you first step out of a hot shower into a cold bathroom.
A strange glint flashed through Cynrik’s eyes as all the information about his Tier-1 Thief Class flowed into his mind. However, he didn’t stop there; before long, he had also capped out the level of his Tier-1 basic Engineer Sub-Class, leaving him with an abysmal 151k XP, a far cry from the over four million he had minutes ago. Unfortunately, it was only enough to increase his Main Level from 10 to 11, but that was what he needed most.
Cynrik’s eyes flicked to his MP and saw it was dangerously low, so after heaving a sad sigh, he went ahead and distributed 100k XP to his Main Level. Once again, a cool sensation washed over Cynrik as his HP, MP, and Stamina replenished as a reward for Leveling up.
Scrolling through his newly adjusted Stats caused Cynrik a massive headache, as his numerical OCD once again reared its ugly head. Unconsciously, Cynrik’s right hand slowly moved forward towards his VIT Stat and the little plus sign next to it. All he needed to do was press it, and he could fix the horrendous 177.5 number. Suddenly, as if it had a mind of his own, Cynrik’s left hand reached over and smacked its brother on the knuckles, causing it to flinch away and form a mouth, for fingers for the top and the thumb as the bottom jaw.
“Flap, snap, slap, slap” (Why u do dat?) The right hand angrily flapped.
“Flap, slap, slap flap.” (Idiot, don’t push buttons.) The left hand scolded its brother with a hint of disdain.
“Oi, you two cut it out,” Cynrik grumbled, drawing strange looks from Gabby, Benny, and Brance, who were finishing up their stats, only to see the fool talking to himself and using his hands as puppets.
“Ignore my idiot brother guys, keep going about your business.” Brance reached over and hit Cynrik upside the head.
[Stop being stupid and hurry up.]
Feeling wronged and wearing a sad expression, Cynrik went ahead and quickly allocated his 50 Stat points. Starting off, he put 18 into STR, which allowed it to finally break the 200 checkpoint, causing a massive surge of power to swarm through Cynrik’s body. DEX was up next, and it only required four points to break the 200 checkpoint. Cynrik moved along, skipping over his AGI putting 25 points into his INT, which, although it gave him some heartache, brought his INT up to the same 177.5 as his VIT. Lastly, he took two of the remaining 3 points, tossed them into MIND, brought it up to 155.5, and chose to save the remaining 1 point for now.
Cynrik opened and closed his hands a few times, getting used to the feeling of his new stats before waving his hand to send over his new Stat profile to Brance. Once finished, Cynrik closed his eyes and went through the information he had earned about his Class and Sub-Class, along with the four new skills.
: Status :
: Cynrik Ayke Jetlensr (Ivar the Boneless Ragnarsson):
: Title – Perfect Foundation :
: Demi-Human Male (99% Human, 1% Æsir):
: Age-12:
: Tier-1 :
: Primary Class – Tier-1 Thief : (+2 To DEX,AGI Distribution)
: Sub-Class – Tier-1 Engineer : (+2 To DEX Distribution)
: Level: 11 : 0/110,947 :
: Essence Pool(XP): 51,268:
: Thief: 20 – XP : CAP
: Basic Engineer: 20 – XP : CAP
: Distribution: 1.5 Per All : (DEX 5.5, AGI 3.5)
: Mana Codex Tier: 2 (Proficiency= 0.0%) :
: Mana Circuit Tier: 2 (Proficiency= 0.0%) :
: Gravity Resistance: 5g (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Body Tempering: Tier 2 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Credits: 1,000,000 :
: STATS :
: HP 2150/2150 :
: Mana 1265/1265 :
: Stamina 1075 :
: Stat Points- 1 :
: Skill Points- 92 :
: Strength- 200.5 :
: Dexterity- 200.5 :
: Agility- 215.5 :
: Intelligence- 177.5 :
: Vitality- 177.5 :
: Mind- 155.5 :
: Will Power- 13 :
: Killing Intent- 245 – 4G :
: Affinity- :
:(SAG)Dark-Tier-1 (Proficiency= 100.0%): :Expand:
:(BG) Fire-Tier-1 (Proficiency= 100.0%): :Expand:
:(BG) Wind-Tier-1 (Proficiency= 100.0%): :Expand:
For the moment, Brance ignored the incoming data sent by his brother and was working on his own Stats. This process generally took him a bit more time since he would only put thought into his Stats when it was time to level them up, unlike Cynrik, who constantly had it in the back of his mind, working out new strategies and builds.
Thanks to their earlier separation, Brance was significantly ahead in the XP department compared to Cynrik. Having maxed out both his Warrior Class and his Miner Sub-Class, Brance was left with 834,268 XP, a far cry from his brother’s measly amount, and as a result, Brance was able to increase his Main Level to 16, netting him an additional 60 free Stat points.
Brance closed his eyes and allowed the sudden surge of energy to flow unblocked through his body. Since he had yet to allocate his 100 Stat points, the only skill to pass the 200 point checkpoint was his STR, which currently sat at 214. Thanks to his Class and Sub-Class, Brance saw considerable gains in his STR and VIT; not only that, but since he had increased his Main Level by 6, he didn’t have to deal with the dreaded 0.5 and had received a clean 9 points to the rest of his stats. Something Cynrik could only dream of.
As Brance sat there, staring at his 100 Stat points, he found himself having to fight the urge to dump them all into his STR so he could reach the 300 point Tier-1 cap, something he was well aware would earn him a massive sermon from Cynrik. Over the years, his older brother had CONSTANTLY bitched at him about how he was missing out on free stats from their kills, all because he capped those very same stats early on. Finally, after so many years, those never-ending boring speeches from Cynrik had paid off, and Brance stopped himself. In the end, Brance went with his original balanced build, which he had been using for years.
The end result was only his VIT had broken through 200, but the rest, except for his MIND, were all 185.
: Status :
: Brance Athalos Jetlensr (Björn Ironside Ragnarsson):
: Title – Perfect Foundation :
: Demi-Human Male (99% Human, 1% Lightbringer):
: Age-11:
: Tier-1 :
: Primary Class – Tier-1 Warrior : (+2 To STR,VIT Distribution)
: Sub-Class – Tier-1 Miner : (+2 To STR Distribution)
: Level: 16 : 0/147,930 :
: Essence Pool(XP): 114,050:
: Warrior: 20 – XP : CAP
: Basic Miner: 20 – XP : CAP
: Distribution: 1.5 Per All : (STR 5.5, VIT 3.5)
: Mana Codex Tier: 2 (Proficiency= 0.0%) :
: Mana Circuit Tier: 2 (Proficiency= 0.0%) :
: Gravity Resistance: 5g (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Body Tempering: Tier 2 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Credits: 1,000,000 :
: STATS :
: HP 3020/3020 :
: Mana 1330/1330 :
: Stamina 1510/1510 :
: Stat Points- 22 :
: Skill Points- 153 :
: Strength- 225 :
: Dexterity- 185 :
: Agility- 185 :
: Intelligence- 185 :
: Vitality- 225 :
: Mind- 160 :
: Killing Intent- 230 – 4g :
: Affinity- :
:(SAG)Light-Tier-1 (Proficiency= 100.0%): :Expand:
:(BG) Earth-Tier-1 (Proficiency= 100.0%): :Expand:
:(BG) Wind-Tier-1 (Proficiency= 100.0%): :Expand:
Satisfied with his new profile and glad he hadn’t spent all of his Stat points, Brance went ahead and tossed the data to his brother, who was meditating while hovering in place.
Cynrik was still analyzing his skills when he received the notification from Tobs, stating that Brance had sent over his Stat profile. After looking it over, Cynrik clicked his tongue loudly, shattering the eerie silence and startling the Sanford siblings.
[FUCKING LUCKY BASTARD, SNIFFLE, ALL THAT FREE XP FROM YOUR STUPID ASS DOUBLE XP BUFF…GONE…UGHHHHHHH!] Cynrik grabbed at his hair and tugged it in frustration. If he hadn’t gone temporarily insane back then, he too would be on his way to Tier-2; instead, he was stuck at level 11.
[Win some, lose some, Cyn.] Brance snickered at his brother’s expense and just watched as Cynrik thrashed about like a three-year-old throwing a temper tantrum.
[SILENCE MORTAL!] Swimming through the air in zero-g, Cynrik started batting at his laughing brother’s head with open palms.
[Don’t act like I won’t leave your big ass head here in the Shadow Realm while we all go kick the shit outta some Lizzys.]
This made Brance laugh even harder, as he easily dodged Cynrik’s half-baked attacks.
[Go for it; you still won’t get my glorious double XP if you do that.]
Cynrik’s face went blank as he heard this, and his body went limp in defeat.
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