Chapter 18: Leveling With You
After some idle chatting and asking about Emmy's family, Sam turned to her with curiosity."So, how's your progress going?"
Emmy closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to bring up her status screen. When it finally appeared, her eyes widened in shock.
Seeing her expression, Sam chuckled."You saw it, huh? That's your status panel."
"Sam… am I hallucinating?"
"Hahaha," he laughed lightly. "No, you're not. It's real. You're seeing your status panel for the first time."
"Can you see it too?"
"No, I can't. But judging from your expression, I guessed it. I've seen mine before."
"Does it hurt when you use free points?"
"A little, yeah. Nothing too bad."
"Can I somehow show you my panel?"
"I've never tried that," Sam admitted. "I think maybe if we try sharing it mentally?"
"Hmm, but if it is possible," Emmy said, narrowing her eyes, "you'll have to show me yours next."
"Deal," Sam replied with a smile.
Emmy focused on sharing her screen with Sam, but nothing happened. They held hands and tried again — still no result.
Sam thought for a moment. "I think we should both open our panels and think of sharing them at the same time while holding hands."
Trying his idea, Emmy opened her status panel while focusing on sharing it with Sam.
Player Name: Emmy
Species: Rank 2 Human
Level: 11
Strength: 19 (+)
Agility: 21(+)
Mana: 29 (+)
Vitality: 21 (+)
Intelligence: 23 (+)
Free Points Available: 36
Mana Core: 40% complete
Contracts: Zephyr Snake (Pet)
Sam studied her stats and came to a realization.
"I think everyone starts with different initial stats."
Emmy blinked in surprise. "You had different ones?"
"Yeah. Look."
Player Name: Sam
Species: Rank 2Human
Level: 22
Strength: 42 (+)
Agility: 42 (+)
Mana: 42 (+)
Vitality: 38 (+)
Intelligence: 38 (+)
Free Points Available: 72
Mana Core: 55%complete
Contracts: Metal Slime (Pet)
Sam was surprised — he had expected 36 free points, but he had 72. After some quick math, he came to a conclusion.
"Emmy, I think the number of free points per level increases with Rank."
Emmy did the math too. "You're right. For Rank 0 Humans, it's 2 points per level; for Rank 1, 4 points; and for Rank 2, it's 6."
"I guess it's not urgent to share this. People will figure it out eventually."
"Still," Emmy said, "let's see if it's already posted online. If it's not, maybe we should share it."
"Fair enough." Sam took out his phone and started searching. Emmy glanced at his screen — and sneakily caught his password.
"See? Already posted multiple times," Sam muttered. "Honestly, the government should make a proper site for this. Searching random posts is a mess."
"We have some developers in our group. Maybe we can get them to help."
"I'll talk to Ryan about it."
Then Sam smiled. "By the way, I think you can try summoning your pet now."
Emmy's eyes lit up with excitement. Sam calmed her down and explained in detail how he had summoned his Metal Slime before.
After a few failed attempts, on the fourth try, Emmy succeeded. A magic circle appeared on her arm, and a bright white light slithered out.
The blur zipped through the air, circling Emmy and Sam before finally settling gently on Emmy's shoulder. It was a white snake with a faint hint of purple in its scales and eyes that shimmered with a bluish glow.
"Ahhh!" Emmy shrieked, startled by the sudden touch. She threw the snake onto the bed and hid behind Sam.
"Haha!" Sam burst into laughter.
Blushing, Emmy apologized. "Sorry, I was startled." She looked at the snake again.
The snake, understanding her tone, calmly slithered back up her arm to the same spot on her shoulder. Emmy relaxed and started playing with it. Sam also seemed fascinated.
Not to be outdone, the Metal Slime bounced onto the bed and settled into Sam's lap.
"I told you my pet would be cooler," Emmy said with a smug grin.
Apparently understanding her tone, the Metal Slime transformed into a snake and slithered up Sam's shoulder.
Ssssss...
Emmy's snake hissed in annoyance — it clearly understood and didn't appreciate the imitation.
Sam and Emmy both laughed at the pets' antics.
"We should name them," Sam suggested.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about Ira? Like, from iron."
The Metal Slime — now Ira — vibrated happily and rubbed against Sam's cheek.
"I think he liked it," Sam grinned.
"Hmmm… how about Lumi? Short for luminous," Emmy offered.
"That's a great name."
"Sam, do you know what it means to have access to 5% of their power?"
"I'm not sure. I tried using my mana on metals, but nothing happened. But I think Lumi might give you some control over wind."
Emmy focused, but didn't find any extra options on her panel. She made a mental note to test later.
Meanwhile, Sam raised his hand — glowing orbs appeared in the air.
He had collected 20 black, 13 grey, 3 green, and 1 blue orb.
Seeing this, Emmy was surprised, but she knew Sam had his secrets. She took out her own stash: 11 black, 2 grey, and 1 green orb.
These orbs were odd — fragile in the hand, but durable when stored or dropped. Sam and Emmy decided to start with the black ones.
Sam obtained:
4× Quiver 2× Rod 2× Hammer 3× Long Knife 2× Boots 1× Bow 1× Left Arm Guard 3× Sword 2× Right Arm Guard
Emmy obtained:
2× Quiver 2× Long Knife 1× Boots 3× Rod 1× Sword 1× Leather Armour 1× Hammer
From higher-tier orbs, Sam obtained:
2× Right Arm Guard (Common): +Defense
8× Mana Arrows (Common): Mana Impact
2× Bow (Common): Accuracy +2%
1× Leather Armour (Common): +Defense
2×Sword (Common): +Sharpness
3×Mana Arrow (Common): Flaming Shot
1× Mana Bomb (Common): Mana Burst
1× Boots (Common): +Speed
1× Ring (Common): Fireball
1× Long Knife (Rare): Wind Cutter, +Sharpness
1× Glaive (Rare): Mana Slash, +Strength, Bulk Up
1× Ring (Rare): Wind Shield, Wind Radar, +Mana
1× Knife (Elite): Thunder Slash, +Sharpness, Mana blade
Emmy obtained:
1× Ring (Common): Fireball 1× Mana Bomb (Common): Flame Burst 1× Leather Pants (Common): +Defense 1× Shield (Rare): Mana Shield, Expand
Sam shared some items with Emmy, and she shyly accepted them. Then, blushing deeper, she extended her hand.
"C-Can you put the ring on for me?"
Equally flustered, Sam slipped the elite-grade ring onto her finger.
Meanwhile, two snake-like pets silently watched their humans from the side — perhaps amused, perhaps judging.