Let me tell you, spending four entire hours in the same position as your body went through a continuous cycle of burning and aching wasn't a pleasant experience.
I was only able to begin safely moving when my Health Points reached one thousand eight hundred points, but even then, the word 'safely' only meant that my body wouldn't rip itself in two when I twitched so much as a finger.
The System certainly didn't agree with my choice to stand up, and my body was right behind it in reminding me I wasn't fully healed. But I had grown tired of laying hunched over as I healed, and I needed to move.
I could only handle being hunched over like that for a limited amount of time. To be precise, a few minutes, and I had spent four hours like that.
Yeah, I had grown stir crazy, and whilst the pain was certainly a good distraction, even it could do so much for me when it began to lessen. So now, I was walking, pacing to be exact, and slowly moving my body through hesitant stretches.
I still had two hundred points to heal back, so another two hours, maybe less to go before I was set to be at full health.
"Show the last Aspect to me, System." I muttered, grimacing as another stray spasm of pain coursed through me.
By now, all of the previous screens surrounding me had vanished, and only the window for [Imperial Dawn] had remained.
I had spent as much time as I possibly could trying to decipher the story held within it, but it was a slow process that had been continuously interrupted by the pain running through my body.
[-][===][-]
|| [As you wish user] ||
[-][===][-]
|| [Aspect]: [Pyromancy] ||
|| [Level N/A]: [Progression: N/A] ||
|| [Omphalos Designation]: [Passive] ||
|| [Description]: [You have a divine connection with the element of fire, as such, you own pyrokinetic abilities consume [-30%] of your Mana Points] ||
[-][===][-]
|| [Error…] ||
|| [Error…] ||
|| [Mistake Occurred…Mistake Noted…Mistake Resolved] ||
|| [New Change to Aspect...[Designation]: [Pyrokinesis]…Has taken effect. Would you like to view it?] ||
[-][===][-]
"And here I was about to ask about the original cost of [Pyrokinesis]. Sure, go ahead." It seemed the System wasn't as all-knowing as I had originally thought. A new screen appeared a moment later.
[-][===][-]
|| [Due to Aspect…[Designation]: [Pyromancy]…The cost of Mana Point usage for Aspect…[Designation]: [Pyrokinesis]…has been altered] ||
[-][===][-]
|| [Aspect]: [Pyrokinesis] ||
|| [Level 2]: [Progression: 10%] ||
|| [Omphalos Designation]: [Active] ||
|| [Description]: [You hold the abilities of creation and manipulation of fire, a fundamental force that has shaped not only the history of humanity but the creation of the universe. The strength of your flames, and the control you exert over this force is entirely dependent on your level. Right now, your fire is a weak, spluttering ember] ||
|| [Cost]: [75MP/S] ||
[-][===][-]
"Okay, now were talking." For the first time in hours, I felt my spirit become lifted. This was a massive boon, that only grew in its usefulness when you considered my currently pitiful Mana Points.
"But why did it only just take effect, System?" I asked, raising a brow at the screen displaying new information.
[-][===][-]
|| [Apologies user] ||
|| [Due to my unique interface and structure, for Aspects to take effect you yourself must first read and acknowledge them. Think of it as the quote from Ludwig Wittgenstein; "Knowledge is in the end based on acknowledgment."] ||
[-][===][-]
"You must know that I have no clue who that is or what that might even mean." I told it, gently rolling my shoulder. As someone who spent most of my time learning about history and mythology, quotes such as these went right over my head.
Philosophy was never my strong suit, no matter how much I tried to understand and learn about it.
[-][===][-]
|| [It speaks about the fundamental role of acknowledging information to gain knowledge. As an example, you may understand, think of it as The Blessed One becoming Enlightened through the seeking of Truth] ||
[-][===][-]
'The Blessed One, huh? Buddha, that I can understand.' Whilst my knowledge on that specific religion wasn't as vast as others, I had dipped into it a few times in the past just to satisfy my curiosity.
Still, this was very different to the stories which I had read. In all of them, the characters would receive their powers instantly without any such mistakes, but then again, this was real life, and mistakes were an intrinsic part of the world.
[-][===][-]
|| [You have completed the [Tutorial]. You have been granted [+10] Stat Points, please allocate them now] ||
[-][===][-]
"Wait, this was all a tutorial?" I asked, tilting my head. The System didn't respond to my question, so I quietly rolled my eyes and summoned my stat page.
[-][===][-]
|| [Artorias Regulus] ||
|| [LVL]: [10]-[0/5000] ||
|| [HP]: [1850/2000] ||
|| [MP]: [975/1100] ||
|| [EP]: [4700/5000] ||
[-][===][-]
|| [VIT]: [13] ||
|| [STR]: [9] ||
|| [DEX]: [11] ||
|| [INT]: [19] ||
|| [WIS]: [12] ||
|| [CHA]: [7] ||
|| [LUC]: [5] ||
[-][===][-]
|| [SP]: [10] ||
| [AP]: [0] ||
[-][===][-]
My stats had recovered quite nicely in the last four hours, rising to be back at their full amount. Though out of my specific Attributes, only my Intelligence and Wisdom had risen, due to, as the System liked to call it, my 'logical thinking'.
A part of me still thought that it was laughing at my intelligence every time it popped up with the prompt.
Either way, I now currently had a set of ten Stat Points which had been freely given to me to use on any of them.
I'll be honest with you all, whilst I already had the stats, I was going to invest the points into ready in my head, the low level of my Charisma stat was certainly tempting me right now. Though I already knew it was mostly out of misplaced pride than any good reason.
'Huh, I guess the Intelligence stat really does work.' I thought amusedly, pushing through my pride to ignore the second lowest stat in my possession. It just wouldn't be worth it right now to invest any points into it.
Right now, my most important stats to level up were Vitality, Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence. Mainly due to both [Pyrokinesis] and [Imperial Dawn], and mainly because they were the stats I'd use most in combat.
As for why I wasn't thinking about putting any levels into Wisdom, well, as the System had said itself, for every two levels I put into my Intelligence, I'll receive one into my Wisdom.
Really, it would be a waste to put Stat Points into Wisdom when I could level Intelligence and make both of them rise a level or two.
With my mind made up, I used all ten of my available Stat Points and came out with this.
[-][===][-]
|| [Artorias Regulus] ||
|| [LVL]: [10]-[0/5000] ||
|| [HP]: [1861/2050] ||
|| [MP]: [984/1200] ||
|| [EP]: [4752/5225] ||
[-][===][-]
|| [VIT]: [15] ||
|| [STR]: [12] ||
|| [DEX]: [13] ||
|| [INT]: [22] ||
|| [WIS]: [14] ||
|| [CHA]: [7] ||
|| [LUC]: [5] ||
[-][===][-]
|| [SP]: [0] ||
| [AP]: [0] ||
[-][===][-]
I put two points into my Vitality and Dexterity. Then, three points into both my Strength and Intelligence, which granted me an additional two for Wisdom as well. Relatively, they were all quiet small changes, and whilst I didn't feel much different, I knew that soon enough they'd begin adding up.
"Now then, with that over and done with, where do I go from here?"
The forest in the distance seemed to loom far more at my question.