Chapter 57: A Fraud at Level 59

Zishan was still laughing as he finally looked at the rewards properly.

A few soldiers around him had already turned their attention in his direction after hearing him lose his mind beside the wagon, but he did not even notice them anymore. The greenish System panel had taken up most of his attention, and after reading the first few lines, he had to start from the top again because there was no fucking way the System had placed all of that in one Quest.

[QUEST REWARDS]

[All Stats +50]

[Mana Capacity +500]

[50,000 EXP]

[Beasts Nurturing Space]

[Skill: Ember Malediction]

[Tier: Grandform]

[Skill: Thunderwake]

[Tier: Grandform]

[Lightning Mana Affinity]

Zishan stared at the panel with his mouth slightly open.

He had already gotten used to the System giving him ridiculous rewards, or at least he thought he had. There had been Bloodlines, a Mythical Physique, powerful Skills, a strange Dragon Egg, and enough Stat Points to make his Level look like a fucking liar whenever someone compared it to his actual abilities.

This was still ridiculous.

His eyes returned to the first reward as he counted everything in his head. Fifty points to every Basic Stat meant another three hundred Stat Points in total, while the separate Mana Capacity reward would give him another five hundred on top of whatever increase came from his new Intelligence. There was also fifty thousand EXP, two Grandform Skills, Lightning Mana Affinity, and some kind of Beasts Nurturing Space that he had never seen or heard before.

However, the word Nurturing was already enough to make him think about the severely injured Ironback Razorboar, the three Ridgefang Hounds, and even the Dragon Egg that had yet to hatch inside his Tamed Beast Space.

Zishan slowly covered his mouth with one hand.

’System...’

[Yes, Host?]

’Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?’

[No.]

’You could have just said thank you.’

[The System did not give the rewards for romantic purposes.]

Zishan stared at the answer before shaking his head. ’Why are you answering that seriously? I’m just kidding!’

The System did not entertain his antics further as another panel appeared beneath the rewards.

[PRECEDENCE AVAILABLE]

[Claim Quest Rewards Before Completion?]

[YES / NO]

Zishan did not even bother pretending he needed time to think.

"YES!"

Several soldiers looked toward him.

He glanced around and noticed the attention he was getting for the first time. A few soldiers preparing the defenses had stopped to look at him, including one near the supply wagons who seemed to think Zishan had just started celebrating the enemy army’s arrival. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Zishan cleared his throat. "Just... preparing myself mentally."

Nobody seemed convinced.

He ignored them. No matter what they thought, his sweet reward must come first!

[ADVANCE CLAIM CONFIRMED]

[Processing Quest Rewards...]

A strange pressure spread throughout Zishan’s entire body, and his expression changed when he felt his muscles tighten beneath his uniform. His senses sharpened at the same time, allowing the sounds around the western station to reach him with much greater clarity. The shouting near the barricades, the wheels of supply wagons moving across uneven ground, the metallic noise coming from the artillery crews, and even conversations several meters away suddenly became much easier to distinguish from one another.

Then the System showed him exactly what had changed.

[All Stats +50]

[STR: 101 → 151]

[VIT: 81 → 131]

[AGI: 87 → 137]

[PER: 55 → 105]

[INT: 62 → 112]

[WIL: 65 → 115]

Zishan read the numbers twice before smiling so widely that his cheeks started hurting. "Three hundred..."

Fifty points across six Basic Stats meant the Quest had just handed him another three hundred Stat Points at once. He had already possessed a total of 451 before receiving the reward, which had been absurd enough for someone at Level 50, but now that number had jumped all the way to 751.

Zishan remembered the rough comparison he had made before. An ordinary person who started with around ten points in each Basic Stat and gained three distributable points with every Level would have approximately 207 total Stat Points by Level 50.

He now had more than three and a half times that amount.

If he ignored Ascents, Skills, Bloodlines, Physiques, equipment, and every other difference that affected actual combat strength, an ordinary person would need to be somewhere around Level 231 just to accumulate a similar number of raw Stat Points.

The comparison made Zishan’s smile falter for a second. ’Level two hundred thirty-one?’

The realization only made it return even wider. ’HAHAHAHA! WHAT THE FUCK?! I’M NOT EVEN LEVEL 60 YET!’

One of the soldiers who had been staring at him earlier gave him another strange look.

Zishan glanced at him. "What? Nothing happened. Nothing. Just keep working."

The man frowned but continued walking.

Zishan returned to admiring his Stats.

A total of 300 Stat Points from a single Quest reward was insane enough on its own, but the fifty points added to INT also increased his Mana Capacity by another five hundred.

He had already learned that each point in Intelligence increased his Mana Capacity by ten, which meant the first reward had given him five hundred Mana Capacity without even counting the actual Mana Capacity reward sitting directly beneath it.

His eyes widened the moment the System processed both increases.

[Maximum Mana Capacity: 590 → 1,590]

Zishan stared at the number again. That was fucking 1,590 Mana Capacity, and the longer he looked at it, the harder it became to keep himself from laughing.

’HAHAHAHAHA! I’M FUCKING RICH!’

[Mana remains a resource rather than a recognized currency.]

’I know! I’m rich in Mana!’

That much Mana opened far too many possibilities for Wildfire Requiem alone. The last time he had used the Skill against the Stampede, his available Mana had forced him to think carefully about how much he could spend each time. Now, his maximum capacity had increased by an entire thousand in the span of a few seconds.

Zishan wanted to reopen Wildfire Requiem and start calculating how many targets he could burn with 1,590 Mana, but another notification appeared before he could distract himself.

[+50,000 EXP]

The green panel started producing Level notifications.

[LEVEL UP!]

[LEVEL UP!]

[LEVEL UP!]

Zishan’s eyes followed them as they continued appearing.

"Come on... come on..."

More EXP disappeared into his Level until the notifications finally stopped.

[Level Increased: 50 → 59]

[Current EXP: 5,400 / 5,900]

[Distributable Stat Points Gained: 27]

Zishan placed one hand over his chest.

’Nine Levels...’

He had gained another nine Levels without even fighting the army yet.

The enemy soldiers were still marching toward the western station, and somewhere outside the barricades, Elinox was already preparing to deal with their High General. Zishan had not attacked anyone, killed anything, or even completed the Quest.

He had simply accepted the rewards.

His grin returned. ’This is why I love Precedence.’

[Statement recorded.]

Zishan’s face changed. ’Wait! Why are you recording that?! You’re trying to set me up again!’

[The Host made the statement voluntarily.]

’Tch!’

He stopped arguing all of a sudden as a tingling sensation spread across his fingers.