Kaelen looked at his stats. He had 5 Divine Essence points.
He decided to put all of them into Constitution (Health).
Ding!
[ Constitution: 0.3 -> 0.8 ]
Kaelen was surprised. He thought 1 point would make the number go up by 1. But it only went up by 0.1.
"That's okay," Kaelen thought. "The Vane family is rich. I can just eat more expensive medicine later."
As soon as his Health hit 0.8, he felt amazing. The weakness in his body disappeared. He felt strong and full of energy.
"Awesome!"
Kaelen jumped out of bed. He threw some punches in the air. Whoosh! Whoosh!
He put on his robe and walked out of the room.
Two maids were guarding the door. They looked worried.
"Young Lord! Why are you up?" one maid asked. "The doctor said you need to rest!"
"I don't need rest. I feel great!" Kaelen waved his hand. "Don't worry about me."
He walked quickly down the hallway. He had a plan.
The Vane family owned a huge Apothecary (a place where they made potions and stored herbs). It was full of expensive ingredients.
For normal people, eating too much medicine was bad. But for Kaelen, it was just free points!
He needed to get more Divine Essence to fix his weak body.
As he walked past a garden, he heard two servants sweeping the floor and talking.
"Did you hear?" one servant whispered. "The young master of the Blackwood Family is missing."
"Really?"
"Yes. He didn't believe the stories about Shadow Lane. He went there last night to investigate. Now, he is gone. The Blackwood family is looking everywhere, but they can't find him."
"That place is cursed," the other servant shivered. "I heard there are ghosts there. I wouldn't go there even in the daytime."
Kaelen stopped walking. He hid behind a pillar to listen.
"Ahem," Kaelen cleared his throat and stepped out.
The servants jumped in fear. They bowed low. "Young Lord!"
"What were you saying?" Kaelen asked. "What is Shadow Lane? And what ghosts?"
"Oh... uh..." The servant looked nervous. "We were just gossiping, Young Lord. Please forgive us."
"It's fine. I'm not mad," Kaelen said. "Just tell me the story. I like scary stories."
The servant looked at his friend, then nodded. He told Kaelen everything.
Recently, strange nursery rhymes were being sung by kids in Whitewater City:
• The bride in red waits for the groom, but her mind is broken.
• The old beggar woman rides in a golden carriage.
• Don't enter Shadow Lane at night, or you will join the graves.
At first, people thought it was a joke. But then, people started disappearing.
The City Guards investigated. They found out that all the missing people—drunks, night watchmen, party animals—had walked past Shadow Lane.
One night, four brave Guards went into the lane with lanterns.
The next morning, only one Guard came out. His arms and legs were cut off. He was lying by the wall, screaming.
"Ghosts! Ghosts!" he yelled. He died two days later from fear.
Since then, nobody dared to go near Shadow Lane. It was a "Forbidden Zone."
And now, Julian Blackwood—Kaelen's friend—was missing.
Kaelen knew Julian well. They were drinking buddies. They were both rich, lazy, and useless.
"Shadow Lane sounds terrible," Kaelen thought. "I need to make sure I never go there."
"Young Lord, can we go?" the servant asked. "We need to finish cleaning."
"Go ahead," Kaelen said.
He walked away quickly. He needed to get to the Apothecary. The world was clearly dangerous, so he needed to get stronger now.
Kaelen arrived at the Vane Family Apothecary.
Several doctors were sitting on the porch, watching the rain and drinking tea. They were distracted.
Kaelen sneaked around to the back. He found a window that was slightly open.
Creak.
He climbed inside.
If his father knew he was here, he would freak out. The doctor had said "No more tonics." But Kaelen didn't care.
Inside, the room smelled like earth and spices.
The shelves were packed with treasures: Ginseng, Spirit Mushrooms, Deer Antlers, Snow Lotus, Sea Horse, Saffron...
Kaelen's eyes sparkled. "Jackpot!"
"Thanks, Dad, for being so rich," Kaelen whispered.
He grabbed a piece of Solomon's Seal root and popped it into his mouth.
Crunch.
[ Divine Essence + 1 ]
[ Divine Essence + 1 ]
He grabbed a Deer Antler.
[ Divine Essence + 1 ]
[ Divine Essence + 1 ]
He grabbed a handful of Cordyceps (fungus worms).
[ Divine Essence + 1 ]
[ Divine Essence + 1 ]
Suddenly, the room started to spin.
"Ugh..." Kaelen grabbed the table. His stomach felt like it was burning.
"Not again," he thought. "I hit my limit."
He quickly spit out the mushroom he was chewing. If he kept eating, he would faint again.
He put the rest of the herbs back on the shelves and opened his System.
[ Attributes ]
• Strength: 0.4 (Weak) [+]
• Agility: 0.3 (Slow) [+]
• Constitution: 0.8 (Normal) [+]
• Spirit: 0.9 (Normal) [+]
• Charm: 0.8 (Plain) [+]
• Divine Essence: 12
He had gained 12 points. That was a lot!
"Time to upgrade," Kaelen said.
He put points into Constitution (Health) first.
[ Constitution: 0.8 -> 1.0 ]
But when it hit 1.0, the [+] button turned gray. He couldn't click it anymore.
"Is there a limit?" Kaelen wondered. "Maybe I can't go higher than a normal human right now?"
He had 10 points left.
He looked at Strength and Agility (Speed).
"Should I be strong? Or should I be fast?"
He thought about Shadow Lane. He thought about the ghosts and monsters.
"Speed," he decided. "If I see a ghost, punching it won't help. Running away is the best tactic."
He dumped points into Agility.
[ Agility: 0.3 -> 1.0 ]
That cost 7 points. He had 3 left.
Once Agility hit 1.0, it also turned gray.
He put the last 3 points into Strength.
[ Strength: 0.4 -> 0.7 ]
[ Final Stats ]
• Strength: 0.7 (Weak)
• Agility: 1.0 (Normal)
• Constitution: 1.0 (Normal)
• Spirit: 0.9 (Normal)
• Charm: 0.8 (Plain)
• Divine Essence: 0
Kaelen looked at his Charm stat. He wanted to increase it. There was a saying: Strength is temporary, but being handsome is forever.
"But," Kaelen sighed, "if I get eaten by a ghost, being handsome won't help."
Survival first. Being cool comes later.