Strength - 30, (+20)
Agility - 30, (+20)
Intelligence - 30, (+18)
Constitution - 30, (+19)
Eric raised his brow while watching the stats screen, which was cooked up by Riya.
He understood but, at the same time, did not. So, he gazed questionably at Riya for her to explain.
Riya coughed and then began describing, "The 30 value is fixed and would only increase after you break through to mid-stage Rank 1. In short, that's the improvement you received after becoming a Mystical Knight."
"The value within the brackets is the value when you were a Mortal, and this will also help you reach the next 'training breakthrough,' which will likely happen when you reach a total of 50 points."
"Hold on! What do you mean by 'training breakthrough'?"
Eric recalled Lysandra had said something about Training Stats in her letter, and Bella Noll had also mentioned something like that during her last class. But what was this breakthrough? Not a Rank breakthrough?
Riya spoke while staring at the stats screen, "I previously had this guess, but I didn't speak of it as I wouldn't know anything for certain until you became a Mana Wielder. And now I have calculated, including the trajectory of your growth and..."
Riya paused and started stroking her chin. She was thinking of how to explain this briefly without going into too much detail.
After a while, she continued, "First, understand that there are two separate stats growths currently happening inside you."
"One is fixed, as it has something to do with how your Mana Veins or body is developing, and another is how you are personally training and developing in stats. For now, understand that these training stats have no 'direct' relation with the Rank stats."
Eric nodded. It wasn't that hard to understand with just the words 'Training Stats.'
Riya continued, "Just as you will hit the end of development of your current Mana Veins and then move toward mid-stage Rank 1, similarly, after a while of development in Training Stats, you will hit a boundary." She pointed toward the bracket value in the stats screen.
"I have thought of this previously... Let's skip all that. In short, if you reach this final point—which is 50, according to my calculations—you will face this, let's say, 'Breakthrough Point.' Passing through this blockage is what I am calling a 'Training Breakthrough' to differentiate it from Rank Breakthrough."
Eric nodded.
He recalled what Bella Noll mentioned about how one could break through minor ranks when Livy asked this question during the last class. It was basically pumping more steroids—ahem, Mana—into the Mana Veins, and finally, a big bang happened, and the Mana Veins thickened and broadened. It wasn't that simple, as a few more things needed to be kept in check. But overall, that was how Apprentice Ranks developed in their spiritual base or ranks.
In simple terms, it was like stretching—one kept doing stretching exercises, and the skin spread more and more until they could do a complete full-leg split.
After noticing Eric had understood so far, Riya continued, "If my guess is not wrong, then after you reach the next Major Rank—that is, if you become Rank 2—these training stats would return to 0. Of course, the previous stats earned would still be there."
Eric was amazed. "So you mean, after the value within the brackets reaches 50 points, I would no longer be able to improve until I've achieved this 'training breakthrough' or broken through to a new Rank entirely? And only then will I be able to continue improving by training?"
"Correct," Riya agreed.
Eric nodded in understanding. It wasn't as complicated as it looked.
"So why must this value be '50'?" Eric asked curiously.
"...50 is just my made-up number, according to my calculations. I could even stretch it or shorten it. Do you want me to explain further what will happen if I calculate it that way?" Riya asked with a smile.
Eric denied by shaking his head without hesitation. He wasn't too interested in knowing other possibilities; he would just let his beautiful, home-cooked A.I. beauty decide these things. He just wanted his fruits and juice—what it did and didn't, he didn't care!
Riya was speechless. She scratched her nose in embarrassment and explained briefly, "In short, it will become harder to calculate if I change this value now."
While staring at the blue screen in front of him, Eric commented, "So, the hard training since my childhood resulted in me only having a few points, not even reaching the one-time improvement for becoming a Mana Wielder. I can already guess people won't want to depend on training and just jump Ranks. Improving through hard work is really not easy."
Not only was it very hard and time-consuming to improve, even tracking the progress values—as Riya just did—was nearly impossible.
There might possibly be some artifacts to measure these stats, but they may not come even close to being as accurate as Riya's work. After all, Riya was working from within his body with almost complete reach—more absolute reach than even he himself, or even a scientist who could only touch physical aspects of existence, could do, while Riya could touch almost all aspects except his consciousness.
Riya shook her head. "You three weren't just increasing stats while training, were you? Even if a dozen untrained people arrived with the same stats as you, you could still easily defeat them with your skills and capabilities. So, I would say stats are like a base—or let's say, they're like 'electricity.' If you don't know how to use it, then it's just not too useful—maybe you can at most zap yourself or others with it."
Eric nodded in agreement. What Bella Noll taught and ingrained into them might not necessarily come into use in everything, but it would play its part in its own way until they died.
Riya smiled brightly and then excitedly spoke, "All these are not the best part! It's just a survey and analysis. My true magic begins with increasing the bracket value through resources!"
"Check this out!"
Riya waved her hand, and a new word popped up below the stats.
Unused points: 11.
Eric raised his brow in surprise. "That much? Could you really direct the numbers toward true improvement?"
"That's right. The original value was actually higher, but since I didn't have 'hands' previously, a lot of it was wasted over time. And the value of each number might change accordingly with your improvement. Don't worry about these things—just leave those to me."
"Now, here are a few things you should be aware of and cautious of from now on!"
Riya's expression turned solemn as she spoke.
"From now on, absolutely do not take any ingredients or finished alchemy products of a higher Tier than I say, as it will make it much more difficult to gather the points next time. In essence, your body will get used to a higher 'taste' and won't be satisfied with the same Tier anymore, and the more you take, the less energy gathered from the same Tier would become, and..."
Eric raised his hand to stop Riya. "No need to explain so much—just say what works and what doesn't. I'll follow accordingly."
Too much explanation wasn't really necessary and wouldn't make any difference for him. If he was curious about something, he would simply ask.
Riya nodded. "Well, you don't need to avoid it like the plague or poison—just avoid taking anything of a higher Tier so as not to increase the difficulty of increasing your points further. Alright, the next thing is... Let's talk about all these later. For now, which stats do you want to increase? Let's use up these points first!"
Riya started rubbing her palms like a scammer might do before tricking innocent children.
Riya was actually very impatient to begin, as she had been waiting for a long time. Too much calculation, experiments with the help of the Mind Space, had been done, and she could even say she was a pro-master in the biology of human bodies. Although there were more things to study, and that could be done step by step in the future with Eric's 'evolution.'
"Hm... Just asking—not doubting you—but what if something goes wrong during the increase? Can you control it?" Eric asked.
Riya slapped her breasts, which jiggled a little, and continued with full assurance, "You have no idea how much I've worked hard on this matter. These number values are just perfect for me to make any changes and back off if necessary. Lower number values would make it too difficult to back off from. In any case, I'm not really doing anything unless it's needed—it's your own physical body and your illusory Mana Body doing the job. So don't worry—just increase one point and see the magic!"
Eric nodded. He didn't hesitate and calmly placed his order, "Then increase one point to Constitution first."
Riya pressed her slender finger on the (+) of Constitution.
She didn't need to do that, but just for aesthetics and immersion, she did. And so, the value of Constitution changed.
Constitution - 30, (+20)
Immediately, Eric started feeling the changes happening in his real body.
During his past training and resting, his body's improvements or changes weren't that distinct, but currently, he was feeling as if someone was directly grabbing his bones and all internal organs tightly and then twisting, tightening, and so on.
He felt a bit of annoying pain, but nothing he couldn't handle.
Eric closed his eyes and experienced the changes and pain, which he didn't really need to do while being inside the Mind Space.
After 10 minutes, the changes slowly came to a stop, and Eric opened his eyes in confusion.
"Go check for yourself and then come back," Riya swiftly spoke before Eric could say anything.
Eric nodded and returned to his body.
He stood up and tried walking, following that, he performed some other basic physical movements.
He clearly noticed that now he could actually control his body a bit better than before. He now had much better balance, and his body strangely felt much steadier and lighter.
If he hadn't known what just happened, he probably would have thought he had just rested well and recovered from his training. But now he knew that his Constitution had increased by quite a big margin.
Due to these changes, Eric even felt he could now move much faster and punch stronger. Although his Strength and Agility hadn't improved, since he now had better control over his body, he could draw his full physical capability with much more ease. It was similar to how the same petrol would work differently in a good-engine car compared to a bad one.
Eric returned to his Mind Space and sat in front of Riya, staring at her in amazement.
She had actually done it!
He didn't know what else to say.
Riya smiled happily. She didn't need any words of thanks, as she understood Eric very well. She was more than happy to cook great food, like how a good housewife should...
Riya coughed and got back to the topic. "My suggestion is to always improve Constitution first before touching the other two physical stats. At least make sure that Constitution has a higher or the same value as Strength and Agility."
Her expression turned serious as she spoke, "This normally wouldn't matter, but for me to properly track these changes and for a few other reasons, keep all stats close to each other as much as possible—at least, they shouldn't be more than 10 points apart from each other."
She then smiled back and suggested, "For now, increase Intelligence stats, as it will help both of us use Mana more efficiently."
Eric didn't mind the stats gap, as he would increase all of them to their peaks anyway. His adventurous spirit wouldn't back off before exploring each path to the maximum possible.
He was also currently thinking of increasing Intelligence stats, as it would help with the professions. The others weren't that important at the moment.