"Whoa! We leveled up!"
Golden light shimmered around Lucas and Mason, signaling the moment they had both been waiting for.
Mason had been keeping his eyes glued to the rising experience bar. While Lucas did all the fighting, Mason was more of a front-row spectator—clapping, cheering, and occasionally tanking a hit. But now, they had both reached Level 2!
Lucas felt a jolt of strength surge through him. His reflexes sharpened, and his movements felt faster and more precise. He immediately opened his status panel and checked his updated stats.
Sure enough, every major attribute—strength, agility, vitality, and intelligence—had risen by a few points.
But what really caught his eye was the boost to agility, which had increased the most. As an Assassin, that was to be expected.
Every job in this world came with preset attribute bonuses that were automatically added upon leveling up. On top of that, every job-changer received a pool of free attribute points to assign however they liked.
And here was where the game got strategic.
The number of free points varied depending on your Talent level. The higher the Talent, the more points you got per level.
F-Level Talents got 5 points
E-Level got 6
D-Level got 7
...
B-Level Talents like Mason got 9
A-Level Talents like Leon Graves received 10
S-Level Talents like Alexis Lane got 11
But Lucas? He had the rare SSS-Level Talent. That meant a whopping 13 points per level!
That's 8 more than an F-Level. Over time, this would create a massive gap. If both players reached Level 100, Lucas would have an 800-point attribute advantage, equal to the stats of a full set of legendary golden equipment!
It was one of the many hidden advantages of a high-Talent class.
Without hesitation, Lucas dumped all 13 of his free points into Agility.
Agility was king for Assassins.
Every point of agility gave a 0.75 boost to attack power, slightly lower than strength (which gave a full 1 point per stat), but it came with much more: faster attack speed, better dodge chances, and increased movement speed.
And for someone like Lucas, who relied on speed and precision, agility was everything.
This wasn't a turn-based system like some old game.
It was more like real-time action combat, where dodging, timing, and movement could determine life or death. And the more agile you were, the better your chances.
Also, most high-level assassin gear required high agility to equip. If he didn't invest here, he could miss out on top-tier items later.
Plus, his God-Killing Blade Talent scaled with agility, making the choice even more obvious.
After allocating the points, Lucas stepped up to another Level 12 Rock Turtle, ready to test his damage.
He swung.
POW!
A massive red number appeared: 1,030 damage.
One shot. One kill.
Before leveling up, Lucas was dealing around 800. Now he had jumped up by over 200 damage in just one level. That was how strong the attribute scaling was for someone like him.
Watching from a safe distance, Mason was stunned.
"Bro… What are you even made of?" he mumbled.
He blinked at the turtle corpse, then at Lucas, then back again. "Is this what an S-Level can do?!"
Well, Mason hadn't exactly paid close attention in class. But this felt… a little excessive.
Still, he wasn't going to let himself fall behind.
Mason opened his own status panel and eagerly spent his 9 free attribute points. After some thinking, he split them between strength and vitality, hoping to make himself both tougher and stronger.
Then, eager to test it out, he charged at a nearby Rock Turtle.
SLAM!
His hammer connected. The turtle's health dropped by a decent chunk—much better than before.
But then the turtle lunged forward with Crash, its special skill.
CHOMP!
It bit Mason hard, and he staggered back, his health bar dropping into the red. He gasped.
"Lucas! A little help here!!"
Lucas had already seen this coming. He was standing nearby, daggers ready. He dashed forward, struck once, and the turtle dropped dead instantly.
This wasn't just showing off—Lucas had been watching carefully. He wasn't about to let Mason die and waste a valuable resurrection badge.
"I think we should stay here a while longer," Lucas said after finishing off another turtle. "No need to rush into stronger monsters just yet."
Higher-level monsters gave more experience, sure—but they were also way riskier.
Since reaching Level 2, each Rock Turtle now gave only 1.8% EXP. That meant they'd need to kill over 50 turtles to hit Level 3.
Still, Lucas did the math. "It's fine. Twenty more turtles and we're good."
With his high-speed kills, that was maybe 20 minutes of work.
Sure enough, in under an hour, another golden light bloomed around both of them.
Level 3 achieved.
"Now we can think about fighting stronger monsters," Lucas said, stretching his shoulders.
---
Over the next several days, Mason experienced what it meant to level up at rocket speed.
While most students were still grinding to reach Level 2, he was already Level 3.
When students with A-Level Talent boasted in group chats that they had reached Level 10, Mason would smile quietly—because he was already Level 15.
And it had only been two weeks.
"Unbelievable…" Mason whispered one day, staring at his stat screen.
With his B-Level Talent and Level 15 status, he had already surpassed last year's admission standards for top universities. Many had only reached Level 13 by the time they applied.
That meant Mason now had his pick of any first-class university.
He blinked. Was this real?
He pinched his thigh. "Ow."
Nope. Not dreaming.
His best friend Lucas had really carried him all the way to Level 15.
He had taken off like a rocket.
Lucas just chuckled when he saw Mason's amazement. "We're just getting started. We've still got 10+ days left. Let's hit Level 20."
Mason's jaw dropped. "Level 20?!"
But instead of protesting Lucas' ability, Mason's eyes narrowed. He was thinking about something else.
"Lucas… I can't level with you anymore," he said suddenly.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Why not? You think you'll drag me down?"
"No. That's not it," Mason said with a small smile. "I'm worried that if I level up too much… I won't fit in at university."
Lucas paused.
Mason explained, "If I go in at Level 20, my classmates—who'll be Level 13 or 14—might not want to team up with me. I'll mess up their experience split."
It was true. Teams usually gained less experience when levels were uneven. Lower-level players hated being grouped with over-leveled ones.
"I don't want to be left out just because I rushed ahead," Mason added.
Lucas nodded thoughtfully. "Fair point."
He hadn't considered that leveling up too quickly could actually cause social problems.
For players without SSS-Talent, teammates were essential. If you scared them off by being too strong, you'd be forced to solo everything—and not everyone had Lucas' power.
"Alright," Lucas said. "I won't take you with me anymore."
He respected Mason's decision.
He even started thinking about slowing down his own leveling… though that idea didn't sit well.
"Then what'll you do now?" Lucas asked.
Mason grinned. "I'll practice soloing monsters."
After being a cheerleader yelling "666!" for two weeks, Mason was eager to test his skills on his own. So far, he'd only followed Lucas and watched him clean up every fight.
Now it was Mason's turn to fight with his own strength.
"I'll take it slow," he said. "No pressure. Just me, my hammer, and some wild monsters."
Lucas nodded. "Sounds good."
Honestly, it sounded fun.
This was better than gaming. It was real, physical, and addictive.
And for the first time in his life, Mason felt powerful and proud of himself.
---