Concerning Stats

"You had some free stat points left? I thought you were stuck at 22 or 23?" Alex asks, surprised.

"These are my current stats! Always keep a few points in reserve—you never know when they'll come in handy," Rishi replies with a small shrug. "Also, didn't you wonder why my SPR stat is so low after getting all those S ranks? Anyway… the system is confirming what Roja said. I didn't want to experiment without proper information, but if it's just about choosing a primary stat, then I have no choice. I can only choose SPR."

"What are these bonuses? Tell me!" Tereza demands, leaning forward with eager curiosity.

"Looks like I can choose three different bonuses," Rishi explains. "I can pick one grand improvement, one major improvement, and one minor improvement for my SPR stat. This is quite interesting. It also confirms the rest of Roja's information. My secondary stat will probably let me pick one major and one minor improvement, while my third and fourth stats that reach 30 will only give me a single minor improvement each."

"What's the major trap Roja mentioned?" Alex asks, clearly intrigued. He continues, "As far as I know, it's best to focus on a single or two stats. Even the side stats, after your primary and secondary, cost two points to level, huh? Is it really useful to level them? Seriously, just level all your key stats to 30 and then focus on a primary stat—that's the way to go! It's friggin obvious, isn't it? You picked them because they're the most useful stats for your build. Why would you spend twice as many stat points to improve a stat you value less than your primary? Or, worse, another stat for three times the cost?

"Still, this seems a bit silly. This way, everyone will become either an all-rounder with one or two outliers, or a monster who only focuses on one or two stats and sucks at everything else," Alex concludes, sounding almost annoyed.

"Heh… the trap Roja mentioned is quite simple, Alex," Rishi says, smirking. "Your plan sounds logical, and that's probably how many people would approach it… too bad there's a small limitation that makes it impossible."

"What limitation is that, huh?" Tereza asks, her interest piqued.

"Basic skills," Rishi says with a sly grin. "You can't increase a stat above 20 without having a Basic skill at level 1. Each rank up, starting at level 1 of that Basic skill, allows you to increase that stat by 5 more.

"My system just informed me that it wasn't allowed to mention this limitation before unlocking your first primary stat. You know, suddenly those puny, 'pathetic' Basic skills we were forced to choose just to unlock stronger skills seem awfully important, don't they? For example, without Basic Eloquence, you'll never be able to raise your CHA above 20. Beginning at level 1, Basic skills increase your max stat limit by 5."

"This… that means your primary stat will be capped at 70 as well," Alex muses, his brow furrowed. "Also, we still don't know how to upgrade skills past level 4. It'll probably be more expensive… so in reality, the stat limit is effectively capped at… 40?"

"Alex, by now it's obvious there are always ways around it. For example, I can choose three improvements that increase the limit you just mentioned even further. Still, I would have to forego other useful boosts just to increase my stat cap. It's a hard decision, and I won't pick my three bonuses just yet.

"It's clear now that the stat limit is the reason why you'd even want to invest in different stats and not just focus on one. You simply can't put all your free stat points into one stat… that is, if you're successful. Players who earn just one or two stat points each mission won't have that problem for a long time. As usual, your acquaintance Roja held back some information. Still, I wouldn't have changed anything. Good that we experimented on our own and didn't pay Roja for that information," Rishi says, his voice calm but resolute.

"Rishi, in hindsight, that was kinda risky… you shouldn't have done this!" Alex says, a hint of concern in his tone.

"Everyone needs to take risks," Rishi responds firmly. "You're not my subordinates—you're my teammates. I won't hold back in cases like these. As long as we're a team, we all take risks equally."

Everyone nods and smiles at Rishi, clearly respecting his decisiveness.

Rishi then lists all the different improvements available for his SPR stat. The list is surprisingly long, and the sheer volume of possible minor improvements leaves Alex and Tereza visibly shocked.

The options range from raising the stat cap, increasing resistance to various mind-related conditions, and improving the effectiveness of mind-based abilities, to more unique enhancements. A specific grand improvement, for example, immediately allows the user to notice the mental strength of others and reveals flaws or traumas they may possess. There are dozens of these unique abilities.

"Anyway, these are the available picks for me," Rishi continues. "At least take note of this. Tereza, the improvements for other stats will be quite similar. You should mentally prepare for the direction you want to develop into. You've focused on an assassin and mage hybrid build—it might not be practical to keep this up. You better think about it in terms of your skills as well."

"Shit… I'm confused now… what should I do?" Tereza admits, her voice tinged with panic. She looks visibly shaken, unsure if her build can even be salvaged.

"Calm down, Tereza!" Alex says, grabbing her shoulders firmly.

"Nothing changes for now," he continues, his tone steady and reassuring. "First of all, some stats are just required. For example, it doesn't matter if you abandon your assassin fighting style—even mages benefit from AGI, SNS, and PHY. You won't regret pushing these stats a little, maybe even up to 20.

"My strategy from earlier is still valid. Every stat that has a use for you is worth pushing to 20 sooner or later. Especially PHY. Of course, you're the exception, Rishi—and I guess I am as well. I can just forget about this topic altogether," Alex explains, his words helping Tereza settle down.

Alex, who typically dislikes planning out such details, begins to calculate aloud:

"Let's do a bit of math. Eight stats, all starting at around 5, give or take. Thirty missions is the absolute limit of the Realm, right? Even if you S+ rank every single mission, you'd get a maximum of 240 stat points this way."

"Now, let's say you have two Basic skills that you slowly push to level 10. That would give you 2 times 70 stats—so 140 stats, minus the 10 starting stats in each stat to invest into. That's around 130 stat points flowing into these two stats alone. You'll probably run out of stat points at some point. Also, let's be real—you won't consistently achieve S+ ranks every time. I don't believe that's possible."

"You can't max out every stat. I think these limitations aren't as bad as they sound. You should pour as many points as you can into your primary and secondary stats, maybe unlock a few side stats for their bonuses, and push a few other important stats to 20. After that, focus entirely on your primary stats." Alex finally finishes his thoughts.

"That's a solid calculation, Alex," Rishi says, nodding in agreement. "Nobody will be able to max things out. There are plenty of options, but pushing a stat like PHY in your case, Tereza, even if you don't pick it as one of your primary, secondary, or side stats, will never be a mistake.

"We can discuss it further—don't worry. However, it's indeed important to learn about this now so we can still make adjustments. As you said, Alex, you… are a special case. I wonder what will happen when your stats reach 30. It will probably be quite a surprise."

The group continues to discuss strategy, stats, and the implications of the newfound information, their conversation stretching deep into the night.

------------------------------

A/N: Always thankful for Power Stones, Comments and Reviews. Thank you for reading!

If you are interested, then please support me at patreon.com/FRWriter

Only with your help can I keep writing this story at this pace!

45+ Early chapters available - I will still release on WN daily!! Thank you!

Thank you for supporting the story with Power Stones!

If we reach top 50 I'll release another chapter immediately!

If we stay in the top 100 by the end of the Week I'll release another chapter, as well!