“Anything else?” The blacksmith asked bluntly after the transaction was made.

“Yeah. Savirei said you can craft an Item Storage Box. I’d like one made.” I told him.

“Savirei sent you here?” He raised an eyebrow. “Alright. I can make an Item Storage Box up to level three. Which one do you want?”

“What’s the difference? And how big are they?” I asked him instead of answering his question.

“Humph… Level on box can store up to ten items, but only small ones. Level two box can store up to thirty items. You can store bigger items too, but there’s a limit to how big they are. Level three box can store up to sixty items and allows to store items up to three feet in diameter. There’s level four and level five Item Storage Boxes, but I can’t make those.” He explained to me.

Sixty items up which are up to three feet in diameter? How da hell does that work? I was taken aback by his explanation.

“Ok…” I scratched my cheek. “So… how big are the boxes?”

“Huh?” The bull-man glared at me for a moment. “I’ve just told you. Are you deaf?”

“Yeah, I mean, no. I’m not deaf. I want to know the size of the box itself. See? This is a box right here and I could fill it with about twenty pieces of the Lesser Trent wood. Now you told me a level three Item Storage Box can hold up to sixty items. It must be freakishly huge. How will I carry it around?” I was losing patience with him.

“Are you an idiot?” The blacksmith was taken aback by my words for some reason.

“What?” I was about to share a few cuss words I’ve learnt during the time I lived in the dungeon.

“The Item Storage Box is a magic skill. You don’t carry it around. You learn it and use it via your Status Window screen. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that. Or did you arrive here only today?” The beast-man scoffed at me.

“Of course not. It’s been… three days, I think…” I wanted to get back at him, but before I could do that, I realized there wasn’t much of a difference between one and three. “Sorry, I… I’m new here.”

“So, it seems…” The blacksmith snorted before crossing his arms in front of him.

So, that’s how it works. Damn, why did I think it was a normal box? I feel like such an idiot. I guess there are more gaming features than skills and monster drops in this world. I had to keep it together.

“Listen, I hate standing around doing nothing. Do you want me to craft you an Item Storage Box or not?”

“Yeah, but…” I thought for a moment. “How much does it cost?

“Humph… Since Savirei referred you to me, I can give you a discount. For level one box I will charge one gold coin. For level two box – three gold and two silver coins. For level three box it’s seven gold and… Just seven gold coins, I suppose.” He told me.

Level one box costs one gold coin and stores only ten items? I’d rather have a bigger one, so I could store monster drops and other items inside it. But level three box is expensive. I’d have to spend almost all the money I have to buy it. Maybe I should get a level two box for now? I was debating in my head after checking how much money I had, which was eight gold coins, six silvers and a couple of bronzes. I was about to tell the blacksmith I wanted a level two box to be made, but remembered the incident with the merchant. Hold on, I’m being penny smart and dollar stupid here. I will need to get a bigger box sooner or later anyway. I should get it sooner then. The more items I can store, the more money I will make in a long run, cause I’ll be able to carry more loot that I could sell. Jeez…

“I want the level three box.” I counted the gold coins before passing it to him.

“Hmph, you’re smarter than you look after all.” He mumbled under his nose.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment.

“Nothing. Come back in three hours or so and I will have it ready.” He told me.

“Right. Ok, thanks… eer… Sorry, I don’t know your name.” I didn’t know how to address him and calling him a cow seemed like a bad idea.

“Alragus.” He blurted.

“Ok, nice to meet you. I’m Rockin.” I extended my hand for a handshake.

“Humph…” But Alragus huffed and walked away to the anvil.

You, freaking… asshole. I was ticked off, but didn’t say it out loud. I turned around and left his workshop in a hurry myself, forgetting I left the box with the remaining loot behind.

I had three hours to spare, so I thought I’ll go check out the Guild. I wanted to read up about the levels and such, and learn about stats in general. Other adventurers were throwing around their levels as if that was the only thing that determined one’s strength. The four scumbags that I have encountered while walking out of the dungeon must’ve been low rank adventurers since they hadn’t recognized the shields that I was carrying. The Guildmaster and even that Larg guy knew the Lizardman Champion’s Shield had an Equip Level of four, but the men who attacked me didn’t. I was kinda glad there were people around who were more ignorant than I was.

“Hello Rockin, fancy seeing you again.” Savirei greeted me.

“Hello Savirei, can I get some roasted Carnabbit meat, please?” I decided to eat first before going to the Guild.

“Carnabbit meat?” She had a sly smile on her face.

“Yeah… I ordered a level three Item Storage Box from Alragus and had to spend most of my money. Sorry, I’ll have Rhaki’s meat next time.” I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling embarrassed about my financial situation.

“A level three? Wow, if I knew you had that many coins on you yesterday, I would’ve offered something more… delicious.” Savirei licked her lips.

“Yeah, well… I’m basically broke now, but I’ll keep your words in mind.” I played along, not knowing whether she was messing with me or otherwise.

“I’m looking forward to it, Rockin.” She giggled before walking away, her tail wiggling one way or the other.

Damn those beast-women. I had to take a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

After my belly was full, I went to check out the Guild. I thought I’ll go directly to the library, but noticed Rozalina standing behind the counter.

“Hello Rozalina, how are you?” I decided to come over and say hello.

“Hi Rockin. I am doing fine. How have you been?” She didn’t treat me like a caveman anymore.

“Yeah, fine. I have some free time, so decided to do some reading at the library.” I told her.

“You like reading, huh?” She smiled.

“Well, I… wanted to find some information about… Rhaki monsters.” I didn’t want to tell her I wanted to learn about levels and how the stats worked, not wanting to sound like a total noob, so I used a new monster as an excuse.

“Oh, are you planning to hunt them?” Rozalina was curious.

“Yes. I… I had a request from someone to get some Rhaki’s meat, but have to wait for my Item Storage Box to be crafted. So, I thought I’ll put my free time to good use.” I explained.

“Rhaki’s meat, wow…” It didn’t sound like the meat was something she’d like to eat. “I don’t know if we have a Quest for the meat posted, but I am sure there were at least two jobs that requested to get some Rhaki’s skin.”

“Rhaki’s skin?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. It has a fairly low drop chance, but it is used in making a variety of clothes, including leather armor.” Rozalina explained to me.

“Ok, cool. I’ll go check the Quest board then. Thanks.” I was in need to make money now since I paid almost all that I had to Alragus for the Item Storage Box.

Holy damn, there are so many jobs posted. I was reading over what the posters said. Majority of the requests didn’t even make sense to me, because I didn’t recognize the words. The quests included monster and item names I wasn’t familiar with, so I just left them be. After taking a short while browsing, I finally found a Quest that involved getting some Rhaki’s skin. Hey, this one.

I picked up the piece of paper and went to ask Rozalina to confirm if it was the one she spoke of.

“Ah, yes, that’s the one. Do you want me to register you taking this Quest?” She wanted to confirm with me.

“Ahm… yes.” I said.

“Great. It’s all done. You might want to join a party to do this Quest, though. I know you’re strong thanks to your equipment boosting your stats, but Rhaki’s are quite dangerous monsters.” Rozalina warned me.

Huh? I squinted my eyes, hearing her make a comment about my equipment. I knew my two shields added some stats, but it almost sounded like she thought I was stronger purely because of my equipment.

“I’ll… keep that in mind. Thanks.” I turned to go. Before I made a second step away from the counter however, a man stopped me.

“Hey there. My name’s Harvey. I’ve overheard that you’ve taken a Quest to get some Rhaki’s skin. Just wondering, do you have a party that you will go with?” He was rather polite which helped me drop my guard down.

“Hello, my name is Rockin. That’s correct. I got the Quest to hunt Rhaki monsters, but I don’t have a group to go with.” I told him.

“I see, I see. Listen, if you are looking for a party how about you join up with mine. We are three people right now and with you we’ll be four. We could find someone else, but I am certain we could deal with those Rhaki lizards with the four of us. Myself and my buddy are both level six and the third guy is level five, but he’s decent enough. You wouldn’t mind joining a group where someone is lower level than you, would you?” Harvey explained to me. However, I couldn’t understand why he would ask me if I didn’t mind joining a group where people were lower level than I was.

“I guess that’s fine, but I wanted to let you know I’m fairly new to adventuring and I am level three right now.” I decided to be upfront with him.

“You like to joke, don’t you?” He laughed out loud. “How can you say you’re level three when you have such good quality shield? It must have an Equip Level of seven or eight.”

“Oh, this shield? It has Equip Level of six.” I corrected him.

“Still, you wouldn’t be able to use it if you weren’t at least level six.” Harvey didn’t mind being wrong.

“That’s because… I have a skill that allows me to use higher level equipment.” I told him.

“Eh? Seriously?” His jaw dropped, but then his face changed from surprised to bitter. “Wait, you are level three for real?”

“Yeah. You will be able to see it once you invite me to your party.” I said with a smile.

“Baah, forget it.” But he waved my smile goodbye.

“Huh? What do you mean?” I was puzzled.

“Nothing. Sorry, but we’re not boosting some low-level newbie only because you can use higher level equipment. Go farm experience yourself.” Harvey went from friendly and polite to sour and grumpy.

“Hey, I am strong enough to kill rotten… Lesser Trent monsters by myself.” I tried to convince him.

“Yes, and it probably takes an hour for you to do so. And I bet the only reason you don’t die from one hit is thanks to your equipment boosting your stats. No, thank you. We don’t need you. Humph, lucky bastard…” Harvey walked away mumbling something under his nose.

“Tch… what was that all about? He’s the one who approached me.” I spoke out loud, irritated by his conduct.

“So sorry, Rockin, but it might be difficult for you to find a group to go to the lower floors of the dungeon right now.” Rozalina approached me. She probably overheard us talk, because I was standing only a few feet away from the counter.

“Yeah, well… I might find someone else later.” I simply shrugged it off.

“That’s… not what I meant. You see… your level is rather low and that’s why other adventurers wouldn’t want to go with you.” She was careful with her words.

“My level? Oh, I know I’m at level three, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight.” I was getting irritated again. Not because of her words, but because the importance of being higher level came up as the reason again. After all, almost everyone in Emmy’s group were higher level than I was, but they were much weaker than me.

“I’m sure you can, but if by accident you lose your shield or if it is broken, it will lower your stats and you won’t be able to fight as effectively. It can put a whole group in danger.” Rozalina added an explanation.

“Right…” I could see there was no reasoning with her.

“I wish you luck nonetheless.” She said with a smile before turning to do something else.

This is ridiculous. Why are they hung up on the levels so much? Did she really think I could stand against those level eight guys because I had a shield that boosted my stats? It added only four to stamina and strength each anyway. I grunted inside. Tch… Right, I have some free time.  I need to go read about the levels and why everyone is so fixated on them. Level six my ass. I bet I could beat them to a pulp without my shields boosting my stats anyway.

I turned towards the library right away. The old librarian guy was happy to see me again and was helpful to suggest the books about levels. The books were clearly written for beginners, but Darlou was very polite and respectful.

Right, let’s see what those levels are all about. I sat down at one of the tables to have a read.

It was a surprise for me to learn that every single person here was born already having a level and everyone started at level one. The difference was what stats they would receive. I had a short conversation with Arny during my trip from the dungeon about stats, but only briefly. The stats each person received were allocated at random, or so it said in the book. However, some people were luckier than the others. Apparently, the total sum of starting stats, excluding the Luck stat, varied from twenty to up to forty. That was a big difference.

Damn. So, one person could receive stats that are 6, 6, 6, 3, 3 and someone else might get stats that would be 9, 9, 9, 6, 6. Ghm… doesn’t sound like much, but… I was trying to imagine how it would look, but I still needed to know how big of an impact that made when you level up.

The book went to say that when a person would get a level up, they would also receive four to six Stat Points that they could allocated anyway they wanted.

Hah, just like in a video game. I smirked, but then thought about it. Hold on. If a person gets four stat points each time they level up, they will be able to increase their stats by forty points after ten level ups. But if they get six points, then… they will have twenty extra points to spend. Hey, that’s a big difference.

It started to become clearer now. People will have their initial stats given at random, but then they will be able to increase their stats by assigning the stat points they receive after each level up. However, that’s not all. You can have similar stats with another person, but depending on how many stat points you receive after each level up, you might be further ahead or be left behind after five or ten levels.

Right. So, being higher level doesn’t mean you’re actually much stronger than a person who is lower level than you are. It might not be such a huge difference when you’re level three, but the gap might become wider when you’re level ten or above. I was starting to understand how the level up thing actually worked. Being higher level would make you stronger only because you can increase your stats, but someone who was receiving six stat points on each level up when you were receiving four will be stronger than you. Hah, level up is not everything it seems.

I smirked to myself and continued reading. Additional information in the book told me more about stats and what they meant for the person. A person with higher Stamina stat was usually tougher and could withstand blows better than someone who had low stamina. More Strength meant you were stronger physically, which was a given really. Higher Agility meant you were faster and had better reflexes. Having higher Spell Power meant you could learn and cast more powerful spells and Magic Energy allowed to cast spells and use other magic abilities more often.

I see. That’s probably why I was getting tired faster. When I was using my Shield skills, I was using my magic energy which is… at eight right now. That’s… not a lot. I scratched my cheek after opening my Status Window to check. Anyway, that opened my eyes a little. Having a higher level can indicate that a person is stronger, but not necessarily by a lot. It depends on how high your level is and how many stat points you had received. That’s good and all, but… I get my stats increased after I decline a Level Up.

At the very beginning, when I was confused and mad at everyone and everything, I was refusing to level up just because and it somehow worked in my favor. Whatever happened within the ‘system’ I started getting my stats increased instead. I was probably overly lucky to receive the Overgrowth Skill and I wouldn’t change it for anything now. Having my stats increased without leveling up sounded like cheating, but I wasn’t against it.

Hold on. I declined to level up just recently and my Stamina and Strength stats were increased by one each. But the Overgrowth Skill says my Level Up experience is converted into half of the stat points I would receive if I leveled up. Which means, I would receive only four stat points. Meh, that’s on the lower end alright. I dropped my head, feeling disappointed, but then had another thought enter my mind right after. But… I am getting my stats increased without gaining a level. Which means… I am probably getting more stat points per actual Level Up than a normal person would, because it definitely takes more than a few declined level ups until the Overgrowth Skill kicks in to force a Level Up. Hmm… I wonder how many do I get?

That made me curious. I already knew that when my stats increased, it made me stronger too. So, even if I was getting half of the four stat points, which was the lowest a person could get, I was probably getting ten or more stat points before I actually leveled up. The question was, how many declined Level Ups I would need to get? I was curious to find out.

There was one interesting thing about the stats that stood out. Or two even. The first one was that it took two stat points to increase your Spell Power stat by one. Instantly, I understood why the items that increased the Spell Power stat were more valuable than the others. The person had to sacrifice two stat points to boost their Spell Power by one. Which meant, people had to make big sacrifices if they wanted to become high level spellcasters.

Another curious thing was about the Luck stat. It was the only stat that you couldn’t allocate your stat points to. The Luck stat would increase, or not, on its own with each level up and your Luck influenced how many stat points you will get when you leveled up. In my case however, I didn’t have the Luck stat. I had something that said ‘Growth’ instead and there was no information about the Growth stat.

Bummer… I felt disappointed, but there was nothing I could do about it. Ok, whatever. At least I’ve learnt a bunch about level ups and how the stats worked. It’d be good to learn how much my stats increase before each actual Level Up. I have declined a few level ups already, so I won’t know the total now. I’ll need to start counting after I reach level four, I guess. Right, I suppose it’s time to visit Alragus now. Humph, I’ll probably have to go solo and see how strong those Rhaki monsters are by myself.

I returned the books to Darlou, thanking him for his help and then went to check if Alragus finished crafting my Item Storage Box.