The Casualties of a Preoccupation

Drai was sure he had leveled up because he could feel a slight difference in his muscle strength and elasticity. Drai might seem inattentive to his surroundings, but he was very meticulous with his muscles. He had the habit of inspecting his muscles before going to bed, feeling the changes brought about by his training.

With the existence of the stat page, Drai's habit was made redundant. But old habits die hard, and Drai kept his routine despite the fact that stat changes usually only happened between levels. And this is why Drai could feel even the subtle changes in his body.

"Did you level up, Drai?" Auri asked.

"I think so. Wait, let me check my stat page," Drai replied as he opened the System.

Looking at the screen, Drai saw a notification from the System.

[User has leveled up. Status has been adjusted.]

[Strength +4]

[Constitution +4]

[Agility +1]

[Dexterity +1]

[SP +1]

Seeing the concrete proof of his improvements, Drai felt satisfied and happy. He immediately opened his status page.

[Name: Drai Varz]

[Class: Seed of Titan]

[Level: 2]

[Strength: 44]

[Constitution: 44]

[Agility: 16]

[Dexterity: 10]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Transcendence: 6]

[Skills: Titan's Fortitude]

After memorizing his stats, he closed the System and said smilingly, "Yeah, I really did level up. The System confirmed it."

"Wow, Drai. How did you level up that quick? And it's not like you were training either. Does playing around with girls really give that much EXP?" Jian remarked in disbelief, seemingly ready to start his career as a playboy if this was true.

Hearing Jian's remark, Drai felt that it was indeed quite strange that he leveled up in the middle of his conversation with Auri. Leveling up was supposed to happen at the moment when one gained enough EXP to cap out their current level, so did he really achieve that just by interacting with his friend?

Auri blushed when she heard Jian's words. She realized that Christo and Jian must have been watching them amusedly. During that previous moment, Auri wasn't aware of her surroundings as she was preoccupied with her thoughts and Drai, but now she was feeling quite embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Christo seemed to be thinking about this peculiar event, rubbing his chin while his eyebrows furrowed. Seemingly arriving at a conclusion, he spoke up.

"Based on my reasoning, I have an idea why this happened."

The other three turned to look at Christo. Auri was still recovering from her embarrassment and she hadn't known Christo before, so she only reacted situationally, not having any expectations.

However, Drai and Jian had seen how insightful Christo was. Without thinking much, he had managed to explain the crux of various matters which the two hadn't thought about previously. Therefore, Drai and Jian expected Christo to fully explain how Drai had managed to level up.

Looking at the inquisitive eyes, Christo started explaining.

"First, although possible, I think it's unlikely that this one particular moment gave as much EXP to cap the level from zero. Do you agree?"

Jian instantly nodded, while Drai and Auri thought about it for a second before agreeing.

Christo continued, "Then, based on this notion, we can assume that Drai's level up was a result of his accumulation of EXP since he evolved. So, it makes sense if Drai only had a little bit more EXP to reach the next level and somehow his seemingly casual action provided the required EXP and possibly more."

Hearing this, the faces of Jian and Auri brightened as they finally understood what had probably happened. In truth, arriving to this conclusion wasn't too difficult, but Drai's sudden level up was too shocking, which made them forgot that Drai could've accumulated a lot of EXP prior to this.

However, Drai was scratching his head in confusion, making the others wonder whether he had failed to grasp Christo's explanation or didn't agree with it.

"What do you think, Drai?" Christo asked, wanting to see if Drai had another opinion regarding the matter.

"Uhm… I think your explanation makes sense, but it doesn't make the matter any less confusing for me," Drai replied.

"What are you still confused about, Drai?" Auri gently asked, trying not to sound condescending or hurt Drai with unintended implications.

Unaware of Auri's carefulness, Drai thought about it briefly before answering, "I'm confused about the EXP accumulation that Christo mentioned. Does it mean that I've gained so much EXP that I only needed a little bit to level up?"

"Yes, Drai. Although I'm unsure how you managed to gain EXP while talking with me, that's what Christo meant," Auri confirmed.

Instead of showing enlightenment, Drai looked even more confused, promptly asking, "But how did I do it? How did I gain so much EXP?"

"Drai, isn't it obvious? All your hard work after evolving finally paid off!" Jian smilingly said, interjecting the duo.

"If only I were as diligent in training as you, maybe I would also level up in a few days," Jian added, slightly regretful.

Jian wasn't actually a lazy person. But when he thought how Drai had been training so hard despite recently obtaining powers incomparable to the Drai before evolving, Jian felt quite lacking.

Christo and Auri also nodded in agreement. They wondered how Drai could remain stalwart with training, unfazed by his power surge.

In fact, the three of them had been quite enamored of their newfound powers, resulting in most of their time spent exploring them. Although this was also likely to garner EXP as well as deepen their mastery over their stats and skills, it was apparent that it couldn't compare to whatever training Drai had done EXP-wise.

Hearing Jian's remark and seeing his friends looking at him appreciatingly, Drai realized that they had misunderstood him.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I actually didn't train at all," Drai hurriedly admitted, smiling apologetically.

Hearing this, the other three were stunned.

"Y-you d-didn't train a-at all?" Jian asked stutteringly, as if he was afraid of knowing the answer.

"Yeah. I had actually wanted to train at my usual place near the hill, but my mom wouldn't let me. She insisted that I spend the remaining time before leaving for the academy with her and my dad, so that's what I did. I just hung out with my parents," Drai explained. Even if he was a training freak, his parents' wishes were still his top priority.

Drai's words was followed by silence. 

Auri was looking at Drai in astonishment. At this moment, she was suddenly reminded of Drai's admission status and wondered if this absurdity had something to do with the reason for his recommendation.

Meanwhile, Christo was slightly frowning with furrowed eyebrows as the wheels were turning in his head. It was now apparent to him why Drai had remained confused despite his logical reasoning and simple explanation; it turned out that he basically had been idling around since evolving!

Lastly, Jian was flabbergasted with his mouth agape, staring at Drai as if he were a mythical creature. 

'I thought it was absurd that Drai could gain EXP merely by messing around with Auri. But this guy said that he didn't even train at all after evolving! Does he breathe EXP? Is he actually a dragon in disguise?' Jian thought to himself, trying hard to make sense of Drai's circumstances, ironically, using senseless ideas.

After a while, Christo finally broke the silence.

"Drai, I don't think I have a clear answer for this."

The other three looked at him. Drai and Jian in particular were looking rather disappointed that even their brilliant friend couldn't solve this. Jian was especially eager to know whether he could replicate this feat.

"You said that you don't have a clear answer, but haven't you thought of something?" Auri inquired knowingly.

Christo nodded. "I've been thinking about this matter and I've arrived at a conclusion based on the provided facts. Do you want to hear about it?"

The others nodded, prompting Christo to explain.

"The first fact is that Drai had managed to gain enough EXP to level up even without training. The second fact is that Drai's previous interaction contributed to this, but we don't know how much it contributed. It could even be the sole contributor, which sounds absurd but a possibility nonetheless."

Christo then paused, giving the other three a moment to digest his points. After thinking briefly, the three nodded agreeingly.

Christo continued, "Based on these facts, I concluded that the System must have judged Drai's seemingly casual activity or activities worthy of garnering a relatively great amount of EXP. However, I'm not sure on what basis this judgement was made, as in what variables were considered by System when it decided to grant Drai the EXP, which I believe are particularly crucial if we assume that the level up was due to multiple activities and not solely due to the previous interaction."

"Why are they crucial?" Drai asked, feeling dizzy.

Christo started explaining, "Well, it may not be that important to you, but I really want to make use of this phenomenon. If we know what variables were the key points to validate such a judgement, we can try to replicate it. But truthfully, merely knowing these variables might not be enough to replicate this phenomena.

"The first reason is that if this was solely due to your previous interaction, this might be a one-time occurrence and won't ever happen again. I think this is highly probable if this particular circumstance was true, since such a phenomena is unheard of. Even classes that are closely related to socializing or anything similar wouldn't be able to level up just from one interaction.

"And the second reason is that regardless of whether this happened due to one or more activities, it might be something unique to you, Drai. And if so, only you can make use of knowing these variables and only in the case that it isn't restricted to your previous level, which I assume is level one.

"And even if we can't replicate it, this information remains crucial, as it enables us to test our assumptions in order to figure out the limitations of this phenomena as well as other possible applications based on our findings."

Finishing his explanation, Christo sighed as he felt that the System was so fickle. He hated not being able to grasp the workings of the System, as he had always felt a strong urge of keeping his life under his absolute control, which included the System he's connected to. He would prefer if unforeseeable events related to the System such as this didn't happen to him.

Christo believed that if the System could be this fickle with Drai, it could also be the same with him. Drai was fortunate that this worked in his favor, at least at a glance. But who knows if something not-so-fortuitous would happen to Christo instead. Yet, there was nothing that Christo could do about it, since the System was an autonomous entity that governed his class and evolution. If he wanted to keep such powers, he would have to live with the System.

"I don't think we can answer this by ourselves," Auri said to Christo with an urging undertone. "Maybe if there were four of you, a reasonable answer might come up sooner or later. But I don't think the rest of us can keep up with your train of thought," she said as she had finally realized Christo's insightfulness.

Hearing such words, Christo glanced at Drai and Jian whose faces were slightly scrunched up. It looked like they were close to using up their thinking quota for the day, since both of them were men of action, unaccustomed to foresight.

"Ah, my bad. I was too preoccupied with my own interest. I nearly forgot that we're here to join an activity group," Christo apologized, feeling bad for his friends. He was usually a considerate person, but this time he was just too immersed.

"Let's just forget about the matter regarding Drai's level up. It's a good thing anyway, so it doesn't really matter why it happened," Auri suggested, having seen the pitiful looks of Drai and Jian.

"Okay. Then why don't we head to the Valiant Ventures' booth now?" Christo agreed before suggesting.

The two other men felt greatly relieved and spiritedly nodded, making Christo and Auri chuckle.

"Well, lead the way, Christo," Auri said, which was responded by Christo's nod.

The four of them proceeded to head toward the inner area of Morten Plaza, led by Christo. They didn't talk much on the way there. Christo was caught up in his own thoughts while Drai and Jian were mentally recuperating. Auri also seemed to be thinking about something while occasionally glancing at the others.

After a while, Christo suddenly stopped, followed by the rest of the group. They had finally arrived at their destination.

With a smile, Christo turned toward his friends.

"Guys, we're here."