Leveling up the World

Chapter 334: Advancement Decisions

Chapter 334: Advancement Decisions

Simple choices were always the most difficult. Dallion had all the information he was going to get. There was a single partial unknown, and yet he felt unable to make a choice.

So far, the echo had suggested three options. The problem was that each of the options made sense. If Dallion had double the amount of chips, hed just increase everything. Pretty much thats how he did things so far, but that wouldnt solve the problem.

Fear of missing out Back on Earth, Dallion had read many blogs on how powerful the concept was. Everywhere from game design to cryptocurrencies and the stock exchange, people were talking about it. Here, it was more than a concept. Whatever choice Dallion made, he was going to lose something. He was also going to win as well, but his mind refused to see that. It was funny how when given the chance to shape his own destiny, he wanted to look to others for advice. Should he become like Veil and focus on nothing but attack? Or should he become more focused and perceptive, like Gloria? Jiroh and Eury were too powered up to compare to them, but even so, he could choose them as role models.

You can also decide to gamble it all on the mystery stat, the echo said after a while. It wont even be a large risk. All you have to do is move two chips from somewhere and youll finally know what has been hidden all this time. Maybe itll be worth it?

Dallion reached for the stack of blue chips representing his mind, but found that he didnt want to do that either. The issue there wasnt what he was going to losetwo points on mind wasnt such a big deal considering it was his highest stat. However, what if the new stat came with its own consequences? There was every chance the sensations would be so overwhelming that Dallion would require days, maybe more to cope with the change. Doing that before his first tournament battle was risky, to say the least.

There really arent that many choices, the echo sighed. Not reasonable ones, at least. You can reach the cap of any skill, if you wanted, even perception. That will help you with your forging, not to mention youll finally be able to use armor as a weapon. All those layers of markers that your gorgon girlfriend kept telling you about? With a perception of forty, youll be able to see them without issue.

That was true. With such a high level of perception, maybe hed be able to start forging sky silver, possibly even make a blade whip of his own. He had the materialthe ingot for his becoming a seer, plus the chain from Eury was enough material to create the weapon. At the very least Dallion would get some training in the process, which in turn would increase his forging skill. Was that the right decision to make?

If I move something, can I move it back? Dallion asked.

As long as you dont stand up from the table, you can move it as many times as you like. And, of course, the moment you openly give up, everything will go back to the way it was.

That was a relief. At least Dallion had the option to retain the status quo.

What about echoes?

Echoes? the fake Nil frowned.

If I create echoes while remaining at the table, will they have the stats I tested with? And if so, will they retain them?

There were a lot of ifs, but Dallions hope was this to be a detail the trial had overlooked. If he could test the skills on echoes, it would be all the easier to determine which combination was better.

Very clever, dear boy. I must admit, no one has even come up with that idea. Sure. You can use echoes to help you decide. You still have to make the decision, though. Thats the difficult part of the trial.

The first echo Dallion created was the combat splitter: forty points on mind, zero on the mystery stat and twenty on everything else. Well, technically there were nineteen on body, but given that the level would allow him a further increase, the end result would be twenty as well. The moment it came into being, the echo immediately split into two dozen instances. That was more than Dallion had ever seen. Unless someone was specifically aiming to break the splitting mid-way, there was little they could do against that number of attack attempts.

Moving the chips around, Dallion then created three more echoes maxing each of the four attributes. This way he could see whod win in a direct fight before playing around with fine tuning. Lastly, he created an echo with the mystery stat at twenty. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, although he didnt expect it to be. Rather, what Dallion wanted was to see at what disadvantage he would be compared to everyone else.

I know, Dallion thought. Safety was left for the double digits. All awakened past the third gate had to fight for every step forward, knowing that not doing so would mean being surpassed. It was a tricky balancing act, but Dallion was getting the hang of it.

Can I really reassign my stats? Dallion asked.

You can always find out. The echo smiled. Whats the harm in trying, right?

No, thanks. Dallion stood up. Im fine with the way things are.

You have broken through your twenty-third barrier.

Choose the focus you value the most.

The blue rectangle appeared, along with the usual five choices. This time, Dallion chose the mystery skill without hesitation. There was nothing wrong with going for more options. The trick was not to lose oneself in them.

I guess theres another room for me to worry about, Gen said. At some point, you really need to organize your realm. Its a mess.

Ill get to it. Dont worry.

Sure, you will. In any event, congrats. Everyones still watching fireworks, so itll be a while before they congrats you too.

No worries. Based on the fake Nils reaction, Dallion suspected that the real one was all too proud of his achievement, but stubbornly reluctant to admit it. That was the thing about Nil, lately he had become too invested in Dallion, which was weird for an echo. Ill be watching some fireworks as well.

The realm around Dallion vanished as he returned to the inns kitchen. The plate of food was still in front of him, which was more than welcome at this point. While the trial was supposed to be overcoming a mental block, Dallion had spent a lot of energy creating echoes, so he was just as hungry as if hed fought an item guardian.

Things went well? Aspan asked.

Dallion paused, mouth full of food.

I didnt almost conquer the world by not being able to notice things. You attempted an awakening, and judging by your healthy appetite, you were successful.

Yep, Dallion said. Passed another one.

Good, though dont do it before important events. Adrenalin and euphoria are dangerous drugs. Youll have problems dealing with them during your next level ups.

This was the first time that the copyette had offered advice in this fashion. Up to now, Aspan had only done so at Dallions request, or when things had gotten direlike an adult telling a toddler not to put its hand in the fire. Now, it seemed that the copyette was starting to acknowledge Dallion for what he was, and that meant that soon others would as well.