As Char regained consciousness, he felt lightheaded and mentally drained.
The memory of being killed by the black mist was still vivid, and faint whispers and laughter echoed in his ears, causing unease.
He looked around and realized he had been reborn in the secret room he had prepared. The strange patterns on the floor resembled inverted smiling faces, silently mocking him.
While reincarnation allowed his body and soul to return to their most perfect state, the pain experienced after each death was real. However, after going through it numerous times in the past decade, Char remained quite calm.
The sensation of being killed by the black fog still left a deep impression on him. However, at this moment, he had no time to dwell on these feelings because the system notification that appeared in front of him had captured all of his attention.
[Your level has increased from LV.26 to LV.34!]
[Due to the experience gained in this instance exceeding the single-time experience limit, the excess will be considered invalid!]
[You have gained 24 free attribute points!]
He blinked, then his breathing gradually became heavier.
Finally, he leveled up!
And he even jumped 8 levels at once!
Char clenched his fist tightly and took a deep breath.
While Char had expected this situation, he couldn't help but feel a strong sense of joy when the results were presented before him. What surprised him was that this experience boost was done in level increments, marking a qualitative leap.
In the past ten years, such a situation had never occurred. Even after being killed by that cult leader for the first time, he had only gained a single level or so.
After all, with each level gained, the required experience for the next level increases exponentially. According to this reasoning, that extremely evil witch is undoubtedly the most powerful being on the entire continent, almost possessing a divine status!
Thinking about it, Char felt his spirits lift and found the direction for his future. It seems that the gap in strength between the witch and himself is simply too vast, which results in the gained experience exceeding the limit. This means that in the mid-term or even the long-term, it can be considered the biggest source of leveling up.
Is this an opportunity to take advantage ?
With this thought in mind, Char pushed aside the pain of being killed by the black mist earlier and looked at the magic matrix on the ground. He decided to perform the ritual once more.
Char: "I almost forgot, I've run out of the most important virtual realm stone powder for the ritual."
Char stopped his actions and shook his head. This kind of powder is too expensive and is considered a prohibited item within the Helen Empire. It's worth a fortune, and even Char doesn't have any surplus at the moment.
Char decided to temporarily set aside the issue of acquiring more virtual realm stone powder since he knew where to obtain it. Instead, he focused his attention on the free attribute points that the system awarded with each level-up.
Char opened his character template and began contemplating his options.
[Name: Char Adelaide]
[Level: LV.34]
[Races: Human]
[Age: 16]
[Rank: Novice Knight/Magic Apprentice]
[strength: 53]
[Intelligence: 38]
[Charisma: 10]
[Luck: 21]
According to the system's previous description, an average adult male's attributes would typically be around 5 points each, with minimal fluctuation.
[Health] covers a broad range, including endurance, strength, agility, and defense. Therefore, allocating points to this attribute would result in an all-around improvement in physical capabilities.
And this attribute corresponds directly to his current level of training – quasi-knight.
As previously mentioned, after binding with the system, Char cannot enhance his abilities through regular means such as physical training or meditation. He can only become stronger by leveling up and allocating attribute points accordingly.
So, when Char had just advanced to LV. 20 and had a [strength] of 40 points, the system had previously prompted him with the option of whether to promote to [quasi-knight].
In this world, the general path of cultivation is similar to most RPG games, divided into the knight's path and the mage's path. So, being a "quasi-knight" is not just a title or honor but represents the second stage of the knight's path, with the first stage being called "squire."
Following the same logic, [intelligence] naturally represents the level benchmark for the mage's path. However, Char usually doesn't focus on adding points in this aspect, so he remains at the initial level of "magic apprentice."
After a moment of consideration, Char decides to allocate his attribute points using a 14-8-0-2 distribution.
Char values his free attribute points, so he rarely invests in attributes like Charisma, and he doesn't put too many points into Luck either.
[Would you like to promote to 'Wizard'?"]
"Yes."
Once [Intelligence] reached the promotion standard, the system did indeed display an option, which was the second stage of the mage route.
After doing all of this, Char clenched his fists and felt a significant increase in his total strength and magic power.
The path ahead is clear now, and the most urgent task is to collect enough Voidstone powder for the teleportation ritual. However, even with a source, it still requires a significant amount of money.
"Let's leave it at that for now."
Looking at the dim light seeping through the crack in the door, he whispered.
After a busy night without sleep and being killed by the black mist, his stomach was growling with hunger.
......
He pushed open the door, revealing the interior of a typical residential home.
Char climbed up the stairs, closed and locked the cellar door. Obviously, the hidden room was located below.
Since this place was only used as a base for rituals and didn't store food, Char, having found nothing, decided to go outside.
Char made his way through a narrow alley, walking on the somewhat damp cobblestone road until he reached Sikh Street. The sun had not yet risen, and the sky was overcast, giving off a somewhat gloomy atmosphere.
However, for the impoverished commoners of the Lower West District, a new day had already begun.
The streets were crowded with low, crude buildings, and the air felt stifling, filled with various sounds and occasional shouts. People, wearing tattered clothes, moved about with numb expressions, striving to make a living and secure the next meal for themselves and their families.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice that laborers, merchants, female laborers, beggars, and drunkards, countless lower-class individuals, formed the fundamental components of this place.
Such a phenomenon is not uncommon in the four districts of the Lower City, and it has even become a trend.
Since the Round Table Nobility Council passed the "Urban Area Division Management Act" in the year 1374 of the New Calendar, the vast capital city was divided into two regions by a city wall, the "Upper City" and the "Lower City."
Inside the city walls lies the prosperous royal capital, while outside the walls stand the four districts of the Lower City, "loyally guarding" the royal capital.
To improve the city's appearance, the law enforcement department relocated around seven hundred thousand low-income residents to the Lower City and forbade them from entering the city without proper documentation and a valid reason.
Even if one had all the necessary documentation, they still had to pay a hefty fee of ten copper coins per person.
In the lower district, however, a single copper coin could buy a piece of black wheat bread, barely enough for a poor family of two to manage for a lunch.
This measure pushed countless low-income people who relied on the prosperity of the capital into the abyss, cutting off their hopes for a better life. The reason behind this decision may have been as simple as a passing remark made by one of the noble aristocrats during a Round Table meeting, stating that "living with the lower class people feels unsanitary."
Seeing the oppressive scene before him, Char silently left the area.
Even though he felt deep sympathy for their situation, Char himself lived in the upper city, and he was soon to inherit his father's title as a "nobleman." At the age of 16, he was in a very different social class, so anything he said would likely be seen as just "crying wolf."
( note: The phrase "cry wolf" is an idiom that means to give a false alarm or to raise a false alarm about a situation, typically in order to receive attention or help.)
He bought a freshly baked loaf of bread from a quiet bakery at a street corner, carrying it in a paper bag tucked under his arm, and he continued walking while enjoying his meal.
"After a while, he was attracted by a group of people gathered on the roadside. They had their backs turned to Char and seemed to be discussing something."
He hadn't initially intended to join the crowd, but after hearing a heart-wrenching, childlike cry, Char fell silent for a moment and then took a few steps closer.
It was a filthy and disorderly alley, running alongside a foul-smelling ditch, with makeshift shanties on both sides, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The crying was coming from one of the shanties.
Listening to the sighs and discussions of the people around him, Char gradually understood the specific situation.
It was a common, impoverished family in the lower district, with no proper housing. They relied on the meager income the man earned as a laborer at the docks and the woman's earnings from sewing and mending to make ends meet. Despite the hardships, they didn't give up on life.
However, one day, there was an accident during the unloading process. The man fell from the cart, and the wheels rolled over his thigh. He endured the pain for two whole days and nights before succumbing to his injuries and passing away.
The collapse of their main support was a devastating blow to the mother and daughter who were left alone. Perhaps the young daughter, still in her innocence, didn't fully grasp the implications, but the woman understood very well. With her meager income from sewing clothes for others, which barely amounted to a single copper coin per day, she couldn't even manage to feed herself and her daughter.
So, like many destitute women in the lower city, who had no other options, the woman chose a path of degradation in order to survive.
Each time, it was like rolling the dice in an era where there were no strict prevention measures.
What's quite ironic is that, in the previous decades, she had been living a miserable life in poverty. Yet, only this time, Lady of Luck "took pity" on her.
Upon confirming her condition and realizing she was pregnant, the woman didn't become hysterical but remained calm, continuing her daily activities like sewing during the day and entertaining clients at night.
At the end of the day, the woman used the few coppers she had earned to buy a piece of bread with a little less bran and shared a joyful meal with her young daughter. Then, they fell into a deep sleep.
She never woke up again.
The woman, after buying the bread, "incidentally" went to a herbal shop across the street and used the money earned from selling her body to buy a pack of deadly purple pine flower powder, which she sprinkled into the bread.
Perhaps this is the silent protest of the weak against the fates.
It's unclear why, but the little girl who also ate the bread didn't die. When she woke up and saw her mother's lifeless body, she didn't understand what it meant and just gently pushed her mother, telling her she was hungry, as if it were a normal day.
It was only a few minutes ago that, with the explanation from the people around her, she finally understood the fact that her "mother had fallen asleep and would never wake up again."
Watching the little girl shivering and crying on her mother's body in the cold wind, Char suddenly had a vision of the bustling Upper City and the luxurious lives of the noble elite.
In the grander scale of time, perhaps in the history books of the future, the decision to divide the Upper and Lower City might be just a few lines of text, and historians may even express conservative praise for the roundtable's legislation.
However, for the little girl and her family, as well as the hundreds of thousands of impoverished people in the Lower City, this is a disaster that has befallen them.
Char couldn't help but think of a sentence.
A speck of dust in time becomes a mountain on an individual's head.