The Strengthening Orb is a crucial item that players can use to level up their class.
Different classes have different amount of levels, and players need to reach the maximum level of their current class to attempt an upgrade.
Once a player reaches the maximum level of their class, they can participate in the Class Advancement Trial.
The performance in the Class Advancement Trial directly influences the limit of the class upgrade. The better the performance, the better the class upgrade one can achieve.
In exceptional cases, a player who performs excellently in the Class Advancement Trial can jump two or even three ranks. For example, an E-rank class can be upgraded directly to a C-rank or even a B-rank class if the player excels in the trial. But such cases were extremely rare, limited to only a handful of instances in the land of trials.
As for why it was so rare, it could be summed up by the sheer difficulty of the task, which changes depending on the rank of one's class.
Players who have an E-rank class face the least challenging class advancement trial when they attempt to upgrade their class.
This was one of the leading factors behind James's choice to unlock the E-rank mage class.
James's E-rank mage class could be leveled up ten times. By the time he finishes maximizing its level, he will have earned 10 stat and skill points. The 10 stat points wouldn't amount to much, but they would certainly improve his overall physical capabilities. As for the ten skill points, they would bring about the greatest increase in his chances of surviving the trials of the zeroth level of the Land of Trial and overcoming the unsightly fate mentioned in the book.
To upgrade the E-rank mage class to the second level, only one Strengthening Orb was needed. In other words, James had met the condition to level up after killing the kobold. He moved closer to the corpse to grab the orb floating over it. However, his hand went through it.
It was quite a bewildering sight, and James wasn't expecting it either. So he felt rather confused.
While there were talks of players obtaining and absorbing the Strengthening Orb to level up in the Tales of My Regression, the book doesn't exactly detail how players absorb the Strengthening Orb. As a result, it was a complete mystery to James, a reader.
Unable to grasp the Strengthening Orb, James scratched his head in confusion.
"It's there, but it's also like it isn't."
The Strengthening Orb was like a phantom that couldn't be interacted with physically.
But James was certain that there was definitely a way to interact with it.
After all, in the book, the players were able to do it and make it their own strength.
Thus, in reality, it should also be possible.
"How do I interact with it?" James wondered.
Seemingly, he fell into a state of deep thought.
"In the book, it was mentioned that except for players, no one can absorb Strengthening Orbs. This means the way to interact with it is unique and limited only to players."
"What is unique to players?"
"It's the status screen."
After thinking for a few moments, he came to a convincing presumption.
Acting on it, he summoned his status screen.
Players could move their status screen in three ways: by swiping it with their hands, by using voice commands, or by focusing their thoughts on it.
With a focused thought, James moved his status screen toward the orb.
When the orb came in contact with his status screen, it was absorbed inside it.
Immediately after, a change occurred in his status screen. The number of Strengthening Orbs mentioned in it changed from "None" to 1.
Seeing this, a hint of joy flashed across James's face.
'So my conclusion was right. The reason only players can interact with Strengthening Orbs is because only they have status screens.' James smirked. 'Now let's level up.'
James commanded his system to level up his class. Immediately, a number of notifications popped up:
[-1 Strengthening Orb]
[Mage class increased to level 2]
[Gained +1 stat point]
[Gained +1 skill point]
There was neither an upgrade in his mana capacity nor mana regeneration rate. Leveling up only earned him 1 stat and 1 skill point, but that was to be expected. Leveling up an E-rank class doesn't bring about much benefit.
Knowing what to expect, James didn't feel disheartened. With a swipe of his hand, the notifications vanished. They would have vanished on their own even if he had done nothing.
'What should I do with the recently gained stat and skill points?' James rubbed his chin.
After thinking for a while, he decided to conserve the stat point for later use, as using it randomly was apparently the worst possible choice in his eyes.
Why?
Imagine a scenario where you are up against an opponent faster than you. At that time, if you have ten stat points on hand, you can use them to become as fast or maybe even faster than your opponent and give them the shock and whopping of their life!
Stat points should be saved up for such moments.
Skill points should also be used wisely. James had long decided to use any skill points he would get to level up skills that directly affected his survival. Only after leveling these skills to the maximum would he level up skills that increased his damage output.
This decision might seem silly, but if one were to consider his arsenal of weapons, it was a decision that had a lot of thought put into it.
In a face-off against an adversary that he couldn't harm with his offensive spells, his weapons could make up for his lack of offensive abilities.
Before he runs out of ammunition, he just needs to ensure that he has upgraded his survivalist abilities to the maximum and also acquired some offensive spells.
Now, this would have been challenging if he didn't have knowledge of the Land of Trial. But since he did, he was convinced he could make it.
'The strategy I'd made before being summoned into the Land of Trials is worth following.'
Of all his actives and passives, Danger Detection and Haste seemed like the best choice to invest his skill point in if he wanted to increase his chances of survival in this ruthless place.
"I only have one skill point. I need to be thoughtful and level up the one that provides me the greatest benefit," James narrowed his eyes, recalling important information.
Actives and passives can be leveled up three times.
At the second level, Haste could increase his speed by 2.5 times, while leveling up Danger Detection would grant him entry into a supernatural realm where he could concisely and consciously perceive death 2 seconds in advance.
Two seconds might not be much for an average individual to change their fate, but for a player who was around four times stronger than the average Earthling, it was more than enough time to react and avoid lethal threats.
'What use will upgrading haste do if I die before I can use it?'
Thinking along these lines, James became convinced that leveling his Danger Detection passive was the better choice.
Thus, he invested his only skill point in it.
[-1 skill point]
[Danger Detection Passive increased to level 2]
[Danger Detection (lv: 2)
Effect: Allows you to perceive your death moments before it arrives.]
James felt a sharp pain in his mind.
It disappeared as soon as it appeared, but it changed the way James perceived the world forever!