Michael wouldn't claim to know much about his new reality just because he had spent a few hours browsing the Supers Association forum. But thanks to those hours of studying, he could say he now understood much more about Awakeners than he did before.
Aside from a few other things, there was one thing that all Awakeners wanted, regardless of race.
Attribute points.
Each point represented the entire power of an average individual from their respective race—a literal, instantaneous boost.
And right now, Michael had six of these precious points he could use to instantly strengthen himself.
'Which stat would maximize these points and help me most right now?' Michael wondered. At this moment, he needed an immediate edge—something to boost his survivability and strength, and aside from external items, these six Attribute Points were his only hope.
Michael examined his stats carefully, considering which of the four would best support him in his current situation.
[ Strength: 1.6 ]
[ Agility: 1.9 ]
[ Constitution: 1.4 ]
[ Intelligence: 5.5 ]
[ Attribute Points: 6 ]
Michael's initial location could be described as… odd. At first glance, it didn't seem particularly dangerous, but it couldn't be called safe either.
It might be a stretch to label it dangerous because of a single slime, but that slime—a genuine monster—also made this place questionable.
What if there were more monsters? And what if they weren't slimes?
Michael didn't particularly like slimes, but he admitted that they were probably the best kind of monster he could currently handle on his own.
If the acid slime had a stat system of its own, Michael imagined that it would likely have 90% of its stats to Intelligence, 8% to Agility, and the remaining 2% split between Strength and Constitution—just enough to stay alive.
This was just a rough estimation, but it was obvious that, despite being an "acid" slime, its Constitution was minimal. Even with gun and bullet technology refined over 200 years, he shouldn't have been able to kill the slime by destroying its core embedded within its acidic body.
And now that Michael had time to think did he realize just how incredibly lucky he'd been?
If he had encountered any other monster—say, a wolf with 90% of its stats in Agility—he'd probably be back home right now, cooking something for his cousin.
Monsters were supernatural beings, which meant even a wolf's speed would be terrifying. Normal wolves were already faster than an average human; so a monster wolf would have been a nightmare to escape.
A slime, in contrast, was manageable. With a long-range weapon, it could be defeated without risking close contact. But without one, getting close enough to fight and kill an acid slime was almost suicidal. Just one wrong step could result in excruciating pain, a worse deterrent than even facing the consequences of death.
'I really hope there's no other kind of monster in this building than slimes,' Michael thought. As for hoping for no monsters at all—that wasn't his wish; he was greedy for the experience points.
"Okay, it's decided. I'll choose Agility and Constitution."
For a necromancer, these stat choices might seem wasteful. But Michael had no choice. Right now, he was a "fake" necromancer without a single undead summon or spell to cast. Although Intelligence was his most important stat, it felt useless at the moment. Ironically, investing in it felt more like a waste at the moment.
As for why he chose Agility and Constitution, the reasoning behind his choice was simple: the latter would boost his health and endurance, helping him survive longer, and the former would help him in running from anything he couldn't defeat—or at least stay out of their reach. Between the two, he planned to put more points into Agility.
"I'm really a disgrace to necromancers," he muttered to himself.
After a moment of thought, Michael stopped hesitating and began allocating his points to increase his stats.
First, he placed two points into the Constitution.
[ Constitution: 3.4 ]
After increasing his Constitution by two points, Michael immediately felt different.
A warm sensation spread through his body, leaving behind a subtle sense of increased health. The changes were hard to pinpoint, but the most noticeable effect was on his mutilated left arm.
With his Constitution now three times that of an average human, the scar seemed to fade slightly—not completely disappearing, but looking older, as though it had been healing for years.
This kind of showed an important detail: future scars wouldn't vanish entirely either and increasing constitution would only make them appear more "healed."
'Even though I haven't ascended to Rank 1 yet, with three times the constitution of an average human, my lifespan should already be pretty long, right?' Michael wondered. Though he was uncertain, he felt that he was on the right track.
Awakeners had incredibly long lifespans. Rank 1 Awakeners could live up to 200 years—so what about those at higher ranks?
Beyond offering great power, the Land of Origin presented another alluring gift: immortality.
Michael suspected that for many, immortality was the real prize; power was just a desirable bonus.
After taking a moment to adjust to his enhanced Constitution, Michael allocated points to his Agility stat.
[ Agility: 4.9 ]
Compared to Constitution, the effects of increasing Agility were immediate and dramatic.
When Michael tried to move his hands, the newfound flexibility and speed caught him off guard, making him stumble and he almost flipped himself over.
"Amazing!"
Though in an awkward position, his heart was filled with excitement. The boost to his Agility felt like breaking free from the invisible chains that had been weighing him down.
'Four times the average human speed. I'm practically a mini superhuman in the eyes of ordinary people now! And this is just Level 2! Once I advance to first rank, the stat increase will be even more insane!'
Michael was thrilled with his growth, and he was eager to get even stronger. Now, he didn't fear acid slimes hurting him—he feared the possibility of not finding any to fight!
Before exploring the abandoned building, though, he took a few minutes to adapt to his newfound Agility. After testing his speed and movements, he was left stunned.
"The average speed of a human is about 100 metres in 10 seconds. I just tried running, and I'm hitting around 80 metres per second! And I think it's only this fast because I still need to get better control over my body!"
"This is just the strength of an unranked Awakener at Level 2?"
No wonder only a handful of cultivators dared challenge the arrogant Awakeners on the forums. But more than anything else, Michael was overjoyed. He felt lucky to have awakened!
Like Cultivators, before truly stepping into the supernatural path, Awakeners below Rank 1 were also referred to as apprentices—a fact that was even reflected on their status panels.
But considering his current strength, even a new Rank 1 knight might not necessarily be as strong as he was now, right?
'Are Cultivators really that weak?'
"No! I can't think like that!" Michael quickly scolded himself, sensing a flicker of arrogance. That wasn't a good path, lest he become conceited.
"The waters of this world run deep and I'm not qualified to look down on anything yet."
After calming himself, Michael also recognized that his distribution of attribute points as a necromancer was clearly off—far from ideal. It was better to excel in one thing than to be mediocre in everything.
But the issue was that he didn't have much of a choice in this.
Right now, strength mattered the most for levelling up—and more importantly, for his survival. As for necromancy, since he'd need to kill a monster first to create an undead summon, he could only hope that, if he did encounter one, it wouldn't be too strong.
"There's nothing I can do about it now and no point in worrying. I'll leave it to fate."
"First, let's see if the slime dropped anything valuable!"
Excited, Michael made his way over to the acid slime's "corpse."
As for his last attribute point, he decided to keep it in reserve—for emergencies.