UTH CH 15 (Patreon)

Stats are nothing but an indicator of your ability. Do not fall into the illusion of thinking you know how to use them to their fullest.

Wizard King during the Ranker conference of 2045.

__________________________

My fingers hovered above the stats section and a + sign appeared.

Thankfully it didn't seem like there were any restrictions at the moment.

For one, I could freely buy any and all skills and I was not restricted by classes it seemed.

This meant I needed to raise my stats first.

Stats in this world were quite simple to understand. From what history books told, the reason why the system took such an appearance was because it was the easiest way for humans to gauge their growth.

The system took on different appearances in different worlds based on the sub culture of the main intelligent race in said worlds. But the overall frame was the same.

Funnily, nowadays all students were required to complete at least one RPG type game and make a small thesis based on their understanding of the game mechanics and its strengths.

This was a mandatory course because even in the same world, not all people had the same stats showing up. The difference in stats depended on the classes sometimes.

I knew for a fact that Priest classes had the Holy Power stats while the Dark Mage classes had Twisted Mana.

Some had Qi while others had the Mind stats.

If I had to be honest, they all seemed the same to me. But well, scientists were clear that not all energy sources were the same. They followed different pathways in the body and had different effects on their users.

Classes related to ruling or seduction could also have special stats like Leadership or Charisma and pure mage classes generally had additional stats like Int and/or Wisdom.

No one truly understood why there were so many small differences. But the best leading theory was that it was impossible to truly digitalize all abilities and stats in an unified way. Even with the same class, differences could appear.

The number of stats one had was not a proof of strength. One of the top Ranker in the African Union, Snake, was known to have only one stats.

Vigor.

In my case, my stats were pretty standard.

Strength; Speed; Dexterity; Endurance; Mana; Resistance.

Though I obtained what was clearly a very powerful class, I had no special stats.

I did not know what kind of resources the Time Sovereign class used. My other main class, Maker, focused on Mana and Speed.

As for my Ranger sub class, its main focus was Strength and Dexterity first and Speed and Endurance close second.

Movies or games in the past liked to depict archers as those small weak guys but pulling a bow wasn’t possible without some serious muscles.

Increasing stats points was extremely hard. Outside of the Tower, the only true way was training, using skills and fighting monsters. Stats would naturally increase based on your actions.

But now I had the ability to assign them as I wanted.

This new level of freedom gave me a short decision paralysis.

Which stats should I improve first? How many points did I even need to improve them?

Strength was simple. More of it meant hitting harder, lifting heavier stuff and breaking through armor or doors instead of hacking at them until my arms gave out.

Speed was slightly more complex. It represented both my own speed and my reaction time. Closing distance before someone could lose an arrow. Getting out of the way before a blade carved through where I’d been standing.

Dexterity was fine control. Keeping my aim steady even when moving. Threading a shot through a narrow gap. Handling delicate work without fumbling it. It was no wonder it was one of the main stats for Archer.

Endurance was what kept me upright when my legs wanted to give out. The stamina to keep fighting, and the grit to push through the kind of pain that made most people quit.

Like with speed, it affected both the mental and physical aspects of the awakened.

Mana represented my energy pool — the fuel for skills, magic, and the strange tricks a class might give later.

Resistance… I didn’t have to think about that one. I was already sitting at SSS. Whatever else happened, at least I wasn’t dying to poison clouds anytime soon.

It was the stats that were keeping me alive even now.

I already went through some tests in the past, but my Resistance stats alone allowed me to resist and sometimes outright nullify any negative effects.

Not just that, pure magical attacks had weaker effects on me.

Thinking about all of this made my head hurt a lot. But it was necessary.

I could spread the points around, but that would just make me average at everything and great at nothing.

Or I could go all in on one stat. Mana made the most sense right now, more mana meant more ways to survive.

Furthermore, with Resistance already maxed, I only needed to push one other stat high enough to unlock new skills.

The plan came together fast.

Mana first.

Push mana to G-tier at least. Unlock the skills, get stronger, and strategize from there. The more mana I had, the more weapons I could create in combat. Which would increase my versatility.

My eyes also fell on speed.

No matter what it would be impossible for me to be strong or endurant enough to not die in a few hits.

Speed is always king and my combat skills always relied on it.

Speed was more than just how fast I could run.

There were two parts to it.

First was body speed — the raw movement of my legs and arms. How fast I could sprint across a room, close the gap in a fight, or swing a weapon.

Second was reaction speed — how quickly I could process what was happening and actually start moving. Seeing an arrow loose and dodging before it buried itself in my ribs. Spotting the twitch of a blade before it cut my throat.

Furthermore, my Creation speed and Analysis speed both depended on well … speed and my mana capacity.

Both mattered. High body speed with slow reactions just meant I’d get to the wrong place faster. High reaction speed without the body to match meant I’d see the danger coming and still not get clear in time.

Right now, at I-rank, I was just a trained athlete. At F-rank, I’d be moving like an Olympic sprinter in full gear, not just in a straight line, but in combat.

I’d cover ground faster than most people could track, and my reactions would be sharp enough to dodge projectiles at close range… if I was paying attention.

F rank was far from being enough to allow one see bullets in slow motion and dodge them while wearing sunglasses and a trench coat.

But it was the starting point where one could truly call themselves super humans

‘Should I mainly focus on mana and speed in the future?’

I seriously considered that for an instant while ruffling my hair.

I knew that I might be looking like I was going crazy. But in reality. I was indeed going crazy.

I had no one to guide me. No information. No instructions manual. I had to find out everything by myself and decide.

It was simply maddening.

[The Lurker at ***** smile **error****...]

[Warning: O***r Gods should not ####]

[The Lu**** nods in understanding.]

‘What just happened?’

[The Silent Watcher smiles at your helplessness.]

[The Silent Watcher thinks that you are indeed still a hatchling entering a new world.]

[The Silent Watcher wonders why you think so hard. You can make as many mistakes as you want.]

Something just happened. It went in a flash but I distinctly noticed the system bugging and sending a warning.

My doubts about my creepy stalker increased once again. In fact, it seemed like he was also using a fake identity.

‘The Lurker at ???’

I tried remembering everything that happened when I was dead but a small headache stopped me.

I frowned and sighed.

“I thought you vanished. What happened?”

“No noise in the library!”

“Sorry. Sorry.” I waved my hand at the man who was sitting near the door in apology.

[The Silent Watcher chose the 5th.]

“I don't think the 5th amendment applies to alien gods.” This time I muttered, low enough to not disturb.

[The Silent Watcher bemoans the reality of this world. Constellations also have rights.]

Something seemed strange. The creepy stalker seemed too happy.

One thing was clear though. Even if I could indeed go back in time, it seemed like some entities were not affected.

[The Silent Watcher wishes to clear a misunderstanding. But the Silent Watcher believes watching you floundering is more interesting.]

I ignored him and once again focused on my stats. He might have been mocking me but his words were right.

If I could truly go back in time…

If the power of the Time Sovereign was legit…

Then I truly did not have to fear making mistakes.

At the moment, the Time Sovereign Class had three skills I could use.

I observed them and soon more information was shown.

[Save – The Fixed Point in Time

"Checkpoint Set."

Description: Part of the Black Snake authority.

Effect: The user can manually and automatically create a Save point at any moment, locking his current time, body, and location. There can only be two save points at time. One auto created by Determination and one manually chosen.

More functionality will be unlocked as the user grows.]

[Load – The Reset Button

"Would you like to continue?"

Description: The Hourglass, allowing one to entirely reset the timeline.

Effect: Returns the user to his last Save point, completely restoring his body, mana, and location to that moment. When dying, the user can choose to reload the Manual or Auto save.

At the moment activation is only possible through death. More functionality will be unlocked as the user grows.

[Pause – A moment stretched into eternity.

“Freeze”

Description: Part of the Authority of the Black Snake. The power of stopping time.

Effect: The user can step out of time, effectively stopping time. Once time is stopped, the user cannot directly affect the world around him.]

It was with supreme strength of will that I did not shout out loud in the library.

What the hell!?

How was such Cheat even allowed?

I felt so giddy but even then I could not help but think of the possible limitations of this power.

[Save] and [Load] were clear. Currently my auto save point should be the moment where I speak with the Manager and get fired.

How could I use this? Should I try to save now?

My heart started beating so fast in my chest I thought it would explode.

‘Check point set.’

The moment I uttered those words, the world around me seemed to change. It was hard to explain, but it felt as if I was taking a picture of my surroundings.

An Hourglass appeared in the corner of my vision and my instincts were telling me that this Hourglass was the means by which I could manipulate time.

[Warning: An auto save cannot exist further back than a Manual save point. Would you like to save this instant?]

I groaned a little but shook my head. There was no need to. Not now at least.

The Hourglass immediately vanished and feelings of taking a picture vanished as well.

As much as I wanted to try my power, it would be foolish to erase the current save I had without obtaining more information.

This left [Load] and [Pause] but looking at the activation condition of [Load], my hand slightly trembled.

Knowing that I could rewind time was one thing.

Knowing that I actually needed to die for it was another entirely.

Should I…Kill myself now?

I closed my eyes. Fear filled my heart. Death was scary after all.

In the end, I decided to postpone this decision. I needed to gather more information first.

Perhaps it was cowardice. Perhaps it was nothing but an excuse.

But even as I choose to follow the path of a Fool. I could not help but hesitate.

This left me with only one choice.

I focused on the last skill of my new class.

In the corner of my eye, the hourglass filled with sand appeared once again.

It took me a few seconds to truly understand the sensation but once I did. Everything became easy.

“Freeze.”

One word escaped my lips. A burning sensation in my left eye made me groan. But I could spare no thought for the sudden pain.

After all,

The flowing sand in the hourglass stopped and so did the world.