Noah was up before the dawn, and if he had been able he would have sped the sun along on its painfully slow trajectory. He twitched with anticipation as he held himself back from loudly waking the camp. They had a couple weeks of travel ahead of them, best to start it out on the right foot. He distracted himself by pulling up his stat sheet.

  Status

  Name: Noah Denter

  Race: Human

  Grade: C

  Domain: Proximal

  Caste: Copper

  Gate: 3

  Path: Adept

  Level: 251

  Strength: 1324

  Dexterity:1324

  Constitution: 596

  Intelligence:11

  Wisdom: 13

  Willpower: 14

  XP: 8,000/10,000

  Essence: 0/10,000,000

  Stat points available: 156

  His stats had skyrocketed over the last few months, and it was evident in the way he felt and moved. Even though it was less obvious in battle due to the ridiculous foes he had been set against, it was all too apparent in his day-to-day life. He had to be careful not to squeeze someone too hard when embracing, or get too excited in a sparring match. Even his solid metal hammer had begun to feel flimsy in light of his abilities. That was yet another downfall to their nomadic nature as a tribe. They had no infrastructure to produce weapons or armor, and were forced to rely solely on their bodies to prevail in battle. That might be all fine and good for a natural predator whose claws and teeth were forged into the finest weapons with each advancement, but the same could not be said for them. Then there was the matter of his own constitution. While he had jokingly soured at the growing disparity between his physical stats, he could now feel the ramifications of that difference. When he struck with all his strength, he could feel the wear and tear on his body. It wasn’t to the point of being a real concern but if the trend continued he was unsure what he would do about it.

  He hadn’t assigned his most recently gained stat points due to another concern, one that was frankly much more disturbing to consider than the previous. Learning that his lacking constitution was becoming a limiting factor for his other stats raised a question that he dreaded learning the answer to. What impact did his other stats truly have? Were they just as limiting as constitution but in a way he didn’t understand? He had readily dismissed what he considered to be the ‘magic stats’ as Julie had described them because he didn’t want to use magic. Or at least he hadn’t at the time. But what if the stats actually did what their names implied? Was he stuck at a baseline intelligence, rendering him a complete idiot in the scope of the greater world? Or what about wisdom? Was his ability to make sound decisions hampered? Willpower was the one that ruined his other ideas. He didn’t feel like he lacked will, in fact, he had never felt so driven and determined as he did now. But perhaps there was more to it than he realized. He somehow doubted that he would be able to recognize a lack of wisdom on his own, especially if he also lacked intelligence.

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  He had been taught that intelligence was much like strength, making up the raw force or ability of one’s mind. Wisdom was essentially the ability to use that strength efficiently and effectively. And willpower was how long you could keep yourself in the fight. On Earth, he had regularly considered this idea, and would often approach coding with those factors in mind. When he was stuck he would ask himself questions reflecting each of those facets. If it was an intelligence issue, he would dive into the forums seeking out answers that were out of his reach. If it was a wisdom dilemma he would seek a more senior engineer, looking to view the way they applied their knowledge or hear their thoughts on the matter. Unfortunately, it often came down to willpower, meaning he had the right knowledge and perspective but simply needed time to flush out the final solution.

  As the gears in Noah’s mind turned, a wave of inspiration began to flood his system. His eyes widened and he shot to his feet. Of course! He had been looking at it all wrong, seeing an incomplete picture. In his job, he rarely thought of the other side of his projects, the hardware to his software. He wasn’t an integration engineer after all. That was his failing though. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. He shook his head in wonder and disappointment. The physical stats were no more than the hardware of his being, and the ‘magical’ stats were the software. As inspired as he was in that moment of realization, he didn’t miss the consequences of his choices. The best hardware was ultimately useless without the right software behind it. He chuckled as he remembered the time a coworker had installed the wrong OS on his beast of a custom computer. It had the highest tier of GPU available on the market, glorious amounts of memory, and was toted as near-limitless computing power. But when he fired it up, it didn’t make it past the initial loading screen.

  Noah sighed in defeat, deflating in the wake of the high he felt from his revelation. If his ideas were right, and he felt they were, then he was completely and totally screwed. He was already seeing the hard limits of his hardware, his constitution acting much like the cooling systems of any good computer. His body was starting to ‘overheat’ in high output moments and he had no way to fix it. He could theoretically stop leveling, halting the disparity in its place while he searched for the greater solution. He nodded to himself, the knot of tension loosing as he remembered that he could stop further progress. Another thought struck him then. If you only get two primary stats how does everyone else in the universe manage this? There was no way he was the only one with this issue, meaning there was a solution out there just waiting to be discovered.

  Noah straightened his back and took a deep, cleansing breath. It wasn’t too late. He had learned about essence from the System, perhaps he could discover the answer to this dilemma as well. With that piece of hope in his grasp, he allowed himself to return to the present, to his nearly assembled tribe. His newfound fears became muted as thoughts of Julie and Kyle returned to his mind. He would figure the rest out in due time, for now, there was work to be done.

  Noah met with Ne’Ja who assured him of their readiness before he addressed everyone gathered. They already knew the task ahead, but it never hurt to have a united vision in these moments.

  “For the next couple of weeks we will be traveling back toward the rest of the tribe. There will be minimal stops or opportunities for rest, so pace yourselves accordingly. Keep your weapons within reach. We may very well pass groups of the fallen king’s army and need to be ready.” He announced, his voice carrying across the crowd. There was a sharp intake of breath as they considered the possibility of a repeat fight. He somewhat doubted that they would encounter a group large enough to pose a real threat, but it never hurt to be prepared. With that, he gave the signal and the now smaller tribe began their return journey nearly two months after leaving their companions behind. The days passed quickly as they ran, opting to skirt around the city just in case, and otherwise enjoying the empty rolling plains. They encountered very little resistance as they went, finding the landscape empty except for the occasional small group of weaker beasts that steered clear for the most part. Soon enough the first two weeks had passed and they found themselves in familiar territory. As they crested a final hill, the sight of their nomadic village came into view. Noah smiled, already able to see the milling figures of his people in the distance. They had made it through the time apart. In the corner of his eye, he saw movement and turned to make it out. A small party of deer moved across the plains, heading in the direction of the camp. He squinted at them, looking for any familiar features. His smile grew as he saw what he was looking for.

  Jeline.