CH 16 Potential Man, Class Evolutions, New Spell

Ren had half expected the Talent to reject the attempt immediately. Instead, the stat point vanished, consumed by the Talent.

His eyes widened slightly. He immediately checked his remaining points to confirm what had happened. The number had dropped by one.

That actually worked…! he thought.

The realization caused his pulse to quicken. If the stat point had been accepted, that meant the Talent could indeed be upgraded. However, as the excitement rose, it faded almost as quickly when Ren noticed something strange. There had been no notification. Normally the system reacted instantly whenever something changed. Even the smallest improvement usually triggered some kind of message. Yet the interface remained silent.

Ren frowned slightly while staring at the Talent window.

I’m pretty sure the stat point was consumed, so where is the level up message? he wondered.

He tried again. Another stat point was added to the Talent.

Once again, the stat point disappeared.

But nothing else happened.

There was still no notification and no visible change in the Talent’s description.

Ren leaned forward slightly and stared at the interface as if the system might suddenly decide to reveal something. When nothing happened, confusion slowly appeared on his face.

What the hell…

He experimented again, adding another stat point.

Then another.

Each time the result was identical. The stat point would disappear from his Free Stat pool, yet the Talent window remained exactly the same. No level up indicator, or a message explaining what was happening appeared.

This doesn’t make any sense.

Curiosity began pushing aside the confusion. Since the Stat points were clearly being accepted, there had to be some kind of threshold that triggered the upgrade.

With that thought in mind, Ren continued feeding stat points into the Talent. One after another they disappeared into the ability without producing any visible change. After the fifteenth stat point vanished, Ren finally stopped and stared at the screen with disbelief.

Fifteen points already… and still nothing?

He opened his status panel and checked his remaining resources.

[Free Stats: 117]

At least he still had plenty available. That was reassuring, but it didn’t remove the real problem. The requirement was completely unknown. The Talent might require thirty stat points. It might require ninety-nine. It could even demand several hundred. Without knowing the threshold, blindly investing points could easily leave him without enough resources to upgrade the spells he actually needed later.

Ren rested his chin on his hand while thinking through the situation. Stat points were extremely valuable, and wasting them would slow his growth significantly. On the other hand, this Talent was clearly something special.

For now, I already have several powerful spells. Wind Wrap and Earth Bullet are both fully upgraded, and I’ve already added modifications to them. I also still have three unused levels in Wind Element, which means I can obtain more spells whenever I want.

So while stat points are precious, I can afford to spend a few here. If upgrading this Talent increases the EXP multiplier or unlocks something even better, the long-term benefits would easily outweigh the cost, he thought.

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable the risk seemed. Ren had already invested fifteen points, and stopping now would leave him with nothing but uncertainty. If the Talent truly held hidden potential, discovering it early could change the way he approached his entire build.

After thinking it through, Ren nodded slightly to himself.

Alright. Let’s see where this goes.

He began adding stat points again.

Another one disappeared.

Then another.

The system remained silent.

At first Ren didn’t worry about it. He had expected that Talents might require a significant investment before upgrading. But as the number continued to climb, his expression slowly began to change.

Thirty stat points.

Still nothing.

Ren frowned slightly as he leaned closer to the interface.

You could at least give me some kind of hint, you know? I wouldn’t refuse that.

He continued.

Forty stat points.

Then fifty.

By the time the fiftieth stat point vanished, Ren felt a small bead of sweat form on his temple. Fifty stat points represented an enormous amount of potential power that could have been used elsewhere. The thought that he might be throwing them away made him uncomfortable.

Still, he continued.

Sixty stat points.

Seventy.

The silence from the system began to feel almost mocking. Ren’s eyes remained locked on the Talent window as if he could force it to react through sheer will.

This thing better be worth it, he thought with gritted teeth.

Eighty stat points disappeared.

Then eighty-five.

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Then ninety.

Ren leaned back and rubbed his forehead with his hand. A mixture of frustration and disbelief crossed his face as he stared at the interface.

Ninety stat points, and still nothing. How many more does this thing need?

For a moment he seriously considered stopping. Continuing further felt reckless. He had already invested more points into this Talent than most people would spend upgrading an entire set of abilities.

But the fact that the system kept accepting the stat points meant something had to happen eventually.

Ren exhaled slowly.

One more.

Another stat point disappeared.

Still nothing.

Ren clenched his jaw slightly.

Fine. Just one more.

He added another point.

The Talent window remained unchanged.

This is getting ridiculous.

Ren stared at the screen for several seconds before shaking his head and adding one more stat point.

This was his ninety-ninth stat point. If nothing happed, he would stop. It was the last time. Truly.

The moment it vanished, the system finally reacted.