My chest rose and fell at a frantic pace. My lungs burned as I tried to catch my breath.
The ground around me was covered with the twisted bodies of Dark Spiders. The fight was intense, but in the end, I survived.
However, it hadn't been a complete triumph. My little skeleton had been defeated because he didn't have his knife to protect himself. He was just a summon. I could call another one as soon as I recovered. But even knowing that, I couldn't shake the strange feeling of seeing him reduced to nothing after he saved me.
I shook my head. I couldn't dwell on it... I was in the middle of a dungeon.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at the notifications that had been sitting in the corner until now. I had managed to gather 100 Soul Fragments, adding up the gains from killing eight Dark Spiders while my little skeleton killed two.
Since the beginning of this mess, I had been so focused on surviving that I hadn't stopped to think about these fragments.
I knew I was earning them instead of experience points every time I killed a creature, but... what exactly were they for? If these fragments were just experience points in disguise, I should have leveled up throughout the battle. But I remained at the same level. It didn't make sense.
The doubt bothered me, so I did what anyone would do: I went to my inventory and tapped on the description of the fragments.
+
[Item Details!]
Item Name: Soul Fragments
Description: Condensed essence of defeated creatures. Can be used to strengthen physical attributes, evolve summons, or be converted into experience.
Type: Consumable.
Quantity: 100.
+
"So that's why I wasn't gaining experience points directly?"
The system gave me control over how to progress. I could spend these fragments to increase my attributes directly, without having to level up, or I could convert them into experience.
However, the decision was not as simple as it seemed.
If I used the fragments to increase my attributes, for every ten fragments I could increase one attribute point. That meant I could become much stronger instantly. However, if I converted everything into experience, I could level up, gain attributes, and unlock new options within the system, such as class evolutions or other benefits. Unlocking things as you level up was classic in any RPG.
In addition, although I had already noticed that my system was a little different from the protagonist Hunter Ruse's system, there would probably be similarities, and that included a shop in the next levels.
"So, I can choose to level up and gain a few attributes, or gain a lot of attributes now and not level up... That's what it means to progress with freedom," I muttered to myself.
In addition, there was another detail: the fragments could also be used to evolve my summons. This meant that, in theory, I could strengthen my little skeletons by increasing their endurance, strength, speed, or perhaps even granting them new unique abilities as they leveled up.
What the hell was the smartest way to use the few fragments I had now?
"Right... let's think calmly."
If I invested everything in my attributes, I could become faster, stronger, and more resilient right now to face this dungeon. That would make it easier for me to survive while I was here and beyond.
In the end, there was no single answer. It all depended on how I wanted to play this "game."
And one thing was certain: I needed power now.
"All right..." I opened my attributes window.
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[Attribute Window]
Attribute | Value
Spirit: 0/10
Control: 1
Strength: 5
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 4
Charisma: 4
Constitution: 5
Wisdom: 5
Dexterity: 5
Perception: 2
+
"... Pretty mediocre stats."
These values explained why I felt so weak all the time even when dealing with only Rank F monsters. None of these numbers gave me the confidence to face anything bigger.
It was clear that I needed to use at least half of my Soul Fragments to improve my attributes. So that's exactly what I did.
[50 Soul Fragments were invested in Player Attributes.]
[Strength 5 -> Strength 7.]
[Speed 4 -> Speed 5.]
[Intelligence 5 -> Intelligence 7.]
[Thanks to the increase in Intelligence, your Spirit Attribute has also risen.]
Immediately, I felt a difference in my muscles and mind. Everything seemed clearer to me. However, I couldn't tell if such a small change in attributes had made a big difference or if I was experiencing a placebo effect.
Now, I had 50 Soul Fragments left. So, I converted everything into experience.
[50 Soul Fragments have been converted into 500 Experience Points (EXP).]
[Congratulations! You have risen to level 2!]
[Your HP has been completely restored.]
[Your Spirit has been completely restored.]
I chuckled softly, satisfied with my decision. I figured that leveling up might reset my stats, just like it did with Hunter Ruse, but there was no way to know for sure until I tried it. Luckily, I was right.
Fortunately, leveling up increased the same amount I invested in Attributes.
[Strength 7 -> Strength 8.]
[Control 1 -> Control 2.]
[Perception 2 -> Perception 4.]
[Speed 5 -> Speed 6.]
Overall, it was worth it to distribute evenly between two features. If I had invested only in Attributes, I wouldn't have had my stats reset. If I had invested everything in Level, the amount of EXP gained would not have been enough to reach Level 3, and I wouldn't have as many attributes as I had now.
In the end, I was much stronger anyway. So I stretched out my two hands forward, and since my stats had been reset, I had mana again, so I used [Summon].
Two magic circles glowed in front of me, forming two swirls of spectral smoke. In an instant, two small skeletons stood before me.
The first one wielded a knife of the same type as the one I held in my left hand.
The other one had empty hands.
I was a little relieved, because if one of them had empty hands, it meant that my first summon wasn't permanently dead.
I crouched in front of the skeleton without the knife. "Sorry for thinking you were useless at first," I muttered, running my hand over the smooth surface of his skull.
What happened next was unexpected: the cheekbones of this little skeleton turned reddish. My eyes widened. Was it a blush? If so, that meant these little ones had at least some level of intelligence.
"Here, take your knife back," I said to him.
I held out the weapon, and he took it carefully and bowed his head slightly in respect to me.
I stood up and wiped the sweat from my forehead. There was no more time to waste on this first floor. However, I looked at the corpses of the Dark Spiders and realized that none of them had dropped anything.
"That can only mean we're going to have to get our hands dirty."
I pointed to the bodies scattered on the floor.
"You guys help me look for something useful. Rip, pull, break if you have to. There must be something on these bodies we can use."
Inside the Tower of Babel, every resource had potential value—whether monetary or for survival. I had learned this while accompanying Hunter Ruse on his journey, so I knew how even the strangest resources could be useful, and I didn't intend to waste that knowledge.