<Alex, Real - Endure, High School Gym Showers>

Alex finally, finally felt clean.

His belly was full, and he was simply enjoying a slow trickle of magically created, cleaned, and heated water, a feature that Kaylee had happily added, given its negligible cost and the fact that hygiene was so important with so many people about.

Regardless, it was time. "Accept level ups."

Alex sucked in a gasp as a tremendous number of stat points washed through him, feeling like they were tearing him down to rebuild him anew. As every time before, he did experience the pain, but at some level he realized that it really should hurt a lot more than it actually did.

Gaining four epic levels of stats all at once was quite the haul. Moreover, it was the first time he'd leveled his new epic race, and that, along with his epic class, left him much more powerful, as well as with a full thirty-eight free stat points.

He did some quick math, fiddling around with the numbers and trying to get to some clean results.

Hah, clean results… because I'm in the shower.

With about a third of his points, he could even things up nicely. That would leave Mental Fortitude both still uneven, and the lowest of his stats, prompting a far larger investment of nine points. Well… Mental Power had actually been lower, so that got ten points, bringing both up to 121.

Now, frustratingly, that left him with seven free stat points remaining. He quite liked his fast reaction build, and his greatest limitation at the moment was his mana recovery rate… That actually made the place for investing rather easy, and he put the last of his points into Magical Agility, increasing that by eight instead of the original one he'd allocated.

He confirmed the choices and grit his teeth again, letting the power wash though him even as he pulled up his status sheet for the first time in what felt like ages.

Character Sheet: Alex Johnson Life-Aspected Human (Epic), E, Level 9 Class: Life-Aspected Great-Bladesman (Epic), E, Level 9 Class 2: NA HP: 5280 → 9299/9299 [9396] SP: 3960 → 5290/8275 MP: 1980 → 1397/3300

Titles: Reactive Resilience System Initiate

Physical Stats: Power: 88 → 143 Agility: 132 → 210 Fortitude: 132 → 210

Mental Stats: Power: 66 → 121 Agility: 132 → 210 Fortitude: 67.1 → 121

Magical Stats: Power: 99 → 165 Agility: 89.1 → 150.7 Fortitude: 90.2 → 154

The first thing he noticed was that he'd already been able to recover a few points of Life in the few hours since he'd repaired Natasha's spear. Hopefully, that would recover even faster now that he'd leveled. Well, that and the ring that should double his regeneration in another twenty hours or so.

Beyond that, most of his resource pools had nearly doubled.

Man, Epic and E tier are no joke. No wonder the others were doing so well, and they were just leveling in E tier with common or uncommon. It was a nice confirmation of his choice, regardless of his leveling speed being a ninth of those with uncommon classes, and a twenty-seventh of the rate of their common race leveling.

Moreover, he felt amazing, even though he'd been near to falling asleep on his feet before. As it turned out, his increased stamina pool came with a commiserate increase in the resource itself. He'd explicitly noticed that with health and mana before, but it was nice to have it confirmed for stamina as well. Given his pool had more than doubled, he still had well more than half his stamina remaining.

…I should still probably sleep soon.

He didn't know why this increase hadn't sparked a stat increase due to 'training', but if he had to guess, the rules might be different for E tier? The System hadn't said so, but Alex was learning that the System didn't seem to care if he misinterpreted what it conveyed.

As he moved toward a quiet corner to sleep, he was both happy and confused by his ease of movement. His Physical Power had rocketed up, but he didn't feel like he was in danger of shooting off the ground. He knew part of it was due to his increased Physical Fortitude making him denser, but that would only be a bit of it. His Mental Stats had experienced a similar increase, did that explain it?

To test the theory, he purposely tried to put a lot of power into a vertical leap… ending with his head hitting the drop ceiling of the hallway, hard.

He came down with a quiet exclamation, a few ceiling tiles falling around him.

Shaking his head to clear it, Alex glanced both ways down the short hall, blessedly finding no witnesses to his error.

Alright, so I have more Physical Power, but I am naturally not utilizing most of it? That made as much sense as anything, he supposed.

Regardless, he was tired, so he continued his trek toward a place to sleep. Despite his growing weariness, however, he remembered the clear boxes… and the rest of the stuff in his storage.

He groaned and turned his steps to the storage room to drop off the food, or at least most of it. He kept one of each flavor for testing, knowing that he could grab more of those he enjoyed after trying them.

He hoped he'd never need it, but the way things were going, there was no way he'd be without some sort of food.

I really do need to use my Create Rations spell… He chuckled at that. I mean for more than ruining the footing of my enemies. He chuckled again, shaking his head as he turned back toward a place to sleep.

As he did so, he pulled out his clear box, the one that he'd received most recently.

Less than ten seconds later, an annoying buzzing rang out, causing him to jerk slightly and glower at the box. "Is this even worth it?"

He didn't really mean it. He was tired, and he knew that even if the item inside was worthless, it would be a good thing to work on.

Still, when he looked closer, he found that the item inside was something that looked like a set of three rings, linked by something like a complex netting. If he had to guess, he'd say it was for the first two fingers and a thumb of one hand.

That didn't tell him what it was for, not even close, but it was interesting.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

He sighed, putting his hand back over the mana intake opening and buzz.

He grimaced, rubbing at one temple.

That was going to be frustrating.

…Still… He'd gotten further that time…

He didn't really register sitting down, putting more focus toward the cube in his hands.

This shouldn't be that hard, and he could sleep afterward.

Bzzt.

Time passed as he tried over and over again. Each time he was on his 'last attempt' before he slept, he seemed to get farther than ever before.

At least one meal bell rang while he was so engrossed, but he didn't feel particularly hungry so he continued to focus.

Finally, finally after the System only knew how many attempts. Someone shook his shoulder, jarring him from his near-fugue state and causing another BZZT.

"Gah!" Alex jerked, looking up blearily at Natasha. "What?

"Is this where you have been?"

"What? Yes? What are you talking about?" He looked down and saw that she was carrying two plates. His stomach gurgled loudly. "Is that for me?"

Natasha sighed. "Yes. You missed afternoon meal entirely, and this is the last of the day, so I thought it worth hunting you down."

He frowned. "What? It can't be that late." He looked around, finding that the room he was in had grown dark. "Oh…"

Natasha chuckled. "Any progress? With the boxes, I mean."

Alex grimaced, opening his mouth to say 'no', but he hesitated. "Actually…"

He focused on his Basic Mana Manipulation skill, and while it hadn't changed—nor had the rarity of his competency advanced—he felt something.

"You know? I think I'm close to a breakthrough on my skill. I was focusing mostly on the box, as I would have a tough puzzle before the System. I think if I'd been leaning on the skill instead, I might have progressed more…" He narrowed his eyes. "One sec, let me—"

Natasha sighed, grabbing his arm. "Come on."

"Huh? Hey! Wait, I just want to try—"

"Yeah, yeah. You have an idea that will likely solve all the current issues."

"Well, it's not that great, but it will—"

"After you eat." She drew him out into the hallway and took a bench that was off to one side.

There were some people wandering about for various reasons, but Alex didn't pay them much mind. Instead, as he sat, his gaze locked onto the food that Natasha shoved before him yet again, his stomach growling once more.

"Eat, silly man. Your idea can wait until you have a full belly."

Alex almost protested, but then he saw the still-warm meat bun, the savory scent of the filling just barely coming through the heady smell of well-baked bread.

He groaned slightly and set to with a vengeance, his body almost seeming to take over under the influence of his long-suppressed hunger. He finished all too soon, and pulled a bowl from his Inventory before opening one of the 'camping' meals. He didn't bother reading the name, even if he did read the instructions, getting ready to add the exact right amount of water by regulating the amount of mana he gave his Create Water spell.

He hesitated a moment, frowning. Wait…

The instructions called for hot water. His spell had always created room temperature water, and that tickled at the back of his mind. The temperature of the rooms he'd been in hadn't been the same, but it had always matched regardless.

Because I expected the water I 'found' to match where I was. But is that required?

He pulled up the description, and it did say that it would match the ambient temperature… but something about that didn't really match.

He looked at the spellform in his mind, the form his magic took whenever he cast the spell, and found that he had a sense of what it did. He couldn't point to specific parts and be absolutely sure what it did, but he thought he understood some of it.

His understanding was helped by the fact that a part clearly was checking the area around the casting. With a shrug, he pulled out a second bowl and cast Create Water into it, using his Basic Mana Manipulation to prevent the 'sensory' portion of the spell from acting.

With that blocked, the tailend of the spell didn't seem to have anywhere to attach, and his eyes widened as it began to whip around, clearly building toward some sort of disaster.

With a yelp, he did his best to seize the end. It was like trying to grab a buttered noodle off the floor, but he was able to manage it… barely.

Feeling a continued move toward disaster, he took that end and connected it where the other end was, seemingly his own mana supply.

There was a shudder through the complex, marginally understood working, and then it shifted and calmed down.

He put power into only the side he was used to empowering, and a bit of water came to be.

He tried again, this time putting power into both sides. On the new side, there were two paths, one up and one down. With a mental shrug, he put power into the downward path.

After spending nearly three times the mana on that side as the 'creation' side, a single ice cube plopped into the water already there.

"What are you doing?"

Alex jumped, sloshing himself with water and almost spilling the noodles and powder in the other bowl. "Wet socks! You startled me, Natasha."

She gave a half smile. "Forgot I was here?"

He grimaced, then responded in a small voice. "...Yeah…"

She shook her head. "So? You finished your food, are you going to prepare that second helping? Or are you just messing around?"

"I'm trying. I just realized that I should be able to create water of different temperatures, at least in theory."

She arched an eyebrow, then looked to the ice cube that was already melting in the bowl of other water. "In theory, eh?"

"Yeah, well, it was a theory. I just proved it."

"So, cold food?"

"No." He grinned. "Hot."

He cast the spell again, this time putting the second stream of power into the upward track, estimating the amount of power he needed to reach boiling. To his surprise, he quickly hit a cap on how much he could put in on that side, the spell not accepting any more. With a shrug, he made sure he was making the right amount based on the mana put into the 'creation' side, and oriented it on the bowl with his food.

The water came into being, right on the edge of boiling, steam rising from the surface even as it flowed around the ingredients within.

Alex grinned at the success and at the notification he gained.

Spell Upgraded: Create Water (Common) → Create Water (Uncommon)

Create Water (Uncommon) Spend Mana to create water. Create 1 cup of clean spring water. More mana can be used to alter the temperature of the created water away from the ambient temperature.

He almost laughed. It was exactly what he'd been hoping for. The specific statement of the cost was gone, but that just made sense. Now, he could create water that didn't match the air temperature around him, it just would cost more mana.

I could create my own shower with this, no matter where I was. That was exciting.

The whole thing also demonstrated that gaining greater utility from spells wasn't simply about using them as they were in different ways. He needed to consider changes… and then be able to enact them. In that same vein, he realized that the spell didn't have to be structured as it had been. It could have simply had the one input and matched temperature like this form did if he put nothing into the other side.

It had been structured this way to help the user learn. Are any of my other spells like that?

The Detect spells came to mind, and their sheer complexity caused him to grimace. If Create Water had been a word-search for preschoolers, the Detect spells were made for medical students. It would be a while before he could work with those.

I'll need to up my mana manipulation and understanding of the symbols. It had been his understanding from reading the symbology book that had allowed him to recognize as much as he had in the Create Water spellform.

Natasha cleared her throat again, causing Alex to blink and shake his head before he looked her way.

She sighed. "I'll leave you to it. You've eaten, and you have more food ready." She met his gaze. "Eat that. Then, experiment and sleep. I'm not your mother or your wife. You're an adult. Take care of yourself, and you'll do better. We need you, Alex. Please don't forget that."

She smiled, clapped him on the shoulder and departed.

Alex sighed, looking back down at the two bowls before him.

He tossed the water from the one before returning it to his Inventory, then started mixing the other with a fork he withdrew.

He forced himself to stay focused until he had licked the bowl clean. He summoned a bit more water and cleaned out the bowl before dumping it out in a sink in one of the side rooms, and returning that to his Inventory as well.

That done, he stretched, twisting this way and that provoking several series of cracks down his back and from various joints.

It was getting late, but he had time for one or two more tries before he slept.

Yeah. I've got time.

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