The scent of burnt goblin still clung to the morning air as the group slowly made their way back up to the house. The adrenaline had drained, replaced by a hazy combination of fatigue and reflection. Kia was his usual quiet—at least until the ding hit.

LEVEL UP! You are now Level 5. +6 Stat Points

He blinked. "Wait. What?"

Another message followed.

Kai Rider – Level 5 Due to your Title: You just made it, you will receive +1 per all stats per level until level 5. Level 5, the System has granted you access to a choice of one skill from 6 options instead of the usual two. Note: because of the Title. You just made it. The system will randomly select a second skill.

Another message popped up immediately after:

System Initialisation Update: The Map system is now unlocked

Kai grinned. "Sweet. I levelled up twice. That's gotta be some kind of record, yeah? And apparently, there is a map system now"

Tarni, nursing a scrape on his elbow, gave a scoff. "Mate, I nearly died. Pretty sure I get most improved."

"Actually," Lily said, pointing at Tarni with the corner of a muesli bar, "you got 'most dramatic injury followed by least graceful healing.' You squealed like a possum in a trap."

"Oi," Tarni huffed, "I was very brave."

"You passed out."

"I strategically disconnected."

Zane waved a hand to cut through the banter. "Alright, alright. Kai, what've you got?"

Kai read aloud from the glowing screen hovering in front of him:

Your Skill Choices:

Defensive Stance

– Enter a guarded stance, reducing incoming damage by 25% for 10 seconds.

Targeted Healing

– Heal only targeted body parts for quicker and more effective healing.

Basic Shadow Walk

– Cloak your movements for 30 seconds as long as you are not in direct sunlight and don't move faster than a walk.

Stone Skin

– Temporarily harden your skin like rock, reducing physical damage for 15 seconds.

Deep Think

–

Passive.

Increases mana regeneration by 5%.

Group Heal

– Heal for 75% over an area of effect. Area size scales with Wisdom—¼ meter radius per point.

Create Light

– Summon a small glowing orb that can be attached to anything, illuminating the area.

The moment he said it, the entire group groaned in unison.

"Create Light? Again?" Lily muttered.

Tarni shook his head. "This skill's like a bad penny."

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"I think the System's trying to tell us we're not bright enough," Bell added dryly.

Tarni chuckled and an elbow to Zan's ribs, "Imagine if someone got that one. I mean, who needs light when we've got headlamps and fire? Useless!"

Bell raised a brow. "You're still scared of the dark, aren't you?"

"Don't change the subject."

With a straight face, Zane added, "I'm starting to think it's the best skill I have."

Kai shook his head and focused. "Okay, so… jokes aside, this one's a real choice. I like Targeted Healing. If I'd had it earlier, I think I could've healed Tarni's stab wound the other day properly without using the potion. Like, controlled precision. Less mana wasted."

Zane nodded thoughtfully. "Would make you more reliable. Could keep us going longer."

"Yeah," Kai agreed. "I figure I can patch everyone up better if I'm not just dumping all my juice into the whole body."

"Sounds solid," Tarni said, "but what about Group Heal? That one's not bad either."

"It's actually really good," Lily added. "Especially when we get into fights where multiple people are hurt at once."

"Yeah," Kai said. "I kinda hope the System gives it to me."

He confirmed his selection:

Skill Selected: Targeted Healing – Heal only targeted body parts for quicker and more effective healing.

Ding!

Random Skill Awarded: Group Heal – Heal for 75% over an area of effect. Area size scales with Wisdom—¼ meter radius per point.

The text hovered in his vision, glowing softly.

Kai froze. "Wait. No way."

Zane grimaced, "You got Create Light?"

"I GOT BOTH!"

"Both the healing ones?" Zane asked in excitement

"Yep!"

Lily gave a small cheer, tossing a half-empty water bottle toward him. "Nice work, doc."

Tarni whooped. "Mate! That's huge. You're like a walking hospital now!"

Kai laughed, but his expression was tinged with something else. He rubbed the back of his neck and said more softly, "I just… I didn't want to feel helpless again, you know? When Tarni dropped, I panicked. All I could think was… I should've been faster. More useful."

"You were useful," Zane said, voice firm. "You kept your head. You healed him. We got really lucky with that potion. Now we don't have to rely on luck so much"

The moment hung there, gentle and grounding, until Tarni broke it by clearing his throat dramatically.

"Alright, feelings are nice and all," he said, "but can we talk about the real issue here?"

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What's that?"

He jabbed a thumb toward Kai. "He's now the most useful member of the group. Which makes me, what? Support comedy relief?"

"Always has been," Bell muttered.

"Rude!"

Lily playfully punched Tarni in the shoulder before turning to Kai. "Alright, Healer McHeals-a-lot—what're you going to spend your points on?"

Kai tilted his head in thought. "Well, with the twelve points I got from my title and the six points from the two levels, that's eighteen total. I'm gonna chuck three into Intelligence to bring it up to a clean twenty, and the other three into Wisdom—takes that up to fourteen."

He reached up and tapped at the glowing screen only he could see, confirming the changes. His posture straightened slightly.

"Wow," he said, flexing his fingers. "With all those points at once, I feel fantastic. Shame that's the end of my six bonus points per level, though."

"Exploding Kittens!" Tarni suddenly blurted.

Everyone stared at him.

He waved his arms. "We didn't even think of that! You have pulled ten levels worth of bonus stats ahead of someone without a title."

Bell glanced between Zane and Tarni, brow furrowed. "Us three get bonus points until level five. What level are yours to?"

Tarni grinned and pointed both thumbs at himself. "Us cool kids get extra points till level eight."

Zane shrugged. "Mine goes to level ten."

Tarni dropped his arms and groaned. "Oh, come on! I'm the comic relief and I'm not even in the cool kids' club anymore?"

Everyone just laughed at him. Bell even gave him a sympathetic pat on the back—while trying very hard not to smile.

Zane stood and rolled his shoulders, stretching out the lingering stiffness from the fight. "Right. Breakfast first. After that, I need to talk to you all about this key the Boss dropped. And check out this new map system that popped up."

Bell was already poking at her interface, but she glanced up at him. "Yeah, that's a—"

Ding!

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