BXBX NOVEL Chapter 38: Only Way Out
And as the system had chimed in earlier, it might just be enough for him to resolve whatever trouble he was currently facing.
Now he knew he wasn\'t helpless and actually had a plan.
"Yes!" Nolan exclaimed excitedly, which was noticed by Wiro, who looked on in surprise.
"How safe is your secret hideout?" Nolan asked, as Wiro\'s eyes flashed.
"No one except me has been here before, and you won\'t find any students this far outside in the woods."
"It would have been 100% safe if not for you..." Wiro said with certainty, and Nolan\'s eyes flashed.
"Perfect. This should at least give me a few days."
Of course, Nolan knew he couldn\'t return to his dorm room. The enemies knew the location, and therefore, it was no longer safe
. Nowhere in the academy was safe for him, as he had no idea what powers those Shadow Ones possessed.
He might get himself shot in the back unexpectedly, and the academy wouldn\'t give a damn.
For now, he needed to hide away, and what better way to do so than in a secret hideout far away from the academy and deep within the woods, which no one else happened to know about? It was a perfect spot.
"You know, you can\'t hide forever, though. Sooner or later, they will still track you down."
"The Dark Descendants always have unthinkable powers in their pockets..." Wiro warned as Nolan\'s eyes flashed.
"I don\'t plan on hiding forever. A week is at most all I need..."
"Hmph," a loud snort broke out from Wiro as his pitch-black eyes looked at Nolan incredulously.
The boy beside him had been the academy\'s trash for close to three years now and couldn\'t do a damn thing.
And now, he was claiming to be able to take care of Quinn and his entire cult in at most a week?
Who was he fooling?
Nolan could also see the expression of disbelief, but he didn\'t offer to explain at all. No matter how he said it, it would only seem like the ramblings of a madman.
Looking up at the sky, they could see it was starting to gain the shade of early morning, and Nolan could guess it should be around 3 or 4 AM right now.
"I\'ll be leaving for class tomorrow. So I need my nap," Wiro said as he flung the can away into the woods before rising up and entering back into the cottage.
Nolan remained sitting throughout, silently conversing with the system.
"How do I begin the trial?" he asked.
"Calm down. You can start after the fat bully leaves for his class."
"But for now, you can try leveling up and improving your strength as much as you can with the rewards you gained from completing the previous quest," the system said to him as Nolan\'s eyes flashed.
"System Interface," he thought, and quickly the panel appeared before him.
"Congratulations on your successful survival."
"Host has been rewarded with +1 level-up card and 300 EXP."
[System Interface]
[Name:Nolan Gottschald]
[Level:8]
[Age:16]
[Class:??]
[EXP: 1000/1000]
[Does the host wish to level up?]
"Yes."
[Congratulations, host has leveled up to Level 9!]
[+10 Attribute Points obtained.]
[Level-up card remaining: 1.]
[Does the host wishes to use level up card?]
"Yes."
[Congratulations, host has leveled up to Level 10!]
[+15 Attribute Points have been obtained.]
[Total Attribute Points: 25.]
"Oh, the attributes increased to 15!?" Nolan quickly noticed.
[Yes. It increases after every 10 levels.]
"Oh, that\'s great!" Nolan thought to himself. Now he would have an extra 5 attribute points with every future level-up.
It seemed like nothing, but if he kept amassing them, soon they would become a pivotal reason for his wild increase in strength.
[Attributes]
[Strength: 30]
[Agility: 25]
[Perception: 25]
[Intelligence: 20]
[Charm: 4]
[Attribute Points: 25]
"I wish I knew a thing or two about the trial, so I could at least understand what areas I should focus on..." Nolan mused to himself, but the system remained silent.
[I too have no idea either. None have ever taken the test before, and you\'ll be the first. It\'s hard to prepare for such a thing," it responded to him, and Nolan finally made his choice.
"Add 5 points to Agility, 5 points to Perception, 10 points to Intelligence, and the rest to Strength," he called out.
"Congratulations, points have been successfully added."
Immediately, Nolan halted into a pause, shutting his eyes close as veins wriggled all over his neck and face, but soon cleared up after 30 seconds.
[Attributes]
[Strength: 35]
[Agility: 30]
[Perception: 30]
[Intelligence: 30]
[Charm: 4]
[Attribute Points: 0]
"Now all of my stats are balanced, with Strength taking the lead."
[Why are you ignoring the charm?] the system suddenly asked, something it had noticed that Nolan didn\'t view with as much priority as his other stats.
"Why would I want to be more charming? So I can invoke the jealousy of some bullies and make them smash my face in?" Nolan asked.
"Besides, no matter how beautiful I get, none would still look at me and find me appealing."
"I\'m still very weak, which is something I think is the criteria for anything else in this place."
"Upgrading charm would only lead to even more mockery and a waste of stat points for me."
"Besides, aren\'t I already handsome?" Nolan explained lengthily. And truly he was right. The current Nolan had a face that was crafted by perfection itself.
It just doesn\'t get noticed due to the his bad reputation that preceedes him.
"I guess so. But the charm stat is more than just beauty."
"What do you mean?"
"I will tell you about it once you grow strong enough so that others don\'t call you trash at first glance. Then you will see how important the charm stat truly is..."