Chapter 2: Chapter-2 Wonders of Stats and Skills

The screen shimmered into existence, glowing with a soft, ethereal light. Jonathan's heart raced again, but this time with exhilaration rather than fear. The interface was sleek and elegant, reminiscent of the coding programs he had once used, but infused with a fantastical flair. It felt surreal, as if he were staring into a portal that revealed the essence of his new self.

[Main Menu Screen]

-[Status]

-[Stats]

-[Traits]

-[Skills]

-[Inventory]

Gilbert began reading the information window labeled Main Menu Screen. Once again, it confirmed that he was not on Earth. As an avid user of computers and games, he could easily discern the meanings of the words displayed before him.

He guessed that he was not the only user of this screen, as it didn't appear when he called out to the system. What did that imply? Well, if he had a unique system, it should have a name, but there was no such indication on his screen.

He recognized that he was thinking a bit too far ahead, but there was nothing wrong with that. It wasn't paranoia; it was just his old habit of overthinking. Most of the time, this tendency led him astray.

One could consider it both a good and bad habit. Most of his thoughts were useless, and only occasionally did they provide help at crucial moments.

Following that logic, he could piece together a few things here and there. After shaking his head to clear his mind, he focused on the screen once more. Four different words were listed one by one, going downwards.

After reading all their names, he concentrated on the first one: Status. He contemplated opening the status, and just like that, the screen changed and expanded slightly. The old text vanished, and new information appeared.

[Name: Michael Morgan]

[Age: 10]

[Race: Human]

[Class: None]

[Level: 1]

[Exp: 0%]

''Michael Morgan. Morgan? Really? That's a cool family name. So, from now on, my name is Michael. I must say, it truly is a nice name.''

He would have been pleased if his name had been Gilbert in this life too. That would have been a nice coincidence. First and foremost, he had no idea how he had ended up in this body. Was there some force behind all this? He had no clue, for now, that is.

His family name was Morgan. He wondered what kind of family it was. Was it really a noble family, or was everyone just as rich as he was, judging by his surroundings? He wasn't foolish enough to believe that his family was just mediocre.

But he wasn't 100% sure if that was true. Maybe that's just how normal families lived in this place.

''Huh.''

He scoffed at that thought. Who was he kidding? Nobody would buy that kind of nonsense if he were back in his old world.

He continued reading, and one other thing made him sigh with relief: he was a human, not some mixed-blood fiend or whatever. Once again, he was thinking a bit too much. His tendency to overthink was present in this life too. He continued reading,

''No class, I see. I wonder what kind of classes exist in this world. I will have to learn about this world as soon as possible, and about this body too.''

He had no class, and his level was 1. Right below it was his experience bar, which was obviously an experience bar to reach the next level.

There was no exact number to explain how much experience he needed to level up, but one thing was certain: he was going to do a lot of things to level up. At least, that's what his instincts were telling him.

He looked at the screen for a while and considered going back to the main menu, and exactly that happened, which left him in awe at such advanced technology.

There was no such technology in his old world where one could control tech with just one's mind. A few experiments were being conducted, and there was news that Elon Musk had managed to implant a chip into a human brain.

According to the article he had read, start-up Neuralink announced the successful implantation of a device in a human for the first time. That human was able to control a mouse using his thoughts.

But it was far from what he was currently observing.

He looked at the second function stats and considered opening it. Just like before, the magic revealed its wonder, and the screen changed once again, displaying his stats, or so-called attributes.

[Strength: Physical power, Physical Damage, Health, Stamina]

-[STR: 5]

[Agility: Movement Speed, Attack Speed, Dodging & Evasion Speed ]

-[AGT: 6]

[Dexterity: Hand Movement, Attack Accuracy]

-[DXT: 13]

[Vitality: Health Points, Regeneration, Resistance to Physical Damage, Stamina]

-[VIT: 5]

[Endurance: Health Points, Stamina, Damage Resistance]

-[END: 5]

[Intelligence: Mana points, Skill Mastery, Learning Speed, Mana Regeneration Speed]

-[INT: 50]

[Willpower: Resistance to Mental effects, Stamina, Focus]

-[WIP: 25]

[Charisma: Charm, Diplomacy, Leadership]

-[CHR: 8]

[Luck: Critical Rates, Success Rates]

-[LUK: 7]

As he absorbed the information, Gilbert or now Michael felt a mix of excitement and disbelief. The explanation of the attributes was somewhat vague, but he managed to grasp the full meaning behind these words.

''Wow. They are pretty low.''

Most of his stats had low numbers, but he couldn't help but feel a spark of potential when looking over DXT, INT, and WIP. His Dexterity was above ten points, which made sense given his background.

His willpower was quite high, indicating he had a robust mind and focus. The most outstanding was his Intelligence, which stood at 50 points—almost four times higher than Dexterity. He could only attribute this to his adult mind.

''Intelligence can increase mana. So, it really is a magical world. Does that mean I can become a Magic User? A Mage? It would be wonderful if I could cast spells using magic power. I wonder if I have mana at all.''

He hadn't seen any section that showed his mana. He wondered if he even had mana in the first place. He didn't know how his stats compared to others his age. He would have to find out sooner or later.

After reviewing all the stats a few more times, he returned to the main screen and considered opening the trait section. The screen changed once again, revealing all his traits.

[Traits]

[Calm Thinking: Helps to think calmly, Analyze problems, Rational Judgement]

-[Bonus: Intelligent +5]

[Quick Learning: Helps to learn at a fast rate, Fast Skill Level-up]

-[Bonus: Intelligent +5]

[Enhanced Memory: Helps in the retention of Knowledge and clarity of Past Events]

-[Bonus: Intelligent +10]

The traits listed were intriguing; he had always been adept with gadgets and machines, and now he possessed a magical understanding that could be developed. There was a bonus that contributed to the increase of his stats.

"Did Calm Thinking help me settle down earlier when my heart was racing? If so, I really like this trait. That explains why a few of my stats are higher than the others. I thought it was because my mind was more mature than my age."

Reflecting on this trait, he realized how quickly he had calmed down earlier. Below it was Quick Learning, which would assist him in absorbing all the information about this world and its geography.

"Enhanced Memory?" he muttered, glancing back at the screen. "Does that mean I can recall things more easily? That could be useful."

After contemplating it a few more times, he returned to the Skill section, located just below the Trait section.

[Skills:]

[Appraisal: Allows to identify and evaluate the properties, and qualities of various things in the world]

-[Passive Skill Level: 1]

[Analyzer: Helps to find the problems and defects and resolve them]

-[Passive Skill Level: 6]

-[Bonus: Dexterity +5, Intelligent +5]

[Tweaking: Helps in the creation, repair, and improvement of various mechanics]

-[Bonus: Dexterity +5]

-[Passive Skill Level: 6]

[Magic Electronics: Helps in the creation and repairment of various magic circuits]

-[Bonus: Intelligent +5]

-[Passive Skill Level: 8]

[Sleep Resistance: Helps in resisting the sleep-inducing spells, Less tired]

-[Bonus: Will Power +5]

[Passive Skill Level: 5]

[Mana Sense: Helps in perceiving and understanding mana in the environment]

-[Bonus: Intelligent +5]

-[Level: 1]

He focused on the skills. The shock was evident on his face as he saw the multitude of skills displayed on the screen. All of the skills were passive, which also boosted his stats just like traits. Unlike traits, skills had the potential to level up.

The first skill was Appraisal, which would help him identify things in this world. He had an idea of how this skill functioned.

"If I'm correct, I'll need to focus on an object and use this skill. Then the information will appear on the screen. Right?"

He decided to test this skill later. The level of this skill was 1, indicating it was at the beginning stage. The skill Analyzer would assist him in identifying the defects of the I-don't-know-what and help him resolve those issues.

"If I were in my previous world, this skill would have been wonderful for building my gadgets. I better use it wisely here."

This skill granted him boosts in both dexterity and intelligence. Next up was Tweaking. The idea of tweaking in a world filled with magic sent a thrill through him. He could merge technology and magic! The possibilities were limitless.

The same applied to Magic Electronics; it elevated his confidence to a new level after he read about the skill. He was now certain that he could create gadgets with the aid of magic.

However, he still had a long way to go before reaching that point. He didn't even know the basics of this world. It was going to be a lengthy journey for him. He was unsure whether it would be dangerous or not; only time would reveal that.

Sleep resistance enabled him to fend off sleep. He was convinced that this skill had come with his death. He had spent countless sleepless nights in his workshop, constantly trying to devise new ideas and build various things.

Lastly, there was the Skill of Mana Sense, which would assist him in understanding the mana or magical energies of this world.

''I suppose I can become a magic user and cast some spells. My level of mana sense is quite low. Perhaps that's typical for a 10-year-old boy in this world, or maybe the previous owner of this body lacked much understanding in this area.''

Michael reviewed his skills a few more times to gain a clearer understanding and then returned to the main menu. He opened the Inventory section, which displayed that it was empty. There was a large box containing 100 smaller boxes inside.

[Inventory: Helps to store non-living things in a separate dimension]

'I guess I can store a hundred items in this box. That would be pretty helpful. I won't have to carry all the stuff on my own this way.'

Michael was glad he had an inventory. He expected to find some items in there, but it was empty. Either this boy never stored anything or he had no idea if this skill existed before he took over.

'I will have to confirm a lot of things regarding this screen. I'd better not expose anything about it until I'm sure others have the same screen or if I'm the only anomaly.'

After checking the last section, he went back to the main screen, but this time it changed to show everything on one screen.

[Name: Michael Morgan]

[Age: 10]

[Race: Human]

[Class: None]

[Level: 1]

[Health Points: 50/50]

[Mana Points: 500/500]

[Exp: 0%]

-[STR: 5]

-[AGT: 6]

-[DXT: 13]

-[VIT: 5]

-[END: 5]

-[INT: 50]

-[WIP: 25]

-[CHR: 8]

-[LUK: 7]

[Traits]

[Skills]

[Inventory]

''My health is full, but… What is wrong with this Mana? Those numbers are enormous. Is that the advantage of high intelligence, or does everyone have the same amount of mana at this age?''

Michael was both amazed and shocked by the staggering mana points displayed on the screen, a new addition to his status screen alongside what was likely his HP. He reviewed his screen once more. After comparing everything, it was time to act on what he had been contemplating for a while now.