Varocia : From Gamer to Mentor

As the morning passed, the forest is now more alive with vibrant hues and strange animal sounds. Sunlight filters through the tall trees, their branches adorned with mysterious leaves that shimmer like jewels, striking a heavy contrast to ordinary but nurmous green plants that situated on both side of the dirt road.

Their group continued on the journey as Olgan took in all these mysterious beauty of nature while thinking about Edith's newly-gained skill. 

"Judging by the stats bonus you've gained, I would assume that for every 2 HP you lose, your STR, CON, and AGI will recieve a boost of 1 each. While that may seem insignificant at the moment, once your HP increases, those stats will undoubtedly break the balance," Olgan analyzed thoughtfully.

"Break the balance? What an intriguing way to phrase it—I like that!" Edith replied with a bright smile.

For now, he decided to save his unassigned Attribute Points; he still had no clear idea which Class he wanted to pursue.

Being only Level 5, it would likely take some time to reach Level 10, and opportunities to impress a high-level NPC like Lenna were bound to be rare.

Yes, NPC. This world felt so game-like that he found it easier to view them in the perspective of players. Of course, this does not mean he would treat Lenna as merely a character inside a game; that was just a metaphor. They are real, a living person.

"Now, let's test how much your PER, INT, and WIS are decreased when your HP drops below 50%," he proposed.

Edith and Lenna nodded, and without slowing down their journey, Lenna began to chip away at Edith's HP. They had sparred often even before meeting Olgan that these minor pains were barely enough to faze Edith.

"My HP is at 50% now," Edith announced.

Olgan examined her state but noticed no significant change except for the instinctive feeling that she's stronger than before.

"Anything happened yet?" he asked.

"Not yet."

"Alright, keep going. Lenna, please control your strength and only inflict 1% HP damage," he instructed, though such precise control seemed impossible to him.

Olgan, feeling both surprised and unsurprised, saw Lenna nodded at him calmly. With a carefully measured slash, she dealt exactly 1% damage to Edith's health bar.

"My HP is now at 49%... and, um, I lost 3% of PER, INT, and WIS," Edith reported, disbelief evident in her voice. The 3% loss per 1% HP felt substantial.

Olgan mentally calculated the maths. She would lost her sanity entirely at 16.67% HP… No, wait. I remembered that her PER and WIS were both at 75%, which meant her minimum would actually be 25%.

"What are your current percentages for PER, INT, and WIS?" he inquired.

"90%, 110%, and 90% in that order," she replied.

So, her lowest threshold would be 20%... After a moment of thought, he turned to Lenna: "Lenna, use your Class skill to ensure that Edith's HP never drops below 20%.... No. Preferably, keep it above 30% to safeguard against any unexpected factors or if you encounter another loss of skill connection, okay?"

Lenna nodded, fully aware of the dire consequences should she fail to uphold that duty. The fact that Olgan mentioned a preference for 30% made her feel a bit more trust in him, though her vigilance against him never ceased.

Olgan found it ironic that a specialized Class, typically reserved for those of high status like a Princess or Prince Knight, would form a perfect combo with a barbaric and crude Class like Berserker.

"Your Max HP was... uh, 152, correct? How much have your stats increased?" he asked, turning to Edith.

She smiled, her eyes bright: "No, my current Max HP is 176. My current bonuses to those three attributes are 43 each."

43 each... 49% of 176 equal to... UGH! I wish I have a calculator right now! He complained internally. Calculating 49% of 176 was tedious without a calculator, but he pushed through—it was bearable for now.

He nodded and continued: "It appears there might not be any additional bonuses once your HP falls below 50%. Let's continue to chip away at your HP until it drops to 30%,"

They resumed their experiment with the [Rage] skill, concluding there were no extra bonuses at lower HP. Testing her below 30% felt too risky; maintaining sanity was already a struggle for the current Edith at that threshold, so it was better to conclude that there's no additional bonus below 30%.

"Alright, this will put quite a mental burden on both of you, but I need Edith to maintain this 30% HP state for 10 minutes. We'll see how much Skill EXP you can gain. If you feel overwhelmed, please inform Lenna immediately," he instructed.

Edith nodded coldly, her expression was already a raging blank, which made him uneasy again about the negative potential of this skill being used in reality.

Fortunately, ten minutes passed without any incident. Lenna quickly adjusted the connection, ensuring that Edith's HP wouldn't fall below 50%. However, lost HP couldn't be restored by her skill alone, so Lenna feed her a Recovery Potion. As soon as Edith's HP exceeded 50%, her entire sanity returned, and she beamed.

"Hah~, I never realized a Recovery Potion could taste this delicious and refreshing! Gradually losing your sanity is quite unbearable, but the benefits from the skill are worth it," she exclaimed.

Olgan couldn't fathom why she felt so elated about losing her sanity but decided not to question it. Instead, he asked: "How much Skill's EXP did you gain?"

Edith summoned a hologram, her Skill Panel, and glanced at it.

With a grin, she answered, "My [Rage] Skill is now at 18.34% EXP! That's a substantial increase by normal standards, but alas, it's still just a Level 1 Skill. Gaining EXP at higher levels will be much more challenging."

"Only around a 13% increase?" Olgan raised an eyebrow, deep in thought.

After suggesting them to take a brief rest, he suggested they repeat the same experiment, but this time for just one minute.

"It's now at 23.67% EXP," Edith revealed, and Olgan frowned, slipping into a gamer mindset.

I recalled that she started with 5% EXP during her first activation of the [Rage] Skill for just a mere moment. Was there a bonus for the first activation, or was it simply because she had been so enraged, genuinely trying to kill me? He continued to ponder.

5%... 18%... 23%... As his consciousness blurred and his mind overflowed with dancing numbers in a grand ballroom of BGM full of Maths lyrics, suddenly, an idea struck him.

He fixed his gaze on Edith and then at Lenna, as if both of them were rare treasures, sending a shiver down their spine. "Princess Edith, would you like to quickly max out your [Rage] skill?"

Though uncertain about his intentions, she nodded, while Lenna shot a dangerous glance at Olgan.

With a villainous smirk, Olgan proclaimed in a grandious speech, "Allow me the esteemed privilege of guiding you through the majestic realm of game's 'Exploit' and revealing its unparalleled artistry!"