Notifications of gained XP flashed across his vision as he struck down enemy after enemy. At some point, Noah seems to disregard his natural sight as he found his domain far more capable of keeping up with his omnidirectional carnage. His body was on fire, and every new swing of his hammer strained his will. The initial fiery rage that had come over him upon seeing Zo’Kati's fallen form had faded, and now he found himself in a near empty patch of the battlefield. All around him were the corpses of his enemies, beasts that had chosen the wrong side in this battle. Seeing that he had a moment to himself, he sank to the ground and pulled up his status.

  Status

  Name: Noah Denter

  Race: Human

  Grade: C

  Domain: Proximal

  Caste: Copper

  Gate: 3

  Path: Adept

  Level: 292

  Strength: 1844

  Dexterity:1844

  Constitution: 608

  Intelligence:60

  Wisdom: 160

  Willpower: 85

  XP: 803,000/10,000

  Essence: 0/10,000,000

  Stat points available: 0

  He stared in awe at the amassed XP, and quickly applied it to levels. As suspected, however, it only allowed him to apply eight levels worth, bringing him to level 300. Then, he was awarded the long-overdue System message.

  [Level 292 > level 300.]

  [Expert path choices available. Secondary stat unlocked.]

  Paladin {Contstitution}

  Berserker {Strength}

  Spellsword {Intelligence}

  Noah smiled as he took in the message. Finally, he had reached the threshold. The choices were different than he expected, though, and seemed to carry more weight than prior choices. If he was understanding the System correctly, his choice would determine his secondary stat, likely similar to his choices of primary stats. Before his talk with Jeline, the choice would have been automatic; he would have picked Paladin with a grin and never looked back. Now, however, he knew better. This choice would either serve to further cripple his development or work to fix his imbalances. The question now was which imbalance to focus on. Constitution still had merit in providing a body more capable of using his strength and dexterity. Berseker was immediately thrown out as he was already failing to make full use of his available strength. That left him with a hard decision, though. He knew that the Paladin Path fit him well; if he chose it, he could continue in the same way that he had gone so far. it would allow him to devote his free points into the mental stats, and he would finally see a rise in what he had frequently considered his favorite stat. Be that as it may, he still hesitated as yet another path to magic opened before him. How many times had he wished that he had made a different choice earlier on? How many people could he have saved if he had the capacity to learn just a bit of healing magic? And how many more times like those would occur in the future? The question that hung before him was ultimately whether or not his current path would be enough. He had already faced enemies that couldn't be beaten by a purely physical opponent. Jelene was one such example, and while he hoped it would never come to it, as he was, he doubted he could stand against her in an individual battle.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  There was perhaps another part of him that liked the idea of being more than just a brute as well. The fact that his physical stats would continue to grow scared him, as the imbalance would grow as well. At some point, he would have to stop leveling completely before the last hints of intelligence and wisdom left him. It made him wonder how the rest of the multiverse dealt with this issue. The System had left them in the dark, and as far as he knew, there could very well be a simple solution or method of gaining stats that he was simply ignorant of. Noah sighed, knowing that he didn't have the time to deliberate further. he was tired of feeling out of control and realizing after the fact that his decisions had been blurred by his poor stat distribution. Before he could talk himself out of it, he selected spellsword and awaited the System messages.

  [You have selected: Spellsword.]

  [Congratulations, you have taken the next step on your Path. Non-Spellsword activities will no longer grant XP.]

  [Primary stats: Strength, Dexterity.]

  [Expert path grants +16 primary stats per level. +2* free stats per level.]

  [Secondary stat: Intelligence.]

  [Expert path grants +8 secondary stats per level.]

  With another thought, Noah assigned his remaining XP to levels, securing him another seven levels and a significant boost to his stats. He took a shuddering breath as his mind was assailed by a rush of pressure, feeling much like the first breath of frigid air to warm lungs. He then assigned his accumulated free points, bringing willpower to an even 100 and dumping the remaining into constitution. Then, with a thought, he pulled up the updated pieces of his status.

  Path: Expert [Spellsword]

  Level: 307

  Strength: 2020

  Dexterity:2020

  Constitution: 638

  Intelligence:116

  Wisdom: 160

  Willpower: 100

  XP: 23,000/100,000

  Noah felt oddly pleased with himself as he examined the results of his decision. For the first time in many months, he was certain that he had made the right choice. That thought was momentarily challenged, however, as he realized that he would still have to learn magic. He didn't have the same aversion that he had come into the world with, but his previous choices to distance himself from the arcane left him ignorant of its workings. Thankfully, there were others that would soon be joining them that had kept a more open mind. His musings were interrupted as he caught a glimpse of Recter hurling through the air. He couldn't help but chuckle at the form of his flying friend but moved in his direction all the same.

  Moments later, Noah was engaged in battle once again. He threw himself at the enemy with renewed vigor as the beasts closed in like the tide. Noah seemed to get swept into a timeless flow as his body blurred in constant motion. Around him, what had once been orderly lines of warriors now resembled a stormy sea as chaos overtook the battlefield. Without realizing what was happening, Noah pushed further and further into the horde, leaving a trail of corpses from one side of the field to the other. He was consumed by the frenzy of battle, and the sensation only grew as he delved further into their ranks. Then, he lost all semblance of control and the chaos around him went quiet, all of the noise replaced by a single unwavering desire. Kill them. Like a beast freed from its shackles, he tore into the nearest enemy, who appeared to him as a faceless demon. He didn't hesitate any longer, nor did he consider concepts such as mercy or restraint. His movements became wild, and he once again swung his hammer as if his arms were fresh and he had all the strength in the world.

  ~

  Jelene watched in glee as the human entered the scope of her spell. Every hint of civility vanished as he became every bit the feral beast that the humans loved to distinguish themselves from. She laughed as he bared his teeth at one of her own warriors before slaying them with a single blow. She felt that he resembled a force of nature or perhaps a rabid dog. He effortlessly tore apart the beasts around him, but she could see the telltale signs of strain as blood leaked through the gaps in his armor. It was clear to her that the fool had severely imbalanced himself, and now, without what dregs of self-control he possessed, was tearing himself apart. She continued to watch as the minutes stretched on and the enemy numbers began to dwindle. she wondered just how many of the beasts had been slain by Noah's hand. She had half a mind to kill him now, as he was sure to have gained no small amount of XP from this fight. It was only the ease with which she could control him and the ever-looming threat on the horizon that stayed her hand. As long as he stayed the brute, she would have use for him still.

  That same logic didn't, however, carry to the Warriors that had accompanied him, and she had no qualms watching as orc after orc fell for the final time. There was a handful that refused to die, however, and she decided that in her mercy she would allow them to persist. Those that remained stood in a small group led by the familiar drakon that she had used to control Noah. She felt a shiver of pleasure as she looked out over the battlefield. Without a drop of blood staining her fur, she had decimated the armies of the nearby kingdoms and paved her way to Bronze.