[Meditation proficiency +30] [Fireball proficiency +30] [Freezing Spell proficiency +24]
[Meditation Lv11 "130/130"] [Fireball Lv11 "130/130"] [Freezing Spell Lv11 "124/130"]
An Kai had thought he had enough Skill Points, even more than enough.
He had never expected the requirements to increase along with his skills' levels!
Before [Lv11], each level increase required only 10 proficiency points to reach maximum proficiency!
After this increase to [Lv11], the proficiency requirement had tripled!
Reaching maximum proficiency now required 30 points!
That meant 30 Skill Points!
At that moment, An Kai suddenly realized something.
He hurriedly checked...
"Just as I thought!"
With [Intelligence: 111], his spells should have been able to level up again, based on the previous pattern.
Yet now, the familiar sensation that his spells could level up came only from [Freezing Spell] and [Summoning], the two spells that had yet to reach maximum proficiency at [Lv11]!
Just like spell proficiency, before his Attribute Points reached 101, every increase of 10 points had allowed his spells to level up once.
Now that they had reached 101, that effect had disappeared!
A suspicion arose in An Kai's mind. Could it be that his Attribute Points now had to increase by 30 before his spells could level up?
To test that idea, he needed to raise his [Intelligence] to 131.
Reaching 131 [Intelligence] would require 80 Attribute Points!
His [Immortality] talent meant that An Kai could only improve his attributes evenly.
Before [Meditation] leveled up, earning 80 points would have required 80 days of nonstop [Meditation], without sleep or rest!
But after this upgrade...
An Kai took out the [Meditation Staff] and checked. He discovered that the time his [Meditation] needed to earn Attribute Points had finally decreased!
Now, he needed only 23 hours to earn one Attribute Point through [Meditation]. With the [Meditation Staff] in hand, he needed only 22 hours!
It might have been a reduction of only two hours, but to An Kai, it was a glimpse of hope!
He had been stuck needing a full day of [Meditation] to earn one Attribute Point for so long. Now, at last, he had made progress!
And this was only [Lv11] [Meditation]. An Kai believed that as long as he kept leveling it up!
One day, he would be able to earn one Attribute Point in an hour... no! In a minute!
After examining [Meditation], An Kai summoned [Fireball] with a thought!
The [Fireball] did not grow any larger. Instead, its color had deepened a little.
Previously, his [Fireball] had been only pale yellow. It looked enormous, but it did not seem particularly hot.
Now, the [Fireball] had deepened in color, and scorching heat burst from it!
If he had not been inside the Mage Tower, An Kai would have tested its power no matter what!
He dispersed it with a wave and did not go on to test [Freezing Spell], since [Freezing Spell] had yet to reach maximum proficiency at its current level.
He glanced at his food, with a third of it still remaining.
An Kai chose to continue his seclusion.
He had yet to complete the Mage Tower's task, and his own attributes had not reached the requirements for using the [Brute Force Staff].
With [Meditation] freshly upgraded, his enthusiasm was running high.
Holding the [Meditation Staff], he sat on Sally Bukelin's clothes and began another stretch of seclusion...
Three months later.
With the [Brute Force Staff] resting beside him and the slender [Meditation Staff] in his hand, An Kai slowly opened his eyes.
He had finished his final session of [Meditation] before emerging from seclusion!
[Attribute Points +1]
Whew!
An Kai let out a long breath and chose to add the point to his Intelligence!
[Intelligence +1] [Intelligence: 131]
Not only had this stretch of seclusion been more efficient, but the changes brought by his [Meditation level] had also greatly reduced the time needed to earn Attribute Points!
It had lasted less than a month longer than his previous lengthy seclusion.
Yet the Attribute Points he had gained had doubled!
Over three months of seclusion, An Kai had earned a total of 80 Attribute Points!
He could count his breaks on his fingers. Apart from eating, drinking, relieving himself, and summoning pets, he had spent all his time on [Meditation]!
There was no other reason: An Kai's appetite had surged again, and his food could not sustain him through a long period of seclusion!
Right now, for instance, he had gone two days without a full meal.
His food had run out two days ago, even after all his careful rationing!
His [Intelligence] had risen to 131.
Just as An Kai had predicted, all four spells had broken through their limits again, giving him that familiar sensation that they could level up!
One month and ten days into his seclusion.
By exchanging summoned creatures for Skill Points, An Kai had raised both [Freezing Spell] and [Summoning] to maximum proficiency at [Lv11 "130/130"].
It was also after [Summoning] reached [Lv11] that An Kai had summoned a pet that met the requirements of the Mage Tower's second task!
[Giant-Toothed Boar: Lv11]
It was five meters long and weighed around 400 kilograms, with a set of front teeth like mahjong tiles.
An Kai estimated that those teeth alone weighed around ten kilograms.
The appearance of the [Giant-Toothed Boar] had not only solved his shortage of Skill Points, but also delayed his food crisis.
One [Giant-Toothed Boar] weighing around 400 kilograms was just enough to give An Kai a full meal.
However, he could not summon a [Giant-Toothed Boar] every time. Sometimes, he summoned other, inedible pets instead...
At times, when hunger drove him to desperation, An Kai regretted letting the three carriage horses go.
As far as he was concerned, even if horse meat tasted a little sour, it was still much better than pork from an uncastrated boar!
But...
Those miserable days were finally over!
Having endured until today, even An Kai admired his own patience!
Every long stretch of seclusion improved not only his strength, but also his state of mind.
Right now, for instance, An Kai felt that his long seclusion had even mellowed some of his aggression.
He grabbed the [Brute Force Staff] beside him and muttered, "I wonder if one swing of this staff could smash straight through the Bounty Tower!"
A month ago, his attributes had reached the requirements for using the [Brute Force Staff].
After holding it and casting a spell.
Only then had An Kai understood how this [Fine] Staff worked!
It added weight to spells!
Unfortunately, inside the Mage Tower, he had no way to test it.
He glanced at his remaining 72 Skill Points.
An Kai allocated them to [Meditation], [Fireball], and [Freezing Spell]...
[Meditation proficiency +30] [Fireball proficiency +30] [Freezing Spell proficiency +12] [Meditation Lv12 "160/160"] [Fireball Lv12 "160/160"] [Freezing Spell Lv12 "142/160"]
After the upgrades, An Kai opened his updated panel.
[Level Lv1: 10/10 "Locked"] [Intelligence: 131 (initially 1)] [Endurance: 130 (initially 1)] [Stamina: 130 (initially 1)] [Strength: 130 (initially 1)] [Talent: Immortality "∞", Mage's Body "lv2"] [Spells: Meditation Lv12 "160/160", Fireball Lv12 "160/160", Freezing Spell Lv12 "142/160", Summoning Lv11 "130/130"] [Identity: Wanderer Guide.]
It was no exaggeration to say that he was several times stronger than before his seclusion!
The upgraded [Fireball] was darker and hotter, with faint signs of turning blackish-brown!
After [Meditation] leveled up again, the time needed to earn an Attribute Point had fallen to 22 hours. With the [Meditation Staff] in hand, he needed only 21 hours!
[Abandoned Mage Tower inheritance task 3: Unlocks at 400 Intelligence.] [Task hint: Reach 400 Intelligence to enter the third floor for training.]
He would not be able to meet the requirements for the Mage Tower's third task anytime soon.
An Kai spent a little time packing up, putting the scattered books into his Storage Ring, including the book he had used to relieve his boredom, "Five Princesses of Bukelin... Secrets."
Then, with the [Brute Force Staff] in hand and the [Water-Breathing Pearl] tucked into his pocket, he chose to leave the Mage Tower!
He had many goals for this outing.
First, he would sell the things he did not need and exchange the proceeds for Skill Points. Second, he would stockpile enough food. Third, he would find a suitable place for his next temporary seclusion...
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