With a sigh, Matt closed his notifications. Being pissed at a system that probably didn’t even know he existed was a waste of energy in more ways than one. He had been warned there would be negative effects following the boost, and his best bet was to wait it out. He wasn’t happy about it as he still had no clue what to expect if he turned off the boost after only a few hours, but testing would have to take care of that part.

  Not like I have anything better to do anyway, he thought as he decided to move on and examine his gains. The biggest was, by far, the title. Raw stats were good and all, but percent stat increases were unparalleled. The scalability as he continued to gain levels meant it wasn’t just a short-term power boost, +5 to a stat falls off dramatically the more of that stat you have, which was the natural progression with more levels and better items. It was still good, and you could never say no to free power, but a 5% increase was like telling you, from this point on you were 5% stronger, now and forever. It was the kind of boost you couldn’t put a price on, because no amount of money could buy it for you.

  He didn’t know how common titles were in the system, but percent stat boosts had to be rare, at least he hoped they were, since otherwise they’d just be common and people would be walking around with 200 and 300% modifiers. It wasn’t something he needed to worry about now, but he’d hate to miss out on obvious titles just because he hadn’t known about them. Realistically speaking though, judging by his current pace, it was likely he’d still be tier 9 by the time the tutorial was over and life returned to Earth, giving him ample time and access to look into what he needed to do at tier 9 before tiering up.

  It did put things into perspective, though. You could guess someone’s stats based on their level fairly accurately, and gear was easy enough to discern or at least get a close approximation of, but titles would always be a question mark. He could have double the stats, and the person against him would be none the wiser. It was a terrifying trump card. One you always had and was always active.

  Skills played a similar role. They were harder to discern since they scaled with both levels and stats, but at the same time someone with both would be easy to spot. If a normal fireball turned into a meteor, it was probably a good indication that you done fucked up.

  It also highlighted the need for him to get more skills, and level up the ones he already had, starting with [Advanced Mana Control] that was ready to evolve. He had wanted to check his status and distribute his free points before diving into that, but he decided not to. Having a bunch of stats on standby in case his new ability scaled with something he was lacking was a good safety net.

  It did bring a different thought to mind though, a question he had never asked that was extremely important. How does the boost from his gloves stack with the percent stat increases?

  He doubted it would be multiplicative since that would just be an insane level of scaling, but a man could hope, right?

  He added it to the metaphorical list of things he should check out before rubbing his hands excitedly. It was time to get his first epic skill.

  Matt reread his soon-to-evolve skill’s description.

  [Advanced Mana Control (passive)] (rare)

  Control is the basis for any and every skill, and while most need skills to help them control their mana, you have proven to have enough understanding of mana concepts to control your own. The user has immensely better mana control.

  What immediately stood out to Matt was that there were no scaling elements. Unlike his other skills, [Advanced Mana Control] did not scale with his stats. He didn’t know if that was the case with passive skills or if this one was simply unique in that respect, but it also made sense. A passive meant that once it was activated, it remained so until it wasn’t, and scaling would be akin to a permanent boost, which felt a little ridiculous. It did mean the evolved skill was less likely to influence what he wanted to do with his free stats, but you never knew, and he’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. It was a good rule of thumb to live by.

  With a mental command, the notification appeared once more.

  [Advanced Mana Control (passive)] (rare) evolution requirements met.

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  View evolution options?

  Yes/No

  Matt mentally clicked yes and was immediately surprised that only two options had appeared in his vision.

  [Mana Weaving]

  Mana is no longer influenced or controlled, it simply is. One with your mana, your commands are no longer needed, your will is already known. Weave it as you see fit on the tapestry of life, where only your will exists.

  The user is connected to his mana.

  Seeing only two options was a tad disappointing, but he should’ve expected it. He hadn’t really done anything unique or special with his mana control, he simply controlled mana. In the dungeon, he had done some testing, but it was difficult to just sit down and experiment when you were being graded on not only how well you did, but how fast you did it. He was sure there were countless evolution paths for any and all uses you could think of, from something niche like mana art to the specific, like a mana magic missile. As for him, he hadn’t done anything of the sorts and his options only confirmed that.

  The first option was the straight out vanilla one, the direct upgrade to his previous skill. The description was slightly ominous, sounding like he’d be part of a collective or cult of some sort, but other than that, it wasn’t really that exciting. It simply made the skill better. A welcome upgrade, if slightly underwhelming, but also what he had expected. A control skill becoming more… control-y was the norm. Games, fantasy shows, and books really skewed his expectations.

  [Swift Cast]

  In your quest to control mana, your control over it has gone beyond simply directing it. You can now influence what was once beyond your control, and it’s all but a start.

  The user’s mana control improves his casting and channeling speed tremendously.

  Now that sounded interesting. Very interesting. Especially for someone who was a healer with an always active heal, that would definitely not benefit from such an upgrade, Matt thought sarcastically.

  He sighed as he decided to look at it more objectively. It was… something. The word ‘tremendously’ was incredibly vague, but any spellcaster would kill for increased casting speed across all their abilities. The line about only getting started was very promising as well, implying a powerful upgrade path was in store. He had no idea what further evolutions would be like for a skill like this, but if the starting point was a noticeably better casting speed, then it could become a real powerhouse of a skill.

  Choosing between the two wasn’t as clear-cut as he had thought at first glance.

  [Mana Weaving] would show results immediately since he had used the previous skill extensively. It showed by how quickly it had evolved from rare to epic, and he was sure he would get the same use out of this upgrade. He still had eleven more skills to unlock, and he could use all the help he could get. Even if it assisted him with unlocking two skills, it’d still be two more than he’d otherwise have.

  He wasn’t even asking for much, just one offensive skill would do him wonders, especially with his questionable fighting style. Punching things and throwing unstable mana orbs at them was all fun and games until an alpha wolf deflected it back at you, then used you as a rag doll for who knew how long. An offensive skill would go a long way with preventing a repeat… rag-dolling. He shivered slightly at the not very pleasant memory.

  On the other hand, [Swift Cast] had all the potential you could ask for from a skill. Improved cast speed would never not be useful, and if future upgrades were as impactful as he thought they would be, then it could be the big difference maker in fights all on its own. It could turn a lightning strike into a thunderstorm or an ice ball into an avalanche.

  The problem was he lacked anything that would work with it or its future upgrades. His only skill that had a cast time was [Sense Mana], which was neither slow enough nor used enough by him for the improved casting speed to even be noticeable, let alone matter.

  [Repair] and [Revitalize] were both channeling which meant they would also benefit, but thanks to his Spirit, the recovery speed was so rapid that [Swift Cast]’s impact would be negligible at best, and that was before even considering [Repair]’s new… feature.

  In summary, it would be useless for a long time. Time he didn’t know if he had. And it would also require him to work on obtaining skills that would benefit from it, a big question mark for his class that seemed to be allergic to offense. Add in losing [Advanced Mana Control], and the likelihood of him succeeding turned from ‘unlikely’ to ‘haha, good one.’

  There were simply too many unknowns–both with the skill and his future–for him to feel comfortable enough being greedy and thinking of future potential instead of immediate results. In an ideal world, he would’ve preferred more options, but if all he needed from the skill was mana control, then getting the one that helped him control mana better was the obvious choice, if the less exciting of the two.

  Having made up his mind, he picked his new upgraded skill.

  Skill [Advanced Mana Control (passive)] (rare) has evolved to skill [Mana Weaving (passive)] (epic).

  Matt felt a familiar sensation on his forehead before his eyes widened in realization. He immediately dove into his soul to check what the new engraving looked like, remembering that he had never done so before for [Advanced Mana Control].

  He had never seen what its engraving looked like.

  [Mana Weaving] the obvious choice?

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