Ruvian fell into deep thought. He still had time. Roughly two weeks until the Vazrun Island Test. Not much by most standards, but enough… if he played this right. If he was careful and prioritized not just what made him strong, but also what kept him alive.

Still, the price tags stared back at him like a bad offer told with a straight face.

He sighed. “Hey, System. Don’t you think the exchange rates are a bit… excessive?”

The reply came immediately.

[No. The values have been carefully calibrated. Your current Narrative Relevancy is Stage II. As your relevance increases, Plot Point rewards will scale accordingly. You will receive more quests, and more opportunities to earn them.]

‘Damn it, so in other words, I need to cause more scenes.' He rubbed his forehead. 'Great. Absolutely great!’

Ruvian didn’t like it, but he understood it.

Stage I had been slow, miserly. Now, at Stage II, the flow of rewards was loosening. Incremental, but noticeable. If he planned it right, he could squeeze a few hundred, maybe even a thousand more points before the test. Ruvian evaluated the course of the story ahead before the Vazrun Test. "Yeah, there is no need to worry about such things. I still have a few more ways to collect them."

Still, seven thousand points didn’t go far. Not when everything costs so much.

So he did what he always did—he strategized first. He sat still, eyes narrowing at the list, mentally sorting each stat by value and urgency.

‘What do I need right now?’

There were still two weeks left before the Vazrun Island Test, and those days wouldn’t be quiet. Scattered across them were smaller events, subtle trials of their own. 'Currently, the narrative is following the original,' he thought. 'Then, what will happen if I force my way into a sub-narrative?'

The deal that he made with Silvena was sort of opening that path. 'Well, that's for another matter. One thing at a time.'

Ruvian’s eyes hovered over the faint glow of the interface, the numbers pulsing like a silent metronome.

It was obvious where to start.

[Mana Resonance: 0/100]

[Available Plot Points: 7310]

[Cost per Resonance: 30 PPs]

“Let’s raise the resonance and get my Spellcore to Tier II first,” he murmured.

[Please input the number of resonance points to enhance.]

He didn’t even blink.

“One-hundred,” Ruvian said.

[Confirm enhancement: +100 Mana Resonance → 3,000 Plot Points will be deducted.]

[Proceed?]

[Current: 0 → New Value: 100]

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[Spellcore Tier II upgrade available upon resonance threshold.]

“Yes.”

The deduction hit instantly—sharp, efficient, and without ceremony.

And then… a shift. Not something the world would feel. But he felt it, in the quiet place just beneath his skin, where mana met will. His Spellcore, once faint and sluggish, now pulsed with clarity. For the first time since arriving in this world, his magic felt… clean. Responsive.

Something had aligned.

A single notification blinked in:

[Your Mana Resonance has reached 100/100]

[Your Spellcore has increased from Tier I to Tier II]

[Mana Resonance: 0/250]

[Total Available PPs: 4310]

Ruvian exhaled through his nose, unimpressed.

“So I max out the resonance and all I get is a polite invitation,” he muttered, disappointed with the system lame message interface.

[Would you prefer a standing ovation?]

“...”

Ruvian remained silent.

He was wondering, if he said yes, how would the system grant that? But he decided not to entertain the system.

“…I’d prefer a discount.”

And yet, he still did.

[Your feedback has been discarded.] The rightful source is novel※fire.net

[ (￣▽￣)ノ⌒ ⊟ ]

Ruvian ignored the jab with a click of his tongue.

“Tch!” His eyes lingered instead on the new notification, Spellcore Tier II. That changed things. Spell preparation, cast time flexibility, chaining options… it was the difference between swinging a wooden stick and drawing a real blade.

Ruvian leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing.

He still had 4180 Plot Points left. He stared at the floating panel for a long moment, one hand resting beneath his chin. “So… I’ll skip Strength,” he muttered under his breath.

“System, queue upgrades for everything except Strength,” he said aloud, voice calm but precise.

[Calculating Plot Point Expenditure…]

• Agility: F+ → E- → 200 PPs

• Endurance: E- → E → 300 PPs

• Vitality: E- → E → 300 PPs

• Perception: E → E+ → 500 PPs

• Mana Control: E → E+ → 500 PPs

• Casting Speed: F+ → E- → 200 PPs

• Magic Power: F → F+ → 150 PPs

• Mana Sensitivity: E → E+ → 500 PPs

• Mana Essence: 215 → 265 → 250 PPs

[Total: 2,900 Plot Points]

[Available: 4,310 Plot Points]

[Remaining: 1,410 Plot Points]

He gave a slight nod. “Proceed.”

[Confirmed. Upgrading attributes…]

Ruvian had no intention of becoming a front-liner.

Strength could wait.

It wasn’t that he dismissed its value entirely; raw force had its place. But his role in the squad didn’t call for brute confrontation.

He’d already gone over the information exchanged during the formation briefing. Shima, Arlok, and Yerin were all close-combat weapon users.

Horren was an archer, Ruvian himself… he was a mage.

When the confirmation flickered across the system’s interface, the changes came almost too subtly to name.

And yet, he felt them.

His breath drew in easier now. There was a quiet stability in his limbs. His footsteps no longer echoed with the same awkward weight. The threads of mana within him no longer tangled as much; they flowed smoother, a touch more obedient to his will.

‘Let’s spend another on Casting Speed and Magic Power.’

[Calculating Plot Point Expenditure…]

• Casting Speed: E- → E → 300 PPs

• Magic Power: F+ → E- → 200 PPs

[Total: 500 Plot Points]

[Available: 1,410 Plot Points]

[Remaining: 910 Plot Points]

Ruvian decided to save the remaining Plot Points. Then, he inspected his Runeheart stat.

{}---『RUNEHEART』---{}

◇ Name: Ruvian Castelor

◇ Age: 16

◇ Spellcore: Tier II

◇ Relevance Tier: Stage II – Wandering Annotation

◇ Plot Points: 910 (PPs)

◇ Current Arc: Arc 2 – Beneath the Banner of Enrollment

[Mana Resonance: (0/250)]

==[General Attributes]==

Strength: F+

Agility: E-

Endurance: E

Vitality: E

Perception: E+

==[Mage Attributes]==

Mana Control: E+

Casting Speed: E

Magic Power: E-

Mana Sensitivity: E+

Mana Essence: [118/265]

==[Innate Blessings]==

- [N/A]

==[Magic Affinity]==

- [Wind]

Now, taken as a whole, his stats had finally crept into the territory of what one might call respectable, roughly on par with the average scholar from Class C.

Ruvian knew better than to waste resources blindly. Power without understanding was just another kind of burden. He needed to test himself. Only then would the gaps reveal themselves, the subtle shortcomings, the flaws not even a system could quantify.

There were still two weeks before the Vazrun Island Test. Enough time to sharpen what was dull, to mend what was missing…

And if he was wise enough to spend accordingly.

PP= 910

ME= 265