Chapter 3: Sharing Stats And Skills
Isaac was surprised by the notification.
If he chose yes, would Emily lose her experience points, and her level would fall as they went to Isaac?
Or would she keep her level?
There was no time to hesitate.
Isaac chose 'yes'.
[Sharing experience points.]
[You have leveled up x9.]
[All Stats +9.]
He felt a surge of power within himself.
Name: Isaac Hargraves
Title: None
Talent: Unawakened
Rank: None → Initiate, Lv. 9
Stats:
Strength: 8 → 17
Agility: 9 → 18
Constitution: 7 → 16
Spirit Power: 10 → 19
Mana: 00 → 09
Isaac was stunned when he saw the screen.
It almost made him forget he was dying.
'How did I get a status screen? I thought only those who have awakened their Talents could get it.'
The increase in stats made him incredibly powerful.
The life drain slowed, but only by a small amount.
'Constitution is directly related to life force, and so is the Rank.'
'If I can increase them, I should be able to resist her drain skill!'
His eyes moved towards the Share option.
'I shared the Rank already.'
'But I haven't shared Stats.'
'Share! Share everything with me!'
Isaac had no idea how many Constitution stats he needed to resist the A-rank Life Drain skill.
He could only hope the stats he would gain were enough.
A powerful surge of warmth bubbled within Isaac, much stronger than before.
His muscles grew denser and leaner.
His physique improved, and he could feel he had grown stronger and faster.
Name: Isaac Hargraves
Title: None
Talent: Unawakened
Rank: Initiate, Lv. 9
Stats:
Strength: 17 → 39
Agility: 18 → 58
Constitution: 16 → 31
Spirit Power: 19 → 64
Mana: 09 → 69
His eyes widened.
The stats he gained from her were combined with his earlier stats.
It made him stronger than Emily!
Emily was surprised.
If she had been sucking water (life force) from a bottle before, now it felt like she was trying to drain a pool.
The life force within Isaac had grown suddenly abundant.
Isaac's happy expression was snuffed out quickly.
He realized something.
'Dammit, the Life Drain slowed, but it's still pretty strong.'
Constitution had been one of Emily's weakest stats.
Although he gained a lot, it was far from enough to save himself.
Isaac, having expected this, moved quickly.
'Share skills!'
Name: Isaac Hargraves
Title: None
Talent: Unawakened
Rank: Initiate, Lv. 9
Stats:
Strength: 39
Agility: 58
Constitution: 31
Spirit Power: 64
Mana: 69
Skills:
Spectral Claws (SSS rank) – Can extend razor-sharp spectral claws that ignore physical armor.
Life Drain (A rank) – Drains vitality from the target, restoring your energy.
Phantom Step (SSS rank) – Moves through physical objects and attacks by phasing between realms.
Demonic Eyes (S rank) – Allows you to see souls, illusions, and weak points in enemy defenses.
Isaac was sure he could fight against any Initiate-rank Awakener with his stats and win.
With the skills, he might be able to fight even Adept-rank Awakeners!
Those Awakeners, while not at the top, were still respected.
Isaac's academy ranked 3rd in his Sector, thanks to the principal, who was a Level 11 Adept-rank Awakener.
A single Adept-rank Awakener was enough to push their academy into the top 3.
That was the power of Adept-rank Awakeners!
He could now fight them!
Isaac quickly suppressed his excitement and got to work.
He used the Life Drain skill to suck Emily's life energy.
Her eyes widened, and she swiftly pulled back.
"How did you do that?"
"Did I do anything wrong?" he asked innocently.
"That... you took my energy, and now I feel more hungry..."
Emily stopped speaking.
She tilted her head and put her hand on her stomach.
"I don't feel hungry?"
The Life Drain skill allowed her to drain life energy from others.
Since ghosts didn't have life energy of their own, Emily had to use the skill to stay alive.
"Do you usually feel hungry?" Isaac questioned.
"Yes. Whenever I am low on life energy, I feel starved, my mind becomes muddled, and I start to act on instincts like other ghosts."
Isaac recalled how she had talked in broken sentences when she first appeared.
Then, she spoke normally after draining his life energy.
'So there was a reason behind it.'
"T-that...." Emily blushed. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For kissing you like that."
Her face was flushed.
In hunger, she accepted his deal easily, but she now realized what she had done.
"I was never going to kill you.
"I would've stopped draining your energy when it reached dangerous levels and disappeared. It shouldn't have been a problem since anyone can recover Life Energy over time.
"But when I heard you would let me eat as much energy as I wanted if I let you live, I thought, why not?"
She floated before him and apologized.
"I'm sorry for tricking you. It's just, whenever I'm hungry, it's hard for me to control my urges."
Emily explained her situation.
The rumors of the apartment being haunted prevented anyone from coming there.
She had nothing to eat and became starved.
After Isaac came, she had been eating his life energy every day in small quantities.
It was not enough, but she never went overboard.
Today, her hunger and instincts finally overcame her sense of reason, and she attacked him.
"It's okay. You don't need to apologize so much.
"I'm surprised as is that an Initiate-rank monster like you has sentience. As far as I know, monsters aren't supposed to be intelligent," Isaac said.
He attributed Emily's loss of reason to her identity as a monster.
'My life energy must've filled her stomach for now. That's why she isn't feeling hungry,' he thought.
"Monster? Are they different from you?" Emily asked curiously.
"You don't know about monsters?" It was Isaac's turn to be surprised.
"No, I can't leave this room. Ghosts can't leave their domain...."
Emily blinked, surprised.
She floated around the room and came back to Isaac.
"What did you do?"
"Pardon?"
"My link with the room's domain was severed and connected to you."