Ash stared at the rewards interface for several moments in silence.

"The system is so generous," Ash said slowly, genuinely surprised.

Killing the first slime was such a simple act - just one wobbling blob of acidic goo that did not offer any resistance. Yet, the system reacted in a generous manner.

Fifteen EXP for the kill itself. Plus a hundred as a first kill bonus. Ten SP was gained during the battle and then another fifty was added.

There was a new card, new skill, a stat boost all thanks to the encounter that took less than thirty seconds and used only fifteen mana.

He checked the loot tab.

Magic Stone.

Slime Gel.

While he was reading through the list, he realized the magic stone was no longer in his possession. He looked down to see an empty palm while on the ground there was nothing left of the destroyed monster.

All of its remains disappeared into the system - like it was waiting for him to confirm their destruction by looking at it.

He moved his fingers slightly.

’Storage,’ he thought. The newly acquired skill. Apparently passive - the system used it on its own accord. Ash did not need to do anything except look through the notifications and see his newly acquired possessions go straight into Storage.

Somewhere there, in this Storage area, were two new items occupying two of the twenty empty spots.

His eyes scanned the rest of the interface.

♠ 2 of Spades card. Water Shot, level one. Another card that he could add to his active deck along with the previous Ember Shot. He got another option to attack opponents with, which gave him more flexibility in battle than before.

His ♥ 2 of Heart went from level one to level two, indicating the change in Ember Shot’s power. Though, the details of it were still unknown to him.

And finally, the HP and mana.

Ash looked at them for a second.

HP: 400

Mana: 200

They doubled compared to the previous values, 200 HP and 80 mana. He did not understand how low eighty mana was before he had it doubled and thus was able to use Ember Shot nearly three times as many times as before - thirteen shots instead of five. That certainly made a difference.

The small notification dissolved.

The larger interface replaced it, fully updated, listing all of his possessions, stats and quest section which had shifted from the vague weight of Save The World to something immediate and concrete sitting above it.

Kill 10 Slime Monsters ≈ Progress: 1 / 10

A quest which was specific, trackable, one tenth of the way done already.

The second interface appeared next to the main one.

----------------------

[✦LEVEL UP✦]

[Level 1 > Level 2]

[★STATS INCREASED★]

[STR : 20 > 22 INT : 10 > 12

DEF : 10 > 12 AGI : 30 > 32]

[★NEW CARD★]

> ♥3 of Hearts

Flame Lance - Lv.1

Deck : 3 / 54

[★STAT POINTS★]

[SP : 60 > 65]

[65 Points available

(Distribute your stat points)]

--------------------

Ash stood motionless for a few seconds.

He read the notification as carefully as always without rushing, trying to analyze and understand the changes.

Stat increases after the level up were not significant but reliable - they increased automatically after leveling without any input required. A solid improvement, which would build up into something significant over time.

However, the new card was much better.

♥️3 of Hearts - Flame Lance.

He did not know what it precisely did but it was fairly clear judging by the name. While Ember Shot fired the ball, Flame Lance fired something more focused, maybe even a spear. He noted the information and moved on to stat points.

Sixty-five stat points. Available for distribution.

The interface was instantly updated with the changes, adding them to the main screen. Standing amidst the tall green blades of grass Ash contemplated his newly acquired stats.

He remembered how fast the monster’s shot had been and realized how important Agility would be at this point since there might be a lot of other monsters coming at him with different attacks.

He decided that Agility should be improved first. So, he assigned thirty points to it.

Secondly, he needed to be able to attack, so Strength was his second priority here. Another twenty points assigned to it.

Intelligence was left as the last choice. Mana would provide him with an opportunity for using a lot more cards and options in battle and therefore was vital. He added fifteen to Intelligence.

The moment he had finalized his decision, the system interface showed him his updated stats. In the same quick and silent fashion as though the system had simply been reading the current of his thoughts.

--------------------

[✦STATS✦]

[STR: 42 INT: 27

DEF: 12 AGI: 62]