Jason considers what the others had just revealed before nodding. "I'll have to focus on breaking away from the System's direct control then. Well, I will after we finish this. I doubt we'll have much time that we can spend together before we need to split up."

  Rosha pouts, "We've hardly been able to stay together as a group and you're already thinking of leaving?"

  Courtney sighs, "He has a rather unique situation. It will likely take him only a few times longer to go from level 399 to 400 as it will for him to go from level 39 to 40. Compared to us, with every bottleneck we break through, the slower we will level. There might come a time when for every level we gain, he will have already reached a new bottleneck."

  Rosha frowns, "It shouldn't be that exaggerated?"

  Jason laughs, "It might actually be that exaggerated. While I only get ten percent of the experience you guys do, I'm already able to keep up with your leveling speed. Once the amount needed really ramps up, I'll pull ahead no matter what."

  Courtney nods, "You very much went in the opposite direction most people do. Most people try to get as many stat points as possible with every level and here you are removing them completely. At least bottlenecks require you to do something to break through. That way you have time to work on your stats."

  Rosha, "Hey! You're both just assuming that we have to work together to be a team together. It sounds like Jason needs to spend a bunch of time sitting around. What if we found a place to base ourselves. Then when Jason needs to stop, he can just hold down the base?"

  Jason stretches his neck and takes a deep breath. "Well, it looks like I've recovered enough to continue. Just got a System prompt for my gains."

  He takes another look at the blue screen.

  {Dungeon Arena Conquered

  +5 Strength, +7 Toughness, +4 Agility, +9 Control, +8 Stamina, +21 Health, +5 Energy}

  Jason, "Suffice it to say, I gained a lot from that fight. Like, none of the rest of the dungeon has really even given a single bump and this just goes and raises almost everything. Not that the basic stats will do me any good until we beat this dungeon.

  "As for me holding down the base? That could be interesting. We would need to grab some rituals for me to play with though. As it is, I just have an alarm and a light ritual, which while nice, do not a base make."

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  Rosha nods, "Yeah, my Mana pool just grew by almost forty points! That's crazy, why don't more people do this? As for the base, You seem particularly set up for it with your farming and what not."

  Courtney sighs, "We can give the base idea a try. As for rituals, I can get you a copy of a few useful ones for base creation. After all, Rosha's family does have a team specifically for that.

  "As for why people don't do this? We aren't like Jason, we're using stat points to grow. The only reason we got such a boost to our Mana pools is that neither of us are using points on that. I'm sure, for instance, your Agility didn't budge."

  Rosha nods, "Not a single point."

  Courtney, "Well there's your answer. Proper mages will have all kinds of skills and such to be more efficient with their Mana. In turn that makes every point that much more valuable so they will spend their stat points on it.

  "Besides, this isn't some fantasy rpg story where all you have to do is empty your Mana pool to have it grow. This sort of growth only comes from a truly grueling fight to the death.

  "Even though these aren't our actual bodies, our brains still work to prevent self harm. In normal exercise, the brain won't let you go that far."

  Rosha shrugs as she stands up and stretches. "Eh, I wouldn't want to fight like this all the time anyway."

  Courtney shakes her head, "Even if you did it would have diminishing returns. Every major power in NeoRealm has tried it a few times and while there isn't a hard bottleneck like the stars, there might as well be. After all, to get the same results would need a danger equivalent to this, plus wherever that extra fortyish Mana puts you.

  "The difficulty is very much cumulative and not linear. So after a certain point, there is only so much danger you can put someone in before life threatening becomes life taking. Especially if you aren't growing that fast in levels or stats."

  Jason nods, "While the whole RPGness of NeoRealm obfuscates things a little, you do need some balance. It isn't like Mana, Qi, or Energy are stored elsewhere when we aren't using it. Mana pool refers to the fact that the Mana literally pools inside your body.

  "Maybe it doesn't require the most Strength, but your body does need at least some integrity to maintain itself. After all, you want to be a cannon, not a bomb. Same for Toughness and Agility, really. They're probably separated out as base stats for a reason. The only other easily acquired base stat is Control."

  Rosha rolls her eyes, "Fine, no infinitely growing Mana pool. Let's just get on with the dungeon and figure out where to go after this."

  Jason laughs, "I didn't say you couldn't keep growing your Mana pool, just that you needed something else to back it up. As for where to go? We aren't quite up to the actual 'Wilds', but the outskirts might be useful if we plan to stay in one place."

  Courtney nods, "I'll have to look into it, but a base on the edge of the Wilds should work and bring us new challenges every once in a while. Plus, with the Systems support, it is really hard to leave too far away from where you enter the Wilds anyway so getting split up would be unlikely."

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