I didn"t know there was such a bonus hidden in the scarecrow.

That"s why I didn"t think of investing stats in Power, Agility, and Physical Strength.

Even if I had known it, I would not have done so because I already chose Intellectual Power as the parental stat for Mutual Growth.

Anyway, I had the remaining balance of 1,000 stat points that I earned in return for achieving the max level in the third closed beta. Besides, I had another remaining balance of 1,300 stat points, which I noticed in one corner of the status bar.

And I invested all of them in Intellectual Power. All 1,300 stat points.

When I did it, I found a couple of stats that increased drastically. They were Stamina and Willpower. Of course, Willpower increased by 50%.

“…”

I can declare confidently that I"ve never seen anything more beautiful than this.

I could not think of any other word to express my joy when I noticed the numbers on the status bar.

I was impressed by the numbers of Physical Strength and Health in particular because I thought I could never achieve those numbers while playing lots of elemental wizards, including ice-types. And that was the fate and limits of DPS wizards.

Of course, a paladin that focuses on s.h.i.+eld series such as ice s.h.i.+eld, fire s.h.i.+eld, stone s.h.i.+eld, and mega s.h.i.+eld generally has higher Stamina and Health than ordinary wizards, but the mainstay is Intellectual Power.

The strength of those s.h.i.+elds is only influenced by Intellectual Power alone and a bit of Willpower.

Anyway, my confidence soared when I noticed my Health was more than 600,000 and Stamina with more than 2,000, aside from Intellectual Power with more than 2,000 because I would not die easily or in vain because of high Stamina and Health.

And the fact that I would not die easily meant that I could take heavy magical attacks for a long time by investing the ‘Iceman" trait and all the remaining stat points I would get in the future.

“Hhhhhh.”

Without hiding my uncontrollable smile, I turned toward learning skills this time.

I was excited when I thought about using six skill points which were twice as many as what others would receive.

A huge tower was located in the middle of the Kotum Castle square.

When I approached the tower, the message rang as it always did in the first, second, and third closed betas.

[This a tower with the records of heroes" abilities.

-There are limitations based on an individual"s abilities.]

“Search Ice-type magic.”

I spoke out without any hesitation because the moment I got the ‘Iceman" trait, it was safe to say that my path was already decided.

[Currently, there is ice-type magic that you can obtain.]

-Level 1 Ice Ball. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

: Throw only fist-sized ice b.a.l.l.s at an enemy within 10 meters.

: Attack range and damage will scale with Intellectual Power.

: Upgrade to Level 2 and Level 3 Ice Ball is possible.

-Level 1 Ice Bolt. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

: Throw ice bolts with slight penetration power at an enemy within 10 meters.

: Attack range and damage increase scale with Intellectual Power.

: Upgrade to Level 2 and Level 3 Ice Bolt is possible.

-Level 1 Ice s.h.i.+eld. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

: Place a thin ice s.h.i.+eld in front of the user.

: The thickness of the ice s.h.i.+eld increases according to Intellectual Power and Willpower.

: Upgrade to Level 3, Level 5 and Level 7 is possible.

-Level 1 Ice Weapon. (Active, 1 skill point required, 100 gold rings required.)

: Put cold ice on the weapon to inflict additional damage.

: Increases additional damage caused by ice, depending on Intellectual Power.

: Upgrade to Level 2 or Level 3 Ice Weapon is possible.

-Minor Frostbite Occurrence. (Pa.s.sive, 1 skill point required, 500 gold rings required.)

: Casting all ice-based magic at the opponent inflicts Minor Frostbite at a constant rate.

: When Level and EXP are acc.u.mulated, it can be upgraded to usable Frostbite.

[Please click Skill for detailed descriptions of each skill.]

It was the same skill list as the one I obtained after achieving Level 5 during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas. But I wasn"t puzzled because no matter how high my ability was, I would stay at Level 10 anyway. It"s not a big deal compared to Level 5.

So, I opened my mouth casually and said, “Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt, Level 1 Ice s.h.i.+eld, Level 1 Ice Weapon, plus Minor Frostbite Occurrence.”

I still had lots of usable skill points. Besides, I had not only mana that could keep the Ice s.h.i.+eld and Ice Weapon 24 hours a day, but also Ice b.a.l.l.s and Ice Bolt.

And I had more than 100 million gold rings.

So, I chose to obtain everything because if I didn"t need it or needed a skill point later, I could delete it even if it required 5 times as many golden rings to acquire the skill.

[You have obtained Level 1 Ice Ball, Level 1 Ice Bolt, Level 1 Ice s.h.i.+eld, Level 1 Ice Weapon and Minor Frostbite.

-A total of 5 skill points and 900 gold rings are required.

-Do you want to acquire 5 skills?]

“Yes.”

I need an Ice Weapon, but I may not need an Ice s.h.i.+eld at all.

With over 2,000 Stamina and 600,000+ Health points, my stats were greater than that of Level 100, 200, or even 300 tanks.

I checked the message that said I acquired 5 skills and turned around.

However, I soon stopped in the spot before going further because I still had 100 million gold rings available.

So it was possible that I could wear a top-level item instead of an entry-level item, and a full set at that.

But I thought a little further.

‘Hmm… I think I can level up quickly. So, I don"t have to waste time buying and reselling that low-level item."

I am confident that I can level up very quickly.

So, I didn"t feel the need to wear expensive beginner items with good options because even without such things, I was more powerful than the Level 300 ice wizard that I achieved during the third closed beta.

Of course, my Intellectual Power is slightly lower, but I"ve got things that I didn"t possess at the time other than ‘Iceman," which increases the performance of all ice-types by 30%.

So I turned back to head for a weapon and armor shop in order to purchase some basic equipment that I could buy cheap and resell later after using them rather than wasting time searching for auction places.

Of course, it"s not because I want to save golden rings, and I don"t need to because I"m a son of a very wealthy family.

So, I can use golden rings freely, but there"s no justification that I should waste them.

In fact, I had experience doing part-time work for the first time after I was kicked out of the house half-willingly.

Moreover, I never failed to pick up the drops from the monsters, even if it was a bit of an obsolete miscellaneous item or just one golden ring because they were all by-products of my time and effort aside from their value.

Kotum Castle Armor Shop.

“All set. 3700 gold rings are required.”

“Here you go.” I bought gray nondescript leather gloves and leather boots.

Naturally, the only option I had was to add a few stat points, or increase the weak health and mana points, but I didn"t care because they were cheap throwaway items.

Soon I left the armor shop and moved to a weapon shop. I purchased a wooden wizard wand, the most basic weapon that would boost Intellectual Power at Level 5.

And this time I boldly stepped outside of Kotum Castle because everything was ready on my end.