Chapter 31: Development Choices
[ Day 7 ]
With such a crazy start to the day, Damian took some time to calm down. However, before an hour had passed, he stood back up. If there was anything he hated more than bad surprises, then it was wasting time.
Its ironic.
He wasnt anything special. Rather than discipline, the reason why Damian hated wasting time was because he wasted too much time throughout his life.
Had he invested them correctly at certain turning points, he might have accomplished something worth mentioning even if he wasnt an Ability User.
Thinking about that, Damian had always been obsessed with time management. There were times when he didnt follow his schedule, but with time, such transgressions had become a rarity.
And that was yet another reason why Damian adapted to his current situation fairly quickly.
Plan A was a bust, so I have to make a choice.
Since leveling up and stacking Stat Points was no longer an option, Damian had to choose a different way to invest a portion of his time.
Just because explosive growth was impossible, that didnt mean he had to give up on growth itself. It was just that other growth paths werent as easy-going.
The most obvious option is exercise.
Levels, Stat Points, Status Window, these werent devices that didnt follow the norm. They were merely growth expedition tools handed to the Chosen Ones, their existence was never in conflict with the true methods of growth.
Repetition, adaptation, destruction, and recovery, were the true tools of growth, the passive talents that humanity was naturally born with. Some were better than others at utilizing them, but almost everyone possessed them to a certain degree without exceptions.
Unfortunately
I cant go all in.
There were many problems that Damian could think of, but the glaring constraints to humanitys natural path were two.
Lack of time and resources.
Until he met a monster that he could hunt and consume, Damian was forced to ration the little amount of food he had. Not to mention that his only source of food couldnt exactly support a gym-bro lifestyle. He needed a balanced diet to achieve that.
On the other hand, even if the nutrition problem was solved, time was still the biggest barrier. It didnt matter how hard one went at it, at least a few months were needed before exercising gave obvious results.
Increasing Stats through exercise was easier said than done. Despite it feeling longer, only a week had passed since Iris fell into the Labyrinth.
Going by this rate, the whole debacle could be solved within a few months time. At that point, any kind of muscle growth could only be considered negligible.
Most importantly
Its volatile.
The tricky nature of the Respawn skill made any material gain temporary. If Damian had to manage his Save Points, a single mistake could waste a months worth of effort.
No matter how one looked at it, this Labyrinth and Damians abilities didnt support the bodybuilding path.
The more optimal option would be focusing on the mental part of things.
Looking at the situation from a parallel perspective, the effect of Respawn was simply perfect for learning skills!
Stats and Fate Points could be reset, but knowledge and experience always remained, Damian had already confirmed that fact several times.
In some ways, skills were just as important as stats if not even more so. If Damian was to maximize the use of the Respawn skill, he could practically compress the effect of a dozen years into a few days.
However
I would go crazy.
The cost was nothing to scoff at. In addition, regardless of whether his mind could handle it or not, Damian had little to no expectations when it came to the returns.
Iris is a primary example.
In order to learn something, a proper teacher was required. There was also one more barrier called talent.
If it was just training for a dozen years, Iris also did so, but almost all of her skills were still stuck at level 1. Something like doing sword swings only worked in novels and games.
Though Damians current situation was greatly similar to a game, this was still the reality patch. There was more to skills than just experience. Accumulating supporting calluses, and building up muscle memories, were all things that couldnt be stacked by respawning.
I cant stray too far.
Lastly, the stupidest thing that Damian could do was to forget his main goal in search of an easy path. Surviving and leaving the Labyrinth was still the final objective.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, wasting years on a fighting aid was meaningless.
Mindless farming is stupid.
Damian wasnt delusional enough to seek thrill and challenge now that things had become real, but until proven impossible, he planned to follow the proper path to clearing this level!
As for his choice
In the end, I have to do everything.
Rather than picking plan B, C, or D, Damian had a more greedy mindset. Since throwing all of his eggs in one basket didnt amount to much, then why not distribute them properly?
One couldnt charge into a path where the distance he could cross was fixed. Putting in steps into each and every path was obviously more rewarding!
That settles it.
In a way, Damians choice was something that he already made long ago, but he just went over everything just in case.
I didnt think that my post-awakening plan would come in handy in this way.
Just like the rest of his powerless peers, Damian had also spent some time thinking about what he would do if he suddenly awakened one day.
However, he didnt just think of the fortune he could make or the villas that he could buy, he also considered the optimal path of development that he could take so he wouldnt end up as a worse flop.
Now that he thought about it, Damian felt a strange sense of deja vu. Had he been treating himself like another character in Fates Guide all along?
Its definitely not the time for such existential questions right now.
As much as he wanted to ponder upon his thoughts for a moment, now that he had already reached a decision, it was time to get the training started!
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶