Alex Drakethorne got out of his mother's embrace and stood straight on his bed. His height now matched his parents' seated positions, his eyes level with his dad's. Shock was evident on his face as he barely managed to form words. He said, "Do yo... you tru...ly mea...n she... she is telling the trut... tth?"
Sera Azurestorm feels sad, understanding clearly why he is both shocked and upset. Raised in a sheltered environment, he was never allowed beyond the palace walls. All those he spoke with were older than him and praised his tenacity and dedication to training.
He was strong, indeed strong, way stronger than any level 1. But at the end of the day, he was just level 1 while Princess Eva was already level 8.
Every child around his age is already past level 1, and only a few children born in poverty, without a good environment, or lacking talent would still be at level 1. But Alex was different from all of them. He had a black dragon's bloodline so thick that his family hadn't seen such richness for many generations. He was full of talent and aptitude. His build was strong. He received training from Paragon Ranks and had every potion and nutrient at his disposal, and yet he was only at level 1. This defied every norm and went beyond rational thinking.
They did not discover this issue until he started training. At first, he seemed to grow stronger and faster, and they thought he was leveling quickly. But after some time, when they checked his level, they found he was still stuck at level 1 after three months. They were not frustrated at first because some people's levels rose slowly. However, even after seven months, he had not reached level 2, which raised their suspicions.
Shane Drakethorne thought about one incident he had with his son that changed everything.
- - - -
During one of the training sessions.
Alex Drakethorne was drenched in sweat after running around the training circle to end his training for the day. The training ground was empty, and only Shane Drakethorne, Alex's father, was present beside Alex on the training ground.
Alex was barely standing up. He bent, his hands on his knees, taking quick, short breaths to breathe in oxygen. Shane Drakethorne, satisfied with his son's training, reached near him and asked, "Can you tell what you are seeing on your status window?" It was the first time Shane had asked Alex what he sees on his status window.
Previously, Shane had only asked about Alex's level, and after seeing Alex stuck on level 1 despite an increase in his strength, Shane couldn't stop himself from worrying anymore.
Alex was confused by the sudden question; his father had never asked about his status window before; he would only occasionally ask about his level, not his status window. Without dwelling on his thoughts, Alex told his father what he saw in his status window, one detail at a time.
⟦ STATUS WINDOW ⟧
Name: Alex Drakethorne
Race: Human
Realm: Mortal
Level: 1
Bloodline: Black Dragon
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Level Progression
Current Level: 1
Level EXP: 100%+
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Core Stats
Strength: 10+
Agility: 10+
Endurance: 10+
Vitality: 10+
Constitution: 10+
Perception: 10+
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Secondary Stats
Intelligence: 8
Willpower: 9
Wisdom: 5
Luck: 15
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Resources
Health (HP): 9 / 10
Stamina (SP): 3 / 10
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Class
None
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Skills
None
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Status Effects
Abnormal
Shane Drakethorne listened to everything. Sometimes, his eyebrows would shoot up, and his eyes would tense. Not wanting his son to feel afraid, he would quickly steady himself and keep listening quietly.
After listening to everything, Alex Drakethorne looked toward his father and said, "What do you think of my stats? Why are they all in plus? What is this abnormal status condition, father?" Alex had been wanting to ask this for a while, but had never gotten the chance. He only found out about this recently, after he started training. Before it wasn't there, only after he reached 100% exp did it show abnormal. So, it was just a recent thing.
Shane Drakethorne didn't know what to say to this sudden question, for all his life, he had never seen anything like this. As far as he knew, everybody's status effect generally shows any effects of poison or mental effects done by others. But the status effects was showing abnormal. So, he thought for a while and said, "It is nothing, it is probably there for some reason, you need not fear as long as you are not feeling anything uncomfortable".
Alex wanted to inquire further, but the head butler came in and said, "Lady Grand Duchess is calling Grand Duke and heir."
Shane Drakethorne thanked Sera for saving him from this trouble because he didn't know what it was in reality.
After this event, Shane and everyone in the palace had avoided answering this question because, for god's sake, they didn't know what it was.
At the same time, the matter of levels was bugging them; even after 10 months, he hadn't leveled up. They had already started looking into the status effects that was showing abnormal and the reasons for not advancing to the next level.
They forbade everyone in the castle from talking about levels, and if Alex were to acquire them, "What is their level?" They should only tell him that they are low levels and ask, "When did they level up from level 1?" They should only tell him that after age 7, they leveled up to level 2.
They did research, looked into old books, contacted their parents, asked for any clues, but kept this thing secret within the castle, not allowing anyone to know about this outside of them. But, even after looking through the whole library at their home, they found nothing; they didn't stop their search, looked into other libraries, and contacted their close friends. But, in the end, they had to slow down, but they still, even to this day, look for any clue.
The only thing they ended up concluding was that whatever that abnormal status effect was showing was the reason for Alex not leveling, and all his core stats were already past 10, and exp also past 100% from the look of '+' at the end of stats and exp.
- - -
At the moment, Alex grew impatient waiting for an answer; his parents were taking longer than usual. Not being able to wait anymore, he started crying, his tears reaching down his cheeks and falling onto the bedsheet. He said,"I knew there was a problem in me when you all avoided my question on abnormal status effects, you also didn't give me an answer back then, and now also avoiding it, am I the problem or what?"
Sera Azurestorm, seeing her husband not telling anything, consoled Alex,"No, everything is fine, you see, we have not found what that abnormal means which is showing in your status effects, and also we have never heard anyone's stats being stopped at 10 with '+' at the end, and exp also stops at 100%+. All we could conclude is that your status is not working properly and your stats are already increasing beyond 10, but the status is not showing it".
Shane Drakethorne joined in and said,"Your status is not showing your increased levels correctly, and we think your stats are already comparable to those of level 6 or level 7. Did you not almost catch Princess Eva during the race?. If you are truly level 1, you would have no chance of catching her in a race."
Alex's tears stopped, and he said with hiccups, "But, wh… why me? Why min… mine? Will I no… t lev… level u… u… up?"
Shane Drakethorne couldn't stop himself and reached out to Alex to give him a hug. Alex's head rested on Shane's chest. Shane felt his shirt getting wet from tears, but didn't mind it. His heart ached to see his son crying in this state. They had rarely seen Alex cry; even when he fell or hurt himself during training, he would not cry.
Sera gently rested her hand on Alex's head and said, "Alex, we've got your back. We're not quitting—every day we search for answers. Even last night, we discussed among ourselves what to do about your status window after you slept in your chamber. Trust us, we're not stopping till we fix this."
Alex turned his head toward his mother, his eyes moist, his face pale, his hair disheveled, and he said, "Promised me that you will never stop looking for it."
Shane Drakethorne felt an ache in his chest as he saw his son asking for a promise, thinking we would lie again. His son was regaining his confidence. He didn't wait for Sera to reply. He promised his son, "You silly, my son, you don't have to ask for that. We will look for it everywhere."
Alex was happy. His parents supported him and made a promise. Smiling, he said, "I will never stop training, and one day I will be the greatest under the heaven."
Sera's heart fluttered as she listened to Alex's determined words. She slipped him gently from Shane's arms and pulled him into a fierce hug. Grinning, she ruffled his unruly hair and tickled his belly, coaxing a peal of laughter from him. His delighted giggle tugged a smile from her lips.
Shane Drakethorne grinned, watching his wife and Alex. "How's our brave son feeling?" he teased, then poked Alex's belly, earning a delighted giggle. The earlier heavy talk faded, for now, replaced by smiles and laughter that filled Alex's chamber.