The Truth of Magic


Chapter 4: Ability Scores

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhao Xu had already spent the entire afternoon thinking about how to assign his Ability Scores.
Other players would have been utterly confused, but he knew how to determine his Ability Scores based on his Character Class.
In his previous life, he had started the game without knowing anything. His classmates wanted him to be able to catch on quickly, so they recommended he become a Fighter.
It wasn’t difficult to become one, and the training time was short.
Character Classes that could cast spells, like Wizards and Clerics, got the players stuck at the beginning as they struggled to learn spellcasting. Even after Fighters had reached Level 2, many Wizard players were still not done with their apprentice training.
It was like getting stuck in some beginner course.
But, after being transmigrated to the real world of Arthur, Zhao Xu slowly began to realize that in this world, the ones who could cast spells were the ones with the real power.
Spells could go up to Level 9, and those were the type of spells that could decide the fate of a battle and really make an impact.
Whereas, even when Fighters reached a higher level, they were like random soldiers compared to Advanced Wizards and Advanced Clerics.
And that was why Zhao Xu was intent on choosing to be a Wizard.
Even though that meant he couldn’t draw on his previous experience as a Fighter, he didn’t care.

If his account was really a Double Elite one, then he was going to choose Cleric as his second Character Class.
He was going to insist on becoming a spellcaster.
During the adventures he went through toward the end of his previous life, he had seen how magic was the best way to go.
But the most important Ability Score for a Wizard to cast spells was Intelligence, while a Cleric’s most important Ability Score was Wisdom.
Arthur’s calculation model was based on Ability Modifier scores.
One’s Ability Modifier score was equal to taking 10 points off the Ability Score total and dividing that new total by two.
So if one had 10 points of Strength, then the Strength modifier score would be 0. If one had 12 points of Strength, then the modifier would be 1.
Any decimal points would be rounded down to the nearest whole number.
As such, odd-numbered Ability Scores were at the losing end at the beginning, but a player could increase his Ability Scores as he leveled up to make them an even number.
Zhao Xu started assigning his Ability Scores according to his plan.
He didn’t bother about adjusting Strength and left it at 8 points. He would adjust that later.
He spent 5 points on increasing his Dexterity to 13 points. That Ability Score affected his attack, defense, and Saving Throws, so Zhao Xu was willing to spend on increasing this.
He spent 6 points to increase his Constitution to 14 points and this was reasonable too.
Since Intelligence was the most important Ability Score for a Wizard, Zhao Xu used 10 points to increase it to 16 points.
It wasn’t a high score among the high-level Wizards, but it was enough for him to gain a strong footing among Wizard players in general.
As for Wisdom, Zhao Xu hesitated for a moment and eventually only spent 6 points to make it 14 points.
Instead, he spent 5 points to increase Charisma to 13 points even though this aspect didn’t seem very important.
Zhao Xu’s final Ability Scores were as follows:
Strength: 8 (-1)
Dexterity: 13 (+1)
Constitution: 14 (+2)
Intelligence: 16 (+3)
Wisdom: 14 (+2)
Charisma: 13 (+1)
Zhao Xu looked quietly for some time at his final set of Ability Scores, especially the figure in the brackets. After a period of silence, he finally confirmed his selection.
Even though Charisma would affect everyone’s look and demeanor, as well as how friendly others were towards you after the transmigration, Zhao Xu was more focused on making sure he stayed alive, and his Charisma points weren’t a deal-breaker.
After transmigrating into Arthur, an adventurer like him with an actual Character Class in the game already had trouble staying alive, never mind those ordinary people who had never played the game before the transmigration.
Zhao Xu didn’t even mind being disfigured if he could stay alive, so he wasn’t concerned about external appearances.
The real reason why he decided to allocate the points meant for Wisdom to Charisma was because he had heard some high-level players mention before that Charisma held a very special meaning for Clerics.
He had no idea about Clerics in his previous life and didn’t know what this really meant, but he decided to believe these words when he had to allocate the Ability Scores.
DOONG…DOONG…DOONG…
Once he had confirmed the allocation of his Ability Scores, the once quiet Palace of Character Creation suddenly rang with the sound of bells. It echoed through the halls.
“Please proceed up the stairs to begin Character Class selection.”
13 s