Arit was not knowledgeable about cars, so she had no idea that the car was named Vanitas. She was just surprised that Mark had enough money to casually buy a supercar. She had no idea that the supercar was made by Mark's company.
Arit and Mark had been living in the house her father rented for her for one year now. There was a master room and two smaller ones in the house, and Mark allowed Arit to have the master bedroom since it was her father's money. Arit knew that Mark's room was small, but he never complained and he allowed her to take the big room.
She received an allowance from her father every month, and that is what they used to buy whatever they wanted. There were times when Mark would try to help her buy things with his own money, but Arit always refused because she felt like she owed him for agreeing to live with her to protect her.
Mark lived such a simple life, and the only thing that Arit had seen him spend money on was his bike! Arit understood that he loved that bike, so she never questioned it whenever she saw him changing out the engine or adding modifications to it! Arit just assumed that Mark was using all his money on the bike since he never spent on anything else.
So seeing all of this was just too much for her! She couldn't even be angry because she never asked Mark how rich he was before! The only thing she knew about his family is that he is an orphan and he is being taken care of by his father's assistant until he turns eighteen!
Mark suddenly spoke up.
"Aren't you coming?"
"Hmm...?"
Arit snapped out of her surprise as she was gently led towards the passenger side of the Vanitas Avatendor and she sat on the plush expensive seat. Mark closed her door for her and went to the back of the car, he placed Talia in the back seat gently with her teddy bear entering as well before Mark went and entered the driver's seat. It was only after he sat down that Arit finally spoke.
"Mark, are you like... rich?"
Mark could only laugh loudly as he pressed the ignition and started the car! Mark never told Arit that his parents owned a car manufacturing company called Vanitas Motors and that he was now the sole majority stakeholder in the company, so she had no idea how rich he was even though they'd lived together for a long time.
Before Mark could drive off, a voice shouted from outside as someone ran up to the car. Mark turned to see that it was Milicent who was running towards him with a phone in her hand. She ran up to the car and knocked on Mark's window.
"Wait! Mr. Vanitas! Wait! There is someone who wants to talk to you. Mr.
Salazar is the current acting president of the NSA and he wishes to have a conversation with you before you leave."
Mark shook his head as he told her that he was not interested in talking to anyone right now. Mark was too tired and he didn't have time to go and talk to another member of the NSA. He just wanted to go home.
Milicent blinked in surprise at the dismissal before she put the phone up to her ear and spoke into it for a moment. After she heard what the person on the other side said she spoke to Mark again.
"If you can spare any time at all. He would not mind meeting with you tomorrow or the day after that to talk. He says that what he wants to talk about is very important. It will affect both you and the NSA greatly."
Mark narrowed his eyes at the veiled warning. As far as Mark was concerned, his business with the NSA should already be over and they shouldn't be bothering him anymore. What they were doing right now was just pissing him off more than it should.
"Tell him that I'll come meet with him tomorrow when I'm free. Do not call me, do not text me, and don't come to my house. Just wait for me."
Vroom!!
Mark only said this much before he rolled up his window and revved his car before driving away.
...
Later that night, Mark was sitting on his bed and looking through his system as he tried to finish putting some of his extra stat and skill points into the places where he needed them. Mark wanted to achieve a balance in his stats since he never knew what sort of situation he could end up in later in the future.
But while he was fighting on that island, Mark noticed that he was severely lacking in strength! Even when he was fighting against the final ant that was protecting the QUEEN, he was not able to push the ant back with only his strength. If not for the fact that Mark was faster than that ant, Mark was sure that he might have lost that battle!
Mark needed to increase his strength so that even the High-Level Calamity Classes wouldn't stand a chance against his strength.
Mark had one thousand stat points and one thousand skill points and now, Mark had a large choice to make. Should he try to achieve balance across all of his stats, or should he try to improve his strength and durability to a much higher level so that he would become a more effective brawler? Mark knew that he would never want to be a mage.
It was cool that some people could throw magic around and create massive explosions or thunderstorms with nothing but a thought, but Mark was someone who liked getting close and personal with his enemies. He enjoyed the look of fear on his enemies' faces and the rush of adrenaline in his system as he clashed with a strong enemy. Nothing was better than that.
So Mark knew that he would always want to be a brawler.
And besides, what would happen if you met an enemy that could withstand the full force of your magic and he managed to get close enough? If you are a mage without strength then you will be killed easily because you were weak.
Mark could simply try to improve all his stats, but he decided that it would be more sensible to improve one aspect of his stats and only improve the others so that they are not too lacking in comparison.
Mark decided that he would start focusing more on his strength-based stats to increase his chances of overpowering the enemy, and he would only improve Mana-based stats after improving his strength.
[Does User wish to add Stat points to the selected Stats? Yes/No]
Mark chose yes, and he felt his body immediately changing as the stats were placed in the areas he selected.
...
[User has added 400 stat points to Strength]
[User has added 200 stat points to Stamina]
[User has added 200 stat points to Durability]
[User has added 100 stat points to Agility]
[User has added 100 stat points to Mana]
...
Strength: 1380 [+138] [+217]
Stamina: 850 [+85] [+127]
Agility: 850 [+85] [+85]
Durability: 810 [+81]
Mana: 520 [+52]
...
[Stat Improvements Due to Application of Mana]
Strength: +15%
Stamina: +15%
Agility: +10%