Bring up the character menu using either the menu in the upper right

BUILDING CHARACTER (Should it be glowing like that?) - This seems to be the area I see the most questions about, so this mabinogi heroes gold is probably a good place to go next. 

Basically, building up your character is done in 2 ways - earning experience and spending points.  The first part is the no-brainer: you get experience for successfully putting the pointy end of your weapon into the bad guys and for completing quests. 

The second part attracts the questions, though - especially when it comes to skill points. Here's the basic rundown of your points:

Stat points: Each level up, aside from restoring your health and energy, gives you 5 points to allocate to your stats. Bring up the character menu using either the menu in the upper right or pressing "C" and you'll see, in the middle-left of the new window, your 5 main attributes, each with a plus button now beside it. 

Clicking this plus will, quite obviously, add a point to the stat in question, thus making your character more powerful. Choose carefully, though, as there is no "undo" option here.

Skill points: With each level up also comes a bonus skill point. You cannot allocate yourself more skills on your own! This is what causes the confusion.