RM2k3 Battle System Questions

So, I don't want to completely create a new battle system from scratch, but I'm trying to figure out exactly what I can do while using as little extra events as possible, and as a result, I have a few questions.

First of all, I'm despising the EXP system, which from my viewpoint, is inherently flawed, as the higher the level you attain, the less work it'll take to level up, because the system is not exponential. (from as far as I can tell).  So, I was wondering if there was a way to set up a secondary experience system using variables, and once the secondary experience gets to a certain point, it will automatically add enough experience for the character to level up.  If there's an easier way to work around this, that'd be cool to hear as well.

Secondly, I'm trying to figure out how "attack influence" and "intelligence influence" directly influence the attack damage.  I've read the Battle Algorithms section, but the equations seems a little off, or they don't describe everything that goes on.  While running a test battle with some default characters (like Ellis), I was able to use Bolt 2 on an opponent, causing X amount of damage, but when I changed intelligence influence from 3 to 6, I noticed that the attack caused X + 3 damage.  I did not have any special weapons added on with these characters.  I was wondering, is the "influence" really that weak of a modifier, and if not, what other options within the current system can I utilize to add a little more than "+ 3" to the attack?  If it really is that weak and I can't make influence that much more powerful, how would I be able to change this?

If there are any existing tutorials that answer questions similar to what I'm asking, I'd love to be pointed to them.  So far, I've had little luck uncovering these kinds of tutorials, however.

Okay, I actually figured out things about variables and found out that it is possible to do what I was talking about in the first paragraph, but I'm at a loss.  So, how would one create an event in battle, that after the battle is finished, the EXP you earn would transfer into another variable (the secondary experience), then subtract the experience immediately afterward, before any leveling up would occur with the "primary" experience?  I don't necessarily need an exact code of how to do that, but just something to get me started.