That's probably the Saints. I knew that I should join up with them, especially because of how dangerous it's been to be alone here.

Is there anything I should do before going to join them? I looked down to my body and remembered that I was, in fact, naked. "Right..."

I really didn't want the men or anyone to see me naked, really. The first couple of times were unavoidable, but that isn't the case with a catalog of things I needed at my beck and call.

I pulled the store back up, and it immediately went to the clothes section. All of the clothes were purple or red with gold accents.

All of them were really cheap at 25 points, being the most expensive and there being quite a few of them being free, saying it was a first-time sale. Yggdrasil is being very nice. I guess their like this to any new Saint.

So I haphazardly grabbed a free jacket and jeans and put them on. The jacket was dark red, and the jeans were a light purple, both with gold trimming.

The clothes would have been comfortable, but I was still dirty beyond belief, so it was uncomfortable with the sludge and my blood rubbing into the clothes.

The whole process took a little under 15 seconds, and I grimaced at how slimy everything felt now that I had something on.

I stood up to leave, and almost face planted when I took a step with my hurt leg. It forced me to realize that my leg was still very weak.

My leg ached with subdued pain and weakness that I forgot in the relief of the painkillers.

Still have a limp, though. I thought in frustration as I made my way out of the bathroom, almost tripping again because of my leg.

I glanced around to check if anything was waiting for me on the floor. Seeing nothing, I sighed in relief and walked forward.

Mid step, my balance was thrown off by the floor I was standing on moving beneath me, and I fell to the floor.

I groaned for a second before my good leg was grabbed by something, and it was dragging me towards the door at a scary pace. What the hell is going on?!

My head whipped around to see that all roots of the roots on the floor pulling themselves to its source, and by bad luck, my leg got caught between a few of them. Well, if this isn't par for the course.

I forced my hands in between the roots holding me and tried to pry my foot loose as I was dragged into the stairwell and down a flight of stairs to where I could hear Jack yelling what seemed like a taunt. "Come at me!"

So they're definitely here. I need to get out of this before I get in between them and what ever they're fighting.

To my surprise, I couldn't pry the roots open with my hands, and the roots stopped in front of the entrance to the 3rd floor.

The door was firmly lodged in the wall across from the entrance, letting me see the office part of the 3rd floor. That's much worse than I thought.

A giant glowing green mushroom attached to a large pillar in the center. It pulsed a deep purple and grew another root, and joined the other roots.

The entire floor was a mass of roots that writhed violently, preparing to charge into the stairwell I was stuck in.

I glanced back at the door, stuck in concrete, and dreaded what those roots would do to me.

I can't be here! I pulled my hands out from the and grabbed the dagger to start cutting myself free, even if it was getting dull. It was still a blade.

I gripped the dagger in both hands and plunged into one of the roots, sinking into it with a shunk.

The root recoiled in apparent agony, freeing me from the grip they had on me.

I backed up, trying to get away from the roots, but I didn't notice the root was still flailing around, and it inadvertently slammed into me.

It had far more strength behind it than I could ever expect and sent me flying into the wall next to the entrance.

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My head and back smashed against the cold and hard concrete. I had to wheeze as the air in my lungs was torn out.

"Haaaa... Haaaa..." I felt incredibly lightheaded and sick to my stomach. Even my whole body felt weak from just that blow, and that was a single root.

Everything was a bit blurry, and my legs felt like jelly. I slumped against the wall as I watched the root, who still had the dagger in it slid downstairs. Well, there goes the dagger.

I almost regretted my choice to stab the root until the roots I saw preparing erupted out of the doorway with far more force than what I was hit with.

A familiar squirming began working its way through my skull and the back of my head painlessly.

I couldn't overstate how disgusting it was to have something to prodding around in my brain like a worm burrowing through soil.

The squirming disappeared, and I sat there watching roots continue to emerge from the door, quickly blocking it from the shear amount of roots. What now?

A stream of warmth left my stomach and flooded my skull. My vision turned to a full blur, and I could barely think as the process shifted my brain around.

.

I took a lung full of air as the warmth faded and my ability to think properly returned. How long was I out?

My head ached terribly, and my vision was off, but I could work with it. It clearly didn't heal me completely. I feel awful...

My body felt sluggish, but I didn't feel weak now. I got up and looked around.

Nothing was that different from before, with the only big difference was the roots that were moving slower than before, and the crashing and exploding sounds from below only happened occasionally.

I should check what's happening. I crept around the roots, sticking close to the walls as far away as possible from them, and went down the flight of stairs.

I peered over a cluster of roots and saw HighJack having a back and forth with 4 intertwined roots that whipped back and slammed into his cross arm block with so much force it sent a small shockwave out, sending small shivers down my spine. Is he okay? I think I got a concussion from a glancing hit of one of them, and he took 4 of them head-on.

My worries were unneeded as he only slid back a small distance before returning the blow with a powerful haymaker that crackled blue lightning.

The punch blasted a large chunk out of the intertwined roots, and lightning raced through down the length of it as well, charring them black.

The 4 roots fell limp and retracting back upstairs. I backed up a bit as it passed, and another intertwined one took its place. How many times has this happened?

"Why won't you stay-" HighJack screamed in frustration as he pounced the new with a hammer fist and destroyed it immediately. "-Down!"

I looked down to my feet as more roots kept creeping towards him. I could help with this.

But if I was going to help, I was going to need a weapon, and my previous one was only the system knows where. Guess I'm using an equipment ticket.

I opened my status and clicked the equipment ticket. A small panel popped up with a loading bar.

The bar filled slowly before a red tinted panel showed up in front of it.

[Please be advised that options are limited due to a spatial isolation device currently in effect]

Wait, what? Spatial isolation device? I ask about that later... It might be Pandora's box for all I know.

A long shop panel showed itself in front of me, but most of it was empty with only 5 weapon portraits on it, no armor or gear to be seen. It's really limited.

:TIP! Purchases of tier 1 equipment don't adjust to who the one buys it unlike tiers 2 & 3:

[Hero's first single-handed sword]

[Veteran's battle tested combat knife]

[Wolfen Berserker's battle axe]

[Hunter's boar hunting spear]

[Hunter's hunting bow]

I looked over the options with more consideration than my clothes, which I pulled out at random. I needed something that packed a punch for these roots. Otherwise, I might get a repeat of what happened upstairs if I only hurt one again.

The combat knife and hunting bow were immediately out due to them having almost no stopping power.

The spear wasn't a terrible choice, but I was in a very enclosed space, and I wouldn't be able to use it properly.

The sword was a decent choice, with it being both a somewhat simple and medium-sized weapon that would work just fine in this environment.

But the axe had everything I wanted, not too large but not too small, a axe is a simple weapon that understood how to use already, and a axe was the best when it comes to heavy attacks.

And well, you use an axe to cut wood, anyways right? I clicked the middle option, the panel that showed the axe in question.

It had a broad axe head that was made of a dark gray metal and engraved with silver marking of teeth and a wolf.

Its handle was a dark red wood that was polished and treated to shine and partially wrapped in beautiful black leather for a solid grip.

[Wolfen Berserker's battle axe]

Wolfen berserkers were a terrifying and almost unstoppable force on a battlefield.

They fought until their last breath for what they were protecting, and their weapons were made to match them.

When held grants +2 Str +1 Def

Attacks with this weapon build up rage. When a full charge of rage is built up, the wielder can activate berserker's fury

[Berserker's fury]

Up to 5 charges of rage can be held at one time and can be used individually or all at once.

When a charge of rage is used, the weapon emits smoke and enhances the next attack by an amount equal to rage spent ×2.

Yeah, this seems perfect, Equipment even gives stats and has a skill! I purchased it and plunged my hand into the abyss in front of my heart.