Mash told Red his idea and explained how he wanted to be the kind of noble that just did what they wanted to. He could leave the duty of being responsible to his family. She didn’t like the idea at first, but she relented after he explained a few things. He wasn’t planning on taking on any leadership position of any kind and would probably spend most of his time exploring dungeons. The only thing he would do for the family was act as a shield of sorts. He would just gain more power and protect his family when they needed it.

Red explained that there were a few nobles like that, though most people looked down on them. Plus, their reputations were usually deplorable. Mash didn’t care though, as he didn’t even want to be known for being a noble. He would much rather be known for being strong or heroic. That sounded a lot better than needing to worry about small details like accepting free food or not. He had enough concerns that acting noble was not something that he wanted to add to that. Eventually Red agreed with him. After all, she had run from her family to escape some of those things. Luke was the only one that seemed to actually want the position of privilege. Mash didn’t doubt that his friend would get it soon enough. He was one of the only people who could truly help those that had been turned undead.

With the decision made, the four of them decided to get ready. The plan was to eat some dinner, then head into the village. They still wanted to explore the town a bit but decided they could eat first. Plus, they would be able to order some travel rations while they were down there. Almost any establishment like this would provide those, as most people would order things for a journey.

There were bathrooms in each of their rooms, though those were a little cramped. Apparently, there was a larger communal bath, but nobody wanted to use that. Mash got ready quickly not bothering with his hair. The white hair was strong and naturally seemed to grow disorderly. His attempts at managing had proved ineffective, so he just left it as it was. He did change into another set of clothes and left after a few minutes.

The others only took a little longer to get ready and they headed toward the restaurant. The sun still hadn’t set but it was fairly late. As Mash entered the restaurant, he wasn’t at all surprised to see that it was packed. Almost every table was occupied, but he noticed that there were few left that would be able to fit his group. That was definitely an intentional decision, and Mash saw Gabriel and approached the man quickly.

The man’s eyes lit up, and he excitedly welcomed the group.

“Greetings, what can I do you for you, Sir? Would you care for a table?”

“Yes, that would be great, though could we get one near the corner.”

Replying easily, Mash smiled toward the man and pointed at a table in the corner. There was no one there, and it would hide them a little bit. Red had told him that if he wanted to avoid some of this type of treatment he should try and do something that they wouldn’t like. However, he should refrain from making it obvious, and Mash had already come up with an idea. He would eat as he wanted to, and that would hopefully be enough to create some untoward rumors.

It was funny that he was trying to ruin his image now. In the past, he had worked hard to avoid any nasty rumors and looks, but now he was trying to start some. They wouldn’t be as bad as the stuff that had circulated around him before, but the situation was still ironic. Gabriel led them to a table, and it was clear that he was going to handle his group personally. He left them with an actual menu. Mash couldn’t remember the last time he ate a place that had a menu. Normally, the places he visited would just give whatever they were making on that day.

He looked toward the others, though none of them knew what to order. Rather than thinking about it too deeply, he just picked several things and told the others to do likewise. He could eat any number of leftovers, and that way they could try many different things. Plus, they would be milking the inn for all it was worth. After ordering an obscene amount of food, they discussed when they were planning on leaving town. They were loud enough that others could hear. After talking about how they were planning on leaving in the morning, they grew quieter for the rest of the night. With his words, Mash essentially stopped the innkeeper from exploiting his visit too much, and he felt exhausted for just needing to do something like this.

They talked about random things, not wanting to bring up the dungeon or anything important while so many eyes were on them. Mash finally got around to asking the others what hobbies they had, and what they thought about him learning how to paint. Jill did know how to play two instruments and found the choice to be funny. She learned how to play the flute and lute. Red didn’t have anything purely for amusement but loved reading books and learning about the past. Luke hadn’t really thought about it so specifically, but he enjoyed reading too, though his preference was for fictional stories.

The meal came during their discussion, and there were about a dozen different dishes laid out before them. None of the portions were small either, so the group got to eating. Mash ate freely, ignoring things that other people would eat around. Bones and spines of animals crunched loudly as he ate them. Nobody commented out loud, but he could see more than a few gazes were fixed on his table. Seeing the reactions of some people through his draconic domain made him want to laugh, and he couldn’t help but smile a little. He told the others about the people too, but they were no longer speaking so loudly that someone could listen without using a skill for it.

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Each dish was incredible, and the variety of flavors and textures made it so that he never got bored. There was a nice mix of drinks too, and he was glad that they hadn’t brought anything alcoholic. He didn’t like the taste last time, though maybe he should give it another shot. He did have the golden body now, and that might have affected his tastes. It didn’t feel like it as he still preferred the sweeter dishes. They didn’t talk much while they ate, simply enjoying the variety of dishes. However, they did laugh at the occasional person they caught staring at Mash. He was holding nothing back, cleaning plates completely and easily finishing all they had ordered. The meal itself had taken the better part of an hour, but it was filling.

After finishing the meal, they left abruptly leaving the inn quickly. The owner looked obviously bothered, but he wouldn’t dare say anything after acting so shamelessly toward Mash. Mash’s actions were probably a little petty, and most of what he did wouldn’t change anything. The place would still receive a lot of extra business for his presence, and many would still needlessly idolize him for his brother’s influence.

Once they got outside, Jill actually teleported them to a section of the town they had passed earlier. As expected, there had been a small crowd forming around the inn, and their abrupt departure caused quite the ruckus. Jill teleported them onto the roof of a building, that way they could see how the crowd reacted to their vanishing act. Many people seemed impressed, though many others looked disappointed. This reminded him of how people would crowd around his brother’s home just for a chance to see his sister. Luna actively acted annoyed to try and dissuade people from idolizing her, and he realized he was copying her now. It was definitely the smart move. Especially, if he considered how things would change once he received recognition for his own actions. He received this much attention just because of his family name, but what would happen when he actually deserved the attention. Well, he could always hideaway in a dungeon or two.

That thought was surprisingly comforting. It would probably sound insane to others. The idea of entering a dungeon to live there temporarily. Not for strength or power, but just to relax. He found himself smiling at the thought. He noticed the others giving him weird looks, but he didn’t bother explaining. It was an unimportant thought, something that just popped into his head.

They departed from the roof in another teleport and began exploring the town. Jill just teleported them to a random street, and they started walking in a random direction. If they found someone, they could ask for directions.

After talking about what hobbies, they enjoyed, they decided to try and find some stores for things like that. Jill needed an instrument as she hadn’t brought anything with her. Her flute from the dungeon hadn’t stuck around either. That made him remember the journal, and he stopped the others.

“Give me a second I need to check for something.”

Without any other warning, he opened his storage space and was shocked by the size. It was enormous now. It was easily big enough that he could walk into, and he did just that. Jill poked her head inside.

“What happened to your storage space? When did you get an upgrade?”

Mash shook his head, and only looked around with amazement. He considered what had changed since he last checked, and the only thing he thought of was getting the golden body. Then he pieced things together. When he had taken the potions, it felt like it had seeped into every aspect of his body, and for him, that included his attuned items.

He considered his other items, like his healing necklace or, more importantly, his earrings. Those were his most powerful magic items and were heavily incorporated with his mind. From what he understood now, the item was to keep him as himself. Unshifting from external influences, he wondered what bonuses had occurred from the golden body. Was it possible that he was already free from the class system or the marks?

He wished there was a better way to test but couldn’t think of anything. Priscilla gave him a vague image, one that reminded him of when he first attuned to the earrings. The feeling of getting transported to another place and being truly free from everything. As he thought of the place, the feeling returned. A second later he felt like he did when he got a class advancement.

The space was similar to what he remembered but there were some subtle differences now. The enormous tree at the center was covered in black scales. Each was as dark as the night itself. Instead of leaves, there was a grey cloud surrounding the top. Lightning lanced downwards and struck the tree itself. In the distance, he saw the marks, though they seemed smaller now. Instead of large moons, they had become small rocks. Priscilla didn’t look different but this time there was a colony of them swimming in the air like a school of fishes. It was strange considering that she couldn’t actually fly. Or at least she couldn’t have until he got his wind affinity. Now, she might be able to.

Finally, he saw the clouds, which was what reminded him most of the class system. They pulsated with power that reminded him of a class advancement, and he was disappointed to see that they seemed unchanged. As he stared at the clouds, he realized that his initial impression had been wrong. They were different. Rather than a single mass of clouds that seemed to cover almost everything they were broken and miss colored. It looked like they had been mixed with something, and he decided to take that as a good sign.

The most startling difference though was the strange fruit that was growing on the tree. It was large, easily a few times larger than Mash himself. He had no idea what it was supposed to be and looked at the strange thing for a while. It was crisscrossed in gold lines, and it felt weirdly alive. Mash walked towards it for a second, but then felt something pull him away from the space. A second later he was staring at Jill who was staring at him with some concern.