Leo’s eyes shot open, as he shot a look at the still approaching Centiface. He didn’t have a moment to lose as the beast loomed ever closer, he stood up, his body felt as if it was made of air yet filled with liquid.

He pulled back his arm and threw a punch, while his body moved as he ordered, it still had an odd lack of weight behind it. He saw the Centiface frown right before it was obliterated, as behind it was now a trail of destruction. Leo couldn’t help but notice that the damage extended far less than his normal blows.

[Combat Ability: Gentle Strike]

[Gentle Strike: Deal 1 Damage + Strength/2]

While he looked on at his new attack’s description, he felt a mixture of joy and disappointment. Even with his best attempts, he had only gone from complete annihilation to enormous damage to surrounding areas. He looked around to realize that his attempt at escape did seem to work, as he couldn’t feel any other monsters approaching his location. In the far distance he saw a handful of bodies he left behind.

He decided to end his training here for today, even if he survived the poison his body still felt unwell. Leo started to walk before he remembered that he had gone from near death to semi functional rather quickly, and realized that something had to be the cause of it. He looked at his left ring finger, and saw a matching ring just like the one on his pinkie finger.

Only now did he give note to the feeling of even more chains on his body, Leo decided he should see what offer he accepted in his delirious state.

“Status.”

[Leo Eule - Human][Health: 98,714/99,999]

[Class: Barbarian of Chains][EXP: 62,750]

[Strength: 2,147,483,647] {Currently 386,547,056}

[Dexterity: 18]{+11, Acrobatics increased}

[Intelligence: 14]{+9, Situational Awareness increased}

[Charisma: 7]{+1, Confidence increased}

[Abilities]

[Curse of the Withered King: Your Strength was permanently set to -2 of current Strength.]

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[Conserve Power: You can limit yourself to only 20% of your full Strength.]

[Chained Body {2/10}: Gained Dark Vision | Gained Impenetrable Mind | -10% Strength ]

He was shocked to see how much his stats had gone up in just a single day, even if he had fought with everything he had. Though looking at his Chained Body ability, he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly impenetrable mind entailed.

“System, show me ‘Chained body’,” he asked, hoping for some insight into his new ability.

[Chained Body: The user trades their physical strength in exchange for unique buffs and attributes. Trades are permanent, and cannot be undone.]

[Dark Vision: You are able to see within darkness, magical or otherwise.]

[Impenetrable Mind: Your mind and mental state cannot be altered by any means, magical or otherwise]

Leo realized that the poison was likely still in his system, just that his mind had been cleared of its effects. Lifting his arms he realized that the strange feeling in his body was likely due to the poison, and hoped it would clear out of his system soon.

While he walked through the desert he realized that even if he fought only briefly, likely less than an hour overall, he still had gone through a lot of energy in the encounter. When he was certain that nothing had trailed him, he decided now was a good time to take a rest and eat.

The hot desert sand was burning to sit on, having heated up quickly underneath the sun, while Leo also weathered the hot arid winds. He took out a canteen of water, he hadn’t realized just how thirsty he was until he greedily drank every last drop. The sun burnt against his skin as he looked forward, seeing nothing but sand ahead.

Well, he saw nothing but sand in every direction, but there was definitely sand up ahead. While he took out some wrapped sandwiches that Koram had made him, he had a very unsettling thought. Where exactly was he?

He was in the desert, obviously, but the original straight path he was traveling in got lost during the fight. Looking around made it clear to him that there weren’t any convenient landmarks to be found, given it is a desert, so he may have to backtrack to his sculptures to try and realign himself.

He looked at his clothes that were greatly damaged, not doing much to stop approaching sand, and to his backpack that looked closer to being held together by hope than fabric. He couldn’t leave his supplies behind, but he also didn’t want to risk losing them in another fight.

He tried his best to think of where the sun rose from in the morning, and the direction he traveled in during it. Though no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t remember. Having finished the last bite of his sandwich, he decided to just walk forward and hope he wasn’t too far off course.

Once he started to walk once more, he felt that the food and water did him some good as his body felt much better than before. He wanted to change into a new outfit but decided to do so later, while his current clothing was damaged he preferred it compared to stripping even if it would be brief. While he was in the middle of the desert, public decency was still important.

While taking a mental inventory of his improved condition, he noticed something was still off. He didn’t feel tired anymore. While his interrupted sleep from last night left him a bit tired, he didn’t feel even a hint of exhaustion right now. His energy could be from the adrenaline of his fight, but Leo couldn’t help but wonder if this was a part of his recent buff.