Leo’s first priority was something that he’d thought about for a while. He hurried off to the bathroom with his bag in hand. He pulled out a fresh pair of clothes and prepared to shower.
He’d accepted that adventurers didn’t get the privilege to shower often, but he couldn’t believe just how awful it felt. Sure he could change clothes, but he couldn’t change his skin. The same skin that had been covered in devil brains, dirt, blood, and rotted fungus.
While he stripped, he looked himself over in the mirror. The jarring changes in his body now seemed natural. His once shocking muscles seemed to have settled onto his frame. The parts of him that were off now could only be seen up close.
His shaggy overgrown haircut was already a bit too long, but it was now begging for a cut. He could see the age in his eyes— as if he’d only started growing recently. Despite this, he couldn’t spot a single facial hair in sight.
Leo’s face and chest seemed to be covered in light scars that increased the lower they went. His skin was marred with damage from when David dragged him through the Eversunk mountains. While there were no other traces of damage on his body, he hated that a calamity had left even a scratch on him.
He inspected his arms yet found no traces of David’s final attack. While he certainly remembered the pain from it, there was no remnant of the necrotic energy that once threatened to kill him.
He hadn’t put much thought into it before, primarily because of the traumatic nature of that day, but how did he recover so quickly? His arms felt as if they’d nearly fallen off, yet he was able to be back to normal in a matter of hours. Strength was one thing, but what was it that kept him alive?
He kept those questions in mind as he hopped into the shower. Hopefully, he would run into somebody that would help him learn more about the system and stats. While his goal was still to reach the king, he would try to see if he could find a fellow otherworlder along the way.
“System,” called out Leo.
It hadn’t felt that long since he checked out his stats, but his growth seemed to show otherwise.
[Leo Eule - Human][Health: 99,999/99,999]
[Class: Barbarian of Chains][EXP: 172,650]
[Strength: 2,147,483,647] {Currently 386,547,056}
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
[Dexterity: 28]{+6, Reflexes increased}
[Intelligence: 32]{+17, Investigation increased}
[Charisma: 26]{+16, Leadership increased}
[Abilities]
[Curse of the Withered King: Your Strength was permanently set to -2 of current Strength.]
[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 ]
[HIVE LORD | GAINED 75,000 EXP]
The freezing water was the only thing that kept him certain that what he was seeing was real. Not only had he gained a large portion of EXP, but he had greatly increased his stats. It appeared that his experiences in Faelde city helped him grow as a person in a way that fighting in the desert couldn’t.
His pondering over what to do with his EXP was interrupted by his spotting of Philips’ shampoo. Well, his shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and 38 other things. While Leo had used the fabled 19-in-1 back in his real life, he had never known there was such a powerful concoction as this.
The bottle had a wide variety of uses, such as being an edible paste, troll repellent, wand polisher, and even temporary tattoo ink. While Leo didn’t consider himself to be a thief, he couldn’t deny the temptation that crept into his mind. Thankfully, for everyone’s sake, stealing someone’s only bottle of soap would be weird, rude, and pretty noticeable.
He was washing off the goop as one of the 41-in-1 shampoo effects kicked in. It reminded him of what he was thinking about while he applied it earlier. A memory enhancer was certainly a weird addition, but it helped him remember to spend his EXP.
He was tempted to invest it all into intelligence or charisma, but he decided against it. So many of his current struggles were because of his unbalanced stats, and he didn’t want to risk it affecting two aspects of his life. Though he wondered if he would think the same if he was just a bit smarter.
“System, increase my intelligence by 1,” ordered Leo.
[UNAVAILABLE]
“Like, always unavailable or just right now?” he asked.
[UNAVAILABLE]
“I can’t tell if I’m dumb or if you’re useless. Whatever, I’ll think of something to spend my points on,” relented Leo.
Leo finished up cleaning with the bright green paste and hopped out of the shower. While he changed into his latest outfit, he checked his stock of clothes. He had an awful habit of destroying his outfits while fighting, and he was now suffering the consequences.
He walked out of the bathroom and placed down his two remaining outfits. He also pulled out and sorted the scraps and remains of his previous outfits. Nearly all of it was unsalvageable, but he didn’t want to just throw all of it away.
While shaking the bag as if it owed him money, a small pouch fell out. He realized it was the small pouch of gold coins gifted to him by Koram. The coins shimmered in the light when he opened the bag.
There was a near guaranteed chance that no shops were open now, but Leo didn’t have anything else going on. He decided to go out to see the city and hopefully buy some more clothes. If he was lucky, he might even think of something to spend EXP on.