The change occurred almost instantly, and I could feel my body undergoing a transformation. I became shorter and more muscular, with well-defined muscles. Heavy armor covered my entire body, and a shield was secured to my left arm. As I looked down at all too familiar armor, I couldn't believe what I was witnessing—I had transformed into Unblakeable, my Paladin character from Questcraft. I was utterly shocked and bewildered by this unexpected turn of events. I gazed up at Stella through the visor of my helmet, and I noticed her stepping back, her face drained of color, filled with fear. She inquired with terror in her voice, "What just happened? Who are you, and what happened to the person who was just here?" Her fear intensified, causing her to stumble backward and almost lose her balance as she tripped over a tree root, narrowly avoiding falling into the nearby stream.

"Whoa, Stella, it's still me, Blake," I reassured her, though my voice had undergone a complete transformation. It sounded deeper, reminiscent of the heroic characters you'd find in a children's cartoon. Gotta admit, it was pretty cool. "Somehow, I've transformed into one of my... um, alter egos. It's hard to explain, but think of it as me being myself, but in a different body. In my old world, I would use this form to battle formidable monsters and embark on exciting adventures." I struggled to find the right words to help Stella understand, considering she lived in a medieval-level society with no knowledge of VRMMORPGs or even basic technology.

"You're a shapeshifter? The kind that morphs like those dreaded skinwalkers or deceptive mimics?" Her words hung in the air, heavy with the stench of fear. "They're the stuff of nightmares, pure evil. How can I trust that you're not just pretending to be good, scheming to trap me in your web, perhaps even devour me whole?" Her voice quivered, the terror palpable in her wide, darting eyes. I had literally just pulled her from the unknown fate of the bandits prison, and during that time, I'd had more than enough opportunities to harm her if that was my motive. Her vulnerability was amplified by the slave collar clasped around her neck, a reminder of her inability to protect herself.

"Stella, let me pull up my stats once more so you can have a look. Hopefully, this will help calm you down and we can work together to figure things out." With that, I directed all my attention towards opening my status window. To my surprise, it displayed exactly what I had anticipated, yet never thought I would see again.

Name: Unblakeable

Level: 200

Class:

Race: High Elf

Attributes:

Vitality 985

Strength 750

Stamina 794

Agility 654

Intellect 712

Wisdom 235

Spells and Abilities:

"I can't believe it!" I heard Stella exclaim right beside me. It seemed that her fear had dissipated, and now she was incredibly intrigued by my stat sheet for some unknown reason. "The maximum level is 100, but some of your numbers are lower than they were at level 0. And speaking of stats, yours are higher than anything I've ever heard of being possible. I'm starting to lean towards the belief that Illyanna sent you here and created your body herself. I have an idea, if you're willing to try it out for me?" she proposed. I nodded, encouraging her to continue. "Since your body was created and strengthened by the goddess, you didn't go through the leveling system and didn't need mana to enhance your stats and body. Therefore, you should be able to interact with this collar without it nullifying your stats or preventing you from removing it. Would you be willing to give it a try?"

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Without hesitation, I reached over and effortlessly pinched Stella's collar between my index finger and thumb, causing it to snap like a spaghetti noodle. Stella gasped in awe as color returned to her face, enhancing her already stunning beauty, which I didn't think was possible. Curious about the extent of my Paladin-like abilities, I focused my attention on Stella and attempted to will Cleansing Light upon her, just as I would in the world of Questcraft. A surge of mana flowed out of my body, and a radiant white light cascaded down upon her, instantly cleansing away all the dirt and grime from her captivity. Encouraged by the success, I extended my hand towards her and cast a Healing Light, channeling a substantial amount of my mana into her. As a result, all her minor bruises, aches, and pains were healed, and I witnessed a look of utter bliss on her face as the discomfort vanished instantly. Unfortunately, I could sense that I had expended nearly half of my remaining mana in the process. “I didn’t expect you to be a healer! That was amazing but why do you wear all that crazy armor if you heal?” She asked in confusion.

"Those two minor spells have depleted about half of my mana pool. I specialize in being a tank with occasional healing abilities. My strength lies in self-healing and absorbing massive amounts of damage, as well as protecting others. I'm not particularly strong in terms of offensive attacks, but when I do engage monsters, I provoke them to focus their attacks on me, allowing my friends to attack without fear of being harmed," I explained to her, uncertain of her familiarity with adventuring parties. "If you're rested and fully recovered, we can continue this conversation once we reach a town. It's already dark, and I don't want to draw the attention of bandits who might decide to pursue us after all. I have an idea to illuminate our path. Let me check if my sword still possesses the same enchantment it had in my world," I said, pulling my sword from its sheath. To my delight, it ignited in a brilliant blue fire, illuminating the surrounding area like a blazing sun. Stella once again recoiled in surprise at my sudden display of power, and at this point, it was becoming quite entertaining.

Stella, with a resigned expression, shook her head and promptly started running downstream without uttering another word. Two hours later, we emerged from the forest and found ourselves in a plowed field on the outskirts of a medium-sized town. The town was brightly illuminated, and the sound of lively music emanated from what appeared to be an inn. "Welcome to Menzobar," Stella informed me. "It's a bustling town that caters to traveling merchants. The inns here are quite pricey, and since I don't have any money, we'll likely have to camp outside and enter in the morning to attempt a withdrawal from the bankers' guild and access my account." Considering all the recent revelations, I focused all my willpower on my Inventory. Moments later, I let out a whoop of joy and started doing a little happy dance. "Would you care to enlighten me as to why you're behaving like a fool?" asked Stella, clearly exasperated. I halted my dance and extended my hand, using my will to summon five gold coins from my Inventory. They materialized and landed neatly in my palm.

"Do these shiny coins count as payment?" I inquired, grinning like a fool as I dangled them in front of her face. She swiftly snatched one and scrutinized it closely.

"These coins from your previous world might be pure gold, but they lack official minting, so we'll only receive their weight value. The inns should accept them, but be prepared for a hefty exchange tax. How many do you have?" She asked, clearly concerned that we wouldn't have enough to cover the exorbitant price she expected us to pay for the room.

"Oh, just around 400 million or so. I think we'll manage just fine. Let's go, I'm starving and tired. It's getting late, and I still need to thoroughly investigate this stat screen situation. My class is mysteriously grayed out, and I need to determine if I'm stuck like this forever. Not that it's the worst outcome, mind you, but I'm dying to figure this shit out." I informed Stella, leaving her utterly astonished.

I obediently trailed behind Stella as she led the way to the inn of her choice. She snatched a handful of coins from me and haggled with the innkeeper until we were handed our room keys and assured that our meals were on their way. Navigating through the rowdy crowd, we ascended the staircase together. However, to my bewilderment, Stella followed me into my room when we reached the top of the stairs.

"What are you doing? We booked two rooms," I stated, puzzled by her intrusion.

"I want to understand your stats just as much as you do, and we still need to get to know each other if we're going to be joined at the hip from now on, as we travel together." she declared, as if it were a given.

"When did we discuss traveling together? Well, I suppose I'm not opposed to the idea, since you seem decent enough. So, let's take a seat and kill some time while we wait for our food. We can get better acquainted," I suggested, plopping down on the lumpy mattress of this ridiculously overpriced inn. Despite my easy agreement I was a little apprehensive about her ulterior motives but only time would tell if my suspicions were founded or not.