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Marem went to sleep, as Leo sat at the desk. Despite the coffee she’d just been drinking, the exhaustion quickly put her to sleep. Leo looked over at the three of them, as they slept peacefully despite the uncertain situation. He was happy they were all safe.

He dug out a canteen of water from his backpack and used it to help him clean off any residue that was still stuck to his face. His clothes had once again been damaged in a fight, though thankfully they were still functional. His now dwindling wardrobe and the monster remains weren’t the top priority to him, as he still didn’t know what was happening in Faelde city.

He hoped there would be some way to find and help the people of the city, and with the spiked monster dead it should be easier to do so. When Philips awoke, he might be able to do better research on the cause of the illness without the threat every night.

Leo also wondered what that thing even was, and why it attacked the city every night. It didn’t seem to want food, so maybe it was simply hunting people down for fun? He knew that he didn’t have the knowledge to find out in detail why it attacked, but he remembered he could at least discover its name now.

“System,” he called out.

As blue screens appeared before him, he looked at his latest exp gains.

[INFECTED SPIKE DEVIL | GAINED 25,000 EXP]

[ROCK MAN | GAINED 500 EXP]

Leo was shocked at just how much experience that fight granted him, as it was the second highest he’d ever seen a single creature have. It felt weird to think that it granted more than the Multiculi did, but as he remembered its lightning fast movement he understood how it could be more dangerous.

What had Leo intrigued was the ‘INFECTED’ before its name, and what that meant. He hoped it wouldn’t take long for Philips to wake, so he could ask him more about the monster and the infection.

Leo glanced over to his status, to check on his current condition.

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

[Class: Barbarian of Chains][EXP: 97,650]

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

[Dexterity: 22]{+4, Dodging increased}

[Intelligence: 15]{+1, Reasoning increased}

[Charisma: 10]{+3, Persuasion 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 ]

He looked at his improved stats and felt happy, being able to see his growth in numbers made it feel more real. He did notice he felt more alive compared to his previous life. He couldn’t have imagined ever speaking to new people so easily, to think so clearly, or to just be able to change like he had.

There were still many questions about why he was here, what this world was, and if he’d ever see home again. He knew that he couldn’t find these answers easily, but hoped that he could along his journey. Until then, he’d simply be content with living this new life to the fullest.

While he thought about his journey so far, he glanced over at his screen which he had forgotten to swipe away. He noticed he’d gained a sizable collection of exp. Leo didn’t want to stockpile it without a goal, but he couldn’t think of what it should be.

With ‘Chained Body’ alongside ‘Conserve Power’, he wasn’t in dire need of more ways to reduce his strength. Especially since he had gotten much better at controlling himself, minus a few outbursts.

“Hey system, can you put my exp into something that’ll help me learn about the infection?” he asked.

Leo waited a few moments, hopeful and somewhat expectant for some positive response. What he got was an unmoving exp number and no new abilities. He hoped it would be as simple as that, but it seemed as if he wouldn’t be so lucky.

Leo closed the screen and spent his time thinking about how he could spend the points. This system wasn’t very clear with what it’d do, so he figured it would be best to aim for something simple. He didn’t want to just increase his stats though, as he felt he could do it himself with hard work.

More time than he expected had passed as he pondered what he should do, with most of his ideas being ridiculous. What brought him out of his flying ability fantasies was a stir amongst the bedrolls. He saw Philips start to move, as the injured man tried to escape his prison of blankets.

“Woah man, stay in bed, you’re not good enough to go walking around,” exclaimed Leo.

Leo stood up from the desk, to walk over to check on Philips and wake up Marem. Before he could take a step, Philips had thrown the blanket off of him. His abdomen was heavily bandaged, alongside smaller bandages around his chest and arms. He grabbed his wand which was placed near him, as he stood up.

“Hey, no, you’re alright Philips, everything's okay,” stammered Leo.

Leo hoped to calm down Philips before he did anything rash, but as he took his first step forwards he saw Philips turn and aim at him. Shards of ice shot out from the wand, as they smashed against Leo into thousands of pieces.

The attacks weren’t what shocked Leo, it was the fact that Philips’ eyes weren’t blue and shining while he cast magic.