章 3: Painful Pills and Embarking on the Next Leg of the Journey

Had to make a small edit on last chapter, check this paragraph comment.

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Hearing that I only possess 2% of the power of the world's strongest, I realized that I would have to eat grass for 98 more years just to match the world's strongest, let alone rule over them.

I imagined a wrinkly old man crawling in the field, giggling from insanity while plucking and eating handfuls of grass, as parents and their kids passed by. The children would say, "Look, Mom, the crazy grass-eating old man; he's still here!" and the parents would scold their kids, turning their heads away, saying, "Don't look at him. He was even here when your grandfather was your age. You don't want to end up like him, do you? They say he's cursed to live that way forever."

"So, I have to eat grass for more than 98 years just to match the world's strongest."

[Fear not. Now that you have enough energy, you can use it to improve what you can absorb. I recommend purchasing ten Grade 5 Body Tempering Pills from the system store first. It strikes a nice balance between cost and what you need for now. Though using it will cause some discomfort, it's well worth it. Say "Store" to open the store.]

"Store."

A window with several tabs at the top popped up, with items displayed below. Clicking the pills tab, I saw pills for all sorts of things. I scrolled down to the Grade 5 body tempering pills and almost choked on air when I saw the price: 0.05 Energy per pill. I clicked on the button and the page for the Grade 5 body tempering pill was displayed. With tears in my eyes, I clicked the plus sign until the quantity equaled 10 and clicked purchase for 0.5 Energy, a whole year's worth of work.

I held out my hands, expecting the pills to fall from the air.

[10x Body Tempering pills of Grade 5 have been delivered to the inventory.]

'Man, I must look like an idiot holding my hands out into the air as if waiting for a magical airdrop.'

I quickly retracted my hands while saying "Inventory," and the inventory was displayed, holding 10 pills and what looked like a scroll. Taking out the pills, they had a burnt orange color and an enticing sweet smell. Remembering that Kitty said there would be some discomfort, I decided to sit down and popped them all at once. They didn't melt like the other one, so I swallowed them.

About half a minute later, I felt like I was dying. I hate that bitch Kitty for lying to me and saying there would be "some discomfort." My entire body felt like it was being disassembled, rearranged, and reassembled by a mad scientist with a chainsaw. I'm so not believing that stupid system on pain levels if it ever alludes to pain ever again. Body tempering pills? More like Pain Pills. Just pass out now.

No idea how much time passed, but when I awoke, it was night, and I finally saw the twin moons. They were each more white than the one on Earth, big and beautiful, like they were pulled from a fairy tale before being hung in the night sky among the numerous glittering stars.

I noticed I needed another bath, and my clothes needed to be washed again. Everything was covered in putrid-smelling black goo, and the scent was akin to if I had just crawled out of a septic tank. I ran straight back into the water.

After washing up, I decided to check my stats again.

Stats (Average Human stat is 1):

Combat power: 2.4

Energy: 1.33

Strength: 5

Agility: 5.2

Stamina: 6

Intelligence: 2

Wisdom: 1.6

Luck: 2

Charisma: 3.2

Noticing my energy was 1.33 even after spending 0.5 on pills, I was a little confused. I consumed 1 from the grass, so where did the other 0.83 come from?

"Kitty, I hate you. That wasn't just some discomfort; it was way more than some."

[Some can mean all.]

Well, technically she's not wrong, but is she serious?

[Besides, I never said to eat them all at once.]

Ok, she's not wrong there either.

"Next time, can you specify how many I should use at once?"

[It is completely up to you. I will only recommend a total amount for best results. How quickly you choose to use them and improve is up to you.]

Whatever. Not like I can get her to do it if she won't.

"How did I get more than one energy? I must have had 1.83 before buying the pills."

[You ate some things besides the grass, like leaves, berries, microorganisms, insects, and the like.]

Seeing that I ate microorganisms and insects, I felt a little sick. But what's done is done, and it's not like I even knew about it. Thinking about it further, I guess microorganisms are everywhere, so I've been eating them all my life. It's not like it didn't benefit me either, since I got an extra 0.83 from them.

"Kitty, now about going to town. I'm assuming when you say I should change my clothing style, it must be because this world uses different clothing styles, and I need to blend in. This also means you must have a way to make them?" Hopefully, new clothes won't cost too much.

[Correct, this world uses robes for clothing. Check the clothing tab in the store for new clothes.]

I opened the store to the clothing tab and saw many different styles, some of which were definitely not robes.

"Kitty, can you filter out everything but the most appropriate clothing for this world?"

The displayed items drastically reduced to about 40 different styles, ranging from beggars' clothing to attire fit for a king.

"Now, please filter out everything except the ones that would be considered normal or average. I want to be relatively forgettable, but still look nice."

Only five options were left, and I selected the nicest-looking one. Next, I could choose a color. I decided to go with navy blue for the base color and cool blue for the decorative markings. I had once read a study that said navy blue is the most relaxing color, and I could use all the help I can get to make people in this world feel relaxed around me and ignore little things that might be odd.

The clothing cost wasn't too expensive, though not exactly cheap, coming in at 0.1. I clicked "buy" this time without extending my hands expecting it to fall from the air.

[Clothing has been delivered to your inventory.]

I stripped off my old, worn-out clothing down to my birthday suit. Looking at myself, I was a little surprised at how much muscle I had gained over my time in this world. I was lean and fit. It made me quite happy and I just couldn't resist taking a minute to flex in different poses not that I'm really vain but I've never had muscles before, always looking like a stick figure, I feel a little pride in my new body.

Opening the inventory, I took out the robe. It was surprisingly not as complicated as it looked to put on. Stick your arms through the sleeves, hook the little rope pieces with knots on the ends, as if they are buttons on a string, across and through the loops on the other side, and bring the belt around from where it was hanging off the back. Hook it together with four more of those button-like thingies.

I tried walking around, but feeling my little brother dangling between my legs was a new experience, kind of freeing. That was until I realized that if I fell over or something and my robe flipped up, he'd be waving to the whole world, causing an awkward situation. Deciding it was best to purchase some boxers, I went back into the store and selected a plain navy pair that should blend in with the robe should a situation ever arise.

I walked around some more, getting used to these new clothes. Realizing they were a little more restrictive than I was used to.

"Kitty, why would anyone wear these clothes? Wouldn't it make them less effective when fighting?"

[Tradition, mostly. This world is more concerned about fighting with astral power than fists and kicks. Besides, do you really want to see wrinkly old men battling it out in spandex with a bulge?]

That is a haunting image that could never be erased from my imagination.

I buried my old, threadbare clothing under a large tree by the lake and decided it was time for the next phase of my journey. Time to go to town. Now the problem was how to go about doing it. Should I just walk in a random direction until I find one? I sat down to think about it.

The sun was coming over the horizon as I contemplated the best course of action. To the north, there were mountains, but they were so far off and over the horizon so there could be a town in between. Going west, I think there's a forest, but that could have dangerous animals. So not west. South and east, I don't see anything. If I go north or south, the temperature could have big changes in climate before finding a town. I quite like where I am now. Which leaves east. East it is. I stood up and started walking toward the rising sun.