Mike lay down on his bed with his mind in a wild frenzy of thoughts and worries about things out of his control. Still, Mike had one thought ringing through his head above all others that were irritating him beyond belief. He was weak. That was painfully obvious to him as his mind constantly reminded him of that fact. Still, after a few minutes of contemplation, Mike was able to make sense of some things going on in there upstairs.
After Synthia and Mike got back from the sewers they first immediately headed to the nearest bath to at least try and get rid of the smell that followed them out. After a good hour there scrubbing and washing their bodies raw they both returned to their respective areas of the city and to their inn and brothel which they stayed at. Mike was beat from the encounter with the slime as he hurt himself to actually get out of the stupid thing, his hands were red and still cold to the touch from getting caught in the area of effect.
Just like the classical "I did not ask how big the room was. I said I cast fireball" meme back on earth Mike started getting caught in his own spells which were not helpful to his health and also his ego. It was a problem so Mike would have to find ways to fight better without magic and without Sarenthia backing him up since she might not always be there to help him.
The best thing he could do was continuing to get stronger through the workout routine that he developed while in the system lockdown thing that he was placed in. The routine was helpful but like all things, the rewards had yet to show up yet through his hard work so all he could do was be patient while doing the workouts.
However, at the thought of improving his strength, Mike realizes that he has yet to fully look at his status since the system turned back online. He wanted to see what exactly has improved or changed and hopefully get some answers to Orion's weird changes recently with mana usage and eating rocks.
***
Name: Mike H. Briggs
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age: 17
Main Class: Learner (Locked)
Subclasses: None
----Stats----
Note: Various other stats are related to the stats below but the ones started below are the main stats
[Lvl 4]
Experience: 0/2500
Health: 60/60
Stamina: 45/45
Magic: 109/109
Strength: 11 --> 20
Dexterity: 12 --> 18
Constitution: 27 --> 29
Charisma: 16
Intelligence: 23 --> 24
Luck: 14 --> 16
Negative effects: None
Skills: [Skill steal] [Hard to hit] [Beginnners Stealth] [Small Luck] [Basic Herb Gathering] [Basic Herb Identification] [Intermidate Pain Resistance] [???]
Skill Pieces: Dual Casting- 11/1000
Proficiencies: None
Unused points: 2
Reserved exp: 3090
Spells: Cantrips (Expand)
*** (Decided to show how much the stats have changed by adding the arrows for you all and myself)
"Um..." Mike lets out seeing how things have changed drastically for his stats
This was a really good change in stats now as Mike was actually seeing how things had changed but the only bad thing is that he had no idea what to use for a reference against since these are just numbers he would at the very least like something to reference to.
Abbey sensing Mike's plight steps in.
"Your stats are below average now"
"What do you mean?" Mike asks confused as to how she came to this conclusion
"Your stats are below average to all beings in the multiverse and beyond. In fact, you are probably weaker than the knights of this world," Abbey adds
"..."
"Okay that may seem a bit harsh but that is the truth unfortunately so you will just have to deal with that alright. So man up and get stronger before you start fighting everything in existence," Abbey tells Mike
Mike cannot help but let out a sigh as he navigates the system to show Orion's stats.
_____________________
Name: Orion
Gender: Male
Race: Mana Wolf
Age: 2 weeks
Bloodline (level 1): Wolf variant (Impure), +2% damage with regular attacks
----Stats----
Note: Various other stats are related to the stats below but the ones started below are the main stats
[Lvl 3]
Experience: 127/500
Health: 42/42
Stamina: 42/42
Magic: 1000
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 24
Constitution: 10
Charisma: 3
Intelligence: 6
Luck: 7
Negative effects: None
Skills: [Stealth] [Pack Tactics] [Tracking] [Basic Refinment]
Skill Pieces: None
Proficiencies: None
Spells: [Invisibility]
_____________________
"..."
Mike takes a look at Orion who was lying on his back on the floor with his paws in the air while his tongue was sticking out.
'My dog has higher mana than me...'
Well, that was sad, to say the least as Orion could literally be a better mage than Mike if he actually knew more spells than [Invisibility]. It did not sit well with Mike but then again what could he do about it. At least Orion could refine mana stones and thus help Mike improve his own mana pool by a little if possible so that was a nice ray of light in this bleak darkness.
With that Mike closes his system after taking out the remaining coins in his inventory and the phoenix egg. The description of the egg said that if magical flames were used to warm the egg then it would be able to speed up the process of the incubation period so with that in mind Mike casts [Burning Blue Palms] and places them on the egg to see what changes happen. As soon as Mike's mana falls behind the halfway mark he takes away his hands and looks at the phoenix egg description.
[Phoenix Egg
This is the egg of a Phoenix which is a bird of pure flame that will be reborn from the ashes once it dies of old age or by other means. The egg requires high-temperature magic flames to incubate faster.
Time till hatched: 5 months, 3 days, and 12:13.09 hours]
"You got to be kidding me..." Mike lets out seeing the change in the time
Mike had been in this new world for about two weeks and a few odd days so Mike had used his mana to only shave off a few hours at the very most from the eggs incubation period.
'Jeez, this is not my week...' Mike thinks to himself in indignation seeing how things are getting worse for him little by little
"Enough of this for now," Mike says as he sends the egg back into his inventory before he gets up and heads downstairs to drown his sorrows in some hot food and cold ale
Orion seeing Mike leaving the room follows behind to get some treats from the dinner table if he is lucky enough as his meals usually consisted of bread and strips of meat that Mike had to pay for and put into small balls to resemble some weird version of dog food.
As Mike was eating he was thinking about how to proceed with things now that Daniel was gone and that his wizard badge was not connecting any sort of call to the royal wizards in the capital. Seeing that Mike has no option he finishes his food and chugs a few more drinks before walking out of the inn and back to the brothel in the Slums. Once inside Mike quickly finds Synthia since the sun was setting Mike did not want to be caught there when more lonely people start showing up for some service.
Once there he talks with Synthia for a bit before leaving the brothel and returning to the inn.
...
Come morning Mike has been trying to contact anyone through his wizard badge, but so far all attempts have been unsuccessful for some reason making Mike suspect that there is something wrong with something that he does not know about. So Mike is forced to do something and that something is going to the capital and requesting that they search for Daniel themselves.
That is all he could do since there is nothing more he could do since he does not have anything that can help with the situation except for telling them what he knows about the whole situation that has transpired in the city since Mike arrived and became Daniel's apprentice in name. That was why Mike told Synthia about him leaving Irondale to head to the capital last night.
He asked if she wanted to come so that they can try and complete her final trial given by Dorthia so that she could become a true paladin once again. Synthia said that she would be glad to come and would just need to spend the night telling her goodbyes to everyone and tying up a few loose ends that she had in the Slums before she said that she would meet him at the docks.
So Mike spent the morning packing up everything in his own room which was a very meager amount of items that he had before he entered Daniel's room and did the same for his room. Daniel actually had a few more items such as additional clothes and other small items for his hygiene and personal care. There was nothing else that Mike could see with either of his visions so he leaves the inn for the final time with Orion following close behind Mike downstairs where he makes his farewells to the innkeeper who provides Mike with a simple meal as a farewell gift of sorts for both Mike and Orion to have before leaving.
As Mike leaves the tavern he does not immediately head to the docks at the northern part of the city just yet as he makes a stop at the market area to see if there are any more unrefined mana stones that Orion can process for him. Mike was lucky to find two of the stones before he stops by the smithy where he got his gear from.
"I am sorry sir but we are not open just yet" A voice shouts out from the back as Mike walks through the door
"Well how about you make an exception this once for your benefactor" Mike replies back
"Ah, the young master returns! how can I help you this fine morning?" Alexander lets out seeing that Mike was the one to enter his shop
"Alexander it is good to see you. How has your business been so far?" Mike asks curiously as the stout dwarf walks over to him and pulls him down into a firm hand grasp that threatens to breaks Mike's hand
"Excellent! Ever since I started rolling out these improved items new customers have been coming here by the droves as of late," Alexander says while pointing towards the front of the store where through the window where Mike can already see a small line of people forming
'Why did they let me enter the building through?' Mike thinks to himself noticing that no one had complained when he entered the building ahead of the line
"Now then what brings you over? Has the new gear been working out for ya?" Alexander asks
"The gear has yet to see any action yet but the armor I am very happy with," Mike answers not wanting to roll the dice to lie to Alexander about not being able to use it as it had been stuck in his inventory for the past week or so
"Ah... well then I hope that it will be of use to you in the future," Alexander says a bit awkward that Mike had yet to use it
"Anyway I came over to tell you that I am leaving Irondale and heading to the capital today"
"Oh is that so? Well, then when you get there be sure to visit my pa and tell him that I am doing well in Irondale would ya?" Alexander says his expression brightening a bit
"I will be sure to do just that," Mike says before Mike bids farewell and heads to the docks with Orion
Irondale was a massive city with its main item of trade being the iron that was mined in the southwest mountains that made their way down to Irondale before being sent off to the capital through a riverboat that went directly to the capital a few days away. The riverboats went against the flow of the river hence the long time for the trip but it would be relaxing and since Mike already has a free ticket he would be sure to enjoy it a bit more.
When Mike arrived at the docks he waited for Synthia to show up since she actually had the tickets that Mayor McDonald o so graciously gave them for free. As he was waiting Mike made sure to purchase plenty of food items which he then placed in his inventory so that he could keep them fresh through the inventory stopping time and all.
As Mike was waiting for the boat that he and Synthia were supposed to leave on started boarding people early so he heads on over to wait for her.