The man looked at Hugh with bated breaths. The sneak attack he prepared for the beginners usually worked due to the newbies' inexperience. This newbie was different. The man didn't know why but he felt a chill on his back as he looked at Hugh.
The man's instincts told him to run, but there was a sort of elegance from Hugh's posture in between all the greenery that made him hesitate. The way Hugh harmonized with nature was hypnotizing, to say the least.
The man blinked and the wind whizzed past him as Hugh disappeared from his sight. Flustered, he flinched to his right and saw a handsome man with white hair. The man saw the hidden power underneath the chiseled muscles and the thin fog of steam coming out of his body. He felt afraid, intimidated at the mystery of the strength of this so-called beginner.
He backed away from Hugh as he raised his bow in defense. There was no arrow chucked into the bow but the man still used it as a defense. Hugh didn't know if the man just forgot that there was no arrow in his how or there was a hidden use for the bow other than for shooting arrows.
Hugh stepped forward towards the man which made him flinch.
"Sorry, sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have attacked you."
The man let go of his bow and raised both his hands in submission. His open-faced palm wanted to show Hugh that there wasn't any threat hidden on his hands. The man's sweat dropped to the ground as he waited in bated breath for Hugh's response.
"..."
Hugh kept silent, observing the weird behavior of the man wearing a fedora hat. The man took a deep breath as he felt the air around them suffocating him.
"I'm Robbi, a wandering archer in the woods. What about you sir?"
"Huge."
"Hello sir Huge, I deeply apologize for my behavior and would like to request a pardon from the injured party."
Hugh looked at Robbi with a deadpan expression. His blank face only served to make Robbi apprehensive as Hugh did not give any indication to his mental state. The man spoke as he reached into his pockets.
"Don't attack, I'm just reaching out to give you something as a peace offering."
Robbi reached into his pocket and retrieved a red shining object that fits into the palm of his hands. He opened his palm for Hugh to see the object. It was a Ruby Berry. Robbi reached into his pocket and more Ruby Berries came out.
"...."
Hugh didn't say anything and just looked at the ruby berries with an expressionless face. He didn't seem interested in the gift, to the dismay of Robbi. Robbi bent down and placed the ruby berries on the ground for Hugh to pick up later. Robbi assumed that Hugh didn't trust him enough to approach him so he put it in the ground.
"Okay, I have some more offerings for you."
Robbi continued to rummage through his pockets and took out a white roll of cloth that looked pure and clean. This item was a bandage that can heal health points for the user.
"How about this? It's a bandage for any injury I inflicted on you."
"...."
Hugh was still disinterested in whatever Robbi was giving him. Robbi looked up at Hugh with expectations that his offerings were enough but the barren expression on his face made him rethink his decisions. At this point, Robbi wanted to run and escape from the blatant robbery that was happening here. He even thought that Hugh was scamming people by acting as a beginner and robbing them of their every belonging.
"Okay., that's not enough I see. How about this."
Robbi reached into his shirt and took out a golden necklace from his neck and displayed it on his hands. The necklace was laced with gold and decorated with intricately carved gems of all colors. It gleamed from the shining sun which would tempt any person that laid eyes upon it, except Hugh. He didn't look at the shining necklace but kept his eyes locked on Robbi.
"That's not enough?! This necklace is worth tens of thousands of crunchmoney and gives you 1.5% more dexterity which would be overpowered to any beginner!"
Robbi removed his shirt and showed his chainmail armor. He also took out an earring and displayed it on the ground.
"How about this 'Agility earrings'? Would you like my 'chainmail armor'? I don't have anything else."
Robbi reached into his pockets and turned them inside out to show everything he had on his pockets. What came out was a bunch of copper coins, a button, a wallet, and a red pill.
"I have nothing else of value! I only have some copper coins you can have that. A button, if your shirt ever needs some extra buttons. An empty wallet if you want to pretend you're rich and this sustenance pill will only fill your hunger for one day."
Hugh's eyes immediately focused on the red pill. Robbi described it as a sustenance pill that could fill a person up for one day. A hypothesis came into his mind and he couldn't wait to try it out. He disappeared from Robbi's eyes and appeared above the red pill.
"Yeah, you can have the earrings and the armor."
Robbi watched as Hugh bent down and grabbed the red pill from the assortment of treasures and garbage on the ground. His choice baffled Robbi, thinking that he would either choose from the earrings and the armor or even take both of them. He never expected that a cheap sustenance pill would catch his eyes.
"Are you sure that's what you want? Don't you want the earrings or the armor?"
Robbi turned from being surprised to being offended. These earrings he had were earned from countless of hours grinding missions and dying a couple of times. He had to struggle against a large python the size of a grown man just to get the quest for the earrings. The chainmail armor was given to him after being enlisted in the army for one year in the cold dead winter up in the north.
He couldn't believe that Hugh was able to ignore these treasures right in front of him and was humble enough to just take a measly pill that can be bought anywhere.
Robbi kneeled with his right knee and bowed in front of Hugh. He put his right hand on his chest and spoke to him.
"I am unworthy of your humbleness, sir Huge."
Hugh ignored Robbi and observed the pill in his hand. Without any hesitation, he placed the pill in his mouth and swallowed it as he closed his eyes. The pill passed through his throat and into his stomach, which dissolved instantly as it touched his gastric acid.
Hugh felt a warm relief spread throughout his body starting from his stomach, to his legs, to his arms, and to his head. He looked at the game's system and saw that the hp stopped decreasing, meaning that the pill worked. The Fat God System was using the pill's sustenance as fuel for the transformation instead of his hp. The best part of this pill was that according to Robbi, it was easily accessible due to it very common. If that was true, he could buy a sustenance pill every day and essentially never take off his transformation.
Hugh smiled, satisfied that the feeling of power from his transformation is accessible to him at any time. He no longer has to hide his strength and be suppressed. He turned around to leave but Robbi spoke to him.
"Sir Hugh, if I could just have one moment."
Robbi bowed even further and prostrated himself to gain Hugh's attention. Hugh stopped, willing to listen to whatever Robbi was saying. He was feeling a little bit generous due to finding a way to make his transformation basically permanent.
"Please help me fight off the clan terrorizing our village."
Hugh listened to Robbi without letting off any emotions. His sincerity made him consider helping the poor guy out but he wouldn't do it for free.
Robbi knew that he couldn't enlist the help of Hugh without a good enough reward so he threw in a benefit.
"The clan oppressing us has a lot of loot in their base. You can have their loot of you help us out!"