Ackster entered the locker room and unhappily confirmed that he wasn't alone. There were a couple of other guys in the men's section washing blood and dirt off themselves. He wasn't dissatisfied because he was shy. It was because the state of his clothes didn't match the state of his body.
But there was something else that worried him as well. So, he found a relatively secluded corner that was free from the presence of others. He found a free locker with simple brown clothes and a towel.
The clothes weren't as good as the clothes he used when he was Ackster Phileam, but they were better than the ones he had on him at the moment. They were even better than his had been when he first bought them from the homeless people in Degrest.
He inspected the locker and put his bag in there, casually opening it and leaning down.
"Psst. Is this stuff waterproof?"
Ackster whispered to the slime while grabbing a tress of his hair.
He had seen his reflection a couple of times while walking through the city. It was a perfect dye, at least as far as he could tell. He looked like a naturally black-haired young man. He didn't want to catch attention by suddenly transforming into a handsome blue-haired young man with a refined complexion that looked more like that of a noble's than a commoner who had worked outside their entire life.
It wasn't even something Ackster could get rid of since Strong Body made sure his skin was in tip-top condition.
But being pretty with nice skin wasn't strange, even if he were handsome enough to catch eyes. Suddenly dying his hair, since that's what it would look like from the perspectives of others, was strange.
The slime raised a tentacle enough for Ackster to see it and nodded with the tentacle.
Ackster trusted the slime and closed the locker.
And, as the slime had promised, the grey hair gel that turned his blue hair black was waterproof. He was a little worried about how he would go about changing his hair color next time or what he would have to do if he wanted to go back to blue. But that wasn't important. Hopefully, the slime could produce other colors.
After the shower, which succeeded in cleansing Ackster of most of the filth and dried blood – he felt like some of it had become part of him, despite his skill's cleaning function – he wore the new clothes. He threw away the rags in a nearby trash can before leaving the locker room, slime bag on his back.
Since he saw that Wilma had noticed his progress, he gave her a slight wink just to confirm that they had met eyes. He then went to the other door Wilma had pointed out, where he found Tilt, who almost should have been called Stilt since he was tall and thin, especially his legs, almost like he was standing on a pair of stilts.
After reading the note, Tilt let Ackster past the door, where he found a bunch of intersecting corridors. The grid of corridors was decorated with an almost innumerable number of doors.
Ackster picked an available one, marked by its open door, and entered, closing the door behind him.
He felt like a prisoner in isolation.
Bare wooden walls fit together to make a room just enough for a decently tall person to stand in. It was as deep as it was tall. The room was wide enough for Ackster to walk next to the bed that went bordered three of the room's walls.
Even if he was allowed to sleep here for more than one night, Ackster didn't want to. He sat down on the bed, which was, as expected, not very comfortable.
'How am I supposed to fit a visitor in here when there's barely enough space for me?'
Ackster sighed and put the bag at the top of the bed.
Compared to sleeping on hard ground filled with cones, sticks, and stones, the bed was a lot better. But the cramped experience was too much for Ackster, who was used to the freedom of sleeping under the bare night sky.
However, when he started to look at it as training for maintaining his calm in tight spaces, it went a little better. So, he laid down and used the slime bag as a pillow while he fished out his Nomi. It had been a while since he last looked at it.
[Name: –]
[Profession: (Adventurer)]
[Stats:
[Strength: E]
[Agility: E]
[Fortitude: E]
[Mana: –]
[Spirit: E]
[Skills:
[Strong Body]
[Pain Tolerance: E]
[Poison Resistance: E]
[Keen Senses: E]
[Iron Stomach: E]
[Sprint: E]
[Strike: E]
[Soft Footsteps: E]
[Leather Skin: E]
[Survivalist: G]
"Huuh~"
Ackster breathed out, unable to contain his feelings. He had picked up five skills during his time in the forest. They were almost all pretty basic skills, but they were useful, even if only due to their simplicity. Well, there was one exception.
Although Ackster was a little surprised that he had gotten so many skills so quickly and ranked them up to E just as fast, it only confirmed his theory that his innate skill, Strong Body, made it easier for him to get more skills since it made it easier for him to fulfill the acquisition conditions for the various skills.
Sprint, Strike, and Soft Footsteps all had to do with an advancement in the way Ackster moved his body. He ran with more grace and control over his muscles to get Sprint. He used his body more efficiently when attacking, regardless of weapon or body part he used, to get Strike. And he walked more gently and while making less sound to get Soft Footsteps.
Leather Skin had more to do with enduring a lot of damage to his skin. But without Strong Body, Ackster wouldn't have gotten it so easily since it also had to do with just taking blows better, which was something his body had learned intuitively in the process of getting beat a lot.
If he wasn't wrong, he should also be able to get skills that required a lot of time and money to get just by being himself and continuing what he was doing. It would still take a while, but the fact that he had gotten those skills so easily was proof of it.
The only exception was probably Survivalist, and the proof was that it was still G-ranked.
Unlike his other new skills, Survivalist wasn't as noticeable in the lower ranks, and it was more of a testament that he had survived harsh conditions. Supposedly, it began helping with survival activities like finding shelter, setting up camp, and lighting a fire when it ranked up a little.
But its true worth was when it began reaching the higher ranks since it literally made him better at surviving, no matter what. It increased his odds of survival.
'I should start getting more Stats available.'
Although the stats could still grow, even if they weren't visible on the Nomi, they didn't benefit from a profession's stat growth, which came from the Nomi that tapped into the world and helped its user absorb and direct the existential power and mana of the world.
So, if he wanted to raise his Luck, the most important stat for Survivalist, Ackster would have to unlock it. Fortunately, compared to some other stats, it was relatively straightforward. He just had to get an item.
Unfortunately, getting that item, Denebre's Necklace, wasn't as straightforward.
However, before he could start thinking about that, he should get over the first wall of progress. Ackster had no doubts he could do it. It was just a matter of time.
But the fact that all of his stats and skills, except one, were at E, was proof that he would need to put some effort into ranking up. And since his profession was currently Adventurer, there was only one thing he had to do.
Kill a monster ranked higher than E.