As Alex started fading away, his final thought was, 'I'm thankful to you for bringing me to this place.'
Alex had learned so much, fought so much, and ultimately gained so much. As if awakening from a dream, he found himself right back where he started, in front of the small clothing shop where he had been begging for clothes.
It was like a dream that never happened, except in his hand, he still held the pirate hat. The first thing Alex wanted to do was get away from this place. His fear was that the old man would reappear.
Unfortunately, Alex's fears came true. As soon as Alex appeared, the merchant also came out from his store. Merchant Alex had a very specific routine, like clockwork, opening his shop's door at 9:00 am and closing shop at exactly 11:59 pm every day.
As soon as Merchant Alex came out, he was shocked by what he saw. It was the same boy, wearing the same set of clothes, except this time, the clothes were torn apart, crusted with all the blood from before, and in the boy's hands was an oddly shaped hat that was clearly a few sizes too big for him.
"What in the blue hell is going on with you, boy?" the merchant said in disbelief. He continued, "Where did you run off to? And why are you still dressed like before, and what happened to you? Agh, I have so many questions I don't even know where to begin!"
Alex was just as shocked as Merchant Alex. He stood there, unsure how to respond, so he tried to make up some random reason.
"I'm so sorry, Sir! When you went inside last time to grab some clothes, I thought I heard someone yelling for help near the forest area. I tried to find the guards, but no one was there, so I decided to look to see if there was anything I could do to help."
"But I was stupid; as soon as I went to where I heard the sound, it was a trap! There were a few bandits that attacked me immediately, but I was able to make a quick getaway. I'm young but I'm really fast, I was the fastest in school!" Alex said, quickly trying to make sense of his own story.
Seeing how the man was still eyeing him, not sure if he believed him or not, Alex continued.
"They kept chasing and chasing after me, and I didn't want them to find me! It was really dark so I had no idea where I was going, but eventually, I found a safe spot to hide. It was between two large trees, and I stayed there for the whole day, scared that they would come back and find me. I had a few scuffles with some forest beasts, but it was nothing serious. In that place, I found this cool-looking hat, so I decided to keep it," Alex was near tears at this point, trying to make it sound as believable as possible.
"Wow, that is some story you just made up… but you know what, I really don't care," Merchant Alex sighed and threw Alex some objects.
"Here are the clothes I was going to give you. I kept them near the door in case you showed up. Also, I still had your hunter's badge and ID. Don't go around forgetting those!" Merchant Alex said.
"Thank you so much, Sir! I won't forget this, and I promise I'll pay you back as soon as possible!" Alex said as he grabbed his stuff and quickly started to walk back home.
Merchant Alex kept watching the kid, still confused by the whole ordeal.
"What a weird kid... But I should report this as requested of me." Merchant Alex went back into his shop and dialed a number.
"Hey Arthur, it's me, Alex, yeah everything is OK… You asked me before if I see that kid again, and well, guess what, he came back. Yeah, he was wearing the same clothes. No, I don't think it's anything to be suspicious about. He gave me some silly story about almost being kidnapped, but I could tell it was all bullshit. He can't lie to save his life. Anyway, he's safe." Merchant Alex said a few more things and hung up the phone.
"What a weird boy, I wonder why Arthur asked me about him…"
Meanwhile, Alex found a nearby alley, changed into the clothes Merchant Alex gave him, threw his old ones in a trash bin, and started heading home. The clothes didn't fit at all; they were a few sizes too big, but at least they were clean!
'I need to get home as soon as possible. I need to see what changed with me. I leveled up. I must have gone through some physical changes. And my stats should have increased. I don't want to check them until I'm back home.'
Alex soon arrived at his apartment building, ran up the stairs, opened his apartment door, went inside, and locked the door. His legs gave out while having his back against the door, and he just sighed. It was the longest two days of Alex's life, and he was finally back home. After a few minutes of just relaxing, Alex got up and went to the bathroom.
He looked at his reflection and was pleasantly surprised by what he was looking back at him. Alex looked pretty…good. As Alex stood in front of the mirror, he couldn't resist the urge to flex, intrigued to see the transformations his body had undergone after leveling up to 4.
Raising his arms, he noticed his muscles had become bigger. His biceps and triceps were looking really good. He was not "jacked," but anyone who saw him would say that he was in pretty good shape. A long stretch from the time he was at school.
"I wonder what those damn bullies would do or say to me now… maybe if I ever see them again I should give them a tour… to the gun show!" Alex smirked while kissing his left and right bicep.
Leaning closer to the mirror, Alex scrutinized his hair. It had grown longer, now falling in a slightly more stylish manner, seemingly without effort. The strands had a healthier sheen. They were still very short, a bit longer than a military-style buzz cut.
His gaze then shifted to his eyes. The grey hue that once dominated had lightened, giving way to a subtle reddish tint – a marker of the new vitality flowing within him. What truly captivated him, however, were his pupils, which appeared as a deep sea of dark abyss, mysterious and profound. They seemed to embody depth and coolness similar to that found in vampire movies.
"I like this new look. I look pretty edgy but I don't stand out too much. I'm very mysterious," as he moved his hand through his hair and tried to slick it back, albeit it was too short to slick back." Alex said, smiling. "Even my teeth are looking a bit bitter, but they are still so pointy!"
Stepping back, Alex absorbed his entire appearance one last time, and decided it was time to move on to the next thing.
Rotating the ring clockwise, Alex went over his stats:
Character: Alex Walker
Character Level: 3→4
Personal Stats:
Upperbody Strength = 6 → 7
Lowerbody Strength = 4 → 5
Stamina = 3 → 4
Speed = 5 → 6
Aesthetic = 3 → 4
Combat Stats:
Defense = 30/40
Unarmed combat = 30/40
One-handed weapon = 30/40
Throwing/Archery = 4/40
Two-Handed weapon = 0/40
Skills: Cannibalize (Rank 1)
—-----
"Heh, my throwing went up by 4 points, that's pretty funny. I don't think I'm ever going to use it but it's still good to upgrade it just in case I run into a situation where I need to be ranged. I never used two-handed weapons so it makes sense why it's still at 0. But I'm really glad that my defense, one-handed, and unarmed maxed out at level 3."
"Now that I'm level 4, I'll max them out first. I'm glad I have a new skills section too. I'm sure there will be more skills for me to find and learn."
After going over his stats, the next thing he wanted to do was try and figure out if there was anything valuable in the Pirate Hat that he took with him from the Catacombs.
Holding onto it, Alex started to examine it from every angle. It looked just like an ordinary hat, it was cool looking, since Alex always loved pirates, but it didn't seem special.
He tried wearing it, placing it over his thumb and ring, he even tried to sit on it, but nothing triggered anything.
At this point, he was certain it was just an ordinary hat, and as he was placing it back down, he heard the system's voice again.
'Hat… eat…'
"What did you just say?? You want me to eat this thing!!? I must have heard it wrong."
'Alex.. Hat… Eat…' the voice sounded angrier. Alex was shocked by the sudden change in emotion. It was the first time he heard a change in the tone of voice.
Alex first tried to nibble on the side of the hat, but he realized that it would be impossible to eat the whole thing; it was a pretty large hat, and it was made of a strong material.
If the Giant Skeleton's full-force swing with the club didn't damage it, then there's no way Alex's teeth would.
"Wait a second… you really want me to do this, don't you.." Alex frowned as he said those words.
"Cannibalize," Alex said. As soon as he did, Alex could feel his perception changing to one of an observer.
He watched in horror as his body held the hat, opened it's mouth to a large degree, and started munching on the pirate hat, seemingly enjoying it!
In about 2 minutes, it was over. And Alex was now back in his own body
'Its still a very strange feeling' Alex thought as he picked his teeth and removed a few strands of material that were stuck there.
A few minutes later, once he digested the hat, he saw a very welcomed message
–System Message–
New Skill Acquired!