While the leader of the group put his clothes back on, Nine looked at the four women before him and said:
"Do you guys have any spare clothes? Like, I'm not embarrassed to come back without clothes on, but going back naked, when I leave the town with one on, is kinda embarrassing..... even for myself."
While pointing at the charcoal-like clothes of his in the ground, with most of them being torn apart, that would barely cover his body.
Hearing his question, the ladies looked at his clothes on the ground, seeing their situation of Nine clothes, they understood that not even homeless people would wear them.
Quickly rummaging through their [Item box] skill, each of them found a spare set of clothes for Nine to change into. But, wondered if he was willing to use them, since they are not really fitting for a man to wear.
Nine waiting for them to give him one, said: "I'll pay for them when we get back in the town. So, can I have them now, please?"
Understanding his situation, the Bunny lady went closer to Nine and gave him the clothes she found. With the clothes in Nine's hand, they started to walk back to the path towards the town.
---
"So, you guys took a goblin slaying quest." Nine said, after listening to the Bunny lady to their story on why they were going home. After putting the given clothes on him, Nine and the group decided to join together with them in going back to the town.
The lineup of the group is set with the leader and the dragon lady in front, the human and the Bunny lady are right behind them, Nine is walking behind the two, and finally, the Elf lady is right behind Nine.
While Nine and the Bunny lady are exchanging words with each other, the Elf lady walking behind Nine wonders how he has the Rune spell at his disposal.
'How does he have the Rune spell? I've been trying to obtain it and make the system acknowledge it for decades yet till this day, I still don't have it.'
Rune spells are like conventional spells but are cast by drawing runes either on an object or in the air. But the problem with this, is that one needs to fully understand more than 100 runes to make it part of your status window.
In this world, there are two titles given to people who can use the Rune spell. One is called a Rune user or caster, and the other is called a Rune Master.
The difference between the two is simple.
A Rune Master is a person who can activate the imprinted Rune character at will. This means that they can mark a place with a rune character then activate this later on, be it days, weeks, months, even even centuries if they can.
While a Rune caster is a person who can use the Rune spell, the moment they imprint the rune character, it will activate as soon as possible or within half a minute.
Sheila, being an elf, has years of experience with rune spells, being an elf who can utilize mana at their best. Even so, all this time she still hasn't managed to make it part of her status window.
Making her question, how Nine can make use of the Rune spell, as if he were a Rune Master. "Did I misinterpret the timing?" She asked, trying to recall how long the Rune character lasted on the papers before it exploded.
"No..... Those runes definitely didn't explode even after a minute they were made." Looking at Nine, she wanted to interrogate him on how he managed to put the Rune spell in his window.
But, staring at his clothing his currently wearing, Sheila exploded: "Aren't you embarrassed wearing that!!!" Her voice booms at Nine, making everyone stop moving.
Looking back towards her, Nine said: "What's wrong with it?"
"What's.... What's wrong with it? Looked at yourself!? Aren't you embarrassed by such clothing???" She said, pointing at him.
Currently, Nine is wearing a long-sleeved Sundress colored in black and white, which makes it look like a panda design, which goes to his knee.
"Ahh. I don't care, this thing is amazing!" Nine retorted against Sheila's words. "If you're jealous that I'm wearing such a beautiful sundress, that your own teammate didn't let you have it. Fuck off, then!"
"..... Besides, the stats increased in this is amazing." Nine said, using the system command: [Inspect] on it.
[Item: Sundress.
Name: Panda sundress.
A long-sleeved panda design sundress that goes to your knees. Once worn, a pair of pinkish gloves, stockings, and a bunny ears tiara will be added to your dress.
Stats increased:
Defense: 30. Evasion: 20. Mana recovery: 15%. HP recovery: 10%. Body control: 5%. Vitality and Mana: 100. Charisma: 10.]
"Oh yeah, I'm gonna buy this so bad. Who cares about how you look? When you have this many stats increased....."
"..." "What is wrong with you?" Sheila muttered, unable to understand the human before her.
"Why do you have a problem with me? It's not like everyone else has a problem with it?" Nine replied.
"Look at them, and ask if they found this situation alright?" Sheila said to Nine. Turning towards them, Nine asked them. Only for everyone else to avoid their gazes at him.
"..... Just..... don't look at me..... if you don't want to see me....." Nine said to Sheila, not wanting to continue this situation any further.
"Alright, then can I look at your status window?" Sheila said, wanting to use this moment to see if Nine truly has the Rune spell on him.
With the sudden favor from her, Nine asked: "Why do you want to see it?" Suspicious of why she would ask for such a thing.
"You used a Rune spell, right? I just want to see if you have enough intelligence stats, if you can escape from the recoil in using over 100 rune characters at the same time."
"..... Don't you know? Using a Rune spell doesn't affect you unless you go to sleep. If your intelligence stat isn't high enough, this night might be your last day." Sheila said.
Hearing all of this, Nine agrees to her favor. Using the system command: [Appraisal], Nine's status window appeared before the group face.
[— — — — —]
Name: Nine.
Level: 8. EXP: 1/100%.
Class: None.
Titles: Rat slayer. 1+
AP: 6. SP: 17
Stats:
Strength: 17
Agility: 36
Defense: 17
Vitality: 52
Mana: 26
Stamina: 41
Intelligence: 166
Endurance: 100+
Luck: 10
Skills: Comparison, level 3.
Runes: Return, Reinforcement, Effects.
[— — — — —]
With Nine's status window being read by the group, Nine stood still, while three members of the group were amazed by how Nine's intelligence stats were in the 150+ range.
Sheila managed to confirm Nine truly has the Rune section in his status. After confirming this, Sheila realized something else about him.
Looking at the dragon lady, Sheila understands that she, too, realized that Nine's vitality, mana, and endurance stats were abnormal.
Normally, everyone would have 100 points in both Vitality and Mana stats, since this is proof that the blessing of the world is working well.
With how everyone would be exposed to the rich mana and vitality within the air while they are inside their mother's stomach, so the moment they are born, both stats would be at 100 or closer to it.
This means that, with Nine only having barely half a hundred, even if both of these stats are combined, he is not from this world. But, the weirdest thing about this matter is how Nine's endurance stats are high.
'In this world, there are some stats that you cannot go beyond 100 or even get near that number. These stats are: Divine power, Demonic power, Luck, and finally Endurance stats.'
'Because having even one of these near 100 is quite literally impossible, even for a saint and the hero cannot have more than 50 points in Divine power. While Re-mons themselves can only reach up to 80 points in demonic power before losing their sanity.' Sheila thought.
'So, how do you have 100 points in endurance? These kinds of numbers can only be reached if you have experienced the death of an entire bloodline.'
Feeling the tense atmosphere, Nine told the group that they could close the status window, since he was feeling weird about them looking at it. Doing it, they once again, started moving towards the town.
"How do you even reach 166 points in your intelligence stats?" The Bunny lady asked Nine.
"That. I just read the entire library and before I knew it, it was already in that number." Nine answered, giving an answer to the three curiosities on his stat.
"I don't think that's possible though?" The human lady said. "I mean I read at least half of the books there, but my intelligence stats only increased by 70 points."
"I don't know? I mean I didn't just read there, I went and learned an entire language, and even did a reflection paper after reading a book." Nine answered, unsure if his answer was right.
While the four of them were having a conversation on how Nine reached such a number solely by studying, the two ladies in the back were having their own conversation.
*****
End of chapter 24