Bro, I'm not an Undead!

“Let’s see if its true,” Skullius mumbled to himself after reading about what these Enriching gems could do. “The Binds of Fukal shouldn’t interfere, right?”

According to one of the books he read, Skullius learned that Enriching gems boosted constitution.

How much they actually boosted depended on where they were extracted from but still… it seemed like the benefits were evident nonetheless.

The term ‘absorb’ was used when referring to the how these gems were used and the only way Skullius could think of to actualise the benefits he foresaw himself getting, was to focus on the Enriching gem and use [Advanced Mana Manipulation] to wrap around it, feeling for something to pull towards himself.

The faint starry lights glowing within the gem reacted instantly as Skullius felt an excitement in his body that drew the energy from the gem into him almost instantly!

It trickled into the finer parts of his flesh all at once and Skullius vaguely felt a difference in his body.

Then…

[Your flesh and bones are augmented. A factor of 0.1 applies]

“Hmmm?”

The glow from the gem died down, the starry lights within no longer being visible.

Such a fascinating phenomenon. The energy that trickled into his being was vastly different from mana, carrying a more chaotic yet pure feel that was very attractive to the cells in his flesh.

“Let’s see how much I can absorb!” Skullius excitedly exclaimed as he pulled out more gems from the spatial storage ring.

He held two of the Enriching gems in his hands as he poured his focus, letting [Advanced Mana Manipulation] lead his sensations as he drew on the energy trapped within the gems.

His body hungrily slurped it all within moments, a cascade of notifications from the guidance field flourishing within Skullius’ sight as he rapidly absorbed the energy from the gems in twos!_.

[Your flesh and bones are augmented. A factor of 0.1 applies]

[Your flesh and bones are augmented. A factor of 0.1 applies]

[Your flesh and bones are augmented. A factor of 0.1 ….]

With each purple gem dimming to release the energy it held, Skullius saw developments to his own body.

His frail and weak looking body had experienced quite the attractive change. His short, auburn hair had gotten longer, the colour becoming a bit richer. His skin became more toned, traces of actual muscle contours becoming visible when he lifted his clothing.

On his bland, cartoonish face, cheek bones became highlighted, as if they had been hidden by fat all along, his face becoming… slightly more acceptable as other features… distinct features appeared; soft eyelashes that gave his eyes more appeal, a slightly pointy chin that said NO to the overall, unnatural round face he had as well as a certain roughness befitting of a masculine visage.

All this occurred under Skullius’ bandages and even though they were changes, Skullius didn’t actually feel them. He could only rely on his sight to cite some of them.

The Discount Human felt stronger and sturdier as even with his inability to feel sensations largely, he could tell his cosmetic flesh was reacting pleasantly.

This prompted him to take a look at his status to ascertain whether or not there were any changes yet…

There were none.

“What? But I feel stronger. Shouldn’t that count?” Skullius questioned himself as he double checked. All his stats remained the same.”

He immediately turned back to the texts as he tried to find out more but the detail was unclear. At least to him.

The refining of the fibres of one’s existence.

The flesh and bone were purified and strengthened, creating a quality body.

That could mean anything though.

To Skullius, it sounded more like evolution.

As he read more, there didn’t seem to be any more exploration on the subject of Enriching gems, with the only other texts mentioning the different colours of Enriching gems with stronger effects on the body, the difference going from purple, red, green and blue.

Quite the odd colour sequence.

The last of the subject matter about Clusters was the fact natural treasures were more easily found within them but Skullius’ mind remained rooted on Enriching gems.

Even now, his body remained quivering in excitement and as he looked at it, all bandaged and burnt, he couldn’t help but think of the dilemma he was stuck between.

The whole reason why he had chosen to willingly damage his body was because he had the skill, [Luminant Healing].

However, he was sure those two Energy Formers were not done investigating the incident at the College and him as well.

Should he heal himself?

Wouldn’t it be… suspicious?

Unless of course, he could claim that he was healed by someone with that kind of ability. Still, the fact remained that he would have to find them and possibly bribe them as a witness.

That could be organised.

‘It’s funny. I thought I wasn’t going to need Frock anymore but here I am relying on him again,’ Skullius thought.

Still, he couldn’t complain. He immediately activated [Luminant Healing] and healed his wounds, regrowing his hand in the process.

Crusts of dry and burnt skin fell off as new skin replaced them.

Soon, the Discount Human was as good as new, waving his new hand joyfully.

With this, he continued to flow through the books, almost literally inhaling all the information trapped within.

*

Next day.

Skullius came out of his room a little later than the previous day as after [Flesh It Like You Mean It] had timed out, he had waited for the cooldown before activating it again.

He rushed out of the Inn, not giving anyone the chance to notice him.

This early, unlike yesterday, many people would be coming in and out of their rooms, others flooding the counter to make requests and orders. This gave him the opportunity to flicker through like a ghost, unnoticed.

The Discount Human donned a slightly thick leather armour that bound his figure quite nicely.

Apparently, it was made from a Treehog Kill Deer’s hide, bearing a golden-brown furry exterior, thin steel plates layered within it and on the shoulders where pads of a material Frock refused to mention were laid.

Fuzzy fur jutted from the neckline of the armour in an elegant while Skullius’ legs were covered in a dark brown, sturdy pair of pants that had a rough and wrinkled texture, evidently hard when one touched it.

Steel bracers adorned his arms with some form of leather underneath them to cushion the hard steel and possible force of blows, from Skullius skin, the whole aesthetic looking quite good on the Discount Human with his now slightly toned image.

He didn’t dawdle as his first order of business was going to the blacksmith that Frock had recommended.

Skullius had intended for the map to help him scout out Blacksmiths but alone, it didn’t help him that much, thus, he had to begrudgingly rely on Frock who pointed out a blacksmithing shop to the North West within Inhone, run by an aged brute who called himself HammerDown Gruff.

It didn’t take long for Skullius to find the place as he had a map, seeing a surprisingly large shop where the clanging of metal, the hissing of water when it was invaded by hot metal along with the smell of several types of garnish could be detected.

Skullius could also sense wisps of mana even as he stood from a distance, looking at the shop made of thick, sturdy blocks, a large chimney smoking jutting out the roof and an open space in its middle where several people who looked to have a high social status awaited service.

Skullius goal was obvious. He intended to get [Demion’s Dance] fixed.

He didn’t know the first thing about blacksmithing and he knew the sword was high level which could potentially attract the Screwed Over effect by socketholes but Skullius had prepared quite a bit for potential problems.

It seemed quite strange to Skullius that there were few people here and all of them didn’t look like common folk.

Some of them looked at him with disdain, some shaking their heads as if he didn’t belong.

‘Is it because they think I don’t have enough money for it?’ Skullius asked himself. ‘Well… who cares what you think?’

Skullius ignored the gazes he received and instead focused on the other information he had learned from the books.

Skills.

The term referred to any complex application of mana and was a broad term, covering spells, combat arts and other applications outside of higher level concepts.

As he had read through this, Skullius had thought back to the skill he had seen Jackpot use to absolutely wreck Red Rage.

He wanted something like that too and it was soon going to be his area of focus.

With the fact that most mercenaries had absorbed tonnes of Enriching gems, had blue cores that allowed them to cast Special skills along with the possibility of having Advanced Classes, Skullius now understood why humans were such monsters even if they were a measly 10 or 15 levels in their stage progression.

Besides, this was just a small city. Who knew what the monsters that lived in major cities were like.

After waiting for a few hours, it was Skullius’ turn.

A young man with bags under his eyes, a dirty apron and a pair of soot covered gloves appeared with a weak smile on his face.

“How can I help you, sir?” he asked in a fitting weak voice, swallowing his judgement of this character before him who didn’t seem to belong.

The shop was prestigious and many a commonfolk had been rejected on their requests as Gruff didn’t accept any negotiations when it came to money.

The ‘Ironbound Fool’ had a reputation to uphold and thus, usually only those with bulging pockets and seven hearts of steel could afford to buy Gruff’s services.

Skullius took the [Demion’s Dance] from the spatial storage ring and carefully presented it to the young man.

The young man frowned as he saw the aged and cracked sword that seemed to have been pulled out a history textbook.

The hell was this?

Was this even a sword or some family decoration?

He didn’t even bother to hide the demeaning look on his face as he glared at Skullius, preparing to dish out a flurry of insults for wasting his time with what he thought was a prank.

“Listen, sir. My master is a very busy man! He doesn’t have time to-,”

“HOLD IT!” a loud roar come from within the shop, carrying a hint of both anger and excitement!