William shuddered as he swallowed the last Lightning Berry in his pouch.

[+1 Stamina]

[RNG Activated | Result: 684]

[+1 Agility]

[RNG Activated | Result: 370]

It had been three days since he had first seen the two men that made him try to increase his stats in an effort to keep himself safe. An effort that turned into a disaster by a stat reset.

William glanced at the pouch and turned green at the sight of the spirit grass. That had been his breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the past few days. If William had to eat them for much longer, he was sure he would turn into some sort of human-cow hybrid. Thankfully for his sanity, there was still one Blood Orange that he had saved just for this purpose.

As he pulled the skin off the Orange, he thought about what he would do to the men that ruined the leisurely time he was experiencing. With how there no longer seemed to be any new quests, his mind naturally went to the only other way he had gained experience points.

Killing.

William wasn’t proud of it, but that was what he hoped would happen. He had to get rid of the soul damage, and he was desperate enough to go to previously unthinkable lengths. If they attacked him, he would be more than willing to fight.

The last William saw the group from a distance, at least five men regularly foraged around for spirit plants. That meant before he dared to confront them, he had to be ready for the worst scenario and be confident about taking on all of them at once.

[+1 Strength]

[RNG Activated | Result: 246]

[+1 Strength]

[RNG Activated | Result: 606]

With Strength being the easiest attribute to increase with the ridiculous amount of Spirit Grass he had gathered, William decided that to be his focus. That way, even if the dreaded reset occurred, replenishing the lost points wouldn’t be a problem. He still had enough Spirit Grass for thirty additional Strength points if needed.

[+1 Strength]

[RNG Activated | Result: 676]

[Max Strength Reached]

William’s eyes brightened at the last alert. A question he had been wondering about for a while had been answered.

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 4

Experience: 390/500

Cultivation: N/A

Health: 45/45

Strength: 20

Stamina: 3

Agility: 4

Luck: 1

Points: 11

He laughed, sounding a bit manic, thinking about how much of a surprise his punch would give his enemies. Surely it wasn’t typical for a thirteen-year-old boy to have such ridiculous strength.

William eyed a moderately-sized tree as he walked up to it. He clenched his hand into a fist and hesitated before warily giving it a half-hearted punch, showing surprise when the tree moved ever so slightly.

A slow smile formed on his lips as he stared between the light outline on the trunk and his unmarked fist.

Without hesitation, William balled up his fist and pulled it back, readying himself to throw as powerful of a punch as he could. He grunted and put his body behind his fist as it slammed into the tree with a thunderous impact.

[-1 HP]

William ignored the sting on his fist as he pulled back to admire the small indent he had made. While it didn’t shatter the tree into splinters, he didn’t expect that to happen when he was still a mortal. But this would be enough to finish most mortals with a well-placed punch.

He shook his hand to get some feeling back in it as he made his way toward the camp the men had made. It would be nice to have higher Stamina and Agility, but he could make do with what he currently had.

While the workers in the Garden had great Strength and Stamina, their Agility was suspect. Not too surprising, considering they were fed low-quality spirit plants that helped with the former two.

Thankfully those spirit plants weren’t of the same quality as what William had been eating in this area. Otherwise, he would have no choice but to avoid them since they would have equal strength as he did.

It took William around an hour to reach the camp, and he wasn’t surprised to see that only two men were watching the site.

[Name: Liu Ming | Level: 5]

[Name: Cao Rui | Level: 6]

“Brother Liu, it got stronger. There’s a spirit plant nearby, and I think there might be more than one!”

“Let’s go, Brother Cao! Hopefully, we will find more Blood Oranges. They tasted so much better than what we get at the Garden.”

And luckily for William, both were the same people that stole his Blood Oranges. He swept his eyes over the camp to ensure there weren’t any others and stepped into the clearing, surprising the two men.

“A kid?” The one called Brother Liu exclaimed in shock.

“Brother Liu, the smell is coming from him.”

“I’m assuming you’re talking about these?” William casually showed the pouch filled with Spirit Grass while carefully eyeing their reaction.

“Where did you find that? I’ve been looking for that type of spirit plant for days, but I only found this!”

William’s jaw almost dropped in shock at the endless amount of Divine Resilience Fruits and Wind Cherries haphazardly thrown into a bag. He realized this was likely why he had no luck finding spirit plants that helped with his Stamina and Agility.

“Look, kid, I’m not going to ask how you got here,” The man with a dog-like nose said with a smile, “If you do something for me.”

William could already see those fruits belonging to him. All he wanted was a reason to start throwing punches.

“Agree to a trade! Half of your stuff for half of mine.”

That threw William off because he couldn’t have heard correctly. In terms of value, Spirit Grass was nothing compared to what they offered. If this was a genuine offer, either they didn’t know what they had, or they were under the impression that there was a limit to how much they could consume.

Honestly, either of those guesses seemed unlikely, so William assumed it was a trap.

Considering how slow they were when chasing him a few days ago, William put the two at a speed that was on par with his, or slightly higher, with them having access to the fruits. Neither the Divine Resilience Fruit nor the Wind Cherries could be eaten casually. They needed strict spacing, or the energy within them could negatively affect mortals. Since both men were healthy and fully limbed, they should have eaten one at most.

“Leave your half on the ground, and I’ll do the same,” William kept an eye on them as he took out the Spirit Grass and placed it down. He was still suspicious when they didn’t waver to do the same, but confusion was now added to the mix.

The two men did whatever William asked without hesitation. Before he knew it, his makeshift pouch was bulging with his new gains from the trade. Confusion became the dominant feeling as he quickly left the campsite without any of the problems he had expected.

“If you want to eat with us, you can come by anytime, kid!”

William ignored the invite and kept pace to avoid being in the area when their friends would return.

He had a strange feeling that they felt pity for him. He looked down at himself and tried to put himself in their shoes.

They would have seen dirt staining his hands, clothes torn and frayed from his clumsy attempts to fashion a carrying pouch, and his thin frame suggesting he hadn’t had much to eat.

The last point wasn’t far from the truth since he had eaten grass for sustenance. Still, William knew that if they weren’t kind at heart, that appearance wouldn’t move them when there was a seemingly easy opportunity to get spirit plants.

Instead of trying to take the Spirit Grass by force, they offered something more valuable in return.

William held the bulging silk pouch protectively as he made his way as far from that camp as possible. Even if they were kind, he wouldn’t return until he felt his stats were high enough.