There were many stray notifications of +1 general Exp gained.

Lorian guessed these were accumulated from life and death combat.

These stray Exp rounded up about 30 general Exp, which was a huge amount. But considering the tense life and death battle, it was only fair to gain that much.

Lorian definitely wouldn't last a round against those beasts without the help of soldiers and Loki, that much, he realized. This made him gloomy and his longing for power secretly increased...

Other than those notifications, there was one, the most eye-catching one

Battle Exp + 57

Finally! The battle Exp appeared.

- This should be the result of delivering the last blow to the snake.

Lorian quickly allocated some of them to his warrior profession and found out, that it worked. Battle Exp also increased skill proficiency if allocated, but like general Exp, Lorian found this wasteful as skill proficiency went up much faster than his warrior profession progress bar.

- Killing beasts will be more rewarding, but obviously more dangerous, but this is the only shortcut I can get. Probably I should start by hunting the weaker beasts. Learning to hunt some deer and boars might do for a while. There are no guns in this world, then I'll need to learn archery...forget it, I'll think about those later...

Another notification from the system really baffled Lorian.

- What is this?

Innate trait unlocked: Anti-poison body (Level 0)

Lorian's brows twitched. Anti-poison body sounded cool, but How come it didn't help his recovery? He felt he was scammed, cheated, but the system didn't joke around, unfortunately, neither did it explain things clearly...

- Sigh, I'll figure this out later

But still, he couldn't help but contemplate about this innate trait. What triggered it to appear? Was it the snake's venom? Then why was it so weak? He didn't feel any anti-poison effects in play. He was bedridden and barely moved his left-hand muscles as they hurt like hell!

There was another vague notification, which Lorian couldn't make heads nor tails of, so he decided to simply ignore it.

Spirit +0.1

Looking at his current status, Lorian was more or less satisfied

Lorian Ellins (Weakened) Warrior (Level 0) (150/10,000) General Exp: 0 Battle Exp: 0 Titles: - Innate trait: Anti-poison body (Level 0) Skills: Basic sword mastery (Level 1) (2,905/10,000)

Attributes:

Spirit: 1.1

Now that he was more or less fine, Lorian decided to come down the first floor and get some information.

Upon coming down, Lorian instantly felt more of a solemn atmosphere in the inn. The costumes were a bit quieter and restrained.

- Little guy, are you fine now?

- Thanks, uncle Karl, I'm getting better.

Lorian politely replied to the concerned thin man with a beard.

- Come here, some things have happened, I think you will be interested.

- Alright...

Lorian unceremoniously sat down near 3 old veterans.

- Little lass, add some beer and soup for my friend here.

- Yes...

Elena replied crisply.

- C'mon, soup? I'm not that injured.

Lorian grumbled. Karl hollowly chuckled and said after some pause

- The massacre's been staged...some of us even lost our...

His fists clenched.

- Who was the culprit?

Karl shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

- You know what's the worst? The corpses, they vanished. 238 people, all gone.

Lorian felt the chill run down his spine.

- Is there some evil cult working behind scenes? Have such things happened before?

Karl downed a beer in a single gulp and once again shook his head.

Lorian felt disappointed. After eating his fill, he surveyed the whole inn. He was astonished to see the gray robed man he had a conflict with was quietly eating with others.

'He's back! He might know something...'

Thinking this, Lorian approached the robed figure.

- Heya, you've come back.

The robed figure lifted his head a little, paused, then just nodded at him.

- You're not angry because of last time, right?

- No...

'Though your tone is still as cold?'

Lorian showed a wry smile as he thought.

He sat beside him and inquired.

- The whole city's shaken. This incident was no small matter. I see you are no simple person. Do you know something?

Lorian asked with a friendly smile.

Robed figure sneered under his hood.

- Go ask the underground dogs, it costs a lot of money though.

Lorian gave a helpless smile.

'What underground? I'm new here!'

- Can you really not tell me? I'll owe you one, I'll treat you to dinners, how 'bout that?

The gray robes chuckled.

- Interesting, alright. Here's some friendly advice...don't bite more than you can chew. The more you know, the less safe you are.

Lorian's face changed.

- What do you mean by that?

- Haha, nothing. The kingdom's strong y'know? There's also the church. Some mice can dig around underground, but in the end, they are little mice. The day they are exposed is the day they die. But unless you are strong enough, even these mice can swallow us, so it's better to stay ignorant. Ignorance is bliss, you taught me, didn't you? It's exactly like that.

- I see...but I hate the unknown.

The young man cackled under the gray robes.

- We all do, but unless you're strong enough, nobody's gonna care about your feelings.

- Thanks for the info.

Lorian stood up and bowed to him.

- You're welcome.

...

- Hey, where are you going?

Hearing robed man speak, Lorian turned around, puzzled.

The robed man pointed down his finger at his dish.

- Aren't you paying?

Lorian's brows twitched, but he still managed to squeeze out a smile.

- Yes, yes of course.

He left some copper coins on the table and left.

- Ouch...

The bitten area was mostly numb, but it would sometimes convulse and transmit pain to his brain.

- Boy, are you alright?

- I'm alright, uncle.

Lorian forced a smile and staggeringly walked out of the inn.

The air was fresh, but he still felt out of breath. His heart was heavy.

'Humans have always feared unknown, especially as it may threaten your life...I hope I get better soon. I'll grab a random mission from the barracks bulletin board and take a break from this wasteful life for a while. The storm is brewing and I'm not prepared for what is to come.'

Despite being unwilling, Lorian had to return to his room and rest, so his muscles would regain their proper functioning and so he wouldn't be deterred. His only regret was being unable to train.

Sometimes, he would come down to kill boredom, drank with others, inquired things, listened to information that adventurers brought...

This way, 3 more days passed. Now Lorian was fully recovered and ready for more training. His uneventful life for past few days gave him a strong urge for action.

It was the night. Lorian once again stood close to barracks stairs, facing Loki. He was eager for his second sparring.

'Tomorrow I'll apply for a mission, so I'll be out for a while. Let's go all out for today's spar!'

A cold wind blew in the night, indicating the approach of the most troublesome season.

Dim green light shone down Lorian, revealing his serious, determined expression.