Chapter 9: Last stop

(Alexander POV)

Leaving the guild with my newly gained funds, I went to a shop that sells cheap clothing. My current garment the black T-shirt, pants, and Vans now had rips and a few holes on it. With a slight hesitation, I spent about 30k mora for two sets of roughly made clothing and a pair of black shoes.

After leaving the store which had no changing room, I went to a public restroom.

As I entered I was slightly surprised as the public restroom was neat and hygienic. At first, I thought the people of Mondstadt were living in the Middle Ages but hey they had a toilet. While not the ones I am familiar with it still works, probably a fontaine invention. I then removed my damaged T-shirt, pants, and shoes before storing them in the inventory as I wore the cheap clothing I bought which gave me the Grunt Treasure Hoarder Drip.

*insert pic*

I do not like what I bought but I simply had no choice as the other outfits cost quite a lot and I am on a tight budget. Even with this cheap purchase, I only had 25k mora left. I also did not like how the Mondstadt traditional clothing looked like so between that and this I preferred the Treasure Hoarder Drip.

'I would likely fix my drip once I reach Inazuma as I liked Ayatos Drip but I want it in black. Zongli's drip would be good too.' I said to myself while I thought about how I looked like a weak mob from my clothing.

As I left the Village I headed toward Dragonspine. It may be a bit indecisive of me to keep changing my mind from going to Mondstadt, Liyue and now Dragonspine but as of now, there is no reason for me to head to the capital of Mondstadt.

I wanted to be stronger as I remember the look of disdain the Abyss Herald had for me and staying in the capital is not the way to gain power.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist as I remembered how helpless I was against such power. The only bright side to that encounter was now I had adapted towards pain, piercing, and projectile attacks. Good thing the Abyss Herald wanted to toy with me and decided to not kill me on the first attack.

"What does not kill me makes me stronger" I said to myself before checking my status page.

There are no major differences besides I am now level 5 but I know I have changed greatly.

From my spear mastery (the way I held and used the spear), movement technique (lighter movements and precise dodging), muscle control (a better command of my full physical strength), and even my way of breathing (regulated my breathing to last longer and keep me from being out of breath) adapted while fighting the Abyss Mage.

'I got a lot stronger. Like way stronger than before but it is still not enough' I said to myself.

However, I feel my system is quite weird as it is not showing everything I have just some Genshin numerical digits and not a "real status" that displays everything I have. Even if I by instinct knew what things I have adapted to I still want to see them on the status page. I thought while I continued grabbing all the material I passed by as I traveled towards Springvale to do one last stop before entering Dragonspine.

As I spotted a group of 4 normal club-wielding Hilichurls and 1 Crossbow wielding Hilichurl a smile crept out of my face, I went towards them without bothering to take out my spear. I even removed my shirt and stored it inside the inventory as it was brand new even if it sucks. Then, I simply stood and only evaded if an attack was about to damage my pants or shoes.

While the 4 Hilichruls hit me with their clubs I gazed towards the one with the crossbow made a T-pose to show dominance and watched it launch arrows that just slid off my body after collision. With an insane smile, I let my mind wander around which lasted for a few seconds before I killed off the group of Hilichurls as I had nothing more to gain from them. I already adapted to the level of blunt attacks they could cause with their clubs. I then continued my journey while collecting all the materials I passed through.

'A pity that I was unable to adapt to the cryo elemental shield as I got interrupted but there will be more chances' I said to myself as my mind wandered towards the earlier fight. Remembering the scene of Sukuna and Mahoraga ignoring Gojo's broken shield. I wanted to achieve the same feat by adapting towards the elemental barriers making me the natural enemy of all Abyss Mages.

I reached Springvale at somewhere about 3:00 in the afternoon, I do not have a watch so I am just guessing with my natural body clock which had been boosted by my adaptation.

Springvale was the same as the game version the only difference was that it was larger and had more people for obvious reasons.

Gazing at my inventory mora section and seeing that my total mora now was 30k, I clicked my tongue. I only gained 5k more from the journey as there were fewer Hilichurls on the road, unlike the last day when I was in the forest. Earning a living by killing Hilichurls is hard it seems.

Considering this place would be my final stop before I entered Dragonspine to train for a few months I decided to spend all my money on Salt, Meat, Eggs, and 5x Water Canteens.

After spending all my mora. I went and filled my canteens on the nearby river as I continued my journey towards Dragonspine. Dirty? Germs? Bacteria? I'll adapt. I already decided I would get stronger. Something like dirty water would not hold me back. With a grin, I started sprinting towards my destination.