The dragon's harem

{Name: Arad Orion}{Race: Human}{Class: Barbarian}

{Level: 3/20}{Exp: 30/900}{Sub-class: Berserker}

{Stats}

{Available stat points: 4}

{Available skill points: 0}

[Strength: 20] [Agility: 18] [Constitution: 20]

[Magic: 20] [Intelligence: 20] [Wisdom: 16]

{HP: 60/60}{MP: 60/60}{SP: 60/60}

{HPreg: 1.00016/min}{MPreg: 1/H}{SPreg: 5/s}

Sitting around the sparkling flames beneath the full moon, Arad looked at his stats for a moment while waiting for the wolf’s meat to roast. ^I wonder how they are calculated and if he can manipulate them to get a bit more use out of them.^

With a glance, Arad decided that his first few stat points should go toward experimenting. After all, each stat point mattered when you’re a weak human being and not a dragon with a whole army of vampires to fall back into.

First, he threw a point into his Constitution as he could already guess it would get his HP up, but what he wanted to know was how much. He seems to have 20HP for each level, which is the same as his Constitution, Strength, Magic, and Intelligence.

[Constitution: 20] => [Constitution: 21]

{HP: 60/60} => {HP: 63/63}

As he expected, each one stat point in Constitution gives him one extra HP per level. This meant that while level 2 has double the stat of level 1, level 3 has one and a half stat of level 2.

^This clearly means there is an upper limit to how powerful I can become here.^ He threw some branches into the fire and watched the flame dance with a distant look on his face. Unless he finds another source of power, he is doomed to never be able to defeat the labyrinth… This somewhat reminded him of the system outside.

With the system outside created by the overgod’s Archangel Aria. The whole world was doomed to be weaker than her, they are using her power after all. And she who can grant power to billions of people and monsters alike is a being far above their understanding.

^Even if you reached level 1000 outside, Aria could still kill with just her thoughts. She gives power to billions of people who could reach that level after all. The situation here is the same. Even if I reached level 20 or 1000, whatever the limit is… this labyrinth would still be far stronger than me. Merlin didn’t seem to be in control, which only means the labyrinth is our enemy…^ Arad then went to experiment with the other stats and quickly found out more.

[Strength: 20] => [Strength: 21]

{SP: 60/60} => {SP: 63/63}

Strength increases stamina, probably since the heart itself is a muscle, and the bones that make blood are an essential part of raw strength.

[Intelligence: 20] => [Intelligence: 21]

Intelligence didn’t seem to change anything in his stats. Arad was disappointed for a moment, but he already had a hunch that Magic would increase his mana, and intelligence probably helped him think clearly or cast spells better.

[Magic: 20] => [Magic: 21]

{MP: 55/60} => {MP: 58/63}

Arad had consumed 5 MP earlier to ignite a campfire with a firebolt. Now he tried to cast Firebolt again to see if the increase in his Intelligence made any difference. But he consumed the same amount of mana.

{MP: 58/60} => {MP: 53/63}

It was either rounded up or down… or something else changed, and Arad had sensed that change, even if it was small. Casting the spell felt a bit easier and faster, which made a bit of sense. Higher intelligence would make magic easier to use; later, he might be able to reduce the cost.

After finishing all of the experiments he wanted to do with his system, he went back to the problem of his clothes. Those wolves really tore them apart.

Arad used one of the wolves’ hides as underwear, tying the legs around his waist like side-tie underwear. He then grabbed the large hide of the female Alpha and wrapped it around his waist like a skirt to cover the stupid-looking wolf underwear. The Alpha male’s hide went around his shoulders as he tried the front legs around his neck to hold it, and wore the skull hide like a hood.

Having too many hides left, Arad decided to wrap some of them around his forearms and shins to give them a bit of padding. For shoes, he decided not to wear any as he had some skills he wanted to test later on.

Having finished wrapping himself up in the wolves’ hide, Arad finally realised that his fit looked similar to what Nina’s clan wore. Was it Shi’s influence? For a moment, he thought he was trying to make clothes similar to what he saw Merida make.

When Arad tried to ask Shi about it, he realised that it was indeed the case. With her soul inside him it now influences his decisions a bit, like how she made him kill Merlin.

Arad smiled. Nina’s clan’s sense of clothes was simple, but something he actually liked. Killing vicious monsters and fashioning themselves clothes, armor, and weapons from their hides, bones, scales, and organs was the way of the barbarians. Unlike other humans who hung their trophies on walls just for looks, barbarians wore them with pride.

Finally understanding this, Arad had to wonder about an important question. What should he wear when he goes to fight Nina? He can’t show up with normal clothes, he must find a great monster to kill and wear to show his power to all of the barbarians in her clan.

Alaric and Sawless’ corpses are still inside his stomach. When he goes out, he’ll make himself the best wedding attire out of their skin. He was certain no other barbarian could attend with something better than clothes made from the hide of the Lycanthrop demon lord and the Torture demon lord.

The meat was done, and Arad wolfed it all out in minutes. He then lay beside the flames and looked at the stars. Strangely, something felt off. He always used to feel calm, safe, and assured when gazing at the night sky, but here, the stars felt strangely cold, indifferent, as if they had lost their soul and warmth.

For the first time in his life, Arad had to look away from the stars and sleep on his side to feel comfortable. In his dreams, Shi was there, sitting beside him, hugging her legs with a dead stare in her eyes. She looked eerily similar to Nina, but much older, mature, and hid a sense of fear and regret.