Daz quickly made his way over to the charity container that was placed just next to the training area that Lyle was in. It was there because the car park that the training area now occupied was right next to the container, allowing for easy access for the public to donate things.

He took a second to stop Lyle since the middle-aged man looked quite pathetic currently. "Lyle!" he called.

Immediately after Daz's call, Lyle slumped to the floor like a broken doll. The two steel daggers he was holding onto fell to the ground and disappeared.

'Guess he's really exhausted, huh? I wonder where the daggers went? Probably back into the training area or something...' Daz thought before he approached the now heavily panting and sweat-covered Lyle.

"Lyle, I'm gonna leave the base pretty soon for a quick adventure, and I want you to come with me. I need your ability to talk to people so naturally. It's too stressful if I force myself to be likeable to strangers. So, clean up and use your merit points on strengthening yourself. I'll come collect you when I'm leaving," Daz ordered. 'That should be fine, right? He wants to serve me after all...'

Lyle's face instantly brightened up upon hearing that. "O-Of course, my Lord!" Lyle exclaimed before he shot up to his feet and immediately fell again.

"Take it easy. It will be about thirty or so minutes until I leave. Go to the cabin over there. Rest for a few minutes, buy some simple stats boosts and maybe a skill or two while you're in there. Don't push yourself, okay?" Daz said to the pathetic looking man, Lyle. He weakly nodded in response.

As Lyle slowly stood up, he suddenly remembered something very important, so just before Daz unlocked the charity box, he called out to him. "Lord Daz!"

"Hmm?" Daz mumbled in response while he turned his head to face Lyle.

"I thought you should know, but I managed to get two entry-level skills from hitting that dummy for as long as I did," Lyle said while he continued to wheeze for air. His breathing was getting more stable, but it was still rather haggard.

"Really?" Daz's voice now contained some interest. "What skills did you get?"

Lyle smiled at Daz's eager expression and replied, "I managed to get Entry-Level Battle Focus and Entry-Level Dagger Mastery."

"Really? How interesting... thanks for telling me," Daz said with a smile. "Now go rest and shop, I'll be ready shortly," he finished with a warm tone. 'Lyle is really loyal for whatever reason, and he tried so hard to train when I told him to. It might be a good idea to look after him properly when we leave the base.'

After that, Lyle quickly entered the cabin and Daz finished unlocking the charity container. It was full to the brim with useless bits and bobs, the odd toaster, a table or two, tins of paint. Daz was always surprised with what people threw away. It didn't help that the guys that collected the stuff for the charity always pocketed anything of value to turn a nice profit. 'I'm glad the charity guys didn't come for two whole days. Guess they were busy? Oh well, means all of this shit belongs to me now. Especially those jewels. This mess is gonna be annoying to clear out without breaking it all though,' Daz thought.

Daz was getting bored while he moved all of the junk around, carefully inspecting every item to find the hidden jewels, but the search soon lost its mysterious appeal after the tenth or so small bag was a bust. 'Guess I'll just review my new status while I do this shit. Higher Identification, Daz's status.'

Host's Status Basic Information Name: Daz Species: Human (Beginning stages of evolving) Age: 20 Sex: Male Class: Shovel Knight Affinity: Chaotic Neutral Energies Lifeforce: 3000/3000 Jewelled Core: 50/50 Stats Strength: 70(84) Dexterity: 60(72) Constitution: 100(120) Agility: 60 Charisma: 100 Ingenuity: 500 Defense: 100(3100) Immunity: 5

'Mmm, looks about right. I can't believe that one point of Immunity cost me five thousand merit points... but I need it to help my poison resistance skill grow more easily since it grants a slight immunity to everything...' Daz thought. Clearly, his fears over his recent attack still weighed heavily on his mind.

He moved a table back out of the skip and decided to view his total remaining merit points as another way to pass the time. It had only been ten or so minutes, but Daz was the type to get bored very easily.

The total merit balance of the host is 42,900.

Still quite a sizable sum, but not nearly as much as he had started with. 'I need to save these merit points as best as I can. Damn, I wasted so many on Rimmy and this Immunity... well, not wasted..but still...' Daz complained in his mind.

He was mindlessly browsing the shop while he cleared out the container and was so lost in his boredom that he almost didn't notice the large suitcase he was now holding. 'Fuck me, this is actually pretty heavy... wait... no way... are the jewels inside this thirties styled suitcase?!' Daz thought while he eyed the clearly very old suitcase that he was holding in his right hand sceptically.

It was way too heavy, which meant that it must have weighed an absolute tonne considering that Daz had enough strength to rival seven grown men, if not more. Daz carefully laid the suitcase on the ground and swiftly placed his hands atop the clips holding it closed on either side. He flipped those clips and tried to pull the case open, but it wouldn't budge.

"Why...?" Daz mumbled before he saw the tiniest of keyholes. He immediately ignored it and tried to force the case open with his brute strength, but oddly enough, it wouldn't budge. It was then that Daz saw a note stuck to the corner of the case. Naturally, he went to grab it and read it. Needless to say, he was shocked by its contents.