He hunted or fished when food was running low, and he also built a sauna for himself by digging a hole and insulating it, then lighting a large firewood fire inside.
He would then stay in the hole while enduring increasingly intense heat, then throw himself into the snow and repeat.
This thermal shock was extremely painful, but it made him grow steadily.
Ringo couldn't say if he had become a masochist, he didn't like pain but he loved getting stronger, so the line seemed a little blurred when his ability is literally getting stronger through pain.
Unbeknownst to him, he stayed there for a month. Every day was productive, and even the goat was now free, no longer trying to escape.
Jack and Will could now run a little, they were well fed during this time, and they didn't seem to have any physical problems.
The pair were always looking for him or climbing on him while he slept. They quickly became attached, This made the separation even more difficult for Ringo.. He didn't quite know what to do with the pair. He wasn't like Han Xiao, who could take something as a "pet" and forget it existed, passing the responsibility onto others.
Ringo had a dog as a child, a Pug his grandmother gave him for his birthday. But when the dog died of old age, he felt very bad. Only those who have had a pet die in their arms know the pain. He never had the courage to get another animal again.
So at first, he refused to keep the pair, but over time, they became closer to him, following him around with wagging tails, chubby from their bear heritage. This made him laugh and his eyes softened. He didn't even know he still had so much kindness inside him before he created them.
Thinking that this world was a world of superpowers and deities, besides that, with Aurora, they probably wouldn't die of old age, he stood firm, he would raise them.
After making his decision, Ringo no longer avoided contact with the pair. He took them outside and transformed himself into a shadow cat modified to look like a dog, surprising the pair, but upon smelling him, they didn't find him strange.
He taught them how to hide, how to ambush, how to move, how to sniff...
The duo learned like a sponge, he taught them through verbal commands, gestures, whistles, and direct demonstration, so they learned quickly.
It was only two months after arriving there that he decided to leave.
His energy level grew significantly during this period, the peak being his reaching Rank C a few days ago. Although he hadn't yet raised his health level, he felt he was approaching a barrier. Although his energy continued to grow, actual improvement was becoming increasingly slow. He felt he needed to accumulate a significant amount of energy for his first life evolution.
Thus, the training in the forest, which was yielding little results, finally stopped.
Even putting his body in fire no longer hurts him. He knows it's just the fire itself, too low to harm him. An esper's fire is much hotter and fiercer than a bonfire.
But the greatest improvement upon reaching C Grade was the enhancement of his ability.
He called upon his new ability. Now he can use permanent evolution through his energy, for himself or others. The evolution is still slow, but comparatively speaking, it's much faster. If it previously took him a day to adapt to 5 degrees Celsius, now it only takes him an hour.
With other beings, it's even more difficult. He could modify existing genes, heal, and even evolve directly. It's quite possible he could help someone withstand serums that would likely kill them and still adapt perfectly to them. Through this, he also discovered he could "see" the potential of living beings.
He couldn't actually see the target's DNA, but his brain seemed to process this information and help him perfectly understand what each DNA component meant. There was so much information that he thought his brain would freeze, but no, he could see and understand everything perfectly, perhaps because it was much more intuitive than actual information. While an entire area of the strand might mean "red," he just saw red, and that was it.
At this point, after examining several animals, he noticed that the areas of the genetic strand representing energy, even within the same species, were different. Some were stronger, some weaker, some seemed more complete, and some less so. This "completeness" was what led him to understand that they likely represented energy potential.
Not only that, but he could see potential in both physical and mental terms.
It was incredibly fascinating, and he spent several days "visualizing" various living beings. Jack and Will's gene seemed weaker compared to the other long-fanged wolf bears he encountered, but it didn't matter, now he could improve their genes himself!
Even if it took a long time, it didn't matter. He could take his time, gradually improving them. Even if it took some of his time and energy, for these two loyal little guys, he was willing to suffer a little.
-Jack, Will, we're leaving. - Ringo called, and the duo ran up to him, excited. They were now as big as medium-sized dogs. Their species took five years to reach maturity and could grow up to ten years old, as they were quite strong as adults. It was bad luck for the mommy bear to find Ringo.
The duo were still a little chubby, they reminded him of a version of the polar bear dog from the Legend of Korra, but their snouts were longer, their ears stood up, they were chubbier and hairy.
They looked quite cute, and he intended to alter their genes to make them more slender in the future, but as puppies, he kept them that way, finding them cute.
Their fur was still grayish, not white like their mother's. He'd read that they molted around the age of one or two, shedding their gray fur and turning white.
The pair followed him as he carried the backpack, looking no different than when they first arrived, but now a roll resembling a white rug was tied to it, this was the cubs "bed."
The goat had been returned to its group over a month ago, when the kids switched to meat. Ringo thought it was too fast, but apparently normal for the species.
The pair didn't act like ordinary puppies, they pricked up their ears and sniffed occasionally, looking around.
One of them led the way, and the other stayed behind, keeping an eye out for pursuers.
Ringo taught them this. Even though they didn't need it, his own skill being far superior to both of theirs combined, he wanted to make them independent in case they needed to fend for themselves for any reason.
Ringo walked for four more days before reaching his destination. Here, the temperature reached -46 degrees during the day and -59 degrees at night.
The puppies huddled against him for warmth while they slept in caves Ringo found along the way. Even they were already struggling with the cold. If it had been their mother, she wouldn't have minded all that fur and fat, but their small bodies hadn't yet reached that level.
Luckily, they would reach their destination the next day.
--x--
At a base on a frozen slope, hidden by tall trees and surrounded by steel gates, an armed group dressed in white winter clothing and black ski goggles patrolled the area.
Ringo crouched low with Jack and Will at his side, watching from a distance. Jack and Will couldn't see anything, but they knew they were hunting, so they stayed quiet and low, their ears listening for any sign of an ambush.
Ringo narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. The metal base was better guarded than expected. He'd seen a truck leave the base an hour ago without knowing its destination. Other than that, it remained completely closed.
Thoughtfully, he clicked his tongue lightly. Jack and Will crouched low and didn't move anymore. He, on the other hand, advanced, letting his clothes fall as he transformed into a white eagle, flying upward for a better look.
His pupils constricted to a point as fine as a needle's tip. The sunlight shining on the snow was harmful to most people, but not to him.
Flying around the base, he observed it from above, but was surprised to find the security here even better than the senator's mansion. There were no blind spots, and he even saw a security guard shoot at birds that landed!
This confused him. This man, choosing to stay in a place where "birds don't shit" and having extremely tight protection, showed he feared something. The question is, what?
Ringo sighed and realized there was no point in trying to assassinate without spending days exploring. He could transform into one of the guards, but he wasn't Han Xiao, his ability to infiltrate and operate was practically non-existent.
So he returned to Jack and Will, returning to his human form, he got dressed, this time, he wore pants and boots, he continued letting the pair hide further away, storing his backpack while he returned to the open air.
If he couldn't assassinate, he would invade! He'd long wanted to learn through real battle.
As he approached, he was quickly spotted. A man with a megaphone called out. - Intruder! Stop right there, kneel, and raise your hands, or we'll open fire!
Ringo didn't care, pulling two brass knuckles from his pockets and putting them on, smiling excitedly as he approached.
The man repeated the warning, this time more fiercely. He didn't care.
Then he shouted. -Fire!
--x--
...
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