CHAPTER 9 — Status Update
The forest felt different now.
Not because the trees had changed—they were the same tall pines, heavy with snow. Not because the air was warmer—it wasn't. The Coldwood was still the Coldwood.
It was me.
The robe Garron gave me brushed against my calves as I walked. Walked. On two legs. The leather satchel bumped lightly against my hip. My bare feet sank into the snow a little with each step, but I barely felt the cold. My body was… different.
I took another step and realized my stride was slightly off.
My right leg carried farther than my left, and my balance tilted just enough that I had to adjust with my hips. It wasn't bad—just unfamiliar.
"Okay. Walking is weird now," I muttered.
I slowed down and focused on the basics.
Heel. Roll. Toe.
My body listened, but it felt like teaching someone else how to move. Everything responded—muscles tightening, joints flexing—but I was acutely aware that this wasn't the body I was born in. This was was better, but I needed to get used to it. Just like how I adjusted to my life as a rabbit, for the short few days.
I stepped forward again, this time more stable.
Then my ears decided to get involved.
A branch creaked to my left. A crow cawed somewhere behind me. Snow slid off a distant rock. Every sound hit me twice—once through the long rabbit ears hidden by the illusion, and once through the pointed fae-like ears sticking out of my hair.
It was like listening to the world through two different microphones playing in my skull at once.
I winced and stopped walking.
"Too much," I hissed quietly. "Way too much."
I remembered Garron's words.
Choose. Focus. Ears are like hands—you don't use all of them at once.
I took a slow breath and concentrated. There was a sense in my head now, like it just made sense to stop hearing. I felt the one for my rabbit ears and mentally pushed.
The "background" hearing dropped away.
The rabbit ears quieted, muting to a soft, distant hum. The pointed ears on the side of my head sharpened instead, honing in on things closer to me.
The forest quieted from a roaring choir into a manageable, layered murmur.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.
"Okay. That's… better. Still insanely weird, but better."
I walked on.
The robe swished softly around my knees. My hair brushed my neck. I kept absently flexing my fingers just to feel them move.
This body… felt good.
Not heavy. Not clumsy. Not like the slightly tired, underfed human form I had in my old life.
My lungs filled easily with each breath. My heart beat with steady strength. My legs responded instantly, like coiled springs ready to move.
For the first time in either life, I didn't feel like I was dragging myself through existence.
I felt… capable.
A soft chime echoed in the back of my mind.
The system!
Right.
I hadn't actually checked it since evolving.
I stopped in a small clearing, snow crunching under my bare feet as I turned my attention inward.
"Status," I thought.
The window unfolded in my mind's eye.
[STATUS]
Name: Kyree
Race: Astral Snowhare (First Evolution)
Level: 1 (15 / 100)
Physique: 3
Spirit: 2
Mana: 2
Perception: 2
Magic: Space
Unassigned Stat Points: 20
______________________________
[Quest: Find an Evolution Seed, and Evolve] — Completed
Rewards: +10 Free Stats | +1 Free Roulette Spin | +1 Ring of Veiled Anima
[Hidden Quest: Form a True Soul] — Completed
Reward: +10 Free Stats
A "true soul"…?
I frowned at that line. I hadn't expected There was no explanation, no description, just the name and the reward.
"Great," I muttered. "Another unknown in this new world... well it did give me stat points so I can handle that."
That was the important part, though, the number at the bottom.
Unassigned Stat Points: 20.
That was a lot.
More than I started with considering I had a total of 8, when I was born into this world.
I sat down on a flat rock, folding my legs under me and letting the robe drape around. The snow wasn't so cold agant my skin. I can only assume that it's due to my new body that even as cold air brushed my face, my body handles it easily.
"Alright," I whispered. "Let's do this properly."
Physique was my physical body—strength, agility, stamina, durability. Spirit was… something I still didn't fully understand. Mana was the obvious first. And my guess is perception affects my senses, hearing better, seeing further, maybe even help me sense space.
All of them had been stuck at "2" at the start.
Now I had the chance to change that. I felt a smile form on lips as I thought back the start.
I thought of the wolf. The way its claws tore through the snow. The breath hot on my fur. The single mistake that could've ended me.
Physique couldn't stay low.
"I need to at least be strong enough not to get folded in half instantly," I murmured. I had no interest in being a glass cannon that dies from a single hit.
I willed six points into Physique.
[Physique: 3 → 9]
a warm rush of energy flooded my limbs.
My fingers tightened, bones and tendons humming with subtle power. My legs felt heavier—but in a good way. I felt... more solid, as muscles tightened under my skin like coils.
I stood slowly and hopped experimentally.
The jump carried me farther than I intended. I nearly overshot the rock, landed in the snow, and had to catch myself with a little skid.
"Okay," I said, nodding. "That's… actually really nice. It will take a moment to adjust but, yea... This is good."
I sat back on the rock and focused on what I was excited for most. Mana was next.
Space magic was stupidly expensive. Teleport alone cost ten. And to start to use my Spatial Storage I need 5 mana per unit? I wasn't sure what that ment but my current—two mana weren't going to cut it.
I pushed eight points into Mana. I wanted the ability to teleport, not only will it help as a last trump card where I can flee from danger, but, mainly if I had to say it out loud, then the reason is cuz that sound so badass.
[Mana: 2 → 10]
Something inside my chest bloomed.
It wasn't physical, this felt more like a second set of lungs had opened, but they breathed mana instead of air. The world felt a little softer at the edges and sharper at the same time, like the rules of distance had become looser around me.
I reached out with a tiny ripple of space, curious.
A gentle pulse spread from my body—fainter than before, but smoother. The distortion moved outward, brushing against nearby objects.
A tree. A buried stone. The hollow inside a fallen log. The ripple spread out further this time almost 100 ft (30m) ahead.
When the ripple faded, I still felt fine.
No skull-splitting pain. No blackout.
"Nice," I whispered. "No brain melting this time."
Perception next.
I hesitated.
Perception... I wasn't sure what this stat did for sure, but I could make an educated guess.. and if i had been overwhelming earlier with my ears, I wouldn't put any points in. Even now upping it too high might make things unbearable. But I also couldn't afford to be blindsided. Not again.
There was to much danger by holding back. I needed to just take action and get stronger, that included increasing my ability to detect threats. Hyping myself up, I finally started putting points in the Perception stat.
"Let's be careful with this one," I said quietly.
I fed four points into Perception, one at a time, slowly.
[Perception: 2 → 6]
The world shifted.
It felt as if the edges of space sharpened. Colors around me seemed to deepen, as I became more aware of the world. Not just through my eye sight, alight that was now clearer and I knew I could almost 'zoom in', when focusing on something farther away and it would still appear in perfect clarity.
No, my sense of space, of the fabric layers of the world seemed to deepen as well. The tiny patterns in the bark, the way light bounced off the snow, the subtle movement of branches—all of it became clearer.
Not painfully so. Just… vividly.
I took a slow breath and focused again on my ears, dampening the information flow until it felt comfortable. I still handed 'turned on' my rabbit ears, I wasn't sure if I would ever get used to them, I could fell them standing straight up, all excited, as if listening even if I didn't hear anything from them.
Finally, Spirit....
I exhaled, this was the weird one.
I still didn't know what it did, exactly. It sounded like something tied to my soul, or will, or magic depth? Garron had talked about evolution needing a strong spirit.
I'd already spent eighteen years living without a spine in my decisions. If Spirit helped support that "will," it deserved at least something.
I put the last two points into Spirit.
[Spirit: 2 → 4]
A faint chill passed through my core, not cold exactly, but… deep. Like a second foundation had been poured under my feet. I didn't know if this was a placebo, like my mind telling me that something changed, because I felt no different like when I increased the other stats.
I decided to move on.
I called up the status window again.
[STATUS]
Name: Kyree
Race: Astral Snowhare (First Evolution)
Level: 1 (15 / 100)
Physique: 9
Spirit: 4
Mana: 10
Perception: 6
Magic: Space
Unassigned Stat Points: 0
I stared at it for a long moment.
Now, I knew this didn't make me invincible. Not even close. I was still level one, still just a guy with a nice number sheet and no real experience.
But looking at those numbers…
I felt a smile form, I liked what I saw.
A chime sounded again, pulling my attention to a new window.
[New Quest Unlocked]
Deliver Garron's Letter to Lord Harewyn and Request Apprenticeship
Objective:
– Reach the Harewyn Estate in Winterreach.
– Deliver Garron Winterpelt's letter to Lord Harewyn.
– Ask him to take you on as his apprentice.
Reward:
+5 Free Stats | +1 New Space Spell
Failure:
All Stats -5
Quest Expires in 30 Days
I blinked.
"Apprentice…?" I murmured.
Garron hadn't mentioned that part.
He'd just said "settle in the city."
I looked down at the satchel where the letter rested, hidden under bread and berries. The wax seal felt heavier now, like the words inside had changed slightly when I wasn't looking.
"'Request apprenticeship,' huh…?"
I let out a breath, watching it fog the air.
I thought about the quest and what it actually ment, yes the rewards are good. Of course I want a new space spell... however I also can't ignore the fact that I can't use all my current spells... also that failure... a minus 5 to all my stats...
I didn't even have a total of 5 in my Spirit Stat.. so can it go negative? What happens when it hit zero? I needed to think about this because this quest was a high rewards, high risk one.
As I though about it though I realized, weren't all of the quests that way?...
The very first quest I received a 'survive 24 hours' it that isn't high risk I don't know what else, the reward was only a +1 to my Physique, but its due to that that I was able to live long enough to kill the wolf once my mana was filled.
Then the Second quest of 'Finding the Evolution Seed', while sure the quest itself wasn't dangerous, if Garron wasn't so kind and nice, I would be dead....
Now this one....
"Well. Better than wandering around aimlessly, I guess."
I accepted the quest, then closed the quest window and glanced at the line I was most curious about.
Rewards: +10 Free Stats | +1 Free Roulette Spin | +1 Ring of Veiled Anima