By the time Ethan finally slowed to a stop, his breath steady but his body humming with exertion, the Frostbitten Forest felt… smaller.
Not literally, but from his perspective.
What had once seemed like an overwhelming, unknown expanse was now something he could navigate, understand, and hunt within.
"Yeah," he muttered, smiling as he glanced at the blood-streaked snow around him, "I've got the hang of this."
After hours of relentless hunting - fighting, experimenting, adapting - he had tested every single ability at his disposal. Spark's volatile flames, Talon's speed and cutting precision, and Wolfy's brutal, overwhelming ferocity.
And more importantly, his own ability to weave them together.
'I'm way stronger than I was even a few hours ago.'
That wasn't just confidence.
It was a fact.
So naturally, his mind did what it always did, and it looked to the future.
'If I clear one floor a day…'
His gaze drifted toward the endless forest.
