Apparently, I was out for two days specifically. I was… quite shocked to hear that, I didn't know I was that exhausted. Allisa and the two kids took a day of rest, however, Sage kept a strong stance.
Everyone thought I was not going to make it— Shen kept everyone away from me, even James and Melinda. My head spun at this, but she had to monitor my vitals the entire time. I get I was pushing through many horrendous injuries but all the time felt restricting.
Right now, she's sleeping in her tent; turns out even vampires need sleep. When I was catching up with everyone, she slipped past us all. Whilst… I was on the ground with everyone sitting or standing around.
Despite my body feeling all energetic, I needed some more sleep honestly. I definitely did push myself beyond comprehension.
And I could tell everyone was concerned; they took a few glances towards me— it wasn't anything pervy, I could tell. My body did look more mature as I did evolve. And another thing, Verd's clothes were really baggy on me so it hid the size of- Oh someone's here.
"Hey, Yukina." Melinda appeared just above me; she had a slightly… annoyed look. She had a frown and her eyebrows were furrowed. "Are you not wearing a bra?"
"E-Eh? How- how did you know?"
"That… hug was really soft. You realize that, right?" Melinda tilted her head, then raised an eyebrow at me. Her voice was loud enough that others could hear us. "You think us women can't tell?"
R-Right…
"Go put one on dummy." In the next moment after her words, I felt something whack my head. "It's not appropriate for a girl to go without one."
I let my head hang as I let her words sink in. But none of the bras I have fit… they all are super tight on my back! They hurt like a truck… The reason is my well..growth.
Melinda, I felt her glare on me. She misunderstood my actions and whacked my head with a karate chop.
Before she could do it a third time, I brought my hands up and shrank my body. "Hold- hold on- none of the bras I have fit-"
"Hah?"
"They… they're way too tight…" I replied, god… my face is becoming way too hot. I can feel the sweat welling up on my face.
"...You must be joking."
"I'm not… They hurt so badly if I try to wear them— even after I got taller…" This was my last word about this. I had to avoid everyone's gaze— and for some reason- The guys looking over made me feel nervous on top of this.
"..." Melinda did not say anything, instead she stared at me with an open mouth. Her mind seemed to comprehend what I said when she let out a sigh.
Listen. I could possibly share with the other women… but my bust is still bigger than them by a larger margin. And this isn't a lie, I could feel their glares at times when we journey.
What the heck am I supposed to do…? Not like we can go shopping out of the wilderness. Or anything like that… anyways.
".." Melinda didn't respond, only stared for a moment then walked away. Did-
Did she seriously have to talk about that in front of everyone…? Just her leaving left me stiffened, my face was being extremely hot. I'm pretty sure if I brought a mirror, I'd be redder than a damn tomato.
Eventually I felt my body temperature calm down and I was able to relax. I laid back as I stared at the sky, it was a beautiful sight which was a contrast to the frosted peaks.
Never thought I'd make it out.
Frosted peaks felt like it was so long. Never ending, so much shit happened and I can still picture it perfectly. It won't leave my mind seeing Vivienna's corpse.
The smell, the iron taste engorging my mouth. Then the rotting meat that smoldered in the air, I had to keep the saliva from leaving my mouth. I needed to vomit. I kept myself, constantly clearing my throat.
I need to be calm, not to worry the others. They're already stressed enough… and I shouldn't add onto it. It's pretty obvious they are.
The crystal blue sky made me feel at ease, it was beautiful afterall.
I need something to distract me. For gods sake it feels like I'm going insane sitting here.
A few seconds later I sat up, crossed my legs and looked down. Since I'm ready to evolve… Ugh, that sounds weird. I should check out my body. I'll check it out, later, alone.
From what I could see, my hands were extremely feminine. They were slim, the skin was a healthy pale on them. The only odd thing? My fingernails were a deep purple, plus they were sharp. I don't know their toughness, but they could be called daggers. Gotta be careful not to injure someone while pointing.
One thing for sure though, my arms were definitely longer. As usual, they had no muscle on them. Nor can I see a difference in strength; furthermore, I felt like I was before.
Meanwhile- huh?
When I opened my status, I noticed something odd.
One, my mana increased by an extra point than normal. Secondly, the strength stat paired with my endurance and agility went up.
First, was by three. Endurance by three as well, then lastly was my agility by one. Was this actually due to the evolution? Will it increase when I continue to evolve?
Ahem… aside from that, I had a second class option. When we get to a guild I can choose. Hopefully I can choose it this time. Last time was extremely odd.
Alas, was the odd thing in my status. The question marks next to [Wolfkin] were still there. But just next to that, was a plus sign.
When I wanted to look at it, a screen replaced it.
[Evolution requirements:
Level: 21/20
??? Bloodline: 1/1
….
Acquire [Regeneration] and [Mana Recovery]: 2/2]
]
As I tilted my head, I stared at the requirement that was blurred out. Why is everything like this. Why does everything want to be hidden from me?
Is it that bastard in that one area? The one that told me I had a nigh immortal body potential?
Before I could let out a sigh, someone called out to me.
"Yukina!" Shen yelled from her tent. Her hair was a complete mess, and the dress she usually… wears was barely hiding her chest. She realized this, fixed it so her cleavage was barely showing.
I walked towards her before responding. "What?" I tilted my head since I was also confused; she just woke up it looks like.
"Come in here, I want to talk to you."
"A-Alright…?"
Am I in trouble? I wondered when Shen had me step inside her tent. As usual, everything was black as night— my eyesight not fixing to the dark.
Shen flickered something and it brightened inside. Her bed was a mess, a complete one. The sheets were all thrown around, in which Shen picked up and threw to the side.
"You're still confused about the evolution part of being an animalkin, right?" Shen questioned me; she patted the spot left of her. I took her offer and shook my head.
"I checked the panel for evolving." I said whilst bringing it up again. "It's straightforward… aside from one thing."
"Hm?"
"One of the requirements is blurred out."
"Hah? It should all be there." Shen leaned in and had me grab her hand. "Show me."
"Al- Alright-"
When I transferred some of my mana into her and pulled up my screen, I could see her eyes visibly squint.
She eventually released my hand, and brought a few fingers to her chin.
"That's… yeah that's weird." Shen muttered. She rested her back against the side and stared into the space in front of her. "The requirements are weird too. You needing specific skills. Then a specific bloodline that's not mentioned…"
"What do you think-"
Shen held her hand to me, cutting me off. After that, she had me promise to keep what she wants to say hidden. Not just from certain people, it was everyone. She repeated herself twice more making sure I understood what everyone meant.
And what she said was extremely familiar. Exim made a passing comment about it.
"Yukina, your bloodline…" Shen sucked in her breath. "It's that of a fenrir."
That was-
"Your black hair, the multi-colored eyes. You're going to become the fenrir in the future."
"What do you mean by the fenrir?"
"You'll be someone… that'll be the danger to this world." Shen stared directly into my eyes. They were not even moving. I couldn't hear her "heart" beat. "Or you won't. We only have information about fenrirs in legend."
"..."
"But… there is a family elsewhere; they hold that bloodline. Not all become fenrirs, in fact— it was a one in… at minimum a billion for one to be born."
I don't get what she's saying.
I don't get it at all.
Why is she telling me this?
What IS she talking about??
The gears in my head froze; she's saying I could be a danger to everyone? Or am I not? I have a family out there? No, I don't, my place is right here with James, Melinda and Allisa.
And fenrir? I had a feeling. Sort of checks out… I mean, Exim. Nigh immortal body, I don't have an exact point I had a feeling. Although, I guess Shen could see my confusion about this.
She sat back, and again brought her hand up. Thus, did a lesson begin for me— specifically on how evolutions work and what… being that fenrir is.
Evolutions are basically growth for individuals— her own words. They entail a mental development and growth. That's why most fail, those who do evolve are much stronger than those who don't. A little obvious with that last point.
Each evolution will provide a bonus, skill or more. For me, it provided a stat buff to most physical stats but I had not evolved yet. Rare, but not unheard of. Individuals who have a high potential to become a pillar of strength usually are provided with that.
Next, Shen provided her own line of evolution. First she was a normal foxkin, standard… She did evolve into a different one pre-vampirism. Ironically, a firefox, and vampires are weak against fire-based attacks.
Anyways, once she became a vampire it reset her back to a normal foxkin. All her fire attributes went away, where she had started as a lesser vampire. It was honestly disgusting… it forced her to drain the blood of living humans.
Furthermore, it had her murder others— against her will. She tried to hold it off, my father, and her first party tried to stave it off for years. Shen explained this to me; the monotone… voice she had was full of remorse.
I could see her hand tighten as she went through this. I can… see the regret drawn on her face. So it isn't just… me.
I could see silver droplets fall from her eyes. She didn't realize it for a moment but she started to wipe her eyes. "I'm- I'm sorry…"
Her apology felt… like it was directed at multiple people. Not just me, but to her old party, and my father. They died trying to get her out of a blood frenzy, and were the ones to help her evolve.
She wanted me to take it as a warning. Do not try to avoid evolving; but don't be near others when I do intend to evolve… and don't let it be the ones you love and care about. Especially when I have the fenrir bloodline, that was the most unpredictable nature of me— what am I going to become?