Elliot tore through the road, not caring about where he was headed. As long as he went north he’d find a town, a village, a lonely little hovel, anyplace with anyone that’d tell him where to go next. He had to hurry before nightfall, though he expected not to make it anywhere today. He wanted to make at least some progress before he slept, if only he was faster. His speed at the moment was already at least 30 miles an hour, and he knew that if he kept up this pace he’d find a city in around a day or two.

Sleeping in the middle of a forest didn’t really sit well with him, though. While considering his situation, he also wondered about supplies. He had brought no money, no food, and only one canteen of water. This was not enough for him to live a proper life, even if he had made it to the town within two days. In his determination to complete his mission, he had forgone any and all thought. His wisdom stat may have been high, but a fool would be a fool, no matter how much knowledge they had.

He went a bit more, about half an hour, before he foolishly realized he’d been neglecting his new skills. Specifically, Royal Metamorphosis. He had almost forgotten about it until he looked at his stats and realized they had not changed. The skill was an ‘active’ skill for some reason, not passive. Why would that skill be that way rather than the others, he wondered. He immediately activated it without thinking and soon found his answer.

The sudden burst of agility and dexterity changed the speed of his legs and he tripped and skidded across the floor in an incredible show of destruction. He didn’t realize it, but running at that speed with the sword on his back made for some incredible inertia. He crashed into a nearby tree, luckily hitting it with his back, where the sword took most of the hit. It was still enough to knock the air out of his lungs, though.

Elliot moaned. The pain was one thing, but he felt a terrible itch appear in his body. His body started changing, and the gnawing feeling in his eyes felt absolutely terrible. He suddenly remembered what the skill had said in its description. “You are meant for greatness, as such, you have no blatant weaknesses. Your body will change to make it so.” Damnit, he thought that the last part was just some stupid words that had no meaning. Something snapped inside his body, and he shouted in agony, bringing an arm to his chest.

That… hurt. He’d never broken a bone after his vitality had gone above ten, and hearing the bones in his body that were 10 times stronger than normal snap made him feel… uncomfortable. another snap in his body resounded through the silence, followed by another shout. This time he shakily laughed, what was happening being almost comedic. This skill was the best one in the group, it made sense that it had such a shitty side effect.

The horrible process continued to happen for a while and at some point, even the feeling of bones breaking couldn’t get him to scream. His throat was just too raw. His eyes were on fire as well, and he struggled not to scratch at them until they bled. Luckily the metamorphosis stopped about ten minutes in. Elliot was left shaking on the ground, the lack of pain both strange and extremely relieving. He laid there for a minute before trying to stand.

He was surprised to find it easy, fluid. His body, which had been through such raw treatment, felt as if he’d just gotten out of bed, refreshed and ready. Even his own throat, which he had used until it became bloody and raw, felt completely fine, better actually. Even his own mind seemed clearer, and he opened the status screen to see his new changes.

Name: Elliot Dresmr

Level: 1

Occupation: Royal (First Kin)

Class: Lonely Prince

Strength: 304

Vitality: 152

Dexterity: 202 (+101)

Agility: 203 (+101)

Intelligence: 192 (+96)

Wisdom: 122

Charm: 121 (+60)

Luck: 20

Spells:

Skills: Strength of a Tyrant (Passive), Cunning of a snake (Passive) Talent of the Insane (Passive) Pk Memory- AA “Elliot Dresmr” (passive, concealed) Aerial maneuvering (Passive) Battle Savant (Passive) Deep isolation (Passive)

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Class skills: Royal magic (Passive) Heroism (Passive) Royal Metamorphosis (Passive, Inert) Forsaken Prince (Passive)

Unused stat points: 44

Quest: Bring your sister home. You’ll receive one free stat point as a reward.

Haha! That was amazing! His stats had now all broken the three-digit barrier! Wait… All except for his luck. For some reason, the damn status had locked at twenty, leaving the rest to be unused. At any point, he’d have shouted in happiness at the fact that his stat points weren’t wasted, but this felt a bit odd. To test things out, he tried placing them into luck again, only to be met with a chilling notification.

The fates are watching, they do not wish for your safety.

…Ah, of course.

Elliot waved away the notification, refusing to think about what he’d just seen, and put the stats immediately into vitality. It had been the last thing he’d upgraded, and he cursed himself for it every day. Every single day he had complained about his weak stature, and it wasn’t until he spoke with the priest that he realized why he seemed to be so skinny despite his constant training. Apparently, the strength and vitality stat worked hand in hand, just like agility and dexterity.

Strength compresses the muscle, while vitality increased muscle size. It was the difference between being able to give and receive damage. The two weighed each other out, and having them at equal rates would give him a normal body. At the rate he had the stats, he’d look like someone who was half a man. It was a hellish reality that had fallen over him. He had worked hard to reach the massive stat gain he’d put into strength. Even now, he forgot every other stat in favor of dumping it all into vitality. He just had to hope that…

Because of your skill “Talent of the insane” 44 status points have been added at random.

+40 Strength

+4 Charm

…Damnit. As if he was supposed to believe that was random. He should have done this later. The “fates'' were watching him at the moment, and that meant he would get exactly what he didn’t want. They even put some points in the absolutely useless “charm” stat… He spat at the floor, making sure to let whoever the “fates” were know that they sucked. Dammit… He was going to become buff, even if it meant he’d spend all his points on vitality for the rest of his life…

He stood up, silently wishing the downfall of the fates as he brushed himself off. Now that he wasn’t salivating at his juicy new stats, he was able to focus on other things.

Like why the hell his status screen looked so different. He had “spells” and “Class skills”, not to mention his occupation had been filled! That hadn’t happened to anyone, at least, no one he knew of. Occupations were one of the few free choices people had, damnit! Whatever it was, it had better be good enough to take his freedom away. He angrily tapped on the title, expecting it to talk trash to him, just as his class did not too long ago.

Royal (First Kin): Destiny does not favor you, but neither does it favor anyone else. Instead, destiny despises you. For some, this is a nightmare. For others, however, this could be nothing more than another mighty step in their path. Civilizations rise and fall through being challenged, and so do people. You’re the first of your lineage, and cannot afford to show weakness. You will grow far more than others, but you have no choice in the matter. Instead of the normal 20 unallocated status points per level, you earn 5 status points in every category.

(Due to the synergistic use with the skill, “Talent of the insane”, you will earn double the points per stat.)

Elliot ripped the screen apart with his sword, accidentally tearing the tree he saw in front of him in half in the process. A malicious grin was on his face, and his eyes were full of murder. This was good, this was fine… This damn world really wanted to fucking cage him, huh? He knew damn well, “Talent of the insane” Wasn’t random. It was always too damn coincidental for it to be random. It was fine at first, the skill was nothing but a boost. But now the fates had gone too damn far.

It had taken another sense of control away from him. There would be no goddamn choice on his part… Now, even his vitality would have to grow from the slow, mundanity of quests. They were going to take over his damn life at some point… In a fit of rage, he brang the sword right around, seeking to take out more trees, some wider than even the sword. Most of them fell neatly to his violent outburst, while other sturdier trees exploded from the force put upon them. The rage continued until one of the trees fell on him, and he had to bat it away with an arm.

The bark exploded, shattering into a hundred wooden shards that dug into his skin.

He realized right after that in the right state of mind, he would have simply moved aside. Embarrassed, he sheathed the massive sword on his back, deciding not to petulantly cry out anymore than he already had. He calmed his thoughts, thinking of the future. His choice of growth may have been taken from him, but not what he could do with it. As he walked back to the road, a ruined landscape behind him, that much was clear. His foot burst off the ground, cracking the floor as he burst forth once more, following the path. His new body felt undeniably stronger.

… Maybe it was because he let off some steam, but his head felt clearer. His body more relaxed. Maintaining his tremendous speed, he fell forward and planted a hand on the ground, cracking the floor beneath it with extreme force to launch himself in the air. From there, he was able to get a proper, beautiful view of the world. He honestly felt ashamed at how good it felt to reach a new speed and control, even after such an ordeal as this. The road to the next village wouldn’t be all that hard to reach now that he had this sudden boon in power, and he focused on speeding towards it.

As he did so, he didn’t even bother to remember the difference in his new status screen, or even wonder just what the “Metamorphosis” had done to him. Just like when he was a 12-year-old boy, just like before he heard the tragic news of his sister, Elliot just enjoyed the world as it was.

At least, he did before his stomach started growling.