Level Up!

Lv. 6 → Lv. 10

Here it was! The huge, monumental stream of Level-Ups that I’d been subconsciously chasing since the day I decided to chart the Vencian Wood! It was a little hard to concentrate on a single thing with Reed leading me back behind the chapel on a bitterly cold and rainy mountain, but I was so pumped to see my Stat advancements that I couldn’t not—

Error: Orange Tabby is capped at Lv. 8.

…oh.

Lv. 6 → Lv. 8 EXP: OVERFLOW

HP 100% (165/165) SP 100% (130/130)

ATK 22

INT 12 (+1!)

DEF 17

WIS 10

SPD 19 (+1!)

New Skill! Catnap: Nap on the road to regain a small amount of HP.

Ah, okay, cool, but…not what I’d been told I was…getting? Also, where was the gold—

In order to Level Up further, you must Evolve into a new form.

Oh, o…kay…

Would you like to Evolve now? (Yes / No)

Yes, yes, an unequivocal yes!

“Uh, hello my friend?” Reed said. “Are you alright?”

I was so entranced by my System right now that her voice, which had been rambling all along, sounded like a whisper in the ocean. I was finally at that threshold I’d been dreaming of, the glorious, the spectacular—the Evolution-y—Level 8. And beyond! I could acknowledge Reed later!

Quest: Explore the Vencian Wood Progress: 13% (4/30)

And that! That would be for later too!

Back to that tantalizing Evolution box:

You have chosen to Evolve now.

This change is permanent. Once you have Evolved, you cannot go back, nor can you choose between adjacent Evolutions on your Evolution Tree.

Are you sure you wish to continue?

Come on, now. Enough with the trees and the big words I barely knew. What kind of fool would I be if I didn’t continue? YES!

Evolution Confirmed. Options are available:

Char Witch

Strengths: INT, SPD

Weaknesses: ATK, DEF

Unique Trait:

Flit: INT and WIS increase at night.

Mystical and elusive in nature, this cat specializes in ranged offensive Skills. Ash Heather

Strengths: ATK, SPD

Weaknesses: DEF, WIS

Unique Trait:

Stealth: SPD increases when alone and unseen.

Cool and crafty, this cat is a close-combat warrior and all-out hunter. Cream Persian

Strengths: DEF, WIS

Weaknesses: SPD, ATK

Unique Trait:

Ambient Knowledge: During a long battle, DEF and WIS increase gradually.

With healing Skills and high defensive Stats, this cat makes an ideal teammate.

Tip: Those with low aptitudes in the physical Stats should not be dissuaded from Evolving into more physically oriented forms, and likewise for the magical Stats. Forms that currently have no physical or magical combat options may gain such options later.

Actually…that was a lot of information. Way too much. Maybe I didn’t want to Evolve right here right now. Maybe I wanted to ponder this text box—which, by the way, was so long that it had its own mini-box on the side. The back of my mind called it a “scroll bar.” The rest called it a sub-box rectangular box.

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I swatted the text box. It stayed in place. I stood waiting a few seconds. It didn’t leave.

Reed kneeled in front of me. I could tell that by her smell and by the fifteen percent of the world that wasn’t currently obscured. “Please talk to me,” she said, rain battering her back.

Oh, crap. It was raining hard now. We were going to get sick out here if we waited any longer. I snapped out of my Evolution-focused meandering. The text box didn’t leave, though. It truly was going to stay in my vision until I picked one, wasn’t it…

Okay, to make this easier on myself and ensure I didn’t trip on any more hidden rocks, I decided to pretend-faint.

Plop.

Please carry me, Reed.

***

The cold seeped into our very bones. Reed had me cradled in her arms for what felt like endless sprinting minutes. As sorry as I was for forcing her to do this for me, I was mentally worn out—that much was true—and I got the feeling that if I kept struggling to see around my text box, I’d vomit. So I mostly kept my eyes closed.

At least Reed’s chest was nice and warm. I still couldn’t remember the name of those round…chest…objects…things. Could I get it this time? What were they? Ribs?

When we returned to the campsite, it was pouring and we were drenched. The camp was safe, though. Back when we were leaving, the ranger Donovan set up this huge, sturdy tarp over all of it. This tarp seemed like something he couldn’t possibly have taken with him by normal Earth means.

I’d been hoping to get a better look at Reed’s water-and-muesli machine, but I didn’t, thanks to the rain and my face-clogging notification. If I dared swivel my head at just the right interval in Reed’s walk, though, I could kinda see it: a big heavy box with spiderlike legs, hanging out under the edge of the tarp. Was that a faucet on there, just, like, casually sticking out?

Murder and Donovan were also back, one sitting and the other resting on a gloved hand, both studying a lit fire. My gut reaction was disgust, because I remembered the way Donovan had nearly tread on my face and the way Murder had stared murder into me. But in hindsight, had I been overreacting?

…No, not exactly. They looked even more unsettling now, Donovan staring zombifically into a flame that didn’t light his eyes at all.

But now I started to feel bad about my reaction. Reed had explained things—not particularly well, in the end, and yet knowing that she trusted the two of them now put me more at ease. This was a strange world. A world where magic that baffled me could be mundane. But if Murder truly was an old and revered guardian spirit, maybe this was nothing worse than an old man leaning on a young one for support.

In this case, I did not want the old man to be murdering me. He was calmly studying the fire too, instead of studying me. Good.

The moment we got back to camp, Reed ran to her suitcase, crammed one arm through a tight opening, and yanked out two heavenly soft towels. First, she wrapped me in one and put my bundled body on a stone. Second, she plunged her head in the other towel, shook herself out like a dog, and made a sound between a “brr” and a raspberry. After that, my eyes were firmly shut in sublime comfort and relaxation.

Reed and Donovan and/or Murder got to talking again. I couldn’t understand anything they said through the low volume, the rain, and the battered tarp, and over the crackling fire, but I could tell they were happier. Relieved. A precious cantrip would be returned.

I smelled sausages over the fire. I heard two new bowls, one of water and one of a new unidentified grain product, arrive in front of me. Yet I wasn’t exactly hungry, so I stayed bundled up.

Even though I didn’t feel tired, increasingly my brain did. I had reached that point where merely existing was oddly exhausting and napping seemed like the greatest short death in the world.

Good night, me…

***

I hated waking up when the party was over. Either I wanted to get in on the middle of the action, or the start of it.

This was an exception, though. Murder and Donovan had, on one hand, technically and inadvertently taken me on an astounding adventure the likes of which I’d never dreamed of. On the other, I wasn’t sure I wanted to have a conversation with them. They seemed surly, and they weren’t who I’d come for.

I woke up with the sound of rain still tapping above me. The tarp was different, though, oddly translucent, and the sound was softer. Thanks, Reed.

The text box was still in my face, pushing all useful outer-world info to the limits of my vision. Still, the beautiful wheat-colored glow of sunny rainclouds in the Vencian twilight illuminated the box’s edges, coming through a friendly tarp. I could hear Reed whittling wood from the stone seat beside me. I could feel the quilt around me, glimpse the cream color of my used towel hanging over Reed’s spider suitcase. I could smell a cold sausage coiled around the edge of my oat-mush bowl.

Food: Garnished Oatmeal A combination of water, oats, nuts, and spices which is delicious, but only while in nekomata form. Nourishing, but won’t heal HP or SP.

I meant oatmeal bowl. The chunk of conglomerated water, oats, nuts, and spices landed back in the bowl, and the tiny text box disappeared from its place on top of the big one. Having missed my opportunity to launch my muesli out of Reed’s sight while I’d had the chance, I dimly wondered what to do with it.

Now that I was awake, comfortable, well-rested, and as un-distracted as possible…

Let’s strategize.

Message from Sierra, the Goddess of Nekomata I’m not helping you with this.

I didn’t mean “let’s” as in “me and you”! It’s just a figure of speech to get me pumped! Besides, “let’s” isn’t even “huh”!

I knew myself. I knew what I wanted out of life and my abilities. And I knew that picking an Evolution should have been straightforward.

Basically, my choices were a cleric, a mage, and a warrior. I knew these words thanks to my storehouse of human knowledge, but…I had no practical experience with any of them. Cats aren’t playing MMOs.

So the only one that rang true for me was the warrior, the Ash Heather.

What was its Trait again? Stealth. Who couldn’t use that?

Then again…who couldn’t use the Char Witch’s magic? Who wouldn’t benefit from the ability to fling a fireball in someone’s face—especially long-distance? I’d always liked the elusiveness of a black cat, the way humans pointed at them, danced around them, missed them when they stood in shadow. Who couldn’t use that air of mystery? Wouldn’t I be so much cooler if I was aloof now and then?

The Cream Persian…nah, that was an instant no.

Message from Sierra, the Goddess of Nekomata I thought you had a problem with losing too much HP too quickly.

I thought you had a problem shutting up.

Well, alright, then.

I liked to believe she felt genuinely bad after that comeback, but…I could never really tell with Sierra.

In any case, despite me spending time with the human Reed, I was not about to leash myself to others by virtue of a supportive Skillset. Also, was I totally sure the new healing Skills would even work on me, myself? The descriptions of these forms weren’t as detailed as what I’d gotten when I became an Orange Tabby, so maybe I’d only find out once I’d already Evolved. Eugh. Who cared about more healing, anyway—I’d just gotten Catnap.

So there were only two options that pleased me: the Char Witch and the Ash Heather. One would make me cooler. The other one would make me…more me. Ash Heather would enhance the talents I already possessed.

Was I supposed to choose what made me comfortable, or choose what made me stretch?

Either. It’s your build, honey.

G-g-get out of here!

The whittling paused. Whoops. I must’ve been moving unconsciously, alerting Reed. That was what I deserved for being so riled up over a bunch of floating boxes. This wasn’t really the time for me to check in with her, though. All she’d find would be me staring into the middle distance, and that wouldn’t relieve her at all.

I still hadn’t made my decision. It felt like comparing apples to oranges—or, in an analogy more fitting for cats, comparing fish to rabbits. These were both great tastes, and I simply wasn’t going to be able to try both.

Well, on the bright side, the note at the top of the Evolution box implied that I’d get another chance to try elements of either build.

This was not the end of my journey. This next form was not my last.

Sunlight was fading from the sky, and the rain weakened by another degree. The day was over, but I was just getting started.

Reed stood up from her stone. At the same time, I rose from my quilt.

I had made my decision.

I was ready to Evolve—and she might as well watch.