The panel zipped away as I walked through it and opened the door to peak into the 4th floor. I should have expected eating fractals would do something to me... Wouldn't it mention me eating them in the description?

Why did that skill description sound so personal? Who writes them? The floor relatively lit up with windows illuminating the cubicle filled space. Each of them had small knickknacks that belonged to the people who escaped to the bunkers.

I could also see rooms sat in the corners, one of them clearly being a bathroom while the others were meeting rooms.

Wait, if there's a bathroom. I headed for the bathroom, trudging through some vines in the process. Roots were still omnipresent in this building, but it wasn't bad enough here to stop me in any way.

I shoved the blocked door open and saw what I was looking for. A mirror over a large counter and sink that had a thin layer of roots on it.

It was very dark in the room due to the lack of windows, to the point I could only see my hands in front of myself clearly, but I needed to see myself, what I look like now.

I tore the roots off and saw something staring at me. I flinched, taking a step back out of instinct.

I couldn't see anything else besides the eyes, which glowed a deep golden yellow. My eyes. My eyes, oh god, my eyes.

The reflection in the mirror was my face covered in sludge, resembling dried blood. But what scared me was contained within my sockets.

In 2 seas of fresh blood, bright gold orbs shone brightly in them, only marred by a jagged slit that gave a glimpse into the dark abyss that threatened to devour everything it gazed upon.

I stared down myself and felt uneasy. My mind felt like I was face to face with a hungry monster.

I shook the initial fear off and tried the faucet, but it only groaned in response. I expected it to not work, but it feels disappointing all the same.

I winced as my leg throbbed in pain. "I wish I grabbed that angel's kiss or anything to help with injuries... Wait, the shop!"

The store panel flickered into existence in front of me at the thought. The panel was irritatingly bright against the darkness but refused to light up the surroundings.

54 sat in the top left corner, telling me how many points I had to work with. I scrolled through my options of first aid, taking in what each thing is.

There were things like potions that you ingested orally and healed slowly and / or other effects, but those cost anywhere from 25 to 250 points each and were single use. To make things worse, the lower end ones were very mild and wouldn't help with how bad of a state my leg is in. I'll have to buy it if I can't find something else, but I feel shop points are valuable, and using all of them on one thing that only sort of works would be a bad idea.

The next one I considered shortly was injectors. They were basically the Mag-Stim I used in the lab, which was strange that they had one, and now I realized why. How did they get their hands on saint equipment?

Putting aside my suspicions, I didn't buy one. They were twice as expensive at 50 to 500, and I needed to have some points left over if I got hurt again.

I found angel's kiss on here and was shocked at how much they spent. It was 850. Ignoring my repulsion of spending that much, when I skimmed through the benefits of it, including how its uses are only restricted by a cool down, it seems worth the price. Not that I could buy it right now.

I finally found two choices that matched my vague criteria. One was simply called a sleeve, and the other is called gel. They both ranged from 5 to 100 and fitting effects for my needs.

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I mentally sorted the two categories out from the rest of the shop. The system followed my will, pulling the icons out and placing them in two different panels for my look over for myself. That's very nice. Having something adjust entirely to my tastes is... satisfying.

A smile threatened to show itself on my lips at how it adjusted further to get rid of the ones too expensive to buy and brought up my prime choice of each type.

[Clotting Gel]

Cost: 8

Used by Saints, who need a quick solution to bleeding.

The gel is placed over a wound, preventing any further blood loss and supporting the healing process marginally with disinfectants and healing supplements. (pain killers not included)

The gel quickly solidifies its outer layer so it will not accidentally fall off even with severe movement.

Falls off on its own after all mana in the skill is used.

[Stabilizing Sleeve]

Cost: 12

Used by Saints, who have large injuries on a limb to care for.

The sleeve is slid on injured limb, which then seals itself around the wounds, reducing blood loss and stopping any infections while immediately healing the wound partially with an imbued weak healing skill. (pain killers included)

The sleeve slowly heals the rest of the wound over time, at which point it will fade into mana.

I read through the two choices again, focusing on which would be better for me right now.

I stared at how much of my shin was torn apart and felt the choice was obvious.

The points dropped to 42, and a disc appeared over my heart. I plucked out a gray sleeve with small white diamonds on it that had a muted glow to them.

I immediately slid the sleeve on my leg with a tug. It didn't take long for the sleeve to tighten around my leg to an almost painful decree.

The muted glow of diamonds intensified, lighting up the room the room in the process.

A soothing chill ran through my leg, and the pain subsided shortly after, letting me sighed in relief as the sleeve got to work.

I slumped against the wall, exhausted from what was probably only half an hour of fighting. I'll just spend a few minutes here and then get going.

I laid my head against the wall when a shimmer of silver light caught my gaze, making me glance up at the mirror. "Was there..."

I froze at the sight of things limp on my head. The two things on my head seemed to be some red fluffy creatures with a silvery white underbelly. What now? Can't I get a break?

Anxiety ran through me at the sight of things, and I tentatively reached up to one, poking it.

All the response I got was what sounded like a soft tap against my ear. ???

I grabbed the tip of the thing and lifted it up and saw soft silver fur pop up from my head. Long flaps of red furred skin were cold to the touch and were recognizable to me.

"Ears?!?" They were animal ears attached to my head! I stared for a moment before I touched the side of my head to check for my original ears. There was nothing there, just dirty skin.

They seemed to cat or wolf ears, but it was hard for me to tell which. I could only dumbly open my mouth in shock at them. Just how much did they change me?

My eyes drifted down to my mouth and at the 3 sets of large fangs, 2 sets on top, and 1 on the bottom, all of them highlighted by a bright purple cat tongue and inner flesh.

A part of me says I shouldn't even be surprised at this point, but I realized what it looked like. I've seen it a few times since I've woken up after all. Same as a fractals insides...

I turned my attention away from my mouth and back to what are apparently my ears now.

I really couldn't feel them at all, and it concerned me. I squeezed the tip of my ear to check how numb it was. Nothing, I couldn't feel any pain or anything from them besides how cold they are. It's like they aren't circulating blood? That might be the reason.

Following the line of thought, I felt down the length of them to find any warmth or any feeling.

At the very base of them, I could feel warmth and a weak pulse. Should I just... rub them?

I massaged the base of my strange ears and felt something breakaway, letting blood trickle in the empty veins. "Ugh..."

I could definitely feel my ears now, and they stung like I was being electrocuted.

I kept messaging my ears despite the pain since they still felt restricted. It took a couple of minutes until my blood flowed through my ears without any resistance.

By the time I was done, my ears stood on their own, curved slightly on my head with silver tufts of fluff that occasionally reflected light. They look pretty...

My hearing improved greatly now that they were actually receiving blood. So great. In fact, I could even hear some explosions come from the floors below.