As the pain in him diminished, Trevor took deep, steady breaths to calm himself. The hammering in his head and chest disappeared, and he could think clearly again. He had gained the Skill to sense mana, though the method probably wasn't the best, or safest, way he could've done it. Regardless, it still worked out in the end.

He looked up to his bars, a small chuckle escaping from him. His Physical Capacity was down by one-third, but was steadily increasing.

"Definitely wasn't safe then."

He lifted himself up off the ground and placed his weight back on the boulder behind him. He was still panting a bit, but it was manageable.

The first thing he checked on was his characteristics. With the increase in level, he gained 10 more Attribute points, and the amount of skill levels he needs was raised to 140. With the rate they are going, it will probably take several weeks before he reaches level 15.

As he was thinking on where to place his points, a small experiment he wanted to do came to mind. He focused on his Constitution, placing a single point in it each time. When it reached 36, Trevor felt a major increase in power. He felt his body gain a great amount of sturdiness and health whenever he increased this Attribute, but this was bigger and more noticeable than before.

He felt this happen multiple times before when he was improving his Attributes and Skills, but he increased them so fast that he couldn't tell at what point they happened. This was a small test he wanted to do to find out. He can't think of many ways it will help him, but at least he knows more about how this world works.

With not many points left, Trevor place a single point into Strength for an even 30, and the last three into Mind.

Name: Trevor MacFerris

Age: 19

Species: Beastkin (Fox)

Level 14 (0/140)

Strength: 30

Agility: 45

Constitution: 36

Mind: 43

Perception: 35

Charisma: 25

Trevor's eyes started to droop a bit as he looked at his characteristics. It has been a long day, and rupturing open his mana had exhausted him further. But there were a few more things he wanted to do before going to sleep.

Willing himself to stay awake, Trevor used his Mana Sense Skill. Once again, the feeling of being surrounded by mana enveloped him. It truly was within everything, including his own body. He didn't know why his Mana Abilities didn't let him see this before.

In the dying embers of the campfire, he raised his hand to his face to get a better look at it. Even with the enhanced night vision he gained by becoming a fox, it was hard to see anything. But, it was enough to notice what he wanted.

In the space above his palm, he collected the ambient mana in the air. Like before, a slight distortion was formed, but it was more distinct this time. Now that he has Mana Sense, he noticed the actual shape and volume of the intangible blob formed before him. Using the Skill, he could feel the various and shifting contours of the orb. As he did so, the level of Mana Sense raised drastically to level 6. Something else changed after that.

Everything around, including the orb and his own body, gained a thin gray outline. It was most prominent around the trees and plants, but Trevor had a good amount of it as well. More so than the dying flames, anyway.

With that done, though, it was time for the next experiment: his first spell. Remembering his previous tests over the past several days, he started to condense the mana, making it smaller and smaller. It became so small that he could fully grasp it with just one hand. Now came the part he got stuck on before.

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Trevor began to smooth the edges of the condensed mana, trying to remove any bumps and turn it into a perfect sphere. Before, when he tried this, he couldn't get it completely right. The Ability would allow him to shape the mana the way he wanted it to, but there would always be some kind of imperfection to it. Once he noticed it and tried to fix it, it would make him lose concentration on another area and make a new imperfection form.

With Mana Sense, he can actually feel the imperfect bumps forming and smoothed them out before they fully appeared. He thought this would fix it, but this turned out to be mentally exhausting. Trevor tried to move the sphere around him, but it disappeared almost immediately.

"Fucking damn, I thought I had it."

He looked up to the bars, grimacing as he saw his man having dropped just over a fifth of the way. That was actually another thing to think about. Even though the test made him a little more tired than before, he didn't feel or see any signs that his internal mana actually drained during that time. Only the bar gave him any clue to how much he used.

He sighed and put it on the growing list of questions he had. He had more than enough for further attempts, but he tried a different approach. Instead of manually smoothing the bumps as they appeared, he spun the orb around in his palm and smoothed it out as it turned, like when covering a cake with frosting. He smiled as it worked, and the sphere stayed perfectly smooth.

Skill Gained!

Mana Sphere - Level 1

Skill Level Gained

Mana Sense Increased by 8

Trevor blinked in surprise and lost concentration, the orb vanishing from existence. He didn't expect his spell to become an actual Skill. Since it is one, though, that means he can train it to become better over time. Looking up to his Mana bar, almost half of it was empty. Maybe he could train it to consume less mana.

Creating the orb, he had it spin around himself. When the level of Mana Sense increased, it also went through the same boost as when his Attributes are raised to a certain number. Because of this, Trevor was able to sense as the orb started vanishing and supplied it with more mana. It seems to be the only way to keep it stable while moving.

Drowsiness started to creep up on him, but he shook it away. There was just one more thing he wanted to do before going to sleep. Looking back over to the campfire, it has almost completely died out by now. Even with his fur, Trevor didn't want to be cold as the night went on. It would also be perfect for his last experiment.

He took a few spare pieces of firewood he set aside and tossed them into the burnt out campfire. He gathered mana around the logs, to begin his first steps in using Mana Conversion. Fire is one of the simplest of the four elements, and he knew how it was created.

Using the mana inside of the logs, he made the molecules that compose them to rub together, creating friction and heat. He made them move faster and faster, until a spark was created and then...

Skill Gained!

Ignition - Level 1

The logs exploded in a plume of fire, going as high as Trevor's height. He had to jump back a bit.

That was a bigger reaction than what he was expecting. He was glad that nothing else was set alight, but he will have to temper it from now on. Still, he did everything he wanted and felt satisfied.

"Alright, now to sleep."

Trevor lay fully on the ground and closed his eyes. He went out almost immediately.

The next morning came and woke the foxkin. His eyes slowly opened, the rays of sunshine temporarily blinding him. He looked and saw the campfire had fully gone out again.

"Another full day today" he said sarcastically.

He rubbed his eyes and stretched his entire body. He heard a few small pops resounding from his body. His body was not used to sleeping on the ground yet.

He started the morning by eating some of his foraged rations for breakfast, then spent the next hour doing simple exercises. He was resolved to stay in perfect shape, even furthering his body's conditioning.

After that, he strolled down to the nearby river to bathe off the accumulated sweat. It was a brisk 15 minute walk away from the campsite, and he took a bit of time practicing his magic.

As he came upon the river, he gazed into its waters once again. The water was free of any pollutants, giving it clear view to the bottom. It was fairly deep, reaching up to his chest at its lowest point. His image was reflected back to him as he looked. He had seen it several times before, and was slowly getting used to it.

Trevor had lost some of his previous height when he changed, going from a tall 180 centimeters to around 165. That was another thing he hated losing. Some things that he kept were a small cropping of "hair" on his head, and some longer fur on his chin, cheeks, and neck, giving him a scruffy mane look. His old, hazel eyes were still there, though they now gave a look of slight weariness from them.

Taking off the itchy grass skirt, he waded into the river. He kept near the edge, the water only reaching to his upper knees. He scooped up a handful of the liquid and began to wash himself. He had to scrub extra hard because of the fur, careful to not cut himself with his claws. He already made that mistake several times before.

It was refreshing, and even a bit relaxing. Trevor closed his eyes as the water coursed and fell over him, taking out the grime and dirt that had accumulated over the past day. He fell into a small trance, partially ignoring his surroundings.

"This is very nice. Absolutely no worries."

Trevor expect to be given a reply, and yet one was given.

"You certainly look to be enjoying yourself." said an amused and distinctly feminine voice.

Trevor shot his eyes open and whirled around to the source of the voice. Standing between the trees and bushes, about 40 meters from the opposite river edge he entered from, stood a very tall woman.

She had a very thin frame and wore a full assortment of leather armor with reinforced metal bands. A composite bow and quiver full of arrows was on her back, and a curved sword was strapped to her hip. Her hair seemed to be made of complete silver, flowing down her body in waves. It contrasted against her darker skin tone, having a light brassy coloring to it. What really drew Trevor's attention were her ears, pointed and sticking out from her hair.

All she did was give him a slight wave of her hand and a smile. "Hello, there."