Cold evening wind brushed against Yuki’s skin. The soles of her feet hurt; each small stone or branch she stepped on felt like stepping on broken glass. Songbirds sang around her, insects chirped, and the whooshing of wind brought the smell of damp earth and grass.

The dungeon entrance led them to an opening in the base of a cliff wall. A row of trees created a natural barrier, hiding the place from view. There was no visible path among the trees and bushes. Not knowing where to go, Yuki decided to follow the cliff, hoping to find a place where they could rest.

Yuki forged on, staring ahead, eyes scanning the surroundings for anywhere they could stop and hide for the night. She didn’t look back; she didn’t dare look back. What kind of bullshit was this? Her neck, cheeks, and ears burned in shame. When had she become a tsundere? The only thing that was missing for a complete manga knockoff was the ‘Jenny no baka!’.

Hadn’t she resolved to do away with the name Biscuit? Why the hell did she — after only a head-pat — let Jenny still call her Biscuit?

Yuki gritted her teeth; her gums ached with how much force she put into the act. She sighed, shoulders loosening. The bag hit the ground, and she heaved it up again with another grunt. The transformation wouldn’t last much longer, so finding a place to rest soon was best. She could deal with the onset of anime idiocy later.

Jenny had been silent since they left the dungeon, the blonde hobbling along while Yuki led the way. Yuki didn’t know what went through the woman’s head, but she noticed Jenny’s glances. The woman’s eyes looked confused and unsure, which didn’t surprise Yuki. Even if Jenny had seen the spell list, knowing and seeing the human transformation were two different things.

After walking around a thick bush, Yuki saw a small, recessed section in the cliff wall, similar to a shallow cave. She walked around the bushes and toward the alcove. Once there, she opened the bag, removed the blanket, and spread it on the floor before guiding Jenny to sit down.

Yuki grabbed the spear and tried to pry it away from Jenny. The blonde wouldn’t let go. Yuki sighed and whispered, “We’re out; you can let go.” She spoke in English since she didn’t know the right words to use in Jenny’s language.

Perhaps it was the tone of voice, but Jenny released the spear. Yuki placed it by the blonde side, in easy reach. Now that they had stopped, Yuki looked down at her own body. Dead worms still dangled from her legs and tummy. The creature’s teeth didn’t let go after they died. She considered pulling them out, but she gave up on the idea. The shapechange would end soon enough.

Yuki looked around, then inspected Jenny. The woman was a mess.

Pockets of burnt leather and skin marred her arms, back, and face. Her sides were bloodied, a broken worm spike stuck to the leather armor. Another wound on her thighs still bleeding. A spike impaled her shoulder.

“Jenny, we need to take care of these wounds,” Yuki said, more to herself than to her familiar. Jenny made a noise, and Yuki wasn’t sure what the woman meant. “Status,” she called out.

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The landing page presented the familiar white rabbit holding an empty crystal goblet. Yuki’s shoulder dropped. Where had her last two magic points gone? She eyed the dangling dead worms in her legs.

Yuki dug in the bag for the shirt Jenny had cut a few days early to make a makeshift handle for her spear. She cut a few strips with the magic knife, eying Jenny’s leg.

“Let me do it,” Jenny said, hands moving to the cloth.

While Yuki watched, the woman untied her belt and removed her trousers. With just a wince and a groan, she tied the cloth firmly around the injury.

“Can you remove the spike?” Jenny asked, hand waving toward her back.

Yuki understood what the woman wanted even without understanding the words. She moved to the woman’s back and pulled after gripping the bony thing. Jenny cried out and fell forward. Yuki threw the spike away. She guided Jenny to lie on her face while pressing a cloth to the injury. “No magic.” She whispered, “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” Jenny whispered before closing her eyes. Soon after, the woman’s breathing took that slow, melodious cadence of someone sleeping.

Yuki looked on conflicted. What was she supposed to do now? She shrugged. As the responsible adult in this contract, it fell to her to keep watch while her pet rested. While Jenny slept, Yuki looked over the changes in her character sheet.

On the personal info tab, she noticed the experience counter. She was at almost fourteen hundred. Incredible gains for just a few days. Next, she looked at her skills. Athletics had gone up a few points, and the same was true for brawn, willpower, and perception. Yuki didn’t know what those skills did since she acted like she usually did. Was it just a number to represent her current abilities, or like a game, increasing the number also increased her maximum capabilities? Giving up on that line of thought, she looked at a new line that had been added to combat styles. It listed a single weapon, a dagger, at twenty-nine. Yuki didn’t mind the low value; she had no idea how to use a dagger in combat. But why was the combat style called ‘Ineffective Flailing’?

Ignoring the insulting name, Yuki looked at her advanced skills next. Only her magic skill had changed. Shaping and Invocation had gone up another point. Yuki had an inkling that using that magic symbol was responsible for her gains. She hadn’t had the time to internalize things yet, but she had several ideas about that rune. On a whim, Yuki willed the hidden characteristics tab to show up again. After reading the numbers, she noticed that the shapechange transformation added four, on average, points to her physical attributes while leaving her mental numbers unchanged. She scanned the numbers again and was about to hide the section once more when she noticed something else. A new entry had been added after the one called Experience Modifier.

Experience modifier: +2.

Experience stack: 2.

Yuki glared at the system, willing it to convey what that meant.

Experience stacks: System granted aid to heroic title holders used to improve existing skills, improve attributes (temporary improvement), learn new advanced skills, or new spells. When used to improve skills, it permanently improves skills between 1 and 5. Used to increase or improve a single characteristic at the cost of reducing the number of stacks gained while that increase is maintained. One stack point is used at each attempt to learn an advanced skill. One stack point is used on each attempt to learn a new spell.

Yuki blinked at the system text. While she read it, the shapechange transformation had ended, and to her surprise, she wasn’t a furless rabbit anymore. The injuries had still transferred from her human form, the dangling dead worms had fallen off, but her fur had regrown as well. Yuki sighed and wanted to hit her own head. What other secrets did her character sheet held? Was this the system’s punishment after she ignored it?