Boots thumped and claws clicked as they strolled through hallways. The echoes of their passing creating a rhythmic dissonance, accented by the low rumblings of Nevasca. Every stranger that passed them was greeted with her distrustful bright blue eyes. If they entered within a certain range of Bodyrk, the rumbling would begin.

Over the past few weeks Nevasca had grown with unnerving swiftness, as only a beast can. Now the size of a jaguar, her growling at strangers had taken a more ominous tone.

Most of the Adventurers within the Guild had either experienced, witnessed, or heard of her ferocity by now. Although Bodyrk had instructed her not to kill during their sparring sessions, the occasional maiming still happened.

The duo experienced many fights with astounding variety. Honey had called in favors to get individuals and groups alike to fight Bodyrk and Nevasca.

Due to Bodyrk’s physical stats which prevented him from being an adept physical combatant, and his low Source related stats which prevented him from even affecting the most basic of elements, Honey had pursued a singular path. Unceasing thrashings to develop the knack to survive.

Through the weeks, he had managed to become barely capable. There was no doubt in the minds of anyone privy to the matter, of one thing. The cat/wolf/bird beast thing carried ‘Snowflake’ on her back, figuratively. Fast, strong, smart, and agile, she was a nightmare to be wary of.

Their preferred method of attack was for Bodyrk, as the weaker, to distract with thrusts of his spear while Nevasca hunted their opponents. Moments of distraction defined their opportunity for winning, not that it happened often.

Against multiple foes, Bodyrk concentrated on staying alive and Nevasca would whittle down the numbers of their adversaries.

Almost from the moment of birth, Nevasca had been aware of her Master’s flaws. He was annoyingly naïve and just assumed that everything would work out in his favor, no matter what. Above all he was unforgivably weak.

Laying curled up next to her Master as he had slept, sensing his feeble life energy, Nevasca had identified her purpose. More intelligent beings than Nevasca go through life in a constant haze, trying to find their purpose. Beings less intelligent than her, relied on instinct to tell them what to do. She was one of the lucky few who decided their own purpose and subsequently didn’t over think it.

Simple and pure, her purpose was to protect the one who shared a piece of her soul.

In Nevasca’s opinion, everyone was a potential threat. If she could tangibly fight a stiff breeze, she would, for she feared it would blow her Master away.

They arrived at their destination. An extravagant library, filled with as much information on this world as past Awakened could gather. Collecting several books that were kept aside for him, Bodyrk retreated to an alcove to study.

Nevasca laid at his feet, her head on her paws, eyes closed but ears ever alert for the slightest of noises. Her long, feathery tail whipped back and forth leisurely, no longer the downy feathers of a baby bird, but long glossy black feathers. Feathers that could turn razor sharp with just a touch of the Source that coursed through her veins. Ready to attack at a moment’s notice, she dedicated herself wholly to fulfilling her life’s purpose.

Her decision was rewarded when her Master’s hand ruffled her fur and feathers, electing a snort of satisfaction from her.

My left-hand petting Nevasca, I turn the page of the book in front of me with my right. Before my eyes is an in-depth diagram of the human body. Every muscle, tendon, ligament, and bone laid bare before my eyes. Reading how each one is used, I plot and I scheme.

In my past world, I had been an adept magic user. There was no foe that I could not destroy with but a slight wave of my palm. In this world, I had been reduced to nothing. Summoning water, the simplest of Source usages in this world, alluded me. When I pressed Honey about it, she said it was mainly used for the convenience of not carrying water flasks and for a non-lethal weapon when training. Most elemental based mages preferred the usage of ice over water.

At first I thought I could get a Class, to help me with my deficiencies. I asked around, but because no Awakened had ever arrived without a class before, no one knew how to get one.

Drawing inspiration from the way my familiar hardens and sharpens her feathers, I formed an idea. Previously I had been trying to strengthen my whole body with Source. What if I pour all my power into little pieces of my body?

At first I tried things like just amp-ing up my legs, which improved my running, jumping, and stance stability. After studying books on anatomy, I realized something. Muscles are like rubber bands. They only pull in one direction. To test this theory, I had bent my elbow, bringing my forearm and bicep to a 45-degree angle. Forcing all my Source into my tricep I tried to straighten my arm. My muscle contracted so violently that my elbow had shattered, my tendons ripped from my bones, and my arm had bent backwards at an unnatural angle.

I push the memories of screaming, crying, and begging Mordai to fix me while he laughed at my stupidity, out of my mind. After that I had been more careful with my experiments, but the main point is that I’d been right.

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I asked others if they have had similar experiences, but everyone had arrived here with 10 times my starting Source allotment. They had no need to consider these questions.

I came to find that although I can boost muscles and corresponding tendons for certain actions, keeping in mind all the muscles working together to preform that action was horrendously difficult. To simply thrust my spear with that additional power I had to boost at least 5 major muscles, not counting minor ones.

Switching sest of muscles for the next movement fluidly was a nightmare. Not willing to give up on my idea, I researched more.

Strengthening my bones aided in them not breaking, but did nothing for my movements.

Strengthening my skin kept sharp objects from piercing it, but did nothing to stop my bones shattering beneath the surface.

I strengthened my heart to pump the blood through my body at greater speeds, which didn’t help. Looking back, I’m lucky my veins didn’t burst inside my body.

A few days ago, flipping through these books, I made a discovery. The nervous system. Containing my Source flow to the nervous system had been my golden key. I could process what I saw faster. I could move faster. Everything I did was on a different level of speed than what it had been.

My high hopes came crashing down when I talked to Honey about it. What that did for me was how it was for everyone else when they reinforced their whole body with Source. However, Honey encouraged me to continuing doing it. Every ounce of speed and reflex would be another point toward my survival.

Survival is of utmost importance. Especially considering that tomorrow I was going on my first Quest. One of Honey’s fellow trainers will be taking me and her protégé on a goblin extermination mission. That protégé had arrived two days ago. Two days was all it took for her to be marked good to go. Two days of basic world and combat clarification. They practically just showed her how to use the weapons and armor she came equipped with and are now sending her on her way.

‘You’re not bitter Bo,” I tell myself.  “All my stats and gear must’ve been a fair trade for the adaptability. The ‘powers that be’ said they are firm believers in fairness. You just gotta believe it is true.”

I sigh and continue to study the book in front of me, searching for flashes of inspiration. I am just a tad bit nervous and in desperate need of a clue that will help me increase my survival rate. Unfortunately, none came.

The delicate beauty in front of me stares with a frown at a sheet of paper in her hand. Slightly taller than me, she had legs that seem to stretch for miles before meeting her waist in the form of a provoking and shapely ass. Dressed in form-fitting brown leather pants, not much is left to the imagination. Two dimples rested appealing, right above her buttocks, next to a sword strapped to her waist. Her midriff and shoulders are bare, with nothing but what appeared to be a multitude of white cloth bandages to cover her ample chest.

Her most striking feature, barring the long blonde hair cascading down her back, are her pair of massive snow white wings. Being a former demon-lord, I know an angel descended to earth when I see one. She had greeted me with a gorgeous smile, made up of full red lips and perfect teeth.

I had attempted to flirt with her by asking her if it hurt when she fell from heaven.

She brought her face down to my level, her bright green eyes inches away from mine. We were close enough to kiss. Her mouth softly parted and she gently spoke five heart throbbing words to me.

“I can show you hurt,” her words are suggestive in more ways than one.

Gorgeous AND feisty. I think I may be in love.

Unfortunately, having a high opinion of the person who would be babysitting me through this little adventure made what is happening quite a bit worse. I know what she is looking at and I feel ashamed. My stat sheet.

Name: Snowflake *(Bodyrk)

Race: Human

Title: *Snowflake

Class: None

Subclass: None

Job: None

Level: 1

Health: 51/51

Energy: 18.5/18.5

Strength: 4 (+3)

Stamina: 6 (+5)

Dexterity: 7 (+6)

Intelligence: 6 (+5)

Wisdom: 5 (+4)

*Adaptability: 3 (+2)

Turning away from the confidence shattering frown, I greet to the other newbie. Another beautiful person, just a tad bit more reptilian. Long pointed ears and flowing green hair adorn her head. A sly smile on her face, she throws me a wink when she catches me looking at her. Smiling shyly, I glance down past her unreasonably large chest, clad in an unpractical looking breastplate that showed a lot of cleavage. My gaze continued past her slim but muscled snake-like waist, to her very snake-like lower body. The spot where her human waist meets her snake tail is covered in a low slung skirt made of flexible looking layers of metal plates.

I believe the term for her race is “Naga” but I don’t want to be rude by asking. Swaying hypnotically, she slithers over to greet me. My hand kept gently entangled in the fur and feathers of Nevasca’s fur, I greet her. Poor Nevasca really doesn’t like strangers, but she especially doesn’t like this one. Upon her approach the usual rumble that is her growl kicked up a couple notches. Maybe it’s a snake/natural enemy thing?

“Nice to meet you,” she greets me with a wry smile on her bewitching face. Everyone around here is damn smiley.

“My name is Ra’hel. You must be Snowflake,” she says, introducing herself. “I’ve heard a lot about you and your pet.”

“Nice to meet you,” I reply while doing my best to not getting any weird thoughts about a snake/angel sandwich with me filling.

“What do you know about this goblin thing?” I ask, in a feeble attempt to make small talk.

Before she could respond, the angel sidles up to me, a hand on my lower back.

“Don’t worry Snowflake,” she purrs in my ear. “My name is Quinn and I’ll take care of both of you. A band of goblins have set up a war camp at a nearby mountain. Our job is to go eliminate the problem.”

Taking a subtle glance at Quinn’s brain-melting body, I tighten my grip on Nevasca.

“Nice to meet you Quinn,” I address her. “As much as I appreciate the comforting physical contact, you are kind of freaking out my familiar.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” she says releasing me. “I’m a sucker for an underdog.”

Wells that’s weird. Who likes an underdog?

She leads me and Ra’hel forward, towards the gates out of the city. Ra’hel slithers next to me, picking up the conversation where we left off. We talk about what our lives were like before this world. Glad to finally tell someone about a time I wasn’t useless I throw myself energetically into the conversation.

Eventually Quinn joins the heart-to-heart and we discuss the life differences of Angels and Demons.

We go unmolested through the gates and into the dark and foreboding forest. I can only imagine what kind of horrifying creatures lurk within. Butterflies gather in the pit of my stomach as I head towards my first adventure in this world.