The morning sun peaked through the gleaming vale, tinting the snow an orange cream. Shafts of yellow radiance shot past me, lighting the roof of the roc's light-pink mouth, which had been previously darkened by the angle of sun coming from the other direction.
The sky was mostly clear with a few stringy cirrus clouds parted by small puffy nimbuses here and there. It was safe to say it wouldn't be snowing again anytime soon. However, last night's snowstorm left at least a foot of snow.
The roc's tongue was no more. I had eaten nearly all of the springy flesh up to the tonsil area. It tasted terrible, but it was worth it. After all, I discovered that there was a limit to how much I could eat. I felt completely stuffed and couldn't take another bite even if it didn't taste like utter shit.
Discovering that my pocket-dimension stomach had limits to its capacity, I became exceedingly curious about what other secret details inlaid my abilities. Asking the system explained to me the descriptions of each of my abilities and their various functionalities.
My pocket-dimension stomach ability was described as having a size capacity of ten-by-ten-by-ten units. I wasn't sure what a unit was other than a method of measurement used by the system. It also mentioned that the ability only teleported the raw nutrients to the pocket dimension—leaving behind the waste—where it would then regulate the flow of nutrients back into my body, adjusting to its needs. In other words, it was the perfect dieting plan.
Fearless Resolve was described by the system as an ability that removed certain fears and inhibitions almost completely, and it also increased willpower drastically. This much I had already assumed by now, but it was good to have affirmation.
My last ability, Uncanny Regeneration, had a rather rigorously detailed explanation that was also quite technical. From my understanding, it could recognize damaged and dead cells and replace them or recreate them at a speed of one thousand times normal cell growth and regeneration. It also did a bunch of other stuff that I didn't understand as I hadn't taken bio-med in years, but it wasn't too important because I understood the effects. And that's what mattered.
In my hands, I held an unsealed bag of dehydrated beef stroganoff, which I then poured boiling water in from off the propane stove and stirred with a serrated spork.
The pleasant aroma immediately hit my nose with an entrancing smell, soon after waking Charlotte from her deep slumber. She moaned with waking discomfort as she slowly sat forward and wiped her eyes clean.
"What's that?" She languidly mumbled.
I held the bag up and responded, "Food… For you."
"For… Me?"
I nodded.
She parted the sleeping bag and clumsily clambered to her feet, saying, "Thank you."
I nodded again as she walked over to a large rock I placed across from me. She squinted her eyes as she stepped into the daylight and sat down.
"Here," I said, passing her the bag of rehydrated beef stroganoff and serrated spork.
"There's also a full tray of water if you need it—"
"No thanks. All be fine… for now at least," she waved away.
She looked me up and down, seeming to notice something off about my appearance.
"Are you covered in blood?"
She looked deeply concerned by this.
I responded, "No, I'm fine. I just got a little dirty from something I did last night."
She looked down at her food a little apprehensively.
I laughed, "Don't worry. I made sure my hands were clean."
At hearing this, she stuck the spork inside it and scooped up a spoonful of the stroganoff, then delicately moving it to her mouth where she lightly blew on it to cool it down.
Right as she was about to put the spoon in her mouth, she stopped and asked, "Why did you get dirty last night?"
"Yeah, about that," I said, retrieving the experience crystal from my pocket and presenting it to her.
She looked up and to the right as she was recollecting something.
"That's one of those crystals the tutorial talked about, right?"
I nodded and replied, "Yeah, it is. I cut it out the bird's chest."
She lifted a brow and then asked, "I see, but why did you wait to show me? Aren't you going to eat it?"
At first, I was a little confused by this questioning, then remembering that I hadn't yet told her about the deficits that come with my crappy class.
"Uh… No actually. See, the thing is that I don't get any of the benefits from leveling up, so I thought I'd just give it to you instead."
She looked me in the eyes and expressed her doubt.
"Are you sure that it's worth wasting a level twelve crystal on me?"
The words caught in my throat as I formulated a response.
"N-No… I'm not sure."
I sighed and followed up by saying, "What I am sure of is that if I had to make the decision on whether you or I ingested it, then there is really only one valid option."
She looked a little hurt, but she clearly understood what I was getting at.
"Alright, then hand it here." She demanded, holding out her palm face up.
Resting it in her hand, she raised it to her mouth and awkwardly fit it inside, swallowing it down soon after.
Suddenly she jumped in her seat as if she were startled by something. Then she turned back to me, saying, "This here says that I'm level five, and I now have twenty-five points to spend on attributes."
Twenty-five points for reaching level five most likely meant she gained 5 points per level. I managed to kill the roc even though I may've only had little more than a one percent chance, and even then, it only granted me four attribute points. If that was how my class was then, I could see how it was an F-class. In fact, the only attribute that I knew how to meaningfully increase was Body. However, there was that one time my Senses improved by one.
"How should I use the points?" She asked, ripping me from my train of thought.
"U-Uh, sorry. What did you say?"
She repeated herself, and I responded, "What's your class? I think that is important to know before I give you my advice."
She embarrassedly stuttered, "S-Sorry, I don't play videogames, so I'm kind of obtuse to this kind of stuff. My class is healer, and my abilities are Life-Magic Knowledge and Life-Magic Control."
Hearing this was deeply disappointing to me for reasons that need not be stated.
I sighed and inquired, "Can you do anything useful with life-magic?"
She stopped to think about it and then responded, "I can do this."
Charlotte placed her palm against the bare skin of my chest. A green glow suddenly appeared, radiating from underneath her hand, causing me to step back in reaction.
I was shocked to see that the spot that touched my skin left a glowing green handprint. It looked like a portal into another realm, a realm of infinite green swirling and moving like the smoke from a candle or match.
"What the hell did you do to me?!" I dumbfoundedly ordered for an explanation.
Suddenly, I felt protrusions uncomfortably burst forth from my back, tearing away my shirt as they extended out. I looked back to see a pair of angelic white wings appearing from my back.
Charlotte smiled coyly and spoke.
"I can also make it, so you grow an extra set of arms or even chitinous armor."
My jaw dropped as I became overwhelmed by what was happening. The wings behind me flapped as I willed them so.
She continued, "However it's not permanent, and it also can't change your already existing body parts—it can only add new ones. Moreover, the body parts have to be from genes floating in my blood, aka something that I've eaten recently."
Seeing what happened left me utterly astonished. I was able to fully control the winged extremities like it was second nature. Never would I have imagined that the healer class would be capable of something like this.
"So, it isn't permanent, then how long do they last?" I curiously asked.
She raised her hands, stating, "Until I run out of mana or decide to kill them."
I furrowed my brows.
"Kill them?"
Charlotte swiftly flicked her index and middle finger to the right, causing an immediate loss of feeling in my wings. Turning back, I saw the beautiful white wings become brown as the flesh rotted to dust.
Charlotte cringed at the sight of it and turned her head away.
I smiled and enthusiastically praised and asked her, "That's amazing, Charlotte. Can you do anything else with your magic?"
She pursed her lips before revealing, "Well… I guess I can also purify unclean things like the undead, poison, disease, and dirty water."
That was also pretty good, but I felt like there had to be something else that she hadn't yet said, something essential to being a healer. However, I couldn't put the finger on what that was.
Charlotte's head bobbed back as she evoked non-existent memories of using life-magic.
"Oh yeah… I can also heal wounds."
I face-palmed.