A week changed things.
Not all at once. Not cleanly. But enough that Adam could feel the difference every time he woke up sore instead of broken, tired instead of desperate.
They moved constantly.
Never staying in one place longer than a night, sometimes two if the ground was defensible and the rain cooperated. The forest stopped feeling endless and started feeling… navigable. Familiar, even. Adam learned which trees leaned away from prevailing wind, where animals crossed streams, which clearings drew predators and which repelled them.
The kids learned faster than he expected.
By the end of the week, none of them were Level 1 anymore.
Marcus and Lucius were already pushing Level 8, hardened by constant movement and combat. Tiber and Cassian hovered at Level 7, still cautious but steady. Galen lagged slightly at Level 6, favoring observation over aggression.
The girls surprised him.
Livia and Aurelia had both reached Level 7, their spellcasting accelerating their growth. Maris, stubborn and sharp-eyed, was Level 6, still refusing a weapon she didn’t trust.
Gorak walked at Level 9.
And for the first time since Adam had met him, the orc looked like himself again.
They stopped near a shallow ravine one afternoon while Gorak worked.
The forge was crude—if it could even be called that. A fire pit reinforced with stones. A flat rock serving as an anvil. Gorak worked stripped down to the waist, leather armor discarded nearby, skin slick with sweat as he hammered out crude fittings from scavenged metal and hardened hide.
Adam watched him in silence for a while.
“You’re not just repairing,” Adam said eventually.
Gorak didn’t look up. “No.”
“You’re building something new?”
“Yes.”
He finished shaping a simple bracer, quenched it in a shallow pan, then tested the fit with a nod. “Armor doesn’t have to be strong,” he continued. “It has to be honest. Lie to steel and it fails you.”
Adam snorted. “Sounds familiar.”
Gorak handed him the bracer. “Your looting ability,” he said casually. “It is rare.”
Adam paused. “Extraction?”
“Yes.” Gorak gestured to the pile of materials. “Most fighters take what they see. Meat. Weapons. Maybe coin. You take potential. That is why we have this.”
Adam turned the bracer over in his hands.
“How rare?”
Gorak finally met his eyes. “Among orcs? Myth. Among humans? Almost unheard of.”
Adam let that settle.
Nearby, the kids practiced.
Aurelia stood with Livia, palms glowing softly as they worked through Lay on Hands, practicing on shallow cuts and bruises from the morning hunt. They grimaced at the feedback but didn’t stop.
“It’s like pushing warm mud,” Livia complained.
“It’s better than dying,” Aurelia replied flatly.
Marcus and Lucius sparred with spears, movements sharper now. Cassian reloaded the crossbow smoothly, while Tiber counted bolts and corrected him when he rushed.
Galen stood with Adam.
“I want to learn,” he said quietly.
Adam glanced down. “Learn what?”
Galin raised his fists.
“…That fighting style.”
Adam studied him for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. Guard up. Feet under you.”
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By dusk, Adam found himself alone with one of the remaining Razorback Chipmunks.
It was pinned against a fallen log, snapping and shrieking, fur matted with blood and mud. Adam had broken one of its legs earlier—enough to keep it from escaping, not enough to kill it.
He stared at his glowing hand.
Lay on Hands.
Carefully, experimentally, he pressed his palm against the creature’s flank.
White-silver light flared.
The chipmunk screamed as damaged tissue knit itself together—only for Adam to strike it again fist glowing with the healing spell, controlled, precise.
Hurt.
Heal.
Hurt.
Heal.
Adam frowned, watching the System feedback scroll faintly at the edge of his vision.
“Could be useful,” he muttered. “Build pain resistance without killing…”
The chipmunk trembled violently.
Then the world froze.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
A compatible creature has reached threshold tolerance.
Would you like to establish a bond?
Adam stared. “…What?”
The chipmunk looked up at him.
Not with rage.
With fear. And something else.
Recognition.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me,” Adam said.
He exhaled, then nodded. “Sure.”
Light exploded between them.
The chipmunk shrieked once—then went still as glowing lines traced between it and Adam’s arm. Heat flared along his bicep, sharp and sudden.
Adam hissed as the sensation burned in.
When the light faded, a tattoo remained.
A stylized Razorback Chipmunk, teeth bared.
SYSTEM MESSAGE
Congratulations on bonding with a creature.
Bonded companions are extensions of you and are no longer bound by standard world rules.
If slain, they may be resummoned through mana.
Please name your companion to finalize the bond.
Adam stared at the trembling creature, then sighed.
“…Alvin.”
The tattoo pulsed once.
The chipmunk relaxed.
Nearby, the kids gasped.
“That was real?” Marcus whispered.
Livia leaned closer. “You didn’t chant.”
“I didn’t… do anything,” Adam said honestly.
Gorak watched from across the clearing, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
The kids immediately scattered.
“I’m trying it,” Cassian said.
“No bonding,” Aurelia added quickly. “Just taming.”
Adam leaned back against a tree, watching as the group experimented, his arm still warm where the tattoo rested beneath his skin.
He glanced at his System screen.
Lay on Hands – Level 10 (Cap Reached)
Unarmed Combat – Level 10 (Cap Reached)
Class required to progress further.
Pain Resistance – Level 12
Poison Resistance – Level 1
Adam closed the interface slowly.
“…Alright,” he murmured.
The System had stopped him from going further.
Which meant the next step wasn’t about grinding.
It was about becoming something.
The clearing quieted as night fully claimed the forest.
The kids eventually tired themselves out—fear and excitement burning hot and fast before exhaustion set in. Gorak finished the last of the makeshift gear, laying it out neatly before sitting near the fire with his hammer across his knees like a sleeping animal.
Adam sat apart for a moment, back against a tree, watching Alvin scuttle around the edge of the camp.
The chipmunk moved differently now.
More confident. Less frantic. It circled Adam’s feet once, then climbed up his leg without hesitation, settling on his shoulder like it belonged there.
Adam snorted softly. “You’re not helping the reputation, you know that?”
Alvin chittered and bared its teeth at nothing in particular.
Adam felt it then—not words, not thoughts—but awareness. A faint echo of sensation. The chipmunk’s alertness. Its readiness to flee or fight. It wasn’t overwhelming, just… there.
“Yeah,” Adam murmured. “I feel it too.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
The forest felt larger than it had before. Louder. Fuller. And yet, for the first time since arriving in Veridion, he didn’t feel like it was pressing in on him.
He felt rooted.
Gorak broke the silence. “You should look,” the orc said. “Before sleep.”
Adam nodded.
“Status.”
The world responded.
STATUS – ADAM COMMEREE
Level: 9
Race: Human
Class: None
Profession: None
Titles:
- Reincarnator – Retains memories of a previous life. Automatically translated speech. Increased adaptability to System mechanics.
ATTRIBUTES
(No class bonus applied — raw growth only)
Strength: 16
Endurance: 21 (+3%)
Dexterity: 15
Perception: 17
Intelligence: 14
Luck: 5
SKILLS
- Unarmed Combat – Lv.10 (Cap Reached)
Advanced mastery of strikes, stance, leverage, and control.
Further growth requires a class. - Lay on Hands – Lv.10 (Cap Reached)
High-efficiency restorative healing through touch.
Further growth requires a class. - Pain Resistance – Lv.12
Strong reduction to pain feedback, shock, and combat hesitation. - Poison Resistance – Lv.1
Minor resistance to toxins and venoms. - Stealth – Lv.4
Reduced detection while moving deliberately and controlling breath. - Pathfinder – Lv.10(Cap reached)
Enhanced navigation, terrain reading, and route optimization. - Extraction – Lv.4
Allows recovery of materials and currency from defeated enemies. - Subspace Storage – N/A
- Basic Armor Crafting – Lv.1
BONDED COMPANION
Name: Alvin
Species: Razorback Chipmunk
Bond Type: Permanent
Status: Active
Bond Effect:
Bonded companions are extensions of the user and are no longer bound by standard world rules.
If slain, they may be resummoned via mana.
Adam stared at the screen for a long moment.
No class.
No profession.
Yet everything about him said otherwise.
He dismissed the interface and looked back toward the camp.
The kids slept in a loose circle, weapons close, breathing slow and steady for the first time since he’d found them. Gorak sat watch, eyes scanning the dark, hammer resting easily in his grip.
Adam rested a hand over the chipmunk tattoo on his arm, feeling the faint pulse beneath his skin.
“Alright,” he said quietly to no one in particular.
“Guess this is where it starts.”
Above them, unseen through the canopy, Veridion turned slowly beneath its twin suns.
And the System watched.