In a vast valley rested a stunning, tranquil lake that sparkled with a rich, vibrant glow. Beside the water's edge stood a young wolf, its fur a delicate shade of grey, nearly white, and its fierce amber eyes gleamed with intensity.
The young wolf stood beside the lake, slowly lapping up some of the water, hydrating itself as if it hadn't drunk in years.
Once fully hydrated, the wolf stood, rotating its head to look around the peaceful lake, a habit born from its parents.
After a moment of serenity, the wolf slowly walked back into the woods, struggling as it walked with only three legs, not using it's back left leg.
The walk back was slow yet it still only took a few minutes until it reached a small clearing of only a dozen meters in width.
In the center of the small clearing sat a smaller tree, standing at a meager 4 meters tall, looking to be a younger tree.
Despite its height, the tree seemed to be far more vibrant, its leaves a deep and bright green with a strong looking trunk.
The area surrounding the small tree was quite vibrant, at the very base of the tree, sat vibrant green grass with flowers scattered. The area surrounding the tree slowly got less vibrant and more dull the farther away it got from the tree.
As the wolf got to the small tree, it limped over to the base of the tree, settling in a small patch just below the trunk in a small patch of flowers that had already been flattened.
Chen Xuan sat still, noticing the wolf's approach but not paying it any mind, already used to this by now.
A day after the stitches had been removed, the wolf started walking by itself to the lake, hobbling on three legs so as not to use the injured leg.
The wolf had been doing this for a few days, surprising Chen Xuan. Initially, he had expected the wolf to only walk for a day before going back to resting, but Fenrir had been walking ever since, though it did rest often.
His curiosity peaked at the seemingly fast recovery of Fenrir. Chen Xuan reached down and parted the fur on Fenrir's thigh, observing the wound.
To Chen Xuan's surprise, the wound seemed to be mostly closed, only a faint line left on its thigh, as likely still some internal damage.
Such a feat made Chen Xuan's curiosity rage, and yet he couldn't find any reason for it other than the wolf seeming to get healthier and more muscular by the day.
With a sigh, Chen Xuan chose to ignore the odd anomaly. Turning his focus back to the label, Chen Xuan waited as he needed only one more instance of life energy until his next breakthrough.
+0.2 Life Energy
Life energy: 9 / 9 (100%) (Upgrade?)
As soon as the energy flowed through him, Chen Xuan immediately chose to break through, taking slightly over a minute to upgrade himself, the upgrade once again increasing his strength vastly.
Name: Chen Xuan
Crown Radius: 6.2m
Trunk height: 5.1m
Root Radius: 9.8m
Trunk diameter: 0.83cm
Cultivation: Tier 2 - High
Life energy: 0 / 11 (%)
Life energy Capacity: 11.5
Skill points: 3
Abilities:
- Blossom Crest - level 1
Such stats made Chen Xuan smile widely, thinking that it was just the other day that he was a sapling of only inches in height.
The memories of back then were boring and tedious, but they only made him want to advance farther and see how high he could soar.
Once more, Chen Xuan entered the skills selection menu, deciding to evenly spread out his points by sending 1 to the crown, 1 to the flowers, and 1 to the roots, not wanting to fall behind on his strength.
After finishing his strengthening sessions, Chen Xuan was ready to return to his everyday routine, but then he spotted Fenrir, sprawled out at the foot of his trunk.
The young wolf was sleeping, twitching occasionally. If someone were to look from a distance, Fenrir would seem to be normal and just sleeping.
However, as Chen Xuan was much closer to Fenrir, he noticed the wolf was twitching more than usual. Its muscles were twitching and bulging, and the slight cut on its thigh that remained from its wound was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
While its wound healed, its muscles bulged and rippled. Its overall size slowly increased, its muscles rippling, and with each ripple, increased in size and density.
Fenrir seemed to be in a deep sleep as this process occurred, lasting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. After the enhancement, Fenrir seemed to have increased in size by about 25%.
Increasing to a length of about 1.25 meters long, with its muscles large yet sleek, emanating a sense of power and strength.
What Chen Xuan particularly noticed, though, was that Fenrir emanated a small amount of life energy.
Such an occurrence was observed by Chen Xuan from the very start with immense curiosity. The only explanation he could come up with was that his own breakthrough had somehow triggered Fenrir's evolution.
For the next few hours, Chen Xuan watched Fenrir until it woke up, seeming to not even notice its changes at first.
Only when it got up and stretched did it notice that it had grown, stumbling slightly as it didn't expect its body to have changed.
Like a person in high heels, the wolf staggered occasionally as it tried to walk, taking a few minutes to get used to its new size.
As Fenrir was learning its new body, through the shared connection, Chen Xuan was able to feel Fenrir's sense of curiosity but also joy.
The joy came from the sense of strength that the wolf now felt, while the confusion came from the source.
As the wolf was not as developed mentally, it didn't form guesses as articulately as Chen Xuan and could only nuzzle Chen Xuan's bark, attributing it to Chen Xuan.