I'm still licking the raw taste of the lizard off my fingers when the System decides to speak again—because of course it does. No sooner do I sit back with my stomach full than the damn blue box blinks into view, as if it's been waiting for just the right moment to ruin any sense of peace.

  Bioenergy Absorbed: +40 Days

  Total Bioenergy Counter: 01:90:07:32:49

  The glow fades from the message, but I barely have time to process it before another blinks into pce. Apparently, digestion isn't the only thing going on after I eat something in this insane world.

  New Trait Avaible

  Source: Woodnd Pteryx

  Select One Generalized Trait to Incorporate:

  Tough Scales – Gain protective dermal pting, resistant to sshes and scrapes. Offers mild resistance to elemental damage.

  Sharp Cws – Fingers and toes develop into hardened, curved cws, enhancing grip strength, tree climbing, and giving you viable close-range unarmed defence.

  Lateral Glide Membranes – Develop skin membranes between arms and torso. Grants limited gliding ability when unching from elevated positions. Useful for escape or traversal.

  Selection is permanent. Choose wisely.

  The glow lingers as if waiting. Of course it is. Like some smug, digital deity. I sigh and lean forward, elbows on knees. The fireless pit I built out of gathered stones does little more than anchor my spot in the forest clearing, reminding me just how little I have.

  I think about the choices, running each one through the mental filter of survival. Tough Scales means protection—less worry about getting sshed to ribbons by whatever lives out here. Glide membranes? Tempting in a cinematic kind of way, but practically speaking, I don't even know how to use them. No, I need something useful now. Something visceral.

  I touch my fingers to my palm, imagining what it would feel like to have cws. Real cws. My thumb hovers near the selection for Sharp Cws—and then I press it.

  The pain is immediate.

  It starts at the base of my fingernails, a white-hot nce of fire that races up each digit. I bite back a scream, clutching my hand to my chest as if that will somehow help. The bones feel like they’re stretching—no, warping. Fingernails splinter and crack, blood dripping from the now raw and empty spots on my finger, only to be repced by something darker, thicker. The skin around my nail bed tightens and hardens, as if trying to make room for the new growth pushing through.

  It hurts. Gods, it hurts—

  And then it doesn’t.

  The agony flips, impossibly fast, into something else. A rush, pure and electric, floods my limbs. My fingers twitch and flex, and I feel the power in them. Sharp, hooked cws now crown my hands, bck and gssy, each one as long as a small knife. I flex them again, marvelling at the responsiveness. They’re mine. Not just attached to me—me.

  It’s terrifying.

  It’s incredible.

  The System fades, satisfied, leaving me alone with my new limbs and a full belly.

  The forest is quiet now, deceptively so. A breeze moves the treetops, making them whisper like they know something I don’t. The shadows keep shifting. I’ve built a tiny lean-to using branches and broad leaves, shed together with lengths of wiry vine. It’s barely rge enough for me to sit beneath without crouching, and it won't protect me from anything bigger than a squirrel—but it’s shelter.

  I was lucky enough to catch that lizard-bird-thing. Woodnd Pteryx, apparently. Dumb enough to stumble into a half-dug pit I made with a rock and some stubbornness. It squawked and hissed and tried to wriggle free, but a stone to the head ended that quickly. It had vibrant plumage—deep green body feathers with iridescent patches of blue on its head and tail. Its wings were small and narrow, clearly meant more for gliding than true flight. The legs were muscur, tipped with cwed feet made for clinging to trees. A soft, pale underbelly made it easier to skin, though the job still took too long with no tools.

  Now, though, as I stare at my hands and curl my fingers experimentally, I know I have what it takes to survive in this world. The Woodnd Pteryx was a small meal, all things considered. It was about the size of a house cat and was very wiry, and the raw meat wasn't sitting well in my stomach. I'd probably get sick from eating it, not to mention I haven't secured a source of fresh water.

  I sigh as I look at my shelter, knowing that if I can't find a water source close by, I may need to relocate. Oh well.