Author Note: For now I am taking off the Mature and romance tag, there's no romance yet and might not be for a while. I also don't actually know if it will ever warrant the mature tag. I do plan some mature themes, but I don't know if I will put them in.

~Day 16~

Ouch.

I woke to find myself in pain. That's not really surprising though, considering that I fell about 40 ft. I opened my eyes to have a look at my current location, a bright light peaked through the forest canopy above my head, so I knew it was the morning. Behind me was the cliff I jumped off, it reached quite far around me like a crescent moon. The forest wasn't particularly dense here, so I could see a lot of the cliff around me. There were a lot of rabbit holes around the trees, which means that this area is often used by passive monsters like Horned Rabbits. So it must be quiet here, that could explain why I haven't been eaten by any predators whilst I was unconscious.

I decided to check my health [Health: 11/15]. That's good, not just did I survive, but I am also recovering so at least I shouldn't die any time soon.

Still how exactly did I survive? Even if I survived that fall, I should have bled out, in fact I was sitting in a small puddle of my own blood. So I wonder why I'm not dead. Wait a minute...

Ah, of course, it seems that my skills changed whilst I was sleeping. Two of my skills levelled up;

[Pain Resistance lvl 2] has increased to [Pain Resistance lvl 3]

[{Mushroom Helmet lvl 4}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 5}]

That would explain why the pain is slightly more dulled than I was expecting, well I did account for the amount of time that had passed as well, but the lack of pain was still unusual. Also on top of those level increases I also gained a new skill.

[Lesser Regeneration lvl 1] gained.

I obviously have this to thank for not bleeding to death. Hmm, it's 'Lesser' Regeneration, does this mean it's another evolution type skill? If it's already effective enough to save my life at this level, then when it evolves would it be able to regenerate limbs. I have a feeling that this skill will be very useful when levelled up.

*Groooowl*

What was that?! Did the wolves follow me down here? I scanned my surroundings, looking for shadows behind trees, but I couldn't find anything.

*Groooooowl*

Wait...

... Oh, that's a little embarrassing.

It was my stomach [Hunger: 1/31], I'm starving. How did I not notice? Was I that distracted? I suppose I should eat something, luckily enough my diet consists of purely moss, which is always abundant on the forest floor. I weakly stood and waddled towards the closest tree with moss at it's base. I took a bite, as I thought, it's definitely not as nice as when Ellephwen cooks it, I think I've been spoilt by her. Speaking of Ellephwen, she's probably looking for me, she knows the surrounding area well so she will eventually find me, but I don't think I can just sit around here waiting for her, a predatory monster will eventually wander at least near to this area and the might smell my blood, so I need to move as soon as I can.

I finished filling my stomach. I was still quite tired so I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry and wait until I was completely recovered before moving around. So I decided to sleep until well, I completely recovered. I thought I should leave some sort of alarm or trap to alert me if a Monster comes near me, but without arms I don't really know how to set something like that up. so what do I do..? Ah! of course there is something I can do, I can use the rabbit holes to sleep in. If it's deep enough I can leave it so the helmet on top of my head covers the hole and protects my body, so if a predator does find me, then they can only bite the part of me with the best defence.

With this in mind I looked around at several holes and chose the one closest to my size, hopping in the hole I noticed my eyes were still just above ground. So I need to go even deeper huh? Wriggling my stumpy legs, I found another smaller hole branching of from the one I was in, sliding in I managed to find the perfect position. Whilst it wasn't exactly comfortable it was effective, above ground only my helmet could be seen, hopefully. Being exhausted, I quickly fell asleep.

...

...

Danger...

I awaken quickly, I don't know what it is but I sense danger. Tentatively I raise my head and look out of the hole. It's clearly late at night and the moon has almost reached it's peak.

*SQEUAAAK!*

I hear an unfortunately nostalgic sound, a few trees over from where I was hiding, a family of Mushmen were being hunted by wolves. Not the Black Wolves at least, no these wolves are the most common kind, they are just called Grey Wolves and are the weakest breed. There were two of them, from their appearance I would guess it's a mother teaching her child to hunt. The child was only slightly taller than me whilst the mother was about the same height as an adult Mushman, but was clearly far superior to them.

Right now, it's too late to help those Mushmen, even if I managed to save them the damage done to their bodies already looks fatal. It would be a pointless risk. So what do I do? If I stay here then they will eventually find me and easily bite through my helmets defence. I could try to run, but they happen to be at the entrance to the crescent of rock that I'm in, maybe I should have relocated to somewhere with more escape roots before sleeping? Anyway, even if I get past them that direction is east which Ellephwen told me leads to the nearby kingdoms hunting ground, I want to deal with hunters even less than I want to deal with wolves. So, with those options made impossible, I'm left with only one choice, to fight.

Whilst thinking about this, the moon passed overhead and I entered the next day.

~Day 17~

[Night Vision lvl 2] has increased to [Night Vision lvl 3]

The nearby scenery became easier to see. That's good, better vision will help me out in the fight. Still, am I really going to do this? They may be the weakest breed, but they are still wolves. They should be much stronger than me.

*sniff. Sniff sniff*

Mother wolf seems to have smelt something, she started sniffing the ground coming closer to me, did she smell me? She walked up to a pool of yellow liquid. Gods damn it, she could smell my blood. Mother wolf sniffed the blood, then looked up growling in my direction.

Sh*t, I really don't have a choice now. Adrenaline kicked in and my heart rate increased as it thumped in anticipation, a small smile crept on to my face. Huh? I'm happy about this? Since when did I turn into a battle junky? Is this also thanks to the Warrior skills, I wonder. although I get the feeling I'm just starting to enjoy fighting, oh well no point thinking about it I suppose, it doesn't change anything.

The young wolf came running out of nowhere and jumped at me. So the child is reckless, Mother wolf seems to be more cautious, probably due to experience. I jumped out of the hole and quickly dodged to the right. Even if I have high defence on my helmet, I doubt it can defend against a wolfs bite, even if it's a child. It was close, but the Young wolf just missed me, I felt his fur as he passed by, before he could land his jump I quickly turned and head butted him away, he yelped loudly and crashed on to the ground with a thud. I turned around to face the Mother but she had already started charging at me, I tried to dodge out the way, but only managed to duck slightly, she bit a large chunk out of my helmet. A sharp pain hit my head and blood starting to gush out of the gaping wound.

*SQEUAAAAK!*

I audibly cried out in pain, but immediately returned the blow jumping up from under her chin and head butting her neck. She gurgled slightly and fell backwards, the impact against her body sent another wave of pain through my body.

[Lesser Regeneration lvl 1] has increased to [Lesser regeneration lvl 2]

[Pain Resistance lvl 3] has increased to [Pain Resistance lvl 4]

[{Mushroom Helmet lvl 5}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 6}]

[Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 3] has increased to [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 4]

Several skills levelled, the blood gushing out of my head lessened as the wounds partially began to close up. However I didn't have time to celebrate, I was in the middle of battle after all. Quickly scanning the current situation of the battle, it would seem that my attack was the first proper blow the Young wolf had ever taken as it hasn't gotten back up yet, so this meant that I can concentrate on the Mother for now..

Mother wolf sprinted at me again, she was fast, I ran for a nearby tree and dived behind it, Mother wolf leaped at me just about ripping some flesh of my back as she passed . I winced at the pain, but it was just a scratch compared to the previous attack I took. As soon as she landed, she tried to turn her head to bite me, but I didn't give her time. Charging at her body I used my momentum to push her sideways, with all my strength I began to move her towards the cliff, picking up speed as I got closer, desperately she tried to bite me who was just out of her mouths reach. her legs desperately kicked at me, but the angle I was pushing her was awkward so she couldn't even hinder me.

[Swiftfoot lvl 2] has increased to [Swiftfoot lvl 3].

I gained a burst of power and my speed increased, reaching the cliff at a quite a high speed, I smashed her against the rock with all my built up momentum and strength. She let out a yelp and spat out blood. I injured her, she's still alive obviously, but I injured her. No time to rest though, more barking could be heard behind me, the young wolf isn't particularly smart is he? He could have sneaked up behind me and deal a lot of damage. I turned around and fell backwards to dodge as the young wolf flew over head, using the momentum and the cliff wall, he jumped back towards me to attack a second time. I rolled to the side and quickly jumped up to head butt him from the side again as he passed by slamming him against a tree.

Wasting no time I charge head first aiming at his head, not having time to dodge, I hit him at the side of his head, crushing it against the tree. I heard a slight cracking sound coming from the Young wolfs head and blood began to leak out of a newly formed wound near his ear, a quiet, sad whimpering forced it's way out of his mouth just before his body went limp.

Overall level has increased fro [Level 61] to [level 77]

[{Mushroom Helmet lvl 6}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 7}]

[Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 4] has increased to [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 5]

*Hoowl*

Another chunk of flesh was taken out of my lower body, another similar sharp pain ran throughout me. The Mother wolf had ran over to defend her child, not realising she was too late, she bit whilst I was distracted. I shakily dodged backwards several metres with my body covered in pain.

[Lesser Regeneration lvl 2] has increased to [Lesser Regeneration lvl 3]

My wounds quickly began to heal, however I still had two chunks of my body taken from me and had lost a lot of blood, my vision was blurring. Depending on Mother wolfs condition I might not be able to win. I looked over at her, she was just starting at her child, unmoving... I heard her whimpering as she stared at the lifeless corpse of her child, she began to nudge the Young wolf gently. She was morning the death of her child, it was a sad scene. I could finish her whilst she's distracted, but... The idea just feels wrong, it's goes against every fibre of my being. I want to fight her properly and judging by how many levels I went up from her child I can probably evolve after I defeat her.

Actually come to think of it how did I level up so much from a small child wolf? Was the human I killed a new hunter without any experience under her belt or something? Either way that means she wasn't much stronger than that wolf. I wonder how much I would have gotten from the older hunter?

*whimper*

Mother wolf turned to face me, I was expecting her eyes to be filled with hatred, but... Acceptance, that's all I could interpret from her look, she looked me directly in the eye her eyes said she accepted her defeat. Then she placed her head down on the floor humbly... Almost as if she was preparing for the chopping block. This Mother wolf was a true warrior, wasn't she? They attacked me and lost, she holds no grudges and accepts her defeat with dignity. Perhaps she just wants to join her child again, either way I didn't think normal Monsters could act in such a warrior like way.

...

I will accept her offer, it feels wrong to just take her life without her fighting back, but I feel like it would be more insulting to leave her alive in this situation. With slightly blurred vision and a heavy heart I stumbled slowly towards her. I wish I could say she died painlessly, but with my only attack being a head butt it's not like I could end her life quickly. I spared her as much pain as I could, but still it was... Disheartening, to say the least.

Overall level has increased from [Level 77] to [Level 100]

[Unarmed Combat lvl 5] has increased to [Unarmed Combat lvl 6]

[Warriors Heart lvl 3] has increased to [Warriors Heart lvl 4]

[Warriors Will lvl 2] has increased to [Warriors Will lvl 3]

[Evolution now available: Mushman]

[Variant evolution now available: Mushman Guardian]

[Evolution now available: Treechild]

[Evolution now available : Cission]

Variant? I've heard of this... When a monster has skills and stats different from what their species usually have they have the ability to evolve to a rare variation of their species. I haven't ever heard of a Mushman Guardian before, so I don't really know what I would turn in to.

I suddenly became unsteady on my feet falling to the ground. I've lost too much blood, haven't I? Ah, I'd better decide soon...Should I..? All right I'll take a gamble.

[Evolution Variant Mushman Guardian has been chosen]

[Evolution has begun]

Ah, I hope I chose correctly.

~Day 18~

...My bed.

I'm in my bed.

Why am I in my bed?

Although it seems a lot smaller than it did before.

"Thank the Gods. I am glad you are awake."

Looking to my right Ellephwen was standing by my bed, she looked tired. Sitting down next to her was someone new that I hadn't seen before,she seems to be an Elf. She was tall, slender and had short, silky cyan hair, which made it obvious she was one of the Lake Elves. Her outfit consisted of long, white one finger gloves that reached past her elbows. She wore a white and blue knee length dress with thin, thigh length leather boots. Her face was exactly what you would expect from an elf, she was beautiful, although a long think scar reached from under her right ear to her hair line on the same side. Her skin was slightly tanned, which probably means she often helps with outside work at wherever she's from. She gave me a tender smile. it was charming and I caught myself blushing.

Blushing? Why am I blushing? I'm only interested in men, aren't I? Wait, it couldn't be? I remember reading that despite Mushmen having a gender they can change it if their partner is of the same gender. Since Mushmen are so weak and often hunted they need a way to increase their population quicker. So they evolved to be able to mate with any partner... That means thanks to the race that I was reincarnated as I am attracted to women now as well... I can't even complain about that...

"Ellena, this is Samora. She is a skilled healer and was the one who healed you the first night we met. I asked her to help me again last night after I found you in critical condition ." Ellephwen ignored my latest thought and told me who this Elf was.

"It's a pleasure, little Ellie" Samora bowed.

Little Ellie? You've given me a nickname? I tried to complain to her but she didn't reply.

"Ellena" Ellephwens called me to get my attention.

"Samora isn't capable of reading your mind I'm afraid. Telepathy isn't very common. She knows your circumstances, but cannot converse with you."

Oh, of course that makes sense. I had gotten so used to talking to Ellephwen i'd almost forgotten it was via telepathy. I wanted to thank Samora for healing me, but how would I do it? I decided to just give her my best smile.

Samora twitched. Did I do something wrong? I looked over to Ellephwen, but she just shrugged with a face that said it can't be helped. What did I do?

"I can't hold myself back anymore" Samora grabbed me.

What is she going to do to me?

"YOU'RE JUST SOOOOO CUTE!!!" Samora said whilst hugging me.

Eh?

She began spinning me around whilst babbling different incoherent things. What's going on, was I knew that Mushmen were cute but it wasn't to this level was it? I'm not complaining about it of course, it definitely wasn't a bad experience, she was an Elf after all.

"You see, child. Samora has a... Bit of an obsession with Mushmen. I was a bit reluctant to ask her for help, but she is the most skilled healer I know." Ellephwen explained with a hint of being annoyed.

Come to think of it, why is there a Lake Elf here? We're half the continent away from their territory. Elves were the fourth type of being in this world other than Demons, Mortals and Monsters, well there were the Dragons as well, but nobody had seen one for decades back when I was alive. Anyway, Elves don't often interact with the Mortal races and the only time I saw any in my old life was when one of the Lake Elf princesses came through our village on the way to our islands capital. It seems she came on a diplomatic mission. Anyway Lake Elves were the clan that interacted with mortals the most and even then they weren't often seen out of their territory. There are six Elven clans in our world, four are the elemental elves. The Lake Elves, are recognised by their blue hair. Their element is water and they specialise in water magic and healing. The Mountain Elves are recognised by their brown hair. Their element is earth and they specialise in earth magic and physical strength. They are the most skilled blacksmiths and crafters of the Elven clans. The Sky Elves, with blonde hair, live on a floating island that never stays in the same place their element is air and they specialise in air magic and agility. The volcanic Elves live in maze like cities inside huge cave systems attached to volcanoes. With red hair their element is fire and they specialise in fire magic and leadership. If the Elves ever go to war, the Volcanic elves are the main fighting force.

The other two are the Light Elves, who are the rarest and most spread out of all the Elven clans. They mediate the other clans, unlike the elemental elves they have no particular hair colour, although they do have very pale skin and light golden eyes. They specialise in Light Magic and are the wisest of the clans. Finally were the Dark Elves, the youngest clan. They were born from the love of a Demon King and a Light Elf Queen thousands of years ago, usually Demons wouldn't be able to have children with Elves, but this Demon King was particularly powerful and exhausted his magic power to make the child possible. This child became the mother of the Dark Elves. Despite their name they aren't evil by nature or anything, although they do often become mercenaries or bandits due to their battle loving nature inherited from the Demon King. Dark Elves interact with mortals quite a lot as well, but not as much as Lake Elves. They are distinct due to their dark skin and white or black hair. They specialise in dark magic and combat.

This was all the knowledge I learnt from one of the Lake Princesses bodyguards who came back to village when she had time off. All the children were fascinated by her and spent her time playing with us.

Samora had finally put me down and had a satisfied smile on her face. Since she knew my past she decided to tell me how she came about living in a mortal village, Ellephwen told her I was curious. Apparently she always had a great amount of wanderlust and travelled around as soon as she was of age. One day during her travels, she defended a family of Mushmen from a pack of Iron Wolves, which were even stronger than Black Wolves. Ellephwen came across Samora who was heavily injured in the middle of the forest, after noticing the defeated Iron Wolves around her Ellephwen decided to saver her. Ellephwen took her to the closest village as she was on relatively good terms with them. Grateful for the kindness of the villagers who helped her recover and her rescue at the hands of Ellephwen she stayed in the village as a healer to repay her debt.

So she basically sacrificed herself for a few random Mushmen, she really is obsessed with them... Wait.

We've been talking for a while, but I feel as though I forgot something...

... Ah! I evolved, how did I forget that I evolved!? I knew the bed felt small. I quickly got out of bed and ran over to the full body mirror by Ellephwens storage area.

Wha?

I was tall, at least a foot taller than an average Mushman. The usual cream coloured skin that covers a Mushmans body had changed to light grey on mine. My helmet was darker and with a slightly different pattern on it, the helmet seemed smaller, at least in comparison to how big it looked on my old body. My legs were slightly longer than a normal Mushman, but were still pretty stumpy. Also my body had several scars covering it from the fall through the canopy two days ago. The wound from the mother wolfs second bite had mostly recovered, but there was still a small chunk out of my body missing. The worst scar was from Mother wolfs first bite, a large visible chunk of my helmet was missing, it was a little worrying to be honest, will my Mushroom Helmet be as effective now with a huge chunk missing from it?

Ellephwen came over and told me she wasn't shocked when she found me as she was expecting great things from me. However Samora was shocked and excited about how fast I had evolved, but she was also sad that I wouldn't be a Mushman for a very long time. She even asked me if I would put off my next evolution when the time came.

I decided to check my status as well.

[Name: Ellena]

[Age: 17 Days]

[Species: Mushman Guardian, Mushman]

[Height: 4'-4"]

[Sex: Female]

[Title: Kin of Ellephwen]

{Level: 01] +40

[Health: 48/48] + 33

[Mana: 11/11] +6

[Stamina: 65/65] +34

[Hunger: 65/65] +34

[Attack: 62] +32

[Defence: 128] +68

[Magic Attack: 14] +9

[Magic Defence: 30] +18

[Skills:[Pain Resistance lvl 5] Up! [Night vision lvl 5] Up! [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 9}] Up! [tough stomach lvl 3] Up! [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 8] Up! [Swiftfoot lvl 4] Up! [Warriors Heart lvl 5] Up! [Warriors Will lvl 4] Up! [Lesser Regeneration lvl 4] Up! [Guardian lvl 2] Gain!]

That's... Impressive not only did I get a huge bonus to all my stats, defence especially, the evolution also levelled all my skills. I have also gained a new skill, Guardian... It's obviously related to my new race, but I've never heard of this skill before, I decided to ask Ellephwen.

Ellephwen, have you heard of a skill Guardian?

"Guardian is it? I believe so, it's a skill that both raises the individuals over all defence and also sends out an aura that aggravates surrounding enemies. It means you can attract the enemies attention whilst allies around you can press the attack without having to worry too much about defending. The aura is quite weak at first, but it can be strengthened and controlled as you level it. That's another useful skill you've acquired." Ellephwen gave me an explanation about my new skill with a hint of pride in her voice. Samora gave a single small clap and congratulated me.

Another defensive skill is it?

I've noticed something, it seems that I'm veering towards having incredible defence, I do like having high defence make no mistake, however I still want to be able to deal enough damage to fight on my own. I should make sure to try and level Unarmed Combat so I can still fight without allies. If I do get allies eventually, Guardian will be a very useful skill. I should make sure to make sure it gains some levels just in case.

By this point it was time to eat dinner, we had been talking for several hours. Samora was staying for dinner so Ellephwen had to cook more than usual. I asked if I could try a bit of salad as my Tough Stomach skill had levelled up. It tasted absolutely horrible, but didn't seem to cause any side effects. The moss tasted delicious as usual, so at least I ended enjoying dinner, ah I did miss Ellephwens cooking yesterday.

After Samora gave me a hug, she said goodbye and left to walk home. It seems that the village is a 5 hour walk back, but if you can run at her speed it only takes about an hour. It was already too late at night for Ellephwen to properly teach me anything today, so after giving me a hug and telling me she was glad I was okay, Ellephwen sent me to bed.

This bed really does feel small though.

~Day 19~

I went back to my training routine today. Although I had grown a lot stronger I decided to test it on a Lesser Frog. Walking to the usual area I spotted a largish Lesser Frog. Walking straight towards him, he quickly turned around and charge at me. A effect of Guardian I wonder? I let him bite my head... Not even a scratch, his teeth can't seem to pierce it now. Satisfied with my new defence I quickly disposed of him.

...

No level up? Well this is a first, they must be too weak to level me up with one kill. It must be about time to move deeper in. As I moved deeper in I made sure to spread my Guardian aura around as much as I could with my current level of control. I was attack by several small groups of Lesser Frogs and Poison Frogs. I took a bit of damage from the Poison Frogs. By the time I reached the first Greater Frog I had attracted and killed 21 Lesser Frogs, 4 Poison Frogs and 13 Spitting Tree Snails. I managed to gain a few levels and raise a few skills;

Overall level has increased from [level 01] to [level 05]

[{Mushroom Helmet lvl 9}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 10}]

[Guardian lvl 2] has increased to [Guardian lvl 3]

[Warriors Heart lvl 5] has increased to [Warriors Heart lvl 6]

As I expected, the difference in levels gained in incredible, as a Mushling that would have probably gotten me close to evolving. I was surprised that Guardian already levelled, but then I was using it as much as I could.

Back on topic, I found my first Greater Frog. Even the Greater Frog is weaker than the weakest of the Toads the Moss Toad. So I won't be attacking any Toads yet. However I should be able to fight a few Greater Frogs. The Greater Frog is about 3 ft tall, dark green and quite aggressive.

I immediately charged at him, knocking him through a group of trees, the frog quickly returned the attack and tried to whip me with his tongue, dodging to underneath I tried to lessen the distance from us. The frog turned and tried to run, but luckily I was a lot faster as I am now. Quickly catching up to him I ran to his side and knocked him sideways crushing his brains against a tree.

Overall level has increased from [Level 05] to [Level 06]

All right then, I gained one level from one kill, this could work for now. I also managed to dodge his attacks as he wasn't that fast. Okay let's do this.

I spent the rest of the day hunting Greater Frogs and managed to get 13. They seemed to be rarer than Lesser Frogs, so I decided to also hunt any Lesser Frogs I came across. I hunted 23 Lesser Frogs and also got another 3 Poison Frogs. I gained quite a few levels, but it seems as a Mushman Guardian it takes a lot more to level up the higher level I get and by the end it took the last 4 Greater Frogs to level once. I might have to find even tougher monsters.

Overall level has increased from [Level 06] to [Level 15]

[{Mushroom Helmet lvl 10}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 11}]

[Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 8] has increased to [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 9]

It will certainly take a little longer to evolve this time, I would like to evolve quickly as I really do miss having hands. I am quite excited though as my Unarmed Combat is almost ready to evolve. I think I'm really starting to feel the flow of battle and can manage to dodge most attacks. Then again I haven't really fought any particularly powerful or fast opponents.

I arrived back home and we began today's education. Today Ellephwen wanted to teach me about attributes. I had heard about attributes in my previous life, but I didn't really know much about them. The attribute was a classification system made up by mortal adventurers. So because of that it doesn't actually appear in monsters stats. Most Monsters are classified by several attributes from different classes. The first class are the elemental attributes. Obviously as a Mushman I am of the Earth Attribute. These are self explanatory. Another class is the monster type. For example the Wolves are part of the Beast attribute, the Frogs are part of the Amphibian Attribute and I am part of the Nature attribute. Technically nature could refer to all living beings, but mortals felt that it was the best word to describe those Monsters that are truly part of nature. Monsters such as Mushmen, Dryads and Ents. The third class of attributes are specific attributes that describes an important detail of a particular Monster, such as the Poison Attribute for Poison Frogs.

Attributes were originally thought up to help to easily identify the features of Monsters so Adventurers on a request could find them easier. Nowadays it's just used to help differentiate between different Monsters. For example Monsters with the Beast Attribute can sometimes rarely evolve in to Beastkin. Most Beastkin are born normally, but every so often it happens by evolution.

So I learnt about attributes today, I'll admit I barely knew any of this before hand. Ellephwen was giggling at my thoughts. I wonder if she ever gets annoyed at my lack of knowledge about the modern world.

"You are very enjoyable to teach child. Perhaps it is because of your mental age, but you seem to retain everything I teach you." She happily boasted.

I was happy for the compliment, but it was still quite embarrassing. I leaned over in my bed away from her.

I felt a soft stroke on the back of my head.

"Sleep well Ellena"

Sleep well, Ellephwen...

~Day 20~

Today was largely uneventful.

I hunted the same way as I did yesterday, looking for Greater Frogs whilst killing anything else aggressive on the way. I ended up with a kill count of 12 Greater Frogs, 26 Lesser Frogs, 6 Poison Frogs and 18 Spitting Tree Snails. I didn't gain too many levels.

Overall level has increased from [Level 15] to [Level 19]

[Warriors Will lvl 4] has increased to [Warriors Will lvl 5]

Unfortunately I couldn't evolve Unarmed Combat today, it seems that due to the lack of difficult opponents my skills are hardly levelling. I also didn't grow many levels today. As I thought I really need to search for tougher opponents If I want to evolve again.

I trudged home a little disappointed. I had been asking Ellephwen to give me different foods to level up my tough stomach, so that had levelled up once. So I guess it isn't all bad.

Ellephwen decided to teach me about the closest kingdom to where we currently live. The kingdoms name was the Kingdom of Ashes. It was called as such as it was born from a horrific war that the Kingdom that was here when I was alive took part in. The Kingdom of Ashes was formed by the Kings greatest general as he assassinated the king for incompetence. Afterwards he stated that the people would rise from the ashes of a broken kingdom. With the kingdom under new rule, the other kingdom ended the war and took some fertile land away from Ashes.

The Generals family has ruled Ashes ever since. All descendants of the General King are quite skilled combatants and tacticians. They managed to take back their territory taken from them and managed to demand slightly more. The latest ruler is a Queen as she was the only living child of the last king and refused to marry. No one pressured her into marriage as just like many of her ancestors she was incredibly skilled. Her name is Melena Rootheart III. She is held with both respect and fear, as whilst she doesn't needlessly raise taxes or be poitnlessly cruel, she is merciless to criminals regardless of social standing. There are even rumours of her having her father assassinated when he started accepting bribes to turn a blind eye to twisted nobles. Well there's no proof, but it still sounds like I shouldn't cross her.

Ashes is green and fertile and has a very low crime rate thanks to the Queens unforgiving nature. You could say it's a perfect country for an average hard working person. Ellephwen believes that the kingdom is fairly tolerable towards intelligent Monsters as the village that Samora lives in is quite open to Ellephwen. She sometimes goes there for wood to practise her carving. The village is part of a group of villages that are in the Great Rurrian Forest, these villages supply most of the wood used for fires or furniture in the kingdom. They can't supply all of the kingdom so it's sent straight to the capital then distributed as evenly as possible from there.

Unlike some other countries Beastkin can be high ranking nobles and Commanders in the army. For instance one of the Queens top Generals and bodyguard is a bear Beastkin. It seems she values ability over race.

Ellephwen wanted to tell me about Ashes as I would be travelling through it one day. I'm not planning to stay in any villages or towns for too long anyway, but it's good to know it's one of the safest kingdoms on the Central Continent. It would be a several week journey to get across it, but it's not like I'm in any rush.

Ellephwen had started work on a larger bed for me today, I told her she didn't really need to as I would still fit in the first one for now. She told me this one would be made large enough for me even after I evolve again. For tonight however, I am still using the first bed she made me. I fell asleep excited for what tomorrow might bring.

[Name: Ellena]

[Age: 18 Days]

[Species: Mushman Guardian, Mushman]

[Height: 4'-4"]

[Sex: Female]

[Title: Kin of Ellephwen]

{Level: 19] +18

[Health: 69/69] + 21

[Mana: 17/17] +6

[Stamina: 85/85] +20

[Hunger: 85/85] +20

[Attack: 77] +15

[Defence: 168] +39

[Magic Attack: 20] +6

[Magic Defence: 49] +19

[Skills:[Pain Resistance lvl 5] [Night vision lvl 5] [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 11}] Up! [tough stomach lvl 4] Up! [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 9] Up! [Swiftfoot lvl 4] [Warriors Heart lvl 6] Up! [Warriors Will lvl 5] Up! [Lesser Regeneration lvl 4] [Guardian lvl 3] Up! ]