Waking up was awful. The blueish light's heartless aggression from the cave entrance being the least of it. I feel pain and soreness all over my legs, my arms and my back. My skin feels taut in my back and my arms but worst of all on my face, like it will never stretch properly again.

The cold during the night certainly didn’t help.

I groan weakly as I fight the pain and discomfort assaulting me from all fronts. I soon realize I have a system notice patiently waiting for me to wake up.

Trait formation notice : Mountain Dweller (-) 1%. [+1 END]

Trait formation notice : Wildland Dweller (-) 1%. [+1 END]

Experience gain notice : +7%

Your terrible resting conditions have reduced your natural health regeneration for the night.

Your lack of alimentation has reduced your natural health regeneration.

I wonder how the system manages to have this subtle touch with words to cheer up the day.

My groans shift slightly from pained to scoffing for a second, before going back to pain. Whimpering doesn't prevent me from checking my status and noting that my health is at 101/107 which means that gaining endurance doesn't give free heals.

Gaining stats is weird anyway, where are they coming from, and where are they going to?

I stretch as best as I can while pondering this, grimacing all along. That only causes an extra bit of a different pain because of how sunburned I am. What a wonderful cycle, good job reflexes.

Maybe stat gains from the system is magic settling in my body slowly overtime, making it better somehow?

Maybe. It would be nice to be able to ask someone who actually knows.

Yeah. I can stay alone for a time but I’ll have to find a way towards civilization at some point. After all, it’s not like I was particularly social for most of the past year… I feel like I remember far more time alone at home than I’d care to admit.

I’m surprised to find that I actually don't feel particularly hungry. My body is still too busy complaining about all the other stuff to find room for hunger.

Truly, life is all about those nice silver linings. As long as we can find them, we'll go far.

Yeah Bob, we sure will. Let's check out the new traits, maybe that will be a nice distraction.

Mountain Dweller (minor)

Life in a mountainous environment tends to be particularly harsh : the air is scarcer, the sun is brighter, the nights are colder, and moving around is tiring and dangerous. Truly an environment only suited for the strong and enduring. This Trait makes you subtly more at ease when in the mountains in a wide variety of ways.

This Trait has enhanced your body, this effect remains even if the trait is lost. Currently : 1 END

This Trait is in its forming stage, its effect is reduced (1%).

This Trait is in its forming stage, making it more likely to be lost.

This Trait is forming in reaction to your immediate environment, making it more likely to be lost the further your environment is from [Mountain].

This trait resonates with your [Adaptable] Traits, it will grow faster than usual.

Wildland Dweller (minor)

Life in untamed lands is rough : there are lurking beasts and monsters, water, food and shelter are never truly permanent, a single injury or illness can quickly put your life at risk. It takes very real resilience to live in the Wild. This Trait improves your chances of survival in wildlands in subtle ways.

This Trait has enhanced your body, this effect remains even if the trait is lost. Currently : 1 END

This Trait is in its forming stage, its effect is reduced (1%).

This Trait is in its forming stage, making it more likely to be lost.

This Trait is forming in reaction to your immediate environment, making it more likely to be lost the further your environment is from [Wildland].

This trait resonates with your [Adaptable] Traits, it will grow faster than usual.

I'm still absentmindedly stretching in all kinds of ways as I try to guess what those two will do exactly. I can't tell if I'm getting used to the soreness or if it's really going away, but I’ll take it.

Those traits seem nice. We’ll need all the help we can get to live out here.

Do you think the system will somehow change my perception so that I fit better in our environment?

Well, we got 1% progress in a day. At this rate we'll be here for over three months before those minor traits are fully formed right ? I sure hope after three months living in this place we'll be more at ease.

I have a fuzzy idea of where he's going before his next thought is formed. Sharing a brain has some weird side effects.

This system seem to work very slowly. I think it will help us but in a such a way that what we get truly will be a part of us. But we'll see as we go, won't we ?

If we don't die, sure. Well maybe even if we die actually. Glad to have you around to bounce back ideas bro.

At this point, I honestly don't mind all that much that I'm hearing voices. Well it's not even hearing, if I had to describe Bob, I'd say it's more like a bundle of errant thoughts grew a personality. He's not his own person and he's obviously not in charge of my movements.

Or am I ?

...

You really got the internal judgmental stare thing down, well done!

I smile at his antics, – ouch, my face is still sunburned –. I'm not sure if Bob can do anything except help me stay more or less mentally stable but he sure brings me some very needed relief.

Well I could keep trying to find mana within us, I guess. But meditation is really weird from my point of view, I'm not sure if I'm going anywhere.

Right, you said that yesterday. Well I suppose figuring out magic would be a cool pastime for you. You don’t have a system right? If you figure out how to feel mana, that might make a trait and we would both get it.

Worst case, you’ll be my teacher, and there’s definitely no harm in trying. Do it.

Sure thing boss.

I can almost feel a cheeky smile in his tone, did he just manipulate me to agree to his plan ? Come to think of it, he was more enthusiastic about magic yesterday evening than right now.

You could just have been honest you know !

No answer.

Oh, and it's not like I can prevent you from doing your thing !

...

Is he meditating already? I really don't understand much about my little passenger. I should ask him more things. Like what he meant when he said that meditating is weird.

Well, that will be done later. While he hopefully turns us both into a mighty magician, I'll be busy trying to find food so that we don't die of starvation before he gets anywhere.

I obviously don't forget my whip before crawling out of my cave. Moving is decidedly unpleasant but walking out to one of the best views I've ever seen does cheer me up a bit. It's like the Alps, but with bonus otherworldly beauty points. And it looks like it's going to be another sunny day in the mountains.

Wait. That's bad news when you're sunburned like never before. Shit.