Thinking about my questionable existence got me nowhere, so I focused on keeping warm during the storm. Propping my spear against the wall, I started doing some stretches. I raised my arms as high as they could go in this stiff gambeson; when I reached my limit, I started rotating them back and forth. I kept going until my shoulder got sore, then I dropped my arms and bent over, reaching for my toes.

My bulky armor halted me before I could get further than an awkward U-shape. The move nearly tipped me over and I hastily stood up straight. Next up was jogging in place which wasn't much easier than the other exercises. The gambeson hung off me uncomfortably, making jumping up and down as I was rather tiring.

At least it got the blood in my veins moving. Eventually, though, the effort of moving my legs in a jogging motion became too much and I had to stop. Leaning back against the tall, stone wall, I put my weary muscles to rest.

As I was resting, I noticed something moving in my peripheral vision. I turned my head, thinking something - or someone - was coming but all I saw was snow. I could still see the thing flickering in the corner of my eye but I could never find it. Finally, it came to me to move my eyes but not my head.

Doing so let me see a flashing exclamation point. Focusing on it brought up a short line of text:

For constant strenuous activity, you have gained +1 Endurance, +1 Strength. Please check your status menu for your gains.

What the heck? I've never seen anything like this before. Then again, I haven't seen a lot of things before, so that's no surprise. I guess I should...check out this status menu? How do I access it? Maybe by saying 'status menu'? I did so and an opaque window of text appeared in front of me, blocking my line of sight.

"Wow," I whispered then ate a mouthful of snow. Choking and sputtering, I tried not to die again as I looked at the text box.

Name: None (Elden Keep Guard)

Class: Guard

Level: 1

HP: 100/100(+10)

SP: 110/110(+10)

MP: 7/7

TP: 0

AP: 0

Strength: 10 (+1)

Endurance: 11(+1)

Agility: 5

Vitality: 8

Intelligence: 7

Charisma: 3

Skills: [Measure Bribe] - 1; [Lesser Radar] - 2; [Thrust] - 1

Spells: -