Chapter 13: Swimming Fox

Just to remind everyone, this is a non-human story.

I do know Wolverine's story really doesn't kick off until 1897, so there might be some time skips here and there once Miles gets settled here in Cold Lake.

He still needs to extend his current age limit though first!

As always, don't forget to drop some power stones, leave a comment, a review and add to your collection if you enjoy the story!

*****

"Yip!", Miles exclaimed, ignoring the Level 3 Goose for now. Instead, in one fell swoop, his body crouched, and it leapt into the air.

Plop!

Miles plunged right into the freezing waters of the wintry lake before him. He was worried about the freezing temperature itself as there was lots of ice around the lake's rim. Ice would form when water reaches its freezing point.

But to Miles's surprise, a cool sensation wrapped around his body. It wasn't immediately giving him the urge to jump right back out of the water.

'It's almost like I'm swimming in a public pool...', Miles mused. The water helped his body stay afloat, and he proceeded to doggy paddle around for a bit. The upper portion of his fur wasn't submerged, nor was his tail. Only about 80% of his body was inside the water. He could already feel his body getting cleansed as he moved around.

Miles didn't stray too far from the edge of the lake though.

[Ding! Ice Resistance has reached Level 3]

'So it works like that too?', Miles thought. He had a quick look at the new effect. He was just a one percent increase. But he could block all ice-type damage by 3% now. He didn't know when a Skill would reach its level limit. Some stories only reached Lv10, while other stories reached all the way to Lv100.

But the lake was cold enough to where the water was just shy of the freezing point. Miles was already starting to rake in Ice Resistance proficiency.

His initial splash caused a little disturbance to the other Geese nearby, prompting them to swim further north. Most of the flock was out of sight now. As the notifications continued, he didn't see any notification about the mission ending. That truly did mean that the Geese would stay here for the time being, it didn't matter where they wandered off to. They weren't creatures to wander into the forest. Even if they approached the little town to the west, they would still be here.

Perhaps Miles even wanted them to travel to the other end of the lake. That would encourage Miles to see what that little town was like. He could see rolling hills and farmlands tucked away in snow in the distance beyond it as he yipped happily inside the water. Every so often, the giant mansion would peek out from the ongoing blizzard, the Howlett Estate. It towered over the rest of the town, making the rest of the humans there appear insignificant. No one would dare go up against the Howlett Family here. 

It was clear as day that the family who lived in that giant mansion were the richest folk in town. Miles didn't need to deduce much to realize that.

"Yip!", Miles happily yipped again, doing a quick spin of his body to rid of any bloody mess he once had on his fur. His fur was now extremely wet as a result. On the bright side, it was preventing the freezing temperature from seeping into it. If he was a human, he would have already gotten the urge to get the hell out of there for it being cold, because they didn't have any fur covering their bodies. As a fox though, it would still be a while before Miles became colder.

It wasn't like Miles wasn't affected by the cold water. Aside from the constant Ice Resistance notices, every couple minutes or so his stamina would decrease by moving about in the lake.

[Current Stamina: 90/110]

Only a few moments passed as Miles swam around, but his stamina already decreased by ten!

'Would I even last an hour if I continue doing this?', Miles wondered. At least his body was a lot cleaner now, and the bloody stench dampened greatly. His nostrils weren't being assaulted by a strong stench anymore. Instead, Miles felt the crisp air in the atmosphere. It felt very relaxing.

[Ding! Ice Resistance has risen to Level 5.]

Before Miles knew it, his Ice Resistance broke two levels in one go, reaching Level 5. He could now block up to 5% ice-type damage!

'Finding certain locations to level up skills like this is definitely the best way to go. I do have to be careful though. It already burned ten of my stamina to level Ice Resistance by three. The gain was nice, but I don't want my stamina to stoop too low.', Miles thought, taking another moment to enjoy his cold bath.

Seeing his stamina decrease by another two points, becoming 88, Miles decided it was time to wrap up his little swim. Still he did manage to swim around for a good fifteen to twenty minutes. He really didn't have to care about anything happening around him.

He was just a little fox swimming in a giant lake.

He no longer had any matters to attend to that a human would need.

He just had to focus on surviving here.

[Ding! Due to spending fifteen stamina, a new Skill has been created. [Swimming - Level 1 (0/100)] has been created.]

'Neat. I was wondering when that was going to show up.', Miles thought. He finally got his Swimming skill after spending some stamina here in the lake. If he increased it further, would he be able to swim across the entire lake before running out of stamina?

He saw that his stamina was 85 now. He had used more than what he originally started with after consuming that first Goose. 

'Let's take this a step further. I want to get a good look inside.', Miles decided.

Splash!

Miles dove directly into the lake, letting his paws do the carrying. He already started to feel some resistance, and couldn't go too deep yet. He didn't have the leg muscles he used to have. At least not now. He had much more mobility now. He could move very swiftly through the snow, but it was hard for Miles to try diving deeper into the lake.

Still, he could see several schools of fish swimming about in the higher depths of the lake. It was too dark to see the bottom, likely because of the descending sun.

[Ding! Ice Resistance has risen to Level 7.]

On top of creating the Swimming skill, his Ice Resistance rose all the way to Level 7 during this time. But it didn't stop there. He saw his stamina drop even further the more he tried to dive inside the lake, disturbing the different types of fish nearby.

[Ding! Due to Host spending another ten stamina, a new Skill Dive has been created. Dive - Level 1 (0/100)].

'Bingo.', Miles inwardly thought, becoming happy seeing both Swimming and Dive now in his Skill list. Miles adjusted it to where it listed all Passive Skills together, and all of his Attack Skills together. By doing that, it should be easier for Miles to scroll through his Skills list. It was still the beginning, but Miles was sure as time went on, this list would grow exponentially.

Thinking that, Miles knew it was time to resurface. He was pleasantly surprised Miles could hold his breath for a good few moments. He didn't feel any shortness of breath yet. But with his stamina now at 75, he didn't want to waste any more on this underwater venture.

Eventually, he'll come back here to hunt fish.

But for now, he could only remain on the surface until he improves his stamina to last longer in the water. Once he has a better grasp of both Swimming and Dive, he will definitely have an easier time here.

[Ding! Swimming has risen to Level 2.]

[Ding! Dive has risen to Level 2.]

[Ding! Ice Resistance has risen to Level 8.]

'Heh', Miles inwardly laughed as his furry head resurfaced the water. He didn't want to make too much noise. Doing some more doggy paddle motions, Miles quickly made his way back to the ice.

Now it would be a lot easier for Miles if there wasn't a large stretch of ice before him, he could just waddle back toward the beach without issue. But this was winter now, and he had to exert himself to get back onto the ice. Thankfully he had claws. Miles debated whether or not to use his Innate Ability for this moment, but he decided against it. He wanted to see if his claws were enough.

Thankfully they were. By exerting another couple points of stamina, he successfully climbed back onto the ice, dripping wet.

The Geese that were in the distance were now out of sight, and the flock left entirely.

But Miles spotted the sole Level 3 Goose still snoozing away. Even his short venture didn't disturb the Goose, creating the opportune time for him now.

Miles took this next moment to shake off all the water that was still dripping over his fur, making it glossy again. It no longer contained any red spots or was dirtied with sand. If he had a close look at the spot he just got out of, the lake was dyed a little red.

But now, Miles began to think of his plan of attack to take this delicious-looking Goose back with him to where he would make his first Den.

[Current Stamina: 73/100.]