Waking Up

Mian groaned lowly as he stretched open his eyelids. He could feel a soft warmth against his side that clung tightly to him.

"Mian...? A small, but very familiar voice called out beside him. "Mian? You're awake?!" Flare jumped up beside Mian and placed his hands on Mian's scrunched up face.

Mian groaned again as he forced his vision to focus. He could make out Flare's grin through his blurry vision.

"Flare?" Slowly, ever so slowly, Mian got up into a sitting position and rubbed at his sore eyes. His memories began rushing back to him, arranging themselves in an order that he could understand.

He remembered joining the forest battle with around two hundred other demi-humans. He remembered slowly mowing through the opposition, and then, he remembered the power that flowed through him as he battled the human Pillar.

"We won..." He whispered as a small smile spread over his face, and his features warmed up. His bright blue eyes twinkled as he recalled the figure of Daven rushing toward him as he lost consciousness.

"Yeah, we did." Flare concurred from beside Mian with a grin of his own. "What exactly happened out there? Because some crazy stuff has been happening ever since you go back." He asked with a puzzled look.

"Hmm? How long have I been out? It feels like just a few hours." Mian scratched his neck, wondering how long he had been unconscious for.

[Welcome back, Host. You have been unconscious for three days and fourteen hours.]

Hana's voice popped into Mian's head with a surprising freshness to it.

'Oh, Hana!' Mian thought happily just as Flare gave his own answer.

"Um, I think you were unconscious for about three and a half days or so... I think." The little Werecat began counting on his fingers.

[Your Status is as follows:]

[Status]

Name: Mian

Race: Demi-human - Feline

Age: Nineteen

Health: Perfect

Energy: 920

Stamina: 720

Strength: 250

Agility: 300

Evolution Points: 99,999...

---

[User Pack Ranking]

Name: Mian

Rank: Middle Rank (High)

Rank Privilege: Enhanced Toxins, Minor Leadership Talent, Minor Mystic Force.

---

'Good Heavens... Middle Rank?! Minor Mystic Force?! Just how did these get here?!'

Mian could not help the shock he felt upon seeing his Status. He went from being a Lower Ranking pack member to being a Middle Ranking pack member that had a high status, even among the middle ranking members. That was just insane!

'Hana, how did this all happen?' He asked the only one who could know what was going on for some clarification.

[Host, during the battle with the bearer of the Greater Strength Gift, your body was under an immense amount of strain. Because of this, your body was constantly being enhanced and reinforced with Natural Energy in order to prevent it from collapsing on itself. Some of these enhancements have become permanent, thereby forcibly raising your ranking and power.]

'Wow...' He let out a deep sigh as he let her words sink in. It seemed handling such vast amounts of Natural Energy was incredibly hard.

Speaking about Natural Energy and Evolution Points, Mian could only gawk at the amount of Evolution Points he had. In fact, would he ever need to absorb any more points again? Surely, this much would be enough to propel him to the top of the world!

[By the way, Host.]

'Huh? What is it?'

[Because of the forceful raising of your rank and power, your body is currently unstable. Although your health is at its best, using more Evolution Points to boost your body in the short term might cause irreversible damage to you. Because of that, you will be unable to use Evolution Points to Evolve your body for the next year.]

'...What?! But-but-but!'

He had no words. In fact, he could not even think of any reason to protest. He had basically sealed off his ability to Evolve for the next year in order to keep his life.

Just as he was absorbed in his thoughts, the fur hide that covered the entrance to the room was pushed to the side. A petite white Werewolf stepped into the room with a bowl of food in her hands.

"Flare, food is read- oh! Mian, you're awake!" Kira's eyes widened upon seeing Mian awake. "Daven! Daven honey, come in here, Mian is awake!" She called to her mate as he hurriedly came beside the bed of furs and placed the bowl of food down.

"He's awake?" Daven's deep voice came a moment later as his large, gray form appeared by the doorway. He grinned a toothy grin when he saw Mian and Flare sitting together.

"Mian! How are you? You must be hungry." He made his way into the room before taking the spot beside Kira.

A memory came to Mian. The memory of Daven clutching a bloody gash that ran through his shoulder.

Mian's eyes unconsciously moved to the spot where the wound was, only to see pink, raised skin. Daven caught his eyes as he watched him.

"Ah, yes, we have something we need to talk about." A strange look passed over Daven's face. "But that can wait until you eat and refresh yourself." The patriarch grinned at the boy who had saved his life.

With that, the man got up and left the room. His hand unconsciously went to his shoulder where his recent injury was. Unknown to Mian and the others, a pained look crossed his face. In his heart, he truly hoped that Mian could repeat the incredible feat that he had done when he healed his shoulder. Because a friend truly needed such a miracle to help him heal, otherwise, the strength of the pack would never be as it was.