Upgrades!

{Raven's POV}

=====

[STATUS]

Name:Alec Osmond

Rank:D-

Mana Control:D+

Strength:D

Agility:D

Stamina:D

Intelligence:D

Luck:D-

Charm:D+

[SKILLS]

-Makes you calmer.

-Boost your thinking capabilities while activated.

-Travel in any direction immediately.

-20 meters range.

[TRAITS]

-Obtain memories from your past life.

-Obtained from the past life.

-Makes your body compatible with mana so you can use magic better.

-Increase your strength against anything 'evil'.

=====

[STATUS]

Name:Curtis Hawkins

Rank:E+

Mana Control:E+

Strength:E+

Agility:D-

Stamina:E+

Intelligence:D-

Luck:E+

Charm:D+

[SKILLS]

-Wounds inflected to an opponent will continuously bleed for 30 seconds.

-Passive skill.

-Increase your speed by 80% for 1 minute.

-Cooldown 30 seconds.

[TRAITS]

-Makes anything about swords easy for you to grasp.

-Makes you let out an aura and presence of a noble.

-As long as you remain unwavering and proud, increase your strength by 10%.

=====

'Alec and Curtis...'

I'm looking at Alec's and Curtis's stats that the system recorded earlier. It's the same as what I remember in my novel.

"They're strong."

I muttered while lying on the bed in my dorm. I'm still nothing compared to them.

They're ranked 1st and 2nd respectively to all freshmen in Lunar Academy after all...

"And their damn charm is way higher than mine."

I grumbled, still looking at the status windows projected in the air.

Anyway, the classes on the first day finished smoothly after the bullying event. We pretty much did nothing as today was just for us freshmen to be familiar with the academy.

So after explaining some things to us, Sir Kendy gave us our dorm number and dismissed us.

There are 3000 freshmen and there's a student ranking to determine our dorms...

Our rank was based on our grade from the qualification test we took before enrolling.

My rank is 2619, which is bad, so my dorm is pretty small.

All the main characters are within rank 10 so they have a hundred times better dorms than mine.

The academy does this so that the students will have a reason to do better and aim higher in the rankings...

This is working because now I'm willing to perform better to have a better room and benefits in the academy.

Anyway, I already checked all the main characters' stats...

Alec is rank.

Curtis and Eve are rank.

And lastly, Adelle and Aoi are rank...

Their ranks are all way higher than mine, but I'm not the weakest in the class at least.

Well... I'm supposed to be the weakest, but I ranked up twice.

Now, back to the protagonist, Alec...

Well, he's a reincarnator.

He regained his memories of his past life along with the when he was 14 years old.

And in his past life, Alec was a 7th-tier magician!

Anyway, the demons also invaded their world, and he died fighting one of the strongest demons...

Then, using a sword until he regained memories of his past life, Alec chose to keep using it as he had a talent for it too, so he became a magic swordsman...

Alec deliberately aimed at the top 1 position in the freshmen ranking to earn a scholarship in Lunar.

Well, he just actually needs to be in the top 10 to get a scholarship, but he decided to do his best to make his parents proud...

...

...

"Now what?"

I asked myself after recalling some of the novel's information.

'My actions are all in a mess.'

I darted here and there without any clear goal.

Just... Trying to get a but more stronger before attending the academy.

But now that I'm here...

"Should I involve myself in the story or just let it proceed as in the novel?"

I asked myself.

I've been wondering about this ever since I woke up in this world last month...

I do have a lot of time to think about it, but coming out with a clear answer is difficult.

[The latter is impossible, you already alternated some happenings and the Transcend Beings will likely interfere with the story.]

The system said to me, and I nodded in agreement.

'Those shits wouldn't let me live peacefully, they'll find it boring.'

Well...

"I already plan to help in some scenarios anyway..."

'But what should I do till then?'

I asked.

[Why don't you train seriously? Your fighting style is a mess and your body is weak. In this case, you'll be just a dead weight to them rather than help.]

And the system responded.

"Right."

Its words hurt, but they're true...

Anyway, after that, I took out something from my spatial storage.

=====

x3

-Upgrade an item.

=====

These scrolls are one of the rewards I got from killing the King Wolf...

Their descriptions are rather simple and vague, but these scrolls are rare and their effect is good enough to make a simple knife as sharp as a sword, or even better!

"Should I sell these?"

I contemplated while looking at the 3 scrolls...

I remember a single scroll being worth 5 million Zeals or more.

'With that amount of money, I can buy a lot of things that will make me stronger.'

But... It's hard to find these because you can only get them naturally as a reward from dungeons.

[But you can buy it in the System shop.]

The system then read my thoughts and said.

Its words made my eyes widen as my head quickly snapped in its direction.

"Really?"

I asked with twinkling eyes.

I was excited because I could earn a lot of money from it.

[Yeah, it cost 1000 CP each.]

But at the system's words, my joy turned into a frown real quick.

I gained a lot of attention by being a novel author and the events earlier in the class, but when I checked my CP balance...

I only have 350 CP. The 300 of that is even from the 2500 CP I got as a reward for killing the King Wolf!

I ignored the system and looked back at the scrolls, dejected.

"Anyway, where should I use this."

I have 3 scrolls. Using it on the gun I got from the academy will be stupid as I plan to get more powerful weapons soon.

Using it in a bullet would be the most stupidest thing I can do.

So removing the stupid choices, I'm now down with 2 items...

The [Ring of Gluttony] and the [Cat's Earring].

But I got 3 scrolls, so I decided...

"I'm gonna upgrade both and save the last one for the weapon I'll have in the future."

Also, I can just buy another one from the System Shop. I just need to save up enough CP...

So with that in mind, I unrolled the 2 scrolls and tore them...

The scrolls are connected to the thoughts of its user, so it knows what items I want to upgrade.

Soon after that...

Lights covered the [Ring of Gluttony] and [Cat's Earring].

It's blinding, but it doesn't harm my eyes...

And after a while, the lights then disappeared.

[Upgrade was successful]

[Upgrade was successful]

Then the system announced the success of the upgrade.

Though it's good news, It made me frown...

Why?

"Can upgrading items fail?"

I asked. I didn't write that in the novel, it was supposed to be always a success!

[Yes, things like upgrading or ranking up using items can be unsuccessful sometimes.]

The system replied, making my fear come true.

"Why?"

I asked again.

[The Higher Being said it's to maintain a certain balance.]

I'm still confused, but I didn't pry about it any longer, I wouldn't get a straight answer anyway.

'So there's a chance I will lose millions of Zeals or a thousand CP for nothing.'

That's gonna be frustrating.

As I thought of that...

[Your Luck stat is pretty high, so you will always have a high success rate in these things.]

The system said, and it made me feel a bit better.

"That's good."

Luck stat is naturally for training, for example, if you do training enough to increase your stamina by 1, but you have high luck, there's a high chance of gaining 2 stamina or more instead of just 1.

"So now the luck stat has a new function."

That Higher Being sure is changing many things...

"Anyway, system, show me the new functions of the items I upgraded."

I'm curious about the result as the [Ring of Gluttony] didn't get upgraded in my novel, and the [Cat's earring] doesn't even exist in the original story.

[Just the new features?]

"Yeah."

'It'll be just the same anyway, except for the new features added.'

I thought.

[Okay.]

Then after that...

2 windows appeared in front of me.

=====

[Cat's earring]

-New unique skill .

-Partially transform any part of your body into a cat's body part.

-Consumes mana continuously while activated.

=====

My eyes widened after seeing the new function of the [Cat's Earring], then thinking for a while about how I could use it... A smile appeared on my face.

Cats are good at detecting movement in low light, they have an acute sense of hearing and smell and can see well in the dark.

This skill is more useful than it seems.

So with that...

I tried using the skill on my fingernails.

Then after that, my nails grew 1 inch long and they looked like cat's claws!

I then tried channeling mana in it...

"Woah..."

And the result made me let out a voice of admiration unconsciously!

'This can be useful in close combat.'

I thought.

I still don't know how to imbue mana into weapons, but this can be an alternative.

After that, I transformed my eyes into a cat's.

I thought I'd be nearsighted as cats are nearsighted, but my vision remained the same...

No, It was even better!

I can see well in the dark and motions seem to slow down for a bit...

Looking at a mirror, the white or sclera of my eyes turned gray and the centers turned vertical.

It is said that cats' eyes are suitable for hunting...

"This will be fun."

I thought with a grin on my face.

...

Anyway...

After playing with the skill for a bit more, I checked the new function added to the [Ring of Gluttony].

=====

[Ring of Gluttony]

-Summon an animal familiar.

-The summoner will be the master of the familiar even if the ring-wearer changes.

-Can share senses with your familiar.

-Appearance of the familiar will be based on the wearer's favorite animal.

=====

"What?"

I read the description of the new function in the ring again...

"A familiar."

Then my heart started beating faster after reading that again.

I always wanted a pet but don't know what to get...

I thought of taming beasts, but I can't do that at the moment, not just because of money, but there are more factors I lack to be able to tame a beast.

"It will be my favorite animal, right?"

That option caught my attention too. I don't even know what my favorite animal is...

I'm getting swept by a dog person's and cat person's words that even I got confused about what I really want between the two.

I've been lonely this past month. My parents always message me, but I'm still pretty awkward towards them and I still haven't met them in person yet...

"And this system doesn't even talk if I don't initiate the conversation. It even read my thoughts so talking to it is pointless, it doesn't even have a physical body."

I mumbled.

[I don't want to talk to you that much too.]

It's also rude and annoying.

So, without waiting any longer I tried summoning a familiar...

'.'

And just as I thought of that, my mouth unconsciously opened...

"!"

And my voice came out on its own!

It's like I need to call something out from the ring...

It's embarrassing. I still feel myself cringing, luckily no one's here with me...

[Ew, cringe.]

Except for the system.

'Shut up!'

Then after that, white smoke erupted from the ring.

"White?"

I got confused as the ring always produces black things...

Then after that, the smoke started to materialize.

"Why is it so small?"

The smoke formed a ball-like shape as big as my fist.

And when it was done...

I looked at what the smoke turned into.

It wasn't a cat or a dog...

-Kyu?

It's a pure white cotton-like bird that tweeted while tilting its head!

Its tweeting sound is weird, but I ignored it...

Anyway, I recognize what kind of bird is it.

It's a Shima Enaga.

A bird species that I like and can't forget about because of its cuteness!

-Kyu! Kyu!

The bird then flew toward me and I watched it do it...

'Cute.'

I unconsciously thought.

***

Sitting on my bed while leaning on the wall and a cute white cotton-like bird thing is standing on my right shoulder...

"Why is it white? And do I like cute things?"

I asked myself, looking at the cotton bird on my shoulder...

I'm pretty convinced myself that I like cool things more than cute things.

So at least I thought it's gonna be a wolf...

-Kyu?

The cotton tweeted, looking at me...

'It's really cute though.'

"Argh! Whatever!"

I didn't dislike the outcome, in fact, I liked it.

It says in the description earlier that I can share its senses.

'So in a sense, I can literally have a bird view.'

Observing things from a high place is a huge advantage for me in many ways. I can even use it to scout!

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

I asked the cotton, but it just tilted its head to me as if asking what am I talking about...

[It's a girl.]

The system answered on its stead.

"Are you sure?"

I asked.

[I appraised it. Here have a look.]

Then after that, information about the cotton appeared in a status window form.

=====

[STATUS]

Name:(Female)

Rank:F-

Intelligence:F

[SKILLS]

[TRAITS]

-Ranking up is possible.

-Can use the skills of the ring like the wearer.

=====

The cotton has its own rank and intelligence?!

It's the lowest rank, but with its trait , ranking up is possible!

It can also use the [Ring of Gluttony]'s skills, I don't know where should I use that, but maybe in the future, it can be useful!

'It even has a stealth skill...'

That skill is common as you can buy it for about 10,000 Zeals. But having it from the start is like having free 10,000 Zeals, right?

"Ah! The name."

I exclaimed as I noticed its name. She has no name.

"What should I name her?"

I don't like flashy and long names. I just want a simple one, but I still need to think about it.

And with the help of my traits, I found the perfect name for this adorable creature...

"Shima Enaga originated from Hokkaido, Japan. Its white fur reminds me of snow, it's also a girl..."

I listed what I took into consideration and used my taste to come up with a name for her...

"I'll name you Yuki."

It may sound very human for an animal, but based on the system earlier. She can gain intelligence on par with humans.

Naming her with an animal name feels wrong.

I also thought of just naming her 'Cotton', but she might hate me in the future for it...

-Kyu! Kyu!

It also looks like she likes her new name.

With me connecting with Yuki's senses, I can feel her emotions as well.

The corner of my lips rose as I could feel her being comfortable with me.

Then, I looked at the time...

Having all these weird events since morning and also all the training that I did...

I'm already pretty exhausted.

"Haaa..."

I yawned.

Then I placed Yuki beside me and lay down on the bed.

And not long after, I fell asleep...

And with that, my first day in the academy came to an end.

=====

*The Shima Enaga is a subspecies of the long-tailed bushtit. They are also known as the silver-throated tit or silver-throated dasher. They are tiny birds (12-16 cm in length, including their tail at 7-9 cm.)