Idalia crouched again, tail swishing. The first Particle had gone to STR. Easy. Strong made sense. Harder, faster, teeth snapping and her body knew strength.
But Willpower… WIL… what exactly was that? Her ears twitched in enthusiastic anticipation. Her chest felt tight as her thoughts began to swirl with a sudden fuzziness.
[28]. She pawed at the floating number like it was a twitching insect. "Ugh… okay. Will… Willpower!"
[Confirm: Distribute 1 Pure Particle to WIL?]
Yes, Idalia thought, confirm!
[Confirmed]
Her head buzzed. Warmth curled through her skull like a river of fire. She staggered, shaking her paws at her ears.
"Gah! Huh—what—!"
The chart updated:
| WIL (Willpower): 8 → 9 |
[Particles to Distrubute] = {28} → {27}]
Her chest heaved. Thoughts jumbled like leaves in a storm. Images of roaring, chasing, smelling prey, even Papa's face, flashed too fast. She tried to focus, but her mind splintered across dozens of tiny, buzzing threads.
"It… it tickles my head!" she winced, hopping back and swiping at the air. "I don't like this one! I want STR!"
Lyrawinn noticed her frantic movements, peering up from the fallen hadrosaur. "Is everything okay, Ida? You're floundering like a fish."
"Fish?!" How insulting! But Idalia licked her chops, recalling how she hadn't eaten one of those tasty, wet creatures in quite a while. Most Liorexes simply chose not to hunt near the shores.
"Yep!" She lied, hiding her embarrassment behind laughter. "All good, just uh, practicing my bug-catching hops."
Upon that answer, Lyrawinn did not seem impressed nor fooled. But relief bloomed in Idalia's chest as the Liorex returned to chewing on her meal.
Just as Idalia relaxed, a faint echo floated in her mind, like her own voice, but smarter, colder and far too detached.
"Play… learn… adapt…"
Her fur bristled. "Cheater!" she muttered, but a small ember of joy pulsed like a wave inside her. Even though the boost was confusing and dizzying—it worked! She changed. The sensation could be described as her carnivorous belly expanding, making room for more food.
But it was invisible, internal, almost like the pull of the Phantom Carnotaurs' dread.
She wanted to feel that again. This tug of the WIL.
Again, she demanded without speaking, but with a focused intent. Silence became necessary. She couldn't let Lyrawinn think she was strange, could she?
Once more her willpower went up another notch:
| WIL (Willpower): 10 → 11 |
[Particles to Distrubute] = {27} → {26}]
That reminded her that WIL worked differently. But how? She then recalled WIL did something to her mental willpower and mana reser~vole stuff.
[Knowledge Core [e]: 33 → 36%]
But what were those things that she didn't truly understand yet? Idalia's brows strained to break down the vague concepts swirling around her head. Like a blur of colors stuck in a wild whirlwind.
Suddenly, the echo from before seeped back into her consciousness: "Play… learn… adapt…"
Her curiosity sharpened, she took a deep breath, narrowing her gaze as if trying to focus her instincts on prey. "Maybe… it's about controlling my mind? Using it to make myself stronger?"
More WIL, she mindfully gave the mental image of feeding the mystery power another chance. As if reacting to her thoughts, the chart flickered again:
| WIL: 11 → 12 |
[Particles to Distrubute] = {26} → {25}]
But she took a different approach. She caught the sparkles with [Spatial Sight]. This time, she noticed the faint glimmer that grew ever so slightly within her chest; a big, round circle like the moon, but much smaller and almost as bright. Then it clicked: warm, brilliant, and heavy.
WIL was within her. It was something that must've connected to her energy. The one stored inside. If she wanted more then she needed to raise it!
[Knowledge Core [e]: 36 → 56%]
Woah, why did the knowledge go up so much? Did WIL have a secret of its own? She imagined all the places she could explore or the prey she could outsmart, all if she had more WIL!
"Okay, okay," she murmured. "I can do this."
If she focused hard enough, she could almost see the strands of willpower weaving through her thoughts.
It felt like the threads of the web a spider spun. With every increase, she felt sharper, keener. If WIL was about control and energy, then— Then she needed to learn what it meant to control that energy in return!
One more! she thought. In an instinctual dance, she pulled deeply from that mental reservoir without hesitation.
| WIL: 12 → 13 |
[Particles to Distribute] = {25} → {24}]
The sensation was exhilarating. It was more than just warm; it was a blazing wildfire igniting her thoughts.
Suddenly, visions flickered in her mind. They were slightly dim, blurry but the memories of her previous hunts, the exhilaration of a leap, the focus required to pounce. She could actually see how decisions flashed before her: what routes to take, how to deceive prey, when to be still.
"Wait!" she exclaimed, her voice spilling out of her like a bright stream. "Does WIL help me think better too?" The thought sent ripples of delight through her. Maybe this was what they meant by having control—taking charge of her own strength, of her own mind. She imagined herself standing tall among a pack, leading the charge.
"Okay. Willpower is... like guiding my own instincts," she murmured, trying to place her burgeoning understanding into words. "To make decisions, to adapt when I need to… yeah?"
Idalia crouched low, tail twitching, eyes locked on the floating [Particles to Distribute]. [24] left.
She had tasted STR once, but now the others waited in tentative silence, each feeling stranger than the last. This was so much fun!
But strength couldn't be less than her WIL. That didn't make sense for a Liorex. So she did what any self-respecting Liorex would do.
She mentally mashed particles into STR. Just a few. Few meant nine right?
| STR: 12 → 21 |
[Particles to Distribute] = {24} → {15}]
Like a jolt of lightning and fire burning through her veins, it felt as though she had slurped up lava. The heat of explosive growth surged within her, exhilarated by an amazing mix of adrenaline and strength. Idalia recognized this feeling all too well and she could feel it in every fiber of her muscles.
She peered at the thin screen again. The one with her leftover Power Particles.
Then her gaze went back to her other stat values.
???
[Idalia's Stats]
(Development: Lv 2)
[Raw Values]
STR: 21 [+10]
DEF: 10
FPWR: 13
WIL: 13 [+4]
RES: 10
SPD: 8
??? ??? ???
Okay, what's next?
"Okay… hmm… maybe [3] to Defense? Three sounds like tree." she whispered, pawing the air. "Then [3] to Speed."
[Confirm: Distribute 3 Pure Particles to DEF?]
[Confirmed]
| DEF: 10 → 13 |
[Particles to Distribute] = {15} → {12}
[Confirm: Distribute 3 Pure Particles to SPD?]
[Confirmed]
| SPD: 8 → 11 |
First, she felt a sudden rush of calm warmth roll through her legs, skin, and shoulders like a second layer of scales. Next, her paws tingled, almost as if they were lighter. She hopped, testing the sensation, grinning.
"Yes! I can jump higher!" she yowled, tail flicking in delight. "This is… fantastic!"
She rolled onto her paws, then nuzzled Lyrawinn's side. Hoping that the older Liorex girl would take her further out for a hunt through the fields.
Stuffy-faced Lyrawinn side-eyed her, swallowing another chunk of her meal.
"You want to head out again, don't you? Fine, Ida. But stay close to my side."
"Got it! Can we try for a razorback?!"
Lyrawinn almost choked on her own lump of food in her throat. "You mean the Thorn Stegosaurs? Well… luckily for you, I excel at Stego hunting. Better than Hirohowl," she added the last bit with a wink.
Idalia's ears perked so hard they nearly flipped backward. Better than Hirohowl? Better than the almighty pride-bragger, scar-nosed, ego-tower Hirohowl? Her chest puffed with the speed of a thousand heartbeats. Yes. Yes! A thousand times yes!
"Then let's do it! Let's go right now, right this instant, before Hirohowl even breathes!" she squeaked, bouncing circles around Lyrawinn like a furry whirlwind. "I'll be your shadow, your claw, your—your battle-echo! We'll hunt the razorbacks and come back with tails for everyone's faces!"
Lyrawinn calmly licked her paw, unshaken by the cub-tornado buzzing around her. "Ida, razorbacks aren't like hadrosaurs. They are dangerous. Their tails can impale. Their armor can break bone."
"Good!" Idalia chirped, practically vibrating out of her skin. "That means when we beat one, I'll grow twice as strong! Triple! Quadruple! I'll level up so hard my claws will sparkle like Papa's eyes when he—" She stopped, words tripping into silence. Her throat squeezed.
Lyrawinn's gaze softened instantly. She nudged Idalia with her muzzle. "Then you'll sparkle for him. Yes?"
Idalia sniffed, ears drooping, but then she grinned. "Yes! Sparkle for Papa. He'll look down from the rift and go, 'Whoa, that's my kit, the coolest kit ever, munching razorbacks like berries!'"
Lyrawinn chuckled, then rose to her feet. "Very well. We'll track one. But you must listen. When I say stop, you stop. When I say run, you run. No heroic leaps. No chasing tails. Understood?"
"Understood! Scout's honor! Hunter's oath! Pinky claw-swear!" Idalia thumped her paw against her chest so hard she wheezed. "I'll be the stealthiest, deadliest, most obedient shadow you've ever had!"
She wasn't, of course. Two blinks later, she tripped over a root and face-planted into the dirt with a squeal. But she popped up again instantly, twigs dangling from her whiskers, tail lashing with renewed fire.
"See? Practicing! Face-stealth! Roots will never catch me again!"
Lyrawinn only sighed through her nose and padded onward, a faint smile tugging at her muzzle. Idalia bounded after her, full of buzzing, itching runes and wild promises. Razorbacks waited. Hunts waited. Strength and secrets waited. And Idalia oh, she was ready to devour them all.
Ida's Adventurous Alerts: Willpower? Oh no, I thought it said mind power!
Also brief story…
My cat somehow learned which box held the treats. One evening, she sat in front of it for twenty minutes straight, staring with pure concentration. Her whiskers twitched. Her pupils were huge. Then she stood up on her back legs, pressed her paw against the lid, and it slid open. She meowed once, proudly, as if she had just leveled up her own Willpower stat. I gave her extra treats afterwards.
Have a good one ^_^
