I can evolve everything

The journey back to the northern fortress was not particularly dull; the sound of horses' hooves striking the frozen ground was like a monotonous yet reassuring drumbeat.

The wind and snow subsided slightly, but the thick gray clouds still pressed the sky low.

Karen, riding her warhorse, was originally at the front of the procession, but somehow fell a few steps behind and rode alongside Renn.

The old knight's armor was covered in snow, but he didn't seem to care. He just turned his head from time to time to scrutinize Renn's entire body.

"In the battle just now, especially taking the charge from the gnolls," Karen suddenly spoke, her voice mingling with the sound of horses' hooves clattering in the snow, making it sound somewhat ethereal, "you seem to have gained a lot of strength, and your body is more stable."

Ryan loosened his grip on the reins slightly, allowing Rye and Karen's horses to run side by side.

"Yes, Sir Karen." Facing his teacher, Ryan naturally wouldn't deny his own growth. "At that moment, I felt that if I didn't take the hit head-on, I would lose my balance by dodging. Also, I've been practicing breathing techniques recently, and I feel that my bones are becoming more and more flexible, but also much more resilient."

"loose?"

Karen repeated the word, then her face relaxed considerably, revealing a meaningful smile.

"It's an interesting point. Most people at this stage only think about how to practice breathing techniques and try their best to improve their muscles, but they forget that the bones are the conductors of power."

The old knight raised his hand and gestured in the air.

"Muscles are the string, and bones are the bow. No matter how tightly the string is stretched, if the bow is not strong enough, the arrow will be soft."

At this point, Karen glanced at Ryan again.

"It seems you've already reached the threshold of the second stage in the 'Black Rock Breathing Technique.' Much faster than I expected."

Renn remained silent, only bowing his head slightly in humility.

He knew that giving too many explanations in front of Karen would only make him seem hypocritical.

"Don't be arrogant." Karen tightened her grip on the reins again. "Although you've progressed quickly, I've seen many more geniuses who mastered breathing techniques even faster than you, but most of them later..."

Karen paused here, not continuing, and then started talking about Ryan.

"You're only just beginning. You have a long way to go to make your bones as hard as steel, yet as flexible as a bow. As for the warg king you mentioned before..."

Upon hearing this word, Ryan's heart skipped a beat.

"...That kind of thing is not something you can touch right now." Karen's voice turned colder. "Don't let greed blind you. The roles of hunter and prey can switch at any moment on the wasteland."

"I understand," Ryan replied calmly.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

By the time they returned to the northern fortress, it was nearly night.

As the giant winch slowly turned, the city gate slammed shut, shutting out the cold winds of the wasteland.

The fortress was still brightly lit.

Valen led the soldiers to the quartermaster to deal with the spoils of war, while Ella, complaining about the gnoll blood on her, hurriedly ran to the bathhouse—her last act of defiance as a half-elf.

Ryan didn't go to any of their places to join in the fun.

He returned to his stone house, closed the door behind him, shutting out the noise.

It was cold inside; the embers in the fireplace had long since gone out.

Renn did not rush to start a fire.

He sat on the bed, unfastened the long sword from his waist, took out a piece of linen cloth, and began to slowly wipe the blade.

The blade seemed to have become a bit duller because of Renn's brutal fight today.

"This is the price."

Ryan's fingers traced the metal.

Although today's battle seemed like a one-sided crushing victory for him, Renn actually put in a lot of effort.

He recalled that strand of silvery-white hair.

[The Dire Wolf King].

Once you kill it and obtain its fangs and mithril powder, you can meet the conditions for evolving that strange sphere and also find out what that so-called anchor point is.

Ryan's Adam's apple bobbed.

But he stopped thinking about it.

"It's not the right time yet."

He said to himself.

That warg king could drive a pack of ferocious gnolls into fleeing like stray dogs, so its strength was definitely above that of ordinary monsters. This, combined with Sir Karen's ambiguous words today, further demonstrates its power.

Renn guessed that this thing was at least as strong as a formal knight.

Right now, he might be able to withstand it for a second or two with the [force-dissipating amplitude], but he definitely can't kill it.

"Only the living hunters are entitled to enjoy the spoils."

Rein composed himself, sheathed his longsword, and placed it beside his pillow.

Then, he closed his eyes and sat cross-legged.

His breathing gradually became long and heavy.

breathe--

Darkness descended, and consciousness sank.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already standing in that misty corridor.

A thick fog hung in the air, and most of the walls on both sides remained blurred.

Raine walked to his own wall and first looked at his current basic attributes.

Name: Ryan Wilder

Race: Human

【Occupation: Knight (Apprentice)】

[Level: 4]

Strength: 15+2

Agility: 12+1

[Constitution: 16+2]

【Intelligence: 13】

【Perception: 12】

【Charm: 13】

After completing the skeletal evolution, Renn's strength and physique improved to another level. Renn silently reflected on his feelings during the battle this morning and nodded with some satisfaction.

Then Renn looked at his skill panel:

【skill:】

[Gambling Skills (Proficient)], [Street Fighting (Beginner)], [Knight's Basic Swordsmanship (Beginner): Iron Wall Stance, Straight Slash (Proficient), Half-Step Crushing Sword (Beginner)], [Black Rock Breathing Technique: Heart Chapter, Skeleton Chapter]

Raine glanced around. These past few days, he had been training with the soldiers from the North, and his straight slashes had become increasingly proficient. He had also officially mastered the half-step collapsing sword technique taught by Karen. It seemed that everything was developing in a good direction.

There was only one thing that made Renn frown slightly: when he first transmigrated, his gambling skills were at the "proficient" level, but now they had been downgraded to "skilled".

He tried his best to recall the original owner's gambling skills, which were almost always successful in casinos.

As expected, after several months of transmigrating, Renn hadn't touched gambling at all, and he felt that his memories of that part were much more hazy than when he first transmigrated. This was reflected in his skills, meaning that his proficiency level in [Gambling Skills] had decreased somewhat.

However, Renn didn't dwell on this point; gambling skills were really not very useful to him right now.

Raine turned his attention to the important matter of entering the corridor.

On the wall, the writing about the "Skeletal System" had solidified. Beside it, the area belonging to the "Organs System" remained gray.

This is the direction that Raine plans to take in the next step of evolving his breathing technique.