7 End Of Year One.

A large amount of oxygen was expelled from my nostrils as I tried pacing my breath..… It was something I tried learning recently. Using my forearm, I wiped the sweat off my forehead. It would be nice if I had a towel or at least some other type of cloth, but since I was living in a cave in who knows where, For now, I didn't really have access to those kinds of things.

I moved towards the area where the nest was located. Nearing one of the walls I brought my arm forward and carved a line into the wall. The action left a deep mark in the hard stone. Looking closely, There were hundreds of such marks.

I started counting the days long ago..... I needed to keep track of time. So I just started adding marks to the wall every day when mother would go out for food. It's been just over a year since my reincarnation here. 

During the last 12 months, I've discovered a number of interesting things. The strangest thing is that I don't need to use the bathroom. I just realized it one day. The reason I didn't find out immediately was because I just never needed to go. It was probably converted into energy. I do drink though. But only a small amount is needed. I'm kind of like a camel in that sense. I can go for very long periods of time without drinking anything. Although none of this information is particularly important. Yet at the same time, it doesn't hurt to know..

There are a number of other things I've done and learned during the last year.

'Info Page'

After muttering the words the black page once again appeared in front of me.

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[Lucus(Old name)]/[Setherrog Bal(New name)] Lv1

HP: 540/543+

SP: 800/1200+

MP: 100/100

Race: Dremora/Deathclaw

Type: Molag Bal

Title: Child Deathclaw

Location: FalloutVerse/Wasteland

Primary Job: N/A

Secondary Job: N/A

Skills: Scratch[1], Bite[1], Glare[1], Hiss[1], Tail whip[1], Dig[13], Sprint[15], Jump[15], Tear[1], Shape[5], Carve[8]

Traits: Intimidation[2], Bloodthirst[1], Radiation Immunity[Max], High magic resistance[1], Strong hide[2], Mind Link[3].

State: Healthy, Physically fit, Child.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Over the months my status has increased drastically. But one of my earlier assumptions has unfortunately come to pass. It seems I can't just endlessly grind out stats. As time passed, the amount of stats I got per exercise decreased over the course of the year. The same exercise from a year ago won't even increase my numbers any more. In order for me to get even a quarter of that increase, I'd have to do about 5 times the original exercise at the very least and even then, the gains were meager in comparison to what I used to get.. Regardless, I've been persisting nonetheless. I wanna be as strong as possible before I start increasing my level... Giving up just because the training results decreased or because it was hard never even crossed my mind… Instead I made it a routine. And due-to that persistence, I was still able to rack up a decent amount of stats. Unfortunately, the rate of growth is going to keep getting slower and slower as time passes. Still even with the reduced training results I will continue gaining strength as my body matures. 

It's impossible to imagine how strong I may become…. That doesn't even take into consideration how my future skills may augment my power.

Speaking of skills.

The skills Scratch[1], Bite[1], Glare[1], Hiss[1], Tail whip[1] and Tear[1] Haven't increased whatsoever… This is because they are combat-related skills and I need to be in combat to cultivate them… Simple as that. I received the tear skill from tearing the meat off my food enough times. Now for the other skills that I've gained… These ones have even managed to level up. Dig[13], Sprint[15] Jump[15], Shape[5] and Carve[8]. These are skills I've gained after doing certain actions repetitively over the course of an extended period of time.

In the corner of the room was a collection of fist sized rocks. Grabbing the stone at the top of the pile I closely inspected it. 

'I've gotten quite good over the past year.'

In my hand was a small version of myself. Only the head though. In my spare time I've increased my shaping and carving skills by making these little sculptures… Some might think it was a waste of time… and it was, to an extent, After all, I'm not a machine. I need to be able to relax and have fun sometimes. So whenever I found I had some free time I tried entertaining myself with this. After a year passed the skills Shape and carve became level 5 and 8 respectfully. 

The next skill was Dig.

I dug out a large part of the cave we lived in. 

Although the skill may seem pointless. It was probably one of my most valuable ones. There is no such thing as heavy machinery in the wasteland. The ability to dig at incredible speeds is in itself a huge advantage.

I added sides to our cave. I even made it large enough for Snow to fit through the entrance without any problems. Just this took two months of work, but as the skill levels grew both the speed I dug at, as well as the efficiency increased. The new additions were about 7 cubic meters in size. It was big enough to comfortably hold the both of us. It was also enough for my digging skill to reach level 15.

Next is Jump[15] and Sprint[15]..... These are pretty self-explanatory. I gained these skills after exercising a lot. It seems that non combat skills take longer to unlock… I remember unlocking the Tailwhip after the first training session but Jump and Sprint took about 2 weeks of exercise before I acquired them.

Then there's my racial traits. Intimidation[2], Strong hide[2], and Mind Link[3] have all leveled up. I believe intimidation and strong hide Leveled up due to my growth. As for My Mind Link trait, well, I try to chat with my mother as often as possible. So the EXP slowly built up over the year and the trait naturally reached level 3.

Lastly, there's my current state. It's been a long time since the slightly premature status has disappeared… and it was even upgraded to Healthy.

The rest is self explanatory.

'Recalling everything. That's pretty much how my status has evolved over the last year. I've done a decent job so far.'

Nodding to myself, I closed the info page and entered our side cave. Immediately I looked towards mother. She was in the middle of the room staring back at me.

'I'm done, mother.'

'Mmh. Yes, Setherrog…. Are you ready for trip outside?'

Her language skills had vastly improved over the year... I responded almost immediately to her question.

'No mother. I finished playing, I'll need some rest before I'm ready.'

Saying so, I climbed into the nest and used her large arm as a pillow.

'Mmh'

It's been a few months since I gave mother as well as myself our names. Although Lucus is a good name, This is a new life. So I don't want to be held down by my past. What's more, having others refer to me as Lucus just doesn't sound right, It doesn't fit very well with my current appearance.

I would have let mother name me, but she didn't really understand the concept of 'name' quite yet. And I didn't want to end up being called 'Young meat' or something. So I took it upon myself to name the both of us.

After that, I had a lengthy internal debate, I decided to give myself a name fitting my appearance. Something strong… But not used…. It had to be original. A long time passed before I pieced together a couple of syllables…. Setherrog Bal. It really rolled off the tongue. Intimidating, powerful and even a bit otherworldly. It will do… 

As for the name I gave my mother, I made sure it was short, simple and easy for her to understand. It was simply Snow. Easy to remember. Of course, I still call her mother but I also refer to her as her name so she doesn't forget it. After all, We are not savage beasts. We're intelligent… I won't allow us to be referred to as 'just that Deathclaw'…. 

Well, It's unlikely that we'll run into people anytime soon… Why? Well because over the last year Snow has never once brought humans back from her hunt. So with that and a couple other things, I came to the conclusion that there must be no humans nearby. That's a good thing for now. It means I can leave the cave today without worrying about settlements, or worse, the Brotherhood Of Steel discovering our presence.

Once I my stamina regenerated, Mother and I would be leaving the cave for a while. It'll be my first step outside in this life. I would be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive. Who knows what could happen out there. I mean what will happen if we run into another Deathclaw? Will it ignore us? Attack us? And what about other mutated animals? There have been times in the past year when mother would come home with injuries. Some worse than others. 

My death isn't impossible, On the contrary, I could just be walking near a car then BOOM, I'm dead. 

Although I have much higher health than an average human. I'm still very killable. My hide is still at a low level. Heck even if 5 normal people with somewhat powerful guns fought against me. I don't know if I'd come out on top or not. This isn't a game after all. I also have no battle experience.

I quickly shake my head causing Snow to change her position slightly.

'I can't see the future so all these scenarios are just that. Scenarios. I just have to stay sharp and be careful.'

With that, I wait for my stamina to go back up in silence.

End Of Chapter 6