At dinner Kechara eats everything I give her and still seems hungry so I share my portion with her. After she eats the last bite she immediately falls asleep, I am about to move her to the hammock when I realize she is too big. If I put her in the hammock there will be no room for me, she is also too big for her nest now.

Deciding her comfort is more important I put her in the hammock then settle myself on the floor. Instead of trying to sleep on the floor I plan to meditate through the night, I should be less sore that way. First, I burn through my sacred power by working on my core.

Core Upgrade Progress: 70%

Only thirty percent left to go, that is about where I expected to be, so a few more days to rank up. Checking on Kechara one last time I notice she is almost too long for the hammock, tomorrow I should see about improving her nest. Then I close my eyes again and practice with my soulscape for the rest of the night.

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Soulscape has progressed to level 5!

Soulscape

Level: 5

Wis +25

You can create a detailed soulscape.

'It finally gained another level! It only took months of practice! I really wish there was a faster way to level it up, I want to explore the other realms!'

When I feel that it is morning I am about to work on my core when I feel something tickling my nose. Opening my eyes all I can see is Kechara's tail, it is hanging right in front of my nose and the feathers on it are what is tickling me. After pushing her tail back up onto the hammock I close my eyes and go back to working on my core.

Core Upgrade Progress: 74%

Only four percent this time, that is probably because my sacred power didn't refill as much as usual because I was practicing my soulscape. It seems everything I do slows down my progress with my core, I could probably have ranked up by now if I just meditated and worked on my core for a few days.

Opening my eyes I start stretching before I freeze upon seeing a strange movement. It is coming from above the hammock so I slowly stand up so I can see what is going on. There are four half formed wings slowly moving back and forth above Kechara's back.

What's more, she seems to have grown another foot overnight, this fast growth is starting to worry me. I know that some species grow to maturity very quickly, but Kechara's rate of growth seems to be too fast. Maybe I am feeding her too much or too often?

As if she can hear me thinking about putting her on a diet she snaps awake and looks at me. It almost looks like she is about to glare at me but then she notices her new wings and her eyes widen in surprise. She gets this cute look of concentration on her face and then her wings stop moving.

For the next few minutes as I watch she figures out how to control her wings. Once she manages to make them be still and lay along her back she climbs out of the hammock and over to the cold fire. She turns her head to look at me and makes this cute little mew sound as if asking where breakfast is.

She is far too adorable and I simply can't resist her so I start making breakfast. I give her a normal size portion which she quickly gobbles down, then she turns those eyes on me and starts begging for the rest of my breakfast. With a sigh I hand it over and start thinking about what I can do to improve her nest.

Digging out the walls to expand the alcove should be easy enough, but just a rock shelf isn't much of a nest. If I turn the shelf into more of a bowl that will give her room to curl up, but it still won't be all that comfortable. Trying to think of a way to make it more comfortable my eyes fall on my hammock, if I cut the seams and spread it out, it might do.

When Kechara finishes eating and goes for a drink I clean up everything and then pull out my pickaxe. When I start enlarging the alcove Kechara rushes over to see what I am doing. Since she is growing so fast I plan for the nest to fit her even if she ends up twice the size of her mother.

Except for a short break for lunch I spend the entire day working on the nest. As I am working Kechara uses her tail like a broom and sweeps all the dust and rock chips outside. She has to do this over and over but she doesn't seem to mind, in fact she looks like she is having fun.

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Expert Mining has progressed to level 12!

Expert Mining

Level 12

Str +14 End +7

You are an expert at mining ore.

By dinner time I have finished expanding the alcove and carving a bowl for her nest. While the food is cooking I start cutting apart the hammock, Kechara seems distressed while she watches me. Her expression turns to happiness when I use the hammock to line her nest.

She immediately jumps up and curls up in the nest to try it out, while I go back to cooking. After a minute she comes over and starts licking my face, it seems she approves. As soon as she is done eating she climbs into her nest, curls up, and she is soon fast asleep.

Sitting by the fire I work on translating the book for a few hours, I am starting to make progress. I think the book is titled 'History of Alzfein' but I am not completely sure about that yet. I also don't know if that is the name of a city, a country, or a race.

The paper and pen from the study have been very useful, being able to write notes makes puzzling out the runes a little easier. In total I have twenty three books that I found while exploring, I can't wait until I can read them. Once the fire dies down I put everything away and use my sacred power before going to sleep.

Core Upgrade Progress: 81%