My bulky armor halted me before I could get further than an awkward U-shape. The move nearly tipped me over and I hastily stood up straight. Next up was jogging in place which wasn't much easier than the other exercises. The gambeson hung off me uncomfortably, making jumping up and down as I was rather tiring.
At least it got the blood in my veins moving. Eventually, though, the effort of moving my legs in a jogging motion became too much and I had to stop. Leaning back against the tall, stone wall, I put my weary muscles to rest.
As I was resting, I noticed something moving in my peripheral vision. I turned my head, thinking something - or someone - was coming but all I saw was snow. I could still see the thing flickering in the corner of my eye but I could never find it. Finally, it came to me to move my eyes but not my head.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Doing so let me see a flashing exclamation point. Focusing on it brought up a short line of text:
For constant strenuous activity, you have gained +1 Endurance, +1 Strength. Please check your status menu for your gains.
What the heck? I've never seen anything like this before. Then again, I haven't seen a lot of things before, so that's no surprise. I guess I should...check out this status menu? How do I access it? Maybe by saying 'status menu'? I did so and an opaque window of text appeared in front of me, blocking my line of sight.
"Wow," I whispered then ate a mouthful of snow. Choking and sputtering, I tried not to die again as I looked at the text box.
Name: None (Elden Keep Guard)
Class: Guard
Level: 1
HP: 100/100(+10)
SP: 110/110(+10)
MP: 7/7
TP: 0
AP: 0
Strength: 10 (+1)
Endurance: 11(+1)
Agility: 5
Vitality: 8
Intelligence: 7
Charisma: 3
Skills: [Measure Bribe] - 1; [Lesser Radar] - 2; [Thrust] - 1
Spells: -