Frostbound

"Whooo," breath escaped me in a giant plum that frosted up the air and for once, it wasn't because of the outside temperature.

That came strictly from me.

My Bloodline drove my body temperature down and while it wasn't enough for ice crystals to form on my body anymore, it was enough to fog up my breath.

My hammer swam through the air in vicious arcs as I trained getting used to my new strength. The upgrade to my Body was much more pronounced this time than the first.

I should've expected it. Every subsequent upgrade was more than the last. The initial building blocks of my foundation were paving the road for the power that was slowly being accumulated.

Refining my Body didn't come with a stat point adjustment. It didn't suddenly increase my Strength or Fortitude by a number I could see and expect. It was more nuanced than that.

Having my Mana Heart go haywire for a few days was also outside my expectations.

The Runes lining my heart, carved into it in Frost, adjusted to my body's increased capability. My mana pool grew and so did its regeneration. The concentration stayed the same, I had to get Gabriel to test that as I didn't have good enough senses for it, but the other two increased.

It wasn't a large change, but it was still welcome.

I let the Bloodline energy burning through me go and felt the changes slip away. It was still odd to get used to growing and shrinking. If only by a few inches.

After getting back on my feet, I had to readjust to practically everything. An all-around boost like this was more than I was used to.

Speed, reaction, strength, fortitude, constitution.