HC: Handyman | Ch. 156 - The Change

Snowy transformed. The shift was violent, raw, and overwhelming. The bulrush grass saddle burst apart as if it were no more than dried husk, the straps snapping like brittle twine. The saddlebags ripped free, falling on the forest floor.

Her body expanded at an unnatural speed—muscles stretching, bones thickening, fur bristling as if it were being woven anew. The pine beneath her, once strong enough to bear her megalonyx form, groaned under the sudden strain. Bark splintered, the trunk twisting before it gave out with a sharp, gut-punching crack.

Snowy plummeted, hitting the ground with a force that sent a ripple through the soil. Leaves exploded into the air. Nearby trees trembled, their branches shaking from the impact. A flock of birds erupted from the canopy, their cries slicing through the stillness as they scattered into the sky.

Jack barely had time to process what had just happened. Snowy had grown. No longer the size of a large bear, she now rivaled a small elephant. Her bulk had nearly tripled! Her fur, once thick and shaggy, had become a dense, untamed mane, its strands coarse and bristling. Her limbs were heavier, built for raw strength, and her claws—once sharp—had taken on the shape of wedges, each one resembling the edge of a battle axe.

Congratulations! Snowy has evolved into a Pseudo-Eremotherium.

"Snowy?" Jack asked hesitantly.

For a moment, uncertainty gnawed at him. Had she changed too much? Was the creature before him still the companion he knew? Then, her dark eyes flickered with a lazy, familiar recognition. It was still her—still his Snowy, just in a new, massively upgraded shell.

Jack exhaled and quickly pulled up her status window. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the numbers.

Snowy, the Pseudo-Eremotherium
Gender: Female
Weight: 8,513 kg
Satiation: 84/200
Affection: 23/100
Speed: +50%
Inventory: 10×10
Skills: [Body Heat], [Homing], [Largeness], [Stubborn Slowness], [Woodland Trampler]

Jack's eyes widened. "Snowy has a new species? Pseudoere…" He tried saying it a couple of times, but the name was a tongue twister.

But it wasn’t just her name or size that had changed. Her satiation capacity had doubled, her speed had increased by fifty percent, and she had gained two new skills. What thrilled Jack the most, though, was her expanded inventory.

“Oh my goodness! So much storage!”

Her old inventory had been a 5×5 grid, giving him an additional 25 slots. Now? Snowy's transformation had doubled it, expanding his available space by 100 slots!

This is insane.

If only he had this kind of space when he first arrived. The sheer amount of supplies he could have brought—the extra food, materials, tools. So many of their struggles could have been mitigated or even avoided entirely.

He turned his focus to her new skills.

Body Heat (Uncommon)

Your mount has developed a natural heat regulation system, allowing it to withstand harsh weather conditions with ease. When in direct contact with your mount, you partially inherit this adaptation, helping you endure extreme temperatures and environmental hazards.

Effect: Passive. When touching your mount, you gain +5 to all resistances.

Requirements: 80 affection, 150 satiation.

Woodland Trampler (Rare)

This mount has adapted to foraging on the move, trampling through undergrowth and consuming vast amounts of vegetation. A portion of what it eats is automatically stored, providing a steady supply of raw materials for later use.

Effect: Passive. While your mount forages, a percentage of what it consumes is automatically stored in its inventory.

Requirements: 50 affection, 180 satiation.

Jack grinned. Both of these were incredibly useful.

[Body Heat] would be a game-changer for survival. A +5 boost to all resistances wasn’t just a minor upgrade—it could mean the difference between freezing to death in the mountains or barely feeling the cold.

As for [Woodland Trampler], it was practically free resources. Snowy would automatically gather materials as she ate, meaning Jack wouldn’t even have to think about it. Over time, he could stockpile enough supplies for crafting or even trade.

There was just one problem.

Both skills had affection requirements, and from experience, Jack knew that raising Snowy's affection was painfully slow. Since he first bonded with her, he hadn’t even managed to get it past thirty.

At this rate, he estimated it would take at least a week to unlock [Woodland Trampler] and two weeks for [Body Heat].

Jack exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “Looks like I need to start buttering up Snowy.”

With a creature her size, that probably meant a lot of food. Jack glanced back at Snowy, still processing everything that had just happened, only to find her casually devouring an entire tree. Not just stripping the bark as she used to—no, she was snapping it apart, chewing through thick wood like it was nothing more than a brittle breadstick.

Snowy had changed, and not just in size. Her appetite had grown, too. Maybe it wasn’t for nothing that her maximum satiation had doubled. Jack just hoped that didn’t mean her metabolism had doubled as well. He already had to make frequent stops to let her feed—if her hunger had increased at the same rate as her size, keeping her full was going to be a problem.

What else had shifted beneath the surface? His mind raced with possibilities, wondering what other unexpected changes had come with the transformation. Then, a troubling thought struck him.

Would this newfound power remain even after he left the Breach map? Or was it a temporary upgrade, something that would be stripped away once they returned?

Jack quickly pulled up the text description of the hidden package Snowy had unlocked, hoping to find some kind of clue.

Gene Rewriting Pinecone

Your pet has consumed a rare and unstable prehistoric pinecone, an ancient remnant of a long-extinct flora. It has forcefully rewritten your pet’s genetic code, triggering an unexpected mutation.

Package effects:

• Elevates your pet to the next higher tier within the same pet type.

Jack’s eyes skimmed over the description again, searching for any mention of a time limit or a Breach-only restriction. There was nothing.

His grin widened.

This wasn’t temporary. He had just secured a permanent upgrade to his mount.

Horace’s words echoed in his mind, taking him back to the Tamer Arena when they had first debated which mount to choose. Hadn’t Horace said that good mounts were ridiculously expensive? That even some level 40 players were stuck riding level 20 horses because upgrading was so costly?

Jack let out a low chuckle. He had just gotten a better ride and it hadn’t cost him a single coin.

Jack opened the message interface, ready to rub it in Horace’s face, but winced. While he had been busy marveling at Snowy’s transformation, he had completely missed several messages.

"Hi everyone, just a reminder that there will be a wave in 20 minutes. It's an elite one, so it would be nice if all could make it,” Amari said.

"I'm already here," Marie responded instantly.

"I'm also coming back. I couldn't deal with the peak. I have zero cold resistance. Blrugh," Horace said.

Jack smirked. Sorry, Horace! I guess you don’t have a cool giant mount like me to help you, and you’re stuck with your puny horse. The flicker of satisfaction was short-lived, quickly overshadowed by concern. If Horace had given up on the peak, what did that mean for the one-eyes? Had the bear finished them off?

Another message popped up.

"What? Has he unlocked another hidden package? He’s got to be the luckiest bloke I’ve ever met!"

"Jack? Where are you? Aren’t you coming?" Amari asked.

Jack froze. Oh, shoot.

Between Snowy’s transformation and the chaos in the forest, he had completely lost track of time. The elite wave was about to start. He cursed under his breath and spun toward his mount.

“We have to run back, Snowy!”

Snowy let out a deep grunt of acknowledgment before crouching down, her massive frame sinking just enough for Jack to climb aboard.

Jack hurriedly gathered the saddlebags that had been scattered during her transformation. Without a saddle—and with Snowy’s much larger size—mounting her felt less like riding and more like rock climbing. He scrambled up her thick fur, gripping handfuls like climbing holds, his arms burning with effort, his legs straining as he pushed himself higher. After an awkward struggle, he finally hauled himself onto her broad back.

Note to self: Add a ladder to the next saddle I make for Snowy.

He shuddered at the thought. Just how many tons of grass would he have to weave to make something large enough to envelop her new size? For a moment, he thought back to the lushest place he knew in New Earth: the prairies just outside Pearlsgate, a place he had only seen through the eyes of his cousin Rob. He imagined them slowly transforming into a barren wasteland, every single blade of grass picked clean, all to craft a single saddle for Snowy.

Yeah… he was in for a mountain of work.

He took a moment to savor what it felt like to ride Snowy’s new form. The first thing he noticed was the height. Before, riding Snowy had felt like sitting atop a sturdy off-road vehicle. Now, it felt like he was commanding a living tank. He was so high up it was like he’d climbed a tree, the ground far below him.

“Hyah!” Jack urged, bracing himself as Snowy surged forward.

Immediately, he felt the difference in movement. Snowy’s strides were slow and deliberate, yet each step covered an enormous amount of ground. Even at what seemed like a steady pace, she easily outpaced her old self. She barely reacted to obstacles, plowing straight through the undergrowth as if it didn’t exist. Small trees cracked and splintered like dry twigs, their trunks snapping apart under her weight.

The breathtaking view Jack had savored just moments ago came with a significant drawback.

“Ouch! Pfft—”

Snowy was so tall that Jack was getting hit by tree branches. Needles scratched his skin, and pinecones pelted him as they fell from shaken branches. He winced, spitting out a stray leaf. I suppose it’s only fair, given how much Snowy is wrecking this place.

He glanced back and felt a pang of guilt. The forest, once lush and pristine, now looked like a battlefield after a missile strike. A clear path of destruction marked their trail, crushed vegetation and uprooted saplings strewn about.

Hopefully, Piri will regenerate the forest.

As fast as Snowy was moving, it still wasn’t fast enough. Jack needed to get back to his friends, put some food on the table, and make sure everyone was ready for the next wave.

He pulled out his ocarina and began playing [Sitting Wind]. As the melody carried through the trees, [Swing Step] activated, granting them an extra 10% movement speed.

The terrain blurred past. Before he knew it, they had reached the mountain pass. 

The canyon shook with each of Snowy’s steps. The once-spacious path between the cliffs now felt claustrophobic. Snowy barely fit. She had to maneuver awkwardly, shifting sideways at times just to squeeze through the tightest spots. Rock walls scraped against her fur, sending loose stones clattering down.

“Ouch! Hey—ow!”

Jack winced as a pebble bounced off his forehead, followed by another one landing squarely on his shoulder.

First the branches. Now falling rocks?

At this rate, he was going to need a full suit of armor just to ride Snowy.

Jack frowned, realizing that size wasn’t just an advantage—it was a limitation, too. Hopefully, the perks compensate for the drawbacks. Then again… with the gigantic inventory I just got alone, it’s more than worth it.

In ten minutes, they were already near the fortress. As they approached the stretch of road where the bear’s den was located, Jack tensed.

A new den had appeared.

The second bear he and his team had dislodged had apparently decided to settle in right next to the first. One bear was bad enough. But now there were two, living side by side.

Any hopes that they might be asleep or too lazy to react were shattered. A deep, rumbling growl rolled through the canyon as both bears stirred. Snowy’s thundering footsteps had woken them.

Both massive predators emerged from their dens. Their hulking forms were half-hidden in the shadows of their caves, but their eyes were fixed on Snowy and Jack.

*

Author's note: I realize that I haven't given much attention to the affection stat. I'll have to go back in the story and add little instances where he sometimes triggers affection notifications by letting Snowy graze or pet her. Will leave that for the round of proofreading when I finish this book.

Did you like the change in Snowy? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Ch. 155 - The Breach’s Forest

INDEX

Ch. 157 - 'Pressure' Cooking