I regretted my choice of words even before I finished the sentence.

To say Elincia was pale, was an understatement, she looked like she had seen a literal ghost. She was lying down on a cozy pile of pelts, however, she didn’t look comfortable at all. Her leg had been tended to, but her hair was a mess and eyes were swollen and reddened.

I have never seen her looking so miserable.

A moment later, I was kneeling on the floor, hugging Elincia. Damned be everything else. I closed my eyes and squeezed her against my chest. Even if I had accepted my fate of dying in a godforsaken cave, I was glad to be alive. There was still too much to do at the orphanage for me to die in the Farlands.

Elincia perched on my jacket as if she feared I was going to disappear into thin air and cried without a drop of shame. She cried until she ran out of tears and then she cried a bit more. Eventually, her weeping turned into a weak whimper interrupted by an irregular hiccup. I softly stroked her hair until she regained control.

“But the tunnel collapsed. The whole mountain shook like it was going to erupt. How did you get out?” She said.

“Loki helped me.” I replied, as I reached into my pocket to pull out my mousey assistant.

“Loki?” Dassyra asked, puzzled. The way she said it had an English inflection, as if she had heard the name before.

“Loki!” Loki parroted proudly, as it scurried up my arm to my shoulder.

“Don’t you think it’s a good name for a shapeshifter?” I asked before I turned back to Elincia, “This little trickster dragged me out to safety.”

“Out to safety.” Loki squeaked proudly.

I watched Elincia’s emerald eyes dart around the room, the red around their green irises made it much easier to notice the nervous movement. Elincia pulled me back and, for a moment, I thought she was going to punch me in the nose.

"Idiot, you scared me." Elincia said between sniffles.

I smiled. That was the straightforward, foul-mouthed, and brutally honest Elincia I liked. It was good to be back.

"I was about to die but then I thought you would be mad, so I didn't." I said, holding back a laugh.

"Dumbass idiot." Elincia said between hiccups, hugging me even tighter.

"Dumbass idiot! Dumbass idiot!" Loki parroted.

"No, bad boy! If you want to come back with us you can't say that." I scolded it as if it were a small kid.

"Damn beast." Loki grumbled back, sinking back into the pocket.

Teaching Loki an appropriate vocabulary jumped up several spots in my to-do list.

I didn't realize Elincia and Dassyra were looking directly at me, as if they were expecting me to say something. Something smart at least.

"It was just a Lich." I said.

My choice of words didn’t seem to be the right one because Dassyra almost fell over the brazier. Elincia, for her part, inspected my face, searching for any trace of undeath. Liches must be high up the pyramid of undead monsters. Dassyra crossed the tent in two strides, grabbed me from the shoulders and yanked me onto my feet.

"I'm a man of many hidden talents." I said as the orcs' eyes scanned my whole body. “And I’m alive.”

After what felt like an eternity, Dassyra gave me a spine-breaking flash hug and put me back down into the pile of pelts.

"Is the Lich dead?" Dassyra then asked.

"It’s complicated." I replied.

"Being straightforward isn't one of his many talents." Elincia interjected from her makeshift bed.

I sighed.

"The Lich being dead is the best scenario. The worst one is that he is alive and entombed under tons of solid rock." I quickly explained what had happened inside the cave after the two women left. "I didn't get any levels afterwards, but the Lich wasn't part of the System so I'm not sure if it could give experience at all. There wasn't a trace of its magic on the way back here so I'm confident to say he is at least out of commission for now."

Dassyra nodded and grabbed her jacket before walking towards the exit.

"This is good news. I'll go inform the elders." The orc woman said but stopped in the doorway. "I'm glad you are alive, Rob."

And so, I was alone with Elincia.

"You seem to have grown very close to Dassyra." Elincia raised an eyebrow.

She had been acting really cute so far, so I decided to ignore her comment.

"How's your leg doing?" I asked.

Elincia tried to get comfortable into the pile of pelts, but she clenched her teeth with every small movement. Her breeches had been cut at the knee and a hefty amount of bandages surrounded her whole calf. The sound of the spear going through Elincia’s flesh returned to my mind and a surge of panic started growing inside me.

What if the spear was contaminated? Did people in this world have the Tetanus vaccine? What if the nerves were damaged?

"It will get better. I'm not a ceramic doll." Elincia shrugged her shoulders, somewhat offended by my sudden change of topic. Then, seeing my worried expression, she sighed. "I applied a Purification Potion and a Minor Health Potion. It shouldn't leave any lasting damage with the right treatment."

I examined Elincia's face, searching for any signs of deception. The woman was clear as water, but I still missed the input from [Awareness]. Only then I realized how dependent on the skill I had been. Now I was back to relying on my five senses.

"We should brew a high grade Health Potion." I said.

We had enough ingredients to brew a substantial amount of Health Potions, however, my idea wasn't as well received as I expected. Elincia vigorously shook her head.

"A true Alchemist doesn't consume their product."

"Elincia, we are brewing potions, not illegal drugs." I replied.

"Look, my leg will be alright. For the price of a high grade Health Potion, we could sustain the orphanage for two or three weeks. It's not worth it using it on me." Elincia replied.

I bit my lip. It wasn't just a matter of selling potions, with the Corruption running rampant through my system, I wasn't sure I was able to even assist with Elincia's brewing. I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out Loki in its mouse form. It was sleeping.

"Hey, bud. Wake up, I need a favor." I whispered. "I need you to guard the entrance, if someone is going to enter the tent, let me know."

"Damn beast." Loki replied with its small voice as it opened its eyes.

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Despite his words, Loki transformed into its dog form and obediently crossed the curtain. Before continuing, I looked around, scanning for any unwanted eavesdroppers but [Awareness] remained silent. I would have to trust Loki for this one.

"Rob, you are scaring me." Elincia said.

I was scared too. Up to that moment, everything regarding Corruption had been merely hypothetical thought experiments. Now, a native of this world would tell me if everything was as bad as it looked, or I was just exaggerating. My mouth was suddenly dry. I couldn't tell Elincia I was scared to death too.

It was better to pull the thorn quickly. I summoned my character sheet and turned it around. As Elincia's eyes went through the lines, her expression darkened. It wasn't good.

"Rob... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She said on the verge of tears.

As much as Elincia struggled to find the words, nothing came from her mouth. I grabbed her by the shoulders and brought her closer to me. She sat in the space between my legs and leaned against my chest. I didn't know who was comforting who.

"Is it bad, doc?" I finally asked.

"Disasterrific." Elincia replied. It was one of Shu's favorite words, a word that the snakefolk twins would use to describe the extinction of potatoes.

"Damn." I replied. "How bad?"

Elincia stroked my hair, it had grown a lot since I arrived at Farcrest.

I braced for the report.

"You won't be able to use the corrupted skills, your mana pool is going to shrink, and you probably won't level up until the corruption goes away.”

“How long?” I asked the nuclear question.

“I have read some books but I'm not an expert. I'd say ten or fifteen years until the System heals..." Elincia said with a broken voice. "...but don't worry, I'll take care of you."

A weight was lifted from my shoulders. At least I wasn't going to turn into a Wendigo.

"Not half bad." I nonchalantly said. Compared to a lifetime of not doing magic –as it was my life on Earth–, ten years didn't seem a lot. It would make it harder to defend the orphanage from pesky guardsmen, but I still have my shotgun. Crafting new shells had suddenly climbed several positions on my to-do list.

"Of course that's your reaction." Elincia said as she hid her face on my chest.

Her hiccup had returned. For the people of this world, who were dependent on the System boons, having their level frozen should be the worst fate possible.

"You'll look after me, Elincia, so I don't have anything to worry about." I said with a festive voice. "As I didn't get any levels from killing the Lich, I expect a month of breakfast in bed as a reward."

I felt Elincia's body stiffening in my arms. I knew my words were going to scratch her the wrong way. Despite the fact Elincia didn't let me help her a lot in the kitchen, she didn't like to be treated as a housemaid either.

"One weekend." She replied.

"Two weeks."

"Two non-consecutive weekends."

"I would've settled for one weekend." I replied with a big grin.

Elincia laughed.

"You are incredibly silly. Actually, you are Shu levels of silly." She mockingly said.

"At this point, I'm just glad to be alive." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, things got complicated." Elincia replied in a quiet voice.

We remained in a silent embrace for a moment. What was supposedly a simple quest for herbs had turned into a fight against a powerful dark wizard. That was just how my luck was. There was one question left to answer. Was I going to be able to support Elincia in the brewing process?

I bit my lip. Surely Elincia had gotten a few levels in the past month, but she was far from being able to brew high quality potions. And those were the ones that would bring in the real money.

"I'd say we brew a potion for your leg." I said.

I put my hand over Elincia's mouth before she could reply, this was another of Shu’s secret techniques. Elincia had called me silly, so I was going to act silly. She mumbled something I couldn't understand but she didn't bite my fingers off.

"The sooner you heal, the sooner we will be able to return to Farcrest, and the sooner we will get the money for the winter." I explained. "Also, we said we were returning in two weeks. The kids will be worried if we stay here until your leg heals."

Elincia mumbled again and I pulled my hand off her mouth.

"And we have to figure out if you are able to assist me." Elincia said with a worried expression.

"Do you think any of the corruption might get transferred to the potion?" I asked.

"Haven't heard about that." Elincia said.

We remained in silence, still entangled in a weird embrace, for another minute.

"Shall we?" I finally asked.

Elincia blushed and pulled away. A pained grimace appeared on her face as she recklessly moved her wounded leg. She was in no condition to walk.

"Shall I carry you?" I asked with a mischievous smile.

"Just drag that table." She replied.

The low table was heavier than I expected. I pulled the table in front of Elincia, and she pulled out her portable alchemy kit.

"Should I?" I asked as the woman pulled a few herbs from the pouch.

"Not yet. I think we should take some safeguards, for your own good."

As she didn't say anything else, I sat back and watched her work. It was fascinating, as always.

Elincia plucked a few strands of Elkadia Root and mashed them with the mortar. I could feel Elincia’s skills helping her to extract the magic trapped inside the roots. She used an old sieve to separate the solid bits from the extract similar to milk. Then she repeated the process with the Fairy King’s Brooch and mixed the ingredients until she got a translucent liquid with blue sparks of mana floating inside.

I refrained from identifying it.

"It's a Minor Mana Scent. It will help you restore mana without adding toxicity to your system." Elincia explained, seeing my curious expression.

"What's the deal with toxicity?" I asked.

"Drink too many potions and you'll get sick. The symptoms are similar to Corruption, but the effect fades away more quickly." She explained.

I drank the concoction in one go. It was slightly sweet, and it instantly eased the burning feeling inside my chest. Then, I checked my character sheet. The Corruption was still there but at least I felt my mana pool slowly refilling.

“You look surprised.” Elincia sat by my side.

“Well, it worked. I feel a lot better now.” I replied with a dumb smile. Until then I hadn't noticed my mana pool being almost empty. No, it wasn't empty, it had shrunk. Or rather, it was like someone had filled my gas tank with sugar.

Before I realized it, Elincia already had the ingredients ready for the brewing process.

“Here goes nothing.” I said.

I closed my eyes and intertwined my scarce mana into Elincia’s brewing, forming a screen that protected the potion from environmental mana. The process was delicate, so any imbalance in the formula could drastically change the parameters of the potion. Even with closed eyes, I could tell Elincia was rushing the process. I thanked her for that. I was used to having mana to spare, but now, after only a few seconds of brewing, my forehead was covered in sweat and my chest was starting to hurt.

Suddenly, the brewing process stopped, and I realized I was holding my breath. I glanced at Elincia’s face, searching for an answer [Identify] couldn’t provide me. The potion, now bottled into a small vial, swirled with red and golden mana.

“It worked.” Elincia muttered, her eyes shone like emeralds.

“How do you know? Is it corrupted?” I asked, knowing Elincia didn’t have the [Identify] skill.

“The System gives me a prompt after brewing anything. Everything is normal.”

I looked at the vial again. A high grade Health Potion. Liquid money.

“Drink it.” I prompted her.

“It’s expensive.” Elincia replied with an unsure tone.

I sighed. People who skipped their doctor appointments and refused to have their meds irritated me. The irony wasn’t lost to me, and yet, I wanted to see Elincia healthy. I took the vial and uncorked it.

“I swear to God I’ll force it down your throat if you don’t drink it.” I said, not as angry as I was nervous.

Elincia obediently opened her mouth and I put the vial against her lips. She slowly drank the entire bottle as I gently raised the vial for her.

“How do you feel?” I nervously asked.

“I’ll feel sleepy, and the potion will work its magic while I’m out. Hand me the warmth blanket, please.” Elincia replied as she fought to keep her eyes open. “Come here, you need to rest a little.”

Elincia extended the blanket over our legs and laid down into the pelts.

“You realize there’s plenty of space in the tent, don’t you?” I asked as the woman tugged my jacket so I would lay down too.

“I’ll stab you in the leg if you leave my side.” Elincia yawned and closed her eyes. Then she mumbled something about reckless Scholars going into the dark forest to fight magical creatures.

I leaned back, leaving all the space I could between us, and watched over Elincia. If the potion was working I didn’t know, but her peaceful expression made me think everything was going to be alright. With our bags full of ingredients, my ability to help Elincia brew intact, and no monsters stalking us, my mind landed on an old problem.

Elincia was the most beautiful woman I had seen with my own eyes, and yet her beauty didn’t impress me the same way as when we first met. Now that I got to know her, I knew Elincia was much more than a pretty face. Even with her lack of filter, her spiteful personality, her short temper, and the way she tugged at the blanket, she was great.

I felt the prompt coming.

Effects of Denial are subsiding. You have obtained Denial Lv.1. Temporary.

‘My point stands, love at first sight is lame’. I thought, knowing the System could see the contents of my mind.

I glanced at Elincia’s peaceful face one last time before closing my eyes.

“Man, what am I gonna do…” I muttered.