I woke up to birds singing, but I was not lying beside the Pelur. I was in some kind of tent. I looked down at myself, and my arm and leg were bandaged and not with my pathetic excuse for a trauma bandage. It was treated well, and more of the herbs I had used were there when I checked. I looked around and found myself alone, but I could hear movement outside the tent. I nearly cried, thinking other people had found me. I didn’t realize how much I was worried about being alone. The tent itself was simple. Sticks gathered from nearby, most likely tied at the top with a thin tarp of some material I didn’t recognize wrapped around them. It’s not really a teepee style, but more like an A-frame.
I tested my limbs and found I could move them okay. Slightly painful, though it was. I made a noise so I wouldn’t startle anyone and pulled back one of the tent flaps. Outside was a man and a young woman. The man was older. Probably late 40s, though tan and robust looking. The woman was younger, maybe 20ish, and in better shape, I noted, than most women I knew. She could easily pass for an athlete on Earth. They both stared at me for a moment before the man pulled a knife out and crossed his arms. It was an obvious meaning. ‘I’m waiting to see if I should gut you.’ The woman smacked him on the shoulder and said something I didn’t understand, and then waved me out. I slowly moved out, not wanting to give the wrong impression. I couldn’t be happier to find people and only wanted to be on their good side. I went out and sat down a respectful distance away and bowed my head.
The man said something and pointed to my left. I looked and saw the Pelur. I looked at him again, and the man said the same thing. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, so I went and nudged the Pelur with my foot.
You have defeated Level 20 PELUR. Do you wish to absorb EXP and Skill points?
Yes. No.
I selected yes and then turned back to the man. It’s dead, I said. It sounded dumb, but I was sure they wouldn’t understand and didn’t know what else to say. The man looked at me for a minute and then laughed out loud. He said something else and kept laughing. I couldn’t figure out what was going on, and the girl said something else to me. I sounded a lot like what the man had said. She was just enunciating like I was an idiot. That didn’t help me, though. I couldn’t understand them... so much for my system translating what was said. The only word I did understand was Pelur. The name of the cat. At least I knew my system got that much right, though I had no idea how.
“I don’t understand you,” I said. “Can you understand me?” They both stopped and stared at me for a moment. The girl looked at the man and said something very quickly, and he shook his head and looked back at me. He once more tried to speak to me, and I just shook my head and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. You laughed, so I thought you understood me.” He looked at me and went wide-eyed, nodding his head up and down as if to say yes. I said, “Can you understand me? and he did again. I said, “Well if you can understand me and I can’t understand you, this will be harder. I can ask yes or no questions, but I’m not sure how you will communicate with me.” He looked thoughtful for a moment and then walked over to the Pelur and pointed at the rock that had done it in and then pointed to me and made a bashing motion. “Are you asking if I killed it?” He nodded, and I said, “Yes, I did.” He seemed happy with that answer and then pointed to my arms and then at the cat. “I’m not sure what you are asking, but yes, the cat got me as well.” He looked thoughtful again and then pointed to the large boulder and then at the cat. I looked at him and then at the boulder. I wasn’t really sure what I should do now. I was reasonably certain explaining my abilities wasn’t a good idea. At the same time, these people helped me when I was helpless. I decided to shrug and pretend I didn’t know what he was asking, even though he obviously wanted to know how I did that with such a big boulder. He looked at me for a minute, and I almost held my breath. I really didn’t want to lose trust here and potentially get left behind. He seemed to think for a minute and then decide there wasn’t any way to get across his meaning and shrugged.
Walking back over to his fire. He sat down and invited me over. I breathed a sigh of relief and joined them. The girl came over, and while the man kept a watchful eye, she checked my wounds. I also looked and was very surprised to see they were already healing. The bandages had little blood on them, and I had to wonder how long I had been there. Then I realized the Pelur didn’t stink. It couldn’t have even been a day. Those herbs must be better than I thought, or they had used healing magic on me. I watched closely, but the young lady just changed out the herbs and then held some for me to take. I did, and she mimed eating, so I did. I already knew what they were, after all. She seemed satisfied and walked back to her seat. She and the man spoke for a few minutes while casting the occasional glance in my direction.
The man got up and started to pack up their tent while the girl put out the fire. I decided to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I really didn’t want to get left behind and figured I needed to build some rapport. “My name is Jake,” I said. She looked at me and said, “Jake?” “Yes, that’s my name.” She pointed at me and said, “Jake.” Then, she pointed at herself and said, “Finny,” and then the man, “Hert.” “Finny and Hert. Nice to meet both of you. Thank you so much for tending to my wounds. I have been lost in these woods for a few days now and was really not sure I would live long enough to find a town or at least people. It is really good to meet you. You look like you are packing up. I don’t know where you are going, but can I join you?” The girl… no, Finny smiled and looked at Hert. They went back and forth for a minute, and then the girl looked at me and said, “Ferth.” While nodding her head yes. “Does Ferth mean yes?” I asked, and she looked at me for a second and then laughed, and Hert chuckled off to the side. She again said “Ferth” while nodding yes and then said “Bo” while shaking her head no. I copied her, and she smiled and said, “Ferth!” I was happy not only to start to understand them but also to see these were obviously good-hearted people. I got up to help Hert with the tarp, and Finny said, “Bo!” Pointing back at where I was sitting and then at my arm and leg and saying Their word for no again. I ducked my head and said back down. They finished cleaning up the camp and putting out the fire and motioned for me to follow.
We first walked up to the Pelur, and Hert took out his knife, looked at me, made a cutting motion with his knife, and said, “Yes?” in their language. Go ahead, I said, and he looked satisfied and cut into its chest and pulled something from behind its heart. It was a small stone about the size of a Marble. He wiped it off and handed it to me. I looked at it, and Finny motioned for me to put it in my pocket. I did, and Hert moved to cut a piece of the flank off. Once he had done that, he wrapped it in some large leaves, put it in his pack, and we took off at a slow pace.
I was sure they were being considerate of me, but I tried to ensure I wasn’t slowing them down too much, as I didn’t want to get left behind. There wasn’t much talking. We were headed back in the general direction of my camp. I checked my clock and saw it was only 5pm. I was only out for a couple hours. Again, I was amazed at the healing herbs as I was ambulatory and didn’t have that much pain. I was just tired, most likely from the blood loss. With the time being what it was, I figured we could make it to my camp before dark, so I patted Hert on the shoulder and said, “I was staying near a stream in this direction. Would you like me to take you there?” He seemed happy with that and pointed for me to lead the way. I took off at a pace I felt I could manage, but a little faster than they had been going. I kept my map up at half-view so we wouldn’t get lost or ambushed.
About halfway back, an Orc popped up on my map. I stopped still. And looked in that direction. It wasn’t in view. I wasn’t sure what to do. I hadn’t gotten my boulder back and didn’t really want to use that skill in view of anyone yet. Also, I wasn’t sure if it was aware of us. I didn’t think so. Hert had stopped when I did and was watching me. I looked at him and quietly said, “There is an Orc about half a mile in that direction. He looked at me for a minute somewhat skeptically and then pulled his bow off his back and knocked an arrow. It was then I noted several weapons he was carrying. I had been rather focused on his knife up to now, but he also had a bow and an axe. Finny likewise had a crossbow. Hert started toward the Orc, moving quietly through the woods but with a speed I couldn’t match. Finny also moved with him, and tried to follow as best I could. It wasn’t long before I came across them at the location of the Orc. Hert was already cutting out the marble from behind the heart, but this time, he put it in his pack. He gave me a happy nod when I got there. I touched the Orc to see what would happen.
You have aided in defeating a level 14 Orc. Do you wish to absorb EXP and Skill points?
Yes. No.
I first brought up my status. I wasn’t sure what I would get from this, but I didn’t want to mess up my future calculations, so I noted where I was after the Pelur.
Name: Jake Smithson
Race: Human
Level 3 (450%)
Age 25 plus 11 years 1 months 11 days
I also had 4 skill points now.
I then hit yes.
Name: Jake Smithson
Race: Human
Level 3 (495%)
Age 25 plus 10 years 0 months 6 days
I hadn’t gained much EXP compared to normal, but I had earned my usual amount of life essence for an Orc this level and also gotten another skill point. This made me think that while I shared the Exp and Skill essence, I wasn’t sharing the Life Essence. Probably because they couldn’t gain any. After cleaning up using some grass, Hert indicated for me to lead the way again. We then made it back to my camp without any further incident.
They seemed very happy about finding water and filled up their canteens before setting up their tent. I put together the wood for a fire, earning the ire of Finny, who promptly indicated for me to sit and rest. Hert noticed my Sun Dial and pointed to it, and I said I was tracking the sun to help keep track of the time. That seemed to satisfy him, and he thankfully left it alone. After the fire got going, Hert started to cook the meat we had brought from the Pelur. We all shared a meal, and I asked if they would like me to help keep watch, and they said no. My arm felt good enough, so I said goodnight to them and climbed up my tree. Finny made a noise behind me, approached the tree, and tried to spot me. She laughed at me as I peeked out over my little platform and then walked back over to Hert.
I lay down and thought about what I needed to do. I couldn’t be happier that I found people… well, they had found me. What were they doing out here, though? Hunting Orcs seemed like nothing to Hert. How strong were they? I realized I hadn’t Analyzed them. Would they know if I did? Would it be considered rude? The animals had never seemed to notice. That didn’t mean people couldn’t, though. Seemed a little iffy… then again, if they noticed, I could just say that since we couldn’t talk, I was trying to understand them more. I decided it wasn’t worth the risk at this point. They weren’t my enemy, and I needed them way more than they needed me. Instead, I returned to my skills page and again looked for anything related to healing. Why wasn’t there a healing magic or something? It was really frustrating. The only skill that looked like it might be related was Injury Evaluation skill. I mean. I am a doctor. I can evaluate injuries. That said, if this was magic, I might find a use for it. I hadn’t even considered it because I wasn’t injured. I decided that if my evaluation of my injury hadn’t gotten it, then it wasn’t worth trying to get it on my own. I decided to use a skill point on it.
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YOU HAVE LEARNED THE SKILL INJURY EVALUATION.
Half of healing is knowing what the problem is. No need for MRIs or lab work for you anymore. With a simple look, you can tell someone their problem. If you have Herbs on your person that will help heal, they will be indicated. Leveling this skill will also give you information related to healing. Simply touch the person you wish to check and chant Injury Evaluation, and their avatar will pop up with a list of their ailments and their location indicated in red on the avatar.
This wasn’t too bad. I didn’t see how to do it on me, though. It also didn’t say what it cost in terms of Mana. Was it free? I touched myself and said, “Injury Evaluation,” and felt my Mana move out through my body again like when I used Warmth. Checking my Mana, it didn’t look like it had gone down. Nice! An avatar popped up with my name above it and my arm and leg injuries marked in red. Both were listed as large lacerations, 58% healed. Infection Zero. Chance of death zero. Healing herbs are applied, as well as disinfectant herbs. No additional herbs of use were noted.
Happy with that, I decided to go to sleep while practicing my Mana Manipulation. I also left the avatar up, cast night vision, and brought up my map. It was getting a little cluttered, but I was staring at leaves anyway, so I just closed my eyes and started. It was pretty straightforward, and whenever my Mana passed my injuries, it felt like I was running warm water over them. It wasn’t painful. If anything, it was soothing. After about ten minutes, I opened my eyes and looked at my avatar to see if this was helping. What I saw shocked me. My injury had gone from 58% to 74% healed! I kept going, and after just a few minutes, I had a notification.
MANA MANIPULATION HAS LEVELED UP!
Yes! This was awesome. I kept at it, and by the time my injuries showed 100% healed, I had leveled up 2 more times. Mana Manipulation was now my highest skill at level 6. How much stronger would everything be now? I finally had my healing method. Could I use this on other people? I was very excited. Pulling off my bandages, sure enough, my skin was healed and was just a slight pink tinge showing it was new skin. I flexed my arm and leg and found no restriction. This was amazing. The doctor in me wanted patients to try it on. They don’t call it a practice for nothing.
Was this an ordinary skill here? Did everyone know it? How common was Mana Manipulation, I wondered. Whatever. This one I couldn’t hold to myself. Too many people could be helped. With that, I looked at my skills and decided which ones I would use now that I was around others. There weren’t many. Tracking seemed safe. Map I could shrug off as being in tune with nature as a hunter. I would use Injury Evaluation and Mana Healing, as I was calling it. Analyze seemed safe if I didn’t use it on them. Fire? Hmm… probably not. Maybe in an emergency. Inventory… no. Space and Time magic needed to be a secret for sure. I could probably use Time Magic without a problem, as it would just look like I was really fast.
If I was going to keep these secrets but also be helpful, I needed to go ahead and level up to make myself stronger. I didn’t want to do it right now. I didn’t know, but I had to guess glowing wasn’t normal. I would find a Hatmer tomorrow to get myself above 500 percent. And then up some basic survival stats… and maybe luck again. How lucky was I that friendly people had come along while I was knocked out instead of some Orc? I wasn’t sure the luck stat was what brought that about, but… I mean, really? In all the woods, they stumble across me right when I need them? Those are some terrible odds right there. Luck had to be part of it, right???
I canceled my Injury Evaluation and slowed time while focusing on Mana Manipulation. I wasn’t sure if Compounding the two would be helpful, but at the worst, I was working on both simultaneously. After about an hour, I finally got my reward!
TIME CONTROL HAS LEVELED UP!
I went to the skill description, which said I now had 25 seconds per Mana of time stop. I put my slider on Time Slow all the way down, and after 10 minutes, nothing happened. I was keeping up with my mana regen. It wasn’t draining me to keep it on. This really wasn’t slowing time down enough to notice unless you really looked at things, but it meant I could leave it on to try to level it even further. It had saved me with the Pelur, even if I had been slow to figure out how to use it. It was probably my best bet in a fight at this level. Playing with it for the next few minutes, I figured out when my Mana started to drop. It was at the point where time was slowed just enough to notice, really. Dropping a leaf, you could tell it was slower. Not a lot, but enough. I left it there and went to sleep after I made sure my Mana wasn’t dropping.
I woke up, and it was still dark. I thought I had slept in for a moment, but when I canceled my night vision, it was still dark, so I obviously hadn’t. I checked the clock, and it was still only 4am. I felt really rested, though. I had a notification waiting for me as well.
TIME CONTROL HAS LEVEL UP!
I checked, and it said I had 35 seconds per Mana now. That was when it hit me. I left it on all night, and at some point, it had leveled up, and things were moving even slower now, which meant I had slept faster. What was probably 8 hours for me during sleep had only been 7ish hours in real-time. This was amazing. The Time Stop was great, but the Time Slow was a game changer. Especially if I didn’t age, how much more could I get done in a day. How much faster in a fight. Of course, I wouldn’t regenerate Mana while using it at this level, but I could fix that by upping my Mana Regen instead of my speed. Lots to think about here.
I turned my Night Vision back on and looked out. Hert was stoking the fire. It must be his watch. I waited for the Mana I used to start night vision to come back and then used time stop to slip out of camp. I stopped when I only had one Mana left, but I was out of sight and waited for it to regen. Then, I used it again. I leap-frogged like this until I figured I was far enough away to not alert him and then went to find a rock.
About an hour and a half later, I walked back into camp. Hert was surprised… especially when I handed him a Hatmer. “For breakfast,” I said and then returned to my tree. I had already leveled up while out of site, and it was time to assign points.
Name: Jake Smithson
Race: Human
Level 8 (1%)
Age 25 plus 9 years 11 months 15 days
Main Categories (Select to see subcategories)
Wisdom 8 (Mana 4, Mana Control 2, Knowledge 1, Mana Regen 1/10min)
Intellect 9 (memorization 3, recall 3, Speed of thought 3)
Strength 7 (Attack 3, speed 2, endurance 2)
Constitution 6 (Resist Poisons 0, Vitality 4, Protection 2)
Agility 6 (control of movement 3, balance 2, learning new skills 1)
Will 10 (Discipline 4, Ability to overcome adversity 2, desire to win 3, resistance to charm or intimidate 1)
Charisma 9 (Good Looks 2, Luck 3, Communication 1, negotiations 1, leadership 2)
10 Exp points to assign
4 Skill points
10 points to play with sounded like a lot until you looked at subcategories. I knew two I wanted. Just in case someone had a poison-coated weapon or a stinger, my zero-level Poison resistance was just too low. I put a point there and another in Luck like I planned. Next, I put one in my Mana Regen and one in my Mana pool. That brought me to the point I had to start putting in some survival stats. I put 3 in Attack, which I took to mean Power or Attack Strength, 2 in Vitality, and 1 in endurance. I still felt like a glass cannon. If I got hit by an Orc, I wasn’t sure what would happen. I would have to rely on Time Slow to ensure I didn’t get hit. I was getting better, though, and that was all I could do. After I assigned the stats, I didn’t get more muscles or feel much different. My Mana Pool, I could feel, was more significant. I would have to try picking something up to see if I was stronger.
I did feel like I was getting a little better, though.
Name: Jake Smithson
Race: Human
Level 8 (1%)
Age 25 plus 9 years 11 months 15 days
Main Categories (Select to see subcategories)
Wisdom 10 (Mana 5, Mana Control 2, Knowledge 1, Mana Regen 2/10min)
Intellect 9 (memorization 3, recall 3, Speed of thought 3)
Strength 11 (Attack 6, speed 2, endurance 3)
Constitution 9 (Resist Poisons 1, Vitality 6, Protection 2)
Agility 6 (control of movement 3, balance 2, learning new skills 1)
Will 10 (Discipline 4, Ability to overcome adversity 2, desire to win 3, resistance to charm or intimidate 1)
Charisma 10 (Good Looks 2, Luck 4, Communication 1, negotiations 1, leadership 2)
Having done that, I was about to climb down my tree when I decided to try doing a pull-up on one of the branches. I felt light as a feather. I did several more, just amazed at how easy this felt. I have always worked on being healthy and strong. This was more than that. It felt like… well, I had doubled my strength overnight. Which I guess I had. How strong were those crazy Orcs, then? It boggles the mind. Done with my experiment, I climbed down the tree and walked up to the fire. My Hatmar was already cooking, and Hert and Finny were looking at my arm. “It healed up nicely! Thank you for helping me with that.” I said. They smiled, and Hert handed me some meat to eat. I ate it and realized it had been salted. I didn’t realize how much I had missed salt. I knew my body had to be craving it. Eating so much meat and sweating, I had worried about getting constipated. It was great to know I was getting salt back into me.