Logan didn’t remember when his body had been this beat. According to Tumor he had a damaged tendon on his heel, hamstring and hip, as well as two broken ribs and a fracture on his shoulder, wrist and ankle. Not to mention all the damage that his muscles had accrued.

Small price to pay for being alive.

Kat and Balmer had put his arms on their shoulders and taken him back home. Now Logan was lying on a blanket on the ground and waiting for their [Healer]. Dr. Rosenberg was making his way towards him, holding a bar of darkmetal in one hand, a quiet, impassive look on his face, as any doctor ever had.

The healing made Logan feel a little better. Dr. Rosenberg muttered about leveling in his subclass [Restoration] to 20. Logan and the others around him congratulated him, but he just waved a hand, trying to keep his professional aloofness. But Logan smirked when he saw the faintest blush around their [Healer’s] ears.

Freya brought him some food and an excited William, a sandy haired man in his thirties, who had the [Alchemist] class.

Logan didn’t expect Freya to be back already from the Faelves and there was something serious and solemn in her, but before Logan could ask, William shoved a clay cup in Logan’s hand.

“Drink this!” the man said and grinned excitedly.

Logan looked at the small cup in his hand. There was some orange and viscous liquid that smelled like burnt sugar. Logan was about to dip a finger into the concoction and taste it.

“I wouldn’t,” William said and his smile turned apologetic. “Better if you just shoot it down, trust me.”

“What is it?” Logan asked.

“Ahhah!” William said and stood up straight. “An excellent question. This is my newest creation, which I discovered after I leveled up to 4 in my [Alchemist] class and received my newest [Talent], [Intuitive Experimentation].”

Dr. Rosenberg gave his younger associate a cool glance before going off, muttering to himself. If William noticed, he pretended not to.

“It gave me the ability to just know which ingredients go well together. There is this plant… I’ve taken a liking to calling it glintroot. I mix it with the juice of those purple citrus fruits and—”

Logan didn’t say anything, but his pained smile must have made William come back to reality. He chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Anyway. It tastes like gasoline, but it will give you a good boost. Heal your body, give you energy, that sort of stuff.”

“That should help with the bones then?” Balmer asked and looked suspiciously at the cup in Logan’s hand. Logan lifted it up so Balmer could take a sniff. He recoiled like an affronted cat.

“Exactly!” William said. “I think it would complement Dr. Rosenberg’s skills well…”

“Oh,” Logan said and swirled at the thick liquid in his cup. “That’s why he was looking glum.”

William’s smile waned. “We are… working on finding a mutual understanding.”

“Let me know if you need any help with that,” Logan said and gulped down the orange sludge. It tasted like cheap tequila mixed with paint thinner.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

He grimace but a fuzzy warmth started spreading from his chest to his limbs. His throat burned, but other than that, the medicine seemed to have a benign effect on his body.

“So?” William asked.

Logan swallowed. “If you can fix the taste, you’ve got a real market winner here.”

William took the cup back and gave him a winning smile. Logan chuckled at the excitement and thanked the good man. Freya gave William a strained smile, as if asking him to go away already. Their [Alchemist] sobered up and nodded.

Eyebrows raised, Logan turned to Freya.

“What is it?” Logan asked. “I didn’t think you’d have returned already. We weren’t out for more than two days? Tops three.”

“That’s the thing,” Freya said. She sighed and her beautiful sapphire eyes were full of worry. “The Faelves weren’t there?”

“What?”

Logan tried getting up, but the pain from his ribs forced him back.

“We got there with Jefferson, Fields and Chesterton. They were just going to drop me off and go hunt for game,” Freya said and distractedly tucked a hair behind her ear. “I thought I felt something was off already at the swamp, but I didn’t make much of that.”

Logan nodded and Freya continued.

“But when nobody came to us when we entered the grove, I knew something was wrong. And then I saw the damage…”

Freya was holding back tears. Logan ignored his pain and copped her up in his arms and rake a soothing hand through her honey golden hair. Was Snoff okay?

“Something attacked them,” Freya said. “They felled so many Numa fruit trees. Broken branches lay on the ground, our saplings uprooted…”

“Any bodies?” Logan asked.

Freya shook his head and grabbed a handful of Logan’s Armor. It turned soft and porous, and Freya wiped her eyes on it.

Good one, Tumor.

“Just don’t blow your nose on it,” Logan said, which elicited a sad chuckle out of Freya.

“I didn’t see any bodies, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t in trouble.”

“True,” Logan said. “Do you think they were captured or did they escape?”

Freya shrugged and clutched a strip of Logan’s soft metal armor like a tie on his neck. Logan squeezed her shoulder.

“I’ll go check it out,” Logan said. “Tumor can probably play detective better than you or me.”

Logan made a motion to get up as if he needed to go now, but he winced at the pain flashing at his ribs. Freya’s somber face took a shade of determination and she pushed her down.

“You’re not going anywhere,” she said. “You’re hurt and you made a promise.”

“Frey, I—”

She flashed her eyes at him.

[I think that means you need to “pipe down.”]

“Thanks, Tumor,” Logan muttered.

“What did Tumor say?” Freya asked.

“Agreed with you.”

Freya smiled. “Good thing someone gets through your thick skull.”

“It’s easier when you can access the mush directly,” Logan said.

“Look, my little mush,” Freya said. “I’m as worried about the Faelves as you are, but you seriously need to rest.”

Logan sighed. “You’re right. But the trail might get cold. We need to get on top of this.”

“It’s as cold as it’s going to get, Logan,” Freya said. “It wasn’t like there was a plate swirling when I got there. It had been deserted hours or days when I got there.”

“Maybe we could send men there to investigate. The agents are pretty sharp.”

Freya raised an eyebrow. “Imagine hearing you saying something positive about them.”

“Hey, now,” Logan said. “I’m not that guy anymore.”

“You are,” Freya said and kissed his cheek. “Just an improved, more refined version.”

“I’ll take that,” Logan said and kissed her back. “So our fancy-shmancy A-grade Numa fruit saplings are gone too?”

Freya chuckled. “That’s the one good thing about this whole thing. I brought them with me. They’re ours now.”

“Huh?”

Freya smiled sheepishly. “Well I had to. The Faelves kept gushing about how awesome they were, and since they might be done, I figured… Well, I [Blessed] and [Purified] them and had them carried in pots from the Faelves. Now I’ve been making sure the earth they’re in is good. But with my skills, my little [Farmer’s] skills and even Simmons’s skills in his [Arborist] class have all helped them tremendously. There’s even flowers on the bigger one. I think that’s yours.”

“Oh, that’s amazing,” Logan said.

Freya nodded. “It’s good. Now we will have a steady supply of Numa fruit.”

[We should go to the dwellings of the Faelves and acquire all the useful tools and items that we need.]

“Tumor…”

“What is it?” Freya asked.

“Tumor wants us to loot the Faelves.”

“Ehhh…” Freya said. “Tell Tumor, that’s tactless.”

[Tell Freya that she should encourage you to build me a body, so I can interface with her directly.]

“You know what, Tumor,” Logan said and gently untangled himself from Freya. “We’ll do that next.”