My arm moved easier after that last creak, and I got feeling back in my legs. Getting the feeling back was not a good thing.

Then my trap sprung. I was in the middle of harvesting when a stoat ambushed fake Tāwai. The trap held it for a few seconds, but I wasn’t quick enough. Fortunately, I didn’t have to be, and Rob's jaws snapped the head off. All I had to do was grab the body to Harvest and reset the trap.

Stoats have fur, teeth, and claws, and interestingly, their spine is valuable. I was getting coins and a couple of weak health potions. I checked the cores for skills as I went. So far, the success rate has been zero. Then, a skill stone dropped. I got excited for a minute but then identified it as Lacerating Claws, which Tāwai already had. Stupid Trial. It does not give you what you need. It tries to kill you.

My trap sucked in another Stoat. I got a death dart in this one, but it got away before Rob could bite its head off.

Rob was being attacked less. It is possibly his Adaptive Camouflage combined with my attractive trap.

One of the larger hornbills dropped a feathered hat, whatever use that was. It was shaped like a hat with a large brim that ranchers used to keep the sun off but lined with feathers on the outside. There was a large bright orange feather sticking out the top. I appraised it as waterproof. It hasn’t rained since we arrived and I am not sure it does here. Another ‘helpful’ drop from the trial.

Tāwai crashed down with a dead stoat. I offered him a health potion and a stamina potion as I hid him with Light Manipulation. As he drank, I looked him over, and he had a claw twisted the wrong way, and he was favouring that leg.

“Shall I splint that for you?” I asked, and he nodded. My Helping hands pulled out a bandage and a small bone that could be used as a splint. Tāwai was making the most of being in my Rejuvenating Aura.

A stoat landed on the Tāwai rattrap, and Rob was quick this time. That was good, as my hands were full.

My bones creaked, and Tāwai looked sharply at me. “Yeah,” I said, as he had obviously heard, “They are getting there.”

Tāwai nodded. I think he was too tired to bother speaking.

Rob’s movement broke his camouflage, though, and several stoats attacked him as Tāwai was not out there keeping them busy.

I grabbed him before he could fly out there, “Don’t rush. Rob will be fine,” and the fake Tāwai on the trap flew off into the trees, drawing some away.

Tāwai cast Heal Wound on himself, even though it did nothing for his dislocated claw. I don’t think it is broken. He had other wounds to close.

Rob jerked as a stoat landed on his back, clawing and biting him. Tāwai shook off my hand and took off in a gust of wind, and I heard the stoat squeal in pain and drop to the other side of me. My Helping Hand grabbed him with a death claw, and then my other Helping Hand turned Shadow, and I struck it with the knife it was holding and used Frostshade Rend. The Helping Hand did not have much power in a strike, but it was enough to channel other skills. I had not realised that before, but now they are much more dangerous.

I went back to harvesting. First, I worked through the biggest and toughest Hornbills, hoping for some good drops. My Helping Hands were slower than my normal hands, but they got the job done.

Then I found a Hornbill core with a skill in it. I was tempted to dig it out myself, but the chances of it being helpful to me are much less than to Tāwai. Hornbills are birds with sound and air attacks. The chances of it being compatible with Tāwai are much greater than mine. Plus, he deserves it.

I need to find a way to identify the skill in the cores, but I do not know how to do it now, and now is not the time.

My bones creaked again, and the swelling around my bad eye reduced. I tentatively moved my upper body, and there was noticeably less pain. One of my arms was also useable. One of the fingers was still broken, but I used Helping Hand to bind it to the finger next to it, and I could mostly use it.

It was getting lighter. I spared a thought for the others. With the dawn, they will come looking. I really want Austin here healing.

I drank another weak health potion. I only had weak ones left.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Tāwai landed heavily with a dead stoat in his beak, and I created a fake Tāwai next to him, who hopped over to the trap while the real Tāwai came under Rob’s camouflaged body.

“Have you got time for this?” I whispered, producing the core with the skill. He shrug/nodded and went to work on the core while I watched the surroundings. I will be mad if we get another Lacerating Claw or something equally redundant. That is what I have come to expect.

A stoat pounced on fake Tāwai, and Rob got him before I did. I waited for the consequences of that, but he wasn’t attacked straightaway.

Soon, there was a chirp. I glanced at Tāwai, and he nodded, seeming to be satisfied. I checked his status. He now had Stout Heart. It seemed to increase his health and stamina regeneration. It did nothing for his mana, but boosted the other two. This was good. No, this was great. It would synergise with Rejuvenating Aura. It didn’t seem as strong as Minor Regeneration, but it also boosted stamina, which was better in some ways. It would boost the body's natural recovery, so it is not nearly as strong at fighting poisons etc.

Even now, he looks more refreshed. However, I still won't take back the nasty things I said about the trial.

I flew fake Tāwai off into the trees, and we waited to see if more stoats would find us. Things were quiet, and I engaged Muffle Sound and stopped harvesting. If we could hide, that would be best to help us recover.

My bones creaked again. It was not so bad now. I wiggled my feet. I could probably stand if I had to. I am not sure if I can ride Rob yet, but maybe I could if I tied myself on.

Eventually, I got back to harvesting, and Tāwai settled down to rest. We might be fine now. One of the Stoats dropped claw knuckles, which worked like brass knuckles for punching but with claws.

When I next looked at Tāwai, he was fast asleep. I worked through my stock of corpses, and when my bones next creaked, I decided to sit up. Rob shifted off to the side, and I took over hiding us with Light Manipulation.

I assessed my tattered armour. It was so bad I no longer had the set bonuses. One of my boots was missing a bone-reinforced piece, but it still worked as a boot. The Bracers were bashed and the bone broken, but I thought they might self-repair. The boots and bracers were the most useful here as they had the sure-grip function. The boots would need an armourer to replace the bone, and they would be fine.

The Jerkin, Helmet, and pants were the worst. They were not going to self-repair. I would need extensive work from an armourer to fix them. I was not going to take them off yet because I hurt too much. The bone lining in the helmet was crushed, and pieces of bone were missing. I am not sure how I survived that, but it probably is one of the reasons I did survive.

I looked in my storage chest to see what I had to replace them with. I had some normal clothes from my disguises and a normal set of armour. Did I have any better from the loot drops?

I had a Rat fur vest, which was resistant to cutting and water. Nobody had wanted that at the time. I have a pair of Rat Stomper boots nobody wanted, and I don’t want them. I have some Snake-skin pants with poison resistance and the Hog Hide Chaps. The chaps go over the top of the pants and have straps that tie to the legs. The snakeskin pants look very tight and have no pockets.

I decided I would wear my spare pair of trousers with the Hog Hide Chaps over the top, and the Rat Fur vest was marginally better than my backup jacket. To top off this new fantastic look, I will probably wear a hornbill feathered rancher hat. It is a true mix-n-mismatch adventurers look.

I let Tāwai sleep several more hours and then felt up to getting changed out of my ruined armour and into the true adventurer look. I must admit I quite like the hat. It is not going to protect my head much, but I think I will keep the hat.

After the effort of getting changed, I rested, and then Tāwai and I ate a large meal. Rob also got his share. Tāwai was looking energetic but battered. His missing feathers would take time, but his wounds were closed and healing.

It was probably lunchtime when I gingerly mounted Rob and Tāwai perched on his head, and we started the long climb upwards. We concentrated on stealth and not disturbing anything.

After a while, Tāwai felt up to scouting again and set out in search of the others.

It was mid-afternoon when he led Myantha to us.

“I am surprised you are alive,” were her first words.

“It was touch and go,” I said.

“Armour ruined?” I nodded, “You were an idiot,” she stated.

“Yes, I am not sure what I was thinking.”

“I know five different ways we could have retrieved the shard and avoided the hornbills without you leaping to your death.”

“I have thought of a few myself.”

She frowned. I felt she was holding back on a lengthy and vitriolic lecture. All she said was, “I hope you have learned your lesson.”

I nodded, feeling like a naughty kid. “It was a painful one.”

“You also owe Tāwai big.”

I nodded, “I owe him my life.”

She nodded to the left, “Juth is heading back to the base camp as we thought we had lost our guide.” She looked at me closely, “Are you up to finding another one?”

“Austin probably needs to be the judge of that.”

She nodded, “Follow me then.”