Looking over my shoulder I could see that the achievements working. The name ‘Drifa Helgason [Help]’ was floating above her head inside a blue box.

I don’t know if you are or not. Prior to the boss fight you weren’t, afterwards…

I hummed in irritation, disliking the facts I was facing.

I was the one who stabbed it in the neck and head to be fair. She didn’t do all the heavy lifting… she almost died. Could’ve lost any hope of getting revenge right there, along with Drifa.

* * *

DRIFA

As my eyes fluttered open all I could feel was pain and exhaustion along with a flashing light in the corner of my vision telling me that I had some notifications.

Not… now…

I took a moment to just breathe. From what I could tell there was some sort of sharp pain coursing through my back from… two different locations. Whenever I so much as twitched my hands I felt some sort of minor stabbing sensation.

Right, splintery ladder.

As well as all my other previous injuries. And some sort of burning sensation, that felt like, well, a sunburn.

I let out a sigh.

I just need to read something, that’s all.

I just sat there in the quite that was occasionally interrupted from some crackles or pops in the fire.

That was nice… Ismund’ll probably get upset if I just stay here too long though.

I looked around myself to find a tarp hanging neatly above me.

Wait, oh, I’m in the tent. That’s a first. I like it, even if it’s a bit small… I should probably open my notifications before anything else.

[Affirmative. Opening notifications…]

[First Dungeon: Congratulations, you’ve completed your first dungeon! Since…]

I skimmed through the big chunk of text.

I didn’t know that there were Hunters… oh right, I wanna heal up, right?

Before I could continue reading anything I was interrupted by another notification, which fortunately meant more reading.

[People used to take pride in the name ‘Hunter’. However, nowadays it is either neutral or negative. Usually labelled as ‘old school’.]

I see…

I took a moment to read through the achievement all the way.

Okay, next.

[Stats have progressed.]

[Body:D (264/500) -> (265/500)]

[Mind:D (300/500) -> (302/500)]

[Soul: C- (3/1,000) -> (13/1,000)]

I really feel like I should’ve gotten more out of that…

[Pure Magic has advanced…]

The notification immediately grabbed my attention sparking some hope.

[User Drifa managed to control a variant of her snow magic, ice. Since you haven’t managed to understand how this took place, there is no further progression of note. Better luck next time!]

That’s disappointing, to say the least… but also exciting! I didn’t know that I’d be able to manipulate solids at all.

I smiled at what I could and then paused for a moment, confused.

How did I survive being swallowed?

[The protective field around you was released by the System and allowed you to create a ball of Ice around yourself. The System is not entirely certain as to how this occurred. You will have to do some personal research.]

[The protective field has yet to be restored since then. Corrupt energy is damaging you.]

Oh, so that’s what the sunburn is.

I craned my head around to look at my skin. Unlike the red I was expecting I was met with a grey almost black spreading on my skin like I’d been spraypainted… with the addition of little bumps and cracks. On top of that, it itched.

That… doesn’t look good.

[It is recommended that user Drifa removes herself from the vicinity of the dungeon.]

No kidding.

Using the back of my hands to push myself out of the bag I was lying in, I carefully made way way over to Ismund who was just observing some objects by the fire as his hair and clothes started to melt. Above his head, I could see a floating blue box that read ‘Ismund Theodore [Hidden]’

He’s soaked. Probably doesn’t care much though.

As I plopped down beside him I changed the settings on my bandana so I could hear him. After a few seconds, he stopped looking at some new boots he was holding to take off the ones he had, finally noticing me as I was bumped by his elbow.

He’s very interested in those boots.

Startled he looked over at me and seemed to wince, “What’s wrong with…”

He gestured vaguely with his hand.

“You know the protective field the System has? Apparently, I made an ice globe and used that up. So, until it fixes that, I’ll need to avoid hanging around corrupt energy. Otherwise, I think it sucks the energy out of me or something.”

Ismund grunted, “We need to leave soon anyways.”

After a second or two, he carefully switched the pair of boots he was wearing, looking like he was avoiding the use of his left arm.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Right, he got scratched pretty badly. Maybe I can make a deal then since he doesn’t seem all that keen on helping me…

“…Would you mind helping me with my back? I think there’s something in it. If you do that I’ll help with your scratches. I don’t think you can get your own very easily, and we want to get moving, right? It’ll be easier if we’re patched up a bit. And we probably won’t have to spend as much money at a doctor’s place or something.”

Ismund seemed to hesitate at first, but after a bit, he nodded lightly.

“Fine.”

He looked at my red hands that were riddled with black flecks of wood and raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

“You really think you’re going to help my back and not damage it more with splinters in your hand?”

Probably wouldn’t have been that bad.

Letting out a sigh of annoyance he made a medical kit appear.

Why didn’t we use that before?

Opening it up he handed me some tweezers and a needle, gesturing at my palms.

Okay, how do I do this… I’ve only done it a few times before.

Bringing my hand up to my face I tried to choose which one to start with.

Big ones are probably easier, right?

Grabbing the skin around it I tried to find where it came in.

I think it’s right about… there. I don’t want to stab myself right away if I don’t have to.

Letting out a breath I tried to squeeze it out of my hand, which unfortunately looked like it broke it into smaller splinters.

Dang it.

Bringing out the needle he handed me I tried to widen the hole the splinter was in while letting out a slow, painful breath.

I don’t need to use the tweezers yet… that part’s at the end, I think…

I pursed my lips and tried to ease the piece of wood out… only to drive further inside my palm.

I heard an annoyed grunt beside me making me look over in surprise.

“What is it?”

“You’re taking too long.”

I bit my lip nervously.

I’m doing my best.

Gripping the needle again I tried to quickly pull the piece of wood without much success, just a hiss of pain.

Rolling his eyes Ismund took the needle and tweezers from me, much to my surprise.

“What’re you-”

Is he worried I’m going to break them or something?

Instead of putting them away, he grabbed my hand and brought it up to his face. As his breath steamed on it he tilted it around examining the splinters making me look around awkwardly, unsure what to do with myself.

Letting out a tisking sound he brought the needle into the hole I had made earlier, lifted the wood and carefully removed it. To my surprise, it was actually pretty smooth.

As he was removing the splinters I scratched the black-grey portions of my skin absentmindedly. It was somewhat addictive actually.

“Don’t do that.”

I looked up, “Hm?”

Just then, I finally noticed a notification in the corner of my vision.

[It is recommended that user Drifa stops scratching immediately. The removal of the dead skin opens up new vulnerable flesh to be destroyed by the ambient corrupt energy.]

They’re right, that doesn’t sound good… it does feel nice though.

[User Drifa has been warned.]

No need to sound so ominous.

[…]

Just blank text with dots, really?

[Afirmative.]

The hand he'd been working on dropped and the other was taken.

That was quick.

I took a look at my now splinter-less hand. It was riddled with holes and had a little bit of crimson leaking out of it. Other than that it looked pretty good, just red and irritated.

“How did you get so good at this? And um, should I put a bandage on it?”

Ismund stopped what he was doing a gestured to some of the melted snow.

“Don’t waste materials. Just freeze them over.”

“Okay?”

Won’t the ice crack? I’m not so sure about this.

Even though I had my concerns, I grabbed some partially melted snow with my free hand and just held it there. After a bit, it seemed to harden a bit, nothing more, and my hand was partially immobile now. But that was it.

“Done.”

His cold hand let go of mine and he gave me the med kit.

“Your turn.”

Flushing a bit he lifted the back of his shirt with his good hand and held it there, revealing his rather large, damaged back.

He must’ve changed shirts, otherwise it’d have cuts in it as well.

“You’re still gonna get mine right?”

He grunted.

Pursing my lips nervously I rummaged through the white box. There were bandage rolls,-

Might need those at the end so the skin isn’t irritated from his shirt.

-Bandaids, some sort of string, another sowing needle, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a rag, ointment and some other odds and ends.

I should be able to work with this.

My face heated as I looked at the wounds. They were all frozen over and looked pretty irritated. Three deep, long lines had been torn from the top of his shoulder blade all the way down to his left arm.

That looks painful…

Quickly bringing the string through the eye of the needle I made a knot before letting out a breath.

I can do this. He probably won’t be upset, I think?

I tapped on the frozen blood and brushed it off as best I could.

How am I gonna get rid of this?

I sat for a few moments thinking.

“Can you face away from the fire so the blood can unfreeze? I’m gonna pour some stuff on it to keep it from getting infected once it’s thawed.”

He spun around and looked a little annoyed.

I’m doing my best. And it’s not like I can just leave it frozen. At least, not right now. I don’t imagine the body could heal completely with something in the way.

After a minute or two I checked up on it again and it had finished melting, meaning that red streaks were running along his back. Grabbing a rag I mopped up the blood that was falling. Holding the cloth there with one hand, I used the other to pour the bottle on his back.

“This is gonna sting!”

As the clear liquid fell into the marred skin a white frothy foam boiled out of it making Ismund hiss out in pain.

“Sorry!”

“Get on with it.”

Using the dry part of the cloth I did my best to mop off the blood and foam leaking out.

“Okay, I think that’s done…”

dropping the red-pink cloth to the side I use my free hand to squeeze his cold skin together.

Sure hope I’m doing this right!

Bringing my needle about a centimetre away from the gouge I push it through the skit eliciting a sharp “Mn!” sound from him.

Sorry!

I dragged it through to the other side and made sure the back was knotted tightly. After nodding to myself in content I made another stitch, and another, and another… and well. You get the point.

This continued for about fifteen minutes, stopping once it reached his arm. I cut the string, knotted it, and then I moved on to the next scratch. In the end I took about forty-five minutes give or take. I wasn’t sure how that was compared to the time it normally took, but it got done and that’s what mattered. Wiping off the bloody needle I placed it in the box and then grabbed the ointment.

I have no idea what this does, but it’s gotta be helpful right?

I dipped my fingers into the yellowish creamy substance and then spread it along all of the stitches.

Maybe it’ll help with inflammation?

Grabbing the edge of the bandage I pinned it to his back and passed the roll to him.

“I’ll wrap it around from behind, you can get the front.”

We passed it back and forth until it looked like it’d keep more blood from spilling out and like it’d hold together.

It’ll probably freeze over again, but what can you do?

“Should I… ah, get your arm as well?”

He stopped holding his shirt up and let it drop over the bandages, “No. The ice is keeping it together for now. We don’t want to sit here too long, otherwise, you’ll get worse, or we’ll run out of food.”

I nodded hesitantly as he turned around to face me with a frown.

“Turn.”

At least I have holes in my shirt… then again, I only have one. I’ll need to fix it once I get a room.

I turned around and felt his fingers trace around where the pain was coming from.

Riiip!

“What’d you do?”

“Cut cloth in the way. It needs stitching.”

I thought for a moment.

“What is it?”

“Two big teeth.”

I gagged a bit.

No wonder it hurts. They’re probably rotten too. Gross. I’m glad I saved some of the hydrogen peroxide. They would almost definitely infect me otherwise.

“Ready?”

I was drawn out of my thoughts.

“What?”

Without further notice, he placed a large hand on my back and tugged at the tooth. Tensing up clenched my fists let out a surprised shout. It hurt like the devil but I still felt some measure of relief with it being removed. Along with something trickling down my back, probably blood.

Frunk.

I looked over to my right to see what Ismund had thrown. There was a rotted molar with several holes in it and something growing on it. It was a few inches long and had my blood smeared on it.

Eww, just ew. No. I’m glad that’s gone… Oh no, wait, there’s another one.

I shuddered.

A moment later I felt more pain as the other one was being pulled from my back.

Crack!

A sharp pain dominated the other one from his pulling. This one had more stabbing involved.

I tried to look over my shoulder for a moment, only to stop since the pain was so bad.

“What was that?”

“… It broke. It was pretty rotten.”

I took a gulp and looked at the tooth beside me.

That adds up.

Ismund mumbled something, “… can’t see anything.”

Afterwards, I felt a cloth of some sort padding around where the pain was coming from, followed by a grunt of approval.

The next few minutes were filled with pain, Ismund pulling chunks of shattered tooth out of my back and half hazardly throwing them next to me.

“No more tooth left.”

“Finally…”

I felt the cloth on my back again. It must’ve just been so he could see the wound without blood in the way because my shirt was drinking it in like nobody’s business.

Oh no, the stain. That’s gonna be bad.

Soon, I felt something pouring on my back and a loud fizzing sound. I started breathing quickly as the pain ramped up.

Still, not as bad as the tooth removal.

“Stitching now.”

True to his word, my back was stabbed again and again and again, making me cry. Thankfully the tears didn’t freeze to my face so quickly now that we were out of the dungeon.

“Stop hyperventilating.”

But it hurts!

I tried to squeeze my sleeves to cope. It didn’t really help, but the pain of my fingernails digging into my palm was a good distraction from the other pain I was dealing with.

It’ll be over soon … You just need to get through this!

A while later it was finally over.

I felt some sort of greasy substance spread over the wounds.

Probably the ointment.

“Use these, then give them back.”

Looking to the side I saw the bandages were beside the teeth shards to my right.

Right. Pushing myself up I headed to the tent to wrap the bandages around myself. As I left I saw Ismund chucking the bones into the fire as fuel.

A little bit later I headed out of the tent and gave him the bandages. He put them away, collapsed the tent, and killed the fire.

At this point, it was getting pretty dark, so it was hard to see without the bonfire lighting things.

As I walked passed the bright embers Ismund told me, “I’ve got something for you.