After the adrenaline wore off, the pain kicked in.

After they realized he was missing fingers, they grabbed Lucas and rushed to the safer Balloon Monster territory. Then Jack and Brian quickly used the first aid kit on Lucas’ left hand where he was missing 4 fingers. They disinfected the wounds and wrapped it in gauze. It took a while before the bleeding stopped.

Lucas was sitting on the ground and crying from the pain. But after doing the basic first aid, they got him up again and forced him to walk even farther back into the safer zone. They were too scared of running into another wolf. And Lucas couldn’t think straight so they had to force him to walk.

Lucas was now laying on the ground and paralyzed by the pain. Jack and Brian were standing and facing each other.

“State facts. We still need to get stronger because of the hispanics. And we need food pretty soon. And now we have this problem. We have 3 skill points. And we have to use them to do something with his fingers. Maybe they’ll get infection or turn black or something,” Jack said.

“Yeah… I’m not sure what to do. Maybe this is like a mana problem? Maybe we need those mana skills before we can do anything about this?” Brian said.

“I don’t know man. But we need to do something fast. I think he’s good for now but we can’t keep going like this. When will he stop crying? Maybe we can get him like a painkiller skill?” Jack said.

“Fuck you!” Lucas screamed at Jack.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Jack said.

“Maybe I should chop off your fingers, see how you like it, dickhead.”

“I have an idea. You know that mana blueprint you got for glass? Maybe one of us can use a skill point on getting a blueprint for healing? And then we figure out how to use mana to activate it,” Brian said.

“Eh? But how would we do that? None of us have all 3 skills needed for mana anyways,” Jack said.

“Okay, let’s think. You have Mana Generation and one free skill point. I have Mana Manipulation and one free skill point. Lucas has Mana Sense. Maybe me and Lucas only need Mana Sense and Mana Manipulation, and we can use your mana? Or the environmental mana? And then you buy the healing blueprint, and we figure some shit out?” Brian said.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should think more about this…”

“Just fucking do it!” Lucas screamed.

“Okay, fuck you. Okay I’ll do it. Oh great super system. I want to use my skill point on a mana blueprint for healing,” Jack said.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Healing Mana Blueprint: Rank 1

“Okay, I got it. Lemme draw it on the ground,” Jack said. He took a branch and made a circle and many weird symbols. He took his time to precisely draw down everything.

“I have no idea how this shit works, but here,” Jack said.

“Okay, system, I want to spend my skill point on getting the Mana Sense skill,” Brian said.

Mana Sense: Rank 1

His peripheral and central nervous system overheated. And he collapsed onto the ground from sensory overload.

“Yo! You fine?” Jack said and rushed over to him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just… this shit’s freaky,” Brian said.

“Tell me about it,” Lucas said.

“Fuck you two. Now I have to wait even longer for this getting this mana shit,” Jack said.

“Hey Jack, fuck you! Oh dear system, I want to spend my skill point on getting Mana Manipulation,” Lucas said.

Mana Manipulation: Rank 1

“Fuck you, Lucas. If you hadn’t wasted your last skill point on your micropenis maybe we wouldn’t be in this shit,” Jack said.

“Yeah, yeah, fuck you,” Lucas said.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he is in pain and fingerless, I would beat the shit out of him.

…

They all sat around the Healing Blueprint on the ground. Lucas was still in pain, but he could focus somewhat.

“Okay, I can’t really do much. So I’ll let you two at it. Show me your oh so great magical powers,” Jack said.

“Okay, so I think we just have to manipulate the ambient mana and force it into this magical circle, and then we get healing? Lucas probably has to put his hand over this shit, but you get the idea,” Brian said.

“Okay, let’s try,” Lucas said.

The two focused, and tried using their new skills to move mana. Brian closed his eyes and tried to sense the waves around him. He imagined them moving in different directions, but nothing happened.

Lucas kept his eyes open, and put his good hand out into the air, and tried to use it to move the incoming and outgoing mana waves.

“Oh shit! I did it!” Lucas said.

He managed to make some of the ambient mana move a little, in the same direction as he pulled his outstretched hand.

“Oh shit, it actually works like that,” Brian said after copying his technique.

“Okay, let’s focus on bringing all this mana into the circle,” Brian said.

Lucas nodded.

“I’m bored. I’ll go and do some grinding. Get a skill crystal. You two figure this out. I’ll stay close by and grind in a circle. See you later. I’ll yell or some shit if I need help,” Jack said.

…

Origami: Rank 1

“Honestly, fuck you, system,” Jack said.

It took about 25 Balloon Monsters before he got the skill crystal.

I was really excited to finally use mana. This sucks. I feel like I’m left out.

“Hey! Jack, was it?” somebody said.

Jack looked up and saw that he was surrounded by college students in football gear. Eugene was talking to him.