Dante lay there as chaos broke out around him. He could hear Svōl yelling and suddenly the trench was filled with soldiers. It all happened between blinks, another stark reminder that he was out of his depth. All around him, a barrage of magic and projectiles were being hurtled out of the trench toward the attack.

It seemed like he had broken some sort of deadlock.

Svōl suddenly loomed over him and offered a hand. When he took it, he was effortlessly hoisted to his feet. Looking around, Dante was afraid to move as soldiers darted from position to position at blinding speeds. When Svōl tugged him out of the fray, he gladly acquiesced. He was led around the bend, where it was relatively peaceful, and then Svōl sat him down on the fire step.

Dante grimaced as Svōl began poking at the gash on his cheek but offered no resistance. The ministrations seemed purposeful and he couldn't summon the will to do anything about it. Instead, he stared back the way they came. He heard renewed shouts, heavy impacts, and the screech of metal on metal. He guessed that the enemy was offering return fire. Even as he watched, there was a scream of pain and an unfortunate woman was pulled out of the fray with a spear through his stomach.

That could have been me. Dante realized that his hands were trembling and clenched them together to try and quiet them. One bad decision, one second of indecision was all it would take.

Something was waved in front of his face and he looked up to see a tightly rolled leather wad. Dante looked at Svōl and instinctively leaned back when he saw the man was wielding a needle and thread. There was a small knapsack in the man’s lap in which he could spot small flasks, bandages, and thread in it. Some sort of first aid kit he thought.

Oh, that’s right. Dante reached and traced around the burning line on his face. He didn’t have a mirror, but it stretched from cheekbone to ear and felt deep. That's going to need stitches. He grimaced.

This is going to hurt a lot, isn’t it?

Accepting the leather bundle between his teeth, he closed his eyes and prepared himself. He could hear a ‘pop’ as Svōl opened a flask and seconds later he clamped his teeth down on the leather bundle as a cold liquid was poured into the wound. Svōl, that bastard, was giving him a generous dosage. A new wave of pain followed afterward, changing from a stinging sensation to an intense burning. It lingered even after the pouring stopped. Before he had time to recover, an iron grip took grabbed his face, holding it steady and pinching the wound closed. A sharp pinprick followed soon after and a whimper would have escaped his lips had his mouth not been filled.

One.

Another pinprick, a sharp tugging sensation as thread was pulled through flesh.

Two.

Dante soon lost count, but it was well over a couple dozen stitches. Discounting burning to death, it was one of the more painful experiences of his life and was made worse by its duration. He made sounds during that eternity that he hadn’t known he could make. Of course, Svōl doused the entire area again with the disinfectant, just as that burning sensation had just begun fading. When Svōl let go of his face, Dante opened his eyes to see that the man had soaked a bandage in a red, viscous substance. He layered it over the cut and the bandage stuck on. Dante poked at it and found that it was rapidly solidifying into a firm yet gelatinous film. Svōl slapped his hand away and he decided to leave it alone for now.

I guess I am not getting healing magic for every single injury, just the life-threatening ones. He turned his gaze back to Svōl, who had begun packing away his medical supplies. Most injuries must be treated like this. He was no expert on first aid, but Svōl seemed practiced. Definitely a good guy to get to know.

“Thank you Svōl, for saving my life and for this.” Dante pointed at the bandaged wound. “I don’t know when, but I will return the favor one day. I swear it.”

Dante bowed his head, hoping that his words and gestures would cross the language barrier. He flinched as he felt a pat on his arm and looked up to see a small smile on Svōl’s face. A wave of relief went through Dante and he he looked away to hide the dampness at the corners of his eyes. He didn’t let them fall, it would be unseemly.

Now that he had a quiet moment, he noticed for the first time that he had notifications from the system again. He glanced back at Svōl, who had settled in and seemed content to continue resting on these steps. With a thought, Dante opened them.

[Warding Flesh] has advanced to Level 5.

[Specializations] are available.

Level 24 [Ahsmati] has been slain.

Your Participation: <1%

Calculating Experience Rewards

Congratulations! You have advanced to Level 3.

That was … a lot to unpack. Now that he looked back at where he had nearly died, he saw that the soldiers had mostly dispersed. I guess they killed whatever shot at me? What did the system call it ... an Ahsmati? Is that what we are fighting? At least I got something out of that mess. Apparently, being damaged is enough to count as participation. But what is a [Specialization]?

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Burning with curiosity, he opened his [Status] and found that it had a new [Specializations] tab. He focused on it and a new window opened.

Choose a new [Specialization] for [Warding Flesh]

Overloaded Exchange the future. Maximized Power above all. Reaching Extend your authority. Restricted Sacrifice generality. Polar Wield two aspects.

Dante blinked his eyes and then rubbed at them, not quite believing what he was seeing. I actually got a description for something! He felt an initial surge of excitement which quickly morphed into a frown as he scanned through his options. It’s still so little. What, did they have a word limit of three or something? Still, I suppose I should be grateful to get anything at all.

The question is, which do I pick?

Dante reached down to pick up a small rock, balanced it in his palm, and then released. It levitated up a few inches above his hand where it remained, rotating with the minute shifts in his hand. He brought it up to eye level, then pushed it down with one finger. Hmm, if I am not mistaken I think it has gotten a little stronger. This rock is heavier than any it was able to lift before and it seems to hover a little higher.

He added another rock next to the first, about the size of a chicken egg. It proved to be too much for the ability and began to slowly sink. I suppose that’s the limit for now. I need to start recording these readings, I might be able to figure out how what changes when this ability levels.

Even with the upgrade, it still was not the kind of results that Dante to see from his highest leveled ability. At its current state, this ability is nowhere near stopping something like that javelin. I need to pick something that can quickly boost its defensive potential.

Dante was about to go through his options when he was distracted by movement from Svōl, who stretched and then stood. Scanning around, he saw that it wasn’t just Svōl who was moving. Where once soldiers were assigned to their positions, there was now a constant circulation through the trenches. Something was happening.

He got up, tense creeping back into him, and scanned for any peculiarities. Dante was at least certain that danger was not imminent as all weapons were in their sheaths and people were moving at human-like speeds. He looked to Svōl for direction, who also seemed to be looking for something in the crowd. Moments later, the man brightened and waved to someone in the distance.

I guess some gestures truly translate across cultures. Dante turned and looked at what had caught Svōl’s eye. It was a group of three, all carrying shovels or pickaxes and covered in grime. It was composed of one other man and two women, one of whom immediately caught Dante’s eye as she was quite clearly not human.

His first thought upon seeing her was elf, but that wasn’t quite right. While she certainly had the long ears — they must have been almost a foot long — and the thin frame typically associated with elves, that was where the similarities ended. For one, she had an additional pair of eyes located on the cheekbones. They were much smaller than the main pair and seemed to have the ability to operate independently.

Freaky.

One of them glanced at him briefly with an orange iris and pupils much like a cats before seemingly dismissing him. What he had first judged as slimness was revealed to be pure muscle paired with no fat, even beyond what you would expect to find on an Olympic athlete. On her cheeks and visible skin, he could see striations that disrupted otherwise flawless skin. They seemed to run parallel to muscle.

Despite being about a head shorter than what he judged the average height here, she gave off a dangerous feeling. Almost like a predator in their midst. A feeling that was only reinforced when she greeted Svōl and he saw several sizable canines peak out of her lips. Realizing that he had been staring for quite a while, he adverted his gaze.

Which, of course, made her notice Dante. She said something to Svōl and whatever he said back caused her to chuckle. I hope that comment was complimentary. Dante had a feeling he was looking at his future colleagues. After the group had finished their greetings, which mostly consisted of embraces and back slaps, they began to move. Dante trailed along, feeling very much like a third wheel.

By this point, evening had turned to twilight and it was growing difficult to see. There were no lights in these trenches, for obvious reasons. Usually, he was blind as a bat in such conditions but, even in this moonless night, he was able to see far better than he expected. While colors were still beyond him, it was easy enough to see the shape of things. He wouldn’t want to run in these conditions, but it was enough that he wouldn’t bump into anything if he took his time.

I guess [Enhanced Senses] is doing something. I wonder what I would score on an eye exam now?

After a good five minutes or so and many turns which seemed to take them a reasonable distance away from the front, their journey ended in a small circular plaza-like area. It was surrounded by doors that were built straight into the stone. In the middle was a well and several soldiers stood clustered around it, filling their water skins and chatting. Some held bowls that seemed to be full of some kind of stew. A small breeze picked up and blew an appetizing scent towards him. While Dante couldn’t identify any of the scents, it was one of the best things he had smelled in a while. His stomach grumbled and he hoped that they would be eating soon.

Svōl led the party to one of the doors and opened it with a key that he produced from one of his many pockets. He opened the door and inside was a small room, about the size of an underfunded high school classroom. Along the far side of the room were ten small nooks carved into the wall arrayed in a two-by-five pattern. They were filled with straw and had a few blankets thrown over the top to form a crude mattress. The rest of the room was occupied by tables, benches, and an open fire pit with a chimney above it that led into the ceiling.

There was already one woman in the room who was tending to a pot hung over the fire, from which emanated an even more ravishing smell than the stew from before. Dante recognized her, he would never forget that light-devouring armor. It was the soldier who had rescued him from his first near-death experience.

She heard the door, turned around, and he got his first look at his savior's face.