In a flash of inspiration, I knew what to do.

Or rather, I came up with a plausible yet totally bullshit idea. I was too scared not to try it. The clock was ticking and Laura's life was fading with every point of HP.

I just hoped that it would make a difference.

The kid was pacing back and forth in the room, oscillating between staring pleadingly at me and checking up on his mother. The flower in my hand was still swaying gently. I wondered how long it would do that if left alone to dry out,

"Tobi, can you please go to the back of the cabin and fetch some wood? I need to boil some water," I said, my mind made up to follow my plan.

He just nodded and practically tripped over his feet in his hurry to follow my instructions. A few minutes later we had a merry little fire in the stove and a pot with half a cup of water on top of it. In the meantime, I washed the chopping board and knife to the best of my ability, hoping there wouldn't be too many germs on them. This was an open wound we were talking about.

I briefly considered the possibility of an infection, but I dismissed it. She was more likely to die from bleeding than an infection at this point. We would cross that bridge if we came to it.

"There are some clean towels in the bathroom in the cabinet. Can you get them and cut them into two strips?"

Tobi was quick to do what he was told.

I took a deep breath, sending a prayer to any deity that was listening and started chopping the flower petals as fine as possible then transferred them to a ceramic bowl careful to not waste a single crumb. Then I added only a little bit of the boiled water into it and mashed it with the back of a spoon. I thought I was losing my mind but I could have sworn that the mashed petals were starting to faintly glow yellow, giving away the reason for the plant's name.

I worked until I got a paste the consistency of mashed potatoes. I then rummaged through the kitchen cabinets until I found a jar of honey. Tobi watched with confusion as I added a few spoonfuls to the mixture and stirred until it seemed to be evenly combined.

Finally, I spread the paste evenly in the middle of the towel strips.

I hoped that my idea would work. In my mind, it made some twisted sense. The Sunflare Blossom was a healing plant. Honey has anti-bacterial properties, and has been used throughout history to prevent infections. Mixing the two had to make some sort of salve.

As soon as I was done with spreading the concoction on the two towel strips, I was rewarded for my efforts with a floating description box.

Granny's healing bandage

In the true spirit of wise women all over the Universe, this bandage was crafted by necessity and knowledge gathered throughout generations. When applied, this bandage heals 10 HP.

Not wasting any more time, I knelt at the foot of the couch and redressed Laura's mangled leg. I waited for the telltale flash of green light to take effect, confirming that the healing had taken place, and repeated the process with the second bandage.

For all of the pain Laura must have been going through, she remained mostly quiet through the whole ordeal, making the smallest amount of sound possible. She seemed like she was holding onto consciousness with all of her willpower, but her breathing had stabilised. I peeked under the bandages and saw that fresh skin had covered one-third of the wound. It was still pretty gnarly though.

"Laura?" I asked, squeezing the prone woman on the shoulder to get her to focus on me.

"Did it work?" Tobi asked, his face twisted with worry. He hadn't stopped packing about the room the entire time.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I think so, " I said. "Laura? How many HPs do you have?"

Her brow creased and she replied after a few heartbeats.

"Twenty-six. "

Her eyes were unfocused and her face was awash with sweat. But at least some colour had returned to her face, which was a good sign.

"Do you still have the Bleeding condition?" I hoped she didn't because I was fresh out of ideas. I didn't think I could pull another one out of my ass.

She shook her head no, and I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding. This was good. There wouldn't be a death of a mother today.

At least here. I thought to myself, shaking my head. I didn't want to think how many children had been left parentless since the System arrived. Or how many parents were left childless.

I got up from the floor, and Tobi took my place kneeling next to the couch.

I decided to get out of the cabin to give the mother-and-son duo some privacy. I was wrung dry from the stress anyway.

The afternoon air was fresh from a cold breeze and was just what I needed. Sitting down on the porch, I only then became aware of my injuries. My arms were scratched, but the wounds didn't seem to be too deep. I couldn't see the injury on my back, but one quick flex of the shoulders told me that I was in pretty bad shape. My clothes were completely wrecked, but at least the blood had already started to crust over. I had regenerated 3 points, bringing me up to a total of 23.

This System really makes no sense. I should be in worse shape than Laura, with my points being lower than hers. How the hell am I not a mess?

I closed my mind and gingerly leaned back in my chair, attempting to not aggravate the cut on my back. My mind was too tired to speculate further on the nature of the System. I just had to gather 500 credits to buy that damnded book reader and dig into the manual I've bought.

So You've Been Integrated: A Practical Guide to the System For Dummies. I remembered the title. What a wonderful name. It better be helpful,

"Dee?" Tobi's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I opened my eyes to see him standing next to me.

The poor kid looked like shit. It was only natural, given the circumstances, and I was sure that he was in better shape than me. I could see the six-year-old he used to be, even through his height and lankiness.

"Thanks for helping us, " he said, his voice breaking and tears pooling in his brown eyes. "If you weren't here..."

"No need to thank me, " I said. "Like I said earlier, anyone in my position would do the same. "

He nodded and wiped his face with the back of his sleep.

"How's your mother?"

"She's asleep."

"She must be exhausted. I'm sure she will bounce back by tomorrow, " I frowned. "Are you okay? You didn't get injured?"

He shook his head, still trying to pull himself together. "I'm okay. They didn't get to me."

"That's good."

"Do you..." he started, clearly uncomfortable. "Do you have any food? We kind of left in a hurry."

"Of course," I said and immediately got out of my seat, with a little bit too much eagerness. It was not a good idea. "Fuck!"

"What's wrong?" I could hear panic in the kid's voice.

"Ahh... I got a little scratch on my back, " I cringed. "Those Rabidashers need to visit a manicurist. "

Realisation dawned on Tobi's face. I think the kid just then realised that I was pretty bloody and beaten up.

"I'll be fine, " I said before he could work himself to a tizzy. "You'll have to help me cook, though. "

He followed me back into the cabin without saying another word, and we spent the next hour making a vegetable stew. We didn't talk much, as he seemed to be a pretty serious kid and I was too tired to even attempt to keep a conversation. Besides, I didn't know what to talk about with sixteen-year-old boys who had a rather traumatic day.

Laura didn't stir until the evening. She had a helping of the food and promptly went back to sleep. I couldn't blame her.

After setting up a mattress for Tobi on the floor next to the couch, I grabbed one of my mother's bottles of wine and poured myself a little bit too much.

Given that I had a safe zone all for myself and that they had nowhere else to go, I figured that Laura and Tobi would be staying here. They seemed to be decent people so far and I was happy to not go through this bullshit alone. It was rather fortunate that they ran in my direction.

It would stretch the food supply for sure. My once three-week supply of groceries was cut to only a week. But we would figure it out. We had to.

I took a sip of the wine and looked at my raised beds. There was work to be done tomorrow.

Name: Diana Mond

Age: 25

Class: Homesteader

Level: 1, 70/200 exp

Strength: 3

Constitution: 6

Intelligence: 6

Wisdom: 4

HP: 47/60

Energy: 29/60

Points to distribute: 0