It was around an hour later that Ryland and Sam suddenly walked out of nowhere. It looked very strange, like the special effects in a bad early 2000s sci-fi movie. They searched around the clearing for a second before they saw Dave.

“Oh there you are.” Sam said cheerfully.

Dave was leaning against a tree, almost hidden in its cool shadow. He instinctively smiled when seeing the good attitude his friends carried. “Here I am.”

“How are your wounds?” Sam asked, always the doctor.

“I’m good, thanks. How is Max? I hope I didn’t hit him too hard.”

Guilt crept into Dave again. For the last hour he had been mostly distracted with the Skill effect and Soul Weapon choices, keeping his mind busy. But now he was reminded of their fight again.

Dave remembered the way it felt when his spear connected with Max's head. At the thought he shook a little. Even though it was planned he still felt a little bad.

Sam and Ryland exchanged a quick glance but seeing their relaxed body language made Dave calm a little.

“Oh it’s nothing serious. He may have a mild concussion, if even that. I ordered him to lay still for another hour to be sure, that’s why he couldn’t grant you access yet. Max is tougher than he looks.” Sam replied.

“Well not as tough as you look man. That was a mad fight dude. You went all ninja on his ass.” Ryland looked at Dave with respect and made a few excited chopping motions with his hands.

Dave found it hard to believe that Ryland was really talking about him. Still he smiled at the compliment.

“You know, it was more of a spar than a real fight. Don’t underestimate Max.” he said a bit awkwardly.

Ryland threw his head back and gave one of his big hearty laughs. “If you say dog.”

While they talked Sam had already moved by Dave’s side and began working his healing magic on Dave’s chest. Even though Dave didn’t show it to him, Sam found almost exactly the spot where he’d been hit with Max’s first thrust. Dave immediately relaxed as the painwas draining away from his ribs.

“Man, I could really get used to your healing ability Sam.” Dave lied a bit about being fine before, in fact his ribs and his left shoulder were a serious burden on his nervous system right now. He had been close to tears after their fight, but he didn’t tell them that.

A smile spread through Sam’s deeply concentrated face. “And I could get really used to healing you guys. You’re a bottomless well of experience, you know that?”

Dave looked at him surprised. “I hadn’t thought about that. You gain Skill levels just by healing us right?”

“Yeah, the more grave the wound the more experience I get.” Sam stopped speaking for a second as his hands moved over Dave’s chest, searching for something, like a dog trying to catch a scent. “Level 6 by the way.”

“What?”

“The level of my healing Skill. You looked like you probably wanted to ask.”

Dave was shocked. Indeed he wanted to ask about Sam’s Skill level, but he never expected it to be that high. Higher than his own Skill Levels.

“That’s… high.” Dave barely caught himself before saying the word bullshit. It felt a bit unfair that Sam’s level was higher than his, after he had risked his life every battle and Sam simply sat back in safety.

Sam shrugged and grew more concentrated again as his hands finally found what they were looking for. The white light increased its intensity a little. Dave felt silent as he watched Sam work, fascinated by the miraculous Skill. He could almost feel his ribs healing in real time.

Seeing the tenseness on Dave’s face, Sam chuckled. “You know I’ve pulled your ass back to life after the Nodefox den right? That alone brought me to Level 4.”

That’s right, the Skill that Dave had just been jealous of literally saved his life. Maybe more than once. He felt a bit foolish for being bitter about something like that. He should be happy to have such a valuable asset, and he was in a way. It probably was even better for their group that Sam’s Skill was higher level. Before he thought of something dignifying to say, Ryland interrupted.

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“What!” Ryland exclaimed. “That’s really not fair, my Skill has only reached Level 3! Dude imagine my ”Mighty Strength” Skill would be Level 7, I would’ve made Ikea tables out of these knights.”

Dave burst out laughing and Sam was only barely holding it together, keeping enough concentration to work.

Max still felt his head pulsating a little. Like he had just hit his head and was waiting for the real pain to sit in. But Sam really did a nice job healing him.

As he woke up he had felt completely beaten up. All his limbs ached and he felt bruises forming all over his body. His head felt like it was split open, making it hard to focus, but the soft white glow proved a quick remedy.

It had been a wild fight. Max was more than a little impressed with Dave. His friend was a changed man. He had seen it on numerous occasions over the last few days, but that fight really hammered it home. Literally.

Before he could still see his slightly pudgy friend being the last one in line when teams were picked in school. Even when classes were mixed with the girls. Dave just never seemed gifted with a certain something.

But as he saw Dave entering the clearing again, passing through the almost invisible bubble encapsulating the clearing, he didn’t see his friend that always called himself a loser and never seemed to grow up. He saw a real man.

As Dave walked over to him, Max saw the changes even more. He walked more confidently, seemed more aware of his surroundings and he carried a dangerous aura around him.

That all faded a little as Dave came to a stop before him, his hand awkwardly clutching his neck and his eyes down on the ground as if he was searching for something. He started mumbling something a few times but didn’t seem to find the words. So Max helped him.

“It’s all good man. You don’t have to feel bad, I asked for it and I got it.” he laughed.

Dave laughed too, evidently relaxed that there was no bad blood between them now. As he laughed Dave saw more of his old friend in his mannerisms again. He was grateful for that. As much as he liked the idea of Dave becoming a better version of himself, he still loved his old friend to death and was glad he wasn’t gone completely.

“It all worked out then?” Dave asked.

“Well this part did. We’ll have to wait and see if the other Grace Period shield will really trigger but I’m confident.”

“That’s good then.”

They continued chatting comfortably for a while. Max told him that his quest reward for creating a village had also worked out and about the options they now had.

He had to admit it felt really good to be of such use to his group. And if he was even more honest, he also loved how similar to a strategy game it all felt. He felt like a young kid playing Settlers on his fathers old desktop PC again. Being baffled and amazed by all the options and the amount of choices he had.

Max enjoyed talking about all the possible options with Dave. But his happiness turned into confusion as he saw Dave’s bracers. Something about them felt off and he needed a moment to realize what.

“Wait… are those?” Max asked, pointing at Dave’s forearm.

With a grin as wide as the Mississippi Dave replied. "Yes. Yes they are.”

The next two days passed rather quickly. Everybody was a little anxious, fearing that the Nodefoxes would turn up at every second. But as the hours went by everybody relaxed a little.

They were working on ways to make their protected clearing a bit more liveable. All in all the space that Grace Period spanned was less than a hundred yards, roughly the size of a soccer field. Not quite as long but it’s the best comparison that Dave could come up with.

He was forced to play soccer as a little kid in an attempt to have him socialize more and to give him some real boy hobbies. Hobbies that would take him outdoors and not make him sit inside all day to read or play video games.

Needless to say Dave hated it, not all of it, but close. He could still remember the early Sunday morning games, when he stood upon the grass, looking over the large field and just wanting to go home. He always felt so out of place, alone on this huge field, surrounded by people he didn’t like. Those were some of the moments he felt most lonely in his life. Like a fish lost in the ocean.

As Dave stood looking over their clearing he smiled to himself. There was a faint echo of that feeling in him. He still found himself a little lost in this huge space. But there was no feeling of loneliness inside him. Quite the contrary, he felt deeply comfortable around his friends. Home in a way he rarely ever felt at home.

He watched Ryland and Sam off to the side, arguing about where and how to best go about digging latrines. Because yes, that would be a necessity for them now.

Mira was sitting off to the other side of their camp, not quite at the edge, but far enough away from the latrines and all the rest to ensure that her project wouldn’t be hindered. She was planting a lot of banana trees with her Skill. Their whole food production pretty much rested on Mira’s shoulders. Sarah gave her company and they both seemed to be chatting amiable, sharing laughter. Dave caught himself staring at both of them, just too entranced by the two beautiful women and quickly tore his gaze away.

Max and Bixby were sitting close to the round of trees that was surrounding the Node. The little ring of trees hid the Node almost completely from view, all that was seen was a soft blue light shining through the opening.

There were two small towers placed directly in front of the Node room. The Grace Period buildings. They looked like power poles, but only about waist high. One of them was glowing in a greenish light, and as Dave had noticed before, humming softly.

Max and Bixby were talking about where to best place the mine, at least that was what they wanted to do, but Dave knew them well enough by now to know that they probably veered off topic after about two sentences.

Actually Dave wanted to join them, but he needed some time for himself. As an introvert he had drastically overdrawn his social batteries the last few days. Other than the hour or so he had spent outside the barrier earlier, this was his first time really alone in a while. And he needed it.