~Congratulations! You've Gained a Skill in Daggers, Lacerate—Your dagger cuts deep and easily severs tough tendons.~
She wiped the sweat from her brow only to leave a trail of blood. It had been several days now but this one still had nearly gotten her, its antler pinning her against a tree. She'd needed to use her off-hand to reach up under its chin and swipe her dagger across its throat, but at least it'd earned her another skill. Whatever Lacerate was.
She was getting tired of all these new rules and mechanics. They never seemed to fit her common sense. She wasn’t finding any of the answers she needed and she still didn’t have armor! Now she had a crush wound against her shoulder. She hoped Lacerate was worth it because these newly earned 2 credits certainly weren't.
Ever since the race started last week, she'd been living in the woods. Raising all her Attributes to 5 was turning out to be hard enough, but raising both her Companions? Impossible. She refused to favor one over the other, costing her even more. So now all she had to do was make the impossible work. Easy, right?
Standing with a wince, she surveyed the area for any attention her fight might have earned. Nothing seemed to stir. She lifted her arm to check the damage. It looked like she'd earned some degrees in Resilience.
That was one thing at least, living through non-stop flights was raising her Attributes more than any of the credits did, but it didn't leave time to heal and it was difficult to judge which of her injuries would get in the way and needed healing versus the ones she could just ignore. Giving a roll to the bruised shoulder, she ventured this was one she could just ignore.
The day was also good for skills it seemed. Daggers wasn't the only one growing, Archery had developed what it called, Boring Needle where the arrow seemed to spin in flight and bore straight through its target. She’d seen it shatter a deer’s pelvis. All this gain went one way however; the credits were weak. She needed at least 10 more to keep up her daily goal and the sun was close to setting. Staying out late was not an option she ever enjoyed. Things became significantly more dangerous with the loss of sight, even if her hound's noses warned her of anything coming.
A goal was set though, and if she wanted to live through this with Koda and Sugarbear, the only ones she had left, she'd need to make the impossible work. Sadly, that meant staying up some nights. She still bled from plenty of cuts to prove this wasn't an area she'd back down and it was about time she earned some more. Jumping Tiers was like leveling up, she learned, and it was the only way left for her and her Companions to survive this world. The “lesser worlds” didn’t sound like any place she wanted to be.
The night was dark without stars or moonlight as steely grey clouds drifted in the sky. A slight rain had made the leaves slick but at least that meant it was easier to move without any betraying crunches. Her Companions moved silently to either side. These woods had been her home for over a decade and she didn't need the light to keep to the paths. For other things though? A barely perceptible whoosh came from her right. She stilled and closed her eyes, waiting for the next sound. An older skill in Forestry, Preternatural Instincts, helping her out. The noise came again.
Bow up, she tracked it as the creature angled its way toward her. Once she was sure her arrow lined up she loosed and heard the screech as bolt hit home. The noise would have alerted any others nearby so she quickly made her way through the brush to find a medium sized creature flapping on the ground, arrow bleeding it out. It might have been a bat once, or maybe it still was. She just refused to call anything larger than a house cat a bat. She took her dagger and ended things there. No time to risk it recovering or to wait for it to expire. The key to survival was to keep moving. She took back her arrow and continued her way down the path with her Companions and another 4 credits. As grateful as she was for those credits it would be nice if they weren't always randomized. She’d be able to plan better. Besides, she still had another 6 to go.
It only took 3 more hours for her to finish collecting the 10 credits and head home. She’d move the bodies in the morning. Thankfully, everything had been simple like shooting ducks in a pond. Maybe she'd actually get to heal up before the next major injury came.
When they got to the house, she made sure to wipe down each of her dogs, checking for injuries as she went, before heading inside. Dagger on the counter, bow and quiver against the door, she took her boots off and propped herself against the table. Safe. She was safe here. Relief and exhaustion washed over her in one. It had been a long day. None-the-less there was still too much to do before she could head to bed. Filling a kettle, she set it on the stove praying, as she did every night, there was enough propane to last. Then she went to the fridge, kept cool by the pesky Ice Wings she kept taking down and took out some slabs of whichever animal she killed yesterday. By the time she'd seasoned the 3 pieces and put them on a skillet, her kettle was whistling. With a satisfying slosh her mug filled and tea began steeping. The dogs lay at her feet, waiting for dinner and panting from the night's heat.
She needed a list. Growing their Attributes and gaining credits took a full a day or more but there was a lot to get done to keep this place livable and safe. The propane wouldn't last forever and she needed an answer for when she lost the stove. The Icey wings at least stepped in to make a powered down fridge useful again. But what about all the poultices? She was losing jars from impacts in battle and didn't have the time to experiment on making any stronger medicines. Her Plant Identification told her she had the ingredients, but there was a lot more to poultice and potions than just herbs. Speaking of which, she needs to start making her own tea and spices if she wanted to continue enjoying what she could. The house had been understocked when all this happened and she was running low. And arrows! She kept forgetting about those! They kept breaking. The house did not have an endless supply. What would she do when they ran out? Maybe she needed to start learning a different weapon. Maybe a club? She hated getting that close though. Melee weapons were for emergencies only. A list would have to wait. The mystery steaks were done and it was time for bed.
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She stared at the ceiling when she woke and thought all this through again while lying in bed. Koda and Sugarbear were to either side, turning this queen-sized mattress into something much smaller. They didn't need any more urging then her yawning stretch to get up and off though. She dressed while they waited and then all three headed down the stairs as a team. There was a tear in her jacket she'd missed the night before. The clothes would start running out eventually. They were getting destroyed too quickly for her to mend. Hopeful it'd be a fast day and she could take out her sewing kit that evening. But an early finish meant an early start. So she threw two mystery chunks to her dogs and crunched on a protein bar, sliding another into her pocket. No tea this morning. Arming up, she called her dogs and they headed out to sunshine and birdsong. An idyllic image.
That didn't last long. Somehow it was as if the animals repopulated overnight. Good for hunting but dangerous none-the-less. This was the fifth stag she'd hidden from and it wasn't even noon. She preferred her prey downhill from at least 300 meters away, not 30. Her luck had turned in the bad sort of way as the wind kicked up from her direction and the monstrosity caught scent of what lay just behind those bushes. With a hiss from her, Koda and Sugarbear spread out to flank the turning stag on either side. She prepared to back up, dagger raised as if it could fend off the 1,000-pound animal. Then, everything moved at once.
Her dogs launched themselves at its hamstrings, the animal pushed through the bushes toward her and she sliced at its nose forcing it to rear back. Koda had missed but Sugarbear was firmly latched onto its leg working to tear off a piece and set it bleeding. Koda realigned for a second try. Cassidy moved to the right as the beast resettled and she prepared to twist when it came at her again, hoping her knife would find its way into the thing's neck. She tried to steady herself. It came and she stepped close, into its body to lay open its neck as the beast moved. Koda managed to jump and bite into its throat. He held open the arteries and the beast, already weakened and on three legs, bled out before it could try to strike at Koda with its hooves. All three stood now, panting, with blood soaking into them.
~Congratulations! You've Gained a Skill in Daggers, Bleed--Dagger wounds have an especially bloody effect as the bleeding just won't seem to stop.~
Great. More blood. She shook herself back into focus. With blood in the air it was too dangerous for her to be standing around glazed eyed, an open target for any oncoming predator. Which proved true all too soon when she heard the shuffle of leaves off to the right. Another deer stood only 100 meters away and it had caught them unprepared. She backpedaled, trying to gain enough distance for her bow, while whistling for her own dogs to bait it. The creature ignored the oncoming dogs and barreled straight for her, what it saw as the larger threat. She tried to jump to the side but the rocks beneath her footing slid under the weight and instead she fell off to the right. Her body perpendicular to the creature's path. It trampled over her legs.
She heard a snap in one and felt like vomiting.
The stag had yet to turn its momentum when she grasped for the bow still at her back. A brief numbness taking over her lower half that she had every intention of taking advantage of as she pulled her bow around and lined up her arrow. There was no time for stillness, or calm to double check her sight, she just spotted its head as it turned and let a Boring Needle fly. The bolt hit the creature's face and, instead of sticking, burrowed straight through the bone into its brain.
~Congratulations! You have Gained a Skill in Archery, Quick Draw—With practiced motion you are able to draw your bow with uncanny speed.~
She ignored this. Her brain was starting to wake from the pain. Too much, this was all too much. No space to even appreciate the miraculous skill that just saved her life. She bit down on her bloody arm to keep from screaming. She needed to go. They had to get out of here. There'd be no surviving whatever else the blood attracted.
With a coward's heart, she couldn’t even look at the damage done to her leg. No thought on even how to care for it. The best she could do was find a branch to prop herself up and wobble her way home. The trail was blessedly even.
It took several hours to clean the blood from herself and her dogs, several more to brave her injury and jury rig a cast to straighten it. Night fell before she regained consciousness from that effort and finished vomiting. Somehow, they’d made it indoors before any predators came by to check out the blood or search the house for stragglers.
She lay on the tiled floor panting little breaths and running through options for the pain. Healing being a thought too far away to even grasp. A poultice only worked on the outside; luckily the bone had never broken skin. She hoped that meant a clean break but she didn't know anything about medicine. She'd already used up all the pain killers in the first few weeks. There wasn't anything now. She was on the verge of passing out when she remembered tea. Willow's bark was the original, weaker ibuprofen. She'd been using it enough lately to still have a few self-made bags laying around. She tried to get up and the shock of a scream tore through her, the pain in her leg was too intense to even feel but her body reacted as she fell back to the floor in a spasm. Both her dogs were up, whining and hovering around her; not knowing what to do. She was there with them, whimpering, not knowing what do.
This couldn't last. They needed food. And there were bigger goals. Ones she'd never accomplish lying on the cold floor. Her mind slowly began to turn through the fog of pain. Nerida. She had some of Nerida's water in the fridge. No telling what it might do, but it was magical and she could certainly use some magic about now. She tried to edge herself to the fridge and bit her lip bloody against the pain. But she made it! Door open and magic water right before her. She took a swallow. There was no wondering, no questions, only hope. That's all she had left in her.
Something… happened. She felt… refreshed. The pain in her leg subsiding from mind shattering to earth shattering. The water had eased some inflamation and began realigning the bone for healthy growth but Cassidy, of course, had no way of knowing this. All she knew is the pain now left her enough brainn space to move onto step two, get some willoow's bark tea to further ease the inflammation.
She managed to ignored a pain that felt like a physical weight bolting her to the floor and dragged herself onto a chair, filled the kettle with water from this morning's bucket, and set it to boil. She poured out the rest of the water for her dogs and threw them some still raw pieces of meat from the fridge. No courage to try cooking them.
She had no idea how she would get more water for tomorrow, but decided to focus on the problem at hand. Finding those tea bags.