Sadly, the beast didn’t contain a seed, but it should have enough meat for half the camp. Alex wasn’t sure how many people there were, but Althea gave a rough estimate of around 50 people. That was more than double Jones’ numbers. The youth grinned. With so many people, they were strong and should be capable enough to protect his two friends.
He was pretty satisfied with his hunting companions, too. Althea had reacted extremely fast to his warnings and while Leon's role had fallen to the sideline in the last fight, Alex hoped to persuade him to some archery training. He didn’t think for a moment, that the hunter was weak and would probably show his mettle in the coming hunts.
He still led their group, as the others were busy, carrying the slain beast. Alex had offered his spear, as he couldn’t really fight with it. His arm still hurt like hell and while the bleeding had stopped, it would take much longer or a skilled healer, to close his wounds. He thought back to the moment the cat had hit him, Alex was sure, that his [condense] had saved the day. Without the skill, he might have lost at least the muscle, maybe even the whole arm. Those claws looked vicious.
Leon's pointing and his pinging brought them a few more easy kills, as the low evening sun and the long shadows provided excellent opportunities for his [muffle] and [shadowcloak] to work in concert. The hunter could still attack with his left, weaker, arm, and he guessed that his more or less abnormal agility was partially to blame.
Night broke and the camp eventually came in sight. “Hey, does your camp have a name? It’s weird to always think of it as ‘the camp’,” Alex grinned back at the two porters. “Right, you said you were somewhere else before,” Leon mused. “Call it the super awesome camp of winners,” the boy laughed. “Sacow? Sounds weird,” Alex joined in. If Althea had her hands free, she would have probably slapped both in her face, or both boys on the head. Instead, the girl groaned.
The boys laughed, high fived each other and entered the super awesome camp, or sac for short. Alex decided to call it that way, until someone found a better name. Alex was led to Theodore, who was sitting with his sister around a fire. He proudly presented the Lynx and put four smaller game beside it. “I hope that’s enough for me joining the camp,” he grinned and Vivien huffed for a moment, but Alex couldn’t miss the glimmer in her eyes.
Theodore regarded him for a moment and nodded, “We’d love for you to continue your work as a hunter. You’re badly needed, as Leon and Sabrina need all the help they can get.” Alex easily accepted and eventually asked, “Do you have a healer in your camp?” He showed his arm and Theo gasped, “Why didn’t you start with this! Yes, follow me.”
A minute later, they had found the healers' campfire. He sat on a log, watching the ginormous cooking pot. Two people were working in front of it. One was cutting something and the other was slowly stirring the pot. Theodore introduced him, “Hi guys, I’d like you to meet Alex, our newest hunter. He will be responsible to fill the pot.” Alex took a closer look and doubted he would be able to.
“This is Michael and Michelle, our cooks. And here is Hugh, our resident healer,” Theodore finished. The cooks stopped their work and clasped hands with Alex. He grimaced as they grabbed his right arm. Hugh slowly stood up and began, “Are you two blind? Look at his arm!” Both cooks saw the mangled flesh and the belt, cutting off the blood flow. They blanched and took a step back. Hugh immediately stepped up and laid a hand on his shoulder, the other on the right hand.
“This could hurt a bit, I need to flush out the dirt and other particles that may have gotten in the wound,” he said and Alex nodded, preparing himself. Burning pain spread from both of Hughs hands and the youth gritted his teeth, otherwise he would have cried out. It took Hugh only a moment, and soon the cleansing fire was dying down, and his arm got comfortably numb. “I have to take the belt off. I need more fluids to begin the healing. You may bleed a bit, but don’t panic, I have everything under control,” the healer said.
Alex nodded faintly, he remembered Lisa's healing and wished her gentler way back. “Why does your healing hurt so much? I’ve already had someone healing my legs, and it wasn’t anywhere near that bad,” the youth whined. For the first time, since he started, Hugh looked up at Alex's face. “Did the person clean your wounds? Did they make sure nothing major got stuck? Did they strengthen the body afterwards? We healers were given a gift and I accept, that there are some who just put Mana to the problem and hope for the best. But with our Skills, we have the obligation to heal our patients to the best of our knowledge and ability.”
Hugh continued for a few more minutes, and Alex nodded at the appropriate sections. The two cooks threw a few distressing glances at the teenager. They’d probably heard this sermon more than once. Alex finally interrupted with a question, “Can you take a look at my friend? He had a broken ankle a few weeks ago, and it didn’t heal the way it should.” Hugh thought for a moment and Alex quickly added, “The water healer couldn’t do anything…”
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Hughs face went from thoughtful to a painful grimace, “Why would you think water could heal? The more water you put on the skin, the faster it gets pruned. There is no healing involved. Damn system. Water and Healing,” he mumbled, until Alex reminded him of his question. “Yeah, I could take a look at him, but I don’t want to give you high hopes. I still have to use a cane myself, as I have a hip displacement.”
“So, should be good as new, or even better,” Hugh grinned and slapped Alex back. “If you’re still itching tomorrow, come back, and I’ll have a look. Otherwise, good luck on your hunting!” Inwardly he groaned, Alex had heard that one shouldn’t wish a hunter luck. He let it be and thanked the healer. He wanted to ask why he knew so much about the body and medicine, but feared another lecture.
Alex turned to the two cooks and held out his hand, “Sorry, we were interrupted. I am Alex, nice to meat you.” He waited for a moment, but nobody reacted. Eventually, Michael grabbed his hand. “Poor jokes are forbidden at the cooking fire, it makes the food go bad,” he grinned at Alex and pointed at the girl. “And here is Michelle, my lovely little twin sister.” “You’re starting with this again? I am older than you. By at least eight minutes!” she answered and took Alex's hand. “Damn beast you’ve brought us tonight. That should be enough meat for the next two days,” the girl pointed at the cats' carcass that was laying on a nearby table.
Alex hadn’t seen the others bringing it here, but he had been pretty distracted by the healer. He grinned, and answered, “I do what I can. But you’ve seen what that thing did to me. It nearly got Althea.” He told the story of their hunt and the subsequent fight against the lynx. Michelle gasped and Michael looked shocked. Alex threw a glance at the sitting healer, but Hugh was completely engrossed in a book. Alex couldn’t say where he had found it. Most people had electrical devices for reading. Or they have had them, he mused.
After a while, the teenager said his goodbyes and went to search for his friends. He saw the two hunters, Althea and Leon, sitting in front of a fire nursing a tea. At least, Alex suspected it was some kind of tea. He greeted them and was promptly invited by Leon. The shadowblade looked up, and for a moment, he thought to reject the other boy, but Alex had never been too shy to meet new people, and sat down. Althea leaned back, grabbed a cup from somewhere nearby and filled it with the clay jug standing beside her.
“Here you are. It helps to calm the nerves after a narrow victory.” Alex took the cup and sniffed. It smelled slightly sour and of apples. Leon answered his unsaid question, “It’s cider. We bought it from the shop. Not strong enough to knock you out, but enough alcohol to calm down. Also, not everybody liked beer or ale,” he grinned. Alex cautiously took a sip, and the sudden sourness was soon replaced by the sweet taste of summer. The youth nodded, appreciative. For a few minutes, the three sat silently together. Finally, Alex asked for archery lessons and Leon nodded.
“It would be good to have another archer in the team. You will probably stay on point, though another archer would help tremendously for bigger game,” the other boy explained. Alex glanced at Althea and saw her shiver. He carefully put a hand on her back and asked quietly, “You okay?” She nodded, paused for a moment and answered just as silent, “I will be. Thanks for today. You probably saved my life.” Alex grinned and wanted to retort with some stupid blathering to distract the girl from her thoughts. Fortunately he read the situation and responded pensive, “That’s why teamwork is important. Next time it’s you saving me, so no counting.”
Alex stood up, before his mood could grow too sombre. He downed his drink and waved the hunters' goodbye. He wanted to find his friends before it grew too late, and they’d gone to bed. He asked for directions a few times and after some time, he found their fire. Janine leant on Lin, and they were both sitting on a log, staring into a fire. Alex stopped for a second and pondered, whether to disturb them, but Lin saw him standing there and waved him over.
“Hey guys, I have so much to tell you,” he told them, as he sat down. Lin grinned at his friend, and Janine opened her eyes and sat straight. “So do we, but you start,” she smiled. Alex told them about the hunt, the fight against the lynx and how the healer had helped him. “He said you should visit him, so he can have a look at your foot. Maybe he can help, and if not now, possibly in the future, when he has a higher level,” Alex finished his tale. “So, what were you up to?”
“Well, they first wanted to know what we can do. Of course, we told them and they made me a guard. I have to train with the others every day. Apparently, we earn more unrefined essence if we train as a group. When I am level three or have at least two Skills at Tier 2, they want me patrolling the wall,” Janine answered. Alex could see the happiness in her eyes and was content. She had told him about how useless she had felt and now, with a job to protect the people here, her awful mood vaporized.
Lin continued her story, “And they want me for the wall, too.” Alex gaped until Lin laughed at him and continued, “For maintenance dummy. Half the wood comes from a Skill, and it needs to be recharged every day. Afterwards, there are lessons on crafting in general. We also meet in groups to discuss our elements and search for creative ways to use them. Did you know, that all the huts here were made by one person?”
Alex shook his head, so Lin responded to his own question, “Yeah, it was Vivien. She has an essence seed of Mud and damn, that’s so cool. I wonder what I can do with earth…” He got quieter at his last sentence, and Alex noticed the downcast expression. “Hey, earth isn’t that poor. Try to level up your essence skills. And if you don’t get lucky with an awesome Tier up, try to evolve it. For example, I condensed my shadows, until they evolved, devolved, or something, to gravity.”
“How exactly did you do that?” Lin asked. Alex began, but stopped before a word could leave his mouth. “To be honest, I am not sure. I looked into myself and found this shadowy mass.” The shadowblade retold his story, hopeful, that his friends could understand him better this time.