I watched the man cry in pain. <I think I broke his tibia and fibula.> I casually informed Dani.
“Mmm. That sounds dirty! What do you mean?” Dani lecherously inquired.
I breathed a snort at her odd sexual humor. <I broke his leg below the knee, there are two bones there, in a human they are called ‘tibia and fibula’. I don’t know if that would be the same for a different race.>
“Ah. Got it.” She seemed less interested now that she realized I wasn’t playing along and making a sexual reference.
I watched the man sob on my floor as he writhed around. <Think that will be enough for them to leave?> I questioned distractedly, mind back on my new dagger.
She looked at them through her connection to me. “I doubt it. Plus, they’re already healing him.”
<They can do that?> Enraged, I turned my attention back to the group, and watched as another lightly armored man directed wood-type Essence, specialized earth and water that is, into the man's leg; which I assume knitted the bone back together as he was soon able to stand up. Then, walking with a limp, he and the party moved into the tunnel toward the next room.
<That’s not fair!> I gasped in fury.
“Your Boss Mob can heal by hurting people, so why is this a surprise?” Dani did not seem to understand my indignation.
<It... It’s just… Fine! Be right, again!> I huffed, unable to form a proper response.
“I will, thank you.” She replied primly.
They attacked my Boss, the Bloody Bane, with everything they could muster. I directed a few Bashers into the fray at critical times, knocking them off balance long enough for a spike to land in an arm, or a vine to whip someone across the helm. The fight lasted much longer this time around, since the group was already tired and in pain.
Finally, the Boss collapsed. I had failed to take them out, but had still gained some important knowledge, so I dropped a silver coin for each of them, as well as the coveted holy symbol pendant thingy. Though lightly poisoned, the men still were wildly excited. The archer whose leg I had broken nearly wept, and kept repeating ‘I just knew it would be worth it!’ I was confused by this. Why were they so happy? I demanded of Dani. She informed me that the currency system was such that one hundred copper coins was worth a silver coin, one hundred silver coins were worth a Gold coin, and one hundred Gold coins were worth a ‘Platinum’ coin, whatever that was.
Apparently, I had drastically overpaid these guys. Silver and copper were easy to make, so I wasn’t worried about it until Dani informed me of what the consequences may be,” If everyone thinks you are going to be worth a month's pay for an hour of fighting, they will come in and kill absolutely everything over and over, just looking for a way to avoid working elsewhere. Humans can be rather… enthusiastic in their greed.”
I winced at this, <Yikes. I’m not ready for that.>
“I agree, and am glad you realize it.” Dani watched the men who were wandering around the room.
Each of the men who had taken a thorn and become poisoned pulled out a vial and drank something. Then the man with the plant affinity worked for a while to get his team healed up enough to stop their bleeding as they relaxed and cultivated for a while.
<What was that? They drank something.> I muttered suspiciously.
“Probably an antidote for the poison.” Dani whispered, since the men were so close and her voice was audible if humans paid attention.
I tried to keep my curiosity under control, but couldn't manage it. <Oh. Thanks, also can only plant affinity users heal?>
Dani couldn’t refuse an opportunity to educate me. She glanced at the humans focused on their Chi spirals, then moved into a furiously whispered lecture. “No, actually all of them can heal. There is a solid reason they don’t all do it though, apparently the problem is that they feel the element used. So, being healed by a fire cultivator is not that pleasant, as it tends to feel like your body is being cauterized. Earth grinds really badly, as if your bones were being crushed. Cool and soothing water cultivators are sought after, and apparently plant or wood feels like roots or worms squirming through you. Since he is a wood cultivator, he is not the ideal healer for a group this size, but most likely he was the only trained healer they could find.”
<What about celestial and infernal?> She had said ‘every type’ after all.
“Celestial healers are called clerics, and are usually a part of the church. They are actually the most effective healers, but traveling with them comes with strings attached. Infernal users… I doubt they would heal anyone but themselves, but I think their version of ‘healing’ hurts worse than getting the wound originally would.”
<I wonder if I can make something useful out of that information... Thanks for letting me know, Dani.> We watched the men cultivate for a while before eventually getting up, stretching and leaving. They were the last group of the night, allowing me to focus hard on cultivation and the concepts I had acquired over the last few days.
That was the night when I broke into F-rank nine.
~Fourteen~
Dale woke up quickly, feeling something amiss. Something was wrong; there was a threat to him in the area. For several weeks his team had been going into the dungeon at first light, and Dale was becoming stronger, his battle-trained senses more aware to impending danger. Slipping from his bed, he moved stealthily to the tent flap. It began to slide open, and the grinning head of Hans slowly peeked into the room. Stepping into the room fully, a bucket of ice-cold water became visible.
Dale shuddered internally, he had only been woken up a few time with that water, but each time it was worse. Last week the water had ice in it somehow! It was mid-summer! Ice! Dale’s eyes narrowed as he prepared his counter attack, he carefully reached down and flipped the water back onto the startled Hans.
“Gotcha, you bastard!” Dale yelled, following up by attempting a brutal slapping combination attack on Hans.
“I’ll get you, ya brat! You got lucky today, but you can’t stay awake forever!” A drenched Hans scampered off yelling threats, leaving a cheerful Dale to get reacquainted with his armor. The full group met again at breakfast, the team having decided to eat together each day. Unexpectedly, the chef decided to swing by again as they were finishing their meal.
“MORNING lads!” His voice faltered and dropped a few decibel levels at their wince, “Did it again, sorry. Listen, I’m gonna be makin’ the herbs that are available in there a daily request. They tasted so darn good on my foods that I had them examined by that there apothecary that showed up and has been making those fancy potions. Turns out they are jam-packed full-a Essence, and help with all sorts of minor health issues that I’ve been seeing recently. So I’m gonna be cooking with ‘em a lot.”
Looking Dale in the eyes, “Since y'all are the first to go in every day, I figured you’d be able to grab the best bunches. Get ‘em for me, and everyone around here’ll eat better, and I’ll be sure to tell ‘em yer ta thank. Or, the food’ll get worse, maybe I’ll ‘accidentally’ burn yours every day, and I’ll still tell the other men yer ta... thank.” With that, the oddly well-muscled chef walked away whistling off key.
“Sure is a fan of the carrot and the stick.” Dale murmured. “Shall we make sure to bring back those herbs?”
“Yup.”
“For sure.”