“What were you thinking” came a voice from nearby “Giving away valuable resources like that?”

  “What did you expect me to do, just let her die?” came another, Eric’s voice. He was talking to another man, likely Stavos. Ash quickly realised they were discussing her and decided to remain still. “That was what would have happened. She would have died. Besides, it’s not that valuable, come on. A basic antivenom at most.”

  “Sure, but with Jarvis getting bitten this morning, that was our last dose. Where are we going to get more? There’s no alchemist here. And no healer. If the ants swarm us in the next few days and you get bitten, what will you do?”

  “Resist it most likely.”

  “Oh, very mature. Fine, if they bite someone else then.”

  “Look, I get your point. But I’m never just going to let someone die in front of me when there’s something I can do about it. She’s a specialist herself Stavos. Are you really going to waste that just because she looks a little sick? Give her a little support now and maybe we’ll have another fighter on our side within the week!”

  “Fine, whatever. But I expect Hestia to work on our antivenom shortage in the meantime. We don’t need good people keeling over from a simple bite.”

  She heard the fading footfalls of a person retreating, but Ash still didn’t quite feel like opening her eyes. Her lids felt heavy and there was a bitter taste on her tongue.

  She heard a heavy sigh, presumably from Eric. She heard him step closer, a shadow falling over her. She groaned, starting to sit up. A difficult feat as her head was still spinning.

  “Ash? Be careful now, you’ve probably not fully recovered yet.” Eric cautioned her.

  “You… Saved me again.” She groaned “Thanks. I owe you.”

  “Think nothing of it.”

  “No. I refuse.” Ash responded, blinking up at him.

  “What?”

  “I refuse to think of it as nothing. I’d be dead right now if you hadn’t helped me.”

  “Well, you might have survived. The toxin usually only lingers for around an hour. So, you’d have only lost between, say… 11 and 13 health.”

  “I only have 14.”

  “Oh. Damn.” Eric scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I guess I’ve gotten used to having over 100 to play with. I forget how fragile people with fewer levels can be. That said, only 14 is super low…” He looked down at her with concern.

  “It’s the withering. It’s sapping 3 of my stats quite a bit.”

  “Damn.”

  “But… it actually improved this morning. Went from ‘extreme’ to ‘intense’”

  “Really? That’s something a least. Wait, you’re telling me that you had fewer than 14 health yesterday?” Eric groaned. “And we sent you into the jungle, alone! For the Empire’s sake, ‘extreme’ means like 10-12 lost points! How are you even functioning?”

  “I… managed.”

  “Barely!” Eric cursed again. “I would have a word with Stavos, but I don’t think he’ll be budging any time soon, especially after this.”

  “Look. I’m fine, okay. I’ve been making good progress on gathering and I took down quite a few of the ants before I got here.”

  “You know there are, like, thousands in an ant hive right? Don’t think about messing with them, not with your health pool. You’ll just get bit and there’s no antivenom left to save you, hear me? You’ll just… die. Just… stick to gathering, or better yet just wait it out for the healer to arrive. Once you’ve gotten past your ‘withering’.” He paused “Gods, ‘intense’ is still like… 7-9 points right? How many are you missing?”

  “8…”

  “Yeah.” He covered his eyes with his hand “Just keep yourself out of danger, okay? It’s only a few days.”

  Ash felt his words like knives in her gut, her flagging spirits sinking even further. It had looked to be a good day… Now, she’d pissed of the village head even more and her saviour was chastising her for being reckless.

  The worst thing was, Ash had to admit, she had been reckless. She went out looking for the ants. She knew there was venom. Eric had warned her it was no joke. She had just… ignored that.

  “Okay. Sure, I’ll stick to gathering.” She muttered, standing up and dusting herself off.

  “Good! Wait, are you heading out already? You’re still looking quite pale.”

  She checked her health, now up to 5 points. That was more than she had a few days ago.

  “I’m fine.” She told him, “The withering always makes me look pale.” and she strode back towards the jungle.

  “Hey, at least let me escort you back.” Eric said, catching up to her in a few long strides. “I don’t want you getting attacked while you’re already weakened.”

  Ash was about to refuse, but the sighed in acceptance. The man was only being nice. “Sure, whatever.”

  “Hey, look, I know you can handle yourself. You clearly took down a few ants no problem. But, when we’re hurt or weakened we need to look out for each other. We’re out here at the frontier, anything can happen. It did happen to Thalia, our healer. I though at least us specialists would be safe, but no. One moment of letting her guard down and it was all over. I guess I don’t want what happened to her to happen to you. If I had been there, then maybe…” He sighed tiredly.

  Ash could see where he was coming from. “Don’t blame yourself. You can’t be on constant vigilance at all times. You care, and you’ve been looking out for me. That’s enough.”

  “Well, thanks, I’m happy to.”

  They walked in silence for a few moments, before Ash thought to ask. “Why are you here, anyway?” Then she clarified “Like, in this jungle.”

  “Oh, that? Well, I knew Stavos from before and the opportunity to, you know, be there at the foundation of something new. It was really exciting. It has been a little tougher than I had hoped, but I think we’ll get there. We’ve got some good people coming with the next group. If we can just hold out until then… Well, things will get easier once more homes are built and we’ve got a healer back.”

  “Well, speaking of that, we’re here.” Ash gestured at her little hole in the wall.

  “What seriously? You fit in there?” Eric said, peering in. “Damn, you really are small. You barely need a door to keep anything out.”

  “Alright big boy, don’t rub it in!” Ash jibed back “You still owe me some weight training lessons, remember?”

  “Sure, anytime!” Eric replied amiably, “Well, unless you need anything else, I’ll let you get rested.” He raised a hand in farewell.

  Ash waved him off then retreated into her shelter while the rest of her health regenerated. She decided to use the time to check her logs for what had happened in the last fight. Some things had not quite added up. That strike with the torch and the ice spell… Had it possibly…

  You take 1 damage from delirium toxin.

  You have fatally hit level 1 forager dire ant for 7 damage.

  You have hit level 2 guardian dire ant for 7 damage.

  You have been bit by level 1 forager dire ant. You have taken 2 damage.

  You have resisted neurotoxin vs constitution + wit.

  You have fatally hit level 1 forager dire ant for 7 damage.

  You have been blocked by level 2 guardian dire ant for a reduced 3 damage.

  You have been struck by level 2 guardian dire ant. You have taken 2 damage.

  You have fatally hit level 2 guardian dire ant for 7 damage(physical) + 4(ice).

  You have slain 5x level 1 forager dire ant. You have received 5 exp.

  You have slain level 2 guardian dire ant. You have received 5 exp.

  You have reached level 13 in Great-hammers. Your strikes will be swifter and more accurate.

  You have reached Arcane Conduit level 3. Your potency multiplier has increased to 0.3x.

  You have reached frost touch level 2. Your casting multiplier increased to 1.05x.

  You have gained level 2 affinity with ice. More ice abilities are now available.

  You take 1 damage from delirium toxin.

  You take 1 damage from delirium toxin.

  You take 1 damage from delirium toxin.

  You take 1 damage from delirium toxin.

  You take 1 damage from delirium toxin.

  Antivenom cures you of delirium toxin.

  There it was. 4 ice damage. The channelled frost touch had worked! It had only added an extra 4 damage but… Wait, isn’t 4 damage still more than expected? With the channelling inefficiency it should still be only Wit x spell modifier x efficiency, which should be something like 10x1x0.2 for about 2 damage. Why is it double? Her curse stated ‘do 2x increased damage with Great-hammers’. Ash had assumed that would only apply to the weapon’s damage itself. But… If it applies to my ‘on touch’ spells channelled through the hammer… then this could be built up to give my hits some serious bonus power!

  Ash burned to experiment more, but Eric’s warning held her back. It would be stupid to go hunting ants when a single bite could well end her. That guardian ant was no joke either, being able to block her attack and mitigate much of the damage. It would take multiple hits to take down even if she channelled ice into each one. And then she wouldn’t have enough Will left to fight another one properly. They clearly had been increasing their awareness since they had suffered some losses. Now she had killed 10 ants, including a level 2! They might come for her in force if she risked entering their territory again.

  No. She should focus on gathering and recovery. If she could trade to the town for some more meals she might recover some of her lost stats. If she could get a knife, she could try and carve a better weapon. She needed to focus on gathering for a while, and with her new skillset, she could manage that much better.

  Guided by fresh resolve, Ash stood and headed out. The first thing she did was return for her basket, remaining cautions as she had left it on the tree closest to ant territory. Fortunately, she encountered no resistance and quickly fetched it off of the branch. Then she hurried away from the section of jungle behind the settlement ruins and found her way back to the safer section of jungle with the two other Bondi trees that she had identified earlier.

  After a few hours of concentrated gathering, she was the proud owner of a total of 14 fresh Bondi fruit. She had been getting better with her ice touch precision and had only shattered two of the large fruits. She had eaten as many of the frozen shards as she could find, staving off her own hunger, and decided to store 2 of the fresh fruits in her den as a reserve. Still, having a dozen large fruits to trade was better than nothing. Plus, she’d even gained another level in Arcane Conduit and 2 in Harvesting for her trouble.

  She approached the village in the late afternoon, but this time did not see Eric or Hestia patrolling. Instead, she noticed a young boy, maybe around 10 years in age, and called to him. He looked at her nervously, but nodded and ran off when she asked him to find someone who would trade with her.

  A few minutes later, Stavos strode out, looking down at her sternly from a good 6 paces away.

  “What is it this time, girl? Have you not taken enough of our resources?”

  “I’m not here to take. I have fruit to trade. 12 Bondi fruit. Hestia said you don’t have a source for them yet.” Ash held out her basket, displaying the fruit inside.

  “Place the basket on the floor. I’ll examine it.”

  Ash placed the basket down, stepping back and watching nervously as he examined the contents.

  “Fine.” He said eventually. “I’ll accept these as payment for the antivenom you used.” He stood, turning and heading back into the village, carrying her basket with them.

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  “What? I was hoping to trade for some stew! Or a carving knife!”

  “Just wait there, he commented over his shoulder. Not acknowledging her words.”

  Ash waited. Feeling nervous. He’d taken all her fruit, just like that. She understood that the antivenom was valuable, but shouldn’t there have been some sort of negotiation? Was he going to bring back her basket at least? It was her only way of carrying anything, aside from her overshirt’s pockets. Plus, she’d even left her stew bowl in there.

  About five minutes passed with Ash nervously shifting from foot to foot, wondering what would happen if he just… didn’t come back.

  Then suddenly, she saw the kid from earlier hurrying over. Her was carrying her now-empty basket and her bowl, quickly placing them down and stepping back away from her. She smelled the food even before she saw it, sitting in the bowl. Some sort of bean dish it looked like. Maybe a chilli, or something similar. Her stomach rumbled and she reached down for her things. She was so set on the food that she almost didn’t register the slight added weight in her basket. Something metallic glinted at the bottom.

  “He… Head Stavos said…” The boy stammered “To bring another basket tomorrow. To pay for the knife.”

  It was with a fresh spring in her step she headed back to her shelter. A fresh ‘well-fed’ buff and a shiny new knife in her bag. Well, new to her. It was evidently second hand, missing the tip and with a few knicks in the blade. Still, it was hers and, with it, a whole new set of possibilities awaited.

  And so, come morning, Ash set out fresh. Basket in hand and on the search for some more useful fruit or a suitable branch for her to carve out.

  She was a little disappointed not to see another improvement in her withering condition, but that didn’t mean her bonus regeneration had gone fully without immediate benefit. She hadn’t used up all her water, so had forgone the idea of going for another splash in the river and instead spent the last hour of daylight the night before practicing with her weapon and channelling, managing to bump the latter up another point.

  You have reached Arcane Conduit level 5. Your potency multiplier has increased to 0.34x.

  Ash enjoyed the sensation of constant improvement. She was aware that there were several quite important things that she was ignoring right now. There was the feeling at the back of her mind, telling her that she should be looking for a way to log out. That her family would be missing her. But she didn’t want to see it. As hard and unfair as it’s set-up was, playing the game was simply far more exciting right now than laying in a hospital bed and feeling sad about her life. There was also the fact that she was scared. Scared to return to what she had been. Scared about what the doctor had been saying that last day. Scared that if she left this world behind then she wouldn’t be allowed, or perhaps even be able, to ever come back.

  And so, Ash focused on her new in-game life instead. She delved deeper into the jungle surrounding her own ruins. She proceeded with more caution now, moving slower and paying closer attention the sounds around her. The brush grew thicker and harder to navigate the deeper she pushed, but she noted just how alive and buzzing with life the place sounded. Now that she considered it, that was actually quite different to the region where she had encountered the ants, that section was distinctly quieter. She hoped it was a good sign, that there wasn’t a dangerous predator for the rest of the creatures to flee. Still, she tried to keep her guard up. Jungles in real life were known for harbouring a large variety of organisms, and much of them could be harmful if one was incautious. She suspected things wouldn’t be all that different here.

  Her slow pace meant it was a good few hours before she discovered anything of note. It was a pair of the purple fruit trees that she had seen being harvested next to the settlement. Much of the fruit was out of reach, but she manged to knock down a good six of them safely. They must be useful if the other settlers were gathering them, and Ash was pretty sure she had seen them featured in the stew she had before. Still, she decided to examine them.

  ? fruit: food source

  That was a little less information that she had gotten from the bondi fruit before.

  Bondi fruit: sweet food source

  Perhaps she had to try the item before more information would appear. Or maybe she needed to be a higher harvesting level or something. She decided to just bite into it. The fruit’s skin was a little thick, the flesh surprisingly spongy and didn’t taste of all that much. It was definitely better when incorporated into the stew before. She checked the description again.

  ? fruit: savoury food source

  She supposed that was all she’d be getting for now.

  She had noted a red berry bush a little while back, and decided to backtrack to examine it, wanting to know if it would tell her if the berries were harmful like Eric had suggested.

  ? berries: inedible

  Well, that was something. She hoped the label wasn’t just because Eric had mentioned that to her, because it would be very helpful to know what she could and couldn’t eat from a glance. What had Eric said again, something about getting an upset stomach if she ate too many? She picked one, breaking it open and dabbing her tongue into the juice. The flavour was bitter and unpleasant.

  You have reached harvesting level 4.

  That was a little unexpected, but it seemed examining the items further was counted towards her harvesting growth. She checked the description again.

  ? berries: bitter and inedible.

  She hoped she wasn’t about to start retching up her breakfast for just that little taste. She threw the crushed berry aside and, on a whim, started carefully picking more. Examining each. She also examined the plants around it, usually getting not very useful descriptions like:

  ? tree leaf: inedible

  ? tree

  ? tree bud: inedible

  Still after she’d examined all the plants around her and half the bush was stripped, she was rewarded with another level.

  You have reached harvesting level 5, more properties of harvested items will become apparent to you.

  That was new, she checked a berry.

  ? berries: bitter and inedible. Induces mild nausea.

  She checked the purple fruit again, but the description hadn’t changed with her new harvesting level. Perhaps it didn’t have more properties or possibly her level just wasn’t sufficient.

  Ash moved on. She had been looking for a fallen branch or some other broken bit of tree, but the only fallen wood she had found was already soft and rotted on the floor. Nothing else had really stood out to her. Finally, she decided that trying to get something was better than nothing and picked out a tree that had a few thicker lower branches. She had an unsuccessful attempt at sawing into the thick branch with her knife, before trying a more direct approach.

  She swung her torch down at the branch, smashing into it with a channelled frost touch. The wood froze and cracked, then with her next strike the frozen section shattered, the lump tumbling to the floor.

  “Sorry tree” Ash muttered apologetically and picked up the branch.

  ? tree branch

  Looked like it wasn’t classed as a weapon immediately. She pruned off the end of the branch, then cut a notch into the wood just before it became too thin and springy. Then she attacked it with her torch, fracturing the wood all around the notch. Grimacing at the uneven damage, she trimmed away the cracked sections with her knife, leaving her with a solid section of branch just a touch shorter than the torch. It was thinner at one end than the other, so she gripped it in two hands like she would a baseball bat and examined it.

  Rough-cut wooden club - Hammer - damage modifier: 1.15x(physical)

  Success! She had made herself a new… Hammer. Not a Great-hammer. She sighed and placed the branch in her basket. Time to try again.

  She struck at a thicker branch this time, eventually knocking out a chunk half again as long as her torch. Her arms trembled as she lifted it before her, realising quickly that the lump was far too heavy for her to actually use.

  Heavy rough wooden club – Great-hammer - damage modifier: 1.5x(physical)

  After taking a break for Will restoration, she had another go. On her third attempt, the branch she was breaking off splintered down the middle, becoming unusably thin. Picking up the most intact section it actually still registered as a weapon

  Damaged rough short staff - stave - damage modifier: 1.1x(physical)

  Finally, the fourth attempt produced something usable. She felt bad about the trees as she took off another branch, but this time the section seemed more manageably sized. She hefted it, and it did feel a little heavier than the torch, though it was only a little longer.

  Large rough-cut wooden club – Hammer / Great-hammer (2h) - damage modifier: 1.3x(physical)

  The handle felt a little uncomfortable, still covered in bark, so she whittled that away until the section seemed smooth but grippable.

  You have unlocked the skill woodworking: You are now woodworking level 1.

  Your ability to shape wood will now be more precise and skilful.

  She continued carving away for a while longer, shaping the haft of the Great-hammer until it was smoother and straighter, with a thicker untrimmed section at the top. It almost looked like a slightly thicker baseball bat, though the thicker hitting section only took up around a fifth of the length. She even left a slight knob at the end of the handle, so that it would be less likely to slip. Making the final adjustments, she was awarded with another level in woodwork and her newly formed weapon.

  Large cut wooden club – hammer / Great-hammer (2h) - damage modifier: 1.35x(physical)

  It was a touch lighter in the handle and haft, but still heavy at the end. She gave it a practice swing finding it a little harder to shift than the torch but definitely much better than the heavy club.

  She thought about leaving the failures, but after some consideration she gathered up all three clubs and carried them back to her shelter, leaving behind the clearing full of broken branches and wood shavings. By the time she arrived, she was panting and sweating from the extra load, and gratefully dropped off her basket and the lumps of excess wood she’d cut.

  She munched on the rest of the spongy purple fruit as she headed back out, taking only her new club and her now empty waterskin and making for the waterfall she had located 2 days before. She would celebrate her newly carved weapon with a much-needed drink and bathe.

  When she returned from that, much refreshed, she went back to her wood-carving, deciding to try and shape the ‘hammer’ club to a more pleasing shape, wondering if it would be considered useful enough to trade with the village.

  Thinking of that, Stavos was expecting me to pay for my knife with another basket of fruit. She considered, then had an idea and set to shaving off as much weight from the heavy club as she could manage, finally the description shifted to rough-cut and, while it was way too heavy for her to use currently, she could just about lift it over her head. She took it to the closest Bondi tree and, with the extra reach the longer Great-hammer provided, she could now reach high enough to knock down four more Bondi fruit.

  The basket wasn’t quite as full as the day before, but good enough. In fact, screw Stavos. She thought and pulled out one of the purple fruits, storing it with the remaining Bondi fruit in her shelter. Then she took rest of the basket and her ‘cut wooden club’ to the settlement.

  As she approached, she noticed some surprising progress on this side of the village, a small stretch had been dug out beyond the buildings. Behind that a row of wooden stakes, points jutting defensively outwards, had been arranged, starting from the stone of the ruins and stretching out to the treeline where a tired looking pair of workers were busy hammering in another pole. The stakes were even bridged by a couple planks of wood at the base, looking like just about enough to stop smaller creatures like ants from simply slipping between the stakes. Hestia was standing near a small gap in the defensive boundary, looking down at the raw pieces of what Ash decided was probably going to be some kind of gate for that section. She looked up, smiling as she noticed Ash approaching.

  “Hi Ash! Are you looking healthier today? You seem like you may be recovering! I was worried after I heard about your toxin scare yesterday.”

  Ash chatted with her for a little while, explaining how her withering had receded a little after eating the stew and complimenting the speed that the new defences were being put up.

  “Yes, it’s been the main priority since the attack. We’ve been avoiding the jungle behind this ruin after encountering a few forager ants in that direction too, but we thought it was only a matter of time until they scuttle into camp otherwise.”

  “I heard you were being tasked with making more antivenom, did you get anywhere with that?”

  “There just aren’t the ingredients for it right now. I’d need some… specific roots and herbs that I’m pretty sure wouldn’t grow here. Maybe there would be balm root here, but I haven’t encountered any.”

  “Oh, well let me know what to look for and I’ll let you know if I spot any. I’m a whole level 5 in gathering now.”

  “Wow, look at you!” Hestia cooed, “And don’t think I don’t see that basket of goods there, you have been busy! Looking to trade?”

  “Pay back Stavos actually. He asked for another basket in return for a knife he gave me. Speaking of that, I’ve been practicing my woodwork, do you think there would be any use for this? Maybe to trade for another portion of whatever is cooking tonight?” Ash showed Hestia the smaller bat-like club she had carved out. Instantly starting to feel self-conscious as she noticed anew every imperfection she had carved into the lump of wood.

  “Well, hmmm… We do have a few woodcarvers here, so I’m not too sure that this sort of thing would be that useful to us. Still, if it’s just a portion of stew then I’m sure-”

  “Ah, I could always use a new mallet” One of the workmen had glanced over, waving his own battered wooden tool at the women “This one’s getting knackered.”

  “Alright, here you go then Jori.” Hestia shrugged and tossed the bat to him. Then she turned back to Ash, grinning anew “Well then, one potion of stew well earned. Shall I take these off of your hands?”

  Hestia left with her empty bowl and full basket, returning shortly with the basket now empty and the bowl full. Hestia had brought herself a portion too and the two women chatted amiably at the entrance of the village as they ate. The stew was similar to the first, though slightly sweeter and she noticed the inclusion of Bondi fruit, presumably the ones she had delivered the day before.

  Ash recounted her day, describing her strange method of harvesting, which Hestia found quite amusing. Hestia told her that they hadn’t known the name of the purple fruits either, just they had encountered a wild boar eating them and discovered their edibility. They were just calling them ‘Purple fruit’ too. Finally, the older woman gave Ash the description of the ingredient she was missing. The description reminded Ash of a few plants she had encountered and decided to investigate and practice her harvesting more tomorrow.

  With that, the two waved their goodbyes and headed their separate ways. Ash once again spent the remaining light practicing with her weapon and channelling. She swung her new large club around with increasing ease and felt the extra potency in her channelled spells throughout the undamaged wood. The practice proved fruitful, earning herself another level in both Arcane Conduit and Great-hammers, putting her at 6 and 14 in each.

  She also discovered that she didn’t channel flame burst quite the same through the new club. Maybe it was something about it not being a torch but the burst came out of the side of the club as she swung it instead, the head recoiling back as it did. The effect didn’t seem all that useful, but it was interesting to see how the channelling responded to her expectations of her weapon. Maybe it could even burn an ant if I used it like this? The thought hopefully but knew it was unlikely to work any differently. She wished she had some kind of basic harmless slime or something she could test her skills out on instead of a stupid, one-bite-could-potentially-kill-her ant.

  She went to sleep hopeful that her withering would recede once again and she’d finally have enough health to survive a random venomous ant bite.

  Unfortunately, by the fresh dawn light, she was not greeted by a welcome reduction in her condition. Instead, she would be woken by something far less pleasant.