Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Choose your allies wisely, please! part

After a light night’s sleep, I’m awakened by the soft rays of sunlight that sneak through the small cracks between the doorposts. If we really want to spend the winter here, it will be necessary to find a way to make hermetic doors, perhaps wooden boards might do the trick.

The first thing I do is check the status of Luke using the consider skill on him.

Luke 34/101 (sleeping)

Thief

I’m relieved as it seems everything’s going well and if he continues like this, he’ll recover enough health points to be able to finish his treatment in a day or two. That’s not all, he’s no longer unconscious, this means he’s progressing positively.

I check the other members of the group and, to my surprise, Ayumi is already awake, although she doesn’t look me directly in the face.

I quietly leave the cabin, today we’ll also have to wash Luke’s wound, so we’ll need a lot of clean water. I take the pot that’s on the rudimentary kitchen that I made and the filter made with plant fiber and I go to the lake.

.....

After cleaning up, I go in until the water reaches my knees and submerge the clay pot with the plant fiber mesh that acts as a filter. When lifting the pot it becomes much heavier as soon as it leaves the surface of the water. Once on the shore, I slowly begin to remove the filter so that it can do its job, thus cleaning the lake water of impurities.

When I return to the settlement, Ayumi sits in front of the kitchen with the fire on and ready to boil the water. Since its quite cold, it doesn’t come as a surprise that she’s by the fire.

When i put the pot on the stove Ayumi speaks to me in a very soft voice that can barely be heard.

“Ryu, I... I’m really sorry for my behavior yesterday”

“it’s ok, you don’t need to apologize”

“I think it’s necessary, I had no reason to think It was your fault, even so I judged you without listening to you first. I’m not strong enough to handle these situations and I let my emotions take over all the time. For that I am extremely sorry. Now because of me, everyone distanced themselves from you, which is actually the opposite of what I wanted in the first place”

“Even if you say that, nothing will change. The only thing we can do now is help Luke recover and hope he’s honest enough to tell the truth”

Since the pot we have is made of clay and we need to boil a large amount of water, we have to stay in front of the kitchen for a long time to get it to boil. If it lacks fuel, the process will be delayed and there’s no one else awake yet, we have no choice but to stay and watch the fire together while feeding it with branches and blowing air onto it.

Ayumi goes to and from the wood stockpile, constantly bringing some dry branches to feed the fire.

“By the way Ryu, yesterday I tried to manipulate earth using magic”

“oh! that’s great! if you manage to do it, you could make a drain that reaches the lake, which would allow us to incorporate bathrooms into the cottage”

“I did not”

“what?”

“I couldn’t do it”

“why not? exactly how did you fail?”

“I don’t know, I have no way of knowing. It’s just that, even though I really wanted to save myself the hard work of digging with my hands, I felt like I didn’t really want to do it.”

“Is it about motivation?”

“I don’t know, I really tried, but it seems that I can’t be useful even with the abilities that were given to me and all I can do is cause you more problems”

Ayumi is on the verge of tears, where’s Hiraku when I need him?

“I think you’re misunderstanding something. Ayumi, the abilities you have, which were supposedly bestowed on you by a god. They are something incredible, it could be said that they defy logic, however, the true power of people does not lie in their strength or in their magic, but their will”

“will? What do you mean?”

“You may not understand because you guys are much stronger than me, but the first day I have memory of I got distracted while walking and fell. I just scraped my knee a little, it was nothing serious, even so I lost a health point”

“that... it can’t be that bad”

“it’s not bad if you have a total of 100, in my case, I only had 10 health points maximum. When I realized that only ten light falls would be enough to end my life, fear took over me completely, can you imagine what happened next?”

“Obviously you stayed put until you recovered, right?”

“No, if I had stayed there I would have been in an even worse situation. Even if I was afraid, I knew that my only option was to keep going, and every step I took required all my willpower”

“So, are you saying that I am the weakest?”

“What I mean is that if you are not able to control yourself, to know that the situation is critical and still take a step forward. Tomorrow, or maybe some day soon, when everyone depends on you, someone will get hurt. That day you’ll have no one to blame but yourself. and I am afraid that if you did not do absolutely everything in your power to help, you will not be able to overcome the feeling of guilt”

“I understand what you are saying, but that does not mean that it is easy to simply understand and do it ”

an idea, although somewhat strange, suddenly comes to my mind. I take a fist-sized stone from the stone bin and hand it to Ayumi.

“Here, turn this stone into a cube”

“That’s not possible, I can’t even move the earth”

“That’s because you hadn’t realized the situation. What would you think if I told you that the difference between us all surviving the winter or not depends solely on whether you can shape this stone precisely here and now?”

“I’d say that’s impossible”

“Ayumi, if we don’t get a heat source inside, no matter how much coal or firewood we have, there’s no way we’ll survive the winter... I didn’t want to rush you, but its just like that”

Ayumi’s face contorts and sweat begins to appear on her forehead when he finally understands.

“There’s a reason why I asked you to investigate all possible resources, since I have no memory, every passing day I learn a lot about the world, but that also consumes most of my time. Instead you already have a knowledge base, it may not be applied exactly the same as in your world, but at least you will have a better chance than me.

If you think about it, there must be some reason why you’re a mage and Bob is a warrior, I guess it’s about the affinity that each one has with the class that he got. Otherwise Bob would be a wizard”

“And wouldn’t it be possible for someone else to shape the stones? I mean, could they just carve them”

“How would we put them together? who would build the cottage? This time there’s no escape, our very survival is in your hands. Today I’ll dedicate myself to taking care of Luke, and I hope you succeed today. Even if it’s not enough to build a chimney, anything can be helpful”

The others got up one by one, what happened yesterday was a lesson that I’ll not allow myself to forget.

This group is full of incompetents and even bob won’t hesitate to distance himself from me at the first problem. I won’t get anything by just feeling bad, I must find a solution quickly and as soon as winter ends find my way to some city and live a peaceful life in that place. These so called heroes are much more trouble than they are worth.

“I need someone to go with me to get medicine”

Everyone seems to avoid looking at me directly, just like yesterday, everyone is down and lacking motivation. But now there’s no need for me to be delicate, I’m their leader and they should listen to me, otherwise I’ll just let them be and worry about myself only.

“Listen to me, we need medicine for Luke, or do you think it’s for me? if no one comes with me to help, the only thing you’ll achieve is to decrease his chances of survival”

Helena shyly approaches me

“I’ll go with you Ryu, let’s go”

They’re usually lazy and get up whenever they feel like it, I’m not going to give them rest hereinafter. The closer winter gets, the shorter the days will be, and if they continue to waste the daylight hours this way, they’ll only become a burden. I’ll stop worrying about their feelings, I’ll just lead them the hard way, and if they don’t listen I’ll just abandon them.

I guided Helena through the forest to reach the usual places where we collect the simplest medicinal herbs, this plants seem to be rings buried in the ground, although in reality its only a curved leaf. Then we’re going to pick big black berries, I still remember the unpleasant numbing sensation that it produced in my tongue and throat, it was so strong that I couldn’t even stop myself from swallowing it. This means that it probably works well as a pain reliever.

“This time there is no need to pick red berries, let’s just go back to the settlement”

*mmmhmm*

Helena, who has been following me around, silently behind me all the time, barely makes a sound to let me know that she heard me. This whole situation is really annoying, I just want to run away, escape from all this, my heart feels tight. She’s usually so nice and talkative and this only makes me feel even more left out.

At that moment, when my negative feelings began to overtake me, when I felt that none of this was worth it, out of nowhere a slight tingling in my fingers catches my attention. Slowly a delicate hand with the weight of a feather holds mine.

“Ryu, you’ve been walking fast all this time and haven’t spoken to me since yesterday. I know you must feel bad about what happened with Luke, that’s why I wanted to give you some space, but please, don’t let the whole gravity of the situation overwhelm you”

“So, are you saying that I’m the one who has moved away?”

I don’t understand the situation, I don’t know if I want to understand it either. All I know is that a cold hand has never felt so warm.

Returning to the camp, I let go of Helena’s hand, as much as it hurts, if the others saw us like this it would only create misunderstandings. Despite everything, she is very kind and only did it to comfort me.

“By the way Helena, how much mana did you get during the night?”

“Around 40 points, it’s not much, truth is that I didn’t rest well. I woke up several times during the night to check on Luke... but there wasn’t much I could see anyway”

“I understand, you should rest and recover your mana completely as soon as possible”

“Yes!”

The others are already divided into their different tasks, only Ayumi remains in front of the kitchen, still with the stone in her hands, as soon as she sees us she runs in our direction.

“look Ryu! look! I got it!”

The stone, previously irregular in shape, is now a perfect cube with a smooth surface.

“Congratulations!” Helena says without really understanding what was going on

“how much mana did it cost you?”

“Almost nothing, only 10 points, I could do this all day if I wanted!”

“Well, don’t show off your mana pool in front of Helena please. I need you to make me a stone mortar and pestle, plus a few clay bottles with a lid, no, the lid should be made of wood so I’ll take care of that part”

“Okay, but what are you thinking?”

“Do you think I want to be chewing on roots all day? My jaw hurts already, we need a mortar anyway. Also, I think that, as long as I dedicate myself to it, I’ll be able to refine the medicinal properties of various plants into a single medicine”

As Ayumi carefully focused herself to completing the task assigned to her, a slight moan begins to rise until it transforms into loud wails that come directly from the cabin.

“Luke woke up!” Helena yells as she runs to the cabin.

.....

“Don’t be in such a hurry, I’ll go see him as soon as Ayumi finishes the mortar”

“Well, I’ll give him something to drink in the meantime”

Ayumi rushes to the task, the process of molding the stone seems simple, but Ayumi’s face is evidence to the opposite. The stone begins to deform quickly at first, taking an approximate shape, then as she adjust the details the time it takes becomes longer. I’m amazed that even a simple shape like this can take so long to be completed.

“This is the best I can do at the moment, I hope it will suffice”

“yeah, this should be enough, don’t worry”

I open the door taking with me the new implements, although it’s not that big it’s still heavy due to the material its made of. I would even go so far as to say that it is heavier than a common stone which is weird. To get rid of any doubts I use my analyze skill.

650/650 mortar

its durability is not bad, it should fulfill its function properly. Now the question remains, if it is possible to refine medicine with this method.

After sitting silently on the skin of the leader of the jackals, I begin my task of slowly crushing medicinal herbs. I know its properties are milder than silver flower, but it’s a of a lot more abundant so I’m putting my hopes on quantity over quality.

I’m focused on my work, but I can’t help but notice that Luke is watching my every move.

There are no sounds in the cabin other than the faint sound of rock against rock and Luke’s occasional groan.

When a portion of the herbs transform into a green paste, I begin to add more herb to the mix and patiently grind it until It seems to be enough, then add a whole large black berry.

This berry is poisonous, I know it is, I’m not sure if it will decrease Luke’s life points but the effect shouldn’t be too strong since it will be diluted. Also, when I was affected by it, I got poisoned but didn’t lose health points until I got sick too. The color of the paste turns dark green and it seems to be ready for the next step.

I take a wooden bowl and fill it with boiling water, wait a moment to cool it down and then pour the mixture into the bowl, continuing to mix and dissolve the paste in the water until it becomes smooth. Finally, I pour the contents into the three bottles that Ayumi managed to make.

alchemy 1%

potion of healing minor wounds (low)

analyze 98%

I can’t really say that I’m surprised that I got a new skill since that was one of the reasons I decided to do this. What surprises me is that I was successful on the first try.

Taking advantage of the fact that I’m so close to leveling up my ability to analyze, I use it as much as I can in all the things that I have in front of me. At 100% completion a new skill was unlocked. It’s called identify.

Through my experience, I realized that both my observation and analysis skills don’t always deliver the same amount of information. Sometimes I get additional information and other times all I get is a question mark. My assumption is that the objects have different levels of difficulty to be analyzed and that the three abilities are actually the same but in different levels, it also seems that the more time and concentration I invest the more information I’m able to obtain.

Light Healing Potion (Low): A potion created by Ryu, restores 5 to 10 health, has an analgesic effect. It can be consumed or applied on wounds.

Since I couldn’t fit all the potion mix inside the three small bottles that Ayumi made, a considerable amount remained inside the wooden bowl. I walk over to Luke and bring the bowl to his mouth. He obediently drinks its contents without even asking, from his expression it seems that the taste is not good at all.

Helena entered the cabin at that precise moment

“how do you feel luke?”

still with a dry throat and a very low voice

“As if I had been stabbed with a rock and poisoned with a black berry” says luke looking me in the eye.

“poisoned!?”

“Oh, so you saw what I put in the potion and you drank it anyway?”

“I’m just kidding, if you wanted to kill me, I’m sure you had better chances than this”

“Helena, make sure he drinks this at noon and before sleeping at night. There’s hardly enough for today, I’ll try to prepare more tonight. It should help you deal with the pain Luke, but if you feel worse call me right away. Now I have things to do”

I quickly leave the cabin, I don’t know why, but I feel calmer now that Luke woke up. At least he didn’t wake up yelling at me and accusing me of strange things, although well, technically he did accuse me.

When I go out, the first thing that catches my attention are the rain clouds that are coming, most likely it will be a rainy night, which means that I must make the most of the day.

Bob and Hikaru kept up the pace of the build on their own, although they normally joke around and take breaks often, now they take the job completely seriously and that’s reflected in their progress.

When the next night fell Helena had finally fully recovered her mana points and Luke was able to finish his treatment. Thanks to the analgesic properties of the potions, he stopped complaining of pain. The hardest part was keeping the wound clean and not being able to remove the chisel.

Now Ayumi, Helena and myself are at the cabin while Anne, Bob and Hiraku wait outside.

This time we set everything beforehand: clean water, medicine, plant fiber bandages weaved by Helena and some potions. Luke’s health points are maxed now and he says he feels ok. It could be said that these are the best possible conditions to operate. Even Ayumi, who now can manipulate stones with magic, is ready to act in case its necessary.

“are you absolutely sure you can do this? if you lose control as soon as you see blood it could have severe consequences. If you’re lacking in confidence it’d be better if you let Ryu take care of this”

Helena shows her concern to Ayumi, who keeps a determined look on her face.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be”

After hearing Ayumi I get ready to start.

“Fine then, lets review the plan. You remove the chisel with your hands while aiding your efforts with magic. Then, I quickly wash the wound and keep pressure over it using my first aid skill and as soon as I’m done with that, Helena finishes with Using heal”

“yes!” They both say in unison nodding their heads at the same time

“Only one last thing left, Luke, are you ready?”

“Just get it over with!”

“Ok, it’ll be at the count of three”

“1, 2...”

*AHHHHH*