On one hand, Tabitha got to wake up to an achievement that let her feel pretty good about how hard she worked.

System Menu

Congratulations, you have acquired a new Achievement!

Pushing Your Body

Awarded for pushing your body to its physical limits.

Reward: 5 Endurance

Tabitha wasn’t going to complain about that. After all, it meant she was only a single achievement away from being allowed to get another path, and it meant that she got some more points put into her Endurance!

On the other hand, there was something she was more than willing to complain about.

The moment she tried to even slightly lift her arms… she felt excruciating pain that made her cringe and gasp.

She thought that she knew how bad a pulled muscle could be.

She was wrong.

The pain she felt in her arm muscles was worse than anything she felt in her entire life. Especially her right arm as that was her dominant arm. Her left arm wasn’t spared either, though, since she occasionally used it to give her right arm a break when hammering.

Tabitha ended up not being able to even get up off the floor since her arms were out of action. She was stuck there until Joseph eventually woke up a couple of hours after her and carried her to Hanne while lecturing her about how he was right that she needed to take it easy.

All Tabitha did was laugh it off while mentally agreeing with everything he said.

As for Hanne, she was not happy when she saw the condition that Tabitha ended up putting herself into, and even Runa was worried and a bit upset.

Even the numbing potion wasn’t able to take away all of the pain. Not even half of it. That was how Tabitha knew she really messed up.

Now, no matter how determined Tabitha was, even she had to admit she needed to rest. So, she promised that she would stay in bed for a single day to give her body a chance to recover.

Then she felt just as bad the second day.

And then the third day.

The three days were spent either talking to Runa, who was still at Hanne’s for her leg, or being driven to insanity from how bored she was. She was finally in a world where she could craft whatever she wanted! But she was stupid, overworked her arms, and now she couldn’t craft anything!

Maybe going bit by bit was better. Instead of trying to rush everything all at once to advance as quickly as possible, she could take her time day by day slowly progressing without damaging her body.

But she knew herself better than to take that idea seriously. She knew that, as soon as she got back into it once she was better, there would be no stopping.

In regard to her conversations with Runa, they mostly involved Tabitha telling her all about Earth. She taught her about video games, movies… the industrial revolution—all that normal stuff. No matter what Tabitha talked about, Runa was happy to listen along.

She could finally move her arms around without too much pain on the fourth day, but Hanne still wanted her to take it easy and not to do anything that would use much of her arm muscles. Tabitha, unfortunately, had to agree. More importantly, Runa got to have her cast removed and was also given permission to leave. She still had to take it easy, but both girls were allowed to leave and do something other than sit around talking and being bored.

“Ah… this is better,” Tabitha said after stepping outside, feeling the sun shine down upon her for the first time in days. She tried to raise her arms up above her head to stretch them out, but she stopped that as soon as she realized that holding her arms up was still a no-go. “Ouch. Alright. None of that.”

As for Runa, she was about to stretch her own arms up above her head, but she stopped when she saw that Tabitha couldn’t do it yet. She didn’t want to be rude and do something in front of her that she couldn’t do herself, after all. “So… what are you going to do now?”

“Well, my arms are outta commission still. That means I can’t exactly go around doin’ anythin’… you know, heavy. Can’t be swingin’ around a hammer or minin’ for ore or anythin’. But I can say this. I’m about one achievement away from getting my next path slot. My original plan was to forge myself a cauldron to do alchemy with after gettin’ the Blacksmith path. I’ve got the path now. Still gotta make a cauldron, but I can’t do that until my arms are better. Not even gonna think about doin’ anythin’ with that gravity ore yet. Don’t wanna waste it, plus I’m in no condition to work with it right now, so not gonna think about it. Instead… well, I reckon I’ll have to do somethin’ like make ten unique brews or somethin’ with alchemy to get the Alchemist path. That means I need materials. That means I’m gonna head into the forest and go… you know, foragin’ and stuff. Pick some berries. Gather some plants. That sort of stuff.”

“Oh! That sounds fun! Can I come?”

Tabitha looked down at Runa’s leg. “Are ya sure? I plan on walkin’ most of the day probably. Shouldn’t ya rest your leg some more, or take it easy?”

Runa was quick to shake her head before pouting at Tabitha. “I’ve been in bed for days! My leg is only a little sore now, so it should be fine. And… if I really want to go on an adventure with you, I have to make myself useful. And I have to tough through the pain! What if something happens to me while we’re out in the middle of nowhere and there’s nobody to help?”

“Heh.” Tabitha smirked and pointed her thumb at herself. “That’s what I’ll be there for. I helped ya before, didn’t I? I’ll be there to help ya again if anythin’ ever happens.”

Runa stared straight at Tabitha, blinking a few times as a red hue slowly colored her cheeks. “Ri-right…”

“But I guess I’d be a hypocrite to say ya should take it easy. Plus I just got an idea. I’ll let ya use my spear as a walkin’ stick. That should help take some weight off your leg. Sound good?”

Runa nodded and smiled. “I know a patch of flowers you could pick from, too! And—and I’m really good at sniffing out mushrooms. They say I’ve got the best nose in the village!”

“Yeah? I believe it with how many of those things you had when I found ya. Anyways, the sun ain’t gonna hang around all day, so let’s go on our first harvestin’ mission as a team!”

Runa’s excitement was clear just from how quickly her tail was wagging. “I’ll do my best!”

“I’ll be countin’ on ya.”