I found Fan and Thomas down where the road branched off to the logging camp. I still wasn't sure I could trust Fan, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. It was a bit like swimming with a great white in the water, you know it’s mostly likely not interested in you, but you know if it was there isn't shit you can do. Fan was my great white, I had no other good option than to trust she wanted to hitch her wagon to my insane team of metaphorical horses.

Thomas stood next to a brown gelding, loaded down with weapons and a couple packs. Fan stood off to the side munching on some sort of savory breakfast roll, as I made my way up with my bundle of spears. As I settled next to them I waited for some sort of sign that we were in fact doing this.

“You want one of these? Better to eat them before they go completely stale.” Fan gestured to the roll in her hand as she walked over to join us next to the gelding.

“I better not, I want to be able to try carving this rune I learned when we stop and I don’t think me regenning is going to make it easy to do.” I replied as my stomach grumbled in protest, unsatisfied with just tea.

“You don’t have it turned off?” She said with her head cocked to the side looking at me like I was some sort of town simpleton.

“Why would I turn it off? Shit I didn’t even know I could turn it off. Care to explain? You know what they say, knowing is half the battle.” I forcefully stopped myself from reciting the rest of the classic cartoon line.

Fan tossed the rest of her roll to Thomas as she brushed the crumbs off herself casually, working through her mouthful before responding. “Yeah, otherwise every little thing is going to keep eating through your stamina. Right now you’re like a superhero mutant regenerating from everything, at least while you’re out of combat. You stumble through a bramble bush you’ll heal right back up, and drain your stamina right along with it. Especially running around barefoot like you are, probably ate through your stamina at an insane rate in town trying to keep your feet intact. We all learned that the first day after we kept running out of stamina faster than expected. I have mine set to only kick in when I dip below a certain amount of health. I can live with a few scratches and bruises so I have it when I need it.”

Well shit, I hadn’t even come close to considering that and honestly probably never would have. Most likely eliminating the one bonus I had going for me, thinking about it for a moment I mentally set my regeneration to kick in when I dipped below ninety percent. I’d probably have to turn it off when I tried to inscribe runes, but that all depended on how bad I butchered myself in the process. I thanked Fan, sheepishly accepting one of the rolls from Thomas, baked with bits of hams, onion and greens it did the job quieting my complaining stomach.

“Alright give your bundle of frog spears to Thomas, he’s going to take the horse up the path while you and I move parallel to him in the forest. If you’re going to piss off the entire island before the first week is out, you better be ready to grind. This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.” Fan ordered me as she walked to the horse, arming herself three short spears and tucking what looked like a sling through her belt.

As Thomas headed off down the road Fan wandered into the forest, slipping through the undergrowth with ease. I followed after, like a big moose or bear crashing through thicket compared to her jungle cat. Finding ourselves amongst the tree, Fan set of at a fast clip, angling further away from the road but still heading towards the mountain with each step. With my maul hung over my shoulder I tried my best to keep pace, the clawing branches and twisted roots of the trees hanging me up each time I tried to open up and use my much longer gait to make time and keep up with Fan. The morning passed uneventfully with me trying to keep up with Fan and her disappearing into the forest to return from time to time. It was all quiet until the moment I stumbled through a large berry bush.

Across a small clearing from me a large brown bear sat cleaning a blackberry bush of its harvest with its massive mitts. Somehow my super stealthy entrance gave me away, which really was a shocker to me. As the beast turned and let out a disgruntled growl, I tried to inspect hoping that maybe plain old earth animals were low level fodder like every other game.

[Cave Bear] [Level 10] [1800/1800]

It was not, and the monster seemed to have found his feet and a new more filling meal. Letting a roar the bear charged, as I did the only thing I could. I ran, if I could have spun my legs and left a comical cloud of dust and after image in my place I would have. As it was I settled on booking it back into the forest like a bat out of hell, tree roots and branches reached out to trip me up as I could hear the bear crashing through the undergrowth behind me with ease. I had a fleeting wishful thought that it’d be really nice if bears walked everywhere like serial killers, cause I could use that right now. Leaping over a fallen log I found myself falling further than expected as the ground gave way to a slope. My feet fell from under me as I tumbled forward, rolling down the slope I could feel saplings snapping under me battering my body as I cleared the trees into another clearing. Doing one last involuntary roll I scrambled to my feet only to find myself running right into another threat. Sitting at a camp fire in front of me was a group of hyena headed humanoids, gnolls. Somehow in the mad dash and tumble I hadn’t lost hold of my maul, and miraculously hadn’t lodged the axe head somewhere in my body. I started to slow down hesitating for a moment till I heard the crashing behind me and another roar.

Opening up my stride I sprinted towards the gnolls who were now standing up reaching for weapons and gesturing wildly either at the mad man running at them or the giant furry death machine behind him. Pumping my arms hard I could feel my heart hammering in my chest as my lungs burned, adrenaline was a powerful motivator though. Leaping over camp fire I twisted to avoid a chop from a wicked looking machete like blade, as I kept running. Only pulling up when I heard guttural barks turn to yelps and screams mixed with bellowing roars. Sliding to a stop I turned to look at the havoc behind me, the group of gnolls were handling themselves surprisingly well. Spread out around the bear they jabbed at it with spears causing it to rear up as others tried to duck in and cut it down with their machete blades.

“Well what are you waiting for, someone to ask you to dance.” Fan said over my shoulder.

I whipped around still running on a massive dump of adrenaline “Holy shit where did you come from?!” I looked around for a moment trying to figure where she’d materialized from.

“Tree branch overhead, I was watching this gnoll camp for a moment. Figured I’d come collect you to clear it out but then you came screaming out of the woods with that beast on your heels.” She stated calmly, swapping one of the short spears into her right hand. “Let’s get in this fight princess.” Taking a step forward and then another in a series of short hops she launched the spear in a low arc right into the back of one of the gnolls fending off the bear.

Luckily for him the spear didn’t seem to do him in, unluckily for him the sudden blow sent him forward into range of the bears massive paws. A swift blow sent him flying till he landed like a ragdoll unmoving. As I stepped forward another spear came flying over my shoulder, downing another gnoll as more fell after making the fatal mistake of taking their attention off the bear. I wasn’t in any rush to walk into the meat grinder, and by the time I finally made it around the fire to get into the fight there were only two gnolls left. I watched them fend off the bear with desperation till one bolted for the woods leaving his companion to fall as he tried to follow a moment to slow.

With all the hyena headed monsters dispatched I was the next closest living thing for the cave bear to take his rage out on. Standing up on his hind legs the bear towered over me, letting out a roar that shook me to the bone. I was committed though at this point, no point running if I was just going to end up like the crushed gnoll next to me. Sliding my hands down to the end of the long haft of my maul I hauled it over my head till the hammer head nearly touched my back, taking one long step forward I cranked it forward with all my might, hurling the heavy work implement towards the enraged bear. I watched the maul make one full rotation before sinking into the deep muscled flesh of the bear, changing the enraged roar into one of pain. I’d like to think that blow would have felled any normal person, but I doubted it’d slow this beast down. I’d accomplished my main goal though, my hands were now free as I dived for one of the fallen spears on the ground. My graceful roll turned into more of a messy tumble as I grabbed up the long pole of the spear, raising to one knee just in time to ward of the charging bear as he rose up again batting at the long spear as I tried to keep it between us. Massive paws with the equivalent of steak knives attached to them swung by me again as I felt wind made by its passing across my face.

Fencing pack and forth the both of us struggled to end the other, I was able to reach out and sink the spear point into the thick fur a few times, but it didn’t slow him. Sadly I didn’t think the same would be true if he hit me as another wicked swipe nearly took my head off. It felt like an eternity, dancing around the bear struggling to twist out of the way of each swipe and I worried about the moment the bear decided to risk the long spear and simply crush me under his weight. My lungs burned in my chest as I tried to generate more space between us, desperately wanting to get out of the imminent death zone. Suddenly Fan behind the bear, jabbing her short spear into his sides repeatedly before it whipped around swinging a massive paw right over her as she dived away gracefully. Sadly the tiny pro didn’t have the reach that I did to keep the bear at distance as it followed up with another swipe, chasing after her with its massive paws and biting at the air where she’d been moments before. Sucking in a deep breath I ran after them, as somehow Fan managed to continue to slice the monster to ribbons while dancing through the flurry of attacks, blood trailing on the ground behind them as it dripped from the thick fur.

I heard it before I saw it, I loud thud cut by a high pitched scream. The bear caught Fan on the hip as she spun away from one of its attacks, sending her spilling to the ground. I could see her struggling to get back to her feet as her left leg didn’t seem to respond. Fighting against my leaden limbs and protesting lungs I sprinted for the pair as the bear rose again on his hind legs to come down and finish the job. My mind went blank in those moments, I try and remember how I ended up standing over Fan under the shadow of the bear with my borrowed spear but it’s all a blur. What I do remember is the massive hulk coming down on us, the long hunting spear sinking into its chest as the butt of the shaft slammed into the dirt. I could see the strong wooden shaft bend like a bow pulled taut under the weight, and then a white hot burst of pain as the bears jaws clamped down over my shoulder. I could hear my collarbone crack instantly under the immense pressure, the wickedly sharp teeth sinking into back and pec. All I could feel was pain radiating out from my right shoulder, making me want to throw up as I heard another crack. The thought flashed through my head that I was already dead and didn’t know it yet, and maybe that wouldn’t be so bad if it stopped this pain. Then entire weight of bear landed on top of me driving me down under its mass as I landed on top of Fan before being enveloped musky dark fur blood soaking my face and dripping into my mouth.

I laid there in darkness a moment waiting for the end, when I felt the jaws over my shoulder loosen and drop free. The beast was dead, and it was Fan’s screaming that brought me out of my stupor. As bad as the weight crushing down me was, she had both of us on top of her over what I assumed was a broken leg or hip. I tried to push the dead weight off of me with my one functioning arm but it was too much. Despite Fan’s protest and screams of pain I wriggled my legs up getting my feet buried against the meat of the bear. Bunching up the muscles in my legs I started to push, my grunts of effort being drowned out by Fan’s pained gasps. Slowly the hulking mound of dead bear started to slide off to the side till I could see light again, with one last push I rolled it off of us before rolling off Fan into the dirt eliciting another nausea inducing wave of pain.

As the pain subsided again and I was able to focus, looking down I realized just how messy every fight was in this world was. I was coated in blood from the bear and myself, and caked in dirt. As I was examining myself the bite wounds on my chest and back started to itch and burn as they slowly closed. The leather tunic I’d borrowed was now beyond salvaging, with the frogmen spears this early morning and now this I was afraid it was a write off, which meant I’d need to get some real armor soon. A soft choking sound dragged me away from my self inspection as I laid in the dirt, craning my neck from where I laid I saw Fan next to me fighting back tears as she white knuckled her short spear. Rolling onto my good arm I pushed myself up onto my knees, crawling over towards her my right arm held tight against my body as I avoided jostling it any more than necessary.

I ended up half kneeling over her as I rested my weight against the bear carcass, Fan was laying on her back in the dirt under me holding back tears as she bite down on her lip. I realized that I could be rid of her at this moment, I still had the iron dagger at my hip, but even if I killed her it wouldn’t stop anything. If she was out to betray me she could always come back up the mountain and find me after respawning, and had the information on my plan to sink me. Better to keep her close and the information away from Silk Bay longer. I reached out to touch her hand, gently prying the short spear from her grasp setting it to the side.

“Hey, you alright?” I said, at a loss for words watching this professional hold back pained sobs.

Fan’s reply came through sharply inhaled breaths as she fought through the pain. “I think it shattered my hip, maybe my leg when it hit me. I’m not sure.”

“Well I’m sure it’ll start healing soon and we can get back to the road, get out of here.”

She let out a strangled scream grabbing my hand in a vice like grip like she was trying to crush my fingers into dust. “Ugh, that’s the fucking problem. It’s already healing, I can feel every bit of it. Bone scraping across bone as it resets.”

I dragged my pack around in front of me, pulling out my water as I tried to get her to drink some. We were a mess, one bloody cripple tending to another next to a slew of dead bodies. Fan choked down some of the warm water, dropping her head back into the dirt as another wave of pain washed over her. I didn’t have long till I had a glimpse into what she was experiencing, as the burning itching sensation subsided and the bites closed I felt a sickening grinding as my bone started to reset itself, nearly causing me to black out. It came and went in waves for the next half hour before I was left a deep painful ache as it started to fully heal. Sadly for Fan it was a longer process, my arm was functional again if still sore by the time her hip had finally stopped resetting and started to heal.

Once I was able to use both arms again I got to work, unable to sit there and watch Fan in pain without being able to help in any way. So I left her propped against the bear mending as I gathered up the spoils of our victory. The remaining intact spears and machete like blades were bundled up in a foul smelling bed roll and set aside by the fire as I started to loot the corpses. The Gnolls had small pouches filled with a mix of rough coins, small bones, and other trinkets that I dumped into my bag to deal with later. I considered taking some of the boiled leather armor off of them, but the smell emanating from the lot of them was enough to make me beg off that idea rather quickly. Looping my way back around to Fan and the bear I found her sitting there quietly looking better now as color had returned to her face.

“Are you able to walk yet? I don’t want to be here in case that Gnoll that got away comes back with more friends, or before whatever else is out here in the forest decides to come by for a snack.” I asked as I dropped off her short spears I’d collected.

Fan tried to push herself to her feet, before sinking back onto her butt with a groan. “Not yet, and even if I could I’m going to need to rest. I’m almost below my stamina threshold and if it doesn’t heal enough for me to walk I’m going to need to regain some. Go ahead and skin the bear first, and then we’ll try again.”

I checked my own stamina, it had dipped to just above the fifty percent mark but I assumed some of that was from not sleeping the whole night through. I might not be the best fighter yet, but at least I could keep going longer than anyone else it seemed. Gently moving Fan to the side I started to try and skin the bear, working off what I learned with the luprum what felt like forever ago. Luckily the thick hide was forgiving and I was able to get it off in a somewhat respectable manner. Not sure if we’d need to rest and eat or not I used my knife to cut away one of the massive shoulders of the animal, leaving me with a large club of meat and fat. Wrapping the meat in the hide I started to feed it into my bag, twisting and adjusting until the whole thing fit inside the dimensional rucksack.

Crouching down next to Fan I tapped her shoulder as she opened her eyes to look at me. “Alright, bear is all good to go. You ready to give it another try?”

She nodded before trying to push herself up again, this time managing to get to her feet at least with a little help. “I won’t make it through the forest like this, we’ll have to make camp and rest so I can fully heal.”

“In the middle of this clearing covered in blood, surrounded by dead bodies? Yeah no, fuck that. We’re getting out of here even if I have to carry you. Ard and Tai’s cabin isn’t too far out, we’ll lose the light but if we stick to the road I think I can get us there.” I argued

“You’re not carrying me up to the mountain, we’ll rest here and go in the morning. “ She said as she leaned her weight against one of her spears.

“And then we both get eaten, because you can’t fight and I’m sure as shit not going to beat another bear on my own or whatever else is up here. I’m getting out of here, you can either stay and roll the dice or swallow your pride and let me help you out of here.”

“Fine, but don’t get any ideas. This isn’t some anime bullshit where I’m just pretending to me mean, but I really like you. I’ll ride on your back.” She fumed.

I’d like to say that was that, but in the end having her riding on my back proved to be too much for her hip and a mess for me trying to hold her legs while balancing my bundle of weapons and hers. What really happened was that after making it into the forest we realized there was only one of two ways to make this work. The first which was instantly shot down by Fan was for me to carry her in my arms, like the cover of some romance novel…if the main characters were two gore covered messes without any of the flowing hair or rippling abs, on my part at least. The second was to carry Fan over my shoulder like a sack of flour, and have her hold onto the weapons. Which is how I ended up with a pissed off Fan the Fang’s butt in my face for the next six hours, as I hiked up the trail trying my best to ignore all the threats and complaining. I just took solace in the fact that her view was way worse than mine hanging over my backside.

Night had fallen before we made it to the cottage, my low light vision giving me enough to work with as the moonlight filtered through the trees. By the end I was so exhausted I almost didn’t even notice that we’d arrived, I was so focused on just one foot in front of the other. But I heard a call and a commotion as everyone rushed out the front door, to find the two of us in the sorriest state yet. Fan was lifted from my shoulder and guided inside, leaving me wobbling on my tired feat out on the front path with only Tai at my side.

“Drink this.” He said pushing a cup into my hand.

I took a big gulp to clear the road dirt out of my mouth before finding myself choking on what turned out to be a rough grain alcohol. Coughing for a few moments I finally took another drink. “Warn a man next time!”

“Don’t be a baby, I’ve already got Ard to deal with.” He grumbled, though I could see a small grin on his face in the dark. It was good to me home.