Breathing heavily, Aura pushed herself off the dead monster. Flecks of golden light were breaking off it, but she turned away and faced the rest of the battlefield. Half of the Giant Spiders were already defeated, with golden light seeming to float off the corpses. Given how some of the corpses looked half gone, that seemed to be another thing in this world that was like a video game. Her attention wasn’t solely on their enemies, but on the people as well. While she was hurting, there was the second part of that quest to consider.

  Maul was standing by a defeated one and looking her way, his body seeming to relax as if he was getting ready to move. Kaelen was not too far away, seeming to handle his foe more easily than she did. Or, at the very least being agile enough to keep up with it rather than being rushed down. Of the other members of their ‘squad’ that were still fighting, it was looking rough for a couple of them. And while she did want to be at the ready to help, a fresh jolt of pain in her side and through her body put that thought on hold.

  Reaching a shaky hand to her bleeding collarbone, the other rose in the air as she silently brought up her menu, and then the character sheet. She did see something about a Poison being applied when bitten, and this was the best way to check what that was about. Seeing her HP listed as [45/100] had her wince with discomfort. Looking under the effects and seeing the poison, confusion filled her. Mainly, because of the details next to it.

  While the poison sounded quite bad, the main issue was that she wasn’t feeling very numb. If anything, some numbness would be a blessing right now given how her side and the bite mark hurt. As another fresh jolt of pain went through her, she decided that it wasn’t a bad idea to try and take care of at least one of those issues. Most everyone, including Cody, seemed to be focused more on those that were still fighting rather than her. So, taking a deep breath she began to focus.

  While for most, calling on some strange power in a less stressful situation after using it in a high stress one might be easy, it wasn’t the case for her. Her job being what it was, operating under high stress situations was something she was more used to. So, it took a good minute of closed eyed focus, the only sounds being that of combat and two calls for help, before she finally managed to tap into that energy within her once more. Finally taking hold of it, she then began to softly chant the words that she had decided on for her other spell.

  “Mana within me rise. Heal and revitalize where I lay my hand. Wound Closure.”

  As the words were said, once more she felt her Mana rise to her hand. Unlike last time where it fired out in a bolt of energy, this time it was more of a soothing sensation. Her Mana flowed from her hand into the wound on her shoulder, and some of the pain coming from it seemed soothed. Even the bleeding seemed to let up a little bit, but with how bloody the area was it was hard to say.

  Opening her eyes and seeing that everyone was focusing on either the last two fights going on or on addressing those who looked rather injured, she decided to go again. The bite had dealt a lot of damage after all, and she still had Mana to spare. Speaking her chant once more, the sensation of Mana rushing into her hand was felt. This time the soothing sensation that followed was not as great. Slightly confused at that, she looked to her still open character sheet and saw that she did indeed lose the Mana to cast the spell. However, rather than healing her for ten HP, only five was healed.

  With there still being time, and her Mana being [6/20] she could afford to try again. And so, she did, this time closing her eyes once more to make sure that she had a firm grasp on the Mana that she was using. It could have well been a case of her still being unused to this strange new thing she could do. And as she cast her spell for a third time, feeling the Mana flow through her hand. This time it flowed into her body and that soothing sensation followed along.

  Okay, that was really weird. I mean, I guess it is a little weird in general since I am using magic and all. But why didn’t it work as well that second time? The Mana Bolt worked both times I used it after all…

  Feeling the area of the wound once more and confirming that the bite marks were still there with a wince, she began to check everything else. With her character sheet still up, she did see that she still had that poisoned condition. But a quick finger to thumb touch exercise confirmed that the numbness hadn’t set in. As did the sharp pain from her side where the Giant Spider had rammed into her. Much as she wanted to check that out, the final of the fights against the other monsters were finishing up. With Maul standing over one of their downed squad members and delivering a heavy swing with his club that caused the side of the monster to cave in. As it did, another window appeared.

  Allowing a smile to grow on her face, she vaguely caught Kaelen perking up. Which at the very least confirmed that he had received the quest too. None of the natives did, and Cody finally stepped forwards and thumped his chest loud enough to get everyone’s attention.

  “Well done to all of you. Through the trial of combat, you have tasted blood for the first time and survived. Some of you did require assistance, and I expect you to be grateful to those that helped you. That is something we will discuss on the way back. For now, gather the Essence Crystals that the monsters dropped. And if there were any other drops gather them as well.”

  After saying that, he gestured to the various monster corpses that litter the ground. Outside of the most recently killed one, most had almost completely dissolved into golden particles of light. Turning towards the one that she killed, all that was in its place at this point was the dissolving head and a small crystal. A muddy brown in color, and only as big as her thumb, it seemed to glow with an inner light. Bending over with a wince to pick it up, she stored it away in her inventory for the moment. Taking a chance to see exactly what it is. While, at the same time, also seeing that her quest reward was put in there too.

  I… got some boots… I mean I guess they are pretty sturdy sounding. And probably give me a slight boost to stats when worn. Ugh, I guess it said that the reward was a common one. And this Essence Crystal thing. There’s no examine function or anything here, so I know essentially nothing new about it.

  And while she could probably ask about what exactly these crystals could be used for, Cody did tell them to gather the crystals. So, it probably wasn’t going to be something she got to keep. And while that was annoying, with the adrenaline from the battle starting to fade away a wave of fatigue started to settle in. Fatigue only made worse by the fact that she knew they’d all be marching back to Fortress shortly.

  And, once everyone still standing had gathered up their drops, they began said march. Not all of them were walking, with three of their squad members seeming to be bleeding and paralyzed. They were being carried by other members of their squad, and she did not miss the questioning looks sent her way either. She had clearly been bitten but wasn’t demonstrating the same paralysis as the others were. Cody and Maul’s looks were too complicated to really make out. While Kaelen shot her a relieved look as they began to walk. Still, he stayed close as a seeming deterrent, which wasn’t needed given how Cody began to speak up shortly after they began to go.

  “Alright, once more I offer you all praise for your first time. Only three of you were left paralyzed and unable to move, which is honestly better than most of you new squads wind up. That being said, once we return to town the injured will need to be taken to the Herbalists for treatment. Treatment, which will be paid with the Essence Crystals that they obtained. As you all have surely been taught, Essence Crystals can be used for a variety of things. All of which, comes down to the skills of those who use them.

  Luckily enough, we have people who can use them for many things which keep us all moving forwards. From Healing Poultices to medicine, our Herbalists can use them most readily. So, if you find yourself injured then it is them that you will need to give your spoils to. Other laborers will accept them as well for various services. I do recommend, if you feel you have no need for a Poultice, that you hold onto one for when your equipment gets worn down. As it will not be repaired for free. Beyond that, all I can say is that what you do with your Crystals is up to you. If you obtained any other drops, speak with me when we get back to Fortress so that I can tell you what can be done with them.”

  Throughout the small speech, she could tell that most of this was already known information to the natives of this world. It very much sounded like a proper economy did not exist, with things mainly being barter based. And while that could lead to things becoming complicated later, for now it suited her just fine. She was a little curious about the mention of other drops being obtained but had not been paying close enough attention to the others to see if they had received any.

  With his piece said, Cody quieted down once more and led the march back to Fortress. While the march out had been full of anticipation and nervousness, the march back was subdued. While the sun was no longer high in the sky, it still shone down on them and added to the fatigue of the day. Between standing for hours while they all stood before Fortress, and the initial walk out to the fight, it had been a long one. In the middle of the walk, she put her Stone Club away into her inventory. It seemed that the numbness of the Poison was finally kicking in, but it seemed localized to just her right arm. By the time Fortress was once more in sight, the sky had begun to grow orange as sunset approached.

  “Alright, those carrying someone who is paralyzed get them to the Herbalists. If you feel like your injuries are great enough that you need one, or you just want a Poultice, then go with them as well.”

  With the settlement in sight, Cody spoke up once more. His tone was more dismissive this time, and his pace began to slow down. Most everyone continued onwards, though she noticed Kaelen staying back for a moment to speak with their senior. What for, she didn’t know but she knew she needed to visit an Herbalist to see about getting one of these poultices. While the burning sensation from the bite wound had faded, along with the bleeding, her side was still causing a lot of pain. She had a feeling that something may well be broken under the armor, and if so, she doubted her Wound Closure spell could fix it.

  So, while the two uninjured began to head towards what was essentially their barracks, she joined the people carrying the injured to head to the herbalists. Maul was among them, carrying one of the guys he had been joking around with in a poor fireman’s carry. And while exhaustion was hitting her hard, she couldn’t stay quiet at seeing someone do her job poorly. It caused her professional pride to flare.

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  “Maul, you aren’t holding him properly. Your shoulder needs to be in his armpit, not his chest. You could cause more injuries that way.”

  The procession stopped, faces turning her way. Maul fixed her with a small scowl for a moment. Exhaustion was blunting his expression, and after a momentary standoff he scoffed before adjusting how he was carrying the man. While there was no response due to the paralysis, Maul’s expression briefly shifted to one of surprise. She contained a smirk as she knew that he was probably having a bit easier of a time carrying the man.

  “Whatever. Just because you avoided needing help this time, don’t think it’s going to last.”

  Silence followed that brief interaction, and all of them continued their walk through Fortress. It wasn’t too surprising that they knew where they were going, but she still made sure to pay attention. While the streets were empty right now it was getting quite late. And given how she did not know what exactly they would be able to do for free time, having some level of familiarity with her surroundings wasn’t a bad plan.

  Soon enough, their group was outside of a larger building. The unclean smell in the air was replaced by a more bitter one that caused her to grimace slightly. Still, she followed Maul and his entourage into the building. The inside of it was quite like that of the mess hall area they had eaten in before. Though the differences were quite noticeable. Rather than long tables with benches, many short tables covered in blankets filled the room. The cooking area near the back was taking up more room, and more than one thing looked like it was getting made. What exactly was being made was unrecognizable, but Cody had mentioned poultices and antidotes being made.

  As she took all of this in, some of the working Herbalists did approach. All of them were women and looked at least a few years older than them from the looks of things. Maul and each of his companions had two approach and direct them to lay the paralyzed men onto one of the tables. Aura, meanwhile, only had one person approach her. She looked quite plain, like all the women in the settlement did, but her gaze was sharper.

  “I see that those men didn’t come to your aid right away. Poor thing, being allowed to be attacked first. Come, let’s get you checked out.”

  Gesturing for her to follow, the woman started to walk towards one of the tables. While the interaction was a little strange, it was a misconception Aura could clear up easily enough. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed how each of the paralyzed men had one woman working over them, while the other three were speaking with a herbalist each. Briefly, she watched as Maul hands over what looks like two of the Essence Crystals before walking off alongside the other two men.

  “Come on dear, you can look after the one who saved you later. We should get you fixed up first.”

  Attention being grabbed by the woman who, from the sounds of it was going to be treating her, Aura decided to shut down that line of thought quickly.

  “He didn’t save me, because I didn’t need to be saved. I fought off the Giant Spider on my own.”

  Briefly, a look of surprise crossed the woman’s face at the rebuke. There was no satisfaction from having done so, exhaustion and pain keeping that from flaring up too much. With that clarification made, Aura finally approached the table and take a seat on it. That seemed to snap the herbalist woman out of her surprise, and a more professional look was on her face as she looked Aura over.

  “That is a lot of blood there, and bite marks as well? How are you not paralyzed like the others?”

  “Oh, I knocked the Spider off before it could bite me too deeply.”

  “I guess that makes sense… but you should still get that blood cleaned off the wound before we apply poultice to it. Come on, off with your top so we can get you clean. And since you said you fought the monster on your own, you do have an essence crystal, yes?”

  Being told to take off her top for something medical wasn’t too unusual a thing to hear, and Aura knew that cleaning a wound was important. Still a slight sense of unease did fill her at being told to do so in such an open place. Looking around, she was able to confirm a few things. Firstly, Maul and his group were gone after having left the paralyzed members of their squad to be healed. Secondly, the herbalist treating her had taken Aura a bit away from her paralyzed squad members, so it wasn’t like she would be baring her body to them at least. And finally, while she did know that some men her age had been assigned as herbalists, none of them seemed to be around.

  Even with all of that, this was still a slight hit to her dignity. But the patient, if somewhat doubtful, look of the herbalist won out in the end. Muttering to open her menu, Aura navigated it with the arm on the good side of her body and pulled out the Giant Spider Essence Crystal.

  “Here it is, proof that I took down the monster on my own.”

  “I can see that. Here, let me take that and I will go get a poultice and some wet cloth for you to clean the blood with.”

  Nodding slightly, Aura handed off the essence crystal to the woman. Knowing that delaying this wasn’t the best idea, she finally began to act. Reaching down to the hem of her oversized padded shirt, she began to pull it up and over. A throb of pain went through her side as she did so, her side still hurting from the impact of the spider. Hissing in pain as some tears form in her eyes, she pushed through it and finally pulled her top off.

  Breathing somewhat heavily, and with the herbalist still not back, she took a moment to assess things. First looking at herself, the sight of dried blood on her body was quite the disturbing image. Perhaps due to all the activity she did, the blood hadn’t pooled in her collarbone area and instead had run down her body. She had seen injured people before and knew that bleeding wounds tended to look worse than they appeared. But seeing the streaks of blood on her own chest was still unsettling. It somewhat detracted away from the fact that, at a glance at least, her breasts were as big as she designed them back when she had created this avatar.

  The nasty looking, swollen bruise on her side took up a fair bit of attention as well, and briefly she touched it only to wince in a fresh burst of pain. There was a very good chance that at least a couple of ribs were broken there. And given she could heal the bite wound herself, it might not be a bad idea to see if the poultice could be applied there. Luckily, the herbalist treating her was approaching at that point. And while there was a slight gasp as she took in the sight of Aura’s body, the woman was professional enough to maintain her composure.

  “I’m believing you even more that you fought a monster on your own… I do have your poultice and wet cloth here. Though, I honestly don’t know which of these injuries it should be used on. That bruise looks quite bad, but open wounds are never a good thing.”

  “Ah, I think I will be fine with the bite. Like I said it didn’t go that deep, so if I keep it covered up it should be fine right?”

  “I suppose so. I should speak with the lead Herbalist, but he prefers to leave the treating of the soldiers to us women. If he knew you were here, I’m sure he’d change his mind.”

  “Oh, um, I don’t think I’d want to wait for him. Can I just have the poultice for my side?”

  “Yes, we can do that. It would only be trouble if he were to be here anyways. Fortress declared you to be a soldier after all. Now then, while you clean yourself up, I will get the poultice applied. If you feel like you need to scream, bite into the wet cloth.”

  A small sense of unease filled her at the woman’s words but now wasn’t the time to be paying them too much mind. Taking the wet cloth, Aura began to clean the blood off from around her wound first, while watching the woman get ready. The poultice looked like some kind of reddish brown, clumpy lotion. The bitter smell from before was strong as the woman took some of it onto her hand. The smell was the last thing to be worried about, as a sharp pain quickly rose in her body as the poultice was pressed against her side.

  Gritting her teeth and letting out a muffled scream of pain, Aura supported herself heavily on the table as the herbalist got to work. After the first coating was done, the somewhat bloody wet cloth quickly found itself being bitten down on as more poultice ended up being applied. There was no question that some ribs were broken at this point, and time passed agonizingly slowly as more was applied. By the time it was done, Aura was shaking and sweating slightly, and another herbalist approached with a fresh wet cloth and what looked like some dry cloth.

  “Alright, you took that well. Better than some of the soldiers that come in here for treatment anyways. Here, keep biting down on that while I cover this up. Then you can finish cleaning up and we can cover the bite mark, okay?”

  Somewhat dazed, Aura could only nod in acknowledgement. There wasn’t as much pain as the poultice coated area was covered with strips of dry cloth essentially being wrapped around her body. Following that, the cleaning and covering of her collarbone went amazingly easily. A rather deep fatigue was starting to set in at this point, but at least her wounds were all covered.

  “Alright dear, that is all we can do for you. Go ahead and put your shirt back on to cover up. You wouldn’t want to be mistaken for one of ‘those’ women after all. Your side should be better by morning, just take the wrappings off then. And do be sure to come by should you kill another monster so that we can get some poultice on that bite.”

  “R-Right. Thank you for your help.”

  Offering the woman, whose name Aura didn’t even know, a tight smile she began to get dressed once more. Guessing that the padded shirt was bloody, she stored it away in her inventory and took out the lighter cotton one. Slipping it on caused a slight wince of pain from how tightly wrapped her side is, but at least she was covered. Standing from the table, she gave the herbalist woman a nod before turning towards the exit.

  As she did, it didn’t escape her notice that more injured men in the padded armor were in here than before. All of them look paralyzed and had parts of their armor removed so that the bites could be covered at least. But they didn’t get there by themselves. Which led her to the conclusion that the other squads were back by now, and members of them dropped off their injured. And, more embarrassingly, that some of them may have seen her in that state of undress and weakness.

  A blush of embarrassment and anger rose to her face, but the flames quickly died down. A wave of exhaustion and growl of her stomach helping to quench them. Not knowing if food was even still being served right now, or the direction to the mess hall, it was a tired and hungry Aura that began to walk back to the barracks. Nobody was outside of the building to greet her, which made it all the better that she had memorized the route.

  The sun had nearly set at this point, letting the buildings shadows cast darkness on parts of the streets. There were some people walking about, men and women both. They all look tired, and nobody made any efforts to approach her.

  This place… I really don’t like it. Everything that has been implied, the way women are treated, and how strict everything is. I have to wonder, just how strong will I need to be to keep others safe so that we can get out of here?

  Thoughts like that floated in her tired mind as she eventually reached the barracks area. The orange glow of the nearly set sun was most evident here. In the distance, she swore she could see some figures moving this way from the plains of outside the settlement. Paying them no heed for now however, she instead stepped inside of the barracks proper.

  The barracks themselves were quiet, the sound of snoring vaguely echoing within. To her surprise, Cody was seated at one of the tables and looked to her as she entered. When he spoke up, his voice was both quiet yet firm.

  “Good, you came here. A word of warning in the future, but only those who couldn’t walk or were too injured stay in the herbalists building. If one of the other squads hadn’t told me you were getting treated, I would have gone there and dragged you back here. Understood?”

  “Yes, I understand.”

  “Good. Though it is almost a shame that you do. Anyways, with you here I can finally get back to my own barracks. Here is your evening meal, just put the bowl in your inventory when you are done. I’d advise you getting to sleep soon. All you new squads will be meeting with Matthew bright and early in the morning.”

  Tapping his own inventory, a bowl appeared in Cody’s hands. He passed it off to her as he walked by her, before leaving the barracks area without another word. Unsettling feeling aside, she decided to take his advice. Sitting at the bench so she could eat, there was a small bit of surprise as this food was at least somewhat different. It still looked like gruel, but the chunks that floated in it seemed to resemble meat. A cautious tasting has her grimace at the gamey taste of it. Still, her stomach was growling in hunger, and she couldn’t be picky right now.

  Eating in silence, she finished her meal quickly. For a moment, she considered checking each of the rooms to see which one contained Jackie and her squad. The other girl had not been with the herbalists after all, so she was probably okay right? But the darkness of the rooms kept her from doing such a thing. So instead, she cautiously made her way into the room for her squad.

  Making out shapes was the best she could manage right now, and she could at least see a lump that was flatter than the others. Blindly making her way to it, and confirming it was an empty bedroll, she slipped off the thin shoes that she had woken up in this world in and slipped inside. Despite her exhaustion, she didn’t instantly pass out in the warmth of the bedroll.

  This… this was all terrible. The situation itself is unbelievable of course, but even the worst anime and stuff about this situation don’t have it this bad. There is no missing logout button, no message from some higher power, or any clear way out of this all. And this isn’t a dream either, we are all just…trapped…

  While her eyes were closed as she tried to fall asleep, tears began to build in her eyes.

  It’s only been a day, and I did have a couple of days off. But what will work find when I don’t come in? My phone and ID are probably still sitting on my desk. Will they think I was kidnapped or something? Oh god, how will mom and dad react? I usually call them every couple of days. They are always so concerned about me with my job… How will they react when I don’t call. When they don’t see me… When I don’t see them… My family, friends, coworkers… I… I don’t want to never see them again… Why did this happen to me?

  Tucking her head into the bedroll, soft sobs began to escape it as the reality of her situation finally settled in. There was nobody else to be strong for right now, no other thoughts to distract her from spiraling downwards. Only the slightest bit of concern for showing weakness was present right now. With the rest of her just mourning over just what she may have lost. And it was among that crying, that she eventually fell asleep.