Ash really didn’t want to worry anyone by turning up dirty and bloodstained again, so she didn’t head directly to the village, instead jogging the long way around towards her bathing spot. Her biggest limitation right now was her lack of constitution, so increasing her frequency of endurance training was her biggest priority. She still had to pause to walk several times for her stamina to recover. This only increased her frustration.

  How can I train constitution if it’s so low that I have no stamina to train it! She thought bitterly, gritting her teeth and resuming the last stretch of her jog. Running low on stamina was no joke. It felt bad, like panting-for-breath, shaking-limbs, burning-chest bad. It really felt like she was ready to collapse until that little green bar ticked back up past a quarter.

  Finally, she reached the waterfall, slipping into the chill waters and feeling her frustration drain away. Her constitution would rise. She just needed to persist. Her body had been transferred into the game when she was at a near-death state. It was natural to take time to recover from that. If anything, she was lucky that it hadn’t decided to copy over her sickness too. The notions soothed her frustrations further until she emerged, cleaner and brighter than before.

  She looked at the fresh holes in her shirt, realising that she’d have to ask Alf for additional repairs.

  At this rate it won’t be long before the shirt was too far gone to be patched up. Ash mentally decided to keep the shirt, and her shorts, a little safer. She wasn’t going to find replacements for the modern materials soon and having that little reminder of real-world comforts appealed to her.

  By the time she finally reached the village, it was late afternoon. She decided to look for Hestia first, Jori pointing her to the back of the village where the jungle was slowly being cleared away beyond the wall. Just inside the barricade was a small plot of tilled soil, placed next to where a square had been marked into the ground. Ash had seen that before, realising quickly it was where a building had been planned. Not many of these were going up at the moment, the focus on defence meaning that most people were left still sleeping in the main hall. Ash was pretty sure the village only actually had 3 complete buildings. The main hall, the crafting workshop and the nursery where the children slept. 4 if you counted the shelter for the cook-fire. A few others were left half-made, construction abandoned in favour of work on the barricade wall.

  Was Jori being stuck in constant guard duty hampering the village’s progress? It had been him and the other man, the one who died in the second lizard-man assault, who she had seen working on the defences. Did the place not have many other crafting specialists?

  She noticed a few workers out in the cleared space beyond the wall, three working on felling a large tree while two seemed to be tilling out a space to plant crops. Was that their specialty, or were they just filling in.

  “Ash! You came!” Hestia called from behind her. “Ama and I were just over at the crafting workshop, setting a few things brewing.” She grinned, gesturing at Ama who was following beside her.

  “Hey Ash.” Ama said, “I spot a few new holes in your shirt. Staying safe I see.”

  Ash flushed at being read so quickly. Hestia gasped, hurrying over “Oh no, what happened?”

  Ash contemplated telling them it was nothing, or an ant attack, but realised she didn’t want to lie to her friends. “I explored the ruins. Got stabbed by a skeleton a bit.” Ash admitted.

  “You seriously went straight back in there?” Hestia asked “After all that diseased air came out?”

  “No, I went and did my gathering chores first!” Ash replied, gesturing at her full basket “Then I went back and investigated, once I was sure the gas had cleared.”

  “Wait, are there more of these creatures in there?” Ama asked. “Are we in danger of them getting free?”

  Ash paused at that. She hadn’t really dwelled on the idea of endangering the others with her exploration. Then again, it was possible that her forays into ant territory had incited them to retaliate against the village. She couldn’t know for sure either way. At least she had a better answer for this question. “Not that I know of. I found a way to re-seal the doorway, so whatever is in there can’t get out. Or well, not any easier than they would have before. If that all was trapped air, then it’s likely it’s the only unsealed entrance.

  “Well, that’s something at least.” Ama said, visibly relaxing. “Did you manage to deal with the one you encountered?”

  “It was two, and yeah I took them out.” She checked her notifications, belatedly realising she had received 36 exp and a point in glow for her efforts. “They were just… level two decayed lizardman skeletons. But it was a lot closer than I would have liked. My constitution is still so low.”

  “Ash, if you don’t mind me asking, what level are you?”

  “2” She replied

  “You do realise that a skeleton is almost as dangerous as a human, right?” Ama said slowly “Taking on two of them successfully at the same level is quite impressive.”

  “Yeah” Hestia chimed in “And I saw you fighting against the ants too. You held yourself well! I thought you were level four like us! At least three.”

  “You’re all level four?” Ash asked, looking at them anew.

  You have reached Assess creature level 7

  The notification pinged into Ash’s perception. Ash was excited by the idea that she could gage other people’s strength too with the skill and mentally added it higher up the list of skills she would consider for specialisation.

  Momentarily distracted, she almost didn’t notice that Ama was still speaking, so she tried to focus back on the conversation.

  “Well… Hestia, Lance and I are all level four.” Ama explained “Kara and Jori are new specialists, right? So, they’d be level one. Vidar is five, I think Stavos is six or maybe higher. They fought together in the ‘disputation’ after all.” Ash noticed Hestia grimace at the mention of that, but Ama quickly moved on. “I know your condition affects your stats, but just how low is your constitution?”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “It’s also only two… I have eighteen Hitpoints. It’s my biggest limitation in fighting. I constantly come out with just a scrap of life left. I really need to raise that.”

  “Damn, that is tiny.” Hestia sounded concerned. “I thought I was low but I had nearly thirty at level two. I was advocating for you to join us to raid the ant’s nest when Vidar finds it. But… eighteen… I’ve been hit by attacks that do more than that.”

  “Yeah. Even I hit more than that.” Ash replied, sighing.

  “What? How do you hit for that much? You mean like with a combo, or do you have some kind of attack skill? I remember Eric had a maxed-out power-strike skill that allowed him to hit for over 20. Though he had a decent sword and quite a lot of strength too.”

  “Kind of. I do both physical and ice damage with my ice touch infused attacks. But I think it’s my curse. I’m limited to using these bulky Great-hammers, but each bit of damage I do with them is doubled.”

  “What, seriously? Doubled!” Hestia asked, dumbfounded.

  “Yeah…” Ash replied nervously.

  “Damn.” Ama whistled “That’s a lot of extra power. I can see how you hold your own, if in short bursts. We need to get your endurance higher.”

  “I’m doing what I can. I train strength and endurance daily. I have a heavy club I weight train with and I’m jogging everywhere. But my stamina is also pretty low so it’s hard to keep it going very long. I did get a point of strength from it already though.”

  “Alright. Keep it up. Physical training is about consistency. You’ll lose any gains you get if you aren’t doing it regularly.” Ama explained “For now, we can help you out with some potions.”

  “Like a healing potion?”

  “No, and those are actually spell storage potions that a healer like me has imbued a spell into. They don’t keep very long either. Regardless, we don’t have any of those right now. I maybe have ingredients for one batch, but it will take time to brew. They are also valuable and Stavos wouldn’t want me just giving them out, especially with his current attack plan set to happen soon. I do have this potion I could give you. I can probably explain it as a reward for your contribution today.” Ama gestured at Ash’s basket of fruit, then pulled out a yellow tinted vial. “This is a minor deflection potion. It’s a little easier to make with the ingredients around here, so it won’t be missed. It will deflect away a single physical attack, up to 10 damage. It’ll last several hours after you drink it or until you take any form of physical damage, even a single point, so don’t go tripping over your feet and wasting it!”

  “That does sound useful.” Ash said, accepting the potion gratefully. “What would it take to get more?”

  “More? Getting ahead of yourself aren’t you!” Ama chuckled. “More resources for the village I suppose or more of the ingredients for this potion specifically. The one we’re lacking would have resistive properties. I’m sure Hestia can give you a list of potential local options.”

  “Sure can!” Hestia chimed in.

  “Right,” Ama continued, “but you can’t just drink a bunch of these at once. You can only have one effect of this type at a time, and you’ll reach your constitution limit. You can only take as many potions a day as you have points in constitution, and even less than that for some of the more potent ones. For you, that’s only 2.”

  “Oh,” Ash said, deflating a bit.

  “Yeah” Hestia said, “I think it’s better for you to stay out of combat until you’re recovered and more robust.”

  “What?” Ash replied, “But the assault on the ants! I can help!”

  “Maybe,” Ama said, “but you’d also be a constant concern for me. I’d have to devote extra resources to making sure you are healed at all times. That puts everyone else at risk too.”

  “Don’t be reckless, okay?” Hestia asked “Let yourself recover and then you can really add to our strength instead. Just… I don’t want to lose another friend to this damn jungle!”

  Ash looked at the woman, seeing the tears glistening in her eyes. She slumped. “O-okay. I’ll not push to come, but I could recover any day. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be 2 points stronger! I’ll have… 26 hit-points then!”

  “Okay, fine. If you’re that recovered by the time Vidar finds where we’re headed, then you can join. If not, you’ll stay here with Kara and Jori to guard the village. Deal?”

  “Deal!” Ash said. “In that case, I’d better get back to jogging!”

  Hestia laughed “I think Eric’s strength training equipment is in the main hall if you need something better to do that with. I think he used some of the lighter weights to train endurance too.”

  Ash stayed a moment, letting Hestia guide her around her little garden and show and explain some of the herbs and plants that she should look for when she was exploring. Then they headed to the main hall where Ash was shown the training equipment. She picked up two of the lightest wrist weights, which turned out to just be rocks that were tied to some scraps of fabric. By then it was close to dinner and Hestia persuaded her to wait and chat until it was ready.

  “What was the ‘disputation’ you mentioned before?” Ash asked Ama.

  “It was a conflict, back over at First Landing, a little before my time. Some of the Zoans people were not happy about the Empire’s presence on their homeland. It got bloody.”

  “Mostly for the Zoans that resisted.” Hestia interjected.

  “Well, yes.” Ama conceded, “Though there were many casualties on both sides. The explosion at First dock-”

  “Sure sure, that did take out a chunk of the Empire navy.” Hestia cut in again. “But the resistance never went for civilian targets, like the Empire did.”

  “Hestia, are you telling this story, or am I?”

  “Oh. Sorry. My mother’s influence on me is coming through.” Hestia rubbed at her temples “I… I’ll go see how dinner is doing. You fill her in Ama.”

  “Alright. Sure. Where was I…” Ama hesitated.

  “The conflict. Between the Empire and the… Zoans? But why is Hestia so rattled by this conversation?”

  Ama sighed “I guess I’ll just give you the general overview. We’re all in the Empire now. The Grand Emerald Empire, under the Emerald Empress herself. This whole village is just one of the several expansion efforts on this continent, set out from the city of First Landing.”

  “So, first landing is the capital?”

  “On this continent sure, but Emerald City, across the northern sea, is the imperial capital. When First Landing was established, there were already some locals here. The Zoans. Hestia’s people. Not all of them were happy to become part of the Empire. So, the disputation happened. Hestia’s mother was caught in the mix. Her husband was one of the instigators of the rebellion, whilst her brother, Stavos, chose to side with the Empire. The Empire won, of course. Hestia’s father was executed the exact day she was born. Her mother never forgave Stavos, despite all he did for the Zoans after. He’s one of the main reasons Zoans are now equal citizens. The reason Hestia was admitted into the Academy.”

  “In fact, very few Zoans respect him for it.” Hestia said, returning with a few bowls of stew “I suspect that’s why he chose to take on this job, to get away from all that.” She shrugged and headed back to pick up her own bowl.

  “Yeah. Well, Hestia chose to follow him here, and then we both followed her. Thus, here we are.” Ama gestured around before fixing her gaze back on Ash “So, any of that jog your memory at all?”

  Ash looked up from wolfing down her dinner. “Uhhh… No, sorry. Though it is good to get some context for all this. Thanks.” Ash paused, taking another bite. She realised Ama was still studying her and decided to change the topic back. “So, why did you and Lance not come with them from the start?”

  “Ah yes, we were coming back from visiting my family on the mainland. It’s traditional before he can propose.”

  “Oh!” Ash grinned “So you’re engaged?”

  “You hadn’t guessed?” Hestia added, sitting down with them. “I’m surprised they’re not married yet!”

  “Oh, you know my family, they’d want a whole big thing.” Ama sighed. “I just don’t want to deal with all that.”

  They chatted a little longer, but Ash was more focused finishing her food. Once done, she promptly excused herself. She had training to do.