Harvey awoke to a splitting headache, a sea of notifications, and a concerned Elena staring down at him. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried to sit up, but collapsed when excruciating pain overwhelmed his tired nerves.

  “Harvey? What the hell, are you ok?” She stammered.

  “No.” He croaked. “I’m not.”

  “What happened?” She asked, lifting a piece of dented armor from the pile beside him.

  “An F-Grade elemental nearly beat me to death, but my wand blew up in its mouth before it could finish the job.” He wheezed. “Help.”

  She gingerly grabbed his legs and swung them over the side of the cot. Again, pain shot through him wherever she touched, but it wasn’t just his body that was hurting. It felt like the elemental was still pummeling his inscribed chestpiece, and he wondered if the problem was really his soul.

  He winced when her hand moved under his back, but fought through the pins and needles as she raised him to a sitting position.

  “You fought an evolved elemental and lived? Why didn’t you just run!” She shrieked.

  “They ambushed me as soon as I walked out of the tunnel. Cut off my escape and forced me to fight my way out. The G Grades were already getting smarter, but they’re almost like humans once they evolve.” He explained.

  “I told you not to go down there!” She accused, slapping his arm. Her soft hands hurt worse than a charging Stonetusk, and a whimpering scream escaped his lips. “I told you, but you didn’t listen. You know your limits. You aren’t afraid of anything…”

  “I know! I know. You were right.” He protested.

  “Damn right I was, and you better never forget it! You’re not going back down there until Hannah and Julian get back!” She commanded.

  “Nobody will be. I blew up the tunnel.” He chuckled.

  “WHAT! Is that what that noise was last night!” Her face burned cherry red, and he winced as she barely restrained herself from hitting him again.

  “Of course I did! Now that I know there’s sapient metal men hellbent on destroying us down there, I wasn’t going to just leave the door open!” Harvey replied.

  He couldn’t tell if she wanted to kill him or curse him, but in the end, she chose to wrap him in a sobbing hug. His skin burned wherever she touched him, like he had the worst sunburn of his life all the way down to his bones.

  “Ow. Ow!” He winced. “I appreciate the concern, but you’re hurting me!”

  “You can’t keep acting like you’re invincible, Harvey. I can’t lose you, too.” She sobbed.

  “I know.” He sighed.

  “You keep saying that, but it doesn’t change anything.” Elena condemned.

  “Trust me. That fight gave me a lot to think about…” He trailed.

  He couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore, so he turned to the notifications pressing at the back of his mind. They were an easy distraction from the hurricane in his mind.

  You have slain Level 21 - Lesser Iron Elemental. Essence Gained. 1786 Merit Earned

  You have slain Level 23 - Lesser Iron Elemental. Essence Gained. 1911 Merit Earned

  You have slain Level 26 - Iron Elemental. Major Essence Gained. 2792 Merit Earned

  That’s less merit than I expected for how strong those things were. Harvey mused.

  Your class, Arcanist, has reached Level 20. +1 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +2 Wisdom, +1 Willpower, +2 Free Points

  …

  Your class, Arcanist, has reached Level 22. +1 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +2 Wisdom, +1 Willpower, +2 Free Points

  …

  Your Race, Veilstrider, has reached Level 21. +1 to all stats

  His body didn’t let him level until it knew he was safe, so he must have leveled in his sleep. It was a good thing, too, because if he’d been forced to endure the pain of having his weave expanded by 3 class levels at once while he was still inside the cave, he would’ve been knocked unconscious.

  The kill notifications and level-ups were expected, but he was surprised to find one more he hadn’t seen before.

  You have sustained a traumatic injury to your weave. Until it has fully healed, your ability to both channel and regenerate essence is severely weakened, along with a significant reduction to your stats. This injury has unlocked early access to the Weave menu.

  So it was true, he had done something to his weave. With a thought, a new menu similar to the Status and Legacy screens hovered in the air in front of him.

  It was even worse than if his Stain had downgraded into a Scar. Instead of only suffering a percentage decrease to his Willpower, his entire body had weakened by a third. He’d felt like the veins were about to burst when he shot his barrage down the elemental’s throat, and it turned out he was right.

  Alongside the list of his lacking attunement and various stats was a floating hologram showing each and every line of his weave, both above and below his skin. He found he could zoom in and out of different body parts, getting a perfect picture of how each skill, Mark, and Stain fit into the matrix covering his body. There were cracks and tears everywhere, with the worst damage surrounding his Booster and Fangbreaker sigils. He’d used those the most in his last-ditch effort at ending the fight before he resorted to begging for his life.

  Looking at the screen, he began to weep.

  It wasn’t just the pain, but everything the elemental said to him. How he’d hunted his family, turned their corpses into costumes, and returned each time he wanted to test a new skill. It made him sick, but he couldn’t deny that it was all true.

  Every time he got a new skill or crafted something cool, the first thing he did was test how well he could kill elementals with it. He’d become their angel of death and swept through their home with no regrets. He’d never felt bad about it before. To him, they were living treasure chests, bringing iron and essence from the depths whenever he needed it. It wasn’t until they started talking back that he felt differently.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  He felt himself slipping into old patterns, agonizing over every decision he made from every perspective to figure out whether what he did was right or wrong, but he stopped himself. It didn’t matter. Nothing had really changed. If he wanted to make it out of the forest alive, he’d need to do a lot of killing. As long as he did it for the right reasons, he could live with himself.

  “I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Elena whispered.

  “It’s not your fault.” He trembled, cautiously wiping away the tears. “I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

  “Would it help if we worked on a few inscriptions together? Take your mind off things?” She asked.

  “I can’t. I injured my weave fighting the elemental.” He broke.

  “You… What? Are you sure?” She stammered, confusion breaking through her nurturing tone.

  Instead of responding, he shared the notification and the new screen. Her jaw dropped as she read, concern morphing to despair.

  “Is this real?” She asked.

  Harvey switched to his Status screen and confirmed the damage was done.

  All signs pointed to Endurance governing the durability of the weave, so he allocated all 6 free points into the stat before closing the screen.

  “It’s real. Based on the notification, I’m going to assume it’s not permanent, but I don’t know what I can do to heal it.” Harvey sighed.

  “Let me go get Dr. Silva. She might know what to do,” Elena muttered.

  “She’s got better things to do…” he began.

  “Shut up, Harvey! I don’t know why you’re in such a rush to get hurt and then won’t let anyone help you after you do.” She retorted, the door swinging closed behind her.

  It was only a few minutes before Elena dragged the tired woman inside. Demand for her services grew by the day as the Veilstriders spent more time hunting. A few other healing skills had surfaced, but none were as efficient as Amara’s healing hands. The golden glow bathed a sickly purple bruise on his right arm, and he felt the ache in his skin dissipate just a little. The fact that he was still bruised at all proved how close to death he’d come. Even with a health potion, his body had only managed to deal with the worst of the wounds.

  She spent an hour restoring his body, but the sunburn he felt on his soul hadn’t abated at all. The Weave screen still showed a 30% stat reduction, and the doctor couldn’t afford to attend to him all day.

  “That’s plenty, Dr. Silva. I can take it from here.” He smiled.

  “Just call me Amara, dear. If you’re stupid enough to do everything she told me you did, I have a feeling this won’t be the last time I’m healing you.” She chuckled.

  Elena escorted her out the door, and Harvey stood up to follow.

  “Whoa! What do you think you’re doing? You need to rest!” Elena scolded.

  “This isn’t a cold I’m going to sleep off, and I’m not going to lay in bed all day while everyone else is out there fighting,” Harvey replied.

  “I’m not letting you leave this room.” She warned.

  “That’s fine. So, I can’t use Essence, and I’m a little tender. That doesn’t stop me from working on a helmet or two.” Harvey grimaced, pulling the leather gloves over his fingers.

  “Yes, it does. How are you gonna shape them without your molds? How are you gonna measure them without your eyes? You can barely take a slap on the arm, but you expect to hammer superheated iron?” Elena pressed.

  “Well, what else am I supposed to do?” He complained.

  “Rest!” She yelled.

  “That isn’t fair!” Harvey shouted.

  “Fair to who, Harvey?” She groaned.

  “I don’t know! You? Hannah? Julian?” He asked.

  “I won’t be mad if you take some time to recover. I will be mad if you work yourself so hard you’re useless by the time the Undead arrive!” She scolded. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, but I’m putting an end to it. You’ve been working yourself to the bone out of what, some misguided notion that you aren’t doing enough?”

  “There are people waiting on equipment that only I can make.” He replied.

  “Exactly! Only you can make it, and they are grateful that you do. You gotta learn the difference between gratitude and expectation. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to. The only person putting any pressure on you right now is you.” She lectured.

  “Isn’t that a good thing?” He asked, annoyed.

  “No! It almost got you killed! Now go to bed before I knock you out with that hammer!” She screamed.

  Why is she so angry? Harvey thought as the gloves disappeared into his slipsack. His skin burned as he climbed back into his sleeping bag.

  He wasn’t exactly tired, so he took the time to think as he listened to the sound of cores being crushed into ink and inscriptions being drawn behind him. Ever since he was young, he felt the need to earn his place in the world. To prove he was worth something.

  Back home, that looked like good grades, a respectable career, and constantly doing favors for people. But where had that philosophy gotten him? Crushed in a busy intersection.

  No, if he was really going to change, so did his mindset. He didn’t need to sacrifice all his time, life, and energy to earn a spot in Veils End. He already had one. Now, he just needed to do his best. If that meant taking the time to heal the right way, so be it.

  “You don’t have to die a martyr, Harvey,” Elena whispered. “You just need to live.”