She awoke an undetermined amount of time later, feeling truly dreadful as every movement caused fresh waves of soreness to radiate through her body. The place where her arm should have been itched and tingled unbearably, and for a split second she reached over to scratch at it before remembering that there wasn’t anything there any longer. She ground her teeth in irritation as she waited for the sensation to subside, but then realized that she might be able to do something about it.

Looking over her status page briefly, she saw that her qi pool was standing at 8/13 points, and figured now was as good a time as any to do some experimentation with her Flawless Regeneration ability. Her cultivation system was still sensitive and strained from brute-forcing her way through a rank up and meridian cleansing earlier, so she decided to take it easy and not spend more than a point at a time for now. Her dantian and meridians were one of the few things that Flawless Regeneration wasn’t able to fix, since they were not part of her physical body but her spirit, so she had to be careful not to overdo it.

The first point she spent without any particular focus or goal, just wanting to see the effects that it would have. Over the course of around a minute, a warm, comforting sensation spread through her veins and muscles and she felt her aches and pains lessen wherever it passed. She also noted that the scabbing around the stump of her arm seemed to improve slightly. The next point she again spent without any specific focus, this time finding that with the minor aches and pains gone she was left feeling refreshed like she had just had the best nights sleep. She suspected this was why Silas was able to continue to keep watch, despite being as sleep deprived as she was. Could this skill replace sleep entirely? Or would it only stave off the inevitable need for rest? Another thing that she put on the list to test at a later date.

With the third qi point she attempted to direct the warm energies specifically to her missing arm, seeing if she could gain a greater healing effect over a smaller area. Her theory was partially right. She was able to channel a majority of the healing to the more significant wound, but could not completely contain it so that the already restored sections of her flesh and bones were left untouched. Maybe with time and practice her control would improve. She looked at the end of her right arm, examining the changes that had taken place. She couldn’t tell if the limb had begun to regrow exactly, but the giant scab that her wound had become had significantly reduced. There were a couple places where the scab still showed, but most of her stump had transformed into a semi-smooth lump instead of a disgusting crust.

Her dantian and meridian had begun to burn during the course of her testing, so she decided to call it quits for the moment and sat up. Now that she didn’t feel like a wrung-out towel, Samantha hopped up from her bed roll and began going through the routine motions of morning stretches. She tried not to get discouraged when she had to adjust some of them to account for the missing limb, and just let herself enjoy the comforting familiarity of the task. She decided to forgo the exercises that would normally come next, figuring that she should try and conserve energy as she would be hiding out for an indetermined amount of time with limited food.

With that thought, she went over to her equipment and looked over her supplies. She had around 20 pounds of Iron Boar tenderloin, and a couple days’ worth of jerky and rations if she counted what was left behind by Eduin. All in all, if she was able to occasionally sneak out to forage the plant life nearby to round out her diet, she estimated she could comfortably hide out without further hunting for at least 2 weeks. Considering that meditation could lessen her need for food and sleep and that she could stretch the supplies further if necessary, she could feasibly survive for an entire month without risk of starving. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that and her arm would heal soon, but it was always good to plan for the worst-case scenario.

She had several high priority items that she’d need to take care of within the next few days. First, she needed to make sure that the food she did have didn’t spoil, which was a substantially easier task with a magical bag that had preservation enchantments stitched into it. She also needed to do some prep on the hide so that it didn't rot, which shouldn't be too hard in the cold environment and open space. Next, she needed a consistent and close by water source. She had a suspicion that there was one in the cavern, since she could smell damp earth nearby, but she’d check for it later. Then, she needed to build up a supply of firewood to cook the food and ward off the cold that would be arriving with the dead season. Lastly, she needed some sort of weapon so that if their hiding spot were discovered, she’d at least have a fighting chance against whatever she faced. Once those needs were taken care of, then she’d feel comfortable settling in to study the manuals, regrow her arm, and cultivate. But before any of that, her Spirit Bond deserved some rest.

“Silas, I’m awake now, you should take a turn sleeping.” she sent towards her companion. She received a wordless confirmation in reply, and soon Silas hopped into the room, his ears drooping slightly. He plopped down on the still somewhat-warm bedroll and passed out immediately. Maybe he had been lying to her earlier when he said that he was feeling completely refreshed?

Samantha took up a position near the cave entrance, taking her skinning knife along with her. It was a poor defense against spirit beasts, but it was better than trying to punch something to death with her offhand. “Besides,” she mused with dark humor, “worst comes to worst I can just detonate the knife like I did the spearhead and blow off my other arm too.”

The hours passed uneventfully, Samantha lightly meditating to regain her expended qi points as she waited for Silas to awake. When she received a message from him, she communicated her intention to take care of some errands then gather some supplies from outside. He agreed to keep watch over the cave so nothing would sneak in while she was away and surprise them, and she got to work. The first thing she decided to tackle was the pelt, finding a flat spot to lay it out to dry. She scraped free any spots where her hasty cuts had been messy and left too much membrane or meat behind, and then dug out her sizable jar of tanning paste. The paste was made by her family, and was infused with qi and special herbs to make tanning practically effortless. She had saved it for a really special specimen, and this was it. She emptied the entire jar over the large hide, wiping her hand off in the dirt to get the magical solution off her skin. With that done, she exited the cave.

It was late in the afternoon when she emerged, and the air was getting noticeably chillier of late, she noted. When she left for her cultivation quest almost 3 months ago, the harvesting season had just begun. By her estimates, the dead season would arrive within the next couple of weeks which was both a boon and a curse in this situation. Many spirit beasts became less active or hibernated during the days dominated by dark and cold, which meant less predators potentially hunting her but also less prey for her to hunt herself. The plants in this region that could survive the chill would be few and far between as well, so even a more plant-based diet would be challenging.

As she was thinking, she came across a log remnant around 2 feet in diameter. She took her skinning knife and made a large scratch in the remaining bark, smiling to herself as the wood beneath was bone dry. Grabbing hold of a large, attached branch, she began the arduous task of dragging the tree back with her to the cave. It wasn’t that the log was too heavy, but its size made it awkward to maneuver. On several occasions it snagged on roots, vines, or hidden rocks, but Samantha persevered with her task until the tree rested inside the cavern. She knew though that the amount of wood needed for fires was deceptive, so even with an entire log she would need much more in the weeks to come. For now, it would do.

Her next trip out saw her return with several grape vines (all grapes already eaten by wildlife, unfortunately), and an armful of various edible plant roots and tubers. Night was falling, so she would have to wait until morning to exit the cave again and continue her search. At the sight of the haul, Silas jumped up in excitement and snapped at a hanging leaf.

“Hey! I need those!” Samantha scolded, “Take one of these instead.” She tossed him a potato-like root and he munched down on it happily.

“Didn’t know you liked leaves.” Silas thought to her.

“I don’t really, but these are for storing the meat,” she replied, stripping the grape vines of their large leaves. She took a few minutes chopping the Iron Boar tenderloins into fist sized chunks and wrapped each piece in the removed greenery before placing them inside the preservation bag. While she was reasonably sure that the raw flesh wouldn’t stain the inside of the bag, she also didn’t want her steaks to get lint-y or dusty if she could help it.

She turned around and saw Silas creeping towards her small pile of vegetables, no remnant of his previous victim in sight, and sighed. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking between her and his prey with sad, pleading eyes. “Yeah fine, just leave me one, okay? Don’t eat the whole—” she didn’t get to finish her sentence before he dove headfirst into the mound, only his back half visible as he dug in. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, unable to help but let out a snort at Silas’s antics. “Will any plants I harvest ever be safe with you around?” Samantha joked. The sound of rapid crunching and chewing was the only sound she heard in reply.

With the meat safely stored, one objective was completed. Before turning in for her rest shift, she decided to address another pressing issue and find the elusive water source. She turned up her Prey’s Perception to max and followed the smell of damp earth that was wafting from somewhere in the cavern. Since the area was somewhat large, it took several minutes of trial and error before locating the spot. Once she found the inexplicably soggy section of dirt and pebbles though, she began digging. And digging. And digging.

It took her much longer to hit water than she would have liked, and she had a sheen of sweat covering her body by the time she stopped, but it was done. At the bottom of a 4-foot deep, 2 feet wide hole, a pool of cold fresh water was accumulating. With any luck, this source would last them for their entire stay. Proceeding to dig a small ramp to the spring so Silas could reach it on his own without falling in, she informed Silas of her find and he gladly drank his fill. His stomach was round and bloated from his feasting, and Samantha glanced over towards the pile of veggies to see a single diminutive radish dutifully left behind.

She munched on the radish while she made a small fire and cooked herself a tenderloin steak dinner. The meat ended up giving her +2 resilience for 4 hours and was more filling than she expected. She speculated the higher rank of the beast had something to with the more potent meal effect and the increased nutritional value, and she adjusted her ration calculations slightly to account for it. With a full belly and a warm fire dwindling beside her, she and Silas began their guard shift rotation.

The next day, Samantha was determined to make some progress on the manuals. She tasked Silas with scouting the area for the same types of plants she had brought back earlier, as well as large amounts of firewood like the log that were not too far away in the meantime. He was a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to just eat all the plants he found immediately, but when she reminded him that winter would be upon them soon and plant life would be sparser, he was more amenable to the concept of rationing.

Once he left, Samantha began following the breathing and qi cycling patterns described by the Vital Wellspring Cultivation Technique. The shift in methods caused her qi pool maximum and qi regeneration rate to fluctuate, reducing her pool maximum to 9 points and qi regeneration to +.3/ hour, but she didn’t let it discourage her. Switching patterns always had some growing pains as your spirit acclimated to the changes. When she felt her soul stabilize, she took the first elixir mentioned by the manual.

The medicine saturated her pathways, and a cold rush of power seemed to infuse her dantian with foreign energy. Her pool maximum shot up to 12 and qi regeneration to +.5/hour once the pill’s energy settled within her, and she continued cycling until she was comfortable with the changes and ready to move to the next step. The manual’s next instruction set began with integrating the Sage’s Rumination Art into her practice.

This meditation method seemed near impossible, requiring her to segment and compartmentalize her mind in ways she never thought possible. One piece of her mind had to always be in a state of tranquility, unaffected by external events or powers. The manual mentioned that the elixir had a secondary effect of ‘inner serenity’ which was supposed to help with this process, whatever that meant. So, trying not to question the vague explanations too much, she continued concentrating on trying to ground a piece of herself in a state of placidity while maintaining her breathing pattern. It was difficult to pinpoint, but she could admit that she did feel oddly calm and collected as she focused—more so than usual. She was unsure if she felt that way due to the elixir itself, or because the manual said that’s what the elixir was supposed to do though.

She was just beginning to understand the teachings that the books were trying to impart when an alarm screamed through her bond.

“HELP! DANGER!”

Samantha was out of the cave sprinting towards Silas before she had made the conscious decision to help. All she had on her person were the clothes on her back, a skinning knife, and 10 points of qi at her disposal, but she would make do. She scanned the forest that blurred past as she ran, the bright sun making it easy to pick out dangerous areas and avoid them. She had no choice but to run across the path of a herd of River Deer at one point, but she moved on too quickly for them to try and charge her.

Before long she saw Silas tear across the earth like a bat out of hell, the whites of his small eyes showing as he ran for his life. Slithering behind him in hot pursuit was a Spitting Viper, lobbing globs of corrosive venom wherever he fled. She looked down at the small knife in her off hand, up to the reptile as thick around as her torso, and really regretted that she didn’t have a better weapon.

Taking the beast head on was foolish, so she made that Plan C. Plan A and B, which she came up with on the spot, were arguably just as dumb, but her chances of survival were slightly higher with those so…

“This way!” she called out to Silas, and sprinted back the way she came towards the herd of River Deer. He ran up beside her, his speed beginning to flag with tiredness, but he was still a hair faster than she was. They wove through the trees and dodged acid spittle, warning each other of incoming shots as they were able to. The herd was just beyond the next clump of trees, and the serpent was gaining on them, so she put Plan A into effect.

Scooping up a fist sized rock from the ground, she took aim and threw at the mass of bodies with all the power her 5 Strength and 8 Agility would give her. The stone whistled through the air like a firecracker, impacting with a loud ‘thwack’ against the hindquarters of one of the females and drawing blood. The doe screeched and the entire group turned towards the direction of the attack just as she broke through the tree line. Coincidentally, it was at that moment that a large glob of corrosive spit soared overhead and landed on a different deer, this time a young buck. Its fur smoked and its skin burbled as it howled in agony, rolling over into the dirt to try and remove the painful sludge. That was when the herd of a dozen or so pissed off Spirit Beasts charged.

Samantha scooped Silas up in her arm protectively and briefly activated Swift at 3 qi/second, temporarily gaining +4 agility. She winced in pain as her seared channels struggled with the qi flow, but did her best to ignore it and latch on to the serenity that the elixir still was imparting to her. If she lost focus now, she would die. Time seemed to slow slightly as she faced the rushing horde, and she expertly twisted around, leapt over, and avoided attacks that rushed past. Before her second was up she was on the other side of the stampede, and she cancelled the ability, leaving 7 qi in reserve.

Her Prey’s Perception allowed her to view the glorious scene that took place behind her, the deer crashing recklessly into the viper like a wall. Samantha fled the battleground, watching as the deer attempted to gouge the viper with antlers, stomp it to death, and otherwise injure it, but without success. Unfortunately, the scales of the snake were too tough for their attacks to penetrate, and the serpent struck back with a vengeance. It snapped its head forward with lightning-fast strikes, killing deer left and right as it pumped them full of corrosive poisons. Those that it did not bite, it smashed with its tail like a whip or curled around them to crush them. It didn’t take long for both Samantha and the deer to know what the outcome of this fight would be, and soon both groups were fleeing the irate predator.

Samantha hoped that the snake would be satisfied with the fresh deer corpses lying near it and leave the smaller prey (her and Silas) be, but she did not properly account for the creature being so vindictive. It completely ignored the fresh, easy meals to hunt down the beings that had dared defy it, ramping up its speed to try and catch up. “Plan B then,” she thought grimly as she ran, the snake gaining ground on them once more.

She communicated her plan to Silas as they neared the riverbed where their cave was located. The idea was met with a healthy dose of skepticism, but he ultimately agreed to cooperate since he couldn't think of a suitable alternative. She healed him with 1 qi point worth of Flawless Regeneration to restore his energy, and when they neared their cave entrance he jumped from her arm and circled back towards the Viper to taunt it. The snake took the bait, leaving Samantha alone as it chased the elusive and reenergized hare through the forest.

She quickly made her way to the spot she agreed to rendezvous with Silas—a spot in the riverbank where an enormous boulder was precariously perched atop another. She got in position and sent the signal to Silas, calling him over. She was not confident in the slightest that she could time this right, but if this didn’t work, there was always Plan C.

Silas darted out of the trees with the snake predictably behind, and Samantha pressed her body to the stone, preparing to push. She didn’t need to kill the snake outright with the rock, all she needed to do was pin some part of it down and she could feasibly win. 100 feet… 50 feet… 20 feet… she shoved with all of her strength as Silas passed under the shadow of the boulder, and she watched the rock tip over, falling down the 10 or so feet to where the snake slithered below. She held her breath as the Viper sensed some danger and twisted its head upwards, trying to shift its path out of the falling block of death’s.

It was rewarded with partial success, swerving its head out of the way of being crushed, but the back half of its body did not escape the same fate. It crunched and squelched as the stone impacted, a spurt of gore shooting out across the ground and melting whatever it touched.The snake’s body curled, twisted, and contorted with death throes, a low hiss escaping its maw, and then it went still.

Several seconds passed, and it made no sign of getting up. Did they actually manage it? Samantha couldn’t believe that her preposterous plan had actually worked! Silas sent her a celebratory hoot, and he made his way back over to her as she hopped down from her perch. She observed the sizzling environment with no small amount of dissapointment, the venom wasn't the only dangerous part of the snake it seemed... no snake meat for her this time.

As Silas passed the corpse of their fallen foe, the Spirit Beast’s vengeful nature had one final trump card to play, even in death. The body suddenly bloated to absurd proportions, looking ready to pop. Instinctually, Samantha slammed one of her Bond Ability Points into “As One”, right before the corpse erupted into an inescapable cloud of corrosive gas, poisonous flesh chunks, and bone shrapnel. She really had bad luck with explosions.