The resonant din of fighting echoed through the air, carried by the wind, even as rain continued to pelt down and the occasional clap of thunder continued to startle the young woman.

Bruised and battered, though with far more health than she should have after such a fall, she stumbled back to the farm, climbing hill after dale until the flaming arena finally came into view.

The mostly-stone farm house wasn’t destroyed, thankfully, and it seemed not much of the battle had progressed that far.

Further out, closer to the flaming fences, the woman could make out faint spots of darkness moving quickly, recognisable shapes of monsters, and a group of people bedecked in the same armour as those she had encountered, it seemed. They were grouped close together, roughly where she had left the farmer.

Closing in, the scene became more defined in her mind; the majority of the reinforcements wielded bows, hiding behind the defensive, flaming line while firing arrows into the fray.

The farmer himself, however, was not amongst them.

The archers were shooting quickly, taking minimal time to aim as their large bows propelled the arrows through the air with unerring accuracy and incredible power.

They struck their targets often around the head, needing only one or two arrows to take down the creatures. Like most animals, their heads were the weak spots; arrows landing on any other part of the body were far less effective—the small, nimble monsters outnumbered the larger ones whose corpses littered the battlefield.

The constant barrage of sounds, resonant echoes of fighting, set the woman on edge, hesitant to creep closer. Cognitively, she knew she was out of danger so far, lest a rogue monster sneak up on her, and pushed through her nascent anxiety as she stalked closer to the house, keeping one eye on the fighting and another looking for the old man.

She quickly found him, slumped down and leaning against the cobbled wall of his house, blood dying his bright clothes red, the grass compacted around him. His left arm clutched his right as his head rested on his shoulder, seemingly devoid of strength.

Immediately, the woman’s worry peaked as she took in his figure—a feeling that only got worse the more she saw.

The arm he was holding, the one that must’ve been bleeding profusely before she arrived, wasn’t an arm; it was a stump, torn off below the elbow. The hand was nowhere in sight.

The worry, while still there, was overwhelmed by a surging wave of guilt. A hand shot to her mouth, eyes wide, as she took in the full scope of his injuries.

Any hesitation that she had felt vanished as she dashed towards the farmer—the man who had shown her nothing but kindness so far.

And how did I repay that kindness? Through cowardice; that’s how. Abandoning him when he needed help the most.

The man's eyes barely registered the woman as she crouched down in front of him, brushing her long, fluffy blonde hair out of the way as she picked up his wrist and checked his pulse.

Still alive.

She knew she had to do something; using her knife, she cut off some of the excessive cloth her dress was made of, shortening the skirt, and blasted it with [Cleanse] for good measure.

Reaching out and gently peeling his own hand away from his stump, she cringed as she saw the sheared flesh and the scarily white bone peeking out from underneath.

Subconsciously, she held her breath as she laid her hand on his remaining arm and activated [Cleanse] again, intending to disinfect the wound.

This did more than just disinfect the wound, however; as soon as the essence left her system, travelling through the tips of her fingers and enveloping the man's arm in the gentlest of green hues, the blood and dirt sizzled into nothing, the skin tightened a little and blood began to trickle again.

The man's face, once passive, widened in surprise as he lifted his head and stared at his arm, shouting something as loud as he could with his remaining strength.

As the blood began to flow again, unexpectedly for the woman, she hurriedly wrapped the cloth around his arm, the fabric rapidly dyed red.

She held herself from using [Cleanse] once more to clean it, knowing she better conserve her essence while she could.

Placing his hand on his stump again, she told him to maintain pressure to try to stop the blood flow, not really knowing what she was doing and knowing that he wouldn’t understand her anyway. She felt like she needed to do at least something.

Exhaustion racking her body, fatigue eating away at her muscles, the woman found herself slumping to the ground alongside the farmer, leaning against the house as she watched the fire burn in the distance.

Shadows danced to and fro, elegantly flailing their arms through the air as monsters were chopped down one-by-one.

The fighting felt, paradoxically, both near and far away, a tension settling into her muscles and refusing to leave as she looked on.

After a couple of minutes of just staring, the farmer besides her sneaking glances at the woman as well as the battle off in the distance, some level of security began to form in her mind.

Tentatively, she activated [Meditate], sinking into a much-needed serenity.

She swore to herself it would only be for a few seconds, just to regenerate some essence, but her will quickly faltered, unable to hold out against the tiredness and the calmness that she was feeling in the moment.

Before she knew it, she had drifted off into a restful nap.

She awoke to dark skies, rain pouring down as heavy as she had left it, and her body aching from the uncomfortable position she was in.

Looking herself over, no new cuts or scrapes, and her clothes were as she left them—recently modified. Pressing the sheath against her thigh, the knife remained in place as she let out a sigh upon realisation.

Finally, looking around her, the fire was still blazing away off in the distance but the distinctive sounds of fighting was nowhere to be heard.

Clambering onto her unsteady feet, the dearth of stamina making itself known by her wobbly steps, her mind crystallised slightly as comprehension dawned.

I… Fell asleep?

[Meditate] [Level up]

[Meditate] [Level up]

I must’ve been sleeping for a while; two level ups of [Meditate]? That’s a lot.

A little ways away were the group of fighters who had arrived, all bloodied and bruised, their armour having seen better days. Some were sitting on the ground, some leaning against the sheep shelter, while two of them were talking to the farmer who was now standing up.

Groggily, the woman slowly walked over to the ground, noticing how the man who had stopped and spoken to her eyed her wearily.

She made her way over to where he was resting on the ground, isolated from the rest, and crouched down, laying her hand on his abdomen.

The mail was busted open there, a clear, unarmoured spot, offering no protection other than the stained red gambeson underneath--gambeson which had large tears throughout, slicing through the multiple layers of cloth.

The tears were large, not like razor sharp swords that gave cuts the size of paper cuts but like someone had torn a large swath of cloth out multiple times. The ferocity you’d see from a wild animal eating its prey.

Hesitantly, not knowing whether she should really be doing this, she placed her palm against the gambeson, using [Cleanse] and washing away the blood, before repeating the skill, this time resting her fingertips against his exposed flesh.

Immediately, as the essence flooded out of her, the green glow appearing once more, far more visible during the night than it was during the day, the deadened flesh receded, the blood disappeared, and the man suddenly doubled over, clutching his stomachs as he began to grunt in pain.

Instantly, he swiped his hand through the air, slapping hers away and forcing her to scramble back in fear as he shouted a few words at her. His eyes were hard, instilling unease in the woman as she quickly began to regret her decision.

But he didn’t do anything else. After a few minutes, he seemed far more at ease than before, standing up and joining the rest of his group.

For the first time in a while, the woman felt lost at what to do. Should she leave? Should she stay? Should she do anything? Nothing was clear in her mind as she stayed sitting, watching the group of warriors gather together, finish talking with the farmer, and clamber onto their horses, riding off into the distance.

The farmer, meanwhile, just trudged back to his humble abode, not bothering to extinguish the still-burning fire, nor do something about the quickly decaying bodies of monsters that were strewn about the place.

He didn’t even spare the woman a glance, let alone a few words, as he tiredly dragged his body inside, weariness evident in his movements.

The woman, however, didn’t move; her mind was preoccupied with so many thoughts, anxieties, and worries. There was just so much to think about. Everything had just happened so fast.

Not to mention, her emotions were all over the place; she didn’t know what to think or feel about anything! Take the farmer, for instance; he had been kind to her, offering clothes, food, and even lodging. Yet, she repaid that by abandoning him.

That alone put her on thin ice but after using [Cleanse] and bandaging his wound, she didn’t know where they stood. Was his non-communication just now evident of his disappointment with her? A silent signal that he wanted nothing to do with her?

It certainly felt like that was the case.

Then there was the other man, as well. He reacted not only negatively but violently when she used [Cleanse] on him. Did she do something bad?

Frustration grew as she slammed her hand on the ground, kicking up clumps of mud.

“Why is the world so fucking complicated!” She shouted into the air, needing to voice her distress.

Recognising her state, the woman reluctantly activated [Meditate] again, her mind sinking into the enveloping, warm sea of soothing calmness, turning down her emotions in this heated moment.

Unlike last time, she didn’t stay in this state; her mind wasn’t enervated enough to fall to her bodily needs this time.

Instead, after a few minutes, she opened her eyes once more and reevaluated the situation.

I don’t know how the farmer feels about me, but he doesn’t seem to be hostile.

However, I can’t just assume we’re on good terms. Better to believe that the offer from this morning has been rescinded.

Concluding that, she got to her feet, and gave one last gaze out over the battlefield before walking off towards a burnt and half-destroyed patch of trees.

It wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, nor the most secure, but it was familiar to her.

As she dug through the toppled over trees, the small branches that littered the ground in dozens, she picked her way through until she found the hammock that she had made not that long ago—although, it felt like days already.

Unsurprisingly, it hadn’t withstood the lightning strike, having been burnt to a crisp. The stagnant smell of smoke and charcoal permeated the air but it was far better than the stench of decaying corpses.

Settling down, the woman wrapped her cloak around her, snuggling in as the fur granted her some pleasant warmth.

And, with that, she fell asleep, back where she had started—alone amongst the trees.