Nathan walked down the dirt road using his spear as a walking stick. He almost left it behind, but was afraid El and Peter would be disappointed he didn’t have it with him. From the Guild house to the farm took Nathan less than an hour walking. The gates were super busy this week with increased trade. It forced him to wait in line longer than he liked.

Zizi was surprisingly the first to spot him. She was near the edge of the crops looking for any dead plants while everyone else was closer to the farmhouse working. She ran up to Nathan and hugged his leg.

“Nathan! You came back!”

Nathan smiled at the little girl. He scratched the top of her head. “Of course I did. Did you think I left you all forever?”

Zizi looked guiltily up at him. “Uhh, kinda? I don’t know. It’s just been forever since I last saw you. I almost forgot how you looked.”

Nathan chuckled at her. “It’s been a week. Come on, I want to see everyone else as well. You can fill me in on anything new while we walk.”

Zizi walked next to him on the other side of the road. “Well, Dad finished the new shed last night. Other than that nothing else has been happening.”

Nathan nodded and looked up just in time to see an arrow fly and hit him in the shoulder. Yelling as he fell backwards, Natan started to panic.

“Nathan Shutlz, if you want to become an Adventure you have to constantly be aware of your surroundings!” El shouted from atop the house. Her bow already drawn back with a second arrow notched.

Zizi giggled as she ran away, not finding the situation scary at all.

“You fuck! Why did you shoot me with an arrow?” Nathan screamed. He glanced at his shoulder and saw some blood already coming out.

“Big shot joined a Bronze tier party. Might as well treat you like it, right?” She shot another arrow, this time missing. Nathan didn’t know if she missed on purpose or not. He rather not give her a reason to hit him again.

Nathan took a deep breath and pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. He started to stand up as he casted [Healing Touch] ensuring the bleeding at least stopped. “And that gives you a reason to shoot me? What if you hit Zizi!”

“Ha! I would never miss! Now, you have two choices.” She readied her third arrow. “We spar here and now, or I practice my aim some more. Which will it be, Battle Medic.”

Nathan didn’t want to do either. “How about we talk instead? Like civilized adults?”

Elderade responded with another arrow, this time hitting Nathan in his thigh. He fell to his good knee in pain, but managed to keep thinking clearly. The pain was much more manageable than the acidic slime.

“Target practice it is. If you last till my quiver runs empty, or you manage to land a hit on me, you win. If you call it quits before then, you have to clean the barn alone.”

“You’re fucking crazy!” Nathan started to run behind the newly built shed for cover. “She’s going to kill me!”

Peter shouted toward Nathan. “Two things. First, if you ruin the shed, I will kick your ass. Secondly, she is!” He laughed from his seat on the back porch.

El jumped to the ground, falling into a roll. “I have 17 arrows left. Do you have enough health and mana to last Nate?”

Nathan pulled out the arrow in his leg and decided to not heal just yet. The bleeding wasn’t that bad. He was lucky she missed an artery. Nathan took a glance at his Health just to see how much damage she did with those two shots.

“Math math math! I’m missing 40 health, but I healed for about 10, so about 25 damage each? Or did one deal more than the other?” Nathan was too caught up in the numbers and failed to hear El coming around the shed. She let loose another arrow.

This one hit him in the center of his chest, Nathan felt it dig through his lung and he started to freak out. He could tell it didn’t go through his back luckily.

“Best pull it out and heal yourself. That was a [Piercing Shot]. I am surprised it didn’t go all the way through you.”

Nathan was having problems breathing and his shaky hands couldn’t grasp the arrow enough without causing more pain from the movement.

El sighed and waited for Nathan to pull the arrow out. She did however ready another arrow to hopefully motivate Nathan to move quickly.

“Why!” Nathan weezed. When he didn’t get an answer he took half a breath and yanked the arrow out. He pumped a full cast of [Healing Touch]. His chest was still in pain, so he did another one.

“You don’t think I can’t find out your inability to think in combat? You took [Battle Mind] for a reason! Stop panicking and start acting!”

Nathan stood up and took a full breath. He then realized he lost his spear. He looked and saw it on the ground behind Elderade.

“No weapons, and last I checked, no offensive spells. You are a dead man, Mr. Shutlz.”

Nathan started to run toward the barn. As he ran he tried to think of a plan. “[Iron Skin] has to be lowering the damage to a degree. But, I can’t outlive all her arrows, even with healing. Another two shots to the chest and I am dead.”

Nathan stopped and thought about the fact that El probably wouldn’t kill him. Was more pain and suffering worth cleaning the barn? He turned and raised his hands up. “I quit. I refuse to play this game, I’ll just clean the barn.”

El looked disappointed. “I hate to hear you say that Nathan.” And she shot him again in the chest.

“Adventurers don’t quit. You told me you wanted to learn all you can and get powerful for your homeworld right?”

She shot him again in the left calf. “You said your world has the ability to kill people with giant explosions from anywhere in the world. Yet, you let a few arrows stop you?”

Nathan was yelling in pain, slowly crawling backwards away from her. El fired another arrow, hitting Nathan in his right arm. “You honestly disappoint me. What if I was a monster? A bandit? What if I was the Alpha Wolf and I wasn’t here to save you?”

She shot again, the arrow nicking Nathan’s ear. That stopped Nathan cold. He looked up at Elderades face and saw she was holding back tears.

“Well? Answer me!” She held the bow drawn back, aiming right at Nathan’s face.

“I-I-I don’t know! Hold on a damn second!” Nathan was having problems breathing. He couldn’t think straight. “I don’t want to hurt you okay! Or myself, or anything like that. This isn’t what I expected.”

“Then what did you expect? An easy life? I told you it would be hard. Then you embarrass yourself by slime. A slime!”

“How do you even know that?”

“Guild Mission Reports. It’s public records. Your party leader, Brawn, summarized what happened, including your failure to even kill a slime.”

Nathan wheezed and pulled the arrow out of his chest, healing himself some more. He was at the halfway point with his mana. Once it was out, he started to work on the other two.

“I still want an answer Nathan.”

“I don’t have one okay? Fuck, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I hate fighting, I told you this!”

Elderade shook her head in disappointment. “Yet you showed ambition. You can fight. You just need to find the right reason to”

Nathan scoffed. “Right reason? I am a Doctor damn it, not a soldier. If I wanted to fight, I would have never picked any healing spells.”

El sighed letting her bowstring relax. “I was hoping after a single mission you would have realized that your new life is all about fighting. I wanted what’s best for you. So you could become safe until you could return home. Then once you did, you could be safe there too.”

Nathan sat up, but didn’t get off the ground. “I know El. But I don’t like fighting. I haven't even used that damn spear much since you gave it to me. Only on the slime did I attempt to use it, and you obviously know how that went.”

“You won’t fight? Even if it means you can get home?”

Nathan paused at that one. “I would find another way. I refuse to kill to do something that selfish.”

“Even to protect yourself? Or even others? That’s why you did this!”

Nathan couldn’t look her in the eyes. He didn’t want to admit she might be right. “Doesn't matter. There has to be another way to gain Experience right?”

“There is, but nothing like fighting monsters. Even Pete has killed. Nadiel and Marcilio both helped in killing those wolves. You have killed Nathan. You earned your equal payment in Experience when we fought those wolves.”

“I can still gain Experience by just healing and supporting the fight. I don’t have to fight directly.”

El shook her head. “Nathan, what’s the difference? In one you are just helping people kill and fight, in the other you do it yourself.”

Nathan was about to respond but didn’t. She was right.

Elderade got down on her knees and in Nathan’s face. “Nathan, you are such a good man. Nothing will change that. Fighting is a horrible thing, I agree with you on that. It’s the reason you fight that matters. You want to help people right? Fight for them! Fight for Marcilio, Nadiel, Zizi, and Dale. Fight for the family you have back home. Find your reason for what you are doing, and hold true to it.”

Nathan sniffed from the pain. “What if I can’t find a good enough reason?”

“Then one will find you. Whether that reason is good or evil, it will come. The question is, are you going to wait for it to come to you, or are you going to prepare yourself.”

“I think so long as it isn’t a slime with a bow I will be safe for now.” Nathan joked.

Elderade chuckled. “You have to practice like I told you to. If you just stand around and do nothing, you will die.” She held out a hand to help Nathan up.

“El, I don’t know right now, but I hope you are right. I hope I find a good reason to fight, because right now I don’t have one.”

“Think about it Nathan, you are a smart person. You will figure it out. I am just glad you listened to me.”

Nathan walked with her to their house. “Can you do me a favor El?”

“Maybe, what is it?”

“Can you not shoot arrows at me as a greeting next time?” Nathan asked, smiling.

“I promise I will not greet you with arrows next time you come to the farm.”

Nathan didn’t like how easily she made that promise. “I bet she is just going to stab me with her daggers next time.”

Inside the house, Nathan was greeted by the rest of the Phankard Family. Nathan spent the evening catching everyone up on his most recent mission, keeping it a little less graphic with Zizi nearby.

He was glad to see Marcy was doing well. He didn’t seem as depressed, but Nathan knew it hadn't been near long enough for him to get over his missing limb. That evening they all ate stew and Nathan enjoyed the quiet evening.

His mind kept wandering to what El said to him. He had a reason to fight. That was to get more skills to learn how healing magic worked. But it wasn’t the reason he would fight. Nothing that selfish.

Nathan left with a full belly, and a promise to not visit in less than two weeks. El wanted him to get used to his life and not hide away on their farm. Going back into Twin Oaks city was easier than the first time. A simple show of his Guild Badge and he was walking in.