Nathan awoke to the sound of stone breaking. He was afraid that the cave was collapsing around him and he jumped to his feet. “Thu!”

As he looked around he saw Thu punch the wall. She stopped and looked at Nathan. Her mask and other gear back on her body. She held up a hand to Nathan then pointed at the wall as if to say ‘Relax, it’s just me.’

Nathan let out a breath. “I was afraid the cave was collapsing again, sorry.”

Thu gave a thumbs up and went back to punching the wall. Nathan watched in amazement. It was one thing to see damage to stone being done by tools or explosives. It was another to see stone shatter and fall from the impact of a fist.

Nathan’s mind went back to the dozen of hands he had to do surgery on. All the small bones that are easy to fracture let alone turn to bone dust with enough weight. Even the hand he repaired back at the Guild just a couple of days ago wouldn’t be able to match Thu’s might.

The noise was too much for Nathan to try and hold a conversation with Thu, plus the fact she couldn’t really respond without stopping. He let her work while he tried not to focus on the fact he technically caused someone to die.

It was different then the ones who died on his surgery table back on Earth. Typically it was a low survival chance operation. Both the patient and his team knew that going in. This was some kid who was just not taught the right lessons in life.

Chicago wasn’t known for it’s nicest people. Gangs ran the city. The Police did the best they could. Between no support from the government and the sheer number difference, they were forced to let things slide too often.

Countless bodies ended up in his hospital from drug overdose or gunshot wounds. It always made his stomach twist seeing actual kids end up dead because it’s the only life they were taught.

The Bandits all probably knew what they were doing was bad, but did they have another choice in their mindset? Nathan didn’t forgive them for trying to kill him, but he didn’t want to do any killing either.

“But this is the world I live in now. Magic, Screens with numbers, and who knows what else is here.” Killing monsters is how people make a living most of the time. It’s how they get stronger, smarter, faster, and better at everything.

Killing people is another fact of life here. El tried to get that through his head, but did a shit job at it. Yet, he kept comparing things to how stuff should work back home. Those Bandits were a testament to that.

Nathan glanced to check Thu’s progress and could visibly see a divot in the rock face. He had no clue how long she could keep it up, but trusted her to watch her own health.

“Worst case, I can heal up any injuries.”

His mind wandered to the rest of the party. Nathan assumed they all got out safe and sound. He saw where Brawn and the others were standing. Far enough that none of them fell down. “Hopefully the rest of the cave didn’t cave in on them so they couldn’t get out.”

The question now was, how was he and Thu going to get out? Sure they could get to a nearby cave, but what about outside? There is only one way in and out, and if that entire room was either a giant hole or filled with rocks, they were stuck down here.

Nathan doubted Thu would be able to punch her way out, not with what little food and water they have. “Too bad there isn’t a spell for that. Another thing I should look into. I have double the average points that people get, I could easily afford to spend points in that direction. Be a money saver as well.”

Then again, Nathan assumed the Mana cost would be severe. The Mana lost would take too long to make up, he couldn’t make food and/or water that would be enough for him to survive on and keep replacing it with mana. The energy lost would be far greater than gained, in the long run it would just be a waste.

“Then again, does Mana come from the food we eat and water we drink? I get headaches and other ailments from being low on Mana, but I never feel hungry or thirsty afterwards like I do with Stamina.”

Nathan signed and looked back over his character sheet in full. He didn’t pay attention to the skills that increased, and wanted to know if anything important had appeared.

Name:

Nathan Shutlz

Level:

5

Stat Points:

0

Skill Points:

0

Strength:

15

Agility:

15

Endurance:

20

Constitution:

20

Intelligence:

17

Wisdom:

24

Base

Current

Total

Stamina:

175

175

175

Health

250

124

250

Mana

240

152

240

Base

Total Per Day

Stamina Recovery:

85

85

Health Recovery:

160

185.6

Mana Recovery:

185

185

Battle Mind - 3/10

Cardio - 4/∞

Cleanse - 2/5

Field Medic - 4/8

First Aid - 5/5

Healing Touch - 5/10

Invigoration Ray - 3/10

Iron Skin - 4/10

Knowledge (Vitamancy) - 10/∞

Spear Mastery 5/∞

Troll Blood - 4/10

Vitamancy Novice

“Slow progress. I killed someone and my [Spear Mastery] goes up an entire two points. I don’t deserve those, it was an accident!”

Deep down, Nathan knew there was nothing he could do about the blood on his hands. Yet, it didn’t stop him from feeling guilty.

“Why didn’t he just not attack me? What did he gain from it? To kill someone else and get some money?”

Nathan didn’t realize Thu had stopped punching through the rock wall. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Thu. The mask made it impossible to tell what Thu was thinking, until she wrote and handed Nathan a note.

“They knew the risks of fighting us. It’s not your fault someone died by their own choices. The difference between you and them is the fact you made a choice not to kill him. Plus, he might not have died, He could still be alive. His fellow Bandits could have carried him away, or perhaps Brawn picked up his body.”

Nathan shook his head. “No, the Combat Summary told me I killed a Bandit. There was only one I hit with my Spear.”

Thu paused for a moment and started to write frantically. “You can pull your Combat Summary and Menu up at will???” The entire sentence was underlined three times, showing Thu wanted an exact answer then and there.

“Yes I can. Brawn and the others already lectured me. I know it was a dangerous thing to have been taught.”

Thu held up a hand to tell Nathan to wait.

“Yes, but not what I was after. I can do it as well, but I keep it a secret. I can’t let anyone else know except those who can or are part of the Librarian Guild. I need to do some math, what was your participation percent and I assume just the one kill, yes? Also, how much Experience did you gain?”

Nathan nodded “Just the one, and it was 22%. For experience I received 508. What kind of Math do you need to-” Thu put a finger to Nathan’s lips shushing him. She sat down and remained still for several minutes. Nathan assumed she was looking at her Menu.

Once she was done, she wrote another note to Nathan. “There are more Bandits in the caves with us. The ones that were a level below, if any, are alive. Plus maybe a couple of those who didn’t die, like the pony-tailed Elf.”

Nathan was confused by what she meant, but Thu pointed to the wall she was punching through. He realized what she meant. “There could be trouble once we break free, not to mention the possible monsters down here as well.”

Thu nodded. “I forgot about the Monsters actually. I assume that the Bandits cleared them all out, but there is a chance some could be alive still. Best to prepare for a fight.” Once Nathan read the note, Thu pulled out more vials of a red liquid.

Nathan knew these were essentially Healing Potions from video games. Their proper name here for them is ‘Health Recovery Elixirs’. A little longer, but the same thing. He drank up and was back over 200 Health. She then pulled out a blue one and handed it to Nathan. He could tell she was slightly reluctant to hand this one to him.

“These are expensive. I am going to need to depend upon you to get out of here Nathan. Can I trust you to actually put both our lives first over anything else that happens?”

Nathan paused for a moment. “I’m not going to kill any Bandits, but you can trust me to keep you alive the best I can.”

Thu nodded and handed the vial over to him. It had a stronger taste, almost causing him to gag. “Years of working as a Doctor and a glass vial of blue magic makes me gag?”

Nathan looked at his mana and saw it was almost filled completely. If he rested for another two or three hours, he would be set.

Thu returned to their escape path, and returned to punching.

Kira handed Brawn a water skin. “Drink up. You can’t do anything if you are thirsty and hungry.”

Brawn didn’t take it, so Kira sat it down next to him. She went back to her spot at the base of a nearby tree. She stared at the fire that Ko’Nu made an hour ago. “We both know Thu has their bag of tricks, plus Nathan has those healing spells. If any two of us fell and survived somehow, it’s those two.”

Brawn didn’t say anything while still staring at the fire. “Ugh, you giant meat head. Let me try to convince you everything is going to be alright for once? You did this last time Ko’Nu was arrested for no reason because of his race. Then the time before, when Thu was gone for six days past the team meeting.”

Parker and Ko’Nu looked at each other and silently agreed to not but in or make themselves aware to Brawn and Kira. Either of them would have gotten up and left, but felt it would cut the tension and cause a sour reaction.

Kira groaned in annoyance when Brawn still didn’t respond. “Shit, you are just as bad as Nathan is with fighting. Either they are dead, or not. We can’t do anything! The miners are doing their best to get us back down there. You don’t think all of us would help if we could!” Kira shouted the last sentence angrily.

Brawn looked back at Kira to see her eyes watering. “But we could do something. We could have picks in our hands and-”

Parker spoke up, cutting off Brawn. “What picks? There isn’t enough for us. Plus we need to rest to kill any Bandits or Monsters that are there. We have our jobs, they have their own Brawn. Kira is right, as much as I hate to admit it.”

Nobody said anything for several minutes. The silence slowly built up more tension.

“What if they are dead?” Ko’Nu asked.

Kira stiffened at the thought. Brawn sighed and threw a log into the fire to keep it burning. “Then that’s that I suppose isn’t it Ko’Nu? We can only hope they are alive, and those Indigo Wolf bastards don’t lay a hand on either of them. If they do, I will make them pay”

Brawn clenched his hands tightly causing his knuckles to turn white for a moment.

“This one agrees. We should kill them for their crimes. Especially the one with illegal magical items.”

Parker hummed as he glanced at the wand on his hip. “Yes, a wand of that caliber isn’t easy to acquire. Either someone high up in the clan wanted to ensure the operation went well, or someone else had a hand in play.”

“Why would they bring a [Giant’s Thunder] Wand into a mine? The only thing it could have done was exactly what it did, cause a cave in.” Kira asked.

Parker shrugged. “My guess is to cover their tracks. Once they took what they wanted, causing a cave in. Slows down operation even longer, and then an increase in demand for more Shadow Affinity Gems. A somewhat decent plan if I do say so myself, but they forget the Noble Family who owns that mine has a stockpile to last months. If anything, the family gets more money in the long run.”

Nobody else noticed the miner that was hiding in the trees nearby the four Adventures. He quietly stealthed away after hearing enough of the conversation.

Once he was out of earshot, he pulled out a small amulet with a yellow gemstone in the center. “Everything is going according to plan, my Lord. Everyone is playing their part perfectly.”