I get my feet under me, skills, and the ability to chew.
I said "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH…" and several other words I don't make a habit of saying. You get the idea. It was the worst pain I'd felt in my battered life, which is really saying something.
I crawled desperately towards the house, feeling myself bleed out. Every jolt and roll sent electric knives skating on burning ice, and I nearly blacked out.
A display flashed in the corner of my eye, and I read it through hazy eyes.
Shun Mi — Health 7/15 _ Normal Attack. Bleed status -1 hp every five seconds.
"Thank you," I hissed, "Very helpful."
But the bleed status effect had me thinking, and I pulled off my belt. My pants immediately sagged, even lying down, but most would call that an inconvenience at this point.
I pulled my leg around and set the tourniquet, pulling with all my strength. It didn't feel much tighter than if I had done it back Home, but the bleed status disappeared.
"Five hit points left," I said hoarsely, chuckling as my head spun, "Too close. Way, way, way too close."
Still, I needed to heal myself quickly. There was probably some kind of healing potion in the cupboards of the house, but I significantly doubted that I could find it in my state. Maybe there was more to this interface?
I took a desperate guess and said "Open Status."
A holographic screen opened in front of me, displaying a variety of stats.
"Oh good," I sighed, "I should have tried that earlier. Um…wow. I have no frame of reference for these numbers. Is this- yes! Skills."
A surprisingly long list of skills scrolled before me. One in particular stood out at the top of the list.
Skill — Analyze Properties- Level 1: Deactivated.
I groaned, the pain flaring as I reached my hand out, "Why wasn't this turned on from the start?"
Another holographic window popped up and I pressed 'activate'. The window closed and I clenched my teeth, closing Status and looking at it again. Then I looked around, waiting for some sort of informational text to pop up.
Nothing.
"What?" I opened my skills back up and checked it.
Deactivated.
"Okay," I said, trying to stay calm, "I probably just clicked outside the window."
I activated it again, but the skill still read Deactivated. I closed the window and opened it back up. I activated it again. There was no way to power it off and on again for a hard restart. Yet trying two more times only led to failure.
"AAAAAAARRR!" I screamed in frustration, then whimpered as my stump of a leg throbbed with my rising blood pressure "Why? Why does something this small not work?! It's basic. I can't do anything if it won't activate!! How does something like this break?! HOW!!!?"
I grabbed some random plants and pulled up a clod of dirt, throwing it at the screen as I kept screaming threats.
After a solid minute of lost control, my panic was interrupted by a ding.
A window popped up and I focused on it.
New skill acquired — Rage Technician Level 1. You have a 3.1% chance to use Intimidation to fix a malfunctioning Device by threatening it, hitting said Device, or hitting other things in the vicinity of said Device.
That simplifies things, I thought.
I really was in a true fantasy world. I laughed with desperate irony. The greatest dream of all mankind had come true. I could fix the world by punching it. I pressed 'Activate' one last time as I stared at my raw leg stump
Skill - Analyze Properties - Level 1: Activated.
The world sparkled before me, information windows layering in front of my view. Pushing through the notifications, I desperately searched for something that would help. Nothing convenient lay nearby, and I forced myself to crawl back towards the house, painfully using my bleeding stump. My pants almost falling down as they dragged against my every move.
"The spear was by the door," I said, forcing myself to focus on hope as I hauled myself over the threshold. "Maybe Grandpa left some healing potions or something?"
There was one of those cabinets that goes by the door. The type that held a bowl for keys on top and was jam-packed with unused shoes underneath. It had a mirror on top, and the cabinet door beckoned to me. I rolled closer and pulled it open.
"Beautiful," I sighed gratefully, "Good thinking, Grandpa."
They were in canning jars, reminding me more of Fortnite than potions. But the labels were clear with small print beneath. I couldn't read the language on them, but their purposes were clear. Various symbols adorned each label and lid.
"Thank goodness," I said as I grabbed a jar with a green cross on the lid. The Analyze skill opened a window.
Full: High Restoration Healing Potion
"Fantastic," I said, hope flaring against the pain, "Now, how do I use this?"
I twisted, removing the canning ring before I dug my fingernails under the rim of the sealed lid. It made a satisfying pop and a bit of the liquid sloshed onto my damaged hand.
The bruising and cuts on my hand didn't close miraculously, so it wasn't a topical potion. I raised the jar tentatively to my lips. Surely it couldn't have gone bad? But the smell…well it wasn't rancid. Extremely 'plants', but not bad.
I sipped it and barely stopped myself from spitting it out. So sour!!! The sourest thing I'd ever tasted. But i had to try! I swallowed. My face constricted painfully, performing a grand pucker before the sensation passed.
And my leg didn't hurt!!
I looked on in wonder at A bit of pink flesh sticking out of the amputation, forming a nub. Tentatively I pulled the tourniquet off and waited. Nothing but relief.
"All right," I said, feeling at my still-sore gums and broken ribs, "Let's see what this can do!"
I drank again, pushing the liquidback hard, in a vain attempt to escape the flavor. The sour shock trapped some on my tongue as I forced the rest down.
As I stared, my ankle developed from the pink nub and I felt a massive thrill of joy.
It was working!
Four sips later, I quit. It didn't seem like I needed to drink the whole bottle. I got my foot back with the third sip! On the fourth sip, as if my returning foot was done draining all the healing power, the entire rest of my body felt better. Healed.
Relief encompassed my entire body. Not feel even a bruise hurt for the first time since…I couldn't remember how long. Maybe not since my grandpa was alive.
Beyond all that, I had my teeth back! I felt them with my tongue, giddy as a clam. Straighter too, don't ask me how that worked. I felt amazing: No bruises, scratches, or burns. Just me. Clean and new.
Well, not 'clean'.
I looked at my blood-covered mess, and then the mess covering the house. The fire was dying out, the pee had mixed with blood, and thick dust lay over everything. The place was a real disaster.
I was tempted to say that I'd clean it tomorrow, that it was already dark outside and time for bed.
It had been a day of exhausting extremes.
But I'd already slept for hours before my misadventure and the healing potion had rested me. I really could not continue being in this level of mess.
First, I at least needed to build the fire back up. The night air was perfectly warm by itself, but I'd be chilled from the well water as I cleaned.
I was going to clean this place from the ground up.
I got the fire blazing, then went outside to clean off the worst of it from my body When I came back I looked through Grandpa's usual places for cleaning supplies. There were rags beneath the broken sink, where Grandpa always kept them. There was also another bucket and some Pine Sol. I got water from the well and set to work, shivering as the fire built up to a roar.
It wasn't spotless by the time I trudged into the bedroom hours later, but it was as good as I was going to get it. I could move surprisingly easily now, so I was able to accomplish so much more than I ever had before. An amazing feeling of contentment cushioned me as I collapsed into the bed I had freshly made.
A job well done.