*Markus is unconscious*


    “Oh my god. What just happened?!” screams the girl, looking straight at me.


    “This won’t be healing anytime soon. Is he even alive?” adds Mike, tilting his head.


    “Shh,” Harald gestures for them to quiet down.


    “Mark?”


    *Slap, slap*


    He slaps me a few times across the cheeks. Then he leans close to me and listens.


    *Zzzz*


    I wake up for a brief second, mumbling something, then start to snore again.


    *Zzzz*


    He looks back at Mike and Astrid with a stony face. “He’s sleeping.”


    “What about those ninety-degree bent broken hands?” continues Mike.


    “I don’t know yet. Just help me get him into the car,” says the old man, starting to pick up my feet.


    <hr>


    I wake up occasionally during the extremely bumpy, slow ride and I don’t think I’ve ever been that tired in my life.


    The old man somehow managed to drive it even through the bushes, without needing me to store the car.


    Did they mumble something about my hands? I can barely open my eyes due to exhaustion and look at them.


    "Wait, whaa…" *Zzzzzz*


    As we drive by the black tower and through the meadow where I killed the Exiled one boss, I wake up again for a brief moment when Harald brakes abruptly.


    “Stop!" High-pitched screaming disrupts my sleep for good.


    "Something is glowing over there!” shouts the legless girl, leaning out of the window without glass, pointing her finger.


    “What do you mean?” Harald leans out of his non-existent window while Mike leans over Harald to check.


    “This is the guy you and Mark killed, right?” Old man asks for confirmation.


    “His hand is glowing purple!” Astrid explains eagerly.


    “I don’t see anything, do you?” Harald turns his head toward Mike, who is awkwardly close to his face.


    Rather than getting out of the car, Mike tries to oversee it from inside, gazing leaning through his opened window.


    “Is something going to fall, or more or what?” Mike asks the pale girl.


    “I have no idea, but the things that are going to fall have these transparent strands coming from them. This is different—just glowing purple, that’s it.”


    “It’s getting dark, and we need fresh water! Mike, go and refill whatever you can. I’ll handle this with Astrid.” Harald touches the back of his seat and checks on me.


    “He seems to be sleeping but is slightly vigilant now.”


    <hr>


    Mike slams the car door and runs toward the burnt edges of the forest to refill our water jugs.


    “Now it’s you and me, Astrid,” Harald says as he shuts off the car engine and exits.


    I feel slightly rejuvenated, and my eyes finally open wide. It’s indeed getting dark.


    Did Astrid mumble something about a glowing hand? Curiosity overpowers my fatigue, I sit back and take a deep breath.


    “Ah, fuck!”


    As my hand reaches for the car door handle, I see my wrists bent more than ninety degrees upward. They’re fixed in a broken position.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I wiggle them for a second—nothing moves and no bone sticks out.


    “Oh my god, what the… How am I even gonna—?"


    "This looks painful as fuck!”


    “Shit, the acid. When does the time kick in? Do I have a full day or not? Are the times reset after death or not?”


    “Harald!” I yell through the window.


    “When’s the next acid shot?”


    He briefly checks his wristwatch.


    “For me, in about an hour, for you tomorrow. But we agreed on syncing with Astrid here.” He explains turning his head down on Astrid.


    Phew.


    I press my broken wrists against the car door and prepare for the push. Quickly, a lot of things flash through my mind—what could go wrong.


    My crappy anatomy skills are screaming not to do it, warning me that my bones might shred even more. Could the wrist even be dislocated?


    “Aaargh!”


    *Crack*


    My left wrist snaps back into the correct position with a horrible crack that leaves my body shivering.


    Despite not feeling any pain, my brain tricks me, and I believe I felt a shockwave after all.


    “Mark, what are you doing there?” Harald leans over through the broken window.


    “Oh god, why didn’t you call for help?!”


    I see Astrid sitting on the ground near the corpse, touching it already. Harald notices my stare and turns back to her.


    “Astrid! It could be dangerous! Can’t you wait for me?” He sprints over to check on her.


    Meanwhile, I take the plunge and crack my second wrist.


    *Crack*


    “Fuck! I felt this one even more.”


    I exhale deeply, raising my hand close to my face to test its mobility. As hard as I try, my fingers won’t move at all.


    Are these wounds even healable? I wonder if I made a terrible mistake choosing Harden over Regen.


    "Sigh."


    Barely opening the car door I walk towards the girl and Harald and I stop in shock.


    <hr>


    Leaves, grass, and small sticks surrounding them are flying upward, forming a barrier in front of Astrid. It looks more like a shelter—a tall, thick wall slightly curved, slowly materializing.


    The moment I see it, I know what just happened.


    She somehow inherited the power of the shield from the boss. It looked weak and very slow compared to when we clashed.


    “Wow."


    "Astrid! That’s impressive, how?” I ask, trudging toward her.


    Harald, observing the phenomenon with wide-open eyes, answers, “She took some kind of bracelet from him, or so she claims.”


    Tilting my head, I look at her empty wrists.


    “A bracelet? I don’t see anything on you.”


    She looks me in the eye.


    “It must be due to my new ability. I’ll try to describe it okay?”


    "Ability?!" I interrupt abruptly.


    "Yes! While you were destroying that gigantic snail, we took a little detour with Harald here and cleared snail nests. Err, it was anything but ethical, but those offspring snails versus heavy stones rendered quite a bunch of experience points."


    "Oh, and I almost forgot!"


    *Fwoosh*


    A handkerchief materializes in her hand, carefully wrapped in a bundle.


    Handful of green marbles. A thought of some snail eggs or whatever the body parts they harvested from them flashes through my mind, but I quickly snap into reality after noticing some of them containing stem leftovers, looking rather raw, not shiny. It was probably her delivery that made me imagine that, but now I know what exactly they think they found.


    The parchment from the upside down hall--green: any minor wounds - use before sleep for best effect - snails.


    I slightly open my mouth as I can already imagine the bitter taste and dry texture of an unripe fruit.


    "Harald?" I look old man in the eyes after my sight wanders around the hole in his cheek, awaiting confirmation or any sort of opinion on these random berries first. Is it me or that hole in his cheek got a bit smaller? I frown a bit, focusing on it.


    "Haven''t tried it yet." He answers with a smirk.


    "So, you want me to test it? Am I not useless enough?"


    "What if..." I look at them as if they are serious.


    "The parchment said minor wounds. Neither of us have them minor, but your skin stretch marks might do the trick?" She continues.


    God, so they are indeed visible and disgusting even from afar.


    "I''m fine, really, better take it before sleep as the parchment says. Thanks."


    "Or maybe if you can..."


    I look at the handkerchief hanging from her hand like a tablecloth from the table.


    "Of course, take as many as you wish." She sticks her arm even further while sitting on the ground.


    I tilt my broken immobile wrist which seems to look normal after I repositioned it. Bet that the color of my skin will soon change.


    "Two, three, four, five, that''s enough, really. Thanks Astrid." I stop her as she picks them with her other hand and tosses in my palm.


    "Or maybe, you know what, I''ll take one now." As I''m leaning closer I suddenly decide to try one.


    That hole in the old man''s cheek is definitely closer as I see from this angle, I know! He might have accidentally eaten one while picking them or licked his fingers--at this moment I speculate.


    As I lean closer to my own hand to try suck one up, pale caring girls stop me.


    "Here, here, take from me or you''ll pour yours out." She gently picks one in between her fingers and moves it towards my mouth.


    A bit surprised, I open my mouth, as she tosses the berry in she accidentally brushes her finger against my lip.


    *Cough, cough*


    I back away quickly, coughing a few times, almost spitting out the berry.


    "Oh, ew, it''s so bitter." I explain as the berry pops in between my teeth and the juices spurt over my tongue.


    Meanwhile Harald leaning over the mossy tree trunk has this smirk on his face.