*Cough* "What about that ability? And what''s with the shield and bracelet?" I continue asking after clearing my throat.


    "It was one of the two things to choose from the menu. Sense or manipulation." She answers excitedly, no more hopeless and begging with her eyes to get executed by the gunner in our party.


    She feels useful, with that shield and her ability to even see it and wield it.


    On the contrary, I will soon start to feel like a huge burden if that berry won''t do its magic after all.


    How would I even feed myself.. and.. well the other things.. Oh god, just the thought of it makes me sick and hopeless and stressed.


    I breathe in quickly and start blinking, snapping out of the misery.


    "Sense or manipulation, huh? So, you''ve chosen which one? You can manipulate the shield, but you were able to sense the bracelet?" I ask the pale girl a bit confused.


    “The glowing thing on my hand is a bracelet. I think it’s invisible to you because you lack the ability I have, it looks like.. Ehm, I can sketch it for you later, the glow is subtle, dark violet, pretty dim." She answers while gazing at her empty hand.


    "Is it like those fluorescent tube bracelets that are widespread at concerts? You know that.." I wonder while gesticulating, trying to form an O ring with my crooked broken cold hands.


    Well, at least I have some, last time I remember they melted off. Gosh, I can still see those stumps in front of my eyes.


    "Err.. Well, yes and no. It glows but it''s not that thin and tubular. It looks like it’s made of some sort of metal, if I compare it to something, the first thing that comes to mind is that tower over there.” She points her finger.


    I turn my sight toward the Exiled one’s wizard tower, which will eventually be mine to inhabit after all.


    "Ehmm, mmm." I nod.


    “You can feel it if you want to.” She offers me.


    “Really?” I ask curiously as I''ve never touched an invisible thing, will my hand simply pass through or will it resist indeed? Let''s see if I can still feel stuff with my broken hands.


    I kneel next to her, but she doesn’t seem aware at the first glance, they look normal now, but she forgot how broken they were before, before I forcefully cracked them into position. She touches them with the tips of her fingers and tries to guide them, twisting my fingers around her wrist.


    *Crack*


    But my wrist suddenly hangs limply.


    She backs away a bit. “Uh, oh, I''m so sorry Markus. Oh my god!”


    “No, no, it’s okay. I should’ve warned you.”


    She moves her hand close to my face and rubs her wrist over my left cheek. I feel cold metal rolling over my skin.


    “You believe me, right?” She asks.


    The old man stays over the tree trunk leftover, with his smirk, watching us.


    “Uh, yes,” I answer, stuttering slightly. If it weren’t for the dusk, she’d probably notice me blushing.


    “How do you activate it?” I continue asking.


    She closes her fist and the particles start to swarm and move forming the barrier in front of her left arm.


    "Dear god!" This looks almost alienish as the particles move slowly. When fighting with the boss it was in a blink of a second, but these dried leaves, grass blades and dust are swirling, levitating.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    I don''t dare to interfere with those particles despite the fact that I want to. True magic is happening in front of my eyes.


    <hr>


    She opens her left fist, and the wacky shield immediately disintegrates into a pile of leaves and dirt.


    She looks at me and closes her fist tightly again, making the bones in her hand crack.


    The pile of light particles and leaves in front of her slowly begins to pile up once again, pushing everything tightly together.


    It looks weak, but overall, it’s extremely impressive—I can already imagine the possibilities with her training.


    That old exiled wizard—the one whose lower jaw and corpse still lie nearby in that black robe—had this shield made of mostly rocks and hard soil.


    It was quite hard to penetrate with my hammer, but now, with all my powers I believe it would be easier, I wonder what''s the limit of this.


    She releases her fist mid-action, and the shield stops materializing, falling apart again. Then she activates it for the fourth time but moves her hand slightly to the left. The original shield location shifts and most of the particles from the old shield move to the new position. That’s how she controls the shield’s location—with a simple arm movement.


    “Congrats on your new asset Astrid. This was indeed meant for you!” I congratulate her with a joyful gaze.


    “I guess you have the coolest power, Astrid.” Harald adds, standing back up, chewing the toothpick smirking at me.


    "I mean, Markus''s flesh shifting is great, but this is something else." He adds next.


    "Heh." I chuckle.


    "It''s time to move guys and get back to our base camp." The old man commands.


    He crouches near Astrid and gently inserts his arms underneath to pick her up.


    "Why so suddenly?" Asks the exhausted girl.


    “Because our water is on the way.” He points at Mike, sprinting back.


    <hr>


    "You surely did take your time boy!" He pesters Mike. "Weren''t you faster before? I mean, from here to the water is much closer than from the desert’s save spot back towards the giant snail, Markus just annihilated. And broke the windows on my car."


    He points out not only that Mike took longer to cross a shorter distance than before, but mentions the Hummer damage again. I wonder how often he will do this.


    "Ehm, I have a right to be exhausted too, right?" He answers passive aggressively, handing us the water bottles, completely avoiding eye contact.


    This look, again! He is hiding something again! I spot it right away, but I''m not better than him.


    Well of power, secret custom made skill, then talking cat. I''m far worse than him!


    I need to think of a way to roll out at least one of my secrets. Tonight I need to decide whom to tell about the last well.


    <hr>


    After a quick refreshment—with Harald’s help as he pours water in my mouth, we all get back into the car. He opens the door for me and Mike does for Astrid, loading her in.


    The shortest drive ever, from the center of the meadow towards the black tower.


    The old man tries to park the car in a good spot, close to the black metal structure.


    As he shifts between reverse and first gear, the engine noise drives me crazy, I''m not sure if I will make it through the night with this damage as I start to feel the bowel movement already, the more stressed I am how I will perform any basic hygiene without my hands.


    <hr>


    The beds are ready, the fire is burning.


    All done by Mike and Harald.


    I sit there gazing into the distance, running the calculations and waiting for the sun to settle down even more.


    There’s no way I’ll heal and be useful at any level, these green berries, I better save them for later, this is a waste.


    Postponing inevitable death just because we have some painkiller acid feels pointless. I stand up and make my way into the darkness, near the cold metallic tower.


    <hr>


    *Frustrating grunts*


    Basic hygiene is impossible!


    I already struggle in the bushes for dozens of minutes.


    “Come one, one berry! I wish I’d chosen that Regen!"


    If there was any way to switch—or to have them both?!” I cry out, looking up at the sky.


    "Stats!" Fidgeting with my broken hand over the Partial harden, sweaty forehead, grunting, trying whatever.


    Broken and filthy, I kneel there and wonder if I should do it myself.


    “Inventory.”


    I struggle to grip Harald’s Glock.


    My hands wave like cloth in the wind, but I somehow manage to pull the gun out. Hovering my arm over the cold black gun it hits the ground right away.


    Observing it, I’m glad it’s loaded—reloading in dim light using only my teeth and legs would’ve been impossible.


    “Markus, it’s time for the shot! As we agreed on syncing our acid times!"


    "Come quickly!” Harald calls for me loudly.


    “Oh, hell yeah. It’s time for a shot,” I mumble under my breath as I insert my broken fingers through the trigger guard and place the Glock in my mouth.


    <hr>


    *Clang!*


    The Glock is swept from my hands, flying into the bushes. Startled, I’m trying to process what just happened.


    All I see is a black metal dagger disappearing into the undergrowth.