The Sixth Day.
Ethan had crashed on the same tree he used for shelter the night before. Not like he had much of a choice—his body was wrecked, and moving around felt like a bad idea.
So, he had chugged one of his homemade recovery potions and just passed out.
Now, the morning sun was crawling up the sky, painting everything gold. Birds chirped in the distance. It would've felt peaceful if Ethan didn't feel like he'd been hit by a truck.
He slowly blinked awake, face scrunching up in discomfort. Something was off. His whole body felt weird—hot, heavy, and sore in all the wrong ways. His skin was burning up, and even tiny movements made pain shoot through his limbs. Yep, he had a fever. Probably from all the injuries piling up over the last few days. Especially the injuries of yesterday.
To make it worse, some of his cuts had started bleeding again, tiny red spots staining through the makeshift bandages.
Normally, Ethan would've shrugged it off, gritted his teeth, and kept moving. Actually, that was the plan.
But Mary was not having it.
"Just where do you think you're going?" she asked, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.
Ethan sighed, already half ready to leave for hunting. "We literally had this conversation yesterday, albeit not for the same reason. I'm going to train. Alright?"
"No, not alright. You're bleeding all over the place. And this time, you are not going to have your way. I dare you to step one foot out in this condition," Mary warned, blocking his path like a mini bodyguard with a big attitude.
"You know time isn't something I can afford to waste. Every day I sit on my butt is a day lost." He tried to sidestep her, but she didn't budge.
Mary narrowed her eyes. "You really think I can't stop you just because I'm not physically able to stop you? Buddy, I will talk your ear off until you beg for mercy. Don't test me."
Ethan rolled his eyes and gave a half-smile. "Alright, alright. As you wish, Your Majesty. Your word is law."
Mary didn't smile back. Instead, she hit him with a glare that could slice through steel. "Don't get cute with me. You almost died yesterday. You seriously think pushing yourself now is a good idea? You're literally leaking blood."
"It's just a little blood," he muttered, clearly downplaying the situation.
"Yeah, a little blood that's coming out from everywhere. You look like a horror movie extra." Mary replied, clearly overstating the situation.
"Okay, okay, how about this? I—"
"No. No more deals. No more middle ground. You're not going hunting today. Period. Call it an order, a request, or a threat—I don't care. You're staying put." Mary's voice rose, frustration spilling out.
Ethan paused, then let out a long sigh and leaned back against the tree. He hated to admit it, but she was right. His body was falling apart. Even if he somehow pushed his limits and kept going, there was a high chance of crashing soon afterwards. And crashing in a place like the Ravager's Den is just a death sentence.
"Fine, you win." He huffed, then jumped down from the tree. "I'll skip training altogether today. I'll focus on healing. Happy?"
Mary crossed her arms, smug and satisfied. She looked like a mom who just got her stubborn kid to finally eat some vegetables. "That's more like it. Now drink one of your potions and find a comfy and safe spot to crash."
"Yeah, not happening," Ethan said, sitting down cross-legged and going through his storage. "I'm low on potions, so gotta save the few I've got left."
He pulled out a pressure cooker and a cooking thermometer from his storage, like some kind of wilderness chef. Then he started gathering dead leaves and bits of wood from the ground nearby, clearly getting ready to cook something up.
Mary just stared at him, arms still crossed. "You're gonna cook now?" Mary asked, eyebrows raised. "I mean, yeah, you skipped breakfast, but we were just arguing a second ago. You really jumped to food that quickly? Just how hungry are you?"
Ethan shook his head. "Technically, yeah, I'm cooking. And yeah, I'm hungry. But this isn't for food."
He lit a fire using his ability, letting the dry leaves and wood catch quickly. Once it was steady, he set up the pressure cooker over the flames and let it start heating.
"I'm making potions," he said, already digging through his supplies again.
"With a pressure cooker and some leaf fire?" Mary asked, clearly confused. "Don't you usually need, like, special flasks or alchemy gear? Big fire, glowing stuff, the whole deal?"
"Normally doesn't mean always," Ethan replied, pulling out a water flask and pouring some into the cooker. "Alchemy's not as high-maintenance as people think. Sure, a lot of potions need fancy tools, rare ingredients, perfect measurements, and all that. But not every single one."
He reached into his storage and pulled out a handful of Bloodthorn Lilies.
"Aren't those the flowers you picked the day before yesterday?" Mary asked, stepping a little closer.
"Yep. Gonna use them for the healing potion."
"With just water?" Mary asked skeptically. She still sounded unsure.
"I don't exactly have the luxury of options right now. Water's not ideal, but it'll do. I just gotta improvise."
Then, without any hesitation, Ethan held his left arm over the cooker, grabbed his hunting knife, and took a deep breath. He pressed the blade into an already existing wound, slicing it wider so the blood could drip directly into the pot.
"What are you doing?!" Mary screamed, panic in her voice. "Did the fever mess with your brain or something?!"
"I'm improvising," Ethan replied, voice weirdly calm as blood dripped steadily into the mixture. After a few moments, he pulled his arm back and started wrapping it with a clean cloth.
"Like I said, I don't have the right solution. So I'm improvising."
"With blood? There wasn't anything else you could use?"
"Nope. Nothing else would've worked." He stirred the water and flowers with a small metal spoon before putting the thermometer in and sealing the pressure cooker shut.
"Alright, just gotta wait about half an hour. Should give me around five healing potions."
Mary looked at him like he had grown a second head. "Isn't it kinda gross, though? Drinking something made with your own blood?"
Ethan leaned back against a tree, not even blinking. "I'm not really drinking my blood. It's just an agent to help make the potion. And honestly? Drinking my own blood isn't even in the top ten of weird stuff I've had to deal with in my past life."
Mary just shivered. "You know you could've just asked me for a healing potion, right? You still have one free purchase left."
Ethan blinked, like a lightbulb had just flicked on in his head. "Oh, right! I totally forgot about that. I still have a freebie." He turned to her. "Alright then, bring up the shop, will you? I couldn't find it in the system interface before."
"That's because it's not a shop," Mary huffed, puffing her cheeks like a grumpy kid.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "If it's not a shop, then what is it?"
"You really didn't pay attention at all, did you? Let me spell it out for you." Mary pointed a finger like a teacher about to give a lecture. "As you know, the system will give you missions sometimes. And when you complete those missions, you earn system points. You can use those points to buy an item from the system bringer—which is me in your case. Got it? Or should I say it again?"
Ethan stared at her blankly. "So... how is that not a shop?"
"BECAUSE I SAID IT'S NOT!" Mary yelled, throwing her hands up in the air like she was dealing with a particularly annoying student.
"Alright, alright! Not a shop. Got it. No need to yell." Ethan raised his hands in surrender. "So, can you just show me what I can get already?"
Mary let out a dramatic sigh, then snapped her fingers. A glowing green interface appeared in front of Ethan, hovering in the air. The interface had seemingly everything. From weapons and clothes to medicine and... children's toys?
To Ethan, it looked exactly like the kind of system shop he'd seen a million times in anime and manga. But he wasn't about to say that out loud. No way. He didn't have the energy to start another world war right now.
"Here you go. Pick whatever you want," Mary said, flopping back like she was done dealing with his nonsense.
Ethan leaned against the tree and started browsing through the potion section. Considering that he was currently injured and needed to rest, it was actually a good and productive way to pass the time while waiting for his potions to finish brewing. Plus, it gave him a good idea of what he could buy now and what he could buy later when he had more points.
He first went to the potion segment. There were all kinds of potions. Some boosted stats temporarily, some healed wounds, and there were even ones that—
"Why are there libido potions in here?" Ethan muttered, squinting at the screen.
And even weirder, under the potions tab, there were juices. Like, actual fruit juices. Mango, orange, grape, and many more.
"Just who the heck put this mess together?" Ethan asked, clearly baffled.
"Obviously me," Mary said, glaring right through Ethan. "What, you got a problem with that?"
Ethan just stared at her, deadpan. "Figures," he muttered under his breath before sighing and scrolling deeper into the chaos of the interface.