"Hey, be careful! You don't want to slip!" Ella called to Henry as he teetered on a rock in the middle of the stream.
Henry wobbled for a moment, arms flailing as he fought for balance, before finally hopping onto solid ground and shooting her a reassuring grin. "I'm fine. Just a little wobbly, that's all."
Scoffing at the exchange, I crouched and cupped a handful of water, only to pause at how warm it felt. Then I splashed it over my stomach, watching crimson-stained water run down my body and twist into the current below.
Then, gently, I peeled loose the blood-soaked bandages just enough to get a look at the worst of it, only to freeze at the sight.
Most of the wound was already scarred over, as if it had been healing for months. Thick, uneven tissue sealed most of the torn flesh, leaving only a few raw places along the edges, and even those looked more irritated than truly open. The blood washed away in faint red ribbons, exposing pale, twisted skin beneath.
For a second, I just stared.
None of this was normal.
Then again, neither was anything else about this place. At this point, the world was so full of impossible things that somehow this barely stood out.
Yet seemingly unable to believe my eyes, I pressed on the flesh again, frowning when I felt no pain.
However, I wasn't the only one concerned. Sensing someone watching, I looked up and found Benjamin staring at me with deep lines etched into his already aging face. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," I muttered, though my voice came out more distracted than I meant it to.
He frowned. "You don't sound very convincing."
I hesitated, then pulled the bandage aside just enough for him to see. "Look at this."
Stepping closer, he peered down, his brow furrowing as he looked over the injury. "That's..." He trailed off, visibly thrown. "Atlas, this is almost completely healed."
"No kidding."
Benjamin crouched slightly, studying the scarred flesh with narrowed eyes. "This should still be open. Even with proper treatment, it shouldn't look anywhere near this closed by now."
Ella, of course, immediately leaned in. "How close?"
"Almost fully scarred," I said.
"That's not concerning at all," Henry called from the other side of the river.
Ignoring him, Ella leaned to get a closer look. "Does it hurt?"
"Hardly."
Benjamin straightened slowly, his expression turning more thoughtful. "It's almost like Henry's core," he said, still sounding hesitant. "But I just don't understand where it's coming from."
"Could just be this world," I said, pulling the bandage back down.
Benjamin gave a small nod, still turning the thought over, but Amelia spoke before he could say anything else.
"Either way," she said, "if you're healed enough to stand there talking, you're healed enough to move. We need higher ground, and the sooner we reach it, the sooner we'll get a proper look at what we're dealing with."
Benjamin lingered for a moment, giving me one last look before letting out a quiet breath and pushing himself to his feet. "Just keep an eye on it for me," he said. "Let me know if anything changes. For now, there's not much else I can tell you."
"Yeah. I will," I said with a nod.
"What did I say?" Amelia called back without turning. "Move."
I straightened, exchanging a tired look with Benjamin.
"Yes, ma'am."
Hours passed as we trekked along the river. The stream widened as we went, growing deeper, with fish darting in and out beneath the surface. All the while, Ella kept firing questions at Henry about his powers. He didn't have answers to any of them, which eventually led her to turn to me for my opinion on some of her hypotheses.
However, my mind was elsewhere.
"Henry, hold my shoes," I said, already kicking them off and handing them over.
He blinked at me, confused for a second, then it clicked.
"You're not serious, are you?" he asked, raising a brow.
"Very," I said, stepping into the water.
It felt warmer than I expected at first, but the farther I went, the cooler it became.
Amelia opened her mouth, probably to tell me not to waste time, but Benjamin had already made himself comfortable on a rock in the stream. He'd kicked off his shoes and was calmly carving at a spear, all while watching me with that patient look of his.
"What are you—" Ella started, but I cut her off with a quick shush, my eyes locked on a long, sleek fish swimming against the current.
Just a little closer...
I inched forward, hands hovering above the water.
Come on...
Just a little more...
The moment it seemed close enough, I lunged.
My fingers brushed the fish's slick body, only to slide right off as it darted away.
"Damn it," I hissed.
"Close!" Owen called from the bank, already pointing at another fish tucked among a patch of weeds.
I tried again, creeping toward it, but once more the fish bolted before I could grab it.
"These things are fast," I muttered.
Then Benjamin's voice cut through my frustration. "Atlas, try this."
Something came flying at me, and I caught it on instinct. Looking down, I realized it was one of my spears, only modified. The end had been split into five sharpened points, each one held in place by vines woven tightly between them.
"Try spearing it," Benjamin said, lifting another stick in his hands as if to demonstrate. "And aim a little below where you see it. The water shifts the fish's position."
I nodded, a fresh wave of focus settling over me.
Owen quickly pointed out another fish near the edge of the stream. I crept closer, spear in hand, then lowered the tip just beneath the fish's head.
Steadying myself, I took a breath and jabbed.
The spear plunged into the water and sank through the fish's flesh, impaling it cleanly. Even then, it still thrashed wildly, forcing me to drive my knife between its eyes before it finally went still.
That was enough to send Owen and Henry into cheers from the bank as I lifted it from the water.
The weight of it really hit me when I dropped it onto the ground with a heavy thud. Out of the stream, I finally got a better look at it. Its body was long and grayish, something like a salmon, though thinner, with long fins trailing down its back.
"Nice catch," Henry said, handing me back my shoes.
"Yeah, not bad," I said with a grin, shaking the water from my hands.
"Have you ever gutted a fish before?" Benjamin asked as he crouched down to inspect it.
"Yeah, a couple times," I replied, my gaze sweeping the area until a flat stone nearby caught my attention.
I hauled the fish over, still surprised by its weight, and dropped it onto the rock.
Pulling out my knife, I made a clean cut along its belly and pulled the guts free with practiced ease. Hollowing it out felt almost methodical. I severed the head next, chopping through the spine with one swift strike.
As I turned, I nearly jumped.
Everyone had gathered around me, crowding in so close you'd think I was handing out gold instead of gutting a fish.
"Move, move. I need space to clean it," I muttered, waving them back.
"Oh, sorry," Ella said quickly, stepping aside. Henry and Owen followed suit, both looking a little sheepish.
Kneeling at the stream's edge, I dunked the fish into the water and scrubbed away the blood vessels clinging stubbornly to the insides. Once I was satisfied, I held it up and gave it a final look over.
"That's a pretty good job," Benjamin said with an approving nod as he inspected the fish. "We should get a fire going and cook it. Been too long since I've had fish."
"I'll get the fire started," I offered, more than ready to eat.
After a while spent gathering stones for sparks and carefully feeding the flames, the fire finally crackled to life. The warmth was welcome, and I found myself settling into its rhythm until Henry's triumphant shout cut through the air.
He came running over with a squirming fish in his hands, its body flopping wildly as he tried to keep hold of it.
"Look at you," I said with a grin. "Want me to gut it?"
"Nah, I got it," Henry said, shaking his head. "Can I borrow your knife, though?"
"Sure."
I handed it over, and the moment the blade slipped between the fish's eyes, its thrashing stopped, but so did Henry.
He went still, his gaze drifting away as if he were staring at something only he could see.
I waved a hand in front of his face. "You good?"
It took him a second, but then he blinked and shook himself out of it. "I just… leveled up," he said, sounding almost disbelieving. "My stat screen says I gained a level."
I raised a brow. "A level? From killing a fish?"
"Yeah," he said as he sat down, still looking distracted. "It says I got three points to allocate."
"So what now?" I asked, intrigued despite myself. "You spend the points, and then what happens?"
Henry scratched at the side of his head, still looking a little dazed. "I don't know. This is new to me too."
Before he could think on it any longer, Emily wandered over. "Hey, is the fire ready yet? The fish is all cut up and good to…." Her words faded into confusion the moment she eyed the new fish. "Wait, when did we get another one?"
Yet before she could press any further, Henry cut in. "Emily, I need your opinion. If you had to allocate points to a game character, like strength, intelligence, stuff like that, what would you pick?"
She blinked, caught off guard. "Uh... I don't know. I've never really played those kinds of games. I'm more into farming sims and exploration stuff. Why?"
"My core says I leveled up from killing that fish, and now I need to figure out where to spend the points," Henry explained, pushing himself to his feet as his gaze swept over the others. "I'm gonna see what everyone else thinks."
Emily watched him jog off, still trying to catch up. "He leveled up from killing a fish?" She shook her head. "Isn't that supposed to be harder than that?"
I shrugged and got up, trailing after Henry just in time to catch the tail end of the conversation as it drifted into something more philosophical.
"Strength sounds pretty straightforward," Owen was saying, scratching at his head. "It probably just makes you physically stronger, right? But intelligence... does that make you smarter, or does it just affect your abilities like in a game?"
Ella nodded, thoughtful. "It could make your abilities stronger. But we won't really know unless you try."
Ideas bounced back and forth after that, everyone weighing in on what Henry should choose. Owen, however, seemed more certain than the rest.
"I think intelligence makes the most sense," he said. "Out of all six stats, that's the one most likely to affect your core abilities."
I jumped in before I could help myself. "What about strength? If it does what it sounds like, you'd hit harder, right? And hey, maybe you could finally beat me in an arm wrestle if you put points into that." I shot him a teasing grin.
Benjamin, as usual, cut in with the sensible take. "I wouldn't rush into that. We still don't actually know what any of these stats mean in practice. Guessing could backfire."
"I don't know," I said, rubbing at my jaw as I thought it over. "If strength works the way we think it does, it wouldn't be a bad choice."
Henry zoned out for a moment, his gaze going distant as if he were caught up in some internal calculation. Then, without warning, he seemed to snap back to himself. "Alright, I'll put all three points into intelligence. Let's see what happens."
He bent down and plucked two plants from the ground, one in each hand.
A second passed.
The plant in his right hand began to gray and wither, its life draining away slowly. He paused, focusing, and then the plant in his left hand darkened almost instantly, shriveling at an unnerving speed. Its petals fell apart and drifted down like ash.
A cold shudder crept down my spine.
Watching the life drain from those plants, I couldn't stop the thought that followed.
What would that do to flesh?
The idea twisted my stomach, and then, like a tidal wave, the visions slammed into me.
However, unlike the first time, though, I was ready for it. After a moment, I managed to force the memories back down just before I realized someone was talking to me.
"Atlas... Atlas, are you listening?"
Ella's voice cut through the haze and pulled me back. She sounded concerned, like she'd already been trying to get my attention for a while.
I blinked, and the world slowly settled back into place. Everyone was staring at me, concern written across their faces. I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to shake off the weight of the vision.
"Sorry," I muttered. "Just got lost in thought."
Ella offered me a small smile, though her brow stayed furrowed. "Do you think you could help us catch some more fish? I want to see if Henry can level up again if he kills a few more."
I hesitated. "I'm not sure it's that simple," I said, but one look at how determined they all were made it clear this wasn't going away. I let out a quiet sigh. "But sure, I'll help."
As we headed toward the river, Henry stayed quiet, his eyes fixed on his hands as though they held some terrible secret.
"It's weird," he said at last, breaking the silence. "Having the ability to just... decay things."
His voice was quieter now.
"I'm not really sure how I feel about it. What if I can't stop it once it starts?" He swallowed, still staring at his fingers. "The more I think about it, the worse it gets. Like... what if I accidentally use it on one of you?"
I picked up one of the spears I'd left on the rocks and tossed it lightly in the air, catching it with a thoughtful frown. "Didn't you say earlier that you have a sense of how to control it?"
Henry paused, thinking it over before nodding. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He bent down and picked up the other spear, the one Benjamin had been working on. "Anyway, next time I level up, I'm putting all the points into strength. Maybe then I'll finally beat you in an arm wrestle." He grinned, then his face lit up with a mischievous glint. "What if it gives me a six-pack?"
I blinked at him, taken aback by the sudden shift in mood. "You? With a six-pack? Yeah, right. Keep dreaming, buddy."
"Wow, low blow, man," Henry said with a laugh, and I couldn't help laughing with him.
Just like that, the tension eased a little, and for a moment, everything felt lighter.