Shit happens to the best of us, and I am not arrogant enough to think I am the best at anything. I tripped. That is one of the problems with only having two legs. My agility was enough that I could turn it into a roll and not break anything in the fall.

The boar lowered its tusks and was right behind me. I slammed everything I could into Damage Mitigation and Tough Hide, but the left tusk ripped through my chest, leaving a deep laceration, then I was trampled under the hooves, and the boar ran over me. I felt my thigh bone and ribs crack as I rolled uncontrollably and tried to protect my head.

The boar's momentum was such that it carried on to the bottom of the hill, which was a gully and my objective.

Felix and Pānihi shot past in pursuit as I struggled painfully with my pack, cursing that I didn't put a potion on my belt. If I had it, it probably wouldn't have survived the trampling, and at least they are packed and padded in the pack. They do make pills rather than potions, as broken containers are always a problem, but they are five times the price.

Suddenly, the pack was ripped off me, causing me jarring pain, and the potion packaging dropped on my chest as Kiri then darted away to the fight. That is why you have a team.

I chose a general health potion. My reading on healing described how the potions worked, and they give a sharp spiritual boost to the body's natural healing. That is why a potion will never grow back missing parts, and it leaves you with scars. Your natural healing varies with species, but it is also why you waste the potions if you take them too close together. Your natural healing can only be boosted so far. Potions also target every part of your body, and they cannot be focused on a specific wound. Bone Mending potions do the same thing but are specialised to one part of the body. They are more expensive as they require focused ingredients and a specialised alchemist.

I was more worried about the laceration in my chest than the bones. My Organ Lore has many warnings about blood loss and the organs shutting down.

I use my Transform skill a touch to grow fur, which takes a few precious seconds. The boar was going to start back up the hill towards me, and I discouraged that with my weak Dread Skill. Kiri is dancing around it with knives. I'm not sure what she's trying to accomplish with the knives.

I then grab my water bottle from the pack and soak my trouser leg and shirt, including the fur. I then freeze it. This braces my cracked leg bone and ribs, while adding a layer of protection. Where is Makara when you need her?

I lever myself to my feet with my axe handle.

The Dire Boar is being harassed on all sides, but looks no further damaged. It is at the bottom of the gully, which has softer and deeper soils. I was hoping for a swamp, but we will have to deal with what we have. The boar was about knee deep in the soft soil, and it was moving slower, tearing up the ground as it moved.

I assessed the situation. Pānihi's bleeding had stopped; she probably shared Kiri's Regeneration. She was still limping. Felix was having trouble getting through the bone, worse than the others, but he was fast and noisy, often grabbing the boar's attention.

Kiri was good with those knives and consistently stabbing cracks in the bone. One of the knives was the Blacksteel one. Her knives didn't seem to be doing much, though. There was very little blood and very little penetration of those knives. She was fast and skilled.

We were not equipped for this fight. We needed a person with a shield and spear to keep the boar's attention and hammers to break bones. The sensible thing would be to withdraw and come back better equipped and with more people.

Kiri did not look like she was going to be sensible. She looked frenzied and frantic about killing this thing. I hope she does not have some sort of berserker skill.

I limped closer, leaning on my axe. I am almost ready for the bone potion and then…

Fucking troll shit happens all the fucking time. Kiri mistimed a dodge and went flying with a sickening crunch.

Felix, my smart dog, distracted the boar by darting underneath and using Crushing Bite on the boar's vulnerable balls that were hanging low. The boar bellowed in pain and rage.

I focused my aura and slammed Frigid Void with everything I had on the other two most vulnerable parts of the Dire Boar. They were surrounded by bone, but open to the air, and it only took a determined push to freeze its eyeballs.

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The boar bellowed again and thrashed in panic, completely forgetting the vulnerable Kiri. Kiri was painfully crawling away from the boar, but it looked like she didn't have the use of her legs, and one arm was obviously broken. She will have even more broken bones.

If the boar has broken her back, she will make it worse by moving. If she tears the nerves in the spine, she will need a more specialist healer than I need for my eye. She is probably relying on her regeneration to fix it, but that is risky, depending on its level. From my reading, it would need to be upper Journeyman Level to do that, and I doubt it is that high.

"Stay still, or you will do more damage," I yelled, covering her with my aura and channelling Dread, sending the panicked boar away from her. I seem to have a lot of medical knowledge now.

The boar collapsed on the ground, trying to crush Felix, who had been hanging onto the ballsack. I saw Felix dart out with a sprint, escaping by the fur on his back.

We need to kill this monster, and I can only think of one way: using my skills. It will take time and hurt. I toss the Bone Mending potion I have not used to Kiri. She needs it more.

I limp up to the back of the boar. Felix is keeping it occupied with the noise of his bark. Pānihi is making darting strikes, but her claws are doing minimal damage.

I gather the axe and watch for the timing, then I leap.

The leap was off-skew because of my broken leg, but I got the axe spike embedded in the back of the boar and crawled onto where I could hold on. I was too big to ride him, and my legs flopped on the ground on either side. My weight made him lose balance and crash to the ground.

The boar immediately tried to rise again, but I focused my aura from my hands on his heart and triggered a Tremor to give his heart palpitations. He stumbled again, and I stopped and pulsed it again. Tremor was effective against solid surfaces, such as bone, and my Organ Lore informed me of its damaging effects on the heart's rhythm.

The boar thrashed, and my bones creaked and ground against each other. I used the aura tunnel to alternate Tremor and Frigid Void. Tremor to upset the heart's rhythm and Frigid Void to slow the blood. Truly, Healers must be the most dangerous people around.

I hung on in pain and kept pulsing Tremor and Frigid Void, and the boars' thrashing got weaker and weaker as less blood made it to his other organs, like his brain. Eventually, the boar stopped moving. Then it stopped breathing.

I let myself slide to the ground in exhaustion.

Felix arrived and licked my face. He had bought the last general healing potion. I patted him and then drank it. It was not nearly going to be enough, but it was a start.

I heard bones moving over by where Kiri was. I couldn't see her, but I heard her, "Fucking oath, Oww!"

I will get up and help her. Soon.

I saw Pānihi drag Kiri's backpack to her, and she disappeared behind the mountain that was the Dire Boar.

Maybe it is time to try sitting up. I levered myself to a sitting position using the boar. My ribs ached, but my leg was worse. I won't try moving that until I can resplint it with something better than a thin layer of ice.

A shadow fell over me. I looked up at Kiri. "How are you on your feet?" She still looked awful. Her arm was swollen, but the bone was no longer visibly broken. "I didn't think the Bone Mending potion was that good."

"It wasn't." She leaned on the carcass as she crouched next to me. She was still pretty beat up, but her Regeneration will be working. "The Bone Mending potion synced almost perfectly with my new affinity." Her smile was radiant even with the blood and dirt on her face. "Pānihi and I have a Bone affinity. I realise now that was why I was so attracted to your pendant. My bone affinity was awakening. At the time, I was just trying to figure out if it was related to your affinity and what that was. Felix will have the same affinity, and you both have a similar pendant. You confused me when you just handed it to me to keep." She paused and took a breath. "Anyway, the Bone Mending potion worked with my affinity to give me a Fuse Bone skill, so I can probably help with your broken bones if you want to risk a level 1 newbie." She paused. "Level 2 after fusing my own bones."

"How does it work?" I asked.

"In the Novice levels, a mesh is created to hold the bone in place until the natural healing process heals it. The mesh won't handle real strain, but it is better than an awkward splint. At apprentice, it also gives a boost to healing, and at Journeyman, it is basically a bone healing skill."

"OK, do it."

"I will need to straighten your bone," she warned.

Yeah, that hurt. The Fuse Bone Skill just felt a bit weird. My leg felt weak, but I could stand and walk gently. This would aid the general healing potions.

I looked at the corpse of the Dire Boar, "I assume you want all the bone you can get off this?"

She smiled and nodded. I handed her my axe, "This will probably work better than your knives. I am going to go and sit over there for a while."

"I have another request," she said. I turned to look down at her. "I know it is your kill, but can I buy the monster core off you. I, ah, I promised it to Pānihi."

I moved over to a tree and sat down gingerly. I really need a healing skill. I looked back at Kiri, "You are going to have to explain that to me."

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