Near-death Experiences is a Good Way to Bring People Closer to Each Other

Loki tried to get up, groaning as he felt his legs buckle underneath him, falling to the ground.

As he looked around, he saw the Immanis Beluae lying on the ground, dead. Loki remembered what happened. Him lunging for the monster as it stung Daphne, slashing its eyes, causing it to collapse, writhing on the ground in agony, its arm managing to fling Terrence away from where he was, its tail swatting Loki out of the air like a fly, Loki landing on one of the scales that the monster had shed, a bit of the scale piercing his leg.

Daphne was laying on the ground, still paralyzed, Terrence groaning as he clutched his arm which had been bent in an odd angle when he hit the ground. Some distance away, Nishan and Seraphine were carrying over Saltavore, Saltavore himself seeming to be knocked out, blood trickling from his head. He most likely struck his head against something, most likely a rock.

"Do something," Nishan growled desperately as he, Seraphine and Saltavore neared where Loki was. "You have a trick up your sleeve, right?"

"I-"

[Combat Quest Completed: +135 Xp]

[700/800 Xp]

[Combat Quest Completed: + Mystery Reward]

[Total Recovery has been awarded]

[Total Recovery will heal all those that are alive within 50 meters of you]

[Would you like to use Total Recovery?]

'Yes,' Loki thought. 'Use it now.'

[Total Recovery has been activated]

"What the- what is going on with you?" Nishan exclaimed in shock.

"Huh?" Loki looked down and realized that he was, well, glowing. That glow seemed to spread all around him, and everyone it touched seem to heal as well, except for the dead musk oxen and the Immanis Beluae. After the glowing light disappeared, all of them were healed. Loki inspected the now non-existent piece of scale that was in his leg. Daphne managed to stand up shakily, the effects of the paralyzing poison gone, Terrence's arm righted itself, and the blood trickling from Saltavore's head stopped, Saltavore opening his eyes with a small groan.

"So," Terrence said. "Did your system grant you some healing powers this time?"

"No," Daphne answered for him, limping over, the poison still lingering in her blood. "He hasn't levelled up yet."

"Apparently, it was a mystery reward for defeating the Immanis Beluae," Loki said.

"Nice," Seraphine grinned. "Your system is cool, you know that? The fact that you can inspect people and beasts and plants, and your Inventory and all those other cool features. I wish I had it."

"... System?"

The four off them turned around, seeming to have forgotten that Nishan and Saltavore was there as well.

"Okay, you're telling us what the hell is going on," Saltavore insisted. "I don't give a damn for you excuses, tell us now."

So, that was how the two brothers found out about Loki's true heritage and powers, and wouldn't stop asking him questions while he was explaining.

"Wait, you got an Ashel Silver sword from the game?" Nishan exclaimed. "Do you know how hard it is for normal people to get it? You have to have quite a bit of money, and be at least a Level 35 to be able to purchase something like that!"

"Really?" Loki looked surprised.

"Lo, Ashel Silver are usually found in elven worlds," Daphne explained. "Some of the elven worlds already don't like humankind, even the friendlier elven worlds overprice it to us because they know we don't really have much other way to purchase it. That's why Ashel Silver is so expensive. The reason why there's a decent amount of Ashel Silver on Earth is because of Original families, who were elves."

"Forget that," Saltavore rubbed his temple. "You can unlock Abilities? Like, you can have more than one Ability? How many Abilities do you have?"

"I have three so far," Loki rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Inspect, Memory Warp and Mind See, Mind Do."

"Do you get a new Ability every time you level up?" Nishan wondered. "And drinking 2 liters of water a day gives you 5 Xp? Is that why you're always drinking water? And how did you even find out that you're a Laufeyson? How are you a Laufeyson? You said you're a Halfling, and since you're from an Original family, one of your races must be elves, but what's your second race?"

Loki spent the rest of the afternoon explaining everything to Nishan and Saltavore, while his friends decided to leave the brothers to their questioning and start clearing up the area to make camp for the night. Since there were so many dead musk oxen around, all they had to do was pick one of the musk oxen that wasn't too battered to cook for that night.

When night fell and the brothers were satisfied with the answers they got, beds of heather and skewers of musk ox meat had already been prepared. That night, Nishan and Saltavore even offered to take the first watch, so that Loki could get the 'adequate amount of sleep'. Loki knew that the two brothers were fascinated by his system, and basically just wanted to see what happened it Loki levelled up. As Loki fell asleep, he thought to himself how Nishan and Saltavore seemed to be more involved with them, not making it seem like they were travelling with them only because they needed to and the moment they were back, they could distance himself again. Loki smiled as his eyes closed, falling into a slumber.