"Down, and stay down, you ugly bastard!" Hajin drove his fist through exposed bone before another discharge could gather beneath the bristles.
The boar's head slammed into the dirt, and its broken foreleg quit trying to lift beneath his knee.
Light faded along both tusks as three corrupted Shards dissolved, and no fourth one ever formed.
'Finished means no twitching, not whatever the first cracked skull tricked me into believing.'
"Ow, ow, okay, punching skulls is a fantastic idea right up until it isn't."
Light rose in two streams, one sinking into the Ring while the other drifted toward Juna at the boulder.
[ Host reward: 13,495 EXP | Ring: 64,995 / 500,000 | 13% ]
[ Juna reward: 15,000 EXP | One Wing: 15,000 / 300,000 | 5% ]
Her ears twitched at its touch, then she slumped back against the stone, too spent to stand.
Warmth spread up his arm and did nothing for the cracked ribs stabbing him with each breath.
"Thirteen percent and zero new ribs, great deal, really, thanks for that," he muttered, rolling his eyes at the screen until another receipt popped open beside the rewards.
[ Loot: Corrupted Boar Tusk | Common → Mythic through Fragment's Blessing ]
[ Tusk of the Earth Render | Mana-powered strike splits ground along a two-pace line ]
"Wait, Mythic? From a pig? Oh, I love you, pig, I take back the bastard part."
The tusk loosened from the shattered jaw, pulsing once as the glow ran down its curve and died.
He wrapped it beside his old sword in the pack, then dug under the chest plates with his camping knife.
'Farmer wants proof, the guild wants proof, and this ugly thing better have a core.'
One three-Shard core came free, still reeking of corruption no ordinary pasture animal should carry.
He wrapped it separately and buckled the flap, leaving both the guild payment and the farmer's bounty uncollected.
[ CringeSlayer91: glowing tusk, my inner loot goblin wants that wrapped thing immediately ]
"Get in line, goblin, it's mine and it's already packed."
He wiped the knife clean on a rag, then limped back toward Juna and leaned against the boulder.
He kept his bad side off the stone and smirked down at her, "Almost a promotion, almost a meal with extra hands, thanks for quitting before either one stuck."
Blood smeared the corner of her mouth, and his smirk died while he coiled the Chain.
[ Chains of the Goddess | Growth weapon | Rare | Damage: 99% | Integrity: 1% ]
[ Repair and evolution require absorbed divine or corrupted essence | Suitable material must be supplied ]
A whole corrupted corpse lay right there, and every damaged link stayed exactly as broken as before.
'Feeding the Chain can wait until I learn its appetite, she's bleeding while I read.'
"Hey, stay with me, no napping yet, you hear?" He knelt at her shoulder and found a pulse under her jaw while the cloth over her flank kept darkening.
He cut a clean strip from inside his torn shirt and pressed it hard against the wound.
She flinched and bared her teeth, but left her hand beside his, letting the dressing stay.
"You can hate my shirt later," he murmured, holding the strip in place, "just keep breathing like that, and save the insults for somebody who knows bandages."
Her breathing steadied as he tied the strip, though cloth could never fix what was wrong underneath.
'City has beds and healers, this rock has a dead pig, easy choice.'
"Shit, damn, okay, you weigh more than your insults suggested, I should charge carrying fees," he wheezed, sliding one arm under her knees and the other below her back.
Her tail curled around his forearm as he lifted, a weak little hold that made his throat go tight.
'That tail trusts this arm, so the arm can shut up until we find a bed.'
[ JunaFanClub: tail around his arm, somebody tell me she's okay ]
[ ShadowMage44: breathing looks steady, please find help when you reach people ]
"She's breathing and complaining with her hands, so next stop is a bed and somebody better at this than me." He shortened his steps along the trail, keeping her head off the point of his shoulder.
[ LurkerNoMore: if this is CGI, that injury scene is getting too convincing ]
He squinted at the strange letters while stepping around a fallen branch, "What the hell is CGI, some kind of play, or the thing you say when blood gets uncomfortable?"
[ ShadowMage44: pictures built by computers, machines make creatures and places look real ]
[ NewViewer_02: expensive pretend worlds, answering us live makes that explanation harder ]
'Machines that invent monsters, sure, maybe they could invent me a gentler road.'
"Your world pays money to invent trouble, mine hands it out free, no wonder you like watching from over there."
[ Stream: Active | Viewers: 84 | Soul Energy: 41 | Trend: Rising sharply ]
Juna slept through the climbing count while viewers argued loudly whether he was real or just a very committed performer. Their gifts bought the battered weapon knocking against his hip, which made the argument feel pretty damn stupid to him.
"Pretend worlds, huh, then whose gifts keep buying the real steel banging against my hip?" A damaged link snagged his torn shirt, and he stopped to tug the cloth loose without dropping her.
[ NewViewer_02: rent, monthly payments to stay inside boxes, how is that for real ]
[ CringeSlayer91: traffic, hours behind cars, motor vehicles meant to move people that barely move ]
He ducked a low branch and let it pass over her sleeping head, "Rent I get, but carts that don't move sound stupid, do they charge you for waiting in those too?"
[ ShadowMage44: still want proof, show something nobody can fake ]
[ LurkerNoMore: live magic, no hidden trick, if that is possible ]
Juna hissed in her sleep as her side pulled, and he swallowed the longer step he planned.
"No tricks today, my passenger needs every bit of strength you want me wasting on a show, so watch and decide."
[ CringeSlayer91: fair, another pig would have been terrible proof anyway ]
Carts rattled beyond the trees, and he followed the sound until the trail spat him onto a wider road.
Farmers hauling hay glanced at his bloody sleeve and quickly found their vegetables very interesting instead.
A notification flashed across the feed the moment he reached open grass.
[ Donation settled: ashley | +100,000 Credits | Wallet: 100,065 ]
He stopped dead, jaw dropping, both arms still under Juna and no spare hand to rub his eyes.
"One hundred... thousand? No, nope, I'm counting the zeros again, that's not real."
[ ashley: hi, i want to mod your channel, keep chat clean and organize people, let me help ]
The number stayed exactly the same the second time, which somehow made it scarier than the boar.
'Enough to buy that expensive lullaby, and no clue whether singing fixes her ribs.'
He left the purchase catalog closed and moved toward shade, "That's one hell of an introduction, what does a mod even do once the money stops scaring people?"
[ ashley: moderator, manages messages, removes troublemakers and keeps donations from becoming fights, your rules ]
He waited for a cart to rattle past before answering, unwilling to bargain beside wheels while carrying her.
'She can manage messages if I allow it, but my rules don't belong to whoever pays most.'
"Fine, you can help with chat, real permissions wait until I can put her down, and my rules come first."
[ ashley: agreed, provisional adult supervision, i'll explain controls when there's a moment ]
"Adult supervision? I'm nineteen, that's rude..." He puffed out his cheeks in mock offence, then deflated, "but okay, deal."
[ ShadowMage44: that gift could buy the pig an entire apology tour ]
"Pig, rust, your sweat... winning did very little for the smell." Against his collar, Juna's nose wrinkled and her eyes cracked halfway open while her fingers searched for the dressing.
"There she is," he said, grinning with pure relief, "gratitude weighs less than complaints, you know, I could carry more of it."
"Nobody ordered you to haul me like turnips," she grumbled, dragging a cleaner fold of his shirt toward her cheek and tucking her nose into his collar, "stop sounding proud of your delivery service."
"Next contract includes a basket, then you complain about the handle and I get my hands back."
"A wolf would carry me better," she huffed, her face going pink, "and its shoulder would have fewer corners."
He held her knees a little higher over a rut, "Then let the wolf buy your supper, I'm finding somebody who knows what those ribs need."
"Wake me for food, and stop bouncing before you blame the road for it." She tugged his sleeve one last time, then let her hand settle against his arm and closed her eyes.
'Complaining again, good, that's one sound I'll never charge her for making.'
The capital's towers rose beyond the road's bend while afternoon shadows stretched over wagons and farm carts.
He moved onto a shaded verge outside the walls, leaving room for travelers and watching the guards first.
[ Viewers: 127 | Milestone: 100 viewers | Soul Energy: 71 | New arrivals detected ]
Juna's Insignia warmed through the cloth against his arm, easing her a little without touching her injuries.