Hopp's Period

"Hopp! Are you alright!"

Karl rushed past the scattered debris around them, not bothering to get dressed before embracing Hopp.

The moment their bodies touched, Karl realized Hopp's temperature was alarmingly high.

Did she get hurt before? No, Hopp didn't…

Anxiously checking the source of the bloodstains, Karl quickly recalled the scenes from the hunt.

But then, Karl stopped, his face slowly turning red.

"She, she's on her period…"

Menstruation, also known as a woman's monthly cycle, is a regular metabolic phenomenon that occurs after puberty.

The amount of bleeding varies depending on one's health.

Hopp's situation was considered quite severe.

Good, it's not some sudden illness or hidden injury flaring up. In that case…

Placing Hopp back on the floor, Karl turned around and took his wrench from the Bag of Holding.

Chanting an incantation, Karl gestured in the air with his free hand. As a soft energy appeared at his fingertips, he immediately squatted down and touched Hopp with his fingers.

The energy quickly seeped into Hopp's body. Hopp, whose consciousness was blurry, suddenly curled up, then slowly relaxed.

"Ka, Karl…"

Opening her heavy eyes, Hopp looked at Karl with a confused expression, feeling an immense heaviness in her body.

"Do you know you're on your period recently?"

"Period?"

At this point, Karl knew Hopp likely didn't understand much about female hygiene and hadn't realized she was "off" recently.

"Never mind, I'll explain it to you after you've recovered. I'll make you a lounge chair later; sleeping on the floor is still a bit cold."

With that said, Karl took out the Alchemy Jug and a wooden bowl carved from a log from his Bag of Holding, preparing some diluted saltwater for Hopp to drink.

It was important to replenish electrolytes after significant blood loss.

Clink, clink, clink…

The sound of Karl chipping away at the wood with flint echoed through the room. Hopp, whose strength had slightly recovered, leaned against the wall, quietly watching Karl work.

This atmosphere gave her a sense of "home."

After a while, Karl placed a crudely leveled lounge chair beside her.

"You can lie on this for now. Once I reach level 3, I'll refine it."

Artificers experienced a significant leap in power at level 3.

Upon reaching this level, Artificers could choose their specialization, also known as a subclass.

Currently, there were four subclasses for Artificers: Alchemist, Artillerist, Battle Smith, and Armorer.

Karl had chosen the Armorer subclass during his studies at the academy. Once he reached level 3, he could begin training the Armorer's class features, allowing his Artificer abilities to evolve towards the Armorer specialization.

This evolution was irreversible, much like a class change in some games.

Once he gained the Armorer features, Karl would be unable to acquire other Artificer subclasses.

However, thanks to the Artificer's unique ability to use any magical item, Karl could also self-teach the abilities of other subclasses.

But without the corresponding features, the effects and power were inferior to those of the respective subclasses.

"You know so much, why were you only level 1 when we first met?"

Lying on the lounge chair, Hopp looked at Karl, who had resumed his work, and asked the question that had been on her mind.

Karl rolled his eyes good-naturedly, turned around, and looked at Hopp. "Because when I was at school, I spent most of my time studying theoretical knowledge. Spellcasters need to learn a lot of theory!"

"Why do you think I can use corresponding abilities shortly after leveling up?"

"Even before I became an official Artificer, the theoretical knowledge required for Artificer levels one through four was already a mandatory exam for us!"

Recalling his days of constant exams at school, Karl's eyes even welled up slightly.

"It seems like you guys had it pretty tough…"

Seeing Karl's exhausted expression, Hopp twitched her lips, feeling for the first time that spellcasters also had a difficult path.

"Sigh~, it's tough only for those of us with average talent. Those with high talent grasp it instantly, while those with low talent can't even cross the threshold."

The foundations for Mages and Artificers encompassed knowledge from mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and more.

The runes of spells were quite similar to computer code.

In scientific subjects, aside from chemistry and biology, which could be learned through rote memorization, if you couldn't learn math and physics, you truly couldn't learn them.

A significant reason Karl could become an Artificer with an Intelligence of around 12 was that he was a computer science major in his previous life. He succeeded in becoming an Artificer after finding the knack for learning spell runes.

Hearing Karl talk about his academy life, Hopp also became curious.

"Talented? How talented?"

The question left Karl momentarily at a loss for words, even causing him to put down the work in his hands.

"Well, how should I put it? During the second half of the first semester, there was a fellow Mage who wanted to be an Artificer part-time. I studied the basic knowledge for a semester, but she only attended one week of classes before she stopped coming. During the final exam, she placed first, and I placed sixth."

"Sixth? That's still pretty good, isn't it?"

"Ahem! There were only ten people in the entire class."

"…"

Thinking about her own terrible performance when learning woodworking, Hopp regretfully realized that even if she weren't a Tiefling and had received a good education, she likely wouldn't have had the talent to become a Mage or an Artificer.

Seeing that Hopp had recovered considerably, Karl prepared some more saltwater and instructed Hopp to clean herself in the corner.

He, meanwhile, began crafting wooden basins, preparing to tan the lizard hides to make some spare clothing for the two of them.

Tanning leather using traditional methods required wood ash, and Karl happened to still have the wood shavings left over from building the wooden house and furniture.

He first lit a wooden strip with Prestidigitation and then used Mage Hand to gather a large clump of wood shavings in mid-air.

As the wooden strip approached the shavings, the flame instantly spread throughout the entire clump.

Because of his awakened Psionic abilities, Karl's Mage Hand could last almost indefinitely, as long as he remained focused.

Once the wood shavings had completely burned to ash, Karl placed the wood ash into a wooden basin filled with water. He continued this process until all the wood shavings were consumed.

He first picked out two incomplete pieces of the cut lizard hide and threw them into the wooden basin. Karl then got up again, and while the alkaline solution was working on the leather, he began processing the lizard's meat and bones.