"Well, I guess that's it."
With an exacerbated sigh, I sent the last of many devices, tools, and magic-imbued items through the shadows to the mining city far below. The little game of give and take had been going on all weekend. They'd give me adamantine and mithral to experiment with, I'd send them raw materials and items to refine or install throughout the city.
Now, however, the game was at an end. They would continue their work as always while I and the rest of the candidates were back on campus. Standing, as we'd done every quarter thus far, before Doyle and the other teachers to hear of what awaited us for the coming semester.
"Long time no see!" Doyle chuckled weakly after he and his peers parted from their huddle. "And welcome back. I know you all have been working hard and wish to continue working. And you will, but first, we must cover an important but often overlooked aspect of adventuring. Healing.
"To that end, we'll be leaving campus for the first time and traveling to the Chaulort Kingdom to learn from the best and brightest Witches in the region!" Zeff announced with one of his self-imposed rounds of applause. "It is there that you will study both recovery and healing magic. And it is there you will remain until the Witches of Chaulort Assembly cosign on your healing abilities!"
"So without further adieu." Olga monotonously gestured to the portal.
I wasn't particularly excited about the course. Even with light magic, I wasn't even considering placing myself in the position of a healer within the guild. That was what Carbury was for after all.
And if not him, that was what the Moon and Twilight were for.
Though, like with many things, intent and reality wound up being far different.
I intended for the Moon and Twilight to free me from the burden of Bamfing and healing my subordinates multiple times throughout every day. But what ended up being the reality is a million lingering images and whispers breaching my stream of thought from the seas of my second mind.
It was similar to the effect of my passive abilities but in reverse. The images and whispers were received by the Eternal Eye. Only when my thoughts lingered on either of the lights did the feelings stir.
I saw… places. People. Things. Monoliths. Ancient ruins. And trillions of people roaming the far kingdoms, looking at the moon or traveling through the dark. And closer to the tower, I saw monsters of all shapes, sizes, and strengths.
Naturally, the candidates were sent in the way of most of those monsters. More, however, were saved for the churn that what was to come shortly after we finished our tenure in witchcraft.
A tenure that I again wasn't excited for. I was, however, excited to see a new place and eagerly went through the portal as soon as it opened.
I emerged in an alcove leading to a grandiose atrium of paneled wood, polished stone, and towering windows looking out upon the foggy waters of the world sea and the endless expanse of a snow-dusted land. The smells of a hundred different herbs and roasted nuts wafted through the air, circulated, and distributed through the room via hollow vines and tree branches that spun like ceiling fans.
Cubic in shape with stairs leading to the lower levels, the atrium was on the top floor of a building only a few stories tall and starkly empty. Only three individuals came to meet the fifty-five students of Class 999 and their instructors. A slim man with a wiry nose and receding hairline, a tiefling with pale red skin, and Ferris Licht.
"Welcome to the Chaulort Assembly, students of the Bodhi Tree. I am Archibald Weisenheimer, Witch Chieftain of this fine hospital."
Ferris and even the tiefling rolled their eyes at the introduction, forcing a few giggles from Zakira and me after noticing, which stifled their introductions a bit.
"I am Chief of Administration, so you may not see me around as much. But my name is Hope," said the Tiefling after Ferris introduced herself as the director of patient care.
"Yes, yes." Archie impatiently nodded and waved as he turned. "If you'll follow me."
His wave fell into a point leading past the stairs we descended to make note of an elevated walkway straddling the wall of another walkway to the left and a circular greenhouse below us and to the right.
"Every herb, fruit, and vegetable used in the Assembly is grown in-house. In this, we're able to feed our patients a strict diet to aid in their recovery. These rooms to our left are where the majority of your time will be spent." Archie's gesture fell to the doors stretching around the outer edge of the walkway. "You'll find your accommodations to be the rooms closest to your portal.
"The opposing end is where those that must need time and care to recover are housed. Those without the energy to use magical means of healing. Recovery magic." He peeled his lips back into a gummy smile. Then turned for the stairs with another one of his waves.
"The geography of this land is as follows," he suddenly said. Forcing a heavy sigh from Ferris' lungs. "The Chaulort Kingdoms sits at the southwestern tip of the southern peninsula. Some twelve hundred kilometers to the northeast sits a highlands known as the Tri-Point. It is the region where the Kasian Empire, Rhar Kingdom, and our Chaulort Kingdom meet.
"Due to their never-ending conflicts, we at the Assembly are forever busy at work saving the lives of others. For those of you seeking to be Fighters or Rangers, this is what awaits you." He ceremoniously peeled the curtain on a seemingly random window, revealing a medical bay filled with dismembered or disemboweled patients in the middle of healing.
"Ugh." He distastefully groaned upon seeing the uncaring reactions of the class. They, particularly the candidates, had seen worse. And the way he acted made me want to show him.
"Due to the vastness of the twelve kingdoms, we're all but forced to send Witch parties to the many field clinics and hospitals spread across the land. Rarely are the patients wounded near a portal linking them to here. But in some cases, most often the worse." He chortled. "They are stabilized and taken here for treatment. As such, your tenure of healing magic will face you with some of the worst injuries imaginable.
"Your lessons in the lower end of the spectrum will begin in just a few short hours. By the end of the day, the best of you should have moved on to healing magic and will progress as such until we can call yourselves licensed Witches. Whether we choose to follow the path or not, it will be an invaluable tool as an adventurer. So I wish you the best during your studies. And I bid you farewell.
"Ladies!" With a flaring snap of the finger, Archie was on his way, leaving the pained expressions of Ferris and Hope to be the center of everyone's focus.
While he was annoying, I did agree with him. And I didn't need to pass on the word to let the others know. The simple fact that I resonated with that particular line of thought meant my Doppelganger did as well. And he would let the other Doppelgangers know how seriously they should take this.
They, like me, needed to be able to heal others and if possible, themselves.
I didn't want to do it that much.
Ferris and Hope showed us to our rooms with nary a word. They even let us pick and choose the ones we wanted and left and made sure everyone claimed one. And they weren't much. Nothing more than patient rooms with a surprisingly comfortable wooden cot and a desk to go with the visitation chairs in the corner.
Our lessons came a few hours later as advertised. After a rather exquisite lunch, we were guided to an empty multi-patient room and given a lecture on recovery magic by Ferris. Already being practiced, I sat back and tinkered with my apps while listening in for any new knowledge. Of which there was very little. Though she was a far better teacher than Grandpa Lich was.
The only snippet of information regarded the difference between an evolved and an unevolved body. A difference I could easily distinguish from by looking at it, but surprisingly, recovering an evolved being was far more difficult than the other way around
It was because of the potentially endless Perks available to the evolved. Depending on their nature, specific areas may be needed to be focused on or avoided entirely for the individual to properly heal. Learning the difference was a matter of one's proficiency as a Witch. As such, we would only be recovering unevolved people.
My first victim was a relatively young man. In his thirties perhaps, with an injury I saw far too often in my past life. Carpal tunnel.
He leaned back in his bed upon seeing me, then seemed to relax after gaining a closer look. But only a little. "Just relax." I smiled, outstretching my hands.
Tentatively, he held them out to be grasped gently. Then visibly relaxed once I got ahold of his mana and began ebbing and flowing it towards his wrists.
"You know," I suddenly said, ceasing his sighs in seconds. "It'll be a lot better to just get new ones."
"W- what?'
"Wrists." I shook his gently. "Just say the word. I can pop these off and have you a prosthetic in no time."
"N- no!" He tugged violently but ceased once I paused in his recovery.
"What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a writer." He harrumphed.
"Oh?" I suddenly beamed. "As am I."
"Huh." He leaned back a bit to size me up once more. "No shit? Got any advice?"
"If you're up to explore a new genre." I shrugged, then shook his wrists a final time. "That feeling you had. The one when I was joking about your wrists."
"Oh, is that what it was?"
"Yeah." I nodded past his sarcasm. "That feeling of horror? Write about that."
"A- alright. Yeah. Yeah." He began rocking his head back and forth. "I will. Thanks. And thanks for this."
"Don't mention it." I grinned, then skittered across the room to my next victim. An older lady with back issues.
Many slipped disks, she had. So I couldn't help but ask. "How much pain can you handle?"
"I beg your pardon?" She huffed and began to turn, but I halted her with a gently placed palm and a stream of mana that soothed her aches blissfully.
"A few knocks here and a few bangs there and you'll be good as new!" I beamed. "Your back will be as straight as a board for at least ten more years. But." I hesitantly shrugged. "I wouldn't want to give you a heart attack on accident."
My words petrified her in place. Locked her in a state of fear on her bed. But her treatment was complete and more, her temporary immobilization was probably good for her, giving me a good feeling about the whole thing as I made my way to the next victim. But Archie stopped me in my tracks.
"Congratulations." He droned on the word, allowing his sickening tone to reverberate throughout the room endlessly. "You pass. You may take the rest of the night off. But, please." He droned again, this time hissing it through his teeth. "Do care to not give our patients unneeded… stress."
"I'll do my best, Archie." I gave him a brisk pat on the shoulder before waltzing out.
And smiled as his hissing voice trailed through the walls after me. "And do not call me Archie."
Though the day was still young and I hadn't smoked in hours, I took my mirth to my room and smothered it to death with meditation. At first for the sake of my four hours of rest at first, where I watched yet another repetition of the only dream I've experienced in this life. Then to grow closer to the necrotic Ki I was so desperate to circulate.
After trying and failing for the umpteenth time, I emerged in the cold hours of pre-dawn to mosey around and search for a place to smoke. Only to be distracted by the familiar sense of a whisper in the back of my mind. It was of a familiar voice. One that asked, prayed for my presence. And so, in the pale light of the crescent moon, I followed up the stairs to the viewing platform we entered.