Rick’s eyes were glowing with a bright, pure golden light. They held the wisdom of the entire universe. But when he saw Luna’s dirty, crying face, the golden light softened. His eyes turned back to their normal, warm, kind human brown."Luna?" Rick whispered. His voice was very faint. It sounded like the wind blowing through dry leaves. "Why are you here? It is dangerous.""I came to get you!" Luna shouted, tears pouring down her face. "You cannot stay here! You have to come back with me to the surface!"Rick offered her a sad, gentle smile. He reached out his hand and touched her face. His hand was solid enough to wipe away a tear."I cannot go back, my Crystal Maiden," Rick said softly. "My physical body is broken. To merge the two magics... to save the world... I had to give the System an anchor. I am the anchor now. I am the battery for the golden rule."Rick looked around the glowing, collapsing bubble."If I leave this spot," Rick explained, "the new magic will fall apart. The w

The dark cavern was freezing cold. The air smelled like old, rotting meat.Rick stood in front of Luna. He held his wooden staff tightly in both hands. The green light of his healing magic glowed brightly at the tips of the wood. But the green light looked very small against the massive wall of black smoke rolling out of the dark tunnel.From the thick, oily black smoke, a monster crawled into the cavern.It did not have legs. It dragged itself across the cracked white salt floor. Slither. Drag. Slither. It looked like a giant worm made of dark, rotting mud and broken bones. Two massive, glowing purple eyes stared at Rick. The eyes were filled with pure, ancient hunger.Everywhere the monster touched, the white salt floor instantly turned black and crumbled into dust. It was destroying the earth itself.[WARNING.][THE FIRST PLAGUE: ANCIENT ROT.]The purple System box flashed in the air."Rick," Luna whispered, stepping back. She was trembling. She only had one arm left. She had no ma

When Yuren’s blue light broke, the people had gotten their memories back. But the memories had hit them all at once. The sudden return of all their grief, fear, and sorrow was overwhelming. They were drowning in emotional pain.When the radiant mist washed over them, it did not take the memories away. It did not erase the sadness.Instead, it gave them the strength to carry it.A young man who had been crying wildly over the memory of his dead father suddenly stopped screaming. He still remembered his father. He still missed him. The pain was still in his heart. But the pain no longer felt like a crushing rock. It felt like a warm, sad, beautiful badge of honor. He smiled through his tears. He felt a deep, profound peace. Not an empty peace, but a strong, human peace."I am okay," the young man whispered. "I am going to be okay."All over the city, millions of people stopped panicking. They stopped fighting.The Enforcers who had been terrified by their own actions fell to their kne

"The Ancient Rot," said a tired young mother. She was rocking a sleeping baby in her arms. She looked terrified. "I have heard of it. They say a tiny piece of the old plague fell in these mountains. That is why I am trying to reach the City of Dawn. I want the healers there to bless my baby."The third traveler was a young soldier. He wore a heavy iron sword on his hip. He laughed a loud, arrogant laugh."Do not be afraid of the mist," the soldier boasted. "I have my sword. I can cut down any bandits or wolves.""You cannot cut a disease with a sword, boy," the old merchant said softly.The old merchant took a sip of his tea. He leaned closer to the fire."But you do not need to fear the dark," the old merchant whispered, his eyes wide. "Because the dark is not empty anymore. He walks in the mist."The tired mother looked up. "Who walks in the mist?""The Wanderer. The Ghost Doctor," the old merchant said reverently.The soldier rolled his eyes. "That is just a fairy tale for children

Elian felt the approval of a master. He felt a profound, beautiful pride. The Ghost Doctor was telling him that he had done well. He had stood his ground. He was a true healer.The Ghost Doctor smiled one last time. Then, the glowing figure slowly dissolved. He unraveled into thousands of tiny, floating green threads of Qi. The threads danced in the air for a second, like a swarm of happy fireflies, before floating up through the wooden roof and disappearing into the night sky.The room was perfectly normal again.Elian fell to his knees, weeping loudly with joy and awe. The mother ran to the beds, hugging her healthy husband and daughter, crying prayers of absolute gratitude.Where the Ghost Doctor had stood, there was no footprint. There was no shadow.But resting on the wooden floor, glowing very faintly in the dark, was a single, fresh, perfectly green lotus leaf.Two weeks later. The morning sun shone brightly over the City of Dawn.In her sunny office at the Clinic of the Green