Healing Skills

Chapter 7: Disturbance

Chapter 7: Disturbance

Nobody flinched. No one. Every one in that tent was staring at Kael, and their features were a conglomeration of incredulity, mistrust, and, perhaps, even a faint element of fear.

Then Eric broke into the quietness.

You have our lives in your hands, kid. Are you up to that?"

Kael made no flinch. He looked the man in the eye. I would not be here without it.

Eric's gaze stiffened. "Got experience? Have you ever seen a monster?"

Kael heaved a sigh. One answer will not be found that will not make him angry.

"I don't. And no I have never seen a monster.

Eric laughed dry, humorless. Aw, a spoiled brat bought his way into this hunt somewhere?

I am an orphan.

And choking silence,

Justin. Eric lost his smirk.

"I see. Sorry."

The man was not entirely decadent. Not a lot, but sufficient.

It is all right, all right, said Kael, shrugging his shoulders, which were heavy, as a kid his age.

Then Joanna said, and the interest made the tension. "What age are you? Fourteen?"

"I'm nine."

There was a silence bomb dropped about the room. Wide eyes. Awkward glances. No one said anything.

Eric got up and came to Kael. "Alright. This is the bargain. You won't get out of the rear. When we are ill, you will heal us up. The monsters will be attended to.

Kael nodded. He was already conscious; the System had made it clear a thousand times.

Then Eric described the formation: Dead last, Kael. Joanna flanking on the side. The sword brothers front. And at the point, a shaken wall, Eric.

Then there was the brief. Eric took out a piece of paper that had the appearance of having been through a drunken bar fight. It had sketches of werewolves, furred crimson, with glowing eyes and bad tempers.

Eric explained, they shoot fireballs. They require three seconds to cast. That is your chance to murder them.”

Classic glass cannon flaw. Big boom, big wind-up.

Once they were briefed, the team exited the tent and made their way toward one of the larger buildings nearby.

Kael kept his mouth shut. He was bursting with questions, but this wasn't the time to be a curious child. His image with the team was hanging by a thread.

‘Why do you even care what they think? They’re strangers. After this hunt, you’ll never see them again,’ the System asked lazily.

Kael replied with a mental sigh. ‘They already hate me for being nine. If I start annoying them too, they’ll probably just ditch me in the dungeon.’

A beat of silence.

‘Only I have the patience for your constant questions.’

‘You’re so sweet.’

They arrived at a door labeled “A-7.” Eric used a keycard. The lock clicked. The tension clicked louder.

“We’re here,” he said. “Don’t forget the plan.”

‘Feels off,’ Kael muttered in his head.

The System agreed. ‘Something’s fucked. Be ready.’

The others didn’t feel it. Too casual. Too calm. Only Joanna was alert, eyes sharp, hand brushing her bowstring.

‘Elira did say these monsters were weak,’ Kael thought. ‘Maybe they’re just cocky.’

They stepped through the door.

And the world changed.

No sterile training ground. No safe zone. They were standing in a clearing, thick forest in every direction. Birds screamed. The sky cracked with silence. Wrong. It was all wrong.

Weapons were drawn immediately. Eyes scanned wildly.

“Spatial displacement,” the System whispered. “Someone jacked the coordinates. You’re not where you’re supposed to be.”

Kael’s heart raced.

‘You’re good at this whole bad-news delivery thing.’

“Stick to the plan!” Eric barked.

Zane scoffed. “Plan? You don’t even know where the fuck we are!”

Joanna’s bow was up in a blink. She aimed an arrow at his face and smiled like a fucking psychopath. “Wanna stay with the group or make this personal?”

Zane took it personal.

He roared and charged her, blade drawn. Paul made a weak attempt to stop him, but failed. Joanna’s eyes flared with genuine surprise, her bowstring drawn tight.

Eric stepped in. Shield raised. Voice stern. “Zane, stop! This isn’t the time!”

Too late.

-Clang.

Zane’s sword slammed into Eric’s shield, nearly knocking him off his feet.

Joanna fired.

But the arrow never hit. Paul blocked it with his sword, eyes blazing.

“You fucking bitch! That’s my brother!”

Kael stood frozen on the sidelines.

‘What in the actual fuck is happening?’

“No brainwashing,” the System said. “Just pure, unfiltered ego. That’s what money and arrogance do.”

Kael shuddered.

‘Are all rich kids like this?’

“Not all. Just enough to make it a problem.”

Joanna and Eric fought against Paul and Zane. No blood yet. Just stupidity.

Kael stepped forward.

“Everyone stop! I heard something. Something in the forest!”

It was bullshit. But it worked.

They froze.

Eric dusted off his armor. “Where?”

Kael pointed in a random direction. “That way.”

Nobody relaxed. The tension had shifted from internal to external, but it was still there. Eric led them forward without another word.

They fell into formation. Like nothing happened.

Kael whispered to the System. ‘How strong are they?’

“Level thirty to forty. Not impressive.”

‘And I need fifty to evolve my class. Fuck me.’

“Slow climb, kid. Buckle in.”

They walked for minutes. Nothing. No sounds. No movement.

Kael’s lie was starting to rot.

Then something moved. Kael turned. So did everyone else. The eyes were black and still and inanimate. They looked over the trees, and at the back of them there was neither breath nor heartbeat--just cold and choking.

Kael’s hands trembled.

They do not strike the same, dungeon monsters, I told you, I said.

“Don’t say it.”

“I told you so.”

“Fuck off.”

“Welcome to the dungeon, Kael. This is something your party is not ready to do.

“We’re fucked?”

“Not entirely. Just mostly. Stick together, and maybe you will live.

“Might?!”

“One monster. No others nearby. That’s your only mercy.”

Kael gazed into the eyes of the creature.

“What is it?”

“Illusion magic. What you’re seeing isn’t real. The monster is hiding.”

“Where?!”

“Figure it out yourself. I’m not your babysitter.”

Kael found something empty there in his chest.

Alone. Alone with strangers. Alone with death.

“Focus.”

He turned the illusion away and his team.

Joanna and Zane were dead.

Broken necks. Twisted angles. Unmoving.

“No. No, no, no. That wasn’t real either, right?”

Kael acted on instinct.

Greater Heal.

His hands spouted a golden light that wrapped round the corpses.

[Greater Heal +100 EXP]

Their necks straightened. Blood drained backward. Color returned.

They were breathing.

“Holy shit. That worked?”

But they weren’t waking up.

Eric and Paul stood in a trance. Eyes glazed. Minds hijacked.

Kael shook them. Nothing.

-Haaa.

Breath. Behind him.

He turned.

Nothing.

-Crack.

Paul’s skull cracked open. Brain spilling. Blood gushing.

Kael cast again. No hesitation.

[Greater Heal +50 EXP]

The damage reversed. Flesh stitched itself. Bones reknit.

Paul stood.

Something was wrong.

Michael, he said, which you meet like wet stone in glass. “What’s wrong?”

His smile did not move. His eyes did not blink.

Kael took a step back.

“Who the fuck are you?”