A small group of adventurers stood in the lobby, looking at each other in tense silence. Their expressions ran the gamut of emotions; Boredom on the face of an elf, rocking back and forth on his heels; Anxiety on a tall human woman, rubbing her arm and idly feeling through a ring of keys on her hip; Amusement from a human man, the expression stilted by splashes of color across his face, where his features looked to have been painted with a inverted palette. Amusement in his eyes, with black sclera and glaringly white pupils, was unsettling for most. The shortest of the group, a halfling with a bow, pointed at the man with inverted eyes, frustration clear across her face.
“The try-out was for a healer! A heal-er!” She said, emphasizing each syllable with a jab of her finger. “You can call yourself a healer all you want, but unless my eyes are going bad,” she gestured furiously at her eyes, “all you did was cast barriers!”
The man chuckled as she panted, frustration wearing her out. “Given the proficiency with which I saw you use that bow, I think it’s safe to say that your eyes are fine. Mine, however, can see a little more than the average person.” He said, tapping his temple. He continued on, his smooth voice layered in confidence. “You see, I am a healer. But!” He held up a hand, forestalling an outburst, “not of you. Not directly. Ah, truly, you would not wish to be healed by me–”
“No shit.” the halfling muttered.
“For those that I heal cease to exist.” He put a hand on his heart, shaking his head in exaggerated grief. “I can see into the threads of fate: the future, if you will. I can see, in the moments to come, grievous wounds and fatal blows sustained by my allies. My heart aches!” He thrust his hand out, as if in the throes of passion. The halfling woman took a half-step back, perturbed. His voice went lower, somber. “aches, to see my allies wounded so. So I heal them, my future allies, by preventing the damage in the present. And yet, in healing them by protecting you, those wounds in the future never happen. In healing them, the cruel mistress that is fate ensures they never exist.” He paused, wiping a tear from his eye. “Such is the burden I bear.”
There was a beat of silence as the party stared at their trial healer. Their short leader spoke up again, sounding drained. “...But we need a healer.”
The tall human woman, easily double the height of their leader, turned her eyes to the desk the group stood in front of. “A-and that’s pretty much the issue we’re having now, mr. receptionist. Can you help us out?”
Tarrus looked at them silently for a moment. Then he let out a long sigh. “...Sure.”
The halfling gained a bit of her energy back, turning to point at Tarrus. “Don’t sigh at us like that! I don’t even know why we’re talking to you about this; you’re just a kid! Go get one of the other receptionists!”
“Oh, I would love to. Unfortunately for both you and me, I am the only one scheduled at the moment. So, let’s make this quick: These three individuals,” he said, pointing at the elf, human woman, and halfling, “are an existing party. They put out a request for a healer, and the request was answered by this individual,” he gestured at the other human, “and the entire group went out on a simple hunting mission to test group compatibility. Is everyone in agreement so far?”
There was a round of nods from those assembled. “Excellent. So, the primary point of contention between the two parties arose when the ‘healer’ used primarily protective magics and barriers instead of healing, as was requested, correct?”
“He didn’t use any healing!”
“As I explained, it was merely an alternative form of healing–”
“Silence.”
Quietly, with but a word, the young receptionist cut through the tired argument. The group turned to him in surprise; they were shocked by the sheer charisma the youth had brought to bear from one moment to the next. No longer slouching back in his seat, he leaned forward with a surety and strength in his eyes that captivated his audience.
“I’ve heard enough of your arguing. Self-proclaimed healer,” he addressed the man, who perked up. “Are you capable of healing?”
He scoffed lightly. “As I’ve said–”
Tarrus cut his eyes to the man, who stopped, gulping. “Are you capable of healing, in the traditional sense?”
The man reluctantly nodded. “I… can. Somewhat.”
The halfling woman shouted out “Well you could’ve used some of that in the trial!”
He frowned at her. “I didn’t need to! My protective magic kept anyone from getting hurt in the first place!”
“Well we weren’t trialing you as a support mage, were we?” She said exasperated.
Tarrus scoffed. “Both parties are at fault here.”
The short woman turned her frustration to the receptionist. “Oh, yeah? And how do you figure that, boy?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
He pointed at the healer in question. “He should have made his abilities and skill-set more clear to a party that was going to trust him in combat. But, at the same time, you,” he said, pointing at the halfling, “should have made sure of that information yourself, as the party leader. Also, I procured a copy of your request for a new member,” he waved a piece of parchment at them. “It’s a rather naive request. Finding magic users whose focus is on healing and only healing is next to impossible. Especially someone who can ‘heal all manner of light to moderate injuries in the field'” he said, reading from the listing. “As a party leader, however new you may be, you should know some things about how others’ abilities work to be able to properly recruit and lead your party. Magic, directly applied to another living being, has to contend with that being's internal mana. That mana acts as an interference for any such spells. As such, direct healing like you were looking for is exceedingly rare and difficult to use to much effect, except on those far weaker than the caster. It’s much more common for healing to be done through a medium, indirectly, and for ‘healers’ to occupy a general support role,” he said gesturing at the man in question, “often prioritizing preventing the damage in the first place. That said,'' The growing smirk on the man’s face froze. “Failing to divulge your skill-set, when others are going to be placing their lives in your hands, is the mark of a poor companion.”
The party leader and the trial healer shuffled uncomfortably. The halfling cleared her throat. “We’ll uh… We’ll just get out of your hair and see if we can go resolve this ourselves…”
Tarrus leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Hmph. See that you do.”
As the group walked away, he sighed. “Is this what my life has come to? Is this how I’m to spend the rest of my days? Teaching fools about the very basics of what it is to be an adventurer?” He put his head in his hands. “Abyss save me from this hell.”
-=-<^>-=-
Will looked around as they passed out of the dilapidated regions of Waystation Gran. The people here were a hardy bunch, being either current adventurers, here to despoil various Domains and regions of their monsters and loot, retired adventurers, settled here to ply some trade or other, and those few born to the region, long inured to the danger of living in this place. He waved to some children running along the street, hooping and hollering, a dog sized lizard loping along beside them.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over the shock of seeing civilians living in a place like this.” Will said, shaking his head.
Nina cocked her head at him. “Why? It’s pretty nice here, except for the empty buildings.”
He gestured out beyond the town, into the expanse of desert they’d just left. “Everything here wants to kill you!”
“Mmh, that’s normal though?”
“... I don’t think it is…”
“It kind of is.” Annette chimed in. “That’s why most towns and cities have walls. Doesn’t your hometown have a wall?”
Will shook his head. “No. I lived in a farming community, everyone was pretty spread out. We did have a ‘town center’, but it was just for things like community meetings and parties.”
Annette looked at him incredulously. “And I’m sure you and your friends would go play in the woods alone, for hours on end.”
“...Yes?”
“No!” She gasped. “Where I grew up, no one could go outside the walls alone, and children always had to be attended by guards if they went outside.”
Will looked at her, shocked. “Why? That’s crazy!”
“No, your hometown is crazy! There were always monsters in the woods that could easily snatch some kids for a nice little dinner.”
Gerald nodded along with the argument. “One thing you learn as you get older; people are crazy, and everyone has a different idea what ‘normal’ means. Take those kids, for instance,” he said, jerking his finger back at the now distant forms of the children. “They were born here. Their entire lives, they’ve known nothing different. To them, what we consider to be monsters, are just the local wildlife. I’ve heard of a group out in these parts that tame some truly massive lizards and ride around on them!” He shook his head. “They grow up with as much fear for some of these creatures as we do bears; they exist, and should be avoided, but does the existence of a bear keep you from hunting for deer? Or from playing in the woods?”
“No… I hadn’t thought of it that way.” He looked around at the people with a new appreciation in his eyes.
“... Of course, it also helps that the ambient mana is stronger here. Someone born here could wallop a mid-level adventurer who’d never left your hometown, Will.”
Will grimaced, watching a woman casually tossing barrels off a cart to a tavernkeep catching them with equal ease.
They continued on to the adventurers guild in silence, marveling at just how common casual displays of strength were, now that they were looking for them.
Walking through the gate around the adventurers district, they passed from an air of relaxed early evening industry, as local taverns and inns prepared to receive tired adventurers, into the minor celebratory mood that was common amongst the adventurers at the end of the day. There were still those that would be working into the night, as well as those who would be beginning their days now, but for most it was a time to start winding down.
They passed parties on their way out, joking and laughing with comrades, some already staggering out of their first stop on a tavern crawl. Gently jostling past the crowds, they made their way into the reception hall, where there were a few other stragglers turning in requests for the day.
As they lined up, Will gasped, turning his back to the reception desk. “Guys! Someone else is gonna have to take the lead here. I already made myself look stupid in front of this guy before.”
Annette leaned out of line to look ahead. “Oh, it’s that same kid from the other day.” She chuckled. “You’ll be fine. I doubt we’ll talk to him much anyway; he’ll probably have to send for the guild master or someone else.”
Will sighed. “Ahh, I don’t know how to handle this guy…” He shuffled nervously as the line ahead of them evaporated, taking a breath before coming face-to-face with the receptionist. He raised his arm in a wave, and tried putting some extra cheer in his voice. “Hey! Fancy seeing–”
With a BANG! the receptionists chair hit the floor, and he stood transfixed. “Where… Where did you get that?” He said, pointing at Will’s newly acquired mirror shield.