Chapter 157

Wolf took the plunge and embraced the System. A green and golden aura surrounded him, traveling across his limbs and energizing dormant mana channels. Before any of us could react, the aura disappeared, and Wolf was bound to the System. He blinked, confused. From his perspective, minutes passed inside the trance, but for us, it had only been a second.

“Wolf, you…” Ilya muttered, but her words died against the cold wind.

Wolf turned around and summoned his Character Sheet. For an instant, his eyes focused on the invisible prompt. Then, like he probably had seen done for years, he turned the prompt around, and it became visible. There was a sad note on his face, yet he tried to suppress it. Wolf wasn’t supposed to get a Class. Not until he cleared his mind. Not until he could meet his people again.

The System Prompt eerily floated before us.

Name: Wolf A’Dassyra, Half-Orc (Strong, Sturdy).

Class: Healer Lv.1

Titles: Stalwart, Novice Anatomist, Novice Mathematician.

Passive: Longsword Mastery Lv.2, Diagnosis Lv.1.

Skills: Regeneration, Stupor, Shape Mana, Healer’s Compendium.

Ilya sat on the ground and leaned against the ridge, her arm around her stomach where the Mana Stalker had wounded her. The girl was so pale she could’ve camouflaged against the snow. The health potion worked on her wounds, but the poison still hadn’t disappeared. I felt relieved, yet her expression told me she felt the complete opposite.

A Healer was precisely what we needed, but the price Wolf had to pay was too high. The orc tribes wouldn’t accept someone with a Class. Orcs simply didn’t deal with Corruption. Ilya opened her mouth to voice her concerns, but Wolf got ahead.

“Don’t say anything. If we don’t make it through the Monster Surge, it won’t matter what I did or did not,” he said, turning to me. His eyes landed on my arm and gleamed with the subtle glint of golden mana. “If we remove the lancets, I will be able to close the wounds and prevent an infection. I’m afraid your tendons are damaged beyond what I can repair right now.”

The kids exchanged a worried glance.

“Fine for me. I’m not a leftie,” I said, shoving my worries aside and extending my wounded arm for him to examine it more easily.

Wolf gave me a grateful nod.

“Zaon, I will need your help. Please hold Mister Clarke’s arm while I remove the lancets,” he said, channeling his mana and covering his hands in a faint green aura.

[Awareness] told me that Wolf was using [Shape Mana] to avoid touching me directly with his dirty hands. I wondered if the System had instructed Wolf how to perform his duties. Having information directly downloaded into the brain was quite handy. We used a fallen log as an operation table. I extended my arm over the bark, and Zaon held it down. Then, Wolf undid the tourniquet and used [Shape Mana] to replace it with a green band.

“I will not be using [Stupor]. The skill will slow you down, and we need to be alert right now,” Wolf warned me. “Please bear the pain.”

“Do what you have to do,” I replied, using [Awareness] to abstract myself from the pain. I focused on Wolf’s mana instead. He grabbed the lancet with a steady hand and took a deep breath.

Firana covered her eyes, and as if that wasn't enough, she also turned around.

“On second thought, we don’t have to pull,” Wolf said, letting the lancet go. “We can push and avoid the barbs doing more damage.”

I ignored whether that was the System’s knowledge poured directly into Wolf’s head or whether Wolf was more intelligent than the average fifteen-year-old. He pushed the end of the lancet, and it sliced through my arm with almost no resistance. I clenched my teeth, thanking fate for not having a lancet hit any of my bones. Blood gushed into the wound as the scab was torn apart, but the magical tourniquet worked better than expected. Wolf worked quickly, and his hands were steady, although I was his first-ever patient.

Zaon kept a firm grip on my arm, and a moment later, the first lancet was out.

“Almost there,” Wolf said, using [Regeneration] on the wound while moving on to another lancet.

Strands of magic began weaving a mesh over my wounds, sealing the jagged edges and helping the tissue to heal the damage. The warmth of the healing magic seeped into my arm. Unlike Elincia’s potions, which worked like an instant cauterization of the wounds, Wolf’s magic was gentle and soothing. The pain retreated and was slowly replaced by a relaxing sensation.

“The wounds are closed, but the damage to the muscle might take a while. I don’t know if my magic is strong enough to affect your tendons,” Wolf said, pensive. Then, he channeled his mana again, and a tight mana band wrapped around my wrist and elbow, immobilizing my arm. “Your body will heal better if you avoid moving the arm too much. Don’t worry; the spell will come off as soon as you apply a bit of mana.”

I couldn’t help but notice [Shape Mana] working very similarly to [Mana Manipulation]. However, as Wolf walked away from me and sat against the ridge, the mana restraints kept their original strength. I sighed, relieved that the immediate danger was over. I flexed my fingers tentatively, testing my new range of motion. My ring finger didn’t move a millimeter, and my arm felt stiff, but at least all my other fingers worked fine.

“Thank you, Wolf,” I said, failing to find the right words to express my gratitude. Single-handedly, Wolf had saved the expedition. I knew the cost was high, and I didn’t know if the orc tribes had any exceptions to the no-System rule. Wolf didn’t seem ready to discuss it.

My father would know what to say.

I shook my head. Wishful thinking wouldn’t get us anywhere. Life near the border was full of sacrifices, and even if the orc tribes shunned Wolf for accepting the System, he made the only right decision. In difficult times, some people need compassion, while others need encouragement. I thought I knew what kind of person Wolf was.

I approached him and put my hand on his shoulder.

“It takes courage to fight monsters, but it takes much more to burn the bridges heading home,” I said, and I couldn’t help but smile. “You are a splendid man, Wolf, and I’m proud of you.”

Wolf blushed. “You refused to return home to look after us. It’s only fair we are willing to make the same sacrifice.”

I didn’t have much going for me back on Earth, and now neither did Wolf among the Tribes. Years may have passed since he put a foot on orc territory, but his mother was there, waiting for him. And now her only son was a System-user. I would have a lot to explain to Dassyra when we met again.

I let Wolf go, and he checked on Ilya. There was little he could do with his current powers. The High-Grade Health Potion was still taking effect, countering the poison. After using his [Diagnosis] for a solid minute, he said Ilya would return to normal in a day or so, after the remnants of the poison disappeared.

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When Wolf concluded his diagnosis, Firana jumped on him and wrapped her arm around his neck. “You are still leagues away from Mister Clarke, so don’t try to go around acting cool!” Firana grinned.

As usual, she was being too candid.

Wolf blushed for the second time in the day, which was a rarity for him. “I’m not—!”

“Oh, yes, you are,” Ilya interrupted him. “You are trying to act cool.”

“Wolf is kinda cool, though,” Zaon pointed out, but he was met with hostile glances from the girls.

Wolf sighed. “Cut it out, I’m tired. I’ve been using too much mana.”

“Yeah, we should call it a day,” Ilya added from her place against the ridge. “I am not in any position to fight.”

They laughed, but Ilya was right. We needed to find a safe place to regroup and recover strength before pushing forward. Now that I confirmed the Lich was behind the Monster Surge, reaching level ten wouldn’t do the trick. We needed more firepower.

Suddenly, the environmental mana shifted ominously, and the [Black Storm] regained strength. Far to the south, the vortex over Farcrest flashed with lightning. It wouldn’t be a good night for the city's defenders.

“Let’s get going. We need to find a place to weather the storm,” I said.

The kids grabbed their things and got ready to continue. I examined the forest, trying to guess what the best path was. North wasn’t it. The valley was covered in those strange blooms in that direction, and there were more monsters than we could handle. I was deep in thought when the System Prompt popped before my eyes.

New title acquired!

Favorite Teacher (99): Going to school isn’t that bad with you on the whiteboard.

Reward: Slightly Increased mana pool.

New title acquired!

Role Model (2): You are the man people look up to (for some reason).

Reward: Increased mana pool.

Was the System Avatar sassing me again? Not that it mattered. If Wolf had seen me as his role model, I would have had to improve and live up to expectations. We gathered our things and set off to the east. The root system had to be weaker near the mountain slopes, and the presence of monsters lighter.

“Mister Clarke?” Wolf asked after a few minutes of walking. I broke formation to approach him. He was carrying his backpack plus Ilya’s, yet he didn’t seem bothered by the extra weight.

“What happened?” I asked.

Wolf looked around to ensure no one was watching. “The System Avatar spoke to me during the ceremony. He told me to give you these. In secret.”

Wolf channeled his mana and wrote a series of numbers in the air. I memorized them.

“Anything else?” I asked, expecting an explanation about the numbers or the mysterious rune he had sent me through Astrid.

“No. Just the numbers,” Wolf said. “I thought you would recognize them.”

At first glance, the numbers didn’t tell me anything, so I made a mental note to check on them later. I had to focus on guiding the march. Without Ilya’s [Spirit Animal], we were half-blind. Zaon’s [Sentinel’s Oath] was perfect for detecting most dangers but wouldn’t help us navigate the forest.

“Let’s focus on the present. I don’t want another Mana Stalker jumping on us,” I said, and Wolf agreed.

I used my old memories from the trip with Elincia to navigate through the forest. Back then, we traveled on the mountainside to avoid the wolf packs. With the Ice Wraiths and the Undead Harpies patrolling the skies, I wanted to avoid the open ground, but at the same time, we needed to circumvent the root systems and the blooms. There was no safe haven in the Farlands, but the line between the forest and the mountains seemed our best bet.

The terrain was more treacherous than I remembered, and I wondered if the Forest Warden had something to do with that. The jagged rocks and uneven ground hidden under the snow make every step harder than the previous. As the [Black Storm] intensified, the dark mist clung to us like a second skin. We had little time before advancing became impossible, but thanks to [Awareness], I had a mental map of the area drawn on my brain. We hugged the mountainside, keeping just within the tree line.

Outside the forest, flocks of dozens of Ice Wraiths and Harpies crossed the mountains towards Farcrest. I recognized other monsters. There were undead eagles as big as the light aircraft I had seen during an air show when I was little, winged serpents, and spirits seemingly made out of whirlwinds.

The only comforting thought was that we weren’t the main objective of whatever the Lich sought in the area.

The forest itself wasn’t much safer. Despite making a sharp detour to the east, the Juvenile and Mature Mana Stingers patrols only increased. My greatest fears were beginning to become real. The core of the root system seemed to be precisely in the path between the valleys. If that were the case, no detour would keep us away from the monsters.

Zaon’s eyes darted between the forest shadows and the mountain peaks, his [Awareness] seemingly working overtime. The only saving grace of the path we had chosen was the light snow. Our steps were almost entirely silent. Whenever we encountered a patrol, we took cover behind the rocks that had rolled down from the mountains and waited for them to go. In the rare case that the patrol was small, I let the kids ambush them.

After the fight against the Mana Stalker, the level-ups had become increasingly rare. Wolf quickly rose to level three, but the rest remained stagnant even after a hefty patrol of a dozen Juvenile Mana Stingers. My arm throbbed, immobilized against my body. It wouldn’t prevent me from fighting, but I needed to let the kids catch up to me in levels. The Mana Stalker had given me three extra levels and two to Firana. We were getting ahead of the rest, and I didn’t want to leech precious experience.

We moved quickly between fights, leaving the place before the Swarm reinforcements arrived. Luckily for us, Firana and Zaon had good movement skills, and Ilya was so light she could be easily carried. She wasn’t happy with the fact she was missing experience, but the poison still dulled her body and her senses.

“We should take a break. It will become too dangerous if we continue,” I said.

Not only were the kids' mana reserves running low, but the [Black Storm] got worse as the sun went down in the sky. As dusk approached and Ilya recovered her ability to use mana, she summoned her [Spirit Animal] and found a good hideout next to a rock formation covered in trees. We left our backpacks against the rock and clung together between the roots. The accumulated exhaustion of the last days could be seen in their faces, yet their spirits were high. It was probably all the leveling they had been doing.

“Man, I’m leveling up so fast! I feel strong!” Firana said.

“I feel like the heir of a noble house using all sorts of enchanted items to level up quickly,” Wolf joked around.

Ilya and Zaon were of the same opinion. A good Class and powerful enchanted items made the first few levels a walk in the park. This situation would be a sentence to death for a group of Soldiers and Archers armed with regular weapons. However, there was another component to the equation. Although competence was a world on its own, even the best athletes fumbled easy wins if their mental game wasn’t on point. Fortunately, the kids seemed confident in facing the dangers of the Farlands.

“Go to sleep. I’ll take the first guard,” I said, and even though there was still half an hour of daylight left, they obeyed. We had to take advantage of the lapses in the Monster Surge to rest.

I examined our luggage. We still had food for a few days, but the lack of game worried me. [Awareness] hadn’t picked the presence of birds or animals since we entered the Farlands. I wondered if non-corrupted Mana Stingers were edible, but that would be our last resort. After the fight against the Mana Stalker, the vision of the monster bees unnerved me. It was better to reach the tribes before we ran out of food.

The kids dozed peacefully.

I used [Minor Illusion] to draw the numbers Wolf had given me. Nine digits. It didn’t look like a set of coordinates, not that I had a map to navigate. I didn’t even know where the equator was in this world. Was it even a sphere?

A date and time didn’t make sense, nor did a phone number. In any case, my cell phone was dead at the orphanage, and there weren’t any cell towers nearby. A password? For what? I examined the numbers. Curiously enough, the string of digits started with a zero, meaning the zero was necessary. If it weren’t, the System Avatar would’ve deleted it. What did a leading zero mean?

I had two clues: a set of numbers and a mysterious rune. The [Rune Debugger] showed me that the rune didn’t work in any combination I put it in, and the numbers made little sense to me. I was at a loss.

“If I were the System Avatar, what would I want me to do?” I asked.

The answer was obvious: fix the System. The Avatar told me the System was contained in ancient crystals similar to the System Shrine Fragment in Farcrest. If my hunch was correct, the mysterious rune had to be related to the fixing process, and the series of numbers had to be coordinates where the faulty crystal resided. It made sense. Despite the Corruption, the System Avatar guided me in the right direction. Now, I needed to know what that direction was.

I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. I knew only a dozen runes, and I was sure that wasn’t enough to fix the System. A shiver ran down my spine as the realization hit me. I had a mysterious rune, but now I also had a new skill. [Rune Identification]. It couldn’t be a coincidence. I almost tripped over my own mana as I opened the [Rune Debugger]. I drew the mysterious rune. Then, I used [Rune Identification].