[*Ding!* Skill - Minor Healing level 1!]
[*Ding!* Skill - Minor Healing level 2!]
[*Ding!* Skill - Minor Healing level 3!]
[*Ding!* Skill - Minor Healing level 4!]
Lily groaned loudly, the pounding in her head intense and unrelenting, making her feel as though someone was trying to crack her skull open. The world around her seemed blurry and distant as if she were submerged underwater. Every inch of her body ached, especially her temples, which threatened to split every time they pulsated.
“Urgh,” the word barely escaped her lips as a nauseous feeling surged from the pit of her stomach. She was lying on what felt like a soft bed, the coolness of the sheets pressed against her feverish skin. With little warning, the weight in her stomach became unbearable, forcing her to bend forward suddenly and release a torrent of vomit onto the pristine bedsheets below.
From a distance, as if coming through a thick fog, she heard the familiar yet frantic voice of Gentiliana, “Aurora!” The name echoed in her ears, causing her to wince. Gentiliana's voice was tinged with concern and surprise, clearly not expecting to find Lily in such a state.
Lily tried to respond, but another wave of nausea hit her. “Ugh?” she managed to utter, turning her head slightly to the side. As she did, she caught a brief glimpse of Gentiliana’s wide-eyed expression. Retching once more, she felt a bitter taste in her mouth, making her spit repeatedly to rid herself of the unpleasant sensation.
Gentiliana’s sharp, piercing screams felt like daggers, cutting through the fog that clouded Lily's thoughts. Each time the older woman's voice rang out, it sent jolts of pain through Lily's already throbbing head. Her hands instinctively went up, cradling her head.
Gentiliana must have noticed the distress she was causing because her voice suddenly softened, its once shrill tone now replaced with one of genuine concern. “Oh, darling, I'm so sorry,” she whispered, her voice barely above a murmur.
Suddenly, Lily found Gentiliana pushing a cup in her hands; she lowered her gaze to find a glass full of blue liquid.
Lily's eyes darted between the drink and Gentiliana's pleading face. Confusion still reigned supreme in her mind, making it difficult for her to process what was happening. "Huh?" was all she managed to utter, her voice hoarse and broken.
“Darling, drink, please.”
Lily obeyed and brought the cup to her lips, finding the concoction fruity and dense. Most importantly, she felt something stir inside her—thankfully, not more vomit. Soon, the headache and the fiery nausea receded.
“I’m not sure whether your mother is going to kiss me or kill me. Maybe both,” Gentiliana sighed, now calmer and reclining in her seat. How did you exhaust your Mana like that?!”
Only thanks to the drink, which had apparently poured her soul back into her body, was she able to reply.
“I—I tried healing the piggy,” Lily muttered.
“You surely did try, by His shimmering grace,” Gentiliana exhaled. “Rest now.”
“But what about the piggie?”
“Rest now. Later, I’ll show you what you did.”
…
Gentiliana had hoisted Lily up in her arms and brought the kid back to the Practice Hall of the Sanatorium.
“Is the piggie ok?” Lily asked with a tinge of worry.
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Gentiliana smiled, opening the Sanatorium and swiftly reaching the pig’s fence.
Lily dismounted from the woman’s embrace and approached the pig, who was now happily standing on all fours, going on about his business of eating the food that had been left for him after Lily had passed out.
“Gee!” Lily peered at the pig’s underbelly with a wide mouth. “This is… this is amazing!”
The pig, noticing her, came close to her and started oinking happily, smushing his snout against her little face.
“Aww,” she cooed, hugging the pig.
“Do you know what this means?” Gentiliana smiled widely.
Lily looked at the woman with innocent eyes after snuggling with the piggie a little more.
“Your father needs to write another letter, darling. That’s what it means.”
...
Perched on an oversized chair that seemed to engulf her petite frame, Lily swung her legs with a mix of impatience and boredom. The chair's cushioned back and ornate woodwork made it clear it was designed for someone far older and more distinguished than her. And each time her little feet swung forward and backward, it emphasized just how out of place she felt in that grand setting. With every swing, a sigh escaped her lips, punctuated by her thoughts, Yikes, this is sooooo boring!
Taking in a deep, exaggerated breath to showcase her discontent, she let her face fall between her hands; her chubby cheeks squished between her palms as she pouted dramatically. Positioned as she was, she had an uninterrupted view of the Main Hall of the Sanatorium. It was a constant bustle of activity; wounded individuals were being shuffled in, their faces etched with pain and worry. They were there to be triaged, evaluated, and hopefully, stabilized by the more experienced [Healers] until someone with even more expertise could offer further treatment.
Healing was free in Alalia—the Church had made it clear that they offered their services to help people, not to profit from them. And Lily respected that a whole lot.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
What she perhaps respected a bit less was that she had to sit in a corner, waiting with some other inexperienced [Healers] for the occasion to heal some minor wounds, like if someone had nicked their finger while peeling potatoes and had nothing better to do than come to the Sanatorium for a chat—there were many such cases among the [Merchants]’ wives and the like.
Nonetheless, this was a good opportunity to get a better look at the great variety of people in this new world. In the past two years, her family had never allowed her to leave the Citadel or interact with anyone outside their close circle of friends and family.
Her mother had recently allowed her to play with other kids in the public courtyards, but that was about all the contact she got with the outside world. And she wasn’t really doing great at that either.
“Code white, face swelling and a cut,” an [Administrator] said as a man hesitantly walked through the main hall and was led to the group of inexperienced [Healers] in the corner. The clerk looked at the ragtag band of low-leveled tweens as he brought the man to them.
Everyone scrambled to their feet, including Lily, who jumped on top of the chair to make sure she got a height prop to be fully noticed.
All the kids looked murderously at each other, praying hard that they would be the next ones selected to put their skills to use and, hopefully, level them up.
“Aurora Claudia,” the clerk said, pointing at the child and smiling.
Every other kid groaned. Lily knew that she was skipping the line and getting preferential treatment because of her parents, but…
Welp, nepotism kinda sucks. But it sucks less if you are the one benefitting from it, Lily thought, rubbing her hands together and getting ready to use her new skill.
“Wait, I get healing from that little girl?” The middle-aged man looked taken aback. “What is this? Have you gone mad?! She’s barely off her mother’s tit!”
Lily sighed, dropping her arms down by her sides.
This wasn’t the first time it had happened. Not only was she too young for most to take her seriously, but she was also, well, a girl. The Church and most of its followers weren’t big fans of that.
That was when the [Administrator] frowned and stepped forward, his eyes flashing with a warning.
“That is your designated Healer, sir. If you want to be rude to the children of the Gens Claudia again, let me know. I’m sure you and your whole family will be in no need of further healing services from them.”
Hearing the name, the guy suddenly paled.
Lily felt guilty, but she also felt a spark of excitement as the man begrudgingly got in front of her and looked away, praying silently for his own good.
“Go ahead,” the clerk said to Lily with a wink.
Lily focused and took a deep breath, trying to quickly examine the man’s face. There was a clear gash below his chin that was still dripping some blood and also several scratches closer to his cheekbones. Other than that, it was just bad bruising all over, probably from a fight.
A [Healer] worthy of the gift of God shall always focus on their knowledge and never heal without using their head, Gentiliana had explained to her.
Lily envisioned her magic working on a cellular level, reducing the activity of inflammatory cytokines and promoting the release of anti-inflammatory agents. And that was all that was necessary to heal the wounds, the same way she had done with the pig.
[Minor Healing]
The man suddenly released a sigh of relief as Mana drained from Lily’s small body, and the bruising and wounds quickly disappeared under the luminescent light coming from her hands.
Stunned and still under the effect of the shining, healing skill, the man’s face went through several changes. Gone was the skepticism, replaced by surprise, and then, there was guilt as the pain finally ebbed away.
The surrounding tween healers watched in awe, their jealousy momentarily forgotten and taken over by respect and amazement.
…
[*Ding!* Skill - Minor Healing level 7!]
[*Ding!* Skill – Light Magic level 4!]
Waiting an entire day in the Sanatorium to heal a few people was truly a miserable experience. Even though she had definitely garnered respect for her healing skills, the tween posse was not interested in mingling with her in the least.
Having been a teacher of many different grades in her past life, she fully understood their reluctance to mix with her. Kids were very particular about who was allowed to play with what—and age was one of the strictest requirements.
Even though Lily finally felt like she was being appreciated for her competence and not just for being the ‘kind’ teacher, she still felt alone.
…
Lily had covertly left the Sanatorium, disobeying Gentiliana’s orders and her mother’s strict warnings not to waste her time on insignificant pastimes.
She swallowed hard as she encountered a bunch of kids, slightly older than her, kicking around a ball made of leather at the center of the Citadel.
Maybe...
She bit her lower lip and stepped forward.
Years ago, she would have just watched from the sidelines, making sure that no one got hurt. But now, she craved interactions—even with children much younger than her true age.
“Hi! Sorry, huh, would you mind if I played—“
The kid who had just stopped the ball with his foot looked at her with a confused face.
“You are a girl,” the boy said as if the statement was pretty self-explanatory.
“Yes, but there are girls playing with you,” Lily pointed at two other girls.
The boy turned to the girls on his team, actually nodding to himself wisely as he pondered what to say next.
“You are too small,” the boy retorted.
“I can guard the goalpost,” Lily offered, knowing that it was what most kids hated doing.
“We don’t use keepers.”
With that said, the boy turned his back to Lily and simply went back to playing.
…
A few days later, Lily finally managed to convince the kids to let her play ‘fighting’ with them, which mostly consisted of rudimentary wrestling but without hitting. Currently, she had to wrestle a fat girl who was about five years old and much bigger than her.
Lily circled around her opponent, feeling almost guilty had that girl not been hurling childish obscenities at her.
“Hey, loser,” the girl egged her on, “afraid you’ll die from all these muscles?”
The fat kid flexed her flappy arms and then charged like a bull.
“Templar Smash!” The fat girl shouted a fake skill as she simply threw a very uncoordinated kick.
Lily immediately seized the opportunity. She stood back, grabbed the girl’s fleshy ankle, and toppled her on her back before jumping over her. Thinking that the rest of the boys would love to see some actual good moves, she slid around the fat girl’s leg and put her in a heel hook, twisting her foot inward.
But before she knew what was going on, the fat girl, instead of surrendering, twisted her body, infuriated that a kid half her size had gotten her on the ground.
That’s when Lily snapped the kid’s ankle before she could release the hold. The loud noise made everyone instantly silent before the fat girl started screaming uncontrollably.
…
“It was her, uncle,” the same kid who had barred Lily from playing with them a few days ago spoke after some adults had arrived at the playground. The fat girl would be fine after a [Healer] attended to the injury, but it could have been a crippling one if this hadn’t been the Citadel.
“Oh, Brutus,” the older man sighed, “thank you. The adults will take care of this.”
The adult in question wore a healer tunic and walked straight to Lily, stopping in front of her and speaking in a severe tone.
“Young lady, what is your name?”
“I—I,” Lily’s brain sputtered as she couldn’t even offer her name.
“Young lady,” the man said, grabbing one of her ears and twisting it, “I asked, what is your name?”
Lily was already crying and trying to articulate her words, feeling tremendously guilty about what happened when someone shouted from behind.
“Move, baddies!”
Lily’s eyes went wide as she half-recognized the voice.
“Who’s creating this ruckus and—”
“AHA! You are a baddie! Take this!”
A boy, not much taller than Lily, jumped in front of the adult and swung his wooden sword at the man’s nether region. A normal adult would not have even felt the attack thanks to their enhanced endurance and vitality, but the madman of a kid also shouted a skill.
A real one.
“[Templar’s Hammercut]!”