Kingdom of Kizilalem was protected by the gods, those who were chosen by gods were born with blessings, and they were called demi-gods.
These kinds of people had all types of blessings, manifesting as a mark on a part of the body, each type of blessing was different, and some god’s blessings were more common than the others.
Within the Holy City alone, there were at least two hundred people who were blessed by Ignis, goddess of fire. Of course a blessing, like any ability could grow along with the user, in a sense it was a seed that could be cultivated and made powerful or can remain stagnant without achieving its potential. It all depended on the user.
While the gods paid attention to the affairs of humanity when it involved their beloved demi-gods and their hatred of non-humans, especially demons, they could not care less about common people.
Such was the conclusion the priestess of a certain temple within the Sevilles territory had reached.
Sevilles noble family, currently headed by its only member, Augustus Sevilles, owned a sizable territory located in the northeast portion of the Holy City.
While the territory owned by Sevilles household was nowhere as large as the lands owned by other nobles, and Sevilles family was not even that much distinguished, aside from being briefly acquainted with the First Prince, it did lie in somewhat of a danger zone of the Holy City.
In this territory, there were multiple rumors of demons hiding within the land, hiding from plain sight; adventurers were frequently hired in order to get rid of monsters here.
Of course, with the forces of the Holy City, it was only a matter of time before all the monsters and hidden demons would be exterminated.
But not all adventurers were so lucky, of course.
Once a high level adventurer sent to subjugate the demons, but now a blind priestess that could only live by the charity of the people who lived here, she cursed her fate every single day.
During the fateful confrontation, her right leg and left hand were damaged beyond repair, they were twisted and shriveled, losing muscle mass and becoming nearly non-functional. She could only barely walk while using a staff to support her, but even that was painful.
The worst part was the injury on her face. Two horizontal slash marks marred her face. Her eyes were damaged. That demon was already killed, but the damage he did was never going to go away.
Her sightless eyes could only sense if there was light or dark, otherwise, nothing else was there. At first she wanted to kill herself, life of adventuring was no longer possible with her injuries, her comrades abandoned her to pursue their own dreams, and she did not blame them.
Her name was Rainu Wesel. Once known as Miracle Healer.
While she was not born with a talent or a blessing, but she developed a skill in healing at an early age; she could use her mana in order to repair damage on bodies of others. However, her healing abilities were nowhere near as powerful or potent as healing provided by blessings that demi-gods utilized.
This was made clear when her body was irreparably damaged. No matter what she did, she could not fix her body. She managed to make her body able to move despite the pain, but it took her healing it daily to keep it moving.
With only one functional arm and leg, and sightless eyes, her career prospects were rather limited. She still could heal people, so taking on a profession of a priestess in temple seemed like her only choice, with an influx of adventurers and migrants, there were always many people getting injured, so many people came in daily.
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At least I can help humanity and serve gods, even if gods have abandoned me…
No matter how much she prayed to the god of the temple or even the other gods, Aquorion and the other primary gods, for her injuries to heal even slightly, the gods ignored her prayers. In the eyes of gods, a useless woman without a blessing was not worth the effort of intervening. It was far easier for them to just leave such hopeless human beings to their fate.
While gods were for humanity, they had no sympathy for weak ones.
The children she healed sometimes came back to talk to her.
Much to chagrin, they called her an auntie. She was only 25 years of age, had she not received her injuries five years prior, she would have been a strikingly beautiful woman. But now she was a broken shell, with her left arm on a sling, limping, and her eyes were covered with a blindfold, she did project a mentality of an older person. The fact that she walked with a cane did not help her image much.
One day, visitors brought what appeared to be an unconscious boy.
None knew who he was. He looked about fourteen years of age if not younger, according to the ones who brought him.
By examining his heartbeat, priestess could tell he was starving and unconscious, but still alive.
Healing a child was one the one thing she could do to help.
Apparently they found him on the border of Sevilles territory; apparently he walked up to here barefoot, and then ended up passing out in plain sight of people. Then he was brought here by the concerned citizens.
Using her mana she began the healing process.
After half an hour, the child finally regained consciousness.
“Where am I?” the boy hesitantly asked.
“In a temple of village of Tracoa, a territory owned by the noble family of Sevilles.” Priestess kindly replied.
“How did I end up here?”
“You were found on the border of the village, you were lucky that good people were nearby and brought you here, otherwise you might have perished.”
“I might have pushed this body too far. I never occupied human body before so I did not know of its physical limitations, you see…” the boy scratched is cheek. Then he focused on priestess’s face.
“Why are you wearing that thing, on your head?”
“Naturally, because I am blind.”
“Oh.”
“Worry not little one, many kids ask me the same thing, I am not offended.”
“Were you the one who tended to me?” the boy was now serious.
“Your body was not damaged aside from emaciation and loss of consciousness, I merely stabilized your body with my mana. I did not do anything that could be considered life-saving.”
“But you still helped me, for that I will need to repay you. Could you please come closer?”
She leaned in, in the direction of his voice.
He put his small hands on her face.
Little kids, some of them, when they are grateful give me kiss on the cheek. He must want to do the same thing…
But instead of kissing her face, he held her face with his right hand and placed his left palm upon her blindfold, directly upon her closed sightless eyes.
Then, she felt a warm sensation upon her eyes. It lasted only for a single moment. It seemed like light had entered into her mind, momentarily stunning her.
She did not even notice that the blindfold on her eyes was taken off by the boy’s hand.
Everything was blurry before coming into focus; her blindfold was in his hand.
He was smiling at her with a kind expression.
“Why did you take it off? How am I supposed to find it…” her eyes opened wide. She looked at her right hand, then at the little boy’s face.
Then, she realized it, she could see.
I can see.
I can see.
I can see…
Her eyes were filling with tears of happiness. This was a miracle. A god’s gift.
Is this boy a deity in disguise or a child blessed by the gods? I have to know!
“Little one, how…what did you do to me?”
“I fixed your eyes?” the boy just shrugged like it was no big deal.
What happened next, he did not expect. He found himself in a tight embrace by an older woman. Her walking stick fell to the side, she was balancing on one leg, but her muscular right hand was hugging him tightly.
“Uhm, Auntie?”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you…” she kept repeating it over and over again.
“Auntie, it hurts.”
“Oh, I am sorry.” She finally let him out of her embrace.
“But, little one, wouldn’t you tell me your name?”
“Can you keep a secret?”
“For you, my little miracle worker, anything.” She sincerely whispered.
“My name is Morphus, nice to meet you.” He smiled
She saw something else, something mind-boggling. Out of his back, a pair of pure white wings sprouted out and spread out.
Seeing her expression of surprise, Morphus quickly unfolded his wings and hid them back in his body.
“Oops, sorry they came out on instinct. Please keep that a secret as well, don’t want others to find that out.” Morphus nervously laughed out.
But to her, this boy was a miracle worker, she could only stare at him in awe, she did not know what he was and frankly she did not care. She only knew that this boy might as well have descended from the heaven itself.