Arthur had promised himself that no one would die today. It was incredibly arrogant of him, that he could determine the safety of another in an incredibly heated battlefield, but what was the point of having all his power if he couldn't fulfill some difficult goals. They had made ample preparations for this fight, every member had been hand-picked from across multiple worlds because of their unique abilities. They had not one, but two prodigies who'd gained legendary classes at level 100, one of them an incredible healer and the other a seer who could peer into the future. The odds had been stacked extensively in their favour, to the point of almost being unfair. Iris had said as much; that all he'd need to do today is heal and observe.

And Ursula was dead because of it.

Arthur knew on a rational level that it wasn't his fault. No one could blame him for the beastkin's death. Battles were by nature unpredictable and Ursula had probably been fighting for longer than he'd been alive. She'd known exactly what she was walking into when she chose to go after the Harvester's agent. Arthur knew all of this, his brain laid out the facts for him to see. Knowing something and making peace with it were two very different things, however.

It was the nature of the human mind to focus on failure and Arthur's brain was currently reminding him of every mistake he'd made today. Had he been able to strike true with Poisoned Fang of the Hydra, the fight would have ended in seconds. Before that even, if he'd reacted better to the monster's invasion of their ship, there wouldn't have been a battle in the first place. Those were abstract things though, and Arthur knew he couldn't blame himself for how he'd acted in those situations. He'd done the best he could with the information he had at the time.

The accusations he couldn't ignore, however, were the ones his subconscious levied at him for things that had been well within his control. He'd actively chosen not to select anyone with his Source of Vitality title. It wasn't something he'd forgotten. No, he'd remembered and consciously decided not to use it, heeding the warning Iris had given him to never reveal it. He could enhance twelve people with the equivalent of twenty percent of his Draconic Vitality without decreasing from his own stats in the least.

Even a single percent of enhancement would have given Ursula around twenty five Draconic Vitality. Would that have been enough to save the beastkin? So long as her head had remained attached, Arthur would have had a chance to heal her. Twenty five Draconic Vitality provided the defence of thirty seven point five Constitution, around five levels worth of the stat for how normal melee fighters spread their attributes around. I could have healed everyone faster. Never let the bastard's energy linger for so long. It would have been easy too. He could have gotten rid of the purple ether infecting everyone's wounds in seconds, a fraction of the time he'd spent healing everyone. It would have taken around thrice as much energy, and so Arthur had adopted a conservative strategy, slow and steady healing. And Ursula's fucking dead now, Arthur mocked himself.

It had happened so fast he hadn't even had time to react to it. One moment things were fine, and the next, limbs were flying. The scene unfolding before him looked like something straight out of a fever dream, but Arthur knew there would be no waking up from this. In the end, Arthur gave himself three seconds to feel like shit before pushing his guilt to the far recesses of his mind. He'd have time to deal with the messy cocktail of emotions once this battle was over, or else risk losing even more people to the Ghoulsih Skinwalker.

By the time he'd gotten his head screwed on right, Iris' arm had finished its ascent through the sky and was making its way back to the ground. Ursula's head sadly never got that chance. Frankenstein sent a blast of concentrated ether at it- what Arthur now dubbed a space bomb- and he watched grimly as it exploded into thousands of fragments. Any lingering hope that Arthur might have been able to reattach her head before brain death set in was quickly snuffed out. Say what you wanted about Frankenstein, the skinwalker didn't leave things to chance.

"Attack him before he switches," Iris screamed as she was blasted back through the air.

Arthur had no idea what the seer was talking about, but he knew what she needed him to do. No plan survived first contact with the enemy. He'd thought as much when Iris had told him all he'd need to do today was heal and observe. Hell, he'd even looked forward to the fighting he'd inevitably be forced to do when the plan fell apart.

Now that Arthur was getting his wish, all he felt was a grim determination to make the skinwalker suffer. Summoning his soul-spear, Arthur entered into the first stance of the Star-spear Revelations. It was time for him to do what he should have twenty minutes ago. Kill this bastard.

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~Rykah Olis~

Rykah Olis came from minor nobility, which as an elf meant that somewhere in her ancestry, so far back that no one could even remember, someone had done something suitably impressive and been awarded a title by a true elf Lord or Lady. In other words, her nobility meant jack all, something she'd been reminded of over and over again by the snobbish pricks her parents had forced her to interact with growing up.

At that point, going down a career path as a System employee just made sense. It was a well-respected profession- albeit uninspired- and it was the easiest way for her to get off-world without spending a fortune. Her twin brother had of course jumped along for the ride. Five years later, she'd entered the employ of Lady Sleyca, an up-and-coming genius who many had their eyes on.

Whilst overly ambitious, the woman made for a great boss and it was under her guidance that she mastered her first concept of the laws of fire. All in all, one would say that she'd had a very fruitful career. Right now, however, as she lay on the ground, fake rock beneath her with a particularly gnarly tree root digging into her lower back, she cursed every decision that had led her up to this point. What in the nine hells had possessed her into thinking going after one of the Harvester's agents was a good idea?

She didn't even know what had happened. Things had been going so well. They had the skinwalker- Frankenstein the strange human called him- on the back foot, victory seemingly right around the corner. Then she'd watched in horror as Ursula's head was blown off her body even as the same insidious blew her knee out. Rykah was in a world of pain so she quickly summoned some Yarrow root into her mouth directly from her storage bracelet. Chewing it immediately dampened the unbearable pain of her shattered kneecap and allowed her to think straight once again.

How long had she been on the ground? Five seconds? Ten? That was far too much time spent idle for a fight of such calibre and she was surprised she still counted amongst the living. Everyone had been hurt by Frankenstein's last attack, which meant that no one was left to engage with the enemy. No way the skinwalker wouldn't capitalise on the opportunity.

The human healer was spared, a hopeful voice fed her delusions. She dismissed the notion from her mind immediately. However the poor man had managed to weaponise his aura earlier, it had left him in a far worse state than she was currently in, as far from combat-ready as you could get. And he'd only level 103.

Groaning, Rykah sat up, wincing at the stabbing pain the motion caused her. On the bright side, the skinwalker's latest attack had used up all the foreign ether he'd infused into her body, meaning Arthur's stored healing was finally able to show its true might. The results shocked her. Within fifteen seconds of her receiving the wound, she'd completely recovered. Rykah had been shocked when Arthur revealed his ability to store healing energy in his patients. It wasn't revolutionary, but the quantities he was capable of providing it might as well have been.

At the start of the battle, Arthur's healing energy had trouble dealing with the injuries inflicted by the Ghoulish Skinwalker and she'd felt... happy wasn't quite the word- no one enjoyed it when they were forced to stay hurt for longer, but... vindicated. Yes, vindicated was the appropriate word. It made sense that such a broken ability had its own set of limitations. Except right now, she was being healed so fast, it was like time itself was being reversed on her wounds.

In all her travels across the universe, she'd come across some powerful healers, individuals who'd dedicated centuries of effort to honing their craft. Getting treatment from them cost more than she made in her best year, which meant that Arthur was easily the best healer she'd been treated by. He's got an epic class, doesn't he? No, considering how powerful his poison magic was earlier and how durable he seems to be, it's got to be legendary. Rykah let the knowledge settle over her as she opened her eyes to take in the battle taking place.

As she'd expected, Arthur was engaged with the beast, keeping it in place even as his magic was rapidly healing everyone. Had she not come to the conclusion moments prior that he was a legendary classer, the sight of a level 103 human taking on such a terrifying creature would have put her into shock. Right now, however, she was simply in awe.

A legendary class arising from a tier-1 integration planet meant far more than someone like Iris receiving one. She was fae-royalty; daughter of one of the most powerful men this sector of the universe had seen in the last millennium. It would be more surprising if she hadn't received a legendary class. Rykah's eyes narrowed as she stared at the healer going toe-to-toe with the skinwalker. Someone like Arthur Ward gaining a legendary class was altogether different. How talented did someone have to be to gain one when they came from nothing, from a planet where the ether was so sparse she couldn't bring her most powerful spells to bear?

I can see why Lady Sleyca's so interested in him, then. Her lips grimaced in distaste. I guess he's the Anomaly that's got all the nobles in Feyton in a frenzy too. I can remember people saying it was supposed to be a healer of some kind. Staring at the young man's back, Rykah almost felt sorry for him. The way things were playing out, the Harvester's agent would be the least of Earth's problems.

The second stage of the integration phase was sure to be interesting.