Arthur had perhaps the worst headache he’d ever felt in his life, and he was sure that he’d lost around half a litre of blood from his nose. How the hell such a thing was even possible was the least of his concerns right now, though. It wasn't a problem due to his high vitality, but it still shocked Arthur to think that so much of the stuff had come out of him for no apparent reason. Okay, I guess I was abusing my skill.

Conscious of the fact that he was probably surrounded by a family of blood drinkers, he’d made sure to not let his blood fall to the floor, and instead collected it on his t-shirt which was now sticky with the drying liquid. Still, he felt that he’d at least accomplished something when he looked down at Tamo. After his first usage of the Regeneration spell that had somehow cost so much, the following attempts had been much more successful, and Tamo's entire unbandaged arm could attest.

But still, Arthur had no idea that using up all your ether reserves would feel this bad. He’d been sure he could deal with the effects with his high physical stats but it seemed that they didn't counter the consequences of overusing his ether sadly. It should have been obvious in hindsight considering the esoteric energy was based on his mental stats. Perhaps a higher amount of willpower was needed to deal with the issue.

Ether: 27/3230

After dealing with just a single wounded limb on Tamo's body, Arthur's healing skill had gained an entire level, emphasising just how serious the injury had been. The healing process had become much easier in the latter usages of the skill after the gained level but it seemed that continuing to heal Tamo would provide much fewer returns now that he knew exactly how to do it. Arthur actually believed the ease didn't come from the increase in skill levels but rather the familiarity he'd built with the injury.

In all honesty, he wasn't so sure how much skill levels mattered. Sure they got better, but if he was to compare it to its powers at level one, his regeneration skill wasn't insanely better. Besides the added increase of .2% and 20 ether in the secondary effect, it was practically the same. He'd just gotten better at using it; a very KEY difference from the ability actually improving in and of itself.

Whilst he may not have been entirely happy with his progress, however, both Selena and Tamo were ecstatic with the result of his twenty minutes of medical administration.

“I knew you were good Arthur, but this… this is a result far better than anything I could have hoped for,” Selena exclaimed, joy brightening her eyes.

“It would’ve taken weeks for me to heal this naturally but with your help, I can …” Tamo trailed off as his body was racked by dry coughs. Selena continued on from where the blood mage had left off.

"We’d actually not expected you to be able to do anything. After all, none of the healers before you could,” Selena paused for a moment, taking in Arthur's exhausted face and stooping posture.

“This is beyond anything we could have asked for and now there's a chance that Tamo might be able to help in the upcoming fight against Shade. We’ll make sure you're properly compensated for this extra work as soon as you've finished healing the blood mage in full. An added bonus on top of your primary job's payment.”

Selena added the last line as an incentive to get Arthur to heal Tamo as soon as possible. Though she was certain that Arthur would not leave the job unfinished, it wouldn't hurt to give him a little push in the form of a promised reward. The only problem now was whether or not Tamo would accept full-body healing. Arthur nodded his head wearily, not paying much attention to what the woman had said. The only thing on his mind right now was sleep and he couldn't care less about anything else right now.

“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, Selena but I don't think I’ll be able to heal Tamo within three days,” Arthur told the woman, noticing the frustration that flashed across her face which was quickly replaced by anger.

It seemed that she’d gotten the wrong idea from what he’d said. Arthur quickly clarified.

“I’ll be able to heal him, of that I'm certain, but my ether reserves just aren't large enough to do that within the three days you want. Not if I want to be ready to help the rest of the team with my regeneration skill at the same time.”

Arthur was relieved to see that his words had the desired effect and Selena visibly calmed down. She still seemed to be a little agitated but no longer in danger of doing something stupid like attacking him. Selena still looked a little uncertain and she visibly shook her head, as if trying to dispel her paranoia. Arthur would gain nothing by holding out on them, and she’d have to learn to trust him if they wanted any chance of bringing down Shade.

Tamo too seemed to be giving her a withering glare, telling her to calm down. The woman sighed. It seemed that Selena had been too keyed up lately and her rage was far too close to the surface these days for her to function properly. Her inner musings were interrupted however when Arthur spoke.

“I’m going to go sleep in the living room or something. I can't even stay standing on my feet right now.”

Selena looked up sharply at Arthur and saw that he kept blinking strangely like he had something in his eyes. His normally white skin had somehow become paler, and sweat was running down his forehead. Selena berated herself when she saw Arthur's state for not recognising the symptoms of overdrawing ether sooner.

It was something she had seen many times before since the coming of the system, and Arthur was exhibiting all the signs of an individual who had spent their reserves almost to the last drop.

He already told me his ether reserves couldn't keep up with his healing, but being an idiot, you didn't even believe him, she chastised herself.

It was honestly amazing that Arthur was somehow still standing, as everyone else who got so low on ether would almost certainly lose consciousness. To still stand meant that he had some incredible investments in willpower. Either that or his physical stats dwarfed his mental ones to the point it could counter the side effects. Selena highly doubted that, however. Arthur was a healer, not a warrior.

“I’m sorry for not realising it sooner, Arthur.” She apologised to his retreating back, as he’d already made it halfway through the door. It was a testament to his exhaustion that he didn't even wait for their dismissal before leaving.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Arthur meanwhile was promising himself that he’d never again allow his ether reserves to drop below five percent. It felt like shit, almost like he’d stayed awake for three nights straight cramming for an exam and yet somehow even more exhaustive than that. His vision kept flickering, and it was only sheer willpower that kept him moving forward until finally he gracelessly fell onto the sofa.

The fact that he was currently alone and vulnerable didn't escape him, but there was little he could do about it now besides hope his hosts didn't try to take advantage of him.

Never again.

His head hadn't even touched the oiled leather before darkness claimed him.

~Tamo Tatsumi~

Tamo looked at the departing healers back in shocked silence, trying to understand how the man could even move.

I swear he just spent over 1500 ether right now unless my bloodline is acting up. How the fuck can someone barely past level 50 still walk after doing that. Screw that, how does he even have so much ether in the first place.

As he tried to get his racing thoughts under control, Selena asked him a question.

“What's that look for? It's like you just saw a ghost or something.”

Her voice was filled with concern and worry though she tried to mask it with the way she phrased her question. Tamo couldn't help himself. He started to laugh at the words Selena had used.

A ghost. No, something so much worse. I don't think the governments yet realised just who it is they’ve contracted. They’ve made a deal with the devil.

A nice, friendly, human-looking devil, but a devil all the same. Tamo chose not to reveal the full scope of Arthur’s abilities to Selena, thinking it better to leave her in the dark. Whilst he trusted her, he didn’t like the people behind her much and anything he told her would eventually reach them. Plus, he didn’t want their meddling to ruin any friendship he could form with the powerful healer. Arthur was someone Tamo very much wanted on his side if the situation ever arose that he met an enemy he couldn’t deal with himself, and he would do everything he could to stay on friendly terms with him.

Even if that meant he had to keep some secrets from his closest confidant.

“I don’t know how your people found him, but you did a good job bringing him here,” he acknowledged to Selena.

The spy just smirked her infuriating self-satisfied smile.

“If I couldn’t at least do that much, then I wouldn’t be of much use beyond being your babysitter now, would I? Though my superiors did seem to be a little too eager to make contact with Arthur if I'm honest. Enough that they were willing to give Lieutenant Graves a share in the Zaibatsu corporation to make things go smoothly.”

She laughed at the end and ruffled his hair, which he had told her so many times already not to do, and yet just like his sister, she seemed to have some sort of selective hearing ability. Using his recently healed arm, he marvelled at his unmarked flesh as he used it to push away Selena’s annoying fingers.

“The journey here was a real bitch, man,” she suddenly said, rubbing her calves for some reason.

Curious, Tamo asked her to explain what she meant. When he received a brief ‘run’ of events of what had transpired, he started to laugh. Selena had a look of mock outrage on her face before she too started to join in. They were both laughing for very different reasons though and Tamo decided to not tell Selena that little bit of information.

Tamo was not shocked to hear that Arthur had agility rivalling Selena’s, who had specialised in that stat. No, he was far beyond that emotion right now. What he was feeling was a simple, normal reaction to the news. Much like a man who had found a gold mine, Tamo was just happy with the fact that they had found Arthur and managed to bring him to their side.

Still, they had an important job to do, and so despite the light-hearted mood, Tamo decided to ruin it by asking the question that was on his mind.

“So, Selena. Have your people had any breakthroughs on what Silver Rose is planning?”

Selena was instantly serious when the words left Tamo’s mouth, and he saw the guarded look that came over her face. She never told him everything, that much was obvious to Tamo from long ago. After all, he wasn't an official government agent, more a powerful civilian in the right place at the right time, a consultant of sorts who'd been brought into the fold out of circumstance. Without the sugar coating, a necessary evil given his unique position as the current heir to the Zaibatsu corporation.

Still, the information he got from her was far from useless, a fact that was about to be reinforced when Selena answered his question.

“We’ve been observing the movements of a few of their members who have not yet shown signs of insanity. They’ve been strangely quiet.”

Tamo nodded his head, already familiar with the constant monitoring the government agents loved to employ against their potential targets.

“Their ever-elusive leade Thorn, however, has finally started to move and we suspect that they will be trying to force a dimensional breach to bring over a powerful monster from the other side.”

Tamo blanched at that, imagining the chaos that would ensue. If a monster as powerful as the harpy queen made its way into America, they had no Kazi Alukai to help them deal with a threat of that magnitude.

Well, there was Arthur, but Tamo's instincts were telling him that the healer still had a long, long way to go before he was ready to duke it out with monsters like ‘The Will of Earth.’

"Our scientists have estimated that Thorn's strength after doing experiments on himself will be on par with a level 200 beast. At the very least. We have a reason to fear he has the backing of a Prime too."

"And that's without taking into account the man's incredible affinity with void magic.”

Selena trailed off, closely observing Tamo’s face for any reaction at the mention of the man's strength. The blood mage looked completely fine and yet to someone like Selena, who had known him for years, the signs of quiet rage were easily visible in his slightly faster breathing and momentarily clenched teeth.

She couldn't fault him for his reaction, as her blood too began to boil when she spoke the name of the man who was responsible for so much suffering. The man was also the only lead they had on Tulissia's whereabouts. He was the last person she had been in contact with before disappearing a few months before the system's arrival.

I’ll get that bastard if it's the last thing I do.

Thorn had a lot of crimes to answer for, and whilst she was not capable of bringing the monster to justice, she would do her part in bringing him down. Tamo tried to calm himself, clenching his single working fist. He wasn't altogether successful in controlling his rage, but he did manage to steer his thoughts away from revenge to more productive things.

He’d kill that bitch when he finally got his hands on him.

Okay, maybe he wasn't as great at controlling his emotions as he thought. Trying to take his mind off the criminal mastermind, Tamo continued his conversation with Selena.

“Is that all you’ve managed to find out, or is there anything else you're not allowed to tell me?”

Selena didn't say anything for a moment before she suddenly smiled.

“Well I don't know if this is good news or not, but it seems like the Silver Rose is going to try and recruit Kazi Alukai.”

Selena started to laugh and Tamo soon joined in. The thought was so outlandish it was amusing. They wanted to recruit the most powerful man on Earth with the offer of a strength that only led to insanity. They’d have a hell of a time waiting for them if they wanted to get that monster on their side.

After all, the entire American government had been unable to sway the man with promises of riches far beyond anything the Silver Rose could offer and the threats the government had eventually resorted to had backfired epically.

Kazi Alukai had spared the men that had been sent after him however and Tamo only hoped that he wouldn't extend the same courtesy to the Silver Rose when they inevitably tried to put him down.

Kazi Alukai was an enemy that you didn't want to make, a greater power than any monster that would be found on Earth for the next decade if things were allowed to progress normally.

You didn't mess with him, period.

And it looked like the Silver Rose would be finding out the hard way.