“My name’s Alex. I am human like you. I wish you no harm and am only here to pass an invitation.” I said calmly. The young teenager looked anxious and scared. In the background, I noticed the wheat plants shifting as the ones hiding behind were stretching their ears. “I joined an organisation called the Healing Temple at Tussock. The people above me would like to extend this invitation to anyone who has the Healing element.”

The teenager shuffled around nervously. “Can you first prove that you are human?” He asked hesitantly.

‘Prove that I am human?’ I was puzzled by his unusual request. ‘I assume that some of the bounty hunters chasing them have used the Illusion element to take the appearance of a human before.’

“How do you want me to prove that? I suppose that you can ask me something about Earth that only a human would know.”

“That is not going to work. Last time, the lizard who disguised as one of us was also able to converse normally about Earth.”

“Then what do you propose?”

“…”

I frowned lightly. ‘A problem with no solution. The Illusion and Psychic elements… The Bangaa using these two elements has successfully eroded the trust of these people. They see anyone who do not belong to their group as enemies. That’s why they sent this young guy here while keeping their distance. If things go wrong, this guy will be the sacrificial pawn.’

“Anyway. I have already passed the message. If any of you have the Healing element, you can come with me and join the Healing Temple. My task is only to invite you, not to convince you to join.” I said calmly. Then, I pulled on the horse’s rein, commanding it to turn around and leave. I had already completed my task.

Surprised by my actions, the young teenager hesitantly took a step forward, raising his right hand. “W-wait a minute. Can you tell me more about the Healing Temple you mentioned?”

“Yes?” I commanded the horse to stop and glanced at the teenager. Anxiety and fear were still plastered all over his face but his expectant eyes were shining with hope.

“I…I have the Healing element.” The teenager explained weakly.

“You do?” I asked suspiciously. “Does not matter. The other healers will confirm it. The Healing Temple is an organisation made up of healers. Think of it as a hospital. If you agree to join, you will be asked to use your spells to heal patients. At the same time, you will be allowed into the city and be protected by the Healing Temple.”

“You are saying that if I join, I will be able to enter the city without being attacked by the lizards?”

“Essentially yes. The Bangaas won’t attack a member of the Healing Temple. But you will have to work once you enter the temple and things are not that rosy inside the city. You’ll hear the details from the people above me.”

“It sounds a bit too good to be true. The lizards have been hunting us for a while now but by just joining your organisation, we can stop being their target?”

“Yes. But as I said, your life won’t be easy once you enter the city. You won’t necessarily have to fear for your life since the Healing Temple will protect you but you may still suffer. This city is like a prison. While inside, you do not have to worry about the chaos enfolding outside. You live your life and do your job but you are at the mercy of the guards looking after that prison; one day they can randomly choose to beat you up. I’ve been raped on my first night in the city but I’m still alive and I haven’t been too affected since then.”

“…”

The teenager fell silent, not knowing how to respond to my statement. Behind him, I noticed a couple of silhouettes poking out of the wheat field. After watching me chat with the teenager and how I was about to leave, they pulled themselves together and got closer to assess the situation.

“What is happening here?” A man walked up to the teenager and grabbed his shoulder. He was dark-skinned, tall and muscular. His body and face were covered with scars. Judging by his attitude, I concluded that he should be the leader of this small group.

“I’ve already spoken. So you can just ask this guy. Besides, from where you were hiding, you should have been able to pick up the bits and pieces of our conversation.” I replied disinterestedly. I had no intention of conversing with him and this naturally displeased him.

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“Hey. Isn’t it rather impolite to brush me off like this when you can just repeat a couple of sentences?” He said, forcing a smile. At the same time, I noticed the teenager’s face twisting in pain and trying to free himself from the man’s grip on his shoulder.

“Whatever. I’ve said what I needed to. I’m leaving now.”

“H-hold on. I would like to join the Healing Temple you spoke of.” A shaky and scared voice sounded behind my back. The teenager freed himself from the man and hurriedly walked up to me.

I once again stopped my horse and faced the teenager. ‘As I expected. He is the scapegoat of this group. Why else would he be the one who come up to speak to a stranger to test the water? Now that he is offered an escape route to a better life, he will naturally accept the offer.’

“Then come with me. I’ll bring you to the other healers.”

“Hold on! When did I say that you can leave?” The dark-skinned man exclaimed as his expression twisted in anger. He stared at me furiously. ‘Not only are you being condescending and ignoring me when I speak. Now, you even want to steal a member of my team?’ He thought.

I remained calm despite noticing the dagger he drew from his belt and the other men emerging from the wheat field. There was a total of eight people, including two women.

“What you have to say does not matter. This person wants to join the Healing Temple and if you want to stop us from leaving, you will have to bear the consequences.”

The dark-skinned man snorted coldly. “Ha! Do you think I am scared of this threat? You said it yourself, the Healing Temple consists of healers. Why should I be scared of sissies who chose an element designed for women?” He grin evilly as he took a step forward. “I’ll beat your *ss up and teach you to respect others.”

I shrugged my shoulders, unfazed by his comments. That man has not even reached the first circle yet; his threats had no effect on me. Furthermore, I knew that the Healing Temple was monitoring my actions in one way or another. The Healing Temple wanted to promote the humans to create some conflicts but at the same time, it would not allow the humans to hurt its own agenda of recruiting more healers. “Do you really think I randomly came here? Your group has long been spotted. So, I would advise you to leave as soon as possible.”

I grinned and drew my spear from my storage belt. At the same time, I fully released my aura as a first circle creature.

The man froze mid-step as his eyes widened. He had naturally been affected by my stronger aura and subconsciously felt intimidated. He was not the only one affected; all his teammates also felt threatened.

“You! F*ck! How can I be scared of a sissy like you? You must have obtained some good things out of that organisation, right?” The dark-skinned man said through gritted teeth.

“Maybe.” I smiled faintly. There was no harm in letting him believe that I became stronger because I received benefits from the Healing Temple. On the outside, I looked in a much better shape than them as I did not need to sleep in the outside and had access to baths.

“B-but… What will happen to us if the only person with the Healing element leaves our team? Can we also join that Healing Temple?” One of the women asked anxiously. Since force did not work, this team needed to try a different approach.

I glanced at the woman. She had ordinary looks but looked rather repulsive after spending a few days without bathing. “Apologies. Only those with the Healing element will be recruited. Maybe another organisation will step forward to recruit you if you fit their criteria in the future. If you did not want that guy to leave, maybe you should have treated him better knowing that he was your only healer.”

I noticed the look of pity in her eyes and decided to give some advice. ”You should just leave this floor and head to the teleportation portal. Go to the eleventh floor and start climbing from there. The Union should have already cleared all the threats on the first ten levels.”

The other team members also tried to persuade me. After the forceful method failed, they tried softer methods without success.

“Let’s go now.” I said to the teenager after arguing for a while. I had wasted enough time.

“Yes.”

There was only one horse and I had no intention of sharing it. I pulled the reins and commanded the horse to proceed forward at a walking pace. Behind us, the group displayed a plethora of expressions, ranging from anger and resentment to bitterness and disappointment.

However, to my surprise, one of the men stepped out of the group and followed behind me with the teenager. He seemed familiar but I could not figure out where I saw him before.

“It is pointless for you to follow us. The Healing Temple won’t accept random people.” I warned him.

“Did you not say that the Healing Temple will accept anyone with the Healing element? And I just happen to have that element.” The man smirked happily.

“You have the Healing element? Did you not say that your element was Darkness?” The teenager exclaimed in surprise.

“Kid. Never reveal all your cards to strangers or else, you’ll end up in the same situation you were in and be abused.”

I could only nod at the man’s words. I glanced at him a few more times and eventually felt compelled to ask. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

“Oh? I thought you were just pretending to not recognise me. We met about a week ago when you were on your way to Tussock. Does that help to refresh your memory?” The man chuckled and continued mockingly. “You said you would never team up with me but it seems that we will end up in the same organisation after all.”

“So you are that person. No wonder I felt like this.” I said after recalling my encounter with this man.

“My name’s Robb by the way. I hope we’ll get along as we work at that Healing Temple.” The man said with a laugh.

As I recalled my first encounter with him, I ignored his last few words and simply introduced myself. “I’m Alex.”

There was only one person who had yet to introduce himself. An awkward silence settled down between us but eventually, the teenager opened his mouth. “And my name is Park Sungjun.”