Zalia watched in satisfaction as the park was returned to beauty as she walked through it, pleased with her power's ability to do something so… simply good. A lot of her abilities were used for pain, death and assisting in that regards. At least, that was how she often used them.

Healing Presence though, it was entirely about rejuvenating what was damaged.

Tristan was walking slightly ahead of her to watch the plants being restored.

“Wow Zalia, I… that is something else.”

“I never get tired of seeing it,” Ember added with a broad smile Zalia felt.

Boreal, Ember and Aylie were all behind her as she did her work, though it was more of a casual stroll than an active effort.

Tristan turned to her walking backwards

“You’re different.”

“It’s been a while,” Zalia pointed out with a smile.

“Not long enough for the change I see in you, not to mention you’ve reached Bronze already!”

Zalia shrugged.

“I guess you could say that I’ve been in a place that I had to change a little bit to survive in."

They passed over a wooden bridge that was grown over a little bubbling brook.

“And where was that?” Tristan asked, now walking forward again as he admired her handiwork.

“Cormaine,” Zalia said.

“She would be the person if any to survive that place,” Ember chipped in from behind, a growl of agreement soon following from Boreal.

Tristan stopped and turned to face her once more.

“How in the worlds did you get there?”

Zalia leaned against the railing of the little wooden bridge.

“Well, I suppose you could guess it was because of that little ritual that went off,” Zalia said, breathing out a soft sigh.

It was time to explain where she had been again.

Tristan nodded his head a few times.

“Ah yes, that little ritual. Well, that explains it a bit."

Then, he began walking off again.

Zalia pushed off the railing and looked at Ember quizzically.

“Not going to ask about it?” Zalia asked, following after him.

“No. You’d tell me if you needed to talk about it. Besides, I’m sure it isn’t a fun memory to recall,” Tristan said over his shoulder.

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Zalia quickly stepped up beside him.

“No, it isn’t."

“I get it, I have my own memories I prefer not to recall over and over,” Tristan replied, his wandering gaze seeming to stare into nothingness.

“Thanks,” Zalia said, bumping her shoulder into his.

They meandered through the rest of the park, coming out the other side and back into the dirty city filled with hungry refugees.

Zalia stopped and sat against a tree, looking back out over the park.

“What do you think?” Tristan asked, leaning against a tree on the other side of the path.

“What do I think?” Zalia asked, looking up at him as the other three settled next to her.

“About the park. Think it can be done?”

“Easily, if you have enough people to work it into a proper field. I’m surprised it isn’t already with the state the place is in. I don’t understand why anyone would have attacked the previous efforts to turn it into farmland,” Zalia said, frowning.

Tristan turned to look across the people nearby.

“They’re hungry and some heard there was grain being used to set up a farm and thought it was better served in their stomachs. Simple as that I think,” Tristan explained.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t feel… right,” Zalia murmured, looking down at the grass between her legs.

“It isn’t right. Not much in war is.”

“On that, we agree.”

They sat for a while longer before Tristan left to find some people to help work the field. He expected it wouldn’t take long, considering how desperate people were for food.

Zalia wasn’t quite sure what was going on in the town of Ostoss but something didn’t feel right. It was like a sensation nudging against her senses that she couldn’t quite see. Something in the corner of her eye that vanished when she turned to look.

“You healed their souls,” Aylie murmured from beside her.

Zalia looked at her and she was staring across the park in awe.

“You can do that too you know,” Zalia reminded her, giving her a little nudge with her shoulder.

Aylie nodded, still staring at the park.

Zalia knew that with this ability, Aylie would grow up in a very different way to most people. Seeing thing’s souls and understanding parts of the world that no one else did must have an effect on a person. Especially one going through a stage of development like Aylie was, still a child.

“Let’s take a walk through the city, hey?” Zalia suggested.

The others agreed so they stood up out of their little pile of people and walked through the streets.

Zalia was lost deep in thought, considering how to approach the reclusive Silver rank Barrier Enchanter that lived near the centre of town that Tristan had mentioned when she heard a yell. A yell, then the sound of a blade piercing flesh, followed by a gurgling.

She broke out of her thoughts immediately and spotted the source of the disturbance. Ember quickly grabbed up Aylie as Zalia dashed forwards.

A teenager had stabbed an older man in the throat and stolen his bowl of stew.

Zalia watched the expression of pure shock followed by delighted surprise on the older man's face as her healing swiftly closed the stab wound in his neck but the majority of her attention was on the chase.

She felt something about this teenager that was off, some instinct telling her that everything wasn’t quite right about them.

In a dozen quick strides, she caught up with the person and grabbed their wrist.

As she did, she finally understood what was wrong as she felt the corruption flowing through the person's veins. They turned to face her, their face half melting as a feral snarl came from their mouth. Zalia reacted by using her leverage on their arm to pull them closer, grab them under the arm and use both her arms and legs to flip the person over her shoulder and slam face first into the ground.

A few nearby people made themselves scarce as the stunned and shocked looking demon blinked up at her from the ground.

? - Iron rank.

Its disguise had disappeared entirely, the face of a young teenage boy being replaced by that of a snarling monster in human clothing. Not wanting to let the thing recover, she quickly followed up the ground slam with a kick straight to its face.

It slammed backwards and smashed its head into the ground yet was still not out so she gave it another kick to the head, finally knocking the thing unconscious. There was a few questions she wanted to ask this beast and she was not about to lose the opportunity to get answers.