“Help! Help! Thieves!” Luna shouted from the windows.

Exill stood tense. Seconds felt like minutes. Then he heard multiple footsteps and the sound of crunched glass. The dark interior of the clinic was tense, filled with sudden silence. He was startled as Old Savta stumbled out of her room in her shift with glowing wand raised at the ready. She squinted at the bare-chested lad who was defending the staircase.

“Exill? What in World’s name are you doing child. Luna, get over here!”

The three gathered in front of the landing while Luna explained the situation, trying not to look at Exill who was half dressed and still alert.

“Hmph, lead the way boy. I’ll cover you with ice magic. Luna, stay behind me.”

The three carefully went down the stairs. Nana inspected the safe behind the counter and found it secure. They moved through the hallway until they reached the main treatment room, the windows shattered and crates of Old Savta’s remedies pilfered.

“Bah, it isn’t as worse as I feared. Lock the rooms and let’s head to bed, be careful not to step on glass. I’ll deal with it in the morning.” With that, Savta went up to her room, muttering about the decrepit state of society.

“Um… thank you Exill, I’ll handle it from here… how do I leave the party?”

“I’ll watch you finish up. We can dismiss the party once everything is locked up.”

Exill examined Luna’s Card while she fumbled for the keys. She was a [Healer] lvl 38 and [Herbalist] lvl 27, providing a racial bonus to Intelligence for all party members. He could sense her frantic embarrassment leaking through.

Name Luna Hometown Ark Race Elf [Intelligence+] Age 20 1st Job [Healer] lvl 38 2nd Job [Herbalist] lvl 27

It appeared she was unfamiliar with how the Party system worked and how surface emotions were shared among members. He could sense a spike in her shyness every time her eyes were drawn to his bare-chested form.

Luna eventually managed to find the right key and they clambered up the stairs, softly illuminated by the dim glow emanating from the elf-maiden’s wand. She hovered around the bottom of the attic ladder, unable to express the relief and worry that plagued her.

“It’s over, they won’t be coming back. Try and get some sleep if you can.” He dissolved their party cohort and began climbing up the ladder.

“Thanks… I’ll see you in the morning,” she whispered back to his retreating form. The two climbed into their respective beds, hearts still pounding from the earlier excitement.

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***

The next morning, Exill woke up later than usual and climbed down the attic ladder to find Savta had prepared a mug of murky brown liquid just for him.

“Ugh, this tastes awful” he grimaced as he took a sip of the fragrant liquid.

“We have a long day ahead, drink up child, it will keep you awake till evening.”

Exill downed the bitter brew in one shot, a scowl adorning his face. Meanwhile, Old Savta was glancing at Luna, who was avoiding eye contact with both of them.

“Ah… it saddens me that in her time of need, my own granddaughter would seek help from a man rather than her old Nana.” She smiled coyly at Luna, “it is nice to have a strong, dependable man in the house, hmm?”

Luna choked on her brew as she struggled to speak. “Nana! *cough* I went to Exill because I was worried about you! He is… just a little brother to me.”

Savta’s smile turned into a predatory grin and Exill could sense the old woman’s inner sadistic Merc seeping out. Nana crooned, further spilling oil into the fire. “Little brother you say? Well, that is questionable considering the lewd looks you were throwing at his half naked form…”

“Haah!? *cough* lewd?” poor Luna was wracked by coughs as she struggled to breathe. Meanwhile, Savta looked chastened as she massaged her granddaughters back.

‘This sly old woman is simply too much!’ Exill thought while glaring at Savta. Teasing the elf maiden was fine, to a certain extent, however he had a feeling this could all come back to haunt him.

“I’ll be going out to the Magistrate's office. I need to submit a report for the stolen goods and request a permanent residence permit for Exill. Be back in an hour or two.” Savta picked up her cane and quickly escaped. ‘I couldn’t imagine a more awkward situation for those two!’ she grinned.

***

The atmosphere was thick with embarrassment while the two cleared broken shards of glass in Savta’s treatment room. Hearing a knock on the door, Luna rushed out with relief to receive the keg of Dwarven Spirit and the enchanted surgery tool. Exill finished boarding up the broken windowpanes and entered the adjoining surgery room to find Luna examining the scalpel.

“Could you hand me the blade? I would like to test it,” he said with barely concealed excitement.

“Excuse me?” Luna gingerly asked.

“I want to test it on my forearm to see the duration and extent of paralysis.” Exill was perplexed by her confusion, his hand still outstretched for the blade.

“I… don’t think it works that way. Like [Heal], most magic has no effect on the caster.” She said plainly.

Exill blinked. He hadn’t known that magic didn’t affect the caster. Understanding his mistake, he abashedly rolled up the sleeves of his left arm.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know, in that case, could you make a small incision on my forearm? If you have a sand timer, I would also like to check the duration of paralysis, oh, and this is how you activate just the single enchantment.” Exill demonstrated the pathway to channel mana into.

Luna fetched a small timer from upstairs and with trembling hands, made a small cut on Exill’s forearm.

‘Fascinating!’ he had felt a small pinprick, then numbness quickly spread up to his elbows. He couldn’t feel or move his fingers and they fell limp like dead weight.

Luna was quickly coaxed into a small incision on her forearm as well. Exill inspected his Card to find the blue bar under his Magic stat had decreased by a third. While he was preoccupied with the Card, Luna reached over and lightly touched his forearm, a glow suffusing the small cut she had made. It lightly tickled as the wound closed.

“I’ll ask Nana to heal – Haah!?” Exill had grabbed her pale forearm in return and was gently massaging Savta’s poultice with one finger.

“I’m sorry if it stings. We don’t know when she will be back, and I don’t want it to scab.”

Luna snatched her arm back a bit too quickly. Nana had applied salves on her many times before, but his touch had felt strange and set her heart beating. The two waited in flustered silence, waiting for the results.

“So, the paralysis lasts for around thirty minutes. If the patient has higher magic resistance like you, it can reduce the affected area and time to twenty minutes or less.” He summarized the findings.

The two beamed at each other, their earlier embarrassment outshone by the success of the experiment. Their joy was broken by an urgent knocking on the door.

“Healer Savta! We need your help quickly!”

Luna opened the surgery room door to find two men, one supported by the other, leaving a trail of bloody footprints in their wake.