Exill returned late in the afternoon, well past the usual time he came home. Together with Envy, they had ventured four caverns deep, first in the morning, then once again in the afternoon– creating a new personal record. Although he had been happy with the achievement, the Vampire burst his bubble by saying she had gone six caverns deep with Vameki and Sir Eumol.
He had gained a lot of experience while training, but the truth was he was reluctant to face Luna after their earlier confrontation. He resented the fact that she tried to wield him, much like Savta had, but without the old woman’s restraint.
Climbing up the steps to the entrance wearily, Exill suddenly grew alert as he noticed the door was slightly ajar, and there were droplets of blood on the floor.
He dumped his equipment near the doorway and hurried to the treatment room. He saw Luna bent over the raised leg of an old woman, alert with focus as she wrapped the last piece of gauze in place. He stood by sheepishly as his friend helped the woman stand and guided her outside, then she closed the front door with a tired look on her face.
Luna stumbled up to Exill, wrapping her arms around him in a fatigued embrace. “I don’t want to be mad at you… and I don’t want you avoiding me, you big dummy.” She mumbled softly into his chest.
“I’m sorry, did you have a rough day? I should have returned sooner.”
She nodded feebly, her tired chin digging into his chest.
Exill hesitated, before making a decision. He lifted her up in a princess carry and climbed upstairs while she squeaked in embarrassment. Nudging the room door open with a foot, he lightly lowered her on the bed as she covered her face with both hands in shyness.
“You go rest for a bit, I’ll mop up the entryway and the treatment room.” He went back downstairs to work while Luna’s heart continued to thump painfully. She started to have regretful thoughts as her blood pressure returned to normal.
‘Oh… I should have asked him to stay…’
As the tired maiden drifted off to sleep, Exill picked up the equipment he had dumped at the doorway and put them away, then got down to mopping the weathered floor. He was relaxing on the stool, finally glad to have his feet off the ground when a gentle knocking sound could be heard.
Careful as not to wake Luna, he greeted the housewife who had scalded her hand seriously while cooking. This was the most common type of injury and he had observed Luna treat it countless times before. This was an opportunity to test his new skill.
“That looks painful ma’am, Luna is otherwise engaged but I would be happy to treat you, please follow me.” He led her to the treatment room and examined her hand. The next step was a crucial part that Luna had drilled into him. Mana had to be projected outwards to utilise the patients vitality to heal, or it must be channelled inwardly to sacrifice the healer’s own vitality.
Exill carefully projected his mana outward.
“Heal.” [Ping!]
Job Healer Level 1 Description Magic - Tier I Active Skill [Focal Area] concentrate healing energy over a localised area (control ability scales with level)
The housewife felt suddenly drained, but the aches in her joints were soothed away, as well as the pain in her hand. Exill equipped [Healer] as his job and focused on the burn wound. That single cast had consumed over 80% of his mana.
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What set apart great healers from the mundane was their ability to target damage to the flesh with pinpoint accuracy and maximal efficiency. A normal “Heal” consumed a massive amount of mana to dissipate healing energy over the entire body, inflicting a large drain on the patient’s vitality.
This time, Exill cast ‘Heal’ on just the hand using [Focal Area]. He poured just enough mana to shorten the recovery time by an order of magnitude and used only 10% mana in the process. Wrapping her hand in a gauze, he accepted payment and bid her farewell.
“Please keep an eye on it for swelling and come back if it doesn’t fully heal in two days.”
He punched the air as the door closed. It had taken a year to get to this point, but he finally did it.
‘I’m a real healer now!’
Exill spent some more of the afternoon crafting healing salves and emergency kits that were sold at the front display of the Clinic. He ventured down to the cellar to find Luna had bought vegetables and some lean meat, presumably for a stew.
‘She must have regretted her morning outburst, going out of her way to buy this meat.’ The cut wasn’t good by Earth standards, it was tough and sinewy, requiring a long period of slow cooking. However in this world, it was a rare treat.
Mentally checking the time, Exill thought it would be best if he started now. Carrying the ingredients upstairs, he stoked the kitchen hearth and started washing the vegetables.
“Are you going to cook for me?”
Exill was startled as he felt Luna wrap her arms around him. Playfully elbowing her away, he began to peel the vegetables while searching for a suitable apology, “…I felt guilty for leaving you to do the dishes.”
“Mm… and you didn’t even say goodbye.”
“Stop feeling me up! It tickles and I’m holding a knife.”
Luna flushed as she let go. She hadn’t realised her hands had been caressing his sides. Turning to the counter to start cutting the meat into cubes, she replied in a measured voice, “It’s payback for what you did in the morning.”
They prepared the meal in companionable silence and covered the cauldron over a low fire. The two sat at the dining table and professed what they had been up to that day.
“Give me your hand… no, the other one.” Exill held her soft hand and inspected the thumb. This was the one she had hurt the day before while slicing bread. It had nearly healed but he wanted to show off his newly acquired skill. Sacrificing his own vitality while channelling mana, he uttered the word,
“Heal.”
Luna gasped in surprise while inspecting her thumb. She looked up to find Exill grinning with an intricate silver ring on his upraised finger.
“I can now heal you if you get hurt. Do you have any other cuts and bruises on your body?”
Her heart thumped at the thought of Exill inspecting every inch of her body. Unfortunately, her health was in top shape. Luna’s mind wandered instead to the memory of him inspecting that ‘fan club’ suitor’s leg after a self-inflicted fall. ‘No, that would be too shameless!’ she didn’t want to go to such lengths as deceiving him.
Seeing the rosy maiden shake her head, he stood up and excused himself to inspect and maintain his equipment. Luna was still heady and distracted by lewd thoughts, so that when she stood up to check the fire and stew, her knee scraped against the table edge with a loud clatter.
“Ow!”
Exill rushed out to find the elf cradling her knee in pain. He hadn’t expected her to take up his offer to heal so soon!
“Are you alright? Let’s have a look.” He crouched before her, unsure of where to begin.
Peering down at his kneeling figure, she tentatively rolled up the hem of her dress, to the consternation of her loudly beating heart. There was a small scrape and a red mark that would undoubtedly turn into a bruise given time. Trying to ignore the allure of her soft pale thighs, Exill focused his vitality on the scrape and invoked, “Heal.”
The angry welt slowly faded away. Palm still cradling her calf, his fingertips brushed the top of her knee, setting both their hearts racing. The two didn’t move as slow seconds passed by.
With some reluctance, he stood up, wincing as he felt the early symptoms of mana abuse.
“Be more careful, dummy.” He affectionately patted her on the head and returned to honing the spearhead.
Luna sat there, feeling the vestiges of his touch on her leg, as well as the reassuring pat on her head. Holding the hem of her dress for what seemed like minutes, she gained the wherewithal to check the fire and stew. Then, she had to lay down for a while.
The two enjoyed a subdued dinner together and went off to do their own things. It wasn’t until late at night that Luna heard him knocking on the door.
‘Oh heavens! I forgot he had to report to me.’ The maiden suddenly regretted her morning outburst.
“Come in.” She said in a measured voice, sitting up from the bed, and gingerly covering her nightshift with a blanket. Exill opened the door and stood at the entryway as he sheepishly reported his status.
“She’s gone up to the attic and I’ll be locking the door behind me now, good night.”
“Good night…”
The door closed softly, and she soon heard a soft click from the other side of the wall. Luna returned to bed, not understanding the heavy feeling in her heart. Her earlier assertiveness in leashing this ‘man-whore’ gave way to a complex sensation of remorse.
She saw within herself her overly controlling grandmother, and Luna wasn’t sure she liked the metamorphosis shaping within her cocooning heart.