“Now,” Scholar Kleeb continued his lesson, “there is still a chance that you may not have a combat class. That doesn’t mean that you won’t be useful as a noble, valuable in a combat party, or able to contribute to society. It has always been a source of great pride for me that I am a teacher rather than a combatant. My job is to prepare those who will fight, those who will heal, and those who will rule. If I was a combat class I may only make a difference in one person’s life if I happen to save them, but as a teacher I reach many, many more. And each of those people whose lives I touch will go on to touch many more. It’s a blessing, and you should consider it as such if you get a class that is outside of your expectations.”

Adam could tell that the man meant what he had said, but he also saw how the man wore a saddened expression after his declaration. Perhaps it was being trapped in the estate, limited to only three people to teach that caused him to look that way. Then again, it could just be that the two noble children showed no reaction at all. His speech had made no impact on them. Sighing, Kleeb gave a last attempt at getting the children involved. “Questions?”

To everyone’s surprise, Marcus raised his hand slightly. Stammering slightly, the scholar said, “Uh, yes, M-Marcus?”

“Healers. Why are they so rare?”

The scholar nodded. “Excellent question. The short version is that they don’t want to fight. The longer version has to do with a generalization of people. Most people will take the easiest way in life. If someone ends up with a healing class, they look around for the easiest path. They see the sick and injured around them, how much they’d pay to be better, and realize they can be paid to grow their class. They’ll never have to fight, they will never have to struggle, and they will never have to worry for their loved ones health.

“Now, that is not to say that is all that anyone does with a healing class, far from it. Those with a strong religious belief may have been gifted a priest class with some healing, generally leading them to serve their chosen god more closely. Some temples offer healing services for donations, or set prices, according to their deity’s instructions. A stronger sense of civic responsibility may lead other healers to serve in the city garrison or army, healing up guards and soldiers during training accidents or injuries in their duties. It may not pay well, but it is solid, dependable work. Some of these may be drafted during war time as well.

“Finally, you get the adventurous ones. These are the ones that actually go out to join parties of adventurers. It’s hard to know how this works because we understand so little about the Gift. Were they already adventurous, and so they received a class that would fit with that desire? Or did they change to adapt to their class that was made for adventure?” He shook his head. “Either way, there are certain healing classes that seem to be made for small party combat.

“Healing warriors, those who wear armor, use shields, swing swords, and cast healing spells, are basically healing defenders. Battle healers are similar, but generally more lightly geared, preferring a more avoidance based combat style. These tend to be more likely to have utility skill sets, and a higher damage. Shielding healers have their normal healing spells, but also barriers that they can drop on someone to keep them from taking damage. The list goes on, but each is different.”

He looked up, catching Adam’s eye. A slight smile made the boy more nervous than he thought he should be. The pointing finger didn’t help. “There are even healing nannies, like him.” The kids turned to look at him. “Now, I don’t imagine that he had many healing spells at the moment, but he at least has this lovely aura that does a wee bit of healing, yes? And I would imagine, that as a nanny, his healing skill is even more effective on children in his care.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Adam blinked. The man had a better understanding of his class and how it functioned than anyone other than those who actually knew what his class was.

The light orb lit back up, Kleeb’s hands swirling over it as he made changes to its function. When he turned back, he was smiling. “An aura is the type of healing skill that would make a difference to a party, but would need to be planned around if it was the only healing available. Abigail, how do you think it should be used?”

Those big blue eyes of hers lit right up, and Adam sucked in a breath. He knew what was coming, and exactly how horrible it would be. The tiny golden haired terror would spout off about using it to more effectively torture people, further proving that she was born without a soul. Thus he was quite surprised when she gave a rational answer. “It would be excellent for training purposes. People could train at a higher intensity because any little cuts and scrapes they got would heal right up.”

Kleeb chuckled and smiled. “Yes, that’s one way it could help. Marcus, how about you?”

The boy thought before he answered. “It would speed up progress through a dungeon, or a series of smaller fights. The aura would help recover faster than without, and save on things like healing potions which can be quite expensive.”

The scholar smiled and nodded, “Excellent, yes.” He raised a finger. “But neither of you managed to get it all. Remember how I said his aura would increase in effectiveness for children in his care? If he has a skill that marks people…” He trailed off, obviously expecting everyone to think for themselves.

Adam just dropped his head to the table. He knew where this was going to go, and wondered why. Was Kleeb under orders from the duke? How did he know about Adam’s skills? Was it a trap? Or was it what it appeared to be, an inquisitive old man who just enjoyed teaching people how to think for themselves? For the next little while, it didn’t really matter why it was happening, just that, very soon, he’d be doing something he had wanted to put off for as long as he could.

Abigail was the one that blurted it out, although Adam was certain that Marcus had already figured it out. He was curious about why the boy had remained silent. Was he letting his sister announce it to make her feel better, or just hoping that if no one answered that it would be let go?

“He can mark his whole party to give everyone the boosted healing!” Abigail was so excited about answering she was bouncing in her seat.

Adam was trying to fight the parts of himself that were smiling at her performance, finding it adorable. By the look on Marcus’ face, he was doing the same thing, but he didn’t have to deal with knowing how much of him finding it adorable wasn’t system assistance. He was so caught up in being irritated at himself, that he nearly missed Kleeb saying, “How about we try it out, hmm?”

He looked up, pissed at the suggestion, but the happy look on Abby’s face combined with the earnest curiosity on the face of the scholar stopped him from complaining. Remembering what Valla said about failing in his duty, he was curious what he had planned, so he asked. “How?”

“Well, that’s easy. Everyone has a belt knife yes?” At the nods, he proceeded. “I’ve a time piece here somewhere, ah, there it is. Now, everyone make a small cut on your finger. As the aura is active now, we can test it without the mark. Keep track of how long it takes to heal, and remember, a small cut.”

With a little time and pain, cuts were made and healed. “Excellent, now, use your marker if you could.”

Adam wasn’t super excited about that plan, but figured he was out of options now. Instant Family it was.

Instant Family: Everyone has a family, even orphans. As an orphan you get to choose your family. Instant Family lets you choose the family you always wanted. More importantly, it also lets you choose who isn’t family anymore. You’ll always know who your family are.

Designate people as Family or not. Identify Family or Foe.

And now he’d get to see why exactly he was worried about having to use his skill.

He took a deep breath, let it out, and activated his skill on both children.