“Here you go.” Grom handed Alex his adventurers identification in the form of small Adventurer guild insignia with his name on it. It was made of what looked like stainless steel and showed his reflection on the shiny surface. Thanking Grom, he placed it in his inventory, hopped out of line and headed to the tables hosting patrons of the guild.

Upon spotting him coming over, Rahl stood up and grinned while motioning Alex to sit next to him. “Team, I would like to introduce you to the healer who fixed me up.” Stated Rohl as Alex got close. The other four looked at him as he sat next to the eager Dwarf.

All eyes on the table was on Alex as he finally sat down. “I guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Alex and just came from the registration line.”

“You already know me, I’m Rahl and I’m the teams’ Vanguard. Stay behind me and I’ll be sure to keep you safe.” Rahl is a built dwarf with brown hair, and beard and gray eyes. In his getup, he reminds Alex of Gimli from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

'Is that racist?' Alex pondered.

“Hey there.”Greeted a Beast kin with Bear ears poking out of his mop of black hair. “Im Shoga, I’m the teams warrior.” Shoga was dressed in reinforced brown leather and has a large war axe on his back, along with twin hatchets and some tomohawks. “Odd get up for a healer but I cant say I don’t like it.” He said with a grin.

“Sure is an odd look for a healer but I guess I can dig it.” Spoke A grinning half-ling. He has a black cloak covering his features and just like Alex, black leather armor. All you could make out from him besides his height is the lower part of his face. “Names Ester. And if you couldn’t guess my class, I’m a rogue.”

“Nice to meet you.”Greeted an elf in green attire, a bow and quiver on her back and two daggers on her hips. Alex had to admit, Elves don’t disappoint when it came to looks, she was stunning with her vibrant emerald eyes and long platinum blond hair that seemed to shimmer in the light. “I’m Sylvie and that’s my sister.” She said pointing to another elf who appeared to hid behind a large book she was reading. “Her name is Rea, Don’t mind her, she’s shy.”

“Hi…” She spoke softly.

’They appear to be twins.’ Alex thought as he studied them both. The only real difference besides their attire and class is that Rea has blue eyes and a blue robe she wore along with her weapon, a gnarled wooden staff.

“I’m a Ranger, and a damn good shot. If I say so myself. Rea is a mage. Hey! With you joining us, that would make our team the complete package! A Warrior, Vanguard, Rogue, Archer, Mage and Cleric.” she listed off with an excited grin.

“How uncommon is that?” Alex asked.

“Pretty rare.” Answered Rahl. “As sad as it is to say, not many people choose healer when there are monsters out there that want to kill you. You would be a sitting duck without someone to back you up. Healers are either employed by factions, the Healers guild or snobby noble pricks who are too lazy to make a living. Which is why it’s a big deal, we would actually be the only team in Krysta with a designated healer.

”If you’ll have me.” Alex said. It was sad to think he was the only healer in the whole guild.

“Happy to have you on board Alex.” Said Shoga. “As acting leader of the team, I would like to officially welcome you to team ‘Bright Steel’.

___

Well, joining the team wasn’t official until Shoga and Alex hopped in line to state that he was joining team Bright Steel, much to the jealously of some of the teams in line behind them. After that, he had something to eat with the team. Seems they were staying at the guild hall due to the teams low funds. When they asked him where he was staying, he told them he was staying at the ‘Comfy Lump Inn’. When they asked why, he told them he wasn’t an adventurer at the time and didn’t know the protocol nor that you could stay at the hall.

Their money woes appeared to be not just because of a recent set back, but because healing potions are expensive with the current demand for them. Apparently, they used their only healing potion to heal Rahl after he tanked a Shadow Panther that caught them by surprise, who suffered very heavy wounds. When he asked about the shortage, he learned that there are currently only two registered alchemists in the town, who can only put out so many potions a day. Alchemy is a rather lucrative and difficult craft after all, explained Shoga.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

‘That explains why so many people rushed to the clinic yesterday. Healing is expensive, and me volunteering was a blessing this town surely needed.’

Shoga had picked a job they wouldn’t normally do. Investigate the cause of the increase of hostile monster activity within the vicinity of the nexus town. Any injury can be handled by Alex, so the team was both excited and eager for tomorrow to come.

That being said, Alex headed to the inn to retire for the day, had another light meal that he had paid for, for his room and went to get cleaned up, only to realize he has nothing else to wear. Disgruntled and put off by his blood caked leather armor, he got dressed in his old baggy pajama shirt and pants as he cleaned his leather armor before he went to bed.

When the morning came, he headed out to shop some more, namely some clothes to wear and soap. Lots of soap. He also got two new melee weapons. Maces, one to use, and one back up. He planed on playing as the healer for now, no point in showing all his cards. This was meant to be a team effort, if he did all the work, the others wouldn’t improve. That, and he was just eager to be in a team. It was kind of like playing multiplayer with other players, and for some reason, just made him giddy with excitement.

“Sorry if I’m late. Was doing some early morning shopping.” Alex apologized as he met up with his team eating at the guild hall.

“Don’t worry.” Placated Shoga. “We not long finished eating. I guess now we make it official official.” He chuckled kindheartedly.

Shoga Blackclaw has invited you into his party. Do you accept?

Yes/No

Alex selected yes and then a resource tab appeared in the upper left of his vision, showing his parties name, health and mana.

“What’s that?” Asked Shoga, studying the party interface.

“What's what?” Asked Alex

“This” He shared what he was seeing with Alex

Alex

SP:965/965

HP: 5040/1260

MP:1930/1930

“Whats SP?” Asked Rahl confused.

“And how come you have so much health?” Questioned Sylvie.

“And mana.” Asked the soft spoken Rea

“Yeah, even I don’t have that much health, let alone the bonus health you seem to have.” Ralh stated with a wide eyed look.

‘Shit… I didn’t expect that to happen. Guess I can share with them some of my skills.’

“SP, is short for Shield points.” Alex started.”Think of it like a passive skill that adds a second resource of health points. As for my health… Can I answer that somewhere else?” Alex said, gesturing to some of the listeners from the other tables.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Spoke Shoga but Alex shook his head.

“No no, I’m fine with answering, just in a more private setting.” Better to rip the band-aid off now than let this fester. Even if his reasoning was the case, Alex still felt a little anxious with explaining himself. Sure he could not, but there would be no point in hiding himself away from the world, shit will eventually hit the fan, so he wanted to nip it in the bud while he could.

Well, that’s what he kept telling himself as he left the city with the others.

“This seems like a reasonable spot.” Stated Shoga. They were out in an open field away from nosy people, past some farm land. “Are you sure you want to explain? We’re all privy to our own secrets.”

”It’s okay.” Alex told him. “ I guess I should give you some context. I’m from Earth, and was meant to go to the tutorial with every one else. Instead I awoke in a hidden dungeon.”

___

So Alex explained. He didn’t go into specifics of his class, just that he started off with an advance class instead of the basic every one else seems to have, or even intermediate which elites unlock first. When they asked where his bonus health came from, he showed them his pylon and they were more than eager to bask in its radiance.

They sat around the pylon as Alex went into detail. When Sylvie had the idea to do the hidden dungeon, Shoga shot her down after learning it was a level 20 dungeon. It appears that they are only around the same level as himself. When questioned if he was ‘God Touched’ he declined. He had an idea what it pertained due to the list, but other wise, no, he wasn’t ‘God Touched’

“I feel like I can take on the world!” Flexed Rahl, basking in his over heal status.

“It definitely feels nice, knowing he have such a massive buffer.” Chimed in Shoga. Being the front line combatants means they are always getting injured.

“I also have a bless spell that will increase you’re physical stats which should help in a pinch.” Spoke Alex, getting a happy hum from Rahl.

“In any case, we should get going.” Shoga spoke. Alex didn’t want his pylon to remain here, so he tried dismissing it, and thankfully, it dissipated. He could imagine what would happen if other people found out about his over heal capability and shuddered a little if they ran into it on its lonesome.

‘Note to self, make sure to dismiss it when I’m done with it.’

The six made their way the opposite direction direction from the forest Alex had come from into another biome. It was odd seeing a muddy jungle so close to a forest, but the whole mix up with land mass during integration was on the list, so Alex simply shrugged and moved on.

The teams casual pace slowed down upon entering the hot, humid jungle due to thick foliage that blocked their path, which Shoga cut through with his hatchets. It even impaired Ester’s ability to scout out far but he did come back with a warning of giant insects.

‘Those are some Giant fucking mozzies…’ Paled Alex. As someone who used to be allergic to their stings, breaking out in large itchy rashes and lumps, the giant mosquitoes are a horrifying sight to behold.

They hung about in droves near a large water source within the jungle and it appeared he wasn’t the only one who was shocked or horrified by them.

“So many…” Whispered Shoga.

”It must be breeding season.” Reasoned Sylvie. “Its bad enough that insects breed faster than rabbits, but giant insects?” A small whimper escaped Rea at hearing her sister say that.

“All the monsters in the plains and farming area must be being pushed out from the increase of insects.” Reasoned Ester as he pointed to some dried out husks of some poor goblin bastards floating in the water.

“We’re going to need help getting this under control, or Krysta might be over run.” Warned Shoga.