It was another one of those days where it was bright and early, the wind was a bit chilly but the sun was just warm enough to ward off the cold, and the sounds of screaming from pain and agony was like the chirping of birds in the morning light.
All the while, Zeke enjoyed drinking coffee with his new healer friends in the healer’s circle.
Most of all the supporters from the retinues were taken off of the course since it relied heavily on physical training. Mages eventually had to train, but they were doing it in a much less demanding course that was set aside by the Hell Barrier.
As such, Zeke and the healers of Zacharia’s retinue were left in their own circle, eagerly waiting for any next downed soldier to heal and then put back into the grind.
Of course, they didn’t just drink coffee all day. They talked about the fundamentals of healing and other types of support magic, getting Zeke to learn a lot about other types of magic that doesn’t necessarily rely on any single skill.
He talked about this with Philip at one point, but apparently any mage can learn how to cast any elemental spell by first learning Mana Perception as a starting point, then trying to conjure magic by, as one would guess, focusing hard on the element they wanted to control.
For the simpler types, those wanting to learn wind and water magic could suffuse themselves in that element. Bathing in water or wind, drinking the water and breathing in the air. The sort of thing one would see in movies to get in touch with the element. That way, once they get into the swing of things, they could conjure the magic and then learn the appropriate General Skill for it.
In that case, one can learn Water Mastery or Wind Mastery, almost the same as the weapon mastery series. However, one can learn different types of spells from leveling the element masteries. But unlike weapon masteries, one is heavily limited in how many elemental masteries they can learn.
Humans are lucky at all to even learn any one type of element magic, and that was only for the four basic elements. If one chose a mage as their class, one can learn several if not more depending on how hard they focus on it and the type of mage they wish to be.
But just as the race option on their status menus proved, different races can learn different types of magic. That also included healing and support magic. However, those two in particular are rare to learn.
The two healers in front of him are a man and a woman respectively, and the man himself was not a human, but an elf. A half-elf, to be precise.
Due to that, his race allowed him to pick up nature mana easily, and thus he became what’s known as a Nature Cleric. As far as Zeke knew, Priests and Cleric classes belonged specifically to churches, or those that fall under the religion of one god or another. Nature Clerics, however, rely on nature itself, deeming it as a deity to worship instead.
And just as he expected, the half elf has Nature Mastery, and one of those spells he could learn allows him to heal. The other healer, the girl, was just a human, and like Zeke, she acquired a simple healing Acquired Skill.
It was called Cure, and unlike Zeke’s Recovery which focuses on healing at least one target, Cure targets everyone in the vicinity with lower potency.
From all this, it somehow got Zeke to help explain how to efficiently heal one specific target with better ease.
“Incredible,” The human girl around his age, sporting a black bob-like hair with bangs covering one eye, spoke up. “So you focus entirely on the channels rather than the afflicted injury?”
“That’s what my skill allows me to do,” Zeke further explained. “And through that, I was able to infuse my magical energy into their channels, then let it cover the area where I want it to heal the most. But then I found a better way to ease up on the mana consumption.”
“And that’s focusing on these… ‘chakras’, right?” The half elf said. His tanned skin and mop-like blond hair made him look like a surfer, and unlike how elves were told in his world’s fictions, he was pretty chill. “Spots in the body that’s connected to your soul?”
“Yes…” Zeke tried to speak confidently, but he wasn’t sure how to explain a topic that was solely specific from his old world.
Chakras are, to Zeke’s lagging knowledge, the seven points of the body that dictate natural energy flow. He believed it was from either Hinduism or Buddhism, but it was a concept he often read in fiction when describing otherworldly powers.
So what better way to explain his theory with chakras?
He also made it easier for the healers by showing the human body on his barrier, using his finger to draw with Mana Manipulation on the seven different points on the body.
“You’ll notice these spots, right? From what I saw with my skill, this is where some of the channels make their energy flow towards that combines all three energies together seamlessly. Then they separate just as easily back into their respective channels. By focusing on these chakras, I could heal a wound a lot faster and easier. It takes a while to find them, but everybody around the world should have them at the same spots.”
“Does that include other races as well?” The half-elf asked, making Zeke ponder by tilting his head.
“If they’re humanoid, perhaps. I can’t say for sure about other types of creatures.”
“Still, it’s an interesting concept,” The human girl nodded.
Just when either of the two were ready to ask more questions, a screaming soldier fell to the wayside, landing right near the healer’s circle. The poor man was on the ground, groaning in pain and filled to the brim with bruises. His right leg certainly wasn’t supposed to be bent that way either, causing Zeke to wince.
“Ooh! My turn!” The healer girl said with bright energy, standing up and running towards the downed soldier. “Seven points, right? From bottom to top?”
“From bottom to top!” Zeke yelled back. “Think of it as a line!”
All in all, it was a pretty thriving day for the healers to learn more about how to heal more effectively.
…..
“Alright, everyone. Hands off the course!”
Zacharia roared, his voice echoing across the entire expanse of the Hell Barrier. Once his voice reached them, every one of his retinue immediately followed his command. Desperately getting away from the Hell Barrier, they lined up in front of him, excluding the healers who didn’t move since they were already off.
Mikella and the others took their time, however, mostly grumbling when Zeke realized they were actually rather close to catching their first Target. Mostly Mikella and Myra, though.
The other soldiers in their own retinue followed with aching groans and bented forms, including Jackie and Philip.
Once everyone settled around them, Zacharia once again gave them a report on how they were doing. He usually does this to mostly his own retinue, rather than to the others. As for their own military force, a special guest arrived along with Cloud after arriving to do their usual check up on the Hell Barrier.
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“Captain!” Myra shouted, noticing Val walking by with a pleasant smile along with the two girls by her side, Ana and Clara.
Clara waved at Bobo and Sissy, eagerly excited to see them again in their training. She would often come around with Ana in tow, watching the soldiers train and fail spectacularly. For them, it was like watching the funniest home videos in an extreme way, some of them getting into some rather humorous positions that made the kids laugh.
Sometimes though. Clara, however, was too nice and often got worried rather than laughing.
“It’s good to see you all again,” Val said, smiling brighter than before. After the whole month, Val had been recovering extremely well now. Her face had returned to its lustrous form, and her form hadn't been shaken in a while. Still, anyone could see Cloud’s clear distress, staring at her as though she could fall at any moment. Anyone would tell him that he was needlessly worrying, especially his wife, but that still won’t stop him.
For Zeke, who had been the one to personally care for her, a feeling of pride and relief welled up in his chest. He wondered if this is how doctors felt after taking care of an ailing patient for so long before finally recovering enough to leave the hospital for good.
“It is good to see you well again, Captain,” Jackie and Philip answered, each in their own way. Val smiled back at them, offering her thanks to each.
It was a long and painful process of recovery, but now everyone was back on their feet for real. It was a good feeling all in all before Zacharia’s words got everyone to pause.
“Now that we’ve seen what the fighters are capable of, it is time for the supporters to join in the fray. Cloud, Valorie–do you oppose this?”
“I do not, General,” Val replied back. Though the mood between the two hasn’t been restored ever since the prison incident, Val was still observant of the morale of the team, hence she responded amicably. “That’s the best way to move forward, I believe.”
“I also agree with that.”
Zeke couldn’t believe his ears when even Cloud agreed. The healers and himself all watched in shock, their eyes widening at the sudden realization of entering the Hell Barrier.
Even the other soldiers, even part of Zacharia’s team, showed some concern. Their brows furrowed as looks of worry showed on their faces. Out of everyone here, Mikella was the first to speak out.
“Hey, hold on! You can’t seriously expect them to go up there in the course, right?”
Mikella stepped up to the general, much to the retinue’s shock and awe. Thankfully they weren’t going to pull out their weapons, but their protocol basically saw this as a clear disrespect to their higher authority.
“Isn’t this taking it too far?” Mikella turned to the lords, just as shocked. “And how come you guys are agreeing to this?”
Despite her words, and also part of Zacharia’s retinue, the healers nodded in silent agreement. However, the lords responded and made the healers deflate.
“You know I hate agreeing with this bastard, but he has a point,” Cloud said apologetically to the steaming Mikella. “I believe training the cadets in every form, including the supporters, would always benefit them.”
“I told you, didn’t I?” Val said, turning to Mikella. “Having a good form and a trained body is essential for survival, not just for fighters and front liners. They don’t have to spend all their time on it, but it’s better to keep an able body fit for any sort of situation.”
Despite their calm words and wisdom, Mikella still shook her head.
“But that’s going too far! You know as well as I know that Zeke isn’t the type to just… well, fight! Besides, he can just use his barriers–everyone here can admit how useful they are!”
Mikella pointed out to the rest of the soldiers, each of them not disagreeing at all by their solemn stare. Not that they would suddenly speak up without the general’s orders, but at least Myra and the two boys nodded in unison.
However, that made Zeke pause. After a bit of careful consideration, he understood why this was needed. And why he needed to do something about this.
He stepped up to Mikella, surprising her as he held up a hand up to her shoulder. But instead of speaking to her, he only just stared at her for a moment before turning to the lords and the general in question.
“I’ll do it.”
“What?!”
Mikella practically shrieked which honestly got everyone to wince, especially Zeke as he was the closest. Now all of her attention was on him now as she practically glared at him.
“Zeke! What are you doing? You know exactly how hard this course is. Hell, you healed everyone that went through it, so you know more than everyone! So why? Why force yourself to do it?”
None of it was meant to be an insult, Zeke knew that. Mikella wasn’t the sort to just push someone down from training, after all.
She just wasn’t a fan of putting someone through this course on the first day. And Zeke was certain that Mikella had qualms about him participating at all. He doesn’t exactly have a good track record for being a fighter, or being in any fight at all. Even during the raid towards the zombie dungeon, and during it, he mostly stayed back and provided barriers. The only time he had to fight was against Alex the necromancer, but despite the level difference, his fighting was absurdly weak and relied too heavily on his zombies to do everything for him.
In other words, Zeke was nowhere near a fighter’s level. His stats proved that. His skills proved that. His history proved that.
And that was the reason why he had to try.
“Because I don’t want to get separated from you again.”
Zeke answered with no hesitation. Mikella clamped shut when he did, realizing what he was trying to say.
“Back then, I got taken after I got knocked out from that imp exploding in our faces. If I had been stronger, tougher, I could’ve fought back and stayed with you. That didn’t happen, and so many people died. I can’t let that happen. Not anymore.”
Zeke gritted his teeth, imagining Jackie and Myra remembering the memories of losing Maxie, Philip remembering Lisa’s death. They lost people that they loved, all because they got taken advantage of after the enemy realized his value and seized the opportunity to take him away.
After a lot of thought, he realized that his barriers weren’t so powerful if he himself was weak. Take that out, and he would just be a random weak mage with some decent runes and a healing skill.
He stared hard at Mikella’s eyes, not even realizing that his nervousness when doing so was gone when he revealed his resolve. Mikella stared back at him, as if daring Zeke to keep staring back at her if he was truly serious.
When he never wavered, Mikella was the first to fall. She closed her eyes then turned away, heaving a breath.
“I guess I can’t really tell you anything else. Not like I can say anything about it either. Just… just be careful, okay? You have a tendency to hurt yourself.”
“Kinda funny when you’re the one saying that, but I’ll be careful,” Zeke said rather dryly, which only earned him a quick punch to the gut, getting him to wince. It didn’t hurt–at least, not enough to sting afterwards.
“Don’t care. I’m tougher, so that’s expected.”
“Okay, okay, geez…” Zeke breathed as he returned to his normal posture. He turned to Zacharia who watched earnestly at the scene before speaking again. “So if I’m participating in this course, should I go with the same rules? No skills?”
For a moment, though he wasn’t quite sure, Zacharia looked at him with a look in his eyes as though it spoke of respect.
“You’re allowed to use your barrier. But they cannot be bigger than the size of your hand. Anything bigger, and it would get in the way of your physical progress. But I won’t deny that your barriers are perfect weapons by themselves. As for that, you can also use your healing skill if need be. And I believe you will need it.”
Zeke nodded, pressing his lips tightly. He kinda figured that already, but it was good to know he had permission firsthand.
“Why only the size of the hand?” Mikella asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.
“Easier Mana consumption, capable of maneuvering between small areas, and most likely capable of being more compact than usual. Isn’t that right?”
He was taken aback by Zacharia’s words. He didn’t think he already figured out that his barrier can indeed work better if they were smaller, as a wider spread of his barrier increases more of his consumption as well as decreases the potency of the skill. But then he realized that while Zacharia was a general, he was still on the same stage as Cloud, a Journeyman.
He nodded. “That’s right.”
“Then keep it that way. You will be considered disqualified if you use anything bigger than that, even by accident. And don’t expect any of us to rush in to help you if you find yourself in trouble. Is that understood?”
Zeke nodded again in affirmation. Figuring that was done, Zeke turned to his new healer friends. “Alright, so who wants to join me?”
The two healers stared at him blankly, their faces paling. They looked like they wanted to do anything, literally anything else, other than joining him.
That’s when he realized he might be the only one keen on taking on this type of training.
“Okay,” Zeke gave up, tilting his head. “More room for me, I guess.”