Doubts swirled in my head, it's obvious that I'm going to follow this guy, covered as he is by the hood I can't see his features, but for the mere fact of having stopped hooligans similar to the ones who did this to me, the ones who attacked me, I'm definitely going to follow him, I need to be able to defend myself.
We continue through the wizard district, it's a bit impressive with all the trinkets for spells, most of the quests looking for animal or plant parts guarded by enemies are bought by the wizards who process and sell them to soldiers as healing potions or to blacksmiths and even to hunters and assassins, The intense fumes of this guild mix with the less elegant fumes of the alchemists, but we are far from the priest zone, we go to places used only by the poor, nothing so different from the house where I live, when I turn a food corner I see a large half-built house, I think this is where we arrive.
As I pass through its doors I hear the murmuring, it is not like in the healing classes, here they are not all in chairs, there are no armchairs or blackboards, in all the rooms there is a priest in robes and on the floor there are several people dressed very similar to me, in each room I hear different things, "It is important to know the effect of magic on you," said one, while from his hand came a holy whip of good thickness and manufacture, "do not forget it is not necessary to invoke any god, because they do not know the body of those you heal or defend, you should only learn not to kill while healing" that was not strange, it is one of the first lessons taught, but my guide says nothing and only leads me to the backyard.
When I go out I see ten little boys, not more than thirteen years old, all raising sacred shields, in front of them boys or older gentlemen throw stones with hands wrapped in bronze gauntlets, the stones bounce instead of falling due to the absorption of movement that is characteristic of the sacred shield, after twenty throws the shield disappears and the boys run to remove the gauntlet of those who threw it, showing bruised hands and in some cases a very misplaced finger, immediately healing them.
"As you can see, life and training are very useful for us, but only for those who receive these benefits, for us, those who are always one step away from exhaustion, those who are always looking for ways to repair damage by blunt weapons, by cutting, by claws, teeth and poison, for us a painful climb to nowhere awaits us, We will always be the necessary sheep in the missions, useful when it can carry, when it can give us its fur, but also useful when it wants to collect its share and is sent home with a kick in the ass, or even worse, it is devoured right there, I am a high level Gamal priest, I assist in category A missions, my rewards are the ones that keep this place running. ... oh, and I'm the head of the new Healing Magic branch, any questions? "
Stolen story; please report.
Of course I have doubts! Before I knew it, I began to tell him about my life, what made me follow him, all the time I had been living, watching my parents barely pay for our miserable life, when I found out that they were subsidizing the Healing Magic classes, that the profession of priest was the most sought after profession in the guilds I joined, we all did, Only to discover the stupidity of the weakness of my skills, after much suffering we eliminated a band of vermin in the dark forest, just started looting and everyone said that as a lv1 priest I could not ask for any reward except those of a priest, no money or anything, I would get my reward in experience and some trinkets.
I discovered a golden chest behind some stones, I warned everyone to distribute it to show that despite everything I was a member of the group, only to receive murder attempts by the team members, all for a priest medallion that gave +10 Spirit, his promise said that it corresponded to me, but something like that would be sold in almost a gold coin, I saw it in their eyes, Greed had blinded them, but I did not join the priests only because of my devotion to the healing of my people, I was a member of the gangs, I fought every day, in the slums is the best way to contribute something to the house, adults have bad jobs and poorly paid, we young people depend on what we can steal from others, so I could defend myself against their attacks, The whips of sacred magic do not attack humans because they consider them friends, but I healed myself, I hit and ran, fleeing after eliminating a horde of goblins, now I was fleeing from my companions, those who shared bread and wine with me, so much I ran that without noticing mine began to be surrounded by more goblins from another village, Then began what took me to the bar, everyone as if it was a joke started telling me "come on we were just joking, why don't you be good and heal us while we kill all these little monkeys and then we'll go have some beers" I just started running, I was a little ahead of them so I could hear their screams of pain while a much larger number of enemies began to eliminate them.
I could have saved them! They could have won if they had not been beaten by me, tired of chasing me, telling me what I did wrong? How can I look the survivors in the eye? How can I go back to work in a profession that makes you mistrust your own? My eyes do not see well, I have been crying for a while, when I look up I see that Gamal has lowered his hood, in his face I still see that of a child of no more than fifteen years, but his eyes are those of someone who lived what I did, or maybe worse, but I do not imagine that it could be.
"Power, my dear priest, you lack enough power to defend yourself, to heal and if necessary to knock out all those who accompany you, to get out alive from anywhere, even if you are alone, here I can give you that knowledge, but the preparation, the willpower, the courage depend only on you, no one will tell you how much to follow, no one will prevent you from not doing it, but if we see you determined, we will push you until we see that you achieve your goals, we are not holy, we are pragmatic, realistic, fighters, here the priests are from the branch of discipline.
You will begin your lessons today, I need you to imagine a series of layers that surround your clothes, your face, your hair, imagine it well because you will have to put a layer of magic over the other, this is your first lesson is called armor of magic, but it is invoked with the word entereza begins".
So he lived what I did, it's ok, I will work hard, I will learn a lot and no one will believe that they can compete against me, he says that the classes begin today, so be it and I concentrate.