The wind whipped the trees with an unmatched frenzy that reminded Elijah of the strongest hurricanes. Yet, he was hundreds of miles from the shore, which meant that the storm shouldn’t have been nearly so fearsome. Still, if the sustained winds were less than a hundred miles an hour, he would have been incredibly surprised. So, whether it made sense or not was irrelevant, and Elijah was forced to take solace in a cave that, judging by the smell, had only recently been occupied by some sort of predator.

Fortunately, that beast had long since abandoned it – probably when winter had released its grip on the area – so all that remained were a few scattered bones and the aforementioned smell. Even so, Elijah had quite a lot of trouble relaxing, not least because of the howling wind, but also because the smell of a carnivore hung so thick in the air. His instincts told him to be on guard, either for something trying to kill him or for a competitor that needed to be put in its place.

It was one instance where he didn’t try to overcome his bestial instincts.

What followed was two long days of sheltering in place. Fortunately, Elijah had plenty of food and water for a prolonged stay, but he quickly found that he was bored. So, he found the skeleton of some long-dead prey animal – a moose, he thought – and started carving the bones.

In a lot of ways, it was no different from whittling wood, though it differed in enough ways that he ruined more than a few bones before he got the hang of it. Even then, Elijah was no expert carver, so the results were less than ideal. Looking at his Crook of the Serpent Healer, he wondered how he’d managed to create something so lifelike. Perhaps his abilities or his connection to nature had bridged the gap that skill couldn’t cross.

Whatever the case, Elijah quickly tired of the exercise and abandoned it. Instead, he just closed his eyes and focused on his internal ethera. When he’d established his Neophyte Soul, he’d completely broken his natural pathways, and that had allowed him to saturate his entire body with the ethera. However, while it was better than what he’d started with, it was still limited. He suspected that if he received any new spells, they would take ages to cast until he figured out how to reform the pathways of his Soul.

The problem was the amount. His current spells only took sips, which meant that the current form of his Soul had actually sped things up. Yet, if he wanted to take gulps – as he suspected any new spells would – it would be incredibly slow. That was the problem the next stage was meant to address by reforming the pathways, stronger, faster, and more extensively than ever before.

But as much as Elijah tried, he couldn’t figure out the method to reach that goal. He would either need a teacher or a guide if he was going to reach that point. The same was true of his Dragon Core. In a lot of ways, it was even worse, because, while there was some information on taking the next step in the cultivation of his Soul, there was absolutely nothing about Dragon Cores.

Regardless, Elijah persisted until the storm broke. So, it was with some relief that Elijah set off through the wilderness, where he saw the aftermath of the storm. There were whole swaths of forest that looked like a bomb had gone off, and the atmosphere was eerily silent. The animals, birds, and insects had fled before the storm, and the absence of life – other than the local flora – was almost as disconcerting as the more overt devastation.

Elijah continued on for a couple more days, and over the course of his trek, the evidence of the storm continued to be evident, suggesting that it had been at least as wide as a hurricane. But eventually, Elijah found his way to Argos.

From a distance, it looked much the same as it always did, but when Elijah saw the olive groves, it became apparent that the city hadn’t escaped the storm unscathed. The olive trees hadn’t been completely destroyed, but many of them had been stripped bare by the harsh winds. No doubt, their fruit had been taken as well.

Which didn’t bode well for Argos.

Elijah approached the gate warily, and he was unsurprised to see a couple of familiar faces standing guard. The same two sentries greeted him with characteristic acceptance, then ushered him inside, with the bearded man saying, “If you want to help, there’s a triage center that’s been set up at the center of town.”

“Triage? For what?”

“The storm. There were a few buildings that collapsed,” they said. “We tried to save as many as we could, but…”

“I understand,” Elijah said. Then, without any further hesitation, he hurried through town. Inside the city was a bustle of activity, with everyone pitching in as they repaired the extensive wind damage the city had experienced. Elijah saw a few familiar faces – Atticus and Isaak among them – but he didn’t stop to help. Instead, he hurried toward the town’s central square where he felt he could do the most good.

When he reached the plaza, he saw hundreds of injured people, but only a couple of exhausted-looking Healers. So, Elijah found a man who looked like he was in charge and said, “I have an area healing spell. It causes rain, but it’s got a radius of about forty feet. How do you want me to use it?”

After that, it wasn’t long before they’d packed as many people around Elijah as they could. Some were worse off than others, but they all sported serious wounds. Elijah used Healing Rain, which elicited a couple of cries of fear as some of the people clearly thought the vicious storm had returned.

However, the moment those rain drops descended, their cries ceased.

Until that moment, Elijah hadn’t truly appreciated his new staff. The Crook of the Serpent Healer couldn’t augment his damage spells, but what it lacked in that department, it more than made up for with how much it boosted his healing spells. Using it, each passing second of Healing Rain was almost as powerful as his unmodified Touch of Nature.

Sure, it had been augmented by the Dragon Core as well as his new staff, but it was an extremely powerful spell that could heal hundreds of people at once. That made it extraordinarily valuable.

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Still, Elijah knew he could do more. So, as people were healed, he sought out the most injured among them and used Touch of Nature. Just like Healing Rain, it was enhanced by his Crook of the Serpent Healer, so it was almost as powerful as a healing spell from a real Healer.

The only difference was that his spells were extraordinarily efficient, and each boost he gave them only made them more so. Because they all still cost exactly the same amount of ethera as they had when he’d first gotten them. As such, he felt like he could cast for days.

He even took the time to cast Aura of Renewal on everyone he saw. It was especially helpful for the other healers, but that extra Regeneration was useful for everyone.

In the end, it took almost five hours before Elijah ran out of ethera. By that point, he’d healed all but the most persistent injuries, and though he wanted to stay and finish the job, the other Healers insisted they could handle it. It wasn’t until he stepped out from under his latest Healing Rain that he realized just how exhausted he was.

Ethera clearly wasn’t the only cost of constantly casting spells. Stamina was a component as well, and though it was far less impactful – especially with his many advantages – healing for six straight hours left him feeling like he’d gone twelve rounds with a professional heavyweight.

Which was to say he was beat.

So, with only a little regret, he made his way to his favorite inn, and when he stepped inside, he couldn’t help but smile at the matronly innkeeper. He planted himself at the bar and said, “You know, I never learned your name.”

“Agatha. Food?”

“You read my mind. Whatever you’ve got. I trust your judgement,” Elijah said.

“Smart.”

Then, the woman disappeared into the kitchen, allowing Elijah to look around at the other occupants of the common room. There were only a few, and they looked just as tired as he felt. So, Elijah occupied himself by staring blankly at the polished wood of the bar. He hadn’t intended to space out like that, but that sort of thing tended to happen when someone was as exhausted as he was.

He didn’t break out of his reverie until Agatha set a shallow bowl in front of him. “Giouvetsi. Good.”

Elijah had no idea what that meant, but he recognized the smell of beef and tomatoes. Of course, there was pasta that almost looked like rice in the bowl as well. After his previous meals in the inn, he truly did trust Agatha’s judgement, so he wasted no time before digging in. And of course it was amazing.

“Oh, God…”

“Is good, yes?”

Elijah nodded enthusiastically. It tasted like nothing he’d ever had before. There were elements of other things he’d eaten, but the combination was something wholly new that defied his expectations. He tore through the entire casserole-slash-stew in record time, but Agatha was quick to offer a second helping, which he devoured almost as quickly. After stuffing himself – to Agatha’s delight – he rented a room and passed out without even bothering to shower.

The next morning, he rectified that mistake and apologized to Agatha for the mess. Then, he handed over a couple extra copper ethereum for her trouble. He half expected her to refuse, but she shoved the coins into her pocket so quickly that he couldn’t help but wonder if a skill was involved.

Either way, he left the inn on good terms and found his way to Atticus’ Arsenal. The shop’s owner was inside, and he greeted Elijah, “I hear you have been busy, my friend! The whole town is talking about the mysterious and powerful Healer!”

“Just doing what I can,” Elijah said. “So, what’s new?”

“Other than the hell storm?” asked Atticus. “It swept in without warning and nearly tore the whole town apart. Fortunately, we have a few buildings that were built by people with appropriate classes. Otherwise, no one would have survived.”

“Interesting,” Elijah said. He’d known that there were classes for just about everything, but he hadn’t considered what that really meant. Apparently, a building designed by an Architect and built by a Contractor would be much stronger than something from the old world. He wondered what the other innumerable classes could do.

“I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect you back so soon,” Atticus admitted. “No offense, and I’m glad you came when you did, but you have the look of a wanderer, my friend.”

“I get that.”

After that, Atticus remarked on the two new pieces of equipment Elijah had obtained since they’d seen one another last. Though Elijah didn’t reveal much, except the two items’ grades.

Next, Elijah had Atticus appraise the three items he’d acquired in his most recent tower run. First came the Footpads of Silence, which turned out to be Simple-Grade. Second was the Goblin Dagger – a Low Simple-Grade item that Elijah chose to keep, if only because it had a self-sharpening function and increased durability. Finally, he sold the useless sword – called a Gleaming Blade – to the arms dealer. In the end, he sold the slippers and the sword for seven silver. He would have gone even lower, largely because he just wanted them out of his pack, but Atticus didn’t know that, so he’d offered what Elijah thought was a fair deal.

Then, they lapsed into polite conversation until Elijah finally excused himself, saying that he might be around a little more often in the near future. Atticus greeted that news with some enthusiasm, and considering how helpful Elijah had been so far, it wasn’t difficult to understand why.

Once he’d caught up with Atticus, he headed to Isaak’s house. Or rather, Delilah’s. Unfortunately, when the young man answered the door, he said, “Oh, you’re back. She’s not here.”

“What?”

“My sister. She’s gone.”

“Uh…couldn’t I just be here to see you?”

“No.”

“What about Artemis?”

“Drop the act. I know you came to see her. And I’ll tell you like I’ve told all the others. She’s not here, and even if she was, she probably wouldn’t want to see you again. She’s not interested in relationships.”

“I’m not either,” Elijah insisted.

“Sure. I’m certain that has nothing to do with why you’re here.”

“I thought we were friends.”

“Acquaintances.”

“I saved your life.”

“Then you slept with my sister. Very loudly.”

“That wasn’t my fault.”

Isaak all but rolled his eyes.

“Okay, fine. It was at least fifty percent my fault. But she did abduct me –”

“I don’t want to hear this,” Isaak said.

Elijah sighed. “Fine. How are you, then? What about Artemis? No more incidents?” he asked, each question coming in quick succession.

“Depends on what you mean by incidents.”

“Has your cat attacked and killed anyone since the last time I was here?”

“Killed? No. Attacked? Sort of. But she had good intentions! She was protecting some kids and –”

Elijah raised his hands. “Slow down, kid. As long as she didn’t kill anybody, I don’t care. And even if she had, I’d probably assume they deserved it. Maybe,” he said. “With her track record, though…no. I’ll trust you. If you say she’s been good, I believe you.”

After that, Isaak invited him inside, and they talked over a cup of tea. Apparently, Isaak’s development had stalled a little, and he was a little nervous about having to challenge the tower sometime in the near future. Elijah offered to help, but Isaak said, “No. I appreciate it, but the town has already put together a team. According to the guides we read, it should be easier now that it hasn’t had time to build. So long as we keep clearing it, it should be manageable. And besides, we’ll never gain levels just killing local beasts. That’s one of the reasons the towers exist, right? So we can grow.”

“I guess,” Elijah said with a shrug. He knew they were there as a means to drain ethera from large rifts, but he supposed they could have multiple purposes. After all, the entire system seemed to have been built to help people grow stronger. Why wouldn’t the towers be the same?

Over the next hour, Elijah overstayed his welcome, hoping that Delilah would magically return. But Isaak quickly wised up to that strategy and ushered him out of the house.

“Well, I guess I’m eating alone,” he said to himself. Then, he headed back to his inn to see what Agatha would serve this time.