“Don’t tell even a soul any part of this, you hear me,” the Lady said as she handed over a thick book. “I’m in enough trouble already.”

It was dawn on the next day. Ake nodded and received the gift for his hard work as the woman took her seat beside him. Lady Rinia was in a nightgown when she returned with the thick book hugged in her arms. The silky soft gown hugged her excellent, picture-perfect figure, and it was so thin it barely hid anything.

She pulled him to lean on her magnificent chest as her fingers played with his hair. The Lady made him feel like he was the most precious thing to her. It felt glorious and fed to his ego to know the fact that he was the only one who could satisfy a perfect specimen of a woman such as her. It also was reassuring when there was no other man who could bed her behind his back.

“Gods, I wish I could transfer my ability to you, but I can’t. I’ve been bound by a cruel [Oath] and all those poor souls below don't even know this,” the lady sighed and kissed him on the cheek and hesitated for a moment before going for the lips.

Ake kissed her back while kneading her softness. He hadn’t had a wink of sleep because of her, and still, they both wanted nothing else at the moment but to get back to it. The Lady sighed as their lips separated.

“You don't have to worry as I have this long before I was sent here of all places. It was a memento from my ancient master, meant for my first child, but instead, I’m giving it to you. Use it now, I need to see it being used and not foolishly sold off.”

The Lady had complained, but she didn't sound like she hated the idea. Oddly enough, he would say she was more relieved than anything else. Rinia acted like she was freed from a massive burden, and he was there to help her instead.

“Thank you,” Ake replied.

Her demand was understandable. It was clear that she really cherished the fun time they had shared last night, but he was still practically a stranger. It would be more bizarre if she would let him have it and be done with it.

He placed the thick, leather-covered, ancient-looking book on the bedside. Everything about it looked legitimately magical, and if he assumed right, how to use the magical opus should be as easy as absorbing the shards. It even had a leather belt, so it wouldn’t accidentally open.

Ake turned to look at Rinia, and the lady nodded. The Lady then hugged from behind as he traced the book with his finger, appreciating the effort put into it.

Obviously, he had to undo the belt first before he could open it. Rinia kissed his neck and tightened around him while he was undoing the belt.

Something very familiar happened as he flipped the cover open.

Time itself slowed to a crawl as if he was facing a monster once again. The pages, however, flipped so fast that he couldn’t really see its contents at all.

And the whole process ended as suddenly as it happened.

Ake groaned in pain as he felt it. His hands reached to clutch his head as it felt like someone had rearranged the brain matter inside his head.

But before he could do anything, the pain disappeared like it was never even there.

An image of a similarly buxom but ancient lady frozen in time appeared inside his head. A mysterious, powerful force pulled him towards her, and before he realized it, Ake was looking at the world through the lady’s eyes and hearing her thoughts as if they were his muses.

He knew that he wasn’t the lady inside his head, but it still felt like it was him who was going to use the ability. The patient was no other than the Lady herself with a terrible wound running across her thick, flawless thigh.

In this memory, he brushed off the large wound from any intent with a delicate sweep of his hand, even though he couldn’t comprehend what was happening. The faint eerie green glow simply vanished along with the wound as it closed on itself. The thin red line only appeared for a moment before it also disappeared from existence.

“Healing is an art,” he heard himself say, “it improves only with practice.”

It was incredible, he admitted, and it had worked. It was easy because the Lady had neglected to cultivate the [Flesh] shard as she was too busy with her heroic journey.

The memory stopped when a simple System notification came.

[Healing Hand ability crystalized]

[Healing Hand recorded]

[-]

[New Class [Healer] unlocked]

Ake breathed out as if he had been holding his breath. Despite the exciting System message, he had something else in mind.

‘Cultivate? Why did she use that word specifically?’ Ake mused.

The lady bit her lips when he turned to look at her. She stared at him longingly, and he knew what that meant. Ake placed his hand on her dainty neck and pulled her in for a kiss.

The lady hungrily kissed back. Their hands began to roam each other and one of hers went down to grasp it. Rinia’s bountiful perky tits didn’t even fit in his large hands as he fondled them.

“No- I can’t, I can’t do this now, I got an important… patient to check on today,” the lady finally pushed him away when she had enough.

Ake didn’t miss the pause but said nothing.

“Take this too,” she handed a bland old iron ring. “Go now before I change my damned mind. I’ll tell others that you failed my final evaluation and don’t even dare to show up in front of the hospital ever again.”

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“Yes, ma’am,” Ake said, pocketed the ring, and got out of bed.

Soft shaking hands caught his wrist, “I mean, just use the backdoor,” she bit her lips. “I mean, the next time you come. And please don’t misunderstand. I just don’t have the resources to ensure your safety, not over here, at least.”

Ake turned, lifted his hand, and kissed her hand, “I know,” he smiled before turning around and headed out.

No one should witnessed him leaving. The competition to be the next [Healer] apprentice was fierce, and desperate people would do desperate things. Even he knew that much.

“And please, just stay safe,” she muttered when he was already out of sight.

Ake didn’t miss it when her fists turned white from clenching. [Ethereal Sense] caught everything, and he could tell something was up.

What the Lady was hiding couldn't be a small thing.

Even a fool would know that she couldn’t tell a soul about what made her react as if everything was about to end. Lady Rinia hadn’t or couldn't officially accept him here because she didn’t want to drag him into whatever trouble she was in.

Also, the [Oath] she mentioned probably had severe consequences when even a noble lady was too afraid to mutter a complaint. He didn’t know what she was guilty of until someone forced the [Oath] on her, but the person was probably very high up the pecking order.

He was fully clothed and under a cloak by the time he left through the back. The seasoned but probably expensive leather cloak was one of the many things in the enchanted iron ring, and reaching into it felt like he had found a small room full of random things.

Despite the dull look, the lady had given him another of her closely held treasures. It was to his great pleasure to be able to sleep with such a lady, but now it did feel a little bit like he had whored himself out.

And whatever trouble she was caught in was probably way out of his league, and the lady knew better if she needed any help. Ake was more than content to leave after gaining the ability and what it unlocked. The lady had kept the husk of the ability tome, and if anyone had asked him, not a soul would know any better until they got their hands on it.

Nevertheless, the [Spellblade] Guildmaster, the lady [Artificer], and now the [Healer] showed that they would rather not be here a second longer if they had the choice. Something was telling him it was not just because of how remote the town was.

Ake only began to notice the red flags raised everywhere after his things were sorted out.

The way Rinia reacted behind his back had him rethink the situation.

Why a noble clenched her fist white after she had suddenly found someone valuable to her?

The Kingdom had recently squashed a huge criminal operation that abducts souls from otherworlds, no doubt, close to this town. The fact that there was no mention of the leader already caught or even a rumor floating around town about the critical event raised another huge red flag.

If Ake was the villain, would he enact his revenge on those who had spoiled his operation?

The answer would be a huge yes. Of course, he would.

Ake shook his head. He probably was being paranoid again.

The main villain could be hundreds of miles away by now, well, if the person were as smart as the next person.

And this matter was none of his business. He just had to hold everything together for a few more weeks before it was time for them to leave for the capital city. If this healer's plan had miserably failed, Ake didn’t mind if he had to be a [Cook] as his cover if he had to. It wouldn’t be that bad as the [Cook] would still be very viable for his plan.

Besides, adventurers still would need to eat while adventuring, right?

Ake chuckled at the thought. He hadn’t heard of any adventuring cooks here, but there were very few samples of adventuring teams in this part of the Kingdom.

But as the Guildmaster had mentioned, there was no dungeon or other natural resources to be exploited here. Considering everything, the town should not exist on the map. It wouldn’t make sense if anyone had solely focused on the economic part.

Yes, it had existed for many decades by the time he got here, but no one could tell how long it would last before it would turn into a ghost town. The only probable reason no one in town had even brought the topic up was because of how uninformed the townspeople were about how economics worked.

No one was in his room by the time he got back to the inn. The ladies were probably out to train the ability. They had been really into it ever since he had transferred the ability to them.

He checked the Soul Ledger to confirm it.

Ake picked his first [Class] before anything else happened and reviewed.

[Astral Linked - Soul Ledger]

[Ake] [Age: 20 - Race: Human]

[Title: Tribe Chieftain, Initiated]

[Citizen, Healer - Level [1]]

[Life Essence [15%] to next level]

[-]

[Shards]

[Absorbed: Ether, Strand]

[Corrupted: Flesh IV]

[Evolved: Thread]

[-]

[Attribute]

[Physique: 2],[Resolve: 6]

[Intuition: 8],[Motor: 3]

[Energy: 2]

[-]

[Stats]

[HP: 510/510]

[Mana: 110/110]

[-]

[Traits]

[Life Lease][Hexed Libido]

[-]

[Crystallised Abilities]

[Extract],[Ethereal Arms],

[Arcane Flesh],[Healing Hand]

[-]

[Skills]

[Astral Transfer],[Mathematic IV],[Meditation]

[-]

[Oathbearers]

[Liara], [Mars-Sila]

[-]

[Attention: Ability Slot available]

And after all that, the [Healer] class had opened its welcoming warm arms to him. It may not be the awesome super ultra rare class everyone had dreamed of unlocking, but it still would work for him.

He couldn’t express how relieved he was to be able to appear as a mundane, everyday [Healer] in everyone's sight. At last, he could begin planning ahead with the perfect cover he had just obtained.

Every few days, the esteemed Lady would send a messenger to him. He served the Lady’s needs as he got to know her a little better during pillow talks.

And let’s just say he had dug deeper than he should have. Lady Rinia’s fears were not just an act, well, unless she knew he was watching and also an Oscar-winning actor. The lady had no need to fool him, and in hindsight, he could tell the lady was truly hoping he would survive whatever was coming.

His guts were telling him this was all real.