I pulled an unused mask I had leftover from my inventory and threw it at the Brelten-Avaline. She caught it with a raised brow and I pointed at her face.

"You're wearing his face. Don't like it."

"It's my face too you know..." she grumbled.

"You're not that handsome."

She slipped the mask on and started walking as I followed Syrreisha. She led me to a surprisingly spacious open-air tent with giant cushions. As soon as we stepped in, the privacy enchantment washed over me like a curtain, revealing the numerous enchantments hidden inside the tent poles.

I crouched and ran my thumb across one, feeling a tingling static dance across my nails before it entered the crystal covering.

It reminded me of pressure; a dull feeling that sat in the back of your awareness until it gained in intensity. Mixed in was hints of shadow and protective soil.

"This is heavily warded. All for me?"

"Of course. I take my word seriously," Syrreisha replied.

As I jerked my thumb toward the tag-along, she wilted and looked away.

"From now on," she amended.

"Riight. Anyway, if I'm done having bullshit thrown my way, I'm ready to start."

Syrreisha stepped toward Avaline and gently grabbed her by the collar of her robe. "Cause any further chaos, I will ruin you. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Avaline said.

Syrreisha released her grip and waved goodbye, promising me a couple of minutes before the first patient. I didn't need it, but I appreciated the thought.

I moved onto the furthest cushion and felt around for the enchantments, finding them clearly marked. The sound suppressant was primed as was the privacy screen, but I waited before activating them.

"So was there a point to all this?" I asked, turning to face Avaline who stood just behind me.

"You know in my many years of being tier three, I rarely fear things the way I used to in my youth. But her? You learn to fear the healer whose entire life's work is to know a person's body in order to mend their injuries.You fear them because they know every conceivable way to make it hurt."

"So what you're saying is that I need to learn how to torture people. Sounds doable. Think I should start today?"

"You got humor in you whelp. Good that you have some bite."

"Call me whelp and I will sick Nathan and Anastasia on you. I have no qualms weaponizing their insanity."

Avaline's reaction was hard to understand with the mask, and Galarion kept himself in check. But there was a brief shudder through her body at the mention of Teddy's parents.

"I’d rather not," she said.

Mana flowed from my chest and twisted together to form the threads. two went through my hand, activating the privacy enchantments. The third connected with Verdant Healer.

The enchantments were surprisingly intuitive. With a thought, the one distorting our forms excluded Avaline from its effect, allowing her to be visible while I was not.

Áine appeared and landed on my shoulder, her wings tickling my ears. She glared at the guildmaster but that was all.

"A spirit, nature based. Summoning skill... I'd guess familiar type. Very pretty."

I cocked my head. "You don't know my skills? Didn't Brelten put in a report about me?"

"There was one but he sabotaged it from the network. Now all I know about you is the creative but stern warning from my dearest baby brother."

"Just how old are you lady? Eighty? Brelten's old to me so if you're calling him a baby, what's that make you?"

Silence reigned for a long minute. A minute I spent with Áine discussing different scenarios. End of the day, we weren't here to reveal ourselves, but it wasn't like we'd ignore a kid in desperate need of help.

Not that anything should happen. I doubt Syrreisha would allow a fuck up.

Avaline cleared her throat. "Can you tell me why the dungeon went berserk and trapped my adventurers?"

Her voice was calm and emotionless, a perfect neutral tone that offered no accusation.

"You want the semi-truth or the lie?"

"Both."

Huh.

"The lie, no idea. Some crazy interaction between me and the Grand Weave, that's all."

"And the semi-truth?"

"Hmmm. The Grand Weave paid extra special attention to me and the dungeon reacted poorly. It was thrown in time out for a little bit. That's all."

Galarion stirred, his tentacle protruding from my forehead to point toward the tunnel. "Incoming."

Avaline didn't react to the creature living inside my skull but I knew she could detect the mana. The privacy enchantments were meant to keep things hidden that were inside the bubble. And with her being only a couple of feet away, she had full access to probing the mana I exuded.

But she kept silent and kept her arms to her side, almost a statue as the first patient hesitantly entered the tent.

Avaline motioned for the cushion and he sat down. He was human, and young; around fifteen at best. His tanned skin held the whisper of a beard along with a gnarly pimple below his right eyebrow.

But more noticeably was the deep bags under his eyes and the stress lines around his face.

"I was directed here for some healing?" he asked. He stared at Avaline and scratched the back of his head. "It's supposed to be free right? I can't really pay."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Avaline didn't respond.

"Testing, can you hear me?" I asked, after messing with the enchantments further.

"I can," Avaline answered.

The kid showed no reaction to my voice but he jumped a little when Avaline spoke.

"Just tell him to stick his hands forward."

"You don't need to know what's wrong with him? It's common to assess injuries then diagnose."

I shrugged. "I'm good. This is training, better to figure it out as we go along."

Avaline cleared her throat and addressed the confused man. "Place your hands forward. Do not activate skills while the treatment is in process."

"Oh, uh okay. But it's not my hands its my leg I-"

"Extend your arms," she commanded.

He gulped and complied, nearly tipping over as he rushed to push his arms through the air distortion. His head drooped low and twitched while struggling to maintain his arms forward.

"Ready?" I asked.

Áine nodded and jumped onto my lap. She stood on the edge of my knee and reached for his pinky. Her fingers squeezed his and he jumped back with a gasp.

It didn't matter, Áine had made the connection and the thread connected to her wrist as a leaf formed above her palm.

The kid looked sheepish and avoided looking at the guildmaster as he resumed the position.

Áine scanned through his body with a gentle probe of her mana, filling him with relaxing mana that visibly calmed him. He closed his eyes and she started the treatment.

Pulse after pulse, the gentle stream washed over him, inefficiently healing his injury. From my familiar's memories I was able to see the arm-length gash across his back. He shouldn't have been moving the way he did. It was deep enough to affect his range of movement but beyond awkwardly glancing at the ground, he acted normal. Too normal.

Áine finished the repair and he swayed in his seat.

"Are pain resistant skills a thing? Or a perk perhaps?" I asked.

Avaline hummed before tapping the kid's shoulder. He blinked drowsy eyes as he took in his surroundings. Upon seeing the gauntlet hand on his shoulder he jumped and bowed.

"I'm sorry! Thank you for healing me. If I can ever repay you I promise to do so in the future!"

And like that, he took off, sprinting away without looking back.

Avaline shook her head. "I recognize the idiot. Pearl. Still needs another active to advance. What was his injury? Last I know, he joined a group of other pearls to delve the dungeon's first floor."

"Arm-length laceration across his mid-back. Extending from the sacral region near the tailbone to right scapula. Approximately two coins deep?"

She cocked her head and stared.

"What?" I prompted.

"Anatomical knowledge. Interesting, but not surprising. Celenae would have grilled you on that subject."

"You going to answer my question?"

She sighed. "Mid-tier rarity tank skill. Pain Shunt. As long as it's channeled the user can actively ignore pain. That explains his appearance and the reaction."

"Constant use of a skill and when you instructed him to not activate skills he dropped it. That's when the pain hit him."

"Correct. I'll have to assign a watcher to his case. A skill like that is for the foolish. He'll be lucky to make it past tier one."

"Oh yeah, speaking of that." I summoned my adventuring badge and tossed it over. She caught it and held it to the light. "I need a new one. Tiered-up and all that."

She pocketed the pearl adventuring badge and summoned an amethyst badge. I caught it and tucked it away for later.

"I'll handle your paperwork. But are you sure you want that one?"

What does she-oh. Hah.

"You sensed how much mana Áine used."

"Healing isn't cheap. Not usually," she countered.

"Maybe, for other people." I shrugged.

She motioned with her chin. "Next patient. Another adventurer. Tier one. No pain skills."

Unlike the kid, the woman looked well into her forties, along with two heavily wrapped arms that extended past her shoulder and stopped halfway up her neck.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Ready," Áine said.

***

The leaf faded from the rotation and the beastkin collapsed forward. Luckily, Avaline was there, bracing his fall with summoned roots that gently lowered him into a prone position.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the sigh; one massively furry ass sporting its freshly healed tail. Whatever happened inside the dungeon had taken its fair chomp of its prey.

"You find this funny?" Avaline asked, eyeing the unconscious adventurer.

"A little. Cute butt," I replied.

A root snaked between his legs and dragged his undergarments over his cheeks.

"Well I think I'm done. That's what? Thirty-two? Not bad."

The injuries were relatively tame at first, even the first kid with his back being minor in comparison. Syrreisha must have staggered the injury level, letting me get a feel for different wound types and increasing levels of severity.

More than a few people were practically given new limbs as Áine restored entire chunks of their body and made flesh anew with magic.

By the eighth patient, I finally dropped Magnus' Spirit Lord Invocation and swapped him out for Áine's. It was interesting to see the flames along my tail transform into a set of green shades ranging from dark grass to shining emerald.

As I stretched, I traced the golden, root-like lines trailing up my arms. They connected to my chest, converging at the center. Exactly where the soul seed had anchored itself.

"Syrreisha, I'm done!" I called out.

Mana surged from the ground ahead and green stems broke the soil. A strange-shaped flower blossomed, one as large as a man that spread its petals revealing the head healer inside. She stepped from the flower and it wilted behind her as the dirt swallowed the flora and returned the soil unblemished.

She bowed low. "Thank you for help, honored healer. The guild and the people appreciate your kindness and effort."

I bowed, one not lower but enough to pay respects to the head of the guild. "My honor."

Syrreisha exited the bow and smiled. "You studied."

"I learned enough. What are you doing about this guy? He's fine, and Galarion checked his head."

Galarion popped out of my ear in a flash of rainbow sparkles. "Relieved! Happy! Tired! New tail to attract mate!"

I slapped him back inside and scratched my ear.

Syrreisha coughed into her fist and waved a hand. Grass engulfed the beastkin and dragged him away, leaving another hexagonal-shaped flower in its place. This one was slow to wilt, dying off after two dozen seconds of life.

Well that takes care of that.

"You have strange skills, you know that? Weird healing chair, vegetation teleportation, and I counted at least two aura skills."

"You're one to talk."

"Touché."

She turned her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. "Sometimes you speak funny."

"I've been told," I chuckled. "Why was he the last patient? The guy before him was a walking corpse. Like he shouldn't have been allowed to wait in line."

"He wasn't. As soon as he appeared we rushed him ahead of queue and gave him to you. I would have given him to someone else but your healing is uniquely beneficial for someone like him."

I appreciated the discretion, but the guild master had plenty of time throughout the last few hours to examine my skill.

"I knew something was off when Nelwynn didn't collapse. Your spirit's healing doesn't take a toll on the body, does it?" Avaline asked.

Áine bristled and I flicked a rock at the guildmaster's head. She dodged it, but I got her attention.

"She has a name. Use it," I warned.

"My apologies. Áine, you are an amazing familiar. Thank you for helping my people."

Áine took flight and hovered above her. She slowly reached for the edges of the mask and pulled it off, leaving a confused Avaline.

Boop.

Áine retreated into my chest and I stretched again, working the kinks out of my back. It was a comfortable cushion, but nowhere near the level of my beanbag.

"Alright. I'm off to get some food, I'll come back later for Galarion training?"

Syrreisha winced. "I wish you wouldn't call it training. But I understand."

"Got to build him up somehow."

She sighed again and stepped into another flower, leaving me alone with the guildmaster.

"Well, did I satisfy your curiosity?" I asked.

Avaline tapped her amulet, her face returning to normal. She pinched her cheek and massaged her jaw once the transformation ended.

"I'm left with more questions than answers but yes. I believe you are not a threat to the city. And for further sanity, I will be leaving you alone."

Threat?

Wrath rolled in its cage and punched through the cage. I glared at Avaline who stiffened and snapped her head in my direction.

"And if I was a threat?"

Her eyes narrowed, a dangerous smile on her lips.

"An aura skill? Interesting. It's sloppy. A surprise considering young Theodore is your friend." She extended her own aura, a wave of pressure pressing down. But as seconds passed and I continued unbothered she tsked. "I would have eliminated you, or pushed you off to somewhere else. Don't forget who and what I am, boy. You don't get to my age and role without danger."

Her grin morphed into a frown as I burst into laughter.

"I'm so over dick-measuring contests. Go find someone else to intimidate," I said as I walked away.

"Hey," she shouted. I turned and she crossed her arms. "How much mana do you have left? You should be experiencing mana-shock by now."

I grinned and continued walking.

"I'm about seventy-percent full."

"How?!"

It was all too satisfying to ignore her question as I strutted down the tunnel.