The Art Of The Heal

I let myself into the person's home while thinking back to the name of the requester who I was told by Isadora lived the furthest away: Amelie. I also recalled the exact details of the quest-request form.

[Quest:

Quest type: Heal

Quest Giver: Amelie

Quest Details: "I went out into the forest a few days ago and a wild wolf got the back of my leg in a really brutal way. I am worried the wound is starting to get infected, as I have been feeling sick for the past two days. If any travelers or even any locals can help I'd be eternally grateful."

Deadline: 13th day of Anthem

Reward: 10 escudos.]

I kept those details in mind as I peered out into the darkness. I immediately cast "Prognosis" Amelie, relying on tremorsense to aim it.

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"Scanning target... scan complete!" The voice of my magic told me. I grinned as I walked into the home's entryway.

"I'm in the sala! Please come in." Amelie's voice told me, beckoning me forth into the house. Her voice was also significantly weaker than before, when I was outside. There was noticeable strain in it. At that moment the voice of my magic spoke up, identifying Amelie's condition.

"The name of the target is Amelie Gutierrez. She currently has 12 hitpoints. 12 hitpoints are her current maximum, but that is due to a disease she is suffering from. You have a new spell that can identify the causes, and symptoms of diseases. Amelie's stamina point maximum is 5, also due to the aforementioned disease she is suffering from." The voice explained.

"She has zero magical energy and like Troik is unmagical. She is suffering from a disease named Sloth's Exhaustion. It is a non-magical disease. Preparing recommendations for treatment..." The voice said to me before suddenly going silent.

I walked deeper into the house and stepped through a lit kitchen before entering a decently sized living room and even as I lay my eyes on Amelie my other senses were assailed. The living room had a thick stench of sweat and bodily waste. My ears were wracked by the sounds of a rough sort of exhausted panting which was audible in this darkened room.

Amelie herself was seated in a thick seat at a corner of the room. She was a heavyset woman and was covered in a layer of sweat. Her clothes were tattered and coming apart, and the skin visible past holes in her clothes hinted at her old, leathery skin. She looked exhausted but dragged her head up to peer at me. She had an unhealthily pale complexion, one that was clearly unnatural.

Her eyes were a strange color, an odd shade of white. It was like she was blind but I could tell from the way that she looked in my direction that she had some sort of sight.

"Hello there... I am, as you can... see very... tired." She said, speaking slowly. Her voice was surprisingly powerful, and it carried well even if it was very slow.

"I can see that senora." I said, speaking to her politely. Her lips turned upwards in a smile. She was direct with what she said next.

"Can you heal me? I know I am sick. I am... constantly wracked with pain, but it becomes horrifying whenever I move." She said, aware of her sickness even if she didn't have a name for it. I looked her in her odd eyes and nodded at her.

"I can. I am more than capable of curing what ails you." I told her, candidly. I was confident that I could handle her mundane condition.

She began to laugh. The sound was a wretched thing, more like a hacking cough than actual laughter.

"Oh good. I could feel myself... slowly atrophying here." She said to me, relief flooding her voice. At that moment I stepped closer to her, intending to relieve her of her pain and discomfort.

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[Alert: Rejection Of Discomfort is activating for the first time. This is due to your proximity to Amelie. The power will wash over her, and become faintly visible in 3... 2... 1...] The system, or its automated cousin anyway, advised me. I chuckled and watched as a faint, pink aura suddenly emanated out of me and filled the room I was in with a gentle, pink tint.

The aura gently washed over Amelie. She was silent as it washed over her, but a few moments after it did she sighed in surprised delight as the effects of it caused some of her symptoms and pain to lessen in intensity. Her panting slowed, even if it didn't fade away entirely.

I smiled at her and spoke to explain what had just happened. "My name is Althos. I am a healer. You'll find that I am... very good at what I do." I told her, smiling at the woman. She smiled at me and spoke, her voice having more energy than before.

"I can see that already..." She told me. Her voice was a bit stronger than before and when she next spoke it was to deliver an apology.

"I apologize for the state of things. I sat down in this chair a week ago, had already sent the quest out, and... well each day my condition got worse." She told me, her voice as strong as before.

"I was worried that yelling out for you earlier was the last of my strength." She confessed. I smiled at her and pointed my staff in her general direction but not at her.

"You are stronger than you know. And now that I'm here you don't need to worry," I told her, grinning openly as I said so. "And now it's time for you to begin to recover your strength." I said, happily.

I decided to test out the power of my blessing of healing. I put one hand between herself and myself and quickly asked the system how to bless someone.

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[In order to bless or curse someone you need to target them, focus on the domain or subdomain you wish to unleash, and then you will receive a prompt. The prompt will ask if you wish to bless them or curse them. Select whichever you wish to do to them. When you do, the effects will be applied to the target.] The system said, educating me as to how to use my abilities.

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I target Amelie, using both her closeness to me and her location on my minimap. I visualized the word "Healing" in my mind and centered it in my thoughts to the extent that I pushed other things out of my head. At that moment I received a handy prompt.

[Alert: Would you like to bless or curse Amelie? Utilizing the subdomain of healing as the focal point of a curse would affect her by reducing the effectiveness of attempts to heal her by 10%.]

I smiled and informed the system that I was seeking to bless her not curse her. She was suddenly glowing but judging from her lack of a reaction she didn't notice that she was glowing. I paid that no mind, and instead readied myself to treat her. I still hadn't gotten the notification alerting me to "Prognosis'" recommended treatment but paid that no mind.

I pointed my staff at her, and unleased a single casting of "Cure Disease". The spell left me and phased into her easily. And this drew a physical reaction from the woman. She began to shake as if from the cold, and smoke began to come off of her skin. This lasted a few seconds, and while she was shaking I received a notification from my spell.

"Here is our recommendation for treating Amelie, taking into consideration that her disease is now cured: restore her stamina first, healing both the damage it has suffering and restoring it to its maximum. Then heal her actual hit points." The voice told me, giving me advice that I could have easily given myself.

I unleashed more magic at her after I listened to the notification. I hit her with both "Restore Health" and "Restore Stamina" spells. I smiled as color began to return to her cheek.

"Whoa... you really are a very good healer." She said, smiling at me as the aches and pains that plagued her began to fade away. I smiled softly at her, happy to have begun to alleviate her pain before I mentally tapped the grimoire icon in my H.U.D.

[Good morning. You have new spells. Displaying them now.

Scan: This spell allows you to detect magical diseases and conditions caused by magic.

Restore Maximum: This spell undoes damage to stats that is so significant that it lingers even after the cause is dealt with. This mostly applies to magically caused damage and to damage from diseases. When activated this spell will ask you if you seek to restore hit points, stamina points, or magical energy.

The number of spells you have access too, including healing spells, will again increase when you are no longer stuck in tutorial mode.]

The grimoire's message brought a spell to my face. The next thing I did was target Amelie and unleash "Restore Maximum" twice, selecting her stamina first and then her health.

This time the woman didn't smile, instead, she suddenly stood up. I looked at her and moved forward to catch her if she fell. As I did I also spoke. "That's... ill-advised senora." I told her, concerned for her safety. She brushed off my concerns with a wave of her hands.

"Oh don't you worry about me Althos. I appreciate what you did, all of it. I am... light again." She said, wonderment in her voice as she felt strength and stamina surge into her. Silence fell over her. And while it did, I cast "Scan" on her.

"Scan commencing... Scan complete. Target is not suffering from any magical conditions or diseases." It told me, over the course of about three seconds.

"Althos, have you eaten?" She asked me, curiosity in her voice. I shook my head at her, truthfully.

I hadn't eaten because I didn't think I needed to eat. I still wasn't hungry. She clicked her tongue at me in clear, maternally disapproval. "That won't do! Are you in a rush?" She asked me, trying to suss out if I was going to stay for breakfast. I chuckled and shook my head once more.

"Well, in that case, you simply must stay for breakfast. I'll pay you once you eat some good-old-fashioned home cooking." The elderly spinster told me. I smiled and spoke to her.

"Sure. If you're offering a homemade meal I'll happily have some." I told her, opting to stay with her for a little bit. She smiled at me, her colorful face flushing with joyful emotion.

"That's the attitude!" She told me, before almost stumbling but barely managing to catch herself.

"Sorry about that. Do you mind helping me to my bathroom?" She asked me, hoping for a helpful response. I nodded and walked over to her, grabbing onto her shoulder and allowing her to lean on me.

Her weight was heavier than I thought, which was impressive all things considered, but she wasn't even remotely heavy enough to inconvenience me. We began an easygoing journey to her bathroom so she could bathe herself and change out of her tattered clothing.

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About four hours later I was several escudos richer than before and had completed the three quests I left the Silver Xana with. All of the people I had healed were grateful, elderly people who didn't suffer from magical maladies, which made healing their wounds an easy thing to do.

I was on my way back to the forest, and while I was walking towards it I sent an important message to the system.

"So what do I need to do to get you to... free me from the tutorial? Can you give me some clear objectives to work towards that would free me from this annoying handicap?" I asked my first and oldest companion, while I made my way towards the forest. Much to my surprise, I received an immediate and helpful answer.

[Actually, yes.] The system began, before beginning to outline something that I felt was reasonable given that I was a god.