“You want to join the Healing Temple?” An elderly orc asked thoughtfully. The orc lazily stroke his white beard as he scanned through a piece of paper.

I nodded nervously without a word. The attendant brought me into a small office and left after explaining the situation to the elder orc. I did not need to ask any questions; judging by the elder orc’s attire, I could guess that he was a highly-ranked healer. He was wearing the iconic white robe with the crest of the Healing Temple but the elder orc’s robe had three additional golden stripes. As far as I remembered, the number of golden stripes reflected the circle reached by the healer.

“We are indeed recruiting at the moment but we will not let anyone join us. Come with me to the Healing Hall. If you manage to hold on until the end of the day, you’ll move on to the next stage of the recruitment process.” The orc explained disinterestedly. He left his seat and guided me to another area of the Healing Temple.

The main building of the temple was connected to five different halls. Whenever a patient would come, the attendants would guide them to the most suitable hall to treat their conditions. The corridors were rather empty at this time of the day. According to my experience, the Healing Temple only had an influx of patients in the late afternoon or evening when people returned from work. The morning and late evening were generally used to teach the healers and perform external visits.

“Not very busy, huh?” I pointed out, behaving cluelessly to avoid raising suspicion. At the same time, I was also curious about the inner workings of the Healing Temple. I heard many stories and rumors about this place but at the end of the day, I did not spend much time in the cities. Even when I returned to the city, there was usually a dedicated healer belonging to the guilds I joined, ready to heal me if necessary.

“The Healing Hall is not very busy at this time of the day. Most of the people you saw lining up are probably going to the Medical Hall instead. Still, we will find a few patients for you to demonstrate your ability.” The elder orc replied with his sonorous voice.

We walked into a large room with the appearance of a hospital ward. There were many beds orderly arranged and three healers quietly waiting for patients to come. It was the common area where people coming for a simple Heal would be treated. The three healers belonged to the Everyoung race, the Dwarven race and the Gnomish race. Three races that happened to have a short stature and were at ease with each other.

I noticed the Everyoung who was standing in front of me in the queue being treated by the Everyoung healer. The other two healers immediately turned their attention toward us as we entered the room. Their robes had two golden stripes.

“Copperbane!” The elder orc waved at the dwarf. “This guy wants to join the temple. Get him to work out a bit and see if he has the necessary skills. The usual drill.”

“Sure. He’s in good hands. Come here kiddo.” The dwarf and the gnome invited me to sit on a nearby bed. I felt the elderly orc’s gaze lingering on me before he disappeared back in the direction we came from.             

“You can call me Copperbane and this is Bixi.” The dwarf introduced himself while stroking his beard. The gnome nodded politely but showed no interest in speaking to me.

“I’m Alex.” I followed up plainly. “Nice to meet you.”

The dwarf mumbled a few inaudible words before speaking properly. “I just want to say that as long as you successfully join the temple, your race won’t matter much anymore.”

I frowned lightly but did not respond. I knew the healers would quickly discover that I was human. I could deceive regular guards like the Bangaas at the entrance gate but not professionals who examined and healed people’s body for a living. They were very familiar with all the races living in the tower and would definitely notice the differences.

“But that is only if you manage to pass. Your first test will simply be healing any patient that walk into this room, unless they explicitly ask for one of us. Meaning that as long as it is not a dwarf, gnome or everyoung, you will be in charge of the healing. If you last until it is time for the next shift, then I’ll inform the elder orc that you passed.”

 “And how long is that exactly?”

“About five hours. We are not testing you on the amount of mana you have. If you need mana stones, just ask and we’ll provide you with as many as you want. We are only testing how many spells you can cast before you exhaust your mental strength. In busy times, we may need to cast over two hundred spells under an hour.” The gnome explained.

“I see. It should not be too hard. I’ve done worse.”

“Since you are confident, let’s begin. Attendant!” Copperbane shouted and soon after, an attendant entered the room. “Bring a few slaves here. It is time for their weekly check-up. We’ll have this guy do the job.”

A few moments later, the attendant came back accompanied by a group of female elves wearing clean plain dresses. They meekly followed behind the attendant, not daring to raise their eyes without being given permission.

I internally sighed as I watched the beautiful elves behave in such a cowardly manner. They were once the most powerful race of the tower; they were completely unmatched in terms of strength and ruled several floors of the tower. Yet, after a few centuries have passed, the glorious elves have now been reduced to mere slaves, with no rights and no freedom, at the mercy of the races they once looked down upon.

“You can start. These slaves generally work in another hall and are also in charge of cleaning and various miscellaneous tasks. They look healthy but we never know if they injured themselves. It is always good to cast a Heal spell regularly.” Copperbane explained.

I nodded silently and approached the closest elf. Her body trembled lightly but I completely ignored her fear and grabbed her hand.

Heal!

I activated my spell, pushing my mana into her body according to the original template of the Heal spell. It was my first time using this spell on an elf. The body structure of an elf was naturally different from that of a human. The small adjustments I made to the template would no longer work when used on an elf. I needed to restart my research from scratch and understand how the mana was used inside the elf’s body.

A professional healer should be familiar with all the races’ bodies and would have already refined their templates to better suit each race. Naturally, healers were most familiar with their own race which often led to patients preferring to be treated by healers of the same race.

I felt my mana flow inside the elf’s body. I followed its trail as it was slowly absorbed by the different organs. In less than two minutes, all the mana of the spell had been absorbed by the elf’s body, leaving no traces behind. However, during the process, I found no traces of injuries; her body was simply thirsty for more mana. I repeated the process, casting Heal and following the mana flow again.

Paying more attention than during my first attempt, I noticed that the majority of the mana seemed to converge to her left shoulder. After a closer inspection, I noticed a small rune engraved on the elf’s left shoulder. It was her slave mark, acting as the symbol of her current status and the shackles that were preventing her from advancing to higher circles.

My third Heal spell confirmed my suspicions. The elf was truly not injured. The reason why my spell seemed to only last for two minutes was due to the presence of the slave mark. It would absorb any mana that accumulated inside the elf’s body and use it for its own maintenance.

I clicked my tongue and released the elf’s hand. “It’s done. She is not injured or sick. Next.” I voiced out my actions as I knew the other healers were carefully monitoring me. I moved on to the next elf who also reluctantly allowed me to cast Heal. It did not take long for me to confirm that none of the elves were injured but as soon as I did so, an attendant entered the room accompanied by another group of five elves

I already knew where this was going. The purpose of this test was to estimate my mental strength. While it was easy to cast a few spells, doing so for a long period of time could be extremely taxing for one’s body and mind. Healers needed to be able to provide treatment to a large number of patients in a short amount of time. During the rush hour in the evening, it was not unusual for the Healing Hall to suddenly be crowded by all the workers and explorers returning to the city.

Heal! Heal! Heal!

Without uttering a single word, I moved on from elf to elf, treating their non-existent injuries. It was rather common for the residents of the tower to visit the Healing Hall despite not suffering from any injuries. A simple Heal could detect many underlying injuries or ailment. There was even a popular saying going around the tower: “A Heal a day keeps the disease away.” The source of this saying was unknown but many rich and powerful individuals would not hesitate to hire private healers for a simple daily Heal.

Most of the elves were healthy. Only occasionally would a large portion of my mana deviate to some bruises or twisted muscles. The groups of elves came and went as I tirelessly used Heal. Whenever I would start running out of mana, I would simply ask one of the other healers for help and they would promptly hand over a basket full of mana stones.

After a while, I took a short break and straightened my back. There was an endless stream of slaves coming into the Healing Hall. While I knew that the Healing Temple employed quite a few slaves, I did not expect them to have so many. Nevertheless, this test also brought me some benefits. It was an opportunity to examine an elf’s body. After using the original template a few times, I moved on to trying to optimise the spell. It was not easy to find guinea pigs willing to be the experimental subjects of a healer.

Time went on and a real patient would walk into the Healing Hall from time to time. I started feeling tired but I knew I needed to persevere. It was my only chance to join the Healing Temple and I needed to pass this test.

However, in the middle of my test, an unexpected event took place. The tower’s voice sounded to the ears of all its residents:

[A Right to be Judged has been used. The Divine Tribunal will now convene and the parties involved summoned to the tribunal. All the residents of the tower are welcomed to listen to the hearings.]