The slums felt no different from a maze. All the houses looked the same; the streets were narrow and disorienting. The lack of direct sunlight did not help either. Surprisingly, it took less than five minutes for my shadow and I to return to exit the slums and return to the place where I was first attacked.

There, I found a group of citizens observing the scene. A dozen of bounty hunters were lying down in a pool of their own blood. Alerted by the commotion, a large group of guards consisting mainly of Bangaas, were also present, confronting the healers of the Forbidden Hall.

“The Healing Temple is getting more and more arrogant! You guys even attacked defenceless citizens in the middle of the day!”

“It was a legitimate act of self-defense. These bounty hunters attacked our members first.”

“Self-defense, my *ss! Aside from the elves who have just been crippled, you cut off the limbs of all the other bounty hunters!” The senior Bangaa stomped the ground angrily.

“The elves are just slaves trained for assassination. If we hurt them too much, their owners will find it cheaper to simply purchase new ones. For the rest, we did not need to hold back. These bounty hunters are rich anyway; they operated as they wanted for decades. No one would believe them if they said they are broke. They are still alive and as long as they receive the appropriate treatment, they will soon return to their peak.”

The Healers and the Bangaas continued to argue in front of the crowd but quickly fell silent as they noticed my arrival. My shadow collapsed on the ground and reconnected itself to my body. It returned to being a simple shadow, mimicking the movements of my body.

“Oh? Mr. Alex. Good timing!” One of the healers exclaimed happily. “These law enforcement officers are looking for proof that we acted on self-defense. Can you just present your necklace?” The healer, a Satyr, smiled faintly while keeping an eye on the Bangaas.

The senior Bangaa’s expression darkened. ‘So they have proof… Then, there is nothing we can do... These bastards have already prepared themselves. If the other healers provided the evidence, I could have framed them for preparing this vicious trap but if it is the victim that provides it, then there is nothing I can do.’ He said to himself. He narrowed his eyes and turned his attention toward me. “If you have proof of being attacked first, then show it.”

“Do it. They won’t try anything funny with the evidence.” A familiar voice rang behind me. Copperbane, the dwarf stepped out of the crowd and grinned, completely ignoring the fact that he abandoned me in these streets just a few moments ago.

I had no choice but to go with the flow. I reluctantly took off my necklace and allowed the senior Bangaa to examine the recording inside. The necklace could record up to twenty-four hours of my life and only a few hours have passed since I bought it. The Bangaa would unfortunately see the items that I left at the Spatial Bank but it was unlikely that he would be able to properly identify them.

The Bangaas and the healers continued to argue but both parties already knew that this case was closed. There were no casualties, only critically injured aggressors. I felt some pity when I noticed the state of the bounty hunters. The slaves elves were in the best shape, having their bodies covered with injuries. I would need an enormous amount of mana to properly heal them but given enough time, they would be fine. As for the other bounty hunters, they could barely be considered as being alive, having had their bodies mutilated. I saw several limbs and other organs lying on the ground not far from the bodies. It was impossible for me to heal them with my current set of spells. Only a fourth circle healer would be able to reattach their limbs and restore their vitality and a more specialised healer would also be needed to heal the psychological damages. If they wanted to ever live a normal life, the Healing Temple was ironically the only saviour they could turn to.

I was not foreign to the Healing Temple’s methods. While they were an organisation that focused on well-being and healing, they also had an entire hall dedicated to grooming a fighting force. The Forbidden Hall had only one purpose: to heal the world and get rid of all the creatures causing nothing but destruction and pollution. However, to paint themselves in a better picture, they developed the culture of never killing their enemies but instead, crippling them such that the Healing Temple would become the only institution that could save them. Instead of killing, the Forbidden Hall let all their targets fall into despair.

The Bangaa eventually returned my necklace and I left the scene accompanied by the healers. The crowd slowly dispersed, abandoning the defeated bounty hunters. The guards would take care of them for the time being and they would later be transferred to the Healing Temple for treatment if they choose to do so.

“Were you scared when you were kidnapped by that Lycan? I heard that he managed to escape from the healers.” Copperbane asked in a friendly manner.

I glanced at the dwarf with a thoughtful expression. “It was scary. Fortunately, Lord Xylius came to my rescue. You could have told me that a Hall Master was protecting me this whole time.”

“You would not have panicked and behaved like that if I told you. I did, however, say that you were in good hands. The Forbidden Hall is one of the strongest fighting forces of the city. Why do you think no one dares to look for trouble at the Healing Temple?”

“…”

I remained silent, following behind the healers.

…

We soon returned to the Healing Temple and I was given some free time to recover from the ‘unexpected’ event. The healers expected me to be completely shaken by the incident but in truth I had already put it behind me. I went through far worse in my past life and I learned to deal with losses and move on. I locked myself in my room to rest and took a short nap. When I woke up, I felt even worse than before.

‘Sigh… Let’s just hope that this situation does not occur too frequently. The Healing Temple should try  to recruit other human healers very soon. Once they do so, I would be able to take a step back and let the others act as bait.’

‘Today’s operation attracted the ire of the bounty hunters. Even though only a few were involved in the incident, the pride of all the bounty hunters has been hit. The city lord will also not be very happy and by extension, the citizens will see the humans in a more negative light. They will put more efforts in hunting the humans outside the city which would probably also create a lot of conflict….’

After examining the situation for a while, I finally got bored and decided to go out. My schedule was empty for the rest of the day and there were a few hours left before dinner. I left my room and proceeded to the Medical Hall.

The Medical Hall, one of the five halls of the Healing Temple, focused on healing through the use of potions and onguents. All these items were produced in-house by potioneers and herbalists.

As I had time to kill, I decided to be productive and learn some crafting techniques. All the members of the Healing Temple were welcomed at the Medical Hall and could learn their techniques for free. But naturally, all the products that would be made in the future would belong to the Healing Temple.

The Medical Hall was packed with people but thanks to the robe I was wearing, I was quickly allowed inside. The hall was designed like a giant shop with several counters where customers could place their orders. There was a strong medicinal aroma floating in the air; it was rather unpleasant but not untolerable.

Under the guidance of an attendant, I was brought to a counter and faced an Everyoung with the appearance of a ten year old child.

“Yes?” The Everyoung asked with interest. The child was using his powers, floating in the air and raising himself to my eye level.

“I recently joined the Healing Temple and has been interested in the art of potion making. Will it be possible for me to give it a try?”

“Have you ever brewed a potion before?”

“No. It will be my first time.”

The Everyoung gave me a blank look before briefly glancing at his documents. “That is fine. Everyone must start from somewhere. However, you will need some knowledge of the plants and other raw materials before learning how to brew. I recommend that you spend some time at the library. The attendant will bring you to one of the potioneers to help you get started.” He then addressed the attendant directly. “Bring him to Miss Eliss.”

‘Joining the Healing Temple put me in a risky position but it also has its advantages. The other studios have much more rigid processes before accepting recruits.’ I thanked the Everyoung and followed the steps of the attendant. I was escorted inside the Medical Hall where the medicinal aroma became even stronger. We walked past a large storage area and headed to the quieter laboratories.

The potioneers all had a private laboratory where they could experiment and work on improving their craft. This area was mostly silent aside from the attendants who kept running around, carrying raw materials and bottles.

“We have arrived.” The attendant came to a stop next to one of the doors. There were two large gems above each door frame; one red and one green. Along the way, the attendant explained their meaning. If the red gem was lit, the potioneer inside wished to not be disturbed and if the green one was lit up, they could knock on the door. If none was lit up, then the laboratory was empty and if both were lit up, the laboratory was out of use.

In this case, the door’s green gem was lit up. The attendant knocked on the door and after a brief pause, a dark elf emerged from the other side. Her appearance was similar to regular elves; she had long curved ears, tangled dark hair, a small pointy nose, deep blue eyes and a rather small frame. The only difference was her pale brown skin that contrasted with the white healer robe she was wearing.

A heat wave flew out of the laboratory, causing me to take a step back. I frowned lightly as I could feel just how hot the inside of the laboratory was compared to the rest of the building. The dark elf blinked her eyes in confusion, unfazed by the temperature difference. “Yes?”

“Miss. Eliss, I was told to escort this person here. You should have received a message from the reception already.”

The dark elf paused and grunted lightly. She moved away from the door without sparing me a glance. “Alright. You may leave. The human can come inside. There are a few books on the table. Since you have no experience, you can start by memorising the appearance of the raw materials and their effects. When you think that you have memorised the properties of enough materials, I’ll test you and see if we can move on to the next stage.”

The attendant nodded and left hurriedly. I stood still in the corridor as the dark elf returned to her tasks. The door was slowly closing itself, giving me little time to react. I was reluctant to enter this ‘sauna’ but I knew I would not get a second chance.

I smiled faintly and stepped inside the laboratory. The dark elf was a woman of few words. She was as cold, uncommunicative and distant as the dark elves I met in my past life. I was already used to it and I was not in a mood to chat either.

The dark elves were a separate race from the elves. Originally, they belonged to the same race; just like humans, the elves developed different physical characteristics based on their habitat and lifestyle. The elves divided themselves into separate tribes: the forest elves, the dark elves, the snow elves and the sea elves. Despite their differences, the elves remained united as a single race but as time went by, the forest elves grew in power. They became so strong that they started looking down on their peers. Eventually, they severed their ties with the other breeds of elf who were dragging them down and established their own territory in the tower. As a result, the dark elves, the snow elves and the sea elves became separate races but thanks to this separation, these three races retained their freedom and now have significant influence over the Union.

I sat down quietly at the prepared desk next to the exit door. There was a thick stack of books waiting for me; one ecyclopedia about plants and one about monsters, three smaller books about fungi, green herbs and exotic herbs and a beginner’s manual about potion making.

I scratched my head in disappointment, feeling demotivated. ‘I thought I would just give potion-making a try to see if I can do it long term but I should have known better. The Healing Temple will not waste materials for no reason… I’ll have to pass this test if I want some practical experience but it is such a drag to sit down and learn like at school…’

My eyes wandered across the laboratory; it was quite messy with bottles and various herbs scattered everywhere. Two cauldrons were heating up in the middle of the room; one completely empty and the other filled with water. The dark elf was focusing her attention on the raw materials on her workstation.

After observing her for a few moments as she cut some herbs and peeled of the bark of some plants, I turned my attention to the dreaded books on my table.