A few hours after returning home I found myself just outside of the Silver Xana. I felt the rays of the sun on my skin. I had three quest-request forms in my inventory. All of them were requests for healing. I smiled as I took off in the direction of the quest-requesters.
Isadora had been happy to see me and happier still to learn that I felt like tackling healing quests today. She had no idea how skilled I was at healing already. And she didn't have even the slightest clue as to my true intentions: I wanted the system to unlock the divine powers I possessed over the subdomain of healing and maybe even my influence over the domain of magic.
I was walking in the direction of the first house I was to visit and heal someone inside of. I wasn't far from my first destination, and my plan was to go to the farthest house first and then work my way back to the Silver Xana.
The sky was clear and blue above me. And around me, there were some people idly going about their business. Some of them recognized me from the false memories implanted in them by the system. Most people didn't recognize me though and still paid me no mind.
I paid them no mind and instead focused on my thoughts.
"I wonder what sort of powers I'll unlock from gaining influence over the school of healing..." I wondered, a smile on my face as I contemplated the sort of amazing, literally life-saving abilities I might be unlocking soon.
Right as the system was about to react to my statement, indicated by a sighing sound I heard in my mind and not externally, I received a pleasant alert.
| Alert: The human named Alma has uttered a prayer to your persona. She has asked for a golden apple and for something to numb some tooth pain she is feeling. Would you like to respond affirmatively to her request? |
I grinned to no one in particular and responded to its request with words of affirmation. When I did so I received another automated sounding alert.The system, a more automated version of it anyway, asked me.
| Alert: Response noted. "Cosecha" has created an apple for Alma and the elderly human woman is under the influence of a "Numb Pain" spell. |
I nodded as the notification vanished from sight shortly after coming into view. And a second later the voice of the system filled my mind as its textbox appeared in my mind's eye.
[So you want to begin to understand magic?] The system asked me, curiosity clear in its voice.
"Yes, I do. I want to understand everything." I told the system, quite confidently.
[We see... In that case, we might as well aid you, shouldn't we? Here you go.] The system told me, right as I felt my power increasing.
[We've gone ahead and unlocked some of your powers from the subdomain of healing. Each "school of magic" is both a school and a subdomain.] My constant companion whispered in my mind.
[There are ten basic schools of magic. In order to be able to earn the second tier of influence over the domain of magic you need to hit the first tier of influence over each of the basic schools of magic.] The system told me, while I excitedly waited to learn what my healing abilities were.
It was shortly after that message that I learned of the powers granted to me by the newest subdomain whose powers were unlocked by the system.
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Alert: The system has seen fit to unlock your powers and abilities that come with the subdomain of healing. Congratulations! Details about the subdomain of healing: This subdomain governs healing magic, medicine, and natural healing. It is a powerful subdomain that participates in every attempt to heal someone that is undertaken. At the moment your ability to heal people is limited to physical wounds and mundane conditions, due to the limitations of the tutorial. You cannot regenerate limbs, heal minds, but you'll be able to do so before the tutorial ends, surpassing mortal and magical healing outright. That said, defeating death itself and gaining the power to truly resurrect people will require you to become a powerful god. Work towards gaining power and worshipers so that there may come a day when reality itself cannot limit you. You gain influence over this subdomain by practicing healing powers on applicable targets and by gaining worshipers who worship you as a healer. Passive Powers: Restorative energy manipulation: This passive power allows you to idly channel energy that undoes wounds and defeats discomfort. You no longer need to use magic to cure wounds, and any effects that suppress the effects of magical healing on those you intend to heal are ignored, allowing you to heal at maximum efficiency. Rejection Of Discomfort: In the case of gods an aura is an emanation that surrounds them and projects certain beneficial or harmful effects to lesser creatures who stand in their presence. At the lowest tier of influence over the subdomain of healing, you gain an aura that grants nearby creatures that are neutral or friendly towards you the effects of a numbed pain spell. This aura extends beyond you in every direction for four and a half meters. Once a day* you can supercharge this aura and for ten minutes it transforms into what you gain at the second tier of influence over the subdomain of healing: an aura of regeneration which heals neutral and friendly creatures in your presence for a hitpoint every half minute. Lesser creatures suspect that you are somehow responsible for their healing or abated discomfort but unless you wish for them to realize it they don't. You can suppress this aura whenever you wish. This aura's effects can be mixed with the effects of other auras that affect friendly and neutral creatures. There exist auras that target hostile creatures as well, ones that drain their life-energy or sap their hostility from them. Health Map: This is a passive power that allows you to detect the health of creatures on your minimap. You have already seen a weakened version of it, innately, but this is greatly enhanced and is effectively the prognosis spell ambiently applied to your minimap. Active Powers: Symptom Removal: This power allows you to target a disease a creature is suffering from and do away with a symptom. At this tier of influence, this is only usable on non-magical diseases, but it can be used on any non-magical disease. You can use this power once a day. Pain Immunity: This is a targeted power that renders someone unable to feel pain. It is usable three times a day, and each usage lasts for five minutes. If used before a battle it can be immensely powerful and free you up to not have to cast numb pain on creatures mid-battle. Effect Of Blessing: Blessing a creature with the effects of this subdomain grants them enhanced healing. This is more complex than it sounds, as it causes them to heal more and be healed more. At the lowest tier of influence over the subdomain of healing, this causes their heals to heal for an additional 25% of what they were going to heal for. On the other hand, if you curse it using this domain its ability to heal naturally or supernaturally will be significantly diminished. Cursing it using this subdomain is ensuring that each time it is wounded is more significant than it would be otherwise. For example, if they healed someone for 20 hitpoints, that person would instead gain 25 hitpoints. Attempts to heal them are doubly effective, restoring 100% more health than intended. A Note About Synergy: Domains and subdomains are synergistic. What this means is that domains and subdomains interact and empower each other aggressively. As you gain more influence over assorted domains you will gain distinct powers in domains long under your control because of the power of the domains you've just begun to influence. Blessings also feel this effect, and the domains under your influence the more creatures you can create when you gain the ability to make life. *: This designation is easily changed. Once a day powers are powers that are archetypical for gods of the domain, and as you increase your divine might the effects of these powers and your ability to use them increase. Special Note regarding the Tutorial: The powers, active or passive alike, that you gain access to during the tutorial are not all of the powers that the first tier of influence unlocks. The tutorial keeps the strongest powers, active and passive alike, locked away. It also decreases the number of times a year, a month, a week, or a day, you can use the powers you have that sort of limitation. Basically, you're a weakened version of who you'll become. |
The second I finished reading the lengthy notification my minimap blinked out of existence for a moment, before reappearing with new symbols under each shape. These symbols were numbers that I could tell were the hitpoints of each shape and the creatures the shapes represented.
It was at that point that I reached the door of the house I was heading towards. I smiled and knocked on the door. I waited for a second and then a voice came from within the house.
"Are you a healer?" The voice asked, pain audible within it.
"Yes I am! I accepted your quest and I'm a traveling druid. May I come in?" I asked, knowing that it was likely that whoever was rendered immobile from the pain they were in.
"Oh thank goodness. The door is unlocked, please come in. I can't exactly move." The voice said to me, and I smiled and opened the door.
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.
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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.
"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 a 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.
| 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.
[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.
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.
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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.
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.
Is this a story in the Hispanic realm or mythos? I ask because of the use of Senora and people with both Surnames ( usually a sign of nobility, and the senora/senior usage...if it is not set in any realm like that what is the purpose of the usage?)
It’s set in a fantasy universe where there are multiple real-world language analogs. Spanish’s analog is the most predominant in the particular world this part of the story takes place in.
@Lucianowrites Nice! You don’t usually see that in a fantasy novel like this, I have a good number of relatives in both Spain and parts of South America, I’ve spent quite a bit Of time there and it’s always nice to see parallels in stories I read!
@Kp2087 I love incorporating folklore from Latin America into my stories! I myself am Puerto Rican and was raised in South and Central America :)