Bob waited impatiently for the end of his shift. It was typically very dull around the temple. He was supposed to chase off beggars and thieves. As well as clearing the way for the more affluent and 'beneficial' members of society. It made him feel sick.

"We should be helping those less fortunate. Instead we're just lining our own pockets and turning away from the needs of the people." He frustratingly thought to himself.

He had already been scolded for leaving his post to help Phil and Ted get back their inn. And, he had also been scolded for bringing a portion of his rations to distribute amongst some of the misfortunate children in the area.

It wasn't his duty they had said.

It wasn't his responsibility. 

They whispered that he was meant for so much more.

He was sick of it. It had been awhile since he had arrived. Yet, they rarely let him out of their sight. And, they never seemed to approve of any of his actions.

Yet, if he didn't take care of the people, then who would?

He smiled as he left the temple complex. He was happy to leave and meet Ted. A friend outside of the church. Even though it was a small act of rebellion against the church that sought to control him...

It made him feel free.

Ted was exhausted. He had run around searching for Zephyra for the rest of the afternoon. He didn't find her, not even a trace. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air.

Phil had forced himself out of bed after he had heard the commotion that Karen had caused. He was watching over Karen while Ted ran around to find Zephyra.

Ted was still mad at Phil. He should have told them that he was planning to join the church. Instead he hadn't said a word and let them believe that they would travel and adventure together.

"Friends together till the end, eh?" Ted sighed. "Except Karen is being spooky as fuck. And, Phil is a traitor."

He sat down on the stairs outside of the tavern. 

"I'm so tired. I wonder where she could've gone… I hope she hasn't run into any trouble. I'd imagine that the church would hunt her down, if they discovered her."

He was so lost in thought that he hadn't even noticed a familiar face approach him. 

"Hey, I'm free now. If you still want to get that drink?" Bob called out cheerfully.

"Eh?" Ted snapped his head up toward the acolyte. "I didn't see you there."

"Ha, not a problem." Bob frowned as he tried to read Ted's disconcerted expression. "Is everything alright? Are Phil and your other friend recovering?"

Ted stared at Bob for a moment. He couldn't decide if he should trust him or not. He let out a deep sigh.

"Phil is fine. A bit of an ass. But, he's fine. And, Karen… well, I'm not really sure what to say about her."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that… um, if it's not a good time-"

"No, no. It's alright. Truth be told, I'm in way over my head. I have no idea what's going on and I can't find Zephyra."

"Zephyra was your group's healer, right?" 

"Yeah. Karen had a close call. But, she's suddenly gotten worse."

"Um… I've been trained in some of the healing arts. It's uh… not much, basically just for emergency life preserving measures.  But, I'm not a dedicated healer or anything."

Ted glanced at Bob. "You'd be willing to help us?"

"If I can, anyway."

"Why?"

"Um, well, it's what I've been trained to do", Bob smiled awkwardly. "I joined the church a few months ago to help people. But, uh, I haven't actually been able to help anyone yet. They don't exactly approve of my… attitude."

"Well, I'll take any help that we can get right now." Ted stood up and dusted off his pants.

Bob smiled excitedly. "I'll do my best!"

"I'll show you to her room." 

Ted turned back into the tavern and quickly headed upstairs to their room. He knocked on Karen's door.

"Is it safe to enter, Phil?"

"Yeah, come on in." Phil wearily answered. His back faced the door as he watched over Karen. The two men entered the room. "She hasn't woken up since you left."

"So, she hasn't… uh… freaked out and gone full spook again?"

Phil shook his head and grunted in response.

"I see. That's a relief."

Phil turned toward them and blinked as he saw Bob. He seemed familiar.

"Who's with you?"

"Oh, this is Bob. He helped drag you back here earlier. He's from the church and wanted to take a look at Karen."

Bob waved and took a step toward Karen. "Do you mind if I check her condition?"

"Go ahead." Phil nodded again. "And, thank you."

Bob spent the next few minutes with Karen. He checked her pulse and gently probed for more information with his magic. He frowned and pulled back. 

"What happened to her?" He asked.

"We went down to this nearby dungeon-"

"Beginners luck?" 

"Yeah, I think that's the name of it. Anyway, she met the wrong end of the skeletal knight's spell."

"Ah, that would explain why there were traces of necromancy around her."

"Yeah…" Ted wanted to tell him more about Zephyra. But, he suddenly felt compelled to keep quiet. A quiet voice whispered that Zephyra would be in danger if he told him anything else. 

"Our healer helped her recover from the drain spell." Phil added, a small trickle of sweat dripped from his brow. He felt nauseous again. He wanted to tell him more as well. But, he couldn't say any more.

"Phil must really like their healer. He always seems to praise her. I wonder what it would be like to be praised by him…", Bob thought to himself absentmindedly. 

"That's fairly advanced for a beginning healer though." Bob commented as he came back to reality.

"Haha, is it?" Ted laughed nervously.

"I'm glad that she had that sort of skill to save her life." Bob continued obliviously. "Um, well, I'm just guessing, but it seems like her mana is having difficulty being contained inside of her body."

Ted and Phil stared at him blankly.

"I, um, don't know much about it. I definitely don't know how to fix it. But, I can drain some of the mana out of her to help balance it back out. Which, to be clear, would not be a permanent fix. It'll just keep her from breaking the room to pieces for now."

Phil nodded once again. He was generally a man of few words. "Please, do it."

"And, Zephyra might have an idea on a more permanent fix." Ted added in hopefully. "But, it'd be nice if there was still an inn after she comes back."

Phil raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't find her?"

Ted shook his head and shrugged, "I have no idea where she went."

"Alright. Well this should just take a brief moment." Bob announced optimistically.

He rolled Karen onto her stomach and placed his hands on her lower back. He closed his eyes and focused on the mana circulating inside of her.

It felt chaotic. Her mana pool was expanding. It rapidly drew in the mana from the surrounding area. The mana would pour into her and fill her to the maximum capacity. The increasing pressure would cause a sudden bursting leak of mana that would lash out of her body. He wasn't sure why she was absorbing so much mana though.

Bob frowned as he noticed something else. Her body held an unusually high concentration of life energy. The energy would pour toward her mana reservoir and repair the damage that the ambient mana had caused. It was probably the only thing that kept her alive. 

He could only guess that the ambient mana pouring into her would eventually outpace the life energy that healed her. If she survived it, her mana reservoir would increase by leaps and bounds. However, if they didn't find a solution, she could theoretically explode. 

"Zephyra must be pretty incredible to have an advanced healing spell that would function without her here." Bob muttered to himself. "I'm going to start draining her mana now."

It was a fairly simple procedure. It only required contact and a basic proficiency with mana manipulation. It would be much more complex with a conscious patient since they could resist. 

Yet, as it was, Bob drained the excess mana from Karen easily. The waters of her mana pool receded further and further. Then, all of a sudden, he felt sick. 

The veins of his hands began to turn black. In the depths of her reservoir, the mana became tainted. It didn't take long for him to identify the source of the corruption.

He paled and whispered. "Necromancy…

"Karen's a necromancer."