"You got rid of that rudimentary thing clinging to your brain, why?" she asks me immediately.

"It was too dangerous to leave it without oversight, and I'm not skilled enough yet to do that many things at once. Plus, I believe I learned all I could from it."

She stares at me for a second and then slowly nods.

"You walk a dangerous path."

As if I don't know that.

"Do you like mana that much?" she asks, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Yes," I say without any hesitation.

There is something in her eyes I have a hard time describing before she turns away, looking at the wildly spinning mana in her hand.

"You may ask a question."

"Can I use my mana in your presence?"

Her smile doesn't fit her age at all. It's barely noticeable, just a lifted corner of her lips, but even then, I can feel some cheekiness from it. Cheekiness and a warning.

"You can try."

I notice Ruby wildly gesturing at me to stop, but even through all of my senses warning me, I open up my mana and reach out towards her with my [Mana Perception].

At first, I don't sense anything.

"Allow me to reveal the path you've chosen to tread."

I start feeling it in my bones, in my insides, on my skin. Impossibly powerful mana.

Its edges are expanding more and more. It feels like a never-ending ocean, like a tsunami. It feels like the heat of a star.

And it's beautiful.

I release my focus on handling my mana and use all of it to feed my perception and defenses. I want to see more. I need to see more.

Her mana is too massive for any human to have a right to, and my mana continues flickering in her presence, like a dying candle in a hurricane.

My ears start ringing, and it's harder and harder to breathe, and I am already down on my knees, unable to stand. I even feel blood running out of my eyes.

But I continue to look.

Like a fly dreaming of reaching the sun.

 

---

 

"Well, that was dumb. You're lucky my master only released some of her mana. I've seen her kill people for much nicer requests than yours." Ruby sighs, "She must find you quite interesting, doing all of this."

I am listening to her with only one ear and still going through what I saw.

"Haa, so annoying," she throws herself on the couch, acting more brazen now that her master has left. She stretches her legs, "I could never understand your type. All of you are goddamn crazy."

I slowly focus on her words and stand up, my body complaining as if someone danced on it all night. With a groan, I sit on the armchair opposite her.

"How strong is she?"

"Who knows? I hope to never find out." Ruby shrugs her shoulders.

"Stronger than Champion Keiron or Champion Tristan?" I ask, curious since I heard the names of the two strongest people from Roland.

"I see that someone has been collecting information," she smirks and, still lying on the couch, continues to look at me, "My master is… she's special, that's all you need to know. But don't even dream about reaching Champion Keiron. The man is ancient, and the last time he fought, he sank an island, along with a million people who lived there. He is a monster capable of destroying an entire kingdom if he wills it."

She jumps to her feet, "Enough of that. Now invite me to dinner, and I'll show you something interesting."

Huh?

 

---

 

I end up leaving the restaurant with my pouch much lighter.

Sure, the food was amazing. So good. But what the heck!

What kind of dinner for two costs as much as a farmer's yearly wage?!

Damn it.

"Look," I hear from Ruby, and I look where she's pointing.

The statue towers over the area, a depiction of a man tall and imposing and adorned in complete, meticulously crafted armor. You could spend hours studying the armor alone, each piece bearing intricate details of painstaking labor and skill. The armor's metallic sheen contrasts beautifully with the backdrop of the blue sky.

The sculpted face of the man exudes an aura of unwavering confidence and raw power. Etched with such realism, you could almost see the determination set in the statue's stone eyes. The man's grip on the sword is firm, with the blade stabbed into the ground in front of him.

"This is Champion Keiron," she says.

Ehm?

That makes me look at the statue once more, making sure I remember the face.

"It's nicely made," I start. Was this information really worth that much silver?

Ruby laughs. What's so funny?

"You don't understand. THIS is Champion Keiron."

"..."

What?

"No one remembers now how old he is, but everyone knows that every ten years, he creates another avatar of himself and places it somewhere in the kingdom."

No way.

"There are now tens of his avatars all over the kingdom and the world," she turns to me, none of her normal cheekiness visible on her face now, "Champion Keiron can instantly transfer his mind into any of these avatars and then fight with all his power available."

I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. How is something like that even possible?

How?

"Some say that he can now awaken all the avatars at once and control them, with each of them containing most of his power," her eyes have the same look I must have now.

I just don't know what to say.

"That is what Champion is capable of."

 

---

 

POV Lily Chen

"Novice Lily, please hurry up."

"Y-yes!" I quickly grab my bag with the things I'll be needing and glance around my room one last time, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness.

It's huge and predominantly white in color, filled with beautifully carved furniture with gold accents. The bed is massive, much bigger than I need. But the mattress is amazing, so I don't mind it that much. I still feel like I'm living in a dream, like any moment someone will pinch me, and I'll wake up.

Everything is better than sleeping on the first floor's cold, hard ground. My thoughts drift back to those nights, and I try to shake off all those bad memories.

I don't want to think about that. I'm in a better place now, right?

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, I'm ready now!" I say as I exit the room, hoping my enthusiasm isn't too obvious.

Everyone here is so nice to me, so I try to treat them with the same kindness. I can't help but feel a little out of place, though. I mean, I'm just a regular girl who happened to acquire healing powers.

My guide, Mentor Lyra, smiles at me, and I can't help but smile back, feeling my cheeks warm up a bit.

"It's okay, Novice Lily. Shall we go now?"

"Yes!"

I quickly follow her as we walk through the lavish hallway that I'm still not used to. It's too pristine, too fancy-looking. Every step I take feels like I'm walking on clouds, and I wonder if I'll ever get used to living like this.

We pass by a few more people, and everyone greets and smiles at me. Some even bow.

That's another thing I'm not used to. It makes me feel important, but also a little awkward.

In the community, Nat said that healers are super rare in this world and that I wouldn't have to worry about anything for a while. He told me to enjoy some rest and... I remember something and giggle a bit, suddenly feeling mischievous.

He also said to "yoink" some expensive things for him, mentioning that he might need some gold fairly soon. I can't believe he asked me to do that, but it's kind of exciting.

"Mentor Lyra, I was thinking, could I ask you for some gold coins?"

Her eyebrows rise a bit, but contrary to my expectations, she just nods.

"That's something we can do for you. We can discuss it when we return from your training and talk about the amount you need."

Oh, that was easier than I thought it would be. I can't wait to tell Nat!

"T-thank you."

She nods with a smile, and we enter the massive dining room. Huge windows offer a view of the beautiful gardens, and we eat slowly, served by a few dedicated attendants just for us. The food is amazing, and I only regret that the others can't be here with me, even silly Biscuit. I hope they're okay.

"Let's go and heal a few people, okay, Novice Lily?"

I agree and stand up, feeling determined. It's something I have to do to be allowed to live the way I live now.

And it will help me become more useful in the future, not just for myself, but for the people I care about.

I will not allow the events from the end of the first floor to repeat.

 

---

 

"I fed him to the pigs. I cut his body into small pieces and threw them inside the pen, making sure they ate it all," I say quietly to Ruby, who is sitting opposite me.

She doesn't smile, only nodding and pulling a card from the game we're playing. She flips it around and shows it to me again.

"I won again. Now tell me how you did it."

I stay silent for a moment, already yearning to forget the situation.

"I kept an eye on him since he started showing hostility towards me. Then I began to observe his movements and his sensitivity to my mana usage. I was careful, never showing any aggression," memories flash through my mind. "I created a small orb of mana inside my mouth. I've learned that everyone's body has a kind of barrier that partially conceals the mana within, and even though you can sense it if you try hard enough, or if the other person isn't good at controlling it, I noticed that Emeric wasn't proficient at it."

Ruby nods likely understanding where I'm heading with this.

"He continued to taunt me in the hallway to my room, out of earshot of everyone else.

He did it every day.

"So one day, I simply waited for him to lean closer, and then I opened my mouth as if to say something, and shot the mana orb through his eye into his brain," I look at her, "he died almost instantly."

I leave out the part where I had to drag him to my room. I omit the part where I had to go out and immediately clean up the blood.

I don't tell her how I had to cut his entire body into pieces while using [Oscillation] and feeling like I was on the verge of passing out several times, able to continue only thanks to [Focus].

I don't regret it, I did it all to survive.

But damn, it feels disgusting.