Lee woke up in an unfamiliar environment. Groggy from sleep, he was confused about where he was for a few seconds. Then everything seemed to click. 

Sitting on the small twin-sized mattress, Lee took in the room he had been assigned. All of the basic necessities were taken care of in the home they were given to rest in. The home didn’t have enough rooms for everybody to have one to themselves, so Kendri slept on the couch in the living room. For that decision, Lee had given him his bottle of alcohol back, much to his relief. 

After spending weeks sleeping on the forest floor, the straw-filled mattress he slept on felt like heaven. He quickly stored his furs, which he always slept with, and exited the room while checking his watch. 

It was early, around seven in the morning, but he heard people already up and about. The smell of food was drifting through the air, so Lee entered the small kitchen within the home. There, Lee spotted Meriah throwing some more wood into the bottom of a stove. On the stovetop, he spotted numerous pots and pans containing sausages, some stringy bacon-like meat, and eggs. 

Lee smiled. 

“Good morning. Need any help?” Lee asked. 

Meriah closed the compartment for the burning wood as she cracked another egg. She glanced over her shoulder, and Lee saw the rare sight of her genuine smile. 

“If you could, can you grab some buckets of water from the village well? This home has a bathtub! I also couldn’t find anything to drink.” She pointed to two simple wooden buckets situated on the floor by the front door. 

Hearing her enthusiasm and seeing as she was making breakfast for them, Lee readily accepted. Instead of going to the well, however, he was going to cast Conjure Water. 

He grabbed the buckets and set them on top of the small dining table. Holding his hand over them, he cast his spell. Like a faucet had been turned on, water began to fill them up.

While they were being filled, he decided to chat with Meriah. He was glad to have some normal conversations finally.

“Where did you find the ingredients? Were they inside your Bag of Holding?” 

Meriah, shaking a pan full of sausage, spoke without turning. 

“Oh, the meat was on the table this morning. Someone left them out for us! How nice.” 

Lee finished filling up the buckets. He strolled through the small home to find the tub, then emptied them into it. It looked made of iron or some other metal, and below it laid a small alcove to hold wood. It was currently filled with ash. 

He went back to the kitchen and started to fill the buckets up once again. While doing so, Lee took out one of his last loaves of bread from Neldam and placed it on the table. 

Not long after, Lee had filled the tub, and breakfast was ready. 

Belgrate had joined them earlier, still caressing the mana-infused fur. Kendri awoke from the commotion he made from cooking and conversation, and surprisingly, he didn’t take a drink from his bottle. 

At first, Lee thought that things were turning around for Kendri. But, when he got up from the couch and knocked the bottle over, Lee saw it was empty. 

Jeremy was nowhere to be seen as everybody settled down to eat. The food was basic, just sausage and a rough approximation of bacon with some eggs. It was simple, but it was an excellent chance for Lee. Living off sweets and carbs for weeks had worn him out. 

When everybody finished eating, Jeremy arrived through the front door. He kicked his feet to get rid of any dirt before he entered. Seeing that everybody was up and awake, Jeremy gave a nod and laid out his plans. 

“I’ve spoken with Richard about your healing, and he seemed interested. His first question was the price. I didn’t know what you charge, so I gave the regular healing fee. Is that okay with you?” 

Regular Healing fee?

Lee put his wooden plate and utensils into the sink and started to fill it with Conjure Water. Belgrate looked on in wonder as Lee responded. 

“I don’t know what the regular fee is. I’m not from here, so it might be different. Explain it to me.”

Lee grabbed a small washcloth and cleaned his dishes, causing Jeremy to feel slightly off-put. Lee could tell that Jeremy thought doing his own dishes was beneath him. He hoped this would further cement himself as just another person, not some fabled healer. 

“Mundane wounds for ten copper. Moderate wounds, such as a broken bone for a silver. Life-threatening wounds for twenty silver. Nobody here has life-threatening wounds, so you don’t need to worry about that.” 

Lee set his dishes on a drying rack and looked at Jeremy with a severe face, causing him to straighten his back in anticipation. 

“Knock the moderate wound down to half a silver and mundane wounds for free. Also, you aren’t aware, but I can heal illnesses and diseases…” 

Lee trailed off, thinking about saying that it would be free as well, but if he were going to heal everybody for free, he wouldn’t be able to make a living. 

“... The price varies for those. I’ll do it on a case-by-case basis.” 

Lee walked over and grabbed some more of the dirty dishes from the dining table. While doing so, he noticed how everybody grew still. Looking around, everybody had looks of shock on their face. 

Oh, yeah. I forgot that isn’t normal.

Deciding to change up the subject, Lee spoke again.

“I’d like to roam about the village as well. I want to get a good feel about how people live in your kingdom. Also, that old watchtower building was intriguing. Do you know what it’s there for?” 

Jeremy schooled his face and instantly responded. 

“It’s just an old watchtower—nothing to be worried about.” 

Lee paused and glanced his way. 

“Why would I be worried about it?” 

Kooco decided this was the perfect time to make a grand entrance. He kicked open the door with her tiny taloned feet and proudly marched into the doorway. Letting loose a slight chirping trill, she set some more eggs on the table. She had to stand on her tippy talons to reach the table, but she was successful.  

“Kooco has finished! More eggs tomorrow!” 

Lee, caught up in the cuteness of Kooco trying to place something on the tall table, frowned. 

“Did you buy the food for breakfast, Kooco? You didn’t have to do that.” 

She looked at Lee with her large oval eyes innocently. 

“Hmm? Kooco makes eggs for free. All is well, friend Lee Barnes.” 

It took Lee a moment as the puzzle pieces slid together in his brain. As soon as he connected the pieces, his stomach churned. 

“Kooco… Did you, uh, produce those eggs?” 

Kooco actually blushed and fanned a small wing on her face. 

“Kooco is very impressive! Kooco lays many eggs. Hard for friend Lee Barnes to accept? Kooco is powerful egg maker!” 

Lee looked at Meriah with a pale face. 

“Meriah, did you know that these eggs are Kooco’s?” 

Meriah just shrugged and bit into a piece of bread. 

“Yes? Birds lay eggs, Lee.” 

Lee looked around at all the nonchalant faces and discovered that he was the odd man out. 

Shaking his head, Lee finished the dishes and then prepared to go around the village to offer his healing. Door to door if he must. 

---

Jeremy watched as Lee left the village head’s home with Kooco to go and offer his healing. He sat at the small dining room table and looked around at the others. They all shared a look as they relaxed. 

Meriah spoke first. 

“He’s normal. I think we should treat him as such.” 

Belgrate pushed the mana-infused fur into the center of the table and gestured at it. 

“I… I think he doesn’t know a lot of standard information—Not just about Thexis, but in general. I don’t know one mage who would hand this over for free.” 

Jeremy nodded at that, as he agreed wholeheartedly. 

“He charges way too little for his services. Maybe it’s because he knows villages are poor?” 

Kendri spoke next, an unexpected turn of events. 

“Too many peculiarities. He summoned that fur out of nowhere. He can heal illness. He has two titles that he can hide. He has expert-tier magic. And he doesn’t act high and mighty.” He finished while looking directly at Jeremy with a frown. 

Jeremy unraveled a slip of paper that Wall Commander Timberson had given him before they left. He placed it on the table to show the others as he read it out loud. 

“Class Type: Healer. Rarity: Unknown. Rare rated Appraisal scope failed to appraise. Level: Unknown. Treat with the utmost respect and report findings to General Fatalina of Emerson through copy scroll.”

He looked at the others once again, sharing a grave look. 

“Thoughts?” 

Meriah meekly raised her hand, and Jeremy nodded to her. She coughed to clear her voice before she spoke. 

“He spoke with Kooco. No human has ever spoken with her before. She accepts him, and as she is a Beastkin, that’s rare. He didn’t seem to have racial issues with her, so that’s fine. But… He mentioned Dark Elves.” She looked to Jeremy in askance.

Jeremy schooled his face and spoke with utmost conviction. 

“What I say here does not leave this room. Am I understood?” 

Kendri narrowed his eyes but nodded along with everybody else. Seeing that, Jeremy continued. 

“Dark Elves are a variant of Elves that live deep underground. From what I know, they are a bloodthirsty and brutal race. They are to be killed on sight and treated as monsters. The fact that Lee learned from one is cause for concern. My father mentioned them once and only once. Even he was afraid of them.” 

All four of them looked grim at that news. Belgrate broke the silence. 

“He learned expert magic from one. Are they all powerful mages?” 

Jeremy shook his head. 

“I don’t know. What I do know is that we will be traveling with him for months. We should learn what we can and be open-minded. He himself appears to be friendly and kind. It takes a special kind of person to become a healer… He also is blessed by a god.” 

Meriah, Belgrate, and Kendri stilled at that news. Meriah stuttered out. 

“H… How do you know that?”

Jeremy closed his eyes and sighed. 

“I’ve met one other person who was god blessed. His glowing eyes are proof of that. It’s the defining feature. We should tread carefully when speaking of the gods. We don’t know which one he follows.” 

Kendri frowned even harder than usual. 

“I will not put my beliefs aside to be in his good graces. You can’t make that decision.” 

Jeremy glared at Kendri but understood where he was coming from. 

“I’m not asking you to stop your worship but be courteous when he is around. Vanak is most likely not his deity. War and healing go together, but not with his disposition.” 

Kendri grunted and looked away. 

Meriah tilted her head as a faint breeze blew through her hair. She stood up. 

“Kooco needs me. I’ll keep an eye on him. Do I let him do whatever he wants?” 

Jeremy nodded and spoke seriously as she was exiting the front door.

“Aim him away from the watchtower.”