After Rishi hung up on me, I ran into the long white tent with my wooden staff. The Chruch healers and doctors there were running along the rows of patients laying on stretchers with medicine, staffs, and trays of medical tools. Subtle green glows of healing spells were cast every other second while blood splattered through the air as doctors pulled out shards of wood and glass from half-dead bodies. The sound of coughing and shrill screaming could be heard throughout the tent, it was horrifying. Watching this scene before me was like a second nightmare. In my seventeen years, I have seen bodies ripped apart, limbs missing, and people turned inside out but at this scale.   

As I was absorbed in my thoughts, one of the healers walks up to me. It was a guy in his early twenties wearing a lab coat over a suit. In this situation, he even dared to wear a posh marron suit underneath his lab coat with fine leather shoes! Looking at his feet, he was standing on a floating white sigil which hovered a foot off the ground. Heck, he even cast [Levitate] to prevent his shoes from touching the floor which reeked of blood!

>>>

In this society, wearing fancy clothing as a Healer after a large scale invasion is considered rude since a Healer's job is to heal their patients with all due respect to the patient. Most patients are commoners so they rather not have a noble wear a fancy suit since it represents their arrogance and makes the patient feel worse about their status. It is not illegal, it is just disrespectful to wear any sort of fancy or formal attire when dealing with a patient.

>>>

"Your the Healer Archbishop said would be helping out?" he asked not even looking at me in the eyes. 

How rude! How Arrogant! Yet, I don't blame him. After all, he's a Silver Rank Healer. I sighed as I saw the shining silver badge on the breast pocket of his coat. 

"Yes, the name is Andrew Halycon. A Green Rank healer." I forcefully bowed in respect.

"Pathetic," He snorted, "what qualifications do you have as a mere Green Rank?"

"I'm an internal injury healer so I can stop bleeding and infections," I replied.

>>>

Healers all have different specialties when it comes to healing. The basic healing spell will affect a person differently depending on the healer. Most healers specialize in physical injuries, like minor abrasions, while some specialize in curses or internal injuries. However, each has its own crux.

>>>

"Oh," his lips curled into a smirk, "that's rare. We only have two internal injury healers but they are in other tents. Well then, do you mind assisting them in by stopping the bleeding of everyone here?"

"Of course not," I replied with a hint of disgust.

What a rude guy. I sighed.

"Good," He nodded, "you have twenty minutes to stop the bleeding of the patients in Row 7."

"Yes, sir." I saluted and went straight to healing.

Wait. I thought. This would be a perfect time to level up my healing skill! Forget about that rude Healer, I'll stop the bleeding in every patient in this tent!

With the motivation to heal everyone and level up my skills, I went straight to work. Most of the civilians here had first degree burns while others had their organs crushed underneath buildings. Some had their bodies twisted in the opposite direction while others had minor abrasions. It even surprised me how some of these civilians survived being crushed under rubble.  It was a horrifying scene but I have gotten used to it over the years so it does not startle me. The stench of blood lingered in my nose and most of these civilians neede immediate treatment. Running over to an unconscious man with a swollen arm almost the size of his torso, I cast a [Basic Heal] to prevent any more of his vessels from exploding.

Let's keep the Hero Game System screen open.

Opening the screen, I select the [Basic Heal] Skill which is only at Level 5.

"Hey, Iris, " I whispered.

"How may I assist you." She responded instantly.

"If I stop the bleeding of everyone in this tent, would I be able to raise my [Basic Healing] Skill to [Intermediate Healing] Skill?"

"Yes."

"Let's do that!" I whispered enthusiastically.

Almost done stopping the bleeding on the man's arm, the rude Healer creeps up behind me with a timer. He does not even dare to give me some personal space. I retract [Basic Healing] and the man's bludging red arm stopped expanding.

"Not bad," The arrogant healer smirked pressing the timer button, "fifteen seconds to stop an internal arm bleed."

"Thanks," I said forcing a smile on my face, "I'll move onto the next one."

Taking a quick glance behind me before healing the next patient, I identified that arrogant Healer's family. He had short lime green hair and had segmented heterochromia in both of his eyes that faded from lime green to yellow. So he's from the Linus family. The Linus family has provided many healers to the Church for over four hundred years and are one of the Church's main sponsors. Judging from his segmented heterochromia eyes, he must be from the main family but because of his hair color, he might only be a servant. If he is from the main family, it is best that I do not offend him.

I begin healing the next patient until a dark figure sprints into the tent with a giant briefcase in one hand. The figure has dark skin indicating he comes from the Southeastern part of the continent but what made him stand out the most was his pointy ears and long silver hair tied into a ponytail. He wore round spectacles that covered his dark eyebags but not his black eyes. His white tee was drenched in sweat indicating that he rushed here. Ignoring the arrogant Healer, he approaches me and holds out his fist I fist bump him back and we both laugh. This guy was my friend, the dark elf Alchemist, Rishi.

"I tried to call you but you didn't pick up your phone, you brown-haired commoner!" He yelled.

"Watch it, there are injured people here. I would advise you to not to yell, you lazy elf." I retorted while casting a healing spell.

The arrogant healer walks over to Rishi who ignored him earlier and grabs him by the shirt collar. Lifting him up, the arrogant healer, in a domineering tone, ask:

"Who are you, elf? A healer?"

Rishi holds his hands up in defeat then sighs.

"No, I'm an Alchemist who has come to help. One of the Archbishops told me to go to any tent."

"What is your specialty?" he continued to ask.

"I brew Healing potions for curses and external injuries," Rishi replied.

Putting him down, the arrogant Healer, in the same domineering voice tells him, "Good, heal those in Row 8 and if you finish earlier, help this greenhorn Healer with his row."

Without responding Rishi turns to me and sticks out his tongue. Pissing me off, I jokingly held up my middle finger. Rishi silently holds up his fist and bits his lip. Although we frequently insult each other, we are never serious about it.

One of the Church healers with a tray of mana recovery potions passes by me.

"You sure seem close to him, that dark elf guy." She laughs.

"We go a long way back." I chuckled.

>>>

Rishi was the first person, around my age, I became friends with when I moved to Greenfield. I was seven at the time. My grandfather enrolled me into the Magic Academy after I got my magic aptitude tested by the Church. My aptitude was rather average so I never stood out like a sore thumb but for my family, it was a big deal. The Halycon family has been a family of farmers for generations so we were basically sitting ducks in the commoner class until I was born. Besides my grandfather, I was born with more than one mana meridian which is quite rare in our family. When I entered the Magic Academy, I met Rishi.

Rishi was a timid kid and almost never spoke except for when the teacher called on him to answer questions. I guess it was because dark elves were considered a minority in the Eastern Continent since they migrated from the Southern Continent only a century ago. It was because he was a minority, all the other children would pretend he never existed. After about a month, I decided to approach him after Mana Capacity Training class. He always sat in the far right corner right next to a giant glass window sketching something in his notebook, alone. I waited till all the other students left the classroom for recess. Walking up to the shy kid, I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ah!" Seven-year-old Rishi screamed as I broke his concentration.

"Hello," Seven-year-old me waved.

"What do you want, commoner?" He scowled at me.

"Commoner!" I exclaimed flinching.

How rude! I thought.

"Yeah, commoner." He responded as he kept sketching in his notebook.

Stabbing my thumb against my chest, I retorted,

"I have a name and that name is Andrew Halycon!"

"Hmm." He sighed.

"At least tell me your name. It's only fair." I muttered dwindling with my fingers.

"Shrishadivit Seohang." He replied with indifference.

"Your name is long! How about I call you Rishi!" I gave him a cheeky grin while punching him at the shoulder blade.

"Fine," he sighed again waving his hand, telling me to get lost, while pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, "now leave me alone."

"No! I refuse!" I shook my head from side to side.

"Why?"

"Because you seem interesting! Why do you always want to be alone? It's not good to be alone! Try socializing with others. Okay."

Slamming his notebook on the table as well as his pencil, he shoots up from his seat knocking down the wooden chair behind him. 

"No. I'm a dark elf and everyone thinks they're cursed. What's the use of socializing when they are eventually going to die?"

Placing my hands on his shoulder I vigorously shake him.   

"Who cares! I don't care if your cursed or not. You are you! Listen being cursed is only just a rumor created by students. At least read up on your own history."  

Dragging the adjacent chair, I plop myself down next to him. Rishi gives me a stink eye but I ignore it. I gesture him to sit down. He hesitated for a moment then picks up his fallen chair slamming it on to the ground, legs on the floor, spin it around then takes a seat.

"Listen, according to the professor, dark elves were cursed about a century ago but fifty years ago, Alchemist created a potion that dispelled the curse completely. Twenty years ago, Alchemist discovered the root of the curse and Adventurers went to contain it. Finally, fifteen years ago, another Alchemist, the dark elf, Flora, created an even stronger potion which prevents the curse from being spread to future generations." 

"So what does have to do with me?" Rishi asked. 

"You had to get permission from the Chruch to enter Greenfield. The Church would not allow someone who is cursed into the city. Since you are here in Greenfield, that means you are not cursed!" I concluded. 

"That's true." Rishi mumbles. 

 "Don't listen to what those other kids say because history has proven that you are not cursed!" I say emphasizing the last few words. 

Rishi begins crying. 

"Hey," I panic, "what's wrong." 

He sniffled, "It's just no one had said to me. Especially a commoner." 

"Will you please stop calling me a commoner!" 

"Hahaha, nope!" He giggled.

>>>

Reminiscing on the memories of our childhood, I went back to healing the injured. It was a good thing that I was almost done stopping the bleeding in the fifty or so patients my row. Meanwhile, in the background, the Hero Game System left some notifications. Scrolling with my eyes, I read all the notifications as my mana replenishes. 

[You have successfully used [Basic Healing]]  

[You have successfully used [Basic Healing]] 

[You have successfully used [Basic Healing]]  

[[Basic Healing] Skill is now Level 6]] 

[All stats increase by 1]

[You have successfully used [Basic Healing]] 

[You have successfully used [Basic Healing]] 

.

.

.

[You have successfully used [Basic Healing]] 

[Congrats! [Basic Healing] has upgraded to [Intermediate Healing]] 

[All stats increase by 1] 

Yes! I internally celebrated. 

With my [Basic Healing] upgraded to [Intermediate Healing] I can now qualify to be a Low Iron Rank Healer. The difference between the healing of a Green Rank healer and an Iron Rank healer was the difference between an ant and a person. Now, I was one step closer to being someone more useful. Finishing healing the last patient, the arrogant healer behind me, still with his annoying timer in hand, tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around giving him an artificial smile. 

"Yes," I instinctively responded, "I've just finished the last patient." 

"Stand up." he gestured. 

"Is there anything else I can help with?" I asked. 

"No, we are just about wrapping up here." He replied while staring at his clipboard.

Placing his hand on my shoulder in acknowledgment he whispers,  

"I don't want to admit this but good work, greenhorn. For a Green Rank Healer, I must admit you are pretty fast with casting a [Basic Healing] spell. Now get some rest."

At least he admits it. I thought. 

"It's my pleasure to be doing work with you," I said shaking his hand.  

 "Will do," he responded.

He spun around on his heel and using [Levitate] he cast [Advance Healing] to finish healing all the patients with physical wounds. The burns on their charred skins crumbled like paper reverting back to their original skin color. The swollen limbs of others reverted back to their original size as he simultaneously cast [Advance Healing] on all the patients in my row.

Revealing a glint of awe in my eyes. I thought, So this is what a true healer is supposed to be like. I'll just have to take one step at a time. Just raising my [Basic Heal] to [Intermediate Heal] was a huge step for me with only a few mana meridians. If I didn't have the Hero Game System, I would have taken another six months to completely master [Basic Heal].   

As I walk out of the tent, Hatsu runs and greets me, Picking him up and placing him comfortably on my shoulder, I spot Rishi is leaning against the entrance of the tent giving me the same stink eye as he did when I first met him ten years ago. In his hand were two water bottles. He tosses one to me, which I catch in one hand. 

"Nice catch," he acknowledged, "seems like your reflexes improve a lot since I last saw you." 

"I've been through a lot lately!" I give a dry laugh. 

I join him at the entrance and look up at the sky. The smell of fire still lingered and ashes still fell like snow from the black clouds of remaining smoke. In the middle of those black clouds, was a giant hole created by [Holy Light] which filtered a little bit of sunlight. It was six.

"What a day." Rishi sighed. 

"Right?" I reply opening the water bottle.  

"I couldn't believe that the place we have lived for most of our lives has now burned down into nothing. It feels like a nightmare." Rishi comments sipping water bottle.

 "Well, it's real so we just have to move on. How are your parents?" 

"Luckily, they made it to the West Greenfield Shelter so they're fine." 

"That's great!" I exclaimed. 

"Lucky you though," he coughed, "you're parents are in Shorelock."  

"Yeah," I frown clenching the water bottle in my hands, "I haven't physically seen them for five years. I've only called them over the phone or messaged them." 

"That sucks. But you'll see them again once this is over. The Church is providing all the people that help out with residence in Shorelock." 

"That's true. However, for some reason, I'm not excited to see them again." I muttered under my breath. 

"Forget about that for now but when did you get that little wolf pup." Rishi points at Hatsu on my shoulder. 

"Him? I found him while I was collecting herbs for you. His parents died so I took him along and he became my contracted monster." 

"What? I'm jealous of you. I don't even have a contract monster not even one as cute a Hatsu." He grumbled.    

"Nothing can beat Hatsu's cuteness." I laugh patting Hatsu's head which he seemed to enjoy. 

"Can I take him?" Rishi asked. 

"No!" I yelled moving away from Rishi. 

"I was just kidding!"