Anyone who walked into the healer's tent would have been greeted with a peculiar sight. They would have seen Julius and Healer Gui having a picnic on the floor as they healed injured disciples.
There was one particular lad who was so confused that he forgot to leave the injured man in the tent, instead backing out of the tent with the man still draped over his shoulder.
However, as weird and peculiar as it might have been, it was extremely effective. So much so that Julius couldn’t believe this was a thing.
“Do you have any more of those other cookies?” Healer Gui asked, sounding hopeful. He’d just finished healing two more wounded. Because of the blanket and its effects, the man could heal multiple people at once while sustaining it easily. It didn’t seem like much, but his rate of healing had increased greatly. They had almost gotten through the entire tent of wounded. And the best part? They almost had full pools of mana.
“No, unfortunately, those don’t give any mana regeneration effects.”
“Who cares about that? I just want to eat some. I’ve been healing people for the past week without rest. Stop being stingy and pass some over.”
Julius chewed on a sandwich. “I’m not being stingy. I only have a few packages of those particular cookies left. I’m going to save them for other occasions. I got some other ones if you want to try them,” he offered.
Healer Gui seemed upset by these words, but upon hearing the last part, he perked up. “Are they good?”
“Just as good in my opinion.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Hand them over.”
Julius chuckled and took them out, passing them over.
Healer Gui smiled like a young boy getting a bag of candy and tried one of the cookies.
“Hmmm. These aren’t bad,” he noted.
“Pretty good, right?”
“Where’d you get them?”
“A little shop in Luminous. They made some really good bread there, too, but I don’t have any left in my storage space.”
“Ah, so you are from the Empire,” Healer Gui said with a nod.
Julius flinched. He hadn’t meant to reveal that part.
Healer Gui waved his hand. “Don’t worry, I already suspected as much. I’m not sure why you are hiding such things, and honestly, I don’t care. Though next time you are back, make sure you grab some extra for me.”
Julius shook his head amusedly. “Sure.”
Another loud blast echoed through the camp, and Healer Gui let out an exasperated sigh. “He really doesn’t know how to hold back.”
Julius stood up and poked his head out of the tent. He saw that Elder Huan was still going strong. A tornado of intense flames tore across the field, destroying everything in its path. He could distinctly sense at least six of the Tier 5 ants, all trying to stop the man. It was taking them everything they had to stop the man from wiping out their brethren.
Julius was impressed. The Mission Hall Elder was a menace; he was holding back half of the ant swarm all by himself. It would appear there were big differences in levels, even amongst Tier 5s. Velmora seemed strong, but honestly, Elder Huan seemed just as strong, if not stronger.
The man was terrifying, and they were in one of the best environments for a person with a fire affinity. A scary combination.
“You don’t think we should go help him?” Julius asked.
Healer Gui looked over and shook his head, a disgusted expression on his face. “Nah, the old fart hasn’t let loose in a while. Let him have his fun. Young Leon is making sure to protect him. He’ll run out of juice eventually, but in the meantime, we need to do our parts and get ready for the second part of his plan. Though he’ll really appreciate this little rug you have here when he needs to recover. Speaking of that, you still haven’t told me where you got this thing. It’s unbelievably powerful; my rate of regeneration has almost doubled.”
“First off, it's a blanket, not a rug. Secondly, I got it from a Trial Key, and it's soul-bound, so don’t get any funny ideas,” he said, wagging his finger warningly.
Healer Gui shoved another cookie into his mouth as he sent a burst of life mana at the woman who had just been dragged into the tent. The disciple who was bringing in the wounded didn’t even have to place her down, the mana was so potent that she was healed immediately.
This wasn’t his first time experiencing this, and after a brief pause, he quickly went off to find another injured.
“I’m not so shameless that I would steal from a brat like you.”
Julius rolled his eyes. “Sureeee. So what’s the second part of his plan?”
“Don’t worry about that. Just focus on healing. You are lagging behind.”
“Because you are healing them before I can do anything now.”
“Well, if you are feeling so useless, then go out and stretch your legs. Our casualty rate is pretty good, but teams could still use some help. Just make sure you leave the blanket and some food behind.”
Julius scoffed, but still dumped a pile of sandwiches onto the ground from his lunchbox.
After he did that, he checked the notifications again to make sure.
Heal five fatal injuries in a single day (4/5)
With how many injured people who’d been through the healing tent, he quickly racked up his quota.
There was only one issue.
For some reason, he wasn't able to get that last one. At first, he thought it was because he wasn’t healing any truly fatal wounds, but after he healed a guy with a hole going straight through his skull, he realized that it was something else.
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Perhaps, he needed a different situation. Or perhaps, the final mark had to be his own injury? The Words of the World was a weird thing. First, it had dragged him into that gorge with his Trial Key, and now it was giving him a hidden condition to complete his skill evolution test? He didn’t know what was going on, but he needed to find out. Preferably sooner than later.
Fortunately, there was a chaotic battle going on outside, so he didn’t think it was going to be very hard to fulfill those conditions. It was time to evolve his healing skill, and he couldn’t start to daydream about what kind of skill that would be.
***
While he might have been arguably more helpful at the healer’s tent, it felt like he was doing more when he was on the frontlines. But now that he’d let Healer Gui “borrow” his blanket, he was doing the best of both worlds.
He let his senses expand, releasing the restraint he had over them. Immediately, he was bombarded by the disciples' cries and screams as they fought for their lives. Reminding him that not everyone had a healing skill like him.
They were genuinely scared, but were still battling for their lives, and he needed to acknowledge that. So with a little more solemn attitude, he set toward the frontlines where disciples were still holding back the tide of ants.
He immediately spotted an opening where a group of disciples was being pushed back. Despite the lower casualty rate, they were running out of reserves and reinforcements. This meant nobody could come and help this group.
Julius hurled himself toward them and detonated his kinetic energy charge. The ants pressing in were thrown back, and before they could get back on their legs, he moved in. He created an axe and swung it in wide arcs, wiping out multiple ants with each blow.
When they started to crowd him, he unraveled the axe and created bladed discs instead. Then he got to work; he conserved his mana, but each movement was charged with aura and kinetic energy.
He lost himself in the chaos, letting his instincts take over and pushing back the tide of monsters. He could sense the disciples behind him starting to help as well, and with their help, he was even more effective. A couple of buffs were layered on top of his skin. They weren’t the most effective considering his already strong foundation, but everything helped.
He let his focus skill take over and proceeded to decimate the horde. They didn’t have any weird skills to worry about; he already knew how they fought due to his days in the tunnels, and let that experience lead him.
They didn’t stand a chance.
And they must have realized that because he suddenly felt an approaching form from their backlines. It was stealthy, some kind of skill hiding its presence, but it was its speed that Julius picked up on. Since it was so fast and had so much kinetic energy, it stood out from every other motion on the battlefield. It was like a bright light illuminating flashing across the field.
That wasn’t the bad part. The part that was bad was that he realized that this wasn’t just another Tier 4 ant. It was something much stronger.
It was also then his mind registered that he had extended a little too far in his enthusiasm. He’d pushed past the protective array and was squarely in the territory of the ants.
However, instead of panicking, he felt serenely calm, grinning as it approached. He activated his other skills, no longer worrying about his mana or stamina. Authority filled his lungs and muscles. He finally loosened the chains he placed around [Calm Before Ruin]. The legendary skill surging with power, his mind and soul were barely able to handle the potency of the skill, but he held on. The threat of danger honed his senses to an extreme degree.
When the Tier 5 arrived in his face, he was ready.
He activated his anti-domain technique the moment he felt it try to crush him. His soul blasted out, protecting him and the control of his mana.
He ducked underneath its feral swing and retaliated, swinging his newly created axe. The construct smashed into the monster. It was surprised by his reaction, but its shell was just as hard as the Tier 5 he’d fought before and only left a small gash.
Julius didn’t go in for another hit, teleporting out of the way of the flurry of attacks, and bringing his axe for another swing. This time aimed at its legs.
However, a black fog exploded from the ant’s body. It slammed into his body before he could avoid it, coating his skin and entire body.
Then a pulse of mana ripped through this, and he suddenly found himself surrounded by darkness. He was so disoriented by this that he didn’t even notice the ant’s blow until it smashed into his skull.
He felt his body resistant, but against a fully powered attack by a Tier 5, there was nothing he could do as his entire head was pulped into a bloody paste.
***
Zev POV
He was walking back from his latest assignment. Taking out that Tier 4 had been a lot more complicated than anticipated. He had barely gotten out of there alive and was covered in injuries.
There was so much chaos and stuff going on that he hadn’t detected the ant until it was too late. It shredded his insides apart and while he’d been able to react swiftly, the damage was done. He needed to get healed, and once he was, he immediately went back to the frontlines. He couldn’t afford to be away for too long.
He may not have been a Tier 5, but he was one of the strongest Tier 4s they had available. So he hid his pain behind a blank expression and continued to push forward. He received a message about the south side being overrun, and so he went over there right away.
However, when he arrived, he found that the issue had been resolved yet again.
Kora’s new friend had yet again taken care of the ants and slaughtered them before they had managed to overwhelm the group defending the array. Zev didn’t know what to think of the young boy; on one hand, it was clear that Kora thought he was a good person. But on the other hand, he heard many concerning rumors about Julius’s recent activities within the sect.
Rumors of bullying and beating up outer disciples were rampant. Of course, he knew the sect liked rumors, but it was still something he was worried about.
However, one thing was clear. Julius was very strong and very talented. The work he’d been doing in the healer’s tent was more than anyone expected from him. Zev had heard many praising the boy nonstop for his healing abilities.
But apparently, he was quite the menace in combat, too. As was demonstrated by the mass of dead ant corpses in front of him. It wasn’t just as simple as that either. The level of power he was displaying was something Zev only expected out of the most talented Core Disciples.
Zev was pretty confident about his abilities in combat, but seeing Julius tear through the horde of ants like a fire burning through kindling made him reassess his own capabilities.
Others might have been more spiteful and jealous, but not him. He knew this was a prime opportunity for him to learn. And so that’s what he did. He watched and examined every movement of Julius as he tore through the ants.
His awareness, his speed, his control of mana; all of it was precise and perfect. He could definitely implement the same things into his own skill set.
However, just as he was taking notes, he sensed an overwhelming rush of aura come from the crowd of ants. Then, before anyone could react, a Tier 5 slammed into Julius.
It happened so fast and so instantaneously that nobody around him was able to react either. Julius had pushed far ahead of them, and despite Zev already launching himself forward to help, he was much too late. The Tier 5s domain had already extended, and it tore apart his skills despite his efforts to hold onto them.
There was nothing he could do as Julius's head was ripped off before his very eyes.
***
Elder Huan POV
He spotted a Tier 5 heading close to the edge of the array, and after a brief examination, he understood why. Some idiot had decided to abandon the safety of the array and was in the middle of a horde of ants.
It took another couple of seconds to recognize who this idiot was.
What is he doing? Get back! He shouted internally at Julius, who probably didn’t even know what was coming for him.
Huan wanted to run over and help, but he couldn’t. He was handling six Tier 5s on his own and was barely holding them back. He needed to tire them out and remove them as threats, so he could do nothing but watch in horror as the Tier 5 expanded its domain at the last second.
Yet, for some reason, it didn’t affect Julius. Instead, he was able to move unhindered and slammed a blue axe into the chest of the ant. But there was a vast chasm between Tier 4 and Tier 5. The blow barely did anything, and the ant used a skill.
A cloud of black smoke exploded outward, and Elder Huan wasn’t able to see what was happening. However, when it finally dropped away, his stomach dropped to his feet. The Tier 5 ant was standing beside a headless Julius, blood dripping from its fist onto the ground. Huan watched in sadness as Julius’s form collapsed to the dirt, another body among the death and destruction below.
