The woman wept softly as she cradled her husband’s newly revitalized face in her hands, her voice thick with emotion. "Thank you, thank you so much," she whispered, her words barely able to capture the relief flooding through her.
Her husband, looking far less gaunt, gently held her hand as he smiled.
Lassim stood up from where he had been kneeling, dispersing the last faint glow of water mana from his hands.
There was a satisfaction in his chest, knowing that his [Lifestream] technique was more powerful than expected.
Mareen, still beside him, watched the couple with a soft smile. "You’re a quick learner once given actual directions, Lassim," she said, her tone light, though there was a trace of envy in her voice. "I’ve never seen any healing technique work this quick before. It’s impressive."
Lassim turned to her, his lips curving in a slight smile. "It’s thanks to your advice," he admitted, though ignoring the fact that his divine quality mana played a huge role in the actual potency of the ability. "Before, I was working too hard to control every step, but now I see that the technique does all the hard work for me. I just have to channel the energy like you said."
Mareen chuckled, shaking her head. "Sometimes the simplest solutions are the ones that make the biggest difference." She turned to the nature elemental assistants, Fris and Trista, and nodded. "Let’s head to the next house. We’re not done yet."
Lassim followed her out of the cottage, exchanging a quick glance with the assistants, who had been quiet during the last session but diligently watched Lassim work. Their reactions and looks of first surprise and now a little bit of admiration seemed to be growing fiercer with every second.
The group moved briskly through the village streets, the mid-afternoon sun casting shadows over the cobblestones. While the worst of the crisis was over, the wounds the Wraithmire Demons left behind were deep, and there were still several more citizens in need of attention.
Inside the house, a young boy lay on a bed, his body limp and pale. His parents stood nearby, their faces etched with worry.
Mareen moved toward the child without hesitation, her expression softening. "This child was being watched by his grandfather who both unfortunately have passed due to the demons. We were able to stabilize him but as you can tell, he’s still considerably weakened," she explained to Lassim as she knelt by the bed.
"This one has been harder for us to treat due to his close proximity to the attacks on the grandparents."
Lassim knelt beside her, placing a hand gently on the boy’s chest. The faintest flicker of breath passed through his lips, but his pulse was shallow, his skin cold. Lassim could feel the same remnants of abyssal corruption from the wraithmire’s draining technique lingering in his body, just as it had in the previous patients.
Mareen began her [Healing Waters] technique, summoning a steady flow of water mana to slowly work through the boy’s body, showing him the extent of the damage and proving the boy a little relief.
Lassim watched as the energy moved slowly, restoring small portions of his vitality but struggling to push out the deeper damage.
"I’ll handle it from here," Lassim said quietly.
Mareen stepped back with a nod, giving him room.
Lassim focused, activating [Lifestream] and this time fully committing to the idea of allowing the technique to flow naturally without overanalyzing every small detail.
His hands began to glow with the pale blue light as he let the water mana surge through the boy’s body like a river breaking through a dam.
As the mana flowed, the boy’s color improved. His skin grew warmer, his pulse steady. The exhaustion in his small body seemed to ease, and his breathing deepened into something more restful. Lassim could feel it—the technique was working faster, more efficiently than it ever had before.
The whole process took less than a minute, and when Lassim finally released his mana, the boy opened his eyes, blinking in confusion as his parents rushed to his side.
"Thank you! Thank you!" the mother gasped, tears streaming down her face. "We thought we’d lost him to the tragedy that got my parents as well…You’re a miracle worker!"
Lassim stood up, offering a faint smile, but he didn’t linger. There were still more patients to tend to, and now that he had begun to unlock the true potential of [Lifestream], and gaining familiarity with how to use it properly there was no time to waste. He wanted more practice. The feeling was exhilarating.
Mareen stood beside him as they left the house, her eyes filled with quiet admiration. "You’re improving with every patient," she said. "It’s incredible to watch."
Mareen paused, a teasing smile on her lips. "At this rate, I might have to ask if you’d consider staying here. Blazewind could use a healer like you."
Lassim laughed softly, shaking his head. "I’m flattered, but I’ve still got a lot of work ahead of me. Master Volten has already proven to be difficult when he wants to be towards me, so I doubt he’d let me off that easily. Plus, I’ve got a lot more advancement I need to do to keep getting stronger."
Mareen shrugged playfully. "I figured as much. Someone like you probably has bigger things to deal with than a small village, but I had to try."
Lassim felt a strange sense of warmth at the offer.
"How many more patients?" Lassim asked as they stepped out into the street again.
"One more critical case," Mareen replied. "The rest are stable and should recover with my team’s efforts. But this last one…" She hesitated, her voice growing more serious. "She’s in the worst shape… Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t save her."
Lassim nodded. "I won’t, but I still want to give it a shot. Lead the way."
The next house was tucked away near the edge of the village, closest to the border walls. Inside, the air was heavy with sickness. A woman lay on a bed, her breathing shallow and labored, her skin a dull gray. Her spirit was almost completely depleted, leaving only the faintest traces of life. She looked like she was already 1 foot in the grave.
Mareen knelt beside her, her expression grim. "She’s been like this for days. We’ve tried everything, but nothing’s been enough to bring her back."
Lassim didn’t waste any time. He placed his hands over the woman’s chest, allowing the [Lifestream] technique to flow naturally through his fingers.
He visualized the energy as a rushing river, flowing into the cracks and gaps in the woman’s life force. He could feel the technique working, reaching into the depths of her body, revitalizing her from the inside out.
As the mana continued to pour into her, the color began to return to her face. Her breathing deepened, and her frail, weakened body seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment.
Mareen watched in awe, her own mana flickering faintly as she supported the process. "It’s working," she whispered, her voice full of hope.
This session took the longest so far since learning how to work the technique. Several minutes passed, nearly a full 15 minutes in total before the woman stirred. Her eyes fluttered open as she took her first deep breath in days. Her hand twitched weakly, and a soft sound escaped her lips—a faint, but unmistakable sign of life.
Mareen stood up, her face breaking into a relieved smile. "You’re so incredible, Lassim!"
Mareen took a few moments to help the woman sit up from her bed. Lassim took the moment to step away as he realized the patient had been fully undressed and didn’t want to make her uncomfortable in case the blanket covering her chest fell.
After he left the house and stepped out into the slowly cooling, late afternoon air, Mareen joined him a few minutes later. She greeted him by handing Lassim a small book, its cover worn and faded from years of use.
"This is a basic guide to healing anatomy," she explained. "It’s not much, but it’ll give you a better understanding of the body’s systems. If you want to improve your technique, this could help a lot. Eventually you’ll run into situations where it is indeed better to help guide the flow of the body’s natural systems when they’re missing, especially with lost limbs.
In those cases, knowing the way the body is formed and how everything should work will be the most important. Consider it a gift as the world will always need more healers than currently exist. It’s a shame that only two out of the pantheon of elements are suited to healing techniques, but we do our best to make things work.
I hope you’ll strive to be more of a healer in the future instead of a fighter, but that’s my own personal wish after seeing your power."
Lassim accepted the book with a grateful nod. "Thank you. I’ll study it well. I can’t really change my future much, but I will promise that I’ll do my best to save those I’m able to. Not only that, but I hope to be powerful enough that I can prevent even more injuries or deaths just with my own presence."
They stood in silence for a moment, watching as the sun dipped lower in the sky towards the horizon, casting a warm orange glow over the village.
"One more thing before you go," Mareen said, her voice soft, "take this." She handed him a small, glowing rune—her personal contact rune. "If you ever need advice or just want to check in, you know how to reach me."
Lassim took the rune, adding it to the communication disc with a smile before shooting her a message so she had his. "Same to you. If you ever need help, and don’t want to waste time with the bureaucracy of the Sect’s Mission Hall, don’t hesitate to message me. I’ll see how I can help."
Mareen nodded, her eyes lingering on him for a moment before she turned away. "Safe travels, Lassim."
As the healer made her way back toward the village center with her hand waving in the air for him to see her go, Lassim felt a deep sense of gratitude for the advice he received and happiness for the new healer contact he had made. Mareen had shown him a new side to healing, one that was more fluid and more suitable to his own elements’ style.
And in the process, she had helped him unlock a new level of mastery over his own technique.
Lassim made his way toward the edge of the village, where Elder Daxion was waiting for him.
Daxion greeted him with a tired but genuine smile. "You’ve done good work here, Lassim. The village owes you a debt."
Lassim shook his head. "I’m just glad I could help."
Daxion’s eyes twinkled with something like admiration. "You remind me of your master, you know. Volten always had that way about him—helping others, even when it wasn’t expected of him."
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Lassim smirked, "Really? So far he’s been a total hound’s rear but I appreciate the compliment."
The elder sighed, his expression softening. "Well, he can be a bit rough, but I’m sure you’ll see in time. I know you’ve got other places to be, but you’re always welcome here. Blazewind will never forget what you’ve done for us. I hope to see you again at the next Elder’s Summit."
"Thank you, Elder. I’ll be sure to look out for you when it’s that time."
With a final nod of respect, Lassim turned and began walking toward the outskirts of the village.
Once he reached a quiet spot near the village’s perimeter, Lassim sat down on a small boulder and pulled out his small notebook. Flipping to a blank page, he began to write:
Notes on [Thunderveil Curtain]:
Daxion’s technique, [Thunderveil Curtain], inspired by the natural lightning leaves of the Storm Leaf Trees at the Tempest Cradle. The trees release bursts of lightning in a defensive pattern, creating a natural wall. Might visit this place for further inspiration in developing my own technique.
Lassim paused, thinking about his time healing the villagers. Mareen’s advice about letting the technique flow had unlocked something important for him.
Healing Technique Insight:
Water elemental healing techniques should be more free-flowing. Trust the technique to find the wounds, don’t micromanage. This approach could solve my problem of splitting focus during battle—let [Lifestream] handle the healing automatically, so I can focus on fighting. Also, study Mareen’s gifted book on anatomy.
He closed the notebook, feeling like he was making progress. He didn’t find his new fighting style, but the addition of the healing technique was something he’d hope to accomplish for adding additional stamina to whatever his future fighting style. Plus, the Tempest Cradle sounded like an incredible place that was worthy of a visit.
Possibly it could help inspire him to develop his own fighting style too. Once he finished the remaining missions, he planned to head straight there.
Tomorrow, he would head to his next destination, so he allowed himself a moment of quiet reflection beneath the stars as he reviewed the mission sheets.