When the Serial Killer Next Door Gained Harem System

Chapter 138: NO TARGET FOUND

From what Ken had told me, we’d mostly be learning healing spells and utility magic. Which wasn’t exactly my specialty. The only support spell I knew was a basic heal, and even that wasn’t particularly impressive. Hopefully Professor Meki wouldn’t ask us to do anything too advanced on the first day. Otherwise I was going to embarrass myself.

"Yo."

A boy caught up to me from behind.

"Ace, right?"

I turned toward him.

"Yeah?"

He was about my height, maybe a little taller. Sharp glasses rested on his nose, and he wore a dark coat over his school uniform. His silver wavy hair looked annoyingly well-kept, and a black-and-white chain earring dangled from his left ear.

"Been meaning to talk to you." He smiled and held out a hand. "I’m Monta."

"Nice to meet you."

"Same here."

We started walking toward the arena together.

"So tell me," he said. "What’s it like being Ambly-blessed?"

I shrugged and kicked at a loose patch of dirt as we walked.

"I don’t know. Feels normal."

"Is it true that you can..."

"No," I said immediately. "I can’t make girls climax just by touching them."

A group of girls walked past at that exact moment. Of course they did. Maarn was among them. Several of them gave me strange looks before continuing on their way.

Fantastic.

My luck really was something special.

"Aw, man." Monta laughed. "You’d make a fortune at Garmonna’s Lair if that was true."

"The brothel?"

"Of course." He grinned. "You have no idea how many women would line up just to ’meet’ you."

I shook my head and laughed quietly. "I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe."

The door to the back courtyard opened, and someone stepped outside, and it only took me a second to realize this had to be Professor Meki. Holy shit, she was built like something out of a fever dream. She was a Drahmori, with fully green skin, two horns that grew upward like branches and carried a few small leaves along them, and a formal dress that looked like it had been tailored specifically to fight for its life.

The fabric was dark and elegant, fitted neatly at the waist before opening into a long skirt that reached down to her ankles, but the real problem was that the upper half looked like it was being held together by pure determination. Her buttons were under so much pressure that I honestly could not understand how the seams were still surviving.

Her breasts... her breasts were massive. Like MASSIVE massive.

"Alright, everyone," she said, her expression calm and pleasant, wearing a permanent smile that made her look friendly before she even opened her mouth again. "Please kindly get into a straight line."

"Ambly’s tits," one boy muttered behind me. "Look at those tits."

"Pervert," a girl nearby said immediately, shaking her head.

"Wow," I muttered under my breath as I moved into line with the others. "Wow."

Professor Meki waited until everyone had settled before speaking again, and when she did, her voice stayed warm and upright, the kind of voice that sounded like it belonged to someone who had done this a thousand times and still expected everyone to behave.

"Good morning, class. My name is Professor Meki, and I will be teaching Verdant Arts this term," she said. "Before anything else, I want to remind you all that healing spells are among the most important kinds of magic you will ever learn. Offensive spells might win battles, but healing spells keep people alive long enough to walk away from them. If you ever find yourself on a battlefield, in a dungeon, or even just in the middle of a bad situation, a basic healing spell can be the difference between losing someone and getting them home."

She stood with both arms resting at her sides for a moment, then lifted one hand, pointing her index finger upward as though she was about to make a small correction. The ground near the front of the courtyard suddenly cracked open with a sharp rustle of dirt and roots, and a huge plant began rising from the soil. It pushed up slowly at first, then quickly enough that everyone in the line had to lean back a little to make room for it. The thing was thick and tall, with broad leaves layered around a central stem and pale green petals clustered near the top like a grotesque flower, except much bigger than any flower had a right to be.

She snapped her fingers once, and the plant wilted immediately.

The stem sagged, the petals curled inward, and the whole thing drooped as though someone had drained every last bit of life from it in a single second.

"Today," she continued, "we are going to be healing this plant. I am sure all of you know a healing spell, since it is one of the most basic forms of support magic. If you do not, then by the end of this lesson, you should at least understand the principle behind it. Healing is not only about repairing wounds. It is about stabilizing life, restoring vitality, and learning how to work with the natural flow of mana rather than forcing it."

She let that sit for a moment, then smiled a little wider.

"All right then, let us begin. One by one, I would like you to come forward and try."

The first student stepped out of line and approached the plant with obvious hesitation. He held out a hand, muttered a spell, and managed to create only a faint green glow that flickered weakly over the leaves before vanishing. Nothing changed.

Professor Meki tilted her head slightly. "Better to focus your mana more carefully. Do not push it outward all at once. Try again."

The next student came forward and did slightly better, enough to make a few of the plant’s curled leaves lift back up for a moment before drooping again. Professor Meki nodded and gave a simple,

"Good. Much better," before snapping her fingers to wilt the plant back down again so the next student would have the same starting point.

A few more students went after that. One managed to restore a single leaf. Another healed part of the stem but not the flower. One girl actually got the plant to stand upright again, which made Professor Meki smile in approval before she destroyed all progress with another snap of her fingers and sent the next student up.

"Good job."

"Focus less on force and more on direction."

"Try to hold the spell for a second longer."

"Better. That is the right rhythm."

It went on like that for several minutes, with some students struggling, some managing decent results, and a few actually healing the plant properly enough to earn praise before Professor Meki reset it again. By the time the line had moved forward enough to bring us near the front, the same cycle had repeated so many times that I was starting to understand how she wanted us to think about the spell rather than just cast it.

Then, after a few more students finished, it was finally our turn.

Professor Meki looked up at the next person in line and smiled. "Step forward, Mr..."

"Ace Walker," I said.

She studied me for a moment, her smile never fading. "Ah. The Ambly-blessed I heard about. So it is you. Please step forward, Mr. Walker."

I stepped forward, stopped in front of the wilted plant, and let out a slow breath before trying to heal it. The moment I activated the spell, the system window flashed in front of me with an immediate response.

╔══════════════════╗

> NO TARGET FOUND

╚══════════════════╝

I stared at it for a second, then looked back at the plant.

Well, shit.

I tried again, focusing harder this time, but the result was exactly the same.

╔══════════════════╗

> NO TARGET FOUND

╚══════════════════╝

The plant did not react at all.

"Sorry, Professor Meki," I said with a frustrated exhale. "I’m bad at using healing spells on anything other than humans."

"If you can heal a person, you can also heal another living being, Mr. Walker," she said, her soft smile never wavering. "Please try again."

I tried again, but nothing happened, and the same message appeared once more.

╔══════════════════╗

> NO TARGET FOUND

╚══════════════════╝

"Yeah..." I muttered, lowering my hand. "I’m sorry."

"It is all right, Mr. Walker. How about we try this instead?"

She snapped her fingers, and a sharp thorn grew out of the plant. Then, without any hesitation, she cut the tip of her finger against it and held up the small wound for me to see.

The class went quiet.

"Heal me, please." She smiled even more warmly. "Don’t let me die of blood loss, Mr. Walker."

I glanced at the tiny cut, then raised my hand and cast Heal again. This time the spell took hold immediately, and soft green light wrapped around her finger as the wound closed in seconds. Professor Meki closed her eyes as the healing worked, her expression calm and focused the entire time.

When the light faded, she opened her eyes again and looked at me with genuine surprise.

"That was perfect."

I blinked at her.

Professor Meki turned toward the rest of the class with the same pleasant smile still on her face. "What Mr. Walker just did is exactly how healing should be done. Many students make the mistake of using far more mana than they need for a wound. That does not make the healing better. It only wastes mana and leaves you drained for no reason. The goal is to use just enough to restore what was damaged, and not a drop more."

She looked back at me and nodded once.

"This was incredible, Mr. Walker. Please return to the line. You did very well."

"Thank you, ma’am."

I let out a breath of relief and walked back into place, more than a little happy that this was apparently one of the few times in my life where I hadn’t somehow embarrassed myself in front of an entire class.

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