Tale Of A Berserk Healer

A band of white, slowly consuming the treetops as it approached the town.

It moved slow, but sure, constant and moving towards the town.

A strange feeling settled in Ruth's c.h.e.s.t, an unsettling idea.

The white...cloud? Mist, fog. Whatever you call it.

It felt like a creature of great power and terrifying hunger had set its eyes on the town, slowly approaching in its onerous journey.

"This is probably bad."

Ryth muttered to himself, looking about himself for a way down... but then looked back at the fog.

"..." Slowly at first, but then quickening his pace as he moved closer to the fog.

Moving along the rooftops, he approached the wall...

(Huh. No guards along the walls? Oh yeah, I guess they use detection-stones and just station guards at the more public locations as a show of force.)

The section of wall here was a fold, where it reached out into a corner before folding back into town, like a dagger tip aimed out to the wilderness and its beasts.

The streets below were grungy, the roofs marked with dirt and footsteps.

Rickety planks of wood stretched between the rooftops here, placed by the many street urchins and slum-dwellers to move around without being on the streets.

The wall WAS kinda close...

And past it was a tree within jumping distance...

Ryth grabbed a long plank of wood, moving to make it reach the wall, and noted with some amus.e.m.e.nt the scuff-marks that showed exactly how often a plank was placed here, and how often the guards kicked the planks away.

Walking across the wood(please don't break, please don't break), he stepped into the smooth stone of the wall, looking back at the 2 meter "plank" of nailed together wood.

Then he looked down, the the ground below, and forward, the tree reaching out to the wall with its branches, the nearest one that might take his weight at the edge of what he could jump WITHOUT a running start.

(I can... go out and back in.)

Illegal. The association had forbidden even Stage 2's from going out, much less a Stage 1! He'd get in so much shit...

But he could hunt.

Could level up.

All he'd need... was some way to make sure he wouldn't be noticed.

What decides what kind of person you are?

Some people say you never know who you are until your life is threatened, or your true character comes out in stressful situations.

In reality, your 'true' character is EVERYTHING you are. The way one is while confident, while scared, is the same person, is still them. Even if one side is a coward.

Your true self is what shows in the choices you make.

Those small choices acc.u.mulate into the character you are.

And those same small choices decide your fate. You ever hear of someone who made seemingly the tiniest of choices, only to realize later that the "oh-so-small-choice" was what sentenced their fate.

Karma, fate, destiny... whatever you call it.

Ryth balanced, on the walls edge, nothing in his mind except possibility.

No noise entered, for this choice was his alone.

And he jumped.

~ ~ ~

Sipping some beer, Branwen shot a look at Erakin.

Finally Erakin couldn't stand it. "Could you f.u.c.k off?"

"I didn't do anything."

"The F.U.C.K you didn't! You keep staring and I'll recommend you to Herald!"

Branwen immediately looked away... only to start shooting looks 10 seconds later.

"Haaaa..." letting out a loud sigh, Erakin turned.

"Yes, you stubborn oaf?"

"What do you think of the kid?"

"Why does that matter?"

"It does."

Erakin blinked.

Branwen was dumb, often simpleminded. But sometimes, he saw things nobody else could.

"Why?"

Branwen shook his head, a serious expression on his face. "I don't know, it just is."

"I think he's a bit trusting, little naive but with a good head. His stats make little sense, and he seems to be going through a lot."

"So... you think he's at a turning point."

Silence at their table, while the rest of the bar laughed and roared at the pretty waitresses dancing away from grasping fingers.

Time moved on, but Erakin stayed silent, thinking over Branwen's words.

"A turning point? That's a pretty serious suspicion."

Branwen nodded leaning back. "I'd like to be wrong. Those kinda things are usually accompanied by events that strip away some of who one used to be."

"How uncharacteristically wise." Erakin snorted.

"I'm not that smart, but I know enough!" Branwen retorted.

"...well it's not our business. We chose to help a kid who needed it, but we have no obligation or real connection to him. So it's fine to leave it be I think."

"Mm... I guess."

~ ~ ~

The forest, the air.

Ryth breathed in deep, and something, some weight fell off.

Here he wasn't a dutiful brother, wasn't cursed, starving or a child.

Here he was alive, a prey to many predators, who one day would become predator to many prey.

His knives were with him, his magic held new possibilities, and he was ready to hunt.

Ryth moved through the undergrowth, looking out for any spiders or other creatures, a slight grin working on his face.

(I might die here... so why am I so delighted?)

The smile couldn't come off!

Ryth stopped shaking his head. (Euphoria later, right now I need...)

His eyes narrowed, control reasserting itself.

(...to get serious. It's time to hunt.)

After walking awhile, he got into the groove of it, shifting his body to minimize noise, using shadows from the trees to help blur his outline, mindful of wind and using some crushed berries to cover his scent.

A knife in either hand, one a dagger and the other a sharpened kitchen knife, he looked for something, and eventually heard a wet grinding noise.

Dropping to a crouch he stood still, an eye out for the far off most no longer visible between the trees, but slowly drawing near.

As another noise, a snapping crunch, echoed out, Ryth began to slowly move, going around a tree-

A wolf with black fur and red highlights had its teeth buried in a goblin carcass, blood and gore covering its snout.

(Oh, Ew..)

Ryth shivered in disgust, and refocused.

(How do I kill it? It can't smell anything but blood... so an ambush? Quick and sudden.)

Something feral was enjoying this, the patient stalking, the wait for the time.

The time to strike.

The wolf leaned down, and Ryth felt... something.

A moment, where he could almost see himself, as if from the 3rd person.

An out of body experience, in which he saw himself and his foe.

And he pulled on the light beating in his heart, the fire of his blood, and he concentrated it.

Leaping forth, he stabbed down at the beast, only to miss as it jumped away, instincts saving it by the tip of its fur!

The blood-stained wolf looked up just in time to see the young healer grinning with a psychotic, terrifying light glinting in his eye.

You know, that light in his eye was probably the reflection of the fist-sized ball of light in his suddenly-empty hand.

Wait... OH SHI-

"BAM!"

A dull thud noise came from the collision of mana as the ball exploded, a flash bang of magic blinding the wolf.

Inwardly the wolf sneered at the stupid human. Prey resisting uselessly! It would just use its sense of smell to see him!

Except... all it could smell was the blood and gore of the goblin.

Sudden understanding ripped through the beast a heartbeat too late, as a piercing pain struck it through the top of its skull, throwing it to the ground and-

Dead. Twitching, but dead.

Ryth stumbling back, adrenaline hitting him like a grizzly bear's body-check, and he laughed.

He knew he should be quiet, should be wary, but he couldn't help it.

So many times he went out to no avail, just healing his scratches to try again.

But today his magic had DONE something.

It was so simple... but he never would've thought of it unless his core gave him just that bit more mana to work with, and if he hasn't seen what light can do in the Barrier skill.

It was like someone had finally told him that yes.

Yes. You are an adventurer, a hunter of monsters. Yes, you can fight, in trickery and wisdom. And yes. You are enough.

Ryth limply put his knife away and left, the intangible reason he'd come somehow accomplished, though he wasn't entirely sure himself what that reason had actually BEEN.