Book 2: Chapter 64 (Patreon)

[Way of the Water]:   First Gate Unlocked

“What does that even mean?” Orrin asked the empty air. Instead of an answer, the prompt for his fighting skill popped up.

[Way of the   Water]: 25% 5/20 completed.

Continue or   Save Progress?

Orrin groaned at the lack of explanation. He was tempted to continue training at the next stage but he could feel his body back in the ‘real world’ starting to get cold. The water heater magic unit had a timer that you had to manually activate. He’d spent more time in the skill training room than ever before. He thought it had to have been ten hours of going through the forms with Styx. In the past, he had needed to reactivate the shower’s heat function every ten minutes.

I spend an hour training with Styx for every hour in real-time. A one-to-ten ratio is insane. Orrin considered the implications of the magic of this world letting him train in time dilation. There had to be time magic out there.

Orrin grinned as he saved progress and quit out. He was going to find a way to unlock time magic for sure. Daniel would be pissed.

After toweling off and getting dressed, Orrin made his way out for more training. He’d been focusing on activating [Side Steps] as much as possible but with [Way of the Water], it was getting harder for anyone to trigger the skill. If he simply stood still, the skill let him get hit in retaliation. Not that he minded. He was so close to increasing both [Heal Small Wounds] and [Increase Will] that he’d started casting the spells to the exclusion of all others.

By the end of a spar with Madi, Orrin felt his System notify him of something.

“Yes!” Orrin jumped up and down. He’d been casting this spell every time one of them hit the other… really just healing Madi.

[Heal Small   Wounds] Level Three (10,000)!

Upgrade to [Heal   Moderate Wounds]- Upgrade Available. 12 AP

[Heal   Moderate Wounds]— heal up to 80 HP. 40 MP (12 AP)

Unlocked:

[Accelerate]–   increases healing of non-combat wounds.  (5 AP)

[Alchemy]— learn   the basics of alchemy. (12 AP)

[Calm]— mild   sedation of target. Increases peacefulness.  (2 AP)

[Diagnosis]— ascertain   the target’s ailments. (5 AP)

[Excise]—   remove abnormal matter. (8 AP)

[Purify]— remove   abnormal statuses. (8 AP)

[Remetabolize]—   change the toxicity and structure of a toxin. (4 AP) (Already Known)

Orrin whistled. He remembered getting [Heal Small Wounds], Level Three from his Heal 200 people of Dey Quest. He’d forgotten that it cost six ability points but seeing the price double to twelve for [Heal Moderate Wounds] put into perspective how much the spell cost. From what Lyra, the elven elder of Healing, had said, he shouldn’t buy the upgrade unless he wanted to close off all the other branches of healing.

“[Diagnosis] was the main one, right?” Orrin asked himself. He didn’t want to spend five ability points on something that sounded like it did what [Analyze] and [Identify] already did but he trusted the information enough to not buy ‘moderate’ right away. He put it out of his mind for now. Madi was still holding her spear at the ready position.

“Did you get a notification?” she asked when he finally stopped staring into space.

“My healing spell maxed out.”

Madi dropped her guard and came in for a high-five. She’d seen Daniel and Orrin do it a few times and was trying to implement their rituals into her own life. Orrin slapped her hand.

“Do you want to continue fighting?”

Orrin shook his head. He’d been putting off returning to Amir since he returned. He’d made a promise to the coffee maker and wanted to at the least let him know what he’d learned from the elves. He was going to try and use Assign Class to give him the [Healer] class regardless of what Lyra had told him. Maybe assigning the class would open up [Heal Small Wounds].

“I need to run some errands,” Orrin said, tossing his [Ice Sword] into a corner of the training square. It would melt in a bit. “When I get back, do you want to play a few games of Kala?”

Madi smirked. “You’re not going to beat me. I’ve been playing longer than you.”

Orrin waved his hand. “Same wager? One silver a game?”

Madi laughed as she re-extended her spear and went to stab a dummy. “You’re just giving me money at this point.”

Orrin washed the sweat from his body with a basin of water and a small towel before leaving. He didn’t want to waste all the house’s water and had barely worked up a sweat with Madi. The first Gate of [Way of the Water] was still a mystery but the skill itself seemed easier to use. Madi hadn’t come close to connecting a single hit on him.

Trudging down the streets, Orrin found Amir pulling in the furniture from outside. He stacked the chairs and folded the tables, leaning them against the wall.

Orrin grabbed a chair and helped.

“Welcome back. How have you been?”

Orrin handed the chair to Amir. “Fine. I had to go back to the elven forest but I got to talk with the leader of their Hospital. I learned a lot about being a [Healer].”

Amir’s hands paused on the chair before he shook his head and took it. “I’m guessing the elves wouldn’t take a human in for training.”

Orrin wanted to kick himself. He hadn’t even thought to ask Lyra if that was an option. He could probably get Arandir to strongarm her into it but—

“It would probably end the same anyway. I would likely be the only human in their forest. Besides, my father needs help with the shop. I can’t leave him by himself.”

Orrin grunted as he tried to fold up one of the tables. Amir smirked and showed him the small contraption that released the pin. He took the table and set it inside.

“Would you like a cup?” Amir stuck his head out the door.

Orrin smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Amir waved him inside.

While his back was turned, Orrin pulled up Assign Class.

Choose Target

Orrin selected Amir.

Choose Class:

Orrin selected [Healer].

Replace [Brewer] with [Healer]?

Yes or No?

Orrin paused. He had to double-check.

“Amir, if you could become a [Healer], would you want to?”

His friend had pushed the last chair on a stack and closed the door to the shop. It was early afternoon but Orrin knew from experience they closed for a few hours so Amir and his father could take a break and grab a late lunch during the slow hours. He imagined having to pull all those chairs out twice a day, as well as putting them back away in the middle of the day and night.

“It has always been my dream but I don’t see how it could happen at this point. Even if I wanted to move back to Odrana, I’m not sure I could get into the Hospital there. There have been talks of trouble between Dey and Odrana lately. I don’t know the particulars, but my da said we should keep out of it. People are likely to target us anyway as he still speaks with a slight accent from the northern country but…”

Orrin mulled over his choice. If the class change worked, Amir could train on his own. Orrin could shuttle him to Lyra from a few pointers and Amir could continue working with his father. The downside was Amir could talk and let people know how he got the class. All of that was even if the change to [Healer] worked or if it gave him access to the core healing spell in the first place. What if he changed Amir to a [Healer] and he still couldn’t actually heal?

“I will not give up though. If it takes a decade, I will find a way to help others,” he finished his rambling as he pushed a cup of steaming hot coffee across the small counter.

Orrin took a sip. “Coffee cures everything.”

Amir laughed. “My da says the same thing.”

Orrin set the cup down and stared into it. The worst case scenario was Amir got his hopes up. Orrin could deal with rumors that he could change a class. He trusted Amir, despite the fact that they had never been in a party together or fought side by side. Amir wanted to help people. He would give up anything to…

Realization hit Orrin. Amir wanted to be [Healer]. He was ostracized for being different… Just like his own mom had been.

She worked a lot as an emergency room doctor now but Orrin had been born just before her residency. She had to scrap and claw for her position, working twice as hard as other doctors. He had overheard her talking to his dad about jackass doctors who assumed she was a nurse or patients who refused to be seen by her because she was a woman. Amir was a kindred spirit. He wanted to help but was being hindered by things that didn’t matter at the end of the day.

Orrin made his choice. “There are a few options for you according to the elf I talked to. You could spend a lot of time doing first aid and training. There is a chance you could get [Heal Small Wounds] from doing that. If you did, you could change your class to [Healer].”

Amir sighed. “I’ve heard that. I’ve been volunteering at an Alchemy store down the street. They don’t charge for bandages if you purchase their creams and poultices. I get to help people wrap up their burns and cuts. I don’t mind it but I don’t see how I’m helping.”

“There might be another way. I’m… not sure it will work. Also, if it did work, you could never tell anybody about it. You would have to lie and say you got [Heal Small Wounds] from your work at the alchemy shop.”

Amir frowned. “I won’t do anything illegal. If you’ve stolen an amulet, return it.”

Orrin put his hands in the air. “Nothing illegal. I didn’t steal an amulet.”

Amir’s frown deepened. “What you are telling me sounds too good to be true. You told me in the past that you received [Heal Small Wounds] from your class. Did you find a way for me to gain the same class? If I had [Heal Small Wounds], I might be able to change to [Healer]. Even if I can’t, being able to heal people…”

Orrin smiled at his friend’s faraway look. “Do you promise to keep this between us? You can’t even tell your father. I should also tell you there is a chance it doesn’t work.”

Amir stirred a spoon in his own coffee lazily. “I have nothing to lose. I promise to keep whatever mysterious thing you are about to do a secret.”

Orrin hit Yes.

Cost to use Assign Class: one (1) Administrator Point.

Accept?

Orrin frowned at the increased loss of another Administrator Point but pulled the trigger anyway.

Orrin waited.

And waited.

Nothing special happened. He checked Amir with [Identify].

Amir Fallah

[Healer]   Level 1

“Hey, look at that! It worked,” Orrin said, grinning.

“What do you—” Amir paused as he glanced at his Status. His eyes widened in shock. Orrin watched as his lips moved, reading the various things in his new class.

“Orrin, I am a [Healer]. How?”

“Do you have [Heal Small Wounds]?”

“… I do. It is at zero of a thousand points. That will take me half a year to level if I work each day,” Amir stopped talking and looked up with tears in his eyes. “Whatever you did to me, thank you. A thousand times, thank you.”

Orrin sat back and sipped his coffee. “I told you already, we’re friends forever. You gave me coffee. It’s the least I could do.”