Combat Healer Ch. 25 (Patreon)

December 31, 2022

NOTE: Happy New Years!

I'm 'bulk uploading' some chapters for this story. Hopefully I'll have Ch 26 posted by tonight, and then I'll try to post a couple more tomorrow. 

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<< Chapter 24 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 15 (Book 2)

- CHAPTER 25: Foreboding -

Several Years Ago

A young elf girl with a gray face, midnight skin, black hair, and slitted crimson eyes, silently laid on the rocky ground in the dark, sniffling occasionally as she tried to process the fact that she’d just lost the most important thing she’d ever had.

Her purpose.

From the moment she hatched out of her egg, and took on the form of an elf girl, to the moment she watched an impenetrable wall close between her and her master, she’d spent her entire life revolved around one thing – taking care of the one whom she belonged to.

So now, what was she supposed to do?

How could she go on living, without her master?

She wasn’t sure, but the horrible crushing ‘No-feel-good-in-my-body,’ as if she had a ‘Rock-too-heavy-to-lift’ resting on her chest that was suffocating her…as if something was squeezing her very heart…

That sensation had slowly diminished, until it felt like her entire body was just weak and numb.

She couldn’t even lift her head now.

She was hurt.

It hurt.

She wasn’t wounded, her body was fine, and yet she suffered so much pain.

So much agony and loss.

To the point that she would much prefer to be bitten by a ‘Bite-painful-and-burns’ a hundred times, rather than feel this horrible torment.

But then…

Slowly…

She began to realize something.

Her master was gone…

But she still belonged to him.

He wasn’t here right now, she couldn’t touch him and feel him, but she still belonged to him.

She could feel it.

And she could feel something else too.

An awareness of the nature of this bond.

She was drawn to her master…which wasn’t very useful when she couldn’t leave…

But he also…was drawn to her.

Which meant, that one day, eventually, he should come back for her. He might not know the reason why he came back, or understand how he came back, but she felt confident that all she had to do was wait. Just wait, and he ‘would be returned’ to her.

But…what should she do until then?

She supposed that she could do much the same as she’d been doing for the last fifteen years. There were still lots of places to explore.

It was still fun to cut things with her claws. And it could still be fun to try drawing a picture of her and her master…

He may never see it, but she could still have fun doing it.

Still…she missed him.

She missed him an awful lot.

Sucking in a ragged breath, she finally pushed herself up and focused toward the impenetrable wall where she’d last seen her master, knowing there was no way to get past the stone doors that opened so easily on their own. She then slowly shifted her crimson gaze to the spot where he had been laying, knowing that looking at that spot was going to hurt her heart again, but doing it anyway…

Only to freeze solid.

Fearing her eyes deceived her, she stared in shock for a long few seconds…

Only to immediately scramble to her feet and dash over, shocked by what was lying flat on the ground.

Master…

Left her a gift!

Something to remember him by!

She couldn’t believe it, but it was true!

Immediately holding the semi-translucent ‘clothing’ in both midnight hands, she held it up carefully, examining its form and structure, mesmerized by the sight, only to immediately hold the slick material tightly against her small breasts, her vision rapidly growing blurry as another sob hitched her chest.

Because she had something to remember him by.

And she would cherish it with every fiber of her being, until the day he finally returned to her.

Maybe the wait…

Wouldn’t be so bad after all.

* * *

Having found the last nest of Arakna’cabra eggs, my Red Oni girlfriend Mel must have accidentally lit a highly combustible cluster of eggs prior to her intending to when trying to burn the webbing to get a visual on the nest, because both she and Wren barely made it out of the high tunnel in time before the entire tunnel exploded like a human ship’s cannon from beyond the sea, blasting them across the passageway high up and onto the other wall. Only for Wren to immediately begin sliding down, with Mel desperately clinging to the smaller girl’s back, Wren’s claws digging into the stone wall.

However, that was only the beginning of the alarming events.

After using her fire magic to kill tens-of-thousands of lesser monsters, by burning several nests of Arakna’cabra eggs, Mel’s Intelligence attribute had just unexpectedly leveled up.

Her stats had just increased, her Intelligence going from Level 8 to Level 9, giving her a permanent 3-point rise to that specific attribute, bringing her Intelligence up from 19 to 22 total.

Previously, she’d known only one spell that was bestowed on her by her bound weapon, called ‘Rising Phoenix,’ and this spell had a particular limitation that was based on her Intelligence stat being under 20 points. For most people, having any stat as high as 20 was something to be extremely proud of, and Mel’s Intelligence being 19 was already more than sufficient to make her a powerful A Tier fighter all on its own.

And technically, with this increase, she was still A Tier, with a total of 99 Attribute Points.

However, apparently exceeding that limitation of 20 in Intelligence had done a lot more than just remove the limitation of that single spell.

No, it had done far more.

Her Epic Grade weapon became Unsealed, and evolved to Legendary Grade, its name changing from ‘Ethereal Scythe’ to ‘Judgement of the Phoenix,’ revealing that it was far more than what it already seemed.

For, Legendary Weapons were fabled artifacts that might as well not even exist due to their rarity, to the point that I would have doubted hearing of such a weapon, were it not for me witnessing its ‘Blessing’ for myself. A blessing that gave Mel four new skills, and four new spells, all of them likely ridiculously powerful.

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WEAPON: Judgement of the Phoenix (UNSEALED)

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STATUS

Grade: Legendary

State: Bound (Melantha Murta’rahg)

Attack: 50,000 (Slashing), 212 (Blunt)

Properties: Chosen, Ethereal Blade, Bestowed Power, Bound Seal (UNSEALED, Intelligence: 22)

Skills: Phoenix Blessing, Fire Element Mastery, Sunlight Absorption, Fire Immunity

Spells: Rising Phoenix (Active), Soaring Phoenix (Active), Phoenix Arrow (Active), Phoenix Judgement (Active), ASHES TO ASHES (Active)

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With an Attack of 50,000 – over two-hundred times more powerful than a regular sword blade, and over five times more powerful than Val’s already ridiculously powerful Essence Arrows – at least now I understood why the ethereal blade seemed capable of cutting through almost anything.

Even stone itself wasn’t durable enough to endure a whopping 50,000 Attack!

Even Wren’s Attack boost from Berserk was only 10,000! Enough to kill most creatures with just one strike!

Shit, I wasn’t sure there was anything comparable in the whole world.

Not a single weapon, designed by people, that could compete with this weapon’s blade.

But that was only the beginning.

The Properties were unique.

Chosen.

Mel was this Legendary Weapon’s Chosen.

It had chosen her as its wielder.

As if it were sentient.

And the tattooing on her body was a result of its Bestowed Power.

The markings of its Blessing.

But then, there were the bestowed skills.

Each of her gained skills were ridiculously powerful.

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SKILL: Phoenix Blessing

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 1/1

Type: Combat Passive

Effect: Obtain the Blessing of the Phoenix. Exposure to sunlight will result in reduced Stamina costs for all Skills and reduced Essence cost for all Fire Element Spells.

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The skill actually called ‘Phoenix Blessing’ implied that, while Mel was already going to be a ton more powerful, that she’d be practically a deity in the sunlight. Even with her Berserk spell only being Level 1 right now, in the daytime, she might be able to use it like it was Level 2 or 3. And when she eventually got it up to Level 5, she might be able to exceed those limitations and use it like it was Level 6 or 7, despite the maximum being Level 5.

Technically, this ability wouldn’t be very useful in a Dungeon, where Scourge Suppressors did the majority of their fighting, but there was far more than this single skill.

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SKILL: Fire Element Mastery

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 1/1

Type: Combat Passive

Effect: The Cost of all Fire Element Spells are permanently reduced by half.

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Never, not in my entire life, had I seen anyone with such a skill. Sylvia was extremely powerful with her Ice Spells, and Eliza was ridiculously powerful with her Electric Spells, yet neither of them had a ‘mastery’ skill.

The only thing I’d ever seen was ‘proficiency’ skills for certain types of weapons, which Mel did have, including Two-Handed Proficiency.

And yet, there was more.

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SKILL: Sunlight Absorption

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 1/1

Type: Combat Passive

Effect: Obtain the ability to convert sunlight directly into Essence and Stamina.

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Truly, while Mel was already a powerful fighter in general, she would be a complete monster in the sunlight.

A permanent reduction in essence cost for all fire spells? Reduced stamina and essence cost when exposed to sunlight? And even the ability to convert sunlight directly into essence and stamina? Never mind the fact that she had also gained Fire Immunity, which made her both immune to extreme heat as well as making her immune to fire magic attacks from other mages.

Shit, her metal staff truly was a Legendary Artifact.

However, right now, I was mostly focused on trying to get her to wake up.

After receiving her weapon’s blessing, a beam of orange light holding her in the air as she writhed around – seemingly in pain and discomfort, with glowing vines crawling all over her rosy body – she floated back down to the ground and into my arms, completely unconscious. Her chin-length white hair covered part of her rosy face, her full lavender lips slightly parted, her entire muscular body limp in my arms, and very much dead weight right now.

I was strong, even by human standards, being much more muscular than any healer needed to be. But Mel was about my size both in terms of height and muscle, and quite heavy when entirely limp. If I threw her over my shoulder, my legs would have no trouble carrying her around all day, but having all that weight solely in my arms was going to quickly make me look weak, especially to the large Oni men from the other team who could hold her all day in one arm, if they were so inclined to do so.

Thus, I decided to carefully crouch down and sit on my ass so that she was in my lap, letting go of her strong leather-clad legs so that I could stroke her gorgeous rosy face in an attempt to gently wake her up.

The vines of orange light that crawled over her body now appeared to be black tattoo markings, running mostly up her sides, as far as I could tell.

From her jawline on the sides of her face, down her neck, and then down almost the entire length of her toned arms. Only to continue down her torso underneath her arms, visible on her sides between her leather top and leather pants, with me having no idea how far down her legs they went, but assuming it was similar to her arms.

Tattooing was forbidden for the elves, so I knew she’d probably get looks when we were back in the capital, but that was the least of my concerns right now. And I doubted she personally would care too much what a bunch of snobby elves would think.

Needless to say, after witnessing something so miraculous, everyone was still stunned.

However, we didn’t exactly have the luxury of waiting around for her to wake up either.

It was very late in the night, being past the second hour of the day already, and we couldn’t afford to make camp in this Dungeon. Not when time clearly seemed to be passing much slower in here compared to the outside world.

Which meant, we had to get going.

I knew that.

I just didn’t want Muneg or Ruhmul to end up carrying her when they found my ‘throwing her over my shoulder’ as ungraceful and unbecoming of such a prized woman. And unfortunately, given their sizes, they could literally grab her from me while she was unconscious, and it would be literally impossible for me to grab her back.

Maybe if I put her on my back? Hold her ass with my hands, and use my forward posture to keep her arms draped over my shoulders?

“Ugh,” Mel unexpectedly groaned then, her body tensing as she shifted her weight slightly in my arms, causing a wave of relief to wash over me. “What…” Her voice trailed off, only for her gold eyes to fly open as she searched around urgently, before focusing on me. “Oh my God, what happened to me?”

“Seems your weapon is a Legendary Artifact,” I explained, giving her a small smile.

She held up her hand then, turning her red arm to look at the black marking on her rosy skin, before continuing. “I have new skills. And new spells too,” she finally whispered.

“Yep,” I agreed. “Really gave me a scare when it looked like you started falling, but I’m glad you’re okay now.”

“More than okay,” she said in disbelief, only to crane her head to focus on her weapon. “I…umm…I need to…” She didn’t finish, instead climbing off my lap and immediately straightening to approach her weapon, still sticking straight up in the ground like a javelin, ignoring everyone else as she reached out tentatively, almost looking afraid that it would burn her.

However, the moment her red fingertips touched the shaft, she sighed heavily in relief, gripping it firmly, but not pulling it out of the ground yet.

“Hi,” she said warmly. “Thank you,” she added.

My eyes widened in surprise. “Is it talking to you?” I asked in disbelief, climbing to my feet.

She focused back at me with wide gold eyes. “Oh. No, but…” Her voice trailed off as she easily pulled it out of the ground, holding it in both hands as she turned more fully toward me. “I guess I’ve never told you. But this weapon chose me. I didn’t stumble on it by accident. I felt drawn to it. Spent all my coin to buy it, because the man who was selling it didn’t want to sell to my kind.” She grimaced, seemingly at the memory. “So no, it’s not talking to me or anything, but it does feel like a friend. If that makes sense.”

“Not sell to your kind!” Ruhmul, the Red Oni man, barked out in disbelief. “What nonsense is that?”

Mel gave him her attention. “I bought it in the capital of Ryfle from an older human.”

“Oh,” Ruhmul replied, seeming almost too sincere. “Forgive me then. I was not aware you came from those parts.”

Mel simply nodded, focusing on me again, as she shifted the midnight staff to one tattooed shoulder. “Anyway, sorry for freaking everyone out.”

I scoffed at that. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” she agreed with a grin, walking up to me and grabbing my hand. “But that was the last nest, right? I guess, are we ready to get out of here, boyfriend?” she said emphatically.

Honestly, I appreciated the display of commitment.

Because while Muneg and Ruhmul seemed more than happy to share the Blue Oni Defense Specialist, Shevra, I had no doubt all three of them would welcome someone like Mel into their team with open arms. Especially when she clearly wielded such power, and especially because an extra pussy was always preferred. Never mind the fact that the two large Oni men would probably be thrilled to discover that, while Mel’s body was overall smaller and more feminine for an Oni, her ‘Juicy Pussy’ was probably everything they’d ever dreamed about in a female.

So yeah, her making it clear she was taken, whether I was a ‘strong male’ in their perception or not, was highly reassuring and appreciated.

“Yeah,” I agreed, focusing on Val, who had a general look of concern on her tan face, followed by focusing on the much taller elves, including Astaer, Celestine, and Sylvia, only to look at my beloved Eliza, the shorter Wren still standing behind her. “Ready?”

Eliza nodded, looking over her shoulder where she’d heard her younger twin land. “Can you lead us to the final room?” she asked Wren directly, only for her brow to furrow. “Or does this Dungeon even have ‘one’ final room? If it has multiple floors, then does that mean there are multiple exits?”

Wren shrugged. “I dunno,” she replied in that adorable innocent tone. “Hard to know if a room is an exit when the exit is closed. But I know where…” Her voice trailed off when I silently asked her to be careful with what she said out loud, since we were still trying to hide the truth from the top team. “Umm, I know of one place,” she corrected herself. “It’s where I used to live.” Her expression then dropped. “I don’t stay there anymore though. Bad…bad memories,” she added with a grimace.

Fuck.

I tried not to react, suspecting I knew exactly what she was referring to. Dammit, I wished things could have turned out differently. If only I’d woken up just a handful of seconds sooner or later. Or if maybe she’d just been with me when I woke up. I mean, Wren probably would have scared the shit out of me, especially with her looking like Eliza, but at least I would have had her all this time.

Eliza simply nodded, glancing at me as she responded to Wren. “Please take us there.”

Wren immediately focused on me too, as if confirming that’s what I wanted.

I nodded my head as well, prompting her to reach up to brighten the Light Crystal around her neck, before grinning, showing off all her pointy shark-like teeth. Just like that, she was cheerful again.

“Okay! This way!”

And with that, she ran off down the dark passageway, revealing again just how fast she could run when the light began looking like a pulse as it silently zipped away.

I decided to take charge. “Okay, everyone in positions. There still may be Arakna’cabra lurking around. My spells can do a lot, but a bite in the wrong place, like the head, might still result in death. Let’s not get complacent now that we’re almost done. There could still be a final Scourge Beast too. Something far stronger than the Flesh Collectors.”

“Right,” Eliza agreed, even as everyone clustered around me to take up their positions.

Muneg and Ruhmul took to either side, much like they’d been doing, one standing near Sylvia while the other stood closer to Val, even as Astaer and Celestine took the front and rear, respectively. Shevra then took to the front, having her own fire magic spells to help if needed, though Mel and Val had done almost all the ‘monster slaying’ thus far.

However, unlike previously, rather than Mel taking the front too, she held back with me, in the middle of the group, to continue holding my hand as we began walking together, her strong rosy fingers interlaced with mine. It surprisingly had Eliza smiling, with her having a small grin playing on her lips, even as she focused upward while we moved in unison.

Clearly, we still had a ways to go though.

Wren moved another large boulder blocking off the entrance to a lower tunnel, and we again found ourselves traveling through a cavern maze…

One that slowly began to feel more and more familiar, until I unexpectedly stopped when I sensed a familiar depression in the wall with my Known by Darkness skill, even though we had a Light Crystal dimly illuminated.

Everyone else stopped too, Astaer and Shevra’s halt delayed since they were focused ahead, with Eliza looking at me in confusion, only to shift her gaze in the same direction as me.

“Is that…” she began without thinking, only to press her lips firmly together. “Let’s continue,” she then commanded, prompting Astaer and Shevra to both resume walking.

Everyone else followed suit, looking confused.

But we couldn’t exactly explain the reason for the stop, not when the top team didn’t know the secret Eliza and I shared.

However, without a doubt, we’d just stumbled upon a special place.

One that had a unique form to it, enough that I could identify it without hesitation, since it had offered us some level of concealment as we tried to rest after a recent fight to the death…

The place where Eliza and I first consummated our relationship.

The place where I gained the skill ‘Soulmate.’

This really was the same Dungeon.

Which also meant this truly was a massive Dungeon, since I felt like the vast majority of the places that we’d explored thus far were not the hallways we originally suffered in.

Honestly, the more I thought about it, contemplating just how vast this space was, including the fact that even Wren hadn’t explored it all – not even after eighteen years – I began wondering if perhaps the Dungeon was as large as the continent itself.

The idea seemed crazy, especially since all the other Dungeons were often as large within as the capital of the kingdom, and definitely different from this more unique one. More finite feeling, whereas this one felt almost infinite. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel baffled at just the sheer size of this cave system.

One floor.

Eliza and I had seemingly conquered only one floor to secure our freedom.

Or perhaps one ‘section’ was a bit more accurate, even if there were undoubtedly different levels higher above us, and maybe floors below us too.

But each one used to have different Scourge Beasts. All of which pretty much became extinct once the Arakna’cabra outgrew their own floor and moved elsewhere to decimate the other monster populations.

Honestly, part of me wondered if that happened naturally, or if it was actually a result of Wren’s exploring.

Perhaps the Arakna’cabra floor used to be sealed off from the others, but she accidentally released them, giving them access to the rest of the Dungeon.

After all, many of the boulders she was moving seemed to oddly fit perfectly into the tunnels they were blocking off…

Impossible to know for sure what the truth was, but it was at least a possibility that her exploring released the Arakna’cabra, while simultaneously opening the pathways to the other floors. Which also meant it was possible that the unexplored areas were actually still full of unique monsters.

As we continued to follow Wren throughout the tunnels, with her disappearing for long stretches of time, only to reappear to guide us down a new one, we mostly walked in silence, since there could be danger around any corner. That, and since our group didn’t want to share too much information with the top team.

If anything, while it was unlikely they would do so, it was technically a way for them to blackmail us.

Very unlikely that they’d try blackmailing the Queen, and honestly I probably wasn’t giving them enough credit, with me assuming the absolute worst when I had no basis for doing so. But nevertheless, we were still overall cautious about letting the truth get out.

At the very least, I knew Muneg, Ruhmul, and Shevra to all be fond of ale, and all it would take was one lapse of judgement, only to have a major secret spilled in the guild.

However, as we were walking, with it now being nearly the fourth hour of the day, all of us really feeling exhausted at this point, Wren surprised us all by reappearing and walking almost sluggishly right past Astaer, Shevra, and Mel, visibly distressed as she practically collided into me, hitting her forehead against my chest.

“What’s wrong?” I asked in alarm, everyone visibly concerned, though for different reasons.

For me, I was afraid she’d done something I wasn’t going to like, so her answer surprised me.

“Master, I’m so tired,” she complained.

My eyes widened at that, not having expected that response, but also knowing there was nothing I could do to cure her Drowsiness. While technically an ailment, it wasn’t something healing spells worked on, though it could be alleviated on its own under certain circumstances.

Becoming excited or alarmed, for instance, would reduce the severity of Drowsiness temporarily. Possibly even eliminate it entirely, if only for a short time.

My tone was hesitant. “Oh. Umm, how far away are we?”

“I don’t think too far,” she answered honestly. “But I’m so sleepy. Can you just carry me?”

My brow furrowed as I focused on Eliza. “Umm, well you’re kind of our guide, so…”

Wren unexpectedly whimpered then, as if I was tormenting her by wanting her to stay awake.

But we really couldn’t afford sleeping in this Dungeon, and even taking a break for a few hours wasn’t ideal. Especially not when we were supposedly so close.

“Here,” I offered. “Maybe think of something exciting, like…” My voice trailed off. Because I was going to say, ‘like leaving the Dungeon,’ but even that would probably alarm the top team. If anything, the most ideal outcome would be to have them think I left Wren in the Dungeon, with me instead having her sneak out when they weren’t looking. Thus, I decided to continue that idea in my thoughts.

‘Like us leaving the Dungeon finally.’

‘Master, I’m scared to leave,’ she admitted silently.

I sighed heavily. ‘Well, is there anything else that might excite you?’ I tried. ‘To help you stay awake?’

She didn’t respond, not even in her thoughts, for a long few seconds.

Of course, technically I could ‘make her’ continue guiding us, no matter how tired she got, at least until it became too severe and she collapsed from exhaustion, but I really didn’t want to. If possible, I never wanted to ‘force her’ to do anything ever again. At least not something that she didn’t want to do. Thus, instead, I preferred to try reasoning with her.

Unexpectedly, she focused up at me in surprise, her slitted crimson eyes wide.

“Oh! I have something I want to show you! Tee-hee!” she giggled cheerfully, causing Shevra to stiffen, only for Wren to immediately spin around and dash off down the tunnel at lightning speeds. “Follow me!” she cheered as she went, her youthful voice echoing.

“Dang,” Mel commented under her breath. “She can really do a complete flip in her mood at the drop of a coin.”

“Seems that way,” I agreed, knowing exactly what she was referring to, since earlier Wren had gone from sad to happy, and then to sad again, very quickly with almost no transition in between.

One second she was sad, and the next she was happy. One second she was tired, and the next wide awake.

At the very least, it made me hopeful that her capacity to change moods quickly might have helped her survive me accidentally leaving her. Because honestly, if I’d known she’d been by my side for fifteen years keeping me alive, then I wouldn’t have left her.

Not intentionally.

Creepy-looking or not, I would have taken her with me.

Perhaps…even stayed…if we couldn’t both escape…

But I definitely would have taken her with me, if I could.

Without a doubt.

However, I did need to make sure I cautioned her about whatever she wanted to show me, before she returned, speaking to her silently in our makeshift ‘master-servant’ bond.

‘Be careful what you show me in front of the others,’ I said calmly. ‘We don’t want them to know the truth,’ I added.

‘I know, master,’ she said with a pouty tone. ‘I’ll be good. You’re about to exit that tunnel. Turn right in the big passageway, and then have the others wait.’

‘Sure,’ I thought simply, just glad we were one step closer to getting out of this place.

After another few minutes of walking, we did come out of the tunnel into a massive passageway with no ceiling in sight, just like the first stone corridor we arrived in, this one being oddly similar. I was sure it wasn’t the same one, but it almost felt like these larger passageways were all parallel to each other, with the ‘Dungeon’ Eliza and I had once entered only being one of the tunnel mazes between massive corridors without ceilings.

Following Wren’s instructions, I spoke up. “As the girl mentioned earlier, she wants to show me something. Everyone stay here for just a minute, and I’ll be right back.”

“Girl,” Muneg immediately scoffed sarcastically at my choice of words.

No doubt he’d prefer I call her a ‘monster,’ rather than ‘girl’ as if she was a person.

Eliza chimed in, ignoring him. “I think it would be best if a couple of us went with you.”

“Sure,” I offered simply. “This shouldn’t take long either way. And then we’ll hopefully be heading to the final room.”

Eliza and Mel immediately began following after me, with Val hesitating, before deciding to wait with the others, no doubt because, aside from Shevra’s overall weaker Fire magic, she was the next best fighter against the Arakna’cabra. Sure, Sylvia could also probably help fight with her ice, as could the big Oni men, thanks to Shevra having a rare ‘Elemental Infusion’ spell, but we had to be careful about how we separated, since Astaer and Celestine couldn’t really fight under these conditions.

Thus, Mel, Eliza, and I hurried down a tunnel that Wren had opened, with her guiding me mentally quite a distance away from the others before we finally caught sight of a light in the distance.

‘Oh, I see you!’ Wren thought excitedly, running at a much more modest pace compared to all the other times I’d seen her zip around. Almost like she was trying to be careful, since she had something with her.

We all decided to stop where we were, since we’d probably be returning the way we’d just come once this was over, knowing we were plenty far away that even our echoing voices might not reach the sensitive elf ears in the other group, let alone the ears of the Oni.

However, I was sure none of us actually anticipated what Wren’s surprise truly was.

With my Light Crystal plenty bright, combined with the one hanging around Wren’s neck, we all stiffened at the same time when we realized she had something ‘fluttering’ in her grasp – something pale and semi-translucent, having a very distinct shape, even when bunched up together.

But then, as if to remove any doubts we might have had, she slowed down and held up the fleshy material with a big grin on her face…

Holding up the dried flesh…

Of an Arakna’cabra victim…

“Look master!” Wren said cheerfully. “It’s my favorite thing!”

“Oh my God!” Mel exclaimed in sincere disgust and disbelief. “Oh my God, is that…” She couldn’t finish, looking both disturbed and alarmed at the same time. “Wren, you can’t keep that!” she then exclaimed. “Oh my God, I’m about to burn it.”

“What?!” Wren said in alarm, her slitted red eyes wide as she abruptly held the skin up to her midnight chest, looking betrayed now. “NO! It’s my favorite thing! How could you even say that?!”

“That was a person!” Mel nearly shouted. “Someone’s skin! Don’t you realize how disturbing that is? What do you even do with it?”

“I wear it, and sleep with it!” Wren said defensively, holding it even tighter, her red eyes visibly filling with tears, visibly looking dejected and fearful now.

“Oh my God, I’m going to be sick,” Mel replied, only to grow more serious. “Drop it!” she demanded. “We need to burn it! Oh fuck, I’m never going to be able to look at you the same again!”

“Okay, calm down,” I finally said firmly, realizing this was starting to get out of hand. And knowing this situation had to be dealt with more delicately, especially with how tense Wren was becoming, with the youthful elf girl immediately focusing on me.

‘Master, please don’t let her burn my favorite thing,’ she silently pleaded, her body beginning to tremble.

“Allie,” Eliza whispered. “I’m not sure I disagree with Melantha. Whether we burn it or not, she can’t keep it.”

Of course, I knew that, but…

I took a deep breath, focusing . “Wren, can you please explain to me why this is so important to you?”

Her already betrayed expression became even more pained, only for her to turn her growing frustration on Mel as she responded. “Because it was all I had when master left me!” she yelled, tears beginning to flow down her gray cheeks. “I can’t believe you’d try burning my favorite thing! I was really starting to like you! And I even saved your life! How could you?!”

Needless to say, Mel looked alarmed by the outburst, only to grimace. “Wren, I…”

Sensing that she was about to run away again, I quickly spoke up.

“Wren, come here.”

“Allie,” Eliza said in alarm.

“I would prefer you put down the skin first,” I clarified. “But I won’t make you. I still want you to come here, either way.”

Her entire body was trembling now, as she held the dried flesh tightly. “P-Promise you won’t let her burn it?” she stammered.

“Mel?” I said simply.

My girlfriend sighed heavily, only to reach up and cover her gold eyes with her rosy hand. “I won’t, Wren,” she said quietly. “And I’m sorry for yelling at you. This is just really disturbing.”

Wren didn’t respond, but she slowly lowered the skin, laying it down neatly, before obediently walking over to me.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, I pulled her against me for a tight hug, whispering what I was only now realizing I had yet to do.

Apologize.

“I’m sorry for leaving you, Wren. I didn’t mean to abandon you.”

The elf girl stiffened at that, only for her to return the embrace tightly, a quiet whine escaping her throat as she quietly began crying.

And then began sobbing, her tense body trembling more and more as she whimpered against my chest.

“Fuck,” Mel finally hissed. “I didn’t mean to make her so upset, it’s just…fuck.”

“This isn’t your fault,” I said seriously. “It’s mine. She’s been alone all her life, because of me. Whether it was my intention or not.”

Eliza sighed heavily. “I’m starting to get the impression that particular fact is truly the problem,” she admitted, causing me to focus on her in surprise as she continued. “From what I’ve seen, she’s mostly just a normal girl. A unique girl, since her personality is different than mine at her age, even if she looks like me. But she also hasn’t been around other people all her life, and that has clearly had an effect on her. If things had turned out differently, she might very much be like any other girl, capable of even passing as a normal elf, aside from the eyes, teeth, and gray face.”

Much to my surprise, Wren abruptly stopped crying and focused at her, still holding onto me tightly, her tone hopeful. “Really?”

Eliza was likewise shocked, but recovered quickly. “Yes, dear. I meant every word of what I said.”

“I’m not a monster?” Wren asked innocently.

Eliza frowned at that. “No, clearly you are, but I wouldn’t say you’re a beast. Certainly, you have strange interests that are probably a result of you being alone, but if it had turned out you were actually my cursed child, then I would have believed it.”

“Shit,” I hissed. “Don’t even joke about that.”

Wren giggled then. “Hehe. Maybe I should call you–”

“No,” I said firmly to her as I focused down. “That goes for you too, Eliza. Don’t even joke about that.”

“Damn,” Mel exclaimed. “Guess you’re not interested in starting a family anytime soon.”

I glared at her. “Considering I’m a Scourge Suppressor and make my living risking my life on a regular basis? Yeah, I’d say so.”

Mel grinned at me, clearly just trying to tease me to lighten the mood.

Wren’s tone was immediately somber again. “Can I really not keep it?” she pleaded. “It’s my favorite thing from you.”

My eyes widened at that. “From me?” I repeated in surprise.

“Yes master,” she said seriously. “You left it behind after you woke up.”

Now I was alarmed, focusing up at Mel’s wide gold eyes. “Wait…”

Mel immediately continued. “Oh my God, is that Allie’s skin?” she said in disbelief.

“Of course!” Wren retorted with a scoff as she focused on her, holding me even tighter. “Why would I keep someone else’s skin?”

I felt like I was going to pass out. “But why is that my skin?” I asked in disbelief, trying to process all this.

Wren’s voice was adorable and innocent again. “I dunno.”

“Seriously,” I replied.

She sounded stressed now. “Master, I really don’t know.”

I focused on Eliza. “Can you…” My voice trailed off.

She gave me a bewildered look, before nodding confidently, walking over to where Wren had laid it on the ground.

“Oh God, are you going to touch it?” Mel managed.

Eliza didn’t respond, reaching down to carefully pick it up, holding it delicately as she examined it herself, while showing me at the same time.

Of course, it was exactly what it seemed to be.

Someone’s flesh.

Technically, it was like thin leather, just thin leather from a person.

Exactly like an Arakna’cabra victim, once all the insides had been liquified and eaten by the demon. Which made me wonder if maybe this was just a result of my diet.

“You…you said you fed me Arakna’cabra guts. The yellow slimy stuff, right?”

“Yes, master,” Wren said seriously, still sounding tense in my embrace like she was in trouble. “There weren’t really any other options.”

“R-Right,” I agreed, realizing that the elf girl was now supporting quite a bit of my weight as I leaned into her.

“What are you thinking?” Eliza asked seriously. “That maybe this is a result of eating their insides? Maybe some of their venom was involved, and you healed before it got too severe, but it still killed off a layer of your skin?”

“I…I don’t know,” I admitted, only to focus on Wren again. “You said you put a Monster Core in me, right? It wasn’t an Arakna’cabra core…was it?”

She focused up at me, her expression serious. “No master. I don’t think that would have helped. If anything, it might have killed you more.”

“Killed me…more…” I shook my head, just feeling nauseous to realize that Eliza was holding what was apparently my old skin. Fuck, I needed to get a grip.

Obviously, I was fine.

And obviously, the skin I currently had was fine and normal.

Clearly, Wren had used some very unconventional methods to keep me alive, and very clearly those methods had both a positive and negative effect on my health. Possibly what Eliza suggested was really true. Wren fed me some Arakna’cabra guts that had venom in it, and my ‘Regeneration’ skill activated, both healing me of the venom before it got too bad, while also waking me up. Of course, the only way that really made sense was if ingesting Arakna’cabra venom was less potent than getting it directly injected through a fang, but it could be a reasonable explanation.

If anything, that might be exactly what happened.

Either way, I needed to focus on Wren right now, because she was the reason for all this. The reason for me being alive at all. Watching over someone for fifteen years was a ton of work. She could have abandoned me at any time.

Taking a deep breath, I put more of my weight on my own two feet and focused down at her.

“Wren, thank you for showing me your favorite thing.”

She grimaced at that, sensing there was more to come. “Y-You’re welcome…master.”

“I won’t make you leave it here,” I added with a sigh.

Her slitted crimson eyes widened at that.

I continued. “But I do have a question. If you did have to choose, would you want me? Or your favorite thing? Or perhaps what I’m really asking is…is that truly your favorite? Or am I your favorite?”

She focused up at me in alarm, tightening her embrace. “You are most important,” she said in no uncertain terms. She then grimaced. “I…I guess I knew it wasn’t okay for me to take it. But…I wanted to show you. How much I…” She buried her face against my chest, her voice somewhat muffled. “How much you mean to me, master.”

I suspected I knew what she really wanted to say, but was just too embarrassed to confess her feelings, with Eliza echoing my thoughts about the situation when I focused on her amethyst gaze.

“Just a normal girl,” she said simply.

I nodded in agreement, my tone reassuring as I spoke to the short elf girl. “It’s alright, Wren. You can say what you really mean.”

She tightened her embrace, her face still buried, beginning to tremble. “I…master, I love you. More than anything.”

“You’re mine forever,” I replied sincerely, knowing that she was smart enough to be aware that reciprocating her feelings wasn’t possible in this moment when I’d literally just met her barely half a day ago. Nevertheless, my own show of commitment was clearly meaningful to her, even as I continued, my tone a bit more playful. “In a way, you’re also my second betrothed, after Eliza, and now that I’ve given you my surname, you’re also sort of my first wife.”

Immediately, Wren focused up at me with an awed expression, her slitted red eyes hopeful despite the fact she still had tears wetting her cheeks. She then almost instantly giggled cheerfully. “Tee-hee! I’m your first wife!” she sang.

“Umm, yep,” I offered, again just surprised by how quickly her mood changed. “Try to keep your excitement down for now though,” I quickly added when she looked like she was about to pull away to start dancing and singing again. “We’re still trying to keep this a secret from the other team.”

“Yes,” Eliza interjected. “And perhaps it is time we get out of here.”

Wren nodded, her tone cheerful. “Okay! I’m master’s wife, so I’ll do whatever he wants! Tee-hee!” she giggled, only to begin skipping away in the direction we’d come.

Mel, Eliza, and I all glanced at each other, only to focus on the discarded skin, as if we were all a little surprised she was leaving it behind so easily, before silently seeming to agree that we weren’t going to bring it up.

We kind of needed Wren to be willing to leave it behind, and she’d clearly moved on at this point, so no need to point it out to her again.

This was a new step in her life – really a new one in all our lives – and all of us were ready to escape this place and get back to the outside world.

I just hoped and prayed that when we left, not too much time had passed.

For there were many reasons why it might be very bad…if the Delanor kingdom had moved on with a new Ruler.

Many reasons.

Wasting no time getting back to the others, no one asked questions as we resumed heading down the corridor where we’d left them, supposedly now heading directly for the final room.

However, before we even got there, a loud echoing noise caused us all to freeze solid, Ruhmul, Muneg, Shevra, Sylvia, Eliza, Astaer, Celestine, Mel, and Val all stopping in sync with me, listening to the thunderous reverberation.

A sound like massive boulders rubbing against each other…

Or massive stone doors…

Beginning to close!

My heart immediately jumped into my throat, and I took off before I even got a word out, reaching out blindly to grab Eliza by the wrist and then Mel’s hand, screaming at the top of my lungs as I did so.

“RUN!”

FEEDBACK: Tell me what you think, before you read the next chapter!

1. When you read Wren’s section, did you ‘guess’ what she had found?

2. And now that you know for sure what the possession is, what do you think about it?

3. Any thoughts about Mel and her weapon? And it's blessing, etc.

Reason why I ask this is because Combat Healer got 'review bombed:'

(It's rated 4.4, which is decent, but Amazon usually won't recommend a book that is under 4.5, and a story this good should be rated at least 4.5, same as IDH, if not 4.6 or 4.7 -- the issue is the 'review bombing' that happened in the first week of its release, and those 1-star and 2-stars, often left without a written review, hurt the average really bad)

So, if you haven't already, please don't forget to leave a rating on Combat Healer (on Amazon), even if you don't plan on buying it (just say you read it on Patreon).

Ratings on Book 1 are especially important, since Book 1 ratings determine whether or not someone will even check out the entire series. Thanks!

Chapter 26 >>

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