Combat Healer Ch. 28 (Patreon)

January 1, 2023

NOTE: Happy New Years!

This will actually be the end of Book 2, although I won't be putting it on Amazon for a few months. But let me know what you think of how it ends!

<< Chapter 27 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 15 (Book 2)

- CHAPTER 28: Power -

Present Day

A mature elf woman, with black hair and purple eyes, rode on the back of a mighty beast high in the air with two of her elf scouts, the lands of her kingdom rapidly flying beneath them, the capital of her domain rapidly growing larger in her sight.

She was pissed.

Beyond enraged.

Yet she knew all the anger in the world wouldn’t overcome this obstacle created by the treacherous men in her kingdom. Without a doubt, if the Trial of Resolve had already begun, then there was only one way to reclaim the throne attempting to be stolen from her. Especially since that implied that the nobles may have been convinced that she was now unworthy of the crown, enough so that they didn’t even wait a few days to see if she would return, instead beginning the process soon after her departure. Leaving her with only one option to reclaim her authority.

By conquering the Trial of Resolve once again.

It wouldn’t be easy, but she was confident in her success.

For, as resolved as she had once been, when she thought her love lost…

How much more resolved would she now be to protect what had been found again.

She’d never give up.

Never.

No matter how confused her mind became, she’d persist.

Forever.

They couldn’t make her quit.

They wouldn’t make her yield.

Nine days?

Ha!

She’d last at least ten this time!

It would feel like an eternity.

Even just three days felt like an eternity, which was why none had lasted beyond three, aside from her.

But she remembered what it was like last time. Remembered how she suffered in that eternity with no desire for the suffering to end, only for the pain in her heart to end. And now that she could imagine the loss she would experience, should she fail, and should she lose her love again, she knew holding onto that feeling would allow her to persevere.

She would persevere.

She would conquer.

And then, once she’d reclaimed the throne, she’d have her revenge.

For, she was at the pinnacle of power.

And all who dared oppose her rule would be made aware of her strength.

Starting right now.

The entire kingdom would be made aware of her arrival, and tremble in fear of her wrath.

Holding up her hand, a crackling of electricity signaled the activation of her rare and powerful skill. One that would use all her stored essence, something she wouldn’t need for these trials anyway, but also one that would reveal the authority of their Queen.

And so, her rare skill activated.

‘MASS CAST!’

‘LIGHTNING BOLT!’

Instantly, hundreds of lightning strikes filled the skies all at once, the power of an entire violent storm erupting out of the heavens without warning, hours-worth of natural lightning strikes illuminating the morning sky all at once, blotting out the rising sun with their collective light.

So many strikes of lightning that they twisted in the skies amongst themselves, generating a massive synergy of current as they fed into each other, the group of violent bolts lasting far longer than one alone would have survived, engulfing the entire sky in a blinding light unlike no other.

The sun couldn’t shine as bright as the sky now became, not even in the middle of the day.

And before the light even began to dim, a cascading cacophony of thunder shook the capital walls below, the people screaming, animals panicking, a rage of noise engulfing the entire kingdom in every direction.

The kingdom of Ryfle, the border barely visible in the far distance, would even feel her rage.

Would experience her power.

And all would know.

‘The Queen…has returned.’

‘May her enemies tremble in terror.’

* * *

The sun was just beginning to rise as Wren, Mel, Val, and I all departed from our camp with our half of the supplies, the abandoned resources split with the top team.

However, we didn’t get far, barely making it out of the thick brush into a massive prairie of grass, when the skies unexpectedly opened up and filled with what looked like thousands of simultaneous lightning strikes.

We all froze solid, feeling like the world was unexpectedly coming to an end out of nowhere, only for all of us to slam our hands over our ears as our very bones shook with thunder unlike anything I’d experienced in my entire life.

By the time the light dimmed, and the sounds were only deafening echoes booming off the mountains surrounding the Atacama valley, we all found ourselves crouched on the ground, having instinctively dropped for cover in fear of what felt like our impending doom.

Having no idea what could have caused such a violent force of nature to spawn from nothing, I came to the only conclusion I could think of.

That Queen Eliza, an SSS Tier Electric Specialist, had just announced her return to the capital.

Fuck, just thinking about it suddenly made me realize I’d be walking on eggshells around her right now, if she were here. That’s how crazy scary the display of power had been.

I still felt shook, my heart racing.

My beloved was definitely not someone anyone should want to find themselves on the bad side of. Which meant, I could only imagine what those who had plotted against her must think.

Perhaps she’d made a few of them even piss themselves in fear.

Needless to say, we all needed a few minutes to recover, before we got moving again.

Walking through the grassy fields, jumping over creeks and making our way southeast.

I was well accustomed to traveling on foot, having a fairly decent idea of how far it would take to get to most places in the kingdom without the use of a horse. In this case, since the Oni village of Aranthar was just beyond the Atacama valley, toward the south, closer to the northwestern border of Ryfle, we would likely be there by the end of the day.

We talked a little on the way there, though we didn’t discuss anything overly important in the process. Mel did start by asking how I was doing, given the situation, and I answered honestly.

I didn’t know.

On the one hand, there was literally nothing I could do as a Healer, and honestly nothing I could do even if I were a powerful Fighter instead. And while I had previously suggested that Wren could defeat an entire army by herself, in reality, I couldn’t actually have her try to take on the entire Elf Guard on her own. Not to mention, there was also Eliza to consider.

I knew it wasn’t what she wanted.

If I had Wren kill her people to try to save her from this situation, she might not forgive me.

It was a trial of her people, one which she took willingly, and I really had no right to ask her not to go through with it, assuming it was even required of her.

Because honestly, I didn’t have all the facts.

Maybe they thought she was dead, and her showing up would immediately put the trials to an end. She would reclaim her crown without having to endure the Trial of Resolve herself. Or maybe someone could only claim the throne if they beat her previous attempt of nine days. Perhaps that’s exactly why this happened, because she was assumed dead.

The throne assumed empty.

I might be worried about nothing.

Either way, she was a grown woman, literally a century older than me, and could make her own decisions. Not that I’d be able to defend her anyway, if those decisions turned out poorly.

Dammit.

I was thankful to be a Healer, but it was times like this when I wished I could do more than simply heal.

More than simply stand around while others fought.

To truly be a Combat Healer in the literal sense – one that could heal and fight.

If only…

Unfortunately, such realities didn’t exist.

As a man, I was already physically strong for a Healer, though probably not the strongest, since I’d seen a few Oni women who had the Shaman Focus and were definitely larger than me. So really, I had no reason to complain, even though it still sucked.

After talking briefly about it, Mel dropped the subject, and we spoke of more casual topics while we walked, keeping up a steady quick pace as a group. Some of the time, Wren actually walked with us like a normal person, and other times she got distracted by something and got left behind for a while, before she caught back up with ease.

Having basically infinitely regenerating stamina, she probably could have run the entire way without tiring.

The rest of us had to pace ourselves, though I was pleased to see that Val was more than able to keep up the speed I was setting, clearly having plenty of endurance, even if she wasn’t overly fast if she tried sprinting.

I suspected her huge tits held her back some, only in the sense that it was probably awkward for her to run with them wanting to bounce around all over the place, even despite the tight brown leather holding them firmly together.

After about an hour, Val finally admitted that she would appreciate it if the rest of us would have a meal from her tits.

Mel and I were both happy to oblige her, Wren currently off playing in a creek, and while we both sucked on a tit, Val admitted that it would be best if we drank her milk at least every six hours, if not every four hours, including at nighttime, in order to keep her production up. Something that we technically could have done in the tent in the middle of the night, in secret, had we thought of it.

Mel and I both agreed to be more mindful of her needs in the future, but also asking that she be unashamed to make this kind of request, since this new routine would probably take some time getting used to.

Val apologized unnecessarily while we sucked, realizing it was a bit unreasonable for her to expect us to be the one to prompt a meal.

I had to admit, I was extremely turned on when she promised to put us on a feeding schedule, especially since the act of sucking on her tits together with Mel was an extremely intimate experience for all three of us.

With both of us kneeling, I had one hand on Mel’s muscular leather-clad ass while I used my other hand to give Val’s tit a squeeze here and there, making the last of the milk flow freely into my mouth.

We had a Dungeon to conquer though, with me wanting to get back to the capital as soon as possible, so after Val’s tits had been healed of their discomfort, we resumed our journey.

The sunny day was undeniably peaceful.

I was still worried about the future, of course, but I couldn’t help but enjoy the wilderness around us. The Atacama valley was undeniably a pleasant area to visit. It had horrible violent storms on occasion, the trading route technically shared jointly between kingdoms, but a place with very warm weather throughout the year. And the sun felt great against my skin, the breeze gentle and comforting.

However, I didn’t think much of it, beyond the superficial, until Mel spoke up again, her face turned toward the sun.

“Wow, I can really feel my skills working. I’ve never felt this amazing before. Not in my entire life.”

“Oh yeah,” I said in surprise as I focused on her. “You did get several skills related to that, didn’t you? Phoenix Blessing and Sunlight Absorption. They both bolster your stamina and essence during the day.”

“Yep,” she said cheerfully. “Although, I’m not sure when I’ll ever need some of these spells. They are kind of overkill.”

“Like what?” I wondered, recalling that she’d learned Soaring Phoenix, Phoenix Arrow, Phoenix Judgement, and a spell called ASHES TO ASHES.

She frowned. “Like, all of them. Like Phoenix Arrow, for example. It’s similar to Val’s Essence Arrow, probably not as powerful, but I’m not sure why I’d need to use that when a Fireball would work just as well. Same with my Flame Daggers.”

I nodded, deciding to use my Eye of the Goddess to take a look at her spells again.

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SPELL: Phoenix Arrow

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 1/1

Element: Fire

Cost: 1 Essence

Effect: Manifest an arrow of fire to strike down enemies. Inflict Burning Ailment.

Attack: 400 (Piercing)

Cast Time: Instant

Use Time: 20 seconds

Cooldown: None

Limitation: None (Intelligence: 22)

State: Bound (Melantha Murta’rahg)

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Sure enough, it was very powerful.

A standard sword was only a 200 Attack bonus of Slashing damage, while a standard ‘Essence Infused’ arrow was often about the same, just of Piercing damage.

An Attack of 400 was about double the power of a standard arrow, which was less overkill than Val’s Essence Arrows, but still kind of overkill for most monsters. I could understand how Mel felt, but at the same time, right now in the sunlight it was only costing 1 Essence, the same as her maxed-out Fireball spell. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would cost her inside a Dungeon, wondering if it would still only cost 1 Essence due to the Phoenix Blessing skill, but she might as well cast this spell if it was going to cost the same.

However, the general thought got me thinking, because Val’s arrows truly were overkill for the vast majority of situations. I had to also remember that she learned her spells unconventionally, without training from anyone.

She’d do well to have more arrows at weaker power.

Especially since her current Essence Arrows cost 6 Essence each.

“Hey Val,” I commented, focusing on her as we walked. “Can you try to practice casting your Essence Arrows, but make them weaker? Try to only use 1 Essence for an arrow, instead of 6 Essence.”

Her purple eyes focused on me in surprise, sharply contrasted against her tan face and straw-blonde hair, only for her brow to furrow with Determination as she immediately began doing so.

In the meantime, I returned my focus back to Mel, inspecting her other spells, quickly realizing that Phoenix Judgement was actually similar to Val’s Barrage spell.

Except, instead of creating only 7 Arrows that were impossibly powerful, Mel was essentially creating 50 Arrows that were a more normal strength. Like an entire volley of arrows released from an army of Archers.

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SPELL: Phoenix Judgement

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 1/1

Element: Fire

Cost: 1 Essence per Arrow (Inherited)

Effect: Manifest up to 50 Arrows and strike down nearby enemies. Inflict Burning Ailment.

Attack: 400 (Piercing)

Cast Time: Instant

Use Time: 12 seconds

Limitation: None (Intelligence: 22)

State: Bound (Melantha Murta’rahg)

----------------------------------------

And then, there was the mysterious ASHES TO ASHES…

Everything was Unknown, similar to how her weapon had been when I first tried to examine it.

I decided to ask.

“Do you know what Ashes to Ashes does?” I wondered.

Mel grimaced at that. “No, not really. But feels kind of like…world ending. Again, not something I feel like I’d want to ever use. Not when I can just cut everything with my scythe.”

I nodded. “And what about Soaring Phoenix?”

Surprisingly, her grimaced deepened. “I think it would let me fly, but I’m scared to use it.”

My eyebrows raised. “What? Why? That sounds like it would be awesome.”

She scoffed. “At least with Rising Phoenix, I know I’ll make it back to the ground safely, but with Soaring Phoenix, if I run out of essence, then I’m a goner. I’ll smack right into the ground like a squashed mosquito.”

I frowned at that. “Well, if you were going to try it out, now would be the time to do it,” I suggested. “While the sun is up,” I clarified.

Mel looked away, her grip tight on her black metal staff on her rosy tattooed shoulder. “I’ll conserve my strength,” she hedged. “Maybe after we defeat this Dungeon, I’ll consider it.”

Clearly, the idea made her uncomfortable.

I decided to let it go, seeing no reason to push her, feeling confident she’d use the spell if she really needed it for some reason. My gaze then shifted to the inky markings covering the sides of her arms, shifting my gaze to the vine-like pattern visible on the sides of her waist, running down beyond her leather pants.

“You look really hot, by the way. With the new look.”

Her gold eyes widened in surprise, only for her to grin widely, stepping closer to throw her arm around my neck, pulling my face against her firm tits. “Think so?” she said playfully.

I was about to respond, but then Val spoke up after firing off another arrow.

“Master,” she said simply.

Mel let me right myself as we both focused on her.

“One Essence,” she explained, beginning to form another arrow.

I used my Eye of the Goddess to perceive its nature.

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SPELL: Essence Arrow

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 5/5

Element: Light/Electric (Hybrid)

Cost: 1 Essence

Effect: Manifest an arrow of light and lightning to strike down enemies. Small chance to inflict Essence Poisoning. Small chance to inflict Paralysis.

Attack: 800 (Piercing)

Cast Time: Instant

Use Time: 10 seconds

Cooldown: None

Limitation: None (Intelligence: 19)

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Damn.

On the one hand, reducing the cost by six times actually reduced its strength by exactly tenfold, indicating she got more power out of using 6 Essence, compared to only 1 Essence. And yet Val’s spell was still twice as powerful as Mel’s arrows, probably because this was dual-element, being a good four times as powerful as a regular arrow.

Overall, Val’s arrows only lasted ten seconds, half the time as Mel’s arrows, but that was plenty of time to hit the target in most cases.

But the biggest change was in her Barrage spell.

Before, she could only create 7 powerful arrows, but under these conditions, she could create quite a few more.

Six times as many, from the looks of it.

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SPELL: Barrage

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 3/5

Element: Light/Electric (Hybrid)

Cost: 1 Essence per Arrow (Inherited)

Effect: Manifest up to 42 Arrows and strike down nearby enemies. Small chance to inflict Essence Poisoning. Small chance to inflict Paralysis.

Attack: 800 (Piercing)

Cast Time: Instant

Use Time: 10 seconds

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Limitation: None (Intelligence: 19)

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No doubt she could adjust both of these spells by just changing how much essence was involved in each arrow, but this was a huge improvement. It gave her a lot more flexibility with her essence in battle now. Made her very strong against both large numbers of weaker enemies, that might otherwise overwhelm her, as well as strong against individual beasts that were more powerful.

“Good job, Val,” I praised. “Your Barrage spell should be able to create over forty of those arrows now.”

Her purple eyes widened in surprise, focusing on Mel’s big grin.

“Overkill, huh?” she said playfully.

Val simply nodded in disbelief.

“Although, your arrows were already overkill,” Mel added.

“Kind of interesting though,” I admitted, prompting them both to focus on me. “Just your weapon,” I clarified. “You’re a battlemage, but you have fire arrows now. Yet your staff doesn’t strike me as being made for an Archer.”

Mel shrugged. “Well, a phoenix is a bird, and feathers are kind of like arrows, so maybe it’s like I’m raining feathers down with my Phoenix Judgement spell.”

“Maybe,” I offered. “Either way, I feel confident about our team’s strength. If I can get Wren to work together with the rest of us, then we’ll have all the positions covered. Especially if she can take up the front, while you two focus on spells.”

Mel frowned. “Honestly, I can fight a lot longer if I use my scythe. Keeping the blade active is much less of a drain on me than using my spells.”

I considered that, realizing she had a point. And with a blade that could cut through virtually anything, it was definitely the smarter use of her essence. I was just very well aware of how devastating Wren could be if unleashed down a Dungeon tunnel.

Nothing would stand a chance.

Honestly, maybe Dungeon Diving wouldn’t be so bad with her around.

I’d just let her loose, let her have all the fun she wanted killing everything in sight, and the rest of us would just take a leisurely stroll to the final room. Might not have to fight much at all in most situations.

Might even get to the point where Mel was begging Wren to leave her a few things to kill herself, something that was amusing to just think about. Still, I had no problem agreeing to the basic setup of Mel taking the front, and Val focusing on support with her less costly arrows. My busty Holstaur could also protect me as needed, and I knew Wren would always have my back.

As we walked, we continued to discuss little things here and there, but otherwise just enjoyed the day. Wren continued to make an appearance about every hour, often just to give me an unexpected hug while saying, ‘Love you, husband,’ before taking off again, while the rest of us kept up our steady pace.

It was obvious Wren had taken my words to heart about her being my first official wife.

We stopped for lunch, Val’s tits on the menu again, and then resumed walking.

Mel said she noticed a difference in how she felt the moment the sun was the highest in the sky, feeling like all her fire magic just dramatically got more powerful, if only for a few seconds, only to comment about how it began feeling as the sun passed its apex, that sensation disappearing as well.

By the time it was nearing evening, low clouds starting to hide the lower sunlight, she was repeatedly making remarks about how she was beginning to miss how amazing it felt all day. Of course, she was still just as strong as ever, but the sun gave her an extreme boost that left her energized in a way she’d never been before.

By that point, we’d technically left the Atacama valley, with the Mohave Gorge south of us, not far from where I’d grown up. In fact, we were basically in the region where Eliza’s caravan was attacked by monsters all those years ago, the fateful event that led us to meeting, and subsequently getting trapped in the Dungeon together.

I knew from an earlier conversation with my Red Oni girlfriend that we actually weren’t too far away from where Mel grew up too, probably not more than another day’s travel to the southwest, but she didn’t comment on it as we continued to aim for our goal that was a little more west.

There were a lot of trees around now, though that didn’t stop me from seeing the Dungeon when we stumbled upon it.

Kind of hard to miss, since it wasn’t far from the path we’d taken.

A perfectly circular opening in the trees, as if someone had cut away all the branches of the dense vegetation, a darkness far deeper than the surrounding forest just beyond. And a little further in the distance, I saw the edge of a farm that was no doubt a part of the Oni village I’d tried to save several years ago.

When I stopped, both of them focused on me, Mel sounding concerned.

“Do you want to visit?” she wondered, readjusting the pack she carried on her shoulders. “I’m sure they’d be very happy to know the truth. That you’re the one who saved them.”

I sighed heavily as I focused on the Dungeon opening again, readjusting my pack too.

I then shook my head. “After we conquer the Dungeon, maybe we can stop by. But I’m not sure if I want them to know,” I admitted.

Mel reached out to intertwine her rosy fingers in mine. “How come?” she asked sympathetically.

I sighed. “Partially, because I want to get back to the capital as soon as possible, and this already might take a week to conquer, depending on what kinds of monsters are within, and how slow we have to progress.” I grimaced. “And also, because I didn’t do it for the praise. I’m glad that they might truly be alive, that I really did save them, but I don’t feel like being celebrated right now.”

Mel sighed heavily. “Allie,” she said quietly.

I focused on her in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

She was giving me an affectionate look. “I love you,” she said sincerely.

I gave her a small smile.

“Me too, master,” Val agreed, stepping to my other side to grab my free hand. “You are a very special person to me, and I truly love you.”

I gave her a wider smile. “Thanks.”

“Me too, husband!” Wren unexpectedly chirped from behind us, dropping down from a tree.

I rolled my eyes at her, the other two smirking.

I took a deep breath. “Well, let’s conquer this Dungeon then.”

“Let’s,” Mel agreed, letting go of my hand to hold her weapon at the ready.

With Wren now walking with us, we all stepped into the eerily circular hole in the vegetation and walked deeper into the forest, a forest with outcroppings of stone that grew larger and larger, until it was truly a Dungeon tunnel as I would expect, just full of a lot of branches and vegetation.

I couldn’t help but look back at the opening, verifying we could still leave, before pressing on deeper.

But, it was obvious this was a completely normal Dungeon.

It didn’t feel like the other one at all, and we should be able to leave at any time.

As planned, Mel took up the lead with her blade illuminated, lighting our path, Val stayed close to my side, her purple eyes searching around for signs of a threat, and Wren kind of did whatever she wanted, darting around as she explored the fairly wide area immediately surrounding us.

After being in so many Dungeons with Turg, Dagru, Shel, and Jackel, I honestly did feel really confident that we had a solid team, especially since Jackel and I often were just along for the trip, our skills only being needed on occasion.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t fully prepared mentally for the kind of monster we were going to encounter. Nor did I anticipate that we’d been surrounded by them all along.

In a Dungeon, there were usually two types of situations.

Most Dungeons had very large monsters that all had to be cleared out before defeating the final room, in order to guarantee that the Dungeon would close after a few days. However, there were also Dungeons of smaller monsters that involved so many that it was pointless to even try killing them all, making it best to just find the boss to defeat.

The latter of which, was this Dungeon.

Wren was the first to realize it, having silently climbed up higher once she got bored of exploring the area on the ground.

She dropped down fairly far away and ran up to me, holding two halves of a creature in her hands, it’s dark red blood oozing all over the ground as she held the pieces up.

“Master, what’s this?” she said cheerfully. “There’s a whole bunch of them hanging above us.”

My eyes widened in alarm.

Similar to a Gryphon, it was a creature that was best identified by the individual parts it resembled. Covered in midnight fur, it was like an elongated black cat with bat-like wings instead of front legs, having clawed hind feet that more resembled a bird, coupled with an extremely poofy black tail that was far thicker than one would expect, given the creature’s overall size, as if it was meant to belong to a racoon instead.

Honestly, it did kind of look like a combination of a black housecat with a bat, having a very feline face, except it was far more sinister than either.

The name of this creature?

A Voice Reaper.

Something I’d never seen in person, but once read about, knowing it had been a very long time since anyone had stumbled into a Dungeon with these horrible monsters within. Even as small as they were compared to most monsters, only being about as large as a fox or small dog, they always aimed for the throat, often overwhelming their prey in sheer numbers, and would then mimic their dying victim’s cries for help, in order to lure more prey to meet their fate.

Hence, the name.

Voice Reaper.

And before I could even say anything, we all stiffened as a young woman cried out to us in the distance. Shrieking in a panic.

“Help! Someone help me!”

Val’s eyes flew open wide, and I barely grabbed her arm before she started running, immediately holding my finger to my mouth before she could complain. Mel’s eyes were wide, seeming to have recognized the creature too.

“Is that…a Fildae’rop’tera?” she hissed in disbelief.

I honestly didn’t know the Oni name for this creature, so I ignored the question, pulling Val in closer so I could speak quietly. “It’s a Voice Reaper. That scream just now was probably from one of these creatures. It can mimic speech perfectly. It lures people in by mimicking the cries of those it’s killed.”

Val covered her mouth with both hands. “So horrible,” she whispered.

“They are horrible,” I agreed. “And they hunt in massive packs. We need to avoid stirring them up, because they could quickly overwhelm our group. They don’t attack like normal monsters. They’ll always try to go for your neck. One bite in the throat, and you’ll be overrun in seconds. The smell of blood makes them go into a frenzy. It would be like being attacked by a hundred foxes at once. Or a hundred wildcats.”

Mel’s gold eyes were wide. “Should we just leave and come back later? Do you know when they normally sleep?”

I frowned as I considered that, realizing she must think they’d wake up soon.

From what I remembered, they actually hibernated to conserve their energy unless they got really hungry, or unless they smelled blood. Clearly not their own blood though, since Wren had just brought one bitten in half. They would then swarm their prey, eat their fill, and go back to hibernating.

There was only one exception to that pattern.

Another creature that was very similar in appearance, but far larger, that could spur them into hunting.

Something called a Balphor.

Just as legendary as the Gryphon, except a monster instead of animal, it was a beast that was supposedly ten times larger.

I wasn’t even sure if it was real though, since there was so little information about it, at least in the book I’d read. One theory was that the Voice Reapers were actually the smaller spawn of the Balphor, much like a hive of ants with a queen, but there was really no basis for that hypothesis, especially when these creatures had features more resembling animals, instead of insects.

Either way, I wasn’t sure that leaving and coming back later would make this dive any safer. Especially not when we’d probably have to make camp in here either way. Likely for several days, at least.

I focused on Mel. “They shouldn’t wake up as long as they don’t smell our blood. They don’t wake up at night like bats. It’s probably going to take several days to find the final room either way, so it would be best to just defeat whatever boss is at the end of this, so we can leave. These little demons shouldn’t be able to leave once the Dungeon is conquered, even if the gate is still open.”

Mel and Val both nodded.

Another scream cried out in the distance, this time a young man who sounded like he was about to be slaughtered.

“Help! Someone help!”

We all shivered at the sound.

Wren grinned.

I gave her a firm look. “No waking them up, okay? You promised Eliza to keep me safe, and you can’t do that if a hundred of these pests attack me at once.”

Her expression dropped. “Okay master,” she said somberly.

“Good girl,” I praised, gesturing with my chin for Mel to resume leading the way.

She did so, her scythe lighting up again for the light, looking up more now, since it was clear the little beasts were clinging to the branches and stones above us. I didn’t have sharp eyes like an elf, so I couldn’t see how many there were, but Wren reassured me that there were a lot of them. All sleeping.

I hoped to keep it that way.

Getting attacked by one large feral cat with wings was bad enough, but being swarmed by potentially hundreds of them, all trying to get at the neck, would be a real nightmare. By far, this was a more dangerous dive than I was initially anticipating.

Problem was, it would be dangerous no matter what. Even if I was with my old team.

I started formulating a plan, my voice quiet as we walked.

“Okay, my Stun spell only lasts a couple of seconds, and it has a ten second cooldown per target, but there’s almost no limit to how quickly I can cast it on multiple targets nearby. However, it won’t be much help if we are swarmed by hundreds of Voice Reapers.” I raised my voice a little. “Mel, you have Fire Immunity now, which means you can basically wrap yourself in fire magic to protect yourself.”

She glanced back at me in surprise as she let that sink in…

Only to nod confidently.

I continued, glancing to my side. “Val, I need you to practice something for me, alright?”

“Master?” she whispered, moving a little closer, so that her wide hip was rubbing against mine as we walked.

I lowered my voice more. “I’ve noticed that your spells have a small chance to cause Essence Poisoning, as well as Paralysis. That means you might be able to learn spells that directly cause those ailments. Between the two, Paralysis comes from the electrical element of your attacks and would be easier to learn. I want you to put your hand on my shoulder and try to stun me with your essence. With any luck, you might learn Stun or Paralysis.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered in surprise.

“Val, trust me when I say I’ve been through worse. And I need you to learn this spell, if at all possible. If you want to be able to defend me and yourself, then you need something that can help prevent us from being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. These creatures are as heavy as a small dog, and they’ll sink their claws into you without hesitation when they swarm. All it would take is a few dozen to drop a grown Oni man to the ground. And only about half a minute to bleed him out with their fangs.”

Her purple eyes were wide in fear.

“I’m sorry,” I added sincerely. “I realize this probably isn’t what you had in mind when joining me as a Scourge Suppressor. It’s not always this dangerous, but it still is a dangerous livelihood, overall.”

Her brow immediately furrowed, her amethyst eyes flashing with Determination.

“No, I will be useful to my husband,” she hissed, grabbing my shoulder tightly.

I couldn’t help but smile, already feeling her trying.

We fell silent then, Val concentrating at the task I’d given her as I essentially guided her now, though with no immediate success. Which wasn’t surprising, since learning a new spell was usually very difficult. Astonishingly, Wren stayed close now after mentioning her promise to Eliza, no longer exploring like she’d been doing, though seeming relaxed.

She wasn’t nearly as tense as the rest of us were.

Unfortunately, it felt like Val’s attempts were actually having an effect on me.

I had to ask her to stop for a few minutes, beginning to feel…weird.

Off.

Mel stopped when I brought it up.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked seriously, her rosy shoulders tense.

I nodded, glancing down when Wren took my hand and started examining it like she found it interesting all of a sudden. “Umm, yeah. It might be that Val is on the verge of learning Essence Poisoning,” I admitted. “Which would be great if you did,” I quickly clarified when my busty Holstaur looked alarmed that she might have made me sick. “But I think I just need a second to…” My voice trailed off as I focused on Wren, my brow furrowed as she started chewing gently on my fingers.

They focused on her too, both of them looking confused.

I was a little stunned that I didn’t at all feel uncomfortable having my fingers in her mouth, not concerned that those shark-like teeth would hurt me, even though she was chewing on me a little. If anything, I kind of liked the way it felt.

Still, her behavior was a bit odd.

“What are you doing?” I finally asked.

Wren ran her long tongue between my fingers and then frowned. “Not yet,” she mumbled.

“Not yet what?” I asked seriously.

She sighed heavily and shrugged, abruptly letting go of my hand as she began marching ahead, swinging her arms in exaggerated motion, seeming sincerely disappointed about something, but also in a good mood for some reason – a very sharp contrast.

We all glanced at each other, and then shrugged it off.

Wren was just being Wren.

Which meant, very weird.

Mel followed after her, and after a handful of minutes, I told Val to go ahead and resume her practicing.

In truth, I wasn’t really feeling any better, instead feeling a bit more weird – almost a little itchy all over – but decided the slight discomfort was no reason to put this off. Especially when it could be lifesaving if Val could learn Stun, Paralysis, or even Essence Poisoning.

Dammit, why couldn’t this truly be a normal Dungeon?

But then again, it could probably be worse.

And honestly, we might actually be able to make it through a lot faster this way, since there was really nothing hindering us from walking straight to the final room. Shoot, if we were lucky, then it was possible we might not even have to camp in here at all.

I mean, usually the monsters were strong enough that we might be in a Dungeon for a couple of weeks simply because we had to fight regularly, slowly clearing it out day-by-day. And while I was sure there might be some interesting Artifacts in this Dungeon, I wasn’t at all interested in exploring it.

Not under these conditions.

Not even if I was with my old team.

Too dangerous, and I had other places I wanted to be anyway.

Like back at the capital.

So yeah, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, so long as we could just avoid drawing the attention of the hundreds, if not thousands, of horrible demonic cats waiting to swarm and prey on us. Which meant, when a young woman screamed very close by, we all froze solid, before proceeding much more slowly.

“Please! Please help me!” she shrieked.

Wren’s sharp eyes could see the beast that was screaming.

Its eyes were closed, as if it were talking in its sleep.

We didn’t pick up the pace again until the occasional panicked scream was far behind us.

“It sounds so real,” Val finally whispered, her hand tense on my shoulder. “I would swear it was a real person.”

“It unfortunately came from a real person,” I admitted.

Val didn’t respond.

I could feel her focused on continuing to try to learn a new spell.

I still felt off, but she didn’t seem to be making it worse now.

Wren grabbed my hand a few times and kissed it, but otherwise we proceeded normally in the darkness.

It took a very long time for an obvious branch in the path to appear.

There had been plenty of nooks and crannies, but not a definite second direction to go.

“Which way?” Mel wondered.

I glanced down at Wren when she grabbed my hand, and pointed to the right.

“Your Intuition of the Goddess skill?” I assumed.

She shrugged. “I dunno,” she replied in that adorable tone.

I sighed. “As good direction as any.”

Mel nodded and took the right path.

Val continued trying to learn a new spell.

My body felt more weird.

I started to wonder if having Val practice on me was really a good idea after all. But I felt like she was so close. Still, when she finally had to get out an Essence Crystal to eat it, I was relieved to have the break. We also decided to have a meal too, considering it had been a while since the last time we drank from her breasts.

Wren cheerfully joined in this time, promising Val that she wouldn’t bite her.

And sure enough, Wren was very good at using her full gray lips to suck greedily.

Hard enough that she had Val’s tan face flushing.

It was getting pretty late, so we considered making camp, but Wren was adamant about going a little deeper in, before stopping. I again asked her if it was because of her Intuition of the Goddess skill, and she again said she didn’t know.

I was feeling really uneasy though.

I felt like my skin was crawling, and I was almost beginning to feel dizzy.

Val was no longer practicing on me, and I hadn’t suggested she should, just trying to figure out what was wrong with me now. I couldn’t afford to be unwell, since I was the backbone of the team. There were a lot of situations where the others wouldn’t survive long without my healing, and this was a painfully perfect example.

I tried casting Heal on myself, but it did nothing to ease the sensation.

I tried Greater Healing, but it did nothing.

It was just as we entered a widening space that I reached up to scratch my itchy cheek, only to freeze solid when it felt like something was tugging on my fingers.

I looked down in distress, followed immediately by my eyes widening in horror.

My skin…

My skin was coming off my fingers.

Fingers that were pitch-black, my pale skin was hanging off it like I’d been skinned alive.

The sight made me nauseous and I immediately fell to my knees.

“Master!” Val yelled in concern, the noise echoing loudly in the cavernous space before us that was clearly much larger than we initially assumed.

Followed immediately by a quiet noise, that was more like a whisper than a scream.

“Help me.”

Followed by another one.

“Please help me.”

“Save me. Someone save me.”

And then there were dozens upon dozens of voices all at once, rapidly growing louder.

“Help me. Save me. Papa! Mama! Save me! Help me! Mama! Please help me! Please save me!”

An entire choir of screams erupted, a deafening level of shrieks…

Only for them to immediately fall silent.

Hundreds upon hundreds of red eyes opened in the cavern.

Among those red eyes, nearly a dozen of them were far larger than the others.

Balphors.

More than one.

And yet, all I could see were the crimson eyes staring directly in front of me, Wren on her knees, her expression one of awe as she carefully reached up to my face…

And began pulling away my skin, peeling it right off.

“Master,” she whispered. “You’re molting again. You’re finally like me.”

My eyes widened in shock.

Unexpectedly, my entire body crunched as my shoulders, chest, arms, and legs abruptly swelled, tearing my pale skin to reveal thicker midnight skin beneath, my torso elongating, growing taller, as I felt my very bones thicken.

Thicken with raw power.

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NEW EVOLVED RACE: Human/Doppelganger (Hybrid)

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NEW CLASS (UNLOCKED): Hexer

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NEW FOCUS (UNLOCKED): Berserker

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NEW LEVEL THRESHOLD: 55

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NEW SPELL: Confuse

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NEW SPELL: Charm

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NEW SPELL: Inflict Curse (Plague)

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NEW SPELL: Inflict Curse (Decay)

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NEW SKILL: Transformation 1 (Human)

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NEW SKILL: Transformation 2 (Doppelganger)

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NEW SKILL: Shift

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NEW SKILL: Adapt

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NEW SKILL: Pain Immunity

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NEW SKILL: Berserk

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Wren was pulling off my shedding skin without hesitation, tearing my clothing off in the process, revealing what lie beneath.

An exact copy of myself, except no longer human, as I could see in her mind.

A gray face, midnight skin.

Bigger.

Taller.

Stronger.

Raw power.

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Allister Rosengard (Evolved)

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STATUS

Race: Human/Doppelganger (Hybrid)

Gender: Male

Age: 21

Class: Healer/Hexer

Focus: Essence Diviner/Berserker

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ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 25 (Lv. 10)

Dexterity: 21 (Lv. 9)

Fortitude: 25 (Lv. 10)

Wisdom: 24 (Lv. 10)

Intelligence: 24 (Lv. 10)

Charisma: 12 (Lv. 6)

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Total: 131

Rank: SSS+ Tier (Evolved)

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Level: 55/55

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Wren then gripped my hands tightly as my fingers began elongating into midnight claws, her tone affectionate.

“You’re a monster like me now,” she whispered intensely. “Finally. Now, let’s go be monsters together,” she said with a giggle…

Biting her gray lower lip tenderly…excitement in her slitted crimson eyes…

Her tone seductive…

“My master.”

FEEDBACK: Forgive my language, but shit is about to get ridiculously crazy in this story.

1. Thoughts on how this ended? Did you 'like' the end of this chapter? Make you feel excited or anything?

2. Did you know what might be wrong with him? Did you know that 'him being itchy' might have to do with the skin Wren found before?

3. Anything that stuck out to you?

(Also, if you have questions you want answered in a future chapter, something you are confused about, let me know.)

If you haven't already, please don't forget to leave a rating on Book 1 of 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 29 (BOOK 3) >>

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