Following Pierson through the lightly illuminated streets of Karlak, Daniel is struck by the thought that this is his first foray into the town at night. Old tales about the dangers of the city make Daniel’s hand open and close in want of his hammer. Unknown to him, Karlak is actually a very safe town as guards routinely patrol the streets looking for trouble. Regular troublemakers were sentenced to work in the Dungeon, collecting a set number of mana stones before they were released. Troublemakers and thieves would either die in the Dungeon or just became Adventurers after their term was done since the work was easier and more regular than anything they could do on the outside.

Unfortunately, Daniel knows none of this, and he continually twists his head around, peering into the shadows of alleyways and doorways as they pass expecting to be robbed. It is only Pierson’s words that distract him from his obsession. “You can heal my mum, right, Sir? Please?”

“I’ll do my best,” Daniel hesitantly promises, knowing that even his Gift has limits. Not many for sure, but the cost did increase. Still, the conversation does take his mind away from the supposed dangers of the night as they leave the center of town.

“Charles said you brought him back alive. My mum’s not dead. So you can heal her,” the child continues, pulling on Daniel’s hand to hurry him along.

“He wasn’t dead…” realising he forgot the child’s name, Daniel trails off.

Instead, he changes the subject before Pierson can continue. “Are we heading to your home?”

“No. We’re going to the Clinic!”

Even Daniel can hear the capitalization in the child’s voice, forcing him to enquire, “The Clinic?”

“Yeah, that’s where we all go. The poor. Kyra treats us all.” Pierson happily imparts his knowledge to the adult. “She’s real pretty, but she never lets me eat any sweets. And she said she couldn’t help my mum… but you can! So you’re better.”

“Kid…” Daniel trails off, shaking his head. No use trying to dissuade him and destroying the child’s hope just yet. Instead, he asks another question.

“Who’s Kyra? Is she a healer?”

“Yeah, the best. Well, other than you. Mum says she opened a clinic years ago and since then, she treats everyone, even if you’re poor. She never says no, but it’s boring going because there’s always people there,” Pierson explains.

Much of the information imparted by Pierson isn’t particularly surprising to Daniel. Healing potions and spells were expensive as materials, and experienced users were rare. Healers rarely ventured into Dungeons to gain experience faster which meant they could only increase levels by practising their craft. Unfortunately, most skills had diminishing returns in their experience gain if the same action was taken over and over again – which of course was what healers mostly did. There really wasn’t anything new to be learnt, dealing with the common cold for the hundredth time. Powerful healing spells drained mana at a significant rate, and with individual mana pools taking up to eight hours to refill, common folk rarely had access to powerful healing magics.

The rarity of healers is one reason Miles, the mine overseer, and many of his miner colleagues had tried to convince him to stay at the mining camp, or at the very least, to not waste his Gift and train to become a healer. Daniel’s healing Gift was rare and powerful, especially since it drew upon his experience and energy and thus was a source of energy separate from his mana. Daniel could have become a truly miraculous healer, able to heal using two forms of energy - along with more mundane skills. Even the Royal Healer was known to do very little actual magic-assisted healing since he would need to husband his mana in case of a sudden need for his abilities.

Still, the fact that there is a location in Karlak where the poor can find some form of healing, overworked and crowded as it might be, is a surprise.

Daniel can’t help but wonder what kind of person this Kyra was. All idle thoughts come to an end as they finally arrive at the Clinic. A weather-worn sign hangs outside with the universal symbol of healing, a crossed pair of hands with jagged lines coming from the hands to indicate an aura. The two-story building itself sprawls across two lots and is by far the best-kept building in the neighborhood with fully working windows and doorways, even if obvious signs of wear and patching are visible.

Pierson doesn’t even pause before pushing open the door and is closely followed by Daniel. Inside, what looks to be a waiting room is filled with the poorer denizens of Karlak awaiting treatment. Few even bother looking up from their seats as the child and Daniel enter, lost in their thoughts as they are.

Ailments range from simple open wounds that need stitching and broken bones to the disease ridden. Pierson doesn’t spare a glance to those inside, instead rushing to the corridor behind and leading Daniel up the stairs to a second-floor room.

In the room, a surprisingly young woman lies, wasting away. Pierson’s mother’s face is drawn, any excess fat removed, and what would have been once a beautiful face is drawn in pain. Through the room, an obnoxious stench of puss and other unmentionables permeates, making Daniel gag at the stench.

“Mum, I brought him. You’ll be fine. He’ll heal you.” Pierson’s voice comes to Daniel as he walks over, a hand landing on the young woman’s shoulder so that he may activate his Gift.

Oh, so that’s what it looks like when it’s advanced. None of the men I treated at camp ever let it get that far before they saw me. His eyes locked on her groin area as he followed the lines of infection spreading outwards and invading her body. He senses the raised temperature, body struggling to fight off the infection and failing. She will be dead in a few days if I do nothing.

“Why are you waiting? Come on. Heal her.” Almost stamping his feet in impatience, Pierson pushes at Daniel’s leg. Then, a trace of fear crosses his voice as he realises where the young Adventurer is looking, the young child’s voice beginning to tremble, “You aren’t not going to heal her are you? Because she’s a… a… whore?”

Shaken by the child’s voice, Daniel pulls himself away from the mother to look at Pierson. “It’s not that, kid. I just needed to know what I was healing first. My magic isn’t like the others… I need to understand what I’m going to fix before I can do it.”

She’s too weak to use her own energy. We have to drop her temperature first then we can cleanse the infection from her body. After that, we’ll have to seal the wounds, so she’s not re-infected. Exhaling forcefully, Daniel reaches out to place his hand on the delirious woman’s head as he kneels down.

“Pierson, this is going to take a while. So don’t worry if nothing seems to be happening, I’m going to have to go slow with your mum.”