Eda POV

She watched as the people slowly exited the room, heading off to their respective duties. There was a lot to be done, and no time to waste. When it was just her, Emil, and Elder Aeron, she finally spoke her mind.

"I can believe the Shattered Winter School would send a meager Tier 3. It would almost be better if they just ignored us and sent nobody at all," she said, frustratedly.

She couldn't understand why Emil was treating this boy with so much kindness and respect. It was practically an insult that they sent such a young boy when their village specifically said that they needed Tier 4s. However, Emil, their strongest fighter, still treated the boy well, which exemplified their chief's virtuous character.

She had almost scoffed when the boy had the gall to say that he would help them and try to claim that the Shattered Winter School was a 'small' school that was unable to send more help. Most people, even as remote as they were, knew the Shattered Winter School's reputation.

It was one of the preeminent places to learn in the entire Boreal Region. Many affluent families hoped to send their children to learn there, only to be rejected. Hell, some people didn't even care about this education or learning. Many families and groups simply hoped to gain a small connection to the school's founder.

Cain Steelborn, otherwise known as the Lord of the Shattered Throne, wasn't perhaps the most renowned Tier 6 in the Boreal Region, but he was undoubtedly the most feared. The man was a monster who carved his path through destruction and sheer force. He was one of, if not the most powerful, kinetic energy user on the continent.

Thus, the Shattered Winter School had a certain prestige behind it.

However, such a place sending one of their juniors to help them felt like an insult. Almost, like their village was too beneath them to send anyone of actual importance.

"Don't be too quick to judge a book by its cover, Eda," Emil suddenly spoke to her in a soft but reproachful tone.

She looked at her chief with furrowed brows. "What is it?" She knew Emil for long enough that she could recognize that he was warning her.

"Let's give him a chance, okay? He is a healer after all," Emil said with a suspicious grin on his face.

"What am I missing here?" She asked impatiently, looking at Elder Aeron to see if he knew why Emil was acting this way. However, the old man looked just as curious as she was.

"Just be on your best behavior. Despite what you might think of him, he is still a representative of the Shattered Winter School. That alone deserves some respect. We already are beset by enough enemies. There is no need to create more for us. Understood?"

She still didn't understand, but she nodded anyway. On the bright side, the boy was apparently a healer, which would greatly benefit the village. If there was one thing in short supply, it was healing.

They only had a small number of healers, and they couldn't keep up with demand at the moment. They were stretched thin and could use all the help they could get. Furthermore, the healing supplies they normally received from other towns and cities were being stolen, which placed even more pressure on their healers.

Emil seemed pleased that she seemed to understand and changed the topic.

"I want you to take the young healer to see if he can help out the others. If the rumors about the healers that come from the Shattered Winter School are true, then he will do us a lot of good even if all he does is heal people," the chief instructed her.

She nodded and quickly placed the calm mask on her face, heading out the door and in search of the boy.

***

She might have to change her opinion of the boy sooner than she believed. After she had found him and Gavin, she had taken him to the building where many of the wounded were being tended to.

She didn't need to give him any instructions, and before she could say anything, he was already next to a man who had a number of lacerations across his chest and also had several fingers cut off. He wasn't in critical condition, so the healers hadn't focused their attention on him, but rather had conserved the mana for people who might actually need some assistance. The man's natural regeneration would make sure he didn't die or anything, and it didn't look like he had an infection or whatnot.

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However, the man seemed very distraught about the loss of his digits. She sympathized with him as well. She couldn't imagine a life without the use of her fingers.

To her interest, the boy knelt down and started to examine the man's hand with a careful touch. The hand had already healed for the most part, so she didn't understand why he was focusing so much on it. The lacerations on the chest seemed more significant. With that said, she wasn't a healer and allowed him to do his thing.

She was going to ask a question, but widened her eyes when she sensed an influx of incredibly pure life mana. It wasn't anything that she would expect from a Tier 3. The sheer quality of the mana was on a whole other level.

Gavin, who was standing next to her, didn't sense this. Despite being Tier 4, the man didn't have the best senses. Although, to be fair, she was barely able to detect the quality of the mana despite her advanced senses, and it was one of her stronger aspects of her path.

The surprise of seeing such quality mana lessened the shock of seeing the patient's finger regenerating before her very eyes. There was maybe only a single person in the entire village who could accomplish such a thing. Additionally, these healers were Tier 4s, so regenerating a finger or limb would be easier when healing a Tier 3. If they were to try to heal someone at the same tier, they would spend an outrageous amount of mana to do so.

The fact that he was able to do this meant two things. One, he was a very talented healer, and two, he had a very powerful healing skill. It was likely an epic-ranked skill with a corresponding Life Concept that empowered it. Her opinion of the boy was rapidly changing.

If he could heal these types of injuries efficiently, he would be a valuable asset to the village. However, she couldn't believe that he had traveled all the way here without a team or squad to protect him.

Healers were usually highly valued and thus well protected.

Actually, how did he manage to get all the way here on his own? She didn't really think of it before, but now her mind raced as it came up with possible scenarios. How did a Tier 3 healer somehow make it all this way to their village without an escort?

She had heard some whispers about the boy coming here from the sky when she had been leaving the chief's building. But she had ignored them. Now, she wondered if it was true and if he had some flying device he used to get here.

It would certainly make sense, considering he was from the Shattered Winter School. They didn't seem like the type to abandon their own on a mission far away. There were likely some other protective items they gave him as well. She was curious how powerful they must be.

She knew that talismans and consumable items capable of harming a Tier 4 were available for a price, but she never had the money to buy one of them.

She remained quiet as she watched the boy heal the patient with a calmness that contrasted with his age. Once he was finished, the man who had believed his fingers were lost choked down tears as he examined his new fingers.

He got down on his knees and showed his gratitude to the young healer. Much to her surprise and approval, the boy seemed embarrassed by this attention.

She had judged the boy too quickly and regretted it. Perhaps this was what Emil wanted her to realize on her own. She looked over at Gavin, but didn't see the awed expression one would expect.

It was likely that he had no idea what he had just witnessed, as he did not understand the raw skill and talent required to heal someone like that.

She didn't decide to tell him either. Much like the chief allowing her to come to the truth herself, she believed it would help Gavin if he did that as well.

***

Julius POV

He let out a sigh and walked down the smooth streets of the village. He had already finished healing the last person in the tent. There weren't too many, and he was a little worried about hurting others with his life mana, but he had become more confident as Galten and Freya guided him during these past few weeks.

Only the more complicated injuries gave him issues. Stuff like what he saw in the tent was relatively simple. Still, he made sure he was careful. It would only take a small slip for him to ruin someone else's life.

As he worked, he noticed that the woman who had been glaring at him since he talked to the chief started to warm up to him. Perhaps she was impressed by his healing of her people, but he wasn't going to complain.

He took advantage of this and decided to ask questions as he worked. He gathered a lot of valuable information. Eda was especially helpful and gave him very detailed answers.

He had figured out the general area where these bandits had been attacking, which was why he was heading this way.

He didn't really see much use in planning with the village or the chief. He had a feeling that he was already relegated to a healer, and they wouldn't risk him on dangerous missions like he wanted to.

After all, he was only a Tier 3, and his healing would provide immense value to the people of the village, much more than another fighter. He had already thought about hiding his healing to prevent this, but decided against it in the end.

He didn't want the wounded to suffer just because he didn't want to show off his healing. He had already told himself that it was okay to use his skills normally. That was doubly so considering that he was all the way out here. There were many people around to gossip about his skills.

He walked past the guards placed on the edge of the village without issue. He hid his aura well and used [Void Step] to bypass the barrier. It was already quite late, but since they were so far north, the sun was still just over the horizon.

Once he was far enough away from the village, he let the aura-woven bracelets on his wrist melt down and reformed them into wings. Then, with a powerful burst of kinetic energy, he exploded upwards and made his way toward the area where these bandits were supposedly hanging out.

There was some hunting to be done and skills to acquire.

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