Jun squeaked and whipped her head to the door where a kindly looking middle-aged man dressed in a dark suit watched her with an amused look on his face, a finely crafted healer's amulet hanging around his neck. Behind him, the student healer who had barged in on her earlier shifted awkwardly as he looked at something fascinating on the floor.

"I am Healer Cor, and you've already met my apprentice, student healer Shen," the kindly looking man said, gesturing to the awkward boy behind him. "May we come in?"

"S-Sure," Jun stammered, her face flaming as she tried to push down her embarrassment. She wasn't sure what was worse, waking up to find a ghostly tail, or having people walk in on her trying to catch the invisible thing!

Jun felt a subtle warmth wash over her as the two healers got closer, though neither of their amulets glowed with magic.

Seeing Jun's eyes flick to his amulet in confusion, the older man nodded approvingly. "You noticed my [Rejuvenating Presence]. That's a surprise, most Iron rankers don't have the mana sensitivity to notice passive spells, not without training at least."

"Passive spells?" Jun asked, locking onto the new kind of magic the healer mentioned. Neither Shiori nor her professors had mentioned anything like a passive spell before.

"Think of it like a spell that's always on. But before we get sidetracked, may I examine you? You've been unconscious ever since the Guild pulled you and your classmates out of the Forest."

With a jolt, Jun realized she didn't know what happened after her final struggle with whatever that alien thing was. She didn't know what happened with the spell she wrestled away from the thing, nor what happened to her teammates. "The Forest! What happened to my friends? Where are they? Are they okay?" The questions tumbled from her lips as she fixed her gaze on Cor, a tingling in her stomach as she dreaded what he might say.

Was anyone else hurt? Dead? What happened after I passed out? Where was Shiori? What about the rest of the expedition? Was the Forest overrun with those things now? Were Sara and the others okay? Consumed by her racing thoughts, Jun didn't realize that the healer had started examining her until she noticed a bright light shine into her eyes as he held them open. "Eye reactivity seems normal," Cor said as Shen scribbled down a note on a pad he produced from somewhere.

Jun shuddered as a stronger wave of mana wash over her as Cor's amulet began to glow, like someone or something was staring intrusively at her.

"Sorry about that dear, diagnostic spells can feel intrusive if you're not used to them," the older man said as his eyes seemed to glaze over for a second. "Blood pressure and heart rate slightly elevated, hormones in the normal range, abnormal proteins in the blood. Residual scarring across 90 percent of the surface skin, cosmetic. Tears and scar tissue buildup in the tibialis anterior, fibularis terius, popliteus, and flexor halluces longus muscles likely causing weakness in the legs. Extensive scarring on the liver, lungs, and heart. Malignant tumors caused by emergency healing magic application." One after the other, Cor spewed out information as Shen diligently scribbled his notes.

Jun didn't understand much about medicine, but she knew that scar tissue on organs wasn't a good thing, and it sounded like she had cancer caused by healing magic?!

As the glazed expression passed from the older healer's eyes, he saw Jun's horrified face and smiled. "Nothing to worry about dear," he said as if he didn't just say she had damaged organs and magical cancer!

"You said tumors! Cancer! Can't you remove them or something? Surgery? What are my options?!"

As Jun mentioned surgery, Cor just shook his head and scoffed with a bemused smile. "Surgery? Don't be ridiculous, we're not in some magic-hating nation like the Radi Confederacy. We have actual healing magic here." The senior healer's amulet began to glow a golden color as he held his hand out to touch her.

Jun shrunk away from the man's touch, thoughts of the twisted abominations she saw in the Forest filling her head. Magic did that to them, and now she had some kind of magical cancer too. She didn't want more!

"Come now young lady," he said, his kindly facade beginning to crack as Jun scooted herself away from his glowing hand. "I'm nothing like those adventurers who rush healing so that you all can go back to recklessly flinging spells and weapons about. I'm a professional!"

Kitten, listen to the healer. I've seen his work and he's competent enough. You'll be fine.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Jun stopped retreating as she heard her adoptive mother's voice in her head as a furry black shape slunk into the room and fixed her with an unblinking stare.

A few seconds passed as Jun processed what Shiori said, her resistance crumbling under the cat's gaze. "F-fine…" Slumping tiredly, Jun stopped moving and let Cor place his hand on her shoulder, feeling the warmth as it started to spread through her body, though it no longer felt comfortable, but like an uninvited guest she begrudgingly tolerated.

Anxiety-tinged thoughts ran through her head as she felt flashes of searing heat deep in her chest. Her breathing hitched and her heart stammered and seized, dark shadows beginning to creep across her vision as searing heat stabbed deeper and deeper into her chest. For a long moment she feared that Shiori had lied and betrayed her, that the shadows would take her and that she'd be greeted by the void and the screen so soon after waking.

Then she took an unconscious breath and the darkness cleared, her heart starting up again as new oxygen flooded into her newly healed lungs. As the searing heat moved on, Jun gasped for air, only now realizing how hard it had been to breathe when she first woke up. Jun flinched, biting her lips as she resisted the urge to scream in pain as searing heat of Cor's healing magic bunt through her sides, deep into her abdomen, and down her legs.

Each moment seemed to last an eternity, but as the healing magic finally faded from her body, she almost missed it. As she felt the last bit of searing heat repair the newly opened gashes in her lips, leaving behind new flesh and the taste of blood on her tongue, she collapsed on her back into the bed, her chest heaving. Despite the pain of the experience, she felt stronger than she had before, but she didn't think she wanted to experience such healing ever again.

"Good as new dear," Cor said with a smile, ignoring the pain he just inflicted upon her. "Now, you should rest a bit longer, then Shen here will discharge you when you wake." With that, the two healers turned to leave, the senior healer detailing everything he did with his magic as Shen furiously scribbled down notes.

Jun tried to open her mouth to respond, whether to ask him a question or to curse him and his healing magic she wasn't sure, but she felt sapped of energy. "W-wait…my team…" she croaked, though her quiet voice went ignored as the two healers left the door, seemingly ignoring Shiori as her adoptive mother padded towards her.

The door shut with a slight click behind the two healers, leaving her alone with Shiori as her eyelids started to droop despite her best efforts to remain awake.

Do not worry about your teammates. They all survived. You were the most heavily wounded and nearly died. Sleep well, I will watch over you, kitten.

A much less awkward Shen escorted Jun and Shiori out of the infirmary after she woke a few hours later, guiding her to a side door that led out of a building near the administrative building she'd often walked past but never had the need to stop inside before. The infirmary itself proved to be just as unremarkable on the outside as it had been within, small and easily ignored.

It was only after she was ushered out the door and into the cold winter air of late afternoon that Jun realized how hungry she was, not that she should have been surprised. It had been several days since she ate, and being healed took a lot out of the body even with magic. Still, she found herself unwilling to deal with the cafeteria and people, instead pulling out a simple bread roll from her Void Bag to eat as she walked back to her dormitory.

As she walked, Shiori followed along beside her quietly. Her mind raced with thoughts, questions for her adoptive mother, for her friends and classmates, things she wanted to say, but for now she stayed silent, simply enjoying the chill of winter as she walked. Before long she was swiping her amulet across the lock to her shared dormitory. She wasn't ready for the scream or the attack.

"Jun!" A figure blurred through the air headed for her as she opened the door, sending a jolt of fear through her. Heart pumping, Jun reacted, her mana cycling as she threw a barrier up in front of her and started to cast a snare. As the barrier manifested, the figure dodged around it, her blonde hair whipping at the sudden movement. The snare she pictured never manifested, the mana meant for the spell somehow stolen and sent to the ghostly tail she felt flicking lazily despite the attack.

"Jun, you're alright," Sara whispered as she wrapped her arms around her in a warm hug, smothering her against her chest.

As Jun's mind caught up, a different kind of panic began to set in as she inhaled Sara's scent. The smell of fresh flowers combined with hints of fresh wood, rain, leather, and sweat filled her lungs as she was crushed against pillowy softness, setting off a different kind of panic. Her exhaustion, held at bay by her desire to just get back to the dormitory, finally set in as she leaned into the hug, letting the elf's strong arms support her weight. "I'm back," she murmured, her words quiet and muffled.

"Yes you are," Sara whispered as she felt the slight girl relax in her arms, her breathing slowing as she rapidly fell asleep. Even though her Silver ranked strength made her easily five times stronger than a Bronze ranked man twice her size, it was concerning how light Jun felt in her arms as she lifted the girl into a princess carry and took her to her bed.

Slipping the girl's bag off of her shoulder, she hung it on the bed frame and tucked Jun in, idly brushing her hair out of her sleeping face before she turned to regard the black cat staring at her from the doorway to Jun's room.

Slowly blinking at the cat, Sara slowly approached, crouching down and holding her fingers out for a moment and letting Shiori sniff them for a few seconds. Once the cat rubbed her cheek against her fingers, she gently started to scratch Shiori behind the ears. After a few minutes of scratches, Sara gently pulled away, Shiori's tail flicking in disappointment as the petting ended.

"We need to talk about your kitten, Shiori," Sara whispered quietly, quirking an eyebrow at the cat.

That we do, kit.

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