The healer

While still unconscious, I had a dream. I was eight years old, and we were on the island during training. All of the other kids had already run ahead of me, and I was the slowest of my peers lagging behind. They were faster, stronger, and I was just a good-for-nothing dead weight struggling to catch up.

"You are special, Hunter. All of you are," the voice of the woman said to me, while the once luscious green environment within the dream slowly turned into a white void.

"Each one of you are heroes, destined to save entire worlds one day." I was gasping for air, pumping my arms and legs harder so I would eventually catch up to the rest. But they were just too fast.

"Even me?" I remembered asking the woman. I was failing at everything: athletics, combat and survival training, VR simulations. I wasn’t the best in my class. I was the opposite. The weakest. The worst.

"Especially you," the woman replied, poking the top of my nose with her pen. I remembered she was trying to make me laugh because I was having a bad day. "You might even become the strongest hero of all of them," she said. "And do you know why?"

I shook my head, anticipating her reply.

"It’s because you have a big heart," she said. "And you never give up."

***

I woke up some time later in a dimly lit room. The walls were made of stone, and fire lamps hung from them. I was lying face up on a feather bed. I didn’t have my coat with me, nor was I wearing my boots. Someone had stripped me down to just my trousers and belt. Even my gloves were gone.

What...? Where am I?

I turned my head to the side and glanced around the room. There was a wooden chair and a table right next to the bed. The table had an assortment of items on it, including several bottles of what looked to be potions I didn’t recognize.

I sat up from the bed and dropped my feet on the cold stone floor. There was a single window on the opposite side of the room, open to let in the chilly breeze of the night.

“Rachel,” I called, hoping that my AI companion in my head hadn’t fallen asleep as I did. The last thing I remembered was fighting a six-legged monster before narrowly escaping with my life. The fight had left me completely bruised, battered, and bleeding out by the second. I only had enough energy to arrive at the outskirts of a nearby town with a little girl I had found in the forest. After that, I remembered collapsing on the ground, and that was it.

“Yes,” Rachel replied. “I’m here. I see you are finally awake,” she said. “So, how are you feeling?”

I looked down at my body to find that I was completely fine. All the bruises and bite marks I had accumulated from my battle with the blood bats and the six-legged creature were almost completely gone. There were still a few scars here and there, especially on my arm. But for the most part, I had been entirely healed.

“I think I’m fine,” I told Rachel, while I gently pressed at my ribs just to confirm. There was no pain. I tried moving my left arm and stretching it a bit, the same one the monster had nearly ripped off my body. It was a little stiff around the joints, but there was no pain either.

“I should agree,” Rachel said, bringing up a window that displayed my health stats. “You are healed and have almost entirely recovered.” As she spoke, a 3D representation of the human body rotated on one side of the screen.

"However, your body still needs some time to be at full strength.” She used the 3D render to highlight a few pressure points on my body in yellow: my left arm, all the bones on the left side of my ribcage.

"These parts of your body are still very much vulnerable,” she said. “An abrupt strain or sudden impact from a sufficient force will undo all the progress that really pretty lady made on your body. So, no monster stabbing for the time being, alright?”

Rachel closed out of the window a second later, giving me an unobstructed view of my surroundings once more. And just as I was about to ask her what she meant by a pretty lady having worked on my body, the front door creaked open.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

A red-haired woman was standing just behind the door, glancing in. She had deep blue eyes and a small pointy nose.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Can I come in?”

I gave a nod of my head, and she fully opened the door and stepped in. When she closed the door behind her and turned to look at me, something deep within my chest fluttered.

She was of average height, maybe a little shorter at five-four. Her ruby red hair was long and wavy at the tips. Her skin was pale, almost the color of snow, and the dark crimson gown she wore only elevated her already defined features. She looked incredible.

I was speechless for a moment. I could only watch as she proceeded to ask me a couple of questions while making her way to the table with the assortment of bottles, vials, and potions.

She continued to talk as she mixed a few of the potions in a small cup, but I wasn’t hearing anything. At first, I thought it was a genuine problem and my ears no longer worked. But then she gracefully made her way over to where I was seated on the bed and handed me the cup. Only then did my hearing return, and Rachel’s voice came next.

“I told you she’s pretty.”

***

Five minutes later, we were sitting side by side on the bed, the initial awkward silence on my part having faded. I confessed to her that I completely zoned out the moment she walked in, and she laughed and said it might have been the effects of just waking up after being unconscious for three days.

I told her my name after she asked, and she introduced herself as the healer who had been tending to my care ever since a group of farmers brought my unconscious body to the temple for treatment. From her explanations, I came to understand I was now in a place called the Stony Temples of southern Dumaria.

Also, when I enquired about the whereabouts of the little girl, I was relieved to find out she was safe in the temple as well.

“You know, it was a miracle I was able to heal you at all,” she said, suddenly shifting her gaze from me to stare at her hands on her lap.

“Why so?” I asked.

“When they brought you in, your body was in such a state, I was scared I wouldn’t have been able to heal you in time.” Her eyes were still fixed on her hands, and not really knowing what to do with myself, I joined her in staring down at my own.

“But you did it,” I said, turning my hand over to stare vacantly into my open palm. “You helped me, and I am well again. So thank you.” I turned to look at her, only to find her already staring back at me, her lips curved up in a sweet smile.

My gaze must have lingered a little too long. Damn, I was an awkward idiot.

"I agree," Rachel replied in my head, butting in.

***

We continued talking, myself and the crimson healer girl, and she told me a few things about the nearby villages and towns surrounding the temple. First was about the creature that attacked me at the cabin.

She said it was called the Sigumanju, but locally it was known as the Widow Maker. Rachel instantly brought up a screen in a corner of my vision in that very moment, highlighting the creature’s information.

__________

Widow Maker

Level: 40

Primary attacks:

Lunge bite

Body slam

Hop drop

Stinger strike

Mad bash

__________

One look at the creature’s stats and I instantly knew why it was called the Widow Maker. It was a machine built for slaughter and destruction. As if that wasn’t enough, the healer girl then said...

"There’s a whole nest of them located somewhere on the outskirts of town. Frequent attacks on travelers and farmers have been happening for quite some time now, and it has really been affecting our trade routes and supplies."

That wasn't good.

An entire nest of those things camping nearby sounded like a cataclysmic disaster just waiting to happen, I thought. I suddenly remembered seeing a wrecked horse carriage in the middle of the road while the little girl and I were making our way over to the town. I didn’t think much of it at the time because I was bleeding out and in so much pain, but it really seemed these people were suffering from constant attacks from these creatures.

Was there any chance I could help them in some way? Was this what I was sent to this world to do?

The dream I just had, the words the mysterious woman was telling me in the dream—I was sure it was another memory, another fragment from my past back on Earth.

According to the woman, we were heroes, destined to save entire worlds someday. Was this one of those worlds? Was I meant to save these people?

As she got up from the side of the bed to leave, I instantly felt less excited and more alone. And as she opened the door and stepped out, I suddenly had a good reason to call back and speak to her.

“Hey... ahh... excuse me.”

She turned around.

“Can I know your name?” I asked, rubbing the back of my neck. "Also, how much do I owe you for the treatment? For fixing me up, I mean?"

I looked at her, and she looked at me. I didn’t know if I had enough money to pay her, but I hoped the little I had in my inventory was enough.

“It’s Lumia,” she said with a smile. "Also, don't worry about payment. I'm just glad I was able to help you, Hunter. Good night."

As soon as she closed the door behind her, I laid back on the bed, staring up at the stone ceiling. Even if I wanted to help these people, I wasn't strong enough yet.

My current level was 3, and my combat level was only at 14%. In contrast, a single Widow Maker was at level 40, and only one of the nearly killed me.

If I truly wanted to help these people, then I needed to level up. And fast.