[S1] Chapter 5: Debut

"I've accepted a mission." She says, almost sounding apologetic.

"Oh, okay. When will it start?"

"Right away. Another guild has reported an emergency. It's nearby, and I know the guild leader."

"Oh."

"I promised you. You can decide. Do you want to participate or not? I can also send Miko alone. She can assist them, but you would make a huge difference with your healing magic."

I'm not sure if she realizes how manipulative she sounds right now. It is almost as if she telling me that I have to be there. I guess I don't have time to think about my answer.

"I'll get ready."

"Thank you. You got your uniform at home?"

"Yep."

"Great, Eliza and Miko will pick you up in fifteen minutes. Can you manage that?"

"No problem."

And she hangs up.

My breathing is a bit uneasy. I am excited. I am scared. But it's an emergency. I have to heal people. That's all I know.

I try to calm down. At least I'm not alone. Miko is there with me. I had imagined that I would be introduced to my first mission more gently, but I can do nothing about it now. Maybe it's better to be thrown in at the deep end like this.

For a moment, I close my eyes and rub my forehead. The uncertainty makes me nauseous. The lack of information drives me crazy, but I can't imagine anything worse than the scene that took place during my exam two weeks ago. I haven't been able to look at table edges the same way since then.

I throw on my uniform, which consists of a black skin-tight long-sleeved shirt, black sports leggings, and a knee-long poncho. The outfit focuses on mobility, and the poncho has mana-infused fabric incorporated into it, which, when combined with my own mana, creates some kind of magic barrier. Not that I need a barrier. At least, I hope so.

While tying my hair into a ponytail, my phone rings again.

"Yes?"

"Eliza here, we'll be right there."

"All right. See you in a minute."

I quickly pack a backpack with some food and something to drink. I don't know how long I'll be working or how well I'll feel afterward, but consuming mana makes me hungry. Call me prepared.

After quickly running down the stairs I arrive at the car. The passenger seat is free, but before I get the idea to sit there, Miko opens the door to the back for me.

"Hello," I give them both a quick wave as I plant my butt.

"Were you just about to sit in the front?" Miko looks out of the window sulkily as Eliza starts driving. As her gaze is averted, I can take a quick and shameless look at how well the uniform suits her. Sadly, this poncho really covers everything.

"Do you have any questions?" she suddenly turns her gaze to me and gives me a slight scare.

"What happened? What are we supposed to do?"

"That guild underestimated the monsters in that dungeon and failed on all fronts. We will help the few unharmed to take care of the injured," she seems annoyed and irritated by the incompetence of this guild.

"Does stuff like this happen often?"

"No. Usually not. Either they have an incompetent scout, or they've overestimated themselves overall. But the guild leader didn't seem that stupid in our previous encounters."

"How do you determine how dangerous a dungeon is before you enter it?" It's too bad I didn't have to learn that for the license exam.

"Size of the gate, amount of magic it emits. Sometimes, the color of the mana. Then, of course, you can look inside to see what monsters you discover."

"Would you recognize something like that?"

"Nah. I don't really care. I go into a dungeon, find the core, and destroy it."

Sounds pretty edgy, but I'm definitely not going to tell her that. Mainly because it doesn't feel like a pretentious statement but more like a simple description of how things literally work for her.

"We're not going inside the dungeon, are we?"

"No. You don't want to, and I'm not allowed to do so."

"You're not allowed?"

"I'm currently banned."

"Why?"

"Not that important."

"Okay."

She can't drop information like that and then not elaborate on it. Well, I've already learned what a problem child Miko was, so one or two sanctions are hardly surprising. Still, if you compare the profession of a witch with a regular job, a ban sounds quite worrying.

After some minutes we arrive on the highway on our way to a somewhat larger town in our district. I don't know if it's Eliza's driving or the stress, but I feel like throwing up.

Eliza takes an exit, and before we get to the town, she turns off into a slightly secluded park. We arrive relatively quickly at an area marked off by signs and barrier tape. The car stops, and Miko quickly gets out.

"What are those?" At the height of the barrier tape, stakes about thirty centimeters long are stuck into the ground at relatively regular intervals.

"Some kind of magical alarm system. The mage who set it up will now know we're here. If they're still alive."

"Don't say such things."

"Like what? We know that some have died. If you're lucky, they left the bodies inside the dungeon."

As macabre as it all sounds, I hope the same. I've seen a corpse once, and I think it can stay that way.

"Apparently, he's still alive."

A man in a bloodstained robe comes running, or somewhat limping, towards us.

"Thank you for coming. Follow me."

Once it's clear which direction he wants to take us, Miko runs past him, and I do the same. It takes us a minute to arrive at the guild's camp. Tents placed in a U-shape around a stone gate over three meters high are pretty much the only thing this place is made up of.

The only thing that spoils the image of a campsite in the wild is a few cables scattered around to supply lights and some sort of satellites.

"Let's search the tents for injured people. We shouldn't wait. But don't cause panic."

"We're here," a voice comes from the direction of the largest tent. We walk quickly towards it while a man in his thirties with shoulder-length blond hair opens it for us. Despite the rather dramatic situation, he seems pretty relaxed, probably doing just what Miko told me to do.

Acting calm.

"Good to see you, Sami. What's the situation?"

"We've already treated the more seriously injured with healing potions. They should all be over the hill so far. But they are suffering, so if the dear healer could lend a hand, that would be very welcome."

"She will. And what can I do for you?"

"You're not allowed in the dungeon, are you?"

"Unfortunately, not."

"Then talk to my people. It helps to hear some encouraging words."

"All right."

"Thank you, Miko."

When Lilith mentioned that she knew the guild leader, I could have guessed that he was also known to Miko. However, how compassionate and sympathetic she seems towards him is still a weird thing to see. Asking her for words of encouragement wouldn't really occur to me personally, either.

Back to me, I'm a bit in limbo right now, I was hoping for more specific instructions, but this is my first job, so they can't expect me to be on top of the situation.

"We'll do it together," Miko grabs my hand and pulls me gently behind her. There are a bunch of camp beds in the tent, not even half of them filled with people.

With the first person we approach, I am struck by the difference in expression to Sami. There is not a shred of positivity. Looking at the person's face makes me feel like I'm being dragged into a dark hole.

"Hello, can you tell us if you're hurt?" That was a stupid question, but I felt like I needed to say something.

"You don't have to talk. She'll heal you, and the pain will disappear, okay?"

A slight nod is all I get, and without knowing where the injury is, I activate my mana flow and start casting healing magic. It's challenging to imagine healing something I don't know anything about. Still, the image of someone healthy with no injuries and no pain comes to mind. This idea is the guiding principle for my magic.

"Thank you."

My gaze wanders upwards, and I look at trembling lips on a face overflowing with tears. Suddenly, my eyes well up, and a lump forms in my throat, but I try to swallow the empathy for the moment. Miko touches my back and leads me to the next patient.

We got through everything faster than I thought. This was also due to the fact that there were relatively few survivors. Of the original twenty-four guild members, just eleven are left, four of them unharmed. I healed the seven injured members one by one.

While I was able to repair most of the physical damage, the helplessness of not being able to assist them with the psychological side is driving me mad. My stomach is churning, and cold sweat is running down my whole body. The fact that I've used up vast amounts of mana also plays a not-so-insignificant role.

"Did you drink the mana potions?"

"Yeah. They tasted disgusting."

Apart from the disgusting taste and the surprisingly thick consistency, the potions had no immediate effect. I can't really tell when my mana is being replenished, let alone if it's truly empty. The only way I can tell that my mana is running out is by monitoring my body's reactions.

"Get some rest, I'm going to talk to Sami."

"I want to come with you."

"Do not force yourself."

I know she probably just wanted to give me a break, but if she was going to talk to him about the mission, I would like to be there. I'm part of this guild and willing to find out what happened.

"Thank you for your work. Lilith spoke highly of you, and she wasn't exaggerating."

"No problem," getting those words out is a lot more effort than it has any right to be. I try to control my breathing… It would be really embarrassing to throw up in Sami's personal tent.

"So, what exactly went wrong? All this doesn't sound like something that should happen to your guild."

The three of us sit on more or less comfortable folding chairs at a far too small table, but it's okay for the short meeting.

"They were real. The goblins and orcs were alive."

What does he mean? Of course, they were.

"You know how the monsters in the dungeon dissolve into mana when you kill them? These creatures were flesh and blood, just like us."

You can see the confusion on my face. What does that mean?

"Unusual for a C-rank dungeon. But that might explain the difference in strength. Above all, you relied on them being the usual weak enemies."

"Of course, we were relying on it," Sami raises his voice a little and sighs heavily.

"That wasn't an accusation."

"I know Miko. But the more I think about it, the angrier this makes me. Although we had noticed this inconsistency, we carried on as usual. This arrogance has led to the wiping of my guild. Friends of mine are dead."

While I try to find any words of encouragement, the other two also fall silent before someone storms through the entrance to the tent.

"It's Krystoff, he's wounded!"

We run off together and find our man very quickly. He stands right before the dungeon gate, his posture slightly bent. But what disturbs me most is that he can still stand, let alone walk.

A sword has pierced his upper body, and in the short time he has been standing there, a small puddle of blood has already formed on the ground beneath him.

I hear someone weeping. Nobody dares to get closer to Krystoff. It's as if everyone has been frozen by the shock. What were they supposed to do anyway? The only person who can do anything is me. I can feel their stares gathering on me. They expect me to do something.

The nature of the wound, the blood loss, and the internal injuries. Only a few weeks ago, I surprised myself when I healed a broken bone, but this task looks impossible.

"You don't have to try."

"Yes, I do."

My feet carry me on their own. The closer I get to him, the stronger the scent of blood fills my nostrils.

"How are you going to do that?"

"You pull out the sword, and I'll close the wound."

"He'll die."

"If we do nothing, he'll die anyway. This way, there's a chance to save him."

I don't know where I gained that confidence, and Miko is obviously unconvinced. Still, she places herself behind Krystoff, looking at me with an intense stare. He is still standing in the same spot, his breathing flat, his eyes more closed than open. I'm not sure if he's mentally present at all. Maybe it's better if he isn't.

"I'm counting down."

I nod.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

With a smooth movement, she pulls the sword from his body, at almost the exact moment, I wrap my arms around him. He threatens to collapse, but Miko reacts quickly and supports his back with her hands. Meanwhile, I pump all the mana I have left into healing him.

I can feel my clothes soaking up the blood from his wound. It is warm and feels almost pleasant as my body starts to get colder by the second. My initially firm grip on his body is weakening. I feel dizzy, but my magic continues to flow out.

A stabbing pain spreads from the center of my body, and heat travels up inside me. Before I can ask myself what it is, blood literally gushes out of my mouth. I cough, and when I open my lips, the dam is broken, and another load of red splashes to the ground.

Without trying to, I close my eyes. When I want to open them again, I realize I never shut them in the first place. My vision simply went dark. My body feels sluggish. Despite the pain, I feel incredibly relieved. I clench my fists weakly and feel some grass between my fingers.

I can't remember lying down on the floor, but it's so pleasantly soft. I don't think I ever want to get up again.

MIKO

I know that mana exhaustion is very hard on the human body. Still, I've never seen or heard of anyone spitting up blood and falling unconscious like that. I'm used to seeing injured people. I'm used to seeing corpses. But seeing Kayla lying lifeless on the floor was terrifying in its own way.

"The ambulances have left now. What are you going to do?" Sami seems exhausted.

"I'll call Lilith and go to the hospital. Are you going back inside the dungeon?"

He shakes his head weakly. "No, we'll wait another two or three hours and then close the gate. Another guild will have to take over."

The only thing we can all do is hope that no one is trapped in there waiting for help. I can't imagine that this dungeon will be cleared any time soon. First, the ministry must discuss this anomaly, which could easily take a month or two.

In the meantime, the stream of mana that allows anyone to enter or leave the dungeon is interrupted by a magical seal initially designed to drain mana from a mage. Given the size of the dungeon, the seal must be replaced every week since it can only absorb a certain amount of mana.

"I didn't have time to ask Lilith about it, but where did you find her? That wound wasn't something that could heal. But in the end, she was the worse one."

"She sobered up some drunk people behind a pub."

Sami starts laughing.

"I've never heard of anyone using healing magic for something like this. But I'm glad to know it exists. I look forward to inviting your guild for a drink or two. It's the least I can do to thank you for your help."

"Sounds good."

I pat him on the shoulder and walk away, grabbing my cell phone from my poncho. I don't feel like explaining to Lilith that Kayla is on her way to the hospital and probably using up all the money we earned from this mission. Denying us mages regular health insurance is just one of many blatant discriminations we still have to deal with to this day.

Not that I want to whine about it now. There are always people worse off than us, and I don't care about the money right now. As crazy as it sounds, I just want Kayla to get better. Maybe I'll sneak something yummy into the hospital for her. She deserves it. Honestly, it's the only thing I can do now.

It sucks to feel helpless. When I told Kayla that I would protect her, I had nothing like that in mind. So, I should hurry to be with her so I wouldn't leave her alone for too long.