jonathanbrooksauthor

Healer Book 6 -- Chapter 5

Added 2025-06-16 22:39:17 +0000 UTC

(Little late today on the chapter; I forgot that I needed to finish beta-reader edits and revisions for The Lone Keeper this morning, so I got that done first. It's now all done, so there shouldn't be too many other obstacles in the way of writing the rest of the week!)

Chapter 5

Corinna stood at the edge of the craterous hole in the mountain range, joined by a dozen other Guild Leaders as they stared at the evidence of sheer destruction in silent awe. The scale of such an explosion that occurred where The Citadel Dungeon had been was so mind-boggling that she had difficulty even comprehending it, but the evidence that it had happened was clear enough that there was no denying that it happened.

Unfortunately, the utter devastation of the area was only the beginning.

“How? Do we have any idea?” Corinna heard from the side, a muttered question that wasn’t asked for the purposes of an answer. No one actually knew what had happened to cause the explosion, after all, only that it had happened. She, along with most of the major Guilds, had already started moving north toward the site where The Citadel had stood, as the System warned them that the dungeon was starting to break. The nauseous energy being outputted from the area could be felt for hundreds of miles, and there was an instinctive need to stop it from advancing; this had led to a vast exodus from the south toward the source of it, everyone knowing that if it wasn’t stopped soon, then something bad was going to happen. No one actually knew what that entailed, but at the same time, they also didn’t want to find out; to that effect, they were planning on doing everything to stop it – even if it cost them their lives.

She wasn’t the only one to recognize that such compulsions weren’t natural, as everyone felt the same thing; the only explanation was that it had been System-driven. There were some that grumbled at being so easily manipulated, but that had only lasted for a few hours before they seemed to change their minds. Overall, while there was still some discontent, Corinna and every Contender in Region #1 seemed to understand that it had been done for their own good, regardless of how the act might have been more than a bit of a violation.

It had been for the greater good, after all, and it seemed to work out in the end. The System was all-knowing and much more powerful than any Contender, so it was only natural that it led them to the problems that needed to be addressed. She, as well as everyone else, could forgive such a thing when the alternative could’ve meant that destruction of Tarth, itself. Or so could only assume, based on how insistent the Assimilation System had been that the Contenders respond to the crisis. And while there had been some deaths from those who were too close to the explosion, they had been recovered and Resurrected quickly as the strongest Contenders finally arrived at the area.

Cautious about what they might find, they were surprised to discover that any monsters that might have inhabited the surrounding environment had been killed in the blast, and that there wasn’t even a single sign that The Citadel had actually existed. She’d seen it from a distance at one point, soon after it appeared at the start of Developmental Phase 3, and there wasn’t even a single stone left of it. The shallow crater and the massive chunk missing out of the mountain range was the only sign that it existed at all, and now they were faced with the area beyond called the Wildlands – and they had absolutely no defenses against what supposedly waited for them out there.

I bet Thaden had something to do with this. I don’t know how, or why, but I’m sure he had a hand in it somehow.

Her relationship with the powerful Support Class was, admittedly, a bit tumultuous. She wasn’t even exactly sure what they had together: Was it a just a temporary fling or something deeper? Did it even matter? Corinna supposed that it didn’t, given that there was no sign of him here, which she thought wouldn’t be the case if he was still alive. She knew he was powerful, but surviving an explosion that could destroy a dungeon and carve a hole in a mountain? Doubts—and hope—that he’d somehow survived flowed through her mind, and she tried to put it behind her.

In the end, she’d undoubtedly sabotaged any hope that they might have anything more than what they already shared when she shut him down shortly after the tragedy that befell the Guild with the deaths of Rachel and most of the Guild’s leadership. It had been an inconceivable blow to not only the Guild, but to Corinna herself, that—at the time—she had barely been able to keep it all together. She’d thrown herself into the work of helping the Guild recover after the horrid events, even if the source of those events were still largely unknown and muddled in the minds of those affected by it. Now, not even a month later, there were even more world-shaking events taking place, along with no answers to where it had come from or what it was that threatened them in the first place.

Corinna, along with everyone else she spoke to over the last few hours, only knew that the System had told them of the danger and then had urged them to head north to combat it, but anything other than a vague memory of the nauseous energy build-up happening in the vicinity was all the answers they received. If there was more to it, no one seemed to know. There were even some who claimed to have seen some extremely powerful Charee and Aelveen showing up at some point, but when pressed, they weren’t able to recall any specific details. As her Guild specialized in collecting information, she wasn’t prone to discounting these stories altogether, especially as the concept of powerful elf-like people visiting the city she worked out of tugged at some memories of her own, but she couldn’t find any proof. Only rumors.

Unfortunately, these accounts of powerful people visiting had then been followed by something more important – which was the announcement by the System regarding Developmental Phase 3 being completed, and the details of Phase 4 beginning. During Training, they had been informed that their development upon the world of Tarth would come in multiple Phases, though details regarding specifics was a bit sparse – at least from what she remembered. However, speaking of what she remembered, she was fairly sure that the entire process of getting through these Phases was supposed to take much longer than this. Obviously, the whole deal with the Anchor Dungeons during Developmental Phase 2 had begun early, which led to Phase 3 beginning sooner than was probably planned, as well, but those obstacles had been somewhat surmountable. While there had been a bit of a time restraint in Phase 2, they had managed to get through it without too many casualties, and Phase 3 had been a time of great development.

Phase 4 changed all of that with the introduction of the Wildlands, which – from a distance – appeared inhospitable and dangerous to venture into. If it was just that, then they would take the Achievement, Overachiever II, that the System had given them for completing Phase 3 in record-setting time and run with the +250 to all stats and the 300% increase in PICK accumulation it rewarded. With it, they could Level-up at an incredible rate, eventually catching up to where they would normally be at the end of Phase 3 – but she wasn’t sure if they had that kind of time.

Eventually, instead of venturing into the Wildlands, the Wildlands would come to them. As it was, at least at the moment, they had no defense against the monsters that would start invading the Region. And in as much awe as Corinna was at the devastation ahead of her, she and the other Guild Leaders next to her needed to figure out how to survive.

For her part, she was already thinking about all of her Guild’s crafting connections, wondering if there was any way she could connect them with a force of Mages that could focus on building stone walls. With all of the gold they had available, in part thanks to very generous donations by Thaden, they might even be able to employ the Charee natives to help with the construction. Their participation in such matters was something that could be leveraged easily enough; while they were pretty much forbidden by the System from helping in the defense, there was nothing preventing them from assisting in the construction of fortifications. As long as it was paid for by the Contenders, of course; they couldn’t simply order the Charee around, but had to provide remuneration – just as if they were defending a different world, such as Earth.

While the incentive of self-preservation was an effective tool, it wasn’t enough of a justification as far as the System went – as they’d learned in previous Phases, when the threat of imminent destruction by a horde of monsters saw very little in the way of defense by the Charee. There were other reasons why the residents of Tarth didn’t do anything to protect themselves, of course, but the Contenders had found some ways around those restrictions.

“What’s that?” Corinna heard abruptly from her side. She glanced over at Michael, the Guild Leader of the Chaos Valor Guild, and saw that the Level 185 Scout was staring out over the crater the used to be The Citadel Dungeon. His words caught the attention of the others, as well, and she joined them in looking past the devastation and into the distance. It only took her a second to pinpoint what had caught the obviously sharp eyes of her fellow Guild Leader, though hers weren’t good enough to make out what it was. All she could see was a shape moving in the distance, more of a blur that was getting slightly larger as it appeared to be coming toward them.

Corinna wasn’t the only one to ready their weapons, and she could heard thousands of other Contenders behind her tensing up as they shifted from where they’d been staring at the hole in the mountain range, sensing that something was coming. Whether it was some sort of group confidence at work or something else, but not a single one broke from their positions, electing to face down what could theoretically be their doom. They were all aware of what kind of monsters the Wildlands would likely produce, and with very few of the Contenders even close to Level 200, if they faced something Level 350 or higher, there was a good chance that many of them would die. They might be able to take it down, but not without significant casualties.

“It’s… a man!” Michael exclaimed, and while most of those who heard him relaxed a bit at the news, Corinna tensed up.

No way. Could it really be him?

As the figure rapidly closed the distance, appearing just on the opposite edge of the shallow crater, she could finally see them well enough to confirm that she was correct. The giant squirrel that bounded along next to him pretty much confirmed the fact.

“Level 450. It’s Thaden,” Michael continued, glancing at Corinna.

The leader of Guilded Glory checked the Rankings again, something she’d done shortly after the explosion; at that time, Thaden hadn’t been on the Rankings at all for some reason. She remembered how he had previously fallen off the Rankings because of… something she couldn’t precisely remember… so it hadn’t been proof that he was dead, and she hadn’t had it in her to check again after that. Now, though, he was back on – and he was also on a brand-new one that she’d never seen before.

Total Accumulated Subjugation Points

1. #32599999-E

52 SP

Level 450

Region #1

-----

Subjugation Points? That sounds somewhat familiar from Training. While they hadn’t been told exactly what they would be facing during their development, there was something about NESTs and Subjugation Points that jogged a memory of when they were in Training, though it wasn’t anything substantial. She hoped that Thaden would be able to tell them more about what the Ranking leaderboard meant, as well as perhaps more information on exactly how much danger they were in by the monsters out in the Wildlands.

Then, she would take some time taking him to task for starting Phase 4 early; seeing him there, she was nearly 100% sure he had something to do with it.

She watched as he paused on the edge of the crater, looking around at the massive hole in the mountain range, as if he hadn’t actually seen it before. After a few seconds, he seemed to see people waiting along the other edge and stepped forward, intent to meet them; he again stopped, however, as it seemed his squirrel companion spoke to him. A moment later saw his being equipment swapped out for what appeared to be a simple set of robes and plain accessories. Even from a distance, she could tell that they were nothing special, and fairly weak, to boot.

What was more, though, the sense of disgust that she hadn’t even been aware of until now that she could feel toward him disappeared, and she also sensed that the others around her relaxed a little more, as well. Must have had a huge hit to his Personality.

It didn’t take long after that before the unfathomably powerful Support Class descended into and through the crater, eventually making his way up the other side as everyone watched in uncomfortable silence. Corinna felt her heart flutter a little as the details of his face came into focus, and she was again confused at where their relationship really stood. Now that he was alive, she was conflicted between chastising him of everyone else for putting them all in danger or jumping into his arms, happy that he was safe and still in the world of the living.

She settled on neither of those, as the choice was taken away from her.

“Corinna! It’s so good to see you!” the force of nature said as he ran up, not even the least winded from the run, before picking her up in front of everyone and swinging her around, and then kissing her deeply as he set her down. Her mind spun as she tried to recover from the sudden reunion and kiss, catching her breath as his arrival seemed to stun everyone. “In fact, it’s good to see everyone here; I have to admit, while I like delving through dungeons solo, there’s just something different about the utter absence of people in the Wildlands that’s a bit unnerving, especially while having to traverse half of it to get back here.”

“You traveled through the Wildlands? How did you survive?” Michael asked, yet more proof that not every Contender seemed to know the specifics of Thaden’s strength.

Before he could answer, Corinna blurted out in her continued emotional confusion, “It was you, wasn’t it? How did you survive an explosion that did this?”

Thaden turned his attention toward her, and he could feel the entire weight of his gaze. “To answer your second question, I’m quite difficult to kill. The detonation of the energy around The Citadel nearly succeeded, but I was instead sent flying, appearing quite a ways into the Wildlands.

“As for your first question,” he continued, shaking his head, “It wasn’t me who did this. The Persistent Adversary managed to infiltrate Tarth, which was why there had been some problems with dungeons lately. When the Wardens from Region #1 and #6 managed to eliminate the infiltrators in most of the dungeons, the Adversary’s agents managed to take over The Citadel, using it as a way to concentrate massive quantities of Adversarial energy in an attempt to send out legions of monsters from the dungeon to sweep the land clean of people. Unfortunately, that much energy building in an area was quite volatile, and when I went to stop the agent in charge, it ended up detonating the whole thing in an effort to kill me. So, if you want to blame anyone, blame the Adversary.”

While he spoke, Corinna followed his words and understood them immediately, and even the mention of the Wardens helped to bring back the memory of powerful elves visiting the city. It all made sense…

…for all of about 10 seconds. It didn’t take long after he finished speaking that her mind became confused again, until all she could remember was that there had been a build-up of dungeon energy that got out of hand… somehow. Not only that, but she instinctively understood that Thaden had been integral to keeping it from being even worse than it was, even if she couldn’t remember the details. All she knew was that, if not for him, things would’ve been much, much worse; though, based on the current situation, she couldn’t figure out how that could possibly be.

The same comprehension seemed to ripple through everyone else, and Corinna could feel that they all became a bit more amicable toward Thaden, as if the System itself was acknowledging that he had done well. It was strange, but she wasn’t going to question the System about what information it wanted to impart.

“I see,” Michael said after a moment with a nod. “Thank you for what you did, then. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that we’ve started Phase 4 far before we can handle it. Even if you’re Level 450, that doesn’t mean you can do it all yourself.”

From what I know of him, it wouldn’t surprise me if he could.

“You’re quite correct,” Thaden agreed immediately. “I can’t possibly complete Phase 4 by myself. It’s going to take all of the Contenders in the Region to not only survive, but to complete the tasks ahead of us.”

“Really? Even with how powerful you are?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she felt the distance that she inadvertently created between them at her earlier question.

With a nod, Thaden said, “As much as I don’t want to admit it, this Phase is far from being in my wheelhouse.” He looked around the Guild Leaders and addressed the thousands of Contenders that were behind them, most of whom were silent as they listened to him speak. “Come a little closer, if you would, and let me tell you about what this Phase is all about, the dangers that you’ll face out there, and the challenges that we’ll face in simply surviving.”

As they shuffled forward, listening to his request as if it was an order, Corinna asked, “And I hope that you have an idea on how we’ll actually succeed in surviving?”

He hesitated for long enough of a moment that his next words weren’t exactly encouraging. “I have some ideas, perhaps?” he said with unsurety thick in his tone. “I’m hoping that we’ll be able to work together to figure out a plan.”

Once everyone was close enough, or could at least hear him, Thaden began to tell them what he’d seen out there. And Corinna was just one among many that listened to every word he had to say, hoping that a solution for the problems they faced which would see them surviving when all hope had nearly been lost.

When Thaden finished, ideas flowed through her head along with some things that he mentioned, but she knew it would be an uphill battle no matter what they ended up doing. Still, the fact that they had the powerful Support Class on their side was a net benefit; even if nothing else worked, she knew that he would do everything he could to keep protect them – which still might not be enough.

Regardless, they had a lot of planning and preparation to do if they hoped to survive, followed by months and months of work – and that was just the beginning.

Might as well get started. Let’s figure out how to come out of this on the other end of this alive.