Unexpected Healer Book 2 -- Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Thaden continued to smile as he prepared himself by boosting his Mentality stat up to its limit, ignoring the strain on his mind as he did so.  Just to be sure he was accurate in what he was seeing, he looked over the notification window one last time to confirm.

Attention, Contenders!

Congratulations go out to those who have survived in your development on Tarth!  A full month has passed since you arrived, and now is a perfect time to give you an update on any developments from your fellow Contenders – as well as an unacceptable trend that has unexpectedly developed.

As of the commencement of this message, a total of 6,945,102 Contenders have failed and left the world of Tarth permanently.

Of the remaining 25,834,897 Contenders, another 215,479 are still at Level 1 and are unlikely to progress further than that.  If they do not raise their Level within the designated time limit, they will be culled automatically.

For the rest of you, congratulations on your progress!  The average Level of all Contenders is Level 18, which is quite impressive after your first month of development.  Keep striving to give it your all and increase your Level as soon as possible!

As of now, only two parties have completed a Medial difficulty or harder dungeon, which will become more common as time progresses.  Congratulations to those who have towered above the rest! 

In Regional news, Region #1 has already entered the next developmental phase!  The other Regions are going to have to play catchup from this point on to match the incredible lead they now possess, but all it takes is a little hard work to achieve greatness!

Now, onto the unexpected development.  Of the 6,945,102 Contenders that have failed and left Tarth permanently, the cause for failure of 1,217,452 individuals was due to the direct intervention of other Contenders after they achieved Level 21.  This unacceptable statistic is 835% higher than average for a race in the early stages of development, and if the trend continues – as it is now predicted to – the Human race will have final Contender numbers below the acceptable threshold once the developmental period has concluded.

As you know from Training, the vulnerability of Contenders at Level 21 was meant to be a means of motivation to spur their development, as well as to offer an element of danger to the world once they’ve adapted to the changes brought about by being included in the Assimilation System.  In past developmental worlds and the races that have participated in them, this has also aided in pinpointing those who are not suitable to be a Contender, whether from a mental instability or a personality mismatch with the position, and has naturally eliminated those who are not afraid to eliminating their own kind in their desire for power.  In this case, however, Humans have apparently lost sight of the ultimate goal behind being a Contender, which is to present a strong, united front against the Adversary.

While being a Contender inherently brings with it a sense of competition, which is why there are Rankings and the stakes if you do not do well can be high, these types of motivating factors are simply designed to push yourselves to be the best that you can be.  Unfortunately, many Contenders from Earth have abandoned any sense of competition and have taken it upon themselves to slaughter their potential rivals whenever possible.  This not only defeats the purpose of the entire developmental project here on Tarth, but weakens the Human race as a whole.  This can be seen no more clearly in the fact that 4.6% of the entire Support Class population amongst the Earthen Contenders were eliminated by other Contenders, as those who we should be protecting the most were slaughtered by their own kind for no other reason than a selfish desire for power.

To slow down and potentially eliminate this unacceptable trend from continuing, two significant changes have been implemented immediately.  To discourage the wanton elimination of so many potentially powerful Contenders by those heavily abusing the rules in their favor, every single Contender that has willfully participated in the elimination of a fellow Contender up to this point will now be highlighted by a visible black aura that surrounded their nametag.  This black aura will last for precisely 72 hours from this point, and will reset if they eliminate another Contender.

With the black aura active, the Contender can be attacked by any other Contender, regardless of either their own Level or the Level of their attacker.  Contenders with black auras eliminated in this manner will not cause a black aura to appear on their attacker or attackers.  Normal rules about attacking other Contenders within inhabited areas still apply.

While the rule about attacking a fellow Contender beneath your Level is still in place, those being attacked will no longer be defenseless.  Those who have been willfully attacked by another Contender will have the opportunity to defend themselves, though if they end up eliminating instead of simply incapacitating their attacker, they will receive a black aura for 72 hours if the attacker did not already have a black aura.

With that addressed, it is time for more pleasant news – the Rankings!

Individual Performance

1. #32599999-E

Support

Level 70

Sector 41 – City of Rageharbor

2. Augustus M

Fighter

Level 29

Sector 92 – City of Dormir

3. Jerome L

Fighter

Level 29

Sector 1247 – City of Austere

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Party Performance (Leader)

1. #32599999-E

Support

Level 70

Sector 41 – City of Rageharbor

2. Harmon E

Control

Level 28

Sector 3542 – Town of Crewdark

3. Gerima R

Scout

Level 27

Sector 745 – City of Bextrose

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Achievement Hunter

1. #32599999-E

Support

Level 70

Sector 41 – City of Rageharbor

2. Jun D

Scout

Level 27

Sector 52 – City of Fortrot

3. Gerol F

Scout

Level 28

Sector 8703 – City of Nemiste

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Thaden had ignored all the Rankings, especially after seeing that he was still at the top of many of them, because the more important information came in the form of the changes to the whole Contender-versus-Contender system.  Not only did it implement the ability to defend oneself from an attacker who was a lower Level than them, but it also introduced a penalty of sorts for killing another Contender – the black aura.  If he ready the notification on the window correctly, that meant that anyone, even Thaden who might be 40 or 50 Levels higher than them, could attack and kill someone with a black aura around their nametag, without incurring a black aura themselves.

As he looked around at the Contenders who had been attacking him just moments ago, he certainly saw some black auras.

On all of them.

He wasn’t sure specifically how those auras were earned, but it appeared as though every single living person in front of him had participated in killing another Human being since they arrived in Tarth.  Whether or not they had all been directly part of killing Gregory and the others was difficult to tell, but they had all actively killed someone, at least.

Unfortunately for them, Thaden wasn’t planning on giving them any leeway now that they knew they could potentially pay a price for their actions.  Just because they now knew they could be punished for killing other people didn’t excuse what they did as acceptable, because it most surely was not.  It didn’t matter if there wasn’t a “law” about murder here on Tarth, or a “commandment” that said thou shalt not kill; the simple societal norm of not freaking killing other people should’ve been more than enough.  But these people had lost their way, abandoning whatever humanity they had left… and for what?  So that they could start eliminating people on the Rankings?  For the power that killing another Human being must’ve brought them?

It really didn’t matter, because there was one pissed-off Solitary Shaman that didn’t care.  His rage came back with a vengeance as all thoughts of the futility of attacking these people faded away, and he watched the shocked faces with black auras around their nametag slam with significant force back down to the ground.  Some hit the ground so hard and so abruptly that they smashed their faces into the dirt, bloodying up their faces and doing a small bit of damage to them in the process.

The sight of that was the last confirmation that he was allowed to hurt them now.  And hurt them, he would.  Thankfully, he had inadvertently prepared for this when he was rushing over to this obvious trap, as he had started shoving in potential spells that he might need without really paying attention.  One of them just so happened to be something he’d never tried before, but he was eager to see what it would do.

After boosting his Mentality to his limit, bringing it up to 1,097 with his gear bonuses, he cast Greater Stacking Buffers… on Martin, who was facedown on the ground while suffering the effects of Thaden’s Level Compression.  With a mental thought, he somehow made the pressure he was exerting on the man exclude where Martin was located, and the now-frightened Contender shakily stood up.  He looked around him at the other people of his Guild, plainly perplexed at why he was suddenly excluded, before he attempted an arrogant expression on his face.

“You can’t hurt me; you’re just a Support Class, after all.”  He pulled out a sword from his Inventory with a smirk on his face, before taking a step toward Thaden. 

“You’re half right,” the Solitary Shaman responded with a shake of his head.

Martin stopped, a little more wary now.  “You’re not a Support Class?”

“Oh, you got that part right.  I was talking about your insistence that I couldn’t hurt you.”

“Wait, what—?”

Martin didn’t get a chance to finish the question as Thaden cast Greater Sacrifice on the man, which sacrificed the Greater Stacking Buffers protective spell he’d cast on him a moment ago.  A split-second later, an explosion that tried to blind Thaden flashed out from the sacrificed protection spell, ripping through every single incapacitated Contender still on the ground under the effects of his Level Compression.  Thankfully, the Superior Affliction Shelter helped to prevent that blindness, but he still had a few spots in his eyes that took a few seconds to disappear. 

When he could see again, all he saw were the burnt corpses of nearly 100 people, as even the bodies of his “friends” hadn’t escaped unscathed.  He didn’t bother calculating the exact amount of damage that was done to them all, but when the area damage from sacrificing the protective spell did 1,500% of his 1,097 Mentality, it certainly added up. 

The only one still alive was Martin, who had been wholly unaffected by the sacrifice of the Buffers Thaden had placed on him.  He was glad to see that he hadn’t been wrong about the wording of his new Class, which allowed his single-cast spells to target anyone, because it had previously only worked on allies; that meant he could cast it on monsters, and conveniently, other Contenders not in his party.

Which was exactly what he did.

“What did you do?!” Martin screamed in shock, but Thaden was already on the move.  He immediately cast Greater Wild Health Leach on himself while he moved closer to the Execution Guild member, his normally high Celerity allowing him to move up to the man before he could react.  Reaching out, he grasped Martin’s wrist and held on, as over 100 points in Physicality was more than enough to not let the man tear himself away without a tremendous struggle.

And then he started to heal himself with every healing spell he had in his arsenal.

He needn’t have bothered, as all it took was a single Greater Healing Burst spell to kill the man as his Leach spell now leached 20% of his extra healing; when Healing Burst went off, the 450 healing that the Greater version did was increased by 50% from his Class, 50% from his Stronger Healing Advancement, and 125% from his Superior Support Sprite; that was then increased by 150% from Greater Wild Health Leach as bonus healing, which a quick calculation equated to just under 2,900 extra healing.  The Leaching effect then randomly targeted Martin and pulled out 20% of that extra healing, which was a little bit below 580 Health; Thaden could only assume that the man had 57 or less Physicality, otherwise that might not have killed him.

Letting the corpse of the Guild member fall to the ground, he glanced around and noticed that none of those he’d just killed, other than Martin, were able to be Resurrected; their bodies had been so destroyed that they were entirely unrecoverable.

Not that he was going to Resurrect them anyway, even if the weight of what he’d just done was starting to crash down on him. 

Taking a deep breath, which caused him to cough because the smell of burnt flesh assaulted his airways, he turned away and ran, wanting to get as far away from the site of such destruction as he could. 

                   *

Olivia led her party quickly toward the Grotto, fully expecting their meeting to be successful.  As the Execution Guild Leader, it was her decision to search out if the rumors behind a certain individual was true, and she had spent considerable resources to ensure that they had everything in place beforehand.  It had taken a bit of effort to track down the three women who had somehow managed to survive after they had been killed by her people a few days ago, but at least that fool Gregory and his party had been easier to find.  It helped that her Guild had branches in over 20 towns already, which allowed the spread of information to flow swiftly, and they were captured shortly after in a town a dozen miles to the northwest. 

Well, killed and then imprisoned, before being resurrected.  The messy interrogation had been a necessary affair, done as quickly as possible to get the information they needed, though it wasn’t nearly as much as she hoped they would acquire.  When they captured the object of their attention, she would ensure they got the answers she deserved.

The monthly update about 15 minutes ago was a little worrying, given that she and the rest of her party had this “black aura” it mentioned, but there weren’t many that would try and mess with her.  Being Level 27 had its perks, including a lethal reputation of retaliation, and there was no way anyone would dare attack her – now or before the whole monthly update.  It was a ridiculous way to try and get them to stop killing other Contenders, she thought, though it would require them to be a little more careful in their activities.  Anyway, it didn’t really matter now that most of the city had already joined one Guild or another, and the killings would slow down from that point on naturally.  They wouldn’t ever stop, of course, because soon enough she could see the Guilds going to war amongst each other, but that would probably be months or even a year into the future.

Right now, what they allowed to happen was let those in charge of the Guilds shoot up in the Rankings while holding most of the others back, ensuring that they had a better chance of achieving the top spot.  If a couple thousand people had to die to achieve that, it was a sacrifice she – and the other Guild Leaders – was willing to make.

As they got closer to the Grotto, a sixth sense that she’d begun to rely on told her that something was wrong.  Only seconds later, she stopped herself and the rest of the party as she looked ahead, able to see the spot where her Guild’s Level 20s were supposed to conduct business. 

It was too quiet.  It didn’t take eagle eyes to see the cage in the distance, but instead of her people clustered around it, there were only motionless forms on the ground.  The hair along the back of her neck started to raise as she took in the scene, and she cautioned the others to take care as they slowly approached. 

They were dead.  Every single one of them, and they had been nearly obliterated so badly that they were barely recognizable as bodies.  It looked as if a single spell had done it, but she’d never heard of anything that powerful before.  Even prisoners in the cage had been annihilated, though they had been dead before.

“It’s Martin!  I can still resurrect him!” Geneva shouted, the Support Class rushing forward near a corpse that was relatively intact.  In fact, when she arrived and rolled him over, he didn’t look like he had a scratch on him. 

His face, though, was frozen in an expression of fear that made Olivia rear back involuntarily. 

A minute later, she watched as Martin suddenly moved with life, though he was still nearly dead.  Geneva slapped a Weak Regeneration on him to start the healing process, but the Guild Leader didn’t want to wait.

Martin’s eyes were haunted as they took in his environment, and they kept darting around, as if he feared to see something that might still be nearby.  As he sat up cautiously, she snapped her fingers in front of his face, getting his attention quickly.

“Martin.  What.  The.  Fuck.  Happened?”

The recently resurrected Level 20, which she observed still had a black aura around his nametag, shook his head and said something too low for her to catch. 

“Speak up!  What happened?”

“I—It was… I don’t… it was him!  He’s some sort of demon in disguise!”

She slapped him, noting that she actually did some damage to him despite him being a lower Level.  Huh.  Maybe the black aura isn’t so bad.  “You’re talking nonsense.  Now, what happened?  And none of this demon business.”

“I—I don’t know!  One second we were attacking him, and the next second he blew them all up!  When he grabbed my wrist, I tried to get away, but he was too strong… and then I don’t remember anymore.”

“What was it, Martin?  Was it a monster?”

“No,” he whispered, low enough that she had to lean in to hear him.  “He wasn’t a monster; he was much more powerful than any monster I’ve seen.”

“Who was it, then?”

“I already told you; it was him.”

Olivia was confused about what he was talking about, before it hit her.  “Him?  As in?” she prompted, already knowing what he was about to say.

“Yes.  The one at the top of the Rankings.”

She froze, disbelief flowing over her for a moment, before the sound of footsteps behind her party had her whipping around to see a dark figure standing approximately 40 feet behind them. 

“No, spare me—" Martin shouted in fear from the ground, seeing the figure the same time Olivia and her party did. 

He was cut off when a gruff voice said, “I realized I forgot to check on something while I was here.  I guess it’s a good thing I came back.”

Olivia and her party began to move, but it was already too late.  She saw the figure casting a spell targeting Martin, and a split-second later, her world exploded into darkness.