Even if it would be short-lived, Kyle was glad to see that they were able to pull back so far from the edge of danger. What’s better, the Healer who had been handling things before Kyle’s arrival recovered enough to help triage some of the more serious patients, taking full advantage of the residual healing energies left by Kyle’s skill.
[YOU ACCOMPLISHED A LOT TODAY, DR. MAYHEW. BE WARY OF PUSHING YOURSELF TOO HARD.]
Kyle looked at his hands, the cold tingling of overexertion front of mind. Everything was working fine, up until the last 2 patients. Healing Impetus took quite a bit of mana to use, but slow application of the skill had avoided much of the backlash. He felt a slow building of pressure in his arms, which he allowed to dissipate between each patient while he activated Identify.
Kyle’s plan was to find the areas where the plague was developing, and then target his skill in the most crucial areas. Unfortunately, the last 2 patients, both young unawakened, were very difficult to track down. The lack of a developed mana network made it difficult to see where the problems were, and he’d overstretched himself with both Identify and Healing Impetus trying to cover all of his bases. “I’ll try my best, C.H.A.D.D. At least now they’ve all made substantial recoveries, we can work on more specific treatments from here.”
[I WILL CONTINUE TO EVALUATE TREATMENT OPTIONS. GIVEN THE MANA HAS STARTED CONDENSING TO SOME DEGREE IN EACH CASE, IT IS LIKELY THAT THEY WILL NEED ADDITIONAL HEALING IN THE DAYS AHEAD. CONTINUE TO THINK ABOUT SDTRATEGIES TO EASE MANA FLOW, AND I WILL DO THE SAME.]
Kyle nodded his agreement. The way he figured it, the problem had 3 different layers to be fully addressed. The first was treating symptoms, which Kyle had already done. With the other Healer able to contribute, the infected patients would be able to hang on much longer.
The second layer was finding an answer to the mana accumulation within their bodies. Though he would need to review the notes, Kyle felt confident that addressing that issue would involve careful application of Parasitic Resonance to break down the pockets of foreign energy within the infected. The biggest issue with that plan was helping the unawakened. Even the E Grades could find themselves struggling if Kyle was forced to infuse his own energy to destroy the plague. Unawakened were definitely too fragile to survive a treatment like that without severe repercussions.
And, even if he was able to successfully treat the blockages, the overarching issue and final layer remained; finding and destroying the source of the plague itself. This was the part that stumped Kyle the most. The plague was somehow infused into the ambient mana of the area, and destroying it would take a lot of work. What’s more, he felt like he was still missing something about why Rai’Lenelat and Zierlan created the plague in the first place.
While he could admit that Zierlan may have done something like this out of simple curiosity, he held no such belief in the deposed king. There was a reason Rai’Lenelat invested so many resources into creating the plague, but Kyle couldn’t figure out how it fit into the puzzle. If he could better understand why it was important to the king’s plan, what it was supposed to help him accomplish, Kyle felt that he could use that information to unravel the mechanics behind it all.
Ultimately, despite Zierlan’s influence, Rai’Lenelat was a D Grade when he worked on these experiments. From what little he could tell from the notes, the king didn’t even have a class that was directly tied to this type of manipulation. With that being the case, Kyle refused to believe that Rai’Lenelat made something he couldn’t contend with. Once he figured out the source, he and C.H.A.D.D. could make a plan to handle it. After his mana network recovered, at least.
Days flew by as Kyle and C.H.A.D.D. continued to treat the infected, with more slowly joining their number. He was careful not to overextend his mana network, allowing time to mend his injury as he gained strength. A little over a week had passed, and Kyle was eating a midday meal with Serenel when Kyle received a message he’d been waiting for, from Suierrillax. Excusing himself from the table, he stepped aside and opened it.
Kyle,
Does it make you happy creating bureaucratic nightmares? Because that’s what you do. You owe me for this. I’m taking a vacation as soon as you get back and I get unburied from the mountain of paperwork you’ve created for me.
The Verdant Republic is very interested in meeting the Resistance Leader you spoke of. They’re preparing an emissary to reach out, but I expect that will take a few years, at least. If she’s open to leaving her planet as a refugee seeking political asylum, however, we could speed up the timeline. Dramatically.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
We ran into some issues with getting better communications set up. There were some odd disturbances in the space around the planet, but they’ve cleared. Once the relays are in place, we can communicate more freely and work on details.
If you can convince her to leave, I believe that the Verdant Republic would consider this mission a tremendous success. No need to respond to this message, just be ready to hear from me again. I expect that they’ll want to move on an extraction in a cycle or 2, and if you can get her on board, you’ll be in great shape.
Don’t die on me. If I wasted all this time organizing things for you to up and croak, I’ll be pissed.
- Suierrillax
Kyle grinned at the message, even though it put him on a timer. Knowing the Verdant Republic, he expected that they’d be on the longer end of Suierrillax’s timeline. Assuming the message took a couple of weeks to arrive, that left him with between 6 and 8 weeks to resolve the issues he had outstanding. Resolve the plague, recover my mana network, finish hunting shrikes and abominations, then run halfway across the world to meet with D’Oillelat and convince her to leave the only home she’s ever known.
Despite the daunting prospect and narrow timeline, Kyle felt confident. The strain across his mana network was lessening by the day, and he figured he would be ready to apply Parasitic Resonance to the blockages in the infected soon. Knowing there were both shrikes and abominations nearby, hunting the rest that he needed shouldn’t be too difficult either.
No, the biggest issue was finding his way back to the Resistance, and he had a feeling that the village here would be able to assist. C.H.A.D.D. hadn’t been idle during their time, and the drone’s scans brought a few things to light that it was time to address.
“You look pleased,” Serenel said as Kyle returned to the table. Vel’Norn and the others already left, giving Kyle the opportunity he was looking for.
“I got a message from a friend, and have a plan to start getting home,” Kyle replied. “Good news all around. That said, I think that it’s time we had a conversation about this village.”
Serenel raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What questions do you have?”
Kyle met Serenel’s eyes, careful to keep his voice neutral. “Who put up the wards around the area?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Serenel said, a quiver in her voice giving away the truth.
“My companion has potent D Grade scanning and mapping functions,” Kyle said. “So it was really odd that we weren’t able to spot your village on any of its scans. In fact, if your people hadn’t come out and found me, I’m doubtful that we would have found your village at all. From the inside, however, we were able to catch some glimpses.”
Serenel was quiet now, her eyes a mix of fear and resignation.
Kyle raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Ordinarily, I would leave your secrets alone. In this case, though, I think whatever you’re hiding is connected to the plague I’ve been treating. Even if I can treat the symptoms, you’ll be back in the same position if I can’t figure out the source of the plague. The wards here are easily D Grade in origin, if not beyond. Whoever put them here had something they didn’t want found. I need to know what that is.”
“How did you know?” Serenel asked. The fear in her voice only seemed to be growing. Kyle didn’t want to intimidate the troll woman, but he needed answers.
“It took C.H.A.D.D. a while to realize that we’ve seen components of the wards before, protecting Resistance territory. Those were weaker, and spread around much farther in comparison. Still, we worked off of that theory. There is some reason that Rai’Lenelat released the plague in this area, and we need to know why. Tell us.”
“If I tell you, will you promise to keep treating the villagers?”
Kyle was a little taken aback at the question. “Of course I will. Why do you think I’m asking?”
Her expression turned serious. “Answering your questions involves revealing our treasure. I have no doubt that the Resistance and the government of Er’Mithren would be very interested in its existence, and you could possibly buy your freedom with it. We knew going into this that we could not stop you if you chose to betray us, but I ask again: will you promise to treat the villagers if I tell you?”
“I will,” Kyle said, meeting her eyes.
“Then follow me,” she said, turning to walk toward one of the side rooms. A rune flashed on the floor, then faded, revealing a hatch that opened to a stairwell below. Kyle and C.H.A.D.D. followed Serenel as she descended, soon ending up in a small chamber below the village.
The entire room was lit in a gentle glow, courtesy of crystals embedded in the walls. A small dais was present in the center of the room, and atop it rested a familiar set of pipes. Unlike the relic that D’Oillelat showed him, however, these were thrumming with energy.
Without any hesitation, Kyle activated Identify. Invisible sigils appeared in his vision, many of which appeared to be inert. One, however, blazed with unmistakable power, seeming to suffuse the entire instrument with energy. He could feel a soft flow of power leaving the pipes, just as energy came from outside to infuse them.
Serenel stood nearby, gauging his reaction. “You’ve seen these before, I take it?”
“Something similar, at least,” Kyle replied. “The Resistance had a set, though it wasn’t giving off energy anything like this.”
“Interesting that one made it to their hands,” she said. “Our village had 3 sets at one point, though the location of the other2 were discovered, and the instruments taken. As you can imagine, this was the most well-protected.”
[AM I CORRECT IN ASSUMING THAT THE MANA IS C GRADE IN NATURE, AS ARE THE WARDS?]
If Serenel was startled by C.H.A.D.D.’s sudden question, she didn’t show it. “They are. Protections placed by our village founder, before he passed away. One of the last C Grade Beastmasters on the planet, if our records are to be believed.” Serenel walked to the dais, and pulled out a small journal. “These are her writings, and the wards were one part of the security she left for her descendants.”
“And what is the other part?” Kyle asked, already having a good idea about the answer.
Serenel met his eyes. “The shrikes.”