A Doctor Without Borders [Healer | Slow-Burn | Medical Fantasy]

I could practically see all the pieces coming together in her mind and their implications. Teaching a Human was one thing, but teaching a prodigy?

I salvaged the situation in the only way I knew how. "My Projection is 2."

She recoiled, head cocked. "Two? You mean," her eyes shifted up as if in thought, "second step of the first resonance?"

I raised my shoulders. "I don't know that scale. I just know my Projection is very low."

"That is impossible. How can you heal?"

"I don't 'heal.'"

Her eyes flashed. "Yes, you do. But I haven't seen you do it at range." She looked down at her arm, but then thought better of it. She pushed away from the table and strode to the wall, ripping the light crystal from its holder. She snuffed out the light and held it up several feet from me. "Prove your Projection is as bad as you claim. Try to light this."

"I can't. It's too far."

"Show me."

I looked at her incredulously, but she didn't budge. "Fine." I let out a breath and extended my arm. It cut the distance down by a quarter, but it was still not enough. I pushed, then strained to force Energy into the crystal to no avail. After a minute of futile effort, she started to approach me with the crystal in hand.

"You're not—Never mind. Just don't stop or decrease the effort. I will know."

I said nothing but gritted my teeth. My head was starting to ache from the effort, but as expected, the stone remained dark. Only when it came a finger's width away did the stone show the faintest hint of light.

"Pathetic." Yet, when she sat down in the chair, some of that suspicion had left her.

I shrugged. "Yes. You could say that."

"Still, how are you managing to heal?"

"Like I said, the potions work as a conduit for my skill."

"I would say that it is impossible, but you have clearly done it. I can only imagine that your success occurred because you've been using higher-grade potions. Even then, to manipulate potions to the extent to earn a skill would require…an amazingly high Processing and Perception. The same things you'd need to survive the Aether in the mine and use high-grade potions safely."

She fell into her chair, her hand covering her face. A giggle slipped out; she silenced it with a sharp intake of breath. She sat rigid—motionless—not even her chest rose. Finally, she let out a long breath and leaned back, staring past me.

I studied the athletic Ættar. Even rattled, she carried a certain strength. I waited. Eventually, she wiped the dampness from her eyes and turned to face me. "She doesn't know—the Vísir. By the Mother, none of them do."

I played dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? I think we are beyond that now." She took a deep breath and let it out. "Training you will cost me so much, even without your extenuating circumstances." Her hands fell to her sides. "I should have let you die."

"Well, I appreciated that you didn't."

She guffawed. "Of course you don't, and you just keep finding wonderful ways to show your gratitude."

"I want to make this work, but as I have already told you, I don't understand your culture. Maybe you could try explaining it to me."

My growing frustration had leaked out in my words, and it only spurred her on. "What? Do you need me to explain the obvious? You are a Human with, let's just say, talent. For many, teaching you our secrets is tantamount to betraying our people."

"I proved my honor—"

"You proved little. Even if sanctioned by the Sæmdarskati, that will mean little when we return. His tribe is an outlier among the tribes. Most will not see what you've done here as worth the knowledge you will gain from my tutoring. And when you inevitably return to the Human lands, the Elders would be within their right to declare me a traitor to my people."

"But the Sæmdarskati—"

She slapped the table. "He is just a Sæmdarskati! Out here, now, he has power, but when we return home, his actions will be judged by the Sæmdarherra and, indirectly, the Council of Elders. He has quite a following, but he has crossed many lines. I don't know if even his tribe's [Shamans] would agree to what he asked—demanded—my Master to do. When we return and have a reckoning, my Master won't protect me. She probably already has plans to sacrifice me to spare her honor."

"If I stayed?"

"Would you promise that?"

I stared at her, unspeaking. The lie was on the tip of my tongue, but I could not make myself say it. I let my head drop, and I shook my head.

She had saved me—more than once, but how much did that earn her? I couldn't promise to stay with the Ættir, not now at least. Based on everything I had heard, I could be walking straight into my own execution.

What a messed-up situation.

"At least you have the honor not to lie to my face. But even if you stayed with us and did not return to your kind, I would still be shunned for taking on a Human apprentice." I opened my mouth to say something, but she cut me off. Her lip curled. "I don't need your pity."

"I'm not..." If she didn't want my apology, I wouldn't give her one. "Is there any way to make this work out for you?"

"You would have to become an ally of my people."

I tried for a wry smile. "Well, something to work toward."

My joke fell flat. "Doubtful. I have never heard of that happening."

My mind took apart the problem unbidden. I could do more to curry favor with the other Ættir. I had skills and knowledge that were likely unknown here. It was just a question of the risk of revealing that type of information. Something as simple as germ theory, which seemed novel to them, would be beneficial and shouldn't cause much harm, right? Except, even without that knowledge, early European settlers had figured out how to weaponize smallpox against Native Americans. And with adding magic?

"Too bad I can't take the Vísir with me," I muttered.

She stilled. Something calculating entered her gaze, and she studied me for a long time before shaking her head. "I can't tell if the Mother has blessed or cursed me with your presence."

"Seems more like a curse to me."

She let out a disheartening laugh. "I tend to agree, but…"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She trailed off, clearly lost in thought. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to feign confidence, but I could not come up with a single scenario that turned in my favor if she ratted me out as a prodigy.

I swallowed hard. "Look, could you at least do me a favor and give me some time to prepare before you tell the Sæmdarskati or the Vísir about me?"

She pressed a finger to her mouth. "No. I won't tell them—yet. As I said before, I'll fulfill my duty."

"Your duty to whom?"

"My duty to the Sæmdarskati."

"And what about your Master and your tribe?"

"That is negotiable."

"Is it now?"

"Luckily for you, it is."

There was no sarcasm there. She meant what she said. It just didn't make sense.

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Actually, no. From everything I knew about Ættir-Human relations, I am surprised you haven't already run off to the Sæmdarskati or the Vísir, or, you know, started planning something worse."

"Please. I wouldn't stain my honor that way." She sighed and then continued as if she were explaining to a child. "Not all Ættir despise Humans. Each tribe is different, and my tribe falls somewhere in between the Sæmdarskati's and the Vísir's. And while you may have talent, your Projection makes your potential limited. I'm not particularly concerned with the threat you face. Also, I believe the respect you earned was not under false pretenses. I'm okay with you living. However, many of the Elders won't be. And when my Master discards—no, make that betrays—me, you will be my leverage. Not even she could escape the backlash if the Elders learned that you are a prodigy."

"An alleged prodigy."

Her eyebrows pinched. "Alleged?"

Right. Different legal system. "Ignore it. Bad joke from home."

"Mother, save me."

How about saving both of us? If I wasn't already walking a tightrope with the Ættir, I was now. Given the hell the Vísir could face, Dorian had vastly undersold the danger of my Potentials becoming known. If Esper didn't have such a poor relationship with her master…I couldn't let anyone else know about my talents.

She let out a long sigh. "Now tell me your skills."

"Not yet." She frowned. "While I understand why you would help me," I motioned between her and myself, "what we have here isn't going to cut it. We need some ground rules."

It was her turn to cross her arms over her chest. "Is this regarding your training again? I cannot hold you to a lesser standard."

I threw a hand up in the air. "Really? That's where you think I am going? But sure, let's pause there. I get your situation, but have you taken a second to think about mine? In the short time that I have been here, I have nearly died at least twice. I have had to acquiesce to requests of a [Tailor]—who happens to actually be a crazy-powerful [Archmage]—even though that meant near-death beatings every time I went to get water. And I don't think it is a stretch to say that I am walking on eggshells every time I interact with one of you. So, yeah, I think I am entitled to some leniency as well as having a teacher who doesn't use me as a pincushion."

"You done?" She held my gaze, waiting.

I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. This far from the mine, the surge in Aether was negligible, though it hinted at more if I wanted.

A hostile work environment with mind-altering substances available with a simple breath. Such a wonderful situation I find myself in.

When I opened my eyes, Esper remained sitting, waiting. My situation was far from ideal, but I had no path to change it. At least, that gave me clear direction. If I wanted to advance my class, I needed to learn. And as any medical student or doctor could tell you, you learned the most by caring for patients. Despite all the possible blowback, she was willing to teach me. If she could shoulder that burden, then so could I.

"While I am pretty sure that I can give you more examples if needed, I'll keep myself in check. We have gotten off to a poor start multiple times. I didn't lie about my gratitude for what you've done for me. I just don't have it in me to deal with another toxic relationship, especially with what I just learned. I know you may not think it fair to you. However, I just…I just can't. If you can just treat me with the same respect you would want, I promise I will try my hardest to be a good student."

She stared at the ceiling, muttering something in an undecipherable tongue. "Fine. I will give you a chance, but if you slack, I'll employ harsher measures."

"I can live with that, but I need another term to call you besides 'Master.'"

Her eyes narrowed. "You ask for more? That's a term of respect."

"It doesn't work for me. We are practically the same age." Even if I didn't look it, she was probably younger than my true age.

"It is already shameful for me to have a Human as an apprentice. You would dishonor me further—"

"Is there not another way to show respect? The connotation isn't one I am comfortable with, especially seeing how the Vísir treats you."

She fumed for a few seconds before grumbling, "You will be the death of me. However, I will concede that even if I am the elder, we are close in age. More importantly, we are far from home. There is no point in pretending that I can ever impress the Vísir. While we are here, you can address me as your Senior. It fits. It may work better that way. After all, it implies the Vísir is your Master."

"Senior will work." Another option came to me. "Are you sure I couldn't try to force the Vísir to teach me?"

Her eyes lit up for a second before she shook her head. "No. Even if she didn't find out about your talent, you would likely find yourself suffering a fatal accident in the future." My eyebrows rose, and she nodded. "Yes, she would risk the Sæmdarskati's wrath. She is an Elder. Even he can only go so far. As an apprentice, you would need to go into the forest to gather the necessary herbs and reagents. While I would always accompany you, the Vísir would have the right to send you alone. So much can go wrong in the Wilds. No one would blink if you died out there. Be glad she believes that she has found a way to twist your situation to further my shame. I have too much honor to let that fate befall you."

"And you need me."

She ignored my quip. She tapped the table with a finger. "Now, tell me your skills."

When I had awoken this morning, I hadn't imagined Esper as the first person to hear about my new level. But in for a penny, in for a pound.

"As of this morning, I am a level 6 [Physician]. I started with [Enhanced Memory], but that has since upgraded to [Eidetic Memory: Medicine]." I didn't elaborate on how that upgrade had happened, and she didn't so much as bat an eye at the skill's evolution. "At level 2, I gained [Enhance Medicinal]; at level 3, [Suppress Growth]; and at level 4, [Resist Disease]." Her eyes widened as I listed off each skill. "For moving beyond Tier I, I got [Physician's Presence], [Quicken Thoughts], and [Sense Injury]. As wonderful as these skills are, my Projection—"

I cut myself off, cursing silently. Dorian had warned about talking about my gains in Projection. I didn't need to give her anything more to work with. "My Projection has limited them."

She studied me as if trying to decide whether or not to call me out on my lie. "You are not leaving out any of your Tier I skills?"

I jumped on the question. If she wanted to ignore my slip-up, I would oblige her. "No. That was all of them."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Well, that puts my doubts about your 'talent' to rest."

"What?"

"You survived the Aether levels in the mine without a skill."

"I guess so."

She let out an exasperated sound before becoming very serious. "You were very lucky that day you overdosed. I didn't think you were going to make it. If things had kept going as they started, you wouldn't have. But right when I thought hope was lost, something changed." She paused, her stare piercing to my core. "Do you happen to know anything about that?"

I leaned back in my chair as I tried to recall that day. So much remained hazy. What I did remember remained best unsaid.

"Nothing I can say with confidence."

She gave me a look that I struggled to parse before waving it away. "I didn't berate you for your foolishness because of what I got out of it and because I was sure that Oresian would have set you straight. But don't do it again."

"I won't."

"Good. Now tell me your Potentials."

I sucked in air. "I can't." She gave me a long look. "What? I don't know them." I raised my hands at her glower. "I promise. I think something happened when I got injured."

She tapped her lower lip. "My Master did say your Potentials were hard to assess." Despite her words, it was clear she didn't really believe that. She, after all, had seen me without any Marks. That was fertile enough soil for doubt to spring. "And that was long ago. Why haven't you checked again?"

"I don't know how."

"That is ridiculous. You're Mind-based." She rolled her eyes. "Tell me what they were. Even if you couldn't assess them, one of your people must have checked."

"We didn't do that." She raised both eyebrows in surprise. I shrugged. "Aether levels were much lower where I am from. Potentials didn't matter as much."

"And yet you turn out to be quite the talent. Well, at least I won't have to waste time untangling your system for measuring Potentials. Translating different sensations is quite the task."

Sensations?

"Later, I will teach you a way to assess them. It is a simple technique that everyone should learn if they have any hopes of maximizing their cognitive Potentials. It isn't hard, but it takes practice."

"I look forward to learning it." I didn't add, "slowly." The longer I could feign ignorance, the better.

"Now, you said you gained a level this morning."

"Yeah. Last night. Do you still want to hear my latest skill?" She nodded. "At level 6, I gained [Sterilize]."

"Why did you get a [Crafter]'s skill?"

"Is it? I sort of assumed it was related to, ah, festering."

She clicked her tongue. "Strange, but something we can discuss later." She stood up and motioned to the bag. "Grab that backpack and a blade. We have spent too much time here. Time to head to the forest to get some supplies. You can tell me more about your skills on the way to the forest."