Accidental Healer

The whole process took maybe 15 seconds. When I looked back up, the field was moving.

Something—or a lot of somethings—were coming through the grass.

I couldn't see them. They were too short.

First thought? Snakes.

I hate snakes, please don't be snakes.

But no—the movement was wrong. The grass rippled and bent like something darting on two legs.

Okay. Not one big monster. Many small ones.

…Rats?

Would I rather be eaten by a giant snake or swarmed by rats?

…Neither.

Not happening. I set my stance and waited. There was no warning.

The first creature exploded from the grass, full sprint, straight at me.

And let me tell you—a rat would've been preferable.

The best way to describe it? Gremlin. Not the cute kind—the "fed after midnight" kind.

Two feet tall. Thin, scaly, and a mouth full of WAY too many teeth.

I barely had time to process it before—

It launched itself at my stomach. I didn't even think. I sidestepped. The little bastard flung past me, claws outstretched.

Instead of letting it go, I swung both hands down and spiked it into the dirt like a volleyball.

CRACK.

It twitched. Something was very broken. It flailed helplessly, trying to get up.

No hesitation. I stomped.

SQUELCH.

[You have killed LVL 1 Chaos Spawn]

I immediately threw up. Holy shit. That was horrible. But I had no time to dwell on it—

Because five more burst out of the grass. Same strategy. Same kamikaze jump.

Five of them, all at once. And behind them? At least 30 more.

…Oh, fantastic. I punched the first one mid-air.

Its body collapsed inward like an accordion. I gagged again.

[You have killed LVL 1 Chaos Spawn]

Okay. That's two down. Four more slammed into me.

Two rebounded off—but two did not.

One latched onto my ass. The other? My love handle.

SON OF A BITCH!

"ARRRGHHH!" Tears welled in the corners of my eyes, pumping with adrenaline, I reached back and grabbed the one chewing on my ass. It did not want to let go.

I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes—and yanked with all my might. The little bastard didn't come easy. Its oversized mouth and sharp teeth made for a solid grip but in the end I won out.

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Then I made a critical mistake.

Like an idiot, I held it up to get a look at it. It actually smiled.

A chunk of my flesh fell from its uneven jagged teeth. Between the white hot pain and seeing a piece of my ass cheek I started to feel dizzy.

As disgusting as these monsters were, they seemed to have almost no HP, still there were so many.

I didn't have time to be graceful.

Instead, I went full animal-in-a-trap mode.

With one Chaos Spawn still dangling upside down in my grip and another frothing at the mouth, latched onto my hip, I did the only thing I could think of.

I extended my arms—

And started swinging like a lunatic. Like a kid playing the airplane game at the park.

Except instead of a kid, I was using a Chaos Spawn. If someone had been watching the scene from a distance, I must've looked ridiculous.

From my vantage it was even worse. In each hand I held one of the fuzzy little clawed hands of the chaos spawn. Spinning in circles with my arms out–it was like the nightmare version of the sound of music.

The chaos spawn I was brandishing as a weapon stayed firmly in my view as I spun in wide circles. It was long dead but its eyes still remained open and unfortunately I just couldn't help but make eye contact.

[You have killed Chaos Spawn (Level 1).
You have killed Chaos Spawn (Level 1).
You have killed Chaos Spawn (Level 1).]

The system kept dinging, rattling off kill confirmations.

Ding.

[Congratulations! Healer class has leveled up.]

Alright! My very first level up!

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to celebrate. The battle dragged on.

And although my spinning wheel of death strategy was effective, it had one fatal flaw—

Too many dead bodies piling up at my feet.

I kept tripping over the corpses of my victims. And if I lost my footing? It was over.

These things would swarm me, drag me down, and I'd be ripped apart. I had to keep moving.

I tossed the limp, ruined Chaos Spawn into the nearest group of enemies, knocking a few of them over. Feeling more than a little dizzy from the spinning I zoned in on my next targets.

A tight mass of at least 30 chaos spawn right in front of me. The biggest issue–I didn't have a weapon. I also didn't have a master plan. What did I have? Legs.

I took off at a sprint, charging straight into the horde. And then? I high-stepped.

Pumping my knees like a football drill, smashing every Chaos Spawn that got in my way.

Not every hit was a kill, but I saw constant EXP notifications. Remarkably, my strategy was actually working pretty well.

I was stacking up kills. Knocking in heads and the horde of chaos spawn was getting smaller and smaller.

Things were going pretty well overall. Of course, the moment I think this isn't so bad, everything goes to shit. My legs slowed. I was nearly out of steam.

A Chaos Spawn latched onto my calf. Then another onto my thigh. Then another. And another.

By the time the fifth one sank its teeth into me, I couldn't run anymore.

They swarmed me. I shook, flailed, kicked—nothing worked. My HP was plummeting.

Panicked, I glanced at my status screen.

HP: 5/21

Status:

Bleeding

MP: 10/28

Shit.

I stumbled. Blood flowed from dozens of deep wounds. My vision blurred.

Am I going to die? My foot stepped on something wet and then slipped, the world shifted and I fell flat on my face.

CRUNCH.

[You have killed (4) Chaos Spawn (Level 1).]

Ding!

Healer class has reached Level 3.

I leveled up. What a way to go–I hadn't even survived a day. Wait–level up–

I have free points! No hesitation. I dumped five points into constitution, the rest into Intelligence.

HP: 8/27

MP: 21/39

I cast Weak Heal. Then again. HP jumped to 18.

Clarity returned. There are only six chaos spawn left. I could do this. The weight was still too heavy to stand. So instead I just rolled. I could feel the crunching bodies under my weight.

Two kill notifications. I wasn't done. Four more of the spawn were still clinging to me. I forced myself to stand.

Each one was latched onto my thighs or calves, their claws digging in, their tiny mouths biting down.

I gritted my teeth and fought through the pain, ripping them off one by one.

It was gruesome, brutal, and horribly painful.

By the end, I was drenched in blood—some of it mine, some of it theirs.

I was on the edge of passing out. But I got it done.