Damned Healer

"This... how... so many..." the guy stammered, unable to process it.

The three youngsters quickly walked up. Eleri spoke excitedly: "Brother Darian, everyone's ready for any test!"

Darian nodded and turned to the guy: "We're... kinda in a hurry. They're all my allies and came with me from the desert. We can all join together, right?"

The guy almost jumped in disbelief. He turned to Darian and nodded hastily: "Come on, I'll take you to the sect right away."

He spoke and moved fast, like he didn't want to give them a chance to back out. Everyone followed him into the village. In the middle of several houses there was an open area, marked by a circle on the ground covered in small silvery stones.

"Step into the circle, I'll activate the transport," the guy announced.

The circle only held about three hundred people, so he had to activate it several times. Each use burned through a huge amount of resources, but he didn't seem to care. On the contrary, there was a euphoric shine in his eyes.

Darian was the first to step in, along with a large group.

The space around them twisted, and within seconds they found themselves in the middle of a city filled with tall buildings.

Now they understood—cities in the Wild World were the sects' territories. Villages, on the other hand, were unsafe places, only inhabited by the weak.

They stepped out of the circle and waited on the side, blocked by a barrier that kept them from leaving the area. Soon, new groups of allies arrived. In just a few minutes, everyone was gathered, with the guy coming along in the end.

"Come, the test's pretty simple," he said, motioning for them to follow him to a nearby open space.

The guy pulled out a crystal, which glowed brightly, and then a golden pillar two meters tall rose from the ground.

"Just touch the Pillar of Truth. After that, make a promise that you didn't come to the sect with bad intentions. That's it... but if you lie, the pillar can read your soul and energy fluctuations perfectly. So, I'll ask again: do you really want to join the sect and fight by our side?" he said, his sharp gaze scanning over them all.

"If you want to leave now, I guarantee you'll have no problems. But if you try the test and fail, I promise you won't leave here alive."

Everyone nodded indifferently. The guy sighed, thoughtful, then called the first one over.

Eleri ran ahead and touched the pillar.

"I don't want to cause trouble for anyone; if Brother Darian says to help the sect, I'll do it!"

She spoke, and the pillar didn't react. The guy, though, tensed up. What if this Darian guy said the opposite? She'd obey without hesitation?

Quickly, Awel, Tir, and the rest stepped up one by one to touch the pillar.

Their words sounded very similar to Eleri's, with small variations, but the same message: they said they didn't want to harm the sect, but they'd only follow Darian's orders.

The guy let out a heavy sigh. It was obvious: all of them would only obey that man. That was troublesome, but there wasn't any rule in the sect against such an unusual situation.

It took a little over an hour for everyone to go through, and then Darian stepped up last.

He stated his honesty indifferently. No surprise—the pillar didn't react. The guy, on the other hand, exhaled in relief.

"Great, you're all now official sect disciples. Soon you'll get your emblems," he said, looking very pleased and cheerful. "My name's Zaen, I'm from the Blazepeak Eagle race of primitive beasts. I'm your senior disciple..."

"Disciple? Why didn't they send an Elder for something this important?" Awel couldn't help but ask.

Zaen shifted his gaze slightly: "Well... right now we've got very few Elders. They're all overloaded, so I—being the only new recruit in fifty years—got assigned to this job."

"What? Not a single new disciple?" Eleri said, stunned.

He sighed: "That's how it is, sadly. We're the ninth sect of the Wild World..."

"Ninth out of how many sects?" Eleri cut in quickly, but when she saw his eyes sink, she sighed. "We're the last one... Well, who cares! With Brother Darian, we'll make it to first place!"

"Yes!!!"

Suddenly, all the little ones shouted together, leaving Darian a bit embarrassed and Zaen speechless.

Zaen coughed lightly: "Anyway... our sect hasn't gotten new members in a long time. So all of you coming at once is gonna stir things up until the sect figures out work for everyone."

"To help us organize better, you all need to join one of the institutes," he continued, looking at the little ones. "We've got three options: the Battle Institute, the Elemental Institute, and the Nature Institute."

"Since you're all Heavenly Elemental Spirits, the Elemental Institute is perfect for you. There, you'll find instructors who'll help you with everything," he said, before turning to Darian.

"As for you... is your hybrid bloodline stronger on the Chromaraic side or the Demonic side?"

Darian scoffed. He was pure human, but in this place there were no humans—only the ancestor race: the Chromaraics.

Since humans didn't exist here and no one had ever seen one, it was impossible for Darian to make them understand his real origin. He had even tried explaining back in the desert, to the Fiendgod Frezyn, but she couldn't grasp it. It was like pointing to some ancient sea fish and saying that billions of years later it would crawl out of the ocean and turn into something completely different. To anyone without knowledge, that sounded ridiculous.

As for the "other side of his bloodline," the corruption in his soul was easy for others to sense, and they mistook it for a demonic bloodline. In the end, everyone was convinced he was a hybrid of those two sides, and Darian just accepted it.

"Neither side's particularly strong or weak," he replied calmly.

"Well... the Elemental Institute is also where Chromaraics do best. As for demons... unfortunately there aren't any pure ones in the sect anymore, only a few really bold hybrids. I need to warn you about this..." Zaen looked Darian straight in the eye, dead serious.

"In the past, there was a huge problem with demons in the sect. Many turned traitor and caused massive damage. Countless people died because of them... and that left a deep scar. These days, anyone with demon blood is hated by everyone. You might face hostility from some because of that trace in you."

Darian almost cursed. He wasn't even a demon, yet he still had to deal with this crap?

Scoffing, he thought for a moment before asking: "The Nature Institute, judging by the name, seems meant for very specific races. And the Battle Institute should be for beasts and people with high combat ability, right?"

"Correct. I'm in the Battle Institute, and all beasts, Aberrants, and Fiendgods choose that place. In the past, many demons also joined it," Zaen explained calmly.

"Great, that's where I want to go," Darian said, then turned to the others. "All of you, go to the Elemental Institute and follow the Elders' instructions. We just got here, I don't want any trouble. Eldu, I'm counting on you to keep everyone in line."

They all nodded with faint smiles.

Darian sighed. It was like being an adult put in charge of kids with huge potential for causing chaos. Luckily, when he spoke directly, they tried their best not to disappoint him. The problem was, most of them were a bit... silly, and often ended up doing weird things innocently.

Suddenly, a humanoid figure walked up. He was over four meters tall, extremely muscular, with bluish skin. An Aberrant.

Zaen spoke: "This is Elder Durle. He'll take you to the Battle Institute. I'll lead the others."

Darian nodded and walked over to the Elder, who looked impatient, like he had been forced to interrupt something important just to deal with this.

"Come," the Elder said curtly, turning and walking off.

Darian didn't mind and followed.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a massive structure with several floors and interconnected towers, looking like a medieval castle from Earth.

Right at the entrance, the Elder pulled out a small emblem and tossed it at Darian.

"This is your sect disciple emblem. Everyone's busy, so just go inside and look for the Master Instructor on duty. He'll guide you."

After speaking, the Elder huffed and walked away, leaving Darian alone at the entrance.

Darian sighed, opened the door, and walked in calmly.

Inside, he found nearly a hundred people gathered, all with tense, worried expressions.

Instinctively, his heart stirred. Curious, Darian stepped closer.

He could feel there was an opportunity here, but he needed someone to quietly explain the situation to him. His eyes searched... until he spotted a woman with a peculiar appearance.

She was about one meter sixty, with bright yellow skin, long pointed ears, and a tail. Her eyes were red, and her long hair was completely white. But what really caught his attention was her bloodline: she had a subtle demonic trace mixed with a much stronger beast one.

The demonic presence was so faint that Darian was sure almost no one would notice it right away. Even focusing, it wasn't easy to detect. And, given Zaen's words, it was likely she was deliberately hiding it.

As he walked up, the woman immediately turned toward him. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"You..."

Clearly, she had sensed it and thought Darian was also half-demon like her. Worse... he had no way of hiding it.

Then, Darian saw her gaze completely soften.

It was pity—she thought they were the same. But unlike her, who could hide it, he was doomed to suffer here. That made her want to help him. Exactly what he needed.

"Am I late?" he asked, probing the situation.

She took a deep breath and shook her head.

"No. The Instructor's test doesn't start for another half hour."

"Good, glad I made it in time..." Darian said brightly. "We've never met before. I'm Darian."

She gave a faint smile.

"I'm Marli. I work in the far north of the territory and rarely come back to the sect. Have you registered yet? You should do that over there."

"Oh?! Thanks, I'll be right back." he said, nodding before heading toward the spot she had pointed to.