Damned Healer

Six hours later, Darian was personally received by the commander of the Institute. When she arrived, she stared at him in shock.

"Congratulations… three perfect scores… I'm going to promote you to Master-Class Instructor." Words she never thought she'd say in her life. But there was no doubt about the results.

Darian gave a small, excited nod. Luckily, this time there weren't any people who hated demons enough to cause him trouble. Everything went smoothly.

The commander wanted to explain everything in detail, but Darian just shook his head.

"The Battle Institute commander already explained everything to me. Anyway, I'm in a bit of a rush. Can I go to the herb field now?"

Darian's words left the High Elder thoughtful and confused. Still, she nodded affirmatively and said his new emblem would arrive in a few days.

Darian smiled and said goodbye.

As he walked away, all the examiners stared at the High Elder.

"A demon-Chromaraic hybrid… how is this even possible?" she murmured, completely in disbelief.

One of the examiners then handed three vials to the commander. She took them and examined the medicinal powder inside.

"!"

Her eyes widened immediately.

"This isn't over 60%! This is at least 99% pure!" she said in shock, leaving all the examiners pale.

Then, the High Elder took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Heavens… what a monster…"

In the first exam, Darian and two others had gotten perfect scores for collecting the correct herbs. This was the simplest test, only requiring sharp eyes and knowledge.

But in the second, they had to extract the roots from the herbs they'd picked, plant them, and manipulate the life energy in the specially prepared soil of the field. This made the herbs grow quickly.

This step was extremely complex, and rarely did anyone score above 5. The density of the herbs depended directly on the person's skill. Since all the others were beginners, their results were always average at best.

But Darian… made three herbs grow with life energy so dense and absurd that it affected the entire field. Of course, he got a perfect score.

Finally, everyone had to refine the herbs and turn them into medicinal powder. This step was essential for making pills. Even for someone who wasn't an alchemist, knowing how to do this was incredibly useful.

One could harvest herbs from nature and ingest the powder directly, getting effects close to a finished pill. In emergencies, this could save lives. That's why every instructor had to master this practice.

There were purity levels for the medicinal powder. A sample at 40% was considered above average. Someone truly genius could reach 60%. But Darian, who wasn't an alchemist and didn't even know these standards, just did his best. The result was three batches of medicinal powder at 99% purity.

This wasn't about technique, knowledge, or skill anymore. It required mastery and total control over life energies. The High Elder knew this, which is why she was so stunned.

Almost an hour later…

"Commander!"

Suddenly, an Elder rushed into the hall, calling out to the High Elder and snapping her out of her daze. She turned to him and saw his shocked expression.

"It's about him… Darian… he… he's the new Master-Class Instructor of the Battle Institute."

At that moment, the commander felt her heart stop.

***

A few minutes earlier. After Darian passed the Nature Institute, he ran back to the medicinal field, since he had the right to collect some herbs for free for study.

He wanted to do it quickly, as the day had just started and the Elemental Institute would soon begin the instructor exams. That's why he was in a hurry to leave. Also… he knew news about him would spread fast and wanted to finish the tests at all three institutes before that happened.

Darian arrived at the Institute's herb field and found one of the supervisors, showing him a temporary status plaque. When the supervisor confirmed it was legit… Darian smiled, a plan forming in his mind.

He looked at the man seriously, then let slip a few carefully chosen words to fish for information. The man responded confusedly but ended up revealing some subliminal details he thought were irrelevant.

Darian understood immediately, then looked at the man seriously and explained directly: the info that they were hoarding some plants and selfishly trading them had already spread.

Working in the medicinal area wasn't profitable for points, but for the extra plants secretly cultivated.

Whenever a high-class instructor visited the field, the supervisor could always negotiate some of these extras in exchange for points. Everyone smart knew these unspoken rules. The lower-level people didn't report it, and the higher-ups didn't investigate.

The man's eyes widened and he tried to negotiate with Darian. But Darian refused the bribe immediately, making the supervisor tremble in fear. If Darian didn't want money, would he report him? If investigated thoroughly, he could lose his life.

Darian waited for the man to panic a little, then tossed him a lifeline.

He said he'd only come to warn him: he needed to control himself. He couldn't keep going overboard, because the superiors were already suspicious. If he didn't start restraining himself, he'd really get caught.

Hearing that gentle warning, the man realized immediately that Darian was on his side.

At that moment, seeing the supervisor's expression shift positively, Darian finally revealed what he wanted. Officially, he had the right to choose only one mid-level herb… but he quickly got a high-level portion of each plant cultivated in the field.

There were tens of thousands of different plants, and he got them all. Satisfied, Darian left, leaving behind a supervisor full of gratitude and a friendly smile.

…

Minutes later, Darian stood in front of the massive Elemental Institute building. He didn't need a guide, since the Nature Institute was very close and the two areas complemented each other.

He entered the main door slowly and, looking inside, sighed in relief not to see any of his little allies there.

He saw a group of nearly fifty disciples, almost all Chromaraics, and approached, spotting the Elder examiner as well. Without delay, he registered.

He was told to wait until the group reached a hundred people, which wouldn't take long. Indeed, in just five minutes, more than twenty new participants had already arrived.

Then…

**BOOOOOM!**

Suddenly, the entire sect shook.

Darian looked out the window and saw the whole horizon around the sect covered in bright, colorful runes. It was clearly a barrier.

"It's an emergency! The eight sects have joined forces and are attacking us!"

A shout echoed from outside, making Darian tense.

'Shit… they got here to catch me way too fast.'