Damned Healer

It was noon. At that exact moment, in all eight sects allied to the Radiant King, a message spread quickly, being shared among everyone.

"What? He's near the Chaotic Yin River?" A beast-type High Elder got the message in shock and immediately rushed to the sect leader.

Hearing that, the leader moved without hesitation to the detection tower and, using his own power, confirmed the target's location.

It took less than six hours for the news that Darian was outside the Wilding Kin Sect's protection to spread. Even though they thought it was strange, the eight leaders immediately began moving their troops to hunt him down.

...

Meanwhile, Darian and his group were approaching that legendary killer river of the Wild World. Its waters were made of pure Yin, and any form of life that dared touch it would have all its Yang and life force devoured and die.

That same river stretched all the way to the desert border, creating on the other side a deadly region known as the Cursed Oasis. Even though its level was weaker than the Wild World, it was still fatal for anyone who dared get close. Besides, that was the place where Eleri had been born in the desert.

Darian was moving quickly along the riverbanks, with Tir and Eleri at his side, all of them completely focused.

Unlike when he first arrived in the Wild World, clueless about the place, now Darian had a well-defined plan to move more freely. He had studied the sect's information about all the treasures and also the most dangerous locations.

This place was like the swamp before, with the difference that it wasn't limited to just demons.

These places were deadly both because of the natural phenomena and because countless people, including powerful figures, had died there. Because of that, they had become home to extremely high-level shadows. In other words, if some ordinary person went too deep into these regions, their chances of surviving were almost zero.

Knowing where these places were and plotting a route that connected them quickly, Darian's plan was to move as much as possible inside these areas. That way, his pursuers couldn't just recklessly rush in, which made chasing him way harder.

Thanks to karma, Darian could easily sense the presence of living beings at a great distance. That meant he could avoid his pursuers, who would be forced to advance cautiously. The shadows, however, were a big problem, since he couldn't sense them until he was very close.

Having the power to control them didn't make him invincible. He needed to immobilize them, or find a big enough opening, to place the mark in their core. Not to mention, inside these regions there were many shadows on the same level as Sir Chompsalot. If he was surrounded or caught off guard, things could get messy.

That's why…

A faint greenish rune appeared near Darian.

'Brother Darian, northwest, eight hundred meters away, there's a powerful shadow lurking. Didn't see anything else within a kilometer.' Awel's voice echoed in his mind.

Darian nodded, "You can come back, we'll stop here for a bit."

The rune pulsed, and the metamorphosis activated. Awel appeared, taking a deep breath, looking a bit tired.

They all stopped near the river, with Darian carefully scanning the surroundings.

Back in the desert, Awel had already shown a peculiar ability: in her true form, she could merge with the winds and the atmosphere. She said it was relaxing and fun, and it also let her feel and see everything in a wide area.

After leveling up and expanding her power, that ability became even easier and more useful.

Darian could sense every living being, while she could scout a one-kilometer radius and identify shadows. Together, they made a perfect combo in that dangerous world.

The biggest problem was the exhaustion. Using that ability drained Awel a lot, and she needed to rest for a few hours after carefully scanning an area.

But that wasn't really an obstacle: the shadows wouldn't move unless they sensed someone alive, and as for the pursuers, Darian could feel them from far away, keeping a safe distance.

After confirming it was safe, he relaxed and sat down. The three of them nodded, also relaxing. Awel leaned against him, closed her eyes, and gently rested her head on his shoulder.

"Brother Darian, can I check the river? Everything's safe within a kilometer, right?" Eleri asked, excited.

Darian sighed and nodded. Without hesitation, she ran straight to the banks, almost touching the water.

She did that because, just like she had been born from those waters in the desert region, others like her could also emerge. It wasn't only in the desert that Heavenly Elemental Spirits were born; in the three great regions of this world, that could happen too.

Only when those lifeforms reached a minimum of intelligence and used metamorphosis to interact with the world, the system would activate and take them to the desert.

But even in the desert, where the danger level was way lower, it was rare for Heavenly Elemental Spirits to survive. In the Wild World or in the other central world, the chances of growing up without being killed were basically nonexistent.

That's because any form of life was also prey to shadows. Right after being born, a Heavenly Elemental Spirit was already being hunted by everyone. In the end, it was extremely rare for one of them, born in those stronger places, to manage to ascend and be taken to the desert.

Even so, Eleri still had hopes of finding a newborn sibling by chance. Focused, she pushed herself to feel the waters of the river as far as possible, scanning everything carefully.

Meanwhile, the only one left without anything to do was Tir. So Darian decided to use that idle time to help him out a bit.

Now that Tir had gotten stronger, just like his two sisters, Darian felt it was the best moment to properly teach him.

Out of all the natural elements, earth was the one Darian knew the most about. That was thanks to that book, whose protagonist had a primordial bloodline tied to the earth element and, throughout his journey, studied it to the fullest.

Earth was a peculiar element. While the others showed a non-uniform mix of Yin and Yang, earth represented the exact balance between the two.

That unique trait gave it strange and different possibilities… for example, it was relatively simple to use the essence of earth to manipulate a bit of the other four elements.

A practical, scientific example of earth's power manipulating other elements was that, even on planet Earth, certain minerals in the soil have piezoelectric properties; when subjected to pressure, compression, or vibration, they can generate an electric current.

Knowing that and many other deep details about the earth element, Darian began teaching Tir. He wasn't the best teacher, but Tir had been born from that element, so he learned easily.

Tir got curious and excited listening to Darian's explanations and the possibilities he showed. He asked questions, tried to replicate the examples, and in less than an hour, he managed to generate a faint electric current.

Darian smiled, satisfied. Tir would never get close to the power of a Heavenly Elemental Spirit born from other elements, but he could still take advantage of the basic traits of all the other four. The earth element was way too underestimated by most people, but its toughness and possibilities were immense and unpredictable.

Two hours later, Eleri came back with her head down, frustrated she hadn't found anything. By then, Awel had already rested, and the group could move again.

They moved straight toward that powerful shadow Awel had spotted earlier. Since they already knew the distance and direction, it was easy for Darian to sense the fluctuations of its power.

When they got close, Awel once again used her ability to check the surroundings.

Soon, they found the shadow of a female demon, whose height and build weren't much different from a human's. But in life, her power had been on the level of an Elder, with more than fifty completed cycles.

At that moment...

"DIE!" Eleri roared and attacked all of a sudden, without hesitation.

Darian let out a heavy sigh. She was way too eager to fight and hadn't waited for the command, just throwing herself in.

Tir reacted instantly. A subtle electric current sparked around him, tripling his speed.

He gave Eleri support, acting as the shield while she was the offensive blade. Darian watched from a distance, seeing the two working in sync.

They had spent a lot of time by his side, and Darian had taught them everything he could, even how to fight. That's why he knew their personalities well and trusted them.

Since it was just a single target, even if it was really strong, the two managed to keep it occupied.

After just a few exchanges, Eleri roared and unleashed a sharp cutting water blade.

"Tidal Wave!"

*BANG!*

The shadow defended itself, letting out a loud blast from its body.

That was when Darian dashed in, using the opening. In a swift move, he touched the shadow's head and invaded its body and core.

"..."

The shadow froze completely.

"Success!" Eleri shouted, smiling.

"Damn it, Eleri! Brother Darian's gonna get pissed like this!" Tir scolded her seriously once it was over.

She snapped out of it and turned to Darian nervously. But when she looked at him, all she saw was calm on his face, no anger. That made her swallow dry, a little relieved.

Darian sighed lightly. Unlike Niara, who had been through a lot and had insane survival instincts, Eleri was young and reckless, like a ticking time bomb ready to cause trouble.

"I told you to always wait for me to give the word, didn't I?" Darian had to lightly scold her.

She rushed over to him, nodding frantically, apologizing with a teary expression. Darian didn't really know how to handle that. He knew he had to guide her properly, but he'd been thrown into this situation so suddenly in just a few short years.

Truth was… the three already acted like he was their only North, mirroring him to absorb and learn everything. The bond had escalated way too fast, becoming more paternal and familiar than Darian had ever expected.

But Darian didn't feel bad about it. In fact, he wanted to take care of them as best as he could.

The group moved on, with the new shadow obediently following along.

During breaks, Darian taught Tir as if he were his first disciple. Just a few words were enough for Tir to dive into practice on his own, without needing constant guidance.

Meanwhile, Awel, always at Darian's side, didn't want to stay quiet the whole time and started asking about the thing she loved most: everything that existed outside that world.

Back in the desert, Darian had told her they were inside a closed, small world. Since then, Awel had become extremely curious and asked as much as she could about it. Darian didn't mind and talked a bit about Earth, about his universe, and sometimes about the other training universe he'd visited a few times.

And so, the days went by as they moved along that long river, capturing new shadows.