Damned Healer

After beating all the disciples for the third time, Remira, like before, used the potion on them. But this time, everyone who was still awake discovered the real reason they recovered so fast.

That potion wasn't absurdly expensive or rare. But... the moment the liquid rushed into their bodies, they felt that "poison" they had swallowed start to move and fuse. Then, their muscles restored and grew tougher.

"I hope you remember every bit of the beating I gave you. You all attacked using your elemental techniques, and I destroyed them easily, exposing your openings and flaws. As for your bodies... using poison to improve the physique is something old and savage, but for physiques as average as yours, it works to a point; three times is the limit."

Darian's voice sounded calm, and everyone heard it without being able to move.

Remira, Hirel, and the others who were helping were speechless. They had never seen a mix of poison and potion that worked like that.

Darian had discovered this when traveling alone and finding a specific herb that could cure poison. Then, he asked Remira for some poison pills and ran tests, creating this method.

...

After six hours of silence, everyone slowly started getting up and sitting down.

This time, their eyes stayed fixed on Darian, finally understanding what he had done for them.

"Let's keep going. We still have six hours left today to finish the training." He said flatly.

Everyone stood up, breathing deep. In their hearts, it was like a new path had opened.

Could they really become strong and help the sect? They all thought almost the same thing.

They weren't that cowardly or weak; they had just lacked confidence. And since they thought they had no talent, they gave up on everything. After all, if they acted too brave while weak, they would just die easily.

At that moment, Darian turned to Hirel, who had returned. The disciples hadn't even noticed she was gone.

Suddenly, Hirel waved her hand, and the ground near the disciples cracked open. The fissure spread and widened for dozens of meters without stopping.

Right after, countless small creatures started crawling out of the crack.

"Venom Beasts!!"

One disciple shouted. Those little creatures were natural animals of the region — snakes, scorpions, bees — all with terrifying venom, which the sect captured and raised specifically for pill production and other uses. That's why everyone recognized them.

They could use their powers to protect themselves from the venom. But... there were too many. If they were hit by several at once, they wouldn't survive.

Seeing those creatures, all their newfound courage vanished completely.

Darian spoke with a sarcastic smile: "If you want to survive, team up and kill them all. Good luck."

"Lord! We've been wasting away for so many years! We need a gradual process!" one disciple begged in despair.

"Who's got time to give you a gradual process? In battle, will the enemy wait for you?" Darian said with a snort.

At that exact moment, the venomous beasts covered the whole sky and ground. Enraged, they started attacking right away.

Faden, as group leader, at least had to act stronger than the rest. He was the first to raise his saber and attack: "What the hell are you standing around for? Attack, dammit!"

The disciples gritted their teeth — there was no other choice.

They attacked and killed easily... but there was no end to those beasts. Time went by and despair grew.

"Ahhh!"

Screams echoed as they were struck. Green lines spread across their bodies quickly, and in panic, they used everything they had to stop the venom from taking hold.

"You guys, fall back!"

Faden commanded, making the less poisoned ones protect the others.

But... he took one step and nearly collapsed. His body was already numb, making his movements hard; being one of the weaker ones, he had already been hit several times.

Then, he saw something on the horizon and his eyes lit up: "Quick, group up and run that way!" he shouted, pointing.

It was a riverbed. Those beasts were small and couldn't swim. If they went in and sank, not even the flying ones could reach them. The beasts were furious, but after they disappeared, they'd disperse.

Everyone roared and attacked with all their strength, carving a path. Then, the group ran in desperation.

"I can't! Save me! My legs won't move!" one disciple cried, sobbing. His legs were completely green, he couldn't feel them anymore. He could only crawl, falling behind.

"We've gotta help him!" Faden shouted, running over. He grabbed one of his hands and pulled. But even after his shout, no one else moved.

"Are you idiots? Lord Darian said we need to unite to survive!"

Many hesitated. They were disciples used to seeing the dark side of people in the fight for power. They had never helped anyone; risking their own life to save someone else was something extremely hard for them.

"Shit, if I die, I die."

Suddenly, a small woman ran back and grabbed the hand of a very tall man, dragging him. Then, another stronger woman went back and helped them.

Seeing that, the man being dragged cried from emotion. Never in his life had anyone risked so much to help him.

"Quick, quick!" Faden shouted.

Slowly, everyone started changing their attitude, helping the ones more poisoned. In front and behind, the stronger ones protected and carved the way through the endless beasts, while the group advanced step by step.

The situation was tense and chaotic. But still, no one had died yet. By fighting with their lives on the line, they revealed immeasurable potential.

Of course, Darian, Remira, and the others were secretly helping a bit, but none of the disciples noticed or saw it.

...

Until they finally reached the river and threw themselves in, swimming as deep as they could.

They stayed down there for more than two hours — after all, they didn't need to breathe. When they felt it was safe to come out, five hours had already gone by in total.

Just as they sighed in relief, a figure appeared floating in the skies.

Darian looked at them with indifference. When he got close enough, he waved his hand.

A white powder appeared and covered them completely.

"Order Law?"

Someone muttered, and then everyone felt their minds blur before blacking out.

...

Twelve hours later.

The disciples woke up one by one. Then... they felt the changes in their bodies and screamed in shock.

They noticed seven stars in their souls. Then they realized their bodies, minds, and senses had become insanely sharper.

With a long sigh, everyone turned their eyes to Darian, who was staring at them. In their eyes, there was nothing but reverence. Even if they were fools, they could tell this was his doing.

Darian waved his hand. With Remira's help, he had put the true stellar physique inside them, not that weak knock-off version. But before doing that, he had wanted to test them to the limit.

"Don't get too excited. No matter how good your talent or techniques are, if you can't use them, you're still useless. Besides, who in the upcoming battle isn't talented?"

He spoke, and everyone swallowed hard.

At the same time, their hearts pounded like drums. It was excitement — now they felt like they could actually win, like they wouldn't just be beaten to a pulp by the enemy.

"There's still a long road ahead. You don't have time to take it slow. Let's go, you need some real combat experience," Darian said dryly.

He turned to Remira, who nodded and led them in a direction.

...

It was good to remember they weren't inside the sect's protective barrier anymore. But since this world was huge, it would be bad luck to just stumble into the enemy army.

Three hours later, they reached a forest. The moment they stepped in, a gust of wind like blades struck them.

Everyone turned toward one direction...

...and then they saw a massive demonic shadow of a primal beast.

"A shadow... level 8..." one disciple stammered.

All of them were level 7. Even against a person at level 7, before this, they thought they had an 80% chance of losing. But against a shadow, even without intelligence... with a level 8 core, they'd be crushed like ants.

The shadow approached with a roar, sending chills down their spines.

But Darian simply walked toward it. Suddenly... his whole body was covered in darkness.

The shadow roared at Darian, lunging forward.

*BOOM!*

Darian threw a single punch. The ground split open and the shadow's giant body slammed into the earth.

In the center of its body, where the primordial core should've been, there was only a huge hole.

"..."

The disciples stared in disbelief, mouths wide open. He had taken it down with one punch... and Darian was only level 1.

Darian turned to them calmly:

"Any shadows we run into on the way will be left to you. Let me just warn you, I know exactly how strong you are. I'll handle the ones that are truly beyond you, but I won't help if you're capable of dealing with them. If there are casualties because of your cowardice or poor teamwork, I won't step in. Your lives are yours, so fight for them. Fight to change your fate. If you don't put in the effort, no one else will help you."

Everyone trembled. From his tone, it felt like even shadows of this level meant nothing to him. Could he really defeat ones even stronger?

They didn't know that, for Darian, fighting stronger people was as normal as eating. He had always thrown himself into battles and dangers that pushed him to the brink of death. As for these mindless shadows? To him, they were almost a joke.

Everyone clenched their fists and moved on.

Half an hour later, they finally ran into another shadow... unfortunately for them, it was also level 8.

Darian didn't even move. Seeing that, Faden understood and started leading everyone.

After a bloody battle, with more than thirty of them injured, Faden finally picked up on the pattern. He coordinated, and that first woman took the chance and struck directly at its core; she was really good with a sword.

Almost everyone was covered in blood, but their eyes shone with excitement. They had actually managed to take down a level 8 shadow on their own?! Before, that would've been unthinkable.

"Pathetic..." Remira suddenly spat, throwing cold water over them.

Everyone turned to her, confused, and saw the disappointment on her face. Darian snorted:

"You made countless mistakes and wasted endless chances to kill that shadow. That's why you dragged it out and got yourselves hurt. If you see a chance and don't take it, that's cowardice. Cowards fear death only because they don't trust themselves. If you had enough confidence, you wouldn't be whining about the consequences."

Everyone listened in silence, deep in thought.

Seeing this, Darian turned to Remira.

She swallowed, nodded, and stepped closer to them.

She started pointing out the mistakes they made against the enemy in her own way. She also taught them some of the basic principles of combat. Anything too advanced, they wouldn't understand anyway.

An hour went by, reviewing and helping them heal with pills. Then everyone kept moving forward.

***

With Remira's guidance, the disciples finally started to really fight. At the very least, they managed to lose their fear of death in battle. They finally gained courage and confidence through that refining.

Talent? Resources? That came second. What mattered most was courage and the will to become strong.

When that new confidence bloomed, Darian became more cautious. If they took a heavy blow to their confidence right now, it would be a serious setback.

Soon, Darian started splitting them into smaller groups. Once they got used to fighting and started winning, he kept shrinking the groups down until they were basically fighting alone.

To help, he even forced Remira to occasionally praise them. She was the General after all; these people needed to like her at least a little.

The days went by in that training, filled with both pain and joy. Even they were shocked by their own progress.

Though the training was hard to endure, everyone knew that if they missed this chance, it would never come back. In their eyes, Darian had become almost like a parent, completely changing their destinies.

And it wasn't just their techniques and skills that were changing, but also their wills. Their thirst for power grew the stronger they became.

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed, and that was enough to completely transform all of them. Their auras were now heavy and solid. Their gazes, sharp.

"It's time," Darian's voice snapped them out of their daze.

With the time up, they headed back to the sect. The battle would take place in just a few hours.