Damned Healer

In a distant galaxy, far from the Milky Way, near its center, there was a rocky planet about the same size as Earth. But the surface of this planet was made up of 80% land and had no large oceans.

Instead, it was crossed by countless rivers, like pulsating veins of life. The place radiated a brilliant glow, with vast forests and countless breathtaking natural regions.

The planet was called Vadise, the fifth powerful in the entire universe, and it was dominated by various beast races. Naturally, there were no humanoid races there.

For the beasts, physical strength and individual power meant everything. Everyone born there was pushed to the extreme, without mercy, in a brutal natural selection.

Still, it wasn't just savagery. They had an organization similar to planets like Earth. The whole territory was divided into hundreds of cities, governed by powerful beasts. However, all cities and all beasts served the royal family.

That lineage was completely untouchable and ruled the planet. The reason was simple: they were the only ones to give birth to a Spiritual Sovereign. Because of this, this Dragoness and her family held absolute power.

All beasts that awakened on this planet and returned to the universe after becoming Spiritual Guardians received draconic lineage from a Primordial Dragon.

However, only those who already carried this lineage in their families for generations, when receiving the purest blood of a Dragon, became truly powerful.

A common beast receiving the lineage would grow strong, but still remain average. Someone who inherited the draconic genes of their family would assimilate them naturally, without rejection, gaining hundreds of times more power.

For that reason, beasts on this planet weren't divided by race, but by families.

The reason was simple: all beasts with draconic lineage had terrifyingly low fertility. Having a child between them was almost like receiving a gift from the heavens.

At the same time, it didn't matter if they had hybrid children with other races: the draconic gene was always passed on to the offspring and didn't significantly reduce power.

Between having just one powerful child for every ten thousand couples or allowing all couples to have slightly weaker hybrid children, the choice was obvious.

Because of this, families were made up of various mixes between races. But of course, beast blood and Dragon blood always prevailed.

Due to the low fertility, the planet Vadise also became known as the second home of humanoids. Everyone was welcome there, especially humans.

Although there were races with even higher fertility than humans, all of them suffered a sharp drop in birth rates when trying to produce hybrids. Humans didn't have this limitation: whether among themselves or with other races, their rate remained the same.

For that reason, all mid-level human planets in the universe sent their powerful individuals to Vadise. Building bonds with the fifth strongest planet in the universe was beneficial both for them and for the beasts.

As expected, all the most powerful beast families — including the royal family — were made almost exclusively of hybrids. Most with humans, but there were also hybrids with demons or other races.

But there was a big problem.

The sixth powerful planet in the universe, called Runedell, was in the same galaxy as Vadise.

Unlike Vadise, Runedell was dominated by humanoid races: elves, dwarves, orcs, ogres… but strangely, there were no humans naturally there.

Still, all these races — related to each other, descendants of the Chromaraics — had very high fertility. Because of this, they put down deep roots in Vadise.

The beasts focused almost exclusively on training and individual power, neglecting plots and deep reflection. Humanoids were the opposite.

That wasn't entirely bad, after all, Runedell was number one in Forging and Alchemy in the whole universe. Humanoids were masters of secondary crafts, and everyone wanted good relations with them.

Vadise was no different, so they didn't reject them. But now, the royal family faced serious problems with this "virus" they had allowed to slowly invade their lands.

…

In the central region of the planet Vadise, there was a vast desert.

It was the only place without rivers over a large area, creating a climate hostile to life. However, despite the scarcity of living beings, this territory held great abundance of minerals and magical treasures.

Although the Universe of Heaven's Will was almost dead and lacking power, on the largest planets in the universe, they had created a massive inscription that nourished their planet with energy. It was like an artificial greenhouse, turning an ordinary planet into a place comparable to other worlds of power.

After hundreds of years receiving this nourishment, planets generated magical things. But most of it was low-level, sometimes producing something average.

Because the desert was hostile, few people visited it. So, only families without great power explored the region in search of treasures or even to train.

One day, a flying ship crossed that desert. Inside it were several beasts from an inland city.

Suddenly, a girl spotted something on the ground.

"A human?!"

Everyone turned and saw a man walking alone through the desert under the scorching sun. He was barefoot and completely beaten by the heat. As they focused on him… they felt he had only four rings, something considered mediocre by the standards of that planet.

Only exceptional humans from other planets, with at least six rings, were truly sought after by the beasts of this planet. After all, they wanted powerful offspring. One with four was almost trash, but wasn't rejected there; if he looked around, he would find someone to join with.

The human kept walking under the relentless sun until a flying ship stopped above his head.

Inside were a dozen beasts. The leader was an old man, his body covered in black fur. His gaze was friendly, and his eyes shone brightly.

"Young man, are you lost?" the old man asked the lone human gently.

The human looked up at the flying ship's occupants. Besides the old man, there were more than ten young men and women gathered behind him. Among them stood out a girl with an elegant aura, who smiled occasionally.

He then turned his gaze back to the old man and shook his head with a slight smile:

"Sir, you are mistaken. I'm just walking through this desert to see the scenery. I know the way."

"What's there to see in this desert? It's not a pleasant place," the elegant girl laughed softly. For some reason, when she looked at this human, she felt he was hiding something that made her curious.

The human replied, looking at her:

"You don't understand. Landscapes aren't meant to be enjoyed with the eyes alone. You need to use your heart to truly perceive their beauty."

"How grand… typical of a deceiving human," mocked a handsome young man beside the girl, frowning. He clearly felt the strange curiosity of the girl and was annoyed.

"Tizol…" the old man looked at him seriously, then shook his head and said, "The young man's words aren't without reason. There are many things that require the mind to feel."

The human smiled, satisfied with the old man's attitude. "Are you here to dig?"

"More or less," the elder answered naturally, "Our city has a mine in this desert. But I'm bringing these young ones mainly to train."

"Mmm… this is a good place to train the mind. But without facing danger, with you beside them, the gains are minimal."

Hearing this, the old man gave the human a second, more attentive look. Despite his ragged appearance, like that of a beggar, his posture was relaxed and carefree. The dirty state he was in didn't seem to bother him at all.

"Mediocre human, what do you know about training?!" Tizol snorted coldly.

"Don't be rude, kid!" the old man growled dryly, shaking his head afterward. Then he looked at the human and said, "You came to this desert to train? This old man is called Hudu. May I know your name?"

The human nodded and replied: "Indeed, I was passing through this desert and found it very suitable for training the body, so I chose to do so…"

Upon hearing that, the occupants of the flying ship couldn't resist silently mocking him. However, they didn't dare speak in front of their superior. To them, walking under the desert sun wasn't training at all, just pointless suffering that led nowhere. If he truly wanted to train, he should go to a forest and fight to the death against wild beasts — that was real body strengthening.

"My name is Darian."

The human added, but only the old man paid attention.

"My friend, farewell for now. I still need to take them to train." Hudu laughed and kindly bid Darian goodbye. Then he departed with the flying ship.