Illuminaria [LitRPG Fantasy Healer Adventure]

151 / 66 - Unwinding and Reforming

As the sun dipped low in the west, the group sat on the beach, talking, drinking, and swapping stories. They had all spent a few hours helping clear debris and fix up homes. Even though they had been given permission to goof off, none of the young guilders felt right about just walking past their neighbors who were struggling. They helped hang doors and cover walls until the emergency food and healing stations in Founders Plaza were replaced by a large communal banquet. Everyone around took a break at that point. The guilders all grabbed heaping plates before they made their way down to the beach. Joe was surprised to see that not one of the palms on the long sandy strand had been torn down, until he used his new warding skill to read that these were probably the most heavily fortified trees in the city.

Kerrig, Vexor, and Taylyn had expanded the gathering of Wen, Tez, Hah'roo, Kenda, and Joe. Mojo had been fascinated by the tiny mouseling woman, but Taylyn was a bit dubious about the attention from the eager shug monkey, who was almost as big as she was. Wen was more than happy to mush the little man, saving Tay in the process.

It did not take long before the storytelling of past adventures and misfortunes began. The current story was about the diminutive demolitionist and how her training had nearly decimated the guildhouse.

"So, Myllo's next construct for her was this huge behemoth of a thing," Kerrig exclaimed, holding his hands way out to illustrate the construct's enormity.

"Considering how his smaller golems had fared, I think he was getting frustrated," Tez added, sitting on a beach chair he had dragged over. The rest of the group was either sitting on an old log that had survived the storm or on the sand, leaning up against the trunk of a palm tree that had been dragged up from the sea. There was a hard knob on the fallen tree that was digging into Joe's back, but Kenda had seated herself right beside him. As the evening had progressed, she was now leaning against his arm. Joe was more than willing to accept the knot's discomfort if it meant preserving his tentative connecting touch.

The seven of them were all basking in the comforting light of Joe's [Halefire], which he had placed in the middle of the ring of guilders. Bottles of spirits were making casual rotations around the group.

"So, Myllo tells Tay to go ahead. 'Don't hold back,' he says. Cause he's sure she won't be able to scratch his new juggernaut." Kerrig faltered in his storytelling, unable to stop chuckling. Meanwhile, the little explosive expert hid her face in her tiny hands. Vexor placed a hand lightly on her back, giving her a friendly bit of reassurance.

The defender's laughter abated enough for him to continue. "So she does exactly what he told her to do. She charges up a full power [Seed Bomb], all the while dodging the big metal bot, which seemed to be terrible at targeting someone as small as Taylyn."

"We were waiting and watching behind the shields," Vex adds. "I had never seen Tay charge anything for that long before. Even so, I was pretty sure she was toast. We've watched both Naragash and Edror fight Myllo's juggernaut and get pulverized. But then, the acorn started glowing so brightly that I could barely look at it."

"She lobs the charged acorn at the golem and casts her [Blast Shield]. The nut goes 'tink' against the metal," Kerrig says, tapping a finger against his mug to create the sound and then dropping his hand downward, pantomiming something bouncing off it. "Followed by KABOOM!" he shouted. "It blows the juggernaut to bits. It blows out the training field shields, knocking all of us on our asses. It blows in the back doors of the guildhouse and even cracks the wall. It breaks every window in a three-block radius."

"Worst of all," Kendall interjects, "is it burned off half of Myllo's hair. One eyebrow, the whole left side of his head, and … half his precious beard."

"I really didn't mean to," the mouseling squeaked. Taylyn was even shorter than a gnome, standing under two feet tall. She looked pretty much like a large mouse, except her legs were developed so she could comfortably walk upright. She was wearing a red skirt, a pale, poofy shir,t and a patterned vest.

"Don't be sorry, Taylyn," Tezeno declared. "You were just following orders. Myllo should have better gauged your power levels before setting you that challenge. Besides, it only took us a couple of days to fix the damage."

"Except for Myllo," Kerrig guffawed. "Being part fey meant that all that hair of his is fundamental essence. He couldn't regrow it with cosmetic magics. He had to wait for it to grow back naturally. And that took weeks."

"You didn't have to work with him every day while it was coming back in," Kendell lamented, throwing a seashell at the warrior. "He was such a bear until it grew back." She picked up a tiny glass, about the size of a thimble, and filled it for Taylyn before handing the bottle to Hah'roo. "So, we have a new rule now. Myllo is not allowed to train new members before we finish power assessments."

"And we never ask Tay for full power," Kerrig added.

"Unless it's a legendary monster attacking the town," Vexor corrected.

Joe turned and looked at the tiny little woman, but Hah'roo beat him to his question.

"Those blasts were you?" the wind-dancer asked. Even with her lackadaisical, breathy voice, she sounded astonished.

"Partially. Myllo built the delivery ballista, but yeah, the blasts were mine," the little lady stated proudly.

"How many times did you level?" Joe queried, having no idea what she would have gotten for breaking that second form. All day, people were celebrating new levels. The Rattler Squad had averaged two or three new levels each. One very new recruit admitted to having gained seven, and the force of it knocked him completely out for a few minutes. In general, most of the town had seen a boost of at least one level.

"Five. It was amazing. That pushed me high enough to break twenty."

Twenty was a rough level to break. There was an unusually large experience threshold between nineteen and twenty, so much so that level nineteen was the most common level for the citizens of Fort Coral and supposedly most of Illuminaria.

"Congrats," several of the group cheered.

They toasted the mouseling's gains and bantered around for a new story. After a few minutes, they convinced Hah'roo to tell a tale of her travels. As Joe had already heard this one, he found himself focusing on the woman sitting against him. They had occasionally been holding hands through the evening, and it felt like they were both enjoying the warm feeling growing between them.

At the moment, he was happier than he had been in as long as he could remember. He really liked being part of this group in a way he had never been able to allow himself to do back on Earth. He felt an almost sisterly kinship with Hah'roo. He would trust Earcellwen with his life. Tezeno too. The bond forming between him and Kenda was amazing. It was as if somehow he had stoked a [Halefire] inside his own chest.

Joe let his gaze wander around the group when he became aware with his woundsight of a strange red ribbon on the ground beside Earcellwen. He also noted that the pull on his mana from the bonfire spell was increasing. The line reminded Joe of the city-watch's formation magic. There seemed to be numerous little specks that seemed to be sharing a health pool. As the [Halefire] pulsed, all the flecks' health auras grew slightly brighter. Even so, the aura's deep red spoke of massive damage. Whatever it was, it was on the verge of dying out.

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For some reason, Joe felt reluctant to draw attention to the phenomenon, but at the same time, his gut was telling him that something needed his help.

"One sec," he whispered to Kenda, sliding out from behind her. He crossed out of the light, keeping his [Assess Wounds] active. They would probably assume he was just going to find a tree, but Joe followed the wandering streak of red auras into the dark instead.

When he reached a larger mass of red flecks, Joe placed the [Casting Claw] within it and released his [Healer's Touch]. He saw the auras of the whole cluster grow brighter. En masse, the flecks turned and moved to where Joe had cast his spell. He reached down, and several of the motes moved to his hand. There was enough light from his magical fire, enhanced by [Night Eyes], for him to see that his hand was covered in insects: ants, centipedes, beetles, and more. Even though each was a separate creature, all of them were somehow connected. It was as if this swarm of various bugs were all pieces of the same creature.

Joe cast [Healer's Touch], and the mass of motes condensed around him. Some forms took to the air, buzzing circles around his head. Many of them settled on his shoulders and in his hair. He had never had a problem with most insects, even the stinging varieties. Spiders freaked him out on some instinctive level that he had never really been able to dispel. Thankfully, he had not seen any arachnids, so Joe forced himself not to consider that idea too deeply, or he might start wigging out.

He healed a second time, watching as each spell rejuvenated the health of the whole swarm. Surprisingly, there was no window telling Joe what he was healing. Joe almost yelped in surprise when a chorus of tiny voices spoke in concert.

"ThThThananank yoooooouuu, JJJooooooe," uttered a tiny multi-mouthed voice.

"Yuk?"

"Yeeeeeesssssss," the voices whispered faintly.

"I can barely hear you. Hold on, let me heal more." As Joe was about to cast his primary healing spell again, a window opened for his attention.

Joe consented, and then he quickly looked at the party menu.

Considering his heal had delivered two hundred and eighty-eight points of health, plus a few more points from the [Halefire], Yuk must have been on the very cusp of death.

Joe was a bit more dubious of this one, but he recalled how Myllo gave the raggedy guilder his complete trust in the meeting. Wincing, Joe accepted. He felt a pinch on the inside of his upper arm. Twisting the limb, he saw a tick embedded in his skin above his elbow. Revulsed, Joe almost plucked the thing out when a voice spoke in his head.

'Much better. We hate talking out loud. Always sounds awful,' a telepathic voice stated. There was something very alien and a little creepy about the shared thoughts, even though they were projected with a clear sense of gratitude. 'You saved our life, Joe. Didn't think we were going to make it to the guildhouse. It was dumb luck that part of us stumbled into your fire aura.'

'Should I get the others?' he thought back, healing again.

Confused, Joe noticed how low the collective creature's stamina was, so he hit the being with [Efferous Endurance], hoping it might help.

'Ooh. Thank you. That is what we needed. With stamina, we can grow bigger. Can add more.' the voice explained wearily. Yuk still sounded like he was in rough shape. Looking with his woundsight again, Joe watched as the now pink aura of Yuk began to spread, until every insect around Joe bore the strange guilder's aura. 'Please don't tell the others,' a slightly stronger-sounding voice projected. 'Kendell will figure me out if she sees me in this state.'

He saw more flecks around them join into Yuk's communal health. Each time this happened, the tattered entity's stamina dropped. Joe did the best he could: adding more of the body energy to them and then healing when Yuk's mass grew big enough for them to take more health.

'Wish Myllo paired us with you instead of that dick warlock. We can make it from here,' Yuk announced. The presence in Joe's mind grew earnest. 'We owe you, Joe. If you need anything, just ask. Really anything. Do us one more favor, please.'

'Shoot,' Joe thought, still trying to work out just what he was witnessing. Everyone had told Joe that Yuk was a guy who could turn into bugs. Joe was pretty sure they were wrong. Yuk was bugs; a whole huge swarm that clumped together, pretending to look like a person.

'Please don't tell the others about us; not safe. Myllo and Edror know; nobody else.'

'Sure. If Myllo knows, then I'm okay staying quiet.' Joe asserted. 'But can I tell them you're alive? Earcellwen was really worried about you.'

'She's nice. Yeah, yeah. Please do that,' the composite being affirmed. The words were slowing in their delivery. Even though it was just a voice in Joe's head, the being behind those thoughts sounded exhausted. Joe knew that there was a point beyond which [Efferous Endurance] could pep you up. Yuk was clearly spent.

'Great. So, can I do anything else for you?'

'Nope; we're good. Go back to your friends. We'll find you later.'

The swarm of bugs slid off Joe's hand and moved off towards the center of the city. A few seconds later, both the party and the presence in Joe's head ended. The only sign a parasite had been in his skin was just a faint pink dot on Joe's arm. He watched the slithering aura fade into the night before returning to the others around the magical fire.