Eldoria grabbed a piece of broken glass and pressed it against her arm. Immediately, a line of blood spilled out, drops hitting the floor. However, her face showed no sign of pain.
"Now, look closely," she said, lifting her other hand and hovering it over the cut. "Typically, humans need to chant spells, but for an expert elf healer like myself, chanting is optional."
She closed her eyes and focused her mana into her palms, which began to glow with golden light. Without delay, the cut started healing as if time itself were reversing. First, the bleeding stopped, then the wound closed, and finally, it disappeared completely.
"See? That's how it's done," she exclaimed, showing her healed arm to Theo.
Theo watched the display with rapt attention, as if he weren't even breathing, let alone blinking. He took her arm in his hands and rubbed his finger over where the wound had been, nodding to himself.
"Just this? It looks too easy," he replied with a hint of confusion, as if expecting something more complex.
"Yes, it looks easy, but channeling mana from your core to your palm and radiating it outward takes a lot of practice," she said, puffing out her chest with a prideful expression.
Theo, however, wasn't convinced. He stretched out his arms and opened his palms without even closing his eyes. Eldoria's eyes widened slightly at his stance—it looked almost as if he were about to hurl a fireball at her.
But instead, a thick wave of pure white light emerged from his palms, flooding her vision. Her entire body was enveloped by it. The light seeped through her clothing, and warmth spread across her body. She could have deflected it but chose not to, curious to see what he was doing.
Soon, she realized what was happening. Her whole body began to heal—the dull pain in her lower back, the stiffness in her shoulder, the nasty scar on her inner thigh hidden under her robes. It was as if her entire body were being purified by an endless, radiant light.
"T-Theo, this..." She was beyond shocked, at a loss for words, her jaw hanging low as she tried to comprehend it. "Y-you... SSS-class... you weren't joking, were you?"
Theo lowered his hands, stopping the light. He looked at Eldoria's now completely purified body—her skin flushed pink, her breathing heavy.
"I wouldn't dare lie to my dear Lady Eldoria," he answered with a smile.
Eldoria sighed, then smiled inwardly. "It seems the gods truly sent this child to me."
[Skill acquired: Healing]
---
Days passed, and Eldoria taught Theo the basics of healing magic, then advanced techniques, and finally mastery. Within a year, she had taught him everything she knew, and Theo mastered it all effortlessly. He also memorized her entire book collection out of boredom, as Eldoria had nothing more to teach him—and he was only eleven years old.
However, as impressive as he was, his powers had a limitation: apart from healing, he couldn't learn any other type of magic, despite his enormous mana reserves, as if the gods had nerfed his overpowered abilities.
With nothing better to do, he began experimenting with his magic to refine his methods and develop new ones. He realized that he could not only heal but also manipulate biological matter, provided he had sufficient knowledge of its workings. Using his understanding of elf biology from Eldoria's books, he applied this ability in a limited capacity.
Lyra and Myra became his test subjects. Sometimes he changed the color of their eyes; other times, he helped them lose weight without dieting.
[New Skill acquired: Bio-Manipulation]
He soon realized his abilities extended beyond healing. He imagined it as a knob: turning it to the left healed, but deep in his mind, there was always the possibility of turning it to the right. At first, he was reluctant, sensing something ominous about it. But curiosity got the better of him, and he tried it on himself.
That day, his entire left arm was destroyed to bits, such was the power of this method.
[New Skill acquired: Reverse Healing]
With all these experiments and learnings, five more years passed.
---
Name: Theo
Race: Human (89%)
Level: 179 (182/1000)
Class: Healer (SSS)
**Mana:** 278,987/1,000,000
Skills: Healing (lvl 100), Bio-Manipulation (lvl 120), Reverse Healing (lvl 70)
Strength: 300
Health: 100%
Intelligence: 900
Stamina: 100,000
Charm: 60
Luck: 15
Now sixteen, Theo was the star of the elf domain. Despite being human, he was adored and accepted as one of their own.
He sat against the same tree as before, but this time Lyra and Myra nuzzled close to him on either side, chattering about the trivial gossip circulating in the domain since Eldoria's departure. Eldoria had been summoned by someone a month ago and left in a hurry, her expression worrisome. She hadn't told anyone anything.
"You wouldn't believe—Lady Sera was sitting in Lady Eldoria's chair at the council meeting the other day. When we caught her, her face turned red!" Myra said tapping her fingers of Theo's chest.
"Yeah, and she bribed me with plums to keep quiet about it." Lyra giggled biting his earlobe.
"It seems she's had a fantasy of doing that for a while and only got the chance now."
"And the others? They're useless. They can't even maintain the barrier properly without Lady Eldoria's magic. They say it's already weakening, and if she doesn't return within a week, it might dissolve completely."
Theo listened expressionlessly. Since Eldoria's departure, he had been feeling withdrawal symptoms. He didn't say anything, but inwardly, he was deeply worried.
Just then, Lady Sera approached with hurried footsteps, her gown russling against the bushes. "Theo! Theo! Lady Eldoria is back and is calling for you!" she shouted from a distance.
"Huh? She's back?" Lyra jolted upright, startled.
"Lady Eldoria?" Myra wasn't sure she'd heard correctly.
But by then, Theo was already running toward Eldoria's house, a bad feeling gnawing at him about this whole business.