The first few days were a blur of pain and instinct. Rayna, her body screaming with every movement, stumbled through the woods bordering Oakhaven. The burns on her hands and arms throbbed relentlessly, each breath a reminder of the inferno that had stolen her mother and her past. Sleep offered little respite, haunted by nightmares of flames and Liam's impassive face. Driven by a primal need to survive and a desperate urge to escape the suffocating memory of betrayal, she moved north, away from the familiar paths and into the dense, unforgiving wilderness. Hunger gnawed at her, and thirst became a constant companion. She ate berries she vaguely recognized, her stomach protesting with unfamiliar cramps.
One particularly harsh evening, huddled beneath the meager shelter of a rocky overhang, a wave of agony washed over her. It started deep within her bones, a searing heat that spread through her veins, mimicking the burn but somehow… different. Her skin shimmered with an intense golden light, bathing the dark forest in an ethereal glow. She cried out, clutching her arms, convinced she was dying. Then, as suddenly as it began, the pain subsided. Exhausted and trembling, Rayna looked at her hands. The angry red of the burns had faded, replaced by a faint network of silvery lines that seemed to pulse with a soft, inner light. The skin felt smooth, whole. It was impossible. Confused and wary, she touched her face. The raw, blistering sensation was gone. Her reflection in a nearby stream showed no trace of the terrible burns, only the familiar features she'd known all her life, perhaps a little thinner, a little harder.
As she stared at her reflection, the faint blue shimmer she'd sometimes seen around her mother intensified, solidifying into a translucent panel before her eyes. It was clearer now, intricate symbols and words forming lines she instinctively understood:
Rayna
Race: Human (Transitioning)
Class: None (Potential: Sundrop Healer)
HP: 100/100
MP: 5/5
Status: Minor Divine Infusion
Panic warred with a burgeoning sense of awe. What was this? The "veil-sight," as the villagers called it, was now displaying information, like words on a page. The term "Transitioning" under her race sent a fresh wave of confusion through her. And "Divine Infusion"? Could it be related to the burning light she had felt?
Over the next few days, as she continued her arduous journey north, more of these panels would flicker into existence. Sometimes they appeared when she was injured, showing her HP slowly regenerating. Other times, they seemed to react to her emotions, her MP fluctuating slightly. She began to tentatively focus on the panel, trying to understand its workings.
One evening, while foraging for edible roots, she stumbled and scraped her knee. A jolt of pain shot up her leg, and the blue panel sprang into view:
Rayna
Race: Human (Transitioning)
Class: None (Potential: Sundrop Healer)
HP: 88/100
MP: 6/6
Status: Minor Divine Infusion
Curiosity overriding her fear, she focused on the "Minor Divine Infusion" status. As she did, a faint warmth emanated from her hands. Tentatively, she placed her palm over her scraped knee. A soft golden light pulsed beneath her skin, and the stinging sensation lessened. When she checked the panel again, her HP had ticked up a point.
The realization dawned slowly, like the rising sun. The fire, the pain, the strange light – it had changed her. The Sundrop Flower in her mother's stories… could it be that the legends were more than just tales? Had the fire somehow triggered something within her, something connected to that divine sunlight?
Her journey led her through desolate landscapes and increasingly colder climates. The trees grew sparser, the air sharper. She encountered wild animals, learned to track and avoid them, her instincts sharpening with each passing day. The blue panel became her constant companion, a cryptic guide to her changing body and unknown potential.
One particularly bitter morning, she collapsed from exhaustion near a frozen stream. As her vision swam, the blue panel flickered violently, and a new line appeared:
Rayna
Race: Sundrop Elf (New!)
Class: None (Potential: Sundrop Healer)
HP: 32/100
MP: 1/6
Status: Divine Infusion (Stable)
The word "Elf" jolted her awake. Her ears felt slightly pointed, a subtle difference she'd never noticed before. Her eyes seemed more sensitive to the pale sunlight reflecting off the snow. The transformation was happening, altering her very being.
Days later, weak but resolute, she stumbled into a small, isolated village nestled in a snow-covered valley. The air here was thick with the stench of sickness, the faces of the villagers gaunt and pale. It was a land where disease seemed to hold dominion. As she looked at their suffering, a new instinct stirred within her, a pull towards their pain, a whisper of the power that now resided within her – the potential of the Sundrop Healer. Her escape had led her to a new, unexpected purpose.