Supreme Magus

Invigoration and Life Vision had confirmed to the apprentices that Pylina was alone and a regular human woman. Awakened needed no Healer so they had ignored her and her house after a brief inspection.

Yet despite that initial overlook, they were now keeping an eye on the clinic, making sure that the number and aura of the people entering matched those who left.

"What do you think?" An overly handsome man asked. "I smell something fishy, here."

He was one head and shoulder taller than the blonde woman he was talking to, almost as tall as Protector.

"I agree." She had wheat golden eyes that shone no less than her hair. "They are all Faluel's apprentices but Verhen has already passed the emancipation trial. He wouldn't be here unless the Hydra or one of his friends is convinced there really is a Rezar in Gabash."

"My point exactly." The handsome man's grey eyes hardened like steel. "He's famous for being one of the best manhunters on Garlen if not on Mogar. He tracked the missing undead in the Eclipsed Lands and even located the position of the late World Tree.

"If he hadn't failed to keep track of his traitorous brother, I'd say Verhen always finds his man."

"I'll be honest with you." The golden-eyed woman said. "I don't care who finds the Rezar as long as it's not a Hydra. I have a special bone to pick with Faluel but I can barely tolerate any Hydra."

"You and me both, Shala." The handsome man grunted. "What do you say we form an alliance with the others and exclude the apprentices of Hydras? I don't care which of us succeeds as long as they fail!"

Most of the Lesser Divine Beasts envied Faluel. Not only for her skill and bloodline but also because she was this close to having a Harbinger. No Lesser Divine Beast on Mogar had ever had one and Friya having seven streaks only made things worse.

The spite for Hydras, instead, extended to all members of the four races. The entire Awakened Council resented the Hydras for sparing Ufyl's life and adding him to their ranks.

Ufyl's past allegiance with Thrud made him a pariah, but the Awakened would have been content with his imprisonment if it was just for that. What truly enraged them was the idea that the Hydras might find a path toward evolution through him.

They had given asylum to a mass murderer and would be rewarded for it with the prize that all races craved the most. The Hydras planned to share their research with the other Lesser Divine Beasts but the news was kept secret to avoid being harassed more than they already were.

The Council Elders were old enough to know that bitter resentment led nowhere and it was better to focus their energy on something productive. Their apprentices, however, were young and ambitious.

To them, watching someone else succeed was the only thing worse than failure. Especially if that someone was rich and talented like Friya. In the apprentices' eyes, everything in her life had been delivered to her on a silver platter.

She was the most hated apprentice of the most hated Elder. Were she to find the Rezar thanks to Verhen, the young Awakened would discover if dying of envy was really possible or just an expression.

***

Meanwhile, inside Pylina's office, the villagers had barely time to sit down before it was their turn to walk to the Healer's booth.

Normally, a minor Healer would ask his patients to describe their symptoms to determine the most probable cause of their ailments and fix it with one of the few spells at his disposal.

Lith and the others, however, were all professional Healers. They chatted only to fish for information or identify the cause of suspicious injuries. Their diagnostic spells sorted symptoms from causes and one healing spell removed them all.

With Nalrond in the ward, they had each their own booth and the work progressed quickly. There were only so many people in Gabash and even if all of them came in, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Nana's office was always busy because she was the only Healer for kilometers so people from all over Lustria came to her. Pylina wasn't that famous and unless it was a matter of life or death, travelers would wait to get back to their villages and be visited by their Healers.

Solus noticed that the people of Gabash appreciated the free healing.

They always smiled and thanked the Healers after receiving treatment. The moment the Rezar was mentioned, however, the villagers' smiles stopped extending to their eyes and they all repeated the same story.

The bandits had attacked Gabash during a trade market, a mysterious creature had stepped forward to protect the villagers, and then had disappeared without a trace. Kids were likely to let something slip so their parents never took their eyes off the children and often talked for them.

'These people are good at lying.' Solus pondered. 'One person is normal, but so many is straight creepy. The charade must have gone on for a while for the villagers to get used to lying with such ease. Yet they are no Lith.

'They are lucky the Awakened consider them like ants and pay them no attention or Gabash might have become a bloodbath before we arrived.'

'Yeah, and the funny thing is that the Awakened didn't discover anything until now because they shot themselves in the foot.' Protector said. 'We can easily spot lies because we make the villagers relax and treat them with respect whereas the Awakened terrify them to extort information.

'When someone is nervous by default, it's impossible to tell if they are lying since they sweat and stutter even if you ask them what they had for breakfast.'

***

"Please, tell me everything you know about Salman." Nalrond said while taking care of the injured in the ward. "Things are going to get ugly if I'm not the one who finds him first."

"There's not much to say." Jinx replied, asking him questions about the healing process as he worked. "One day, about three years ago, Salman arrived in our village in a wretched state.

"He was covered in burn scars but it wasn't his body that worried us. He was a sobbing, broken mess. It took him weeks to start talking again and months to answer our simplest question.

"Salman told us that his village was gone. That he was a coward who had run away when things had gotten tough and had left everyone behind to die. We offered him our condolences and a place to stay.

"Yet not for the goodness of our hearts." She sighed in shame. "When Salman arrived, we expected him to die in a few days yet he healed himself in a way we considered impossible.

"I'm not that good of a Healer and we were in dire need of someone with Salman's skill. On top of that, whenever we had no patients, he worked hard in the fields. Very hard. Like he had to prove to everyone his life was still worth something.

"We showered Salman in praise and convinced him to stay with us."