Valthar grit his teeth as he pressed a knife against his palm.
By now a couple hours of magical tests had gone by and Valthar had almost exhausted his repertoire of tier zero spells.
Unsurprisingly Life energy couldn’t substitute mana in 9 out of 10 cases, and when it could results were lackluster at best.
Now a single type of magic was left to test, healer spells.
Valthar gripped the knife tighter and steeled his determination.
“Ugh.” He grunted as the knife cut open his skin.
Instinctively his mind reached towards mana, an ingrained motion from many hours struggling to cast the tier zero spell Regeneration Boost.
The next moment a sharp pain spread through Valthar's burned mana veins.
The world seemed to dim in his mind, pushed to the background as he became acutely aware of his body’s condition.
With a frown his focus shifted to the life force inside him, it was vibrant and condensed near the energy ring in his chest.
Then his eyes locked onto the pool of blood that slowly grew in his palm.
Through his life sense he could feel as a small trickle of life force be consumed in his hand as his body's natural recovery was unconsciously empowered.
In a strange way it seemed familiar… just like a subtler version of the Regeneration Boost spell.
Suddenly something clicked, his energy ring pulsed and he knew what to do.
With no chant or visualization needed Valthar’s will guided his life force to his hand, mimicking the motions his own body was already executing.
Like a torrential rain after a sunny day, life force poured out from his energy ring like a wave.
The effects were immediate and Valthar could feel as his skin and blood vessels wriggled and reconnected in real time.
In a blink, way faster than a tier zero spell could achieve with mana, no more pain was felt on his skin.
Valthar opened his eyes, shaken.
Dazed, he walks to the bathroom sink, tapping the faucet with his cane and letting the water flow over his hand.
In there not a single trace of a scab or scar remains.
It worked! And since his energy ring got involved in the action there was no doubt in his mind that this… This was his first tier 1 spell!
He chuckled.
Then the chuckle grew into a laugh.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
He felt blessed as his mostly unfounded hope to one day become a great mage suddenly gained a more solid foundation.
The life force ring had been formed! And his first spell had been cast!
“As my first spell I name you Life Boost!” Valthar proclaimed loudly though nobody was there to listen.
In the end even if he only intended to use it for good, this was non-elemental mana magic, in simpler words, black magic.
Valthar stares at his image in the bathroom mirror in thought.
He has finally acquired a way to truly be useful to those around him and yet what would happen if he just walked out Warmheart’s doors and searched for someone to heal?
Another forced visit to the Church no doubt.
Maybe he could talk things out or maybe this time they would burn more than just his mana veins.
“I can’t risk it, but…”
A thousand thoughts and ideas took root in his mind, masks, cloaks, maybe even using some magical device to hide his identity.
A smile grew in his lips before he wiped it off for now.
The idea of an anonymous healer walking around and saving people gave him the desire to move right this instant, but a more careful voice echoed in the back of his mind.
He still had a month paid in Warmheart Inn, he had time, money and space to carefully gather the things necessary to keep him safe from the Church.
“There is no need to rush, it is not like someone will die if I don’t use my magic before being fully prepared.” He mumbled to himself, trying to calm his excited heart.
A sound conclusion that made sense, after all what was the chance of him suddenly finding someone in desperate need of healing in the next few days?
***
The sound of a bottle of wine being opened echoed inside the Inn’s kitchen.
“So, what’s the happy occasion?” Old Marcos asked.
“Nothing much, just had a great dream and decided to celebrate it in kind.” Valthar bullshited before taking a sip.
Though he considered the old man a bottle friend, to tell anyone about his non-elemental magic felt way too dangerous.
“Yeah?” The old man raised an eyebrow. “I’d love to hear what dream would be worth spending five silver on a bottle? Let me guess, Woman?”
Marcos shot a meaningful smile.
Valthar choked on a sip of wine.
*cough cough cough
“Go purify your mind Marcos, I don’t even know any woman in Emberheart.” Valthar exclaimed flustered before rapidly shifting the conversation back onto his rehearsed celebration story.
“I dreamt about a day where everyone would know of a legend about me, where I’d have a nickname people would recognise in moments and I tell you… it felt like a prophetic dream.”
Valthar says proudly confident in his line delivery till suddenly a muffled wheezing echoed on the other side of the table.
When he looked he saw Marcos wrinkled face scrunched into a smile.
“Are you okay there?” Val?thar asked, confused.
“Yeah, I just remembered a story about someone, with a nickname spreading fast through the city…” The old man squeezes out between held back giggles
“Tell me Valthar…Have you heard about… The Tree Toucher! HAHAHAHAHAHHAAH.”
Old Marcos started laughing out loud.
Valthar is speechless.
In a moment the memory of those two suspicious individuals in the forest came back to him.
He had hoped that was just an isolated incident.
After all, who cares about two possible thieves and a weird red ring at the edge of town?
To be fair Valthar was a little curious and might scan the area in future walks.
But in the grand scheme of things rumors at the edge of town shouldn’t affect him much.
However, if Marcos heard about this defamation, it is only a matter of time till everyone around Warmheart Inn gets to hear it too.
By then Valthar wouldn’t be surprised if kids stopped him on the street to ask about such a shameful name.
“Please tell me you are joking.” Valthar pleaded.
And Marcos fell to the ground in laughter.
