‘Shouldn’t [Heal] do it all perfectly, though?’ the Core questioned, clearly not seeing an issue. ‘[Appraisal] says that you are all at full health, so I have done all there needs to be done. You aren’t missing any more health.’

‘No we aren’t but we are losing health still,’ the Queen corrected. ‘While you have taken care of the wound and healed some parts of the damage done, not all the consequences have been mended. We still have the negative [Ailment] of infection since it took so long before you got better. Are you not able to see that with your Analysis skill?’

[Ailments]... the Coer had not heard about those before when put together with the [System]. Had it overlooked some part of what it needed to see? Using its [Appraisal] skill, it brought up the Queen’s screen once again.

Character Screen

Name:

Mother Carapace

Gender:

Female

Level:

9

Class:

Necromancer

Race:

Giant-Ant

Title:

Dungeon-Boss

Health:

179/180

H-Regen:

0.12/sec

Mana:

170/170

M-Regen:

0.13/sec

Stamina:

150/150

S-Regen:

0.14/sec

Cost:

XX MP

Basic Stats

Strength:

22

Wisdom:

16

Vitality:

17

Intelligence:

13

Dex:

14

Willpower:

10

No Ailment was shown at all, though the Core noted that one Health point was already missing. No attacks had occurred during that time and it knew as a fact that it had healed the Queen to the top mere minutes ago. Something was slowly killing them and they couldn’t see it.

‘You are losing health,’ the Core noted to the Ant, to which it got a weird response. It was a mix of the Queen telling it that she already knew and that it didn’t need to be pointed out when she had already started knowledge surrounding it. How peculiar it was. ‘However, I can’t seem to find anything on the Status Screen which would imply a reason behind it. Are you sure that I am meant to be able to see it?’

‘You most surely are,’ the Queen answered. ‘But I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised you can’t either. The [System] only has basic features unlocked for the first few levels. Since you were meant to be [Ancient], I would have thought that the [Age-Locks] would have been removed yet it seems that the system doesn’t recognize that at all. A shame but one we will have to live with for a while more. If we’re lucky, you might even be able to see resistances soon. I suppose it all depends on how long it will take before your analysis skill gets upgraded.’

So the Core needed to focus on levelling up that skill shortly. That sounded doable, even if the Entity didn’t currently have time for it. Instead, it needed to figure out the details of the [Purify] skill.

‘You said I missed the part about [Purifying] you all. What parts do I need to know before I can use this skill?’ the Core asked.

‘Well, my actual answer would be a good year or so on the fundamentals of Magic and how it works generally. Yet, seeing as you don’t know how any of it yet still succeed, I see no reason to have that as a step in the process. Instead, I would believe that you need to know the difference between [Heal] and [Purify].

[Heal] and [Purify] works on two different sides of the body. [Heal] would be the most obvious branch in the [Restoration] field as it works perfectly with outer wounds. It can mend and knit flesh back together, create strands of muscle that had otherwise been rendered useless, and can repair injuries that are normally utterly impossible to take care of. However, when one looks away from the major kinds of injuries and instead into those that require precision, the skill becomes rather useless. It isn't able to handle a strew of minor issues because it isn't meant to do such a thing. It can’t dig out pieces of fragmented stone, it can’t heal the dead, and it can’t do anything against diseases.

There are several kinds of skills and different levels with each of them. Each of the things I just mentioned is something one of the skills can do to a certain level. However, there is not a single one which can do them all, perhaps save for the [Miracle] skill but that one is very unreliable for nearly the entire population of the world. The one you need to think about is [Purify]. [Purify] is utterly and completely useless when it comes to wounds. While it might be able to seal them up to a level where it doesn’t bleed heavily, it cannot do more than what natural regeneration already does. Yet, it is inside the body where it truly triumphs. For infections that have spread, as an example, it is quite literally able to flush them out of the body, making it all as good as new. This can be done to some extent to [Magical Ailments] as well, though another [Sub-Variety] of [Purify] will likely be much more useful for that. Though… that should explain the basics rather well. Any questions’

The act of [Restoration] in the magical sense was split into several categories, a few of which the Core needed to learn if it wanted to heal a creature fully. While it might be able to do such a thing with more ease with alternative versions of the skills, the current version trying to be gained was enough for now, since the ailment needing to be fixed wasn't magical in nature.

‘Other than what exactly these [Sub-Varieties] can be, I have nothing I need to get explained again,’ the Core answered, making sure to think about it a few more times. ‘A few examples of the varieties would be appreciated as well. And also please explain what the [Miracle] skill is. I am interested to know if I can learn that.’

‘You are asking a lot of questions for one who had nothing to ask but I am not one to criticize you for that,’ the Queen stated before getting right into it again. ‘[Miracle] is a skill you don’t truly have a chance of getting. It is one which the [Gods] grant as it allows you direct answers to their ears. If you have a question, a prayer, or a request, they will hear it when you use the skill. However, this does lead them to give it out rarely and even then it's done at birth. If you don’t have it now, you won’t ever have it. While there are cases where some have gotten it later in life, I don’t think many of those have confirmed, so it would be best not to get your hopes up.

But you also needed to know about varieties? That one is quite easy, as most of them are just the same skill but with an added speciality. [Purify], as an example, can turn into [Holy Purify] if you have a class or trait that gives you the holy [Attribute]. You can also get it with coloured Mana. [Dark Purify] being a skill I had back in the day as it worked flawlessly with [Undead] creatures. That should be enough examples. Are you ready to try and learn the skill?’

‘Yes,’ the Core confirmed, waiting patiently for the answer.

‘Good. In this method, we will be using the assistance of the [System] so that we won’t have to go through a week of pure formulas. We will therefore be using the Intent-Method, which you might already know about to some degree,’ the Queen stated. ‘Think about it in the length of the Mana-Veins. Instead of you inserting Energy to go heal the skin and flesh, the Healing must instead disperse deeper into the veins. It must find what is not supposed to be there, to compare it with the perfect form of the creature. If something is different, it must be purged and made perfect. That is all. I expect you to have figured it out within the hour since that might be the point where the basic level of the skill won’t be enough.’

One hour to learn a new skill when the Core had previously spent several hours or even days on them. How fun. There was a slight factor of stress but certainly not to the level where it was unbearable. It could handle this. After one more question.

‘If you know so much about how it works, why have you not already done it?’ the Core questioned.

‘It is the negative side of being a [Dungeon-Boss],’ the Queen answered. ‘I am already at the brink of power I am allowed to have, meaning I have no more room for anything related to a new skill. And without the [System] assisting the process, it will have a higher chance of killing the child rather than healing it. I thought it best to leave the process to you because of that.’

That answered that. Not feeling ready to question more for a while, and rather stressed on time, the Core began the process of learning [Purify]