When I woke up the next morning, I noticed that most people who have been in critical condition have recovered. While most of them still could not move, they at the very least regained consciousness including Dawn... Interestingly enough, the group of survivors were split into two. One side was made up of those who were completely unharmed, while the other side had all the people who were injured... and those injured people had their hands tied up behind their backs for some reason... As for the hero party members, only Harold and Tina were present. Harold was sitting in the middle, while Tina was off to the side fast asleep.

"You're awake?" Harold asked.

"Yes... What happened while I was asleep?" I inquired trying to grasp the situation.

"Nothing much, the Lycanthropes are on the retreat and Ariel is on the lookout for the Unique Species" Harold explained.

"Unique Species? What's that?" I questioned.

Well... it's not like I can't guess what that is based on all the literature I read, but it's better not to make any assumptions if I can help it... especially if someone is willing to offer me the information...

"Hmm... let's see... do you know what a monster evolution is?" Harold asked.

"Uhm... maybe?" I responded with uncertainty.

"To summarize, when monsters reach the peak of their race and gather enough mana, they are able to evolve into a higher species. And a Unique Species is when a monster evolves outside of their normal evolution cycle. This unique evolution can vary tremendously from monster to monster. Sometimes it leads to a monster with higher stats or an enhancement of its traits, while in other times it can even lead to a change in species. That said, it can also turn out complete opposite and weaken the monster instead. It's effectively a gamble that can go one way or the other... in some sense, it is similar to our Unique Classes" Harold explained.

"I see... so what exactly are we dealing with?" I curiously queried.

"According to Dawn, we are most likely dealing with a type that has enhanced stats and traits... particularly... their infestation ability...You see, Lycanthropes are known to have the ability that once they kill someone, as long as their corpse is not too damaged, there is a chance the corpse will turn into another Lycanthrope. Apparently this Unique Species called [Infectious Lycanthrope: Alpha] has the ability to turn anyone it injures into a Lycanthrope, corpse or no corpse. In the worst case scenario, if this thing isn't handled quickly... we may have a Rank S threat on our hands..." Harold explained.

"R-Rank S?! You mean like with enough power to equal a country?!" I exclaimed in shock.

Just for the record, I should make it clear here and now that this is most definitely all that hero's fault!

"That would only be in the worst case scenario, as it stands, it's still only Rank A threat at best. The issue lies in the specifics of its infestation ability, which so far we are still not too clear on.

From what Allan told Dawn prior to him falling unconscious, the monster has the ability to infect those it injured, but that's pretty much all we know at this point. We don't know how much time it takes, whether it's something that has a chance of happening or is guaranteed to happen. Or if the Lycanthropes created will be the infectious kind or the normal kind. Depending on all those variables, the threat level of the situation would change significantly" Harold informed.

"So then... what are we going to do?" I queried.

"For now, we are just going to hold our position and let Ariel hunt them down" Harold nonchalantly replied.

"That's it? Aren't we... you know going help somehow?" I queried.

Not that I actually want to go out there or anything... those things are way too strong... but even the weakest member Brian should be able to face them if need be... I mean, are they really just going to let Ariel do all the work? Well thinking about it, I guess that explains why there is such a large level gap among the party members and Ariel... I could have sworn it was due to kill stealing and hero cheats...

"Unfortunately, the only one who can barely keep up with Ariel in terms of mobility is me. But right now, I need to keep an eye on the survivors to insure none of them turn into an [Infectious Lycanthrope]. Usually, Saron would handle such things, but since he is busy protecting the [City Core] which is our primary objective, we are out of options for the time being. That is until reinforcements come from Tiamet. Hopefully... by end of today or sometime tomorrow, short of any unwelcome surprises..." Harold explained.

"Is there anything I should do?" I asked, wanting to be useful in some way...

"Not yet, for the time being, consider it free time. Just make sure not to leave the basement or get too close to the injured" Harold cautioned.

"Alright then..." I replied with somewhat mixed emotions...

Since there was no place I could smith in this basement, I decided to continue with making [Wool Fabric]. Taking out my Sewing and Knitting Kit, I got to work...

As I was working on my seventh [Wool Fabric] of the day, my [Presence Sense] picked up multiple presences entering the village... Since there were clumped together, it kind of made it hard to tell how many there were, but I could safely say it's at least 20... Question is... did reinforcements arrive or is it another monster attack?

Feeling somewhat tense... I turned to Harold...

"There are multiple presences coming" I notified.

"Yes, I'm aware" Harold responded and after waking up Tina he headed upstairs.

You have acquired a new skill [NA][Presence Sense] Level 1

Ooh, the Non-Racial version.... hmm... seems like compared to the Racial version, this one can only be used in all directions. So if I make my racial one point at one direction, then use this one to point in all directions, I should get far more precise coverage... that is of course assuming I get more skill levels... at level 1 it's quite lacking...

As I was thinking about how to combine the two skills efficiently, five people came down carrying supplies. Then shortly after, two more followed them, an old man and a 14 year old boy.

"I'm Doctor Mason sent from Tiamet. All those who have been injured by the Lycanthropes, please make a line. For those who can't stand on their own, I will come to you right after" the old man announced as he sat down by the corner.

As everyone who was injured and could walk formed a line, I put away my fabrics and drew in closer to get a better look, hoping to see if there were any delicious skills on today's skill menu...

Only for my view to be blocked by someone as I approached...

"What do you think you are doing?" Asked the boy blocking my way.

"Uhm... trying to get a better view..." I responded somewhat annoyed.

I then tried to get around him, only to be blocked yet again! Grrr... doesn't he know it's rude to get in the way of a cat and her skills?

"Do you not see this line? If you need to see the doctor, then get in line!" the boy demanded.

"I don't need to see the doctor, I am not injured. I am only going there to watch..." I replied trying to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Watch?... If you are trying to become a healer simply by watching, you're wasting your time. To become a healer, you need to first become an apprentice under a practitioner. After many years of learning, only then can you start treating the basics under the watchful eye of the practitioner, and only after many more years after that can you start actually treating people. Haphazard medical knowledge and ability often leads to worsening the conditions *sigh*, this is the problem with uneducated people..." the boy grumbled.

"I'm not trying to be a healer, I am a healer! I only want to see what he is doing as a reference, now can you please get out of my way?" I retorted, getting more and more agitated.

"You a healer? Ha! And what school of disciple do you belong to?" the boy ridiculed.

"School of disciple? What's that?" I questioned, trying to fill in on the basic common sense of this world that I may be missing.

"You call yourself a healer and don't even know that? Well then, let me educate you a bit. There are three types of healing disciples. The first disciple is Alchemy, which makes up the most common disciple and can be found almost anywhere.

The second disciple is far rarer, that being the Magic disciple which utilizes elemental magics to achieve healing. While the Magic disciple comes in many forms such as the use of fire magic to close up wounds, or wind magic to help dry blood or help air intake, the most profound form of the disciple is made up of water magic. Which by the way is the disciple me and my master belong to..." bragged the boy proudly.

Water magic? Ooh, that would be neat to have...

"...And lastly, there is the extremely rare Holy disciple. So now miss healer, which of the three do you supposedly hail from?" the boy asked clearly amused.

"Which disciple? All of them!" I replied while brushing him aside to get some of that delicious water magic!

Getting a better view, I activate [Hawk Eyes] to examine things in detail... and as expected...

You have acquired a new sub-skill [NA][Water Magic: Cleanse Toxins] Level 1

WARNING: [Water Magic: Cleanse Toxins] is a Level 4 Water Magic. Efficiency shall be reduced!

Due to a special action, you have acquired a new skill [NP][Water Magic] Level 1

Yey! Water magic! I finally got yet another magic! Now all I need to get is some awesome spell like [Tsunami] or [Water Cyclone] and I'd be golden!

That said... I wonder what I could smith using water property...

"Hey! Didn't you hear what I said? You can't skip the line!" the annoying boy yelled as he grabbed my shoulder and reprimanded me, thus gaining the attention of the surrounding crowd.

"Is there a problem?" Cain asked while walking up to us.

"Yes, this catkin here doesn't know how to stand in line properly!" the boy accused while giving me a sidelong glance.

"For the last freaking time, I'm not injured, I'm only here to watch!" I defended.

"Here to watch what? Are you still pretending to be a healer?" the boy sneered.

Ugh... so annoying...

"It is true that the miss here is a healer, if it wasn't for her, some here may have even lost their lives" Cain interjected.

"Ha? R-Really..." the boy stuttered, being completely caught by surprise... then after collecting his thoughts "W-Wait... are you saying that you let her issue medical treatment without any prior knowledge? Do you not understand how dangerous that is?" he then questioned.

"That shouldn't be a problem, the miss here uses [Holy Magic] after all" Cain assured.

"Her? [Holy Magic]? I don't believe it... prove it" the boy demanded while throwing me a glare.

"Guess what?" I replied.

"What?" He inquired.

"I don't have to! Hmph!" I snorted.

There is no way in hell am I going to go around proving myself to every single person who doesn't want to believe me, even 9 lives wouldn't be enough for that...

"W-Wha?" the boy responded dumbfounded.

"If you are done, stop bugging me and go away... Shoo! Shoo!" I shooed him off with my hand and proceeded to ignore him.

Though 5 minutes is sure taking a while... at this rate I'm not going to maximize my skill intake... hmm... then it hit me! *evil grin*

"You said you want to see my [Holy Magic] right?" I turned to the boy while activating my [Acting] skill.

"Y-Yes..." the boy responded being taken aback by my sudden change in attitude.

"I would love to except, you see... 'Haphazard medical knowledge and ability often leads to worsening the conditions *sigh*, this is the problem with uneducated people...' " I sneered while shrugging my shoulders.

"A-Are you ridiculing me?! I've been trained as an apprentice to the doctor since I was 7 years old! I know almost everything there is about healing people properly!" the boy insisted.

"Really? Then prove it. Let me see you cast a spell, only then will I show you my magic... I'll even make it easy for you, and let you cast any spell, doesn't even have to be a healing one... or you can't even do something that simple?" I provoked.

"Fine! Watch this!" the boy bellowed from the insult.

Oh, I assure you... I'm watching.... hehe

He then went to the side and brought a container putting it in front of me.

"... [Water Magic: Form Water]!" the boy cast with a cheeky attitude.

Soon after, water came out of his hands filling the container...

You have acquired a new sub-skill [NA][Water Magic: Form Water] Level 1

"..."

How... disappointing... I mean sure, if I didn't have [Item Box], there would definitely be a use for it... but as-is, it is virtually useless...

"That's all?" I questioned, clearly not amused.

"W-What do you mean that's all?" the boy asked wiping the smirk off his face.

"Just out of curiosity, how man spells do you know?" I questioned.

"Ah... 4..." the boy replied.

"..."

Could it be that Anderson who only knew 5 holy spells at age of 12 was actually a genius?!.... no way... I refuse to believe that! This guy must be an idiot dumber than Anderson!... Yup, that makes far more sense!

Wait a second... 5 minutes should have passed now, right? I turned around and took a good look...

You have acquired a new skill [CP][Doctor: Medical Diagnostics Enhancement] Level N/A

[CP][Doctor: Medical Diagnostics Enhancement] Level N/A

Improve your chance of diagnosing medical conditions when using identification skills by 5% + 0.5% for every level in your non-combat class + 0.25% for every point of [PER]

Eh? And I was hoping for a magic skill... I droop my ears in disappointment... wait a second, this uses [PER] as well... maybe it is more useful than I think? With my high [PER], I can probably now figure out the cause of almost any sickness no?

"Hey, where are you looking at? Now it's your turn" the boy tugged at me.

"Hmm? You're still here?" I questioned with clear annoyance in my tone.

"... Are you toying with me?!" the boy asked with hostility.

* sigh *... I guess I'll give this another shot... hopefully I can get something useful this time... Though I first need to buy some time for 5 minutes to pass...

"Well... I don't know... you see, can you really classify what you did as [Water Magic]? For all I know, you pulled a sleigh of hand and poured some water from under your wrist... How about something more convincing? But so you won't accuse me of cheating you, I'll cast a spell... Though you'll have to offer up something more convincing in return, is that fine?" I bargained.

"Fine! Just cast it already!" The boy relented.

"Now let's see... what should I cast... I wonder..." I pondered, stalling for as much time as possible.

"Well..." the boy asked, getting irritated at me for taking so long.

"I'm thinking what to cast, don't rush me!" I retorted.

"Just cast what you used to heal everyone here!" The boy demanded.

"I don't know... let me think... " I muttered to stall for just a tad bit longer, "Ok! I got it! ... [Light Magic: Light]!" I cast as a ball of light began hovering over my head.

The boy momentarily stared at the light like a deer at headlights, then after getting his bearings together he faced back at me.

"T-That doesn't count! That is just [Light Magic]! You said you'd show me [Holy Magic]!" the boy denied.

Trying to play that technicality ha? Not that I mind, I actually kind of expected that...

"I showed you a spell like I said did I not? If you want to see [Holy Magic], then you'll have to offer up some real [Water Magic]" I insisted.

"*sigh*... Whatever, just make sure to look carefully this time and don't you dare accuse me of faking it just cause your eyes aren't working properly!" the boy insulted.

He then picked up some dirt and pebbles on the ground, and dropped it in the water container...

"... [Water Magic: Purify Water]!" the boy cast, causing the dirt miraculously disappeared leaving only clean water.

You have acquired a new sub-skill [NA][Water Magic: Purify Water] Level 1

"..."

"I hope you saw that properly?" the boy asked with a hint of ridicule.

"Yeah... I saw..." I replied in a deadpan manor...

Somehow I have a feeling all that effort I put in is going to waste here... Don't you have anything cooler to show off?!?!

"Now show me what you promised!" the boy demanded.

"Sure... but so that you don't claim that I somehow cheated... you'll have to consent to the preparations" I requested maintaining my deadpan tone.

"Uhm... okay?..." the boy hesitantly accepted with confusion clearly written on his face.

I lift my hand upwards, and the boy looks at it while paying careful attention... As my hand fully extends, I begin chanting the verse for [Light Magic: Holy Light]... as the chant finished, from the tip of my fingers... sharp claws extended!

"Eh?!"

* slice *

"Argh!" the boy cried out while holding his face from the pain.

"[Light Magic: Holy Light]!" I called out, finishing the cast.

"What the hell are you doing?!?!" The boy roared out.

"What do you mean? You asked me to cast a holy spell, so I did... If I just cast it without any injury, you'd just claim it's light magic right? So after asking you if you will consent to the preparations, I showed off the spell... and as you can clearly see, I cast holy magic" I declared while shrugging my shoulders.

The boy touched his face multiple times to check, and after noticing he was fully healed he again glared at me.

"But you didn't have to fucking slash my face now did you?!?!" he yelled.

... Well that is kind of true... I swear, initially I was only planning to just claw his arm or something... but... but... his face was literally screaming 'claw me!', and I just couldn't resist...

"I-It just was the closest..." I hurriedly countered with my eyes swimming.

Though I will admit, clawing a human's face after all this time felt oddly satisfying...

"Are you fucking kidding me?!?!" he screamed at the top of his lungs!

"TREVIS!" came a loud roar.

We all turned around to see the doctor now standing up staring at us. No, not just the doctor, everyone was staring at us... Oh crap! I'm in trouble now... I froze up not knowing what to do as my heart beat with nervousness...

Thinking back... why did I even do something so stupid?! Especially on payday! Argh! Stupid! Stupid!

"This is a place for healing, not for playing around! If you are going to be a nuisance, then get out!" The doctor bellowed.

"But master! It wasn't me! This catkin here she..." Trevis pleaded.

"I SAID! GET!... OUT!" the doctor yelled out in a threatening and authoritative tone.

Seemingly giving up, Trevis took one last hostile glare at me, and then stormed out of the basement...

The doctor then gave me a short look, freezing me in place yet again, but then turned to look back at the line...

"I apologize for my apprentice, let us resume the inspections" the doctor lightly bowed then took back his seat and got back to work.

"..."

Does that mean I'm off the hook? Or is he waiting for Harold to come back to say something?... Or maybe he didn't even notice cause he was so busy?... Yeah that must be it!... I hope...

I took a glance at Tina just in case, but she seemed to be fully absorbed in reading a book of some sort... whew... that was close...

For the first few minutes, I was still a bit worried that someone was going to tattle me out... I mean everyone was staring at us... There is no freaking way no one noticed... but since no one seemed to be stepping up, and now that the nuisance was gone, I can finally enjoy my all you can eat healer skill buffet!

Shortly after I got back to monitoring the doctor, the appetizer came in!

Your skill [NP][Water Magic] has become Level 2

It seems now that I have opened up [Water Magic], I can actually get levels for it directly without getting the sub-skill like before... Maybe because it's impossible to get a magic without actually having a spell for it, hence I get the spell first, which then leads to also getting the magic? And then after that I get them like normal?

With another 5 minutes passing, I got myself a helping of soup!

Your skill [NP][Water Magic] has become Level 3

After enjoying my soup, a some fish was served!

You have acquired a new sub-skill [NA][Water Magic: Probe Water] Level 1

And for a change of pace, next came the salad!

You have acquired a new skill [CP][Doctor: Improved Treatment] Level N/A

[CP][Doctor: Improved Treatment] Level N/A

Improve your chance of treating medical conditions when using healing and cleansing skills by 2.5% + 0.2% for every level in your non-combat class + 0.1% for every point of [PER]

Improve the effectiveness of when administering items that treat medical conditions by 2.5% + 0.2% for every level in your non-combat class + 0.1% for every point of [PER]

Now that's some pretty delicious salad! This should definitely come in helpful! I realized to some extent after getting [Water Magic: Cleanse Toxins] and watching the doctor that water magic is not exactly a healing magic in itself, but more like they are altering the magic to accommodate healing. If I were to express this based on what I learned in biology, you can use the spell to say lower someone's sugar level in the blood. But if you are not too careful, you can lower the sugar level to below normal or even zero. In comparison, Holy Magic is like easy mode as it restores the body to its original form. That isn't to say there are no variations in using it, but at the same time it wouldn't cause harm to the recipient by nature...

And based on my limited understanding of Alchemy, it seems that what it does is increase the bodies natural healing rate. This is probably why there is a diminishing returns on use of potions.

So based on my guess, if someone for example has a shard of metal stuck in them, Holy magic would remove the shard, water magic would cleanse the shard if done properly and alchemy would heal you up, but leave the shard still in there intact. Of course this is just my hypothesis based on what I've comprehended so far... I'll have to actually test it to be sure, preferably not on myself though...

I'm also quite perplexed on the fine details of my conclusions... If Holy Magic is able to restore something to its original state, does that mean Holy Magic is somehow related to Time Magic? And if it can remove a shard, how large would the shard be? Like could it remove an entire spear? What about poison? Will it also remove the food you ate or only things considered harmful? What about if it's a medical condition someone was born in? So many questions remain unanswered... I guess no use worrying about it now... I'll figure it out eventually...

With 5 more minutes passing, in came the main course!

Your sub-skill [NA][Water Magic: Cleanse Toxins] has become Level 2

At this point, the doctor seemed to have finished treating those standing in line and moved on to treating the few remaining people lying on the ground.

And just in time for dessert!

Your sub-skill [NA][Water Magic: Cleanse Toxins] has become Level 3

Hmm... What comes after dessert?... Oh right, how can I forget! second dessert!

You have acquired a new skill [CP][Aqua Healer: Water Magic Control] Level N/A

Due to a special action, a new special [WMCT] stat has been unlocked

[CP][Aqua Healer: Water Magic Control] Level N/A

Improve your control over water magic by 1% + 0.5% for every level in your combat class + 0.05% for every point of [WMCT]

Oooh! My first combat class skill!... though unfortunately it's pretty useless at this point, since I don't really have any spells to go along with it... I mean what am I gonna do, drown somebody in a tub with [Form Water]? Or try to turn someone's blood to water as I hold onto them for a few minutes? I mean at that point I might as well just stab them...

And as far as healing application goes... I still can't see much advantage to using Water Magic over Holy Magic...

As I was thinking these thoughts, Harold made his way back into the basement.

"So how is it going? Were there any problems with those inspected so far?" Harold asked the doctor.

"So far, I don't see anything of note... at best, they only suffer from mild infections carried by all Lycanthropes. Other than that, with a bit of rest, they should be good to go" The doctor answered.

"I see... what about Dawn over there?" Harold asked while pointing.

"In his case, he did seem to suffer from a severe infection, but other than that, I couldn't find anything of note... " The doctor informed.

So does that mean my [Holy Light] does not cleanse bacteria and viruses? Or did I simply not use it enough? Though thinking about it... bacteria should be a living thing as well... so maybe that is why it didn't work and instead spells like [Cure] exist to handle those?

"Is that so? Well I guess that means that the worst case scenario is unlikely at the very least..." Harold replied while giving a short sigh of relief.

"Just in case, I'll still monitor their conditions, but I think that is a safe assumption" the doctor affirmed.

After the doctor finished up cleansing all the injured people, he then got up and left the basement. During that time, I managed to get [Water Magic] to Level 4 and [Water Magic: Probe Water] to Level 5.

Since I was back to having nothing to do, I once again took out my Sewing and Knitting Kit and resumed my work...