The doors opened, held back by two officers that were now stationed outside. They watched nervously as the patient thrashing on the bed was wheeled by them, the two nurses bringing her in while the officer that had escorted them from the room remained outside. The officers’ lack of protective gear had me hoping Dr. Fadel was right about the infection not spreading through the air. If she was wrong…I would never be able to heal that many people.

That worry fled my mind as the patient was brought closer and I got a good look at her, instinctively taking a step back at the sight. Her face, neck, and arms were almost completely discolored by the Void infection. There were still some clear patches of healthy skin visible, but they were small islands amongst the sea of insidious energy progressing through her body.

As she was moved into position for treatment, the empty bed being pushed out of the way to accommodate the one she was on, I was finally able to drag my eyes off the horrible sight of what the Void infection was doing to her. That’s when I noticed the straps holding her down, shifting alarmingly as she strained against them and causing the bed to squeak in protest at the force being exerted. As disturbing as the sight of her was, the guttural noises escaping her gagged mouth upset me the most. They were better suited to a wild animal, not a human being.

Dr. Fadel distractedly dismissed the nurses who had brought the patient in, asking them to wait outside. She didn’t pay them any attention as they left, the doors closing quietly behind them. Her focus was completely fixed on the sick woman as she looked her over, giving her a quick examination. When she finally turned to me, the look on her face was not reassuring at all.

“The infection is spreading extremely quickly. Her condition has deteriorated faster than I expected.” She made a vague motion in the air as she asked me, “Can you see anything with your magic?”

Casting Analyze on the thrashing woman, I grimaced a little as I read over the information that appeared, visible only to me. “Nothing helpful. It just says she is in the late stages of the infection, but that’s pretty obvious.”

“You just progressed towards ranking up Analyze,” Cax told me urgently, a sense of concern coming through.

I could understand why. That ability wasn’t supposed to improve when used on ordinary items and people anymore. She hadn’t been claimed by the Void and turned into a puppet yet, but apparently she wasn’t exactly human either.

“Indeed,” Dr. Fadel said, biting her bottom lip as she responded to my comment. She leaned over the infected woman again, who I now knew was called Amy Muller thanks to Analyze, and looked her in the eyes. “Mrs. Muller?” she said in a loud voice. “Can you hear me?” There was no obvious response, apart from repeated attempts to lift her head high enough to get at Dr. Fadel, growling as she did so. “Do you know where you are? Can you give me some sign you understand what I’m saying?”

It was clearly futile, and Dr. Fadel soon stepped back with a sigh. “I saw her just a couple of hours ago. That’s when we decided to gag her. She tried to bite one of the nurses, and we thought it best to remove the risk. We actually tried sedating her first, but it didn’t take. Whatever is taking over her body fought off the effects somehow. She was still mostly lucid then, though. Not like this.” She waved her hand at the basically feral woman.

“Well, let’s get to it,” I said, stepping towards the bed. It was extremely unsettling to see someone in such a state. “No point waiting.”

“Agreed. I would like to run some more tests to try and work out what sped up her decline, but with this rate of progression, I don’t think we can afford the time.” Dr. Fadel moved to the far side of the bed and addressed all of us. “I think we can forgo the fake therapy equipment for this particular patient. In her state, she isn’t likely to notice what’s going on. After Dean heals her and she settles down a little, we’ll connect the monitors and the IV for when she becomes lucid again.”

I nodded along with Grace and Susan, and placed my hand gently on Amy’s arm, tightening my grip after almost being knocked away. I quickly cast Heal, and as the energy flowed out of my hand and into the infected woman, I was aware of the others leaning in, watching intently. The spell ended and I relaxed, expectantly waiting for her skin to start clearing up as the healing energy cleared the infection out. However, almost immediately, Amy arched up against the restraints holding her in place, back arching slightly before crashing back down.

My hand was knocked clear as I loosened my hold on her in surprise. Looking at the sick woman in confusion, I blinked rapidly a couple of times, thinking I was seeing things. But as the reality set in, my confusion turned to horror. Instead of clearing up, the few remaining clear patches of skin that had been visible were being overtaken by the infection right before my eyes. Her entire body was now completely assailed by the Void, and I watched helplessly as her eyes filled up with the vile energy, becoming pools of black. The next second, her body went limp as her struggles stopped. We all stood completely still as it took a few seconds for what had just happened to register.

Dr. Fadel and Grace sprang into action, pushing me out of the way. I didn’t resist, my mind caught up in trying to work out what had gone wrong. They tried for a while to resuscitate her, Susan and I looking on helplessly. Eventually, they gave up, as her body didn’t respond to anything they tried. She was beyond our ability to bring back. Only the dark energy residing inside her that had taken her life could do that now.

I suddenly became aware of Dr. Fadel shaking my arm. With an effort, I tore my gaze away from Amy’s body and slowly turned to look at her.

“Snap out of it!” she told me firmly. “What happened?!”

With an effort, I found my voice. “I…don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense. I’ve healed infected people before and there were no problems. It should have worked.” It really should have. I’d been so sure I could help her. That I could help everyone. To have it go so tragically wrong…

I turned my thoughts inward. “Cax? Please?” I basically begged him, hoping he could shed some light on what had happened.

He answered softly, “I am sorry. I only have theories, nothing exact.”

Dr. Fadel was still talking to me, demanding answers. I snapped at her, telling her to wait while I talked to Cax, probably a little more harshly than she deserved.

“Theories are better than nothing. What have you got?”

“Based on the information I have from the infected animals and Void puppets you have absorbed, along with what we just witnessed, I believe the Void energy inside her fed on the energy from the healing spell. It then used it to complete its takeover of the body.”

That didn’t make any sense. “The spell is supposed to remove the bad stuff! How could it just be used by the Void like that?”

“The Void energy feeds on the body, using the energy inside the host to grow and continue spreading. I believe that is why her condition deteriorated faster than Dr. Fadel expected. As the infection took hold and spread more, it built up momentum and strength. Your healing spell is applied generally, spreading its power out to cover the entire body. It is likely that it was too weak to overcome the Void.”

My shoulders slumped. “So it’s pointless, then. If I don’t get to someone fast enough, the infection will become too strong. They’re going to die no matter what.”

“Perhaps. It is likely that someone more advanced in Life magic would still be able to heal such a person.”

He didn’t come out and say it directly, but I knew what he was getting at.

“So I did kill her,” I told him self-pityingly. “If I had worked harder to get my Life affinity to the next Tier, I might have been able to save her.”

“It is a possibility,” he said, not bothering to try and sugarcoat it.

I relayed what we’d talked about to Dr. Fadel and the other two ladies, not bothering to hide the responsibility I felt for the failure. The doctor nodded along, not interrupting me. When I finished speaking, she put her hand on my upper arm and looked me in the eyes.

“We are all learning as we go, and mistakes are going to happen. I know that nothing I say will make you feel better about her death, though. So instead, learn from it and let’s keep going. There are still plenty of people you can save.” She didn’t let go, still staring at me.

Taking a deep breath, I got a hold of myself. She was right. There were still people waiting for me to heal them. I gave her a small nod to let her know I was ok.

Removing her hand, she turned back to look at the lifeless woman on the bed, the sudden slump to her shoulders letting me know she was also feeling the responsibility. “Now, what do we do with the body?” she asked tiredly, mostly talking to herself.

That was a good question. It was just a matter of time before Amy reanimated as a Void puppet, so we couldn’t let her husband take the body for a funeral. Should we just lock it up and study it? The information we could gain might help us in our fight against the Void, but that option was risky.

“I know you won’t like this, but I recommend you absorb the body,” Cax told me. “The extra information I can gain from it on the Void would be useful, while at the same time removing the risk it poses.”

Intellectually, I knew it was probably the best course of action. But something within me rebelled at the idea. Sensing my aversion to absorbing the body, he wisely didn’t push the matter.

Meanwhile, Dr. Fadel had reached a decision. “We’ll keep her restrained like this and locked in a secure room. We’ll set up cameras so we can monitor how long it takes for her to be reanimated and what she does after being brought back. If we keep armed officers outside the room, the risk should be contained.”

She moved over to the telephone. “I’ll call Ms. Anders and have her arrange things. From what we know about the young man who was brought back in the ambulance, we should have enough time to get her secure before she becomes one of those puppet creatures.”

“Advise her that the process will likely happen much faster this time due to the…” Cax didn’t get a chance to finish what he was saying. The sound of squeaking metal and a barely muffled shriek cut him off as we all turned to look at the source. My eyes widened in shock to see Amy once again struggling against her bonds. As I quickly backed away from the bed, along with the others in the room, misting black energy seeped out of her skin to surround her in the same manner that I’d seen in all the other Void puppets. It was much denser this time, though, almost completely concealing her form from view.

The doors to the room opened and the officers outside looked in, obviously drawn by the chilling shriek that the gag still secured around Amy’s mouth had done little to contain. At the sight of the unnatural creature on the bed, they all reached for their guns.

“Stop!” I told them, moving to stand in between them and the Void puppet before they could draw their weapons. While bullets could definitely kill such a creature, I’d already seen how many were required to accomplish it. Unleashing that kind of firepower in the hospital would cause a panic. For now, the puppet was still contained, so we had time to find another way.

“Everyone out,” I ordered, taking charge. While my guilt at failing to save Amy was still there, I wasn’t going to wallow in it. Especially not at a time like this. “Find Brad and get him here now,” I told Dr. Fadel. She didn’t hesitate or argue, running off immediately. Turning my attention to the officers, I told them to stay outside in case we needed them, and they reluctantly agreed. The fact that the Void puppet was still clearly restrained was probably the only reason they agreed. Grace and Susan eagerly joined them, wisely not hesitating to escape the room.

With everyone out of the way, I approached the bed but stayed back a safe distance. I cast Analyze and was surprised at what I saw. “How’s that possible?” I asked Cax under my breath, the information not lining up with my previous encounters with Void puppets. “She was just brought back. How can she have more Void energy than the other puppets already?”

“It is likely due to how she died,” he replied. “The other ones were killed before the Void infection had much of a chance to progress. A lot of the energy contained in their bodies was probably lost before the Void had a chance to feed on it, and then it had to expend more of its own energy to spread to the rest of the body before taking it over. That would theoretically result in a weakened puppet on reanimation. This woman, on the other hand, was completely taken over and filled with Void energy before perishing, which is why I expected she would also be brought back faster than the other ones.”

“Great,” I muttered to myself. “So the worse the infection is when they die, the more of a threat they are.” We needed to step up efforts to find everyone who was infected before they got to this stage.

While waiting for Brad, I kept a close eye on the Void puppet. Due to the greater amount of energy protecting it, I was unable to clearly make out its body, though. I moved my arms in front of me and called my weapon into my hands, then began nervously tapping my finger against it. The Ring of Repelling I was wearing made a clacking noise as it knocked against the staff. The solid feel of the wood and the presence of my magical item that would emit a blast of air helped keep my worry from rising too high.

It only took a couple of minutes for Dr. Fadel to return with Brad and Anita. Anita spoke to the officers outside briefly, and then closed the doors, leaving the four of us alone in the room with the Void puppet. I was glad to see Brad was holding his regular gun in one hand and the magical one I’d given him in the other.

At seeing the creature on the bed, Anita sighed sadly. “The poor woman. What happened?”

I told her the same thing I’d told the others before, and also cautioned everyone that this puppet was stronger because of how it had died.

“Fascinating!” Dr. Fadel said. “The question remains, though. What do we do with her?”

“It’s too dangerous to…” Anita began to say before screaming in fright as the Void puppet suddenly sat up, shocking all of us. In the moments before it jumped off the bed, I caught a glimpse of the broken restraints falling away from its body. They looked like they’d been eaten through by the Void energy, just like Brad’s shield in the dungeon. I hadn’t noticed it happening because they’d been concealed by the swirling darkness around the puppet.

Since I’d been standing slightly in front of the others, the creature’s attack was focused on me. Overcoming my surprise, I moved my staff up horizontally and blocked the puppet just as it reached me.

It might have more energy than the others, but it was still only level 1. My improved body was able to stand strong against the sudden lunge, and I stopped the creature in its tracks. It reacted quickly, latching onto my arms and gripping them tightly. Mindful of the Drain ability that Tim had used against me, I quickly broke its hold by rotating my wrists and swinging my staff up to knock its hands away. Snapping my right wrist forward and up, I hit the creature in its side and knocked it back into the bed.

A quick glance over my shoulder showed me that Anita and Dr. Fadel had retreated to the far corner of the room and were out of harm’s way. It would have been better if they’d fled outside, but there was no time to worry about that now. Brad had stepped to the side to get a clear shot at the puppet, magical gun raised and ready to fire. I was glad he was smart enough not to try out his Fireball spell in here. With a muttered, “Let’s hope this works,” he pulled the trigger.

There was a slight popping sound just like when I’d tested it, much quieter than that of a regular gun. It was probably barely audible even to the people just outside the door. A gray streak of energy shot out and hit the puppet in the chest just as it was righting itself, knocking it back against the bed. Where the magical projectile had impacted, the swirling darkness had been knocked away, showing the wound in the body as it began leaking a dark substance. It was quickly hidden as more of the dark energy rushed in to begin healing the damage and protect the area. Thanks to Analyze, I saw that the attack hadn’t caused the maximum amount of damage the gun was capable of. The Void energy surrounding the creature had reduced the effectiveness of the attack.

“Go for the head!” I called out to Brad. He had limited ammunition in that gun. Critical hits would make the most of it and help end this faster. Before I even finished speaking, I shot a light dart out of my upraised palm and rocked the puppet’s head back, eliciting another rage-filled shriek. I’d already learned the hard way what could happen if I didn’t improve my abilities as fast as I could. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to work on making my attack spell stronger. Plus, I didn’t want to get close enough to give the puppet a chance to Drain me, not to mention the risk of getting hit by Brad’s gun.

This was the first time I’d used my Light Dart spell since getting my Light affinity to Tier II. The increased damage my light dart could do was noticeable. It inflicted over twice as much damage as Brad’s shot had, plus extra for the critical hit. After Brad’s second shot hit the puppet in the head too and its health dropped by another large amount, I started to relax. With the two of us attacking it, it couldn’t get close to us to be a threat.

Another light dart to the head and it was almost finished. I turned to Brad to tell him to take the finishing shot. I’d learned from Cax that only the person who actually killed something got credit for it. He could get some loot off the creature and maybe even be able to level up. At the look of fear on his face, I quickly started to turn back, but I wasn’t fast enough. I caught a glimpse of a black ball of energy out of the corner of my eye just before a searing pain erupted in my side, making me stumble back and almost fall over.

Another gunshot sounded out just before Anita and Dr. Fadel reached me, Anita supporting me while Dr. Fadel looked at the wound. She wisely refrained from touching it, obviously wary of any residual energy being able to infect her. Activating Determination to help deal with the pain, I quickly looked at the Void puppet, ready to get in between it and the two women helping me. Brad’s last shot had finished it off, though, and it was lying motionless on the ground, not a trace of the sinister energy to be seen around it. After confirming it was no longer a threat, I cast Heal on myself, sighing in relief as the magic fixed me up and took away the pain while removing the infection in the process. I was now almost completely out of mana.

“Didn’t expect that,” was all I could say as I saw the reproach in Brad’s eyes.

“Never take your eyes off an enemy,” he told me sternly.

I nodded as I rubbed my side where I’d been hit. “Lesson learnt. But seriously, that shouldn’t have been possible. None of the other puppets could use ranged attacks at first. I thought it was something they gained from leveling up.”

“I don’t know anything about that,” he said, “but it actually looked like a last-ditch attempt to take someone down with it. All the energy around it just suddenly came together really quickly into a ball and then shot out at you.” He shook his head in disbelief. “It left itself completely defenseless. There was nothing slowing down my last shot.”

I considered that. Maybe it was different from the ability Tim had used against me in the dungeon after all. That attack had taken time to form, and it hadn’t used up all of his energy. Brad was probably right. The creature had realized it was losing and somehow launched a suicidal attack, using up all of its energy in one go. I had to admit, it wasn’t a bad failsafe. If the person hit by the Void energy couldn’t rid themselves of the infection, the Void would lose one creature but gain another back.

The fact that none of the other puppets we’d fought had done this had me hopeful it was limited to the puppets who were completely taken over before perishing. The added energy they had likely made it possible. Whatever the cause, I’d have to be more careful in the future. Dr. Fadel had been right earlier. We were still learning about what we were up against. I couldn’t let my guard down by assuming I knew what was possible.

While we’d talked, Anita had gone to the entrance of the room and let Susan back in after reassuring the worried police officers standing guard that everything was under control. I raised an eyebrow questioningly at Susan’s presence but didn’t say anything. Anita must have a good reason.

“Did you level up?” I asked Brad instead.

“Hang on.” His eyes unfocused as he looked at the information that only he could see. “Not quite. I’m at 15xp. I need another 10xp.”

“Alright.” I gestured at the puppet on the ground. “Can you see some kind of glow around the body?” At his nod, I told him how to go about looting it. He approached it cautiously, and then bent over to touch the body. After a few seconds, the shimmer of an item being created out of the remaining energy on the body appeared next to it. It soon resolved itself into what looked like a holster.

I analyzed it and whistled in appreciation. “Very nice.” I knew that you normally got something tailored to you when looting, but I still felt that maybe the World Spirit was keeping an eye on things and nudging them in our favor.

Holster of Minor Recharge

Increases the recharge rate of mana-based guns held inside by 25%.

I told everyone what it was as Brad put his magical gun in it and checked it out. It was too bad he hadn’t gotten an Awakening Disc, but it wasn’t surprising. Those apparently required a fair amount of energy to manifest, and since the puppet had used up all its energy before dying, there wouldn’t have been enough for that. I saw Brad frowning as he realized the magical holster was too big for his gun.

“Imagine some of your mana going inside it,” I advised him. Despite everything that had just happened, I couldn’t help smiling a little as he almost dropped the holster in shock as it became smaller in his hands.

Fortunately, Dr. Fadel was focused on the body of the Void puppet and not paying attention, otherwise Brad may have lost his nice new item to the inquisitive doctor. I left Brad to play with his loot and gave the doctor my full attention. “What’s going to happen to the body now?” I asked her.

“We’ll keep it for now and learn what we can. Then it will be burned to remove any risk it may pose.”

Anita sighed. “I’ll go and speak to her husband.” Some exhaustion crept into her voice, understandable considering all the stress she was under, but still worrying. “I really wish I’d turned this job down sometimes.”

I quickly spoke up. “I’ll come with you.”

“Absolutely not!” All trace of tiredness disappeared as she rounded on me, shoulders squared.

“But…”

“No! What would you even say to him?” she asked me seriously. “You can’t tell him the truth, and even if you could, it wouldn’t change anything. His wife is dead. It doesn’t matter how it happened.”

I had no comeback to that, and she quickly left before I could come up with one. Dr. Fadel called in the people waiting outside the room, and any thoughts of following Anita were taken away as I was told to help get Amy’s body back onto the bed. Together with the others wearing protective clothing, we lifted her up and then Dr. Fadel gave instructions on what to do with the body. I watched with profound regret as the poor woman was wheeled away. I will do better, I vowed to myself, knowing that Cax heard and would help me honor the pledge.

I soon found myself once more in the room with just Dr. Fadel, Grace and Susan. Brad also said he’d stick around in case there was any more trouble. I wasn’t sure exactly how much Grace and Susan knew about everything going on, but the fact they were sticking around after everything that had happened here was really impressive.

“Ideally, we would be able to take a long break after a tragedy like this,” Dr. Fadel said, breaking the silence. “Clearly, though, that isn’t an option. The sooner we can treat the infected people, the better.” Looking at me directly, she asked, “Are you ready to try again?”

“Not yet,” I said, shaking my head. “I want to get my Life magic up to the next Tier before trying to heal another person. It might let me heal someone like Amy safely.”

Dr. Fadel readily agreed. “In the meantime, I’ll go and check on the other patients and make a priority order list. I’ll make sure the people who have been infected the longest come in to be healed first.”

She left as I got settled in one of the chairs in the room, waiting to regenerate enough mana to cast Aura of Recovery again. Two more times was all I needed. Grace and Susan looked over the equipment to make sure nothing had been damaged during the fight, and Brad took up position against the wall near the door. Judging by his distant look, he was busy looking over his interface.

I cast the aura spell as soon as I had enough mana, then again after it had run it’s 15-minute duration. A sad smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I saw two notifications appear, waiting for my attention. I’d finally done it. I’d gotten my Life affinity to the next Tier. I just hoped it would be enough for me to keep what happened to Amy from happening to someone else. I decided to take care of the spell evolution first before getting to the main prize.

Congratulations!

You have gained a sufficient amount of insight into your [Aura of Recovery] spell to reach Rank 2.

Apply your insights to evolve your spell in one of the following ways:

1) Any healing spells cast on someone affected by [Aura of Recovery] will have increased potency.

2) This spell will be applied to your aura more effectively, increasing the range from 10 meters to 20 meters.

3) The energy used in this spell will be applied to your aura more efficiently, extending the duration from 15 minutes to 30 minutes.

Those were some good choices, but I immediately selected the first one. It would have the most immediate impact considering the difficult healing I was about to do. Plus, making use of the aura when trying to fix permanent injuries in the future would help speed up the process, saving me time and mana.

With that sorted, I turned my attention to the notification I really wanted to see.

Congratulations!

You have gained sufficient understanding of your Life-affinity spells to reach the next Tier.

Your Life affinity is now Tier II.

Your increased familiarity with this magical discipline means all associated spells will now either require less mana, have an increased effect, or a combination of the two. Other improvements may also occur.

In addition, you will now be able to actively sense Life energy and control it in minor ways without requiring a spell.

It was pretty much exactly the same as the changes my Light affinity had undergone, and that was more than fine with me. A look at my Heal spell showed me that it had increased from healing 25hps to 50hps. That was a 100% increase! And the mana cost had gone down to 20mp, which is what it had originally required before I merged the Cure Disease spell with it. More powerful healing, more often, I thought with satisfaction.

My Aura of Recovery spell had undergone similar improvements, with a reduction in mana cost and an increase in duration and range. Probably would have been even more if I’d gone with a different evolution, I thought with a small twinge of regret. Oh well.

As good as those improvements were, though, the best gain was my new ability to sense Life energy. Focusing, I activated the special sight and looked around. Unlike with Light energy, there was no overwhelming magical light everywhere. Instead, there was a strong golden glow coming off Brad, Grace, and Susan. It was stronger in Brad than in the two ladies, but that made sense considering he had been awakened. Looking at myself, I noticed the energy coming off me was even brighter than Brad’s. I also spotted several tiny golden motes floating in the air, barely visible at all. I assumed they were some kind of insects.

Grace turned around, and I thought I noticed something off. Walking closer, I asked her to stand still while I looked at her lower back closely. There was a small area that had a diminished glow to it. It wasn’t much of a difference, but still noticeable. When I asked her about it, she said she had hurt it shifting a patient onto their bed the other day.

“Fantastic!” I said excitedly. She gave me a weird look, and I quickly clarified. “Sorry. I meant it’s fantastic that I can see there’s something wrong.” Her ‘get this guy away from me’ look changed to one of curiosity. As I was thinking over how I might be able to fix her sore back by manipulating the energy there instead of doing a full heal, Dr. Fadel came back in.

“Are you ready to keep going?” she asked me.

I wanted to say ‘no’. I wanted more time to experiment with my improved Life magic so what happened to Amy didn’t happen to anyone else. But I knew time was a luxury we didn’t have. The longer the Void infection had to take hold in the body, the harder it would be to safely get rid of. I’d just have to make it work. Projecting more confidence than I felt, I nodded at her. “Let’s do it.”