“So? How did you find him?” The elder orc asked once Copperbane brought me back to his small office.

“He was alright. He used Heal about three hundred times and went through most of the elven slaves. Some time was wasted because of the Right to be judged but he knows how to pace himself between patients. For me, it is a pass. He knows the basics and have a rather good mental strength.” The dwarf reported my actions directly to his superior.

The latter nodded and quickly dismissed Copperbane. “You can leave. I’ll discuss a few things with this man.”

I was left alone, facing the elder orc in this uncomfortable seat. An awkward silence settled down as the elder orc carefully examined my body. He seemed more interested in me than the first time I came to his office.

“It must not have been easy to use the same spell so many times. Are you still interested in joining the Healing Temple? We promise that you will be given a fair chance, even as a human.”

“I know. The Healing Temple was founded by the tower itself, not the Union. Your rules include giving a fair chance to all creatures who want to join, not just the races of the Union.”

The elder orc nodded. “That’s good. You know some of the rules of the temple. You already passed the first test. There are usually two more steps before making a decision. The first is a test of your affinity and the second, an interview with a small group of healers. However… There are some exceptions to this rule.”

“You mean?”

“Some people can skip these steps if some people agree to sponsor them. As per the rules, I informed the hall master that you wanted to join the Healing Temple. The situation is a little bit complicated, but he agreed to sponsor you if you agree to certain conditions.”

“Oh?” I was pleasantly surprised by the elder orc’s words. I simply did not expect such treatment. I came to the Healing Temple for two reasons: first, it was the logical workplace to go to as a healer to earn a living and second, it was because the Healing Temple was one of the few institutions who openly supported humanity at an early stage.

The Healing Temple was not a charity and earned points by offering healing services. It was in their best interests to have the controversial humans enter the cities and join the Union. The hall masters were well aware of how volatile the situation would be and this would naturally result in an increase in demand for healing services.

Now that the first Right to be Judged has been used, the whole tower was aware of the arrival of the humans. The races would treat the humans as a large wave of undesirable immigrants. Regardless of the path I chose, some conflicts were inevitable. In this scenario, I would rather be surrounded by healers than a group of entitled humans.

I maintained a clear mind as I could not confirm whether the orc had the psychic element and asked. “And what are these conditions?”

“You will be treated as any other member of the Healing Temple but you will also have the obligation to go out regularly for external visits. You may have to show your face a few times but do not worry, if things turn sour, the Healing Temple will intervene to protect you appropriately.” The elder orc explained.

…

About thirty minutes later, I walked out of the elder orc’s office, escorted by an attendant.

“Congratulations on joining the Healing temple, Mr. Alex. My name is Regis. I will bring you to your living quarters. If you need help, do not hesitate to ask.”

I nodded quietly at the young Satyr and walked behind him while admiring the new robe I was wearing. I had already replaced my previous silk robe with the exclusive healer’s robe of the Healing Temple. It had a single golden stripe and did not have any enchantments attached to it but it would be my working uniform from now on and would provide a different kind of protection. It was the proof that I was now a member of the Healing Temple and would serve as a strong deterrent to anyone trying to harm me.

The discussion with the elder orc did not take very long. I quickly agreed to his conditions and signed a contract with the Healing Temple. At the end of the day, my goal was to join the temple; if I could avoid the hassle of going through an interview with the risk of being rejected, I would gladly take his offer. As for parading and showing my face a little bit to the city, it was something I did not mind too much.

My role would be to provoke the other races and at the same time, encourage the other humans to join the city. The Healing Temple just wanted some conflict to arise between the Union and the humans. I would naturally be protected by the temple. I was not valuable just as a marketing material but also as a healer. The Healing Temple would soon receive many new customers and as a human, I would be more suited to treat them. According to my memories, the Healing Temple did indeed bring in a few humans to provoke the city lord but things calmed down relatively quickly.

I was escorted to the living quarters of the healers on the second floor of the Healing Hall. I received strange looks from the healers I met along the way but chose to ignore them. It took a few minutes to navigate through the confusing corridors but eventually, we stopped in front of an ordinary wooden door.

“This is room 168. Please use the key you received.”

I quickly complied and pushed open the door. The room was rather small but felt cozy. There was a single bed, a small wardrobe, a table and a chair. When sitting on the bed, one could look through the only window of the room and enjoy the view of the busy streets of Tussock.

“Meals are served three times per day downstairs. You cannot miss the dining hall. Toilets and baths are located at both ends of the corridor. Another attendant will come later this evening to deliver your schedule once it is arranged. You are free to explore the Healing Temple but keep your healer robe on so that we know that you are a member.”

“Thanks.” I sat down on the bed and tossed a couple of mana stones at the Satyr. The attendant swiftly grabbed them and left without further ado.

I looked around my new home in silence. It was a basic room but I was quite happy to have a place to call home.

I closed my eyes for a few minutes to rest. I was still mentally exhausted after using Heal so many times in the past few hours. I felt like I could easily sleep for a couple of hours if I just got into a more comfortable position.

Grrr!

At that very moment, my stomach decided to protest and growl as loudly as it could. It has already been a very long time since I ate anything and my body was starting to complain.

‘It’s not good to stay on an empty stomach. According to the attendant, the next meal service should start in about an hour. If I sleep, there’s a risk of me missing the dinner service. It’s too bad there is no such thing as a clock here…’

‘I’ll just have to keep myself occupied for a little bit.’

Fortunately, there was precisely something important I had to do that would only take an hour at most. I still had not used the codex I purchased at the merchant tower. I did not dare to reveal to the Seraph that I had a codex in my storage belt. Compared to the brown paste that only had an effect on people with extremely low affinities, codices could be used by anyone. The Seraph would not show much interest in the brown paste but it would be a different story if he knew I had a codex.

Even though the spell taught by this codex would be a low level one, it was still a valuable additional tool.

‘Using a codex takes about one hour if I am not wrong. It is best to use it now. The longer I keep it, the higher the risk of it being stolen. I do not want a repeat of what happened with the Nazlock Coins…’

I held the small black book in my hand. I took a few minutes to examine it but failed to find any information about the spell it contained. When I finally lost interest, I opened the book and instantly, the scene around me changed.

I found myself once again facing my skill tree. Its leaves were shivering. The skill tree seemed to be in pain. It did not take long for me to notice a change taking place. A fourth leaf was growing on the side of the shoot but this leaf looked completely different from the other three.

The new leaf had the shape of a frond and was golden yellow in colour while the other three were heart shaped and covered with white spots.

I bit my lips as I watched the new leaf growing. I understood why the skill tree seemed to be in pain. The new leaf was artificially grown; the stark difference between the leaves made it look like the skill tree had mutated.

‘Is using a codex the equivalent of grafting a leaf that belonged to a different skill tree?’

I fell into deep thoughts. Was this going to be harmful to my skill tree? All the rumours surrounding codices were that anyone who used them would get an additional spell with no downside, but was that really the case?