Chapter 12: Priest

It was pure luck that I had survived the first splash of acidic blood and poison that had been the result of the boss monster's death. After all, in the entire boss battle, I had used all of my mana in either attacking or healing Myrddin. There was no surprise that my health was in the red before even killing ???.

However, the same could not be said for the person beside me.

"MYRDDIN!"

Out of shock, or pain, or - this I feared the most - death, Myrddin fell to the ground, horrifyingly silent as his suddenly inactive body reached the soil below us. I would've just stared at his - don'tbedeaddon'tbedead - body, but then I remembered the incoming rain of acid as all the tentacles above us exploded like the main body of ???.

I grabbed Myrddin's unconscious body with me before I ran in search for cover.

"MYRDDIN, WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!" I cried, even as my breath became heavy and my lungs burned from the effort of searching for a nearby tree, a tree that still stood even under the onslaught of acidic blood rain. "WAKE UP!"

I frantically turned to his HP bar - somehow still in the red instead of empty as I feared. Good, that meant Myrddin was just unconscious. However, at the rate the rain was damaging both of us, there was no way to survive for either me or Myrddin.

I was fine with death. I was a Player; I could always revive.

But Myrddin, he I suspected to be an Adventurer.

If he would die, it very could be his last.

I refuse to let that happen to my friend!

Repeatedly, even as drops of acid burned through my flesh and went through my non-existent armor, even as the rain of blood around us warned of my impending death, mana surged from my still-recovering reserves as I repeatedly casted my inefficient healing on the both of us. Steam covered my flesh as my mana repelled aside acid, causing them to evaporate instantly.

I healed Myrddin as I ran. And I ran even as my legs felt like they were being burned off.

And I almost cried in joy when I finally found a large oak tree I could use for cover.

As dilapidated and battered the tree above us was, I ignored the possible consequences of staying underneath something that could fall on the two of us in favor of assessing the situation and trying to not panic as I did.

It wasn't easy.

You have been poisoned with ???'s Necrotic Poison!

For the next ten minutes, you would lose 20% of your health per minute!

I didn't have any antidote. Thus the only hope of survival was to somehow endure through the poison - through a status effect that could kill me twice without trouble even if my life was full. However, there was no choice - all I could do was to try and attempt that avenue for survival.

I barely managed to heal the both of us to yellow health when pain suddenly wracked my entire system, blood coming out of my mouth in coughs like the unconscious Myrddin beside me was doing in his sleep.

Our health bars both went back in the deep red.

But I didn't stop - no, even as the burning pain of necrotic poison that made my skin feel that it was ripping apart, made the virtual blood inside my veins boil, I didn't stop. I still pushed on, clinging on to what remained of my consciousness and mana to hope against hope that we would survive.

At this rate, my mana would run out and we would die!

I would've devoted all my efforts into healing Myrddin then and there, but I also needed to remember to heal myself. Self-sacrifice was one thing, but if I died, Myrddin would most assuredly die as no one would be able to heal him and monsters may attack him while he was unconscious.

So, in spite of knowing the consequences, I continued to heal. What else could I do? Healing status ailments were different from the blatant knock-off kind of healing I did.

Myrddin let out a pained groan.

"No. I won't let this happen." I... why were my eyes getting wet now? It was already long ago that the rain stopped. And why were the drops that fell from my eyes clear liquid? "I finally found a friend - I won't let him die!"

Twenty seconds. Thirty. Forty. Fifty.

Sixty, and my body once again fell under the sensation of being pierced by a thousand needles. My life, and Myddin's, fell even deeper than ever.

My hands, my healing, stopped.

Looking at the bars, I already knew the futility of my efforts. I was once acclaimed as a genius after all - it was easy for my mind to calculate and compare my healing capabilities against the damage the poison dealt out. As much as I hated the results, as much as I reattempted the calculation, there was no lying to myself of that fact.

The next minute was the last.

Myrddin was going to die.

He, the one I started to call a friend, was going to die. Not only that, he was going to die in front of me, die because I failed him. All because I focused on getting power, on getting strength... if only I had made sure to pack up an antidote instead of making a damn staff, then maybe Myrddin would've survived.

I was a Fool to believe that I was ever good enough...

Then rage filled me.

I WON'T ACCEPT THIS! I WON'T COWER TO THIS!

My healing was inefficient? My usage of mana wasn't enough?

Then all I had to do was try harder.

Once more, the now-silent Darkling Woods lit up in blue as one Fool called up all of his reserves to heal his Swordsman. Streams of mana swept over my body, flowing through my arms and encapsulating Myrddin in a shell of pure power. Once again, night turned into day as blue light filled the forest that was once filled with monsters.

I was the Magician. Feats of power were in my palms the moment I gained the title.

I ignored my own red health bar. My friend deserved all the chance he could get to survive.

My MP emptied out as all of my energy went into Myrddin. This was my last attempt.

Holding out my hands, I imagined it all. Myrddin - happy, fully healed and perfectly healthy. Maybe even a bit stronger, maybe a bit braver... holding that imagination into my grip, I closed my eyes and let my power do its job. Energy swirled around my fingertips, wild and powerful, streaming into my friend.

The blue shell in my hands glowed, brighter than ever, even brighter than the sun-

TING.

-only to fail with the accursed sound of spell failure.

My heart fell at the sound, at the sound of the death knell.

I looked again at Myrddin, only to see his health not even change. The poison was also still there.

My last attempt, all for nothing.

No!

My eyes filled with tears. I opened my mouth, to say something like a goodbye, but all that came out was my choking. Then and there, I realized the last reason as to why Adventurers were only looked from afar by other players - there was nothing worse than the pain of knowing someone close to you would die.

Sorry, Myrddin...

I closed my eyes to accept my death and Myrddin's...

*ping*

My eyelids snapped open, joy filling my heart as I watched a window open by my very eyes.

Secret Requirement Achieved!

Through the heartfelt wish to help others, the Magician's raw potential and power can finally be shaped. Calling from the subconscious, you have reached the next stage of your class.

You have gained a new title: The Priest (II)!

Your second title has now switched to The Priest(II).

Title: The Priest (II)"The Fool grows wiser as power fails him, allowing him to understand the need for the softer touch of the Priest..."

Effect: Allows healing magic.

Suddenly, my hands glowed again with power, this time without my calling. Like a storm that was tamed, the energy I felt was... calmer and softer, streaming from my arms back down to Myrddin. Similarly, small balls of light came from the earth around us, from the trees and the rocks, coming together in one last symphony to heal my friend.

With awe building into my heart, I looked at the balls and understood.

I turned back to Myrddin, closing my eyes and trusting that what I would do would work.

"Please, help my friend."

Slowly, but surely, his health started to fill. From the corner of my eyes, my own health bar refilled, both of our status effects disappearing as the pure energy that came from the earth dispelled the toxins that flowed within our veins. New alerts appeared before me, but I didn't need to see them now. I understood what I was now capable of after all.

The loud beating in my head that was my heart slowly settled. The rain stopped.

Thus, there was silence and I felt peace.

It was while I trudged with Myrddin's arm over my shoulder did they pop up.

I had been walking in the darkness. As it seemed, my ability to use magic was limited to my Title. Now that The Magician (I) was replaced by The Priest (II), I couldn't even make a single Magelight. Instead I followed the moonlight that filled the forest now that the acid rain had reduced the heavy foliage that used to hide the night sky.

My silent time in relative darkness was short though, as they appeared.

Wisps.

And with their ghostly light, they revealed with them the new - or old? - inhabitants of the forest after the death of ???.

Deer. Rabbits. Squirrels, foxes, silver wolves, badgers, chipmunks, hares, and hedgehogs.

I froze at their initial appearance, but they didn't attack. They surrounded me and Myrddin, yes, but kept themselves in a rather large circle - watching my every step, but keeping their distance. One could even say that there was a glint of respect in their eyes, like they knew the two of us were the ones that killed the usurper of their land.

So, instead of attacking, I let them lead me. The crescent moon above glowed serenely as predator and prey alike walked alongside one another, walking and trudging together into a hidden portion of the woods.

I had to catch my mouth when I saw our destination.

It was a verdant deciduous pocket of paradise. Trees grew and flowers bloomed alongside a small river, rocks gleaming almost silver beneath the moon's light. And at the very moment I stepped into it, a multitude more of small animals appeared - the young, the old, and the aged.

This was their hiding spot...

Still letting myself be led, I finally came upon the center of that very paradise: a very large, very thick tree. One so large as to somehow cover the entire area yet somehow allow the moonlight to seep through its branches.

Its trunk was more that four meters wide, its roots so thick that they formed steps across the land. Underneath the moon, its bark glowed silver, making the entire tree look like it was touched by divinity. With surprise, I realized that all of the trees that surrounded us were actually offshoots of the same plant - the very same king of the land that was the giant tree before me.

I felt awe at the sight. But it wasn't over.

Like a troop of trained soldiers, the animals around me went to work. Beavers and squirrels climbed up the wondrous tree while the wolves howled in nature's symphony. The rest of the animals let their own cries then - as if a ritual was being commenced.

The sound of their chorus was oddly compelling. I could've listened to it all night, as my legs finally collapsed, bringing Myrddin down with me to the ground. Then, like magic - or was it really magic? - my body started to feel better, my mind began to recover.

I only realized that the song ended when the beavers came down, a large branch being carried by their tails. Similarly, a grey squirrel strode over the largest beaver, carrying in its small arms a single seed.

In return for saving their forest, the animals of the forest of the Darkling Woods have awarded you with a prize!

You have now gained a Seed of Life and a Branch of the Tree of Life!

Your actions have now revealed the true colors of the Darkling Woods!

A living forest filled with eternally living peaceful forest creatures, you now have discovered its previous name: the Forest of Life!

You are now capable of bringing anybody into this hidden abode of paradise inside the Forest of Life!

As a result, you have gained +10 to all stats and an additional +30 to Charisma!

The animals, having given me their gifts, looked at me with a sense of wonder. This time, I didn't fail to notice the intelligence within their eyes, the message that asked, 'How do you like it?'

"Thank you for the gifts." I responded, knowing that they would understand. "I promise I'll make the most of them."

That made the animals visibly lose tension, and suddenly I found myself literally surrounded in a dogpile of fur. The wolves, which by before stood in their lonesome parts of the parade, let out a few yips before running around me and licking me in the face.

I couldn't hold back a laugh as they welcomed me into their proverbial pack, causing squirrels to chitter and the wisps to dance in their eerie splendor all around the forest.

Then, as I turned to my right where I felt something else brush my arm, there I saw a small doe meekly toe towards the sleeping Myrddin, her curious nose poking on his face. I let her be, and soon enough the rest of the deer followed, contrastingly surrounding Myrddin as opposed to the wolves that joined me on the ground.

I chuckled softly. What did that say about me and Myrddin?

But, then as I looked to the animals in peace around me again, I couldn't help but mutter:

"The kids in the orphanage would love to know about this place. However..."

I couldn't forget the person that was with me.

Myrddin needed- no, deserved to finally be out of the forest that had once tried to kill him. There was time to be spent in this place later, but for now... I had to go back to the orphanage. It was safe there, I knew, and while the kids might be scared of him at first, I was sure he would be accepted like they accepted me.

It was time to rest. And for him, it was not this place.

The swordsman grumbled something in his sleep beside me, and I laughed, knowing that he was about to wake up. One of the largest deer seemed to like that, turning to my direction with a curious gaze that told a million words.

I smiled.

Yes, there would be time spent in here again, someday.

"Can you all lead me home?"

It was a resounding proof of their intelligence that at once, with those words, all of the animals around me stood into attention. As I felt wolves pushing on my back, helping me back upright, I didn't need to look to see that Myrddin was being carried by one of his deer friends.

A squirrel chittered far ahead of us, our guide for the night.

I smiled again, and followed without a sound.

Thus, that was how I, Rain the Fool, together with Myrddin the Swordsman in tow, went back to the Grimm Orphanage with a dozen animals following me.

[b]AN: Alright, edited. Added a bit of description./b]