Excerpt from the fifteenth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe

Affinity Classification: Other Systems: Healers (Continued)

Alteration healing

Alteration healing can be thought of as being related to surgery; it is major body modification that cannot be done simply by destruction. It uses Affinities such as Life, Body, Flesh, and Bone to change what is there. On the generally accepted side, this includes correcting congenital defects, cosmetic effects, and regrowing lost limbs. Far less accepted is practices which change the body into something else; there are species of beastkin that (at least in rumor) owe their existence to Alteration healers. There are places that do not permit Alteration healers to practice at all, usually due to what we would call a mad scientist. While more dangerous than constructive healing, alteration healing is far less likely to accidentally kill a patient than destructive healing; however, the social stigma against it in many places is high enough that it is not commonly taught in the tutorial; anyone who wants to learn alteration healing during the tutorial must find a mentor.

Mental healing

Like constructive healing, the general concept of mental healing is fairly straightforward: it uses affinities such as Mind to help the patient overcome mental problems. Like Alteration healing, the level of acceptance of any form of mind magic varies strongly with location; if mental healing is outlawed, it is probably because of concerns about either spying or brainwashing. I am not aware of any Mind healers or mages in our Tutorial, but it is possible that there is one. There is at least one person who knows how to teach mental defense.

All healers must have appropriate sensory capabilities; Constructive and Mental healers tend to have this the easiest, as the standard Affinities used for their work generally allow some sensory capability that Destructive and Alteration healers must learn separately.

These are not the only kinds of healers out there.

The next morning, Serenity felt rested enough to deal with the Lord’s Door. He paged through the options only to find out that, other than Relocate and Use Void Spark, they all cost settlement points. The number of settlement points they cost seemed to vary based on what they did, but even the cheapest option - the lowest version of the Study - was fifty points.

It made the question of which option he was going to try first simple. The Use Void Spark option was the only possibility; he didn’t want to set the settlement back when none of the other options were necessary yet, and he knew how to make another Void Spark if he had to. He wouldn’t enjoy the process, and he’d definitely want to stop sooner than he had the first time, but he could do it.

[Use Void Spark]

The door in front of Serenity vanished and he found himself looking at the Void.

The Void Spark didn’t vanish; instead, Serenity could feel it radiating the same energy as it was made of. Serenity wasn’t certain if it was a timer or a beacon, but either way he didn’t want to waste it. He stepped through the opening into the Void.

Serenity floated in nothingness. He felt his form start to come apart and move towards the Void Sovereign form, but it wasn’t the same as a shapeshift; instead, it was more like relaxing a tense muscle.

In this place, everything and everyone was made of the Void itself. It was enough to make Serenity think that - once again - Void was a very poor word to use for it, but he didn’t have a better one.

There was no door behind him.

Instead, Serenity felt a presence in front of him. It seemed familiar.

Child, so young and in such a rush.

Its speech was far more understandable than before.

Why did you come? It is not yet time; you are too young. Yet you have a Spark. Do not rush yourself; grow slowly and well. To hurry is to fail.

“The Void Spark was an accident; I pushed myself too hard. I won’t do that again, it was unpleasant. As for coming here, the Voice gave the option to use the Spark. I didn’t know it would bring me here.” Serenity wasn’t certain how he was talking, but it felt just like talking even though he didn’t have a body that could speak. He knew the other Void Sovereign understood him.

You speak of the Voice created by the Order? It is but a youngling itself, for all it was the first. Its choices do not matter here; only yours do. What do you choose?

Take your time.

“Choices? What do you mean?” Serenity’s attention was absorbed by the other Void Sovereign.

Its voice was calm and unhurried to his mind. Look around you; what do you see?

Serenity looked, but all he could see was himself and the other Void Sovereign; nothing else was visible. “Just the two of us?” It didn’t seem like the right answer.

You look but you do not see. Feel. What is this place? Your answer is your own.

“It’s the Void, but I don’t know what that means.”

The other Void Sovereign didn’t reply; it simply waited.

Serenity looked around. There had to be something else to see, something he was missing. But there was nothing there. Not even to mana sight or essence sight. Nothing at all. Even the other Void Sovereign did not seem to have mana or essence.

That wasn’t possible. Serenity knew the other Void Sovereign had power; he’d felt it. “There’s nothing. Nothing at all. But that’s not possible. Not even if - if this were Nihility, there would still be magic.” Anything that could be manipulated had to have magic. Only this didn’t.

You begin to see. We are not within your world; your Voice holds no sway here, and neither does your magic. We are, and nothing can say we are not, for it is by our choice that we are. What is your choice?

This time, it was Serenity that waited. He still didn’t understand what was being asked of him.

The silence stretched.

Serenity supposed he was impatient compared to the other Void Sovereign. Once upon a time, he’d have been able to wait years - but Earth couldn’t stand for him to spend years in a contest of patience. “I still don’t understand. What can I choose? How? Why?”

Child. So old in some ways and yet so young in others. So caught in the flow of Time, for all that it cannot hold you. And yet, you chose a Home that is not here; you chose to subject yourself to that. It is well for one to be there. Who else would choose to give this up?

You must choose what your Spark will do. Each has a purpose, and cannot fulfill it until that purpose is chosen. Decide what you want.

Think on this place. Consider. Your conception of this place is so incomplete as to be nearly incomprehensibly incorrect. You see nothing here where I see everything. Unbind your eyes and see.

Do not Spark yourself until you have grown. A Spark at your size - even a small Spark - is a danger to your existence. Heal and grow. Keep yourself safe.

Answer this: What do you want?

Some of that was clear; Serenity wasn’t even surprised by the warning about the Spark. He’d lived through it; if he didn’t heal as well as he did, it was possible he might not have survived, at least not with his mind intact. That was far scarier than death; he’d lived through a time of being not quite sapient in his past life and he didn’t want to do that again.

He’d have to think about what the other meant about the Void. It was clearly trying to tell him something, but he didn’t understand what. How could nothing be everything?

It was the last question that seemed urgent, however. What did he want?

That was both easy and hard to answer at the same time. He wanted to keep Rissa and his family safe. He wanted to save his people and his planet; they were all tied together. He had other goals, but they were nothing in comparison to his desire to protect his people. Closing portals was the next step, but it was only a step. The goal was protection.

No, more than that, he wanted his people to be safe. It didn’t have to be him protecting them, as long as they were safe. Serenity knew that part of that protection was letting them protect themselves; if he sheltered them completely, all he was doing was clipping their wings.

So he knew what he wanted, at least in a fuzzy way. What he didn’t know was how a Void Spark could help. How could he know without understanding what it was and what it could do?

Serenity turned his attention to the glowing Void Spark; perhaps understanding it better would help.

He could see it move and change. Mana and essence appeared from nothing and vanished again, moving in a way that was completely chaotic and yet as orderly as a complex choreographed dance. All the colors of mana he could recognize and many he didn’t appeared and disappeared, changing from one to another in a pattern that seemed to come out of its very randomness.

Something from nothing and nothing from something. Is that what it meant by seeing everything?

Serenity watched, mesmerized. There was something important here. Something that would change everything. And yet he somehow knew that it was not yet time. It would be important in the future, yet at the same time he was too small and weak in the Now.

Serenity wasn’t willing to accept “would”. He was too small and weak now, yes. That was clear. He planned to grow, but he would grow in the direction he chose. That might or might not be the direction where this was important to the future.

There had to be something he could do now that could affect the future; something that might help protect his family, his people, his world. A better chance; that was all he was looking for.

Serenity felt a deep thrum in the Void as invisible chains around his Void Spark snapped. How had they gotten there?

Serenity felt something calling to him, something that he somehow knew could harm his goals, yet that offered a possibility of aid. The Void started to fade into another scene; as it vanished, the words of the other Void Sovereign sounded fainter but still clear.

It is good that you have a guide. I wish you well with your choice, child.

A guide? What guide?