Eli scowled at the armored people running his way, wondering how he was going to do this without things getting bloody. He wasn’t sure if they were this city’s version of the police, but he wasn’t about to just surrender when the teen behind him needed help. They certainly didn’t look like any other guards he’d seen around the city, their dark heavy armor more reminiscent of the elites inside Wolf’s manor.

“Eli!” A woman shouted from within the group. Startled, he pushed a little energy into Hypermind again. The elites slowed along with the rest of the world as his eyes searched for the voice’s owner. The three men in dark armor at the front obviously weren’t the source, so his attention moved to the woman in the same darkened leather running with them.

It took a moment to recognize the features in the open-faced helmet. “Reva?” he questioned, astonished to see one of his guards from Wolf’s Manor. Behind the elites was another surprise, with Malitea, Fasuto, and Bearach bringing up the rear in the pale armor they’d worn on the road. He didn’t know how the groups were related, but at least Reva’s appearance meant that Wolf and Dara might be nearby.

Figuring a fight was a lot less likely now, Eli released Hypermind as the group finally reached him. “Reva,” he said, interrupting whatever words she was about to say. “I’d love to know how the hell you’re here, but I have someone to help first. If your people can keep all the gawkers away, I’d appreciate it. Then, once this boy is back on his feet, we can chat. Sound good?”

Reva’s eyes darted over to the guy that had been running at the front, who made a weird hand gesture. The elite looked awfully familiar, and Eli figured he might have been another of Wolf’s guards from the manor. “Your will,” she finally replied, her complicated expression filled with unanswered questions.

Giving her a nod, Eli turned and took a knee next to the kid. He frowned, realizing the boy had passed out, his labored breathing loud enough to hear over the nearby street noise. Triggering Lifesight, his frown deepened at the sad state of the kid’s body. The injuries from the beating were pretty bad, with damage and welling bruises around the gut, face, and neck. It looked like the dipshit bully had landed more than a few punches, with swelling impeding the boy’s airways. Unfortunately, that was only the most recent abuse, with old wounds and poorly healed bones telling the story of a short, hard life.

Fixing the boy’s breathing was the priority, and the rest would have to wait for later. Placing one hand on the boy’s chest and the other on the side of his neck, Eli pushed out a wave of healing energy. Expecting the wounds to heal quickly, he was surprised as the damaged tissues seemed to soak up the power while barely fixing any of the problems. Not letting it deter him, he pushed out a second and third pulse of energy until the worst of the swelling was reduced.

Once the boy was breathing more easily, Eli felt comfortable enough to flip over to Manasight to check for other hidden problems. “What the fuck,” he whispered, rocking back in surprise.

He suddenly remembered the three people dressed in similar rags outside Osky’s northern gate. Like them, the boy’s core had only the hint of a glow with his mana channels dark. Worse, the boy also had the disgusting worm-like thing inside his head. From a closer perspective, it was easy to see it pulsing with its own power as if alive. Obviously, the boy needed some serious healing, and doing it here on the cobblestone road was less than ideal.

Eli glanced around, seeing the loose perimeter Reva and her people had formed with him in the center. “Hey, Bearach,” he called, raising his voice to carry over the street noise. The man turned at Eli’s words, bowing in acknowledgment. “Can you run ahead and make sure I can bring the boy inside your Rest? He’s going to need a lot more healing than I can do out here. Oh, and if you see Melerasa or Cavarach, I should probably talk to them too when I’m done with this healing.” Bearach looked started for a moment before bowing again, darting off at a run up the street.

Carefully picking up the boy in his arms as he stood, Eli tried not to retch at the smell. Gritting his teeth at the anger churning in his gut, a memory of a filthy alley just after the Fall flashed across his mind. He pushed it away, unwilling to again see the vision of how low humanity could stoop.

Breathing only through his mouth, he turned to find the crowd had largely dispersed while he’d been occupied. Some random folks across the road acted like they weren’t interested, though their darting glances gave them away. Other than them, the street was nearly deserted. He would have guessed there’d be more looky-loos gawking at the drama, but the severe expressions from Reva’s group might have had something to do with people making themselves scarce.

It was only a block up the street, and Eli took it slow, careful not to jostle the boy’s injuries too much. Reva’s group kept pace the whole way, their surrounding circle keeping anyone else back. Reaching the Rest, the two guards in the green and gold armor were talking with Bearach, and one opened the door for Eli with a slight bow. With a nod back, he entered, not stopping when a small commotion kicked up behind him.

Passing through the dark hallway and stepping into the bright courtyard, Melerasa was already there, looking concerned. “This way, Eli,” she said, gesturing to the first door on the left. Then they turned down a hallway and into a room almost a mirror to his own.

“Thanks,” he said, seeing the sheet already thrown over the bed and carefully laying the boy down on top.

“How can I help?” she asked with her nose wrinkling, likely smelling the poor kid.

“If you could have one of your guards keep anyone from bothering me, I’d appreciate it. There’s something seriously wrong with this boy, and I plan on fixing it,” he said with determination.

“I’ll have two guards stationed outside, and you can ask them for anything you need. If they can’t help, they can find my father or me for assistance.”

“Thanks, Melerasa,” he replied as she left, closing the door behind her. He pulled one of the chairs next to the bed and took a seat. Unsure what was causing the strange lack of light inside his patient, he placed a hand on their shoulder, triggering Identify.

Eli nodded at the details, not entirely surprised that there were other races on Lurra. After all, some had mistaken him for a thuard a few times. It also explained why “Pete” had darker skin than the local Lurrans. He’d have to ask Melerasa about the oleonna people later.

The boy’s abilities were somewhat interesting since he’d never encountered either, but they probably weren’t the cause of his issues. The modifier, on the other hand, seemed like the real culprit. Something called “Power Binding” could explain why Pete had almost no aura. But then, that also begged the question of whether such a thing could even be fixed.

First things first, Eli pushed a bit of healing energy inside the boy to help with the myriad issues still troubling him. But like outside on the street, the power was quickly soaked up. Toggling Manasight, he tried again, watching the wave of energy as it spread out from the boy’s shoulder. There was a sudden pulse in the boy’s head, and the worm twitched before the light faded.

Shit, is it absorbing the energy?

A few more pulses of healing power confirmed it, the worm giving off a muted bit of illumination each time. The bruising near the boy’s shoulder was slightly better but nowhere near what it should have been. Healing Pete was going to be pretty challenging with an energy sponge sucking everything away.

With that thought, the worm moved to the top of the priority list. Eli figured if he could remove it, the healing should get easier. Plus, there was something particularly menacing about it, reminding him of the disgusting spider construct he’d had inside his own head weeks ago. Both pulsed similarly, though the worm was far smaller. The spider had also made him sleep far longer every night, sucking the energy out of him. Was this all related? Could the boy have been exposed to someone like Lugh, who’d implanted the parasite with a wave of a glowing hand? Or was there something else at play?

Eli took a calming breath, thinking about his next steps. Standing, he carefully repositioned Pete near one end of the bed. Moving his chair right up against that side, he took a seat, leaning forward and placing both hands on the side of Pete’s head.

Since he was about to muck around with the boy’s brain, Eli pushed energy into Hypermind, figuring he’d need incredible control. Luckily, if there was one thing he felt reasonably confident about, it was his mastery over manipulating energy. He’d had weeks of intensive practice inside the simulacrum, where the slightest mistake would lead to an explosive fireball in his face and a fresh reset. It had been a hell of a motivator.

Focusing Manasight on the parasite, he started by trying to pull it in away in one direction. His peripheral caught the slight jerk as the lights floating through the air reacted, but the worm was unmoved. He tried a few more tests, attempting to draw it out in other directions, but with similar results.

Trying a different strategy, he pushed a tiny bit of his power into the sides of Pete’s skull. There was only a brief flash of white light, the worm glowing briefly before darkening again. Another pulse followed, and the worm flashed again. Worse, it seemed slightly larger than when he’d first started. Was the parasite growing as it consumed power?

Wanting to shake his head at the horror of the situation, Eli pushed his revulsion away as another idea came to him. Or, more precisely, it was something he’d used to heal Wolf of the weird purple tendrils. Imagining a tiny bit of energy forming into the thinnest line possible, a glowing sheet the size of his pinky materialized in his palm. He wasn’t sure if it could cause unintended damage, so he kept it far from the dark mana channel almost hidden at the base of Pete’s skull. Instead, he moved his palm higher up and angled the two-dimensional luminous plane to try and cut through the worm. Unfortunately, the white energy started dissolving away as it entered the tissues, vanishing just before touching the parasite.

Eli tried again but increased the amount of power while keeping its size unchanged. He’d had some success with increasing the energy density inside the simulacrum, especially for his inscription’s tricky bits. More than doubling the power, the white sheet was almost thrumming to his Manasight as he shifted it around. The glowing plane entered the skull but didn’t dissolve like last time, instead cutting a minuscule line vertically through the worm. Like two soap bubbles, the cut ends merged back together in slow motion. Another attempt followed, and more after, each cutting through before the ends rejoined. He might have thought it a waste of time, yet the worm seemed to be losing a bit of its size with each cut. He wasn’t sure of the mechanism, but it hardly mattered as he continued to slice away at the disgusting thing.

Feeling suddenly dizzy, he paused, bracing a hand against the bed. Taking a breath, he glanced at his core, noticing its diminished light. This technique was pretty energy intensive, but luckily, there was an easy solution. With barely a thought, some of the tiny spheres floating through the room jerked towards him before a flash of energy coursed through his body. Smiling like he’d had a double shot of espresso, he returned to his work, time passing as he pruned away at the nasty parasite.

He blinked, realizing something was different as the two ends from his last cut hadn’t reformed. Instead, they’d retracted away from the other until there were two distinct pieces. Switching his attention to only one fragment, he restarted the process. It was the work of a few more slices before it vanished, seemingly dissolving into nothing. The second piece received the same treatment until it disappeared too.

Sitting back, he took another look with Manasight and Lifesight, wondering if he’d got it all. The worm was gone, at least, and there didn’t seem to be anything else weird in Pete’s head. Even better, Pete’s core slowly brightened, confirming Eli’s theory that the parasite had been sucking up all the spare power.

Without an energy sponge getting in the way, he switched back to Lifesight as he leaned forward to continue his work. It was almost effortless compared to his earlier efforts as his energy poured into Pete, fixing the weakened organs, muscles, and tissues. The poorly healed broken bones were annoying, forcing him to break and reform them. At least Pete was still unconscious, so he didn’t have to experience the agony as Eli repaired all the problems the poor kid had faced in his short life.

“Phew,” Eli sighed, releasing Hypermind. He gave the boy another look, switching between his abilities, but there were no apparent issues. Pete was still unconscious, but he was breathing easily and might be just exhausted after everything he’d been through. A noticeable aura radiated from him, almost as strong as a Talent. Deciding to check, he used Identify.

“Hell yeah, that’s how it’s done,” he chuckled to himself, happy to see the modifier gone as another theory was confirmed.

He stood, stretching as his stomach growled, reminding him how long it had been since he’d had breakfast at Tradala Bazaar. Until his patient woke up, there wasn’t much more he could do for now. Still, leaving him alone didn’t seem safe when there could be unknown complications.

Taking a few strides, he opened the door, stepping back in surprise at seeing Melerasa waiting in the hall. There were also two guards in green and gold beside her.

“Hey, Melerasa,” Eli said, trying to ignore the looks the three were throwing his way. “I finished healing him, but he’s still unconscious. Could you ask someone to watch while I get something to eat? Or if I could have food delivered, I can stay with him.”

Melerasa stepped into the room with a nervous smile but suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened, staring behind him. Eli glanced back, but Pete was still sleeping on the bed. “How…he was Bound,” she whispered.

“Yeah, I figured that might be the problem,” Eli replied with a tired smile. “It wasn’t easy, but I found a way to fix that issue. Honestly, I’d love to talk with another healer and find out how they tackle it – that took a lot out of me.”

“Another healer?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing as if the very idea was absurd. “Eli, I’ve heard of a Bound becoming Unbound in extreme circumstances, like performing some heroic deed or stumbling upon a fabulous treasure, but healing?” She shook her head. “There are tales and legends, but I’ve never believed them.”

“Huh, I had no idea,” he said, a bit surprised that others couldn’t do the same. While fixing Pete’s parasitic infection hadn’t been easy, it wasn’t anywhere near as complicated or taxing as learning inscriptions. Perhaps energy manipulation was a rare skill?

The sound of Eli’s growling stomach was loud in the silence, and Melerasa blinked. “Oh, you asked about food,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “I was coming to check on you. An Easone squad commander is requesting an audience – he and his associates are waiting in our courtyard. If you wish to grant his request, a room can be prepared while providing a selection of snacks. I can also have a guard watch the Unbound,” she offered, her smile firming by the end.

“Alright,” Eli replied with a grin, happy to hear the Easone name. He gave Pete a quick glance with his abilities, but everything still looked good. “I guess I should find out what this squad commander wants, but let me swing by my room first to change.” He flashed her another smile as she turned, stepping into the hallway.