After I delivered the Rapdom stalks and corpses of Luminescent Borples to Healer Gula, she asked me if I could help her with other chores. I had supposedly proven myself a trustworthy youngling. She had to deliver potions, salves, and pills to various sick Mardukryons all over the village, but she couldn't leave her store because many customers needed her healing abilities.

It was amusing to see a line of NPCs suddenly showing up outside her store to prove her point.

Of course, I agreed to her request. And I was off visiting various people in the village.

It wasn't a long task, and neither was it boring. I saw more of the village and interacted with some players I passed along the way. Just a simple greeting here and there. None of them were as intrusive as Luds, whom I thankfully didn't run into. The players I met were mostly glad that a newbie stayed around instead of immediately changing races like what usually happened.

In total, I delivered medicine to ten Mardukryon NPCs, basking them with the healing grace of Herald Stone. I assumed that my presence alone would cure their ailments. Alas, they didn't believe in me, the would-be savior of the village, and preferred the medicines of Healer Gula. Their loss.

The quest rewards were relatively modest—various health consumables and other potions. Helpful items, but I had no immediate need for them because I was as healthy as a bull—a bull centaur.

"I suppose I still have some time," I muttered after messaging Jimmy, our company driver, to pick me up after an hour. I hoped I'd reach the part of Healer Gula's questline where I could find out about her sister soon enough.

More tasks and more galloping followed. Gathering ingredients in the wild, buying them from merchants, meeting with NPCs for this or that reason.

I patiently completed each task as efficiently as I could.

Eventually, the frail Healer Gula told me, "Youngling, you have demonstrated your sincere interest in the arts of healing to me." She weakly waved her staff with her thin arm, yet exuding authority. The beads hanging from her horns and staff rattled against each other. "It would be unjust of me to deny them to you any further."

"Are you going to teach me how to heal?" I asked. "I want to be able to help other people like you." Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Mardukryons, whatever race—the benevolent Herald Stone would help everyone. But most importantly, I was helping myself if I learned about her sister in this questline. I wasn’t interested in being a Healer.

When I first met SpartanDonkey, he gave me a tip to get healing skills from Healer Gula. He explained that I'd be likely on my own when doing quests since most—or likely all—Mardukryon players were doing high-level content. And so, I should aim to be a complete package of tank, healer, and DPS. It was a sound piece of advice.

An even better reason for a new player like me to go for a support build was to have an easier time joining parties. DPS abound, while support classes like healers were a rarity, even among veteran players.

However, I now had a party where I wasn’t the designated healer. We didn’t have one. And I could also do quests solo with my tank build, despite some...difficulties...because of my low damage. But that’s just the life of a tank.

Nonetheless, it might be a good idea to explore healing skills someday to go with my planned 'Ailment Reflect Build'—that was only a placeholder name. I was going to think of something catchy like 'Totem Juggling.’

What about ‘Diseased Wall’? Disease…because of the negative status…and wall—never mind, it sucked.

I couldn't help but grin as I imagined getting poisoned and inflicting that status on an unsuspecting DPS player who dared touch me, the Great Herald Stone. My attacker would quickly die, especially if the poison was highly potent, but I could shrug it off with high health regeneration and healing.

That only scratched the surface of the insanity I could do with [Cloak of the Plaguespreader].

"Yes, youngling," Healer Gula said, snapping me out of my unboxlike fantasies. "I will impart unto you my knowledge...a piece at a time. Like building a house, you will place a block of healing arts on each other until you are a full-fledged Healer.”

“Sounds like a long line of quests once again. I can’t wait to get started,” I said dryly.

“Our people will be delighted for you to join the ranks of those who support the village. Are you willing to begin our lessons now?"

"Yes, I am! Herald Stone is always willing," I said. Depending on the task, I finished in my brain. I mulled over whether I should bring up Mehubanarath's Ocadule or not.

The Big M was the keeper of several Open-Compatibility Accessory Data Modules, or Ocadules, as they were commonly known to the different races inhabiting this planet called Hierakon. Ocadules contained data on the ancient skills of the various races living on Hierakon. Any race could use any Ocadule they’d find, unlike Compressed Integral Data Modules—or Cidules—that contained race-restricted skills.

The inhabitants of Kurghal Village, including Healer Gula, had lost their knowledge of the Ancestral Flame Arts—the skills stored in the Ocadules that Mehubanarath kept. More precisely, they willfully chose to use the golden crystals on this mountain for power out of desperation instead of the diminished Ancestral Flames within us that were stifled by the surrounding ice.

When the Sharulrath introduced me to Healer Gula, she had uttered vague words implying she sensed that I learned ancient healing skills from the Big M. She didn't want to elaborate on it despite my attempts to needle information out of her. Undoubtedly, my Aritu Form Ocadule, which has healing skills, had a secret branching questline concerning her.

Meeting her sister, Potion Brewer Bawu, was my priority. I could bring up the topic of Ancestral Flames afterward and seek more secrets from her.

"To begin, you must demonstrate your attention to detail," said Healer Gula. "A salve for minor wounds should be a simple enough task for a start."

"Sure, that sounds easy enough." I had experience as a line cook in our first restaurant; it wasn't Dolly's yet back then. If it wasn't hectic during peak hours, I did enjoy putting together ingredients for a delicious meal. I might enjoy virtual cooking too.

Healer Gula retrieved a small parchment from a creaky drawer. Unfurling the yellow paper, she spoke, "Here is a list of the ingredients and the process to make a Minor Soothing Salve. You should be familiar with some components as you had gathered them yourself."

"Mixing your first salve?" I read the quest's title as I received the recipe from Healer Gula. This was it. The starting quest of a chain that SpartanDonkey told me to mess up.

I collected the ingredients from the cabinets and then mashed them into a paste using a shiny mortar and pestle accented with golden crystals. As I swirled the mixture, the crystals glowed, infusing the simple ointment with magical healing powers.

My concoction was done; I placed it in a small jar and submitted it to Healer Gula.

Next, she made me brew a simple potion with a small cauldron she had. I was tempted to cackle like a witch as I stirred the liquid but decided against it as some players passed by. I also passed this test with flying colors. No one was grading anything—I gave myself flying colors.

"You must also be familiar with various potions," Healer Gula explained. "Do not forget that you are the first to taste your creations. You will know whether you have made it correctly or not. A mistake can range from a less effective medicine to a useless liquid, and even to poisonous...or outright deadly."

A poisonous drink? I liked the sound of that.

"A potion can only touch a patient's lips," continued Healer Gula, "after you are certain it was correctly made. I will introduce you to a few basic potions to learn about their taste, smell, and appearance. A seasoned Potion Brewer like my sister—" She stopped talking and shook her head.

This was the cue that there was something more to this. "You have a sister who's a Potion Brewer?" I asked.

"I... Yes, I do. I was saying that a seasoned Potion Brewer could tell if they made a mistake at a glance." Healer Gula gestured to herself. "Making medicinal potions is but a small part of being a Healer. But an important part nonetheless, as it can be a matter of life or death for our patients." She directed me to bring her a bunch of potions from a storage chest at the back of the store to study them.

Opening the chest, I recalled SpartanDonkey's description of the bottle I should take. Not the ones Healer Gula instructed me, but rather an elixir left by her sister, Bawu.

"This must be it," I said as I grabbed the aged bottle, its cloudy glass coated by a thin layer of dust.

Several other bottles looked old and dusty, but it was the only one with a metal cap with a Mardukryon skull design—obviously, it was a dangerous substance that no one should drink.

Even without SpartanDonkey's instructions, I probably would've drunk this, given the hints in Healer Gula's dialogue.

I unscrewed its cover. A dark red wisp of smoke escaped the bottle. I downed a huge gulp of the dangerous liquid inside.

"This tastes like shit!" I said as I coughed. It didn't actually taste like shit. For one, I hadn't tasted it in real life, so I couldn't compare. If I had to compare it with anything, I'd say expired milk with a dab of hot sauce.

[ Status | Mild Poisoning: Lose 2% of Current HP every 10 seconds for 5 minutes ]

Yes! It was odd to celebrate getting poisoned, but this was exactly what I was hoping for. "Healer Gula," I called out. "Help! I drank something that I shouldn't have."

She wobbled over. "Youngling, what is it? Show me the bottle." I held it out to her. She gasped. "Bawu's brew! Why did you touch it?"

"Scientific curiosity," I said with a shrug.

Healer Gula rummaged through her cabinet, probably for an antidote. She grabbed a green vial, opened it with her gnarly fingers, and hastily handed it to me. There was no rush because the poison status couldn't dent my health bar with my insane regeneration. "Quickly, drink this!"

I downed the bottle and immediately felt a comforting warmth in my chest. The negative status had disappeared. "Thank you, Healer Gula. I’m saved."

She wasn't listening to me; her focus was on the bottle from her sister. She muttered, "I should return the potions of Bawu to her. It's dangerous to keep them here."

"I volunteer!" I raised my hand. After this, she'd send me to her sister after updating my [Tattered Map] with the correct directions. "Herald Stone, Expert Returner. I can return anything to anyone. And I swear I'm not going to drink them. I've learned my less—"

"No!" Healer Gula exclaimed. "My sister shouldn't see you!"