“Wait!” A familiar female voice echoed through the hall.

The man with the spear lowered it, looking back over his shoulder. “Not now! We have an intruder. Go back to your room.”

“But he’s just following me,” the female replied urgently. “He’s the one that saved Ollie.”

Several of the men behind the man with the spear gasped and lowered their weapons. The man leveled his spear at my chest and took a couple of steps forward. Marcelle stepped in front of me protectively while Ulli clutched my arm, shaking uncontrollably.

“Is it true?” The man asked, ignoring Marcelle and staring at me. “Are you some sort of healer? That doesn’t explain what you’re doing down here.”

“I wanted…” I began, changing my mind before amending. “I needed to see this place for myself.”

“What for?” The man asked. While he still pointed the spear at me, he did stop moving. “Who sent you?”

I hesitated to reply. His question confused me. “I, um, well, nobody sent me. I just wanted to see where the F ranked people live. I never heard about them before today.”

“Have you been living under a rock?” The man asked incredulously. “I don’t believe you. You’re all going to have to come with me while we sort this out.”

I placed a hand over Ulli’s to comfort her and spoke with as much conviction as I could muster. “The one living under a rock is you. You can take me, but you’ll have to my friends go.”

“No!” Marcelle whispered urgently. “I’m not leaving you alone down here.“

“Keep Ulli safe,” I croaked back.

“Everyone shut up,” the man with the spear said, taking another step toward me. “We aren’t letting any of you go.”

Feeling fire in my core, I felt like Kalli was with me. Flames of pure mana bled from every pore in my body, making it look like I was on fire. “I recently lost someone very close to me because I failed to kill people who threatened her. Listen carefully. If you don’t want to die, never threaten my friends.”

“Stop it!” The girl from the clinic screamed and shoved her way past the men. “This acting tough is going to get people killed. They obviously aren’t here to do a purge. In what world would the police send children?”

“Hey!” I grumbled, offended at being called a child even though the girl was trying to help. “I’m of age.”

“Do you want to fight the entire underground?” She asked, raising an eyebrow in a way that reminded me of Kalli. “Why did you follow me?”

I shrugged. “I couldn’t believe people lived down here. I didn’t realize it was off-limits.”

“Do you mind waiting for just a few more minutes?” The girl asked. “My mom is in charge and I’m sure she would like to meet you. She was checking on Ollie to make sure he is okay.”

“That’s the boy I healed, right?” I asked.

The eyebrow shot up again. “Why did you do that anyway?”

“Do I need a reason?” I asked with a shrug. “We were visiting because, I, er, we wanted to see Camelot and then I saw a dying kid. It seemed like the right thing to do.”

“He’s suspicious,” the man with the spear said, turning his attention to the girl instead of us. “How can we trust someone who doesn’t even know about us?”

She moved closer until she was within arms reach, not appearing concerned about the mana blade in my hand. “It is curious, you know. First, you come to save one of us, and then you claim to not even know what we are. Either you’re a major idiot or you have some kind of savior complex. So tell me, which is it?”

“I’m not from around here,” I replied. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me an idiot.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she said with a grin. “I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“Get away from him, Mika,” a woman said from behind the guards. “Can’t you see he’s armed?”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Mika replied, flashing a lopsided grin over her shoulder. “I had a premonition.”

The woman looked a lot like her daughter. She stood about a foot shorter than me and had blond hair, tied back in a braid. She wore overalls that were already dirty before recently being caked in blood. The woman pulled Mika back before appraising us. “What do we have here?”

I felt Ulli pressing against my back, doing her best to hide. I felt her through the flaming mana that surrounded my body like an aura. She was still shaking but only slightly. I lowered my sword to the ground and snuffed out the flame. “Can we put the weapons away, please? You’re scaring my friend.”

Mika’s mother looked over my shoulder and motioned to the man with the spear to back off. Reluctantly, he put the spear away behind his back and motioned for his men to stand down. The woman approached and held out a hand. “My name is Viola. I run all things underground in Camelot. Government sanctioned.”

“I’m, Melv…Mel,” I stammered as I shook her hand, nearly forgetting my secret identity. “Mel Hellquist.”

“And your reason for visiting our lovely resort?” Viola prodded me.

I replied. “I wanted to make sure the boy was okay. I believe Mika called him Ollie.”

“This is the boy who saved him,” Mika informed her mother.

“Really?” Viola asked, appraising me with newfound respect. “Are you a healer?”

“I am,” I replied flatly.

“Would you be willing to do it again?” She asked.

A small laugh escaped my lips. “Did he already hurt himself again?”

Viola let out a small laugh. “No, not at all. I put him down for a nap. There are others among us that aren’t well. Could I perhaps persuade you to do what you can for them? We don’t have much down here but we will do what we can to compensate you.”

I glanced back at the others momentarily. “I need to get these guys to safety but then I can-“

“No!” Ulli cried. She was still shaking, but she made a brave face and stepped out from behind me. “If you go, I go.”

Marcelle said, “She’s right. You aren’t going anywhere without us.”

Alfred nodded. Viola noticed the look on Ulli’s face and took a tentative step toward the girl. “I am sorry about Brogus, honey. He should not have threatened you.”

“Why does he have a spear?” Ulli asked defiantly.

“I ask myself that every day,” Viola replied, rolling her eyes and earning a giggle from Ulli.

Mika walked over to Ulli and reached out, taking her hand. “Please, be my guest. I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you. This is a peaceful place.”

Even without the system, I knew there was something up with Viola. Mana emanated off of her in waves. It was subtle but my eyes could see it. It wasn’t as controlled as Merlin or some of the ancient mages I’d met but she was strong, likely high-level.

I took a step forward and said, “If you can guarantee the safety of my friends, I’ll take a look at your sick. I can’t make any promises though. I’ve already had one person die when I tried to heal them.”

Viola frowned. “Hm, well, maybe only heal the ones you can, and let me know if any are beyond your skillset.”

“That’s fine,” I replied, trying to sound like I knew what I was doing. “The one I lost died the moment I went inside them.”

“Went…inside…them?” Mika asked, a look of revulsion on her face. “Please don’t do that.”

“Not literally inside them,” I corrected, cringing at the thought of attempting surgery. “Ollie is the most I’ve ever done with a physical wound. Most of the people I helped were sick. Well, there were a few internal injuries I dealt with, but none of them broke the skin.”

By then, we were following Viola through a series of halls. She looked back over her shoulder and asked, “What kind of healer are you, exactly? What is your class?”

I couldn’t tell them I was a manipulator. Not that I was anymore with my system blocked by dad. “I’m a Cleric.”

“A holy man?” Mika spat the words with a sneer on her face. “Are you from the church?”

“No,” I replied, not sure if I was giving myself away.

“Mel is specialized,” Marcelle said helpfully. “He heals with the touch of mana, not faith.”

“Do you mean like the Lay on Hands skill?” Viola asked. “I’ve never seen it before. Not that I’m much of a believer.”

“It’s true though,” Mika told her. “I watched him do it to Ollie. He touched his leg and the bone went back inside.”

Viola walked with purpose through what reminded me of sewers. There was no foul smell though, so I assumed they must not have been in use for quite some time. The tunnel emerged into a large chamber that looked to have had a special purpose at some point in the past. It was filled with tents and crude dwellings built into the remnants of buildings. While some nooks could have led to private rooms, most of the people underground congregated in the main area. I estimated there must have been hundreds of people milling about.

Violet led us to a large tent in the back. Inside were rows of cots with people laid out on them. Many were coughing and wheezing. She looked expectantly at me and asked, “Can you do anything for them?”

“Sure,” I replied, kneeling in front of the first cot.

Most of the people underground were just sick which was easy enough to cure. The only ones with any physical issues were the elderly who had arthritis and other issues that came with age. By the time I finished, I was sporting a one hundred percent success rate. I refrained from awakening anyone because I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.

Viola let out an appreciative whistle and said, “I’m impressed. I don’t even think the hospital could have done better. The church definitely couldn’t.”

“Is the church really that bad?” I asked.

“Have you ever been there?” She answered with a question. “I think some of them mean well but that aren’t staffed to handle many people and usually only admit severe cases. Often they give us painkillers and tell us to go home to die quietly.”

“That’s horrible,” Ulli spoke in a quiet voice. Mika had wanted to take her somewhere, but Marcelle refused, saying she wasn’t to leave our sight.

“It is,” Mike confirmed. “That’s why I took Ollie to the clinic. It was the only way to save him. Thank The Creator you showed up when you did.”

“That was fortunate,” Viola said, her arms crossed. “Now, would you care to tell me who you really are? I know enough to know you’re not a Cleric. However, I can’t read you at all.”

“I can’t answer that question,” I replied. “However, there is a question I’d like to ask you in private if possible.”