Triumphant after my clash with [Lady] Saphora and my successful Class evolution, I return to my senses with an intense sense of satisfaction. The scent of flowers wafts through the air, far sweeter and more potent than I recall. Birdsong is rife with meaning. Even the warmth of the sun is more nourishing to my soul and less harsh and hot than it was before my new Class.

Mana flows around me, instantly responsive to my lightest touch. I’m connected to the raw energy of the world like never before. I’ve grown again, and this time the achievement feels uniquely mine. I have Shiphrah to thank for restoring my core and channels. Becoming a [Glass Mage], potentially the first one ever? I did that all on my own. The thought makes me want to shout in celebration.

I spring up to my feet and pump my fist in the air, dancing in a circle and laughing. I can’t wait to tell everyone about my achievement. Rakesh will want to write down every single detail. My brother’s going to flip. And wait until I tell Lionel—

The memory of Saphora’s reverse healing slams into me like a sledgehammer. Lionel! No! Her sinister inversion of healing Skills is killing my best friend. Clouds of worry overshadow the bright sun of my joy. Fear spikes through me at the thought of Lionel rotting apart from the inside out, necrotic energies wreaking havoc throughout his body.

I set off sprinting through the city, throwing caution to the wind. No longer caring about drawing undue attention—Saphora’s allies won’t move against me, not after her beatdown—I run at top speed. Lionel’s cries of agony echo in my mind, giving me wings.

Faster! a frantic voice screams.

My team is too far ahead of me for me to sense their mana signatures. Though they’re no longer visible in my Domain, a faint trace of their presence lingers. That’s new. My eyes widen as the implication hits me. It’s as though I’m following the aroma of baking bread to find an oven. Before I folded [Mage] into my Class, I lacked the senses to follow mana this precisely, but something new has awoken within me. I latch onto the trail and run harder, flooding my legs with extra mana to empower my muscles.

Thanks to the Skill my brother gave me, [Greater Endurance], and the veritable ocean of mana surging within and refilling my depleted core after my Class upgrade, I’ve never felt stronger or more alive. The teeming vitality is intoxicating.

Yet all the strength in the world is meaningless to me if I can’t protect my friends. I’ve never cared about power for power’s sake. I just wanted to explore the world and take care of the people who matter to me.

Panic wells up in my chest. If Lionel dies because of me, then I’ll never forgive myself. He’s a big part of the reason we came to Gilead in the first place. He’s supposed to learn how to improve as a [Healer], not get caught up in political wrangling.

I blast through a market square, nearly toppling a table laden with wares. A [Merchant] waves frantically, trying to flag me down. His face contorts into a mask of fear and rage, and he shouts something unintelligible. The words are whisked away, but through my Domain I pick up on his irritation.

“Mender emergency!” I bellow as I dash right past him and continue running, moving as quickly as a horse at full gallop—no, even faster, based on the way the faces of passersby blur and distort in my vision.

Even with the raging river of mana empowering my limbs and the [Greater Endurance] Skill holding fatigue at bay, I know that I can’t keep this speed up indefinitely. Pushing my body past its limits is still extremely difficult, and the soreness is already turning into a dull, orange-red ache in my legs and chest. Running like this is bound to have consequences.

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That’s not enough to stop me. Reason has long since flown out the window. If anything, I dig in and run all the harder. What’s the point of having so much mana to burn if I can’t use it to save my friend?

Even as that determined thought occurs to me, a new and more insidious idea intrudes. What exactly am I going to do to save Lionel? I’m not a [Healer]. There’s nothing my presence can do that the Menders can’t. Right?

Distracted by that discouraging thought, I almost collide with a young kid crossing the street. I dig my feet into the ground and modulate the mana flow to my muscles, slowing myself down. I leap to the side just in time to avoid him, though he screams in terror as I pass by so closely that we’re almost touching.

Momentum carries me forward despite my redirection. I skid around a corner, careening off the side of a building and grunting in pain as the impact knocks the wind out of me.

My vision flashes white, but I cycle mana and reinforce my body and central systems, copying what I’ve seen Mikko do when he empowers himself with [Strength of the Forge Gods]. It’s just enough to keep me from passing out.

Now that I can see again, I keep running toward the Menders, though now I’m moving at a fast jog instead of such a reckless pace. My breathing normalizes after I slow down. The world stops spinning around me. Still, I pump more mana through my healed channels and into my muscles and nerves, this time to calm myself instead of strengthening sinew and bone and muscle. I marvel at how easily the mana responds to my urging. How did I ever accomplish anything with magic before this?

Ten minutes later, the Mender’s massive, sprawling complex finally comes into view. The sight reinvigorates me, and I pick up the pace again, sprinting until I reach the intake area that I visited with Lionel previously.

At last, I can sense my friends again. They’re just up ahead! Confusion hits me as I consider their situation. They got here before me, but instead they’re barely inside the door. Why are they just milling around? Why isn’t Lionel in a treatment room already, surrounded by Menders?

Teeming multitudes of hurting people block my entrance into the building, and I skid to a halt, hesitant to force my way inside. Despite my worry for my friend, I’m not so hard-hearted or selfish that I’ll trample over others also seeking healing. I squint at the entrance, looking for a way to bypass the crowds.

There!

A second-storey window on my right is open, providing air for a small potted plant on the window sill. I once again empower myself with mana, running forward a few steps and flinging myself upward toward the opening.

I’m not strong enough to leap the entire way up, but my hand catches hold of the lip of the window. My feet scrabble against the side of the stone building for a moment before my toe catches on a projection. I heave myself up and into a patient’s room.

The middle-aged man in the bed nearby startles, spitting out whatever he was drinking as I burst into his room.

“Sorry! No time to replace your analgesic!” I call over my shoulder, barreling through the door and glancing around wildly for the stairs. I have to get down there. I have to fix whatever went wrong.

I don’t see any stairs, so I run to the end of the hallway, hoping that I’ll come across a way down. Sure enough, a narrow staircase gives access to the first floor. My feet follow the steps before I’ve even processed what I’m seeing, and I dash down to the lower levels with my heart pounding in fear.

I arrive to the last thing I expected: a refusal of treatment. The quiet, intense words from a matronly Mender filter toward me, carried along by the help of my Domain.

“I’m sorry, but the decision is final.”

“He’s not too far gone! The statis is working,” Melina protests through gritted teeth. “I can hold him a bit longer.”

“You’re nearly dead on your feet, love,” the Mender replies, her voice soft with concern but still maintaining professional distance. “Once your mana runs out—I’m sorry. There’s nothing we can do.”

My head spins. I reel back at the realization that they’ve been stuck here, wasting time as Melina pours everything she has into her temporal Skill, when they could have been working to undo the damage [Lady] Saphora inflicted. Of all the things I imagined going wrong, Lionel being denied admittance because he’s a lost cause never entered my mind.

No help. No hope.

I clench my fist and stride forward, parting the crowds with an overbearing pulse of my Domain. Storms of mana roar around me like a whirlwind as my fury and desperation manifest. I won’t let it end like this. I refuse.