Chapter 39: It’s Rare

Lumi waited outside the dungeon while the medic who had accompanied them earlier treated Darian’s injured shoulder.

The wound was much worse than she had initially thought. The Anomaly’s claw had pierced straight through his protective gear, leaving several deep marks across his shoulder. Blood had already soaked through part of his uniform, and even after the medic cleaned the wound, Darian would wince in pain every few seconds whenever she pressed around the injured area.

"Mr. Voss, it seems like the claw is poisoned..."

The medic’s expression became serious as she examined the wound more carefully.

Darian’s brows furrowed. "Poisoned?"

"Yes." The woman nodded. "There’s a strange substance spreading around the wound. I’ve already injected an antidote, but we need to monitor you closely in case the poison enters your bloodstream."

Lumi’s face immediately paled. "Will he be okay?"

The medic looked at her before giving a reassuring nod. "He should be fine if the antidote works properly. Fortunately, the claw didn’t penetrate too deeply."

Darian let out a weak laugh despite the pain. "See? I told you I’m fine."

Lumi nodded weakly. "That’s great to hear..."

Her words didn’t sound as relieved as they should have, probably because her attention was still fixed on the dungeon entrance. Evan was still inside, fighting that Anomaly, and the longer he stayed in there, the more uneasy she became.

"Don’t worry..." Darian said, as though he could somehow read her mind. "The other Sentinels are there to back him up."

Lumi glanced at him before turning her attention back to the medic, who was carefully rearranging the medical supplies beside her.

The woman looked to be in her mid-forties, with a calm and experienced expression that made Lumi feel slightly more at ease despite the situation.

"Miss, are you a Guide?" Lumi suddenly asked.

The medic paused for a moment before nodding lightly. "Mm. I’m a Guide with a healing ability."

Lumi’s eyes widened slightly, and a spark of excitement appeared in them. Her mouth parted as another question immediately came to mind. "Then... Do you have a combat rank?"

The medic glanced at her before giving a small smile. "Yes. We learned the basics of combat and self-defense at the Guide Academy, just like other Guides."

Lumi blinked. "You can fight too?"

"Of course." The medic chuckled softly. "Being a Guide doesn’t mean we simply stand behind Sentinels and wait to be protected. We’re trained to defend ourselves, use our Guiding abilities properly, and respond to emergencies."

Lumi’s eyes seemed to brighten even more. "So even a healing-type Guide has a combat rank?"

"Yes."

Lumi fell silent for a moment, looking genuinely fascinated.

She had spent most of her life believing that she couldn’t do anything because she had no detectable Guiding energy. Yet now she was learning that Guides were trained in much more than she had ever known.

The medic noticed her expression and smiled. "Why? Are you interested in becoming a Guide?"

Lumi smiled with her eyes before clearing her throat, "I... have a healing ability."

Darian, who had been listening to their conversation, suddenly widened his eyes. "You have what?"

Both Darian and the medic froze. For a moment, they simply looked at each other.

Lumi blinked at them, confused by their reaction.

The Empire had not seen a Guide with a natural healing ability for forty years. And the last known healing Guide was the woman standing right in front of Lumi.

Miss Walker slowly turned her gaze back toward Lumi, her expression becoming much more serious.

"Evan already knows?" Darian asked, just to confirm something.

Lumi nodded. "Yes..."

He let out a quiet breath, then glanced around them before lowering his voice. "Then don’t tell anyone else about it. You too, Miss Walker." His gaze settled firmly on the medic.

Miss Walker didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she leaned slightly forward, narrowing the distance between herself and Lumi as though she needed to make absolutely certain she had heard correctly.

"What kind of healing ability do you have?"

Lumi blinked. "Is there... more than one kind?"

Miss Walker’s expression changed slightly. "There are different manifestations of healing abilities."

"Oh..." Lumi thought about it for a moment before glancing toward Darian. He was looking at her with the same curiosity. "I can heal my own wounds."

Silence swallowed the space around them.

Lumi looked from one person to another. Neither of them spoke.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Miss Walker’s eyes remained fixed on Lumi, "You can heal yourself?"

Lumi nodded slowly. "Yes."

Darian’s expression had become unusually serious. "Lumi... how quickly?"

She hesitated. "I don’t know exactly. It depends on the wound, I guess."

"That isn’t what I mean." Darian leaned slightly forward. "Can you heal injuries that would normally require a Guide’s healing ability?"

Lumi frowned, clearly struggling to understand the question. "I... don’t understand."

Darian paused, realizing that she genuinely had no idea what he was asking. "What I mean is... can you heal someone else?"

Lumi shook her head. "I’ve never tried."

Darian and Miss Walker exchanged another look.

Lumi glanced between them, becoming even more confused by their expressions. "I only know that I can heal myself. That’s all."

Miss Walker’s gaze remained on Lumi for a moment before she quietly asked, "And you’ve never used your ability on another person?"

"No." Lumi shook her head again. "My twin told me not to tell anyone about it when we were eight, so I never tried to use it on anyone."

Her voice was completely innocent, without any hint that she suspected there was anything unusual about what she had just said.

Darian’s expression slowly changed. "You’ve known about this since you were eight?"

Lumi nodded. "Mm."

Miss Walker into fell silent too. Darian also didn’t say anything for several seconds. Neither of them seemed to know what to say next.

Darian exchanged another glance with Miss Walker before turning his attention back to Lumi.

"For now, don’t tell anyone else about your healing ability."

Lumi blinked. "Why?"

"Because it’s rare." Darian’s voice became more serious. "And we don’t know enough about your ability yet. Until we understand exactly what you can do, it’s better to keep it quiet."

Lumi nodded slowly. "Okay..."

Darian hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I’m sure Evan didn’t tell anyone about it for the same reason. He probably felt that keeping it a secret was the safest thing for you until—"

BOOM!

A deafening explosion suddenly came from deep inside the dungeon. The ground beneath their feet shook violently.

Lumi’s eyes widened as she immediately turned toward the dungeon entrance. "What was that?"

Miss Walker quickly stood up, while Darian instinctively grabbed his injured shoulder and tried to rise from his seat.

"Mr. Voss, don’t move too quickly."

"I know." His expression had completely changed. The casual smile from moments ago was gone as he stared toward the dungeon.

Another heavy impact echoed from inside. It was so loud, Lumi flinched in fear.

Dust suddenly burst from the dungeon entrance.

Lumi’s heart dropped.

"Evan..."