Chapter 106: New Skills, Same Problems

Knocking.

Persistent knocking.

I opened one eye.

"Sanctuary is asleep."

"One hour."

Penelope. Through the door. Not remotely interested in negotiating.

"Sanctuary remains asleep."

"Get up, Alash."

"Working on it."

"You haven’t moved."

"Internally, I’m sprinting."

A pause on the other side of the door.

"One hour," she said again, already walking away.

She hadn’t waited to hear if I actually got up.

Efficient.

Slightly insulting.

Also, unfortunately, effective, because now I was awake enough to be annoyed about it, which meant I was awake enough to stay awake.

I sat up anyway. Dream Haven stayed exactly where it belonged, tucked against my side, blissfully uninvolved in this entire ordeal.

Washing up took longer than it should have. Getting the uniform right took longer still, mostly because the jacket had opinions about which way the silver trim was supposed to sit and I had none.

[You have been staring at that sleeve for eleven seconds.]

’I’m negotiating with it.’

[It is fabric.]

’It’s winning.’

I got the sleeve to cooperate through sheer stubbornness rather than any actual understanding of how collars worked, and it was somewhere in the middle of that small victory that the memory surfaced.

Uninvited.

The way they usually did.

The Citadel.

The five of us reaching the Guardian Seals at the same moment.

[Host.]

The System’s voice, louder than usual, cutting through everything else.

I’d flinched. Told it I was busy.

[Akashic resonance increasing rapidly.]

I’d frozen.

Not now.

Seriously?

The sensation had returned. Stronger than the first time. Elizabeth. James. Sophie. Daphne. Not their mana. Not their bodies. Something underneath both of those things, the same strange recognition I’d felt the moment we first gathered inside the illusion, except this time the five Seals had linked us through a single formation.

Five vessels.

Five fragments.

One network.

For a single instant, the world had trembled. Not the Citadel. Not the ground. Something beneath the illusion itself, like the Hermit’s constructed world had briefly forgotten it was pretending. My vision had blurred. Golden lines had appeared where there shouldn’t have been any.

Five points.

Then gone.

I’d asked the System what that was.

It hadn’t answered.

Which, at the time, had been far more alarming than anything else happening that night, and then Daphne had screamed my name and there hadn’t been room to think about it again.

Until now.

"System, open status."

A familiar panel appeared.

———————————————————————————————

Name: Alash Vortex

Age: 15 Years Old

Potential: SSS

Title: Aegis Healer

Special Constitution: Stamina, Intelligence, Willpower

Core: D - Black

Stats:

Strength: 58

Agility: 70

Stamina: 210

Perception: 45

Magic: 38

Intelligence: 215

Willpower: 195

Attributes:

Healing: Lv 10

Barrier: Lv 10

Apothecary: Lv 10

Water: Lv 4

Earth: Lv 3

Fire: Lv 3

Gravity: Lv 3

...

Spell/Skill :

Mana Aegis

Healing Bond [NEW]

Compound Sense [NEW]

Special: Main Part of Akashic Key [1/5]

Countdown: 4 Years 5 Months

———————————————————————————————

Healing had crossed into double digits.

So had Apothecary, which explained why several recent conversations with Lena had gone on longer than intended.

Willpower had climbed considerably.

Someone was eventually going to bring that up, probably sarcastically, and I would need an answer prepared that wasn’t simply "I refuse to be moved, including on this topic."

None of that was what I’d opened the panel for.

’System.’

[Yes.]

’That night at the Citadel. When the five Seals connected. You went silent after the resonance spiked.’

[I recall.]

’What was that?’

A pause, longer than the System usually allowed itself.

[Unclear.]

’That’s not an answer.’

[It is the only one I have.]

I stared at the ceiling, which continued to offer nothing.

’Guess, then.’

[It may be related to your new skill.]

I looked down at the panel again.

Two new skills.

I hadn’t noticed either one unlocking.

’I reached Healing level ten. Not "five children stood near some rocks" level ten.’

[Correlation is not causation.]

’You just said it was related.’

[I said it may be related. I did not say I would explain how.]

"Open Healing Bond."

———————————————————————————————

[ New Skill -> Healing Bond ]

Type: Support (Contact Required)

Effect: Forms a temporary healing link with one target through direct physical contact. While active, the target’s natural recovery rate is significantly increased. The caster’s own recovery rate increases simultaneously, drawing strength from the shared bond rather than depleting the caster alone.

Duration: 1 hour

Cooldown: 24 hours

———————————————————————————————

I read it twice.

"So it’s not a bandage."

[Correct.]

"It’s encouragement. For a body."

[If you insist on simplifying it.]

"Contact required." I flexed my hand. "That’s going to be inconvenient with anyone who isn’t currently unconscious or being cooperative."

[Not for all four.]

I stopped.

"What?"

[The requirement does not apply the same way to the other vessels.]

’Explain.’

[Proximity is sufficient, provided they remain close. Contact is not required between fragments of the same Key.]

I sat with that for a moment.

"So I could activate it on Elizabeth from across a room."

[If she is close enough. Yes.]

"Define close enough."

[Closer than a room. Further than contact.]

"That’s not a definition. That’s a riddle."

[It is the answer you were given.]

Wonderful.

"Open Compound Sense."

———————————————————————————————

[ New Skill -> Compound Sense ]

Type: Passive

Effect: Allows instant identification of the composition, properties, and potential effects of any potion, elixir, poison, or medicinal compound examined directly. Does not require consumption.

———————————————————————————————

That one, at least, required no further argument.

"Useful."

[Less useful than Healing Bond.]

"I didn’t say otherwise."

[You paused before saying it. I am simply confirming the order of priorities for you.]

I closed that panel before it could feel too pleased with itself, and opened the quest log instead, looking for anything that explained how a support spell was supposed to grow.

『 Sub Quest 2 : Healing Bond Path 1

➤ Description: Harness the power of your newly awakened Healing Bond. Prove that your care extends beyond emergencies by choosing to share your recovery with those who have not yet needed saving.

➤ Objective: Successfully bond with 7 individuals through Healing Bond (0 / 7)

➤ Time Limit: –

➤ Reward: Healing Lv 11, Healing Bond Path 2

➤ Failure: – 』

Seven.

Not four.

’There are only four other vessels.’

[Correct.]

’This wants seven.’

[The skill wants seven. The Main Quest wants four. They are not the same requirement.]

’Then the other three are irrelevant.’

[They are not irrelevant. They are practice.]

I considered arguing that a healer with Healing level ten did not require practice, decided the System would simply disagree, and closed the panel entirely rather than lose an argument I hadn’t technically started.

That still left the actual question sitting exactly where I’d found it. Two skills explained themselves easily enough. Neither one explained golden lines appearing over four other people’s heads, or a System that had gone completely silent at the exact moment I most wanted it to talk.

’One more question.’

[You have several. Choose carefully.]

’Did you not know what happened at the Seals, or did you decide I wasn’t allowed to know yet.’

The pause this time was long enough that I almost asked again.

[Get to class, Alash.]

Which was, unfortunately, an answer.

Just not the one I wanted.

I grabbed Dream Haven, gave up on finding any deeper meaning before breakfast, and went to go find my other boot instead.

***

Breakfast was, in theory, a simple concept.

Wake up. Locate food. Consume it. Leave.

I made it exactly as far as the kitchen doorway before discovering that Sanctuary had apparently decided breakfast was a group activity.

Thirty-five people.

One kitchen.

Considerably fewer chairs than people.

Roland was defending a plate of toast from Cedric with the seriousness of a border skirmish.

Mira sat in the corner with her eyes closed, either meditating or quietly regretting consciousness, possibly both.

Lena stood at the counter measuring something into a cup that smelled faintly medicinal, which for her counted as breakfast.

Noise everywhere.

Too much noise.

I took one step backward.

A reasonable retreat, executed with dignity.

"Leader!"

Roland’s voice, carrying over everyone else’s.

Several heads turned.

Including mine, mostly out of self-preservation.

"I wasn’t here," I said.

"You’re standing in the doorway."

"A trick of the light."

"There is no light. You’re blocking it."

Fair point. Poorly timed, but fair.

I turned to leave anyway.

Penelope was standing directly behind me.

"Going somewhere?"

"Back to bed. Philosophically."

"No."

She stepped sideways, which should not have been enough to block an entire doorway, and somehow was.

"That’s not a wall. You’re one person."

"I’m a very determined person."

Someone laughed from inside the kitchen. Possibly Cedric. Possibly at me specifically.

I considered my remaining options. Climbing out a window occurred to me and was immediately dismissed as both undignified and structurally unlikely to succeed on the first floor with this many witnesses.

"Sit," Penelope said.

"I don’t want to sit."

"You don’t want anything. That’s not new information."

She was, unfortunately, correct, which was the most annoying part of the entire morning so far.

I sat.

A plate appeared in front of me within seconds, which meant someone had been anticipating this exact outcome before I’d even walked in.

Lena, most likely.

She had the specific look of someone who planned three steps ahead purely out of professional habit.

"Eat," she said.

"Is this poisoned."

"It’s toast."

"That wasn’t a no."

Lena’s mouth twitched.

It was, annoyingly, good toast.

Around me, the noise continued.

Someone was arguing about whose turn it was to carry the class banner to the exam debrief, though nobody could explain why a banner existed in the first place.

Roland had lost the toast argument and was now negotiating for eggs instead.

Mira opened one eye long enough to confirm the room hadn’t caught fire, then closed it again.

It should have been unbearable.

It was, somehow, not.

"Ten minutes," Penelope said, checking the clock above the door.

That triggered a chain reaction. Plates emptied faster. Chairs scraped back. Someone shouted something about forgetting a textbook and sprinted upstairs, returning at a speed that suggested they had, in fact, forgotten several.

By the time we reached the courtyard, all thirty-six of us were moving in roughly the same direction, which was either leadership or coincidence, and I had decided months ago not to examine that distinction too closely.

Roland fell into step beside me. "You tried to run."

"I attempted a strategic retreat."

"From breakfast."

"From thirty-five people at once. The breakfast was incidental."

"We’re literally your class."

"I’m aware. That’s what made it worse."

He laughed, which was not the reaction I had been aiming for, but I had long since stopped expecting my honesty to land as intended.

Penelope walked slightly ahead, saying something to Lena that made them both glance back at me. I chose not to ask.

Dream Haven remained tucked under one arm, entirely unbothered by any of it, which felt like the correct response to the morning overall.

Ahead of us, the other four residences were emptying into the same courtyard, four other classes converging toward the same lecture halls.

Elizabeth’s group moved with the kind of order that looked rehearsed and probably was.

James walked at the front of his, already discussing something that involved a great deal of pointing.

Sophie’s class was laughing about something before they’d even fully left their residence.

Daphne’s trailed quietly behind her, the way water follows a container rather than the other way around.

Five classes.

One morning.

Thirty-six people who had, apparently, decided that getting me to breakfast was a coordinated group effort.

I would think about that too, eventually.

After class.

Possibly after several more classes.