Inari’s Gift

Cera spent the next month and a half practicing her magic further, going from being able to consciously hold five mana construct components in place to twelve, or seven of them subconsciously.  Due to this, she now regularly kept her construct that transferred mana into her body active, as well as keeping a basic shielding construct going so she could instantly form a shield if needed.

During this time, she also managed to heal two other people, bringing her up to twenty iron, eleven steel, and the eight copper from Falron, giving her a total of nine copper and three steel, still short of what she needed by at least seven steel.  She was hopeful that she could make that up by offering to teach some of the mages at the town she was going to travel to.

She had luckily managed to convince someone to hold off on taking a trip to the nearby town until she was ready, giving her an extra day to prepare herself.  Instead of the usual tunic and pants she had been wearing this whole time, she decided that she would wear a dress before going to the healers’ guild.  For the journey there, however, she stuck with her normal clothing, as well as wearing one of the swords she had taken from the bandits.

The trip was relatively calm, once they got going, though there was an interesting encounter where they ran across what looked like an ambush location, a log blocking the road near some dense foliage.  Despite their worry, however, Cera and the man driving the wagon were not accosted as they dragged the log aside before continuing onward.

A few hours after that event, they arrived at the town, and only then did Cera realize she had never asked for the name of the village, nor the town they had just reached.  A quick but embarrassing question to her companion revealed that the village was simply called Greenhollow Village, and the town was Duskhill, named after the fact that the view from the hilltop nearby was quite nice at dusk.

After expressing her thanks for the free ride, especially since the man had delayed his trip, Cera gathered her belongings, using telekinesis to help lift the weight, and went searching for somewhere to stay for the evening.

After a little searching, she found an inn that was known to be both cheap and clean, and spent five iron for a tiny room with little more than a cot and some standing space, which also lacked a lock, as well as two iron on two mugs of water, and three more on some soup.  It wasn’t nearly as good as what she had with Falron, but it was sufficient to keep her fed and sheltered.  Unfortunately, it did cut into her finances.

The following morning, after a fitful sleep while trying to keep her illusion going, Cera changed into the nicest of the two dresses she had and gathered up her clothing again, not wanting to leave it behind.  After paying for another day for the room, she asked for directions to the healers’ guild and headed toward the large establishment.

Not too long after, she arrived, taking a glance at the three-story building before entering.  Several doorways led out of the entry room, where a single, tired-looking woman sat behind a desk.  Upon seeing Cera, the woman waved her forward, asking her purpose.

“Hello, sorry for being troublesome, but I want to sign up as a healer, and believe I am a bit short on money, as I was told it costs a brass coin, and I have only a little over nine copper.  I have heard that many healers also have other magical skills, and would like to see if I can share my knowledge in exchange for some money, once they are done with their tasks for the day.  I also don’t mind assisting for the day for free if I am allowed to speak with the mages later,” Cera responded in a polite tone.

After a deep sigh, the woman shook her head and stated, “I can’t make that decision, but if you’ll sit down, I’ll talk with someone who can.  Err, in a moment at least.”

As she was speaking, a young man hobbled inside with a saw caught in his leg, and the woman behind the desk quickly gestured for him to step forward, took a quick look at his leg, then led him back through one of the doors.  Cera smiled at how quickly the woman went to get him help, glad to see that people cared about each other more here than she was used to, and went to take a seat in one of the chairs nearby.

Just a few moments later, a man with bloodstained sleeves walked into the room and sat down behind the desk with a scowl as he glanced at her before shaking his head and refocusing on the door.  As time passed, the man began to relax, and nearly half an hour later, the woman returned and changed places with him before gesturing for Cera to approach.

“I spoke with the head of the guild, and he is interested in what you are offering.  He stated that if you take over boiling bandages and bringing tools to the healers, he will personally verify if you have anything worth gathering people together.  He did, however, say that if you can’t provide evidence of at least one new skill, he will ban you from the guild for wasting his time.  Do you accept those terms?” she explained, looking curiously at Cera.

With a nod, Cera responded, “I can guarantee that at least one thing I know will be new to everyone here.  I trained with a skilled mage who had gone to learn in the capital, and it was entirely unknown to him.  I certainly accept the offer.”

Hearing Cera’s confidence in her skill, the woman nodded before asking her to follow and heading back through the door she’d gone through earlier.  As they walked, she glanced at the bag Cera carried with her, but seemed unconcerned with the sword poking out.  Within was a fair-sized hospital with multiple curtained-off beds, a few of them close to the door empty and waiting for patients.  Not far away, she heard the murmur of people speaking quietly, along with occasional groans.

The woman quickly led Cera up to the second floor, where more beds sat, all of them filled, and brought her to a side room where two men were busy with pots atop stoves, stirring bundles of cloth within them.

“Hello, I’m here to help; would you like me to take over for you, or should I assist in carrying tools to the healers first?” Cera immediately stated, glancing between the two men as the woman who led her in left again.

The two men glanced at each other, and one of them spoke up, saying, “I could really use help to take over for me.  I’ve been an assistant for months, so I’m confident in my skill of getting the right tools to people in time.  This job is a bit wasteful for me.”

Cera nodded and replied, “I’m not totally confident in knowing all the tools that might be needed, so that sounds like a good trade to me.  Do I need to keep the stove fed, or can I use magic to keep it heated?”

With a surprised expression, the man shook his head before stating, “If you are new, you should save your mana for healing.”

“Ah, that’s the thing, sir, I’m not part of the guild, I’m here as part of a deal with the head, I am only to assist with simple duties not part of the healing effort,” she explained as she put her bag of clothes and staff in the corner before she moved to begin stirring the pot the man stepped away from, carefully keeping her tail out of the man’s path so he wouldn’t bump into the hidden appendage.

With a frown, the man replied, “I see.  That is quite abnormal, but Kelly wouldn’t have brought you up without permission.  I suppose using your magic would be acceptable in that case.  Trying to build up your mana with more practice, I take it?”

Cera nodded, answering, “Of course, more mana is always a good thing.  And I have a trick that lets me use more mana than I should be able to hold.  Now go on and get to helping people, I’ll make sure these bandages are sterilized for you.”

With a nod, the man quickly left the room, leaving her with his fellow, who spoke up, “So…  Who are you, and what sort of deal do you have, if you don’t mind me asking?  My name is Peldor.”

“Hello, Peldor.  My name is Cera, and I’ve come to try to earn enough money to join the guild as a proper healer.  I’m a bit short on funds, and was wanting to see if I can earn enough by teaching some of my skills to other mages who work here,” she responded with a smile.

Peldor nodded before replying, “I’m quite interested in what you think you can teach them, but it’s no business of mine; I’m afraid I’m just a normal guy with some medical training.  It’s quite expensive to get into the guild, but we make good money here, even without being able to heal directly.”

Cera nodded before remarking, “I’m quite good at the basics, though I wouldn’t want to work on anything too crazy.  I’ve only dealt with some deep cuts and a sick child so far, but I have a lot of mana to throw into my work, though it takes days to recover from doing that.”

The man nodded again before focusing on his pot again, fishing out the cloth within and setting it aside to cool and dry before dumping more into the pot.  Cera fished out one of the bits of cloth and sent her mana through it, finding nothing reacting to it, then repeated the man’s actions.

As they worked, the two chatted a bit, Cera explaining some of what she could do with magic as the man told her how things tended to work within the guild.  Eventually, the stove’s fire died out, and Cera summoned up her foxfire and set it below the pot, barely feeling the drain on her stamina.

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