The class of Applied Healing is shockingly small.
Not physically, though. The classroom itself is still larger than most buildings I’d seen back in Bephis, with polished wooden floors, soft glowing lanterns set into the walls, and long tables arranged in neat rows throughout the room.
No, what shocks me is the fact that there are only sixteen students in the class.
Including me.
I stop just inside the doorway, staring blankly across the room as students quietly organize books and supplies between themselves.
That’s it?
After the packed mandatory classes earlier, the near-empty room feels surreal.
Either very few people qualified for the course... or very few people willingly signed up for it.
After today’s classes, I honestly think both are equally believable.
I slowly make my way toward one of the middle tables, not wanting to sit too close to the front or back.
My ears perk when someone abruptly slides into the seat beside me with all the subtlety of an avalanche.
“Hi!”
I nearly jump out of my skin.
The girl beside me beams openly at me, her grin wide enough to show off sharp little fangs.
Catkin HealerLevel 51
She’s... orange. All over. Ears, tail, eyes, hair... even the splash of freckles over her nose are orange.
And surprisingly, she’s about the same size as me.
Her uniform is different. Instead of the usual skirt, she wears shorts that show off almost all of her legs. There are also enough chains hooked into the outfit to restrain a small monster.
But it looks good on her.
Still, I mentally prepare myself for the incoming barrage that I can see her building up to.
“I’m Lisa!” she says brightly, already halfway sprawled across the table like we’ve known each other for years, tail lashing playfully. “You’re Emilia, right? The sleepy fox girl?”
I flush immediately.
“I... guess.”
“You attacked a professor this morning.”
“I panicked!”
“That’s okay, I was the one he glared at on the side. He was so scary! But you looked so cool while panicking.”
Before I can defend myself further, movement at the front of the room pulls my attention away.
A woman quietly steps through the side door carrying a stack of papers against one hip.
The class settles almost immediately, her appearance alone somehow encouraging a kind of calm over each and every one of us.
Cervikin HealerLevel ??
She’s tall and slender, with branching antlers sweeping gracefully back through long chestnut-brown hair streaked with silver. Soft white spots trail across the darker skin of her shoulders and neck, disappearing beneath rolled sleeves, while calm golden eyes drift quietly across the room.
There’s something strangely grounding about her.
Like standing near a quiet forest.
Her notes are stained with ink and folded from use, several loose pages tucked hurriedly between others as though reorganized dozens of times already. Despite that mild disarray, every movement she makes is calm, precise, and efficient.
“Good afternoon,” she says softly. “I am Professor Vaelinne. Welcome to Applied Healing.”
Her voice is gentle and warm, but there’s a hint of exhaustion behind it. She reminds me of the healers back in Bephis.
The ones who kept moving long after they should’ve rested.
I like her already.
“I’ll begin with what is most important,” she continues as she sets the papers down neatly atop the front desk. “Healing is not glamorous.”
She slumps into the chair behind her desk with a sigh, then scans the few students in her class.
“You will not always save everyone.”
The softness in her voice somehow makes the words hit harder.
“Sometimes people will die while you are trying to help them. Sometimes they’ll die before you even get to them. And sometimes... sometimes they die because you make the wrong decision.”
I don’t blink. Don’t want to. She’s describing the exact situation I went through in Bephis mere months ago.
The rush from person to person. The on site triage—a word I learned only after things calmed down.
The picking and choosing of who lives and who dies because I could only help so many.
Something in my look seems to catch her attention, as her gaze shifts to me and stays there as she continues.
“But,” she says gently, “sometimes they live.”
Something tightens painfully in my chest.
Professor Vaelinne offers me a small, tired smile.
“And those moments matter enough to keep trying.”
I return her smile before I can stop myself.
That’s exactly why I’m here.
Beside me, Lisa abruptly raises her hand.
Professor Vaelinne nods toward her calmly.
“Yes?”
Lisa grins wide enough to show her fangs.
“So what’s the weirdest thing someone’s ever healed?”
A few students glance toward her immediately, most seemingly annoyed with the question, but at least a few seem equally curious.
Professor Vaelinne’s tired smile returns for just a moment before fading back into professionalism.
“We will discuss advanced restoration later in the semester,” she says. “For now, we will be focusing on fundamentals.”
She rises from her chair and lightly taps the papers on her desk.
“Applied Healing is not a class designed to teach you flashy miracles. At least not at first. Over the coming weeks, you will learn injury assessment, stabilization, mana control, triage procedures, restorative limitations, and the ethical responsibilities associated with healing magic.”
It sounds rather complicated, all in all—especially the whole ‘ethical responsibilities’ part—but I’m not going to back down. Even if I end up sucking at this, I’ll find a way to participate.
She steps over to a smooth metallic display near the back of the room and activates it with a small pulse of mana.
On it is a schedule.
————
Lesson Plan:
Introductions
Basics
Assignment
Hospital Tour
————
“Today’s lesson is primarily introductory,” Professor Vaelinne continues. “After our lecture, you’ll receive assigned reading before accompanying me to the Academy Hospital for a guided tour.”
Several students straighten slightly at that, seemingly equally excited and nervous.
“The hospital serves both Academy residents and outside patients. People travel from across the continent seeking treatment here, both from our faculty and from upper-year students training under supervision.”
Wait... people willingly let students practice on them?
Now even I fail to restrain my tail as it twitches, betraying a bit of my anticipation.
“We will not be performing healing today,” she adds, likely noticing the subtle panic spreading through several students. “You are observing only.”
My ears droop, and the Professor instantly notices. Her lips twitch into the hint of a smile.
“Every other week, however, class will begin at the hospital itself rather than here. I expect punctuality.”
My ears perk up once more, and I don’t restrain my smile anymore.
Professor Vaelinne gestures lightly, and four glowing diagrams bloom into existence on the panel, erasing the schedule.
Skeletal structures. Muscle fibers. Veins and softly glowing mana channels layered together in translucent detail.
The entire class leans forward, including me, and I notice something off immediately thanks to my previous class, Advanced Regeneration Studies.
Each diagram is displaying the body of someone who is heavily damaged. Probably lethally so, even.
Muscles are torn, veins are open and gushing, mana channels are blown in several critical areas around the core... and each one is missing its right arm.
“There are many forms of healing,” she says, “but four major disciplines dominate modern restoration magic.”
The first diagram glows gold.
“Divine healing.”
Warm light spreads through the illusion, damaged tissue visibly restoring itself, veins sealing, mana channels reconstituting, arm regrowing.
“Divine healing functions through external authority imposed directly upon reality. In simple terms, it tells the body what it should be.”
“That’s so unfair,” Lisa murmurs beside me.
“It frequently is,” Professor Vaelinne agrees.
That earns a laugh from some of our classmates, though only for a moment. Everyone seems absorbed in the lesson.
“Divine healing is widely regarded as the most versatile and complete restorative discipline. It is capable of healing nearly any injury given sufficient power, skill, and mana, and often gains this capability with only a Rare rarity Class in Tier Zero.”
The golden glow dims slightly.
“But...” she begins, gesturing to the diagram as the golden glow suddenly flickers out. “...it is also notoriously mana intensive.”
The second diagram shifts green.
“Nature healing encourages accelerated and guided natural restoration. Rather than forcing recovery outright, it nudges the body back toward balance and proper function.”
Thin vines briefly thread through glowing musculature before dimming slightly. Then the vines seem to settle into the body itself, becoming part of the healing process.
“It is exceptionally effective for long-term care, poison treatment, disease management, broken bones, and internal damage.”
She gestures to the diagram then, pointing out several areas of the body that didn’t heal—like the missing arm.
“However, it struggles with full restoration until later advancement,” she says, then holds up a finger. “But once it unlocks that capability, it is only second to Divine healing.”
The third lights up in blue, with slow moving rivers of liquid mana flowing from one damaged area to the next.
“Water healing focuses on stabilization, speed, and adaptive restoration. It is often considered the safest—and cheapest—discipline for inexperienced healers due to its flexibility and comparatively gentle effects.”
“Isn’t that what the military uses?” a student near the front asks.
Professor Vaelinne nods once.
“It is. Additionally, water healing prioritizes stability over reconstruction, making limb restoration uncommon outside higher Tier practitioners. While not as effective as Divine or Nature healing, it uses less mana than both.”
The final diagram pulses red faintly.
“Regeneration is the last of the four major practices. Its healing differs from the other three significantly.”
I perk up at that.
This time, the diagram seems to recover slowly. Like Nature and Water healing, the arm doesn’t regrow. But this time, even the mana channels seem to be unaffected by the healing mana coursing through the body.
“It does not directly heal injuries,” she explains. “Instead, it enhances the target’s own natural recovery.”
Yep, just as I thought. That’s how my Arcane Regulation works.
My ears twitch slightly, eliciting a pleasant tinkle as my earrings clink together.
“For small injuries, regeneration techniques are extraordinarily efficient. They require less mana than most—if not all—direct restoration methods and place significantly less strain on the body.”
The professor folds her hands behind her back.
“However, regeneration cannot restore what the target fundamentally lacks the capability to regenerate on their own.”
A student near the back raises a hand.
“So if someone loses an arm...”
“Then they will not regrow it through ordinary regeneration magic unless they are already capable of regrowing a limb,” Professor Vaelinne says.
Lisa raises her hand again immediately.
“So, like, a lizardkin?”
“That,” Professor Vaelinne says patiently, “would depend on the lizardkin.”
Lisa beams, seemingly happy enough with being even partially right.
“Now then, extremely advanced regeneration techniques do exist,” she continues, “including methods capable of restoring limbs, organs, and even mana channels. However, such abilities are exceedingly rare.”
I frown at that.
Lisa, on the other hand, looks starstruck. Then she leans toward me suddenly.
“So if I lose my tail, I can eventually regrow it myself!” she whispers excitedly.
I stare at her in horror, snatching up my tail on instinct.
What kind of monster imagines losing their tail?
I’ve lived long enough without mine to know that it’s the absolute worst. And now that I have one, even the idea of losing it again makes me want to recoil.
Thank the Gods and the System for my Mind, Body, Soul Skill making it so I can restore myself naturally.
“What is wrong with you?” I hiss.
“It’s cool, right?! Even if it’ll take me a while to get there...”
She lets out a quiet groan of disappointment before melting into her desk.
Even as horrified as I am, I can’t help but snort at her antics. She reminds me of Cari, a little bit.
Just way more energetic and chaotic.
Unfortunately, we weren’t as quiet as we thought.
Professor Vaelinne looks directly at us.
“Lisa.”
Lisa straightens instantly.
“Yes, Professor?”
“Please stop distracting Emilia.”
“I wasn’t distracting her,” Lisa says confidently, placing a hand over her heart as if to project her earnestness. “We were learning together.”
Professor Vaelinne stares at her until she breaks out into a cold sweat.
Then she folds, ears laying flat on her head as she bows her head slightly with a pout.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Professor Vaelinne’s gaze shifts toward me, then.
“And Emilia.”
Oh no.
“Please try not to encourage her.”
“I didn’t!”
“You laughed.”
Gods-damned treacherous body.
I copy Lisa.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She nods once before turning back to the displays.
Authors Note:Blegh. Been sick these past couple days, but I'm surviving.
I went with a hyperactive Catkin instead of the Wolfkin girl from the dorms. I think I can introduce that character later, if I need more interesting characters (I may not). We'll see :3
We already have tooons! And it feels like I don't have enough space to get them all their spotlights already haha.
It's fun though :3