A Relatively Powerful Mage

“Imri!” Emelia shouted at her fiance as he collapsed.

Years of training made her check his vitals despite the bond telling her the same information. He was alive and stable, though his breaths came in ragged gasps as he endured an amount of agony that Emelia had never experienced.

Emelia used her healing spell, which was strengthened to a potency she had never been able to achieve, thanks to her compassion for the man she loved. Unfortunately, it didn’t have much of an effect; whatever condition he suffered from, it wasn’t a simple injury that could be healed with basic magical healing.

Next, she used Project Emotion, sending him her love and concern to let him know she was right beside him. She felt his emotions calm and then form into determination. Whatever was happening to him, he wouldn’t give up.

Not knowing what else to do, Emelia picked him up and began carrying him back to Celestia in a fireman’s carry. Imri was nearly a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier than she was, but she managed it thanks to the improved stats from her levels.

It didn’t take her long to traverse around the lake and reach Celestia. She was immediately confused as everyone nearby was frightened, but they had felt that way before knowing what had happened to Imri. There was definitely something else going on, but Emelia ignored them and went directly to the clinic.

She shouted for help, and immediately, several people were at her side, including Dr. Thompson.

“What happened?” He asked.

“I don’t know, one moment he was fine, and the next he just collapsed,” Emelia said in a shaky voice, tears streaming down her face.

“You used healing on him?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, but it didn’t do anything. I also know from our bond that he is in incredible agony,” she explained.

They wheeled Imri on a stretcher into an exam room. Dr. Thompson examined him thoroughly, and though the doctor didn’t show it externally, Emelia could sense his confusion. His confusion only increased as he felt around his chest.

“Has he mentioned anything about his core? I would expect someone of his level to have a more pronounced one,” Dr. Thompson asked.

“He mentioned that he doesn’t have one,” Emelia said.

“How is that possible? I had thought it was responsible for all the system enhancements that people gained, which he clearly has. Has he mentioned any other abnormalities?” he asked.

Emelia hesitated, and the doctor immediately noticed. He sent the nurse away to check on another patient.

“Even though there aren’t boards and bureaucratic oversight, I still take patient confidentiality seriously. Whatever you tell me will only be used to treat Imri,” Dr. Thompson vowed.

“He was worried he wasn’t human,” Emelia admitted. Whatever the doctor had been expecting her to say, it wasn’t that.

“How so?”

“He doesn’t have the human heritage. He has something called a Primordial heritage but doesn’t know exactly what that means. The Chixel knew of them, but all they said was that they were rare and unique beings shaped by mana,” Emelia explained.

“Something that was distinctly lacking on earth,” Dr. Thompson mused.

“I told him it wasn’t anything to be worried about, that he was human in every way that mattered, but what if I mislead him? What if he suppressed a portion of who he was to be with me?” Emelia asked in a panic.

“Emelia, calm down. You didn’t do anything wrong, and this certainly isn’t your fault. He is physiologically human by every definition we had before the system, especially since you could conceive a child with him,” Dr. Thompson pointed out.

“Right,” she said, taking deep breaths.

“About how long ago did this happen?” he asked.

“It was about fifteen minutes before I got here,” she said.

“Interesting,” he mused.

“What is?” she asked.

“Have you checked your system notifications since this happened?” he asked.

“No, I was too busy. Why?”

“Check them,” he insisted, and Emelia did so.

New World Quest

Prevent Planet Terraforming: The Azala have reached the planet's core and begun the terraforming process. Find a way to stop it before it becomes irreversible 0/1.

Rewards: Achievement, credits, and personal experience based on contribution.

“The timing of when everyone got this quest and when Imri collapsed seems to coincide perfectly,” the doctor pointed out.

“You think they’re related?” Emelia asked.

“To be clear, I’m completely speculating in a field I’m not remotely qualified in. I just find the timing too suspicious for it to be a coincidence,” he said.

“So what do we do?” she asked.

“I don’t know. We can keep him here and ensure his vitals are good, but beyond that, I don’t think there is much we can do,” he said.

“I’m going to stay here with him. Even if I can’t do anything for him, I want to be by him,” Emelia said.

“Of course. I have to check on other patients, but let me know if you need anything,” Dr. Thompson said as he left.

Emelia reviewed her abilities. All of them were either related to general healing or emotions. Whatever was going on, she didn’t have any other abilities that would help. Instead, she was forced to sit and wait, praying that he would pull through.

Her thoughts eventually turned dark as she imagined a world without him. She quashed those thoughts and instead focused on their future. Dreams of those beautiful possibilities came forth.

She thought about the wedding they would have, a beautiful ceremony near the location where he had proposed. He looked dashing in his suit and smiled at her as she walked down the aisle. Everyone was there, and there was no monster invading or imminent threats that would interrupt their special day. She wore a wedding dress with far less flow than a traditional one, something she could actually move in. She had the faintest hint of a baby bump at this point, but it was only obvious if you knew to look. The ceremony would be short and sweet, and then they were married.

She thought about the birth of their child. Imri was there, holding her hand as their son came into the world. He was a bigger baby, taking after his father while he had her nose. He was happy and healthy, content to sleep in his father’s arms.

Time flashed again, and their son was almost fully grown, likely in his early teenage years. There were two other children, their other children, another boy who was about ten and a girl who was around eight. Each of them had smiles that suggested they were unconcerned about the wider world. Celestia had become a thriving city, rivaling the greatest cities before the integration, if not exceeding them in grandeur. Despite the enormous burden on him, Imri would always come home with a smile on his face, making sure he never took his wife or kids for granted.

Emelia left her dreams and was back in the clinic room. Tears streamed down Emelia's face. They were happy tears for the beautiful future they would hopefully create but tinged with sadness that it might not. She sent those dreams to him, hoping they would give him something more to fight for.

New Spell Learned

Dreamscape (2F): Using emotions, you can shape dreams. Creates a dreamscape in the target's mind that they are fully aware of and will fully remember when they wake. The dream can have tangible effects on the target, depending on the type of dream created. Mana cost varies based on the type of dreamscape created, the caster and target's emotional connection to the dream, and the distance from the caster to the target.

Emelia smiled, knowing her dream had reached her fiance. It grew even wider when she saw the next system notification.

Quest Completed

Class Rank Up Empathic Healer E to D: Heal others 1,000/1,000 HP healed, save others 3/3, save others by influencing their emotions 1/1.

Her quest had been stuck on the condition of saving someone by influencing emotion. She had always been slightly uncomfortable with that aspect of her class and had mostly stuck to using her basic Empathic Heal spell.

Class Tier Improved

Tier 2 Class option available

Mentalist: Influence the thoughts and emotions of others, subtly manipulating them towards a desired outcome or emotional state.

Dream Shaper: Walk among the dreams of others and shape them towards a brighter future or a living nightmare.

Compassionate Healer: Compassionate healers abhor violence and death, gaining the ability to heal all those in need, be they friends or foes.

It was easy to eliminate the Mentalist class. She had been stuck on her quest because she hadn’t wanted to be overt in her usage of emotional manipulation, even for those who could benefit from it. She certainly didn’t want a class specialized in that type of ability.

The remaining two options were harder to decide between. She almost selected Dream Shaper right away, mostly because of how cool it sounded. However, as she read through the description and thought through the implications, it became less clear. She could see herself being reticent to manipulate others through their dreams, similar to how she didn’t want to manipulate others emotionally.

Ultimately, the Compassionate Healer fit her the best. It might not have been the most flashy choice, but she thought this would serve her best in the long run.

Compassionate Healer (2F)

Primary Stats/Level

Strength .05% (+.05%)

Agility .05% (+.05%)

Constitution .2% (+.05%)

Intelligence .1% (+.05%)

Willpower .25% (+.1%)

Charisma .4% (+.1%)

Secondary Stats/Level

HP .2% (+.05%)

FP .1% (+.1%)

MP .5% (+.2%)

Mana Efficiency .5% (+.15%)

Mana Regen Rate .3% (+.2%)

Emelia Fields has reached level 24 (+2) in Compassionate Healer (2F)

Emelia Fields has reached level 24 (+2) in Human (1E)

Primary Stats

Strength 106 (+1)

Agility 122 (+2)

Constitution 123 (+2)

Intelligence 120 (+2)

Willpower 131 (+4)

Charisma 150 (+5)

Secondary Stats

HP 147 (+6)

FP 166 (+10)

MP 187 (+19)

Mana Efficiency 252 (+26)

Traits Gained

Karmic Healing (2F): You gain positive karma for healing those you consider enemies. You lose karma any time you harm anyone. The mana efficiency of your healing spells is improved by a percentage equal to the square root of the amount of positive karma accumulated.

Compassion for the Suffering (2F): Improves the efficiency of your healing spells based on the suffering the target is experiencing.

Emelia was pleased with her choice, though she was disappointed that nothing immediately helped her save Imri. However, the fact that she had gained 2 levels and completed her quest using Dreamscape meant it had been effective. She used her basic Empathic Healing spell on Imri again in case it had some effect.

This time, she could feel the spell doing something, mainly due to the amount of efficiency her spell had gained. Whatever Imri was going through, he was suffering greatly. Her Compassion for the Suffering trait immensely improved her efficiency in an attempt to alleviate some of the agonies he was going through.

Seeing that her healing was having some effect, Emelia decided to push her newfound abilities to the limit. Using her Shared Burden skill, she sacrificed most of her own HP, dropping to 20% of her maximum. The agony from losing that amount of HP from one skill was nearly incomprehensible as her vision blurred and her mind reeled. She would have even pushed it further, but she was worried that getting too low on HP would harm their unborn child.

She cast another healing spell, feeling it take effect. It was about as effective as the one prior, with his suffering having lessened but her Martyr’s Empowerment also helping now. Whatever her healing spells were doing, they were helping.

Emelia continued to heal Imri. She even took out an Espeonite Crystal and continued healing until she started to get the Overchannel debuff. She prayed that her efforts would help him survive whatever ordeal he was going through.

“You are not allowed to die. Come back to us,” she whispered into his ear before she collapsed into the chair and passed out due to exhaustion.