Touch of Fate

Chapter 8: Still Counts as Winning

Once again, Mike wondered if perhaps he was cursed with misfortune in his new life. Here he was for the second time in the same day, face to face with the same primordial predator. He could even see the bullet holes still marring its hide. Sadly, this time he was lying on the ground, directly under the creature's jaws. With escape hopeless, he resigned himself to another death. He felt strangely at peace with it. After the horror of the Anhilites, being eaten by a giant carnivore didn't seem so bad.

"Well, you got me. It was a short day of life, but I got a second chance where I didn't expect one, so I can't complain." Mike smiled ruefully up at the dinosaur. "If you can do me a favor and kill the rest of those evil bastards after eating me, I can die without regret."

The beast cocked its head while looking down at Mike, seemingly confused by what he had said. After a moment's pause it opened its jaws a let out a deafening roar. For the first time since the fighting had started, silence descended on the forest, all of the combatants turning to look at the new arrival.

The dinosaur lifted one of its massive, three-toed feet and, much to Mike's surprise, carefully stepped over him. With a speed belying its size, the creature smashed into a group of Anhilites and started tearing them apart with ferocious abandon. Mike could only watch with astonishment as the beast wrecked havoc on the ragged bunch, who, despite their best efforts

Not long after, the man with carved out cheeks spoke calmly in disturbingly wet and raspy voice. While not particularly loud, his words could, somehow, be heard over the general confusion. "Retreat brothers and sisters. The time for our ascension is not yet here."

Almost as one, the Anhilites scattered in dozens of directions, escaping into the woods. The sickening voice continued. "Know this, Bear of Arn Mountain. Today is not a victory for you, merely a delay in your inevitable demise. Soon you and all of the pathetic Greenlanders will know the embrace of Anhilus." With that said the scarred man turned and vanished into the trees.

The dinosaur chased them just long enough to grab another of the ragged bunch and end his life with a sickening crunch of jaws, before turning and lumbering back towards Mike.

"Whoa there buddy! Stop! I was just joking about eating me. I'm pretty sure I taste terrible." Mike said while holding out his hands in a futile effort to stop the large creature. Surprisingly it did stop and once again gave Mike a strange, confused look.

[Can it understand me?] Mike thought in amazement. [It seems to be acting like it got the intent of my words.]

After a few moments observing Mike, the creature gave a surprisingly dog-like huff before turning and stalking off into the woods. Figuring that investigating this strange phenomena should take back seat to dealing with the fallout of the ambush, Mike headed over to a knot of Order survivors. He could see an injured Beorn attempting to brings some order out of the chaos. Kaya and three other Order members were still upright in the area looking after a handful of wounded who were unable to stand. Most of these were moaning in obvious pain. As he approached the group, Beorn turned to look and his grim features softened somewhat.

"Its good to see you alive lad. We lost track of you in the chaos, and I was sure you had gotten yourself killed somehow." The large bearded man looked around the group, and a weary sigh escaped his lips. "I don't suppose you happen to know any healing magic, do you lad? I know you lost your memories, but if we want to save any of this bunch, they'll need a healer's attention soon."

Mike was about to voice a negative response, when he noticed Morris among the more seriously wounded Order members. He had lost his left arm and taken a large gash across the chest. Although a tourniquet had been applied to his arm, he was quickly losing a lot of blood. Recalling what medical knowledge he could remember from various books and TV shows, he felt that Morris didn't have long to live. Not wanting to give up on the friendly young man, Mike decided to give it a try. Besides, its not as if he could make it worse at this point. [If I can acquire a skill for healing magic, even if the effect isn't particularly powerful, I should be able to help.]

"I'm not sure to be honest, but I'll give it a try." Mike said while walking over to Morris. So focused was he on his task, he completely missed the flash of surprise that crossed Beorn's face.

He knelt down, placing a hand on the wounded man's chest, before closing his eyes and concentrating. [Just imagine the effect and will it to take place.] He thought to himself, recalling Morris's instructions earlier that day. Bits and pieces of medical trivia flashed through his mind as he tried picturing the cells of Morris's body replicating and forming scar tissue. After a few moments, he was just about to give up, when he noticed a strange feeling of weakness spreading through him. Some kind of energy seemed to be pulled from the core of his body out through his arm into Morris. He heard a few gasps from people around him, and opened his eyes.

A soft, white glow now covered his hand, and he watched with amazement as Morris's wounds not only stopped bleeding, but started to close. When the long gaping chest wound began to look like a long pink scar, Beorn placed a hand on Mike's shoulder.

"That's enough lad. He'll live now. Save your mana for the rest of the wounded." He said while gesturing to the other four still laying on the ground.

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Although he was feeling a strange weariness, Mike started healing them. Each time he used the new magic, he grew progressively more exhausted. Beorn followed along and let him know when his efforts had proved sufficient to stave off death. By the third Order member, he was having trouble keeping his eyes open and felt like he would collapse at a moment's notice. On the fourth, a man who had taken a broken spear shaft to the stomach, he could only heal for a few short moments before his strength finally gave out. He collapsed, darkness swiftly closing in on him. The last thing he heard before falling unconscious was Beorn's words.

"The lads out of mana, but it looks like he's done it. He'll be out for a while, but we need to get a move on. You two start..." Mike didn't catch the rest as oblivion swallowed him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mike awoke with a start. Looking around, he saw that he was lying on a bed next to the wounded Order members in a simple stone room. The darkness of the room was alleviated by a lit fireplace in one corner of the room.

He winced in pain from a sudden onset headache, before lying back down. Looking up at the ceiling, he couldn't help but recall the horrors of the battlefield he witnessed. Shivering slightly to himself at the memory of a hot, hungry voice in his ear, he pledged that never again would he be that helpless.

Feeling increasingly exhausted again, he forced himself to stay awake just long enough to review his [Status] sheet and see the changes. After seeing that there are a number of things he will have to look into once he had the time, he rolled over onto his side and drifted off to sleep.

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[Status]

Michael Rasmussen

Race: Human

Age: 15

Class: Skill Master

Title: None

Multiverse Traveler

Blessed One

Hunter of Renown

Battlefield Healer (NEW)

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Skills

Primary Skills:

Communication Magic (Rank 2) (LEVEL UP)

Basic Healing Magic (Rank 1) (NEW)

Inspect (Rank 1) (NEW)

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Secondary Skills:

Lifestyle Magic (Rank 0)

Running (Rank 1)

Basic Evasion (Rank 2) (LEVEL UP)

Basic Dagger Fighting (Rank 1) (NEW)

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Passive Skills:

Basic Fear Resistance (Rank 1) (NEW)

Minor Mana Enhancement (Rank 1) (NEW)

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Inherent Skills:

Traveler's Luck

Fate-Touched

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- Battlefield Healer -

You are a practitioner that threads the line between life and death on the battlefield. By virtue of your healing prowess lives are spared. Minor increase to healing effectiveness on combat injuries. Minor increase to mana efficiency when healing.

- Communication Magic (Tier 3, Rank 2) -

A branch of magic derived from the Words of Creation, Communication Magic embodies the ability of living beings to exchange information with one another. Practitioners are granted an increased ability to communicate with other beings. Masters of this form of magic can use language to influence the world itself.

- Rank 2 effects: Primal Heart, Biting Words -

- Primal Heart -

Although not in the realm of true communication, practitioners of Communication Magic are able to make their feelings and desires known to creatures without a true language. Enables one-way communication with non-sentient animals and magical beasts. The effects of Weighted Words are drastically enhanced when used on beings listed above.

- Biting Words -

A practitioner of Communication Magic can humble even the greatest of heroes with a single sentence. Using insults as their weapon, practitioners strike at the most vulnerable part of person: the ego. Able to use simple words to cause minor physical damage in those effected.

- Basic Healing Magic (Tier 2, Rank 1) -

The most elementary form of True Healing Magic. By channeling pure mana into the bodies of the injured, practitioners of Basic Healing Magic can stimulate natural healing processes. Due to this, it cannot be used to cure any condition the body would not normally be able to recover from without sufficient time. Higher skill ranks allow for the healing of more severe injuries and lowers the overall mana cost of healing.

- Basic Evasion (Tier 1, Rank 2) -

The art of not getting hit. Minor increase to Agility when seeking to evade blows and potential hazards. Agility gain determined by skill rank.

- Basic Dagger Fighting (Tier 1, Rank 1) -

The most rudimentary skill of the Dagger Fighting tree. Provides users with fundamental understanding of using daggers and other small bladed weapons in combat.

- Basic Fear Resistance (Tier 1, Rank 1) -

Due to long and repeated exposure to terrifying circumstances, the user of this skill has developed a basic tolerance for fear. This skill increases the ability to resist the effects of fear and maintain usual mental function in the face of terror.

- Minor Mana Enhancement (Tier 1, Rank 1) -

The user of this skill has a larger mana pool than others. Minor increase to Mana capacity.