Unlike Caspar, Yannik wasn’t a fool. Even if the latter was short and fat and often insulted by the former for being an incapable combatant, there was a difference in the role the two played in a battle.

  Caspar only sought to overwhelm his enemies with brute force, while Yannik actually strategized, using his cunning to win. And when the attack on the caravan started, Yannik had already noticed something was amiss in the way they were all able to resist this poison that was even able to incapacitate a Platinum Rank [Mithril Boar] during testing.

  Of course, that was through direct ingestion of the poison into the bloodstream— the gaseous form of the poison was far weaker. But it should have at least been able to immobilize everyone in the caravan, likely even killing them over time.

  But after staying back and observing the battle play out, he realized that the adventurers and that strange [Nun] weren’t actually able to resist the poison. It was because of that damn kid.

  That was right— the kid was some kind of [Healer] whose magic helped them resist the effects of the poison. And that was not all…

  Yannik watched as the tides of battle began to quickly turn all because of the boy. Perhaps, if Caspar weren’t a fool, he would have noticed this too and targeted the boy. Unfortunately, he was a mere simpleminded brute, and that had cost him his life.

  Not that Yannik cared about the now-dead white-haired man. In fact, this was an outcome that he preferred— no longer would he have to deal with any annoying ridiculing from such an uneducated fool.

  Instead, as Caspar got himself killed, the [Trapmaster] snuck around the fighting with his [Passive Stealth] letting him blend into the shadows. And that was when Yannik reached the boy.

  Now, with a poisoned dagger held against the neck of the [Healer] of the group, Yannik could only smirk triumphantly as he faced the four adventurers and the [Nun].

  “Drop your weapons right now!” Yannik repeated himself as they stared at him in shock.

  The few remaining bandits who were still standing grinned, realizing that this was their opportunity to win this battle. One of them— Carl— stepped forward as he swung out at the leader of the adventurers.

  “You heard him—” Carl laughed as the adventurers backed away nervously. “Throw down your arms right now, or the kid gets it!”

  The four adventurers exchanged a hesitant glance with the [Nun]. They all looked like they were slowly coming to terms with their predicament. All the while, Yannik just smirked to himself.

  “I’m giving you one final warning!” the [Trapmaster] called out as he pressed his poisoned blade against the skin of the boy’s neck. The boy just squirmed and grabbed onto Yannik’s hand to pull it away. “And stop struggling you damn brat. There’s no point— you’ll just get yourself killed.”

  It was more of a warning than a threat. If the dagger accidentally drew even a smidge of blood, its poison would seep into the boy’s body. In that instant, he would die. And Yannik didn’t want that, because he would lose his leverage.

  So he just held the boy still as the adventurers and the [Nun] slowly began to drop their weapons to the ground.

  “Alright, you’re right, I won’t struggle,” the boy whispered as he stopped squirming in place and relaxed.

  “Good, good.” Yannik nodded, before watching the [Nun] and the adventurers raised their hands, their arms thrown to the ground.

  Only then did he sigh in relief. His plan was working. Now, all they needed to do next was—

  And the boy continued, “...there’s no point in struggling if I’ll get myself killed, so I’ll just kill you instead.”

  Blinking, Yannik looked down at the boy in confusion. Before the both of them combusted into a giant ball of silver flames. The [Trapmaster]’s entire body erupted in a burning pain. He dropped to the ground, letting go of his dagger as he screamed.

  But the boy just stood there, unmoving. Even as the same silver flames consumed his body. He did not flinch. Slowly, he turned around to face Yannik who was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. As he did, the adventurers quickly picked up their weapons and resumed fighting, finishing off Carl and the other remaining bandits.

  “Y-you—” Yannik choked as he continued to burn. He stared up at the boy who just smiled down callously at him. “How?!”

  Yannik practically screamed as he was too overwhelmed with pain. The boy shrugged, still burning, but the fire coating him was now growing smaller.

  “[Sacred Flame],” he explained simply. “It burns only what I want it to. But don’t worry, it won’t be burning you for much longer—”

  And the boy stepped to the side as a figure walked past him. It was the [Nun]. She held her giant hammer on her shoulder as she stared down at the [Trapmaster].

  In response, Yannik just paled, his body growing numb in pain. He raised a hand as he opened a mouth.

  “W-wait—”

  But the [Nun] ignored his pleas as she raised her hammer and swung down in one swift motion. And then Yannik felt pain no more.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  ***

  Truth be told, while everyone else was distracted fighting and didn’t notice the fat bandit sneaking up to me, I had seen him the entire time. However, I didn’t do anything about him, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to fight back against him. Well, I could have easily dealt with him with my death magic. But not with any of the current Skills I had.

  At least, not until he got close.

  The last of my [Sacred Flame] faded away as I watched Frida step away from his corpse. It was not a Skill that was meant to be used offensively, as far as I understood it. It was more meant to cleanse impurities from wounds without actually harming the patient I was healing.

  Nevertheless, with [Basic Light Magic Control], I was able to use the Skill offensively, burning myself so that I would burn that bandit and get him off me.

  And since I was partially responsible for killing him— even if it was Frida who got the finishing blow— I was still notified of his death.

  *ding!*

  You have slain a [Human - Gold] - Additional experience is awarded for killing an enemy above your Rank!

  I knew I wasn’t going to get the full portion of experience from killing him. However, it was still a significant chunk that was going to help me level up— especially since he was a Gold Rank.

  *ding!*

  You have reached Level 9!

  +3 [Magic]

  +1 [Strength]

  +1 Free Point

  …

  *ding!*

  You have reached Level 18!

  +2 [Vitality]

  +1 Free Point

  Thanks to this battle, I gained 10 levels worth of experience. However, I knew not all of the experience was attributed to killing that Gold Rank. My support of Frida and the adventurers throughout this battle earned me a portion of that experience as well. However, it was not quantified into a notification, since it was not nearly as significant as it would have been if I had just killed the bandits myself.

  Name: Nox (Eli)

  Race: Human

  Rank: Bronze - Level 18

  Class: [Healer Of The Hearth]

  Class Skills: [Lesser Domain Of Light], [Heal], [Sacred Flame], [Basic Light Magic Control], [Boon Of Vitality]

  Titles: [Nascent Death God], [Velmond’s Blessing]

  Title Skills: [Death Magic Mastery], [Basic Blessing Of Life]

  General Skills: [Quick Dash]

  Attributes:

  [Strength: 28]

  [Speed: 36]

  [Magic: 555]

  [Vitality: 54]

  [Dexterity: 46]

  Free Points: 10

  After taking a moment to look over my updated Status, I heard a set of footsteps approaching me. I looked up and dismissed the blue boxes blocking my vision. I stared at Frida as she approached me, letting her hammer vanish into her Dimensional Storage Unit.

  “Eli…” she started, before hesitating.

  That was the first time she had ever addressed me by my name. I found that curious. I raised my brow at her as she shuffled her feet uncertainly. Behind her, the adventurers cleared out the bodies of all the dead bandits and checked up on Richard and the [Wagon Drivers].

  Everyone still remained within the sphere of my [Lesser Domain Of Light]. They still relied on it to help them resist the poison. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to cure them from the poison. So the moment I stopped healing everyone, they would succumb to its effects. Right now, all we had to do was wait for the poison to pass through their system.

  Frida must have known this. She must have realized that I was the reason why we had survived this encounter. So she bowed her head gratefully as she closed her eyes.

  “You have my thanks,” that was all she said.

  “Well, it’s only thanks to my [Poison Resistance] that I was able to react in time,” I lied as I scratched the back of my head. “And I just got lucky that I had the Skills needed to counteract the poison’s effects.”

  “But I still…” Frida started.

  However, she suddenly paused. I stared at her quizzically as her face began to look feverishly pale.

  “Sister Frida?” I blinked at her. “Are you alright?”

  She swayed where she stood as she gritted. “I-I… I’m fine—”

  The [Nun] started, before stumbling backwards. I caught her from falling to the ground. But she still dropped to a knee. She clutched at her forehead as she began to perspire profusely.

  “It…” Frida took in a deep breath, before shaking her head. She forced herself to meet my gaze. “It appears the effects of your Skill has come to an end.”

  “My Skill?” I narrowed my eyes. And then I realized what she meant. “Wait, are you talking about my [Boon Of Vitality]?”

  Frida nodded as she lowered her head. “C-correct… and now the effects of the poison in my system is now catching up to me…”

  And as the words left her mouth, I could only watch as she dropped to the ground, panting and sweating as she clutched herself tightly.

  ***

  With my abundance of mana, I was capable of keeping up my [Lesser Domain Of Light] for as long as necessary. So, after a few hours passed, the poison passed through the body of the adventurers first, and they were fully recovered. However, it took until night came for Richard and the [Wagon Drivers] to recover and be able to walk around again, since they were non-combatants.

  Most people with combat Classes, thanks to their higher [Vitality], were capable of recovering from wounds or ailments much faster than those with non-combat Classes. Not only that, but each Attribute, when raised, often only improved in a way that was specialized for the corresponding Class. So a [Warrior] with 100 [Vitality] who was trained to fight in wars would be able to withstand more injuries than a [Farmer] who had 100 [Vitality] to help him survive the harsh environment.

  Of course, that was only a general assumption, rather than a hard and fast rule. Nevertheless, that was why Richard and his [Wagon Drivers] took longer to recover than Bran and his team.

  Unfortunately, even though Frida had a combat Class and was a higher Rank than the adventurers, she still hadn’t recovered. Because not only had she been poisoned by the initial ambush, but she was further poisoned during her bout with the white-haired bandit.

  And that meant she had a lot of poison inside of her body. Her body tried to reject it— she tried to throw it up or sweat it out. However, after having thrown up a dozen times already, it was clear she couldn’t do it anymore. There was nothing left in her stomach to throw up. So all she could do was lie there and sweat excessively as she kept coughing.

  It was clear that if this kept up, she would succumb to the effects of the poison. Even if I kept healing her from any physical ailments, her body was being stressed to its limits from this. So something else had to be done to save her.

  And when we made camp that night, I made my decision.

  The bandits who made this poison had to have an antidote of sorts just in case anything happened. So I was going to find their hideout, slaughter the rest of them if there were any left, and then I was going to bring the antidote back to save her.