Charlie was excited! He had returned to his practice after the others left, there wasn’t much to do with Billy focused on his dog and the girl, Sarah, sleeping on some cardboard. Still he kept going through the motions, copying the system directed actions and feeling something slowly shifting, settling into place.

  Then it happened, this time when he went through the motions for what must have been the thousandth time there was a whoosh and a flare of light as flames burst forward splashing into the grass in front of his extended hand.

  He had done it! Throwing his hands in the air he shouted “Light IT UP!” Then he cast again the flash of fire more coherent.

  Before he could cast again he paused, was that the sound of engines? He smiled already planning his big reveal.

  Katie's breathing came in shallow, irregular gasps that made David's chest tight with fear. Mark was with her in the back as he drove as close as he could before killing the engine. They piled out desperate to get Katie out of the car without jostling her.

  "She keeps drifting," Mark said, his surprisingly deep voice cracking. "I can't keep her awake."

  They ignored Charlie's excited babbling about fire magic and scorched grass as they rushed around the car. David barely registered the words “first spell”. Mark was already opening the passenger door, his face gray with barely controlled panic.

  The bandage wrapped around Katie's shoulder and back had gone from concerning to terrifying. Red had soaked through the makeshift dressing in an expanding stain that spoke of continuous bleeding. Her skin looked waxy, pale in a way that made David's stomach lurch.

  Camila was out of her car seconds later, having almost hit them when she came through the barrier to see they had parked, path blocked by a movable bollard. She came rushing over with the kind of focused intensity David had seen her use to take charge before. But even her determined expression wavered when she saw Katie's condition.

  "Madre de Dios," she whispered.

  Charlie's celebration died completely. "Oh God. What happened? Is Katie okay? Oh God."

  His eyes went distant in that way David now recognized meant someone was accessing their system interface. Good. At least the kid was thinking.

  David's analytical mind kicked into overdrive even as his heart hammered against his ribs. Katie needed help. Real help. The kind that didn't exist anymore in hospitals staffed by the sleeping and the dead or worse.

  The obelisk stood thirty yards away, pulsing with that steady background hum of mana. They were in a safe zone. Protected. But protection didn't mean healing.

  Unless it did.

  "Help!" Charlie suddenly shouted, his voice sharp with desperation. "How do we heal wounds with the system?"

  David's mind made the connection instantly. The help function. Of course. They'd been using it for information all day, but healing was information too. Just applied differently.

  "Touch the obelisk!" David yelled as he sprinted toward the stone monument. "You have no idea how much mana this will cost!"

  He reached the carved surface and pressed his palm against it, feeling the familiar cool texture under his skin. His mana reserves were already recovering from earlier use, but nowhere near full. This was going to hurt.

  David focused his intent and spoke the question carefully. "There is a wounded system user with the stamina resource and nobody with helpful skills nearby. What is the fastest way to heal her injuries?"

  The response hit him like a physical blow. Mana drained out of his body in a rush that left him gasping, that hollow exhaustion flooding through his chest and limbs. His vision swam for a moment as the information poured in, strangely intimate as his system was provided the answer. Almost like an internet search he thought absently.

  Multiple options presented themselves, branching pathways of possibility filtered through his consciousness. Most required skills they didn't have, patrons they hadn't established, because of course the system was pushing patrons right now…

  But there was one option. Expensive, inefficient, but available right now.

  The obelisk itself could facilitate healing. Direct intervention, burning through resources at a terrible exchange rate. It would work, but the cost would be substantial.

  David pulled his hand away and staggered back, breathing hard. Charlie stood beside him, equally drained.

  "The obelisk has a healing function," David managed. "We need to get Katie in contact with it and use resources to heal her."

  Mark and Camila reacted immediately, moving together with the synchronization of people who'd trained as a team. They lifted Katie carefully, supporting her between them as they carried her toward the stone monument.

  David's mind was already racing ahead, processing implications. "It's inefficient," he added, "but it's something. Get her touching it while I look for something better."

  His analytical brain kicked into high gear, organizing the information he'd received. There had to be optimizations. Ways to reduce the cost or increase the effectiveness.

  He pressed his hand back against the obelisk, ignoring the way his body protested at the renewed mana drain. "What resources can heal a wounded system user most efficiently?"

  The answer crystallized with painful clarity. Obvious now he saw it; Health. The resource they'd all dismissed as boring during character creation. This was exactly what it was for and it blew the efficiency of everything else out of the water.

  Suddenly that was the difference between life and death.

  Katie's stamina could be converted to healing through the obelisk, hell even their magic or stamina could be used but the exchange got even worse. Like trying to use a gun to dig a hole rather than a shovel. It would work, technically, but burn through energy at an absurd rate.

  Health was optimized for exactly this purpose. He understood that even with just the right attribute it would fix you. Every point spent would go directly to repairing damage, knitting flesh, stopping bleeding.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  But Katie didn't have Health. She'd chosen stamina like most of them, drawn to its immediate physical benefits.

  Unless she could get it now.

  David pulled away again, the hollow feeling in his chest deepening. He was running on fumes, mana-wise. One more question, maybe two, and he'd be completely tapped out.

  "Mark!" David called out. "Did Katie spend all her banked experience? Or does she still have points available?"

  Mark pressed Katie's hand against the obelisk, leaning close to speak into her ear. "Babe? Katie? I need you to focus for me."

  Katie's eyes fluttered open, confused and distant. "Mark? What's happening?"

  "You're hurt, but we can fix it. I need you to check your system. Do you still have experience available? The points you got for completing the quest?"

  Her gaze went unfocused in that telltale way. After a moment that felt like an eternity, she nodded weakly. "Two hundred points. I was saving them."

  Relief and new pressure hit David simultaneously. She had the resources. But what he was about to suggest meant asking Katie to endure more pain, more struggle, when she was already suffering.

  His analyst brain presented the logic coldly. No commitment, inefficient healing could work here and now but given how little they had in terms of resources would it even be enough? Optimal healing would give her tools for the future. It would also lock her into a path and required her active participation while wounded.

  Camila caught his expression. "What? What is it?"

  "If Katie can buy Health as a resource right now, the healing will be much faster. Much cheaper in terms of mana cost." David's voice came out steadier than he felt. "Even better, if she can afford to get a related attribute and manages the healing process herself, it'll probably even count as training toward a self-healing skill."

  Mark's face twisted with conflict. His medical training warred with the desire to end Katie's suffering immediately. "That means making her stay conscious through this. Making her work while she's bleeding."

  "I know." David met his eyes. "But in this world, having a healing skill might keep her alive next time."

  The unspoken truth hung between them. There would be a next time. More violence, more injury, more desperate moments where conventional medicine wasn't available.

  Mark turned back to Katie, his voice gentle despite the urgency. "Babe, I need you to do something for me. It's going to be hard, but it'll help you heal faster."

  Katie's eyes struggled to focus on his face. "What?"

  "You need to buy Health. Add it to your system. Then you need to direct it toward healing yourself." He stroked her hair, voice breaking slightly. "I know you're tired. I know it hurts. But you can do this."

  "I don't understand." Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "Everything hurts, Mark."

  Camila knelt beside them, taking Katie's free hand. "You can do this. We're right here. Just follow the system prompts, like when you first woke up. Buy Health, then ask it to help you heal."

  Katie's breathing hitched, but she nodded weakly. Her eyes went distant again.

  David watched, his own exhaustion making the world feel slightly unreal. The background hum of mana seemed to shift, the frequency changing in subtle ways only his attuned hearing could detect.

  Katie's body suddenly tensed. A soft gasp escaped her lips.

  "What's happening?" Mark's voice carried barely restrained panic.

  "The mana," David said quietly. "It's flowing differently. She's doing it."

  He could hear it now, that strange buzzing undertone that seemed to follow magical workings. But this was different from his Halt spell or Charlie's fire manipulation. This was internal, intimate, mana flowing through Katie's system to knit flesh and restore function.

  They waited as Katie sat and started breathing hard, almost like she was running. As the minutes ticked by Mark couldn’t take it any more. “Is it working? Tell me it's working. Babe can you hear me?”

  David mutely pointed to the blood stain on her bandage. It had stopped spreading. Even as he did her breathing began to slow, calm down though she remained locked in that distant pose they were all quickly associating with engaging with ones system or the obelisk.

  Color returned to Katie's face in a visible wave, like watching time-lapse photography of a flower blooming. Her breathing deepened again, steadied, lost that sense of struggle that had terrified them all.

  It took more minutes. Long, agonizing minutes where David counted his own heartbeats and wondered if they'd made the right choice. If pushing Katie to participate in her own healing was wisdom or cruelty.

  Then Katie opened her eyes. Truly opened them, with awareness and presence instead of that distant, fading consciousness.

  "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, thank you."

  Mark pulled her into a careful embrace, his shoulders shaking with relief. Camila joined them, all three crying together in a tangle of gratitude and released tension.

  Katie looked past them to where Charlie and David stood, her face streaked with tears. Her lips formed the words again, silent this time but no less sincere. *Thank you.*

  David felt something crack in his chest. Not breaking, but opening. The emotional wall he'd maintained throughout the day, the analytical distance that let him function through horror and violence, developed a fissure.

  They'd saved her. Actually saved her. Magic had worked. The system had delivered on its promises, even if the cost was steep.

  He checked his status with a thought, wincing at what he saw.

  **[MAGIC: 12%]**

  Nearly empty. He'd burned through most of his mana reserves asking questions, optimizing the solution, making sure they didn't waste resources or miss opportunities.

  Worth it. Absolutely worth it.

  Charlie moved closer, his voice subdued. "Man, that was intense. I got excited about fire magic while she was dying. I'm such an idiot."

  "You helped," David said. "You thought to ask about healing. That's what mattered."

  Camila extracted herself from the group hug and stood, wiping her eyes. When she looked at David, her expression carried new respect mixed with something else. Recognition, maybe. Or trust earned through crisis.

  "You knew exactly what to ask," she said. "How to make it work. Thank you."

  David shrugged uncomfortably. "Just applying logic to a weird situation."

  "No." Camila's voice was firm. "You saved her life. Own that."

  Mark helped Katie sit up slowly, checking her vitals with practiced hands. Her pulse was strong now, her breathing normal. The bandage would need changing, stained red but she was out of the woods.

  "How do you feel?" Mark asked.

  Katie considered the question, her brow furrowing. "Tired. Really tired. But not hurt anymore. Not the same way." She touched her shoulder experimentally. "It's like the wound is still there, but old. An ache rather than stabbing pain. I think it’s still fixing itself but slow now that it’s sealed. Does that make sense?"

  "Perfect sense," David said. "Health is a resource not an infinite wellspring. Your body is repairing itself using mana instead of just natural processes."

  The implications were staggering. Injuries that would take weeks to heal naturally, recovered in minutes. Infections prevented, complications avoided, all through directed mana application.

  If they could master this, truly understand how to use the system's healing functions, they'd have an advantage that transcended mere survival. They could actually thrive.

  But the cost in resources was real. Katie looked exhausted in a way that went beyond physical fatigue. Her reserves had to be nearly empty after sustaining that level of healing.

  "You should rest," Mark said. "We've got sleeping bags, blankets. You need to recover."

  Katie nodded, but her eyes were already scanning the park. "Where's Carl? And where's Sarah?"

  The question brought David back to immediate reality. Carl had split off to get his own supplies. Sarah still lay unconscious near the obelisk, waiting to wake up naturally.

  And beyond the barrier of light, the city stretched silent and dangerous. Full of people transforming into monsters, the dead rising with alien intelligence, a thousand hidden horrors waiting to emerge.

  They'd won this battle. Saved Katie. Proven that the system could help them survive.

  But the war was just beginning, and night was coming fast.

  David looked at the pillar of light stretching into the sky, then at his exhausted companions. They needed rest, needed to process everything that had happened. Needed to figure out their next move.

  But first, they needed to understand what they'd just learned. About resources, about healing, about the true cost of survival in this new world.

  His analyst brain was already working through the implications, building frameworks and models. But for once, David let himself feel the victory before planning the next crisis.

  Katie was alive. That was enough for now.