———————————————

  Kathleen Ravenclast

  Human Healer, level 3

  > Status [+81]

  Attack Power: 83 (F)+

  Magical Power: 35 (F)+

  Constitution: 20 (F)+

  Wisdom: 15 (F)+

  Movement Speed: 10 (F)+

  ———————————————

  Heh. Smashing that guy’s head in got me some bonus points. Still, the column of F’s reminded me of my high school days. I knew that getting them up to Rank A was paramount, but exactly how many points remained to be a mystery. I flipped through the various Plus Menu windows aimlessly. None of them revealed any detail on crossing the threshold from F to E. Perhaps 100 was what I needed to get to rank E?

  ———————————————

  > Host has increased Attack Power to 100. (Total status points remaining: 64)

  Attack Power: 100 (F)+

  ———————————————

  Well, okay then. I stared at the letter F, feeling a bit defeated and stupid. Nothing. I supposed if that Devon guy were to come back I could hit him a little bit harder. Maybe, I could get some more bonus points.

  The smell of smoke rising nearby along with something foul reached my nose. I finally pulled myself from the Plus Menu and saw an ominous blue light scarring the grey sky above us. No, I squinted at the pale anomaly. It was filtering up from behind the trees. It had to be a Rift. The guards tensed as they continued, but I followed quietly. There wasn’t much to say, but there was a lot to take in. A crackling noise rippled in the air, raking over my skin with an itchy, static sensation.

  A gated area awaited us. Behind its doors, the dim haze of campfires warded against the branching light flowing from the Rift. I realized that the rain had also stopped pouring some time ago, but the chilling feeling remained. So, this is the camp. Lovely.

  A guard suddenly poked me with the butt of his spear and pointed to a camp surrounded by several desolate figures. “Join the E ranks. Her Ladyship will deal with you later.”

  With that, I was pushed towards them. I stumbled a bit, but not a single one of them glanced my way. I liberally swept my gaze over these so-called E ranks. The crackling blue light clashed with the sad little campfire waning in the middle of them.

  Ah, these are my kinds of people. Miserable. Dejected. Each one exuded an air that repelled people from getting close to them. All except one of them, who seemed like she was praying. I stood off to the side, dismissing the Plus Menu notifications listing who they were.

  “You there,” a quiet voice came from beside me. The praying girl was looking at me with surprisingly bright eyes. Innocent. Gross. I shifted my attention away from her, looking every part of the rest of the miserable crowd. “That staff— You’re a Healer, aren’t you?”

  I instinctively glanced at the bloodstained stick in my hands. The [Healer’s Warped Staff] tag attached to it looked back at me. I nodded, cursing my inability to hold a basic conversation with others. Otherwise, I would tell her to stop bothering me.

  Instead of a signature Ravenclast look of mockery, a flash of relief washed over the girl’s face. Her voice barely carried over the crackling energy zapping the air in the distance.

  “That’s good, that’s good,” she said. “We need someone like you for this upcoming test.”

  “Someone like her?” A man scoffed. He had a pair of cute daggers strapped to his side. That’s all he has? Boring. A Human Rogue class, I skimmed over one of the windows in the Plus Menu and surmised that it was this guy. “A Healer at our level? So she could prolong our suffering just a bit more? Don’t be so naive— we’re all good as dead anyways.”

  He laughed bitterly to himself, falling quiet as he tossed a twig into the fire.

  “Ignore him,” the girl whispered, as if she was comforting me.

  I didn’t take offense to the rogue, partly because I figured he was being realistic. I simply removed him from the list of people to heal first should he go down. That is if I could heal people in the first place. I finally really took a look at the praying girl.

  She was around my height and slim. Grime clung to her cheeks and clumped her hair up into twisted knots, but her eyes were a pale peach colour instead of the usual red ones like the rest of us. She sensed my inspection and looked apologetic for some reason.

  “Right, forgot my introductions. My name… Is Leah. I’m a Knight Hunter, by Emily’s Rite. I am thankfully blessed with Her Ladyship’s power.”

  Rite? Could that possibly mean that Emily was also a Consort of the Bearer? Gross. I checked her Status in my Plus Menu. Sure enough, she was Leah Ravenclast, a lowly level 2 Human Knight. My confused face must have seemed more like disdain, because she quickly waved her hands at me in protest.

  “We all are blessed by the Bearer’s blood. As Hunters, we will get stronger. By sticking together.”

  “Kathleen,” I managed to squeeze out.

  What an enthusiastic girl, I thought to myself. I was not sure how to feel about such a pitiful soul here. But I’d rather worry for myself. Somehow I was still alive in this world, despite nearly getting killed by the Main Family member in charge of this group of misfits, accidentally murdering a Cult asset and most likely putting all of my Status points into the wrong attributes.

  I considered that I was left mostly alone by Lady Emily because I was such an anomaly. She seemed to have changed her personality completely since we first met, from a spoiled princess of ice to someone concentrated on a goal of some kind. My goal, however, could use some intel.

  “So, Leah,” I croaked. I chose my words wisely based on what I’ve heard about the mysterious Rifts of this world. “Have you gone into one of those before?”

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  I gestured over to the blue haze. Night had completely taken over this camp, but at least the rain had dissipated. The newbie knight stiffened, so the answer was no.

  “We’re all called to serve the House here first,” Leah stated. Her faith in this so-called Noble House was a tad overwhelming for me. “But with the Hero and his Hunters clearing the way, we will be tasked with gathering what we can behind them.”

  “I see,” I mused. So, at least the House wasn’t going to throw us away immediately. At least they were somewhat smart in using us grunts by that regard. I glanced over my three fellow E-ranked, Menial friends’ bios in the Plus Menu.

  First, there was Leah, the optimistic Knight, who stood in prayer at a cute level 2. Her hands were clasped over a small stone pendant with the Ravenclast emblem engraved on it in reverence. The Cadet Family band displayed prominently on her wrist.

  Then there was Kieron, the pessimistic Rogue, a man with a grim expression on his face. His level was 3, but I still hadn’t figured out what made him a Rank E when he matched my batch’s levels. It had to be related to the blood drinking ritual. Unlike Leah, his Cadet Family band was tucked beneath his sleeve, but was still exposed for all to see.

  And lastly, there was Regis, the silent Fighter sitting on a bench, who simply pulled his cap on his head tighter and avoided my gaze. He seemed jumpy, but I assumed it was because he was also level 2. His uniform was more layered, or perhaps it was oversized. I couldn’t tell, nor did I really give him a second look.

  Two brutes with swords made our little party’s front line. Then the rogue had his head bowed slightly and knives made up the back line along with me, the girl with a stick. If all hell broke loose in the Rift, I could always put my points in Movement Speed to run away. But if I ran, where would I go? I supposed I had to play it by ear and invest the status points on the fly.

  “There you are, sister!” A harsh laughter broke our little brooding session. It was Eric. “Lurking in the dirt with these… Low ranked scum where you belong.”

  I looked at the annoying fly, then noticed he wasn’t alone. The human blob, Kevin, was also standing next to him, laughing at my dear Brother’s jeering. Leah looked like she was upset, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t see the point in wasting my breath on him.

  Kevin’s multiple chins morphed into his fat face as he twisted it into a grin. “I’ve been hearing so much about your little sister, Eric. How much of a failure you have been.”

  “I hear you’re under Her Ladyship’s command,” Eric tag-teamed me. I shrugged, glancing at my staff, which still had our older Bro’s blood on it. He shrank, but couldn’t resist another jab. “A Lady like her deserves such trash like you, sis.”

  “Don’t you dare speak ill of Her Ladyship,” Leah hissed.

  She moved to retaliate against Eric with her sword drawn, presumably for the Face Slapper’s honor or something, but was shoved hard to the ground. A shrill laughter erupted as a new challenger approached.

  It was my sister, Tiffany. She had regained her former arrogance and gave the optimistic bird a good kick in the side. She also still held a grudge, so I supposed the fallen Knight served as her outlet. Leah yelped, but was silenced by the butt end of Tiffany’s spear.

  “Idiot,” Regis groaned. That was the first thing the fighter bothered to say.

  I moved to back Leah up. I was ready to start trying my new and slightly improved Attack Power on Tiffany, but she retreated back behind Kevin. The blob was level 5, so I hesitated. Eric spat and returned to his usual self.

  “Lord Ethan is the Leader for this Rift, so you’ll do well to not cause trouble, little sister,” Eric showered me with fake brotherly concern. “It’s not like trash like you will survive long in the Rift anyways.”

  With that, he turned on his heels and left us. I knelt down next to the fallen Leah, who was gasping and spitting some blood out of her mouth. She still clutched the little pendant in her hands as she struggled. A snort of laughter came from the campfire.

  “Well?” Kieron laughed. His wheezing was laced with sarcasm and defeat. “Go on, Healer. See what your E-ranked abilities can do about our little leader.”

  Right, I stood up. I’m a healer, after all.

  I looked inward again, once again drawing that white room and massive blue orb of mana in my head again. The rush of magic flowed into me, like a cold breeze. Well, what do I do with you? I questioned the big ball. I felt my world darken until it was only me and it, concentrating on any changes in the nebulous magical energy. Something flickered as I tried to zoom into it with my mind. A tendril? Could my staff interact with this sudden change?

  Regis’s snickers fell silent. He must have been witnessing the Core forming underneath my chest as I attempted to tap into the [Healer’s Warped Staff], aiming it at Leah.

  I prepared myself as a tendril of it shot out of the massive orb of magic within me, but at the same time a jolt of pain seized my wrist. My eyes opened in a panic, my concentration shattered. My hand’s bones felt like a boot stomped on them. When I opened my eyes, I realized I dropped the stupid stick and my Core was gone. I flicked my hands instinctively, and the infuriating ding of the Plus Menu played in my head, hitting me with the bad news.

  ———————————————

  — Basic Healing [Tier 1] Spell failed. Invalid target.

  ———————————————

  What do you mean invalid target? I raged in my head, though outwardly my hands stung. It’s bad enough that there’s no health bars or anything helpful for me to assess the damage on people. But surely something like bleeding from a hit would count for my Basic Healing, right? Apparently not. The Plus Menu did not elaborate on the specifics of the cast either, only telling me I didn’t have a valid target.

  Kieron’s laugh came back, mocking my attempt while lamenting at how powerless we were as a unit. The silent Fighter whose name I had already forgotten about looked disappointed, but returned to his little world. I stood there with a strange feeling over the nature of my Healer Class. Mainly, questions that I knew would go unanswered.

  I have the thing that is supposed to heal injuries, and I have the Status telling me that I am supposed to be healing. But what if humans aren’t the ones I’m supposed to be healing? A knot formed in my stomach, but I dismissed it.

  Leah smiled weakly at me. “Don’t worry about me, Kathleen. Help me sit up, won’t you?”

  I glanced at her hands, which still held the pendant like it was a holy cross and groaned. Were they fused together or something? Still, I obliged. I needed more meat shields in this party. Leah’s frame was lighter than I thought. I easily lifted her up so she could sit.

  “Turn me away from them,” she whispered to me.

  I gave her a look, but did as she requested. In a quick movement, her hand shot into an inner pocket. She withdrew something from it and brought it to her mouth before returning to it. The action was so swift that no one noticed besides me. A [Lesser Potion] tag flashed in my Plus Menu’s notifications.

  Well, well, well, I mused. The happy bird has some tricks up her sleeves after all. And she trusted me enough to reveal one of them. Leah looked at me meekly, then reached out a hand to me. She was asking me with her eyes to play along and help her up. I could appreciate a clever trick from a sweet thing, so I took it. A vague understanding came between us.

  Regis went back to being quiet again, seemingly disappointed that Leah could stand again. Our quiet drama didn’t last long, and I didn’t mind at all. We each could return to our own nervous worlds, as if the rattle of Kevin and his gang never happened.

  Just when I was about to open my Plus Menu, an ear-splitting roar rumbled the forest. I covered my ears, but then a brilliant light pulsed from the direction of the Rift and nearly blinded me. Everyone’s sulking evaporated as we looked towards the source as the initial wave of commotion subsided.

  That’s the Rift? I gazed at it in amazement. The buzzing hum emanating from it became more energetic, crackling with pops and shooting out short magical bolts that shrieked when they fizzled out. The top of a massive blue portal towered over the tree line; its light blasted through the trees surrounding this “camp.”

  Several shouts rang out, but were drowned out by the magical currents shooting out and the stomping movements of Hunters. Beams of its light flashed through their bustling silhouettes and tree branches like strobe lights. It didn’t take long for Emily’s scowling guards to finally come to us. They didn’t need words— we were already on our feet to follow them to the edge of the Rift’s entrance.