Chapter 81

  Piercing The Veil

  Sadly, it wasn’t until my third night while being dressed up as an embodiment of death that I truly saw past the glam and glitz of the stage.

  Being my third day in a row, I began looking beyond just the competitors who were all hoping and vying for a chance at fame and fortune, when I was finally able to take in the venue itself. The venue was old, as dust seemed to coat every high surface. While the floors and walls were mostly clear, the lights and projectors had a layer of dust on them that seemed to add a murky film to everything.

  “Healer,” a robed female fighter wearing little more than a durable swimming suit bowed to me. For a moment I wondered why they wore the robe, but then realized that the robe likely allowed them to keep some form of heat and modesty in the crowded backstage.

  She wasn’t the only one wishing to curry favor, for now there were more people trying to come over and at least nod in a form of greeting. Yesterday, I had mostly been left alone, but today it seemed that everyone was more than ready to come over and interact with me.

  I was not idle during this time. For I used every second to keep my newly evolved Divine Sight activated, running it and letting my Class’s ability allow for the use of healing mana to continue to empower my Divine Sight.

  However there was a catch, for I did feel a strain on my core, particularly when I used my Class based Skill Golden Life Ratio Mana Regeneration* to regenerate my mana. There was a strain, but not as much as it was the first time when I tried using two Skills that required different affinities to be run simultaneously. This was good, as it likely meant I was getting better, the way one would expect when using an old set of muscles in a new way. That or, I was about to break myself completely, but seeing as Madame Bloom had not given any indication that I was doing things wrong, or disastrous.

  In fact, that was the odd thing about Madame Bloom. I almost expected her to be a more hands on kind of mentor, but in reality, she was the exact opposite. Only stepping in when it came to spending my finances to help me have a better future. Also, I did not miss the fact that thanks to her, I now knew I could reach out to Mr. Yohan Smoulder any time that I had a Rare Skill or lower needing to be Badged. That type of connection alone would be invaluable.

  That said, looking around the room, I realized one thing. Well, actually I realized multiple things. The first was that while my veil might block most people from being able to view my face, my golden glowing eyes were easily seen.

  The second thing I noticed was that demons, or those who have been determined to be half demons as Mr. Yi called himself have a physical reaction towards being seen. I noticed as Mr. Yi always seemed to have a sudden chill whenever I looked his way, with my Divine Sight activated.

  However, he wasn’t the only one. As it seemed that realm, this theater was a haven for so called half breeds, or people who are of half demonic descent. Looking around, I saw many of the regulars all bearing signs of being partial demons. Mathias the Mountain, aka Mousey’s uncle was one such being. Though his body looked to be different from Mr. Yi, as he did not have the tale tell dark eyes, or the protruding veins. That said, he did have a slight discoloration, one that seemed to be shielded by a veiling Skill of some kind. Seeing his large and intimidating form, I suddenly understood why he was so much more imposing than Mousey was. Even Sal, the ringleader of this whole event seemed to have signs as lacked the dark eyes, though his skin was paler and his fingers seemed to end in a claw like hooks that were hidden by white gloves.

  Worse, everyone I saw like this, could somehow instinctively sense the direction of the stare. Not only were they given a physical reaction by the sudden chills that ran down their body, but they all seemed to stare in my direction after feeling the chills. Fortunately, everyone who felt my gaze upon them in such a revealing way just nodded. A benefit of my being a healer who had already interacted with all of them prior. I also made sure to wave at them, particularly the ones I was already acquainted with. As for the new people, I made sure to greet them with a friendly wave and try to appear unintimidating. Well as unintimidating as a person wearing an all black healer’s cloak and veiling could appear.

  Fortunately, they either heard of me, or knew to avoid causing trouble with the healers as those that I was unacquainted with just glowered or otherwise moved. Still, it was clear that many who were here, were seemingly forced here out of a sense of survival, or worse.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I honestly didn’t know, and I had so many questions forming that I found it hard to quell my thoughts. Fortunately, I was already dedicated to the role of the mute healer, which prevented me from outright asking any questions. Also, Mr. Yi was here, and while some might have been annoyed that I was able to see through their masking abilities, all it took was one look from Mr. Yi to let them all realize that Mr. Yi was far more than anyone who might object to my stares could handle.

  After a while, Markan was the one to offer some helpful insights for me.

  “As you can see, part of why people come here is to earn enough money to buy a cure.”

  Hearing his words, my mind raced with thoughts, a cure for what? Did that mean that not everything that I was seeing was actually a true union of a human and demon? If so, then what could cause these minor variations that seem to be similar to, but entirely different from what Mr. Yi is afflicted with.

  Knowing that I was committed to this role of being a mute Healer, I gave a two-finger rolling gesture, all but demanding him to continue with his explanation. Seeing my response, Markan just smirked widely.

  “I was told you’d be interested,” Markan began but then just stared at me through my veil and continued. “All I can say for certain is that direct interaction with demons or certain events can lead to the type of scarring that you are seeing.”

  There was a slight pause before he continued, “I was also told that when you were motivated enough, you would find the answer to these questions and more on your own.”

  At his comment I felt somehow angered by the dismissive nature of the comments being posed. Then looking down at my golden insignia on my robe, signifying that I was here as a representative of the Bloom family. Markan just nodded at my gesture.

  After that confirmation, Markan gave me a knowing wink and turned his back to me so he could continue to scan for threats. Meanwhile, I was given something deeper to contemplate, namely how could just being exposed to certain chemicals first begin a clear scarring process. Then second, how can everyone who has been exposed to these scarring chemicals be able to mask their blemishes so uniformly. It almost seemed like it was a Skill of some kind.

  At the thought of the obfuscation being a Skill, I wondered if I too could learn the same Skill, one that would allow me to hide part of my Skin from others. I Assumed it was like any other Skill where I could learn it by observing. Then after a few seconds of trying to understand the Skill and see how it worked, I was met with an interesting system prompt.

  Seeing the notification, I paused as I tried to understand where the exposure came from. Only after a few seconds did I recall the ambush in the woods from a few days ago, which I guess is when I was exposed to the Necrotic Elements. Then the fact that I managed to remove everything before necrotic scarring took place is apparently why I can’t learn the Skill? I guess it makes sense as the Skill is used to hide signs of necrosis.

  With these thoughts and more, I began to lose track of time as I continued to glance around aimlessly with my Divine Sight, knowing that it would level up faster the more new places I looked. That’s when disaster struck.

  Or at least what I felt to be disaster, for Lucia and Luna chose that exact moment to come out and usher me to the ring. There was just one problem, with my Divine Sight still active, I felt my gaze piercing through the veil of deception and seeing the raw injuries that Lucia and Luna both suffered.

  Lucia looked like she had her hands held in a boiling pot, as her arms were covered in dark necrotic purple scarring that stretched from her fingertips, up past her elbows. Just like the others, she felt a slight shiver, and then her eyes darted up to find me staring at her. While the visible injuries to Lucia were horrific, I was not prepared for the level of injuries that afflicted Luna, for half her face was covered in dark scarring. When she felt my penetrating gaze, her whole body twitched as she looked on in horror at me, tears filling her eyes as if I had somehow stated her most private secrets to the world.

  Seeing that I was actively using Divine Sight to see past her illusionary form, to see how she should be. We both knew that I could see Luna how she was, beautifully scarred.

  Before I could say or do anything, she reached her right hand up, that was also similarly scarred and ran away before I could say anything.

  I stepped forward to go after her, but was quickly stopped by Mr. Yi, “let her go, we are about to go on.”

  With that, I suddenly felt ashamed of myself. Not that I had done anything truly wrong, but it was clear that what I was doing was invasive, especially as this place seemed to be designed for people who were looking for cures.

  Realizing I had done enough damage, I turned off my Divine Sight, as I prepared myself to go out on stage. Feeling both alone in that for the first time I was not accompanied by Lucia and Luna, while also being surrounded by Mr. Yi and Markan.

  Just as I was about to go out, I saw a somewhat familiar face step forward from the crowd, a blond-haired, green-eyed model of a human being who was as beautiful on the outside as he was narcissistic and corrupt on the inside. Seeing him, I felt a wave of revulsion hit me, as he seemed to look in my direction and give me a knowing wink. His appearance was the last thing I needed at the moment, and my final impetus to get up and start moving out ahead of time.

  As I moved, I looked around, hoping that I could talk to Luna, to apologize to her. My mind raced, as I barely noticed the transition from near darkness backstage, to the blinding golden lights of the arena.

  I was lost in deep thought, especially at the words that were conveyed by Madame Bloom through Markan. What did he mean, when he said that the people here were looking for a cure? Did that mean that there was one? If so, then surely I could do the same thing, right? Wasn’t that what being a healer was all about?