章 8: Chapter 8: A Healer Enters the Fray, Part 1
Screaming. Crying. Shattering. Chaos reigned over the village of Hillsborough as a legendary-class demon burst into the field that had held the funeral gathering for Ben.
Lucas immediately dove over the top of Joten and Lorna to protect them from shrapnel, though luckily none of the errant branches or planks came their way. A few smaller clumps of dirt and splinters rained on Lucas's back, but not enough to lower his HP, thankfully. He stood and assessed the situation around him.
"His body! It crushed the coffin!" Lorna shouted through hysterical sobs as the dam finally burst, flooding her with visible emotion and grief. Joten huddled next to her, terror filling his eyes as he stared up at the towering demon. It was an ancient-style demon, one that usually defended dungeons or ancient ruins that littered the continent of Alstyn. Often serving as classic "living statue" traps, these demons were towering constructions of rock with humanoid bodies and the fanged faces of demons. The overgrown, sharpened fangs on this one were at least six feet long each, and extended out of its mouth in slight curls like a sabre-toothed tiger.
"Joten, take your mother and run. Get as far away from here as you can," Lucas said as quickly as his lips could form sounds. He flicked through his inventory and equipped [Nevermore] to his waist with a flash of light.
A cacophony of screams were silenced in an instant as the demon stepped on a group of fleeing villagers, crushing them into paste beneath its massive foot. Lucas hesitated in his inventory. Did he search for his armor to protect him, or did he confront the demon before it slaughtered more villagers? They were only NPCs after all - or were they something more real now? His brain pulsed with anxiety as he stared back and forth between his inventory and the marching monstrosity.
As he stared at his inventory screen, Lucas saw the sobbing face of a boy through the translucent blue of the floating interface. Joten had yet to run as he was told. Lucas opened his mouth to chastise the boy, but he caught a hint of the boy's mumbling just before he did.
"That thing… it killed dad… that's the one…" he mumbled like a madman. His mother sat next to him, still howling over the crushed coffin. These poor people had endured so much in these past few years. The pain that paralyzed them was as real as anything Lucas had ever seen. Their feelings were more genuine than any Lucas had ever displayed himself. In that moment, his decision was made.
Lucas closed his inventory and patted Joten on the shoulder to calm him before reiterating his instructions. "Run with your mother. Be strong, like Ben."
With those words, Joten wiped his nose and nodded. A renewed conviction entered his eyes as he turned and helped his mother to her feet. Lucas watched them hobble away, Lorna's arm on Joten's shoulders for support, before turning back to the demon.
The stone behemoth faced the ground just below it as a family of four huddled beneath, paralyzed with fear. The demon stretched its right arm backwards, preparing to sweep it across the ground and annihilate the family.
[Fleet of Foot]!
Lucas broke off into a max speed sprint toward the demon while attempting to formulate a plan.
No time for [Sanguine Sacrifice] - if he stumbled while sacrificing health he would be too late to save them. He was too far away for [Sanctuary] to take effect. Most of his other skills didn't apply to combat. If he drew his sword it would nullify his [First Strike Recovery] because of the single point of tick damage. How could he save them while unarmed?
The gigantic demon arm began to sweep across the ground toward the family. He was out of time.
Lucas sprinted toward them faster than he had ever run in his life. His veins pumped acid into his legs as his knees cried out with the impact of each enhanced footfall. With one last exertion, Lucas dove toward the huddled family and shoved them with all his might, knocking them at least fifteen feet away in a dramatic fashion. They would be injured, but not killed. That was all that mattered.
He felt the rush of wind before the impact of the demon's hand. The solid stone thwacked hard against Lucas's back and sent him rocketing toward the thatch houses of the village. He braced for pain as he slammed into the first home, crashing through both walls and hurtling into the second, then a third before finally coming to a painful stop at the rear of the third home.
[79 Points of Bludgeoning Damage Taken!]
With great effort and many huffs of exhaustion, Lucas staggered onto his hands and knees and looked back out through the five enormous holes he had torn through the line of thatched shacks. The small red bar of HP in the top corner of his vision glared at him with deadly intention, warning him that it would not have his back the next time he received a hit like that. Bones throughout his body had been shattered. Ribs ached with every slow movement, knees cried out for help, blood dripped from gashes on his arms and legs. It was by sheer luck that Lucas had survived this time.
Just as [First Strike Recovery] kicked in to recover all the HP he had lost and repair the damage to his body, the first shack he had torn through collapsed dramatically into a heap of dust and rubble. As Lucas stared out of the gaping hole in the cottage he now sat in (a cottage which seemed to belong to a fishing aficionado, if the large amount of nets, fishing poles, and harpoons were any indication) toward the collapsed shack, a friendly face popped into vision from the hole.
"He's here, ma!" the young blonde girl shouted to her left. Something unintelligible was shouted back toward the girl which seemed to incense her. "No, I was going to let him lie there and bleed to death," she replied with a roll of her eyes. After a moment of preparation, the girl leapt up into the hole in the wall and advanced carefully toward Lucas, her probing eyes sizing him up. She was a small girl, probably half a foot shorter than Joten, with wild blonde hair tied up in a haphazard bun that poked stray hairs in every direction.
"'Heal him quickly,' she says. What else does she think I was going to do? Finish you off?" she asked Lucas. The nonchalance that bordered on negligence with which she spoke to a man that had just been flung through five - nearly six - walls was slightly unnerving.
"Bree, I presume?" Lucas said before coughing on the dust floating through the air. He did not envy the man that had to clean up this mess later.
"Kinda creepy that you know my name already," she said, still keeping up the arrogant attitude. "But yeah, I'm Bree. My mom should be coming to see you soon, so don't move. You might mess up something on your insides," she said sternly.
Lucas began to reassure her that he was fine, his health had already been topped up, but he stopped himself and instead asked a question: "How much HP can you heal right now?"
The girl winked proudly and shot a finger gun at Lucas. He wondered who in the world could have taught her to do that, but still waited for her answer patiently.
"My Healing level is high enough for one [Greater Healing] spell per day. So, 75 HP, give or take a few based on your condition," she answered proudly. Lucas performed some quick mental math before realizing what she had said.
Healing level. So she did gain levels - just like Joten. Lucas filed that information away in the back of his mind for another time.
For now, he used [Sanguine Sacrifice] at 75% and bolstered his strength and dexterity immensely.
[67 Points of Sanguine Damage Taken!]
[Dexterity Level Temporarily Increased to 145!]
[Strength Level Temporarily Increased to 156!]
He ignored the string of messages as the familiar boiling red aura flowed from his chest and surrounded him in pulsating energy. The muscles in his arms and legs rippled as he flexed them as a test. Nothing made him feel more alive and in-tune with this body than when he used [Sanguine Sacrifice].
The bar in his vision had again turned red, and Lucas felt its effects flood over his body. Once again the ragged breathing and general fatigue of critical health returned to him, surprising the girl that stood before him.
"What the hell happened? Did you just hurt yourself on purpose?" she asked, astounded at the sudden change in his condition.
"Heal me with all you've got," Lucas choked out between deep heaving breaths. Each second that ticked away was another family getting crushed.
To her credit, the girl immediately knelt down and obliged, casting [Greater Healing] on Lucas posthaste. A lively energy coursed through him as the mana from her spell was converted to HP and injected into his body. The HP gauge at the corner of his vision turned from red to yellow, yellow to green, and finally from green to full. What a beautiful sight that was.
As his HP was recovering, Lucas had quickly swiped through his inventory in search of his battle armor. He hadn't worn it in years, and eventually he found it buried near the bottom of the list.
Lucas stood as his body erupted in a bright flash. When the light faded, he was wearing an imposing set of pitch black plate armor.
[Demon-Forged Plate Equipped!]
[Bludgeoning Defence+ Acquired!]
[Slashing Defence+ Acquired!]
[Piercing Defence+ Acquired!]
[Elemental Defence+ Acquired!]
...
He ignored the messages about defensive buffs that had been acquired. He had long ago memorized those.
Instead, Lucas turned to smile at the girl on the floor staring up at him in awe.
"It's alright now," he said reassuringly. "Tell your mother to head toward the demon. I may yet need her help in the battle to come."
クリエイターの想い 
Casual_
Casual_ Going to split up chapters into smaller bits so I can update more often. Chapters may end awkwardly where they hadn't before while I get the hang of posting smaller parts, but the overall structure of chapters will remain the same. As always, add to your collection if you enjoy the story!
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