PRESENT DAY

"Do you go by anything else besides 'Healer'?"

I looked up at surprise at Alton's question. I hadn't expected him to wake up so soon. After he had passed out, I had carried him to a nearby cave and rested him on a blanket. Although I had used my magic to clear the poison and suture his skin closed, the aftereffects usually kept people asleep for days.

He must have high level poison resistance.

I focused on his question instead, and shook my head no. "I haven't gone by anything else since the Downfall."

He frowned slightly, disappointed. "It's not very specific. Healer is just a class."

"Not many healers left alive though, is there?" At my reply he fell silent. When the world had ended and every human had to select a class, there were many who did not know the game and selected 'healer' as their class.

The majority of them had died in the first quest.

I raised my hand next to him, and he leaned back at the motion, his eyes wary. "What are you doing?"

"Running a scan."

"Oh. Okay." He settled down. "You'll have to forgive me, last time you did that move a guy bled to death."

I spoke an incantation, feeling the power activate slowly. It was much faster when I had Wordless Incantation on, but that was still under cool-down. Once I reached the end of the complex mix of Latin and technical terms, I ended it with a single word:

"Scan."

**The Healer has activated Scan -20MP. **

I glanced up at my remaining mana while the spell took hold, I still had over ten thousand.

Before I could react, a full panel of information appeared in front of me.

What the heck?! I had cast the limited spell, it should have just given me active conditions and remaining HP... but this panel had detailed stats! Which meant... I looked at a second notification on my display.

**Alton the Great Evil Wizard has invited you to be party members. You will have access to stats and shared inventory. Accept?**

I hesitated seeing the option, Alton saw it, and gave me a sympathetic smile.

"I know it's hard to trust someone after being kicked out of a party so recently, but..."

"I wasn't officially in the party."

His eyes widened in shock. "... What?"

"They were worried I would be a drag on the team stats."

At that he seemingly couldn't help but laugh. "You... have got to be... joking." He choked out between cackles of laughter. "They thought YOU were the drag?"

"They kept the spot empty so people wouldn't know, but... when the new member joined, they still wanted me to leave." I felt so foolish. I had put up with terrible treatment for an entire year, tried to appease my "friends" and help out humanity. For what? To be pushed out the second there was someone else they liked better.

"Well that just shows, you're too nice, and they are too stupid."

"No kidding." I chose accept with a smile, and turned to study his stats. Finally I whistled, impressed. "It's not for show that you are the top 'player' on the Leader Board."

____________________

Alton The Great Evil Wizard

Class – Dark Mage

Title - Great Evil Wizard, Lone Player, Magic Student, Duelist, The Betrayed, Survivor

Level 132

HP 539/932

MP 500/500

STR 40

DEX 65

INT 90

WIS 105

CHAR 5

Current status: Recently Poisoned (Resistance active) + 1 fatigue – 3 hours remaining. Cursed, (Death magic)- Effect description restricted.

Healing status - Mild tachycardia secondary to toxicity and pain, Oxygen saturation low. Respiratory rate mildly elevated due to pain and hypoxia. Acute blood loss anemia present.

____________________

"You're cursed?" I asked, pulling a potion I had made out of my inventory and passing it to him.

"Unfortunately, "He drank the potion without hesitation. "One of the downsides of trusting anyone after the Downfall. Too easy of a target when you are sleeping."

**The Healer used Potion of Detoxification. 6 remaining in Inventory.**

"Maybe we shouldn't have joined up." I said quietly, disturbed at his act of trust as well as the scars of betrayal. My scan showed a lot of damage beyond the superficial illness of his recent attack. He had been injured. A lot. Was I really the right person to help him?

"Don't worry, I'm strong enough to protect your back without dragging you down too much." He smiled at my surprise. "You didn't think it would be concerning the other way around, did you? ...I think you've been with that party long enough to start believing their lies."

"Perhaps."

He shrugged. "We'll take it slow." He then paused and raised an eyebrow at me. "Now why don't you give me some privacy so I can get into something less... blood stained."

I laughed, something I had done more of in the last hour than in the last year, and walked out.

He excited the cave wearing fresh black wizard robes and without another word we set out. As we walked through the forest, we spotted a clearing, a meadow covered in yellow flowers.

Alton slowed, a smile on his face. "This reminds me of the first level."

I was appalled. "And that's a good memory?"

"Nicer than most. Not every day you get bit by a flower." He paused, turning towards me. "It must have been... interesting to face that as a level 1 healer."

"Interesting, yes." I shook my head. "That's one word for it."

____________________

ONE YEAR EARLIER

After I selected my class, a Quest notification popped up.

**Defeat 100 flowers.**

Flowers? I looked around at the hundreds of yellow flowers around me in the meadow. Like, pick them? At least it was an easy first mission.

"GRRRR." A low growl sounded at my feet.

I looked down, just in time to see the yellow flower open up to reveal rows of needle like teeth. With another growl, it lunged and bit my shoe, which was now made of a tattered cloth rather than the sneakers I fell asleep in. My regular clothes were gone as well, replaced with what appeared to be the starter rough cloth clothing from the game.

**The Healer takes 1 bite damage.**

The message got me back to focus, even as I felt a small pain in my foot from the flower's bite. I now looked at the flower covered meadow with horror. How many of these are monsters? Not all of them... right?

Quickly, I looked at my remaining health- HP 9/10. Ugh, not much to work with. I had no weapons, not even the starting knife that other classes got. I could try to punch it, but my risk of getting injured was definitely higher, not to mention the negative strength stat that came with the healer class.

My only choice was healing magic.

I glanced through my skill tree, which appeared to be in different branches of medicine: Infectious Disease, Pulmonology, Hematology, Cardiology... there were dozens of options.

I chose a familiar one: Surgery.

I had one skill point I could use. I spent it on the first skill within the tree: Small Incision.

**Small Incision- cost 1 MP – a small cut is made in the skin of the target of healing. Allowing access for small procedures such as removal of moles or drainage of small abscesses.**

It wasn't a lot, especially since I only had 10 MP. But it was all I had. I used my skill point to purchase it. An incantation burned itself into my mind. I had to recite it out loud to use the skill. But that meant...

I looked down at the flower that was still biting my foot.

... I was going to have to do a lot of dodging. I kicked the flower away. It fell back into a bunch of other flowers, all of which began to rustle and show teeth.

Crap.

The Healer takes 1 damage.

8 points left. I didn't know what would happen if I died here, but I didn't think it would be good. I weaved through the flowers, avoiding snapping teeth left and right, speaking the incantation at a frantic pace. Finally I got to the end.

"Small Incision." With that, a white light flashed over the yellow flower who initially attacked me.

**Yellow Flower takes 1 damage.**

Several petals fell off, at it staggered. But after a moment it recovered and chased after me again.

Crap! Crap! Crap!

I cast the spell again, and again and again. All the while running for my life and dodging the attacks of hundreds of flowers.

Finally, it was my last MP, my last chance to cast the spell. The flower only had one petal left, and a handful of its needle teeth, and I could only hope that reflected a very low HP.

I cast small incision one last time. Praying it would be enough.

**The Healer defeated Yellow Flower.**

**The Healer is credited with 1 monster kill, and awarded 3 XP.**

**The Healer receives one mana potion.**

Mana Potion! YES! I quickly consumed the potion from my inventory, grinning when my MP filled back up to 10. I turned to the next flower with a malicious laugh, and it might have been my imagination but it seemed to shudder and draw back.

Grinding mode... activated!

I have no idea how long it took, how many times I cast small incision. All I knew was that by the end of the fight the flowers were dead, and I was alive.

**The Healer has reached level 6.**

**Through use of excessive magic in a short period of time, The Healer is granted the title of Magic Enthusiast and +100 MP**

Surprised, I looked at my stats.

____________________

The Healer

Class – Healer

Title- The Survivor, Magic enthusiast

Level 6

HP 28/28

MP 130.

STR -10

DEX 5

INT 50

WIS 25

CHAR -5

____________________

I looked at the "Survivor" Title.

**Survivor – Granted to players who survive a battle with 1 HP remaining.**

Wow, I was close to death! I got ready to brush myself off and take stock of my inventory, when suddenly...

"You're here!"

I looked up to see my friend, Jack.

But not much later, he would become known as something else:

He would be known as the Hero.

____________________

PRESENT DAY

We made our way to the 5th Level City, where I had purchased a home about 6 months ago. I was still wanted, after the Hero's team put a bounty on me. The kind of gold they were offering would definitely get most people's attention. Fortunately Alton knew an invisibility spell and we could sneak through undetected.

When we reached the house, I unlocked it with a key. As I was about to turn the knob, however, Alton stopped me.

"Any chance those idiots are waiting for you here?"

I thought it over. "Probably low. They never paid much attention to my personal life. I don't think they even knew I bought this place."

I opened the door.

"Never mind."

I groaned quietly with disappointment.

My old friend was sitting on my couch, staring at us. My friend whose side I spent the last year with. My friend who I vowed to protect with my life.

My friend who had kicked me out and put a price on my head.

Jack.

The Hero.

"Should we sneak out?" Alton whispered. "We're still invisible."

"He has True Sight."

"Oh." Alton let down his spell, frowning. "Of course he does."

"Hello, Healer."

His words were expected, but I hid a wince. He was one of the few people who knew my real name, knew me before the Downfall, before I became the infamous useless healer. But he more than anyone seemed eager to forget our past lives. To move onward without looking back.

So I refused to play along.

"Hey, Jack."

He frowned at my greeting. "I go by my title now. You know this."

I walked over and sat down across from him, grinning slightly when Alton waltzed over and sat next to me with a nonchalant manner as well. "You lost the right to request favors from me when we stopped being a team."

"I understand you're upset. But you have to look at it from my perspective. Having a Healer on the team... it made people talk. I had to separate you from us... at least officially."

"Even though she's the most powerful member of your team?" Alton asked.

Jack glared at him. "It's none of your business, dark wizard."

"It is when you are bothering my new party member, Hero."

"New..." He looked between us, and sighed condescendingly. "Really, Healer? You couldn't last a day on your own?"

Alton jumped in. "Actually, more accurate to say she was a free agent for only a day when I got a jump on getting the number two player on the Leader Board on my team!"

I smiled at him. "It's okay." I turned towards Jack. "I'm happy with my current arrangement. What brings you here?"

"It's become... complicated since your departure. I will allow you the opportunity to help us again."

"You want me back?" I raised an eyebrow "What does Rebecca think of that? Wouldn't she lose the spot she just managed to scheme her way into?"

Jack shook his head at my words. "It wouldn't be official. You would just... follow behind. Help out as needed behind the scenes as you will."

"Translation:" Alton interrupted. "His team is weak and useless without you, so they want to keep using you but this time without a chance of you getting ANY of the credit, rather than even a small fraction like before."

"It's not..." Jack started to argue but I jumped in over him.

"it's exactly like that, Jack. You needed me, you always did, but just like always you will never admit it. I won't be returning to your party. In an official or unofficial capacity."

"..." The silence grew strained. "What about the gate?" He finally asked.

"What about it?"

"We will be attacking the forty-second gate soon. If we fail..." He let the threat hang.

"Oh I'll be there..." I saw Jack's eyes light up and continued blandly "As a part of Alton's team of course. No need for humanity to suffer just because your party is... lacking."

"Stop being ridiculous!" He snapped. "Don't forget that you have a bounty on your head! Will your new teammate support you..."

"Hey, FYI, hero-boy, I just put a 100,000 gold bounty on you." Alton interrupted once more.

"..."

"..."

We stared at him in open mouthed shock. My bounty had been considered extremely high at 10,000 gold.

"Are you crazy?" Jack jumped up to his feet, his fists clenched. "How do you even have that kind of money?!"

"I'm usually frugal... oh and I'm really, really spiteful." Alton waved cheerfully at him. "Enjoy!"

"You...!" He made a threatening gesture towards Alton, but I stood between them.

"Don't make me fight you." My words seemed to shock him.

"You wouldn't..."

"We've all changed since the Downfall, Jack. Don't count on our friendship to spare you. You know my kill count. I'm not afraid to add another to it."

"...Fine." He walked towards the door, throwing it open. Prior to walking through, he paused, with a cruel smile. "But just remember that you haven't told your teammate ALL of your secrets, Healer. Some of them are bad enough to even chase away the great evil wizard..."

I was shaking, partly from rage, partly from fear. Alton simply stood next to me quietly supporting.

"Go away, Jack." I finally said in a quiet voice. "Go actually be the hero you claim to be."

"I'll see you at the gate, Healer. You'll play your part, whether you want to or not."

And with that, the door slammed behind him, and the Hero was gone.

"Are you going to be okay?" I heard Alton's concerned voice and realized I was standing frozen in place, my fists clenched so hard the bones began to creak with the pressure. I relaxed my hands, and took a deep breath."

"I'll be fine. There's some things we'll have to get ready before the next Gate battle... If you want to form a party... I might have a few names in mind."

"Do you think we can win?"

"Of course... I'll just go and do what I do best."

"And that is..."

My smile was vicious.

"I heal."