Chapter 60 - 59: The Healer’s Evolution
"Healer! We need you over here now!"
The desperate shout cut through the chaos of the overwhelmed medical center. Elise wiped blood from her hands, leaving crimson streaks on the white towel. Her fingers trembled from exhaustion, but injured civilians kept arriving faster than she could treat them.
The Sanctuary Guild’s main medical facility had become a war zone. Stretchers lined every hallway. Wounded hunters and civilians covered the floors where beds had run out. The sharp smell of antiseptic couldn’t mask the metallic scent of fresh blood.
"Status report on Section C!" Director Miran shouted from the central triage station. Her white robes were splattered with gore, her usually perfect hair hanging in sweaty strands.
Elise moved between casualties like water flowing around rocks. Her E-rank status meant other healers dismissed her, but injured civilians didn’t care about rankings when they were dying. Her healing magic felt different today - stronger, more responsive to desperate need.
A young girl lay unconscious on a makeshift cot. Her spine had been crushed by falling debris during the golem attack. Traditional healing couldn’t repair damage this severe. The girl’s mother knelt beside her, tears streaming down dirt-stained cheeks.
"Please," the woman whispered. "She’s only seven."
Elise knelt beside the cot. Her hands hovered over the girl’s back, feeling the extent of the damage through her diagnostic magic. Shattered vertebrae. Severed spinal cord. Internal bleeding that conventional healing couldn’t stop.
The Sanctuary healers had written her off. Too much damage. Not worth the manna expenditure. Resources needed to be allocated to patients who could be saved.
But Elise had never accepted that philosophy.
Her healing energy flowed through her palms, not the flashy golden light of higher-rank healers, but steady green radiance that penetrated deep into damaged tissue. The other healers used temporary fixes - spectacular displays that impressed observers but faded within hours.