Damned Healer

Niara kept climbing on pure stubbornness. When she reached nine-tenths of the way up, she hit an unprecedented crisis. She felt a violent current of green and white energy slam into her.

Her whole body hurt — it was like being ground down by a whetstone. On top of that, the energy went straight through her body and her scales. It felt like millions of flies were eating her alive.

Darian, who couldn’t feel any of it, watched the changes in her with surprise.

The first steps tested aptitude and willpower. Then came physical resistance. But the final ones... it was like they refined the climber’s life force.

That made sense, since this martial art used exactly that. If you didn’t have enough life force, the technique would be useless. To help, the trial itself boosted one of those powers in whoever passed it.

Niara was already using her mental power to the max; the pressure had forced her to externalize it and use it as efficiently as possible. On top of that, she had a mutant Bloodline, which gave her strong life energy. Combining the two, the only "normal" life force left in her was her soul — and that’s exactly what was being refined now.

She felt like her blood, flesh, tendons, bones, soul, and will — every part of her, whether it had form or not — was being crushed. The pain was indescribable. But it was just the sensation; the soul, being connected to everything, made the whole body react with pain when it was under pressure.

"Nine more steps to go. Take a deep breath, you’re already there," Darian whispered gently to her.

Niara took a deep breath, clenched her teeth, and lifted her foot for the next step.

When she reached the second-to-last step, she felt like she’d turned transparent. A strange force pierced her body, while her soul went through an agonizing grinding. The more she resisted, the stronger it got.

But her will was solid. She ignored the pain and kept climbing.