Damned Healer

"Cousin, which direction should we go?" asked Amara, who was piloting the flying boat.

Darian paused to think. The World of Life was vast, and they couldn’t use spatial artifacts to speed up the trip — otherwise, all the Risen in the area would sense them, and they wouldn’t be able to complete the mission quickly.

According to Howlyn, the World Tree was sealed in a secret place. And beyond that...

"The traitors always make the Academy send people here every time it opens. There are barely any records of people making it back alive... but I’m sure the former leader and the High Elders, who were traitors too, hid the truth. Probably, among the people sent to die, there were traitors themselves — they get something out of this place and return alive in secret."

Darian’s logic was simple. The traitor Spiritual Guardians didn’t really care about this universe. All they cared about was what they could gain. So helping the Risen by tricking the Academy into sending people to die for nothing couldn’t come for free. They had to be gaining something — and probably something from this world.

Darian spoke, then turned to Howlyn. She thought for a moment before replying:

"It’s possible... the sprouts of the World Tree are also the best treasures to nourish a Mannaz’s body, and even a Spiritual Guardian’s soul. In the past, there was a method... slow and really cruel, to refine those little ones. The traitors might have some kind of deal with the Risen Lords, to come here and take a few sprouts."

Everyone swallowed hard. The sprouts were like newborn babies. But unlike humans, they were born already able to walk, fight, and obey the World Tree.

They were a sub-race created by the World Tree. When this world closed and they became isolated from their creator, that was what made them turn to dust after only ten years. If not for that, they would grow until they became independent and could live their own lives.

In other words, they had souls. They were people. The Risen used most of them cruelly, so they died quickly. The traitors, on the other hand, captured and refined them brutally, treating them like treasures...

"Keep going... People like that are like beacons," Darian said coldly. Then, he turned to the twins. "I’ll focus on what’s ahead. Try using your blessing to sense the sides."

The two nodded. After advancing to the second ring, their senses had developed as well. Darian could see and sense karma clearly from long distances. As for the twins, they felt more of a bad sensation — the denser the dark karma of an enemy, the easier it was to locate.