Chapter 386: Thera's Perspective

Chapter 386: Thera's Perspective

“Alright, are you feeling better now?” Thera asked, trying to gently smile at the child before her as he beamed back brightly.

“I am. Thank you miss healer!”

Hearing that, her smile became less forced as her hand started to reach out, only to pull back in the end. With Ben’s last two levels he’d gotten for his divine enchanting, he’d been able to bring her charm on contact down to three. So low that the chances of anyone coming under her effects were slim, but still not impossible.

Still, it looks like it might not be long now. She thought happily as she finished up with her last patient.

“Just try to take a bit more care when you’re playing, okay? You don’t want another broken arm any time soon.”

“Okay,” He told her with a nod, giving one final wave as his family gave her their thanks and carried him out, leaving her alone in the room of the hospital with only one other healer.

After going around all of the villages near the dryads after her first two weeks there and treating all she could, it left her without much else to do, so to keep getting the practice she wanted she ventured out further, going back to the gate city they’d had to travel through and approached their hospital, asking if she might help after showing her card to prove her value, ending with them all but tripping over themselves to accept. They were having the same issue that could be found in Stonewall or anywhere else after all, the shortage of qualified healers making her arrival a godsend.

“I truly can’t thank you enough for your work miss Thera,” The hospital head, Hovock, told her. “We should all be able to breathe just a little easier now that we’ve gotten a break.”

“Don’t mention it, thank you for letting me get some practice here. It was a good experience.”

It was as she gave a small, grateful bow that she started to leave, having done all she needed to before heading to the door, only for him to try to stop her.

“And if you’re looking for experience we’d be happy to hire you on,” He said hopefully, eager for the chance to recruit an awakened life mage. “I assure you, we could offer a level of pay and benefits that could meet any standard you might have, and there’s always more to treat. Heck, if you’re just looking for more experience then we could import patients through the gate as well.”

It wasn’t an unexpected offer. Many of the towns and villages she’d gone to had put out whatever offers they could as well, each of them wanting to take her in for the scope of her magic in the face of what was to come, but like the rest, she turned him down.

“I’m sorry, but I already have a home and plans for the invasion so I can’t join you. If you’d like however, I can be here again next week for another day. I assume you’ll get some more patients by then so I don’t mind the work.”

“Well, if you’d be willing to do that then we’d be more than happy to accept,” He told her, getting a smile in return. She’d had to interact with enough people who weren’t so willing to accept her rejection, the fact that he had meant he’d gotten a good evaluation in her eyes as a place she’d be willing to go to help again if she was ever passing through.

With that they parted, Thera walking down the halls of the building, receiving thanks for her work from the many staff she passed and letting herself feel good. She’d been using her time productively enough and she couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling that came with people appreciating her work without having any mental baggage associated with her. As much as she did like living in Stonewall, enough people there had enough complicated feelings about her that the process of healing them could be an uncomfortable experience for all parties. Out in any random town or city where they didn’t know her, the gratitude she received wasn’t laced with anything that might taint it.

Since it only took me a couple days to finish up at this one, maybe tomorrow I’ll go through a different gate to offer my services. She thought happily, right up until something that seemed like it was going to be a pain made its way into her view in the form of two people blocking her path.

“Excuse me, would you be miss Thera?” One asked, already knowing the answer.

“Nope.”

She could guess what this was about and didn’t want any part of it, but as she tried to walk around them the other one stepped in her way.

The sun was still up as she made her way back to the village, her flying speed being higher than normal in the face of her emotions that wouldn’t go away as she tried to force on a happier look before entering Fontesh’s home, finding her sitting down as still as she could while Delair stared at her mother in as much concentration as a child could manage, holding a pen tight in her hand as she tried her best to draw her with Ben by her side, giving pointers and encouragement.

“It looks great! Now for the shading just try and give it a lighter touch. Pen and ink isn’t the best for this sort of thing but it can be done, it just takes a bit more care and can be a little harder to fix. Try and look at how the shadows are falling on her face as you do.”

“Mhm.”

Cute.

Coming into the scene, her mood managed to actually improve a bit beyond the fake smile she was hiding behind as she watched it all, trying not to be a distraction. They’d come specifically to let Ben train, but it seemed more and more his efforts were going to helping Delair with her own goals, and Thera could help but find the bits she would see endearing. No matter how he argued it, she couldn’t help but think it matched the image in her head of a father trying to make his daughter happy perfectly as she felt her smile become a little more real. All the more so as Delair spoke up as she finished her drawing.

“My crafting leveled up!”

“Hey, that's fantastic!” Ben told her, picking the girl up and spinning her around as she laughed. “Looks like we’ll be making an excellent one of you before you know it.”

“Honestly. Thank you so much for spending all of this time with her while you’re here,” Fontesh told him, getting up to look at the picture her daughter made and loving it. “But since you helped her with her enchanting and crafting, maybe she should give you a little break now.”

“He doesn’t need a break!” Delair told her, looking to Ben in the hopes he would take her side as Thera went to make her presence known.

“He’s much happier when he’s working himself to death so I’m sure this much is fine for him.”

“I’ve never worked myself to death, I always do exactly what I can,” He told her, giving her a warm look just from having her back. “And this really is fine, don’t worry. The fact that my skill didn’t awaken after the first day is sign enough it’s probably not happening, but there’s always the chance it can be pushed to the high form of it if I just keep at it so training her while I’m working on that isn’t a problem.”

Delair gave silent cheer as Thera walked over to her, comfortably rubbing the girl's head as she enjoyed the moment, with a good atmosphere making all of the difference in the world to her.

“So you want to talk about it?” Ben asked later as they were laying in bed, seeing through her as he so often did.

“Mmh, just had a not-so-great encounter at the hospital, but I’m fine now,” She told him as she rested her head against his chest. “Seeing you act like a happy father with Delair manages to be cute enough to fix any mood.”

“Again, I’m not that much older than her. The vibe is definitely happy older brother.”

“Ha, sure, keep telling yourself that,” She told him, feeling her lips curl as she laid there, her thoughts drifting as she let herself begin to nod off.

It was a nice feeling to love someone. Nicer than she would have ever expected, and it did sort out the topic that had been on her thoughts for weeks. She intended to fully enjoy however much time they had together and whatever new experiences that might entail.

Which means I might need to ask mom for help. Ugh, already dreading that conversation. I guess I’ll stop by when we’re at craftsman’s tower so I have a couple weeks to figure out how to broach the topic with her. And Ben too I guess.

There was already enough to worry about for the future so she did her best to ignore what was sure to be a couple awkward bits as she instead focused on things to look forward to instead.