A Healer's Gift: Adventures of Brad: Book 1 (Adventures on Brad) Read online

  A Healer's Gift, An Adventurers Heart

  By Tao Wong

  Copyright 2017 Tao Wong

  Smashwords Edition

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Copyright 2017 Felipe deBarros Cover Artist

  Copyright 2017 Sarah Anderson Cover Designer

  Chapter 1

  “Daniel Chai. Miner. I’m here to join the Adventurer’s Guild.” Answering the guard’s questions, Daniel looks across the 10-foot wooden wall that separates the dungeon town Karlak from the wilderness behind him before letting his placid brown gaze rest upon the guard and his pike once more.

  The fair haired guard clad in a simple leather tunic and wool pants stares at Daniel, waving his hand to summon Daniel’s status screen to confirm the truth of his words. The guard reads over the information before he gestures Daniel and his employer to enter. With a flick of his reins, Atrieus who has sat beside Daniel during and undergone the process just moments ago himself sets the wagon rolling.

  “I turn off to the right here boy. You okay with being paid now?” Atrieus grunts at Daniel, a hand absently coming up to scratch at his matted beard.

  For a moment, Daniel is irritated but he quickly dismisses the emotion. At 21, Daniel is well past the age when the term boy is appropriate, but as Atrieus had watched him grow up working the mines since he was an actual child, another thousandth protest at the term is unlikely to change the old man’s mind. Instead, Daniel just answers politely, “That’s fine. Thank you.

  “Damn waste boy. You sure you want to do this?” Atrieus growls out, digging through the bag at his feet to pull out a small coin-laden cloth purse to hand over to Daniel.

  Daniel just shakes his head in answer, accepting his wages and waving goodbye to his temporary employer as he hops down the ore-laden wagon. Daniel has no desire to retread that conversation either, one that has happened in many forms this few weeks of travel. Reaching behind as the wagon before it leaves him behind completely, he grabs his backpack and his only weapon, a 20 pound sledgehammer. Heavy as it is, Daniel carries it with little effort, muscles from years spent working the mines flexing.

  After parting with Atrieus, Daniel starts off to the town center and the Adventurer’s Guild, enjoying the feel of the brisk late autumn air. Barely more than a few thousand people, Karlak is a small town with only a single Beginner’s Dungeon with 10 floors in it. Like most dungeon towns, Karlak has grown out of the need to serve the Adventurers who bring in the majority of the town’s income and so, the entire town splays outwards from the Guild and the Dungeon entrance.

  As Daniel walks deeper in to town, buildings shift from wood to stone, prosperity showcased in architecture and materials. Around him, townsfolk weave through traffic with casual ease, most dressed in the plain woolen tunics and dresses. For a town, Karlak is quite uniform in its race profile, only on occasion does Daniel spot a figure that is not human, with Beastkin the most common minority. Growth of the town has stabilized in the last few years, its presence near the contested border between Brad and the Orc nations a significant dampening factor in immigration. On the other hand, the Dungeon that provides the main source of income for the town has been around for over 20 years and is well-mapped with a well-known and well-balanced mix of monsters, ensuring a constant stream of new hopeful Adventurers.

  The latest of these hopefuls walks down the street, drawing more than a few glances his way. All new Adventurers are potential sources of income for the town and many of the townsfolk are making quick assessments of the likelihood of his survival. His impressive musculature is a point in his favor but most quickly downgrade his chances of being a true earner. Hair so brown that it is almost black, the broad-shouldered newcomer is only 5’8” tall and human, his stature and race creating a significant disadvantage that the youngster will need to overcome.

  That smells good… Daniel twists his head, searching for the origin as his stomach wakes and reminds him that his last meal was early in the morning. Spotting the road side stall that has awakened his hunger, he picks up his pace when a sickening crunch and screams draws his attention.

  Just behind him, a child lies on the ground, his body damaged after being run over. An errant wind, a loosely held flower and a hurried attempt to catch his gift is all that was required for the tragedy to happen. Unable to stop, the cart’s wheels have first pushed then rolled over the child. The child’s caretaker finishes her dash out from the alleyway, a moment of distraction now twisting her face with shock and regret.

  Daniel is moving without conscious thought, his worldly goods dropped behind him as he dashes to the small, crushed body. His eyes narrow as he draws upon a portion of his Gift and assesses the damage as he touches the slightly twitching body.

  Shattered collarbone, crushed ribcage and heart, severe bleeding in chest cavity and stomach. Hairline cracks in spine, minor concussion and broken arm. The damage jumps out to him as he touches the child, information pouring through his mind as he catalogues and instinctively understands both the natural state of the child’s body and the damage done. Information continues to flow, though he dismisses most of it from mind. Slightly lower quantity of blood than normal, previous damage to tendon in ankle a week away from healing, improper placement of the hip socket….

  Even as the information comes to him, Daniel speaks familiar words, “I’m a healer. Please let me do what I can.”

  From the viewpoint of the child’s caretaker, what Daniel does next is nothing short of miraculous. The child’s caretaker is an experienced Adventurer and is well-versed in the forms of healing magic available in the world. Nothing short of a Greater Blessing by a senior priest could have saved her nephew, and yet the stranger, without uttering a single word or calling on a God is healing her nephew before her eyes. Bones knit, lungs inflate, bleeding stops within minutes. All there is to indicate that anything is even happening is the gentlest of glows coming from Daniel’s hands which surround his small patient. As the glow fades, Charles’s eyes open and he draws his first conscious breath before proceeding to scream and cry into his aunt’s arms.

  Clutching her nephew and rocking the child, the blonde-haired Adventurer looks over to Daniel who’s slumped over, breathing heavily and mouths her gratitude. Daniel just nods weakly, slowly gaining sense of himself after the use of his Gift. As always, there was a price to pay – this time, only a half-a-day of his past, memories and lessons learnt during a fight with an overgrown badger that blocked the ore-wagons way and conversations with Atrieus sacrificed to his Gift.

  Around Daniel, passerby’s and the cart driver gawk at the miraculous healing, the gossip mill among the townsfolk will have new grist tonight. A good Samaritan carries over Daniel’s dropped items, patting him on his back in congratulations before he leaves to finish his own errands for the day. The Samaritans actions break the spell, with others crowding around and thanking Daniel and murmuring congratulations and consolations to the blonde-haired Adventurer.

  Eventually the child calms and the crowd disperses, Daniel’s attempts to make them leave finally making a dent. Work done, he stands with a groan and bends to pick up his pack and hammer but is stopped
from leaving by a hand on his arm.

  “Thank you,” her voice is soft, cultured and feminine, a sharp contrast to her bearing and appearance. Short cut yellow hair, an aquiline nose and piercing blue eyes rest upon a face that would always be called striking but not beautiful. The adventurer holds herself with a martial air, a hand unconsciously resting on her sword hilt, toned and firm body easily seen even under the loose cut blouse she wears. “My name is Mary Lavie and this is Charles.”

  “Daniel Lai,” he smiles at the boy, impulsively reaching out to ruffle the child’s hair, “You’ll watch yourself running out on the road next time, right?”

  The boy nods slightly, his face hidden in Mary’s pants, peeking with his own pair of blue eyes around her pants leg before burying his face in her legs again. In the child’s mind, he can still feel the breaking and the healing, a stark contrast of experiences that will, thankfully, fade in hours.

  As Daniel sways slightly, the Gift always taking a little of his own strength to fuel, Mary queries, “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Just a little tired and hungry. I’ll be fine after a meal.”

  A smile brightens Mary’s face and she gestures down the road, “My sister runs the Spinning Top, just down this way. She’ll want to thank you too.”

  For a moment Daniel considers refusing, but he reconsiders quickly, remembering the weight of his purse. Even the payment from Atrieus is insufficient to truly fatten it out, especially with his expected expenses in the next few days. He nods gratefully in acceptance and Mary smiles, blue eyes sparkling at his acceptance.

  “This way.”

  Chapter 2

  The Spinning Top is a typical smaller inn from Daniel’s limited experience. The Top is positioned close to the center of town and is made up of a mixture of wood and stone, though the inn comes with expensive blown glass windows. The entrance of the inn leads to a small dining room filled with rustic wooden tables and chairs flanked by a simple, worn wooden bar and a doorway to the kitchen, while a staircase opposite the entrance leads to the top floor of rooms that the inn rents out. Like most inns in a dungeon town, it’s likely the rooms can be rented on both a short and long-term basis muses Daniel. That musing is cut short as the smells from the kitchen set his stomach growling.

  Inside, the sole worker is another tall, striking blonde woman whose matronly curves put her sisters to shame, clad in a simple brown frock. The moment they cross the threshold of the inn, Charles squirms out from the shelter of his aunt’s arms and into his shocked Mum’s.

  “Mary…” the aghast mother and innkeeper says, bending a knee to hug her child and to survey the blood and damage. She holds Charles away from her, parsing his words while she checks him over for injury and coming to the surprising conclusion that there are none.

  “We had an incident Elise,” Mary steps forward abashedly, explaining the accident in quick concise sentences. Charles between them gets angry as the adults talk over him and he glares at the the two, deciding it is time to sulk. Mary flicks her hand back to Daniel who has taken to leaning against the bar and staring into the kitchen in longing while the two sisters talk, “… and so I thought we could feed Daniel and maybe house him for a bit?”

  “Jar, one plate with extra bread,” Elise calls out into the kitchen before marching over to Daniel and giving him a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

  In a few minutes, the bustling Elise has Daniel settled and eating before dragging the bloodied child upstairs for a wash. Mary takes over the counter, watching Daniel eat with a pensive look on her face, glancing between him and his hammer. It doesn’t take long before Daniel is done, leaning back against the chair after mopping up the last of the stew with his bread.

  That was very good. Looking around, he doesn’t spot Elise to thank. He frowns slightly, impatient to complete his task but unwilling to leave without thanking her. As he debates what to do, his thoughts are interrupted by Mary.

  “Are you going to join the Guild?” She nods to his hammer, the guess not hard since the vast majority of fit young men coming into town had only one goal. She purses her lips as his acknowledgment. “And that’s your weapon?”

  “Why? Is it a problem?” defensive, Daniel places his hand on the hilt of the hammer.

  “It is. It’s too big and too unwieldy for a dungeon,” as he opens his mouth to reply, Mary raises her hand and forestalls him, continuing “I’m sure you used it while traveling here. Probably killed a few monsters too. There’s no arguing that it’s a fearsome weapon if you hit.

  “But you have to land your blow. You need space to swing it and time to recover after you’ve swung. In a dungeon where you might face two or three different monsters at the same time, often faster and smaller than you, it won’t work.”

  Daniel grunts, hunching slightly at each of her words. He knows it is not perfect, it’s not as if he didn’t experience much of what she said himself but, “It’s what I have.”

  His words are not unexpected and as soon as they leave his mouth, Mary turns to the staircase, calling upwards. “Elise, we’re going out. I’ll bring him back later. Jar, put his bags in room 3.”

  The blonde stands swiftly, pushing her chair back in place before walking to the exit. When she notices Daniel is not moving, she barks out a single word. “Come.”

  “Ummm… what’s going on?” hurrying to catch up with her, Daniel stumbles along confusedly behind her, trying to gauge their destination in this strange city. Even as they hurry, human townsfolk offer Mary a quick smile and greeting which is generally acknowledged by short nods.

  “We’re going to the Guild to get you registered. You do have the 20 silver correct?” she doesn’t acknowledge his hasty nod, continuing to speak even as she strides along. “After that we’ll get you the training you need to wield a proper weapon”

  “Training! I can’t afford that!” Daniel exclaims, catching up with her and trying to slow her down to speak.

  “Who asked you to pay?” Arriving at the doors of the Adventurer’s Guild, she strides in and up to the nearest empty counter. An attendant walks over unhurriedly, tall and thin with a full mop of curly black hair. He smiles slightly as he spots the harried Daniel behind Mary before focusing on her entirely.

  “What can I do for your Mary?” the attendant smiles, face wrinkling and adding to its lines as he runs a hand through his hair to bring some order to it.

  “Got a newbie who needs to be registered Liev.” She gestures behind, indicating Daniel whose staring around confusedly. Liev smiles placatingly at the young man, pulling some papers out from beneath the counter and a small crystal ball.

  “Not a problem. Just put your hand here, don’t be shy,” smiling encouragingly, Liev has Daniel place his hand on the crystal ball even as he coaches the information out from Daniel that he needs to finish the registration. “Good, good. A level 7 Miner. Oooh, very good, a Minor Healing spell. Yes, we can definitely register you as an Adventurer.”

  At the end of his words, a low azure light glows on the crystal which brings another contented smile to Liev’s face. “And done. That’ll be 20 silver.”

  As Daniel finishes paying, he can’t help but stare at his newly freed hand and wonder if all his dreams have come true already. Another barked command to come takes him out of his contemplation as he hurries to catch up with the impatient Mary as she strides out of the Guild house. While he rushes after her, he calls up his Status Screen to marvel at his new position.

  Name: Daniel Lai

  Class: Level 1 Adventurer (0%)

  Sub-classes: Level 7 (Miner) (14%)

  Human (Male)

  Statistics

  Life: 164

  Stamina: 164

  Mana: 129

  Critical Hit Chance: 4%

  Attributes

  Strength: 17

  Agility: 12

  Constitution: 23

  Intelligence: 14

  Willpower: 16

  Luck: 13

  Ski
lls

  Unarmed Combat: Level 2 (47/100)

  Clubs : Level 3 (21/100)

  Perception : Level 3 (21/100)

  Mining : Level 7 (78/100)

  Healing : Level 5 (84/100)

  Herb Lore: Level 3 (31/100)

  Cooking: Level 2 (37/100)

  Singing: Level 2 (14/100)

  Skill Proficiencies

  Mapping (II)

  Spells

  Minor Healing (I)

  Gifts

  Martyr’s Touch - The caster may heal oneself or others by touch and concentration, sacrificing a portion of his life to do so. Cost varies depending on the extent of the injuries healed.

  It’s a surprise then for Daniel when Mary finally comes to a stop and thrusts a shield and mace at him. He reaches out and grabs the items automatically and then frowns, dismissing the Status Screen to pay proper attention to what he is given. The mace is a simple construct though instead of metal, its top is padded with wood and wrapped cloth. A training weapon, though of better quality than he’s ever wielded. The shield is a simple wooden shield banded with iron around the corners and weighted with extra lead at the back.

  He pauses, looking at the weapons in his hand and looks up and around him for the first time. The training hall is made of stone, its ceiling standing high and vaulted with wood beams. Windows are thrown open to bring in fresh air, but where wallspace is available, weapon racks hang for the training gear. The ground beneath his feet is packed soil, though in the corner he notices a rougher training ground. All around him, adventurers and those who wish to be adventurers train.

  “Mary…”

  “Litzburn.” The experienced Adventurer ignores Daniel again, waving to a towering, bald ebony skinned man who seems to be in command of the training floor. Litzburn strides up to them, smiling widely at Mary and nodding in acknowledgment even as she speaks, “This is Daniel. He’s joining today.”