Everyone at Covern House was up and about. This was a special day. I would be taking my very first Adventurer Guild job. It had been over 3 months since I joined, so my grace period was over. The staff was making sure the morning went smoothly. Chef cooked my favorite breakfast. Gabriel was intercepting anyone who wanted to talk about any other business, so there would be no distractions. Fabia had cleared my calendar for the entire day.

  I had dressed in my adventuring gear. This included my battle armor (jacket and pants), Balmung, Mj?lnir, and a small backpack. Chef had made a nice lunch, which I stored in my ring, so it would stay fresh. I also wore a light brown leather hat, with a wide brim to keep the sun out of my eyes.

  The entire household was there to see me off. This made me feel happy, but it wasn’t like I was going off to war. I planned on getting a gathering quest or other low risk job. High adventure could wait until my soul was fully recovered. I waved goodbye to everyone as I started walking to the Adventurers Guild. As I would be on adventurer business, I left my guards at the house. It didn’t really seem to me that as an adventurer I should have bodyguards. That just seems kind of contradictory. Besides, I didn’t expect I needed them, now that the Assassins Guild wouldn’t take any contracts against me.

  I arrived at the Guild and went straight to the job board. I was required to take one job every month to keep my Adventurer Guild membership. The membership was the one thing keeping the Assassin Guild from sending assassins after me, therefore my need to keep my membership active. I found a job for gathering an uncommon herb. The herb could be found at the edges of the forest, near the river. It would be about 2 hours walk. Seemed easy enough and since the job only paid 1 copper per 10 herbs, no one else would take it. Win-win.

  I went to register the job with the receptionist. She was very professional and gave me a copy of the job after she finished. The posting had a picture of the herb to make it easy to remember. Afterwards, I went into the sick ward. I tended to come about once per week to heal the gravely wounded. Today, there were three cases. One adventurer had a bad run in with a gilameki. A gilameki is a large tree lizard that lives in the forest. They are very rare. They are an ambush predator, waiting silently for their prey to move beneath them. Luckily, our adventurer had been part of a team, and the rest were able to kill the gilameki. Our adventurer had a broken back, and multiple broken ribs. It took a few Heavens Heal, but I was able to put things right. The next adventurer was missing the toes on their left foot. He and his party were clearing out a Goblin Den. After one fight, a goblin that had been playing dead, used its knife and tried to cut off his foot. It didn’t get the whole foot, only the toes. His teammates were able to stop the bleeding and get him here. It only took one Heavens Heal to regrow the toes. He would be up and adventuring tomorrow. The final one brought to my attention, was a young woman. She was in bad shape. She had a high fever, was shaking, and had bite marks all over her body. I cast Diagnosis on her, and it turned out she was also poisoned. She had been ambushed by a pack of Forest Rats, while exploring the forest. These rats had nest all over the forest and were vicious to anything that came near one. She was able to fight her way out of the ambush and was able to make it back to Forest Glen’s gate. Where she collapsed. The guards knew she was an adventurer and brought her here. Probably because Gorver provides a small reward for situations like this. Everyone was doing their best for her, but she wasn’t getting any better. I cast Cure All first, because the poison was the main threat. It was a paralytic type of poison and would stop her heart if untreated. After removing the poison, I cast Heavens Heal on her body. The bites went away, as did her fever. She was out of danger and would be able to return to adventuring.

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  While here, I wanted to try a new spell I was working on. Heaven’s Heal Area spell. It should be able to do a Minor Heal equivalent to everyone in a 20-foot radius. I formed the construct in my mind for Heaven’s Heal and then tried to cast it as an area spell. No luck. It just fizzled. There was still something missing from the construct.

  I noticed that there was a small boy sleeping next to one on the adventurers. Maybe his mother. She did not appear to be gravely wounded, but I was curious. I went over and asked how she was doing.

  “I am doing fine Young Master. It was just a scratch, but it hasn’t healed yet. It’s been a week and should have healed. The Guild Master said I should stay here until it does.” She showed me the wound. It really was just a scratch, but I sensed something wrong with it.

  “May I help with the issue?” I asked. She agreed and I cast Diagnose.

  The Patient has a magical fungal infection, Gushal Rot. It prevents healing of any wound until cured. If untreated, patient turns into a fungus monster.

  A magical infection. That was new. I wonder if Cure All will work. I haven’t used it on a magical infection or even a common fungal infection. Let me give it a try. I cast Heaven’s Heal on her, focusing on the wound. Nothing. The wound didn’t change at all. That confirms the healing prevention. Next, I tried Cure All on her in general. Something was preventing it from working. I felt it being actively blocked. Not to be deterred, I cast Cure All again, this time focusing strictly on the fungal infection. I could feel something pushing back, very much like the Earl’s infected wounds had. I poured more mana into Cure All and could tell I was slowly overcoming the resistance. I continued increasing the mana until the resistance crumbled and the infection was cured. Wow, I had used over half my mana. I cast Diagnose to ensure everything was well. The infection was cured, so I cast a final Minor Heal on the wound and watched it close. I also cast Diagnose on the sleeping boy to ensure he wasn’t infected. He wasn’t.

  I asked her where she got the ‘scratch’. She and two other adventurers were in an abandoned mine. They were on a job to gather a specific mineral only found in that mine. During their search, they were attacked by a furry slime. Somehow or another the slime manager to scratch her. Slimes usually try to envelope you, not scratch you. A scratch was nothing out of the ordinary, so they didn’t give it another thought. Her two companions didn’t mention being injured, so they all completed the job and came back. That was a week ago. I asked about her companions. She gave me their names. I thanked her and left.

  I went to the receptionist. I asked about the two companions the woman had mentioned. The receptionist said they weren’t on a job. I told her about the Gushal Rot and asked her to contact them and have them come in this afternoon to either the Guild or my store. There was a small chance that they may have the infection also. She agreed and would tell the Guild master also. I told her I would be back that afternoon to check them out. Then she smiled and said, “It’s good to have a caring healer.”

  I returned her smile and said, “Alright now, it’s time to do my job posting.” I left the Guild, checked my map and started in the direction of the herbs.