THE ANTI-HEALERS ODESSY

The mist clung to the forest floor like a living thing, curling around Arthur's boots as he stepped carefully through the underbrush. The air was cold, thick with the scent of moss and wildflowers, but beneath it lay a metallic tang—something off. Arthur's eyes scanned the trees while Fenrix prowled ahead, low to the ground and alert.

It had been three days since Arthur named Fenrix and sealed their bond. The chimera was still recovering from his wounds, but his strength returned rapidly with each passing hour. Arthur had continued to hone his spells—basic healing, mana fortification, and the subtle manipulation of mana threads. The Wild Woods had become his forge, and survival had sharpened his instincts.

But today felt different. The forest was too quiet. No birdsong, no distant howls. Even the ever-curious Umbra padded silently beside him, ears twitching.

"Something's watching us," Arthur murmured.

Fenrix halted and bared his fangs. Umbra sniffed the air, and then—without warning—lunged forward.

The ambush came fast.

From the right, a blur of motion exploded through the trees. A beast—lithe and scaled, with jagged claws and shimmering crimson hide—barreled toward them. Its jaws parted in a screech that pierced Arthur's ears.

"Breakscale!" Arthur shouted, recognizing the creature from his grimoire's bestiary.

He barely raised a barrier in time. The Breakscale collided with it, and mana crackled on impact, sending shocks up Arthur's arms. The creature skidded back and slashed the air, enraged.

Fenrix roared and charged, his body a blur of black and silver. The two beasts collided, claws clashing, wings spreading. Fenrix bit into the Breakscale's side, but the creature retaliated with a tail whip that sent Fenrix tumbling.

Arthur raised his grimoire and flipped to a healing spell. "Mend!"

A surge of energy pulsed from his palm, knitting the shallow wound on Fenrix's shoulder. The chimera regained his footing instantly.

The Breakscale lunged again.

This time, Arthur countered with a direct offensive spell—an anti-heal arc burst. The purple lance of energy struck the beast's flank, causing it to shriek and stagger. The spell corroded flesh instead of mending it, a cruel mirror to healing.

Fenrix didn't waste the opening. He pounced, clamping his jaws on the Breakscale's throat.

There was a horrible snap.

And then silence.

The creature collapsed in a twitching heap.

Arthur fell to one knee, panting. His heart thundered in his chest. Sweat matted his hair to his brow.

"That… was close."

Fenrix padded over and sat beside him, bloodied but victorious. Umbra circled the corpse once before settling at Arthur's side.

Arthur looked at his hands. They trembled—not from fear, but from adrenaline. His first real kill. His first real defense of something other than himself.

It had been necessary.

He stood slowly. "I need to get stronger."

---

Over the next week, Arthur began to train seriously. No longer was it just wandering and surviving. Now he had a purpose—to protect those by his side and prepare for the unknown dangers lurking deeper within the Wild Woods.

He carved out a small glade near the monolith basin for his training ground. Each morning began with meditation, channeling mana through his body, visualizing the flow as threads of light. With the grimoire open before him, he practiced both healing and anti-healing spells, committing incantations and formations to memory.

He began to experiment with combining runes, layering healing matrices with mana amplification glyphs. Some attempts backfired—exploding in sparks or draining his mana pool completely—but he learned.

Fenrix trained alongside him.

The chimera adapted quickly. Arthur built obstacle courses with fallen logs and rocks, testing the creature's agility. He taught Fenrix signals—gestures and single-word commands that synchronized their attacks. Umbra joined in too, sometimes acting as a scout, sometimes a sparring partner.

Arthur soon realized that Fenrix's bond allowed something deeper: shared mana.

One evening, while practicing a multi-cast healing shield, Arthur felt his mana surge beyond his limit. He glanced at Fenrix, who stood glowing faintly.

"You… gave me your mana?" Arthur whispered.

The beast dipped his head.

That changed everything.

---

The next test came sooner than expected.

A herd of stone-hoofed boar thundered through the trees, fleeing from something. Arthur crouched, signaling Fenrix and Umbra to hide.

Then it came—a towering bear-like monster, its body riddled with crystals and moss. Its eyes glowed with corruption. A forest guardian twisted by rogue magic.

Arthur's jaw clenched. This wasn't like the Breakscale. This was a corrupted entity.

"I have to purify it… or kill it."

He cast a mana detection spell. Corruption festered in the creature's core, leeching off its natural magic. If left unchecked, it would spread.

Fenrix snarled. Umbra bristled.

Arthur nodded. "We do this together."

He opened the grimoire and prepared a dual-cast: a wide-range barrier and a concentrated anti-heal bolt.

"Go!"

Fenrix and Umbra darted forward. The bear roared and swung its arm. Fenrix dodged, biting at its leg, while Umbra slashed at its eyes.

Arthur launched the anti-heal bolt into the exposed side. The corrupted magic sizzled and flared, recoiling violently.

The bear shrieked.

Arthur followed with another spell—an area-wide anti-corruption field, centered at the bear's feet.

It staggered, weakened. Fenrix leapt, tearing into its throat.

Minutes later, the beast lay still.

Arthur approached cautiously. The crystals on its body dimmed. Its eyes turned dull.

The corruption had been purged—but the creature could not be saved.

Arthur placed a hand on its chest. "Rest now."

He turned to Fenrix. "We did it."

Fenrix howled—long, low, and proud. Umbra echoed him.

Arthur stood tall, the grimoire glowing in his hand.

He was no longer just a boy running from pain.

He was a hunter now.

---