880. The Sanguine Doves and A New Way to Heal

880. The Sanguine Doves and A New Way to Heal

The Mother was adorable.

If one were to remove Jury’s ear flaps, replace her sharpened teeth with human dentures and ask her to close her eyes, then she would be indistinguishable from a Mother.

They were beings that embodied the highest level of purity. Reaching the level of a Mother was a feat reserved for Healers who genuinely did not harbor ill thoughts or ambitions. Aside from wanting to help others and lending a guiding hand to their own, of course.

Stars of the Healers was the best way to describe them.

Dozens of sky-blue eyes stared at Frost. They brimmed with boundless curiosity and, funnily enough, relief.

They must have heard some weird stories about me. It’s nice that they look relieved, though. It means my eyes aren’t as scary as they used to be.

In the past, her eyes tended to scare people. But nowadays, it didn’t require a herculean effort to meet her gaze. Although she could easily change that.

“Did you all just arrive?” Frost asked, speaking to them like children.

All Healers were essentially children to her, even if 80% of the Healers in front of her were in their 20s. Most from this batch were taller than she was.

“Straight from the Asclepien. We’ve had a wonderful welcome from Beholder Jury earlier. Oh my, forgive me for going off track but, your Sanguine Doves have been terrific~ I couldn’t have asked for better guides~”

The 5 Sanguine Doves wore conflicted looks. They wanted to say: “This is our job. Why are you thanking us. It’s embarrassing.” Out loud, but they didn’t want to hurt the Mother. That expression changed to one of bliss when the Mother gently brushed their heads.

“It’s in a Healer’s DNA to be cordial. My Black Wings would have treated you the same.” Frost assured.

The Sanguine Doves were the latest form of Healers after the Black Wings. And like the Black Wings, they were not suppressed by their innocent nature as a Healer. They wore a perpetual, angered gaze. If they had cat ears and completely red hair, then one could easily mistake them for being clones of Ignis.

They were wrathful healers with the unique power to manipulate blood. It was weak and mostly limited to healing applications. However, their method of healing was completely different from every Healer.

[Bloody Exchange]. It was an inherit Skill of the Sanguine Doves which allowed them to transfer injuries from others onto themselves or to another person. If they endured the injury for 24 hours, then they could store the injury and apply it to a target later at will.

If used in a manner where they could store lethal attacks, then they had the potential to outclass the Black Wings. The problem was that they required time to grow. Furthermore, they were not the only ones who had this power.

ABILITY: The Absolute Sovereign of Blood

Arts

(S) Bloody Exchange [0/10]

These were a few of the new Skills she had gained from the Sanguine Genesis Profession. Being able to redirect damage was a powerful tool. Diseases could be spread in an instant. Death could come from merely grazing her fingers against the bare skin of a target.

What made it so deadly was that a target could easily end their own lives if they were not careful. Indeed, a Sanguine Dove could simply hug an enemy and take a hit without needing to worry, since it would return to the target.

The only thing that frustrated Frost about Sanguine Genesis was that neither she nor the Sanguine Doves knew how to manipulate blood. Vampyria didn’t either. She was a Vampire, not an Honored One. Sucking blood was her specialty rather than manipulating it.

This was why Frost had not delved too deeply into Sanguine Genesis. She required Enoch to help her, since she didn’t gain Skills explicitly from Sanguine Genesis. Arts needed to be created in order to form Skills. She was so used to gaining Skills from the Nexus that she didn’t know where to start.

The Arbiter didn’t either, since it had been a million years since she created Divine Works. Neither did Cer know what to do with Galvanized Arts.

I’ll run by our stats again when we see Cer. I wonder if she’s figured something out.

“Cer’s diligent, but diligence can only get you so far.” Nav commended Cer. “Divine Works, Galvanized Arts from Cer’s Electrogenesis Ability; Enoch’s Rupturing, Uriel’s Blood Arts. The ability to create Skills through Arts is a signifier of how far you’ve come. Have you thought of a name of your Art yet?”

Not yet. I wanna see what I can do first.

The most she could do was harden her blood from the inside. Other than that, she was completely out of her element. It wasn’t comparable to learning how to use a new limb, because at least that limb could be controlled through muscles.

What logic did manipulating blood follow? If magic was about understanding the underlaying principles of reality, then what governed this?

Frost abandoned the thought before her face could sour. Scaring the Healers was the last thing she wanted to do right now. She promptly finished here to leave them with a good impression.

“I, as the Amalgam and rightful ruler of the Nexus, welcome you to your new home. You will not face hardships here. This place is a sanctuary for Healers. If you ever need help or advice, then don’t be afraid to ask myself or Jury.”

She raised her left forearm. Then, she made a long, vertical cut.

[Grand Healing].

Black particles burst from her wound. Invisible stitches sealed the deep cut together as she used [Cleanse] to remove the blood from her clothes.

As expected, they have only heard that I’m a Healer. They should feel comfortable knowing for certain that I’m like them.

“Our Moons are also always happy to help. They’ll be relying on you for the foreseeable future, so please lean on them as much as possible.” Jury added.

“Are we going to be allowed to leave? I… don’t want to be separated from my family for too long. I know being here means they can live in Atlas but…”

“It’s fine. You only need a Moon to escort you. We don’t have many restrictions. Was Inflow Direct strict?”

“… A bit. It was scary. But this Mother kept us company, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”

The Healer meekly said.

Jury then replied:

“Right now, the situation requires Inflow Direct to be stricter with how they handle Healers. Hora Therapeutics will brief you all in. Did Inflow Direct not tell you anything?”

“No, unfortunately.” The Mother answered. “Inflow Direct does not inform the Healers of the happenings in the world. We only teach them the basics, since Healers aren’t usually at risk. We opted to leave it in your hands, since we’ll only downplay it. I’m sorry.”

“I understand.” Frost knew where the Mother was coming from.

Back on Earth, there were times when Frost wished she could downplay or decorate her words to make it seem like a patient’s condition was not as bad as it was. Being the bearer of bad news often caused her to feel guilty or be the target of their patient’s frustration.

The Mother was the same. It was likely that Inflow Direct made it a protocol in order for the Mothers to stop feeling guilty. But that in of itself can make them feel even more guilty. It was a vicious cycle that afflicted the kindhearted.

“We’ll do that for you, so you don’t have to worry so much about it.” Frost spoke. “If you’re finished here, then would you like to come with us and visit the Floor of Amalgamation?”

“Oh~!? I would be honored~! Is that where the Sleepy Amalgam lives~?”

What’s with their obsession with the Sleepy Me?

The fact that it was the first thing the Mother asked caused Frost to wonder just what the Sleepy Frost had been doing behind her back in the Asclepien.

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