Damn, who the heck caused all this mess… It's killing me."
A man from the medical department cursed under his breath, dragging his feet through blood-soaked earth. His hands were already stained red, his expression filled with exhaustion and frustration.
All around them, the forest lay in disarray, trees stripped bare, the earth churned with claw marks and craters. Blood, flesh, and broken limbs littered the scene like confetti after a war.
"They told us to retrieve limbs, not reconstruct a battlefield!" he grumbled.
Beside him, another man stepped over the corpse of a hog split in half "This was supposed to be a standard recovery. Why are there corpses of beasts everywhere?"
The first man spat to the side. "Elites of the world, my ass. More like trash of the world. Can't even fight normal animals without blowing up half the damn forest."
The second man raised an eyebrow. "Don't talk nonsense. I heard they were novices."
"…Novices?" the first guy blinked, realization dawning.
"Age group 3 to 10," the second clarified. "Most barely awakened, if at all."
"…Oh," the first guy scratched his head. "Well. That makes this… surprisingly reasonable."
And just like that, his complaint turned into awkward acceptance. After all, expecting toddlers to cleanly kill wild beasts was a bit much even in a world of awakened.
"Hey!" a third voice rang out from a few meters away. "I found a left arm!"
A moment later, the same voice shouted again, this time with urgency. "Guys, hurry! You'll want to see this!"
The team rushed over, weaving through the scarred terrain.
Their breath caught collectively when they arrived.
There it lay the corpse of a scaled panther , a monster, not some wild animal. It was missing a claw and a tail., blood and brain matter still steaming faintly from its head.
"Are you telling me… a novice killed this?" the first man whispered, dumbfounded.
He looked around in growing horror. "Wait, wait. Is the kid still alive? Or are we about to dig through the panther's gut for his bones?"
"Nope. The kids are alive," the third guy replied, still in disbelief. "Being healed by Head Tashi himself, as we speak."
The silence that followed was heavier than the air itself.
They pressed on, finding more trails of blood. The carnage led them to the skipper's.body, and not far from it, the avian monster, feathers like razors, wings shattered and dead cold on the floor
The first guy slumped to his knees.
"…You know what," he whispered, voice cracking, "I don't even know which one's the monster anymore."
Two boys, not even ten years old. Fought three monsters, all dead.
---
Three Days Later at the Dawn Academy Medical Ward
Kaelen blinked slowly, awakening to the sterile scent of antiseptic and the soft ticking of mana-powered monitors. His body still ached, but at least it felt like a body again.
He turned his head, eyes finding Jered lying on a bed across from him.
"…Jered, are you awake?" Kaelen whispered, voice hoarse.
" Mmmm"
"You think they can really heal us?"
Jered exhaled. "I mean… Alex lost a finger during sword training once. They healed that up in seconds."
He trailed off, eyes dimming.
But this wasn't just a finger. Jered had lost nearly everything. His limbs were gone, shredded to pieces. How much damage was truly left behind, he couldn't even imagine.
Before their thoughts could spiral further, the door creaked open.
An old man walked in, a little hunched, eyes sharp with experience and a little mischief.
"Well, well. Quite the energetic ones, huh? How was your rest? Peaceful dreams, I hope?"
Kaelen blinked. "Who are you?"
"I'm Tashi. Head of the medical department here at Dawn Academy."
"Thank you, Doc Tashi, for saving our lives," Jered said politely.
Tashi chuckled. "No need to thank me. If you must, thank the d…"
Remembering how the Dean was the reason for the situation they were in right now. He caught himself mid-sentence. "hahaha, never mind, never mind. I'm just doing my job."
Kaelen, copying Jered, added, "Hey Doc Tashi… when will we be able to recover?"
The old man scratched his chin. "Good question. But before that, I have one for you."
"Eh?" Kaelen raised his eyebrows.
"Do you have a special constitution, kid?"
Kaelen frowned. "No, I don't. Do I?" He turned to Jered, like the boy might know.
Jered sighed, resisting the urge to throw his pillow. "How would I know?"
Tashi pressed on. "Did your parents feed you anything special?"
"I eat what I like. But… Why are you asking me questions instead of answering mine?"
Jered groaned. "You really have no filter, do you…"
Tashi didn't seem annoyed. If anything, he looked curious. "Because," he said, eyes narrowing, "you're healing too quickly. Faster than what should be possible."
Kaelen scoffed. "I still can't move. What healing?"
But the word "healing" triggered something in Jered's mind.
"…It might be because of his class."
Tashi raised an eyebrow. "Don't be ridiculous. He's not even level 20. He shouldn't even have a class yet."
Kaelen blinked. "But… I do have a class."
Then he leaned toward Jered, whispering, "This old man is so stupid."
A child not even ten calling him stupid, even he could not take it.
"I can hear you, boy!" Tashi snapped, fire blazing in his eyes.
"He does have a class, sir," Jered interrupted quickly, "He awakened with it."
Tashi froze. "…Show me."
"Kaelen, show him your stats."
Kaelen sighed, opened his interface, and projected the screen toward Tashi.
A flicker. A glow.
Then silence.
Tashi's jaw dropped.
"Black system… Divine Cleric… 500% healing and buff amplification…"
He staggered back a step.
"Vasra, you son of a bitch… You didn't tell me a kid like this was attending…!"
As soon as he said that, he felt a murderous intent from the well mannered kid.
What's going on , what now.
Jered's eyes burned at the insult. "I am Jered Dallas, and I won't tolerate you cursing my brother!"
Realising the kid before him is a Dallas but clearly he didn't like Dallas at all.
Tashi scoffed. "A Dallas? Figures. Of course you're one of those. The whole bloodline is rotten to the core."
Jered's expression darkened.
"And you " Tashi turned back to Kaelen. "Thrown into a death trap without a single combat skill. What kind of guardian lets that happen to a Cleric?!"
Both boys glared at him now.
Kaelen, who was enjoying Jered getting scolded moments earlier, was now equally pissed.
Tashi's words didn't literally call him useless, but that's what Kaelen heard. And for a boy who dreamed of being the world's strongest warrior, being told he had zero combat value was a death sentence to the ego.
"Would you stop rambling and answer already, old man?!" Kaelen snapped.
But Tashi didn't flare in anger.
No.
He was calm now, eerily so.
He stared at Kaelen like one might look at a divine miracle.
"A black system… A Divine Cleric…" he whispered. "If I could become your mentor… I'd go down in history. I could change the world. I could… I could…"
His fingers twitched. His breathing quickened. His lips curled into a grin that was far too wide for comfort.
He didn't see two broken kids.
He saw a legacy.
A healer's dream.
A way to make his life's work immortal.