Healing System

"So where in the fuck are we then?" Michael muttered, glancing around, then turning to Irelia. "Is this your homeland or something?"

"I'm not sure..." she replied in a low voice. "I do remember bits and pieces of this land. However, I don't exactly see how this is relevant to my origins. I was born in my heaven, and I became the strongest there before being promoted."

In the end, Michael didn't learn anything.

"Fish," Kael said, patting Arthur's shoulder. "Do you mind scouting the water stream for us?"

"Pfft..." Michael held back a laugh, taking in Arthur's reaction. "So how does it feel to be called a fish by one more person? I bet it's great, isn't it? Makes you really feel at home."

"Shut up." Arthur sighed and went up to the water stream before dipping his hand inside.

Immediately, Michael felt the mana in the air ripple as it stretched out all around them and beyond.

After just a few moments, Arthur pulled his hand out and glanced back at them before shrugging.

"I have no clue where we are. Though there is a kingdom connected with this river south of us. If we follow it, then we should reach it very soon," Arthur said matter-of-factly.

Nyra slowly approached Michael, tugging at his sleeve. "Is he really a fish...?"

"Mhm." Michael nodded, not denying it. "He thrives in water, and—"

Michael's words were interrupted when Arthur suddenly threw a water javelin right at him.

Of course, all Michael had to do was crack the air with his Chaotic Mana, and it effectively made the entire area Anti-Magic.

Because of that, Arthur's javelin simply dispersed, only leaving behind a tiny bubble of water which hit Michael on the chest.

He simply wiped it away and glanced Arthur up and down.

"Nice try. Let's get moving now."

"You're really bullying him hard, huh?" Nyra remarked with a giggle. "Though I'm a bit surprised by your power. When I first met you, you weren't exactly that strong. Now? It's a bit unbelievable."

"Well, strong or not, I'm in a lot of trouble now," Michael replied. "I've got gods targeting me left and right. And for all I know, we're going to be walking into some kind of trap."

"Really?" Irelia halted, turning around. "If you sense it's a trap, then let's head back, no?"

"I don't sense it's a trap—more like I feel it might be," Michael replied plainly. "My luck is usually shit, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was something waiting for us there."

"Right..." Arthur facepalmed. "The same way most of our encounters went. Whenever you're next to this guy, there's big trouble."

Michael tilted his head. "You're speaking as though I want this to happen. All I want at the moment is to go back, but my mana is a bit too unstable to lock onto where I want to go."

Sure, he could head back to the planet where Celeste and the others are. However, he could only do so tomorrow at the earliest.

After all, teleporting all of them out took a lot more strength than he had anticipated.

Therefore, Michael simply started walking, ignoring the ache behind his eyes from mana fatigue.

The others followed without a word. No one really felt like making a big deal out of it. They'd been through worse. Probably.

Trees thinned out as they moved, and the stream beside them curved gently south, just like Arthur had said. The landscape was quiet—too quiet. No birds. No critters. Just the steady sound of water flowing and boots pressing into wet soil.

Nyra eventually broke the silence.

"Do we even know what kind of kingdom this is?" he asked. "Friendly? Neutral? Kill-on-sight kind of place?"

"No clue," Arthur admitted. "Only picked up bits of information through the stream's flow. They've got mana tech, though. That much I could tell."

"Mana tech? Great." Michael exhaled, rubbing the side of his face. "That usually means paranoia, checkpoints, and a bunch of overconfident mages with nothing better to do than test spells on strangers."

Kael grinned. "So a standard welcome?"

"Pretty much."

Nyra looked between the three of them. "If they attack us, I won't hesitate to kill them."

Michael shrugged. "Neither will I, missy."

After another twenty minutes of walking, Michael finally came to a stop. His gaze fixed on something ahead.

A bridge. Stone and metal, cracked in places but still standing. Beyond it, faint buildings could be seen in the distance—pale towers, black rooftops, a faint glow of mana lights humming in the air.

"There it is," Arthur said. "Not the worst place we could've ended up."

Michael stared for a second longer. Then sighed.

"Alright. Let's go see how badly this is gonna go."

Without another word, he walked toward the bridge, crossed it, and then confidently began moving toward the kingdom.

But just as he expected, a pair of mages descended from the sky, wielding their staffs menacingly.

"Introduce yourselves!" one of them yelled.

"Michael. My friends here are mute, so don't even try talking to them, 'kay?" Michael said.

And in the very next moment, a fireball was sent directly at him.

Oh fuck off, Michael thought with a sigh as he simply swatted the fireball away.

Since he didn't want to kill anyone yet, he dashed up into the sky, grabbed the heads of the two mages, and slammed them together.

The strength behind the slam was enough to knock them out for a while, but definitely nowhere near enough to kill them.

Kael scratched the back of his head. "You think that counts as diplomacy?"

"I didn't kill them. That's about as diplomatic as I get today," Michael said, already walking again.

"Should we leave a note or something?" Nyra asked, eyeing the unconscious bodies. "Like—sorry for the concussion?"

"No," Michael replied without slowing down. "Let them figure it out when they wake up."

Irelia caught up to him, stepping over a root with practiced ease. "They were strong. Just poorly trained."

"They relied on their fancy gear too much," Arthur added. "Didn't even bother checking your mana core before attacking."

"They probably thought I was bluffing," Michael muttered. "That tends to be a theme."

As they pushed forward, the outer edge of the kingdom finally came into full view—high walls reinforced with glowing lines of circuitry, shimmering with layered barriers. A few guard towers loomed overhead, though strangely, no one was on them. No sirens, no alarm bells. Just silence.

Kael stopped walking. "Something's off. Where's the rest of the defense?"

Arthur frowned. "Agreed. The outer perimeter's too exposed."

Michael narrowed his eyes, then slowly raised a hand. His Chaotic Mana pulsed outward in a thin wave like radar.

And what he received in response made him let out a sigh.

"There's some kind of orgy going on."

"What?" Irelia jumped up in surprise.

"I'm kidding." Michael rolled his eyes. "They're just hosting some sort of event. It's like a ball, but with half the kingdom gathered. Not exactly sure how you call that."

"A gala?" Arthur pointed out.

"Hmm... yeah, that seems like it," Michael replied with a nod. "I doubt we're invited, so let's just break in."

With those words, Michael struck the wall in front of them, decimating a clean hole just big enough for all five of them to fit through.

He went first, followed by Kael, Arthur, Nyra, and Irelia.

It felt a bit amusing to break into a kingdom, but while he was on a cooldown, there was nothing better to do.

"Oh right..." Michael stopped. "Where do you guys want to be dropped off after this is gone? I can kind of teleport, I guess, so I can take you back to your homes."

"I don't really care," Nyra said plainly. "Could I follow you instead? It seems like you have a knack for making stuff interesting."

"Of course," Michael replied with a smile and turned to the others. "What about you lot?"

"Same here." Kael nodded. "I don't have anywhere to go, so I'll just follow you."

"I'll explore this kingdom a bit. I might get some answers regarding my origin," Irelia said. "I have my ways to get back, so don't worry about me."

Michael nodded, turning to Arthur. "The ocean?"

"Your mother." Arthur shot back before halting. "My bad..."

"Mhm." Michael rolled his eyes. "If you want to follow me, just say so. I don't exactly have a set goal of where I want to go after either. Though I'll be heading back to heaven soon enough."

"Can we even come with?" Nyra asked, puzzled. "Isn't it only for angels?"

Michael shrugged. "Apparently, but I think they'd understand. It's not like they'll tell you to fuck off when their numbers are dwindling rapidly."

Besides that, Michael and the others proceeded forward, heading deeper inside the city.

The streets were bustling and extremely lively.

However, as he walked through the crowd innocently, he noticed someone in the distance.

It was a familiar person, one he had met back in Vimum Academy.

Is that...?