Am I a Healer? You'd Better Think So!-Chapter 8: Hesitation

Niara took a silver emblem from the woman, who then turned and left. No further explanation was needed; Niara already knew all the steps and everything she had to do. To take the test, all Summoners had to first study as many subjects as possible to provide the best support for their partner.

The two left the grand hall. Niara glanced at Darian, a bit unsure, and slowly placed him on her shoulder.

He wasn't entirely physical, so he didn't feel sticky. His current form was just a basic physical manifestation that, in theory, could evolve and change with resources and time.

He was just a few inches long, with a delicate, elongated body that displayed an impressively vibrant coloration. His back was adorned with soft, tiny scales that shimmered in various colors. Despite being just a slug, he was exotic and eye-catching.

Darian hadn't influenced the choice of his physical form. Neither of them knew why, but since everything about him was already unusual, he didn't care.

This form had come from Niara. She had seen a similar creature in the sea once and thought it was cute. Since they had practically no power to turn him into something better, she thought of something small and beautiful—somehow, that's exactly what he became.

Darian could feel her warmth and determination. Even though they were physically separate, their souls remained connected. She walked through the corridors without hesitation, heading for the library.

Celestia Academy was massive, and they were still in the outer region. Along the way, they passed by many people. They stood out like a beacon in the dark night.

Everyone around turned to look at her, staring at the glorious Spiritual Guardian resting on her shoulder. Most simply widened their eyes, confused and surprised. But some started laughing loudly, unable to believe what they were seeing—or sensing.

This Spiritual Guardian was unbelievably weak. It wasn't about his appearance or size. He emitted power that came from his Summoner, and that power was nothing more than a grain of sand—literally.

'There are five levels of Summoners,' she explained mentally, ignoring the stares around her.

From the lowest to the highest: Mortal, Heroic, King, Saint, and Immortal. These levels represent a Summoner's talent and are unchangeable; a person is born with it. According to Niara, this happens because, within the body of every individual with a bloodline from a Deity, there are meridians that channel energy to their partner.

Talent comes from the ability to move this energy through the meridians and transfer it to their partner. Either a person is born with good ones, or they're not.

Among Summoners, 60% are Heroic level, 39% are King or Saint level, and only 1% are Immortal level. Obviously, Mortal level Summoners weren't even allowed to take the test.

This ranking made a huge difference for a Spiritual Guardian—because the higher the Summoner's talent, the greater their partner's initial power and the faster their evolution.

However, even an Immortal-level talent didn't guarantee a Spiritual Guardian would reach the top. In fact, those at that level rarely survived long.

The enemy could sense this talent coming from the Summoner and would always hunt them down in a frenzy, as if they were the most delicious thing in the world. The weak died quickly, but the strongest were also buried just as fast.

Everyone was forced to fight constantly, and every time, it was a bloodbath with heavy losses. This was part of the contract, and it would happen every time Darian returned to that place.

For him, it was training; for the people of that universe, it was survival.

That's why standing out while still weak was extremely dangerous. Almost all the strongest Spiritual Guardians had come from Heroic-level Summoners. Those with Immortal-level Summoners usually didn't survive their first years.

They arrived before a massive door. Niara used her emblem, and it opened.

Inside, the ceiling stretched so high, and the space was so vast that Darian couldn't see the end. There were endless shelves, but instead of books, they were filled with something else.

Darian knew what they were—he had read about them in a book. Jade Slips. Countless of them. Each one stored an unbelievable amount of knowledge, like a USB drive packed with compiled files.

The soft sound of wings moving echoed, and an elderly male figure, appearing as a mix between a white crane and a human, appeared before them.

"I already know about you two. Poor Spiritual Guardian..." he muttered, looking at that slug with pity.

After a sigh, he added, "First, you need to find out what type of law he obtained. Then, you can look for a compatible Blessing. Go to the general knowledge section. Everything that can be known is there."

The old man led them to the section and left them alone, not caring any further. To everyone, it was a given that the pair wouldn't survive their first battle.

Darian was excited—he could finally start understanding things. He decided to research himself on his own; he wasn't stupid enough to go around talking about his powers. It was better to be cautious and gather as much information as possible before deciding what to do next.

Niara was already aware that this was what he was after—after all, he already had a Blessing. As soon as they were alone, Darian asked her to show him the information on Blessings first.

In short, they were like superpowers for people from Earth—what truly defined a Spiritual Guardian. They resembled magical techniques and could come in countless types and abilities, capable of being practically anything, completely unpredictable.

The name "blessing" was given because all of this was granted by Heaven's Will. The two connected universes were blessed, and both sides gained a lot from it.

The library was filled with countless different blessings. All of them had been left behind by past Spiritual Guardians who had reached a high level. After figuring out which law they had absorbed in the test, they had to search for a blessing already created with that same law and carve it into their soul forever.

Once a blessing was set and created by a Spiritual Guardian, it became a solid and unchanging foundation. However, as they evolved, they could add new layers to the blessing, modifying it more or less depending entirely on the user.

And yeah. Using a pre-existing one wasn't really necessary.

However, creating a blessing from scratch was a process that could take a long time, and the result was almost always mediocre. Trying to do that was practically suicide, because evolving and refining a blessing meant constantly fighting. Surviving each battle while creating one was an obvious path to a quick and brutal death.

In the past, many sacrificed themselves to lay the foundation for countless types of blessings. It kept growing, and now there were so many that it was impossible not to find a compatible one. But, obviously, there was no such thing as a perfect one—and there wasn't a need to be.

Like it was already said, recorded blessings were just a foundation. Over time, the blessing would shape itself and become something unique to the user. When someone used a pre-existing one and reached the top, the original version had already transformed into something completely different. Then, that user could rename it and leave it in the library for someone else to study. No two blessings would ever be completely identical. They might be similar to the point where one wouldn't notice any differences, but deep down, they had their own traits.

Learning all of this left Darian with more questions than answers.

He had arrived here with a blessing already inside him—he just needed to learn how to use it.

Where had it come from? Who created it? Why did he have it?

And the worst part: there was absolutely no record of anyone like him.

In the end, as he learned more about everyone's power, he started looking for information on how to evolve and the power scale of Spiritual Guardians.

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Basically, there were nine levels, called the nine rings.

The rings got their name because other Spiritual Guardians could sense something small and circular, like a ring, on another guardian's forehead. As someone leveled up, a new, larger ring would appear around the previous one, stacking onto it.

Each ring, when the guardian activated their Blessing and power, would manifest as a colored aura around them, showing their level. The lowest level was red, followed by orange and yellow.

Reading that, Darian immediately thought of Rhea. When she flew, a bright yellow aura surrounded her—the power of a three-ring Spiritual Guardian.

That was where the information ended. More advanced details about the rings could probably only be found on Earth, when he returned.

As for the process of evolving and forming new rings, it was pretty simple... at least for the first three levels.

First, a guardian had to establish the foundation of their Blessing. Then, fight, fight, and fight.

The enemies of this entire universe were called the Risen. They carried within them a power from their creator. The Risen weren't born that way—they were originally ordinary people from this universe who had been corrupted by a sinister figure.

When a Spiritual Guardian defeated them, they absorbed that power and, over time, could form a ring.

It was almost like leveling up...

The only problem was...

The amount of power absorbed depended 50% on the Summoner. And, according to past records, no Spiritual Guardian had ever managed to form a second ring with a Mortal-level Summoner. It wasn't an exaggeration to say it was a hundred times harder...

Niara already knew all of this, but she hadn't had the courage to say it outright.

When she saw that Darian had found everything out, she didn't hesitate. Her will and promise had already been made crystal clear before.

"Well, whatever. I can already tell my life is destined to be a mess. I'll have to climb this mountain to the top in ways no one's ever seen before..."

Darian spoke, then turned to her seriously.

"You and I have nothing but each other. That's great—we can take risks without fear of losing anything. I just hope... well, not always the smartest or the hardest-working people get rewarded. We just have to lean on each other and try without fear."

He tried to say something meaningful, but in the end, his words wavered.

"Count on me."

Her firm response, completely without hesitation, made him swallow his insecurity.