"Lei, you are learning the art of healing, not the art of killing". If he hears that one more time from his old masters, he will char their corpses alright. It is not that he doesn't want to become a healer, he really wants to, but he is much better at destroying things than healing things. Healing needs compassion, and no matter how good he is with light magic, without compassion, the light magic just defuses around the target body. Burning bodies are much easier, you don't need much compassion, only a bit is disdain and hatred would do. And he had plenty of those.
His parents died when he was young, and he was brought up in a monastery. He had no one to give him love nor was there anyone to love. It is difficult to find compassion when he can't even feel love.
As his last evening class got over, there was no possibility of going out in the city, it was already dark into the night and everything was shut down due to the night curfew. The curfew is being called out because of recent dark magic attacks that have shaken the city. Someone or something is using dark magic to fuel a hidden agenda. He cared nothing for it. He just wished this whole thing would get over and get this night's curfew lifted. He misses being out in the open.
Lei was already tired and irritated from the long evening lecture and he was in no mood to entertain any of his dimwitted friends, so he went directly to his room, ready to retire for the day with a nice book, preferably something with a dragon. He likes books with dragons. Dragons tend to leave behind charred corpses of their enemies and he felt a bit of kinship with them.
His idea of a nice evening shattered when he reached his room. His room was dark and moody, with very little light, barren except for a small bed and a small wooden desk with a chair. On top of his small wooden desk was a small red letter, his name clearly written on it.
"For Lei Lein". It was a task letter from his black-market contact.
Lei owned very few possessions. Ever since he was a child, he never liked owning things, because anything he wanted he never got, so he chose not to want anything.
One of the few things he does own is his skills with light magic and his specialty with the human body. He was one of the few magic users who possessed enough magical strength to penetrate another person's natural body resistance to directly influence the workings of the target's body. Even in this era, it is considered unnatural and uncanny to be able to influence another body without touching. It was his specialty and it was a service he offers to anyone who can afford it.
He opened the letter to find it contained a scant few words. It was an address. And that his services were required urgently.
He quickly grabbed his healer badge and started walking towards the address. Since he was a healer, perhaps still not a legendary one but a healer nonetheless, he can go out during the night curfew. The dark magic menace has not troubled the city for the last few days, so he was not particularly afraid of it.
He reached the address after walking for about 20 minutes. He was familiar with this part of the city. The address was that of a huge house, two stories tall, with a large wooden door at the entrance, all brightly lit. Every corner was blinded with light, every source of darkness nullified. He knocked.
A young man of questionable virtue opened the door. He was immodestly clothed, a tiny shorts being the only thing that separated him from being absolutely naked.
Lei raised an eyebrow.
This nearly naked young man gave him a wide apologetic smile.
"Hello, you must be the healer I asked for. I am so sorry for being so scantily clad. You must forgive me, but I have a certain condition that makes wearing clothes so uncomfortable. Please come in"
Lei said nothing. He hated small talk. And he hated that smile because it made him feel wanted. The inside of the house was quite large and was nicely furnished, the exact opposite of his small apartment. There was a lot of furniture, many of which he couldn't even put a name to, and there were more couches and chairs than he cared to count.
The young man sat on one of these many seemingly comfortable furniture and seemed to indicate Lei must too.
"I am sorry for calling so late, but it is an emergency..."
Lei kept quiet. It is easier to just let the patient tell the story. All he has to do is just heal. He wished this young man would stop smiling apologetically.
"...I am so glad you came even at this late hour", he continued hesitantly.
"Please tell me how I can help you", Lei replied curtly.
"Ah... a direct person. I won't beat around the bush then. You see...", he hesitated again.
Lei waited for him to continue.
"Ah, you see... I was putting on a lot of lights to ward off the dark magic if it happens to come near the house, and it seems I have overdone it. My whole body seems to have reacted negatively to the high intensity of the lights. It has become too sensitive and I can't even put on clothes, they burn intensely if I do."
He shifts uncomfortably on his seat, his shorts clearly bothering him. Lei can already sense the cause of the illness was not the bright lights.
"I will see what I can do, please sit comfortably, and don't worry, you won't feel a thing".
Lei can see doubts on the young man's face as many of his previous patients. They don't think bodies can be healed with light magic so easily.
Lei extended his light magic towards him and probed inside the body by focusing it into his patient's body. He noticed the body was in a state of near collapse, each particle in the body seemed to have turned into a black mass. Lei pushed more light into his probe, to see if he could reverse the particle collapse into blackness and that turned out to be a mistake. His light magic got sucked out off him and he almost lost his breath. The patient's body needed light magic to sustain otherwise it would have collapsed upon itself. Lei let the body absorb all his reserves of light magic. After what seemed like hours, even though it was just a few minutes, the patient's body slowly returned into a state of normalcy.
When Lei opened his eyes, his patient was asleep, breathing slowly. He focused his light magic to scan the body again. There was no trace of the darkness now. Lei took a quick look at the sleeping body. He rewarded himself with a soft smile for a job well done. Lei wrote his alias on a small scrap of paper so that the young man give his payment due. With some searching, he was sure the young man could find him.
He turned off many of the bright lights with his magic, as they were no longer necessary to suppress the dark magic the young man was struggling with.
He was glad the curfew would be lifted soon, as there would be no further dark magic anymore. At least for some time. He just hopes this young man would not play with dark magic anymore.
