Eliona's War 3: Lethal Healer

Ch. 7

Severance gave his friend a sideways look. "What are you doing in the city?"

The last time they talked was when they'd run the raid together a couple of days ago. Since then, he hadn't heard from Awesome Dude.

"Hehe. I got promoted."

Awesome Dude fell in beside him, with Vast on the other side of Severance. Other than a quiet grumble, Vast seemed to be okay with that, as long as the Shade didn't keep trying to offer him food.

"To what?"

Both of Severance's eyebrows rose. Somebody actually promoted Awesome Dude? This, he had to hear. The narrower street had few people on it, so he stopped and turned to face the Shade.

"I'm a Captain now," Awesome Dude told him with no small amount of pride. "I'm helping to protect this city now. Look at this."

He tugged the collar of his shirt down a bit, showing off the base of his neck. He had a clan marking there, a wolfhound's head etched in grays like a tattoo.

The last time Severance had seen it, it'd only been a faint outline. Now it was almost solid, with detailed lines indicating the eyes and fur of the hound. The eyes were the darkest, almost pitch black in color, while the fur was a solid gray.

"You got more Gifts?" Severance's brows lifted.

He wondered if his friend understood the significance behind that. He looked up, met Awesome Dude's brown eyes. And to his surprise, he saw the solemnity there, despite the silly grin that Awesome Dude wore.

The grin faded quickly though, leaving a stranger standing in the Shade's place.

"Yeah," Awesome Dude said. He glanced around, making sure there was no one within earshot, before he leaned in and spoke in a hushed tone, "I have three now, like you. But something's weird, y'know?"

"What's weird?" This could be anything, really, but Severance was getting an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

"So, one of the Gifts I got, it's a skill called Foxhole, okay?"

Severance nodded, listening worriedly, while his friend continued.

"It's actually pretty cool. You can dig a hole really fast, and it's great for taking shelter. Like, a minute flat, and I got this four-foot hole in the ground. It turns the dirt into butter, I tell you."

"Okay..." Severance managed to keep his voice steady. There was actually a skill for digging holes?

"But that's not the weird part. I went to the beach the other day, in real life of course, and you know what? I made a really big hole in the sand. It only took me twenty minutes, but you probably could have put a whole walrus in there, it was so huge. It usually takes me like an hour, and my buddy says he'd never seen anybody dig so fast. It's almost like I became a professional hole digger, you know?"

The absolutely serious look on Awesome Dude's face did Severance in. He snorted, then coughed, and then turned away, struggling not to choke on his own spit.

"Why are you laughing?" Awesome Dude tilted his head. "I'm serious! It's a weird coincidence, right? I got better at digging holes after I learned how to dig them here."

Severance took in a deep, shaky breath, trying to steady himself. "Do you regularly go to the beach to dig holes?"

That earned him a disgruntled look. "Well yeah. What else are you supposed to do at a beach?"

"I dunno, swim?"

"I don't know how to swim. And besides, there's sharks out there. I don't want to lose a leg. But that's not what's important here, though. Listen. I've heard that people are getting better at things after they got Gifts. That's why I'm asking you. I know you have three."