Kael stood quietly as the old man gingerly took the herb pouch from his hands. His frail fingers trembled, and each breath came with a shallow wheeze.
"These will help with the cough," the man said with a faint smile, then broke into a fit of hacking.
Kael frowned, concern tugging at him. "May I know your name?"
The old man nodded between coughs. "Joren."
Kael hesitated, then spoke more softly. "Joren, I think I can help you. If you'll allow me."
Joren's coughing worsened. He braced himself on the doorframe and nodded weakly.
At that moment, a notification blinked in Kael's mind.
[Quest Alert: Aid the Ailing]
Type: Personal
Objective: Heal Joren
Reward: 10 Levels
Kael activated Omni-Vision and peered into the old man's chest.
His breath caught.
A dark mass clung to Joren's lungs, its twisted fibers reaching out like vines. The recognition hit Kael like a hammer.
Cancer.
It existed here too.
For a long moment, Kael couldn't breathe. Memories of his own battles flooded his mind—the sterile hospital rooms, the pain, his sister beside his bed for countless hours, his parents worn thin by hope and fear.
Joren's cough snapped him back.
Kael swallowed hard, steeling himself. He wouldn't let it win. Not again. Not ever again.
With meticulous care, he isolated the cancerous cells using Omni-Vision's precise targeting, then activated Minor Teleport. He shifted the diseased mass out, piece by piece, until the entire tumor was gone. Joren gasped sharply and drew in a deep, clean breath for the first time in years.
Tears welled in the old man's eyes. "I… I can breathe."
Kael smiled softly. "You'll be okay now."
[Quest Complete: Aid the Ailing – Reward: 10 Levels]
Later that afternoon, Kael met up with Mira. The sunlight danced through the leaves as they walked beneath the trees of a quiet garden.
"Omni-Vision lets me see everything," Kael explained. "The building blocks, the patterns. It's how I saw what was wrong with Joren. I think it might help you too."
Mira looked skeptical, but Kael patiently explained how to tune her senses, how to focus her intent and observe the flow of creation rather than just shaping it.
They spent hours practicing.
As the sun began to dip, Mira's fingers glowed with golden strands of energy. Something clicked. Her control shifted from instinct to understanding.
[Skill Upgrade: Minor Creation → Beginner Stage]
Mira let out a small laugh of joy. "I… I felt it. Like the world finally made sense for a second."
Kael smiled, the weight of the day easing slightly. "That's how it starts."
In that moment, under a glowing sky, both of them realized they were growing—not just in power, but in purpose.