Chương 24: 1-23 A scaly friend

Josef didn't get lost, not at all. He simply took a minor detour around the sewers to sightsee a little. Getting lost had also nothing to do with his decision to just retrace his steps to the tavern and make his journey from there. Maybe tracing paths between locations underground wasn't as easy as he had thought it to be. Fortunately, he made it to Charly's just minutes after she opened up, dispelling any worries his late arrival might have caused. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't alone in the cellar when he arrived.

Zippa and Bezzo were already waiting for him, talking animatedly with each other. As Josef emerged from the ground, they turned to greet him excitedly.

"If it isn't our favorite healer, I feared you decided to skip out on us today." The older brother greeted him, without a trace of worry in his voice.

"I'd never entertain the thought. Just saw a friend off to the dungeon, is all."

"And here I was afraid you were just moping around all on your lonesome. And busy with being mysterious and masked and whatever else you do in your free time." It wasn't the first time Zippa joked about that, and Josef didn't mind. He knew that it must be weird to hang out with him, all dressed up to hide his identity.

"I was. Better be happy I make the time to step away from my silent brooding." They had built a bit of a routine like that. As they talked, Josef sat down with the older reptile and began focusing on the treatment. He wanted to make some headway before another patient showed up and demanded his attention. Also, the sooner he dumped his mana into the healing magic, the sooner he could start regenerating for the next round. At the same time, Bezzo got busy playing checkers with Dusty.

He had somehow gotten pulled into the matches during the last couple of visits, and now he had taken it upon himself to defeat the cheating bunny. Nibbles, meanwhile, would animatedly comment on their moves like a professional sports reporter. The enthusiasm of his squeaks made it sound like that, at least. As Josef got to work on the stump, he had to once again marvel at how responsive his mana felt after his latest skill acquisition.

As the magical healing juice left his body, it remained much more responsive to his whims as he moved it around the injury. Once more, bones started to grow, and flesh followed soon after. Thanks to his increased mana pool, Josef could make a lot more progress than usual, regrowing almost the entire palm in a single sitting.

"Damn, this still feels weird as fuck. Is it just me, or was that a lot more than usual?" Zippa rubbed over his freshly regrown skin. Apparently, it would feel quite itchy for a while. He appeared to be pretty surprised by that change.

"I got a little upgrade last night." Josef revealed with a hint of pride at that reaction. After a moment of thought, he added.

"A while ago I got a skill gem from the dungeon, but I wasn't sure if I should use it. Now I'm glad I went for it. We'll probably be able to finish your arm today because of it."

"I can imagine that it must've been an intrusive one. I can feel you on that." A smile passed over his face before he leaned in.

"Don't tell anyone, but we got a skill like that running in our family. It's super awkward, and I'd rather not use it, but it's saved my life before."

"You can inherit skills?" Josef couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, raising his voice a little. A moment later he looked around, but thankfully, no one was making their way into the basement.

"Pff, now that's a reaction. The secret's supposed to be about who's got these skills, not that they exist at all. Have you been living under a rock? No, scratch that. You live in the sewers, right?" His tone was joking, but there was also an undercurrent of curiosity to it. Fuck it, I like these guys. Might as well…

"Nibbles, mind keeping a lookout at the door?" Josef didn't even need to hear the affirmative squeak to know that his familiar was on the job. They had built up a certain level of understanding, and the rat was always happy to help if asked nicely. With a small level of privacy established, he took off his mask. He also sent the token he had received from Vasaj, which he was carrying in a pocket, into his Portable Hoard. That name still made him feel something odd after today's revelation.

"Damn, never thought you'd just flash me like that. Can't say I saw that coming." Zippa reacted like his usual joking self, but there was no hiding the surprise on his face.

"So you're an elf, huh? Never thought a long-nose would save me. No offense. Actually, your nose isn't long at all." The speed at which the words cascaded out of his mouth was a pretty clear indicator of just how surprised the guy must have been. Bezzo, meanwhile, reacted much more calmly, though his voice sounded cold and strained.

"Why? Why help us? Is this another scheme? What are you pointy eared pricks up-""Cut it, Bez." Zippa interrupted his brother, his tone sharper than Josef had ever heard him talk before.

"I owe this man a debt I don't know how to ever repay. I don't want my own brother talking out of his ass. You're better than that." Then he turned his attention back to Josef, voice and features softening once more.

"At least it makes sense why you're hiding your face all the time. But why reveal it now? You could have just left things as they were." The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Because I wanted to." Josef shrugged.

"I've been looking forward to our meetings these last few days, and I don't want things to just end in silence once I'm done with your arm. I'd like to call you my friend, and it wouldn't be fair to ask that while hiding my face. Also, not an elf, just similar enough to pass for one." To make a point he lifted the hair covering one of his ears, revealing his round human ears.

"Dragon's pucker, it's just one surprise after another with you." Zippa hollered as Josef cringed for a moment. Those expletives hit differently now that he knew he was going to be part dragon, or already was. Stupid heartstone. Bezzo didn't look convinced, though he didn't voice his opinion. He probably followed the age-old adage of not saying anything if he didn't have anything nice to say, or he just didn't want to get scolded by his big brother. Either of those would do it, really.

Josef gave them a quick, rudimentary rundown of what a human is, and that they're so far removed from the rest of the world that they'll probably never meet another one. They mostly accepted his background story, though the younger brother didn't seem overly convinced. Josef couldn't blame him, considering that it was mostly a lie. He eventually had to put his mask back on, as Nibbles warned them of an incoming patient, but between treatments they would continue to talk as Josef kept up his healing.

Eventually, they reached the last finger. The image of regrowing flesh was as vivid as always, but something about finishing the final missing piece made it feel especially satisfying. If Zippa's cheer was anything to go by, he felt the same. As he was busy showing off his now movable fingers to his brother, who finally started to lighten up at the sight, Josef turned his attention to new notifications.

Spell upgrade: ☆☆ Heal (Pinnacle) -> ☆☆☆☆ Greater Heal (Moderate) Sometimes all it takes is a single touch and a bit of goodwill. Magic is your voice and flesh answers your call. Improves both efficiency and efficacy of your healing. Performed a feat of healing beyond your means. You have earned a new feat: Prodigious Healer Josef had to blink several times to check if his eyes were working correctly. No matter how much he tried, though, the information in front of him didn't change.

He had somehow skipped a full rank of healing magic, pushing directly from 2 to 4 stars. Not that he fully understood just how much, or little, those individual stars mattered, but it must have been a significant accomplishment, considering it gave him a feat. As the two brothers were still busy celebrating, which was mostly just Zippa squeezing his brother and promising copious amounts of dungeon delving in their future, he continued to look into his feats.

Plural, as he hadn't gotten around to checking the other one since this morning. <System Whelp> The system is the birthright of dragons. You have taken your first step to claiming your part of it. <redacted> watches over you. Unlocks: +1 to all Attributes It wasn' t much, but it was honest attributes. Not that he would scoff at an extra six points, but spread out as they were, they didn't look very impressive. There was also that redacted information. When was the last time he saw something like that?

Something about the origin of elf noses, if he remembered right. That must be some high clearance dragon lore if they didn't show it to a 'Drake'. Maybe he would gain some clarity if he continued to level, or maybe if he improved this feat. That one looked like it would definitely be improvable. <Prodigious Healer> Common sense said it was impossible, but you committed to it anyway. A feat earned by healers who pushed their healing beyond their rank through understanding and hard work.

Unlocks: 10% increase to Wisdom 5% increase to Intelligence 5% increase to Charisma So he managed to push the possibilities offered by his current healing magic because he had enough anatomical understanding to support the process and kept at it stubbornly, when he couldn't do it in one sitting. A mix of intelligent and persistent, he could live with that. Still, what was up with that increase in Charisma?

He could understand the other attributes involved, even if he would have preferred a different magnitude between them. Maybe it was to help with bedside manners, or to gain that saintly aura a storybook healer is supposed to have? Josef felt like it was a waste, but free stats are free. He wasn't left with any more time to mull over his least favorite attribute, as Zippa finally remembered the man who gave him back his arm, and rushed over to seal him in a vice-like hug.

"Thank you so much. I mean it. If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know." Josef smiled, even though he was under bone-crushing pressure. At this point, he had learned that the lizard's personality was simply as cheerful as it had appeared after their first session together. He had to admit that it was highly infectious, definitely a great way to save his day after his earlier mood.

"Actually, you said we're friends now, right? How about you come over for food sometime? I know I might not look it, but I'm a great cook!" His boast sounded in no way humble.

"Brother, you can't be serious. Why would-" Bezzo tried to speak up, but this time it was Josef who interrupted him.

"I kinda need to be careful about revealing too much about myself…" His voice started to drift off before he caught himself. He had just made new friends. Or one, at least. If he closed himself off now, it would make things awkward. It's not like they could come hang out in the clinic all the time. Why not try to be a little more outgoing? Trying to be a little more extroverted couldn't be so bad.

"But why not. How about you pick me up tomorrow when Charly's closes up? There's still people I need to tell where I'm running off to before that." Bezzo was just shaking his head, as if he had just suffered a great tragedy. His older brother, meanwhile, was over the moon. It would take some more time before the two of them got around to leaving.