Damned Healer-Chapter 690: Mistakes And Lessons

Darian and Niara moved toward the sacred forest behind the Academy. It didn’t take long before he spotted who he was looking for.

Under the pale, filtered light piercing through the white birch trees, a small wolf as black as coal walked across a carpet of wildflowers.

She looked like a solid, velvety shadow, contrasting with the ethereal mist that slithered along the forest floor, moving as if it had a life of its own around her. She was distracted, wandering alone through the woods, as if her thoughts and mind didn’t match her actual age.

Darian understood her very well. Howlyn simply couldn’t stay near others her age, much less her own species. Even though she was still young, she felt out of place in the world.

Everything and everyone felt too simple and dull to her. Normally, when Darian wasn’t around, she lived like this—isolated, not wanting contact with anyone.

Her mother tried a few times to make her socialize and train, but... Howlyn was a little monster when it came to combat skills and intelligence. Soon, it became a consensus among the entire race that it was better to let the young one act however she wanted. After all, she was obedient and seemed to like living that way.

Darian watched her from a distance and approached without making a sound or releasing any fluctuation. She didn’t have any real power yet. Even so, the little wolf froze and instinctively turned her head in his direction. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

When she saw him, her red eyes shone with ancient intelligence. It was like a light flooded her soul.

"Alone again?" Darian murmured, walking up to the reborn Howlyn with light steps. "Even if you don’t like it, it’s important to spend at least a little time with your own kind."

The small wolf jumped onto him, and he caught her with a faint smile.

Right behind him, Niara took a deep breath at the sight. Both she and Darian owed Howlyn a lot.

She had been there indirectly since the moment Darian arrived in this universe. She left him her canine, which had great magical potential, helping him a lot when he was still weak and immature. Later, when she was still a Risen Lord, she helped Darian during the events of the sealed nest.

Not long after, when he returned for the second time, she became his most valuable ally. Without her working in their absence and providing what they needed, things would’ve taken much longer in this universe. Maybe... no, for sure, Darian wouldn’t have reached his current level in time.

Right now, she was already over a year old. Beasts could easily be nurtured to grow explosively and become adults within that time.

But Darian refused to allow that. He wanted Howlyn to live her childhood and grow naturally, slowly, and happily. If he could choose, he would rather she never fight and live peacefully. Unfortunately, that idea was ridiculous and impossible. From early on, Howlyn had already shown a strong inclination to remain his greatest support.

"I brought something for you," Darian said softly and waved a hand. A small, colorful crystal appeared.

He placed a chain around the crystal and tied it around the little wolf’s neck.

"This is called Fiendlight. It’s a gift I received, and it can help me a lot."

Howlyn looked radiant with the gift, letting out cute little growls while Darian stroked her.

Darian had already read the introduction to the information Heze gave him. Fiendlight was the core power of a universe taken over by Demonic Beasts, where the laws had shaped themselves to benefit them.

Just like humans descend from the Chromaraics, Divine and Demonic Beasts descend from the Aberrants or Fiendgods, depending on the species. When these Beasts reach a very high level of power, under certain conditions, they undergo a kind of Bloodline atavism, regaining some primitive ability from their parent species.

To use Fiendlight to its fullest, it specifically required a Demonic Beast that already possessed a fiend atavism. As the name implied, this was an atavism originating from the Fiendgods, allowing them to easily absorb any kind of material with energy, eliminating impurities, corruption, and so on.

Darian was certain the Abyssal Corrupted Wolves had exactly that. They could devour and absorb anything corrupted to grow stronger.

Unfortunately, having such a race was only the first prerequisite. To draw out the treasure’s maximum potential, it required an individual with terrifying talent and compatibility.

Fortunately, it was possible to forcibly extract a trace of its power. That small amount could nurture members of a race, improving compatibility over generations. Eventually, one day, an individual capable of using it to the fullest would be born among them.

Darian didn’t have that kind of time. But...

"Yip-yip!"

With a sharp little bark, Howlyn stared straight into Darian’s eyes, as if telling him to trust her completely.

Niara smiled faintly. Howlyn didn’t remember anything about who she once was, but her determination hadn’t changed at all.

Darian nodded, looking into those adorable little eyes. "You’re still very young, and I don’t want you doing anything dangerous or overworking yourself. I just need you to try connecting to the Fiendlight, to make it move its full essence outward. Don’t worry about failing—!"

Before he could finish speaking, Howlyn took a deep breath, and the small crystal around her neck pulsed with an intense, colorful light.

Darian’s eyes widened in surprise.

"Yip!"

Howlyn let out another small bark, looking at him like she was happily smiling.

Darian sighed, but inside he was thrilled. She’d done it instantly.

With a wave of his hand, he activated his domain and opened his inventory, guiding the power flowing from the Fiendlight inside.

"Good job," he murmured, gently stroking her black fur while her tail wagged energetically from side to side.

He turned to Niara, who nodded approvingly. Then he placed little Howlyn on top of his head, leaving her in the same spot Niara used to stay when she was a small dragon. After that, they moved to another place.

...

In an isolated forest on the planet.

Darian and Niara approached from the sky and spotted Alirio. He was in the middle of the Abyssal Corrupted Wolves’ village, standing beside half a dozen she-wolves in humanoid form. They were chatting among themselves, and Alirio carried a somewhat depressed aura.

Niara let out a light chuckle, already understanding the situation.

He was kind of desperate, because Alear didn’t seem to like him, no matter what he did. Even so, something inside him kept him from giving up, as if that was the biggest and most important goal of his life.

After seeing her for the first time, he felt like he never wanted to take his eyes off her again. If she had simply told him to stop being foolish and never to hope for anything, he would’ve given up completely, no matter how much it hurt.

But... she always treated him coldly and harshly, and at the same time never directly rejected him or told him to go away. It was a strange and complicated relationship that he couldn’t understand.

Darian and Niara had talked a lot and knew this young man well.

Since he was born, he had been kind and naive, very much like a mix of Lucius and Darian. But as he grew up, he saw all the effort and absolute focus of his mother and father.

Soon, he understood that the peace he enjoyed was hanging by a fragile silk thread that could snap at any moment. That thread was held up by people who fought and gave their lives for it.

His parents were part of those people, and he quickly felt an inner calling. It was like he felt sadness and anger at himself for having run away from it in the past. It was something instinctive, coming from his great failure in his previous life.

But now it was different. He had learned, and he wouldn’t make that mistake again. Life was a wild forest, and everyone had to fight to survive. He would never again leave his safety in someone else’s hands. He had to be the safety. He had to fight to protect himself and everyone he loved with his own hands.

He quickly cast aside all his naivety and devoted himself to training and studying. Fortunately, he truly awakened and became a Spiritual Guardian.

When he arrived in the training universe, Alirio met Howlyn, who treated him very well and became his tutor there. After all, his parents and family had become immortals and couldn’t naturally go to that universe.

He also connected with the Abyssal Corrupted Wolves, who became his closest and most trustworthy allies.

Back to the present, Alirio was searching for some kind of light or understanding in the females of that race.

Alear could simply reject him, and he would accept it. But she didn’t. She gave him hope and, at the same time, put him down. How could women be so hard to understand?

Darian and Niara landed silently nearby. Alirio was so focused and depressed that he didn’t even notice them that close.

"Kid, my daughter is simpler than you think," Niara’s voice sounded lightly, snapping Alirio out of his daze in fright.

When he turned to her, Niara smiled and continued:

"Just stop trying to please her and stop trying to look like a nice guy. Show her who you really are. Show her you’re reliable and that you’ll never make her suffer. Most importantly... make sure she knows you won’t die. That you’ll never grow complacent, and that you’ll always become as strong as you possibly can, so you never leave her side."

Hearing that, Alirio’s eyes widened.

It was like a bolt of understanding shot through his body.

He didn’t know why, but those words resonated deeply, like they made perfect sense.

Darian snorted softly. The situation had to be confusing for Alirio, but for Alear, it was probably even worse. It was impossible for either of them to understand what they felt without knowing the past they shared.

Niara hadn’t wanted to give that hint before, because she felt Alear had every right to treat him that way.

Darian had told her about the suffering Alear went through alone because of her husband’s foolishness. He trusted that nothing would happen to them because of his powerful family... trusted that his sister wouldn’t do something so dirty... worse still, he had the chance to become a Spiritual Guardian and protect them.

In the end, he made the worst choices. He was killed, and his wife had to live hidden from the world, without family and alone, raising three children by herself.

But now, Alirio had shown Niara and Darian that he truly learned from his mistakes. Being reborn was a great opportunity to try again and reconcile with her. Even without memories, the lessons from past mistakes remained instinctively carved into everyone.

Alirio stood up abruptly, a new light appearing in his eyes.

Niara nodded at him, satisfied, certain he would never give up—as long as Alear didn’t reject him either.