“Saela, what are you doing!?” Kastel screeched. “Don’t betray your brother–uugh–agh–”

  Kastel didn’t notice Kolm’s approach, and was already being dragged out by him as the crowd around them jeered.

  Kolm tossed him into the open and quickly began stomping on him.

  “We lied!” Saela continued, her shout louder than Kastel’s screams. “That day–” She showed everyone her mess of a teary face. “Veyrith led us out past the lanterns, because he botched the hunt. And then, when the Mauler appeared, he pushed Set, and ran. We ran too! We were scared! We’re sorry!”

  Saela’s bawls were swallowed up by the shocked crowd’s yells. Some threw stones, others, shrooms. Meanwhile, Kolm, and his brother, Eves, were stomping on Kastel with a greater ferocity.

  Curses were flying. Apologies were reaching my ear. Throughout it all, I was still eager to play my trump card. I looked at the elder, who looked my way in response. He nodded and stood up with his cane supporting him.

  “Enough!” he bellowed.

  With his daughter at his side, he walked past the sniveling Saela and Edrin, and came closer to where I stood.

  “I must be fair to both sides, just as I was fair to you, Set, on the day you tried to kill Veyrith.”

  My jaw clenched. Kolm almost lunged at the elder for framing the situation the way he did. Good thing Eves held him back.

  “That day… you were saved by his blessing. He did not perish. But today… his blessing seems to have left him.”

  The thought of a blessing expiring—it had a chilling effect on the crowd.

  “It’s curious, Set. On the day you return, we hear that Veyrith has potentially died. Where were you before arriving here? What did you do before coming here?”

  I remained stone-faced. “I went looking for a Shadow Beast.”

  Whispers spread through the crowd.

  “Why did you do that?” the Elder asked.

  “I had unfinished business with it. I had to get rid of it.”

  “And did you succeed?”

  I bobbed my head. “I did send it away.”

  “I see…” His eyes probed mine.

  As they did, I remembered the scolding I had received the night I bludgeoned Veyrith. The elder scolded me, but didn’t really punish me, citing that Veyrith was unhurt, and that Runica was in distress. Rumors spread regardless that I had been punished, but I had a suspicion it was him spreading them, to quell anyone who supported Veyrith. To this day, I didn’t have any sort of idea how the elder’s mind worked, but I was glad that he wasn’t one of the fools who ignored what had happened.

  “How did you survive away from the Shadow Flame, Set?”

  I nodded. This man—I had a suspicion that he already had an idea of what I was about to do. I immediately wondered if he was higher than Level 1…

  I released Runica’s hand and stepped forward, pulling out the knife I had prepared for this.

  “I escaped the Mauler that Veyrith had pushed me into because I came to my senses in time. The price I paid was my left arm… I would have been dead if that were that… But, a miracle occurred.”

  I put the knife against my throat, shocking both the crowd and the defensive line. How many pleas for me to calm down erupted in that moment? I would need my boosted perception to catch all the ones beyond Runica’s.

  And then, with my eyes locked on the elder’s, I slit my throat. To my surprise, my blood sprayed out like I had punctured a high-pressure pipe. I didn’t realize that could happen. But the effect was appreciated. It made the regeneration more noticeable.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The crowd went silent the moment they realized I had regen. Even Runica’s family was stunned. Only the elder could react.

  “I see… You have been blessed,” the elder said.

  I nodded. “Better believe it.” I chuckled at the crowd. “Want to know something sad?” I pointed at my missing arm. “Whatever you lost before being blessed, stays lost. The only good thing is that the blessing closed up my open wound.”

  The crowd stared in stunned silence, looking at the spilled blood soaking into the dirt. A few people gasped belatedly, hands covering mouths. Some turned pale. Others just stood frozen, trying to process what they’d seen.

  And then the whispers began.

  “He healed…”

  “Did you see that?”

  “His throat—he cut his throat—”

  “The Spirit of the Cavern has touched him…”

  “A Blessing…”

  I watched the awe ripple across the crowd, like a stone had been tossed into water. People who just moments ago had been going through all sorts of chaotic emotions were now unified in their reverence, their suspicion and disharmony dispelled.

  This was what I wanted–the presence of the Regeneration Blessing–it would steamroll any opposition and harassment I could receive going forward.

  “Wait,” someone called out, voice trembling with uncertainty. “Can… Can someone even be blessed that late? Isn’t it something you’re born with?”

  “That’s not how it works,” another villager chimed in, voice raised with confusion. “I thought the Spirit marked you when you’re young…”

  The Elder stepped forward, his cane sinking lightly into the soil. The murmurs hushed again as all eyes turned to him. His expression was calm, eyes tracing over the crowd before returning to me.

  “I was blessed,” the Elder said, “well after my beard had gone gray. I’d already lost two children to the spore fever. I’d fought the rabid boars. I had known suffering, fear, and regret.” He glanced at me. “And then, one day, I was blessed.”

  A stillness settled in the square. The elder’s voice dropped, carrying more weight with less volume.

  “There are twenty-four among us who are blessed. Many of us here know Veyrith and Saela–their being blessed at such young ages was strange, not the norm. The blessed among us know that to be true. So do not let this be what causes you to turn a skeptical eye to our Set.” He gestured toward me. “This young man survived an encounter with a Mauler. He returned scarred, but alive. Missing an arm, yes—but with a closed wound. And now… with proof of divine favor. Does that not fill you with a sense of… awe? The young man who was betrayed by his fellow man, fed to a Mauler, to have his name sullied by those who wished to hide the truth–was he not deserving of the Great Spirit’s blessing? Tell me, any of you gathered here… A young man so betrayed and taken for dead, his legacy tarnished by vicious lies–who would be more worthy of such grace?”

  The elder chuckled when silence was all that he received.

  “To receive a blessing after suffering—that is not a mark of shame. That is a sign. A sign that the cavern, that our Shadow Flame, that the Great Spirit, is watching and deciding. Things are not set in stone. Veyrith cast Set out to die. The great being that gifted us our flame disagreed.”

  The elder looked at me. “Welcome back, Set.”

  I felt more joy than I thought I could possibly feel. Feeling many pounds lighter, I turned my attention to Kastel.

  “Kastel, let me be clear, I hate you. If Veyrith were here, I would tell him the same thing. Heck, I hope he turns up. I want to tell him to his face.”

  “Bastard,” Kastel spat.

  Kolm swiftly kicked him in the gut. No one protested.

  Saela then called out to me. She threw herself at my feet, head grinding into the ground. It was such a pathetic sight that some sympathetic voices asked her to not be so… like this.

  “Set! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

  I stared at her trembling body. Kolm and I shared a glance. He shrugged. He wasn’t going to beat on her—she was no Kastel, after all.

  I sighed. “Saela… I don’t know what your brother said to you to make you go along with whatever lie you all ended up spreading… I don’t forgive you. I don’t hate you. But I don’t forgive you. If I hadn’t survived, you all would have carried on without a second thought. There’s nothing you could say that would make me think otherwise.”

  Saela, her head down, sniffled and nodded.

  I looked at the crowd and all my supporters. “That’s all I wanted to do. I set the record straight. I survived the caverns. Don’t want to ever go back out.”

  I went over to Runica and took her hand.

  “I’m happy to finally be able to breathe easy.” Runica and I shared gentle smiles. “Thank you for hearing me out, everyone.”

  Kolm walked up and clapped. “Alright, you heard the man. Meeting over. We’re going home. He’s going home. And the three of you—any of you three ever step foot on our property—or his—we’ll give you a beating worse than what Kastel got. And you, Kastel, I swear. If you so much as look at anyone from my family in the eye—Set and Selma included—I promise I will drag you out here and castrate you.”

  It sure sounded like Kastel pissed himself after that.