Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Ramy returned to his peak status. And everyone in the White Raven Crew gave Ana approval with their words. She was meant to be the party's healer in the future after all. Her position on the team was unique.

Eren gave his nod to Ana too. But it seems that he still had something else to add:

"That was a good healing spell execution, Ana. And your off battle mana recovery spell is very effective too. But this was an ideal case scenario. A healer is required to do their job while they are active on the field as well.

What about your in-battle spells?"

Ana's mood turned serious again after realizing that her test wasn't over yet. Becky saw the change of the healer's expressions and tried to give her a breather:

"Eren, why do we need to push her this hard this early when we don't require her to participate in matches? Ana has just broken through in her rank.

Her spell execution is almost flawless despite her newbie status. I think we should just…"

Eren looked at Becky apathetically before replying in a cold voice:

"Shut your mouth when you don't understand what I'm trying to do here, Rebecca. This isn't a ranking war where your life isn't at risk, regardless of what your opponent does. The Besanc will open for all of the students soon. Do you know what that means?"

Becky wasn't expecting Eren to turn so hostile towards her. She didn't understand what the guy was so hyper about. In addition to that, the name Rebecca being used instead of the usual Becky didn't go unnoticed by her.

"Wha... what does that mean?"

Becky decided to end the stare game with Eren and finally indulged him in his question.

"It means soon the ranking wars will look like a child's game after you feel the real danger of being in a real battle, sans the academy's safety net. That's when a party's test of strength truly takes place.

The Besanc will soon be open for all of us, not just me alone. First, you will be trained by academy-approved hunters and adventurers in a few basic skills. Then your party will be able to partake in Besanc missions collectively. This is when parties make it big or break for good.

I want Ana to keep on training with that target in mind. I'm fine with her not participating in the ranking wars with us. I don't care if she wins or loses in her matches as long as she can keep up with us with her progress."

That answer didn't convince Becky. She tried to counter Eren's statement with her logic:

"If we can work without her in the ranking matches, we can work without her in the Besanc missions."

Eren shook his head before replying:

"That's why I said shut your mouth when you don't understand what I'm trying to do here. The biggest difference between a ranking war and a Besanc mission lies in whether you need a healer or not.

You can participate in ranking wars without any healer and still come out fine. You cannot do the same in Besanc missions. A party will pay dearly if it doesn't have a capable healer in it. Ranger and Historian roles become significant in real-life missions as well. But the healer's role tops that chart.

I want my party's healer to be capable in everything she does. I want her to be ready for any situation we might have to deal with. Because our survival lies in her hands. Most importantly of all, my survival lies in her hands.

So training and testing her from the beginning makes sense. I don't know about you. But I like living. And I want to keep on living. If you want to die by hiring an unpolished healer, you'd need to find a different party."

Eren said bluntly while keeping his eyes focused on Becky.

'This girl is either consciously or subconsciously vying for my position.'

Eren thought to himself. He didn't mind Becky's interference in his commands when it came to normal issues. But he wouldn't allow her to dictate the core team policies as per her whims.

The butcher's speech again made the effect it sought to make. Becky looked like she would say something but she kept quiet in the end. He had realized that arguing with Eren was sometimes more challenging than arguing with an unmovable wall.

Eren shifted his focus to Ana again before asking her:

"Well, are you up for the task?"

Ana nodded after which Eren divided the White Raven Crew into two squads and arranged a mock battle. Ana was made to participate as a non-combat member in one of them. She was only required to heal her team member's injuries or fill their mana storage while the battle was taking place.

There were two types of healing magic a healer could use to treat their team member. First was the passive healing that Ana had performed on Ramy. It consisted of using tools, arrays, herbs, and other items in conjunction with spells to heal a teammate of their injuries or refill their mana storage.

Passive healing was useful after the battle got over or before it took place. The biggest advantage of passive healing was that it could be performed on multiple members simultaneously while ensuring the healer's mana doesn't get depleted that much. Its disadvantage would be the fact that healers won't be able to perform this type while their teams were moving or were participating in battles. Passive healing would just bolster and expedite the body's ability to heal. It wouldn't take part in the actual process itself.

A healer's true test lies in the active healing skill. A healer proficient in active healing would be sought-after by many well-known professional teams. A healer would otherwise be earning off-field through passive healing.

That's why the class of healers was a special one. It would separate the talented healers from those average healers early in the game. Though, some healers still choose to remain off-field despite being talented at active healing. They were a different breed.

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AN: Nina had treated Eren's wounds once with the snap of her fingers in the early chapters. That was the case of active healing.