"Don't rush. You're not going to die anytime soon. First, let me explain a few things." That's good to know. The pain had already made me accept the deal—I'll hear her out now. "I'm not human. I'm a monster." Her words left me frozen. I already knew about monsters with human-level intelligence; some are even smarter than regular people.

"I'm sure you've heard about me. I'm the supposed jaguar-type monster who defeated the first Marquis Timal. That's a lie. We were never enemies. We shared a bond as companions for a long time. The story got twisted over time to make Gabas look stronger and more dominant." This new revelation takes my surprise to a whole new level. Could it be true? Is she lying to me?

"I can read your emotions a little even from this distance. I understand why you might doubt my words." I feel a mental sigh. "I'll appear before you. We'll connect our Imra to filter emotions and detect obvious lies." I have no choice in this—I simply agree.

Moments later, a majestic jaguar with wolf-like fur appears inside the cave. Its presence is imposing, and its eyes reflect the wisdom of an elder. There's no sense of danger—its Imra is so controlled that it feels more like a statue than a living being.

It lies down and stares at me. "I expected a more vivid reaction." Her words actually surprise me. I had managed to control my emotions thanks to Frozen Core.

"I'm doing everything I can to stay calm. I am surprised—and a little scared." I speak honestly without thinking too much. If she can read my emotions from afar, it'll be even easier now that she's near.

"I'll filter my Imra into yours. Once that happens, you'll be able to sense my emotions and I yours. It'll make trust easier." I feel a layer enveloping me, like a piece of clothing even though there's nothing there.

"Let's begin." A hint of uncertainty and joy leaks through from… What's her name again?

"Excuse me, what's your name?" We should start there—she already knows mine.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Sus, from a tribe far removed from human civilization."

"Nice to meet you, Sus. As you already know, I'm Maki. My surname is Vichag." I bow after the greeting. Not only is this monster clearly grade six and highly intelligent—now that I can feel her emotions, I can tell something else: she's a good person.

"Maki, this will be like an interview. We'll ask each other questions to determine if we're good people. After that, I'll tell you my plan, and we'll see if we can agree." I sit on the ground, and I agree.

Almost three hours pass, during which we talk about many things: questions about who we are, our families, hypothetical situations, my future plans, my past life. Being able to sense lies made it easier to speak openly and continue.

"It's been so long since I had a conversation like this." There's nostalgia in her voice. Some sadness, too—but above all, joy.

"I've enjoyed it too. You're more human than many people I've met." Sus is an incredible person—possibly with a better heart than many in this world.

"Thank you. It's time I explain what's going to happen." Her eyes and Imra turn serious. Now I'll find out if I can actually be healed.

"As you know, my tribe specializes in the Life and Death affinities. My natural affinity is electricity. By linking with me, your affinities will rise. Since you're an assimilated person, you already have high compatibility with the Life and Death affinity, which will make it easier for you to obtain healing skills. I'll be here to guide you." Those words lift my heart—I've wanted a healing ability for so long.

"The problem is your rank. Being just an Amethyst, you can't handle my full power." Something inside me already expected that—my rank is still low.

"But there's a solution. I'm also forming the core of a new life. You could call her my daughter. If I leave her inside your body to grow, that will help stabilize my power until you're strong enough to handle it. Would you take care of my daughter?" This is the first time I'm left speechless. Not just from surprise, but from a feeling I can't describe.

Can I handle this? It's a huge responsibility. I hesitate, then slowly steel my resolve. I will do it—I'll do everything to keep that new life safe. "Yes. Leave it to me. What will happen to you?" If she's asking this of me, something's about to change.

"I'll enter a dormant state from losing so much power. I might sleep for five or ten years—I don't know. That's why I'm entrusting my daughter's future to you." Her words are heavy—I can feel her trust and sadness blending together. "I'll stay with you for about three months before I return to my tribe. In that time, you must learn at least one healing skill." I nod. I'll give everything I have to succeed—even if it means training without sleep. "Now try to rank up. During that transition, I'll start the link."

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I steel my heart. Time to ascend to the Emerald rank. "Don't forget—focus and try to enter your Cube. Once inside, accept the voice of the world and rise in rank." I make myself comfortable, close my eyes, and try to enter the Cube.

I lose track of time. When I arrive, nothing's changed from the first time. No, I lie. The columns holding everything up look worn—like they're bearing a weight they can't sustain. This must be the cause of the pain. It saddens me to see what I've done to my body. No one knew about this, so I kept pushing beyond the limit. Without Sus, I might have died—or taken years to fix it.

"Calculating conditions…" "Conditions calculated. Skill level: approved. Imra level: approved. Magic level: approved." "Permission to rank up granted. Do you wish to rank up?" I mentally agree. I feel myself falling into a deep sleep. Before I can even question it, consciousness fades.

My body wakes up like I've just had a long nap. When I open my eyes, I see Sus by the cave entrance, staring outward.

"You're finally awake. I was getting bored of waiting." She smiles with her feline face. Her size catches my eye—she's now just about 2 meters tall, less than half of what she used to be.

"Thanks for looking after me. How long was I out?" I try to sit up. The pain is still there—intense. I activate Frozen Core to stabilize my mind.

"It's been almost 10 days. Congratulations on becoming an Emerald rank and a beast tamer." With a calmer mind, I start to notice the changes from the rank-up.

My mana pool has grown again—that's a good sign. My body feels stronger. My Imra has changed, too—not just stronger and more alive, but harder to control. I glance at my arms and find a series of tattoos running from shoulder to elbow. The symbols are hard to describe—beautiful, mystical. Grey and brown swirl together perfectly.

"Your left arm holds our bond. Your right arm is where my daughter is growing. Even if you lose those limbs, the marks won't disappear—they'll just migrate elsewhere." Sus walks over and lies beside me.

"In the future, if you get a strong healing ability, you might even regenerate lost limbs." I give her a weird look—I don't have a fetish for losing limbs, and I hope I never develop one.

"You just woke up—eat something. Then it's time to train." I pull food from my storage bracelet and get to work.

"You'll need at least one rank III skill to begin slowly healing the damage to your pillars. You'll have to use mana to try and acquire a healing skill—but the more you use mana, the more the pain will increase. How quickly you succeed depends on your ability." I understand the concept. The more I use mana, the bigger the cracks get, and the more it hurts. According to Sus, I might have two years of mana use left before my Cube shatters. I won't take that long. I'll get that skill in one week.

"To understand how the Life affinity works for healing, a real example is best. May I make a small cut on your arm? I'll use my ability to heal it slowly so you can watch how Life mana works." I'm not a fan of this type of training. But I agree—experience makes you wise.

The cut is shallow—just a scratch. Her Imra control is impressive. She could slice off my arm if she wanted to, yet she holds back this much. She channels her ability into the wound, and it starts to close slowly. I can more or less see how she uses the affinity and her skill. We repeat the process for hours—until finally, I get it!

"Can I try?" Sus agrees, slices me lightly again, and I try to gather the now faintly visible Life mana to form a construction and heal the wound. It doesn't work. I repeat the process over and over, and after thousands of attempts over several hours—I finally succeed.

"FINALLY!" I can't contain the joy as I watch the wound slowly heal. It's slow as a snail, but I now understand the basics. The next day, after thousands more attempts—and thanks to my massive mana reserve—I manage to heal it without much effort. Hard work pays off.

"Do you wish to learn the skill: Basic Healing?"

"Sus! I can finally learn Basic Healing." I smile, and she returns it. Throughout all this time, we've done more than just train—we've talked about our memories and experiences every day. It's like spending time with a grandmother—except I can speak openly about both of my lives.

"Accept it. That'll be your first step forward." I follow her advice and accept immediately. I feel the knowledge rooting itself into my mind. We test it again on a cut. My construction speed and healing have improved significantly. Now I can use the ability without much issue. The pain from these two days has been worth it.

"That skill won't be enough to heal your condition. It's time for step two." Without warning, she disappears and returns with a golem nearly split in half.

"These golems are emotionless creations. It's better to work with them for this next step." The next part is brutal—I have to wound and heal the golem to keep leveling the skill. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but I suppress it and focus on the task. This thing has no feelings. It's like hurting a rock.

Nearly a month passes. I start with healing fingers. Then hands. Then arms. Eventually, full limbs—until the skill reaches level 15. Among the few options offered by the world's voice, Sus made me pick Restorative Reconstruction (II). It was the last of the four. Then came the hardest part.

"Every golem has a core in the center of its head. When it loses body parts, the core begins to crack. As it repairs, the core also slowly restores itself." She points at the golem. She breaks all its limbs and lets me feel its fractured core. It's still alive—held immobile by Sus's Imra. "You must learn how core reconstruction works and direct your healing affinity toward it to speed up its recovery. That will be the foundation of your future healing skill." I nod and begin the next stage of training.

Almost two more months pass this way.

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