"What do you mean?"

Luca looked at Luna in surprise to which Lulu groaned, waving a hand dramatically.

"He used to be one." She said with an exaggerated sigh. "Back when Mana still existed. He was an amazing healing mage then—powerful spells, glowing hands, all that shiny holy nonsense."

"Everyone admired him. Even the women who couldn't stand the male elves respected him back then."

"It's true." Luna nodded reluctantly. "Back in the old days, he was known throughout the land as one of the greatest healers. But when Mana dispersed, his magic stopped working."

"And without Mana, his healing spells were useless and overnight, he lost everything that made him special."

Luca nodded slowly, understanding.

"And everyone thought that would be the end of him." Luna continued. "He lost his position, his followers, even his reputation."

"But then...he made a surprising comeback."

Lulu snorted, crossing her arms. "Oh yes. The miracle recovery."

"He traveled to the Dryad territory." Luna explained. "You've probably heard of them—the Dryads are the best healers on the entire demi-human continent."

"They can create the finest potions and elixirs from herbs and flowers. Their healing abilities are second to none because they're part plant themselves."

Luca nodded again, his interest piqued. "Go on."

"Well." Luna said. "He went there and stayed for a whole year. When he returned, he claimed to have learned all of their techniques. He said he could heal again—without Mana this time."

"Everyone was shocked. Even the elders started calling him the Grand Healer again."

She sighed heavily. "But…"

Luca's lips curved faintly, as if he already knew the answer.

"Let me guess." He said quietly. "He's not the same as before, is he?"

Luna shook her head slowly, her voice low and serious. "No." She said. "Not even close."

Luca's brow furrowed as she continued, her tone heavy with quiet dismay.

"In the past, as long as my father performed a healing spell, no matter how sick someone was, they'd recover almost instantly. It was effortless for him. The light from his palms alone could close wounds, purify poison, and heal even the gravest fevers."

"He was proud of that and honestly, we all were. But now…" She trailed off, shaking her head again. "Now he uses strange techniques. Things none of us have ever seen before. Things that don't even feel right."

"Strange techniques?" Luca asked. "Like what?"

"They're hard to describe." Luna said. "Sometimes he uses powders and liquid mixtures that give off awful smells. Other times, he presses strange symbols into the patient's skin using heated metal or needles."

"He says it's to 'release the inner toxins,' but half the time, it looks like he's torturing them. And worst of all, we don't even know if it works."

"Exactly!" Lulu nodded vigorously beside her. "Not to mention, the results are random! Sometimes they get better after a few days, but other times they don't recover at all."

"Some even get worse! So we don't even know if his weird methods do anything or if the people just heal on their own after a while."

"And the worst part is...we can't even question him." Luna sighed.

"The elves here are healthy by nature. We rarely fall ill, and when we do, it's something minor, a cold, a fever, maybe a small wound and we can treat it ourselves. But these women's conditions…" She clenched her hands. "They're unlike anything we've seen. We don't know how to treat them, so no one can oppose him."

Lulu crossed her arms and huffed.

"And since no one here knows a single thing about medicine or healing, my father's word is final. He's technically still the Grand Healer, after all. So everyone just lets him do whatever he wants."

Hearing that, Luca couldn't help but chuckle—though it wasn't out of amusement.

"That already sounds very shady." He said, rubbing his chin. "You're saying no one knows if his methods even work, but everyone still treats him like a healer?"

"That's not medicine. That's blind faith."

He paused, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully before saying,

"Hold on. If the Dryads are really the best healers on the demi-human continent, why not just go there? Bring one of them here to look into it. Surely, they'd know more than someone experimenting with untested tricks."

"Don't tell me the clans are fighting too. That it's not just male and female elves but also the different races now?"

He winced at the thought, as that would only mean a much bigger headache for him.

But luckily, Luna quickly shook her head.

"No, no. Nothing like that. While there are occasional skirmishes here and there—mostly territorial disputes or misunderstandings, overall, the demi-human clans are on good terms with each other."

"Especially the female members in the clans. There's no real conflict between us."

"Then what's stopping you?" Luca asked, genuinely curious.

Luna's expression grew more serious. "Geography." She said simply.

That caught his attention immediately, as she went on to explain the structure of the demi-human continent.

"You see, the demi-human continent isn't very large. In fact, compared to the human continent, it's tiny—barely 1/30th of its size."

"But even though it's small, it's rich. Extremely rich."

"We have more minerals, herbs, treasures and rare metals than anywhere else in the world. That's why the humans have been trying to invade for centuries, they want our land and our resources."

Luca nodded knowingly. "Yes...I've read that in the archives."

"But here's the strange part." Luna went on. "All those valuable resources—the metals, the herbs, the magical flora—they're not scattered evenly."

"Almost all of them are concentrated in the center of the continent."

She paused and then added, her voice quiet,

"That place is called the Abysmal Lands."

Luca frowned. "The Abysmal Lands? Why such a grim name? Sounds like a hole people fall into and never climb out of."

"That's not just a saying. It's literal."

Luna gave a humorless smile.

"The Abysmal Lands are exactly that, a place you enter once, and never return from. It's the most dangerous region on the entire continent."

"Yes, it's rich with everything valuable—minerals, herbs, mana stones, even divine fossils. But the dangers there…"

She shivered.

"They're beyond description."

"It's true! That place is cursed!" Lulu chimed in with a wide-eyed expression, her hands gesturing wildly.

"One time you might step in and some gigantic bird will swoop down and carry you off. Another time, the ground itself opens up and swallows you whole! Or worse—the plants eat you!"

Luca blinked. "Plants eat you?"

Lulu nodded solemnly. "Oh yes. There are vines there that can strangle a giant in seconds, and trees that move when you're not looking."

"You can hear whispers at night—voices asking for help—and when you go near, something grabs you from below."

"Stop exaggerating." Luna gave her sister a side-eye.

"I'm not exaggerating!" Lulu protested. "You remember what happened to the expedition from the beastkin village last year! They all vanished!"

Luna sighed.

"That part's true, at least." She admitted, turning back to Luca. "Even though that central area is overflowing with resources, no one dares to go near it."

"It really is like an abyss and even the bravest warriors hesitate to enter, since once you go in, there's no guarantee you'll ever come back."

"So most people avoid it." Luca concluded.

"Yep. That's why each race has settled along the safer borders—the outer rim of the continent."

She gestured towards the forest around her.

"The elves, for instance, live in the southernmost forests. If you go a little south from here, you'll reach the shores and beaches. Similarly, the Dryads, centaurs, vampires, and beastkin all built their villages along the coastlines."

"And I'm guessing the middle place, the Abysmal Lands is completely empty?" He asked.

"Of course it's empty!" Lulu said, her tone half-serious, half-mocking. "Who'd be stupid enough to live there? Any village built in that place would be wiped out in hours. People would be eaten alive or swallowed by something before they could even unpack their things."

"Charming." He muttered.

"It's not just the center that's dangerous either."

Luna continued while shaking her head at all the troubles they face.

"The areas between the outer villages—the wild zones are also risky."

"Not as bad as the Abysmal Lands, but still full of beasts and strange phenomena. We try not to travel through them unless we absolutely have to."

"So let me get this straight." Luca tilted his head, frowning. "Your village is surrounded on three sides by territories full of dangerous creatures and hostile lands. And only the coastal side is relatively safe. But..."

He thought about something that didn't make sense.

"Doesn't that mean these monsters could attack you anytime?"

"What stops them from just...wandering in and wreaking havoc?"

Before Luna could answer, Lulu smirked and said confidently.

"They can't. It's impossible. No matter how strong or big those beasts are, they'll never cross into our land."

Luna gave her sister a faint look but nodded in agreement.

"What she's trying to say is that each village, every territory in the demi-human continent is protected by something...A barrier."

Luca's eyes narrowed slightly. "A barrier?"

"Yes." Luna said. "We don't know exactly how it was made. Some say it's the work of some goddess above. Others think it was created by the ancients, back when the world was still young."

"Whatever the truth is, the invisible barrier protects every village from the creatures outside. No monster or dangerous entity can cross into our lands."

"So even though the Central Lands and the wild zones are deadly..." Lulu added cheerfully. ..."our actual village is perfectly safe. Not even the ugliest beast can step one foot past that invisible wall."

Luca's lips curved slightly as he absorbed it all.

"I see." He said quietly. "A dying healer using strange techniques, a disease that makes no sense, and a village surrounded by barriers and beasts."

He smiled faintly with a appreciative gaze.

"This place just keeps getting more interesting by the minute."

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