The Worst Healer
Copyright© 2026 by InSpite
Sunrise
* Content Warning: This chapter contains explicit sexual content. The story’s tags have been updated to reflect this. *
* If you have previously bookmarked or followed this as a ‘No Sex’ Story, that is no longer the case *
“Ellie!” I screamed the words into the space where she’d been, rushing to my feet in a blind panic.
But then, all I could do was stand there, my heart racing and my fists clenching and unclenching.
I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths, planting my feet and closing my eyes until the panic passed.
The moment it had, I picked up my shield, strapping it to my arm before grabbing my war hammer.
With it in hand I turned back, only to come face to face with Joy, a concerned look on her face. “Carrie, you look like you’re about to do something rash.”
“Ellie blinked away. I need to find her.” I started to move past her as I spoke, but she stepped into my path.
“I’d imagine she used the Skill to go up,” Joy stated calmly. “Which, I’m sure you’re aware, isn’t somewhere we can follow right now.”
I nodded. “I told her our friends are in danger. She probably went to try and help them. But with her state of mind right now ... I need to make sure she’s not somewhere on this floor still.”
“A sensible precaution,” Joy stated calmly. “I’ll accompany you, and we’ll take Thalia for protection.”
I started to open my mouth to protest, but the Rogue, despite her flaws, had already proven how capable she was at scouting.
As Joy went to rouse the neko, Megan approached. “I’m sorry, but I heard parts of your conversation with Ellie,” she explained. “I didn’t mean to pry, but ... it’s a small camp and I was still worried about her.”
“Once Devon gets back, I’ll take Sprat and look for her too ... he’ll be able to pick up her scent if she’s nearby ... Sprat, that is, not Devon.”
“Ten hobgoblins,” Sierra whispered. “Then we have a clean run to the stairs.”
The group were near a T-junction and, according to Rhian, their enemies were just around the corner.
“They shouldn’t be a problem, but we’re short on healing and time, so no risks. We take them clean and fast.”
Sierra held up three fingers, then two, then ... A wave of fire blasted around the corner, forcing them to press closer to the wall until the searing heat faded.
In the aftermath, before Sierra could say anything, Rhian slipped around the corner, moving quickly and quietly with an arrow drawn.
With a quiet curse, Sierra followed, stepping into a cloud of smoke and rock dust thrown up by the blast.
She was vaguely aware of Butter and Jonas following her, but with visibility only a few paces, she’d lost track of Rhian.
Finally, rather than pushing on blindly, she stopped, waiting for the dust to settle and smoke to clear.
“We sure could use a Wind Mage right now,” Butter muttered quietly behind her.
Two clicks echoed off the rock walls, and Sierra let out a sigh of relief.
“Two finger snaps from Rhian means no danger,” she explained to the others as she carefully picked her way forwards.
As they passed out of the cloud, a figure started to emerge, standing in the middle of the path.
“Did you miss me, motherfuckers?” a sharp voice, tinged with an edge of excitement, called out.
“Ellie!” Sierra shouted, rushing forwards.
“Sorry about all the smoke, saw some hobs and dropped an Inferno on ... oof.” Ellie’s words were cut off as Sierra reached her, grabbing her in a tight hug.
A moment later, a light impact sandwiched the Witch harder against Sierra as Rhian hugged her too.
“You have no fucking idea how much we missed you, or how worried we were about you,” Sierra exclaimed, tightening her hug.
Ellie clung to her friends for a long moment in silence before she quietly said, “I don’t think you realise how much I needed to hear that right now.”
“Now, get the fuck off me before I start crying,” she added, while not releasing Sierra or Rhian from her hug.
Rhian pulled back first to sign, “Carrie! Is he with you?”
Ellie finally stepped back too, regaining her composure. “He was, but I Blinked up a level ... or I hope it was just one level. I was going blind.”
“He’s with Sunrise,” she continued. “We managed to find them, but the stairs are guarded. I came to warn you.”
“I’m sorry I interrupted your meditation,” I said, trying to break the silence as we searched the area.
Thalia had disappeared ahead, leaving me and Joy to follow along.
“Meditation?” Joy queried, looking confused for a moment. “Oh, I was strengthening the Sanctuary spell. Not really necessary, but ... there isn’t much else to do.”
I’d had a little time to think about things while we searched.
When I’d spoken with Devon, I’d come across as a blundering idiot out of my depth.
While I wasn’t too concerned with what the Fighter thought of me personally, I needed to lift Sunrise’s morale and gain their trust. I also needed information to come up with a plan.
“So, I’m not sure if Thalia told you what she overheard,” I started, a little awkwardly. “But I’m not from this world ... so I don’t really know what Sanctuary does. Was it the glowing light back there?”
Joy looked a little startled at that news, but recovered quickly and explained. “It’s a protection spell. Most monsters can’t step inside, but it takes an hour or so to cast.”
“It usually lasts around 12 hours, and then slowly shrinks, but you can strengthen it, increasing the size and duration,” she explained. “The one I’ve cast back there will last a week or so with all the time I’ve had to expand it.”
With the explanation out of the way, she quickly moved on to questioning what I’d just revealed. “So, you travelled here ... or were brought here? How? How long ago?”
She blushed slightly. “I’m sorry, it’s just ... that raises a lot of questions, it’s very rare.”
I held up a reassuring hand. “Luckily, we seem to have a lot of time.”
“I was brought here.” I wasn’t sure about revealing the next part, but pushed on regardless. “I remember a woman, dressed all in white, in a white room, and she mentioned Lyria ... I didn’t want to leave my world and then I was falling ... It was maybe five or six weeks ago.”
“It all seems a little fuzzy, but I don’t think it went the way it was supposed to go. We don’t have Classes and monsters in my world, so, I’m sort of working things out as I go along.”
Joy’s brow furrowed a little. “It sounds a lot like you’re describing one of Lyria’s angels, though there aren’t many accounts of them appearing to mortals directly and ... if you’ll excuse the bluntness, in the stories of world walkers ... they’re always powerful heroes brought here to serve the gods.”
“Not D-Rank healers?” I asked, seeing she was dancing around the issue in an attempt to be polite.
She nodded with a grateful smile. “Quite. And while you look the part of some great warrior, Lyria is the Goddess of love and light. Healing, protection and mercy are her domains. You look a little more suited to Ballion or another of the gods.”
“Lyria only ever summoned one champion, He’s known as the Great Healer, and he’s spread her light for countless years. The only S-Rank Healer of this age.”
“I’m sure he’d have you all out of here in a flash,” I replied with a grin. “But you’re stuck here with D-Rank Carrie and having to explain basic spells.”
“I tend to look on the brighter side of things.” Her eyes almost sparkled as she looked me over curiously. “I don’t believe Lyria makes mistakes, and all heroes have to start somewhere, I suppose.”
“I’m not a hero,” I corrected.
“You’re on a rescue mission though?” she asked with a sly smile.
“Yes, but we’re getting paid.”
“So, if the mission had been to kill us instead of rescue us, would you have taken that?”
“No, we’re not killers...” I had to pause slightly at that. “Well, OK, we’ve killed quite a lot of people, but they were bad – mostly.”
“Mostly?” Joy suddenly seemed a little less sure.
“Well, one was a human shield, and I’m pretty sure a few others were ... bystanders.” Even I had to wince at how that sounded. “We were trying to take down some criminals. Things went wrong, though. We’d never intentionally hurt innocents.”
The answer didn’t seem to be the one that Joy was looking for, and her smile wavered slightly before she recovered. “Through Lyria, I believe anyone can become a hero.”
“Right...” I didn’t like where this was going.
“For instance, I believe her guidance and teachings on forgiveness and mercy would help you avoid future ... bystander incidents.”
I really wanted to tell Joy to fuck off.
Given my current situation, sermons on the wisdom and greatness of Lyria were the last thing I wanted to hear right now.
But I needed her trust, so, trying not to grit my teeth as I said it, I forced myself to respond enthusiastically and say the one thing you should never say to a religious fanatic: “I’d love to hear more about that.”
Two hours later, we’d firmly established that Ellie was no longer on our floor.
That didn’t stop Joy from continuing her sermon, though. My resentment towards Lyria slowly grew for another four hours as I nodded occasionally and muttered ‘Oh really’ or ‘Fascinating’ at appropriate points.
Finally, I had to put a stop to it, asking for time to ‘contemplate her lessons’, which was a fancy way of saying stop talking. Surprisingly, she accepted and, although I felt mentally exhausted, it seemed like I’d gained a measure of her trust.
I shared some more of the dried meat for our next meal, which was mostly eaten in silence, though I did get to witness Joy casting Holy Repast.
It was disconcerting seeing five tofu-like blocks of food appear in a soft glow and empty canteens fill themselves. Certainly, it was an impressive Skill, even if the food itself was tasteless.
Joy and Megan settled down to sleep, but without daylight or any real sense of time, rest periods felt a little arbitrary and I wasn’t feeling tired yet.
Instead, seeing Devon once again sharpening his spear, I approached.
“Sorry to bother you,” I said, not really feeling sorry at all but wanting to be polite. “I’d usually spar with Sierra in the evening; she’s been training me.”
Devon paused in his sharpening but didn’t look up or respond.
“If you don’t mind...” I pushed on. “It would be helpful for me. I’ve never sparred with a Fighter before, or against a spear.”
“You think a D-Rank Healer sparring with a B-Rank Fighter is a good idea?” Devon responded dryly, still not looking up at me.
“Some exercise is always helpful ... and Sierra is skilled enough to spar without injuring a weaker opponent...”
That did the trick. Devon finally looked up at me, eyes ablaze at the challenge. He flicked his spear up and caught it, standing smoothly. For a brief moment I wondered if cleverly baiting him was, in fact, incredibly dumb.
He walked past me, moving away from the others and around a corner.
Scooping up my hammer and strapping on my shield, I followed along to find him stood in the middle of the path, the spear twirling at lightning speed as he limbered up.
When I’d just turned sixteen and was rising up the amateur boxing ranks, Harry decided my ego needed some checking. He pulled some strings and got me into a sparring session with an up-and-coming pro.
I learned a lot that day, mostly about how far I still had to go.
It was the most humbling experience of my life.
Until today.
Devon’s spear twirling stopped abruptly. He stood with his feet apart and ready with the blunt end of the spear levelled in my direction.
He gave a curt nod. I raised my shield and nodded in reply.