The story of a Healer comes to an end. Her life was short, yet brilliant, like a meteor cutting across the sky. Pain and healing defined her entire existence....
...
With a flash, Ena saw the back of a man.
"All sentient beings suffer. I shall be the one to save them," he said before turning away.
Another flash.
A man speaking of cakes and candy, leaving with a procession of white-robed figures.
Another flash.
A conflict with a child... followed by that same child tending to her in bed, grief in their eyes.
A fragment of memory.
A coffin?... and a presence filled with something divine in its compassion.
Then the memory breaks with a Gaze of something.
Ena jolted awake as if returning from a dream, tears spilling down her face like broken pearls.
Birth... death... sickness... death.
A saint... or a sinner?
"Father... Uncle Xia... Yao-Yao? Everyone... everyone?"
"One without constant virtue cannot practice medicine. The way of medicine is to first correct oneself, and then correct others."
"The one who saves the world... I can be that person too."
"Uncle Xia is leaving. Don't worry. Uncle Xia will bring you cake and candy until you become an elephant."
"If they suffer, they are still lives worth saving!!!"
Her mind was in chaos, unable to tell whether she had been a healer who saved lives, or a Trailblazer wandering among the stars… or something that never fully belonged to either, only a drifting echo between borrowed memories.
Even the memories themselves no longer felt certain, as though they did not belong to Ena at all, but to someone she had only briefly touched.
(Warning: chaotic mental and emotional state detected. Backup measures initiating.)
(Remembrance blurring... beginning.)
(Procedure failed. Procedure failed. Procedure failed.)
(Procedure successful.)
(Simulation "The Taste of a Hundred Herbs" has been partially sealed. To prevent emotional overload and identity contamination, this memory fragment will not be fully accessible until stabilization is complete.)
A faint ringing lingered in Ena mind.
Her thoughts felt… slightly incomplete, like a sentence she could no longer finish.
She touched her face, still damp with tears she didn't understand.
It must have been the simulation. Something about it had felt too real.
She frowned slightly.
"System, what happened?"
(Answer: Host, you have successfully completed the simulation. However, because the Remembrance from this simulation may influence the host's mental condition, the system has temporarily sealed it. It will gradually return over time. Please remember: simulated Remembrance must not interfere with your true self.)
"Could it affect my mental state… or even make me lose myself?"
She tried again.
A Healer saving lives.
A names beyond recall. And faces beyond recognition.
But what remained was no longer absence.
It was presence without origin.
A warmth that surfaced without cause.
A pain that existed without history.
As if something had been placed inside her.
Not a memory.
But an recorded echo of something that once lived through her.
Each time she reached for it, it slipped away like water through her fingers.
It should have been a good memory.
Yet her chest felt heavy, as if reacting to something written within her by a hand she could not identify.
And for a brief moment.
she wondered if even the feeling of "her own sadness" still belonged to her.
Still… The system would not lie.
"…Is that so. Alright."
"By the way, what reward do I get for completing the simulation?"
"Evaluation in progress."
(Simulation The Taste of a Hundred Herbs completion grade: SSS.)(Rewards: Invulnerability to All Poisons (immune to all external diseases in the universe), Medical Skills Recognized by an Aeon (medical abilities significantly increased, but not exceeding the Aeon of Abundance).)
"This is insane… this reward is incredible!"
"So this means I can become the healer of the Astral Express in the future, and help everyone even more!!"
A second system alert followed immediately.
(Warning: Emotional resonance detected. Memory boundary instability increasing…)
Ena froze.
For a brief moment, the sensation in her chest deepened, as if something invisible had been gently pressed into place.
Not painful, but irreversible.
Flashes of treatment procedures surfaced again, clearer than before.
Her hand moved instinctively toward an imaginary wound in front of her.
Without thinking, she adjusted pressure, angle, and timing. Perfectly.
"…I did that without thinking." Her voice was quiet.
She slowly lowered her hand, staring at it with a different expression.
This was no longer a memory, it was reflex.
A trained instinct that did not belong to "before" her anymore. But the "now."
(host panel updated.)
(You have received the gaze of the Aeon of Abundance and have stepped onto the Path of Abundance.)
(In the Path of Abundance state, healing power is doubled, and limited plant growth manipulation is granted.)
(Host current Path is Trailblaze. Switch?)
"...Switch... I want to see what it feels like to support others as a healer from the backline."
A flash of emerald light burst out. Her star-like eyes shifted into a vibrant green. Her presence softened, now carrying calmer, gentler, with a quiet warmth like reassurance itself.
(Detected blessing from the Aeon of Abundance???. Do you accept? (Please note: these blessings cannot grant the host immortality; they are only effective while on the Path of Abundance.))
"Accept."
Ena considered it and decided it wasn't a serious issue. Without Mara-Struck side effects and without immortality, her life would still naturally come to an end. She wouldn't become like Blade. unable to truly live, yet unable to die.
However, the Abundance blessing could do body repair at incredible speed. So if she were attacked, at least she wouldn't have to worry about being hacked or frozen to death.
A vast wave of Abundance energy poured into her body, leaving her warm and strangely comfortable.
A sacred emerald light enveloped her. Her skin became clearer and more refined, and a faint herbal fragrance lingered around her. Then she looked at a knife beside her bed.
Just as she raised her hand, about to test whether a cut would heal instantly. The door slammed open.
"Abundance abomination, get away from my companion!"
Dan Heng stood at the entrance, spear drawn, with the Astral Express crew behind him in full alert. Tension filled the hallway.
A moment earlier, Dan Heng had sensed a very intense aura similar to an Abundance Abomination. Since it was coming from her room, he had quickly notified the crew and rushed over with weapons.
Ena, the source of the aura, turned her head toward them awkwardly.
"Um… guys… can we talk about this?"
The others gradually lowered their weapons after seeing she was unharmed. But Dan Heng remained cautious, his eyes still searching for any threat.
"Hey! Dan Heng! What are you doing? Don't point your spear at Ena!"
March 7th immediately snapped at him, stepping forward without hesitation.
"That… that's an Abundance abomination... we might all be in danger," Dan Heng replied, his grip tightening on the spear.
Welt moved in calmly, positioning himself between them.
"Dan Heng, a Trailblazer does not harm their companions. Lower your weapon."
"Dan Heng," Himeko added gently, her hand resting on his shoulder, "let's listen first, alright?"
The atmosphere remained tense, but controlled.
No one missed the truth beneath Dan Heng actions.
Dan Heng wasn't acting out of anger.
He was acting out of caution.
And the fact that he still hadn't attacked meant he was restraining himself far more than anyone else could.
Dan Heng slowly lowered his spear, and Ena immediately switched her Path back to Trailblaze.
The aura of Abundance vanished.
The suffocating pressure disappeared with it.
Dan Heng, whose heart had been in his throat, stood still, staring at her as if seeing her for the first time.
"So" Welt said, adjusting his glasses, "can you explain what exactly just happened?"
Ena hesitated, her fingers tightening slightly.
"I… I should probably mention I have amnesia."
"And just now… I remembered something. I used to be a healer… a very powerful one."
She paused, trying to steady her thoughts.
"...Maybe that's why… the Aeon of Abundance noticed me. I think… I opened its Path."
Her voice softened, as if unsure of her own words.
Welt expression sharpened slightly behind his glasses.
Dan Heng froze, his expression tightening ever so slightly.
"You saw the Aeon of Abundance?" His voice turned cold.
"You didn't make any wishes, did you?!" His pupils trembled, his grip loosening as the spear nearly slipped from his hand.
"No, no, no, but uh… she just gave me a lot of blessings."
Hearing that his fellow Trailblazer hadn't made a wish, Dan Heng let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Then his expression stiffened, something was wrong. Very wrong.
"You didn't pray to her," he said slowly. "So why did you receive so many blessings? That's already close to the level of an Emanator."
Ena scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"Uh… would you believe me if I said she just gave them to me? She looked at me… like she had already decided. I said yes, and then everything just… happened."
Dan Heng eye twitched.
"That doesn't make sense," he said, his voice low. "She grants wishes… she doesn't act on her own."
"Wait, Ena, don't tell me you're secretly an Emanator or something?!" March blurted out, her eyes shining.
Dan Heng grip tightened on the spear.
Ena panicked, flailing her hands as if trying to push the idea away.
"March, I'm not! Don't just say whatever comes to mind!"
Ena hesitated. "…You want me to switch back?"
Welt nodded.
Dan Heng didn't speak, but he stepped back, slow, careful.
Ena noticed. "…Alright."
Emerald light flickered in her hand.
Dan Heng didn't move.
But his spear tilted, just slightly.