Eva must have arrived at a bad time. No, she was sure that she had arrived at a bad time now. It was not every day that she could walk into the borders of a village and see so many injured people on the ground. Groaning and crying, they trembled, clawing at the ground for the remaining bit of life left in them. Next to them sat a lot of people, seemingly healing them and Eva quickly remembered where she was. Nanuq was a town that laid north of Fiore up on the shores of Northern Sea. The location made it convenient to wrap the are in winter throughout the year, and every civilian there was adapted to it, obvious from the way they looked normal while Eva stood there shaking from the cold hands of the wind that wrapped around her being. Behind it laid a wall of ice and stretch of icy cold lands which provided Nanuq with ample security. At least, they didn’t need to worry about what could get to them from behind. It was a safe haven to live in if one could get through the cold all throughout the year which, Eva could see, the natives were already programmed to be immune to it.

From whatever intel that she could gather from the people, Eva learned that the whole grim situation had developed with a snowbeak snake going berserk around the area. It did not surprise her. Right before deciding to travel to that area, Eva had actually looked up on books about the town, a trait that came with her lust for knowledge and she had understood very well of how to dress for the cold welcome and to be careful of these snakes that slithered around the village. The mass settlement got attacked by these beasts at least once or twice a month or so. It was frequent enough that the people had trained to fight them but casualties were still to be expected. But as an alternative to counter that, Nanuq was famous far and wide for the excellent quality of healing mages they produced. They were in high demand all over Fiore and the healing huts exclusive to Nanuq was a bustling spot for anyone seeking some relief to their aching health. Eva had, in fact, decided to stop by the village on her way to Oak just for this fact. She wanted to take note of whatever she could during her visit but this was not something that she had expected to witness. Maybe, Eva guessed, she could learn something just from watching.

“Are you a Rune Knight?” Someone asked her from behind. Eva turned to see a native girl who had the same badge as the healers. Her eyes were trained on the Rune Knights logo at the back of Eva’s jacket and with a look of recognition, she nodded affirmatively. “Yes, how may I be of service?” she asked almost automatically without thinking, a question that comes out whenever she was reminded of her responsibilities.

“My name is Kaita. If you may, I would really appreciate some help,” she said, informing her of what needs to be done. As it was a time of crisis, the healing huts were going to be full and horrendously busy. She was wondering if Eva could help them by cleaning up potion pots and healing ponds. Eva had wanted to say no, an immediate response that came to her head at the thought of all the dirty potion pots and what nots. However, as it stood, she had already established herself as a Rune Knight and it would put a huge burden on her if she refused and the word of it got to the Council, especially when she was trying to climb up on the ranks and become a lieutenant.

After a bit of thinking, Eva agreed, asking her if she could show her the way, kaita instructed her of all her duties once, showing her to the potion shelf and the healing ponds before smiling and going off to her own duties, leaving Eva all alone with a bunch of stuff to clean. With a sigh, she started with the potion pots first, cleaning out each of them carefully with a towel and water. Despite not being a fan of the whole thing, Eva was a light perfectionist in heart and since she had started the whole ordeal, Eva was determined to finish with the best results. In fact, not even the healing ponds grossed her out once she started to get to it, unplugging and draining the water before pulling up a pair of glover of her hands. She, with a washcloth, thoroughly cleaned the big tank out, prepping it with water for the next use. And thus she spent her whole day, cleaning out potion pots and healing ponds while hopping around from one location to another. The biggest perk, hwoever, came to her in the form of brief moments where she would stop and watch the healers use their powers. There were certain techniques as to how they used their medicines and herbs, which fascinated Eva very much. After all, these could be useful to her in various situations. She decided to steal whatever techniques she could with her ever observing eyes, even catching the eyes of a few of them which kindly let her stay and watch, even going to a great deal of slowing down their healing process for her to see. By the end of the day, Eva had gained quite a lot of knowledge along with a few more healing mage acquaintances. Some of them even gave her a few books to read and Kaita was so very happy when she bounced over to Eva with her pouch of rewards in her hand. She thanked her happily and asked her to come back anytime that she would like, only next time, she could be a customer there instead of a helper. And, that suited so well for her.

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