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Lifeweaver: Chapter 59
🕑 Added 2025-07-14 18:00:03 +0000 UTC"Ray is at the orb?" Luke texted back without slowing down.
"A surveillance camera picked up his likeness heading into the park just now," Johanson texted, before adding, "We have drones searching the area from above and personnel on the ground."
She sent an image. It was black and white with low resolution, but Luke could tell it was Ray.
"What is he doing in the park?" Luke asked, jumping to the side to avoid two guys arguing on the sidewalk.
"As of this moment, we have yet to spot him again, despite the drones being equipped with infrared cameras."
"If you catch him," Luke texted, "Don't hurt him. Ray is still in there."
"We will do our best," Johanson texted back, just as Luke approached the park.
"Ray!" Luke shouted, crossing another street to get into the park proper. He kept running, skirting the long line of people waiting to touch the orb. Panting, he stopped for a moment, realizing just how futile it was to run around screaming his friend's name. Checking his interface, the next level up was still far off, so there was no chance of him getting Weavesense for this.
Standing there, Luke surveyed the large lawns with footpaths going this way and that. Leafy trees swayed in the gentle breeze, and the faint whirr of drones overhead was almost drowned out by the excited chatter of those waiting for their chance to become Integrated.
Luke called Johanson, who picked up on the first ring.
"I'm not seeing him," Luke said.
"The drones are picking up movement of single individuals moving around the park, but so far, they have all been regular citizens."
They shared a long silence before Johanson spoke again. "Can you think of any reason Ray might come to Lazarus Park?"
"Not really, other than the orb, I mean. And I don't think Ray is in control of himself anymore."
"What about the man from the dungeon, Relian?"
Luke thought about it. "No, sorry. Didn't learn much from him except he is Integrated from some other world or place, that he has some sort of power to manipulate bodies and body parts, and that he'd been put in there as some sort of punishment."
"Interesting."
"That helps?" Luke asked.
"Not in this particular moment, but it might once we learn more. We'll keep the park under surveillance and let you know once your friend turns up again. The staff responsible for the orb have been notified as well. No need for you to stick around."
Looking around again, Luke couldn't help but agree. Unless Ray popped out of stealth, there was nothing he could do at this point. Better to find a way to get Weavesense, so he was ready for his friend's next appearance.
To that end, he ended the call and accessed the local subreddit for Integrated to create a post:
Do you have an injury or sickness another healer or health potions haven't been able to fix?
I can help you. Free of charge.
PM me here or send me an email.
He clicked submit. Less than five seconds later, that little bell symbol in the upper right corner glowed orange. Curious, he clicked it: Your post on integrated_chicago was removed for violation of rule three: no self-promotion.
"Stupid Reddit mods," Luke grunted.
So, that didn't work. Instead, he started typing a text to Lilly. "I need a way to find people who need healing. You mentioned collaboration?" Then, rather than sending it, he deleted the whole thing, having just had a better idea. Rather than succumbing to the lure of social media, he texted Johanson again.
"I need people to heal. Is that something you can help me with?"
"Why?" she texted back.
"Leveling."
That reply prompted her to call. "You mean you can gain experience outside of dungeons?"
"Sure," Luke said.
"That's interesting," she said. "We have reports of other classes experiencing something similar, but you're the first healer I've heard of who can gain experience like that."
"Well, most other healers can't heal anyone of injuries sustained outside of dungeons," Luke said.
"How is it possible that you can?" she asked.
"Lifeweaver. My class," Luke said. "It's like a magic surgeon in a way, so it works everywhere. On everything, I think."
Johanson was silent for a moment, then said, "That class is going to be very popular once word spreads."
"Already have some doctors who should be going through the tutorial dungeon any moment now who said they're going to pick Lifeweaver."
"Sounds like you found a real gem of a class."
"Yeah," Luke said. "So, can you help me?"
"It only works on Integrated?" she asked.
"I can heal anyone," Luke said. "But I'm not sure I can manage pain in non-Integrated."
"Pain?" Johanson asked.
"It's a whole thing," Luke said with a sigh, explaining what he'd discovered.
"That's quite the drawback," she said. "And you have to be right next to the one you're healing. Maybe it won't be such a popular class after all."
"Maybe not for dungeons," Luke said. "We'll see. So about healing?"
"I'll see what I can do. Do you need a location as well?"
"What do you mean?"
"A place where you heal people, or were you thinking of going around to people's homes?"
"A place would be great."
"I'll keep in touch," Johanson said. "And Luke? We'll find Ray, don't worry."
"Thank you for all the help," Luke said, meaning it.
"As a thank you, you could consider joining the DIA, fighting alongside your sister." She spoke with humor in her voice, but there was a grain of seriousness in there as well.
"I'll think about it," Luke said.
With that, he put the phone back into his pocket, zipped it up so it wouldn't fall out when running, and set off again, determined to continue until he gained a point in endurance.
System Message: Boon of Potential grants you an attribute point (+1 Endurance).
Two hours. It took him two freaking hours to get that point. He came to a stumbling stop in a part of town he'd never been in before, an area with run-down apartment buildings on the outskirts of the city center. Luke sat down, panting, and checked his phone for a reply.
Another text from Johanson had just arrived. "We have done a sweep of the surrounding area, but can find no trace of your friend. Extra resources are being pulled out of Lazarus Park now. Don't worry, we'll find him again. Making progress on the healing issue, but nothing concrete yet."
"Thank you," Luke replied, spotting a text from Milla as well.
"Heading out to mom and dad now. Should I pick you up at your apartment?"
Luke blinked, then remembered. Shit, dinner. He wasn't dressed for it, but he still had plenty of clothes back in his room at their parents' house. Luke lifted the front of his shirt abd smelled it. Good thing they had a shower, too.
He dropped a pin on his location and replied, "Sure, come pick me up here. I'm sweaty as hell, so I'll stink up your car."
"Ew," she replied, adding a barfing smiley-face. "Driving to your location now."
Luke's eyes widened a little, and he stood, looking east, and a smile crept onto his face. This was what he’d been looking for. A way to gain a level or two.
Sense Dungeon. Profession skill. Seeker: A new connection to The Greater System drifts closer to your system.
Luke texted his sister again: "Sorry, but I'm going to have to cancel. Heading for a dungeon. Say hi to Mom and Dad from me."
The location of the dungeon felt quite far away, so Luke put his phone back into his pocket and healed the fatigue in his legs before stretching a little, readying himself for another run. It took him longer than he would have liked to fix himself up, and just as he was about to set off, he heard a car horn in the distance. Turning around, he saw a familiar car driving a little over the speed limit, honking again and again. It stopped halfway up the curb, right next to Luke. Milla leaned over to the passenger side and rolled down the window of her old, beat-up car.
"Screw you, little brother! Do you seriously think I'm going to let you go into a dungeon without me?"
"What?" Luke asked. "You want to protect me?"
"Hell no," she said. "I'm just not going to let you get all the experience for yourself. Get in!"
"What about mom and dad?"
"Already called them to reschedule."
"Bet they loved that," Luke said.
Milla opened the passenger door from the inside. "Get in before the cops come and give me a ticket."
Luke hopped in, and Milla sped off in the direction he pointed. "Head east," he said.
She glanced at him before looking at the road again. "How do you know where a dungeon has opened up? The DIA is pretty quick, but they haven't said a thing."
"It hasn't opened yet," Luke said.
She gave him another glance, one eyebrow raised. "Excuse me?"
"It's going to open in a little bit. Turn here," he said, pointing.
"How the hell do you know that?" Milla said.
"My profession. Seeker. I have a skill that tells me when a dungeon portal is coming."
"Oh, I'll need to report that to my peeps. The DIA should have a Seeker. Wish I hadn't already picked something."
"You have a profession?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, of course."
"How'd you get it?" Luke asked. "And what is it?"
"It was a reward for completing the dungeon yesterday. I picked Tailor."
"As in sewing?"
She nodded. "Sure. I can get materials from dungeons and then create cloth armor, like robes and such. If you’re good, maybe I'll make you something once I've completed my own set of gear."
"What I've got on is fine."
"Smelly, sure, but not fine. The gear I make has bonuses. Health, Attributes, extra healing power, that sort of thing. It isn't like your dusty, moth-eaten starter robes."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Luke said. "Seeker is still better, though."
She chuckled. "Maybe now, but once we have a system in place to report dungeons appearing, yours will be useless. And you're a healer. You can't go into a dungeon alone, anyway."
"There's another Seeker," Luke said. "Real nice guy. I'm sure we'll meet him before the portal opens, if he made it out of his last one. Also, my profession will be amazing forever."
"Sure it will," she said with a snort. "Getting close?"
"Not yet," Luke said. "Keep going straight down."
His eyes widened when he saw someone riding an electric scooter along the side of the road. "Speak of the devil."
"What?" Milla asked.
"Honk, Milla," he said with a grin.
She honked, and Luke leaned out the still-open window, shouting at Curtis, "Want a lift?"
A minute later, they were continuing down the road with Curtis in the back.
"So you survived?" Luke asked, looking over his shoulder.
Curtis sat there in silence for a moment, closed his eyes, and rubbed at them with his thumb and forefinger. "Found some sort of nest and went down. Bunch of Hollows and then eggs hatching. Killed a lot of them, but almost didn't make it back up. I'm out of potions and out of credits now."
"And you're still running to get to the dungeon early," Luke said, then gestured to his sister. "This is Milla, my sister. Milla, Curtis."
"Hello, Curtis," Milla said.
"Milla," Curtis said.
"Sounds like you need a healer, Curtis," Luke said before frowning. "I think you need a healer right now, actually."
Milla glanced over her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"The guy is bleeding internally."
"It's nothing," Curtis said.
"You've been bleeding since yesterday?" Milla asked.
"Don't have health insurance," Curtis grumbled.
Now that Luke thought about it, Curtis looked a little pale and sweaty. "Were you hoping to meet me at the portal so I could heal you?" Luke said, unable to keep the teasing tone out of his voice.
"No," Curtis said.
"I can heal you once we're inside," Milla said.
"You're both healers?" Curtis asked.
"Milla, you're ruining this," Luke said.
Luke and Curtis both stopped to look out the window.
"Stop," Luke said. "We're here."
"Where?" Milla asked. "There's nothing around here."
"That's good, isn't it?" Luke said.
"It's over there." Curtis pointed to the parking lot of the abandoned mall across the road.
"I don't see anything," Milla said.
"It will open right there in the middle," Luke said. "I'm going to text my friends, then I can take a look at you, Curtis, if you want."
"Fine," Curtis grumbled.
Milla drove across the road and parked at the edge of the empty parking lot. Luke sent out a mass text invite to join him in the dungeon, muttering to himself. "Level up, here I come."
