Chapter: Four Coppers

The room had been changed with two tables being set out.

Rugrat started pulling out tools and an IV stand as he checked over the different potions and solutions on the side, a man came forward discussing what they were.

Lord Chonglu brought his son Feng first. The boy was pale and weak-looking, not much left but the bones on his body. Lord Chonglu placed the boy down on the table.

“I’m going to have to remove the infected bone, it won’t be pretty so it might be best if you leave the room,” Erik said holding Lord Chonglu’s gaze.

“Do what needs to be done.” Chonglu bit out his words.

Erik nodded, pulling out a marker. Using his organic scan he was able to find the infected marrow he circled these areas, checking them a few more times before turning to Rugrat.

“We’ve got a mix of powders, healing and stamina recovery. I’ve found two that can be mixed together in water to create a solution, run an IV bag filled with it?” Rugrat asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Erik said, with the assistance of the solution, it should help to reduce the strain on the two twin’s bodies, allowing him to violently cut away the infection.

Rugrat moved to Feng’s arm, he put gloves on and cleaned himself up, even pulling on a frock before he put the IV into the boy’s arm.

Erik finished marking the boys body and looked over the tools, finally he moved to the boy’s feet.

He quickly checked the marked location before applying tourniquets above the marks, tightening them to cut off circulation.

With quick and precise movements, Rugrat inserted the IV needle into the boy’s upper arm. It was hard to find a good vein on the boy’s withered skin.

With gloves on, Erik put Wraith’s Touch around the line on the boy’s legs.

Rugrat helped him put on a clean frock and his santiszed ballistic eyewear.

Erik and Rugrat held their hands up and ready as they looked at the boy on the table, he was skinny and emancipated, even unconscious his features seemed to be in pain.

“Let’s begin, saw,” Erik said, holding out his hand to Rugrat.

“Saw,” Rugrat gave him the saw he had disinfected and Lord Chonglu had acquired.

The infection was so bad in the foot it would be hard to just remove the infected sections of bones.

Erik started sawing through the boy’s lower leg, just above the ankle.

It didn’t take long for him to remove the foot, he passed the saw back, Rugrat started to clean it as Erik was already using focused heal on the boys foot while releasing the tourniquet.

The boy’s foot grew back, small and disproportionate, as if a babes as it was rebuilding it all at the same time. He used focused heal instead of the smaller spells. Healing with the smaller spells, he would have to build layer by layer, without the other layers then the bones would grow, but then fall apart as they didn’t have tendons, muscle or skin holding them in place.

The foot grew bigger, until it was the same size as the foot that had been removed.

“Stable, all good,” Rugrat said, he was monitoring everything with his simple organic scan.

“Good,” Erik said, he took a few breaths and moved to the other foot that was also badly infected and started to repeat the procedure.

Then he moved to Feng’s ribs, applying Wraith’s touch he opened up the boy’s side and cut out the infected ribs. He repaired them with heal bone and the subsequent layers with different spells. The skin didn’t show any signs of being cut open at all.

***

Chonglu watched everything, ready to destroy Erik and Rugrat in a moment. After Erik regrew Feng’s first foot, he relaxed, his anxiousness filled with shock.

This healing ability, it’s not something that I have seen in the first two realms. Mira didn’t talk about anything like this either! Just how powerful are they to do all of this? Normal healers would fight the poisons and cleanse the body, but they’re simply removing the infection by lopping it off and then replacing the damaged areas.

Even though his fingers were digging into his palms and drawing blood as he saw Feng was being cut up, he wasn’t rash or stupid enough to stop them.

Everyone in the room held their breath as the two men bent to their work, wholly absorbed in helping Feng.

They worked together without any flaws or disruptions.

Chonglu felt hope blooming in his chest.

“Switch to the Stamina only drip,” Erik said.

“Understood, looks stable, take a look,” Rugrat replied as he switched over the feed for the IV needle, allowing the pure, stronger stamina solution flow into Feng’s veins instead of the mixed IV.

Erik placed his hands on the boy’s body.

He used a healing spell on him again, Erik had been holding back, only pouring in a small amount of mana, but now the mana in the room seemed to charge towards him and into Feng.

Chonglu could even faintly feel that his control over mana was reduced.

“You save up your energy I can do that,” Rugrat said.

“Yeah, king,” Erik shook his head.

Rugrat grinned and shrugged before he used the same healing spell.

Chonglu felt a chill pass through him as he felt the mana in his body being pulled towards Rugrat slightly.

“Alright, let’s have a look at Felicity shall we?” Erik looked to Chonglu as he washed his gloves with a bottle of powerful alcohol.

Chonglu’s fears and anxiousness had been pushed away, he didn’t dare to waste time and quickly moved to bring Felicity over.

He looked at her pained expression, feeling relieved.

“It’ll be over soon,” he said, his words soft and caring, breaking the image of the iron fisted lord of Chonglu City.

He looked up to Erik, he didn’t see the cold killer in there anymore, but a man that truly cared about saving lives instead of taking them, it left him a bit stunned, but it somehow made sense.

Didn’t I fight ferociously alongside my raiding party but then we joked and laughed when away from the battle?

Rugrat completed checking Feng, Chonglu looked over to his son, his features were relaxed and calm, his body showing a healthy color instead of the mottled skin that gave off a faint rotting smell.

He watched Rugrat and Erik work, their actions were like watching a crafter, going through different processes, moving section by section.

It was early afternoon by the time that Erik and Rugrat switched Felicity’s IV from stamina and mana to just stamina.

Erik and Rugrat started to clean up and put their gear away.

Erik and Rugrat chewed on leaves, moving to the side for Chonglu to check on his children, he waved one of his friends forward, they checked over the two twins.

“They’ve been nearly completely healed, the infection has been removed from most of their bodies, but it seems that they’re fighting back against it?” The man said after casting a few spells.

“We removed most of the marrow that was infected, it was still in their blood so we healed different systems related to blood, their bodies are now actively fighting the poison, in fact they might take a few steps along the path of body cultivation,” Erik said as if it was a simple thing.

“Body cultivation?” Chonglu asked. “That is a road that only people in the higher realms with pills and massive resources can walk down.”

“Well, this was a nasty poison, their bodies were weak, overcoming it, their bodies will be tempered, also they won’t be infected with the same poison again,” Erik said, pulling off his frock and glasses.

“I’ll take the IV’s out of them, but just stamina recovering powders, food, water, that should be fine, slowly and with soft foods and water at first, then more substantial meals,” Rugrat said.

Chonglu nodded, burning the information into his mind.

Erik and Rugrat checked the children again before clearing away the last of their gear, the two children looked much healthier now.

***

“Have a good day,” Erik said to Lord Chonglu as he and Rugrat left the room, no one stopped them and they were already out of the door when they heard a yell from behind them.

Rugrat and Erik looked to see Lord Chonglu running after them.

“Will you not stay for longer?” He asked desperately.

“We have other things that we need to do,” Erik said.

Chonglu nodded, with a sour look on his face.

Erik, felt some good will towards this man, this father. “In my mind, it will take no more than a week, two at the most, for them to completely recover.” Erik smiled.

Lord Chonglu let out a heavy sigh before he put his arm on Erik’s shoulder. “I know that they are not healed yet but I have come to trust you and you’ve yet to fail me.” Lord Chonglu pulled out a card from his ring and passed it to Erik.

A screen appeared in Erik’s vision.

==========

Quest Completed: Poison in the Marrow

==========

Requirements:

Heal Young Master Feng

Heal Young Mistress Felicity

==========

Rewards:

1000 gold

Title of Land Holder

3450 EXP

==========

“We do not need the title or the gold,” Erik said, he was tempted but he shook his head, pushing the ring back towards Lord Chonglu.

Lord Chonglu smiled awkwardly, the land holder was a way to connect them together and the gold to create some good will.

“I will see you out then,” Lord Chonglu said.

He looked back to his children, seeing them resting there and Lord Quinn and Ronhou who had recovered from his wounds standing there, he was reassured.

He led them out of the palace, when they got to the gate there was a young man standing with all of his knights, the man looked tired but stubborn as he looked up at the gate.

“Chonglu ignored them for the two men in front of him.

“Is there nothing I can give you?” Chonglu asked, feeling that he was taking advantage.

Erik held up four fingers.

Four thousand gold, mana cores? Swords, houses?

“Four coppers,” Erik said simply.

Behind him Rugrat laughed.

“Too cool,” Rugrat clapped Erik on the shoulder who was smiling.

“Four coppers?” Chonglu said, stunned, then he remembered a piece of information hidden, something he had thought irrelevant, Erik and Rugrat had accepted two coppers per person that visited their stall.

With this it was as if they were declaring that everyone was equal, from the lord’s children to the farmers.

Knowing their strength and their ways, Chonglu wasn’t offended, instead he was humbled by the experience.

He took out four coppers and passed them over, he bowed deeply to them both.

“Thank you for saving my children,” he said, no hint of nobility in his voice or actions.

“Look after them well, we’ll be around in the future,” Rugrat said approvingly, pulling Chongul back up, Chonglu found the two men smiling, when he had seen them for the first time he would never think that their entering and leaving of his home would be so different.

“Man I wish we had shades and suits,” Rugrat said.

“What for?”

“Be badass as fuck! Hey doesn’t that kid look familiar?”

“Do you think we’re the blues brothers? Yeah he does, why is he kneeling down?”

“Maybe he got hit by a horse in the head?” Rugrat muttered, still Chonglu’s ears twitched as the glowing image of the duo faded and a smile appeared on his face as he remembered his own raid party and old friendships.

Good luck and hope you make it through the realms safely.