2.2

To be or not to be a practitioner

It was sudden, everyone was having the time of their life, or at least some fun. But the meal ended with a screamed as that thing, the Fallen fell down. From nowhere, black smoke came from underneath the door sliding to the scene with frightening speed. And from it, came the Heretic, who gently brought the masked woman into the med bay. As the other acting medic, Alva went with them.

Putting on a clean gown including apron with white gloves, mask and surgical cap.

The girl was thrown a guide by the Heretic on how this condition. What was this? A total failure of the body, every single part bar none falling apart. From bone dissolving to blood being polluted, to muscles and skin shrivelling.

This beautiful body will soon be reduced to literal dust.

Luckily, the guide outlined what need to be done, Alva studied the notes for assistant only to be surprised by what she found.

‘This procedure was done before’ All of these notes were written on the spot.

But that wasn’t all, the assistant working with the Heretic was nothing but extraordinary. This speed, this accuracy, this technique, this medic could keep up with the Heretic! Alva only knew of one person capable of this feat, the Divine Vaswani herself. But why wasn’t she the main surgeon?

This was not the time to dawdle, however, there were notes written after with a simplified guideline for assistant. The original procedure took a few hours, this variant would take more than half a day.

“Her muscles are failing, can you stabilise it?”

“I… I” Alva looked at her hand, only one pathetic finger could dissolve into smoke.

“Here” The Heretic handed her the scalpel “Vaswani must have taught you how to use this”

The girl nodded then performed precise incisions in the muscles along with instructions. The Heretic then embedded a few gems inside, radiating enough power to keep the muscles alive. This wouldn’t be enough as the body continued to deteriorate faster.

Hours passed spending on the operating table, so much longer than the girl’s exam. Not the official one, oh no, grandmother especially prepared this for her.

All this stress, Alva couldn’t help but remember that day.

___

‘That man is completely healthy’ She asked, wondering what would happen.

‘Not for long’ Grandmother said coldly ‘In half an hour, his inside would be broken in random place, expect the heart and lung to be among them’

‘But why?’ Alva asked, still confused. This person seemed completely healthy and happy, what could cause those damages.

Grandmother looked at her and she continued, a name was followed by age. It was the man details. A baker, he was happily married with two children, one under three the other under training. Alva soon recognised that name, it belonged to one of her favourite baker. It dawned on the girl what would happen next.

‘You… would break him… but’

‘Do not stutter’ Grandmother glared at her ‘It’s undignified. There is nothing wrong to this, he volunteered to help you’

‘Wait, why me, I never asked for this!’

All of Alva’s fire extinguished as those eyes gazed down on her, such callousness ‘So dense, yet you call yourself my grandchild. You will be the one to fix him up, girl, you alone. You are a von Brandt, do you seriously think you are worthy to bear that name passing that basic medic exam. Considered this your final assessment, you better not fail me, Alva von Brandt’

‘But… what if I fail?’ The girl asked meekly. Her grandmother wasn’t particularly tall, yet here she seemed impossibly imposing.

‘Then back to the academy with you’

‘No’ Alva started to panic ‘What would happen with him!’

Grandmother didn’t even care to look at her anymore, she remarked ‘Then the blood of one of our citizen shall be on your hand forever’

___

A procedure original took 30 minutes turned into several hours instead. But finally, the patient’s condition stabilised. The body would still need major repair and most importantly, removal of that white mask.

Alva could finally sit down, after some time, she could finally use Ayurveda. It was nowhere near the level of the Heretic previous assistant, however.

The girl felt defeated. Just like the time when Jim first arrived, she couldn’t use Ayurveda probably. Even during the operation, the Heretic delegated her with mostly tasks that didn’t involved the technique or only to a minor degree.

Had she been slipping. The girl remembered her final exam.

“How are you feeling, Alva” Asked the man, looking at her with concern.

“I am doing fine” She answered “Why are you asking that”

“Your muscles, I mean, are they holding up”

Alva paused for a bit “I did feel a bit of pain on my right shoulder the other day, but it wasn’t much. I am sure it’s just a normal ache”

The Heretic let out a sighed. Seeing him like this was giving Alva so many mixed feelings right now. The man looked at her shoulder then continued “A check-up wouldn’t hurt”

The girl hesitated, while the Heretic was the assistant in her surgery, the Divine Vaswani was the one to do check-ups. She wasn’t here so… But to let the Heretic do a check-up on her was an uncomfortable thought to say the least. Nevertheless, the girl complied.

She peeled off the skin on her arm to reveal the artificial muscles, in order as all thing should be. The Heretic had another idea, however, with just a glance he came over.

“What about this part here” The man pulled out a bundle, worn and damaged “This is what hinder your ability to use Ayurveda”

“Wait… but…”

“But what? You couldn’t use Ayurveda because of emotional reason?” The Heretic smiled “Alva, you are one of Vaswani’s student, have more faith in yourself”

Was he… trying to reassure her? Ever since the operation that gave her these fake muscles, Alva had been having mixed feelings about him. No, there was nothing to be confused about, this man was the Heretic, that was all. Alva did have a question for him though.

“The operation in these notes, when and where was it done?”

“Hmm, in Llandudno, while I was fetching the summoned there”

“Wait, then how come there was no report about that” Alva stood up “The operation was a succeed, what happened to the patient”

“Him?” The Heretic scratched his bald head “I don’t know really”

‘Don’t know?’ This was a Fallen they were talking about here. Was the Heretic trying to start something? The Divines seemed to be sure that he wouldn’t betray them so there was no fear of that. Was this some sort of secret order, then how come he admitted to it so easily. The Heretic could just say this was done in the Academy.

“Why did you do such a thing?”

“Well, I know that this would happen to Suiren someday so I need to be prepare…” The Heretic paused, looking out of the window to the horizon “Actually scratched that, you could say I wanted to save that man, in a sense I admired him”

“You? Admire someone?” Now this was alien to Alva, could this man even be capable of such feeling? “Was that Fallen some sort of scholar?”

The Heretic grinned and looked back at Alva.

“No, he was a warrior through and through. But despite being bound by that mask, he struggled” His voice started to break, this was unmistakable, the Heretic was being sentimental “He was in the twilight of his years and yet… even after realising that he fought on so valiantly, clinging to life. As a doctor, how could I let a man like that die!”

The sight of the Heretic being enamour like this was rather disgusting. Alva believed what he said anyway, the girl didn’t even know why. There was still something else, however, the matter of his assistant.

Alva remembered the uproar at the Academy. During the exams, a girl appeared out of nowhere. Despite never taking a single class, she aced all of the assignments, not just the medical one. That girl went even further, many said her ability could one day rivalled the Heretic and the Divine Vaswani herself. Then one day, that girl disappeared, she went to a town in nowhere to be a healer. One called Caron, so Llandudno was where she settled.

When Alva graduated, that girl was already gone, her ability so legendary it could only be overblown rumours. But now, after seeing those notes, there was no mistake about it. This Caron was just as excellent if not more.

What was someone like that doing in such a place.

Thinking about that person suddenly blanketed Alva with a dreadful feeling. Their ages didn’t differ much and yet, the gulf between their ability definitely enormous. Many expired long before reaching that level. Could Alva herself, a von Brandt, ever match up to that, a local girl.

Her fear was soon realised, however.

“You can leave now” The Heretic said, getting back to work “I will handle the rest”

She was to be dismissed, her ‘talent’ no longer needed. That was to be expected. Alva excused herself and let the professional went to work. She wandered out only to be held back by Hiro.

Now this was also a strange person, why would he care so much for a Fallen? Had this person fallen in love with the one he brainwashed. That sounded rather pathetic which was probably not to far from the truth, Alva thought. After all, looked at him, she still couldn’t understand why her auntie was hyping him up. But then again, Willow was never that bright. For some reason, Johann had quite a high opinion about his sister.

Talked of the devil, after escaping Hiro, she ran into his biggest fan in the next train car.

“Ah, Alva!”

Made no mistake, the girl enjoyed spending time with her aunt. But her high energy wasn’t what Alva wanted to run into right now. Behind Willow a shadow appeared, grabbing her in the head and moved her to the side. It was Johann.

“Come with me, I need something”

“But I want to hang out with Alva!” Willow’s chimed in.

“No” Johann pushed her to the side, but the girl stood her ground. Despite his best effort, Willow didn’t budge an inch. Her physical prowess was certainly to be admired.

Alva decided to step in though “I will hang out with you later, let’s see what Jo want~”

The two arrived at their resting quarter, it was rather embarrassing, but they shared the same space, being fiancées and all. Inside, there was a neat meal on the table, more than an usual breakfast.

“I asked Eikichi to make this” Johann said “Eat then have some rest”

“Aww, are you worried about me~”

The young warrior glared at her but Alva chuckled instead. He always tried to be mean but the girl never found him ill intended. Compared to grandmother’s glare… Just thinking about that made her shudder in fear. Nevertheless, the girl would enjoy this treat.

As she laid down to rest, Johann sat there silently watching over her and he would be there when she woke up again.