Despite how bad it looked they told me to wait in line just like everyone else, so I figured I was still fine for the most part. ‘I wonder how much of this blood is actually mine. I don’t think I have any external injuries.’ I started feeling around and there were a few minor scrapes on my face and hip under my armor, but nothing serious. ‘I have two lungs anyway, right? How hard is it to live without one for a while?’

 

I thought back to the short period of time I spent training as a healer for the Plutian church. I learned basic anatomy and first aid, things like that, but it was all generalized knowledge that held true for all species. Learning specific biology for all seven of the fae races was hard enough… Not to mention the seven eldrich races and the countless beast kin tribes. Just thinking about all the information they drilled into me made me start to feel dizzy. I couldn’t relax my posture, but standing up straight hurt just as bad. ‘Why am I being so stubborn about this?’

 

“Are you sure you can wait friend?” one of the men in line said, turning to me.

 

“If I can stand, I'm not dying.” ‘probably…’

 

I slowly turned around, but after a moment more he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in front of him, steadying me. “Take my place, I'll go to the back of the line.” 

 

It was unexpected, but I didn't see a reason to refuse. “Name’s Finn.” He said with a smile.

 

“Chika…” I said back. He had a certain look in his eye. It wasn’t necessarily the look of a swindler, but more like a crafty merchant, one that knew something.

 

I hadn't been paying too much attention, but he was actually the next person in line to be seen before he gave me his spot. Just moments after trading positions I was face to face with an apprentice.

 

She was looking at her clipboard more than me though. her nose was so buried in it that when she first took it out to see me she let out a yelp. “U-uhm, right. Sorry, what do you need?” she asked.

 

‘Is this her first assignment? I’ll try and make things clear and simple so she can focus.’ “Blunt force trauma from a minotaur over the chest and left side. Coughing up blood, and worsening pain. I probably had a punctured lung but I used lesser healing on it, so it wouldn’t have fixed the bones or removed any of the blood or fluid but it held me together this long.”

She froze, her eyes as wide as a cat about to run for the hills. “That… sounds bad…”

 

I couldn't help but smirk at her response. It was a bit weird, but one thing I learned after years of adventuring was that nothing made you feel tougher than having someone stare at you and wonder how you're still breathing.

 

“Don't worry, The mead at the tavern fixed me up just fine. I just need you to make sure everything is ok, can you do that?”

 

Finn laughed as he rolled his eyes at me. I couldn't tell whether he was impressed or just thought I was arrogant, but I definitely left an impression. Either way, it seemed to help the girl relax, and that was what I was really going for. If it really was her first job she was probably overwhelmed by everything as it was, making her more tense wouldn’t help with that.

“O-oh, ok. I should be able to do that. I can do that yeah. Just check the wounds and figure out the extent of the damage. That’s first.”

 

She led me to one of the few open beds and I carefully took off my armor, pulling up my shirt to look at the wound. My entire side was purple from my hip up, but it wasn’t caved in, and looked like my rib was at least still in the right place. I thought it was just my low side, but I couldn’t see an end to the bruising, or even figure out where exactly I got hit.

 

She groaned nervously, leaning over to look at the wound more closely. “That’s a lot of internal bleeding, you said you used low-tier healing magic?” She asked, grabbing my shirt to hold it up for me. “You’ll need to take this off. I need to check for any muscle or bone damage all the way up to your shoulder.”

 

I quickly grabbed her hand before she could move. I let out a nervous chuckle “Do I, really need to do that?”

 

Her eyebrows scrunched together as she finally looked at me, instead of the wound. With a gasp, she quickly raised the clipboard to cover her mouth before grabbing my jacket and pulling it back over my shoulders. “Sory, no… I mean, yes… That is. You still have to do it but we can use one of the private rooms.”

 

I let out a sigh. ‘So more walking…’

 

She took my hand and quickly led me away, insisting she helped me. As we left I turned back to give a thumbs up to Finn, letting him know I'd be fine, and as a sign of thanks. I couldn't help but think he got the wrong idea though as the words “Sly dog.” escaped his lips. At least, I’m pretty sure that's what he said.

After making it to a sectioned-off bed, The young girl, helped me take off my armor and checked my wounds for any serious damage. The bruising was far worse than I would have imagined, but she seemed to think I was alright after all.

 

To make sure she had a supervisor check at the end. A tall troll woman walked in the room with a serious, almost robotic expression. She raised an eyebrow after taking one look at me, methodically walking up and pressing a hand against my wound. Her warmth sent shivers down my whole body with pain following close behind.

 

“Broken ribs that weren’t set right, punctured lung that wasn’t drained. What kind of incompetent healer did this?” She turned to the apprentice. “Surely it wasn’t you Pieta?”

 

‘She can tell all that just by touching my side?’ “N-no that was all me, sorry. I used a healing spell for first aid.” ‘She has to be a pretty advanced healer…’

 

She rolled her eyes with a groan. “In that case you did good. Good enough to keep yourself alive until you got to me, that’s all that matters. There are two options. We can either perform surgery or use healing magic.”

 

“Which one’s cheaper.”

 

She let out a heavy sigh. “They’re both free… Like everything else… Were here performing char— Relief…”

 

‘Then why are you even asking?’ “Uhm… Healing magic…”

 

She rubbed her face a bit before saying a prayer so quietly I couldn’t make it out, then before I knew it I could feel my breath enter my lungs again. Judging from the bruising though, she just used another lesser heal to fix the collapsed lung and finish repairing the hole.

 

“Pieta, you know water magic right?”

 

The apprentice hesitantly nodded. “Ok, you can finish this then, it will be a good experience for you.”

 

She slowly met my eyes and shuddered. “Sorry…” She mumbled. The next thing I knew my breath stopped and a mix of blood and mucus was flowing out of my mouth. In an instant, it was over.

 

“Good, your control is excellent.” The instructor said before walking over and placing a hand on my chest, closing her eyes. “But your breadth could use some work.”

 

The last of the fluid suddenly came out of my lungs in another burst. Even though it happened so fast it was worse than vomiting. I almost wanted to die. When it was over I slowly laid down on the bed and closed my eyes. “You… Could have warned me you know…”

 

The instructor continued on as if I hadn’t said a word. “Remember, body fluids like blood aren't just made out of water, it’s important to be able to manipulate the entire fluid, if you leave some of it behind, especially in a lung, it could cause serious problems.”

 

“Understood…”

 

“You, adventurer girl. If you have something to say save us both time later and say it now.”

 

“Master…” Pieta mumbled, grabbing her teacher's arm as if to hold her back.

 

‘Something to say?’ “Just… Let me catch my breath first…” I muttered, focusing on my breathing for a few moments longer. ‘Oh, right, of course.’ After a full deep breath, I could feel my headache start to go away as oxygen filled my body again. Getting my balance back, I sat up and eased myself back onto my feet. “Thank you,” I said confidently, reaching out my hand. “I’m Chika.”

 

She stood completely still, frozen stiff as her apprentice grinned at her. ‘Should I… Not have tried to shake her hand?’ “That is… What you were waiting for me to say right?”

 

Pieta chuckled. “She thought you were going to yell at her.”

 

I only grew more confused. “Wouldn’t that be kind of stupid though? I mean, it might reopen some of the wounds.” 

 

The instructor lifted a hand to cover her fangs as she smiled. “Oh, I like her.” She said sternly before placing her palm on Pieta’s head as she turned and walked toward a table, starting to mix several liquids in a large bowl.

 

 “Is it like a troll thing? Sorry, I’m not very knowledgeable on other cultures.” ‘Like, I could have yelled Thank you instead.’

 

The instructor cleared her throat. “People don’t like the way that I do things… So they often become angry at me after I treat them. It’s especially common among females of your species…” After mixing the tonic she gave some to her apprentice to taste. “Pop quiz, what’s missing.”

 

Pieta squinted, thinking about it intently as she took another taste.

 

‘Girls get angry at her for the way they're treated? What could that even mean?’ “You didn’t like, make me pregnant or something crazy did you?”

 

Pieta spat out the tonic and started choking as her master slowly raised a hand to cover her eyes. “Pieta, manipulate the fluid out of your trachea, and try not to get startled so much…”

 

“Yes– master…” she muttered.

 

The troll turned back to me with a sigh as she patted her apprentice on the back. “Nothing like that I can assure you. I may be a troll but I’m not some witch doctor.”

 

‘Ok… Well if there aren’t any weird side effects…’ “To be clear… I am fixed, right? Like I can walk around and stuff?”

 

She nodded placing a hand over the wound again and staring down at me. “Yes, that’s correct. As long as you don’t do any intense exercise or fast twisting motions for a few days you should be fine. We're going to give you a bandage, make sure you wear it for the next few days as well.”

 

“So… What you’re saying is… I’m not going to die. You fixed me up in a few minutes, I’ll recover in a few days, and most importantly, you did all that for free. Why would I be mad at you—”

 

“It’s missing this right?” Pieta asked. Handing her an herb.

 

She nodded. “And this is called…”

 

“That… Is… A… Mistroot?”

 

Her instructor took the herb and lightly smacked her with it. “Moonroot, Learn your names already. It’s important.”

 

She chuckled, taking the herb back and starting to mix it in. “I’ll try my best.”

 

She just shook her head with a sigh. “Right, you can take care of the rest.” She said Bluntly, abruptly leaving without bothering to ever give me an answer.

 

‘Never mind, I think I get it…’

 

Pieta chuckled again. “Three reasons.” She said, grabbing a set of bandages and soaking them in the tonic “First, most people don’t like how little she talks, and how fast she gets to work without warning. Second, people get really annoyed with her because she will only use the bare minimum amount of magic necessary, sometimes she will even refuse to use magic at all, even when people offer her payment. And third, she… Well, let's just say she’s not the delicate type. Rest your arms on this.” 

 

I leaned forward, lifting my arms up onto a small table while she wrapped my ribs. “So most of the people she treats are spoiled brats or what? How often do people die when she treats them?”

 

She paused suddenly. “Zero…” She muttered. “She’s never once lost a patient.”

 

‘Not even one?’ “Dang…”

 

“Although to be fair, she has never been in combat either. I guess that’s another reason some people don’t like her.”

 

After she finished patching me up I carefully got dressed. “I don't know… It’s hard to be mad at someone using healing magic on you. Well, unless it’s so they can torture you more, but people like that usually can’t use miracles so, you know.”

 

“Wow… You uh… You really are an adventurer.”

 

‘Why didn’t that sound like a compliment…’ I slowly stretched my arm over my head as I took a deep breath filling both my lungs. “Well, I try at least… Thanks again Pieta.” I said with a smile as I walked out.