Elydes

Chapter 192 – A Price for Everything

Kai faltered, his fingers brushing the golden pommel. The oak door was engraved with growing plants and runes. Cloaking, sturdiness and polish enchantments, the complete package.

Is this the right place?

When he received word a healer at the House of Enlightenment had accepted his request, he pictured many scenarios. This wasn’t one of them. He had followed the directions of the receptionist to the largest door on the highest floor.

I didn’t send them any requests.

“You can come in.” A voice with a musical accent commanded. The cloaking runes only stopped people outside from peeking in.

Is it too late to run?

Exhaling a slow breath, Kai put on a neutral polite expression and pushed inside. Light filled the spacious study with no apparent source, the air was sweet and fresh as if he were standing in a flower meadow. Despite the curious paintings and a bookcase containing ancient tomes, his attention was taken by the woman sitting behind a cluttered desk.

She wore a silver robe woven with runes, inky black hair in a ponytail and a pair of enchanted spectacles on her straight porcelain nose. Her skin was paler than any he had seen, giving her an ethereal appearance.

She must not be from the Republic…

An aura of power exuded from her, bending ambient mana with her presence. There were few high-ranking Republic officers at that level in Higharbor, though Kai hadn’t gone close to any since Zerith died.

Despite the runes obscuring her from prying eyes, he didn’t doubt she was at the late stages of Yellow, perhaps even half-step to the next grade with her profession in Green.

She put down a yellowing parchment to look at him. “You’re the one who was looking for a healer to supervise a class removal? Sorry, I think you call them professions here.”

Realizing he was staring, Kai blinked away and ordered his legs to approach the desk. “Ehm… yes. To both.”

Up close she looked younger, not yet thirty, though appearances could be deceiving. She could be thirty-five, or a hundred and five. Her dark eyes examined him from head to toe with a glance. “I assume the request wasn’t for you. Clearly you don’t have a physical profession.”

What are you implying?

His large reservoir of patience had been consumed by his friends’ incessant teasing last night. He was ready to snap when his skin tingled. She wasn’t looking at his physical body.

Can she pierce Edgar’s enchantments?

He needed to tread carefully, denying would attract more attention to the matter. Kai tried to recall Elijah’s attempts at imparting him a modicum of etiquette, this woman was dangerous. “I apologize if my request was unclear, the healer isn’t for me. I—”

“Was the information provided correct?” A glimmer lit her eyes. She didn’t seem to realize she had interrupted him. “Level four profession with a late-stage orange grade?”

“Yes.” Kai pursed his lips. “I think I’m in the wrong place, I didn’t forward my request to the House of Enlightenment. It was a pleasure meeting you, now I’ll take my leave.”

Get that Butler, my manners are immaculate when I need them.

Her gaze nailed him in place. “You’re in the perfect place. I’m the best healer in this quaint little town, and the entire Baquaire Archipelago.” She stated the fact as commenting on the weather. “Unless those quacking hawks smuggled in someone without my knowledge, but that’s unlikely.”

Is it worse or better that I think she isn’t bragging?

“Miss…”

“Yeiko Ayakave, administrator of this branch of the House. Yeiko is fine, I find formality to be a waste of time in most cases.” She offered her hand with indifference, a few ink stains on her pale fingers.

You’re the boss who got my money…

Kai shook her hand long enough to not be rude, conscious her dainty hand could snap his neck like a twig. “Yeiko, let me be straightforward too, I can’t afford to pay for your services. You must be rather busy, so I won’t take any more of your time.”

“I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t think it was worth my time. I’m willing to supervise the removal process for free and provide the facility.” She gestured at the building around them.

She did say for free…

He halted and narrowed his eyes. “What will you get in exchange for such a generous offer?”

“Data for my research.” Yeiko crossed her fingers on the table. “I’ll need to know the attributes and benefits of the patient’s current profession for the removal. Also, general information such as age and other physical parameters. The more details I can get the better.”

Obviously, there was a catch. I had to run into the mad scientist.

“What are you researching exactly?”

Blood sacrifices? Experimental procedures on unsuspecting victims you lure with false promises?

“I’m studying how the Guide and attributes affect the human body. I can go into more specifics, but I doubt you’d understand.” There was no disdain or arrogance in her tone, just dispassionate logic. Her gaze made him feel like a little mouse.

Spirits, I got soft living in this city.

Kai stared back with the fire of defiance. Compared to Virya, this woman was a kitten. Said kitten could claw his head off, but still. “Try me.”

Yeiko raised her eyebrow the slightest bit. “Are you familiar with the healing arts, the seven founding principles of mana veins, and the influence of the Hyperial realm on the Guide?”

“I’ve heard of them.” He couldn’t say he understood any of them, but he had heard the terms.

“Very well. I’m trying to determine how the Guide weaves mana through flesh and soul to create a resonance…”

Words flew straight over his head together with his confidence. Kai maintained an attentive facade to safeguard his waning pride. From the tenth he understood, he was reasonably sure she wasn’t lying about her motives.

“Those are my main research goals,” Yeiko concluded, the hint of a smirk pulling at her lips. “Do you have any questions?”

“No, that cleared my doubts. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity.”

“The search for knowledge should always be encouraged. When can I expect to see the patient?”

“I— I’ll need to ask him if he’s willing to share the information you’re requesting. I can’t make that choice for him.”

There would be little harm in revealing the details of Keen Spotter since Flynn planned on discarding it. It was different for attributes, especially Favor. While stats could be deduced by an attentive observer and were less important than skills, they were still private information.

“That’s acceptable. Send a letter to the House within the week and they'll fix an appointment. People willing to discard a profession are rare, but so are my skills and time.” She took out a piece of paper from a drawer filled with neat writing. “Here’s the contract I use, the terms inside are non-negotiable.”

The door swung open on silent hinges and Yeiko turned back to reading her parchment like he wasn’t even there.

Why do I always attract such strange people? Or is it a prerogative of powerful individuals to act weird?

* * *

They went over the contract in detail, not finding any shady wording or hidden clauses. Apart from providing the information Yeiko mentioned, Flynn would need to do a couple checkups and report any unusual symptoms.

There weren’t any solid reasons to refuse the offer. Caution was good, but it didn’t pay the bills. True healers didn’t come cheap, especially if they had to guarantee the safety of a delicate process like a profession discard.

Four days later, they entered the welcoming halls of the House of Enlightenment. The middle-aged woman who manned the receptionist's desk was expecting them. “Please, this way.”

She led them to a room with no windows. It had an empty table and a simple bed freshly made with white sheets. It looked somewhat hospitable if a little bare, that was until Kai noticed the leather manacles linked by chains to the frame of the bed.

Not creepy at all.

“The administrator will be with you shortly.” The receptionist bowed, leaving them with the door open.

“Still in time to change your mind.” Kai stopped himself from pacing. It wasn’t his time to be stressed. “About the healer or the discard. We can run out of here.”

“I want to do this,” Flynn didn’t show the slightest wavering, face firm with determination. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

Spirits make it so.

“This is the patient.” Yeiko appeared in the doorway like a ghost, black hair and porcelain skin. Kai jolted and cursed. She wore a white robe that didn’t help the impression—likely some kind of healer work uniform—while she carried a chest and a notebook.

“That’s me. I go by Flynn.” If the teen was uneasy for her presence, he didn’t show it, shaking her hand with confidence. “You look like a competent healer, miss.”

“Yeiko. I’m the best you’ll find.” She arranged her tools on the table with practiced motions. The chest was a spatial item that contained a wealth of vials and odd enchanted instruments. She put aside three potions, pale green, sludgy black and deep blue. Each one shone at peak-orange grade. “You’ll need to take these to soften the backlash of the removal.”

Kai stepped forward and took out his own two vials. “We’ve already bought the elixirs to help the discard.” Their murky glow now looked inadequate. Profession removal elixirs were niche goods. He had to pay a premium to order them from the mainland through Reishi’s contacts.

Yeiko snatched them out of his hand before he could react. Her eyes narrowed observing the potions behind her gold-rimmed spectacles, mouth scrunched in distaste. “You’ll use mine.”

“This wasn't our deal. We're not paying for those.”

“You don’t have to. They’re free.” Yeiko stated, still acting like Kai and Flynn were some odd-shaped furniture.

“How do we know what’s in them?”

The woman stopped tinkering with her tools and turned to regard him with cold boredom. “It’s part of my healing duties. I can’t get reliable data if the patient uses random garbage. Mine are much higher quality than anything you might find. They’ll make the process considerably less risky and painful.”

So you say…

He was getting irked by her manners, adding to his dislike for the whole affair. And what was he supposed to do with the potions he bought? They were specific to discard Keen Spotter and impossible to resell on the archipelago. Should he just throw them away?

“Kai, it’s fine,” Flynn stopped his reply, placing a calming palm on his shoulder. “I’ll take them.”

He bit his cheek. “You don’t know what’s in them.”

“She’s the expert who’ll oversee the process, I’m already in her hands. And I doubt the head of a famous institution can afford to go around poisoning random people.”

Yeiko gave him an appreciative nod. “Indeed, while there are plenty of potions I’d like to test during a class removal, it’s not worth damaging the House's reputation over them. I'd risk losing my position or getting transferred again.”

Again…?

That wasn’t as reassuring as Kai would have liked it, though it sounded honest. Seeing the tension Flynn had been masking rising in his stiff shoulders, Kai didn’t want to make things harder for him.

Fine. Reishi knows where we are in case we mysteriously disappear…

Yeiko proceeded with a quick fire of questions about his profession, attributes and history. She noted everything down with precise strokes in an unknown language. “I’ll know if you lie.” She communicated with the same apathy.

The glint of challenge in Flynn’s eyes was washed away by the weight of the situation. While he didn’t volunteer any information not explicitly asked, he also didn’t lie, as far as Kai could tell.

“That’s everything for now.” She put aside her journal and picked the three vials. “Take the black one first, then the green, wait to take the blue one till I tell you. The first two are to strengthen your body against the backlash of losing attributes and half your mana veins. The last one will numb your senses.”

“Will it knock me out?”

“You can’t faint during a profession removal, but it will ensure the pain doesn’t break your mind.”

“I understand.” His voice tightened. He gulped down both potions, making a disgusted expression at the taste. “I’m getting all tingly and woozy.”

“That’s normal, just lay down and relax. It will take a minute for the elixirs to have full effect.” Yeiko turned to Kai. “You can watch if you don’t have a problem with blood, but you need to stay out of the way. I don’t want interruptions when the procedure begins.”

He pressed his lips together. “I’ll stay.” Flynn lay in the bed, opening and closing his hands with a giggle. Kai lowered his tone. “What are the chances that something goes badly?”

Kai thought the healer had ignored the question when she finally spoke, her tone contained the tiniest sliver of warmth. “No matter how many precautions you take, there is always a chance for something to go wrong during a removal. But I don’t foresee any problems today. I’ve done this before, low level red professions are easy to remove. Losing Dexterity brings the mildest repercussions after Strength, the backlash from Perception is trickier, still nothing to worry about.”

Spirits, so she does know how to be reassuring.

“What would be something to worry about?” Kai asked since she was willing to share her knowledge.

“Mental stats. Mind and Spirit are the worst. Protecting the conscience and soul is more complicated than the physical body. If something unexpected happens, you can find ways to mend a crippled arm or learn to live with it. A broken mind is a different story.”

Fuck.

“But it can be done?”

Yeiko gave him a long look. “Yes. As long as you have the appropriate grade and take the proper precautions, anything can be done. I’ve successfully assisted such patients. The true danger is when you lose boons along Mind and Spirit. Boons affect the body in unpredictable ways, and you never know what type of backlash to expect.”

Kai had no time to ponder or curse the new information. The healer went to stay by Flynn’s bedside. “It’s time. Pull up the Guide and prepare to discard your profession. After you drink the blue potion, you’ll only have seconds before falling unconscious and wasting the elixirs.”

She made Flynn repeat back to ensure he understood, and secured his limbs with the latches on the bed except the arm who held the last vial. “The less you move, the fewer chances you injure yourself. Bite this one as soon as you drink the potion.” She gave him a stick covered in leather.

By far the most anxious-looking person in the room, Kai dried his sweaty palms on his shirt. Following instructions, Flynn gulped down the blue potion and bit on the stick.

The teen's body tensed in anticipation. Tendons showed on his neck, hands gripped tight on the white sheets. The hint of fear that had slipped in his eyes soon morphed into drowsy perplexity.

That was when the screaming started.