185 - Doctor Rescue
Within half an hour, Illyan's body lost over a third of its weight. Most of it was just water, fat, and muscle, but he also let his organs and bones deteriorate a bit to feign fragility.
Only after doing that did he finally stop the technique.
'Almost done. Since my bones are now weaker, then—!'
Without hesitation, Illyan's dead-fish eyes turned down to his own body as he reached with his hand…
Crack
Without a change in his expression, he broke his other arm and leg with a strong grip as he twisted them into wrong angles before focusing on his torso, breaking several of his ribs.
In seconds, purple bruises started to appear on his body as his now-fragile bones broke under his deliberate hits and jabs. Of course, if not for his deep knowledge of anatomy and blood energy, it would still be difficult to injure himself to such a degree without killing oneself.
Checking the result, Illyan's mouth curved in satisfaction.
'Oh, I almost forgot!' Then, he suddenly remembered what he had missed.
Illyan looked deeper inside his body, sucked all of his blood energy deep into his gut, and searched for the residual traces of aura that he had left behind.
Illyan may have forgotten, but for a normal person, this kind of weather was dangerous and could cause someone to freeze to death.
Thus, he recalled all of his blood energy that was keeping his body warm and stopped his regeneration completely to let the chilly cold seep deep into his bones.
After a few minutes, his body was quite cold, but he felt it wasn't enough, as he wanted to use the ability of the aura to absorb the heat.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to control the aura even after half an hour, as he was barely able to burst it out of his body. That required minimal control, but what he wanted to do was beyond his limits for now.
'But I was able to stimulate the remaining bits of the aura in my hand which released the aura before to absorb a bit of the body heat, so it wasn't a complete failure.'
He was satisfied with his effort because all of this wasn't just for the act but also to gain more experience with his new powers.
'My control is weak because of my potential, but if I use these powers constantly for as long as I can, then there is no way I will not be able to reach higher heights…'
Illyan's mind drifted off for a bit before he refocused.
Since he was done with preparation, he could begin the plan of 'Doctor Rescue!'.
He adjusted his emotions as he lay down on the cold ground and waited.
A few minutes later, footsteps could be heard in the distance.
'Not yet…' Illyan thought, knowing that a normal person wouldn't hear from such a distance.
He also didn't want to make himself too obvious and would rather have the rescue team find him with as few hints as possible.
Step Step
Rustle
His patience paid off as the footsteps grew louder and louder until they finally stopped.
"Hey, come here and wipe the snow off this boulder."
A man, supposedly one of the sources of the footsteps, could be heard speaking to another person.
"Brother, are you sure we can just…" The second voice sounded hesitant as his words trailed off.
"You are always too scared to do anything, Todo! We were looking for that guy the entire morning, and yet he is nowhere to be found. His body was probably already torn apart by wild animals anyway, so why not rest a little before the march back home?"
The first man sounded irritated as he complained, while the second man sighed but remained silent.
However, just as they reached the huge boulder they planned to sit upon, they heard quiet but resonating thuds.
Thud Thud Thud
"What's that?"
"I don't know, but…"
The intervals between each sound were consistent, and the rhythm changed from time to time, making them realize this wasn't just some animal like a woodpecker.
So, they stopped talking and just listened.
For a moment, the sounds disappeared, leaving only the wind resonating throughout the forest.
"Heelp—!" Then, they finally heard something new.
A weak and raspy voice.
A voice calling for help.
"I-It's a voice! A ghost?" Todo was immediately spooked as he jumped away in horror.
"You idiot, shut the hell up and listen! The voice—where is it coming from?" On the other hand, the other man was much more sensible as his face turned serious.
"Please…"
"It is behind us!" The moment he heard the voice again, he turned his body and looked towards the boulder he had planned to rest at.
With some effort, he climbed to the peak before looking behind it, where the boulder was leaning against the side of the mountain.
"Turk, why in the world are you jumping there?! Come back!" Todo, who seemed to be a younger junior, suddenly yelled roughly as he felt something was wrong.
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Turk turned his head to Todo and glared at him.
"Manners, Todo. Whenever you get scared, your manner of speech becomes crass! Now, come here and look at what I found!" Turk sneered at Todo, completely ignoring the fact that his manner of speech was much worse, as he pointed towards the small crevice behind the boulder.
Todo couldn't see it from the angle he was standing at, so he begrudgingly climbed up the boulder to look for himself.
After all, he knew his brother was right but just didn't want to admit it.
"Hmm? What's that? A burrow?" Todo furrowed his brows the moment he saw the crevice.
"It is a small cave, you dumbass! Now, go down and look for yourself! I can't fit into that space." Turk said with a straight face, but Todo felt that he was a little embarrassed.
Out of the two, the older brother had a much bigger appetite and had grown in proportion to his meal sizes.
"But…" However, the younger Todo felt dread creeping up his spine as he looked down the crevice. It was very small, and the snow covered the entrance, making it impossible to see inside.
Without the voice guiding them, they would never have found it.
"Help…" The weak voice came out of the crevice as thuds resounded once again.
"What are you waiting for? It is definitely that doctor! There is enough space for you! Once we get him, not only will we get the rewards, but we will also gain the physician's favor!" Turk came closer to his brother and whispered this to him.
'Weren't you the one who cursed him the most?' Todo grumbled as he nodded before climbing down without waiting any further. After all, he was still a member of the Heart Bearer Gang and had gone through many trials in his life…
One or two minutes later, Turk started to feel uneasy after not hearing Todo's voice.
"Hey, are you alrigh—" But just as he wanted to ask, his question was interrupted by Todo.
"Brother, he is here! I found him! Alive! Quickly, go call the remaining physicians! He is in a grave state!"
The sound of a nervous but excited young man echoed through the cave as Turk outside opened his eyes wide.
'Jackpot…'
……..
Meanwhile, several kilometers to the south of the cave…
"Mr. Neddard, what brings you here?" The leader of one of the groups searching for Illyan, who had been grumbling earlier due to the lack of horses, was now full of smiles as he fawned over the man who seemed expressionless.
This man had been declared deceased half a day ago, yet here he was, completely fine and full of confidence.
Obviously, the men around him knew the reason, as they were part of the grand scheme, but it was still strange to them to see him walking around as if nothing had happened.
"Mr. Jikir, I am here to oversee this matter. If there are no results by the end of the day…" Neddard shook his head.
"There is not much time. We must set off the day after tomorrow at the latest. If Miss Vanda doesn't get a satisfying answer by then… we can only imagine what will happen to your lot." Neddard said coldly as he stared into Jikir's eyes.
Jikir gulped down the saliva in his mouth as he grumbled inside his heart.
'Damn those guys… How the hell are we supposed to find the corpse of this guy when there are hungry wild animals running everywhere? It is obvious where the body is…!'
As if Ned could read his mind, he chuckled.
"If he isn't alive, find his body. If his body isn't in one piece, bring the remaining body parts. If there is nothing left… bring the culprit behind it alive and tear its stomach open." Ned's eyes shone with chilling coldness.
Jikir sighed as he bowed.
"I will do everything I can do—"
"Sir!" Suddenly, a voice from afar interrupted Jikir's words.
This made his face distort as he turned around, furious, and stared at the man who was running at full speed toward him.
"Why are you yelling around here like a monkey? Don't you have any human decency—"
"Wait." Once again, he was interrupted mid-sentence, but this time, he didn't have the gall to be angry as it was Neddard who stopped him.
He wondered why he stopped him, but Neddard didn't say anything as he looked forward to the man.
"I apologize, sir, but… Huuf… the physician..!"
It was actually Turk who had run all the way from the cave to here.
Neddard, who heard this, suddenly spoke up.
"Calm down and take a deep breath."
Seeing that Turk was breathless, he wanted him to calm down and speak coherently…
"Ah… Yes…" Turk nodded as he took deep breaths and exhaled through his mouth afterward.
"What is your name?" Then, Ned asked him.
"Turk, sir… But…" Turk, who was confused about who this man was for a moment, wanted to ask but was interrupted.
"You were saying something about the physician. Tell me." Nedd stared at him as he waited for the answer.
"Ah! Yes, please call some physicians! Sir Kaoran is alive! He is in a bad state at this very moment, however..!"
Neddard's eyes widened when he heard this.
He was prepared to retrieve his body or, at worst, the remains that could be found.
But that he had actually survived…
'Is this destiny…?' he thought before shaking his head.
"Mr. Jikir."
"Yes, sir?" Jikir, who had listened with his jaw open at the fact that the man was still alive, turned his head around as he looked at Neddard.
"Are there any physicians in the vicinity?" Neddard asked with a feigned calm tone, though the urgency in his eyes was palpable.
Even Jikir could feel it as he turned around and called his subordinates.
"Balor!"
"Yessir!"
"Call Huran and Kelo this instant! We have an emergency here!"
"On my way, sir!" Balor bowed as he disappeared into the dense forest while the snow hid his traces…
"Hopefully, we will be able to save him…" Neddard muttered to himself as he felt nervous. If Illyan died despite being found alive, then Vanda would probably lose her marbles over this all the more…
……..
Six hours later in Faruin City.
Everything had returned to order as people started reorganizing the wagons and caravans while preparing for the sudden departure.
"Hey, wasn't this that bastard Ujir's wagon?" Terren said as he came closer to the abandoned wagon.
"Yeah, that seems to be it. I wonder what happened to that bastard, heh." Garran said as he spat on the ground in contempt.
After yesterday's breakout between the two groups, their standing became vague.
If not for Aurelia's intervention, they would already be dead.
However, when it was verified that they were just children who had arrived in Winterfrost a year ago from a small village, they were released.
Of course, this factor was insignificant since they could have just made it up. The main reason they survived was because of Aurelia and the fact that they were Illyan's acquaintances.
If they killed them too soon and then found out that the doctor was alive, it would mean they had burned the bridges between themselves and Illyan without any reason.
They couldn't kill them later on either, even if Illyan was truly dead. Since other academics had survived the purge, they would be on edge now.
Once they saw that others had continued killing academics after the first time, they would think there would be another time and would believe they would be next.
Altogether, it would complicate the situation without any tangible benefit.
So, they were left alone with just a warning and someone to watch over them.
"I think that I haven't seen him since yesterday. It is most probable he is already deceased," Nord said with a calm tone.
"Then what are we waiting for?! The wagon is ownerless from now on!" Garran laughed as he climbed inside the wagon with a greedy expression.
"Hmm… There is nothing here… Wait, I know how cunning guys like Ujir think. There is no way he wouldn't hide his best things somewhere."
After a few minutes of searching, he realized there was a hidden space under the wagon's main storage room.
"Aha! So that's how it is!" With a smile, he took out a knife and used it to pry open the small door that was locked.
Crack
Just as he broke it open, instead of treasures, he found something else.
"E-ehmm… I think we can already be sure what happened to Ujir." He laughed awkwardly as he found Ujir's shriveled body inside.
Cara, who had been looking curiously, saw it and averted her gaze.
"I guess he wanted to hide there during the bandit attack," she muttered to herself.
They became silent for a moment.
However, just as they wanted to look further, they heard yells from a distance.
"Quickly, bring him to Apprentice Aurelia!"
There were over a dozen people who had left in the morning to look for the physician's remains.
But now, instead of bringing a body, they were supporting a man who looked to be in a dangerous state, as two men in white robes were tending to him on the go, trying to bring him to the best physician available since his condition was too severe at this moment.
"What…?" Cara opened her mouth when she saw this while her lips quivered.
"I-isn't that… Kaoran?"
Kaoran was alive.
This massive news spread like wildfire in Faruin City…