Chapter 38: Room to Shine

When the group arrived at the outpost, the area was already a complete mess.

The ground was littered with the corpses of Magic Beasts.

Only a single bunker made of stacked stone remained relatively intact.

Lockes sensed several faint presences inside; the adventurers who had been attacked were likely all in there.

Lockes walked at the front and took the lead by kicking the door open.

Suddenly, a spear lunged toward him.

His expression tightened in surprise, and he reached out to catch the shaft of the spear.

“Look closely, one of our own!”

Lockes shouted.

“Ugh! You guys are…”

The man who had attacked seemed to use up the last bit of his strength before collapsing onto the floor.

Blood flowed uncontrollably from his abdomen.

It wasn’t until a young girl’s figure moved past Lockes to the man’s side that he recognized her.

“Miss Aurora? It seems that guy made it…”

“How did you get hurt this badly?”

Aurora began releasing magic, attempting to stop the bleeding first.

His abdomen had been completely pierced.

Just dealing with the internal bleeding alone would take her quite a while to treat.

“No… there are others who need treatment more than I do. I can hold on a bit longer. My sister…”

The man reached out toward a dark corner of the room.

At that moment, a candle was lit, instantly illuminating the dim interior.

A young girl lay on the floor, her body covered in wounds.

But what was even more heart-wrenching was that the lower half of her body was empty—her legs had been severed.

Although the bleeding had been barely stopped, she had already lost too much blood and was now breathing her last.

Qiaolin stood before the girl, looking at her deathly pale face before glancing at the others in the room.

“Damn it. Compared to the others, this girl with the severed legs is actually in better shape.”

Lockes sensed the vital energy of those nearby.

Basically, everyone was unconscious and on the verge of death.

With Aurora’s power, she could save two people at most, even if she risked her life.

“Mr. Qiaolin, please save that girl! This gentleman is very worried about his sister. If he remains in such an anxious state, I won’t be able to treat him!”

Aurora said to Qiaolin.

However, something strange happened.

Qiaolin ignored her words, turned around, and walked toward another person.

“Mr. Qiaolin, you…”

“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Lockes tried to grab Qiaolin, but the man’s body moved like a ghost, dodging the attempt.

Qiaolin walked over to a man covered in ice shards.

He was bleeding from all seven orifices and his lips had turned black—he was clearly suffering from a severe poison.

It seemed the man had known his situation; while still conscious, he had used ice magic to freeze himself, slowing the spread of the toxin.

These adventurers were certainly experienced.

Qiaolin reached out to check the man’s pulse.

His heart had already stopped.

Even with Regression Magic, too much time had passed to revert him to a pre-poisoned state, and detoxification would take time.

Qiaolin had to make his heart beat first to ensure the brain had a sufficient blood supply.

Then, while maintaining blood flow, he would clear the toxins from the body.

He slowly raised his palm, tiny sparks of white electricity dancing at his fingertips, and pressed it against the man’s heart.

“Thump!”

Under the shocked gazes of the group, the companion they assumed had died of poisoning began to tremble beneath Qiaolin’s hand.

None of them understood what he was doing.

“It’s useless… that guy was hit by the venom of a 5-Crown Magic Beast, an Azure Serpent. There is no cure for that poison. He used ice magic to freeze himself temporarily, but it looks like he no longer has the strength to maintain his magic. It’s a pity.”

“He’s already dead, you idiot! Why are you still bothering with him? Save your energy for those who are still alive!”

Lockes barked.

Qiaolin simply smiled.

“Thanks for the reminder.”

“If you know that, then hurry up and—”

“If it’s Azure Serpent poison, then there’s still a chance.”

Among the various types of Healing Magic used against toxins, earth-attribute magic was the most effective.

This type of magic could often analyze the structure of a toxin and neutralize it through an inverse reaction.

It just so happened that Qiaolin had studied the venom of the Azure Serpent before.

Now, he only needed a single glance.

He didn’t even need the analysis phase; he could directly construct the neutralization formula.

[Detoxification Art]

A white magic circle expanded beneath the injured man.

Seeing this, Lockes’ eyes widened.

He turned to check Aurora’s reaction, but the girl was focused on her treatment and didn’t look up.

‘White Mana?’

When Lockes looked back at Qiaolin, the white magic circle had disappeared.

He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen things.

“Phew…”

With one final jolt from Qiaolin, the man regained his breath.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he prepared to speak.

“Don’t be in a hurry. Your body was severely eroded by the toxin. I need to repair your internal organs now—including your companions’.”

Qiaolin opened his palm, and a green magic circle manifested.

White Mana was sucked into the circle, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into drops of crystalline green water.

“SPRING BREEZE AND HEALING RAIN: DRIZZLE”

With a wave of Qiaolin’s hand, the life-filled water droplets in his palm scattered over the wounded.

A surge of vigorous vitality filled the room.

Lockes looked on as if seeing something unbelievable.

Not only was the vital energy of the wounded returning rapidly, but the life force lingering in the air was richer than anything he had ever encountered.

“You… what did you do?!”

Lockes asked.

“It’s just a potion I developed. Don’t panic,” Qiaolin glossed over the question.

Watching the wounds of the nearby survivors heal at high speed, he set to work treating those who had lost limbs.

‘A potion? How could there be a potion containing such powerful life force? Is he someone from the Succubus Race?’

Lockes was both suspicious and surprised.

He didn’t have time to overthink it; he had to deal with the situation at hand first.

Using a mixture of Holy Magic and other elemental magics, Qiaolin reconstructed the limbs of the injured.

Lockes didn’t pay much attention this time because, in the eyes of the Demon Race, losing an arm or a leg was an injury that would recover on its own soon enough.

As long as the head was fine, one could survive even if their body was cut in half at the waist.

After Qiaolin treated the most severely injured people in the room, he intentionally left some work for Aurora.

This wasn’t for her to practice; rather, he didn’t want to expose himself too quickly.

Based solely on the limb-reattachment technique he had just used, only a King Rank Healing Mage would possess such ability.

Though, aside from the former Tor, he hadn’t seen another King Rank Healing Mage in many years.

“Teacher Qiaolin, I’ve stabilized things on my end. How is it over…”

Aurora was panting slightly.

She had just finished healing one person’s wounds, but when she stood up, she saw the rest of the people were already up and active.

They were laughing and chatting with Qiaolin and Lockes.

“Huh?!”

“Thanks for the hard work, Miss Aurora. Mr. Qiaolin has already healed us,” a tall man said to Aurora with a smile.

Then, he suddenly remembered something and lifted his arm, showing a wound that had almost completely scabbed over.

“Oh, right. Mr. Qiaolin hoped you would be the one to treat these minor injuries. He said something about leaving some room for you to shine…”

“Hey, you didn’t need to tell her that!”

Qiaolin reminded him.

“Ah? Oh, right, right… anyway, sorry to trouble you, Miss Aurora! Please save us!”

“Do mine next! Mine too!”

“Miss Aurora, I need treatment as well!”

The crowd swarmed her, and the once deathly silent room suddenly became lively.

“Is that any way to talk?”

Lockes rolled his eyes from the side.

Aurora was speechless in the face of their enthusiasm, but seeing that everyone had recovered, she knew this was all Qiaolin’s doing.

“Thank you, Mr. Qiaolin.”

The young girl looked at the black-haired young man leaning against the wall and smiled.