18. Memory

Fuck.

He should have followed Lira and not gotten himself involved in this. What a bother.

He frowned.

“I need to check them individually to know,” Adolin said.

Eldritch nodded. “Go ahead.” Two small glass bottles appeared in his hand, red liquid swirling inside.

Adolin went to the closest injured and crouched next to him. The man was in his late twenties. His body was mauled and cut. Every wound was already covered in bandages. The villagers did a good job keeping him alive.

He glanced at his eyes. The spark was fading. The man had less than four hours left.

Adolin clicked his tongue.

He was beyond saving with a potion. The potion would be wasted, but… he still had his life ahead of him. Adolin struggled. His family stood quiet, looking at him with hope in their eyes. He cursed.

“So?” Eldritch asked.

Adolin extended his hand.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Let’s get this over with.”

Eldritch nodded and handed him a potion.

The family leaned closer.

“Thank you,” one of them said.

Adolin slid his hand under the man, touching his back, and cast Growth. A spell that flooded lifeforce into plants or creatures.

He glanced toward Eldritch, and he moved, stepping beside him and lifting the man just enough so they wouldn’t spill the potion. Adolin pulled the cork and poured the potion into his mouth, making sure it all went down.

The woman next to them, who Adolin thought was his wife, put her hands over her face. Her expression was grim, but hopeful.

The potion worked fast, the additional lifeforce helping it along. His pale face regained some color. The wounds not covered by bandages healed in moments. What followed was a rough cough. His body shook. Eldritch held him down so he wouldn’t worsen his injuries.

A few seconds later, he calmed down and opened his eyes.

Eldritch let him go and stepped back. Adolin did the same.

His wife rushed to him, hugging him, crying even more than before. She kept repeating, “Thank you,” over and over.

Adolin felt awkward and moved to the next wounded.

“Will he be okay?” The woman asked.

Eldritch kept reassuring her.

He kept his gaze down. Too many people were looking at him. The whole square. It felt awful.

He kept cursing in his mind as he checked the wounded next to him. It was a woman. She had quite a few injuries, but she would survive. The worst one was a bite on her back. Infection could spread from it. Toxin Removal would be enough to get rid of any chance of infection. It would also give her lifeforce and rejuvenate her. She would be fine after a week or two of rest.

The people around him started asking questions. He just nodded when they asked if she would survive. He cast Toxin Removal the same way he did with the man, hoping no one would notice. Then moved to the next wounded. He skipped the one with the worst injuries. The good thing for him was that almost all of the worst injuries were already dead. He didn’t need to take any unnecessary risks.

Eldritch noticed he didn’t want to talk and came with him, reassuring the families while Adolin checked the injured.

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Most of the wounded in the square needed just Toxin Removal, so the bites wouldn’t become their deaths. Four of them needed additional lifeforce to recover, and he supplied it to all of them. The people started getting nervous, trying to pressure him into using the last potion on their loved ones. But he ignored them and moved from injured to injured.

It took him an hour to get through all of them. His mana was almost gone. He skipped a few who could survive without his help, so he would have enough for the man with the worst injuries. The same one he skipped at the beginning.

“You sure they would be fine?” Eldritch kept asking, doubt creeping into his voice.

But just like he ignored everyone else, he ignored him too. He felt overwhelmed, wanted to disappear from the square.

But there was one more. The last one. The one he had to use the potion on.

A small boy was sitting next to him, but as he got closer, someone pulled the boy away.

He crouched next to the man and inspected his eyes. The spark was dimmer. A lot dimmer than when he first saw him. It shouldn’t be this bad.

A small hope flickered in the eyes of the people around him.

He checked his wounds. Four bite marks. Multiple cuts. And… poison.

He needed to use Analyze to be sure, but he didn’t have enough mana.

Damn it.

He went over his spells, but not even one would be enough to save him. He didn’t have enough mana. If he had noticed the poison earlier, he could have used Toxin Removal and Growth. With the potion, he would have been healed.