Chapter 59 - Saving A Life

"Hurry up! You need to go get a healer!" The head bodyguard screamed out to the soldier that was standing nearby.

The bodyguard was in a panic, not because he was afraid for the merchant's life but because if he died, then none of them would be paid. They were hired half a month ago and have had to put up with the appalling man every day since then. Unfortunately, they were used to working for such people, so this merchant's particular attitude was something they've had to deal with before.

"Y... yes, of course." The soldier stammered out before running off and disappearing inside the barracks.

A small crowd had gathered around the merchant who was still laying unresponsive on the large dirt courtyard. The four bodyguards were doing their best in treating the man, but their knowledge of first aid applied only to external wounds and broken bones, not whatever it was that was ailing the merchant.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Benjamin asked the group. "Professor, you can help him, can't you?"

Not taking his eyes off of his notebook as he scribbled illegible words onto the yellow pages, Professor Kal gave an answer. "It doesn't really concern us, and also, that guy's an ass."

"Professor Treffle?" Ben looked to his other teacher.

"I'm not very well versed in healing spells, I can help with small cuts and sprains, that's about it. Sorry." She said, obviously concerned for the man's wellbeing, but unable to help in any meaningful way.

"Don't look at me, all I'm good at is swinging a sword." Marissa said preemptively, holding up both her hands.

"I'm sorry to say that neither of us have much magical ability to speak of." Princess Alessandria spoke for both herself and Lilly, a sorrowful look on her face.

"I'll do it." Laura said with conviction as she walked over to where the merchant was laying.

Ben, Ryan, and Richard all looked at each other before quickly following behind her. They had to push through several people in order to see the merchant on the ground. By the time they had caught up to Laura, she was already talking to the head bodyguard.

"I can use healing magic, let me try to help." She said to the bodyguard.

Without any other options, he was left with no other choice. The merchant had already been on the ground for a few minutes, his breathing was labored and shallow and the color of his face had changed to a shade of purple.

"Fine, do what you can do." The bodyguard said, allowing her past him and to the merchant.

Her three friends, along with the rest of the crowd, watched as she knelt down next to the man and began checking him all over. She put her ear on the center of his chest and listened for his heartbeat, then moved her ear to either side of his chest. After she had finished with that, she opened the man's mouth and took a long look inside. Having decided on how to treat him, she put both of her hands together, forming a diamond with her thumbs and forefingers.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she started to recite a chant. Her hands began to glow a pale white light. Everyone's focus was on her as words of power flowed from her small lips.

"Get out of my way!" A shrill voice came from behind the crowd as a man dressed in a brown robe pushed his way through. "Move it! You're in my way!"

Laura was pushed from the side, sending her tumbling into the dirt. Having been putting her full concentration into her healing spell she had failed to catch herself as she fell. Her tender face had taken much of the impact, bloodying her lip, and scratching up her cheek.

"Look at the little girl playing mage, how adorable. You're lucky I'm here now, you could have killed someone." The man derided, sneering at the girl he had just bowled over.

"Hey, you bastard..." Ryan shouted out, rushing towards the man.

"Restrain him, I'll deal with him later." The robed man said, ordering a nearby soldier to grab Ryan before he could make it to him.

"I can't believe I'm stationed here with all of these Neanderthals. What did I ever do to any of the nobles to deserve this?" He mumbled to himself as Ryan struggled against the soldiers.

Laura had picked herself up from the ground and was glaring at the man that pushed her. She could tell that he was a mage from the insignia on his brown robe, but that's all she could glean off of his garb. Brushing the dirt off of her plain clothes and wiping the blood that had ran down her chin, she confronted the man. "What are you doing? He needs to be treated soon or he'll die."

"Shut up. What would a commoner like you know about the healing arts? I've spent the last four years of my life learning the techniques required to save lives, and what have you done? So go back to whatever dingy hole it is that you crawled out of and leave the important work to the adults." He spat, looking down his nose at the defiant girl.

With a wave of his hand, he ordered another soldier to push the girl back into the crowd. By this time the merchant had deteriorated, his breathing was almost imperceptible, and the light shade of purple was now a dark violet. The mage finally directed his attention to the patient, flicking the sleaves of his robes, he put his hands over the man and started to loudly chant a spell.

Much like Laura's before, the man's hands also started to glow. Really, the only difference between her spell and his were the words used and the theatrical way in which he chanted it. He seemed much more worried with the way he appeared while casting the spell than what was actually happening to the patient on the other end. His voice was so loud that those even still in line waiting to be inspected could hear it clearly, causing even more people to begin rubbernecking.

The merchant's body began to glow faintly as the mage continued to chant his spell. Soon, there was an obvious physical reaction to the healing spell. His body started to tremble slightly, slowly building in intensity until finally culminating into a Grand Mal seizure. A thin line of dark red blood trailed down the corner of his mouth as he involuntarily bit into his tongue, and his eyes shot open only to show the whites of his bloodshot eyes.

The crowd took a collective step back, frightened by what they were witnessing. Most of them had never seen healing magic performed before, as it was normally financially out of reach for them, but even a layperson could tell that whatever was happening to the man was not good. The man's convulsions continued even as the mage frantically adjusted his spell in an attempt to rectify whatever it was that was affecting him.

"Stop it! You're killing him!" Laura shouted out, breaking free from the soldier's grip, and rushing over to the mage.

The mage continued to chant his spell, his face pale from a mixture of anxiety and mana over usage. Seeing that he wasn't going to stop before the man really did die, Laura kicked out, catching the man in the groin. She had instantly cut off his spell as the mage doubled over in pain, crying out with tears in his eyes.

"How... haaaa... how dare you!" The mage wheezed out in-between gasps. "Do you have any idea who I am? You've just assaulted the son of Baron Tillweather, Hardy Tillweather! Not only that, but you will be held responsible for anything that may happen to this man!"

"Are you an idiot?!" Laura exclaimed, pointing to the merchant that was still seizing on the hard ground. "He has a blood clot in his lungs, and you were treating him for internal bleeding! Do you have any idea the damage that would cause, making his blood clot up even more than it already had!"

The mage's face miraculously grew even whiter, his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "How... you... you don't know what you're talking about. I ..."

"My gods!" A loud voice cut Mage Tillweather off mid-sentence. "You're both idiots! While you two are fighting, your patient is circling the drain, just look at him, I don't think he'll pull through now."

Professor Kal had, at some point, appeared standing next to the now still merchant. The bodyguards that had been standing close to the patient jumped back and instinctively pulled out their weapons at the sound of his voice. He was wearing his usual plain black robe and holding his gnarled black staff loosely in his right hand. His green eyes burned with contempt when he glared at Mage Tillweather and disappointment when they shifted their focus to Laura.

Doing her best to pay no attention to the disappointed look that she was receiving from a man she highly respected, Laura hurriedly cast her spell once more. Her pretty face twisted in absolute focus as she put every fiber of her being into healing the man that was now so close to death. Mage Tillweather did not try to stop her this time around because of being rooted in place by the man dressed in black, an intense pressure squeezing the air out of his lungs.

The merchant's limp body once again started to emit a faintly glowing light. Laura's ponytail defied gravity as it began to lift gently into the air along with all the other loose strands of her black hair. She recited the ancient words that she had learned from professor Kal. They hadn't focused on healing during his special lessons, but he had given her an old tome filled with spells she had never seen before. Unfortunately, although she was a naturally skilled healer, her lack of experience caused her to not be able to fully control the flow of mana.

The glowing light started to flicker as Laura's control began to wane. Having some effect on the merchant, he took a large gasp of air and his color slightly improved, but it was not enough to bring him out of his comatose state. Out of breath herself, Laura fell to her knees breathing heavily. She shook her head, angry and frustrated with herself due to her lack of experience and the fact that had she healed him when given the chance, the merchant very well could have recovered by now.

For that, she blamed the egotistical man that had pushed her over before she could heal him. She looked up at Mage Tillweather with wrath filled eyes and silent tears spilling from them. "This is all your fault! He's going to die because of you!"

Mage Tillweather couldn't even begin to think straight, let alone reply to Laura's accusation. It was all he could do to remain standing as the aura from Professor Kal rooted him in place along with the bodyguards and soldiers. Professor Kal, in front of the now large crowd of people, brought out a sizeable crystal bottle filled with a pinkish liquid and topped with a cork. Pulling the cork out with his teeth with a pleasing 'fwump' sound, Professor Kal proceeded to pour the entire contents of the bottle onto the merchant's body.

As soon as the pink elixir touched the man, it disappeared, not evaporated into the cool air, but greedily absorbed into his body even through his fine silk clothes. The effects were immediate, the merchant began hacking, trying to clear something from deep inside himself. Finally, in one particularly violent cough, a golf ball sized blood clot made its way out of his mouth and splattered onto the ground.

The crowd watched on in silent wonder as the barely living man turned from a palid purple color into one more closely resembling living flesh. His breaths were deep and even and his eyelids started to flutter. Ryan, not caring for the resurrection of the merchant in the slightest, broke free from the statuesque soldier and rushed over to Laura's side. In an over abundance of care, he brought out a clean cloth in an attempt to care for her injured face only to be brushed off by her as she moved closer to the now fidgeting man.

"I shouldn't have had to use that." Professor Kal said, looking down at Laura. "If you want to save someone's life, you'll need to fight tooth and nail for them. You must have the conviction required to do whatever must be done once you set out to do it. That is something I cannot teach you, it's something that you must condition yourself to do, to complete whatever task you set out to do; no matter the cost."

After finishing his impromptu lecture, Leaving the girl to contemplate what he had just said, Professor Kal directed his attention to Mage Tillweather. "Now, what to do with you? I don't care what you would have done to this... thing, you could have made him shit out his guts for all I care.. But you laid your filthy hands on one of my students, that, I cannot let stand."