Chapter 93

He saw the flesh on the wound actually squirm, and though it was disgusting, he saw the scab turn grey and actually fall off the wound before the change stopped.

The wound wasn’t fully healed yet, to be sure, but it was significantly improved now, he could even see new hair sprout at the edge.

Woof.

A bark drew his attention to Rabbit's face, which now had more light in its eyes and its tongue hanging out. Rabbit licked his healed palm again as if wanting more.

Adrian took a deep breath and cut himself again. He saw that, though not as fast as when used on himself, the wound on the dog healed fully. New hair even grew, and soon, it was almost as if there wasn’t even a wound at all!

Woof!

Woof!

Rabbit barked, seemingly happy that the wound was gone, and started running around the room with his tongue out.

Meanwhile, Adrian leaned against the bed to steady himself and looked at his hands.

“I can now heal others as well?” 

It didn’t need to be said, and saying it aloud meant others might overhear, and he didn’t dare imagine the commotion it would cause. But right now, he felt like only by saying those words would he actually believe them, despite what he had just seen.

His thoughts ran, no, thundered, like a warhorse prodded by its rider to run as fast as it could to its destination.

It might have taken a minute or half an hour, Rabbit had found his way back to his feet, before Adrian managed to think it through and reach the only conclusion he could draw…

There was darkness underground, a corruption that affected creatures and changed and twisted them. But just as there is fire, there must be something that puts it out, or at least something similar, but opposite in effect.

That was him, or at least his gift. Instead of twisting life and nature, his ability, as it always had been, was healing himself.

But now, after he was corrupted by the darkness underground, instead of it twisting him, the opposite had happened. In a way, he corrupted the darkness with his gift, and hence, his gift actually became stronger.

Before, he could only heal himself. It definitely wasn’t able to heal others as well, he was sure of it, as he had already tried it.

But now… now he could.

Of course, all of these were just thoughts, but for the sake of his sanity, he could only assume they were the right conclusions.

And if so, what did this mean for the future?

Well, for one thing, he needed to find out if his blood alone could heal or if he needed to always use his gift while doing it.

But from what he had seen with Rabbit, it seemed his blood alone should have healing properties, but using it along with his gift made the effect much stronger.

In the future, would he start selling his blood? And how much would it fetch?

Adrian chuckled, shaking his head. It would fetch a high price, but that would also let others know of his peculiarity, or at least, people would start asking questions about where he got such a miraculous healing liquid.

Maybe he'd need to turn it into a very rare item and sell it only to those lords who could keep their mouths shut.

Adrian lay down on the bed, sighing. No, of course selling it wasn’t really a good idea unless he could secure its secret, which he believed he couldn't, but he could see its significance.

He could give it to his people, to his soldiers. That way, deaths, whether by injury or sickness, would undoubtedly be fewer.

That thought made him smile.

Anything that could improve and help his people was always a good thing to him.

Though he did need to explore more of the changes to his gift, such as how long the healing effect of his blood lasted once taken outside his body.

It could be only a few minutes or a few days. He hoped it was the latter.

He couldn't wait to get home, that was for sure.

But then, he thought of another matter, the darkness's corruption actually made his gift stronger… what if he had more of it?

What would happen then?

If it could indeed make his gift even stronger… wouldn't he be able to just walk around and have people nearby heal?

What kind of scene would that be?

Adrian's expression was odd. He was more of a fighter than he was a healer, more of a lord now than a healer, and seeing such a big, battle-hardened man like him healing people made the scene truly odd.

But he did wonder what further changes would happen to his gift.

And well… where could he find more of those corruption stones?

Underground, that was for sure. And with the amount of danger lurking down there, heading back down was impossible unless he didn't care about his men's lives.

That meant he wouldn't be able to know if the corruption could bring more changes to him in the foreseeable future.

But Adrian was only a bit regretful. That was fine. Asking for too much would only bring ruin to him.

He sat up, intending to drink some wine and ponder these things more, when he noticed a figure standing in the large window frame.

“Omhp?!”

He practically jumped back. The dog, surprised by his reaction as well, noticed the figure in the window and started barking against the intruder.

“Who the fuck are you?!” Adrian practically hollered, his heart hammering in his chest.

How long had the figure been there? And most importantly, had they seen what Adrian had done?

If so, then that meant a whole load of trouble.

The figure lightly jumped down, and then another figure followed, two of them. Before Adrian could position himself to pounce, the two pulled off their cloaks.

“Sir Sylwen? Friend Lyris?!”

His “visitors” were actually two elves.

“Forgive us for our sudden intrusion, Lord Harrow,” Sir Sylwen said with his usual calm demeanor and a slight smile.

Lyris didn’t say anything. She briefly observed the room before, with her natural disposition, easily gaining the affection of his dog, Rabbit.

Adrian's eyes narrowed, not liking what they did at all. “How long have you been there?”

“When I arrived, I saw you were already sitting on the bed, lost in thought. Again, we apologize, we didn’t want to be seen entering your room.”

They could be lying, of course, but that still didn’t stop the relief that washed over him.

Still, he was wary of his surprise visitors.

“Why did you come here?”

“We came here to say goodbye. We are leaving in the night, you see, and we elves don’t have the same practices as human lords when they say goodbye, but we still wished to say proper farewells to you, Lord Harrow.” Sir Sylwen explained.

“…Is visiting people at night one of the customs of elves?”

“Certainly not.” Sir Sylwen chuckled.

Adrian grumbled under his breath, but sighed as he stood up and gestured to the seats.

“Would you like to take a seat?”

Soon, the trio settled down, with Adrian pouring a few cups of water for them.

“I understand I may have put you in a difficult position when I spoke the truth during the feast, Lord Harrow.”

Adrian's eyes shot toward the elf, not expecting him to directly bring it up. “…It indeed put me in a difficult position.”

“I did it in your favor, actually, Lord Harrow.”

Adrian was in disbelief. How was that doing him any favors?

“You are unique, Lord Harrow, and so people should know it. That way, you'll also be treated differently.” Sir Sylwen explained, as if this were all that was needed.

“You humans have complicated relationship structures.” Lyris said, shaking her head. 

Speaking for the first time, Adrian's gaze now turned to her fully, and he couldn’t help but appreciate her beauty.

“Lyris is right, but what is clear is the hierarchy of human relationships… Lord Harrow…” Sir Sylwen leaned forward, his eyes focused on Adrian's.

“I did it in hopes that you are treated right. A lord you may be, but I know a baron is not high in the ranking of lordships in this human kingdom. Since you rejected my offer, I don’t want to see your life snuffed out so easily, my lord. Though I bet it indeed won't be easy to snuff it out, you are still outnumbered.”

Adrian leaned back in his seat, brows furrowed as he listened to the elf.

“I still don’t approve of you coming to our kingdom…” Lyris spoke, almost scoffing before smiling lightly, “But now I have changed my mind.”

When she didn’t elaborate on why, Adrian asked, “And may I know the reason for this sudden change of mind?”

Instead of answering, Lyris leaned forward until she was over the table, halfway to him, her nose twitching. “You think we can't smell it? So strong, so warm… so… full of life…”

“Something has changed in you, Lord Harrow.”

Adrian's face froze. He thought he had hidden it, but he should have known that elves could smell his strangeness.

Sir Sylwen's smile only turned a bit wider. “You know what's different about you, Lord Harrow. But what it is, only you yourself know, and I consider keeping it that way a smart thing to do. Indeed, do not tell the truth to anyone.”

“Or just to us. We can keep secrets, unlike you humans.” Lyris added. Sir Sylwen shot her a look.

Adrian could only laugh wryly. Sir Sylwen was indeed right, it was a smart thing to do, not to tell anyone about his secret. And looking at both of their faces, yes, that included them.