“Take it easy,” Ewan said. “Sit.”
Kidd dragged a chair from the side of the bed, its legs streaking a trail on the hardened earth, and sat across him, adjusting his ass on the frigid metal seat—it must’ve chilled his bum.
“They even dragged you off the ship to fight in the war?” Ewan asked. “They must be desperate.”
“I joined willingly, Boss,” Kidd said. “Some others from our ship joined with me, they had nothing else to do. Cork might join too once he’s done sorting the recent batch.”
Ewan chuckled. “You got a death wish?”
“I won't go to the frontlines. I just volunteered to help out. This is my home, after all,” Kidd said. “Then I saw your name in the register, so I asked to join you as your helper.”
“Unless they had a screw loose, they won't send you to the frontlines either,” Ewan said and flipped to the next page of his anatomy book. “You don’t even qualify as cannon fodder.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Kidd said, laughing sheepishly and scratching his head. “Aren’t you going to prepare though, Boss?”
“Prepare for what?” Ewan asked, his eyes glued to the book.
“For patients? We’re in the medicine unit, right?” He looked around the tent in confusion.
“They won't be sending anyone here anytime soon.”
“Why? I thought they lacked people in this unit. The man in-charge looked really happy and was grinning when I said I wanted to join as a helper.”
“He would’ve continued to be happy if you joined a permanent member as a helper. But you joined me instead, you spoiled his joy.” Ewan laughed. “They don’t know me, they haven’t tested me yet,” he said. “All they have are my words. If they didn’t doubt me, I would doubt them. So, no one’s coming our way for the time being.”
“Isn't that the perfect way to dodge the conscription then?” Kidd’s eyes glittered and his back straightened. A light bulb almost lit up above his head.
“If only,” he said. “If we do get a patient, and if he dies under my watch and I’m deemed responsible for it, I’ll most probably have to suffer the consequences.”
Kidd deflated back into the chair and clicked his tongue. “Isn't it a thankless job then?”
“They’ll pay us, but we have to have some patients first,” Ewan said, looking at the empty beds.
“Really?” Kidd sat upright, his eyes sparkling again.
“Didn’t you read the notice before joining?”
“Boss, you start preparing. I’ll go grab you a patient,” Kidd said and bolted out the tent, his chair falling to the ground.
…..
The clamor outside crescendoed in the next hour, the hubbub grew. Yet, Ewan’s tent pulled a contrast from the rest and remained quiet and peaceful. Neither Kidd came back, nor any patient knocked on his door. So, once Ewan skimmed to the final page of the book that had taken him days to read last time, he went outside, stretched, and strolled around.
The canvas blocked the sound inside, but outside, the faint sound of clashes far off in the distance beyond the stretch of grass—by the forest—inched to his ears. That was today’s battlefield. It aroused his curiosity, but he couldn’t act on it. Even if he didn’t receive any patient, he couldn’t just leave his post, let alone walk into an active battlefield like that.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As his ten minutes of stroll ended, when he’d about returned, two men rushed from outside the camp area, beelining for his tent.
“Are you Mr. Ewan?” one of the men asked, flustered and sweating. His camouflage shirt had blood all over and a shallow cut ran across his left forehead, covered in dust.
“I am,” he said, passing his Ryvia and checking him—his post in the medicine unit pardoned his intrusive behavior. The cut was new but the blood on the shirt wasn’t his. He had no injuries to his body.
“Sir, please save my Alea,” the man said, grabbing Ewan’s arm.
“Kiev sent us, he told us to come to you,” the other man with him said, trying to calm down the flustered man, patting his back.
Ewan nodded. This was a favor for him yet was also a way to include him in Kiev’s group, it could even be a test. It coincided with his own intentions though, so he went with it.
“Come in,” he said. “Can you call over my helper? He’s over there.” He stopped the other man and pointed towards the outskirts of the camp where Kidd wandered about, pestering everyone.
“Leave it to me,” the man said and raced away.
“Take out your Astylind,” Ewan said, preparing a bed for him.
The flustered man opened his Dekoth and brought out his ‘Alea’—a three meter tall and bulky Water Bear. The bed cried under her and arced down, reaching its limit.
“Open the support on that side,” Ewan said and flipped open the support rod from the middle of the bed and locked it. The flustered man did the same after a couple of fumbled tries and a punch to the pivot. The middle support held the weight of the bear and prevented the bed from breaking.
“Please step aside.” Ewan checked the bear’s injuries as the man walked back, wiping his sweat.
Ewan checked the pulse, the pupils, the extent of the injuries, their condition, and whether there was any internal bruising. There were several small cuts on the bear’s body, but the main injury was the bleeding gouge at her stomach—it had sharp bladed rocks still attached to it. Must’ve been an earth element spell, he reckoned.
Her breath hitched halfway, the movement of her diaphragm shifted the wound, making her wince and tremble with every inhale.
“Try to calm her down,” Ewan said and went for the sharp rocks when the man placated her. But his words had little effect, and the bear flinched and attacked Ewan with a growl when he touched her wound. He backed off, blocking the attack with his Ryvia. It was just a reflex with no power behind it, so it didn’t do any damage.
If he was going to treat this bear, he needed either local or general anesthesia. Yet, when he looked around, there was nothing like that in his tent. Except for basic tools, there was nothing else.
“Boss, I’m back,” Kidd said, rushing inside.
“Go ask the head of the unit for some numbing medicine or sedative. If we don’t have it, then go get me some ocean water,” Ewan said.
Kidd bobbed his head and rushed back out. “Wait!” Ewan yelled and stopped him. “Forget the ocean water, it’s too far. Just get me water and lots of salt from the inventory if you don’t get the medicine.”
Kidd nodded again. “Got it,” he said and dashed out, dragging the other man with him.
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Status: Healthy
Step-0 [8th Awakening]
Name: Ewan Ayres
Species: Human
Vitality: 1.9
Spirit: 16.9
Anima: [Fire – 16.9 | Ice – 16.9 | Blood – 16.9]
Astylinds: 4 [Potential: 0]
Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-0 [8th Awakening]
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Fire Monkey [Orange]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-B]
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Imp [Frost]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-B]
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Blood Lotus [Iris]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-C]
Equipment: Common Clothes; Yurn [Neck Gaiter].
Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Anima-Crystals [Novas Coins]; Obsidian Dagger; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.
Novas: 25,785
Crelith: 4,064