“Where is he, make way now!”

Though at the moment, Rowen was put on the ground, he did not care if Hubert and the scout were already showing the way to Adrian, as he instinctively order them, as though a normal event of the day.

“Here, Captain Rowen, mister Wan, into this building.”

Although Hubert was flustered and shocked at their sudden, and eccentric appearance out of nowhere, as he was the one most composed, while the scout lowered his head and Levis was just staring at them, he was obligated not only by his own rank but as the only one to still have his mind on the present and not hidden in oneself, to answer and guide them.

“Here? Let me look.”

And yet, the first one to enter, and look at Adria,n was no other than the old man that gave everyone the strangest of feelings, as they were looking at him.

Though once old Wan and Rowen were inside the structure, the doors were closed, as they did not desire to be interrupted or disturbed by anyone of them, as they knew very well, that no one truly knew anything, about how Adrian had gotten his wounds in the first place.

“It is best if we wait outside, as we can not do anything to help, all we can do, is wait for them."

“Yes.”

“Ahamm.”

Seeing that Levis and the scout understood him, Hubert could only wait outside for new information about Adrian. However, in true sentiment, all he wanted was to be inside, and know more about his friend’s condition.

Although, inside the village hall, the faces of the young and old were grim, at the first impression made by the extensive bandages covering Adrian left side chest, and shoulder.

“Old Wan.”

“Hmm, his injury looks very serious and grave, however from his face, I can say that eighter he can not feel the pain, or he had become numb from the pain to the point that his body is unaware of its own situation, I will inspect and see how deep and severe his wounds are.”

“From the guard's words, he had lost a lot of blood, and the wound should have been fatal, see how his state is right now.”

“Yes,---hmmm, how was he wounded? This wound, this is— not right, what is this, this can not be, this makes no sense.

However, as the old man put his hand and inspected the current state of Adrian, his look changed every second, as surprise and bafflement were exchanged on his old face.

“Old Wan, what is going on? What have you found?”

“Well, little Rowe—, Young Master, his condition makes no sense whatsoever, to the point that I can not fathom what he had gone thru, to achieve something like this.”

“If you do not explain well, how am I to understand?”

“Ah, aha, sorry it is just, that I was momentarily stunned at the predicament he is in.”

“What predicament?”

“Well, to start, his injury should be far more damning than what is right now, another aspect is the type of wound, as it seemed to have resulted from the inside of his body and not from an external attack, from the broken clavicle to his ribs, everything seemed to originate right before any of his organs. And from what the guard had tooled us, he should have been on his last inkling of life, however, he is far more stable than what I had first suspected, to the point he will most likely survive even if we do nothing—.”

“So his life is in no danger then?”

“Yes, although there is one last thing that perplexed me quite a bit, I have seen it happen a few times, though the circumstances were quite favorable to the ones in question, moreover this boy, was not yet qualified to do such a thing, in my estimation, he should have needed another half a year before—”

“Old Wan!”

“--- he has advanced in his rank, and now he is a full-fledged rank 5, stranger still, is the sturdiness and stability of his dantian. Well, all things are good, which makes our urgent arrival practically an unnecessary risk.”

“He still needs to heal his bones. Use one of the bone healing elixirs.”

Though once the elixir was mentioned, the old man touched a spot on his waist, causing a small glass-like bottle to appear in his hand, as he immediately opened and poured several drops of the liquid inside over the now unbandage and visible wound.

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Yet as Rowen was looking at the heavy injury, the bones of Adrian's ribs could be made under the muscle of his chest, as his face was taking a more somber and dark look, while he was unconsciously clenching his fists.

“It is useless to get angry or depressed, you knew that this was a risk in his task. Just the fact he did not die, is enough of a reason to be happy.”

“I know. But—?”

“What could you have done? The fact that the bandit's stronghold had collapsed, means this might have been a trap for us, plus the strangeness of his injuries foretells of nothing good, now all we need is for him to wake up and tell us what had happened.”

“How much it will take, can he make the trip back? The guards to come with horses for the rest of us here will come by tomorrow's daybreak.”

“He should wake in a day or two, the shock that his body and mind had received should be gone by tomorrow, and as he is right now he will be able to make the journey back. Although we might have to move at a slower pace.”

“Then all is good, I will go talk with Hub—.”

“Knock”-”Knock”

But before Rowen could end his sentence, the sound of knocking at the doors, made the old and the young look at the entrance of the building in surprise.

“Yes, who is it!?”

“Captain Rowen, this is Hubert, may I come in?”

“Hmm, you can!”

As the doors opened, an unusually serious, and sharp Hubert made his way inside the structure, though once he was under the gloomy gaze of the young man and especially of the kneeling old man that was tending to Adrian's wounds, his eyes lost the sharpness, as he was unable to keep his strong demeanor under the pressure.

However, the stare of the two prevailed for quite some time, as Hubert was feeling even more uneasy, as he seemed to have the words in his mouth, but was unable to push them out.

“So, what it is that you want? Speak!?”

“Hmmm—,”sigh”.”

And yet, as Rowen broke the awkward and unnecessary silence, Hubert could only sigh to free himself from the pressure.

Truth be told, as he had awaited for the two men to come out, quite some time had passed since they had entered. Though, as time was passing he was debating with himself on how to “report” the happening of the night before, and of a possible negotiation for the rewards on the “flask” left by the old man. Though as he was continuing to up his mental state, courage and enthusiasm for the likely compensation were filling his mind, as before he knew it, he was in front of the door, knocking on it without thinking clearly, only to enter and have his whole mind collapse under the mood and stares of the two.

“Well—, I have to make a-a report?”

“Hm? What is there to report, has something happened here?”

“Yes! Please take a look!”

“What is this?”

“This is!?”

However, Hubert took the flask and showed it to the two men, as their faces become perplexed at his action, unable to understand what was the meaning of the small object.

“Aham—, all happened yesterday night, right as I was eating my dinner with Levis—.”

Although, the old and young were confused by his strange behavior, and the act of showing the small flask, once he began to narrate the happening of the previous night, both of them had a drastic change in their expressions, as what they were hearing could be said to be one of the worst possible situations that could happen in their current territory they were in.

Nevertheless, as Hubert's narration continued, Rowen gave a look at the old man, that was looking at the floor in a pensive state, before looking at the man giving more details about the appearance of the mysterious old man and his words in the most detailed way he could, as well of the “flask” that was now on the floor of the hall where old Wan was looking.

“I will go out and see the imprints.”

Yet the old man was the first to act once Hubert was done with his “report”, as he exited the building a moved to the campfire where Levis and the scout were sitting down, while they were waiting for them to come out, only to be surprised at old Wan’s serious demeanor, as he came to the place were two deep imprints that could barely understand that it resembled a man's feet.

As the two of them looked at the strange behavior of the old man, only Levis was having a small insight of what he was doing, while the scout was only confused, as the old man gave a look at his surroundings, before returning to the building.

“Is it true?”

“I have looked at the imprints and they are made by something very heavy, only in that location, as there are no other signs, other than some strange small cracks that almost all the buildings have at their bases. I will now take a look at the gift.”

Without stopping his examinations, the old man, proceed to take a look at the flask which did not give him any impression from the moment he had laid his eye on it.

Even as he was taking it into his hands no remarkable feeling or sensation was coming from the object in his hand.

Yet once the flask was opened, and he took a small intake of air, from above the opening where a cristal-clear liquid substance could be seen inside the small recipient, his eyes squinted, while his pupils became two small dots, while a slight look of anger manifested on his old and usually calm face, as in the same moment the light inside the hall dimed, at the same time the sight of bought Rowen and Hubert darken for the briefest moment, only to return in a moment, finding the old man calm and composed as ever, as though the unnatural anger of old Wan had been nothing than an illusion.

“Young master Rowen, can I speak regarding this matter, on your behalf?”

Although Rowen did not know what old Wan had in mind, he could only nod his head, as he had no idea how to proceed as the matter regarding what had happened here, was already beyond anything he could decide by himself.

“In that case, Hubert! You and Levis are the only ones to know about this?”

“Yes?”

“It will remain this way, if you value your life and if you want to have any benefit from this. As this is a storm you can not cross by yourself, do you understand?

“Y-yes.”Gulp”.”

“Good. Since this was offered to both you and Levis, you are the owner of five-tenths of the content of this flask. We will take two-tenths from both you and Levis, for the help we can provide, your equivalent of three-tenths will be translated and exchanged in energy stones or other cultivation resources such as medicine or adequate elixirs for your rank or successive ranks. Of course, we will have you take an oath of silence on this matter. Do you understand our terms?”

Even as the old man was enunciating his conditions, the only thing on Hubert’s mind was the sole name “energy stone” as that was something only those at the Immortal stage could trade or young lords from big families, a far too remote reality from his current situation. As such he had begun to nod non-stop at the old man the moment he had been asked.

“You can go out, as I have some things to prepare, if asked by the scout or Levis you shall say nothing.”

Nevertheless, as Hubert exited the building in a half ecstatic and stunned feeling, the old man clutched a blue rock in his left hand as the air began to change, prompting Rowen to adopt a more serious expression, as he knew that old Wan rarely used the sound dampening stone.

“This elixir, reeks of the methods used by the Alchemists and Apothecaries, of the Ural Empire.”