Exill wasn’t sure what he had done wrong this time, but the mood on the breakfast table was especially tense that morning. Everyone was seated around the table, having finished their meal, when the sharp older woman finally spoke up.
“Hmph, I hear you need to borrow money…” Savta began coldly.
‘So that’s what it was.’ Exill winced.
Savta’s words were laced with venom as she continued on, “I don’t know why you approached Luna to borrow money, but you should come find me in the future… I may be able to advance you some payment.”
Exill glanced at Luna. He didn’t know how much she had shared about his plans, but her usually friendly eyes were downcast, apologetic for bringing Nana’s wrath down on him. He desperately tried to recover the situation but ended up stammering instead.
“Y-you are right ma’am. I should have approached you first and will do so in the future. I just wanted to replace my apron and gloves with something nicer and functional but didn’t want to impose on you.”
Something clicked in Savta’s head, and she suddenly understood why Luna had been so eager last night. ‘He was getting rid of that disgusting apron and gloves!’ Savta thought, causing her to dispel her earlier venom. Her composure turned unexpectedly warm, and she reached out to pat Exill’s hand understandingly.
“You should have said that in the first place, instead of weaselling behind my back. If that is the case, you can borrow as much as you want, child.”
“Oh… okay.” He wasn’t sure what had elicited such a reversal in her attitude, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, he quickly cleared away the plates and started washing them at the sink.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that…” Luna winced while brushing past him to start drying the dishes. “I asked her yesterday to borrow money, but she began asking too many questions.”
“It’s fine, It all worked out in the end.” He smiled back, wondering how much Savta was willing to advance him. While he was submerged in thought, Savta rose to her feet with a teacup in hand and called out to him whilst descending the stairs.
“Boy, come to the treatment room once you are finished. We can arrange your advance and have a little lesson while we are at it.” She appeared to be in a rather good mood, because her humming could be heard as she climbed down the stairs.
Luna nudged him with her shoulder while reassuring him at the same time, “I’ll fetch you the copy of Herbalist Koncoctions, it’s currently in my room.”
“Thanks, but I thought she said she wasn’t going to give me any lessons…”
Luna laughed softly at his confusion, “She is always like that, you just have to catch her in a good mood.”
They finished cleaning up, and as promised, Luna fetched the only copy of ‘Herbalist Koncoctions’ they had in the clinic. It was a red leather-bound tome with gold leaf trim, the words ‘Third Edition’ proudly emblazoned on the front. Exill carried the heavy tome downstairs and knocked before entering the treatment room.
“Good, you brought the book. Take a seat.” She gestured to the stool next to her, and when Exill sat down, slid a single gold coin across the pitted worktable surface. She continued in a generous tone, “A thousand Denars is your advance. It should be plenty enough to replace that disgusting… erhem, the apron you appear to be so fond of.”
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“Thank you.” Exill was captivated by the sight of the small gold coin representing a thousand Denars, the most money he had ever held in his life. It was swiftly secured in his coin pouch, and he clasped both hands, waiting for the lesson to begin.
“What do you think a Healer does?” The Savta wetted her fingers and idly flipped through the tome, searching for an ideal place to start for a novice.
“… Heal people?” Exill was instead tempted to say, ‘scam people’ remembering the time he had paid 40 Denars for the refugee camp healer to instantly mend his eardrums using his own vitality to fuel the change. The whole reason he had come here was because of the unique [Witchdoctor] job, and the promise of a stable high paying income.
“And what does it mean to heal someone, when given enough time, we can replace even lost limbs?” She lead on softly.
“I… don’t know.” He had no idea where she was going with this.
The old Healer sighed and stopped flipping through the pages, fixing him with a mild gaze. She gestured towards the shelf holding various ointments and salves as if they were clues, then asked again, “If Healers are capable of completely healing injuries, why do they bother with all of this medicine?”
Exill suddenly understood, and he spent the next minute deep in thought. Upon first glance, the existence of salves for burns didn’t make sense when it could be healed completely with magic. Eventually, he provided an answer.
“Is it because there are some illnesses that magic can’t cure?” When Savta raised her chin to continue on, he elaborated further, “The existence of ointments suggests it is more efficient, perhaps in terms of mana and the patients vitality to heal them this way, than through brute magical force.”
Savta grinned widely at his response, her lined face wrinkled in mirth. She sounded proud of herself, for identifying his potential when they first met. “I knew you were a clever one… and you are right. The art of healing is finding the balance between sacrificing the vitality of your patient, or yourself, and moreover it is an endurance exercise of mana application.” She paused for effect, “How many patients do you think I will be able to see a day if I completely healed all their wounds?”
Exill shrugged, and Savta continued on, “I would be able to see three, four at most per day, and the patient would also feel weak for the next several days from a drained life-force.” She cocked her head to one side, “I remember you said you were not capable of casting [Heal], but how many people in the world do you think are in a situation similar to yours?”
“I don’t know, maybe 80% are incapable of casting magic?” Exill unknowingly applied the Pareto principle as a wild guess.
“Not even close. One in two hundred are capable of casting magic naturally, while one in fifty require enchanted tools to achieve the same feat.” Savta held up her left hand, upon which was a plain silver ring.
Appraise: [Magic Ring], Value: 800 Denars, Enchantment: +Magic
“Some who are capable of casting magic take the path of Priesthood, or of Wizardry. All this to say that Healers are scarce, their services constantly sought after. Do you now understand why [Herbalist] is so important in bridging this demand?”
“Yes, I understand… would it be alright to try on your ring Master?” Exill was captivated by the opportunity to unlock some very valuable jobs, even if there was only a 2% chance to achieve it.
“I don’t see how it will help. Even if you managed to cast [Heal] with the aid of this, all you will manage to do is expel the entirety of your mana in a single burst of healing, and be out of commission for the rest of the morning due to mana abuse.” She waggled the ring finger alluringly, “You need to have the job assigned to finely control the output.”
Putting the matter firmly behind her, she began to flick through the tome again and after a while asked him curtly, “Do you know how to read and write?”
“Yes.”
“Good, I hear most villagers in the east are educated in the basics, but you can never take things like this for granted. The Priesthood do a fine job, but they can’t be everywhere at once.” She idly chattered then pursed her lips when she found a suitable place to begin.
“This is an old tome, passed down from my grandmother so I expect you to take good care of it. Some of the information in the earlier chapters, especially about the preconditions of the various races is out of date. We can skip this and start at chapter three, on the properties of the common ingredients found in the central continent.” She flipped through a few pages, pointing to relevant tables, “You can ask Luna if you have any questions and study in your own time.”
She placed a woven bookmark on the relevant page and gingerly returned the tome to him. Turning away in her stool, she dismissed him. “That is all for today. You have plenty to study and memorise. Return the book to Luna and you can run your errands.”