The Imperial Scholar eventually fully made his way down the stairs.
Skymender only looked up in silence. Honestly, he did not feel like talking at all.
Even if he wanted to, it would be impossible at the moment.
The Imperial Scholar stared at him for a moment, examining him completely.
"I'm afraid that the odds of you living from here on are… slim to say the least." He said bluntly.
Skymender didn't need the Imperial Scholar to tell him that, he already knew.
He knew that, at this moment, the only chance of him living was through the Imperial Scholar.
The poison was already gone, its effects no longer present. However, his heart had been weakened significantly. If it was not for his hand constantly pumping his heart, he would have died a long time ago.
The Imperial Scholar did not speak, but continued to examine him. He was clearly thinking very hard.
"At this point, it seems that whatever poison affected you does not matter. All that matters is that your heart seems so weak that you are pumping it yourself, and that at this rate, it won't be long before you die."
After a few minutes, the Imperial Scholar finally spoke again.
"I have an idea. It is the closest thing to possibly working, though the odds of success are low. The worst case is you die, which is the only case if you don't do it. Are you willing?"
Skymender nodded his head.
"Good. No need to move the location. I'll be back."
Skymender waited for what felt like around twenty minutes before the Imperial Scholar returned.
He held in his hands a chest.
"Your situation has obviously never really been seen before, so there is no definite possibility, but there is one thing that could possibly work."
He opened the chest. Sitting aside a few papers, he took out a vial with a red substance inside.
"Since there are poison's to harm, there are obviously poison's to heal. Usually, we call them medicine."
He uncapped it and began to pour some into Skymender's mouth. Skymender did not resist, allowing him to do as he pleased.
"This is something very valuable. It will increase your healing factor greatly. However, it is still within the logical limits of a human. You would need to remove your hand from your chest to fully heal, but since you pumping your heart is the only thing keeping you alive, that is naturally impossible. Instead, you need to guide the healing of your body yourself. This is nearly impossible, but the only hope. In fact, perhaps it can even help you a bit."
Skymender remained silent and unmoving as the Imperial Scholar picked up some papers from the side.
"The human body is naturally flawed. All things are flawed. Only through evolution can these things change, but the human race has existed for countless years with minor changes. Therefore, if possible, you must naturally do it yourself."
He began to show some of the papers. "While I cannot begin to redesign the human body to more perfect standards, I can change some things. For example, focusing on one thing by lessening another."
Skymender did his best to memorize all of the papers shown. They all had the human body on them, the inner and outer workings laid bare. After a while, the Imperial Scholar took them away. He began to write on a blank paper.
He soon showed it to Skymender. It was the inner and outer workings of the human chest, but different from before.
"This is my masterpiece. Although it seems as if I had just drawn it now, it has been in my mind for years. However, I cannot create a human body, and any attempt to change it has always failed. Design it like this, and though you will lose a bit of lifespan, your body will be healthier than ever before."
Skymender looked at the Imperial Scholar and nodded.
"Good. Of course, the odds of you even surviving are slim. Well, let's try our best."
This was not a short process. Skymender felt some growth around his heart, and while looking at the papers that the Imperial Scholar showed, he was able to manipulate some of this growth to benefit him. He felt some resistance at some points, as if he was doing something he shouldn't.
As the effects of the first vial wore off, the Imperial Scholar gave him another.
"If you would have rejected my design, I would not have given you any more. But since you are going forward with it, then I too will give it my best."
The vials lasted approximately three hours before the effects wore off.
As a week passed, the Imperial Scholar laughed.
"Hurry up and heal before you send the Empire into bankruptcy."
It was clear that the value of these vials was even greater than Skymender had imagined.
Eventually, Skymender felt his heartbeat grow a little bit stronger.
The Imperial Scholar was not always there. He would leave for long periods of time, having someone else deliver the vials of the red substance.
However, he was here more often then he was not, clearly changing things in the Imperial Scholar Camp for the sake of this experiment. Regardless, Skymender only focused on surviving.
Everything slowly began to come together as the end of the second week, as well as the end of the Imperial Scholar Camp, approached.
Master Chef Garb was responsible for feeding Skymender. He made him delicious and healthy food everyday.
One of these days, Skymender moved and grabbed the spoon for himself.
Master Chef Garb watched with wide eyes as Skymender pumped his heart with one hand and ate with the other.
Eventually, with the Imperial Scholar nearby, Skymender began to remove his hand from his chest. There was no blood spilt as all of it had already dried. However, scar tissue was visible around the wound, stopping any further chance of injury. Skymender sat up, and the Imperial Scholar began to bandage the hole in his chest.
It seemed as though he was going to make a full recovery. He sat against the wall in silence, only eating food or drinking the vials, until the final day of the Imperial Scholar Camp came to an end.