DAKU
A gradient transition of orange to pink to blue colored the sky. An indication of a sunset that most of the citizens admired. I used to love the sunset as well. At times like this back at the shop, I'd stood at the mouth of the shop's front door and watched the sky change its color. In different circumstances, a cup of coffee would warm my hand as I gripped it.
"He'll be the best swordsman in no time!" a raspy voice of an aged man shouted from one of the houses. It was so loud that everyone on the pavement with me looked in the direction of the voice. The compliment garnered a multitude of reactions but most gladness. Normally, I would smile too, just like them, but not today.
My heart felt heavy. I felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulder. This was by far the most problematic predicament I had so far. I had failed, been disappointed, and discouraged multiple times before, but now, it was the worst. I bet nothing could make me feel otherwise. My mind had set its course to depress.
The ten-minute walk turned into half an hour. I was walking slower than usual, and no one could blame me for it. With this heavy feeling lingering inside me, each step was a challenge. It felt like weights had been strapped on both of my legs making it heavy. My body just wanted to stop... literally. It wanted to stop for good.
"Just as I thought," a familiar voice echoed, catching my attention. I held my head up and saw Grosi standing just outside the shop's entrance. He had this serious face like he usually had but I could see hints of pity behind his eyes. "It didn't go as planned, does it?"
I stopped just in front of him and nodded. "Sorry, Grosi. There won't be any good news for today." Those words came so bitter that they made me want to cry. A lump in my throat indicated impending tears of sorrow. I lowered my head, hoping my hair would cover my pathetic face from Grosi's darting eyes.
All of a sudden, a box appeared before my vision. It was a wooden box that resembled a miniature chest. It took almost all the spaces of Grosi's palms combined. I gave Grosi a stare as I was perplexed about his sudden action. He made a quick glance at the box, accompanied by a head tilt, signaling that I should get the box.
Hesitantly, I received the box from his hands until I got a full grasp of it. The weight was not that heavy, but I could tell something with weight was inside.
"What is this?" I inquired
"See it for yourself," Grosi retorted.
I held the lid of the box and pulled it open, revealing an intricate yet simple piece of an accessory: an earring. The design was not that extravagant but I could tell that this was made sophisticatedly. The green stone attached to it made it more valuable. But something piqued my interest: why green?
"How-"
"We all see it, Daku. The light earlier illuminated the entire kingdom center."
"So, you know?"
"That you're a Healer? Yes," he answered. A sigh of defeat escaped my mouth.
"How about the others?" I asked as I bashfully looked at everyone busy minding their own business.
"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure some do not. Healers appear once in a blue moon. Only veterans know what a green glow means. So cheer up, and let's head inside. Dinner's already served," Grosi invited and walked inside the shop. I followed suit upon closing the box with the earring inside.
***
A week had passed since the rite, and the feeling I had that day persisted. Unlike before, the thoughts of ending my life were slowly evading me. I stopped going outside as much as possible to avoid prejudices. I mostly confined myself to the shop and would only go out when needed.
I just finished cleaning the workshop alone. Grosi left the house earlier this morning to visit his twin brother Grasi, who was just on the outskirts of the kingdom. He announced his stay with his brother for three days; hence I had nothing but myself during that duration.
I trudged toward my bedroom's mirror, a face towel on my right shoulder. I looked at myself in the mirror and asked the very same question that always came to mind whenever I saw my reflection: should I register or not?
Grosi wanted me to register, but my mind was against the idea. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself to register for the adventurer's guild, pessimism always got ahead of me. It was undeniably true that registered adventurers had privileges and benefits, but being a member meant that others would know my class. I could already see myself as a laughingstock of all the adventurers.
"Why does it have to be like this!" I cried for the nth time, followed by a loud bang on the first floor. I stared at the floor as if my vision would pass through it, and I would see what caused the noise. "What the heck is that?"
I stepped out of my room and gazed down the stairs, waiting for movement and follow-up noises. I waited for a minute, but I heard nothing. The initial plan was to ignore the noise because it might probably just be a cat, but I couldn't believe that my feet were doing the opposite. I found myself descending the stairs with nothing to defend myself against what might be the reason behind the noise. Staircase after staircase until I reach the floor.
My brows furrowed, and my instinct screamed of danger as soon as I discovered that the front door was busted open. The evidence of the damaged lock entailed that someone forced it to open. And this hunch alone was enough for me to grab the nearby Tazer Potion.
I searched the whole shop for movement but found nothing. I looked at the workshop door and was relieved to find out that it remained locked and closed. I decided to take two steps toward the door until something caught my eye. Although what I saw was just a part of it, I was one hundred percent sure it was human. I engaged carefully and in full alert until the figure came into view.
It was indeed a human, an adventurer, to be exact. He rested himself on the floor with his back pinned to the wall. His head was down, and his body showed a slight rhythmic motion as he breathed. The sword beside him and the worn-out armor implied that he was a swordsman. His inside clothes were tattered as well and muddied, probably from a fight. Cuts and blood were exhibited as well.
But among all of these, there was one thing that grabbed my attention. A large stain of red fluid colored a quarter of his inner shirt. The red fluid was unmistakenly blood, and calculating the amount of blood on his shirt, I'd say he was in grave trouble.
Parts of me wanted to help. As someone who worked as an apothecary, I found the call for duty hard to ignore. This part of me screamed, eager to help the wounded man. On the other hand, I also wanted the opposite - to kick the man out of the shop and let him die. The latter was out of fear that the man could be a criminal and con artist, using his theatric talent to trick someone into helping him.
But then I felt something strange within me - a force pushing me to help the man. A tingling sensation in my chest made my heart rate increase as if something was telling me that now was the time to become useful. Oblivious to its meaning, I went to where the Healing Potions were and grabbed five bottles of it. I placed them all in a basket and went back to the stranger.
Still holding the Tazer Potion in my right hand, I knelt close to the man and took a bottle of Healing Potion from the basket. Using my mouth to open the bottle, it let out a cupping sound. I finally decided to let go of my weapon and used the unoccupied hand to position his head properly. This was when I found out that he also severed his head as blood dripped down his face. Swallow cuts and grazes were evident as well.
"What made you think of putting yourself in this situation?" I mumbled, even knowing that the stranger was unresponsive. "You have to pay for this." I placed the rim of the bottle on his lips and tilted to pour the contents down his throat. I could tell that his barely awake as he managed to swallow the potion I administered.
One bottle, four to go. I gave the second bottle and was halfway done when I noticed that his wounds were not closing. Even the tiniest laceration was left unhealed. It seemed like the potion was ineffective. At first, I thought the potion was kicking in, but even after the second bottle was consumed, there were no evident changes. The second speculation was that the bottles were out-of-date, but these were the newest batch.
"What's wrong with these potions," I complaint. I proceeded to administer the third bottle. This was a race against death, and failure to save this man would not only cost his life but also my reputation as an apothecary's apprentice. This shop was established to save lives, and so I would.
"F*ck!" I cursed as I threw the last empty bottle of healing potion across the room. The bottle shattered upon impact, and its noise ricocheted.
This was the first time that this had happened. In the history of Grosi's Apothecary, the healing potions failed to do their job. I scanned the whole shop in search of something that could help this man, but nothing seemed significant came into view. Then, I remembered the book Grosi gave me. I bolted upright and dashed towards the drawer where the books were.
I scanned each spine for the title that I used to read. "Gotcha!" I celebrated upon discovering it. I skipped through the pages as if I had known its content like the back of my hand. It took less than a minute for me to find the page that contained conventional aiding techniques. "Come on! Where are you?"
The search was disappointedly fruitless, and another swear escaped my mouth. I looked back at the man and was relieved to find out that he was still breathing. A frown replaced my annoyed face upon realizing that he was hopeless. He had already lost too much blood - he was beyond saving.
But instead of doing nothing, I have decided to do something at least - just to have an excuse if ever his death haunts me. Taking part still counted, and it was better than no help at all.
I knelt before the man, who was now reeking of blood. I placed both of my already-bloodstained hands on the biggest wound, trying to stop the bleeding. This was the least I could do. If only Grosi were here. He surely knew what to do. He could save this man, no doubt.
I felt the strange tingling sensation again, just like earlier, but unlike before, it was stronger. At first, I thought it was just a mere feeling of nothing significant. A body reaction in response to the situation I was in. But then an idea popped into my head - a stupid one.
"Here goes nothing," I uttered and focused on directing the imaginary force out of my hand and into the wound. It was a silly idea, but trying it would not hurt. "There's no way this would work."
I jinxed myself as a green magic circle appeared beneath us.