"What's wrong?" Arella asked politely.
"Don't touch their wounds. You could get infected. Also, sometimes the wound is not always on the exposed part. In that case, you cannot touch them." Adrian hated the fact that she had to cover the wounds with her hands!
What if the wound was contagious? What if the blood had poison? And above all, what if the wound was at an objectionable part? He could not allow her to touch them!
"But everybody does that. Physical contact is necessary for healing." Arella pouted as she answered. She understood his concern, but that is how the healers took care of the wounds. That is how everybody treated the sick!
"Why follow the footsteps of everybody?" Adrian found her little whining cute. But under no circumstances would she be allowed to continue her way of healing.
"You just need to touch to transfer the healing power. Why cover the entire wound with your palm?" Adrian guided her expressionlessly.
Arella fell into a contemplation. In a way, Adrian was right. Everybody saw the elders touching and covering the wound in order to heal. So far, nobody has deviated.
But the entire focus should be on the transferring of healing powers from one body part to another.
Arella's eyes widened, and a glint of realization flickered in her eyes.
Looking at her reaction, Adrian expertly made another cut on the hound's belly. This time, the cut was shallow.
Arella quickly closed her eyes and focused on concentrating the healing powers at the tip of her fingers. That is right, instead of guiding the powers to the middle of the palm, she let the powers flow to the tip of her fingers.
The blue flame of healing followed her intention, and within a few minutes, she could feel a soft blue flame dancing on her fingertips. She raised her hand and touched the wound with her fingertips.
Her fingertips trembled a little but as soon as it came in contact with the wound, the blue flame disappeared and the wound started healing. It was a success!
"Good, now try to focus in on only one finger." Adrian apathetically added.
Arella's joyous mood was ruined. She heaved a sigh. Now, in front of her stood the demon trainer Andrew spoke of. She had an inkling why he was called a demon.
He barely congratulates, does not give time to celebrate, and keeps on pushing her further. No wonder his trainees never liked him!
She puffed her cheeks but swallowed all the grievances. She followed his piece of advice and tried to concentrate the powers only in one fingertip. But easier said than done.
This time, sweat broke out from her forehead. Her fingers started to quiver lightly. But she refused to give up. A frown appeared on her face as she tried her best. Adrian stared at her without blinking, taking in her every expression and gesture.
His fingers curled up and became a fist. He clenched hard, stopping himself from disturbing her. He wanted to run to her and take her in his arms the moment the frown appeared on her visage. But he had to curb his impulse.
This was important to her, and she had to overcome it in order to become better. Soon, a bloody smell permeated the air. The frown on her face became deeper. She opened her eyes only to find Adrian looking at her fixedly.
Her eyes traced his body and found something peculiar. Blood was trickling from his fist, and he seemed unaware of it!
She reacted on impulse. She went forward and grabbed his hand. Adrian looked at her with a frown. But when he looked at his hand, he understood her actions. He was bleeding a little.
Maybe he had clenched his fist too hard? He did not know, all that mattered was stopping his body from jumping in and disturbing her. But in the end, looks like she still disturbed her! He twitched his lips at his impulsive nature.
Meanwhile, Arella looked at the shallow bleeding marks on his palm with distress. She closed her eyes and concentrated once again.
This time, the blue flame did not resist and swiftly pooled around the edge of her index finger. She had her eyes closed. But Adrian took in everything.
In front of his eyes, a small flickering blue flame willingly jumped from her fingertip into his bleeding marks. The marks disappeared within a fraction of a second.
When Arella opened her eyes, his skin was back to normal. IT had no trace of being broken at all. Whether it was because of her healing powers or his inherent healing capability, it mattered not. What mattered was that the skin had stopped bleeding and was back to normal.
She shot a satisfied glance at the man. But Adrian was lost in his own thoughts. For a second, he doubted his eyes. Did he really see a blue flame? He knew that she had not touched him at all! Did the blue flame jump to his marks on its own? Did she heal him without any physical contact?
This was unprecedented. He found it hard to believe that she could heal him without any physical connection. This was a serious thing, he had to test it again. He needed to be sure before concluding anything.
Arella wanted to scold this man for his ignorance. But as soon as she opened her mouth, a beep sounded from a nearby machine, startling her.
"Oh! We should heal the hound. It's bleeding too much." Adrian shifted his focus to the lifeless hound. Due to excessive bleeding, it was hovering over the edges of death.
Arella went back to her place and looked at the bed being soaked in the blood of the hound. Good thing that it was already brain dead, otherwise, with her ignorance, it would have died for sure!
She quickly focused her energy. This time, she successfully summoned her healing powers to the tip of her index finger and gently touched the bleeding wound. The wound took some time, but it healed.
Adrian observed her every movement. This time, she had to touch the wound in order to transfer the power. He also did not see any blue flame.
"Should we change the bed sheet?" Arella hesitantly asked.
Adrian noticed that the entire bed sheet was filled with bloodstains. He checked the readings.
"No. Let's leave. Somebody will change the bed sheet later. We will come back tomorrow." Adrian spoke with authority.
Arella wanted to practice more, but looking at the frail appearance and scrunched up figure, she gave up. Hmm, it was better to come tomorrow. This way, the hound could recover well and be ready to bleed tomorrow.
They walked in silence. It should be midnight. Every beast was asleep. Unlike the laboratory, the outside was dipped in darkness with only a few lamps illuminating their path.
"What's the shape of your healing power?" Adrian suddenly asked.
Most had an orb as their healing powers, but the shape could vary according to the beast spirit's dominant power, like his inherent healing power was shaped as an icicle.
"It's a blue flame," Arella answered lightly.
Listening to it, Adrian stopped in his tracks.