"What are you doing here, Maria?" Darius asked.
He was bemused by how agile her movement was even though her body was heavily wounded two days ago.
"Preparing our next crop. I have a feeling this year's harvest will be abundant." Answered Maria, resting her hands on both hips. "Well, Are you going somewhere?"
"Yeah, the usual," Darius said, looking in the village's direction.
"Should I come with you?"
After a brief thought, Darius nodded. "Sure, but don't push yourself too hard though. Be mindful of your wounds."
Maria trotted to his side. "I am fine! Let's go!"
By the time they had arrived at the village, Darius found the villagers were huddled together in front of a house. Darius soon recognized who's the owner. It was Mr. Barley's house, the one and only booze maker in the whole village.
"Oh! Good morning chief!" Greeted one of the villagers upon seeing Darius' arrival.
"Chief…"
The villagers bowed one after another at Darius.
"What's happening here?" Darius asked.
"It's Barley, Chief. He was amongst the subdued villagers on the raid day. If my memory serves me right, he got hit on the head on that day. Miss Esther is currently treating him as we speak."
A moment later, Aunty Esther appeared from the door. Her face was currently haggard, there were dark circles around her eyes. It was her first time dealing with an internal wound that was invisible to the naked eye.
Years of extensive knowledge of herbs and traditional medicines proved to be useless in the face of an unknown disease that Mr. Barley succumbed to.
"Esther," Called Mr. Barley's wife, Sonia, who was waiting outside. "How's my husband's fare?"
The woman said nothing, she shook her head desperately and said, "I did my best. I am so sorry."
Sonia lowered her head, she was resigned to whatever might happen to her husband.
"Mommy," Sonia's little daughter tugged her skirt, asking innocently. "Is Papa going be alright?"
"Of course, honey. He will be alright and play with you on the Spring Field this afternoon." Sonia replied, embracing her daughter.
The usual cheerful morning had been taken away since the raid day. The villagers began to hug each other's shoulders. They just had a funeral the day prior, and now, they had to prepare another one for the best brewer that ever lived.
Honestly speaking, they had lost more than they could afford. And now, the only brewer in the village fell ill, it would be hard to pass the chilly night without Mr. Barley's booze.
Darius was distraught, he had failed to protect the villagers last time, and he would not let that happen ever again.
"May I come inside?" Darius chimed in, breaking the cold and moody atmosphere amongst them.
Sonia nodded, "Sure, but… Can you heal my husband?"
"I will see what I can do."
"Then please…"
By the time Darius and Maria had entered the house, the villagers began to murmur whether Darius could heal him or not. Although they agreed to choose Darius as their new chief since he had succeeded in fending off the pirates, they were still skeptical of Darius' medical prowess.
"It's alright." Aunty Esther spoke in a solemn tone. "I think he knows what he is doing.
****
Inside his bedroom, the thick-bearded man was lying hopelessly, breathing through his mouth. His chest rose and fell as his lungs begged for fresh air.
Suddenly, Alexa, the Magical AI, chimed in.
[This is worse than I thought. The hemorrhage is spreading faster than I anticipated. He needs immediate surgery to unclog the blood clot in his left brain.]
'H-how did you know?'
[No time to explain! Just do as I say!] Alexa remarked.
Maria, meanwhile, was looking at Darius suspiciously. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Y-yes, of course!" Darius exclaimed, "I just need some room to think."
"Alright," Maria promptly scooted away.
After which, Alexa, the Magical AI woman gave him the instruction to do an impromptu surgery procedure to Darius' consciousness so he could execute the procedure without being told by her.
"Maria, sanitize the rags by boiling them. Also, tell Aunt Esther to prepare external wound dressing. She knows what to do."
Maria was bemused at first. However, she decided to trust Darius and did what she had been told to.
Darius began the procedure right away.
Firstly, he stunned Mr. Barley's midbrain to render him unconscious by using a tiny Arcane Bolt.
After this, Darius made a very sharp scalpel that he made from condensed Arcane Energy. In a sense, this was a simple Level 1 Arcane Bolt but Darius modified it into a high-frequency scalpel on the tip of his nails that could cut through almost anything.
He followed Alexa's instructions and dissected the traumatized area. The tiny scalpel that went through Mr. Barley's skull was like a knife through a block of butter.
Darius very carefully ran his scalpel to the Subarachnoid Space where the bleeding occurred. As he did so, the clogged blood spurt out like a mini fountain.
Though the bed was immediately littered with blood, Darius let the incision open for a couple of minutes until the dark, oxidized blood ran clear.
The brewer gradually stabilized as the pressure was being released bit by bit.
Once the bright crimson blood was visible to the naked eye, Darius cast his [Basic Healing Spell] to close the incision as well as reconstruct every cell to the best of his ability.
The whole house was illuminated by otherworldly green light that even soared high into the sky.
Other villagers were taken aback by this spectacle. For the longest time, there was no Mage in this village except the former Village Chief who was only First Tier Acolyte Mage with a very limited ability.
Unfortunately, due to his lack of knowledge in the medical field, Darius could not heal the incision entirely. There was still a significant scar that was left on Mr. Barley's head.
Despite this, he successfully drained the clogged blood and healed the ruptured blood vessels.
[That's enough, Master Darius. More than this, you might endanger yourself and drain your Life Force.] Alexa commented.
"Tsk! I could have healed him with just one spell!" Darius clenched his bloodied fist.
[It's okay, Master. Mr. Barley just needs some time to recover. You have saved a life today.]
Before long, Maria soon appeared from the kitchen, bringing a basket of sanitized rags. Her mouth was agape upon finding the bedroom that was littered with blood.
"W-what did you do to him?!"
"A minor surgery. He will be okay after getting some rest. Please dress his wound, I am going to get some fresh air."
"Wait, Darius!" Maria exclaimed, but Darius went in his way and cared nothing else.
"How am I supposed to dress his wound?" Maria murmured.
Aunt Esther, meanwhile, was at the back door when Darius left. She knew what he did was something that would not be easily accepted by the villagers who were mostly illiterate peasants.
"Use this." Aunt Esther offered him a wet towel and herbs concoction to sanitize his hand.
"Thank you, Aunty."
"I don't know what you've done inside but I am grateful that you used your power for the greater good. Thank you, Darius."
"En." Darius nodded.
"Leave the rest to me. You need to show your face after what happened a moment ago."