Pandora Unchained - B1C83: A Somber Interlude

No one mentioned Orpheus's condition upon returning to the guild. To any outside observer, it was clear that the greedy cultivator had gone out to take advantage of Team We Don't Need a Life Mage's questionable presence on the battlefield. His plan had backfired, and he only had himself to blame for his injuries.

Sorin only felt the vaguest twinge of guilt. Not for the man himself or for what he'd done, but for the valuable physician time wasted on restoring the functionality of his right arm. Could he have applied a stronger dose of poison? He naturally could have. But doing so would have been potentially traceable by an experienced physician, so he had left good enough alone.

Guild members slowly trickled in as the battle in the south wound up. Fighters were given a cursory inspection by the physicians in the clinic and cleared for duty.

Each adventurer returned to the guild with snippets of information. It was quickly confirmed that two bone-forging cultivators had perished in battle, including the nighthawk leader, Lady Duchene, and Commander Zenol of the Governor's Manor.

"I can't believe this isn't even the final push," said Stephan as he felt his bloody bandages. "Bone-forging cultivators don't typically fall until then."

"There's something unusual about this demon tide," agreed Gareth. "But that's only to be expected after what happened to our water system."

"I guess corpse patrol will be working overtime?" said Sorin.

"Naw," said Lawrence. "I heard from Dad that the temple has a way of clearing a lot of corpses and cores all at once. It's just a waste to do it until there's a lot of corpses. Takes energy or something. What's eating you, Daphne?"

The mage was currently frowning, which was uncharacteristic given her recent heroic empowerment. She's not even muttering something about new spells and adjusting her spell matrices, thought Sorin. Wait, is she channeling a spell right now?

"I just overheard a conversation in conference room about casualties," said Daphne a couple minutes later. "See Barbara over there, all on her lonesome?"

"Yeah?" asked Lawrence. "What about her?"

"Her entire team just died," said Daphne. "She only survived by the skin of her teeth and became a hero as a result."

"Should we go say hello or something?" said Lawrence, attracting a stern glare from Gareth.

"If she wants to be alone, let her be alone," said Gareth. "Besides, can't you feel the bloodlust she's giving off? She's primed to kill demons, and in no state to interact with other people."

"There was one other heroic breakthrough," said Daphne. "A surprising one, though. It seems Nale is now a hero as well. He cut his way through the battlefield to save Barbara and her team and is arguably the only reason Barabara managed to make it out alive."

"He might be scum, but at least he's redeemablescum," muttered Stephan. "Unlike someone we know." Once again, no names were said, but everyone knew whom he was speaking of.

The rest of their discussion revolved around the team's two newest heroes: Gareth and Daphne. Gareth had unlocked a similar ability to Lawrence, which allowed him a bird's-eye view of the battlefield, and allowed him to share it like Lawrence could. As for his heroic empowerment, it came in a unique form: presence. Stephan now radiated an aura of command and was able to make his full intentions known to the team, with words or without.

Daphne's ability was very useful to the one-trick pony. "Instead of casting fireballs from a distance, I can now cast them anywhere within 50 feet and detonate them at point-blank range. I can only do it every 60 seconds, mind you, but that's more than often enough."

"Isn't that just like Haley's ability?" said Lawrence. "Why does everyone else get an overpowered ability and not me?"

"And why just fireballs?" asked Stephan. "It's unusual for abilities to be so specific."

"It's not specific to any single spell, but it only really works if an explosion is involved," said Daphne. "So, Fireball and Flame Rune Trap, in my case. The casting delay is also unaffected by my Quick Cast Skill, so it takes a good second to pull off. I need to account for any delays on my own. Also, physical overlap with the spell matrix will cancel the casting."

"It still sounds like a powerful ability," said Sorin bitterly. Once again, he was reminded of the relatively uselessness of his ability.

"Your ability's not bad, Sorin," reassured Stephan. "Didn't you just basically pump yourself full of life-threatening stimulants and increase your combat potential by 20% with zero consequences? And can't you drink potions twice as frequently as we can by sheer virtue of metabolizing toxins better?"

"I suppose," said Sorin. These abilities were indeed useful. It was too bad he couldn't retrieve said toxins from his companions and expedite their own healing process. "Any idea when the final push is coming?"

"It should be soon, or so Haley says," said Stephan. "It could be hours. It could be minutes." The adventurers gathered were all on standby and would be reassigned once the last phase of the demon tide started.

Waiting around was a waste of time, in Sorin's opinion. "I'm going to go see Haster," said Sorin, making up his mind.

"You sure?" asked Stephan. "His mental state is fragile."

"Can't hurt," said Sorin. "Besides, isn't this demon tide much worse than usual? We need all the help we can get."

The cots in the Adventurers Guild were not for critical patients. They were there to accommodate those that were ready to be discharged but had trouble returning to their duties. In addition to Haster and the half-blind man from before, there were three more patients. One was lacking an arm, and the other, from what Sorin could tell, had suffered a traumatic head injury, and was still recovering from the shock.

"Hello, Haster," said Sorin, walking up to the man's cot. As usual, the bearded man was staring at the wall. A flask of wine could be seen on his bedside, an allowance given only due to the recommendation of his attending physician.

"What do you want?" grumbled Haster.

"I'm just checking up on a friend," said Sorin, placing his hand on the man's legs. His mana and spiritual force quickly scanned his body and mapped out his meridians. Eleven naturally unlocked primary meridians, and 3 naturally unlocked extraordinary meridians. Genius grade.

"Didn't anyone tell you it was rude to inspect people without their consent?" Haster said, glaring at Sorin. "I'm fine. I don't need a physician. Get out."

"No can do," said Sorin. "The situation outside is getting pretty bad. Barbara lost her team. We're also down two bone-forging cultivators."

"And how exactly is that my problem?" asked Haster.

"I'm pretty sure it's everyone's problem," said Sorin. "Now, hold still; this might hurt."

"What are you—" Haster gritted his teeth as Sorin shot a stream of poison into a meridian using his finger. He repeated the process twenty more times over the span of a minute, completely unlocking Haster's final primary meridian.

This was followed by a burst of sword energy that lacerated Sorin's still-repairing armor. "How dare you inject me with poison without my consent. Get out!" barked Haster.

"Make me," said Sorin. He used Python Coil to restrain the man, provoking an uproar from the wounded patients. Only the shocked patient showed no response. "Relax. I'm just helping out a friend." Sorin assured them.

"I don't need your help," said Haster through gritted teeth. He mobilized his mana and blasted Sorin using his body as a medium. Sorin's leather armor was severely damaged, and blood oozed out of his wounds, forcing Sorin to pull the toxins back into his body lest they harm Haster.

"You forced me," said Sorin. He grabbed his remaining vial of dream blade ointment and shoving a handful of mana needles into it before sticking said needles into the thrashing man's left leg, heavily sedating him.

"This is… unethical…" slurred Haster as he tried to free himself from Python Coil and failed.

"I won't argue that," said Sorin. "Feel free to report me to the Medical Association. I'm sure they'd jump at the opportunity to put me in my place."

He then placed his palm on the man's chest and quickly identified his blocked Yin Link Vessel. He formed a stent and spear and pierced through the obstruction, unlocking the meridian and restoring a semblance of balance to the man's violent sword-aligned mana.

Next came the Yin Heel Vessel. "Your mana is a mess because your meridians are severely lacking in the yin element," said Sorin as he unblocked the meridian. "As a result, exerting your full power has been self-destructive. Of course, that might have more to do with your mutated mana. Sword-aligned mana is rare and often causes problems."

Once again, a poisonous needle pierced through a blockage and opened an extraordinary meridian. Only two meridians remained sealed: his Belt Vessel and Conception Vessel—or Hero Meridian as it was often called. Funnily enough, only a single cracked seal still blocked off the Hero Meridian, likely because he'd risked everything to hold back demons from hunting down the outpost's soldiers.

"Stay here and mope if you want," said Sorin, retracting his poison and releasing Haster just as guild support staff came pouring into the room.

"We're going to have to ask you to leave, Hero Kepler," said a stern administrator flanked by two wary adventurers wielding swords.

"I was just on my way out," said Sorin, shooting her a smile. "Think on it, Haster. How many lives are you willing to sacrifice for the privilege of inaction?" He knew these words were a bit hypocritical coming form him, but someone had to try jolting him out of his stupor.

Sorin rejoined his companions at their table. When they inquired as to Haster health, he simply shook his head. "I did what I could for him. Unlocked his latent potential and fixed some of his issues. Physically, he's perfectly fine. But mentally… he has a block he needs to overcome."

"People who've experienced traumatic situations need space, Sorin," said Gareth. "You can't force them out of their little world. When my mother passed, it took my father years to pull himself back together. Until then, it was me taking care of him instead of the other way around."

Sorin nodded. It was the first time Gareth had ever volunteered information about his family. "All I did was give him a nudge. As for what he does with it? That's up to him. But I do hope to see him once again on the battlefield. He seemed so alive down in the ruins. It pains me to see him waste away in bed drinking cheap alcohol instead of travelling around challenging taverns and drinking local adventurers under the table.

Haster's situation also reminded Sorin of his own state three years ago. It had taken him half a year to gain any semblance of motivation after his cultivation was crippled. He moved to the Bloodwood Outpost to run a clinic at the Grand Elder's suggestion. It was only thanks to the flood of patients that he was able to force himself out of his state.

In the end, it was Gabriella who really woke Sorin up. Her eyes were much brighter than everyone else's, and she was passionate about becoming a physician, despite coming from a poor family and having received very little education.

Without her, he would never have found the courage to face the fox and make his wish.