Chapter 79: 82. The Thief Toils Part 1

Ajax lifts his nose to the air. Prisca stands next to him with her arms crossed. She looks at him with narrowed eyes as he once again does something that she doesn't fully understand how he can do.

"There's blood nearby, not a small amount, you'll want to walk quickly."

She and Ajax rush through the crowd towards the source of the blood. Ajax calmly and fluidly pushes people out of their way as they try to reach someone else who might need some medical attention. As they continue walking, Prisca furrows her brows in curiosity.

"...How exactly do you do that, Ajax?" Prisca asks while sighing. "Beastkin have pretty good senses, much better than humans, and I can't smell anything, neither from this distance or with all the other smells in the air. Is it some kind of spell? But, you didn't chant or anything. I don't sense any mana moving around your body… at all. You're such a weird one, the more I get to know you."

"Hey, come on, be nice to me, I'm sensitive, you know? I'm just a normal human from a small village somewhere you've never heard of. It's enough to leave it at that for today, right?" Ajax replies, continuing to track the scent of blood. She smiles slightly.

"Well, I can't deny that you've been helpful. I've treated so many that I even had to stop to refill my mana…"

"And it's not like I asked to walk you home or anything, just a way to keep you out of harm's way while you help those who stick around here." Ajax amends, scrunching his face at the iron rich scent getting closer. He's not really a fan of blood.

"Ha, yeah, fine… that's another thing too, how are you so strong? I never hear you casting any body strengthening spells or–"

"That's where the blood is coming from." Ajax pauses and subtly points towards a young demihuman man who is walking through the crowd with a slightly pallid expression. He's wearing dark clothes so there is no obvious blood stain but he is walking slowly. Ajax can hear him panting slightly as he walks.

"He's clearly hiding an injury, it's obvious just by looking at him." Prisca sniffs the air. Although her olfactory sense isn't as good as Ajax's, it isn't too far behind. She has smelled blood before in various forms. There are slightly different scents for dried blood mixed with fabric, fresh blood flowing from a new wound, infected blood, even blood that has just a bit too many white blood cells.

"A slightly old wound?" Prisca surmises. "I can smell the blood, it's almost… stale. Can you tell where on his body it's coming from, Ajax?"

He tries to pinpoint that for her. Prisca has noticed that he has a knack for reading people and figuring out things just from body language and mannerisms. He's not as good as Shaula at this, but not terrible. Ajax examines the man's gait and notices that he is focusing on his left side and being careful how his clothes and left arm touch that area.

"Did he get stabbed or something? I think it's his left side… right below his ribs."

"Alright, let me go check then."

Ajax waits as Prisca cautiously walks towards the demihuman man and asks him about his injury. The man is reluctant to accept her help, but Prisca convinces him by showing the dim, warm light of her healing magic spell.

The healer and patient move to an area in the crowd where the man can sit down and lift up his shirt to show his wound. Ajax stays out of sight in the nearby crowd while listening to Prisca and the young man talk, also watching for anybody trying to target either medic and patient. Prisca can see some dried blood on the inside of her patient's shirt and a wound that looks like it was made by a very thin, short knife. The bleeding has already stopped, but the area looks quite unclean to her.

The man doesn't share the details of his injury and Prisca doesn't ask, instead getting to work. First, she sterilizes his injury using a specially packed damp cloth and disinfectant salve pair. After the prep work is complete, she deals with the injury using a simple flesh rejoining healing spell. After doing as much as she can to make sure he doesn't develop an infection, she sends her patient on his way. She doesn't have anywhere near the skill in healing magic required to regenerate blood, so he still feels quite anemic, but overall much better.

You are reading story The Children of the Divine Limit at novel35.com

"Good work." Ajax compliments Prisca.

"Thanks, it was nothing… That kid looked scared. The wound, as well, looked… old. It's probably something he got a couple hours ago.."

"Wow. That's a real fighter, didn't even let a wound like that get in the way of supporting the protesters…" Ajax doubts he could be that dedicated to a cause. Oddly enough, in this world with the powers he has as well as the things he's done to help people, he feels less like a hero. It only reminds him that on Earth when he lived a normal, "mortal" life, he would have been much less likely to help strangers or save people who needed help.

The real heroes are the ones like Prisca, aren't they… if I wanted to, I could get shot or stabbed without any lasting consequences. But, her… she's so human, like I… once was. She breathes oxygen, and she can actually die if she stops breathing. If she loses too much blood, she'll die. If she loses a limb, she won't be getting it back. She'll feel lifelong pain even if she survives the bleeding.

Ajax was once like that too. Blood actually transported the oxygen he breathed to his organs, instead of whatever it does now that he doesn't need air to live. But, he never did anything to help anyone like she did.

She's risking herself to help people who need it. The only time I ever did something that was noble was… taking Shaula off the streets, I think? But, that was because she was a good friend of mine too. Everything else I did on Earth feels so empty in comparison to people like Prisca… to people like Shaula.

Ajax shakes away his thoughts.

No. Enough of that. You're not there anymore. You're not even the same kind of entity anymore. What's the use of crying over spilled milk? You're going back there, remember? You're going to see your family again. You're going to see your sister. You're going to hold your head up for them. And when you get back home… you'll dedicate your life to helping people. You won't be held back anymore. You can do anything now.

Prisca doesn't notice the thoughts Ajax has; she doesn't notice the moment his eyes well up either. He blinks rapidly, getting rid of those thoughts. She only sighs thinking about her patient's dedication to refuse to leave the protest even with a hidden stab wound. It wasn't just dedication though.

"Well, he probably just left the wound and remained because he couldn't receive any treatment anyways. The free clinics in this city are understaffed and overbooked."

"...When you're not at protests do you work at one of those?"

"..."

"Ah, sorry, I'm not going to dig into your life. I'll be a professional. Hmm. Let me check around for any… Alright, I can hear some commotion nearby and I think there's a scent of blood… and vomit. Let's go."

Ajax starts walking and Prisca pauses for a moment while watching his back.

*Sigh* What is he?

She simply shakes her head and continues following him.

You can find story with these keywords: The Children of the Divine Limit, Read The Children of the Divine Limit, The Children of the Divine Limit novel, The Children of the Divine Limit book, The Children of the Divine Limit story, The Children of the Divine Limit full, The Children of the Divine Limit Latest Chapter