Siderius filled the pipe fully with the processed Red Candy leaves. He then tucked it inside his satchel. It was not yet time to use the Alchemy Palace. At least, not in a place that easily compromised .
The evening came and it was time for him to retrieve the blood vial from Finn.
Siderius went downstairs to find the two blacksmiths standing amongst the patrons.
George bowed his head slightly while Finn held a blood vial tightly in his hands. His left bicep was bandaged by a white piece of cloth. It was probably where the healer in the infirmary extracted its blood.
The people of this kingdom probably hadn’t developed an effective way to extract blood yet. With magic, all the attention poured into the witches. Innovators that could discover these techniques would be completely sidelined by the public.
"Here’s mine blood as you asked." Finn passed the vial to Siderius.
The hunter nodded. "I will look into it soon. But I have to ask. If there is a way to save you, will you join us?"
Finn contemplated slightly. The choices were life or death. It was easy to decide.
"Aye. If you can, I guarantee you that you shall have my loyalty."
"Very well. You shall hear from me soon."
Finn and George waved goodbye to Siderius and returned to Scalize. As for the hunter, he returned to the Crossroads Inn and knocked on Quinlan’s door.
"Welcome, my friend." Quinlan opened the door.
Siderius took a look around inside the room. Bas was nowhere to be seen and only Quinlan was there.
"Not with your bodyguard today?" Siderius asked.
Quinlan shook his head. "We are friends. That is why I won’t force him to endure such a hideous thing."
Siderius walked inside and locked the door behind him. "Let’s see what we’re actually dealing with here."
"Alright. Brace yourself." Quinland said.
The bandaged man loosened his bandages and slowly removed it from his head. For the first time, his appearance was revealed.
He had silver hair and a pair of grey eyes. But where the skin should be on his face was a vast field of tiny bumps. He looked like a collection of tiny bird eggs formed together and created a human.
The look was unnatural to say the least and grotesque to any viewer if they were honest.
Siderius only shared a gentle smile. A non-judging ordinary smile.
"You are the first who are not repelled by it." Quinlan said.
"Because it isn’t the first time I see it. May I?"
Siderius put on his gloves and approached Quinlan.
"Of course. It is our purpose after all. To see if you can heal me. Though I doubt you will be able to do anything. I have met many great healers. None even knew what I was having."
Siderius touched Quinlan’s skin and pinched it gently.
"Any discomfort? Pain?"
Quinlan shook his head.
Then Siderius continued his examination. His voice kept echoing to distract Quinlan’s mind away from the matter.
"What did the healers say?" Siderius said.
"Most didn’t say anything. The ones who dared to speak all said the same thing."
Siderius smirked. "I know curses and hexes. Those are the specialties of witches. But I can guarantee you, this is no curse.
People always try to think of a reason to explain what they know nothing about.
Curses. Wrath of God. The cruelty of the world.
But the world is always fair. They only don’t know why they are facing such hardships."
"Are you saying that I deserved this because of something I did in the past?"
"Maybe. Or maybe it was something your parents did. Or your ancestors did.
This world might be fair. But it does hold a grudge. If any one in your family enraged it, it would not hesitate to take vengeance upon you."
"You’re saying as if the world is conscious."
But I can say that, at least, the world hasn’t given up on you yet. These bumps can be ugly but they are benign tumors. It won’t cause any harm to your health. The only thing it does is make you look like a monster."
Siderius’ words made Quinlan let out a soft laugh. Never before had someone told him that bluntly about his condition. But he didn’t feel any hatred toward Siderius. In fact, he felt relieved. Siderius didn’t treat him any different at all.
"Tumor? What is that?" Quinlan blinked his eyes rapidly.
"You can think of it like a defective piece of flesh. One that operates differently than a normal one. Usually, it will keep growing and growing until it kills you.
That is a malignant tumor. You have benign tumors. They won’t keep growing."
"And why does this tumor exist?" Quinlan asked.
"Many reasons. But for you, I suspect it is because of your genetic condition."
Siderius took a needle and poked Quinlan’s finger tip. He quickly extracted a single drop of blood.
Then a Body Revelation Seal was conducted. With it, the nature of Quinlan’s genetics was revealed. The drop of blood shimmered gently in the air before being swiped away by Siderius.
"I have bad news and good news. Which do you want to hear first?" Siderius said.
"Bad news." Quinlan said.
"There is no cure for your condition." Siderius bluntly said.
Quinlan shared a bitter smile. He let out a long heavy sigh. "As I suspected. Then what is the good news?"
"The good news is even though you can’t cure this condition with conventional means. You can still get rid of it via mutations.
Your genes were corrupted. It was never broken so it cannot be fixed. So instead, the way to deal with this is to replace it completely."
"Mutations? I am not familiar with what you’re referring to but it isn’t easy, right? What are the chances that I will survive the process?"
"It isn’t about survival, Quinlan. It is a choice. A choice that if you take, you will never have the chance to regret."
Siderius was referring to becoming a witch hunter. Quinlan’s genetic conditions were incurable because it wasn’t disease. But becoming a witch hunter would solve Quinlan’s issue.
Witch Hunter’s first rank was Extima, the outer organs of the body. This included the eyes as Ocula, the ears as Sonara, the nose as Odora, the skin as Tengura, and the Ultima.
If Quinlan reached the rank of Tengura, his genetic conditions would be cure automatically. Read complete version only at novel[f]ire.net