And Nero did what he said.

With his right hand, he absorbed the mana from the mana pearl, then pulled it in his arm, then passed it through his chest and to his left arm, and out to his left hand, which he laid on the girl’s forehead.

From his left hand, he could feel and see the mana rushing out and pouring into the girl’s soul through her head—forming as streaks of purple light, flowing to her mana core.

Her mana reserve stopped on further depletion, but her soul used up whatever mana he was pouring into her to cancel the antimana all throughout her body.

After a few repetitions of this procedure, he managed to cancel all the antimana formed on her soul. First step’s cleared.

He then told the mother, “I’ll do this until I fill her with mana. Soon, as I said before, her body will use it to heal her injuries—that’s an automatic process, her natural capacity. I’ll just have to make sure her mana core is with enough mana, so her body can take care of her injuries much, much faster.”

“Is it…is it that simple?” The anxious mother looked at her daughter’s pale face.

“Well, it’s not that simple,” he said. “I need to make sure the mana I pour into her isn’t too much nor too little; that’s the definition of an ideal healing ability. But rest assured: I’m very talented. I can heal her just fine.”

The woman looked at him, with hope in her eyes but doubt on her frowning lips. Maybe he lifted his own chair at a bad time.

He cleared his throat then continued healing the unconscious young girl, repeating the process of using the mana from the mana pearls he also continued making on the spot. At one point, the mana from the first scoop of the aether sand he put on the extraction pot was depleted, so he put its denser, grey husk—aethersmiths call it “aether powder”—back to the pouch, shook the pouch so that the grey powder would settle below, before scooping a handful of the blue sand and repeated the extraction process.

Soon, after using the volume of mana equaling to a total of eight mana pearls (with the continued reusing of the two mana orbs) for the whole treatment, the mana reserve of the girl was finally filled. And since the normal level of mana reserve always stays at 80% of the mana core, her body began her own miraculous healing process by using the 20% excess. After a few seconds, the girl gaped, as if groaning but without sound, her eyes moving rapidly within her closed eyelids.

“W-what’s happening, healer?” the mother asked.

“Look.”

Nero pointed the girl’s scratches and other shallow injuries as they began to fade. Her bleeding also stopped, suggesting that the cut on her head was closed. The bruise on her left arm and abdomen also slowly lessened.

Then suddenly, a short yet sharp snap was heard from her chest, surprising everyone close enough to hear it—even Nero. It was obviously her third broken rib. With his Sirilion’s Eyes, he could see no antimana pocket in her soul, reflecting no injury in it.

He immediately touched her left-side chest, on the third broken rib he couldn’t reach earlier. And it was aligned already. It was healed, indeed.

Nero was a bit surprised. Could he have gained the ability to heal derailed bones just now?

“She seemed to have healed her third broken rib,” he told the mother. “Still, let another physician check on her.”

“B-but…how is she? Will she be okay?”

He smiled. “Yes. She’ll be fine. Let’s wait for her injuries to be healed completely, then you can carry her to a place where she can sleep better. When she wakes up, feed her well and let her drink a lot of liquid; she’ll be starving and parched. Also, let another physician check on her; besides checking her rib, he may prescribe some Ridian Pills to replenish the blood your daughter lost.”

With that, the young girl’s treatment was completed.

Both the parents almost worshipped Nero in appreciation, which he dismissed, saying that it was by their daughter’s own effort she was saved, that he just lent a helping hand.

The merchant—now calmed down and reflecting—as a form of atonement, asked to pay for the treatment. Nero asked for 500 Pirasos—a miniscule amount for such skill and professionalism he had displayed (as per the merchant’s own words). So, he told the merchant to pay for further treatments of the girl. The latter accepted, and fully committed to helping the whole family he aggrieved.

With that, Nero returned to Gueré Pharmacy to buy another kilo of aether sand, narrating a summary of what just transpired as Laiz asked what happened with the blue sand he just bought. After buying, he walked home with Rius.

However, on the rough road that leads to their camp starting from a foothill, he thought of climbing a nearby cliff. A particularly not-so-high of a cliff, but which was enough for overlooking most of Siedsy Town and the sea which gives the town much of its riches. He just felt going as he was tired, which he attributed with the treatment he had just done to the young girl.

There’s just something in high places that calms him down, he realized not too long ago. Back in the Breeston City, when he and his master (mostly his master) treated a particularly difficult illness or injury, he would always go up tall buildings and just look at the scenery. It would then refresh his mind, as healing is mentally and emotionally taxing.

On the cliff, which was a place he was familiar with, he stared at the view. The morning sun was giving his warmth and light abundantly and freely as the sky was so clear. Reflecting on what had just transpired, he couldn’t help but be glad that he seemed to have learned fixing bone derailments—a healing capability that particularly requires a high mastery of the craft. It’s all thanks to his master back in the city.

While reflecting on his newly acquired mastery of healing and overlooking at the whole town, his dog suddenly went away, trotting towards a thick foliage on the right side.

“Rius, hey! Where are you going, boy?”

Nero followed his dog, which slid down a shallow but steep slope, then trotted towards a huge, old tree. Rius went straight to the tree’s largest root and started digging there. Nero adjusted his spectacles. “Hey, boy, what you’re up to?”

The dog kept on digging for something, and as Nero was about to crouch to see it more clearly whatever it was, a beam of light, thin as a strand of golden hair, fell upon the place where his dog was digging.

“Hmm?” He looked up, to see where it could have come from.

But, in a blink of an eye, the beam of light widened, then got brighter, then got hotter.

Suddenly, a small explosion occurred, seemingly through the beam of light; its scorching blast of wind threw him a couple of meters away.