(Nathan)

  Nathan cast Triage on Dyn. It wasn’t fshy—no spoken phrases, ures. It just worked. The results armed him as he read.

  [Physi orb]: [Triage] report –

  Physical Damage

  Torso (front, upper): arc burns

  Head (general): frostbite

  Nose: severe frostbite

  Ears: severe frostbite

  Lips: severe frostbite

  Legs (upper, middle, lower): pnt toxin

  Feet (soles): fri burns

  Systems

  Pulmonary fun: high blood pressure (ic), high pulse rate (ic)

  Digestive fun: excessive calorie intake (ic)

  Endoe fun: early insuliance (ic)

  Respiratory fun: decreased lung capacity (ic)

  Nervous fun: dopamine (defit, ic), serotonin (defit, ic)

  Adrenal fun: high cortisol (ic)

  Urinary fun: kidney calcium deposits (ic, warning—blockage immi)

  The list tinued with minor details, but Nathan dismissed the notification. He could always run it again and had more than enough to start. “Mother have mercy, Dyn! Does your world have any kind of mender or physi?” Nathan asked, etched across his face.

  “Of course we do. I’ve got the best medical ce my pany offers. It better be the best—I paid an arm and a leg for it.”

  “Barbaric. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice body parts for medical care.” Nathan frowned, briefly w where the extra limbs might have been attached.

  “Sorry, it’s just an expression.”

  ‘An idiom. That makes more sense.’ Nathan took a deep breath. “You seem to be suffering from ic depression and ay. I’d hypothesize you are overeating as a g meism for your mental illness, which is causing casg failures in your heart, lungs, and an an called the pancreas.”

  Dyn sighed. “I already know I’m fat and sad…” he muttered dejectedly.

  Natha a pang of sympathy. ‘He’s more than just a list of symptoms.’ Pg a gentle hand on Dyn's shoulder, he softened his tone. “Dyn, you're not just a set of problems I have to fix. I’ll help you with the physical stuff, but we’ll figure out the rest too, alright?”

  Dyn blinked, his eyes flickering to the floor as he gave a nod.

  “Any issues or pain when you urinate?” Nathan asked.

  “No…” Dyn shot him a suspicious look. “Why?”

  “You’ll likely have a calcium deposit blog your urinary tract soon if we don’t address it.”

  “I’m going to have kidones?!” Dyn sat up straight.

  “I treat the arc burns, frostbite, and pnt toxins right now.” Nathan walked over to a gss jar and took off the lid. He reached in and grabbed a white, blue, and green gummy. One of his most useful abilities was Status Gummy. [Status Gummy] was a ary ability from his Physi framework. It allowed him to prepare getin dies that cured specific statuses when ed. He walked back over to Dyn to expin how they worked.

  “Take one and wait at least—”

  Dyn’s eyes widened, and he swiped all three gummies from Nathan’s hand before he could finish warning him. “Ooh, piece of dy.”

  “Dyn, please don’t—” Nathan’s eyes widened in horror as Dyn tossed all three gummies into his mouth and started chewing.

  ‘Where’s the bucket?’ Nathan spun around, frantically sing the office. He remembered the empty sanitation bucket uhe sink and quickly retrieved it, thrusting it in front of Dyn.

  “What’s the bucket for?” Dyn asked, gng up at Nathan after swallowing.

  Magical supplements, like fk and the gummies, were absorbed almost instantly. With nothing in his stomach, Dyn tched onto the bucket with both hands and dry heaved. Nathan pinched his h one hand and helped Dyn hold the bucket with his other.

  “Dyn, those weren’t treats.” Nathan waited as another wave of nausea hit Dyn. “You o wait at least ten minutes after taking one before it’s safe to use another.”

  “I’m sorry, I just—” Dyn buried his head in the bucket for another wave of dry heaving.

  “The good news is you’re cured of your arc burns, frostbite, and pnt toxins. The bad news? You’ll suffer crippling nausea until the cooldown wears off.” Nathan handed Dyn the bucket and waited for the o pass.

  Dyn wiped his face with the damp cloth Nathan had given him. “Do you think Charles is okay?”

  “Your adventurer friend with an affinity for bdes?” Nathan raised an eyebrow as he fetched a stool to sit by the bed.

  Dyn nodded, furrowing his brow. “Yeah, he didn’t look so good. Do you think Charles oisoned?”

  “Poisoned?” Nathan shook his head, thinking it over. “I don’t think so, though I ’t be sure. I didn’t use Triage. What makes you think that?”

  Dyn sat up a little straighter, color returning to his cheeks as his health tio improve. “Did you see his blood? It was green.”

  Nathan smiled faintly. “That’s the normal color for elf blood. I’m sure he’ll be fine—he had over two-thirds of his health left. Out of curiosity, is human blood always red? There weren’t aological anomalies in your results.”

  “Yep, we’re all red-blooded.” Dy out a weak chuckle, then tilted his head. “Wait, how you tell how much health he’s got?”

  “I tell how much health everyone has.” Nathan tapped his , debating the risk of expining Lifeforce to Dyn. “It’s one of my passive abilities.”

  “Are you a wizard, too?” Dyn’s eyes lit up with excitement.

  Nathan chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Wizard, now that’s an antiquated term. I suppose you could say I’m an aspiring wizard. We use the term adventurer. I’m unra the moment.”

  “I’m going to be an adveoo,” Dyn said. “So, you see everyone’s health? That sounds pretty handy.”

  Nathan sighed. “And... distrag.”

  Dyn leaned forward, curiosity sparking in his eyes. “ you see the health bars of everything?”

  Nathan raised an eyebrow. “You’re very curious, aren’t you?”

  “I’m on an actual alie, and magic is real. Who wouldn’t be curious?” Dyn asked.

  Nathan smiled to himself, thinking, ‘He’d fit right in at Nightshade.’ He g Dyn. “The notes in your tract say you’ve already started your journey as an unranked adventurer?” Something nudged him to ask his question, and after a brief hesitation, he tinued. “Dyn, would you like to join us at Nightshade and train to bee an adventurer?”

  Dyn blinked, pausing. “What’s Nightshade?”

  “It’s an adventuring guild—Nightshade, Guild of the Are.” Nathan poio the purple embroidered flower on his tunic.

  Dyn’s expression shifted, and he picked at his nails. “I don’t think Charles would like that very much.”

  Nathan tilted his head, surprised. “Your adventurer friend doesn’t want you to bee an adventurer?” His mind raced—was Charles being hypocritical, or did the rugged elf know something about Dyn that Nathan didn’t?

  Dyn shrugged and took a sip of his water. “He’s not an adventurer anymore. I thi fired; doesn’t really like to talk about it.”

  Nathan furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure that’s possible.” Membership with the League of Adventurers was voluntary, except for unity service, but teical details like that would only bog Dyn down in minutia. “I’ve never heard of the League dismissing adventurers.” He sidered mentioning the Vault—a destine facility meant to hold dangerous magic, items, and adventurers—but decided against it for now. If Charles had been a threat, they’d have vaulted him.

  Dyn’s gaze dropped to the bed as he toyed with the edge of the b. “Marlin said Charles was running around with a suspended lise.”

  Nathan frowned, his mind whirring with the implications. “Ah, lised adventurers have to maintain good standing with their guild sponsor. The League suspends their lise if they don’t.” He caught himself, realizing he was jumping ahead. “Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s a undry list of things I’ll help you get sorted out.” He softened his tone. “But first, we o take care of your more urgent medieeds.” He stood up from the stool. “Stay here and don’t touything.”

  Stepping out of his offiathan hoped Windlock, an okamijin mender, was on shift today. He swung by the froo check with Sabath. To his relief, he found she had just arrived and was starting her rounds.

  Known for her wind ability, which sed and fortified lungs, gills, and as exge systems, she always checked in with the intensive care unit first for any ht emergencies. Her usual patients were those suffering from allergies, but she had also saved many lives from smoke inhation. Nathan found her in the hallway, returning from the intensive care unit.

  Thankfully, it had been a quiet night in the hospital, and she had time to che Dyn. They found him wandering the halls, not in the office where he was supposed to be.

  ‘He doesn’t listen very well.’ Nathan frowned. “Dyn, why aren’t you in bed?”

  Dyn began to answer. “I—” but froze, his eyes widening when he saw Windlock. Without finishing his sentence, he quickly spun around and headed back the way he came.

  Windlod Nathan exged fused gnces before following him back to Nathan’s office. When they arrived, Dyn couldn’t stand still, fidgeting on his feet as if perf a nervous jig.

  “What’s wrong?” Nathan asked, his brow furrowing. ‘Is he scared?’

  Dyn avoided looking at Windlock, tinuing his anxious footwork. “I’ve really got to pee.”

  Nathan blinked, surprised. “Oh.” He turo Windlod said, “We’ll be right back.”

  She smiled, suppressing a chuckle. “I’ll be here.” She reached into her pocket, pulled out her tablet, and sat down oool to wait.

  Nathan led Dyn to the restroom, and on the way, he asked, “Are you okay? Ba my office, you looked scared.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Dyn tinued his knoeed shuffle. “It’s just... seeing another one of them…”

  Nathan tilted his head, his brow furrowing slightly. “Another one of what?”

  Dyated, then lifted his hands to his head, mimig long ears with his index fingers. “The werewolf people.”

  Nathan nodded. “Okamijin.”

  “Bless you,” Dyn said.

  “Thank you.” Nathan opehe restroom door for Dyn and motioned him inside. “But they’re one of the primal races. You should refer to them as okamijin.”

  “Primal race?” Dyn asked, uo wait as he walked in and shut the door behind him.

  ‘Oh bother, how do I expin taxonomy?’ Nathan thought it might be too ical, so he decided to simplify. “Each se race has an in: primal, elemental, mythical, or elvenoid.”

  “Uh, there’s no toilet in here—just a bucket.” Dyn’s panicked voice called from the other side of the door.

  ‘He’s not bucket trained?’ Nathan wihen remembered Dyn was from another world with different s. “You urinate and defecate in the bucket.”

  “And then what?”

  Nathan heard a strong stream hit the bucket before he could answer. ‘Healthy flow. Good.’

  “Sorry, couldn’t wait any longer.”

  Nathan leaned against the wall beside the door. “Windlock, the okamijin physi, help with your kidones.”

  “The guy who killed me at Merts’ Circle was an okamijin.”

  Nathan really wished Dyn would stop saying words like killed or died, but he uood. ‘A trauma response.’ Dyn needed Windlock; she was the only local physi Nathan knew who could help. He sidered how to get Dyn to trust her. If not, they’d have to check with the hospital alchemist for anything without side effects, like lowered boy, body cramps, brain fog, or heart failure.

  Hoping he’d earned enough trust, Nathan said, “Dyn, Windlock is a mender, just like me. She wants to help you, and I’ll be right by your side the eime.”

  The sound of Dyn’s ongoing urination filled the brief silence. “Fine, but if you disappear on me like murder-hobo Doctor Who, I’m going to be mating pissed.”

  Nathan didirely uand what Dyn had just said, but he uood the part where Dyn agreed. The squeak of the faucet, followed by running water, reassured Nathan that Dyn’s hygiene habits were at least det.

  The door opened, and Dyn stepped out. “I couldn’t figure out how to flush it.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the room behind him.

  “Dyn, it’s a bucket. You don’t flush it.”

  Dyn wrinkled his nose in disgust. “You just leave it there for the guy? Gross.”

  Nathan chuckled. “The bucket’s ented; it activates when the door closes. Go ahead, turn around and watch what happens when you close the door.”

  Dyn tilted his head slightly, a skeptical frown f. He walked bato the restroom, resting a hand on the door for a moment. Still unsure if it rank, he gave Nathan a quice before closing the door behind him.

  “Sacred excrement!” Dyn excimed as he flung the door open. “It’s go just vanished.”

  “That’s how a restroom works.” Nathan smiled, suppressing anh. Watg Dyn find y in simple, everyday things was oddly adorable.

  Dyn narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “But where does it go?”

  “I’m a physi, not an architect.” Nathan shrugged. “You’d have to ask an architect how that magic works.”

  Nathahem back to his offid had Dyurn to the bed.

  Windloced up from her tablet. “His respirations seem fio me.”

  Nathan bit his lip, his eyes flickering with hope. “There are calcium deposits in his kidneys. I was w if you could break them up.”

  “Using my resonance ability?”

  Nathan nodded. “I think it’ll work well.”

  “Intriguing proposal.” Windlock mulled it over, trying to hide her grin. “You know I’m a sucker for innovative procedures. I’m in.” She tucked her tablet away and approached the bed.

  Nathan turo Dyn. “Windlock’s going to use vibrations to break up the calcium deposits in your kidneys. Afterward, the remnants will pass through your system painlessly.”

  “That sounds way better thaher way they e out,” Dyn said.

  Windlock raised a furry eyebrow. “What other way?”

  “Peeing.”

  “Barbaric.” Windlock shuddered. “Alright, Dyn, kindly remove your shirt for me and then roll onto your side when you’re ready.”