As they took the final turn to get to Celia's house, they saw her waiting at the porch, looking deep into the forest, lost in her own thoughts.
"Mom! I'm back!" Malena dropped Eric and ran towards her mother. Tears started sliding down her cheeks; it was only then that she realised everything she had gone through.
"Melena! What are you doing here? Did they let you kids off the hook?" She hugged her daughter as tightly as she could.
"Owww! Not that tight, Mom. It hurts everywhere..." muffled Malena through her mother's clothes.
Celia continued her hug, pretending she hadn't heard anything. Her eyes locked with Zora's. At the same time, she saw Alex holding his father in his arms. Her heart sank.
"What's happened? Is Herald alright?!" She finally let go of Malena and started walking towards Alex. She instinctively verified his pulse and breathing, which calmed her down a bit. "Did he overdo it?"
"It's a bit more than that." Replied Zora, still holding Herald's hand. "Can we set him down at the nursery?"
"Of course, right away. Quickly, get in!" Celia jogged back to the door and started picking up items left and right while leading the way to the nursery.
"HEY! I'm still here," Cried out Eric, still lying on the ground where Malena had left him.
"Ugh... Coming," barked Malena.
The nursery wasn't just a simple office; it had so many items that some of Rankle City's hospitals would be jealous. Celia used to work as the head nurse in the big town back then. When she decided to come here with her husband, she took the liberty of "borrowing" some of the artefacts they used.
She had everything from mana-infused bandages to transdermal nutrition pouches to small auto-stitching kits. Not to mention all the healing, cleansing, and relaxing potions she had made since.
"Alex dear, could you please lay your father on the furthest bed?" She pointed at one of the beds in the corner of the room. "Care to explain what you're doing here, young man?" She didn't even take the time to look at him, but it was obvious that she was talking to Eric.
Eric was embarrassed, too stunned to speak. He had taken a seat in one of the closest beds.
"He helped us out today, Celia. Could you please heal his arm?" Answered Zora in his place, looking at him to show her backup.
"It's only because you say so, Zora." She turned around to face Eric.
"I still haven't forgotten what you've done to Malena. Give me your arm." Without skipping a beat, Celia conjured a sixth-grade healing spell derived from Shed's revised myth.
Wow... she's on a whole other level...
Her technique was flawless. Not a single drop of ink was wasted.
The dried blood smeared around the wound liquefied and poured back into the wound. The wound itself closed up in a couple of seconds. Celia undid the belt, and his arm was as good as new.
"Thank you very much, Miss Celia!" Eric looked at the ground, embarrassed to be treated by the mother of the girl he bullied.
"You're welcome. I hope you will remember this the next time you cross Malena or Alex at the library." Celia had always had those piercing grey eyes that seemed to look into one's soul, and she knew how to use them.
"Don't worry, Mom! Next time he tries something funny, I'll just pummel him into the ground!" exclaimed Malena from over Eric's shoulder.
"Will...will Elder Herald be okay? Why hasn't he woken up yet?" Asked Eric, watching Herald from afar.
His words hung in the air for a couple of seconds. He tried to look into everyone's eyes to understand why no one was answering. The faces he saw were closed and dull. As if he were talking about a man who had already passed.
"Thank you for worrying about him, Eric. You have a good heart. We will take it from here; you go home and rest. I am going to need you at the library tomorrow." Said Zora, putting one hand on his shoulder.
Without saying a word, Eric stood up. He was too shaken to realise that Celia had also healed his legs and hips, which didn't hurt anymore. As he was passing the door, he took one last look at Elder Herald.
After setting up her craft table with ink, flowers, flasks and spices, Celia broke the silence, "Did he use the Crimson Ink?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes..." answered Zora, her voice cracking as she spoke.
"Why? Why didn't you just pay?" Celia started the heat under her flask.
"Xander was defeated. He used fourth-state refined Ink to cast a fireball to destroy the library. Herald had no choice."
As she heard the word "library", Celia snapped. She hit the table with both her fists. "That stupid Library! Do they not value their own lives? Do they not value us?! He had a choice! They always have a choice!"
She continued to assemble her potion, adding ink and plants to the flask. "I won't let it take another life, I won't let you go through what we went through..." Melana started to walk towards her mother. She didn't understand everything her mother was saying.
"Mom, what's happening..." Said Malena softly.
Celia didn't answer; she finished her flash and walked towards Herald. She rolled up his sleeve and cast a second spell while pouring the green mixture on his arm. The forearm absorbed the potion as if it had a mouth.
"Can you save him, Celia?" Zora passed her fingers through Herald's head, without taking her eyes off of him"
"No... Not with what I have at least."
"What does he need?" Zora's eyes lit up, finally breaking her gaze from her husband.
"It's more about who he needs. Even if I were thirty years younger, I wouldn't have been able to make it work." Celia started looking through her shelves, looking for a specific book she hadn't read in a long time.
"Herald has entered a state called "Cristalisation". This happens when you use a spell well over your mana limit with highly refined Ink. The spell is conjured, but the tradeoff is falling into a deep slumber. There are only a few known cases of people waking up from this state." She had found the book she was looking for and started to turn the pages one by one.
"Alright! We just have to do what they did to wake him up!" Alex was already behind Celia, scanning through the pages.
His face froze. What he saw on the page shattered all his hopes.
"That can't be right, there must be another way" After looking at Celia, he understood that this was the only way.
"A fifth-tier healer? And not any fifth-tier, one that has a healing myth? Even in the capital, that would be hard to find!" Alex sat down, realising that the situation was much more dire than he expected.
"That's not the worst part, Alex..." Added Celia.
"What is it then? What could be worse than finding one of the rarest people on the continent?" Snapped back, Alex.
"There has never been a case of recovery after one month of Cristalisation..." Those words struck Alex like a mace. His hands started shaking as he felt heat inside his chest.
"One month?!" His words were barely audible; the spark in his eyes was slowly dimming.
"Alex..." Malena walked towards him. "We're going to save him." Even Malena didn't have the force to joke around to lighten the mood. She could only try to support her childhood friend, not knowing what to say or do. Alex didn't react, too far into his own thoughts.
What the hell am I going to do... how am I going to save dad...
This is all their fault, Klutz, Xander and whoever sent him...
...
Wait, didn't he say that the Wolves were the ones that sent him to destroy the library? They're the real people responsible for all of this...
Zora finally decided to move away from Herald's bed and walk up to Alex.
"Look, honey. I don't know how, but we'll make it out. We always do." Zora tried to hold Alex's hand, but he pulled it back.
"NO! Things don't magically fall in order," Cried out Alex. "Why don't we have a good healer. Why don't we have any strong fighters? Why don't we have any myths in our village? Why are we this weak? Why..."
"Don't say that, Alex..." added Zora, sharing her son's pain.
We've never had any resources in our village. Roman was the only one strong enough to defend us, and he was sent to the capital to serve the country.
Our only strength has always been knowledge. And right now, it isn't enough to help my dad. I need to find this healer. I'll do whatever it takes.
Where should I start...
Alex started recalling everything that had happened and what made his father use that spell.
Xander shouldn't have had that Ink. Even his Lord didn't have the capacity to produce that Ink. It must have been the Wolves. I don't know who they are, but they must be strong.
"I'm going to Lopna's Caves." Alex's words made the silence already present fill the place even more.
"What are you talking about?" Replied Celia, turning around to face him. "You aren't going to find any healer there..."
"Xander was sent by a group of people called the Wolves to destroy the Library. They must be the ones who gave him his fourth-grade Ink. They'll be coming here next"
"We'll fight them here together. We'll have better odds." Celia had her arms crossed, looking at Alex from above.
"I don't want the village to be burnt to the ground. If we had Roman, it would have been possible, but as we stand, it's too risky. So I'll fight them there. We have to stop them either way, and I'm sure they'll have information to find a healer. If we wait for them to come here, it might be too late for Dad." Alex stood up, fire burning in his eyes.
"Are you crazy? If they had fourth-grade Ink, you'll never be able to defeat them." Answered Celia, looking at him with pity in her eyes. She only saw a poor child in denial, fighting for his Father's life.
Alex didn't answer. He was already planning his trip.
"Mom, I'll go break the news to Alfred. I need some sleep." Zora stood up, thinking of what she'd say to stop Alex from his dangerous objective.
As she was about to speak, she saw the spark in his eyes. She knew that there was nothing in the world that she could say to stop him. Alex had a lot of flaws, his biggest one being that he couldn't use mana, but had an iron will that even the gods couldn't strip away.