章 276: Healing and Harm

A shield was crushed under the club of the Ogre.

Otis was panting at the side, holding his left hand as his eyes showed deep fear. Had he been just a split-second slower, he would have surely lost his hand, maybe even his life.

Luckily he only broke a bone and tore a few muscles. Nothing a few months of rest and potions couldn't fix.

But first, he had to survive! He jumped down from the wall to avoid the beast.

The Ogre laughed and slowly lifted the club again, almost like playing golf with just one hand.

"Unbreakable Pillars of Stone!" Otis shouted, and three stone pillars rose from the ground and acted as a shield.

Boom!

The wall was struck by the Ogre, and a chunk was blasted at the Dark Knight. It struck the newly erected barrier and showered Otis with debris.

Despite his armor, he was beaten back and could barely stand. A stone struck his helmet, and now blood started dripping from the inside.

"Fucking monster, die!" He roared and with his good hand took a scroll from his pouch.

***

Gerald landed on the roof of the warehouse just after the Orc Shaman started throwing out his spells.

He jumped down and quickly located Blum who had his arm in a sling. He placed a hand on his shoulder and injected some of his Mana to start healing him.

"Huh? Oh, boss, you are back!"

"Don't move, and don't resist," Gerald answered. Healing someone else was way harder than healing yourself. He needed peace to be most effective.

That's when the Ogre showed up.

"Ah, shit…" Gerald cursed as he watched the beast smash the boy with its club.

"Here, take this," he handed a Health Potion to Blum and ran to the young man. He was in critical condition and was losing blood fast. His clothes were quickly becoming soaked with blood, and if nothing was done, he would probably be beyond saving in just a few minutes.

Luckily he was unconscious so there was no movement or resistance, and Gerald could do his thing.

"Oh boy… I really don't know if this is going to work." He frowned and took control over the blood that was flowing out. It was something he considered before and was his last resort for saving his own life, but now he was going to test it on someone else for the first time.

His magic would become the one to pump the blood through the boy, and instead of his veins containing it, Gerald's mind would be the one to do it. Quite complicated in theory, and even more so in practice.

He tore off the guy's shirt and quickly scanned his body. It was bad, to say the least. Bones were poking out at many places, and his organs were bleeding on the inside.

Magic Eyes becoming stronger gave him much greater clarity when looking through things. Luckily this allowed him to focus and 'see' inside someone else's body. Basically an X-Ray on steroids.

"You are one lucky guy, you know that? Escaping certain death is not so easy," Gerald mumbled and started his magic. He placed his hands on the boy's chest and took control over him.

The bones moved back and in their place, and the ruptured organs closed back up and the blood went back to where it was supposed to be.

It was not perfect, and some blood was too contaminated to be put back into the body, but the condition stabilized somewhat.

Elly quickly came running and tried to help.

"Feed him a Healing Potion," Gerald said, and a vial appeared beside them.

"Okay!" Elly took the vial and carefully poured it down the boy's throat. She was doing it extremely carefully not to accidentally choke him.

Gerald held the broken body together so for the moment he was fine, however as soon as the magic stopped the boy would surely bleed out in minutes.

And besides, Gerald glanced at the Dark Knight battling against the Ogre, if you could call it that. He was basically just avoiding being pummeled to death, and he was failing at that terribly. Even the spell scroll he took out as a last resort only stunned the beast for a second or so before it pounced at him again.

Other warriors and city soldiers tried to help and started shooting at the giant mass of flesh, but arrows and spells simply bounced off, or they left shallow wounds.

Compared to the thickness of the skin and subcutaneous fat, it amounted to almost nothing.

They could pound on the beast for days and it would still be just a little more than a cat scratching a human.

"Come on, work damn it!" Gerald cursed and continued sending his Mana in. It was crazy how slow the potion seemed to work when every second counted.

The wounds slowly closed and scabbed over and that's when Gerald finally dared to release his control. The boy started bleeding immediately as he did so, but it was not life-threatening anymore. At least not for the short term.

"Keep an eye on him and don't move him," he said to Elly and then quickly ran off.

The Health Potion should be able to keep him going until his body could repair itself.

"Be careful!" Elly shouted after him, but it was unclear if he heard her.

***

"Haa…haa…" Otis the Dark Knight was breathing haggardly and barely standing. His dark armor was full of dents and holes, and some parts were so mangled it was incredible he didn't already collapse. His bones inside must have been broken more than in just a few places.

The Ogre was arrogantly coming closer with slow steps. It was grinning, showing the sharp fangs in its mouth, with the club on the shoulder. It was in no rush.

Otis gripped his sword and steeled his resolve. His hand was shaking and he knew it was hopeless, but he didn't surrender. He looked at his little friend and murmured, "I'm sorry little man, I have failed you… I have failed her…"

Tears welled in his eyes, threatening to spill over. 'We'll be together soon…'