Chương 23: A Little Help of Magic!

From the closed Adventurer's Guild to the hospital, it was another 10-minute walk.

Aster was walking close behind Cassandra, who was leading the way. His hood was pulled low, with his scarf covering half his face. He was facing toward the ground, looking at his feet as he took one step after another over the automatically moving pathway.

The reason was that night streets had more "people" than day streets. As such, more "scary-looking" races were walking past the two.

"Star, are you alright?" Cassy asked worriedly, holding his hand tight as she led him forward. "The hospital should be around here, right? Hang tight; we're close to our destination!"

Aster, despite fear filing his heart, raised his head for a moment and checked before returning to gazing toward his feet. "We should take the next right, then left. The hospital should be there," he whispered.

"Next right... got it!"

As they followed Aster's direction, they soon came before a large, white building that looked more like a hotel than a hospital. Since he came here without a police guide, he didn't go to the secret passage but rather went through the main entrance.

"Wait for me here; it should be over in about fifteen minutes."

"Got it! Then, I'll wait for you at the benches over there~!" Cassy replied energetically.

After watching Cassy walk to a vacant chair, Aster took a deep breath and turned toward the front desk. The same as before, "beautiful" receptionists were sitting there, catering to questions and inquiries by patients and their families.

"Excuse me!" Aster called a vacant elf lady. "I have an appointment today with Dr. Zellbrook; is he in?"

"Ah, are you Mr. Aster?" The elf woman asked back as if she knew of him already. "Please wait; I'll notify the doctor first."

"That was quick..." He mused, watching as the elf lady turned around and headed for the back.

After a short wait, the receptionist returned smiling while saying, "Dr. Zell is on his way; please wait for a minute."

"Got it. Thank you."

"Mr. Aster! Over here, please!"

"Huh?"

Not even ten seconds later, a familiar dwarf doctor waved to him. He turned to the receptionist, who similarly looked surprised, before showing a wry smile. The doctor arrived earlier than anticipated!

Aster walked over to the doctor, who then patted his back while guiding him deeper into the hospital. "Let's talk somewhere more private. Who knows who's listening in around, after all?"

"..."

Hearing the doctor's words, Aster recalled the pair who tried to attack him the day before. The fear he felt then got renewed as he tried to pull the hood deeper to hide his face better.

They didn't walk for long, as they entered a nearby empty private room and talked there. Dr. Zellbrook didn't bother wasting time and passed on a small accessory, a bracelet.

It looked simple, with a chain-like design and the color of deep night. When moving the item against the light, it even sparkles, as if stars were shining within it.

"I tried studying your disease, but other than it reducing your life force with every breath you took, I couldn't figure out anything else." The doctor explained it in a sorry tone.

"As such, I asked for this magic tool, the Stagnating Life Bracelet, which I believe should be perfect to alleviate your disease's symptoms."

Hearing his explanation, the bracelet was able to recover the user's life force whenever it decreased. But, of course, there are limits.

For example, using a game analogy, let's say you receive poison damage of 1 HP per second and have the bracelet equipped. Then you will also recover the 1 HP the same moment you lost it.

On the other hand, if you got slashed and received 10 HP damage, then it can only recover 1 HP per second, only addressing the damage from bleeding but not fixing the wound at all.

In short, it was an iffy recovery item, with not much practical use other than to "mitigate" and not "fix" damage over time.

"This artifact activates using the mana in the air, so unless you go to a place without mana, you'll have no more worries." Dr. Zell continued. "But, of course, it wouldn't change the fact that you only have 5 years left to live."

Aster looked at the little bracelet and quickly passed it through his left hand. As he did, he couldn't feel any difference. "Dr. Zell, does this mean my lifespan wouldn't decrease anymore with every breath while wearing this?"

"Yes, of course. But, as I said earlier, it wouldn't change how much longer you have left."

Aster blinked a few times before showing a thin, awkward smile. "You don't know how much of a help it is, just being able to breathe normally."

---

After that, for a few minutes, Aster was told about the effect and use of the Stagnating Life Bracelet. Of course, since it's mostly automatic, nothing much was needed from him, other than when he did go into a place without mana.

"If that happens, you can either use your mana or others' mana to power it. It has mana storage that can keep it running for an hour, so have your party members charge it for you when in an emergency."

With that as the last bit of information, the two's meeting was adjourned.

"Thanks for everything, Dr. Zellbrook." Aster smiled as he shook the dwarf's hand. "I'm not sure when we'll see each other again, but I'll make sure to remember you by heart."

"Haha! No worries, kid. Dwarves like me are long-lived. 100 or 200 years is nothing! We'll be seeing each other in time."

After a few words of goodbye, Aster left the room and walked toward the entrance. The entire time, he was looking at his new bracelet, admiring its simple design.

"Oh, Star! You're back!"

As soon as he reached the lobby, a cute, high-pitched voice called for him from the side. Cassandra was there, jumping off the bench and running toward him while looking all excited.

"So? How did it go?" She asked, curious.

He smiled at her before shaking his head in a slightly disappointed manner.

"Too bad they can't cure my ailment," he muttered as he raised his left arm, showing the new, thin, chain-like bracelet he had on. "But they did give this to me, the Stagnating Life Bracelet—something to counteract the adverse effects of my ailment."

"Ohh! That's nice!" Cassandra exclaimed. "Too bad my heal is still too weak, or else I would've cured you at once!" She added while grinning cheerfully. "It's my dream to become a healer capable of healing any injuries or diseases, after all!"

"Such a thing exists?" Aster was slightly surprised. "That's a commendable dream. Let's work hard from tomorrow onwards to help you get closer to it!" He muttered while walking forward, heading to the exit.

His head was now facing straight ahead instead of downward. Losing the fear of scraping his life away while breathing, he felt like a new man!

"Huuungh?"

"Urk..."

But as soon as he walked past five Oni men, who were looking scarier than punks or the yakuza, he could only pull his shoulders tight together, trying to look small, while pulling his hood over his head.

Although his mindset improved, it seems he couldn't shake his fear that easily. Frightening things are still frightening, after all.

Cassy led the way with Aster trailing behind her, pulled by the hand, as the two headed to their next destination: Aster's hotel room!