CHAPTER 55: ENERGY CRYSTAL (2)

Serena pursed her lips at the words and thought to herself, So, that was what the commotion was about. Glad it’s not an attack. Although a monster horde isn’t good news.

But maybe she could get lucky with that sighting...

"Does the village not have any crystals to spare?" Serena asked, moving to the corner to retrieve her crystal pouch from her subspace without seeing.

"They have crystals, but can’t spare any. It’s too risky for them." Theo answered, walking over to her. "I have one back in the city. If you want, I can give it to you to replace the one you have now... If you have one. The only thing is we’ll have to wait until after the cold season for me to go retrieve my things."

The village not sparing an energy crystal made sense she supposed. They couldn’t use a precious resource on a high risk stranger. Even Serena was having doubts about giving up her crystals.

But if Theo was going to guarantee she gets something out of it, then she supposed she could give it up. She just wasn’t kind hearted enough to help those she didn’t know. Not without there being some value in it for her.

Maybe it made her cruel, but that was how she lived.

"Well, this is what I have." Serena said as opened her pouch. "You can use it if you think it’s worth the risk."

Theo glanced down at her pouch and in between a few clear crystals, he spotted a small purple crystal. He immediately reached out to pick it up before turning back to Serena.

"Thanks." Theo murmured, moving to head back up the ladder. "I should get going before the beastman’s situation gets worse."

Serena nodded her head in understanding, watching as Theo headed back out. She glanced over to where Kiro was hiding, wondering if she should "find him" now.

Since they had packed away the food and Kiro wanted to head up, Serena had to distract with a game. One that had him hiding away from everyone. Of course, she figured out where he’d gone, but pretended not to know.

Of course, now that she knew what was going on, perhaps it was best to head back out. On second thought, perhaps not. An injured beastman wouldn’t be a pleasant sight for a young cub.

Guess it was back to playing along this hide and seek game for a while longer.

***

Theo got back to the entrance of the village as quickly as he could. By then, most beastmen had headed back to whatever they were doing before, not wanting to watch the scene any longer.

Healer Kai and Davis were cleaning up and preparing to move the patient now that they got his injuries as stabilized as they possibly could. And probably also so no one had to watch what happened to the bird beastman.

"Here!" Theo called out. "My mate said she could spare an energy crystal."

The few that lingered glanced over at him in surprise. Not doubt shocked he’d allow Serena to make such a risky decision. But it wasn’t like Serena really had much use for the energy crystal right now.

Besides, he did promise her that he would replace her crystal. They’d need to wait a bit, but he doubted anything would happen that would require the crystal’s need.

Hopefully.

"But didn’t you say you didn’t have any crystals?!" The rabbit beastman who’d ask him about having an energy crystal cried out. "How could you-"

"Don’t question me." Theo growled back, handing the crystal over to Healer Kai. "Besides, this belongs to Serena. Not me... You’re lucky she was willing to spare this."

"Are you sure?" Healer Kai asked, hesitating to take the ping-pong sized crystal.

"I understand the risks." Theo nodded his head. "You can go ahead and use it."

Healer Kai sighed, shaking his head and muttered, "I hope you know what you’re doing..."

He then took the crystal and placed it into the bird beastman’s mouth which was being held open by Davis. Purple liquid soon flowed out of the crystal and Healer Kai watched it carefully, making sure the bird beastman didn’t choke.

Once the crystal disappeared, Healer Kai and Davis moved back to getting him away from the entrance of the village. Theo quietly followed along, wanting to check if the crystal was doing its work.

Elder Samuel also followed along after banning anyone else from coming with. They got to Healer Kai’s hut fairly quickly and got the bird beastman settled down on a bed before Healer Kai went back to checking over his injuries.

Theo watched from the corner of the room, the scent of herbs heavy in the air. Which made sense considering almost every spot was covered in different plants. There were some even hanging from the roof.

Davis headed out to get clean water, leaving Healer Kai to work alone. The bird beastman’s body suddenly twitched wildly and Theo went stiff.

"Hmmm.... Looks like it’s working." Healer Kai muttered to him. "A moment longer and he’d be dead."

His words brought both relief and dread to Theo. Of course, they still weren’t out of the clear. That would likely happen only by tomorrow or the following day at the latest.

It depended on how much the energy crystal helped the bird beastman with healing up.

Healer Kai suddenly glanced over at them and stated, "There’s no point in either of you lingering here. You’re wasting your time here. If anything happens, I’ll have Davis come get you."

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Healer Kai was kicking them out of his hut. However, neither Elder Samuel nor Theo fought with him about it. They both knew better than to get on a healer’s bad side.

The two headed out as Davis came back with water to boil. Elder Samuel thanked Theo for his help with the situation before they parted ways and headed back to what they were doing.