Kaine’s gaze moved between the three women lying in front of him and the panels floating above them. Then, almost without thinking, he raised his hand toward the words at the bottom of Serathiel’s screen.
[Full restoration possible.]
His finger passed through them and suddenly, the panel changed.
Kaine blinked at that.
Then, he started reading.
[Serathiel.]
[Restoration Plan]
[Stage One: Prepare the Body.]
[Companion’s body is too weak to withstand direct restoration of the Dragon Heart. Basic nourishment, blood stability, and circulation must be improved before heart treatment can begin.]
[Required Treatment: Draconic Foundation Elixir.]
[Effects: Restores nutrient absorption, supports blood production, and repairs the surviving circulation pathways around the Dragon Heart.]
Kaine’s face changed.
A method.
An actual method that could be used to begin her recovery.
He continued reading, this time, with a more determined look on his face.
[Restoration Recipe: Draconic Foundation Elixir.]
[Ingredients per dose:]
[Bloodleaf Extract: 20 ml.]
[Marrowroot Powder: 3 g.]
[Purified Water: 100 ml.]
[Draconic Foundation Catalyst: 1 drop.]
[Preparation:]
[Warm the purified water over low heat. Add the Marrowroot Powder gradually and stir until fully dissolved. Add the Bloodleaf Extract. Maintain low heat for ten minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Remove from heat. Once the mixture is lukewarm, add the Draconic Foundation Catalyst and stir until the liquid turns uniformly amber.]
[Administer one dose every twelve hours. Reassessment is required before increasing the dosage.]
[Note: Draconic Foundation Catalyst available in the First-Stage Catalyst Set.]
Bloodleaf.
Marrowroot.
Kaine recognised those names.
The family used Bloodleaf in medicines given to injured guards. Marrowroot was more expensive, but he remembered seeing it listed among the supplies delivered to the medical ward.
With that thought in his mind, he continued reading.
[Recovery Rewards.]
[Minor restoration progress will grant attribute increases and Recovery Points.]
[Stage Completion Reward: Draconic Muscle Fibres.]
[Draconic fibres will develop alongside the host’s existing muscles, increasing their capacity to generate force.]
[Associated Ability: Dragon Force.]
[Concentrate the strength of the draconic fibres into a single movement. Repeated use may strain bones and tendons that have not yet evolved.]
Kaine stopped at that.
Recovery Rewards.
He didn’t pay any attention to that when he read about them before but...
Draconic Muscle Fibres.
Did that mean... if he successfully completed Stage One of Serathiel’s Recovery Plan... his muscles would change?
He looked at his hand.
He spent years forcing his body to become stronger through training, but changing the muscle fibres instead...?
That was something far beyond what another exercise or medicinal bath did, it... it changed his very body itself.
Was that even possible...?
It shouldn’t be but then again...
With his existing knowledge alone, his summons’ recovery and seeing floating magical words that others could not see, none of this should be possible.
Kaine continued thinking about it, but then suddenly, something happened.
"Hnhp!"
He heard a sharp breath.
He looked ahead and saw Nerys move beneath her blanket. He walked towards her and gently moved her blanket. Her body was trembling, her brows were scrunched up and her fingers tightened around Lysara’s sleeve.
He looked and saw a similar tension on Lysara’s face, her calm breathing had become shallow and her remaining tail moved close to her body.
On the other bed, Serathiel was no different, she was clenching her jaw.
They were in pain.
And the instant Kaine noticed it, the realisation struck.
The Protection Period was over.
The immunity the three had from death and pain was now gone.
Kaine instantly stood up.
Normally, they wouldn’t have felt a difference since their bodies were always in constant pain, making them accustomed to it, but for the past 24 hours, that feeling had disappeared. For the first time in who knows how long, the women felt what it was like to live without pain.
But now, that feeling was gone and the pain of broken limbs, torn tissues and damaged cores and channels returned.
"Hnp—"
Nerys was about to let out another painful groan, but then, her eyes opened and the instant she saw him, she shut her mouth and lowered her head.
Kaine recognised that expression.
She was trying not to make a sound so that she wouldn’t disturb him.
The Shadow Demon also tried to loosen her grip on Lysara’s sleeve, but another tremor of pain passed through her fingers, making her stop, but she couldn’t stop, she needed to move, else Kaine would be angry, he might even send her back, she had to look obedient—
"Stay still."
That was when Kaine spoke quietly.
The Shadow Demon froze, her very body was accustomed to listening to commands before her mind could make sense of them.
Kaine’s eyes moved towards the ordinary medicines he had prepared for them, then he remembered something else.
The Emergency Stabilisation Kit the messages talked about.
And the instant he thought about it, another screen appeared in front of him.
[Emergency Stabilisation Kit.]
[Effects: Suppresses pain and stabilizes the recipient’s condition for seventy-two hours.]
[Underlying injuries will remain unchanged.]
[Does Host wish to claim it?]
[Y/N]
Kaine did not wait.
’Yes.’
Just as he thought about it, something appeared in his right hand.
A small case.
It was heavy. He stared at it for a moment, then, when he heard the women wince again, he opened the metal clasp and opened it.
There were three small vials inside. When Kaine looked at them, different hovering screens appeared on top of each of them, showing the name of the recipient the vial belonged to.
He took the one marked for Nerys.
[Recipient: Nerys.]
[Apply the full contents against the inside of the cheek. The companion’s skin will absorb the contents through contact.]
Kaine read the instruction carefully, he then placed the case on the ground and sat beside Nerys. The Shadow Demon flinched at the proximity, but she didn’t dare make a sound.
Kaine showed her the vial.
"It’s a medicine."
He spoke gently. Nerys looked at him, then at the vial.
"I’m going to give it to you. It should help with the pain."
Nerys said nothing.
"Open your mouth."
Kaine instructed and the Shadow Demon opened her mouth instantly, just like she was ordered to.
That made Kaine pause for a short moment. Nerys did not trust him, no, far from it, he could see the fear in her eyes as she stared at the vial. In her head, she was almost certain that it was poison or something that would hurt her.
But she still obeyed because she knew that if she didn’t, Kaine would hurt her far more than the vial ever could.
Kaine could tell what she was thinking and... he couldn’t do anything about it.
He leaned closer, then placed the tip of the vial inside her cheek very very carefully. Just like the instructions said, her skin absorbed the contents.
Nerys could feel something enter her body, her fingers tightened around Lysara’s sleeve as she braced herself for the pain she was about to feel but then...
Her face changed.
The pain didn’t come.
In fact... the pain she was feeling...
It suddenly stopped.
She looked at Kaine with mild surprise.
Kaine saw the change on her face and showed a very small, rare smile.
It worked.
It really did work.
And as if to confirm that,
[Emergency stabilization successful.]
[Recipient: Nerys.]
[Pain suppressed.]
[Physical deterioration temporarily suppressed.]
[Remaining duration: 71:59:59.]
Another screen appeared in front of him.
Kaine’s eyes changed.
It really was working.
He still had countless questions and doubts in his mind, but the fact that the pain did stop exactly like the system claimed it would...
It gave him more hope.
Maybe... he really could heal them.
Still, just to be sure, he glanced at Nerys and asked her.
"Did the pain stop?"
Nerys looked at him for a moment, then she gave him a small nod.
"Do you feel better now?"
She nodded again.
Kaine nodded at her with a gentle smile, a smile that not a single person in the entire Valcrest Family had seen.
The Shadow Demon, however, was still confused. The man stopped her pain, it felt good but at the same time, she was also afraid. In her mind, all this felt like a ruse to give her a little hope before she was hurt again.
"Shall we give it to her as well?"
That was when Kaine took out another Vial and looked at Lysara. Nerys looked at Lysara, the Fox was trembling in pain, the Shadow Demon nodded her head multiple times.
"Will you help me wake her up?"
He asked.
Nerys nodded again before she gently nudged Lysara. The Fox, even in her sleep, gently held her hand, thinking the Demon was in pain. Nerys nudged her again, Lysara finally woke up.
She looked at Nerys, who then pointed at the vial in Kaine’s hand. Then, the Fox looked at Kaine.
"Open your mouth."
Kaine spoke in a low voice.
The Fox obeyed.
Just like Nerys, she couldn’t bring herself to trust him either, her obedience, however, was different from Nerys’s. She didn’t obey him out of fear, she just... didn’t care. It wasn’t like this man couldn’t use force if she rejected him, rejection would only delay the inevitable.
Kaine could tell what she was thinking, after all, he was the same. Even when he came to this world and got a family who gave him everything he needed, he never trusted them. These women were the same, he never expected them to trust him either, he just wanted them to let him heal them and... he wanted to be better to them than his ’family’ was to him.
So when the Fox opened her mouth, Kaine gave her the medicine and watched as the strain gradually left her face and her shoulders calmly settled down on the pillows.
[Emergency stabilization successful.]
[Recipient: Lysara.]
[Pain suppressed.]
[Physical deterioration temporarily suppressed.]
[Remaining duration: 71:59:59.]
The same message appeared, he nodded to himself.
Just then, he heard a voice.
"What did you give her...?"
It was Serathiel.
The Dragon was awake and was glaring at the vial in his hand with an intense look on her face. Her glare then shifted to him and she tried to pounce on him with her broken body. She couldn’t, she was too weak to even move, let alone pounce on him.
"What are you doing to them!?"
She screamed in anger.
"I told you! You can do what you want to me! I will do anything you want but you leave them alone!"
"I gave them a medicine."
Kaine answered in a calm tone and the Dragon’s face changed instantly.
"Medicine...?"
"To help with pain."
Serathiel glanced at the other two, they nodded.
"The pain is gone."
Lysara informed.
She still didn’t trust Kaine but she also hadn’t forgotten the number of times Serathiel was hurt because of what she was doing right now.
Despite being chained, the Dragon would try to attack their captors whenever they approached them, there were a few instances where she managed to bite one of them and tear his skin off, that day, those people broke all her limbs, making sure she couldn’t move again.
From then on, they kept breaking her limbs every time they healed even a little, eventually turning her into a cripple.
Lysara hadn’t forgotten Serathiel’s screams as they broke her limbs one by one and she...
She didn’t want to hear the same screams again.
"We are fine."
So she said the words she knew would calm Serathiel down.
"...oh."
And they did.
The moment Serathiel realised her anger was misplaced, guilt took over her face. To think she screamed at and tried to attack the same man who saved them from that place...
She glanced at Kaine again.
"I... I apologise for raising my voice at you."
She spoke in a low, meek voice.
"It is alright."
Kaine answered in a calm tone.
"You fight for your friends despite the state you are in. That shows bravery, you don’t have to apologise for being brave."
All three women stared at him when he said those words, unable to believe this was how he reacted after Serathiel raised her voice at him.
Serathiel’s reaction was even stronger.
Brave.
For some reason, that small praise coming from him made her... happy.
Kaine then took out the third vial and walked towards her bed.
"Open your mouth."
He spoke in a gentle voice.
"Is that... the medicine?"
She asked. Kaine nodded and Serathiel seemed surprised.
"...even for me?"
"I brought it for all three of you."
Kaine spoke as he brought the vial close to her mouth. The Dragon opened her mouth, Kaine applied the medicine, then, her face changed.
"It... really is gone."
She muttered.
[Emergency stabilization successful.]
[Recipient: Serathiel.]
[Pain suppressed.]
[Physical deterioration temporarily suppressed.]
[Remaining duration: 71:59:59.]
Kaine ignored the screen and focused on her instead.
"Do you feel any discomfort?"
"...no."
Kaine nodded at that and smiled.
Then, just as he was about to stand up and leave.
"...why are you doing this?"
Serathiel asked in an oddly low, uncertain voice.
Kaine looked at her, she repeated her question.
"Why are you helping us?"
And Kaine stopped.
There it was.
Serathiel’s doubt. He recognised it in an instant. Just like the others, she couldn’t bring herself to trust him.
Kaine looked at her, then he stared at the other two.
He couldn’t say he was helping them because he wanted to. As strongly as he believed it, he knew for a fact he couldn’t make them believe it.
They were like him, they couldn’t trust selfless kindness. After all, they too knew that people are only kind when they want something from you.
So Kaine gave them another answer instead.
"Because helping you strengthens me."
"...what?"
The Dragon’s face changed and Kaine nodded.
"You all must have sensed the connection formed between you and me by now, yes?"
The three women nodded.
"That connection makes it so the more you recover, the stronger I get."
"So... you are only healing us because it will make you stronger?"
Serathiel asked and after staring at her for a slight second, Kaine let out an uncharacteristic snort.
"Why else would I do that?"
The instant he said those words, he saw the change.
"So long as helping us benefits you...
...you won’t send us back?"
Serathiel spoke carefully.
"I won’t."
The Dragon was silent for a few seconds.
"...I understand."
Then she nodded.