Healing

"Mm..."

Little Luna shook her head. "Most low-level curses don't leak any spell fluctuations. That's basic common knowledge in Eladia. Don't tell me you didn't even know that?"

"With no other healer confirming it and no spell fluctuations leaking out, how can they be sure this is a curse?"

Caesar muttered inwardly. He studied Orkash's condition for a while longer, and the more he looked, the more something felt wrong. Damn it, could this just be heatstroke?

After all, when a single Dispel could remove most low-level negative conditions, no one would bother studying the concept of "disease."

If something was wrong, just find a priest. The more powerful the divine spell, the better its effects. There were even forbidden divine spells like "Raise Dead." Before the all-purpose priests, what room was there for other healers to survive?

In the world Caesar had once lived in, heatstroke was not considered a serious problem. Education there was widespread, and everyone possessed the necessary common sense of daily life. People could recognize the danger in the early stages and deal with it promptly.

But this was Eladia. These were primitive, impoverished orcs. How could they possibly know such things?

Even on Earth, severe heatstroke could carry a mortality rate as high as eighty percent. The dry-season temperatures in the north were far higher than on Earth's, yet these idiots had left Orkash out in the open, beneath the blazing sun, without a shred of shelter. No matter how sturdy and powerful an orc's constitution was, he probably would not endure it.

Although Caesar could not be completely certain that Orkash's condition was heatstroke, even if it truly was the so-called Flame Demon Curse, these orcs would still be helpless. They could only watch Orkash die in agony.

Caesar decided to give it a try.

He had already planned to forge the Stone Crow Clan into the foundation of his rise and use these orcs as his initial strength. Naturally, he could not stand by and watch a robust orc warrior die right before his eyes.

Of course, he also had some darker calculations. If he could successfully save this orc, Caesar would have torn open a breach in the Stone Crow Clan, and his relationship with the orcs would no longer be one of pure mutual interest.

If he succeeded, these single-minded orcs would never forget Caesar's kindness. Even if he failed, he would lose nothing.

Time waited for no one. Having made his decision, he strode swiftly toward the crowd of orcs, swept aside those blocking his way with his tail, and forcibly squeezed through with his massive body.

Ignoring everyone's stares, Caesar grabbed Orkash from the ground in one motion.

A clammy sensation immediately came through his right claw. The orc was drenched in sweat, and his body temperature was high. That fit the symptoms of severe heatstroke well, giving Caesar greater confidence in his judgment.

"Orkash! Damn it, what are you doing to him?!"

"Let him go!"

Following ancient orc tradition, if a warrior recognized by the clan and tribe died or was about to die, the orcs had to hold a farewell rite for him, singing ancient songs and bearing witness to his death.

Yet Caesar had interrupted that ancient ritual.

The Stone Crow Clan orcs were greatly enraged. For a moment, the crowd seethed with fury. Even Sifu, the usually calm old shaman, raised his brows and tightened his grip on his bone staff.

Time was short, and Caesar could not account for everything, but he knew he needed to offer the Stone Crow Clan an explanation. In Eladia's history, many wars had begun over a laughable misunderstanding.

"I might be able to save him..."

Caesar spoke quietly to Sifu. Then, before the crowd could react, he spread his black wings. The not-so-thick membranes nearly knocked several orcs over as he carried Orkash back to his lair.

"Orkash!" Gar roared. Watching Caesar carry the orc into the sky, he raised a foot to give chase.

"Let him try."

Sifu stopped the rash great warrior. "We can do nothing, but perhaps the mysterious true dragon has another way."

The black dragon's lair.

The temperature inside the cave was much lower than outside, thanks to a massive slab of frozen rock standing in one corner. Caesar really knew how to enjoy himself. He had used his frost breath to create a "cooling stone," allowing him to enjoy an endless supply of pleasant cool air even in his lair.

"Ortolenso."

For once, Luna called Caesar by the true name she had seen when they formed their oath. "You don't happen to know divine spells too, do you? Otherwise, why bring him here? He's almost done for."

"Not yet."

Caesar set Orkash down. Though an orc's physique could not compare to a dragon's, it was still quite formidable. If those idiots outside had not left Orkash beneath the scorching sun, then even if he could not pull through, he would have lasted a long while.

If it was heatstroke, the first step was to lower his temperature.

But he could not use frost breath directly. The orc's body was already extremely weakened, and Caesar feared that a layer of frost and the abrupt temperature shift would kill the orc outright.

After thinking for a moment, Caesar scraped off a large chunk of ice from the cooling rock, then breathed a light stream of fire. His control over his breath might not yet have reached perfection, but it was close enough for such precise manipulation.

The crushed ice gradually melted beneath the flames, turning into liquid that pooled in his claw. Caesar then splashed it over Orkash.

Sure enough—

As he watched the orc's pained expression relax, he became even more certain that this was not some Flame Demon Curse, but ordinary heatstroke.

"Go scoop up some of that stuff we drink and feed it to him," Caesar instructed Little Luna, then used his tail to pry open Orkash's mouth.

Sometimes, claws and fangs that were too sharp could be a nuisance. They could easily tear apart fragile things they touched, such as the skin around an orc's face. So he could only use his tail to force open the unconscious orc's mouth.

"Oh... okay."

Though she had no idea what Caesar's string of actions meant, Luna obediently took a slightly larger bowl and scooped up a bowlful of the drink she loved from the stone pot.

Caesar remembered that mint was one of the ingredients in medicines used to treat heatstroke in his previous life. Though Eladia's mint differed greatly from that of Earth, it tasted the same. Perhaps it would have the same effect.

Hopefully.

Caesar propped Orkash up slightly. Luna flapped her wings and flew above the orc's head, then hovered in midair and poured the entire bowl of herbal liquid into his mouth.

"Cough, cough..." Though he choked up quite a bit of it, Caesar saw that most of the drink had still gone down the orc's throat.

"Now we pray to the gods." Caesar smiled, released Orkash, then lay down with his neck resting flat against the ground and quietly watched for changes in the orc.

He had never been in the habit of worshipping gods. He had merely made an offhand joke, but Luna actually closed her eyes, interlaced her fingers before her chest, and murmured a prayer under her breath, though no one knew what she was praying for.