Chapter 109: A Hospital

Hell energy was quite versatile while also being volatile for most humans. The people in Lucius's past world could resist it using various means, such as mana, healing spells, magical tools, natural resistances, and many more.

In this world, there was no such thing as magic, and thus mana did not exist either. But what did exist was Aether which was preset in nearly every person in this world along with the myriad of creatures.

Lucius himself had seen the reaction between Hell energy and Aether in his body. But he knew he was a big exception as he had the hell imprint to control it, along with having a soul that was not from this world.

He wanted to see its effects on an average human of this world. And by average, Lucius meant physically and not financially. Keith was the son of Viscount Drew and was nothing but average for most people, but his physical condition was not that different from any commoners.

Lucius had already known that he had an uncommon ranked gift, which was nothing special. If he were a commoner, he would not have as many prospects, but with him being a noble, it did not matter as much.

Thus to see this all, Lucius had come to this city. They had actually traveled for over five hours to reach the next city that was past the Harrels Barony. The city they were in was called Dowland City and it was run by another Baron with the name Dowland, of course. 

Baron Dowland was one of the few people Lucius knew were loyal to the Count. Dowland himself was a warrior and had served with the Count on the battlefield before. The only reason why he had retired to a life of administration was because he had been ill for a long time.

There were diseases that even the Priests of Alana could not heal or would not heal, rather. Such diseases could not be healed by common priests, and even bishops would find it hard to heal it. When Lucius had learned of this, he wondered how he had been healed, when the priest that had healed him was a mere High priest.

He had realized that High Priest Josef was most likely not a normal high priest and probably had his own secrets. Lucius was extremely sure that the injuries he had were far greater than anything Baron Dowland had.

While Lucius did not learn what disease Dowland had, he did learn that the city he ruled over was quite prosperous. It was also one of the few cities in the land of Etara that had a major hospital in it rather than smaller healers.

Stepping into the hospital, the first thing Lucius saw was nothing but injured and sick people sitting at the benches to the side. The scene was quite similar to that of his past world, with only the setting changing.

There were junior healers and nurses running around taking care of the patients who coughed, bled and wailed. 

"No matter where you go, hospitals never change…" Lucius muttered to himself as he saw the woman who was unable to pay the cost of her treatment. She was crying while holding a babe while another toddler stood at her side, clutching to the hem of her patched clothes.

"Umm, can I help you?" One of the nurses who had seen Lucius enter the hospital spoke. 

Lucius looked handsome and was eye catching for most women, plus with his noble clothes, he was hard to miss.

"Ah, yes miss. I would like to ask where Keith Drew, son of Viscount Drew, is being kept currently." Lucius spoke in a gentlemanly tone.

The nurse was about to answer him without thinking much, but then remembered her duties.

"And who might you be, sir?" The nurse asked as respectfully as she could.

Lucius was about to answer her, but Kiana beat him to it. 

"This is Lord Asher Inanis, of the Inanis family. Future Count of The Land of Etara." Kiana answered.

As soon as she spoke this, the nurse was stunned. Lucius gently moved the edge of the robe he was wearing over his clothes to reveal the silver Broach pinned on his chest. 

"I-… Me-… Forgiven me, Lord Asher. I did not recognize you." The nurse stuttered.

"No worries. It's all good. Now then… can you show us to where Keith Drew is being kept at?" Lucius asked again.

"Ah, sure! Please follow me." The Nurse hurriedly replied.

Asher followed the nurse, while Kiana and Donald accompanied them. The rest of the entourage was left back at the entrance of the hospital as it would be inappropriate for so many people to enter, not to mention that they were armed as well.

This was one of the better rules that Lucius noticed this hospital had that was similar to the modern world. 

'Baron Dowland might not be that bad…' Lucius thought to himself while he looked around.

The hospital was made of wood and stone, like most of the buildings in this world. Lucius saw the many wards that were divided according to the numbers and the kind of diseases that were treated in there.

This was the highest number of healers that Lucius had seen till now and was surprised by them. They were properly assigned to different wards, acceding to the kind of healing gift that they had. 

For example, there were healers that could create a thin silk-like thread from their hands. This gift was used to make stitches that they used to sew the wounds of the injured. Then there was a healer who could stimulate the lungs of a patient, allowing them to expel the cough that was stuck in there.

These healers were of the uncommon rank though as their gifts were rather narrow and could not heal directly like those of Healer Delia. Those that had gifts that could directly were greatly prized, and sometimes their value was even more than that of a person that had an Epic ranked gift.