Chapter 443 - Side-Effect

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Watching as Rohan gave orders to the passing chimpanzee soldiers, commanding them even though they stood thrice his size, he began to realize the authority the seemingly feeble elder held. 

"So...this champion of theirs...he's going to be pretty strong, isn't he? I encountered the Stormfallen before, and they really let me have it," he asked.

As he spoke, he displayed the wounds he had received in his skirmish with the coordinated goblins, showing Rohan the nasty gash left on his bicep. 

The macaque's eyes went wide as he saw the wound, swiftly jumping up and tugging on the young man's sleeve as he guided him across one of the bridges. 

"Hey! What's the big idea, old timer?!" He asked. 

Rohan answered without looking back, "You should've said something earlier! I'll have the doctor look at your wounds! You won't be able to win with afflictions like that!" 

He was more so worried about crossing the shaky bridge that seemed to sway with each step--even worse, there were an array of frantic villagers passing by as well as impatient soldiers marching to their stations. 

"I'm alright, okay?" He said, pulling away from the elder's grip. 

Rohan grumbled, stroking his white mane, "I don't know what kind of hardships you've endured that an abhorrent wound like that is 'alright', but I won't question your own knowledge on your body, Ren. However, I will insist you at least let the Doctor take a look. You never know what he may find." 

He couldn't argue with that; between the wounds and the weakness he was inflicted with previously, there wasn't just a small chance something else could be harming his body. 

"Do you understand? The Stormfallen kill--by any means. They'll poison you, ambush you, ensnare you--it doesn't matter, as long as they kill you," Rohan spoke tautly. 

"Alright, alright, I hear ya'," He sighed, nodding his head. 

Without any further delay, he followed the small macaque across a series of bridges; some leading up, some leading down, before arriving at a straw-formed hut positioned at the center of a blue-barked tree. 

"Tell him Rohan sent you, Dr. Kuregura is an eccentric man so...be patient," Rohan told him, already beginning to walk up the bridge of swirling branches. 

"Wait, where are you going?!" He asked. 

If there was one thing he didn't want to risk, it was potentially being left with an unknown doctor who didn't speak the same language as him. Even further, the thought of primal medical tools frightened him more than anything. 

"I've got matters to attend to. I am the warchief of Umber Cloud, after all," Rohan assured him, "you'll be fine, Ren." 

Not stopping at any further words from the young man, the small elder left swiftly. He was left standing where the rain continued to fall heavily, landing against the many, giant leaves around him in an orchestra birthed by the storm. 

Well, I'd better not walk out of here with an amputated arm, that's all I know, he thought, I guess it's just one fight and into another. 

As soon as he stepped through the doorway veiled by an orange quilt, he was greeted by a giant golden langur wearing a white, lengthy set of robes that resembled the coat of a doctor. 

The large, golden-furred primate was already fiddling with an olive-wood drawer, hurrying around and pacing back and forth without acknowledging the existence of the young man. 

"Urr, excuse me…"

"--Yes, yes, one minute!" Dr. Kuregura hushed him, walking past him before rummaging through another drawer. 

As the hunched-over, human-sized monkey looked through the drawer while his lengthy tail flicked back and forth, the young man finally took a look at the room he stood in. 

There were two tables, for two patients, though one was already occupied by a figure he was familiar with: the large ape he had defeated in a duel, now wrapped in bandages as he laid there, seemingly unconscious with his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth. 

Olive curtains draped around the tables, though they didn't obscure much, swaying slightly in the faint wind coming through. 

"A-ha!" The Doctor let out in celebration. 

He watched in silent confusion as the robe-wearing doctor hurried past him while holding a vial of brown liquid in the air, moving almost in a dance as his feet pattered against the carpeted-ground happily. 

"Give me a hand!" Dr. Kuregura looked at him, ushering him over. 

"Urr...alright," he hesitantly agreed. 

He was forced to watch his step as the beige carpeting was stained with a mixture of fluids--not exactly reassuring to him. 

As he stood on one side of the unconscious, silver-furred ape, the eccentric doctor stood on the other. 

"Alright, now keep his mouth open!"

"..."

"Hurry, would you?" Dr. Kuregura hastened him. 

He sighed out of disgust, nodding, "...Alright!"

Begrudgingly, he pried the slumbering ape's mouth open as he was immediately hit with a blast of repugnant breath, causing him to wince as he averted his nose. Even with gloves on, he regretted every moment of it. 

Humming to himself, Dr. Kuregura popped the cork off of the bottle before pouring the complete contents of it down Makabar's throat. 

"...And--done!" Dr. Kuregura told him. 

Without wasting a moment, he released his hold on the ape's slobber-lined lips before fervently shaking his hands to rid the fabric of the primate's drool. 

"Gross…" He muttered to himself with a furrowed expression. 

Dr. Kuregura rinsed the bottle by dunking it in a barrel of water a few times, wiping it with a white cloth. 

"So, what do you need, kid?" Dr. Kuregura asked, setting the empty vial next to an assortment of the same item. 

He was distracted by the snoring ape for a moment before he snapped out of it, looking at the tall, golden langur before answering, "Ah...Rohan told me you'd take a look at my wounds." 

"Old Rohan, eh? Hm...so you're the new "champion", are you?" 

Dr. Kuregura inspected him, walking circles around the adolescent human as he looked his body up and down, keeping his sable fingers tucked close to his chin as he nodded a few times, adjusting his small glasses. 

"How'd you know I was the champion?" He asked, not really knowing what to do while the eccentric primate inspected him. 

Dr. Kuregura stopped, ushering for him to sit on the table opposite of the slumbering ape, "You're a human, what the hell else could make it more obvious?"

"...Fair," he sighed, sitting on the smooth, wood table. 

He already knew what the golden-haired doctor was going to ask him, so he did it himself; removing his cloak and coat, removing the makeshift tourniquet from his bicep as the bloody wound on his bicep was on full display. 

"Oh, they got you good, whoever did this," Dr. Kuregura said, leaning close as his eyes were brought directly in front of the wound. 

By now, it had mostly stopped bleeding as his arm was dried with old crimson, though some streams still continued to run from the shredded wound. 

"...Yeah, it was the Stormfallen. They got me with arrows...oh, right...I've got another wound right here," he said. 

Taking in a breath as he lifted his left leg, he rolled up his pants leg as he showed the cut across his calf. 

"It's not as bad...hasn't really stopped me from moving," he told the doctor. 

"Mm...I'll need to stitch that one up," Dr. Kuregura spoke, "this other one though--you said it was the Stormfallen that did it, yes?" 

As he nodded, he watched the eccentric doctor walk over to his assortment of fluid-filled vials, reaching out and moving his finger as he searched for one, specific jar before grabbing the one with light-green liquid inside. 

"Well, they always lace their arrowheads with a substance called "Moonlight Respite", it's the extracted essence of a flower in the jungle that uses pollen to put prey to sleep--before it eats them whole," Dr. Kuregura explained. 

"Sounds scary…" He muttered. 

Glad I didn't run into that one, he thought. 

The doctor hopped back over, shaking the vial as if loosening the interior substances as he gestured for the young man to bring his arm closer. 

"Indeed, it's a powerful substance. They use it to weaken those that their arrows don't kill. Tenacious folks, those ones. If it stays in your body for too long, it'll actually have the inverse effect--you'll be unable to sleep as you're so tired it becomes painful. Eventually, you die," the fuzzy doctor explained. 

"And that stuff, in that bottle, it'll get rid of it?" He asked. 

Dr. Kuregura nodded with a smile, popping the cap off as a daunting smoke emanating from the innards of the bottle, "Oh, yes, indeed. It'll get rid of it in a jiffy." 

As he was reassured by the jovial doctor, he watched as the verdant liquid was poured into the wound on his arm, feeling the cold, soothing liquid instantly inject itself into his system. 

Immediately, he recognized it as something mystical in itself; it felt alive--the liquid pushed itself through his veins with a vibrant cold that seemed to lift the poison from his body. 

"Ah…" he groaned. 

"Oh, I forgot to warn you of one side effect," Dr. Kuregura said.

"Side effect…?" He asked, holding his head as the room spun around him. 

It looked as if the form of the golden-furred doctor was being contorted, spinning around him as he was unable to focus on a single thing. 

"As the 'Moonlight Respite' is removed from your body, you'll crash into a deep sleep as your body recovers fully. Don't worry, I'll tend to your wounds as you rest!" 

--And those words from the eccentric doctor of Umber Cloud bode true as within the next few seconds, his entire body went limp just as his consciousness retreated. 

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