Chapter 21: The Broken Body
Miles away from that canyon where hed escaped from the assassins, Sage spent a few hours in self examination. He truly wished to continue escaping as quickly as possible, but it was imperative that the Silverbee, the new Queen, properly establish the hive. The silverbees were inside Sages body after all, if something were to go wrong it could be disastrous. Additionally, the Silverbee Queen had just flown a few miles and fought a battle with the old Queen, she needed some rest.
The most important thing was to escape. Sage realized he had been naive to think he could go unnoticed. I thought if I didnt show off my Lang Clan techniques then theyd never be able to find me. Seems they must have other methods, I have to get out of here as quickly as possible!
While the Silverbee allowed him a method of flight, which was quite powerful, it still wasnt as reliable as using his own legs. Delving into the storage ring, he used the manuals to search through the herbs to find some that will dull pain, mixing up something to help. Hed been mainly operating on adrenaline for the last hour or so, terrified of the assassins finding him to finish the job. Taking one of the energy sustaining pills to keep himself awake, Sage then drank a small bowl full of water mixed with ground up herbs. It would function better after being heated, but he couldnt afford to wait, the pain of his injuries was debilitating.
He knew that he would have to set his broken bones properly, and soon, or theyd just have to be broken and reset again later. Of course, that was the extent of his knowledge. He wasnt a doctor or nurse, nor did he know any very well, he had just seen plenty of movies and tv shows where this sort of injury came up often. Fortunately, he had the introductory profession manuals of which one of them was a Doctor. He also had the advantage of being a cultivator, the meditation training and qi within his body allowed him to send his perception into his body. He could carefully examine his condition. Powerful cultivators could check each of their blood cells in close detail, which Sage was far from, but he was still strong enough to check the general condition of his bones. This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.
Sage had already identified all the broken places when he first landed in the canyon, but now he had the Doctors anatomy training book open and was comparing his current bones to what they were supposed to look like. At the same time he marvelled over how detailed the book was, looking just like something from his modern world. It seems the special powers of cultivators in this world has advanced some areas of knowledge to be the same as my modern world I wonder if any areas are even more advanced?
With the knowledge of what was broken and how it should be fixed, he then flipped open a couple more books. Looking for help with a splint or cast, as well as if any of the herbs he had could help his bones heal faster. It took him some time, but he found a dozen different options for medicine and treatments. He was tempted to use the fastest option, but it came with even more pain than he was already in. Realizing his own shortcomings, Sage didnt want to push it too far. Hed only just found some courage earlier and wasnt about to think of himself as a peerless hero that could grit his teeth and bear with even the worst pain. It was far more likely hed just pass out from exertion and who knows when hed wake up.
Instead, Sage went with a mild treatment that was reasonably quick, but required the use of a few treasures. Of course, he chose this route because he recognized the treasures needed as some of the things in the stack of unknown items hed sorted out earlier. There was a strange looking flat bar that he thought was some sort of mechanical tool but he found out that it was actually called a Bone Brace. It contained Spirit Jade and arrays within, allowing it to draw in energy on its own and if placed in a splint healed bones faster than normal. Combining this with a simple type of salve he also found how to mix, his broken legs could be healed in a couple weeks instead of many months.
Here he was, having just entered the Bronze Tiger Province and traveling a few hundred miles further to reach Earth Smoke. His body had fully recovered from his injuries, and hed been traveling nearly a month to reach this point. It had been hard to get used to only one hand, but he was compensating decently now. Luckily none of his clothing had buttons or small laces! Exiting the Silverbee Queen, Sage started off on foot towards the city gates. He had been staying away from all civilization the last month, out of fear, and now that he was in a new province he wanted to gather information and buy more necessities before continuing the journey. His goal was to travel at least three provinces away before even thinking about settling down. Once he was that far, he figured on just traveling until something excited him enough to stick around.
Stopping in a restaurant, Sage ordered dinner and also traveling rations. Hed learned that food placed into his storage ring came out at the exact same state and temperature that he put them in. Sage had been flabbergasted and determined there had to be something amazing he could do with that later, it just needed some testing. Hed thought it was just devoid of air, but now it seemed like it might be some sort of stasis it was far too interesting! Unfortunately, he was far too focused on training to worry about experiments, so it had just gone onto his list of things to research along with the dozens of bug related ideas hed had. Most of the time he would travel at night, letting the bees forage during the day. He split the travel time with the Silverbee Queen, which gave him plenty of time to try to improve his strength.
After the restaurant, Sage gathered information in a bar. Asking about current events and the big powers in town, the county and the province. He learned quite a bit, and the main important bit of information he learned was that the Four Major Businesses from 10,000 Wave Province were here too! When he asked about this, he found an interesting old timer.
Haha, this is something most regular folk dont know but quite common knowledge among the well traveled. The Four Major Businesses have a presence in nearly every city on the continent! Many provinces welcome them with open arms and they have huge power in those provinces. Others dont really care and the Four Major Businesses just act like any other big merchant organization. Even in the few provinces that have banned the Four Major Businesses you can still find them underground in secret locations doing shady dealings.
At this point the old man started laughing and stared closely at Sage, If you want to keep breathing, remember this, never offend the Four Major Businesses!
Nodding, Sage bought the old man a drink as thanks and headed off on his way. There was still something he needed to handle before continuing his journey. It didnt take him long to find his destination. A huge building in front of him had a sign above the door.
Thousand Treasures.