102: NO PULSE

NO PULSE

"What are you doing? She is dying!" Arthur shouted at his foster parents. "Her body is cold. She isn't breathing. Her pulse is weak. Why on earth are you acting as if nothing bad happened to her?!"1

The leaders of the desert tribe casually spoke, "Relax, she is way better than before. After healing you, she didn't even show any signs that she was still alive for two days straight. I even thought of burying her. But for some unknown reason, her body wasn't freezing like a dead human. So we waited. Two days later, I mean yesterday, she finally got a faint pulse. She is recovering slowly. She will live."

"...What…" Arthur didn't know what to say. His head was empty.

The chief's wife said, "Look at you being all worried. It looks like my Arthur has finally got himself a true lover. If it wasn't the case, would you care about a girl like that?"

'Of course not. I left annoying women wounded and in tears. I never bothered to look at them for a second time. I even killed those who wanted to harm me. At first, they want my body. But later, they will go after my heart. If they can't have it, they will hurt me. Women are so annoying,' Arthur thought as he felt greatly displeased. 

"How can we help her to recover faster?" he asked them.

The leader of the desert tribe frowned. "We are not healers, you know. Don't ask for something impossible."

Arthur was restless. "Then I will go and find someone..."

The leader of the desert tribe interrupted his words, "By the time you return, she will wake up. So, going out is pointless. You should rather check outside."

"Check outside?" Arthur muttered these two words before stepping outside the tent. What greeted his eyes had left him in complete awe. "What on earth…"

The desert wasn't a desert anymore. It looked like a forest. There were huge trees everywhere. The ground was covered with grass. The sweet smell of flowers and ripe fruits was thick in the air. Birds were chirping gleefully. The herbivores were roaming around freely. He could even see a large lake not so far from where he was standing. It didn't look like the Govin desert he was used to seeing in any way. 

"Where are we?" he couldn't help but ask.

"We are in the same place we were before. The girl revived the life of this land with her healing power," the leader of the desert tribe answered. He threw a thoughtful glance at his foster son and inquired, "Are you sure she is 'just' a healer?"

Arthur had no answer for that. He didn't know her properly. Although she talked about her life, it wasn't enough. There were still some things about her that screamed mystery. Furthermore, she disappeared for six months and reappeared suddenly, and joined other healers. 

Her every move was so unexpected that it was hard to track her. He couldn't keep up with her pace. In his eyes, she was the most unreliable, naïve woman with a great sense of justice. She also didn't like to show her weakness to others which he found endearing. There were hardly any women around him who could pull these off.

Women would mostly cry and complain every single minute. They would talk about clothes and jewelry and love to gossip. They would read books and yet, their mindset was too narrow. it was as if they couldn't think of anything else.

As for Veronica, she was completely different. She didn't step a foot outside the temple but she was ready to learn everything, roam around the world and solve mysteries. He was always amused remembering her plan to become a detective. Her attitude and actions entertained him endlessly.

Just thinking about her lying in the bed made him upset. He stated, "I don't know if she is some kind of trainee healer. As far as I know, she was always sad that she couldn't heal people properly. In the camp, she did odd jobs so that she wouldn't be useless. I even saw her healing the injured soldiers. She always tried her best but her healing wasn't as effective as other healers. So, how could she do that now? She isn't good at hiding things. I don't think she was lying to me either."

The leaders of the desert tribe hummed. "Maybe, what you said is right. She may not know about the extent of her own healing power. Let me show you something." He gestured for Arthur to come inside.

They went inside the tent where Veronica was sleeping. There was a table beside her bed. On the table, there was a collar. It was the pet collar Veronica was wearing as a cat. The green gem that was supposed to be in the middle of the collar was gone.

Arthur noticed it as well. "The stone…"

"That stone was broken. We found the shattered pieces on your bed where she was lying. I think it exploded when she used her power to the fullest." The leader of the desert tribe explained, "Do you know what stone she was wearing? This was a stone that could control power."

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows. "You mean her healing power was limited by that stone." 

He recalled the first time she used her healing power. He felt no pain and his wound was completely healed along with the scar. Afterward, when she couldn't use her power to heal severe injuries, he thought it was because his wound wasn't too deep.

Not even once did he see her wearing a stone that limited her power and not even once did he think she would have something like that on her. The possibility of her having it seemed very low.

The leader of the desert tribe nodded his head. "You are on point. If she had no idea what that stone was and what it was doing to her, the stone must have been given to her by someone. The person must be influential enough to have their hands on such a stone. Who do you think it could be?"

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