Theron had just brought his prey back to the door when he was almost sent flying by Kaelen rushing out from inside the house, hurriedly dodging to the side. He snorted lightly in displeasure. As a Sub-Beast, acting so recklessly, not beautiful and not gentle enough, truly far inferior to Rylan. He didn't know what Papa and Daddy liked about Kaelen.
And also Cael, his younger brother. All three of them seemed to be bewitched by that Sub-Beast.
Kaelen didn't have the free time to care what Theron remarked about him. Leaving Icarus's house, he quickly ran like the wind toward Priest Nyx's cave, not knowing how many people he had bumped into along the way.
For a moment, incessant curses rang out in the tribe.
Lucian nudged Sane's arm, saying in a low voice:
"What's wrong with that jinx today? Usually just walking with his head down, but today he's turning the whole tribe upside down. If I hadn't seen clearly that it was Kaelen, I would have thought it was some family's beastman brat causing trouble."
Sane didn't say anything, only looking in the direction Kaelen left, starting to doubt his own abilities. That Sub-Beast was pinned down by him for two days and one night, yet only needed to lie in bed for three days to be able to skip around, and now was even running like the wind, completely showing no signs of being unwell.
Wasn't it said that whenever a Sub-Beast was unlucky enough to encounter a Beastman in a berserk state, if they didn't lose half their life, they would also be bedridden for a whole month before being able to function normally? How was this Sub-Beast like that at all?
Could it be that he himself wasn't capable?
Impossible!
Sane absolutely refused to believe the problem lay with himself, and even birthed a determination to try again. Surely that day, in his berserk state, he didn't perform well; there was absolutely no problem with his body!
Kaelen didn't know he had been targeted by Sane; he ran to the Priest's cave, didn't bother hitting the wooden gong, and just barged right in, rummaging through Nyx's precious pile of medical books. Priest Nyx wasn't here; even if he were, he wouldn't scold Kaelen a single word. He was always very tolerant of Kaelen; his student, Draven, was even more timid and absolutely didn't dare to speak up to bother Kaelen.
When Nyx returned from the elder council meeting place, Kaelen was sitting and comparing various medicinal plants with the drawings in Nyx's parchment books.
"Kaelen, what are you looking for?"
Kaelen raised his head, and upon seeing Priest Nyx, smiled radiantly, his dimples faintly visible. He hurriedly stood up, pointing for Nyx to see the image of the medicinal plant he wanted to find.
Nyx looked at the medicinal plant in his hand, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
This plant was quite strange; he seemingly had never encountered it before.
"I don't have this thing here. There isn't any around the tribe either."
The leopard ears on top of Kaelen's head drooped down, showing their owner was extremely disappointed. Nyx rubbed Kaelen's head to comfort him, his eyes not forgetting to glance over the symbols representing the medicinal plant's uses. Anesthetic...
Nyx's gaze paused for a moment, then he tilted his head slightly in thought, saying:
"I don't have this anesthetic plant, but I have a type of numbing drug. However, it's very dangerous so I cannot give it to you; can you tell me what you want it for?"
Kaelen's eyes lit up: [I want to heal Icarus's leg!]
"Heal a leg? Isn't Icarus's leg already ruined? How can it be healed? I've never heard anyone say a ruined leg can still be healed."
Kaelen pointed at his head, waving his hands:
[I don't know why, but today when I saw Cassian's arms and Icarus's leg, the thought that they could be healed kept popping into my head!]
"Really?" Nyx believed it immediately without any doubt.
Others didn't know of the God's favoritism toward Kaelen, only he was the clearest about it. At the time he held Kaelen in his arms when Kaelen was just born, Kaelen was already a stillbirth. But before he could announce the sad news to the family, the baby boy suddenly squirmed, then let out a loud cry.
Next was the tribe's defenses being breached; he led the remaining tribesmen to flee. Every time they took the wrong path or there was danger nearby, Kaelen would cry out as a signal. It was also thanks to that that the few remaining tribesmen survived and reached this land.
[I've already healed Cassian, but as for Icarus's leg, I'm not confident enough. Priest, can you help me test it first?]
"Test? But test how?"
[First, use small animals for experiments, then move on to slightly larger animals. Only when we are sure of success will I heal Icarus.]
Nyx thought for a moment, nodding in praise of Kaelen. Being careful like that was very good. If it weren't for the people in the tribe constantly being suspicious of Kaelen, he would have long ago accepted Kaelen as the next generation's Priest.
"Alright, I'll do it with you. Whatever you need, just say it!"
Kaelen was overjoyed, beginning to request the necessary items. Nyx didn't say a second word, ordering a beastman guard to go prepare them.
"This is the numbing drug you need. Be a little careful, don't inhale too much, otherwise your whole body will be paralyzed; inhaling too much can lead to death."
Nyx handed Kaelen a bunch of grassy plants with blue flowers. At first glance, they looked quite similar to blue petunias, but the stamen part resembled that of a lily; the scent was quite strong, even separated by a layer of animal skin face mask, its pungent smell could still be felt.
Kaelen intended to let one of the three rabbits the beastman guard brought over smell the flower, but suddenly thinking of something, he gestured for Draven to go outside and keep watch. Draven was still wanting to learn new skills; upon hearing that, Draven dejectedly drooped his ears and slowly walked outside.
Waiting until he was sure Draven wouldn't suddenly come in, Kaelen finally began letting the rabbit smell the flower.
The first one inhaled too much, its whole body convulsed a few times, and then it dropped dead.
The second one inhaled too little; after having its leg broken by Kaelen, it was in so much pain that it also dropped dead.
The corner of Nyx's mouth twitched. No wonder Kaelen had told Draven to go outside just now. Draven was a Sub-Beast belonging to the Rabbit Tribe; if Draven saw Kaelen torturing rabbits like that, Draven would definitely have a heart attack on the spot.
Drawing experience from the previous two, this time Kaelen let the third rabbit inhale an appropriate amount. The rabbit's entire body went stiff, but its heartbeat and breathing had no problems, which could be considered half a success.
Kaelen broke its leg, then set it back, using wooden sticks and animal skin to fix it in place. While applying medicine to it, Kaelen also tried channeling a bit of healing energy into it. Who would have expected that before he could even bandage it, the rabbit's leg had already completely healed.
Kaelen: [...]
Nyx: "..."