The remaining iron fragments were removed by Vallis using the same technique.
By this point, Gray was deathly pale from the pain, large beads of sweat constantly dripping from his forehead.
Zelier could not help breaking into a cold sweat on Gray's behalf.
Without anesthesia, the agony really could kill a man. He couldn't help wondering how Guan Yu had managed to bear having his bone scraped to purge poison back in the day... what absolute fortitude.
Gray weakly pulled the cloth from his mouth.
"If I don't make it back alive, tell Marian at the tavern that I love her."
"Quit talking nonsense. Who told you to take that out?" Vallis knitted his brows, shoved the rag back into Gray's mouth, and wiped the saliva off on Gray's clothes with open disgust.
Wounds caused by metal shrapnel had to be disinfected. If they became infected, death was almost guaranteed.
The moment he saw the stopper pulled from the bottle of Firethroat Liquor, Gray's expression instantly warped with terror.
This low-grade medicinal liquor, which went for thirty copper coins on the market, had nothing special about it other than being fiercely strong. Even the dwarves, famed for their legendary drinking tolerance, would have to think twice before taking a swig.
Giving Gray no time to prepare himself mentally, Vallis poured the liquor directly onto the wound.
"Urgh... aaagh!"
A pungent reek of alcohol mingled with the metallic stench of blood. Gray convulsed in pure agony, his legs thrashing uncontrollably, and quite some time passed before he finally subsided.
Watching Gray suffer, Zelier felt a pang of pity.
"Didn't we buy any recovery potions or something like that before setting out? Wouldn't that work better?"
"You mean a Life Potion? Those fancy things brewed by Holy Healers—who could afford that?" Vallis said as he wiped Gray's wound with a clean strip of white cloth. "A single bottle is worth more than his life."
A Life Potion... was that expensive? Zelier was taken aback.
It seemed healing resources in this world were far scarcer than he had imagined.
The next steps were far less agonizing for Gray.
Once the wounds were cleansed, Vallis sprinkled a layer of styptic powder over them and bandaged them with linen strips, completing the treatment.
"Done." Vallis clapped his hands clean.
"I owe you one, Vallis," Gray said weakly, sounding thoroughly drained.
"Save the sappy talk. Neither of us owes the other anything. If you hadn't pinned down that Mist Demon, we couldn't have killed it either." Vallis stood up.
Zelier draped a blanket over Gray, letting him rest against the base of a tree.
A gentle breeze swept by, clearing away the dense fog. The white expanse around them finally thinned, revealing the true features of Ashwood Forest once more.
No one would have guessed that a brutal battle had just erupted in such a tranquil place.
After ensuring there was no further danger, Marcus set about harvesting their spoils.
He drew his dagger and carefully began butchering the Mist Demon's carcass.
The blade sank into the flesh, parting the hide. An unidentified dark red liquid oozed from the cut, giving off a foul stench.
"Careful, don't get any on you. It's corrosive," Vallis warned.
There was little of value on the Mist Demon's body; it was mostly rotten meat, cobbled together from various sources. The truly valuable prize was the core situated inside its heart.
Marcus cut open the thick chambers of the heart, teased the crystal out with the tip of his dagger, and wiped it clean with a rag.
"How much is this core worth?" Marcus asked.
Vallis leaned in to take a look.
It was a prismatic crystal wreathed in faint wisps of mist, harboring an abundant reserve of magical power.
A Mist Demon core could serve as the heart of certain staves, be brewed into potions, or be used as an alchemical reagent; its applications were varied.
"I'm no appraiser, but with quality like this, it should fetch at least fifteen gold coins or more," Vallis said.
"Whoa..." Zelier raised an eyebrow.
If they split it evenly, he would get around four gold coins—equivalent to four hundred silver coins. Wasn't that vastly better than the eleven silver coins from the wolf-slaying commission?
"Looks like taking that beating wasn't for nothing." Gray cracked a gratified smile, looking as though even his pain had eased considerably.
"Then it's settled. We'll split it evenly, by the old rules."
Marcus pocketed the core and clapped Zelier on the shoulder.
"I never imagined the day I'd take down a Mist Demon. Recruiting you really was the right call. Good work, lad."
A warrior's rank progression was similar to a mage's, advancing from apprentice to lower, middle, and upper tiers, followed by a class specialization upon breaking through the upper tier.
Marcus had remained a lower-tier warrior for many years. Because he could not master battle aura, he had never been able to advance to a middle-tier warrior.
Whenever he encountered monsters like the Mist Demon, whose defenses could only be pierced by battle aura or magic, he had no choice but to give them a wide berth.
Mana came from the source seed, while battle aura originated from the Qi Heart.
Yet awakening a mage's source seed required rare luck and talent that could not be forced, whereas cultivating a Qi Heart was much more accessible to ordinary people.
No matter how dull your aptitude, if you ground away at it for decades, there was still a chance to advance your Qi Heart and gain command of battle aura.
To some degree, battle aura and mana were similar; both could drastically enhance combat prowess.
However, battle aura could typically only be used to strengthen one's own physical body, while mana could be projected outward through magic to produce various effects.
After a quick tidy-up, the group supported Gray and set out on the road back to town.
No further incidents troubled them along the way.
The trees grew sparser, and a spotless azure sky unfolded overhead, stretching all the way to the distant horizon. Beneath the skyline, the silhouettes of the buildings in Blackstone Town came into clear view.
Signs of human settlement began to appear, and quite a few villagers working outdoors cast curious glances at the party.
Zelier took a deep breath, a heartfelt smile spreading across his face.
So this was what it felt like to return from a completed commission. It really was satisfying...
His very first mission had yielded a bountiful harvest.
He had earned four gold and eleven silver, unlocked Formula Deduction, leveled up twice, and queued up both Grand Creation and Flowing Mist Veil for analysis.
Adventuring in another world... didn't feel too bad at all.
Blackstone Town was true to its name—a town built around a mineral vein.
The local black stone was an ink-dark volcanic obsidian, an excellent crafting material that could also be forged into arrowheads, making it popular among high-ranking rangers.
Combined with Ashwood Forest providing abundant timber and game to the surrounding villages, Blackstone Town was relatively prosperous compared to other settlements of its size within the Kingdom of Ther.
After walking for the better part of a day, the party arrived at the outskirts of Blackstone Town.
A crude rampart built from dark timber and massive boulders came into view.
Along the battlements atop the wall, several guards leaned against the crenels, clad in simple chainmail and wearing bored expressions.
A line had formed at the town gate, consisting mostly of farmers and hunters pushing wheelbarrows, waiting to enter and sell their wares.
Chapter 9