Chapter 35: Sister Elena

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Sister Elena

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward." — Vernon Law

The journey back to the settlement felt twice as long as the trip out.

By the time Riven reached the outer gate, the pale light of twilight had begun to fade. His right hand was wrapped in a crude strip of torn fabric, sticky with dried blood. His leather vest was scuffed and stained, his cheek and arm covered in angry red scratches, and his right shoulder throbbed with a deep ache that pulsed with every heartbeat.

He was exhausted.

Every step sent another wave of pain through his body, but he forced himself to keep walking. He couldn’t afford to stop now. He needed to reach the Guild, collect his bounty, and find someone who could treat his injuries.

As he made his way through the lower district, a few merchants and laborers stopped to stare.

The sight of a small, grime and dirt covered boy stumbling through the streets was unusual enough. The blood on his clothes and the bandage wrapped around his hand only made it worse.

Some whispered to one another. Others watched him with uncomfortable pity.

Riven ignored them.

Pity wouldn’t mend his wounds, and their stares wouldn’t pay for a healer.

He kept his head down and continued toward the Adventurers’ Guild.

By the time he entered the main hall, the evening crowd had gathered. Mercenaries filled the tables, drinking and laughing after a long day of work. The familiar noise echoed throughout the building.

But as Riven dragged himself toward the bounty counter, a few conversations quieted.

The elven receptionist looked up.

Her professional expression quickly gave way to alarm. Her eyes moved from his bloodied hand to the scratches across his cheek, then to the way he was holding his right shoulder.

"By the gods, kid. What happened to you?"

Riven didn’t answer.

With his left hand, he reached into his spatial storage bag and emptied its contents onto the counter.

Five goblin ears tumbled onto the wooden surface, followed by five dull-gray monster cores and several crude, rusted weapons.

The receptionist stared at the pile.

"You hunted a whole pack?"

She looked at the ears again, then at Riven’s injuries. Her gaze lingered on the arrow wound beneath his makeshift bandage.

"Alone?"

Riven nodded.

For a moment, she seemed unsure what to say. Then she quickly gathered the items and began recording them in her ledger.

"Five ears at five copper each. That’s twenty-five copper. And the cores..."

She examined each one, checking their quality before calculating the additional payment.

The receptionist eventually placed a small pile of coins on the counter.

"One silver and fifty copper for the ears and cores."

She then inspected the crude weapons Riven had recovered.

"They aren’t worth much, but the Guild can take them off your hands. Another thirty copper."

Riven stared at the coins.

One silver and eighty copper in total.

He added the twenty-four copper he had left after buying his leather vest. That brought his total to two silver and four copper.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to pay for treatment.

"You need to see the healer immediately," the receptionist said. "That hand looks terrible, and your shoulder..."

"Where’s the healer?"

His voice was high and cracked.

She pointed toward a small, whitewashed annex behind the main hall.

"Through the courtyard. Sister Elena is there. But, Riven..."

He looked at her.

"Treatment won’t be cheap."

He already knew that.

Riven swept the coins into his pouch and left without another word.

The healer’s annex smelled of herbs, alcohol, and freshly washed linen.

Riven found Sister Elena working at a small table. The older woman looked up as he entered, her tired eyes immediately settling on his injuries.

She let out a sharp sigh.

"What have you done to yourself?"

Riven held out his right hand.

She examined the crude bandage before carefully removing it. The wound was swollen, and the skin around the puncture had turned an unhealthy red.

"An arrow?"

He nodded.

"And how long ago?"

"This afternoon."

Elena frowned.

"Sit down."

Riven climbed onto the examination bench. His legs barely reached the floor.

The healer gathered her tools and began cleaning the wound. The antiseptic stung so badly that Riven’s vision blurred. He clenched his teeth and gripped the edge of the bench with his left hand.

"Hold still," Elena ordered.

She used a pair of sterilized pincers to remove the remaining fragments of the arrowhead. Riven’s entire body tensed, but he didn’t pull away.

Once the wound was clean, she placed her hand over his palm and began channeling restorative magic.

A faint green glow spread across his skin.

The torn flesh slowly drew together. The bleeding stopped, and the worst of the swelling began to subside. The pain didn’t disappear entirely, but it became bearable.

She did the same to his reopened shoulder.

Elena then treated the scratches on his cheek with a soothing salve.

"You’ve aggravated the injury again," she said, examining the stiff joint. "I told you to avoid fighting."

Riven said nothing.

She wrapped his shoulder in a fresh, stabilizing bandage and gave him a stern look.

"You need to rest. No fighting, no training, and no carrying heavy objects until that shoulder has had time to recover."

He nodded.

When she finished, Elena wiped her hands on a linen cloth and held out her palm.

"Two silver pieces."

Riven looked at her.

"Two?"

"Healing magic isn’t free, boy. One for the hand, one for the shoulder."

He reached into his pouch and emptied its contents onto the tray.

Two silver pieces and four copper.

Every coin he had.

Elena counted the money, then raised an eyebrow at the exact payment. She gathered the coins and put them away.

"At least you can pay your bills. Now get some rest, and try not to come back looking worse than you do today."

Riven climbed down from the bench.

He had four copper pieces left.

That was all.

At least he had already paid for the inn.

By the time Riven returned to the inn, the streets had grown quiet.

He climbed the stairs slowly, keeping his injured hand close to his chest. Once inside his room, he shut the door and slid the heavy bolt into place.

Only then did he allow himself to relax.

The room was pitch black, save for the faint amber glow of a streetlamp leaking through the cracks in the shutters. Riven sat on the edge of the narrow cot, his bandaged right hand resting heavily in his lap.

His entire body felt as though it had been crushed beneath a cart.

He listened to the muffled sounds of laughter and clinking mugs drifting up from the tavern below.

It was strange.

People were drinking, eating, and enjoying themselves while he sat alone in a dark room, barely able to move without feeling pain.

Today had been a brutal lesson.

He had survived the goblins, but only because he had managed to tackle the last one before it could finish him off. His victory had depended more on desperation than skill.

He had been careless.

He’d focused on the four goblins in front of him and failed to account for the fifth. He’d let his attention wander while collecting the bounty, giving the last creature an opportunity to attack.

Hell he had even lost money today.

If that arrow had struck his throat instead of his hand, he would have died.

Riven stared at the floor.

He had a sword, a magical core, and a manual that could teach him how to use his affinity. But none of those things mattered if he couldn’t defend himself properly.

His Shadow Veil was still weak. Even when he could maintain it, he didn’t know how to use it effectively in a real fight.

And his swordsmanship was barely better than that of an ordinary child.

He couldn’t keep relying on luck.

The realization settled over him like cold lead.

’I need proper training.’

He needed someone who could teach him how to fight. Someone who could correct his mistakes before they got him killed.

But finding such a person would cost money, and he had almost none left.

Riven leaned back against the wall, careful not to put pressure on his shoulder.

For now, there was nothing he could do.

He would have to recover, find more work, and figure out how to get the instruction he needed.

His eyelids grew heavy. The exhaustion of the day, combined with the lingering effects of the healing magic, slowly dragged him toward sleep.

He barely managed to lie down before his body gave in.

Within minutes, he was asleep.

Tomorrow, he would have to start figuring out what came next.