He looked at his trembling hands and recalled the sensation of stabbing flesh and organs. An intense urge to vomit came over him as his breakfast climbed its way up his throat. He tried to hold it down but the brutal painting painted by the blood of the two a.s.sailants as well as his own made him feel even more nauseous. He emptied his stomach till his abdomen hurt from the inside.

The effects of the endorphin raging through his system subsided and an intense pain came from his shoulder. He had used 'Electric touch', a first circle spell thrice and exhausted himself mentally because of the life or death struggle.His body felt devoid of strength and his mouths opened wide to take in deep breaths. He sat beside the pool of blood and vomit with no energy nor the intent to get up. He felt tired and sleepy. His eyelids grew heavy and the thoughts of taking a quick rest kept on popping in his mind but he drove away those thoughts and put strength on his legs.

Alba had been standing on her original spot without any movement. The whole incident had been too sudden for her. She had just lost her hope when the young man who she had thought had been knocked out exploded with insane strength. The fight had taken barely half a minute and all she could do was stay rooted at her spot. She was scared that her benefactor would get killed. Her heart nearly jumped out of her throat when he was stabbed on his shoulder. She wanted to help him somehow but her body refused to budge a single inch.

The young doctor had just tried to stand up when his legs failed him and he fell back on his b.u.t.t. Seeing this made Alba finally steel herself and move. She locked the door and helped Vincent to a chair. She cleaned all the mess and moved the two corpses inside a small storage room. Vincent had thought she would throw up as well but she held steady and cleaned the room with the single arm she could move.

Soon, the room had no traces of the earlier fight except the bloodied body of the victor resting on a chair. He slowly got up and removed his upper garment. Moving the arm even a little resulted in waves of pain and he grit his teeth to not scream. He was thankful for the noisy street for the very first time since he bought the place. The busy street helped mask the sound from the fight and no one came over during the entire time. Vincent had to admit that he was lucky as a patient or two would usually have come over during that time.

He washed the wound and applied a medicine that helped disinfect it. The medicine felt like it was burning his wound every time it made contact with the gash. Vincent st.i.tched his wounds carefully but still messed up two times before successfully closing the tear. It was the very first time for him to sew his own wound shut and he had to admit that it hurt far more than being stabbed. The cut was still bleeding because of the poor st.i.tching. He couldn't help it as his hands shook too much because of the pain.

"Light a candle and bring a spoon from the other room."

Alba nodded and brought over a spoon and a lit candle. Vincent held the spoon over the fire and heated it. The girl watched him quietly and made sure not to distract or disturb him. Vincent folded his handkerchief and placed it between his jaws. He slowly bought the hot spoon over to his shoulder and pressed it over the st.i.tch. Alba looked away as she found the scene to be too much.

Vincent chewed hard on the handkerchief and endured the excruciating pain. Soon the cauterizing was complete and the bleeding had stopped completely. He applied an ointment over his wound and bandaged it. He changed his clothes and made the girl wear one of his robes over her spa.r.s.ely bloodied cloth.

He didn't know if the a.s.sailants had any reinforcements coming. It was too dangerous staying here and the only thing he knew was that the enemies were trying to silence the girl. He didn't know what they planned on doing with him but he did know that it wasn't going to be anything good. He needed to escape from the town as soon as possible. He took Alba to the Jeweled Inn and had her wait outside. Though the girl was reluctant to leave the shop, she understood the gravity of the situation and obediently followed him.

Vincent acted as if everything was alright and grabbed everything he needed or was of value in his possession. Soon, he exited the inn with two luggage and pa.s.sed a few silvers to Housen and the barmaids to keep quiet about him moving out. He pulled Cathy aside and handed her a gold coin, "This is for all that Erik has done for me. All the books that I have left behind are for him. As for the other things, you can sell them and keep the money for yourselves. The boy is diligent and hardworking, I am sure he will become a good man."

Cathy was flabbergasted. It was the first time she was holding a gold coin. She felt touched at the gesture and held back her tears. "Master Vincent, you have to live well. Take good care of yourself. Don't just lose yourself in work and studies."

Vincent nodded and said with a smile, "Don't worry. I will live well. You guys take care of yourself as well."

Vincent bid farewell to Cathy and led Alba to a shop selling horse and carriages. Vincent didn't want to waste too much time and bought a carriage and 2 horses for four gold coins. He bribed the guards at the town gate to forgo the inspection and questioning regarding their ident.i.ty and reason for leaving. He drove the carriage and departed from the town of Opal. Though he had only lived for about a year in this town, he still felt a bit sorrowful as he looked at the town that was slowly growing smaller in his sight.