15 [Medicine]

Chapter 15 [Medicine]

After being walked over by the rest of the group, Icarus limped his way into Asclepius' cabin and stumbled onto the door with a thud.

Knock Knock!

Faint noises reverberated from inside the cabin as footsteps slowly approached the door. The door opened as Asclepius' head covered from his hood peaked out.

"Hey, could you help me out?" Icarus asked with a wheeze.

Asclepius eyes widened in recognition before opening the door for Icarus to step inside.

"Thanks." Icarus thanked him as he stepped inside.

"No problem." Asclepius muttered in response as a hint of sunlight pierced through his hood, causing his eyes to forcefully adjust.

He cursed under his breath before pulling his hood down further and quickly stepping inside.

Icarus raised a brow as the door slammed shut as he inspected the cabin.

The room was dark, with no visible sunlight coming through any of the windows due to them being covered with sheets and boards.

There was, however, plenty of candles that provided enough light to inspect further.

The entire room was much larger than the other cabins, small meshed straw cages on one side of the walls which Icarus could see various small rodents trapped inside of.

There was a large table and chair sat in the corner with a stuffed bookshelf adjacent to it along with rows of containers.

Strung up around the remaining walls were various hand-drawn diagrams depicting various drafts of human anatomy with small scribbles of theories written alongside them.

And finally, a straw bed layered with skins and with a much higher quality than Icarus' own bed due to Asclepius' personal modifications.

"So, how was your training?" Asclepius asked in order to start a conversation more so than actual interest or concern.

"Sucked." Icarus responded with a small chuckle and sigh.

"Yeah, I know how it feels." Asclepius responded with a smile before continuing with a smirk, "That's why I stopped participating."

Icarus just shook his head with a weary smile.

"Oh, do you disagree?" Asclepius responded with a small amount of interest.

"No, I suppose I would wish to do the same." Icarus spoke before continuing, "But then I could never live in any form of comfort."

"Why do you say that?" Asclepius asked as he started opening one of the containers and searching for an item.

Icarus slouched down with a sigh, groaning slightly from the ache of his muscles, "Well, the world is a very dangerous place, you never know when some phantasmal beast will attack you. And that's not even getting into the big things."

"Hah, I suppose you're right. Those 'big things' can be quite a bother, ay?" Asclepius spoke with a knowing grin as he pulled out a piece of bark from his container before splitting it in half.

"Heh, suppose so." Icarus responded with the same grin while forcing himself to sit up as Asclepius approached.

A faint murmur from him that Icarus didn't catch caused the object in his hand to give a faint glow as he stepped forward.

"Here eat this." Asclepius spoke as he handed the bark to Icarus.

"What is it?" Icarus asked as he threw the bark into his mouth. 'I mean if I'm gonna trust anyone with medicine, there really isn't anyone better.' He thought as he began to chew.

"It is the bark of a willow tree, along with a spell of mine. It is capable of relieving pain and fatigue." Asclepius responded with a glint in his eyes.

"Really? Could you tell me a bit about medicine?" Icarus asked with genuine interest.

Asclepius' eyes widened in excitement before he spoke up in an excited tone, "Yes!—cough—I mean s-sure!"

He calmed himself down in embarrassment before talking in an intellectual tone, "Well, medicine is a very complex field reliant on both the study of the physical and spiritual. It encompasses things such nature, man, emotion, season, diet, and even the elements..."

As Asclepius spoke a mile a minute, Icarus slowly arranged his thoughts, 'Much more complex than I originally thought, I suppose it makes sense that medicine in the Age of the Gods also encompasses superstition.'

"A person can be influenced by the change of seasons and age as they correspond with the four humours. The humours are the four vital bodily fluids, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

An imbalance of these humours can cause sickness, madness, and even a change of temperament.

Of course, the Gods can also affect a person as well as any miasma left by Phantasmal Species or monsters." Asclepius carefully explained.

Icarus held back a sigh, contemplating slowly giving Asclepius modern knowledge in order for him to change things over time in the future.

'Or maybe I'll just do it myself....' Icarus thought with consideration.

They continued to discuss about medicine throughout most of the day until Icarus could no longer even feel the aches on his body anymore and left towards his own cabin.

———————

Arriving in front of his cabin, he barely spotted one of the practice bows in the dark from earlier today leaning against the side of the wall.

With a shake of his head, he opened the door and stepped inside. He saw Atalanta sitting in the bed waiting for him as a candle lit the room.

"Hey." Icarus spoke as he walked in and dropped down some books he borrowed from Asclepius onto the floor.

"You're late." Atalanta spoke in betrayal but Icarus could tell she was happy he returned.

"Heh, I'll come back when I feel like it." He responded as he ruffled her hair.

She pouted as she fixed her hair while Icarus laid down on the bed with a tired groan.

Atalanta also jumped in while covering them in a fur skin blanket after blowing out the candle.

'Damn, so much shit to deal with.....I have to learn as much as I can.' Icarus thought as he gazed at the pitch-black ceiling with a tired expression.

'I wonder where I'll be years from now.....' He thought while remembering his first day here.

Atalanta snuggled up to his side and he gave a weary smile before turning in for the night as well.

'No use thinking about it now.'

========

Greek Batman returns!

Damn, I had such bad writer's block and then suddenly I got some inspiration while taking a shit earlier lmao.

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