Erlo (5)

Azra didn't know how close Erlo he had to be before his magic was effective, so he kept inching closer until he finally felt his mana enter Erlo's body. Azra was worried that Erlo would react to the foreign mana, but he also knew from personal experience that his divine power had a soothing and pain-relieving effect when he healed someone. Hopefully, that would prevent Erlo from biting Azra's hand off.

The golden light from Azra's hand flowed into Erlo's body. Azra saw Erlo's ears twitch and Erlo looked up and around. Azra froze and held his breath, but he didn't stop his magic. Erlo went back to peeling the scraps of flesh off the bull's skeleton, allowing Azra to breathe again.

Azra continued pouring his holy attribute mana into Erlo's body for several excruciatingly long moments without anything happening. However, Azra soon realized that nothing was happening because he didn't know what was supposed to happen.

When Azra healed someone, he had a clear image in his head of what was going to happen. He visualized the wound closing and the tissue regenerating. But he was currently pumping holy mana into Erlo, hoping for a miracle to happen. Azra realized his mistake. He didn't wait for miracles to happen. He made them happen himself.

Azra didn't know how Rage Powder worked or how it worked when the beasts recovered from it by themselves, but he didn't need to do anything so complicated.

Azra kept up the flow of mana from himself into Erlo as he began thinking of purifying all the bad substances within Erlo's body.

There was no visible change in Erlo at first. But Azra could tell that his method was working, even if it began draining his mana at an alarming rate.

Since Azra was so focused on maintaining his magic, Lo was the first to notice the changes in Erlo, Which wasn't surprising how intently Lo was watching the situation. Both because he worried about Erlo and because he had to be ready to save Azra in case Erlo attacked him.

Erlo's eyes had grown more and more bloodshot as the amount of residual Rage Powder in his body increased. His body had also gotten covered in throbbing veins, just like the bull had been. But both those symptoms were gradually fading away.

The clarity in Erlo's vision returned. His limbs no longer trembled as if they were about to explode. Lo was happy that he saw Erlo becoming healthy again. But he didn't let down his guard since Azra was still potentially in danger.

Erlo didn't know Azra since childhood, and due to the instincts Erlo picked up during his time in the forest, he might attack Azra.

However, Erlo stopped eating, which brought Lo's attention back to him. It was understandable if Erlo stopped eating because he had satisfied his hunger. But Erlo didn't stop eating because he was satisfied. Shortly after he stepped back from the remains of the bull's corpse, Erlo began coughing and heaving as if he was about to puke.

A grey sludge began pouring out of Erlo's eyes, ears, and nose at the same time as he began puking dark grey blood.

Lo was naturally shocked and distressed at the turn of events and wanted to rush to Erlo and help him. However, Azra caught his attention by waving with his free hand. Azra sensed that he was at a crucial step in the process of ridding Erlo of the toxic wastage of the Rage Powder. If Lo stepped in and disrupted the process, Erlo might end up with damage that Azra isn't able to fix as he is now. It might also make Erlo aggressive enough to attack them.

However, as long as Azra continued pushing the toxins out of Erlo's body and Lo didn't interfere, Azra believed that things would work out.

The grey sludge eventually stopped flowing out of Erlo's orifices, leaving only tracks of it running down his head. He also stopped puking grey blood and instead began coughing up the bloody flesh he had just eaten.

Azra understood why. If he had experienced the foul-smelling grey waste directly on his own tongue and face, he would have also thrown up. He could barely withstand being within smelling distance of it. If he had been alone, Azra really might have puked. But with Lo only a few meters away, his anxiously praying gaze directed at him, Azra didn't dare do anything that might tarnish Lo's view of him.

And when the smell so thick that it created a visible grey vapor reached Lo's nose as well, Lo's admiration and awe toward Azra only grew.

Erlo distanced himself from the pile of grey blood while trying to brush off the smearing on his head with a paw. Since Azra had finished forcing the Rage Powder out of Erlo, he didn't try to follow. Instead, he followed Erlo's example and got away from the pile of puke and bile.

Lo tore off a piece of his shirt and helped Erlo get rid of most of the remaining trails of grey sludge on his head. Azra didn't know if Erlo accepted the help because he recognized Lo or because he was just that desperate to get it off himself.

While Lo helped Erlo, Azra took a few moments to stabilize himself. Crawling that close to a vicious killing machine affected by Rage Powder had taken its toll on Azra's willpower. Purifying Erlo's body had drained practically all of his mana in only a few moments. Losing so much mana at once strained Azra's head even further. And then he had been struck by the smell and fumes of the toxic wastage of the Rage Powder.

Azra had endured all of that with only an hour of sleep. He was beyond tired. If it wasn't due to his ambition-fueled willpower and his refusal to show weakness or fault, Azra would have fallen over like the tree the bull had rammed three times. Azra didn't notice when it happened, but it gave him a place to sit while he tried to calm his shaking legs. Thankfully, his robes were intact enough to cover his trembling.

After a few moments, when his body stopped shaking, Azra stood up and went over to Lo and Erlo, who were also finishing up. Lo had gotten rid of as much of the grey waste as he could with only a piece of cloth. If he wanted to get Erlo sparklingly clean, he would have to use copious amounts of water and soap.

Azra didn't know exactly how well the village was handling the drought, but not many would be willing to use life-sustaining water to clean a mangy mutt, especially not a village of farmers. Or so he thought.