Birthday

Days passed, and the summer started. It was the 17th day of summer, which meant my birthday. 'Today, I'm officially 29… I'm getting old' I thought. Finch insisted on a grand celebration, but I said that something small was enough. We didn't need to celebrate, like we did before. I was still surprised, when I returned from my training. 'I told him that I don't want a grand celebration…' I thought.

I was welcomed by a feast, with many tables arranged on the main square. Finch and others were already there, waiting for me. When I arrived, Finch said "Happy Birthday Nex! We will celebrate this day properly!". I was kind of lacked for words, but it was something I welcomed. I never really had grand celebrations throw up, because of me. My parents only gave me some gifts, and we spend some time together, nothing else really.

People started pouring in with gifts. I didn't even have a free hand, to collect all of them. I simply threw them into my storage feather, and would check the contents later. All villagers wished me well, and gifted me something. After that, the feast began. Finch grabbed a glass, and handed one to me as well. This is how we began drinking. After a while, he asked "I saw the herbs growing in the field. What are you going to use them for?". I smiled, and replied "I'm going to purify the blood, of the people in the village". Finch stopped drinking, and asked "Are you for real?".

I smiled, and said "Yes, I already purified my blood. That is how, I was able to break through to my Inner Limits. Of course, there will be more herbs, than just that. I can make medicine, and some other things. When all is taken care of, I will leave the village". Finch said "You want to leave? But you just arrived! Stay with us, you don't have to wander the world anymore. Your home is here". I shook my head, and said " I know my home is here, but that is not my goal. My goal is to explore my life. I want to see more, and learn more. I want to witness the royalty, and beyond that".

Finch sighed, and said "You know, you are a lot like your father. He never liked to sit in one place for too long. I guess that the saying "Like father like son", is true. Alright, but remember to return whenever you wish. We will always welcome you here. I hope that you will stay for at least a few months. My kids should be back by then, so you can at least meet them". I nodded, and said "It will take some time, before I'm able to harvest the herbs, so I should be able to stay until they return".

Finch nodded, then asked "What about your sword training?". I smiled, and said "It's coming along. I'm learning from the basics, therefore it will obviously take me some more time. I should be able to master the basics soon though. After all, Aran is a good teacher, and I'm no longer green, when it comes to fighting". Finch smiled, and said "Then let us drink!". We drank for the rest of the day, and even well into the night. The next morning, I woke up with a hangover.

'... I wish I had that thing, I got from the Lizard bartender in Olrad… Although disgusting, it actually helped' I thought. Finch seemed fine, and enjoyed the breakfast with his wife Tina. I asked "Do you have anything for hangover?". Finch laughed, and replied "You are a doctor, and yet you can't cure your own hangover?". I didn't want to comment on that, while Tina went over to a cupboard, and took out some liquid. She gave me some, and said "Drink this, you should feel better in an hour or so". I nodded, and drank it.

This time, the liquid was not as horrible, as the one I received from the Lizard. I asked Finch "I meant to ask about that for a while. What about the doctor in this village? He couldn't even cure little Nade's blockages". Finch smiled, and said "He is a doctor, but he doesn't know how to use pressure points for healing. He never learned it. He mostly makes medicine, and works with broken limbs. I don't know if he could attach an arm though, because to my knowledge, he never tried. You already met him a couple of times. Olav is the doctor in our village, go talk to him if you have some time. Maybe you can teach him something. Hahaha". I nodded my head, and said "I will visit him".

Because I still felt the remnants of that hangover, I decided to take a rest, and visit the doctor first. He lived in a house a bit further away, in the outer edges of the village. When I knocked on the doors, a young woman opened them, and asked "Nex? Is something wrong?". I shook my head, and said "I would like to meet your father". She invited me inside, and said "Sure, he is in his office". I nodded, and followed after Kara.

Kara knocked on the doors. Olav responded after a while with "Come in". We walked in, and I saw Olav working with some herbs on his desk. Kara said "Nex wanted to see you. I will leave you two to talk alone". She then left the room. Olav asked "How can I help you Nex?". I smiled, and said "You are a doctor, and I was wondering if you could show me some of your treating techniques? I'm willing to share some of mine in exchange".

Olav looked at me a bit surprised, and said "I would've never guessed, that you had any medical knowledge. Sure, what would you like to know". I asked "What do you specialise in?". Olav replied "Nothing much, a bit of this and that. I mostly treat broken limbs, and make some medicine". I asked "How do you make your medicine?". He replied "I use that pot over there. I cook some of the herbs together, and this produces the medicine". I nodded, and asked "What's the best medicine you can make? Do you have some?". He nodded his head, and passed me a bottle. I took it and examined it. It was worse than my Arran Liquid. It was better than Vital Liquid, but nowhere near Healing Essence.

I took out the Arran Liquid, and passed it to him. He understood what I meant, and took the bottle examine its contents. After a while, he exclaimed "This is very good medicine! It's better than mine". I smiled, and said "I can teach you similar recipe, which has similar strength to this one". He nodded, and said "If you are willing to teach me, I will learn it". I wrote down all the herbs required to make Healing Essence, and told him the process. Just in case, I also explained how these herbs looked like. Although Thousand and One Herb book might not have been Nick's book, I wasn't sure if Olav was aware of those herbs, and how they looked like.

He contemplated for a while, and said "Who would've guessed, that mixing those herbs, would bring such a result. Who taught you that recipe?". I smiled, and replied "An old friend of mine. He taught me much more, but I can't really pass too much of it to anyone, besides my successor. But, I can teach you about the pressure points. It seems you don't know about them".

Olav replied "I know a few of them. That amount though, is not really useful for treatment, or any other medical applications. You seem to know much more than me, yet you are so young....". I smiled, and said "I only know so much, because the person who taught me, spent most of his life developing all of that. If not for him, I would know nothing. I've a few books. I will leave them with you, and let you get accustomed with them. You may already know some of things written inside of them, but there will be things you will not know". He nodded, and said "I will gladly accept them".

I handed him the three books, that I received from that Eterian woman. With that taken care of, I said "If you know more, than whatever the books contain, or have certain techniques for treatments, I would like to hear about them later. For now, I will let you study". He nodded his head, and started reading the books.

I left the room, and said farewell to Kara. I then headed towards the training area, and practiced my sword basics for the rest of the day.