124: Physical Exam
“Bad news,” Ember said when she returned to Beatrice from the inspection of the wounded. “Olivia might live, though she’ll be an utterly useless cripple for the foreseeable future. And Tabitha has massive internal bleeding and will probably die within the hour.”
“What!?” the half-blind succubus struggled to her feet the moment she heard the terrible news.
However, unlike the distraught succubus, Ember did not seem all that concerned. She said ‘bad news’ but nothing in her tone indicated any worry or even a hint of sadness for the situation of her party members.
“Help me get to Tabitha first!” Beatrice told her uncaring bodyguard.
“Sure thing,” Ember said and put her arm around Beatrice’s waist. Despite showing zero care for the well-being of Beatrice’s new toys, Ember had no intention of hindering the future Saviour. Though that did not stop her from trying to convince Beatrice of the futility of her actions, while slowly guiding the succubus toward her fallen friends.
“There isn’t much we can do for them now,” Ember said as she and Beatrice slowly walked in tandem. “Tabitha will die in pain and Olivia will eventually starve. No one will waste their time on a cripple.”
“Don’t you have any healing spells or items?” Beatrice asked her uncaring bodyguard.
“Sadly, healing is not something I have any talent in,” Ember said, again without sadness.
Shit! Beatrice cursed, thinking what to do.
“Here we are,” Ember said and stopped with Beatrice next to Tabitha who was lying on the ground.
Beatrice fell on her knees next to Tabitha and tried to perform an examination as best she could. Beatrice knew human anatomy better than most in her field. This would have been easy if she had any equipment from her past world or if—at the very least—she wasn’t half-blind. As it was, Beatrice was forced to rely on nothing more than her sense of touch, as well as her ears that were blasted just a couple of minutes ago.
“Tch,” Beatrice realized how awkward and difficult it was performing palpation with her long fingernails. She moved her fingers slowly, applying varying degrees of pressure. She did not dare to move Tabitha. Within the first thirty seconds, it was obvious that she had several broken bones in just her left arm. And judging by the force with which Steve threw Tabitha around, a broken spine was likely.
Beatrice found an artery on Tabitha’s neck and measured her pulse. While she did that she heard the obviously abnormal breathing.
“Pulse is through the roof,” Beatrice said grimly.
Second by second, inch by inch, Beatrice reluctantly confirmed Ember’s grim prognosis.
“How far are we away from the city?” Beatrice asked while she continued her exam, momentarily forgetting that they were in the capital, just a very strange one, that had a gigantic forest within its walls for some reason. “I mean... Actual civilization. A doctor or healer or something?”
“At least another three hours,” Ember answered. “And that’s without carrying wounded. Obviously bringing someone here would be too late.”
Of course, Beatrice gave up on any outside help and instead applied pressure on Tabitha’s upper left abdomen.
“Tender,” Beatrice mumbled to herself, despairing even more.
“M-my G-g… Goddess… It... W-was...” Tabitha mumbled barely audibly between her short breaths before succumbing to another wave of violent coughing.
“Shut up, you fool!” Beatrice snapped, nearly in tears. Even with her vision foggy and still obstructed by dimming white lights, Beatrice could see that Tabitha was coughing up bubbly blood.
“The lungs,” Beatrice said and moved her examination to Tabitha’s ribs. There was bruising and swelling all over.
Fuuuuck! Beatrice despaired internally and fell back. Her mouth was dry. The succubus forcibly filled her mouth with saliva, swallowed hard, and took a deep breath.
“Broken bones, dislocated shoulder, ruptured spleen, broken ribs, punctured lung,” Beatrice listed off what she found just in a couple of minutes of a surface-level physical examination.
“The best thing we can do for them now is put them out of their misery,” Ember suggested. “A mercy killing.”
“SHUT UP!” Beatrice screamed at Ember, flatly refusing the barbaric solution. Instead, she turned to her own Skills for a solution.
I still have two points to spend! Beatrice thought as she went through the list of potential Combat Craft Skills in her mind’s eye. But she could not find what she was looking for. Neither could she find it in the Mischief Craft. As for Eros Craft…
[Fast(er) Recovery] really is the only healing Skill I can get? Beatrice despaired. We’re not talking about a little post-intercourse exhaustion here! Her internal organs are on the verge of shutting down!!
With nothing better to offer, Beatrice gently put her hand between Tabitha’s breasts, barely touching the bruised area, and cast the rejuvenating Skill.
Beatrice remained completely still for a couple of seconds, holding her breath while she listened to Tabitha’s labored breathing.
Nothing! Beatrice lowered her head, realizing her Skill had no effect. The answer to “why?” was obvious.
Skill Name: Fast(er) Recovery
Rank: D
Type: Eros Craft / Active
Cost: 10 Stamina
Cooldown: 2 Minutes
Description: Despite the marvelous, otherworldly orgasms, sex with a succubus can be taxing for mortals. This skill heals succubus’s sexual partners from their post-sex exhaustion, restoring a portion of the target’s Health Points and Stamina Points. The target and the succubus must have had sexual intercourse for this skill to be usable.
Requires direct skin contact between the Succubus and the target.
Cannot be used on the same target more than once per hour.
Minimum Requirements:
Character level: 6
‘Must have had’! Be more specific!!! Beatrice wanted to scream at the nebulous system. Beatrice needed to have sex with the person she wanted to heal. But apparently, this also meant that she needed to have sex right before using this Skill.
“Fuck!” Beatrice cursed and brought up her Skill Enhancement tab and searched for [Fast(er) Recovery].
Skill Enhancement: Fast(er) Recovery (+1)
Rank: C
Type: Eros Craft / Active
Cost: 30 Stamina
Cooldown: 2 Minutes
Description: Despite the marvelous, otherworldly orgasms, sex with a succubus can be taxing for mortals. This skill heals succubus’s sexual partners from their post-sex exhaustion, restoring 20% of the target’s maximum Health Points, 20% of the target’s maximum Stamina Points, removing debuffs and status effects of Rank C or lower. The target and the succubus must have had sexual intercourse for this skill to be usable.
Requires direct skin contact between the Succubus and the target.
Cannot be used on the same target more than once per hour.
Minimum Requirements:
Character level: 12
Skill Points in Eros Craft: 12
Beatrice jumped to her Skill Point Tab to confirm her Skill Point distribution.
Skill Points
Total Skill Points
23
Unused Skill Points
2
Skill Points in Combat Craft
5
Skill Points in Mischief Craft
4
Skill Points in Eros Craft
12
A glance at her information tab confirmed what Beatrice already knew.
Information
Name
Beatrice
Age
18
Class
Succubus
Level
12 (14%)
I really have no other choice, do I? Beatrice thought, understanding what needed to be done, and acquired the enhancement for her [Fast(er) Recovery] Skill.