Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,111

“I managed to save most of the cheek so I could reattach it to cover the wound. The muscle is ruined and of course, her eye is gone. She won’t be able to move most of that side of her face after it heals. She will probably also have considerable difficulty drinking and speaking since she lost most of the lower lip. Her life isn’t in danger, but it will be difficult living normally after this. Her nose was ruined as well. I had to stretch the skin from the right side to cover as much of the wound as I could, so it won’t look…well, you understand.”

Will’s vision blurred, and he covered his face with his hands. Despite what Tiny had said, he still blamed himself. Then he asked, “You said a regeneration potion would help, right?”

“If you have one, yes,” said Doctor Morris. “But it needs to be given within a few days or it won’t work properly.”

“Why?”

“It regenerates flesh, but it doesn’t remove scars or revive dead tissue,” said the doctor. “If Mister Shaw’s kidneys die, the potion won’t revive necrotic tissue. Miss Edelman’s condition is less dangerous, but the same principle applies. If her wound heals as it is, the potion won’t reverse that. It has to be given while the body still remembers its proper form. Once it has healed, that will be what it considers its proper form.”

Will nodded as the gears began to turn in his head.

The doctor went on, “I’ll need to report all of this to the proper authorities. If there truly are undead monsters roaming the streets, the king will need to be informed.”

“He knows already,” said Will bitterly. “But I have the address of the warehouse for him.”

“You can tell him yourself,” said Doctor Morris. “You’ll have to stay here until the king’s men arrive to question everyone.”

Will gave the doctor a hard look. “Do you really think you can keep me here?”

“That’s my job.”

“Your job is to take care of patients,” countered Will. “I will be leaving in a few minutes, to try and obtain the potions my friends need. If you want to help them, you’ll stay out of my way.”

“If I actually believed you could do that, I’d be tempted to let you,” admitted the doctor. “But I know quite well there’s no possible way you could—”

“Do either of my friends need any further treatment from you tonight?” asked Will suddenly.

The doctor stared at him oddly. “No, my assistants will handle the dressing changes in the morning. For now, they’re sleeping. I administered a strong sedative so—” His words cut off as Will’s source-link spell connected, and a moment later he was paralyzed and his connection to his source was blocked.

With that done, Will took his time constructing a sleep spell, and once it had taken hold, he released the source-link. He stood and summoned a spare tunic from the limnthal. It felt strange wearing normal clothes without his brigandine vest under it, but he had lost the armor at the warehouse.

He left the office and waved to the nurses and other personnel that glanced at him on his way out. None of them tried to stop him, thankfully. Once he was outside, he recovered Tailtiu’s body from the bushes he had hidden it in. Cradling her in his arms, he began the walk home.

As he went, he couldn’t help but consider how much he had changed. Just a year previously he would have been nervous as hell to carry a dead body across the campus. Now it hardly bothered him at all. He figured anyone that saw him would figure it was simply an unconscious person, and as unusual as that might be, he doubted anyone would have the balls to challenge him about it.

In one sense it was a good thing, but it also reminded him of Dennis Spry. No one would challenge him either, and because of that he did terrible things to whoever he pleased. Will had no intention of becoming like that, but it made him acutely aware of how his current status could easily be abused.

He received a fresh surprise when