"How is he?" Artemis asked as she looked at the healers coming out from the room.
After seeing the condition of Rio's body, Artemis didn't dare to be careless and feed him pills or potions without any knowledge. There were too many unknowns and risks involved. And she didn't want to hurt him even more than he already was, just cause she couldn't wait a little bit more.
"He's alive." One of the healers came forward to inform Artemis, while the others from his group stayed behind.
The man who came to talk with her, was wearing a full red cloak, the logo of a circle with a dragon symbol in the form of an infinity sign drawn in between, was apparent on his chest and back. This was the sign of the organization circle of renewals.
Known for their neutrality and amazing talent in healing, they're always the first choice in case something serious happens, and someone needs assistance in healing.
Hearing the man's answer, which just said, her son is alive, Artemis shot back "I know he's alive. I'm asking when will he wake up?"
"We can't be sure." The man shook his head in refusal, and continued "As you might have seen yourself, his body's constitution is very weak now. His body is simply blood and bones held together by his charred skin, and even they are tainted and broken."
"Due to being trapped inside the dungeon for far too long, his blood vessels have already started showing signs of Essence Mismatch Syndrome[EMMSY]*1."
"The bones in both his hands and left leg were crushed to powder, and the only reason he could even move them slightly was because he was constantly using mana to keep them in place. From the looks of infection around the origin, he might've had them like this for at least two or three weeks. We've healed them, but the mobility and effects can only be seen once he wakes up.
We can't heal his skin before we deal with the effects of EMMSY, so the scars and burn marks on his body will have to stay like that for a while."
The man, according to his profession, started giving out a detailed summary of Rio's situation. The more he spoke the more Artemis' heart constricted in pain. But controlling herself she asked another question
"What about his mana veins? Did they get damaged too?"
The man thought for a second, wondering if he should tell her all that he found or not. But knowing if he didn't say something, some other healers that would come after him would tell her instead.
After all, even though they were famous and reputed healers, it was unlikely that Blake's would just trust their words blindly without getting a second opinion or even a third from someone else.
So he decided to be honest about everything.
"All his mana veins had been worn out, while half of them even broken. The damage seemed recent. Which in my guess is probably due to side effects of some skill or technique out of his league. These damages are further making it hard for us to heal him quickly, cause if not careful enough, then his foundation might be gone."
"I don't care. Give him all the best pills and potions you need. If you guys don't have it, then tell me and it'll be arranged immediately." Artemis said, her emotion getting out of control the more she heard about his condition.
Her heart couldn't imagine how much he would've suffered while facing all this pain, all while being alone. Money, resources, connections -nothing mattered to her, if she could take all his pain away in this instant, then she was willing to pay for everything happily.
But sadly, that wasn't possible.
The man, shook her head, his face showing a tinge of pity for the mother of his patient. He could understand what she was feeling now, but he had to inform her the truth, cause if not, it would only put Rio's life in more danger. So he hid his expression and replied -"You're not listening, lady Blake."
"We can't subject him to highly dense mana or top grade potions. His body won't be able to handle it. The only thing they will do is hurt him even more, instead of healing him.
And let's not forget the biggest hurdle his recovery faces - until we are sure of the corruption from the EMMSY, we can't act rashly.
Looking at the black veins spreading across his back, it's easy to see that his body has been fighting energy radiation for a while.
And even then, from the looks of it, he had used techniques and skills that have exhausted all his mana reserves, leaving him vulnerable even more.
So unless he wakes up, and we find out exactly how much the essence imbalance affected his mind and body, we can only wait."
"So you're telling me I should just wait and watch as he suffers?" Artemis asked, her voice heavy with emotions, as her throat felt constricted to utter those words.
"That's not what I meant, lady Artemis."
"From what we know, due to being trapped inside the dungeon for too long, his body had been constantly exposed to the rampant corrosion of the Dungeon. We should be glad that this was a relatively low ranked dungeon, or we might have already lost him."
The man said, reminding her of the risks involved due to being in a dungeon for too long.
"Being trapped inside a different world for this long at his rank, is _." The man said, but stopped himself, as the consequences of that were too dire and dirty to be mentioned lightly.
"He's lucky , lady Artemis. If it was some high ranked dungeon, or even a different kind of dungeon, then by now he would've already lost his connection with our world's source mana, and then there would be nothing left we could do.
So please heed my advice and instead of hurrying the treatment, let's give his body some time to rest and recuperate on its own. He persisted and lived all this time on his own. We shouldn't waste his efforts due to our emotions. And don't you think he needs a little rest too."
Hearing his words and suggestions, Artemis managed to calm down a little, but still she needed to ask the last question
"How long would he be like that? What if something happened or _"
"You don't have to worry about his safety lady Artemis. The major injuries his body had suffered, have already been cured. Physically from the outside he's already fine. But to heal his internal injuries or the time he can use his mana again -for that we can't be sure for now.
It'll all depend on his body's recovery rate. And how far the radiation from EMMSY has corrupted his body. We can only hope that he wakes up soon, so we can prepare better treatment plans for him."
Hearing his words, Artemis nodded her head in understanding. She expressed her gratitude that they were willing to come and heal her son without any delay.
"Thank you for your help. House Blake will remember this favor."
"Please, lady Artemis. After what the young heir did for us, and for everyone 2 years ago, this is the least we could do for him."
Artemis nodded her head, while stopping herself from thinking about that dreadful day again.
The team of healers sent from the circle of renewals were highly sought after individuals and famous elders of the organization. And they all agreed to stay in Damascus until Rio's treatment was fully finished.
Knowing that it could probably take many days or even weeks for him to be healed, and out of danger, the preparations for their stay at the guest house near the main mansion were made.
"Myra will show you the rooms that have been prepared for you. Please make yourself comfortable. I'll have someone notify you immediately if there are some changes in his condition." Artemis informed everyone.
Following her instructions Myra led everyone away, while Artemis stood outside the room looking through the window, gazing at Rio, whose body was floating over his bed, as the formations around him kept glowing.
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A/N - I'll explain what EMMSY is and it's effects and etc in detail, in the next chapter. For now, think of it like a disease born from the radiation, or long exposure to different energies of different worlds.
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