Divine Heritage: Only I Can Judge The gods-Chapter 44: Recovery, and the Start of the Selection

"How is he still alive?" A nurse asked as she observed the horrific wound in a young man’s stomach.

"He has far too much venom in his body..."

The boy had been brought into the medical tent they had on the mountain after he had arrived and currently, he was in a deplorable state.

A woman in a long lab coat took a blood sample from the boy and passed it to the nurse.

"Take this blood sample to the lab and have them analyze it." She said to the nurse as she tucked stray strands of hair behind her ear.

Normally she would have given him an anti-venom but as she had observed just a few minutes ago, the boy’s blood cells were already doing an excellent job.

The main issue were his wounds.

"It’s time for the more messy parts."

She then turned to face the girl who had brought the boy. All through the time she had been here she had not spoken a single word.

Instead, she had a scary expression on her face as she watched every single move they made.

The doctor took off her hand gloves and asked:

"Ummm, are you his sister?"

She eyed the doctor for a short while before answering.

"No."

"His girlfriend then?"

The girl’s eyes narrowed slightly, the doctor was sure she saw a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Where are you going with this?"

"I need to take off his clothes before healing him... and—"

"I understand."

She cut the doctor off before she could finish and stepped out of the room, her movements slightly hurried.

"Alright, let’s get started."

The woman pulled off her gloves and began taking off his clothes, she was not afraid of an infection because she was a curse bearer, a healer at that.

They almost never got sick.

She started with his blood-soaked jacket, tossing it into a nearby bucket and then took off his shirt, revealing a slender physique.

The doctor stared at the blood stained body and winced.

There was a nasty bite mark on his shoulder, still slowly dripping blood, there was a large purple bruise on his abdomen and multiple cuts all around his body.

"Nurse..."

The woman from earlier was just returning.

"Yes doctor?"

"Get something we can use to clean him up so that I can start working."

The woman nodded and left only to return a few seconds later with a bucket in hand.

Soon, she was done cleaning his wounds, and the doctor had done her part as well, completely healing almost every injury on his body.

But, it was only during the healing process that she realized just how bad his injuries really were.

There was internal bleeding, cracked bones and torn ligaments.

The strangest part was that the injuries seemed to originate from the boy himself...

"How strange... self destruction?"

She reached forward to heal the last injury, a cut that would have otherwise scarred him for life when the boy suddenly grabbed her hand, his grip firm.

***

Ark woke up in a rather bright environment and the first thing that graced his sight was a hand, moving towards his face.

He quickly grabbed the hand and sat up, only to realize it was feminine... not just feminine but it belonged to a doctor.

Still holding her hand in his grasp, he noticed something was different, he was cold.

It was only then that he discovered that he was no longer wearing a shirt.

"Why am I naked?"

There was an annoyed sigh from his side. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I’ll be happy to answer you once you finally let go of my hands."

"Oh, sorry," Ark said, just before releasing her.

She then reached for his face, Ark pulled back slightly just before her warm fingers made contact with the wound on his cheek.

He winced from the pain, but soon, the entire injury was gone, as though it never existed...

"Alright, that is the last one." The woman said as she rose to her feet, walking over to a sink to wash off the blood from her hands.

"I’m surprised you woke up so soon, with these kinds of injuries, I would have expected you to be knocked out for at least a week."

Ark laughed weakly, scratching the top of his head.

"So..." the woman’s voice suddenly took a more serious tone. "What happened?"

***

Ark left the clinic just after telling the woman a short version of the story, he told her about the manticore and a few other strange occurrences which she duly noted.

She informed him that she would be lodging a formal complaint to the Center, due to her experience as a doctor she knew just how deadly the manticore he encountered was.

Something far too dangerous to throw at examinees.

’If only she knew...’

The Manticore wasn’t meant for just anyone, Ark was positive that he was the target.

He was given clean clothes to wear since his old ones were practically ruined, comfortable hospital clothes that he didn’t have to return.

After leaving the tent, Ark noticed that apart from the staff, everyone else was gathered around, some distance away from him.

He jogged up to them and finally got a better look.

Gathered around a large podium was the professor alongside fourteen other people, from the way they looked and the courtesy the professor regarded them with, it was obvious that they were important.

Representatives from the country’s fourteen Squadrons.

The professor was already speaking by the time he got there. He had already missed the announcement about the total number of passes, failures and deaths.

"I will now read the result of the examinations."

He took out an envelope and brought out a card from it.

"Third place, Ethan Donavon."

There was a wave of claps, particularly from his friends and a smirk on his face as he cat-walked up the stage.

He spared Ark a glance, from where he was standing behind the crowd and smirked mockingly before turning away from him, preferring to soak in the glory of his achievement instead.

"Second place Luke Heither."

A vaguely familiar boy walked up to the stage, seemed to have a far more easygoing personality, and was all smiles as he climbed up the stage.

Strangely, his hair was also blue, although of a lighter shade, and he bore a little resemblance to Ethan.

He was also well chiseled...

’Oh, the boy from the cafeteria...’

He was the one Silver had compared him to when he had just started working out.

"And in first place, the winner of today’s prize."

After seeing those who came in third and second, everyone already suspected who would win so it was not a surprise when the professor said:

"Kiera Stormwind!"

Kiera walked up to the stage and stood next to the two boys.

The older man from earlier walked up to her and shook her hand, transferring the artifact in the process.

In order to transfer an artifact all one needed was direct contact between receiver and sender.

After the wave of applause had died down, a man with long black hair and a sharp gaze walked forward.

"Now let’s get to business."

He stared at the top three examinees, his gaze hard and calculating. As it was customary, they would be selected first.

"Ethan Donavo. First Squadron invites you..."

A woman walked up as well, a serious expression on her face.

"Ethan Donavo. Tenth squadron invites you..."

Another person, this time a Middle aged man with greying beards walked up as well.

"Ethan Donavo. Seventh squadron invites you..."

The squadron selection had begun.