Chapter 1 - Hooded Physician

Two years later…

…

…

A beautiful, tall, and slender feminine figure clad in an adventurers' outfit walked on the outskirts of the Bluewind town.

She had a curvy voluptuous body, long raven hair, and cat ears and tail with shiny black fur.

After completing an A-rank mission, Angela directly started heading towards the adventurer's guild of the Bluewind town.

Today, Angela got late as she usually returns home before dusk. Hence, currently, she is in a bit of a hurry as she does not want her children to worry. After a long day of work, her body is already tired, but as a single mother, she has many other duties to take care of before she could rest.

Her expression is that of exhaustion, but if one looked deep into her eyes, traces of worry, sadness, and frustration can be seen.

With a lot of emotions in her mind, Angela entered into the guild and directly headed to the rewards counter; unaware of the lustful gazes of the men.

Despite her worries, she forced a smile and greeted the attendant, then she handed the materials and received the rewards.

As an A-rank adventurer, she is a well-known figure in the guild, so the transaction went rather smoothly. And before she could exit the guild, a sound came from her behind.

"Miss Angela, a new physician took your mission an hour ago. She might be waiting at your home." An attendant from the mission counter told Angela.

As a famous adventurer, almost everyone in the guild knows about her circumstances, so everyone tries to help her in their own way and tries to make things easy for her… or at least that's what she thinks.

"Thanks, Ruth! I will head there right away." After listening to the good news, her exhausted expression lit up and her tired body suddenly felt lighter, and with a brilliant smile, she thanked the attendant. Her cat ears twitched and her tail swung in excitement.

She increased her pace to reach her home even a second earlier. With great anticipation and hope, she arrived at the entrance of her home and knocked.

"Coming…" came a melodious and somewhat innocent sound of a young girl from the other side of the door. She is precisely the young daughter of Angela, who then opened the door and welcomed her.

"Aria, where is the physician? Quickly lead me to her." Angela asked her daughter not hiding even a bit of her excitement.

"Yes, she is currently examining brother… she had already waited for an entire hour for your return." With that, both the mother and daughter pair entered the bedroom directly.

Angela is a cat-woman and her late husband was from the manticore clan, who passed away when she was pregnant with Aria. Her son and daughter both have some manticore features. Her son, Leonis, inherited almost all the features of his father and does not look like a mixed breed. On the other hand, Aria is more like her mother with smooth black fur on her ears and tail, which looks more like that of a black panther.

Two years ago, Leonis' health started deteriorating suddenly and he became extremely weak. A few months ago, due to his weakness, his condition became worse and he fell into a coma. In those two years, Angela and her younger sister have consulted with many physicians and tried many medicines, but to no avail.

Upon entering the bedroom, Angela saw a figure covered in grey robes. That was a female figure whose half of the face was covered inside the hood. Angela greeted the physician politely and with a somewhat worried and expectant expression asked, "Umm... doctor, how is my son's condition? Can you cure him?"

The female physician sighed and replied, "He has become extremely weak due to mana depletion. As for what is causing it, I am not sure either. Ordinary healing medicines can alleviate the symptoms temporarily, but cannot cure it."

Angela's heart ached but still, she asked, "Is there no way to save him?"

Seeing a mother's worried look, the female physician felt sad and with a somewhat hesitant expression, she took out a large 10cm glass bottle. It contained a green liquid that showed a light glow. "With this, he can be saved, but…"

As soon as the physician said that she had a medicine that can cure her son, both her and her daughter's expression lit up. Sensing her hesitant expression, Angela guessed that she might be concerned about the price of the medicine, so she said, "Please speak openly. If it's the price of the medicine you are concerned about, please rest assured as we have plenty of savings just for this occasion."

Both Angela and her younger sister are A-ranked adventurers, so they have saved a lot of money for Leonis' medication and treatment by completing missions and keeping a low profile.

Hearing the desperate pleading of a mother and a sister's expectant expression for her brother, the physician's face sank and guilt filled her mind as the medicine was tremendously potent and could kill anyone if consumed directly. But still, she wanted to believe in the prophecy of the elder of her clan, so she did what she had to do and said, "That's not the problem. This medicine is potent and could result in some side effects. That's why I was hesitating."

"Will they be severe?" Angela asked as she did not want to lose this newfound hope.

"I don't know… But we might be able to take care of them if they arise. Take this bottle and take your time to decide. But you must act in haste, your son does not have much time… just a few days. This… might be your last hope…"

Hearing this, both the mother and daughter's faces became pale and their heart filled with grief. They stared at the medicine blankly.

"I will be leaving now. I will be out of this town for a month and I will come after that to receive the payment if you decided to use it. And make sure to use the full bottle in one go, or else it won't work." This was also told by the elder, so the physician did as she was told. After giving the required instructions, she left.