Quid Pro Quo

Jack quickly turned around and looked at Morena with a surprised expression.

"Oh, nothing. I just caught a mouse!" Jack said, showing her the rodent.

"You really are a very skilled hunter," she said with a smirk on her face.

"Obviously. So why are you peeping around here? Did you hope to get a glance at my butt?" Jack said with a smile.

"You have been gone for a while so I wanted to check if everything was ok," Morena said.

"Thanks, but I am fine. I was just about to return but the mouse caught my attention," Jack said as he was turning around and about to walk back to the group.

Then Morena grabbed his arm while holding up his water bag with both hands, asking "Where did you get this?"

"Oh, I found a freshwater source on the way and just took as much as I could carry. Was it not enough?" Jack asked.

"No, I mean the bag. It's incredibly heavy and hard as stone. I have been trading commodities for all my life and have never seen a material like that. It's flexible and hard at the same time," Morena said.

Jack looked flustered for a second as he realized his mistake. But he was always exceptional when having to think on his feet. "I found it near a camp that looked abandoned. It was just a small fireplace with two tents and some left-overs. Whoever lived there must have left in a hurry since there was still some food and that water bag left. Yeah, it's super heavy but at least it does its job so it's worth carrying it," Jack said.

"You really must be quite strong if you carry that thing on your shoulder all day," Morena said, staring closely at Jack and looking for any sign of deceit.

"You look at me like you want to eat me," Jack said with a smile on his face. "Yes, I am super strong, obviously."

Morena visibly relaxed and looked down as she tried to hide her smile. "Thanks, anyways. The water has really helped us so we should be saving it for now. The bag is still half full," she said as she returned the bag to Jack.

Jack had found many water bottles as well as flowing tap water in the city, so it was an unnecessary blunder to hand the bag made from creature material to the group. But it still went well, he thought.

As they were returning to the group, Ark was sitting next to his brother and was trying to do what he could to keep him awake and make his rest more comfortable.

The teenagers were looking at Jack with large eyes since he must be the closest thing to the word hope that they had seen in many days. He had brought food, water, and a more positive mood to the group. Jack naturally joked around and had a calm strength to him that gave those around him confidence. That is how he was able to start his own business in his teens and excel in a variety of different disciplines, especially those that required collaboration. Jack gave the family a warm smile and waved his hand at them in a friendly gesture. Then he sat down next to Ark and looked at his brother, who was clearly in pain and did not look healthy.

"He does not look good," Jack said, with an empathetic tone in his voice.

"No, we have no way of helping him," Ark said, with a painful expression.

"He is showing signs of sepsis, and he has lost too much blood on the way. Since they did not have proper bandages, disinfectants, or antibiotics, his wound has been infected. If you want to heal this man, then do it now," the assistant interjected.

"Ark, I would like to propose a deal to you so I hope that you are willing to listen to me," Jack said while looking Ark in the eyes.

"What type of deal?" Ark asked, his demeanor becoming more cold and merchant-like. Jack always knew that succeeding in business was often a question of controlling one's emotions since emotional decisions usually overwrite logic and lead to bad decision making. Ark was a good example of how a merchant should be, he thought. He could compartmentalize business and family very well.

"I have a healing ability that could be able to help your brother. But in return, I would like you to help me set up a business once we reach the next city, since I do not have any identification or residency permit. I need to be able to travel freely in the world, so I would need some type of documents. Can you help me with that?" Jack said calmly.

Ark stared at Jack for a while without saying a word. Then he finally said, "healing abilities are incredibly rare and limited in their usability. Are you sure that you can help?"

"I am but it will be easy for you to confirm anyways," Jack said with a smile while holding eye contact.

Ark looked at his brother and then his eyes looked far into the distance. He thought in silence for a moment then he turned back to Jack. "If you have no documents and no family tree, then getting identification and a passport will be difficult. Since the war started, the world has become more insulated, and traveling merchants that are allowed to pass freely need a special designation as non-affiliated traders. This means that they will not be controlled by a single government but will be allowed to trade with even governments that are currently at war. Due to the food shortages and the co-dependence of many nations, this system was created even though it seems counterintuitive. But gaining such a permission is difficult, especially if you have no background and documentation at all. There are currently only 200 organisations that have such a permission, and all of them have at least 500 employees."

"Is it impossible then?" Jack asked calmly.

"Our family operates one of the top 3 trading organisations in the country, so we have a great deal of influence and we already have such a permission. If you can keep my brother alive, then I will make sure that you will be able to travel freely either with your own organisation or as part of our organisation, but I will be able to get you all the personal identification documents that you require," Ark said with a firm expression.

"Can you really help?" Morena said after she had been slowly approaching them and overheard some of their conversation.

"I will do my best but he needs help as fast as possible since he has an infection and is already on the verge of-" Jack stopped mid-sentence as he noticed how both Ark and Morena had become very anxious. He thought of them as tough merchants since they had a very controlled and hard demeanor but as soon as the topic shifted back to their brother, they turned soft and emotional. "I will help him," Jack said.

Jack carefully removed the textiles that had been covering the amputated leg and could see the bones sticking out from below the knee. He had lost his foot and lower leg up to his right knee, which made it especially difficult for them to cover up the wound since the bone was obstructing any pressure that could be applied.

"It's a miracle that he is still alive. He must have lost a lot of blood. He has admirable endurance," the assistant said.

Jack instructed Morena to grab Juz's hand and Ark to place a thick piece of textile into his mouth so that he could endure the pain. Jack was worried that Juz would go into shock and die before he was able to heal him but he had to take that risk.

Jack placed his hands on top of the wound that was not bleeding anymore but was entirely open and blackened from dirt and dead skin. Jack focused on his healing ability and started to gradually infuse more Sym energy into his ability to adjust the strength.

"I need you to observe Juz carefully and tell me if there are any problems. If I need to reduce the energy then tell me as soon as possible," Jack said to the assistant.

Jack started to increase the energy and Juz was visibly starting to show signs of being in pain. He had not moved at all since Jack had sat down but now he was trembling and turning restlessly. Morena and Ark were starting to hold him down and both looked closely at Jack. They knew that their brother was on the verge of death but they would not let some stranger kill him with some half-baked ability before his time had come so they observed closely.

Just like it happened to the mouse, the hair around the wound was starting to dissolve into thin air and the dead skin was starting to disintegrate. Jack could feel the body of Juz and could sense his state and even his blood flow.

"I can sense a lot of new data coming from the patient. I will let you know when he is in danger," the assistant said.

Jack kept infusing energy, and the faces of the two siblings went pale when they suddenly saw the open flesh below the knee starting to brighten and expand as if something was growing out of it.

"You have to stop. The patient needs food and especially calcium, fat, and protein. Regrowing an entire leg requires at least 15 to 20 kilograms of material; otherwise, it will harm his body. But the infection has been resolved, and he will return to health after resting and eating properly," the assistant said.

"I gotta stop for now but he will be better tomorrow," Jack said.

"Why did you stop? He seemed fine, we can hold him down if he keeps moving," Morena said, anxiously.

"It is possible to regrow his leg, but he will need at least one leg of food to replace it. I can heal, but I cannot grow flesh out of thin air," Jack said, calmly.

Morena looked back at Juz and stroked his face. "His complexion looks so much better and his pulse has gotten stronger," she said.

"Thank you for saving my brother's life," Ark said as he got up to shake Jack's hand.

"No problem, I will continue healing him after we have hunted for some food. I am sure that we can find something around here," Jack said.

"I don't think we will find any animals to eat here. We have no weapons and no way of building any traps around here that could catch them," Morena said with a sad expression.

"Leave it to me, I am a well trained hunter and finding food is my specialty," Jack said confidently.

Ark and Morena sat back down next to Juz who was sound asleep. Neither of them seemed to be very confident in the idea of a successful hunt but they tried to hide their pessimism well enough.

Jack got up and secretly opened a small window portal to monitor the environment and look for their meal. He found a few rodents in the vicinity but he wanted something bigger. He could easily just return to the city and bring a large number of supplies but he wanted to keep his portal abilities a secret for now since he wanted to stay under the radar until he had a better understanding of this planet.

He found an animal that looked like a mix between a mountain lion and a wild boar, which looked edible enough to him.

"What do you think, tasty or not?" Jack said to the assistant.

"I think this animal should provide sufficient food for at least a few days. You can cook and then salt it to preserve it for longer," the assistant answered.

Jack told the group that he would go for a short hunt and that he will be back soon which was met with careful words of encouragement. The absurdity of claiming that he would go on a hunt in this desolate area did not occur to Jack since it seemed like child's play to him who had been running hundreds of kilometres and battled creatures along the way.

Jack went around a stone formation and immediately created a return portal after which he used a window portal to jump right in front of the boar. The boar was so startled that it slipped and fell on the ground as it was trying to turn around and run away but Jack immediately stepped on the boar's back so that it could not escape. "You're mine now," Jack said as he instantly killed the animal through a finger poke into its forehead. He then started the butchering process by first holding the animal up until it bled out. He was able to take his time with the process since he hid his return portal well, so that it would not be discovered even if Morena was snooping around again. He had learned how to keep a portal in its condensed ball form until he decided to open it and use it. This way, it was hard to spot when it was lying hidden on the ground.

As the animal was bleeding out, he used his healing ability to remove the hair on its entire body. He smirked at how convenient this ability was to butcher animals, since he did not need to skin the entire animal manually but could just disintegrate it using his ability.

"Ok, let's butcher the animal with the group so that it's not too suspicious if I just return with nicely cut meat," Jack said to the assistant.

Jack returned through the portal and carried the boar on his back. To hide his strength, he pretended to be suffering under its weight and was panting loudly.

"Guess what I caught!" He said enthusiastically while winking towards the group. "Do you have some knives on you?"

Morena looked startled as she saw him return with a large animal less than an hour after he left. "How did you catch this?" she said with a shocked voice.

"I was running around to see if I could find another small rodent but then I found this guy just sleeping in a corner. I almost missed it since it camouflaged so well. Since it was asleep, I could kill it with a rock. I was really lucky."

"Really lucky, indeed," Morena said with a skeptical but also happy look on her face.

"Please allow me to help you, I used to work as a butcher when I was a teenager," the father of the small family said as he walked towards Jack. His name was Lance, and he had been keeping quiet with his family for most of their journey.

"Great, glad to take any help I can get," Jack said with a smile while lying the boar on top of a relatively clean rock.

"I can see that you have already skinned and bled the animal, so this will not be difficult. Morena, do you still have your lighter to make a fire?" Lance said.

"Sure, I will prepare a fireplace and will see if we can place the meat on top of the fire somehow," Morena said as she looked through her luggage and drew some metal parts and wood out of her bag.

Jack stood at the centre with his arms crossed and a satisfied look on his face. The family was helping their dad with the preparation of the boar while Morena was preparing the fireplace with the assistance of her brother Ark.

"Say, is there a way to regrow the limb without having Juz actually eat the nutrients? Like a direct way to use the food and turn it into tissue?" Jack asked the assistant.

"Theoretically, yes, but I have no documentation on how this would work. In principle, you could disintegrate the boar meat and then feed it into the healing process that regrows the limb," the assistant postulated.

"He will not grow a boar leg instead, right?" Jack asked sheepishly.

"That would be impossible since the disintegration is turning the flesh and bones into raw materials which do not contain any of their original DNA or structure," the assistant confirmed.

"Then let's try doing it that way. I have a sense that this would work much faster than the alternative way. Maybe this is part of the ability because I can intuitively sense that this must be possible," Jack said.

He grabbed one of the legs that the father had cut off from the animal and went to Juz, who was sleeping soundly. As Jack had approached him, Ark joined him and asked him what he was thinking of. Jack informed him of his plan to speed up the healing process and Ark found the explanation reasonable and was in its favour since he was still worried that his brother would not survive the harsh journey and that they would have difficulties finding enough food to support them. They then sat down and continued the healing process using the boar's leg. Jack first focused on disintegrating the material and turning it into a type of materialized energy that appeared like a solid cloud with a white-red colour. He then focused on moving the energy cloud next to the injured leg and used it as a feeding ground for its regrowth. Instead of the wound growing from inside-out it started to grow by continuously drawing nutrients from the cloud into the leg which made it appear like the cloud was raining onto the wound. The speed of healing was incomparably faster than the previous attempt, and it took only 5 minutes for a whole centimetre to be regrown. Juz was visibly in pain but he had gained enough consciousness to endure it calmly.

Morena had joined them in awe as Jack was focusing on the healing process.

After about one hour, the entire lower leg and foot had regrown and Juz had fallen back asleep. The family and the merchants were sitting around Jack in awe as he was focused on the healing process. They could not believe what they had seen, but Juz had grown an entirely new leg that looked normal and healthy, albeit its skin looked pink and was hairless.

"I have never heard of a healing ability like this," Ark said in astonishment, "where did you learn this?"

"Oh, my grandfather used to have a healing ability similar to this and I was blessed with a stronger version," Jack said, reciting his ever evolving background story.

"That is absolutely incredible. Will he be able to walk again?" Morena asked.

"He won't be able to walk right away but I think he can start trying to use crutches from tomorrow onwards and see if it works. How's the food coming?" Jack answered.

"The food is done, we managed to grill it on the fire that Morena had prepared earlier," Lance answered.

"Awesome, then let's eat! And I think the patient will be hungry as well when he wakes up," Jack said as he grabbed a bag of salt out of his pocket and handed it over to Lance, who took it with a surprised face.

The group gathered around the fire, and Lance started to distribute the food to everyone.

The boy wanted to become a cook, like his father once was, and the girl had planned to go to University to learn more about the world.

As they were sitting around the fire, Jack thought that he had not felt this joyful in at least 7 years. He had been living in isolation from the world and himself for too long. He made a promise to himself to never become that isolated again, no matter what. When he went to take a leak, he had the idea to quickly jump to the desolated city and see if he could grab some alcohol from the store. After a quick search, he was able to find something that the assistant identified as similar to wine. He placed it into his bag and rejoined the group.

"Since we are celebrating the recovery of Juz, here is something special," Jack said as he revealed a metal cup and a bottle of wine.

Morena immediately started clapping her hands when Jack revealed the bottle and took 4 cups out of her own bag. She handed a cup each to her brother Ark and to Lance and his wife since the teenagers and the resting Juz were not allowed to drink. With a happy smile, Jack opened the bottle and distributed the wine to all the cups.

And with that, the group ate and drank joyfully as the night quietly arrived. Everyone seemed happy and relaxed except for Jack. His expression had turned cold and his eyes were fixated on a point far into the distance. His view was locked onto a shape that he recognized immediately, since he had seen it many times before. Covered in dark-purple fog, about 2 kilometres away from them, he saw a humanoid creature that was walking slowly right into their direction.