Chapter 39

Who was speaking from behind?

Gret did not dare to turn around, afraid of dropping the books in his hands and having to pay for them. He tightened his grip and carefully pushed the books back onto the shelf before turning around. Looking at the doorway... who was this?

The person who came in was a young man, around twenty years old, with flaxen hair and wearing a black mage's robe. Seeing Gret turn around, he grinned widely, his white teeth gleaming:

"Hey, kid!"

"Sir Mage." Gret bowed his head, feeling lost: who was this overly familiar guy?

With this bow, he noticed the man leaning against the doorframe, his right foot barely touching the ground, as if he was afraid to put weight on it. Gret suddenly realized: no wonder he didn't recognize him. Yesterday, the guy was blasted out of the mage tower, his face completely blackened. The only thing Gret recognized was his big white teeth...

"Mr. Elliot! Is your foot still not better?"

"How could it get better so quickly?"

The man's face turned grim as he tiptoed over to the desk and sat down, clearly having twisted it badly yesterday. Gret stepped forward to take a look and asked curiously, "Haven't you treated it?"

"Are you kidding? Healing potions are so expensive!"

Elliot exclaimed. After he finished, he seemed to remember he shouldn't lose his composure in front of a newcomer and gave a sheepish smile. Gret had already moved around the long table to stand in front of him:

"Can I take a look?"

"Ah—oh, right, you're a healer. Go ahead!"

Gret squatted down by his foot. Upon careful inspection, he saw that the outside of his right ankle was swollen like a bun, while the inside was relatively fine, and the top of his foot was also swollen. Gret held the other's ankle with his left hand and pressed his right thumb on the outer ligament, applying pressure—

"Ow!"

Elliot cried out and pulled away. He hopped on his left foot, quickly escaping:

"Aren't you a healer! Where's the healing spell?"

"I need to examine it because I'm a healer!" Gret shouted back, not looking up, focusing on Elliot's right foot: it could still bear some weight, which was good, indicating that it was likely not broken. As for the ligaments, the pain from the pressure just now suggested that the lateral collateral ligament was probably torn—

"Bring your foot back!"

Elliot tried to run away, but with a lame leg, he couldn't run fast. He wanted to cast a spell, but the pain kept distracting him. Gret pounced on him, squatted down, and pressed along the outside of the right ankle, then rotated the foot inward and outward:

"Does it hurt here? Here? How about this rotation?"

"Ow... it's okay, okay... Ow! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Let go!"

Very good, applying pressure to the ankle in plantar flexion and causing the foot to invert resulted in significant pain. The injury had a localized tender point, indicating that the anterior talofibular ligament was the most severely injured, while the posterior talofibular ligament was fine, and the calcaneofibular ligament had no major issues.

The rest was just soft tissue contusions and swelling—Gret calmed his mind, visualizing the anatomy of the foot in his mind, and his fingertips began to glow white.

Repairing the damaged ligaments, accelerating local tissue metabolism, and quickly absorbing the swelling, healing the injured soft tissues—

The swelling in the right ankle gradually subsided. Elliot let out a light sigh: "Ah... it doesn't hurt anymore..."

He immediately tried to pull his right foot back. Gret grabbed it:

"Wait! I need to check again!"

Pressing, rotating, even making the other jump. After a series of checks, Gret finally confirmed that the ankle sprain was fully treated.

He breathed a sigh of relief, pushing himself up from the chair. Elliot had already enthusiastically jumped over, grabbing his hand and shaking it vigorously:

"Oh! Thank you so much!"

His attitude had completely changed. No longer condescending and pointing, he treated Gret as an equal. Gret nodded, his mind racing:

In the world of mages, no knowledge is free. Healing spells are clearly not free either. Since the other found healing potions too expensive, it would be best to ask for something important to him that the other could easily provide—

"Mr. Elliot, you said earlier that I shouldn't do this?"

"Ah—oh!"

Elliot slapped his forehead. After all the examination and treatment, he had forgotten why he came. He pointed to the bookshelf:

"I said you shouldn't do this! Flipping through books one by one without any purpose is just a waste of time—didn't you say yesterday that you haven't even learned magical script?"

"Yes, Mr. Elliot." Gret sighed in relief. Thank goodness, his savior had finally arrived, and he wouldn't have to waste his energy on novels! Who knew that the novel was so heavy, with a copper spine!

He sincerely asked for guidance:

"I indeed haven't received any basic magical education. Mr. Elliot, could you please guide me on the order in which I should read these books?"

In any field of study, the sequence of professional courses is very important. Just like in his previous life when he studied medicine, he first learned systemic anatomy, then regional anatomy; first learned histology and embryology, then pathology and pathophysiology.

After mastering these basics, he then studied regional anatomy, diagnostics, and then surgery, internal medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, infectious diseases, dermatology, neurology, and psychiatry.

After studying all these, he went to the hospital to rotate through various departments...

If the basics weren't learned well, trying to learn the advanced topics would be like building a tower on sand. It wouldn't take much time for it to collapse.

So, what about magic?

This power comes from within. Without a clear sequence, grabbing any book and starting to read would be suicidal.

Gret had already thought about finding a magic apprentice—preferably a mage—to ask which books to read first and which to read later. Before he could think of a way to approach someone, Mage Elliot had come to him, which was perfect!

"Reading order?"

Elliot's eyes lit up. Healing potions are expensive, and healing spells are not free either. But directly asking for money would seem too impersonal—asking for guidance on the reading order was just right, just right.

He silently recited a spell, and with a wave of his right hand, all the books flew out of the shelves, suspended in the air, and formed several semicircles around Elliot. Elliot looked around, pointing his finger:

"You, you, you!"

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, a dozen books flew to the desk and stacked up. With another wave of his hand, the remaining books sorted themselves and flew back to the shelves, neatly arranged as if they had never been disturbed.

Elliot pointed to the desk:

"Start with these few. Yes, 'Magic Scriptology' and 'Basic Meditation' first. The order of magic patterns, spells, elements, and potions doesn't matter. If you get tired, 'History of Magic,' 'Introduction to Alchemy,' and 'Illustrated Guide to Magical Beasts' can be read for leisure..."