The Innkeeper

When Lex returned, the fairies were still unconscious. How long did it take to recover from a cross generation enchantment that kept them and their entire race cursed? Since he didn't have an answer to that question Lex was about to throw drops of his blood on all of them, when he suddenly paused.

Perhaps throwing his blood around everywhere so casually wasn't the best idea - since he was trying to hide his physique. But he had to admit that its healing qualities were extremely handy. Since that was the case, he just had to learn another healing technique.

"Hey Pel, do you know any healing techniques?"

"This… healing is not so straightforward. I do indeed know many healing techniques, but they're not so generic. Within a certain range, a technique may heal certain wounds or illnesses, but mostly it depends on what you are treating. For example, the fairies in front of you. If I pass a technique that simply focuses on vitality, and you use it, through sheer brute force it may allow them to wake up, and possibly even heal what ails them, but that will not be a proper means of treatment.

"For that, you would have to properly diagnose what is wrong with them, narrow down how to treat them, and then use the most appropriate method. Even though in my previous life, healing was not something I paid much attention to, I learned hundreds of techniques just to diagnose my dragonoid underlings and descendants."

"Well, we're not doing anything else. Why don't you teach me how to properly diagnose them and then how I can train them."

Lex was thoroughly aware that one of his greatest advantages was his quick learning speed. It was abnormal even among cultivators, which is why if he did not make use of it then he would be wasting his resources.

Within the Midnight Inn he did not feel like there was any real threat to him, which is why he wanted to use this time as efficiently as possible. The more he learned and the more he was able to do, the better he would be able to handle the threats he faced in the future.

Over the next twenty minutes, Pel taught Lex a number of various diagnosis techniques. Since Pel did not learn nor was interested in the exact biology of his patients, the techniques he learned were more focused on identifying specific things that were generally true of all species with bodies. For example, how to identify and differentiate wounded vitality from drained vitality, how to identify the effects of poison, how to identify curses, how to tell if the issue is with the spirit or soul instead, and so on.

These techniques were all very generic, but seemed to work. For example, they could not identify poisons, since what was poisonous to one species might not be to another. Therefore learning the list of what was harmful to each and every species was… it was not exactly impossible, but it was pointless. His techniques would just identify when the body was being affected by poison, and another technique would support and empower the body to expel the poison on its own.

After going through a number of different diagnostic techniques, Lex was finally able to determine that the issue the fairies were having was because their spirits were extremely chaotic - at least that's what was keeping them unconscious. They were suffering from countless other problems besides.

What a chaotic spirit meant, neither Lex nor Pel knew. However, even if he didn't know what that exactly meant, it didn't mean he didn't have a treatment for it.

After learning what he needed to do, Dr. Lex cracked his knuckles and got in the zone. Not that he had any intention to do such a thing, this was good practice for if he ever needed to act like a mysterious doctor.

He used the technique a couple of times to practice, then began healing the fairies. The result was almost immediate.

A blue, gentle light was emitted from Lex's fingers which bathed all the fairies, soothing their spirits, and at the same time, physically soothing and slightly restoring their brains as well. It was a two-pronged healing technique, and in only a few seconds, the first fairy began to wake up, though it was still clearly disoriented.

After a few minutes, however, all of them sat up straight, now stunned by disbelief. They had actually done it. The thing that they had been looking forward to for generations! None of them thought that it would happen in their lifetimes, but it happened in the span of a single day!

Lex coughed. He was well aware that the fairies were understandably stunned, but he did not want to wait for them all over again.

"Congratulations, you have all gained your freedom. You are now free from the trappings of the enchantment that kept you here, and can go anywhere. It occurs to me that you may not want to stay here, but don't necessarily have anywhere else to go. I understand that it will take you some time to process everything, and come to terms with your new reality, but I thought I'd offer my assistance once more.

"I come from the Midnight Inn. Surely you've heard of it. If you go. I understand that it will take you some time to process everything, and come to terms with your new reality, but I wish, you can accompany me to the Inn, as I am about to return. You can stay there for a while, and if you wish and find it suitable, you can even join it. Now I don't mean to rush you, but do you think you could decide what you want to do without sending me on another quest? I have other things to do as well."

For a moment the fairies were stunned, until a particularly old looking fairy stepped forward.

"Oh great savior, even though we are free now, our enemies from the shaded lands will not relent. They will continue to hunt us down if they find us. We cannot implicate you like that."

Lex began to chuckle.

"Don't worry, the Midnight Inn is a place where everyone has to behave, no matter where they are from. Even the Tree of Heaven cannot misbehave there, let alone others. You don't need to think about anything else."