"I won't."

Bruce didn't wait for a response. The moment the words left his mouth, his hands were already moving. Two fingers pressed against the girl's neck just below the jaw, searching, counting. The pulse was there, but it was rapid and thready, fluttering weakly beneath his touch like something on the verge of slipping away.

'Even though she's half conscious, she's still in shock. Hypovolemic shock.' He sighed.

His gaze dropped immediately to the wound. Three uneven claw gashes tore through flesh and muscle, the edges ragged rather than clean. Blood wasn't simply oozing out. It spurted intermittently, sharp bursts that told him everything he needed to know. Arterial involvement. Dirt, cloth fibers, and fine grit from the ground had already worked their way into the exposed tissue.

'Traumatic hemorrhage. Sigh, with that she has high infection risk. This is a bit troublesome'

"Lay her flat," Bruce said, his voice calm and steady, cutting through the panic around them. "And lift that leg. Higher."

The woman obeyed at once, fear still written all over her face but no longer paralyzing her movements. Bruce tore a clean strip from the inner lining of his coat and pressed it directly onto the wound, applying firm, unwavering pressure.

"Don't let go," he said, not raising his voice. "No matter what you see."

He lifted his head and scanned the gathered crowd.

"I need boiling water," he said. "And clean fabric. As clean as you can get."

There was hesitation, a ripple of uncertainty, then a man near the edge nodded sharply and broke into a run toward a nearby tea stall. Bruce was already moving on. His eyes caught the leather belt hanging from another man's waist.

"You," he said, pointing. "Give me that belt."

The man froze for half a second, then hurriedly unbuckled it and thrust it forward. Bruce looped the belt around the girl's leg, positioning it just above the wound, tightening and twisting with practiced control until the bleeding slowed to something survivable.

"A tourniquet," he muttered under his breath. "Not too tight. Just enough."

The girl whimpered faintly. Bruce glanced up at her face, pale, slick with sweat. Conscious, but fading.

"Stay with me," he said quietly, the words meant for her alone. He said this mostly to calm the crowd, since with magic existing in this world, stuff like this wouldn't exist. So his actions would look do strange and alien to them.

'If there's magic, why are there no healers, this world is a bit strange...'

Then he looked back to the crowd.

"I need someone with steady hands," he said. "You'll assist me. You do exactly what I say. Nothing more."

A young woman stepped forward without hesitation, jaw clenched, eyes sharp despite the fear. "I can."

"Good," Bruce replied. "Hold pressure here when I tell you."

He paused, then added, "I also need fire. Any kind. Heat."

For a brief moment, no one spoke. Then a man nearby raised his hand.

A flame bloomed in his palm.

It wasn't red. It wasn't orange. It wasn't dim.

It was black, dense, swallowing the light around it, bending the air in a way that made Bruce's instincts tighten.

His eyes narrowed slightly. Different flame, he noted instantly. Not mana based. But the heat output is stable.

Despite the surprise, he didn't hesitate.

"That'll do," Bruce said. "Hold it steady."

Red reshaped itself smoothly into its scalpel form, metal flowing and settling with familiar precision. Bruce passed the blade through the black flame, rotating it slowly as heat shimmered in the air and the metal glowed faintly.

He didn't know if this world had bacteria. Or parasites. Or something worse. If it did, the air itself might have contaminated Red's surface without sterilizing directly applying it to a wound is a bad idea. It was a very bad idea especially when Akashic Codex specified mundane Doctor or surgeon techniques.

Bruce wouldn't take chances.

As for the heat, Red didn't react. It was immune to heat, immune to pain. So it was okay with Bruce using fire on it.

Satisfied, Bruce nodded once. "Good."

He turned back to the wound. "Now," he said to the woman assisting him, "take over pressure. Don't move your hand unless I tell you."

She nodded and carefully replaced his hand. Bruce leaned in and began working.

He cleaned the wound methodically, cutting away torn, dead tissue with precise, economical movements. Every slice was deliberate. No wasted motion. When the boiling water arrived, steam still rising from the container, he flushed debris from the gashes, ignoring the weak cry that escaped the girl's throat. He didn't rush, but he didn't slow down either.

Soon debridement was complete.

Bruce checked the bleeding again, adjusted the tourniquet slightly, then aligned the torn flesh as best he could. Without any knowledge of the local plants or their medicinal properties, he avoided anything unverified.

No poultices. No powders. No guesswork.

He relied on fundamentals, pressure, alignment, clean closure.

Once satisfied, he layered clean cloth over the wound and wrapped it tightly, securing the bandage to maintain compression without cutting off circulation. The bleeding slowed to a manageable seep. Bruce leaned back and exhaled slowly.

"She's stable," he said. "For now."

The girl's breathing steadied, still shallow but no longer frantic. Bruce wiped his hands against the ground and turned to the woman hovering beside her.

"She needs rest," he continued. "Clean water. No movement. If fever sets in, you come find me immediately."

The woman nodded repeatedly, tears streaming down her face.

"Thank you," she whispered, her face still in shock.

Bruce didn't respond. His gaze had already lifted, sweeping across the market once more, alert, assessing, cataloguing faces and movement as if expecting the next crisis to erupt at any second.

Behind him, the woman suddenly bowed deeply.

"Thank you," she said again, this time louder, her voice trembling as it broke through the lingering hush.

***

A/N:

I forgot to add this earlier, but when the Akashic Codex messaged Bruce, it told him he had seven days to reach 1,000 Heal Points. Sorry for the error.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.