<h4>Chapter 639: Rowan Taking The Risk (I)</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    Theb was quiet.


    Too quiet.


    The kind of silence that made every small sound feel louder than it actually was - the soft bubbling of potion simmering on the burner, and the slow, steady rhythm of my own breathing.


    My eyes were fixed on the small object resting on the metal te in front of me.


    A pill.


    It was small, round, white.


    But not the dull chalky white most medicinal tablets had.


    No.


    This one almost looked like crystal.


    When the light from themps above touched its surface, faint reflections shimmered across it like frost catching sunlight.


    I stared at it for a long moment before letting out a slow sigh.


    "Well," I muttered quietly to myself.


    I reached forward and picked up the small te, bringing it closer to my face so I could examine the pill more carefully.


    It still amazed me that it existed.


    Originally, it hadn’t been meant to be a pill at all. I had brewed it as a potion first - plicated one. One that took nearly three hours and more concentration than most healing brews I had ever made in past several weeks.


    But somewhere during the brewing process, a thought had crossed my mind.


    What if I couldpress it?


    What if I could take the potion’s effects... condense them... and solidify them into a pill while infusing it with my healing power?


    At the time, it had felt like a wild idea. Almost impossible.


    Pills were notoriously difficult for healers to make. In our world, most healing methods relied on magic itself.


    If healers didn’t directly use their powers on a patient, they relied on potions, elixirs, or herbal pastes for wounds.


    Those methods worked. They had worked for centuries.


    Pills, on the other hand, were rare.


    Very rare.


    Compressing magic into something so small required incredible bnce and precision. One wrong step and the entire thing could destabilize. Which was why most healers didn’t even bother trying.


    But somehow...


    Somehow, it had worked.


    And now the result of that crazy idea sat quietly on a small metal te in my hand.


    I held the te up to my eye level, studying the pill carefully.


    Then I slowly extended my healing energy.


    A soft warmth spread from my chest, flowing down my arm and into my fingertips.


    Golden threads of healing power drifted around the pill like mist as I examined it closely.


    I wasn’t testing its strength, I was testing its safety.


    My healing ability had always been particrly sensitive when it came to things that could harm the body - poison, toxic herbs, corrupted magic.


    My power reacted immediately to those things.


    But right now...


    There was nothing.


    The pill was stable.


    Safe.


    My power flowed around it calmly, almost approvingly. Which meant one thing - It was safe for consumption.


    But even knowing that didn’t solve my problem.


    I lowered the te slightly, frowning. "How exactly am I supposed to test this..." I murmured to myself.


    Because no matter how safe it seemed, I couldn’t just give it to one of the soul death patients.


    That was out of the question.


    Their bodies were already fragile enough. They had been trapped in aa for months... some even years.


    No healer had been able to wake them, and no magic had been able to repair what had been broken.


    Which meant experimenting on them was far too dangerous.


    I sighed again.


    "I guess there’s only one option..."


    Right as the thought formed in my mind, theb door creaked open.


    I turned my head as a familiar face peeked inside.


    Rowan.


    The moment he spotted me sitting at the worktable, his eyebrows lifted slightly. "Hey," he said. "Are you busy?"


    I blinked before quickly shaking my head.


    "Noe in."


    He pushed the door open and stepped inside, closing it behind him. He then made his way toward the table where I sat, his boots echoing softly against the stone floor.


    Then his gaze dropped to the te in my hand... and immediately stopped. "What’s that?"


    I nced down at the pill before answering.


    "A test."


    He leaned slightly closer, clearly studying it. "A pill?" he said, surprise creeping into his voice.


    I nodded.


    "What’s it for?" he asked.


    I hesitated for only a second, but Rowan already knew everything. Besides, I had always trusted him with all my secrets.


    "I have been trying to make something that might help the soul death patients," I told him.


    That got his attention immediately. His posture straightened, and his eyes sharpened.


    "What does it do?"


    I set the te back on the table.


    "It’s not a cure," I said quickly.


    Rowan nodded slowly, clearly expecting that.


    "But..." I continued, "the idea behind it is to temporarily maximize a person’s internal energy."


    He frowned at my words and asked me to exin.


    I leaned back slightly in my chair.


    "When the Great Evil steals a wolf from a werewolf’s soul, it doesn’t just remove the wolf. It creates a massive imbnce in the victim’s internal energy system."


    Rowan nodded again. He already knew that much.


    "A werewolf’s life force is tied to their wolf," I continued. "Without it, their energy bes... stagnant."


    "Which is why they fall intoas," he said quietly.


    "Exactly."


    I gestured toward the pill.


    "This pill is designed to force the body to temporarily amplify and circte its remaining internal energy."


    His eyes flicked back to the pill.


    "If my theory is correct," I continued, "it could stimte the patient’s body enough to trigger some kind of reaction."


    "Reaction?" he repeated.


    "Muscle movement. Increased brain activity. Maybe even a brief moment of consciousness."


    Rowan’s breathing slowed slightly. "But it won’t wake them," he said.


    "No," I admitted softly. "Not fully."


    Because waking them would require restoring their wolves. And we still didn’t know how to do that. We weren’t even sure if defeating the Great Evil could bring their wolves back or not.


    But for now, even a reaction would mean something important.


    It would prove the patients weren’tpletely beyond reach. It would prove their souls were still fighting.


    Theb fell quiet for a moment.


    Then Rowan asked the question I had been expecting.


    "So what’s the problem?"


    I folded my arms.


    "The problem is that I can’t test it on the patients directly."


    "Because of the risk," he said.


    "Exactly."


    Even though my healing power insisted the pill was safe, that wasn’t enough. I couldn’t gamble with their lives.


    Not like that.


    Rowan crossed his arms as he asked, "So what are you nning to do?"


    I met his gaze.


    "I’m going to test it on myself."


    The words hung in the air for a moment.


    "I figured," Rowan said.


    I tilted my head slightly.


    "My healing ability says the pill is safe," I exined. "But if something does go wrong..."


    I gestured toward him.


    "You are here."


    He raised an eyebrow.


    "And?"


    "And I trust you to look after me."


    For a moment, he didn’t respond. Then he suddenly stepped closer to the table.


    Something in his expression shifted.


    "We should reverse the roles."


    I blinked.


    "What?"


    He picked up the small metal te.


    "I would be morefortable with you taking care of me."


    My brain took a second to process what he meant.


    "Rowan, wai-"


    But I was too slow.


    Before I could react, he picked up the crystal-like pill... and swallowed it.


    Just like that.


    My heart stopped.


    "Rowan-!"


    But it was already toote.


    The pill was gone.