The Way of the Future: Age of Machines(Completed)

The Devil's Apple 1/2

Artemis was curious as to what was actually in there.

Artemis grabbed the handle and slowly pushed the door open. As he peeked through the dark room, his eyes glowed and formed their own shadows.

Artemis then activated his night vision.

There he was, Wart, his temporary liege. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor, mouth open, snoring, his axe and sword scattered about. He then explored the room further and found several pots, a primitive stove, a big cauldron he was using for the soup and several wooden utensils.

There wasn't anything suspicious.

Artemis was satisfied and slowly closed the door behind him.

"Maybe he is just some normal exiled nobleman," Artemis thought.

After shutting the door closed, he went to the wooden chair by the side of one of the windows and sat there. He made sure to face both the window and Pandora from time to time, monitoring both.

Artemis had his thermal scanning and nigh vision activated to immediately detect any intruder that would dare to trespass while he was on watch.

As Artemis glanced over to Pandora, her ears intrigued him. Did the ears serve any function like increased sensitivity to hearing?

Artemis then used his x-ray vision and looked into Pandora's internal organs and body makeup. She was, like, Wart, normal in terms of organs. The elf's organ size were similar to that of an average adult female human and the only differences were the long ears she had and something bulky in her eardrums.

Artemis then saw a bulge that was forming in the sole of her right leg.

"Is that.." Artemis said. He stood up from the chair and walked towards Pandora and leaned over to her foot.

"The hell," Artemis wasn't wrong. Pandora had a tumor forming inside her right foot.

Artemis then looked further into other parts of her body to see if she had more tumors. Thankfully, it seemed like the tumor was benign and wasn't malignant.

When he looked into her stomach, Artemis did not find any tumor but instead, he found what appeared to be small parasites the size of a cut toenail around her rectum and lower large intestine.

"She has a tumor and parasites, this girl must have been through a lot," Artemis thought. "For parasites such as these to form, that would mean that the food or water she has been drinking was contaminated. Don't they have some sanitation magic?"

Artemis looked further, her kidneys, her liver. There wasn't too much damage. She was indeed suffering from malnutrition but excluding the fact she had a tumor and had parasites, she was all good.

The other thing to note was that she was no longer a pure maiden. Although Artemis had expected this since the elf seemed to be at the age where she would engage in such activities, well, according to Caitlyn, but he noticed noticable tears in her womb.

"Tragic," Artemis whispered as he realized the horror this young elven woman must have had to go through before trying to escape.

The wounds were also fresh according to his thermal scanner, which meant that it happened closely to a week prior.

"Okay then.. Caitlyn's lessons come in handy after all," He whispered to himself as he took out a pair of scissors and a roll of thread he had inside the back of his right leg.

He opened the compartment and pulled the materials he needed out and removed the sheet that covered her right feet. He then took a pillow from one of the chairs and placed it below her right feet to elevate it.

Artemis then realized.

But Wart had the magic to cure all illness, then what about this?

He thought.

He remembered that the woman had bruises, scars, and many more wounds at the surface of her body but now they were all gone. Maybe Wart could only heal less complex ailments?

Artemis then thought.

A tumor, though being an illness itself, was a result of damaged DNA. Maybe, he thought, maybe Wart could only heal injuries, incurable diseases and any illness but could not fix corrupted DNA.

The tumor must had been shielding itself from the healing magic as though it was a natural part of the tumor and likewise, if it was to be damaged itself, maybe healing magic would actually heal it instead.

It was quite a dilemma for Artemis but the sooner he had the tumor removed, the better it was for Pandora.

But Artemis was short on one thing he needed before he did his surgery.

He needed to make sure Pandora did not wake whilst she was being operated on.

Artemis then realized that Wart may have what he needed and so, without a second thought, he stood up, entered Wart's room, and shook him awake.

"Wa, huh, woah there, what is it, Erik?" Wart stuttered.

"I need your help to save Pandora," Artemis said.

"Wait! Was she kidnapped? Were we attacked?! My god I did not hear anything," He said as he hurried tried to get up but stumbled on his feet.

"No, no, but she has an illness that will kill her if not acted upon quickly, please," Artemis tried to make Pandora's situation sound dire as possible. This was working as intended, Wart nodded and they both headed to Pandora.

Wart then saw Artemis' materials and Pandora's exposed right foot.

"Is there something wrong with her foot?" Wart asked.

"Yes, please take a closer look," Artemis said.

Wart then knelt down and noticed the bulge that was forming in the sole of the foot.

"Oh no, she has the Devil's Apple," Wart said.

"Devil's Apple?" Artemis asked.

"Y-you don't know? Well, it's the most incurable ailment in history! Not even my special magic could heal it," Wart said. "Pandora may as well be dead, my boy,"

Artemis shook his head, surprising Wart.

"Milord, I know how to remove this 'Devil's Apple' I only need your help," Artemis said.

Wart was shocked by the confidence Artemis was showing. But he was still skeptical, nonetheless, he wanted to help.

"Can you make sure that she stays asleep throughout the operation?" Artemis asked as he sat down next to the foot.

"Ah yes, why? What operation?" Wart asked.

"To remove the devil's fruit," He said. Raising the pair of scissors he had.