Or... you could have him heal.
Lvl 25
19 incantation
20 find-weakness
25 axes
20 strength (you can gain 5 more skill points if you train 15 strength and use strength pots
16 meditation
If you sacrifice 5 strength and 5 med you can have 10 merchant if you wanted. This skillset is for a rod user only. I would reccomend using major healing rods.