The very next morning in Victoria’s shop, I was still very much aching from the prior day’s excavation work. My hands had grown blisters, and muscles that I had not really used this much even in real life were still achy. Thankfully Victoria had plenty of salves for what I was suffering from. Unfortunately, I was the one that had to figure out how with her occasional advice, and then to make them. I should have known. The only perk was that the materials and the lessons were free.
Due to my current disposition, after my morning’s memorization of herbs was over, I was sent out on various deliveries throughout the city that required carriage transport. I felt this was my teacher’s silent way of being considerate of my recovery. Included in the routine delivery locations, I went to a new place this time with a rather large supply of assorted tinctures and salves.
A first glance from a distance, I could have easily mistaken it for a large breeding and nurturing facility for equine and bovine type creatures. Large corrals, over-sized stables, and the smell of farm animals, particularly reminiscent of horses and cows clung to the air. Upon official arrival, and after inquiring from those I assumed to be clients of sort, did I discover more about this place. While it did involve breeding and such, it was primarily an animal clinic for many exotic breeds.
Watching the staff busying themselves about the facility, the most notable thing about them was the thick protective clothing worn by most as they handled the various animals. Razor sharp claws, prevalent spikes, and daunting horns decorated a fair number of their animal clients.
Although there was a decent number of miniature, adorable, and cuddleable type creatures too; those were in the minority. Most of the animals or seeming monsters appeared to be built for function and/or lethality.
This was far different from the average veterinary office you might see on Earth. There you likely see cats, dogs, the occasional bird, reptile, or rodent that came in for treatment. Bladder infections, arthritis, dental issues, or concerning growths were the most prevalent there. Here however, these animals appeared to be sent to this clinic for a different flavor of afflictions.
Gaping wounds, deep lacerations, and large patches of necrotic tissue, among other unsightly maladies were prevalent among the animal populous. Looking down at the large package I had to deliver, I began to wonder if this was truly enough for their stocks.
The eyes of a nearby employee brightened as they finally noticed my presence meandering among their controlled chaos. “Heyo!” Calling out to me with a guttural voice and a wave, they paused in their ministrations of an avian client and began pulling off a pair of thick and dull brown gloves. A few deep purple quills clung to the sleeves of their outfit as their barbs refused to let go without a fight. When the employee took to standing from their originally crouched position, I could see that in addition to being quite tall, they also had a roughhewn frame and thick green skin, much like an ogre. Bulging veins and compact muscles strained at the sleeves of their outfit, giving them an appearance of being capable of taking on any professional gym rat in overall strength and sheer muscle mass. As they drew nearer to me, I noticed signs in their physique that this person might actually be a woman. With an overly prominent chest and wide hips accentuated by their stride, they stopped to close a gate between myself and their workstation. She appeared to have been working on debriding a puss filled wound on the leg of what looked like an over-sized flightless bird, but I was unsure.
Hesitantly recalling the fuzzy image that came to my mind at the resemblance, I was reminded of a comparable creature whose primary origin came from Australia. Even after the war, many still say that the biggest and most scary creatures tend to originate from that secluded continental country. This creature which strongly resembled the Cassowary was no exception. Deemed to be the most dangerous bird in the world, this beast appeared to have shed little of its suspected prehistoric origins.
However, despite this already lethal bird’s standing high on the food chain of dangerous animals, its mutated counterpart, awaiting the resumption of its treatment would beat that creature down in an instant were they to come into conflict. The most notable differences between this creature and the Cassowary I recalled the image of, were the numerous spiky quills with barbed ends covering its bulky body and its overly large size.
More akin to a porcupine with dark purple quills and a bulk to rival that of its current caretaker, it gazed on with a fierce and wild intelligence as it stoically waited for its treatment to resume.
“Phew!” The exclamation came from the female ogre-kin, returning me to the present amidst my distracting thoughts. “We are so glad that you came in with this!” Her eyes took in the many tinctures, remedies, and other curatives bundled within the large package. “We have been running unexpectedly low on some rather indispensable products.”
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Seeing her reach out with a meaty hand to receive the package, I was all too happy to offload it from my possession. Pressing it into her grasp, I saw her eyes crinkle in amusement as she adjusted her position to grip the array of curatives. Setting it to the side on a nearby table, she then once again reached out her hand to me before speaking. “I have yet to introduce myself.” She said with a toothy smile. “I am Salezendra, current manager of this here beast clinic.”
I returned the handshake expecting her to crush my hand in her encompassing embrace. To my surprise, she was quite gentle which belied her appearance. “I am Andrew.” I said in reply. “Apprentice to apothecary Victoria.” Giving an additional light nod of my head to her, I released my grip from her hand.
Turning in the direction of the mutant cassowary, I added. “It seems you work with rough clientèle.”
“Hahahaha!” The deep and rough tones of her laughter emphasizing her almost tusk like teeth answered my verbal observation. “That there is Hannibal. He is a frequent visitor of mine as I am the only one in this deities’ forsaken clinic who can handle him. Always getting into scraps that one is, and with little care for telling his handler when he is needing medical attention.”
Giving me a conspiratorial wink, she continued. “He and I have come to an understanding of sorts.” Amusement then colored her words and her right eyebrow arched up in wry humor. “He patiently allows me to treat his latest infirmity, and I don’t have to roughhouse him into the restraints again.”
Her eyes grew unfocused as if in fond remembrance.
“Hah!” I let out a chuckle at the mental imagery inspired by her overall appearance and demeanor. I would have loved to see that learning experience between the two of them. Just the imagined sight of her filled with a plethora of sharp quills and with her black top knotted hair liberally swaying as she brute forced that fierce bird into submission, was enough to fill for a grand retelling at almost any meal table.
Lost in my daydream, Salezendra had already opened and began distributing the various tinctures in the package to the places they were needed most immediately. I patiently waited for her to complete her work as she appeared far more rushed to get necessary treatments disbursed before we continued any further casual conversation. While I waited, my eyes returned to wandering among the many creatures in the clinic.
The imagery here brought to my mind a virtual reality game I had played many years ago. There had been a game which featured highly creative and too often anatomically impossible creatures, which generally started off as miniature and cute versions of their evolved final forms.
This world however, with its diverse and mana touched creatures was far more different. Outside of the larger and mutated versions of various earth animals, so too did I catch glimpses of creatures which appeared to have a hint of Lovecraftian horror within them. I would be very hesitant to approach a fair number of these beasts in the wild with their presumed lethality.
Certainly, there were a fair number of fuzzy horned bunnies and other much cuter animals that I assumed to be some little child’s pet. However, it was the great majority of these creatures which looked like they were more functional in tearing apart anything that might dare to disrupt the peace in a household, farm, or adventure filled trek across the land.
There was admittedly a rather endearing looking mutated snapping turtle among the many animals receiving care, which I considered trying to pet. I felt if I had acted upon my juvenile desire, I’d likely have donated a few fingers if not my entire hand, to the cause of turtle starvation and snappiness.
Wisdom prevailed at that point, and I simply observed the exotic beauty of these deadly creatures from a distance. Feeling disappointed at the lack of indulgence to pet something cute, I completed the delivery of the various tonics and treatments from Victoria and took the carriage back to her shop.
As my gaze wandered over the various homes and businesses on the return trip, I wondered if Victoria ever worked with animals directly or if she simply created the remedies for them. I’d have to ask her sometime.
While the light of day was slowly fading, and the sound of carriage wheels on cobblestone echoed around me, I caught sight of several small groups of young Travelers milling about or returning from their day of quests. They were fairly easy to spot as prior to their massing arrival, it was incredibly rare to see groups of 14-year-old adventurers wielding basic weaponry and rubbernecking at the many new and exciting details of this place. Many of those seeking violent adventure had long since been shipped off to the front-line war. The ongoing skirmishes with the frozen tundra monsters gave ample cannon fodder to satisfy even the most blood thirsty of virtual reality gamers.
Those who remained behind, appeared more satisfied with the gradual and measured approach of in-city development. Often, they sought for an apprenticeship with a local artisan or to join the mages guild.
Interesting enough, the result of so many talented would-be mages joining the guild caused a bit of a stir that ruffled more than a few prominent feathers. It gave much of the marketplace and local taverns a fun bit of gossip to toss around for a while too.
Due to most Travelers having an above average affinity with magic, the criteria for joining the local mages guild had to be raised several times due to the influx of exceptional talent. I overheard some interesting news in relation to this from some discussions I’d overheard. This had been during my few indulgences of eating in the marketplace.
The influx of magically talented Travelers had actually caused quite the commotion at the Mage’s guild. The Arch-mage had used this opportunity to try and weed out some of the less desirable scions and rejects of wealthy and powerful families. After much contention between the two powerful groups, concessions had to be made on both sides, which ended up favoring the Mage’s guild and Travelers far more.
An entirely new building and branch of recruiting and training was created for Traveler mages at the expense of the powerful families within the city. That and all natural born citizen mages were to be treated equally for both good and ill in the original mage’s guild. This was the cost for those who desired to retain the same benefits that they had been obtaining previously from the mage guild.
I could just imagine those pompous and self-absorbed Initiate mages from powerful families, being called to account for their prior misbehaviors with far harsher consequences than they had been pampered with before. While I am certain that there were several scions who took their studies seriously and didn’t rely on their political or familial connections to have their way, I had personally witnessed another side to their less than stellar counterparts. A group of pampered ‘nobles’ had shown no regard for those they considered to be less than them.
Recalling the Intiates’ behavior on display prior to my master’s breathtaking wielding of ice magic left me relishing the idea of their future misery. A wicked smile crossed my lips as I gazed at nothing in particular.