As we flew on Vee’s Roc a city began to gradually appear in front of us. It was magnificent. It had gigantic walls surrounding it. Vee brought us down in front of a huge gate. We hopped off and Matt carried Volk in a fireman's carry.

Why didn’t we just fly into the city? (E)

Because there’s a Mana Barrier covering the entire city. (Vee)

Mana Barrier? ©

It’s a tier four spell using a massive amount of mana to create a truly impressive barrier of powerful energy. (Vee)

Tier four? What do you mean by that? (Z)

Wow you guys really don’t know jack. Well Billy, spells are divided into six tiers. Tier zero is reserved for cantrips and minor spells. Tier one is your most basic of attacking spells. Tier two is where things get semi serious, those spells are much more dangerous and a proficient fighter can kill someone with one of these. Tier three are spells that can change a fight into your favor no matter the circumstance. Tier four are on the level of natural disasters and tier five is the stuff of legends and Gods.

Oh okay. So what can you use if you don’t mind me asking? (M)

A gentleman never reveals his secrets. (Vee)

God you’re weird. (ML)

We walked up to the gate and saw a line of people waiting to get in. There were several guards of varying races all checking cargo and people. We approached one of the lines and waited our turn. When we got to the front of the line a lizard man and a human were beckoning us to come forward.

Registration or permit please (Lizard man)

Umm we don’t actually have any. We’re not from around here. ©

Well then we can’t let you in. Sorry. (Human)

What are we going to do? We need to see a priest in order to fix my friend’s arm. (Z)

Don’t care, not my problem. No one gets into Oasis without a permit or registration, especially suspicious looking people carrying an unconscious orc. NEXT (Lizard man)

Okay. ©

Hey guys it’s cool. I’m going to vouch for these guys. (Vee)

Huh? OH SIR. (Human)

Both men immediately salute Vee as if he was a general visiting the barracks of his soldiers. They stand at attention as if ready to receive orders.

Sorry sir for not noticing you before. And sorry for the way we’ve treated your guests. You are obviously free to go in at any time. (Human)

At ease boys, at ease. You know I hate all this formal crap. Just treat me like a regular person please. (Vee)

Sorry sir no can do sir. As one of the founding members of the council you are our superior. So we have to treat you with the utmost respect. (Lizard man)

Okay then whatever, we’ll be on our way. (Vee)

Did he just say council member? You don’t exactly seem like the type. (ML)

Well looks can be deceiving. Now come with me time to head to one of the local churches (Vee)

We entered the gate and were immediately flabbergasted at the sights. There were people everywhere. Stores lined the streets and there were even food carts offering all sorts of delicacies. And the smells, I could smell steak and fresh bread baking. Some of the storefronts reached four stories. This town wasn’t like the medieval city I was expecting. There were no castles or wooden shacks. Instead everything was constructed out of brick or metal. The structures were extravagant looking with what looked like neon signs lighting up each store. Wagons pulled by all manner of creatures were following basic traffic laws and kept to different sides of the brick road. I was going to have to rethink my opinion on this new world. It didn’t seem to be as archaic as I had originally assumed.

Holy shit. Shouldn’t there be homeless people and the whole place smell like shit? (ML)

Ignore him. My question is how do you have neon signs here? (E)

Neon? What’s that. If you’re talking about the signs their just translucent crystals filled with light magic. (Vee)

Don’t worry about it Vee (Z)

Vee then took Volk from Matt and placed him against a wall. He then cast a spell.

Downpour. (Vee)

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A small cloud formed above Volk’s head and began to downpour on him. He woke up coughing water and groaning.

What happened? (Volk)

Dude you got your ass beat by Vee. Like you got mopped. (ML)

What? Wait where’s my axe? (Volk)

It’s right here (M)

I had placed his axe into my space for safekeeping. I materialized it behind my back and handed it to him hoping he wouldn’t notice what I had done.

Where’d that come from? How did you do that? That wasn’t here a minute ago. (Volk)

Stop bothering the poor kids. We’ve got places to go and people to see (Vee)

We parted ways with Volk and followed Vee down the main street.

Vee then stopped and whistled loudly. A carriage pulled over to the side of the street and the driver waved us over. The driver was a pretty elven woman. The carriage was pulled by a weird creature that looked like a combination of horse and dinosaur. It was a horse with three horns, one on its snout and another two up near the top of its head. It was covered in rock-like scales and had a long flowing reptilian tail. It made a combination of a hiss and a neigh. This creature was strange. I asked the driver what type of animal it was.

This cutie? His name’s Brave and he’s a Tricorn Lizard. Which is what you get when you breed a Tricorn and a Rock Lizard. These are the best type of animals for pulling carriages. They’re fierce but once you tame them they’re respectful and listen to commands excellently. I’m Suzie by the way. Hop on in guys. (Suzie)

We got into the carriage and sat down. The carriage was nice on the interior with padded seats and carpet. It was also cooler inside than it had been outside. Vee hurried us in and told us to shut the door because we were letting the cold air out.

How the heck is it so cool in here? (E)

What do you guys not have cooling magic where you’re from? (Vee)

No we don’t but we have something pretty similar ©

Suzie was it? Mind taking us to the hospital dear? My friend here has a broken arm. (Vee)

Sure sweetie (Suzie)

Wait did you say hospital? Aren’t we going to a church to find a priest for Mike’s arm? ©

Yes the hospital, where else would you get medical treatment? Ohh you thought because I said priest it was something religious based. No priest is just a class of people who choose to heal have. Don’t get me wrong we do have churches but those are a place for worship not medical attention. (Vee)

We headed towards the hospital and all of us were staring out the windows in amazement of the scenery. Everywhere I looked you saw all manners of ages and races. I had originally thought a fantasy setting came with racism of some kind but we could find nothing of the sort here. I watched as group of lizard men walked through the streets carrying scimitars on their waists. I then saw what looked to be a troll but a little smaller selling meat kebabs from a food cart. There was a group of children playing ball in a park we had passed as well as some elves doing yoga. This was the most magical place I had ever seen.

We finally arrived at the hospital and Vee flicked a silver coin at the driver. She caught it and said thanks. Then she headed along on her way. I stared at the hospital in front of me. It was a six story building made of marble and steel. This place was crazy. It had an archway with two statues of a older man and a young girl holding their arms out lovingly. The archway was made of white marble and said the words Oasis Hospital on it. Safe to say we were in the right place. I walked towards the doorway and found a reception desk and a waiting room.

I walked to the reception desk with Vee while the others sat down in the waiting room.

What brings you to Oasis Hospital today? (receptionist)

I think my arm’s been broken. (M)

Name? And are you part of any guilds? All members of major guilds get a discount here. (Receptionist)

My name is Michael and I am not currently apart of any guilds. (M)

She takes a look at my arm and asks me if there is anything else wrong with me. I say no and she tells me to sit down and a nurse will come get me when it’s my turn. Thirty minutes go by and a male human nurse finally calls my name. By this point I’m so used to the pain in my arm I barely notice it. He leads me down a corridor towards an examination room.

Michael? Says you’re here for a broken arm? I’m Darius by the way. If you need anything just let me know. I’m just going to have to ask you some questions. First how’d you break your arm? (Darius)

I was out with my friends in the Devouring Woods when we were attacked by a Twin Headed Basilisk. We defeated it but at the cost of me getting my arm messed up and bitten into. (M)

Okay do you mind showing me your arm? (Darius)

I show him my mangled arm. He puts on some gloves and begins to poke and prod my arm with various metal instruments.

Do you feel any discomfort when I do this? (Darius)

Not really. My arms been hurting so long I kinda just got used to the pain. (M)

Okay I’m going to go get the doctor just stay here for a bit. (Darius)

Darius leaves the room and shuts the door behind him. I look around the room and I’m shocked by how sterile and advanced the room is. I’m sitting on a metal table with some cloth over it. The cloth smells fresh and like its never been used before. Fifteen minutes go by and a female doctor comes in. What shocks me the most about the doctor is she’s an orc. She has on a white coat and a stethoscope around her neck. She’s wearing glasses and has on a nice button up and some tan pants on. She’s actually quite pretty. She is missing the tusks in her mouth. I can only assume female orcs don't have them. She’s holding a clipboard with some papers on it.

Michael I’m Dr. Novak please lay flat on the table. First things first though. Nullify Pain. (Dr. Novak)

She casts a spell on me and instantly the incessant buzzing that the pain had become goes silent. In fact I can’t feel anything. It’s a weird feeling, losing one of your five senses like that.

Okay let’s begin. X-Ray. Hmm yeah your arm is definitely broken. I can also see where the snake bit you sending bone shards into your bloodstream. Luckily this is actually quite a common injury and you should make a full recovery. (Dr. Novak)

Doc you’re telling me we don’t need to amputate? I thought I was a goner (M)

Funny. Okay lay still for this next part. Would you like to be put to sleep? (Dr. Novak)

No I’m fine doc. (M)

She pulls out a scalpel from the drawer and begins making a vertical incision along my arm. As she’s doing this she casts Hemostasis on me stopping the blood flowing out of my arm. I look down and almost faint. It’s a surreal experience being awake as someone slices open your arm and starts feeling around in there. She then casts Mend on me. I watch as my radius and ulna quickly reassemble themselves. I’m betting if I could feel this I’d be screaming. They lock into place and then I watch as the bone shards race out of my bloodstream and reattach to the bones. Then she casts Cure on the wound to prevent any infections and then Heal to close the wound. All in all the procedure only took five minutes.

Alright you’re all set. The Nullify Pain spell should be wearing off any second now. If there are any complications please don’t hesitate to come back and see me. (Dr. Novak)

Okay thank you so much doctor. (M)

She leaves and I head out the room after that. I walk towards the waiting room to see my friends all hanging out. They rush me as soon as I walk through the door. Matt picks me up into a bear hug.

You bastard how’d it go? You good now? (ML)

Ouch Matt you’re going to break my ribs and they’ll have to fix me again. (M)

Okay okay Matt let him go ©

It's good to see you’re alright now cuz (E)

Yeah Mike I’m happy you’re okay. (Z)

Alright kiddos now that Mike’s all healed up we have to head to the next stop on our tour. (Vee)

Fuck that. Who says we’re going anywhere else with you. Now that Mike’s okay we don’t need you anymore. (ML)

Is that anyway to treat your savior? Who do you think just paid for his medical bills? You think that was cheap? You guys are going to follow me one way or another. Even if I have to drag you kids kicking and screaming. (Vee)

Sorry Vee. You’re right, you’ve been nothing but helpful since we arrived at Oasis. Where to next? (M)

Just to be clear, I don’t like you or trust you. We’re going to this next place with you then I don’t wanna see you again. (Z)

We begrudgingly walked out of the hospital following Vee as he hailed another carriage. We got in and I started to unpack how today had gone so far. First we were attacked in the middle of the night by a Nocturnal Troll and Volk saved us. Then him and Vee fought and Vee wiped the floor with him. After that Vee took us to Oasis and we parted ways with Volk. Finally Vee brought us to a hospital and paid for my medical fees. What I couldn’t figure out was why the guy who left us to die was now helping us out so much. I started to fall asleep in the carriage. I was exhausted after all.