The medical bay now smelled, and Ura tended to me with a frown, “I heard about a turf war in one of the shopping plazas,” Ura said, and I winced as she took off the makeshift bandages.
“Yeah,” I replied with a wince as she started to put an ointment on the burns on my hip. “Took a potshot at Oxrock after starting the recording and clipped him in the shoulder, taking out an arm,” I told her as she applied the ointment. “Fuck, That hurts,” I complained, and Ura shook her head, “First shot started everyone shooting at each other. It was insane, but not as insane as Oxrocks appearance before me,” I complained, and Ura snorted.
“You were going against a Mage. They have instant spells, you know,” Ura said.
“Like what?” I asked.
“I don't know a lot, but we had to know at least some basic spells in the military. They have many spells, but the higher-tiered spells are extremely uncommon and change depending on the mage. They change their spells to fit a battle style.” Ura commented as she started to put fresh, sterilized bandages on me. “How fast did he approach you?” Ura asked.
“Within a second or two,” I replied, “Floating in the air before me charging up an attack,” I finished, and Ura looked thoughtful.
“Sounds like a levitation spell with a haste spell. Haste only works for about five seconds max, and it sounds like he barely lasted a second. Probably not his specialty if you ask my opinion. There is also the blink spell which allows mages to move space instantly, but only high-tier mages know that spell. Space magic is rare too, so few mages know the blink spell.” Ura told me, and I winced as she finished covering my hip.
“That shield spell, too,” I commented, “Took an entire clip from my handgun and a double blast from my shotgun to get through,” I told her.
“That Oxrock had a large mana pool then,” Ura said, moving down to my shin. The hole blasted through the leather, and Ura cut the leather around the wound off before taking off the bandages. “Mana barrier is based on the caster's total mana pool and protects the caster till that mana runs out. An expensive spell that every mage casts at the start of the battle. It allows them to fight everyone else, knowing they are safe from everything unless it breaks. Freaks them out when it breaks, and the weak mages will usually run when it happens.” Ura told me, and I laughed.
Pain killed my laugh quickly, and Ura looked up at me as she pulled more ointment out. “Sorry,” I said, wincing as pain from my hips hit me hard. “I was thinking how crazy all of this is,” I told her truthfully. This was my first game that combined fantasy with Sci-fi. There were so many elements that I didn't understand, and I never thought about how dangerous a Mage could be. “I never encountered a Mage before and didn't know how versatile they could be,” I told her.
“You never encountered a Mage before?” Ura asked, surprised, “Holy shit; you lived in a backwater place. This might be a pure tech ship since Mages are expensive, but if I ever upgrade, I will need to keep an enchanter around. Many ships incorporate magic in their usage, and in battleships, it is necessary. Technology and magic may seem separate, but they are linked.” Ura began, “I cannot believe you went after a mage without knowing what they are capable of!”Ura exclaimed, her anger obvious.
I winced and couldn't come back at her. She finished spreading the ointment on my leg and started to bandage it up. “Nothing to say to that, Huh?” Ura said, looking up at me and standing after bounding my leg. “Well, We are heading back out and picking up a couple of slaves. We will give them a good ship to work on, but we cannot stay here after that stunt. Turn in your quest, and we will pick up the bounty. I think because you picked up a free slave from that one merchant, we will pick up two new recruits for the ship. Having a proper ship doctor would be nice, but I shy away from a slave looking to control my health. I think we can just pick up an extra engineer or something. It will be good that we can have them check the other's work just in case or something.”
I could tell that Ura was very annoyed, and I couldn't blame her. I fucked up hard this time, and I pulled out the tablet against my back and looked at it. I turned in the video, and it was quickly into the verification process. Ura looked at me, and I winced, “Verification process started,” I told her, and she nodded.
“Good, Then let us eat while we wait; it shouldn’t take too long,” Ura said and walked out of the med bay. I leaned back on the bed resting and realized how close I was to losing this character. It was very damn close, and the tutorial played a brand-new game in hardcore mode. This was a struggle, and combat was going to be very hard. I needed to be more careful than I was today.
Taking a shot at a pirate inside a Pirate space station probably wasn't the brightest thing, either. That man looking at me as I fled the area as well had me thinking. We were just as unprotected as Oxrock on this station, meaning the pirates might attack us if we pissed them off. That turf war already showed me they had no care for killing other NPCs. It was such a shock to the system at this moment.
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Most games didn't have much of that type of event, or if it was, it was advertised or part of a quest, and I found myself reeling from it. The Turf wars on this station were deadly and broke out fast. I needed to temper myself and learn more about this game before I went in deeper again. I would also need to learn to make traps for people who could fly. There was so much complexity already to this game that I didn't know what to do about it all.
All of this made me question what the pro scene would look like when it opened up. I could feel the complexity of this game as I laid back resting, and when a tone came from my tablet, I pulled it back up, wincing at the movement. I looked at the screen and smiled as the verification went through. We were now the proud owner of a voucher for a slave on this station. I got up with a wince and left the medical bay.
Moving slowly, I got into the crew quarters and watched Ura move around the kitchen in that sexy jumpsuit. I just noticed that we still needed to wear new clothes and remembered that Ura had some hidden. I couldn't wait to dominate her with something nice, and I walked closer to her as she cooked.
“Good news,” I told her as I neared, “Verification went through. We have a voucher for a slave from the store.” I said, and Ura smiled.
I pulled up the voucher, and it said that it was for any slave in their store, guaranteed. It sounded like a funny way to word it, but I wasn't going to care. “I think we shouldn't tell them we have a voucher and ask to see their best slaves since it says we can take any slave they own,” I commented, and Ura turned to look at me with a smile.
“Good idea,” Ura replied, “Now, sit down and rest your dumb body. Those wounds will need to be tended to at our next destination. We are going to Yarnow—a pretty corporate world with two deliveries. The client has a dark and legit cargo going there that he needs there pronto—a shipment of military supplies to a rebel group. Too bad we can't skim some off the top because it looks like some serious ammo, but those have some top-grade seals on them. I don’t have a way of replacing them. Besides that, the legit cargo is some parts for a corporation that had a manager quote on quote lose a massive shipment, and the client picked up the parts on it. It made a nice excuse for our package. The client gets paid for returning property and makes a tonne selling to the rebels on Yarnow.” Ura finished, and I chuckled.
“Sounds like a good package.” I complimented, “I will be there to deliver the product and for the pick-up. You are right, though. I need to get myself looked at. Hopefully, a doctor that knows Rish physiology.” I finished with a smile.
Ura shook her head, “You took a hard one near a vital organ. The fact that you are not showing symptoms means you are probably fine, but better safe than sorry.” She finished, and I nodded.
I sat back, watching her shapely ass shake as she worked, and smiled. Ura was like a sexy assistant in this game, and I enjoyed her company. I hadn't had a boyfriend or girlfriend in a bit, and the only person who called me lately was my mother, looking for money. My brother called asking to give me my money too. I hadn't spent time with my friends recently as they knew I was tight on cash. The last few days were good on sales for voting, freeing up my wallet a little. I would love to go out a little to do some shopping for some new sleeping clothes.
I had lost myself in thought without realizing it until Ura placed a plate of food before me. I looked at her in surprise as she set the food down, and I grinned, “Thanks,’ I said with a grin.
“You looked lost in thought,” Ura said.
“Yeah, just gathering wool in my mind,” I told her, “I think an engineer would be a good addition, as we already discussed. We should save the credits and hire a doctor or a nurse at least to work on the ship later. We can use the voucher for an engineer and keep them working on things properly. The Doctor can be hired, but we will have to find someone that is on the crooked side. Maybe even have them prep serums to help us heal in combat.” I finished.
“Well,” Ura looked unsure, “Although I am not a fan of slaves, I feel more comfortable with them after how we met. The collars are a mixture of tech and magic and do a good job. But I also see your point,” Ura gave in, “The extra credits into the debt principal would help. We are also making more credits than I thought when I first started this venture.” Ura admitted, “Still, We need to save for replacement parts, and the engineer will have to advise us of that,” Ura told me, and I nodded.
We both ate in silence for a moment, and I could tell we were both thinking. Choosing a slave was going to be important, and we needed to do it quickly. The food was disappearing before us, and soon we were done in silence. I finally looked up and replied to her, “I think we will look at whoever we purchase and play it from there. If we meet a nicely qualified doctor that was probably abducted from a ship, a good place to stay, we can go ahead and buy them as well. We will play it by ear and only go to one store instead of shopping around. We need to take the package and leave as soon as possible. So I think that should be our game plan,” I told Ura what I thought was a good plan, and Ura tilted her head in thought.
“I like that idea,” Ura said, and I smiled, “Let us go; we can clean up when we get back. We will have four days in transit to the next planet. Long ride compared to the last two.” Ura said, and I nodded.
We both got up, and I went to the med bay while wincing. The game reminded me of my injured status. I didn't care and suited up and tried to look like I was walking normally as possible. It didn't take long for us to leave the ship, heading to Chains and Shackles that put out the hit on Oxrock.