The next morning, a small leaf pouch of coagulating powder was placed on the Merc’s bed. They hadn’t exchanged a single word during after that first night of their lengthy cohabitation, but a strange, silent camaraderie had built up between them.
‘Big guy better take care of himself.’
Exill felt strangely sentimental about leaving the poor excuse for a human. He didn’t understand why he had become so protective over the hulking Merc. It could possibly be the little things he had witnessed along the way, such as how the man was drinking less, and how he appeared to be washing his clothes once a week.
When you’re staring at rock bottom, any attempt to rebuild your life looks titanic in scale. It frankly motivated Exill to strive for success, more than anything else in his current life. He climbed down the stairs and out into the streets to see the Innkeeper smoking a pipe with the usual vacant look in his eyes.
“Thank you for allowing me to stay here these past two months.”
The weathered Innkeeper pocketed Exill’s key in his apron and nodded, a slight smile on his lips. He blew out a puff of smoke.
“You’re welcome at the Sundry Inn anytime, kid.”
Exill nodded and turned away in the direction of the Guild, doubtful he would ever return. It was an awful place little better than the refugee camp.
But for a brief while, it had been his home.
***
“I would like to update my address; can you change it to Savta’s Clinic in the northwest district?”
A quizzical look clouded Iris’s face as she quickly inspected him for obvious injuries. Before he knew it, she had gripped his hands tightly, “Are you alright? You’re not hurt are you?”
“No! I’m fine, I’ll be working at her clinic in charge of the new surgery department, speaking of which, I would like to update my job records.” Exill summoned his Card to show the [Witchdoctor] profession. Iris quickly wrote all this down, her kind grey eyes widening in surprise.
‘Working for old Savta? A wholly different secondary job?’ she wondered then voiced the question in her mind, “How…?” she began to ask, but was interrupted when Exill lowered the summoned Card behind the counter. Carefully, he raised his voice so that it would carry throughout the Guild hall:
“I was exploring the Labyrinth when a golden wisp descended from the chasm above. I felt a strange resonance and the sound of a bell chime. It whispered directly into my soul that my true path did not lie in [Blacksmith]. My new powers should be used to heal, and that its strength lay in the life-force… I went to find Old Savta for guidance as no one had heard of [Witchdoctor] before, and she immediately made me the head of the department after witnessing my skill.”
Exill tried to awkwardly pry his hands away as Iris gripped them with glistening eyes. The mercs around the room were staring daggers at him at this unprecedented level of skinship.
“You were blessed by the Spirit. Oh, I couldn’t be happier for you!”
Whispers erupted around the room and even the clerk next to Iris stopped processing requests because they were captivated by the story and what it implied.
“Excuse me mercenary Exill, but aren’t you 17 years old, and wasn’t your secondary job [Blacksmith]?” the male clerk asked. The volume in the room grew louder, a few vocally rejecting the outlandish claim as impossible, while Iris nodded fiercely saying she had witnessed and recorded it just a few months ago.
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Most obviously accepted his statement as fact, already familiar with the stories of the Will descending to bless chosen individuals. Others expressed dismissal of his claims, claiming he must have bribed the Church to bypass the lengthy waitlist to change jobs. However the sceptics were silenced when a baronet pointed out that even well-connected nobles had a difficult time switching their jobs.
Exill waited patiently for the speculation to die down before adding his finishing touch. “If you hurt yourself in the Labyrinth, come find me at Old Savta’s clinic. I promise to do my utmost to treat my fellow mercenary brothers and sisters!” he then added to Iris privately, “please tell Grundle I won’t be able to join him for the next few days, and even then, I would only be exploring in the mornings. You know how he isn’t a morning person.”
Waving goodbye to the proudly beaming heart and soul of the mercenary Guild, Exill headed in the direction of the Clinic. He glanced at his Card to find [Conman] was already level 4.
‘That couldn’t have gone smoother!’
Exill was ecstatic about how his performance went down. Rumours of this new Spirit blessed miracle healer would undoubtedly circulate around the taverns tonight. It would cement his reputation and guarantee a steady stream of clients… and Denars.
He shook his head, quelling the greed. Dreams about money could come later. He needed to focus on ensuring he could open for business tomorrow.
***
Back at the Clinic, Luna sat facing Exill attentively, pressing the gathered strands of her blonde hair between her full lips. Her intelligent sapphire eyes glimmered as she listened to his next question.
“What are some ways to dull pain and immobilize the patient?” Exill asked, flicking through the Mercenary Field Guide.
“We have some powdered bliss root to dull pain… but it is difficult to get hold of because it is a controlled substance.” Luna replied.
Exill held up his Guide, pointing to an illustration of a large segmented worm. He had been studying it all night looking for hints and clues. “What about this Land Wyrm? The guide warns to avoid the tentacles in its mouth as it can quickly paralyze trapped foes. Could something like this be used?”
Luna stared at him in horror.
“Are you serious? Do you know how dangerous that is? How would you control the dose? If you judge the patients resistance wrong you could quickly paralyze their heart – leading to a swift death!”
Exill raised a placating hand to calm Luna down. It was fortunate he was bouncing ideas off the apprentice. He wasn’t sure how Old Savta would have reacted in her place. “Ok, I’m so sorry. That was a dumb idea… but… would it be possible to enchant a small blade that it inflicts a small amount of paralysis?”
Luna opened her mouth to retort, then stopped to think, “…it would solve the dosage problem… and if you had multiple such knives, you could increase their enchantment to deal with patients who have higher resistance.”
Exill sighed in relief. This could actually work. He quickly threw out another idea, “how about sleep enchantments? Would patients wake up while operating if they were both paralyzed and asleep?”
“I… don’t know. I will have to ask Nana,” Luna frowned; her delicate features composed in thought. She also didn’t know much about enchantments but could guess that it would get expensive, very quickly to acquire so many custom enchanted equipment.
“So you want several enchanted daggers, a heated rod to stem bleeding, and something that could put the patient to sleep?” seeing Exill nod, she continued with an alternate solution, “although Nana didn’t specify a budget, is there any way you can bring the requirements down?”
Standing up, Exill paced around the room deep in thought. ‘If we are talking about a minimum viable product, what I really need is a tool to cauterize and paralyze…’ feeling inspiration hit him he suggested the following, “how about we get a single knife that can both paralyze and cauterize, is it possible to activate only one or both enchantments?”
Luna nodded slowly, although she had never personally used an item with two active enchantments, she had heard it was possible. “I think so, you can double check with the Enchanters. Did you have a specific blade in mind?”
“Yes, I have designs for the blades here.” Exill turned his clay tablet to show her a small drawing of scalpel crammed at the bottom of a large shopping list. He had given the design much thought and abandoned the modern scalpel with disposable blade, in favour of a sleek curved blade forged in a single piece. It would be easier to craft, maintain and disinfect.
“If you can draw it on this parchment, we can give it to the Blacksmith.”
Exill grinned, it was now time for his favourite part – spending other people’s money.
“Let’s go shopping.”