Physicians, like all other professionals, require regular practice to keep their minds sharp and their fingers deft. Long breaks would result in inconsistencies and mistakes, which, in the medical professional, could well result in unexpected impairments in minor cases and death in major ones.

Sorin arrived bright and early on his first day at the Kepler Grand Hospital. Part of the reason he'd made a splash in Hero Square was to spread the word that he was now in Olympia and open for business.

The Kepler Grand Hospital differed from other hospitals in that it focused on providing support to top-level physicians instead of managing them. In essence, the place was a gathering spot for hundreds of clinics that provided high-tech facilities that could be rented out by these clinics as needed.

Both cultivators and mortals were welcome to come in and look for an appropriate physician. It was up to the patients and physicians to negotiate prices and treatment options. Reputation was extremely important in such an environment, which was why Sorin, a new arrival in Olympia, had no patients to care for.

This place has an office, a poison-rated alchemy lab, a sterile surgical room, and a single nurse, thought Sorin as he reviewed the information he'd been given. These are provided by the clan. Any extra tools, supplies, or staff I require will come out of my own pocket. It was common practice for physicians to take lower-ranked physicians under their wings. Doing business in this fashion would provide a pipeline of patients and potentially difficult cases and would also serve as an extension of the physician in question to bolster their reputation.

"Hello, I'm Sorin Kepler, and I'll be working out of this office going forward," said Sorin, introducing himself to the nurse manning the front desk. "Might I have your name?"

The nurse was a short young woman with red pigtails and a slender build. He could immediately tell that she cultivated the Kepler Clan's subsidiary life cultivation art and had even reached the third stage of Bone-Forging.

"Young Master Sorin!" greeted the nurse as she scrambled to her feet. "My name is Stephanie, and it is an honor to meet you, sir!" She gave Sorin an exaggerated bow that Sorin had grown to hate. Just one of the many changes I'll need to make.

"There's no need for any bowing and scraping around me," said Sorin. "The highest form of respect you can show me is doing your work properly and accurately. I take it the clan has apprised you of my situation?"

"Of course!" said the nurse. "Young Master Sorin is one of the highest-level figures in the clan, on par with Young Master Fineas and Physician Michka. As such, you will enjoy equal access to this hospital's facilities as they do. As long as you have sufficient contribution points or gold coins for what you wish to obtain, nothing will be held back from you.

"As for specific skills, I have you noted down as a three-star poison-based physician and a three-star apothecary. You excel in diagnostics, disease treatment, and corruption abatement. You can perform the highest levels of the Meridian Opening and Bone-Unsealing procedures, and can also perform the first stage Gate Opening Procedure. Did I miss anything?"

"No, that about covers it," said Sorin. "Please carry on."

"As a new physician, it's important to highlight your achievements," continued Stephanie. "I've therefore taken the liberty of requesting your case statistics from Delphi and retrieving your achievements from the Hero Association.

"I've updated your listing to highlight curing the plague in the Mildred Outpost, pioneering new and improved Meridian Opening, Bone-Unsealing, and Gate Opening Tinctures. Your five-year tenure as a Professor of Poison-Based Medicine at the Kepler Medical Academy and the Professor Emeritus position they've awarded for your services is also a good look that we want to expand on.

"Since your practice has just started, I've taken the liberty to advertise for the recruitment of ten physicians, including two two-star physicians one eight one-star physicians. With their help, I'm sure that we'll be able to—"

"Cancel those advertisements," interrupted Sorin. "I don't have the time to manage other physicians."

"This—are you sure?" asked Stephanie. "In the end, this is your clinic, but I hope you understand that successful physicians typically have other people working under them. Lower-level physicians are often eager to work under higher-level physicians. The relationship is reciprocal. Higher-level physicians get help with lower-level tasks, while lower-level physicians gain experience and insights they normally would not have access to."

"I understand how the system works, Stephanie," said Sorin. "But in my case, it's not the best way to move forward. I know my limitations and realize that would not be the best guide for most physicians. The reason for this is that they cultivate life mana.

"Since that's the case, it would be better to build on my strengths and collaborate with other life-based physicians. I will expand on poisons and poisons only. Please let the physicians in the Kepler Grand Hospital know about these plans and inform them that I would be happy to work with them and support their endeavors."

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The nurse looked skeptical about this approach, but in the end, Sorin was her employer. "I will do as you instruct, Young Master. You should know, however, that the treatment success rate in this hospital is extremely high, in excess of eighty percent."

Sorin nodded. "You imported my treatment statistics, didn't you? Tell me, what success rate did the Kepler Medical Institute assign me?"

"This…" Stephanie riffled through some papers. "This is says 99.9 percent, which does seem erroneous. I'll contact them shortly to obtain the correct number."

"There's no need," said Sorin. "That is the correct number. I have never failed a case. As for why it's 99.9%... it's because they can't stand the notion of making it a round 100."

The nurse gulped. "I'll be sure to highlight this in your listing. But I must warn you that such a high success rate is difficult to believe and may insinuate that you're too cowardly to take on difficult cases."

Sorin understood this fact. Success rates varied greatly between physicians and didn't just depend on the types of cases they specialized in. The risk tolerance of the physician was also important. A success rate of 70 percent was typical—not because physicians failed 30 percent of the time, but because referring a patient to another physician to have their case seen through was counted as a failure in the statistics.

Patients often looked for physicians based on their success rate, but Sorin knew that there was more to the story than simple statistics. A flawed success was still considered a success. Amputating an arm to save the body was considered a win in most people's books. Not Sorin's.

"But you do make a good point, Stephanie," Sorin conceded. "I probably should hire some support staff."

Stephanie let out a sigh of relief. "How about I advertise for a three-star life mage to complement you?"

Sorin immediately shot this down. "We don't need a life mage, Stephanie. Healing potions are cheaper in most cases. Where healing potions won't work, I'd prefer to collaborate with a three-star life-based physician. They'll be more competent and won't need to be micromanaged.

"Please advertise for the following positions: poison-based physicians, one-star through two-star. There is no limit to the number you can hire. Additionally, please hire four one-star apothecaries, two two-star apothecaries, and one three-star apothecary. Tell them Sorin Kepler, God Seed of Asclepius, Master of Ten Thousand Poison, is the one hiring. Don't limit the search to our clan's apothecaries."

"But the lab—"

"Expand it," said Sorin. "And yes, I realize that I can purchase anything I like through the clan. Conversely, we can sell anything we like back to the clan and even sell our tailormade poisons to other physicians—in this hospital and other hospitals. If the Kepler Grand Hospital's physicians don't care to collaborate with me, I'll go to other hospitals. If they don't collaborate with me, I'll talk to some of my contacts at the Pollen Clan."

Stephanie gulped loudly. "Won't—won't the clan be upset?"

"The clan won't care, as they'll take a cut of anything we sell," answered Sorin. "As for politics, they'll simply see this as another diplomatic avenue that can be used in the future."

"This—I'll do as you say," said Stephanie.

"Thank you, Stephanie," said Sorin. "I'll be in the lab if any patients need me." With that, Sorin walked past the front desk and his new office to enter the alchemy room and sealed the door behind him.

***

Finally, a proper laboratory, thought Sorin as he inspected three-star glassware, flame-control formations, and safe storage facilities. Basic ingredients were on hand that would need replenishment after only a few experiments, but there were no cauldrons. Apothecaries typically owned their own cauldrons and treated them as their most prized possessions.

Sorin had classified and analyzed every medicinal plant he'd obtained in the field, but some things couldn't be done safely or accurately without specialized equipment. He immediately got to work using Grove Manipulator's Touch to catalyze the medicinal plant seeds he'd collected from original living specimens.

It took three days to nurture over 600 original plant species at the two—and three-star levels and two more weeks to fully analyze their properties and add them to Ophiuchan Simulation. It's a travesty that I need to add them individually. I can live with having to find new poisons, but the data regarding their effects is no longer present. I'll need to somehow generate new biological models to use them properly.

Demonic models were relatively easy to produce—it was the human models that were troublesome. Sorin's corruption might have progressed unknowingly quickly, but he was still a physician at heart. Human experimentation simply wasn't done. Every justified experiment was a slippery slope, and the Medical Association made examples of anyone found breaking these rules.

As Sorin worked in the laboratory, patients trickled in now and again. Sorin refused no one and treated them effortlessly. He left the cost for his services up to Stephanie to handle in favor of performing more experiments.

There was one subject Sorin could always experiment on himself. By manipulating the poisons in his blood, he was able to identify 150 plant specimens that warranted further analysis and proliferation experiments.

"Young Master Sorin!" Stephanie called out when Sorin exited the lab. "There are a few matters that require your review. Firstly, Mr. Fletcher stepped out for about an hour and returned with this. " She handed over a platinum bank card that could be used to store and withdraw currency from the Bank of Hope.

"How much is on it?" asked Sorin.

"Three-hundred-fifty-five thousand gold," answered Stephanie, holding the card out further. "Mr. Fletcher apologizes for the delay—certain items and bounties weren't easy to confirm. He said something about discovering three new demonic species and providing substantial updates to the Adventurers Guild bestiary that required time to verify.

Sorin considered using the card to purchase new equipment but ultimately decided against it. "Please link the card to my account. There are a few items I'd like to purchase. I'll give you a list. Additionally, I believe you said someone would be in for an interview today."

"The prospective employee is currently waiting outside the clinic," answered Stephanie. "Should I call him in?"

"Thank you for, Stephanie," said Sorin. "I'll be in my office. Please send the prospect inside to see me."

Five minutes later, Sorin was sitting opposite a young man with white hair. He couldn't have been more than forty years old, but his hair was white due to the poison circulating in his veins. "Mordecai Hargrave," said Sorin, looking over the man's resume. "You're a pseudo-three-star apothecary who's failed the examination seven times. Your success rate is abysmal, and you have no specialized skills when it comes to plant nurturing. Please tell me why exactly I should hire you."