Chapter 5

“Shock?” Janus said with a bit more of a bark in his voice than he intended. He had left the tavern and splashed water in his face to sober up while on his way to the village clinic or morgue. Splashed as in Dunking my entire head in a horse’s water bin, both surprisingly refreshing and sobering all at once. That now as me wondering if I can drown? Focus. Back at the clinic, morgue or whatever, honestly can’t tell with how the doctor has assembled his practice. It is an office, clinic, and torture chamber at once, yet this is a fantasy world after all, he could be a bloody warlock for all I know.

“Yes. Shock was the cause of death of the subject.” The village doctor says with a tone of irritation in saying the word shock. The doctor clearly the type that dislikes his opinions questioned. “What do you believe killed it?” The doctor says with a sarcastic tone while looking at Janus down his nose.

Janus holds his hand up to indicate the body. “I’d believe my sword running the length of its cadaver is a good hint.” Janus says with as much condescending tone as the doctor. “Frankly given the hell I want through last night I’m insulted to hear such a thing.”

The doctor rolls his eyes and takes a breath. “Two nights ago, captain obvious. And I will be charging you and the guild for making me wait this past day.” He reminded Janus of his drunk blackout and time skip, more insulting is that he just punched a hole in his guild payslip. Doc then waves his hand, “Simple observation of the obvious.” Next, he shakes his head towards the table, “As I do agree that it was a contributing factor of death. I say with respect.” He says with a lack of care for such a word. “You missed.”

Missed? Before Janus could question that word, the doctor picks up a surgical scalpel and waves him to the body. The monster’s body was treated as if it were a human cadaver. The doctor evidently performed a full Y section autopsy. Also, he processed and catalogued the various organs in marked containers. He then points at the entry wound at the monster’s hip that leads to where it exited at the shoulder. “This is definitely one of the works of the Lich King. A slave class beast. You can tell by the horrid Improvisation and sadistic experimentation alone.” The doctor says with fake disgust but had him more Intrigued. “The spin is too large for the torso, yet it is as if the maker couldn’t be bothered to shorten it or procure a suitable part. The maker/Lich King just shoved it in the body, curving it into a S shape. That’s what you missed.” The doctor explained as he shows the innards of the creature. How the rib cage was held together to such an odd spine was a mystery. Janus forgot the previous conversation and observed with genuine interest, unsurprisingly this thing is more disgusting on the inside than out. And the smell, how the doctor could handle it is a wonder, but Janus is sick to the bone.

Sight and smell of the body somehow made a harder attack on Janus’s senses than the fight itself. One look at its innards would be enough to send anyone running with a mouth full of vomit. A startling after thought come to mind, since he changed last year, his mind feels like it had changed too. Things like this would have turned his stomach inside out, or the idea of killing would of bothered him before. But now. Now he doesn’t feel anything.

Back to the body as the doctor speaks. “The bodies organs are back to front and upside down. The digestive system is in the upper torso while both hearts are in the lower stomach.” Janus scanned it with a neutral expression, looking down on it as it struck him that he wasn’t disgusted. Anyone would be disgusted of this abomination, disgust of its existence, disgust of its innards or of its maker. Other than the smell Janus felt pretty much nothing. Was his neck cleaved off also severed him from his emotion? Janus is aware of his personal feelings, this past year was stressful he had no time to reflect on it personally. No time to contemplate while the doctor was explaining his craft as a teacher is in a one to one with his student.

In addition of two hearts in the monster, it also had three lungs. All five parts that the doctor pointed that Janus’s sword missed. The doctor then casually sank his fingers in the flesh of its upper left arm, he pulled back the meat showing the bone. “The left arm is actually a right arm from another body.” The doctor was showing the bone was twisted, it looked as if it was a plastic tube that was held over a flame then turned the other way while warm and soft. “Clearly biomancy. The humerus is twisted to face the opposite way to fit the shoulder.” Strange, if a biomancer could do that then why wouldn’t he just simply turn a right arm fully into a left arm? With biomancy you can actually turn a human foot into a hand or grow an arm out of a stump of a shoulder. Was it done to save time or was the maker so unhinge he just did it for some twisted joy?

Janus suspected the same was done with the feet, what kind of being would do this? The answer Janus and the doctor already established was the Lich King. But what was wrong with his head, “What do you know of the Lich King? I’ve only read the history of the war and his crimes.” Janus questions and the doctor tilts his head, eyes rolled up looking at the ceiling to remember.

He wipes the bloody gunk off his hands on his very bloody apron and speaks. “The man was a second born. Lived in a place called Russ-Russia.” He stuttered on the unfamiliar word. “He was a doctor and said he died the year nineteen zero five before being reborn here.”

Everyone knew the story he was a second born and, in this world, he became a famous doctor. A famous doctor that fell into obsession of life, death and reincarnation. His skills as a doctor made his magic of healing celebrated. Yet it wasn’t enough, his healing power became biomancy, not strictly Illegal but only to a certain point. Tragically biomancy guided him to necromancy that, with good intentions fell into dark magic and madness.

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Janus liked history and Geography back on earth as a hobby. A hobby he continued in this new world as wall. However, biology or anatomy is something Janus has no real knowledge about. One question that was bugging him from the start was how this thing still lived after hundreds of years? “The last battle against the Lich King was four hundred years ago. How is it still alive?” Janus knew this was not the first Lich monster to walk around randomly in the lands.

The doctor nodded grabbing and holding up a jar to the light. inside was an odd purple, carrot shaped organ with blue blood veins. It also had white stalks or roots like a vegetable. “This fascinating organ was invented by the Lich King himself.” The doctor declares with a smile. “It was implanted into the brain and rooted to each vital organ. It works like a kind of biological stasis sleep. You see when one of the thralls is injured and cannot be carried safely home, it or other monsters bury itself and other injured ones. The stasis organs preserve the body and heals itself overtime then they later wake up or others return and retrieve the body when safe to do so.”

Janus immediately understood on a military standpoint. It would prevent death or capture by the enemy. It would preserve the body that cannot escape, hiding it rather than going through the trouble of creating a new monster. They can simply harvest the old ones again and not lose manpower for the next fight, genius.

Though with the Lich King dead, and an unknown number of these things still out there, Janus couldn’t help but compare them to landmines. If you do not keep track of them and miss even one on a beach or a field somewhere, it will wait and wait until one poor boy playing with his dog accidentally sets it off years later. With no one to gather them up how many hundreds, how many thousands of these things are laying beneath the dirt waiting to wake up again. Janus shakes his shoulders with a little unease, thinking of a thousand monsters just like this one suddenly appearing all at once. On that an apocalyptic thought came to Janus. This world has been going through a great time of peace for the past hundred years. If a small army were to suddenly wake up out of nowhere it would be total chaos. The adventurer’s guild pays top dollar to find them sleeping or to slay one. Which is a problem because adventurers underestimate them by waking them up to kill so they be paid more or just end up getting themselves killed. A reminder to everyone saying don’t be a hero, be smart.

The thought that Janus came this close to death, being one of those morons dying a greedy hero. It was tiring for him as he decided that was enough for today. Yawning he puts his hand over his mouth while adjusting his head a little side to side. Janus notices the doctor rises an eyebrow of interest.

The doctors face changes from mild arrogance to an observational interest. He looked at Janus like he was a virus under a microscope. “I’ve heard of you…” the doctor mentions coolly, “I’m very curious on how you are… Alive.” Selecting that word as key.

Janus’s somehow felt the hairs on the back of his none existent neck stand on end. “I’m pretty curious on that myself.” That was probably the wrong thing to say, last thing he needed was a doctor cutting through his guts.

The doctor took it as an Invitation, “There are a number of procedures I could test and experiment.” The doctor imagined a thousand different ways to begin. “I am a sergeant of the flesh, so the craft of magic is not my natural field. however, judging how outlandish you are I have to guess this is a form of necromancy.”

The doctor nods believing in this theory, Janus cannot deny that it is true however he keeps it to himself. “Thank you doctor but I believe you will be wasting your time.” Janus says with a serious look that conveys that this conversation goes no further.

The doctor returned to looking at Janus down the length of his nose. “That… That is a pity.” He says with disappointment, “it is fascinating, A combination of science, alchemy and sorcery. One would wonder how to begin such research while only knowledgeable of only one of the professions.” The doctor removes his apron and begins to wash his hands. “I suppose you will be wanting the documents now.”

Janus agreed and took a step forward then stopped. He saw something in the corner of his eye. He turned to look and saw marks on the inside of the cut skin of the dead monster’s chest. Janus without hesitation reached out and grabbed a flap of flesh and peeled it away from the body. Underneath was an odd tattoo of sorts. “What is this?” Janus says to the doctor.

The doctor looked back to see, “That? Oh that.” Now realising it. “The maker made a mistake or a deliberate move to reattach the skin the wrong way. The skin surface on the inside of the body, back to front. That tattoo was originally on the outside.” the doctor stopped to think on that part, “likely scrap from another body harvested to make this one.”

The symbol looked like it was a tattoo over a tattoo twice over, the lines and words overlapped depending how you look at it, it can be interpreted in various ways. A map, an oath of allegiance, an eye or a planate, it was not clear or consistent. Different versions over one another but Janus did vaguely recognise this or a certain aspect of it, he had seen it before in his secret book. Janus made a note to himself to investigate it, he then shuddered to himself that this thing might have some sort of connection to his current state.

Janus let go of the skin and turned to the doctor for his documents while sneering at the gross contents now on his hand. He then gasped at the sight of a bill placed in his hand. “What is this?” he says surprised.

The doctor had a neutral expression to show his seriousness of the money. “One hundred notes for the autopsy, twenty notes for the autopsy review I just demonstrated plus thirty notes for making me wait for the day.” The review he just did without informing him that there would be a cost. Janus read the bill as the doctor continued, “as you claimed the body it is yours however you cannot take it so for disposal is another one hundred notes.”

Janus read that the documents made for the claim also costs twenty notes. Janus will have to budget his wallet until he can claim the rewards at the guild. Life of a lone wonderer is not very cheap, if he was in a group like the Fellowship or assigned to a party by the guild, they would pay for it. A luxury Janus can’t accept while trying to keep a low profile. “Can I just have my sword and leave please.” Janus says while mentally calculating his current account with his budget this week.

The doctor turned to see the sword and back to Janus. “Possessions of the deceased go to next of kin.”

Janus’s eyebrows shot up at that the implication of those words set off alarms inside his head. “I’m sorry are you going to have my sword sent to the Lich King?”

The doctor laughs, “No, since the deceased has no kin, I can offer it to the one that claimed it. For a reasonable acquisition price that is or a finder’s fee.”

“You are selling me my own sword!” Finally in anger Janus raises his voice through his teeth like holding a broken piece of glass between them.

The doctor holds out his hand out saying, “If you have proof of purchase, I’ll hand it over, if not then that will be a hundred notes.”

Janus could feel one hand try and reach for his knife fastened on his belt on his back while the other tried for his wallet. “You are a THIEF!” Janus accuses with bitterness as the body decides to comply to my dismay.