Huan climbed up the stars in his clinic up to his bedroom. His left hand was starting to ache. Since the time he absorbed the "boy's" disease, a faint pain has been annoying him.
"Oh well, I'll let her take care of it." Huan thought as he slowly paced up the steps.
Huan slowly entered his bedroom. Gretchen was standing next to the bed; a bowl of hot water, towels, and a strange box was placed on a sideboard. Gretchen was moving busily, but Huan was unable to see her from behind.
"I hope it will work this time, Gretchen," Huan spoke as he dragged himself towards the bed.
Gretchen turned around, a full smile on her face--"This time, I am sure it will work, doctor!"
Huan climbed into his bed and laid down, awaiting Gretchen's treatment.
Gretchen took Huan's left hand, and started unwrapping the bandages. Gretchen showed no surprise as the near skeletal form of Huan's hand was revealed. Gretchen then opened the odd box. The box had many compartments, which had labels on each compartment. Huan was able to read some of it by turning his head--"sal, absinthe, aqua vitae, aurum, argentum,..." Gretchen poured the bottle that said "aqua vitae" into the bowl of hot water, and sprinkled a bit of "sal." Then she started to chant arcane words of the "ancient tongue"--
"Et lapis hic avis, et non lapis aut avis hic est. Nunc spuma maris vel acetum, nonc quoque gemma salis, Almisadir sal generalis. Nunc mare purgatum cum sulphure purificatum..."
She then soaked a towel into the bowl. After letting it soak, she wore rubber gloves, and took the towel out. She then said, "Dr. Huan, now, this is going to hurt, okay?"
Huan was worried with this comment, but he silently grit his teeth as Gretchen applied the towel to his left hand. Intense pain shot through his nerves, assaulting his brain with the speed of light. Huan immediately fainted.
---------------
Huan was walking along a rocky beach. Smooth pebbles the size of eggs littered the beach. Huan was walking along the beach, smelling the salt in the air. The sky was gray, and the wind was strong. It even felt like it was raining but Huan wasn't sure--it didn't matter. After a while, he saw a hooded human figure standing on a huge rock that jutted out of the beach just at the edge of the sea. Behind the rock was a huge cliff. The human figure was hooded, and was wearing a white cloak. From afar, Huan was able to hear a faint, growling voice from the figure. "...se who pl... blood shall...sters" Then the figure lifted his or her arm, and pointed diagonally downwards, right where the waves were crashing against the rock. Huan suddenly felt tremendous fear, and started to run away.
Huan opened his eyes and saw Gretchen and looking at him worried. Huan's eyes bulged. "What, what happened!?"
"You finally woke up! You just fainted, Doctor. The pain must have been a bit too much! You were asleep for about 11 hours." Gretchen answered, as always with her Northern Harmonian accent.
"Gretchen, which part of Harmonia were you from?" Huan suddenly asked as if an idea struck him.
"Why Dr. Huan, what makes you curious? I was born in Sanadia in Northwestern Harmonia." Gretchen answered joyously--Huan has never showed any interest in her background.
"Oh yes, Sanadia, I hear they were defeated by Harmonia a while back, and that citizens there are being treated as slaves--as third-class citizens. Is that true?"
Gretchen replied, "Yes Doctor, that is why I escaped Harmonia in the first place! It is horrible how they treat slaves in Harmonia! They are legally 'non-human!'"
Gretchen didn't see Huan smile behind her. "Indeed, that is terrible," Huan said unemotionally.
"I need to do some tests on that specimen's blood sample..." Huan woke up from the bed, and then saw that his left hand was covered in an odd-looking glove. The glove was made of black leather, and did not cover his fingers. Oddly, his fingers were completely cured as well. The glove had a rune embedded upon it, a "rune of healing."
"Do you like it? It is a glove with a rune of healing sewn into it! It should help with that bad hand of yours." Gretchen said as she helped Huan up.
Huan felt dizzy as he got on his feet; "It looks like I am not in the condition to do any experiments! Gretchen, could you help me by testing the BAC level of the specimen's blood sample?" Huan said as he sat back into the bed.
Gretchen suddenly looked down at the floor and said, "Sorry doctor... I... got rid of the blood sample..."
"What!? How could we possibly figure out how the boy died? How did you throw it away? Just a trace would be enough." Huan showed rare fury.
"Sorry doctor, I threw it away with treating ammonia."
"What!? That means even if we found a trace of it, the blood is useless. You know that Gretchen... Why did you do that?" Huan's voice was regaining his cold assurance.
"I... just didn't want you to be blamed..." Gretchen replied.
"Blamed of?"
"Killing that boy..."
"Nonsense!" Huan laughed at Gretchen's comment.
"But I know doctor. I know the powers of that rune you bear on your left hand, and I tested the boy's blood myself... he died from complications resulting from alcohol poisoning!" Gretchen said with determination.
"Is that true? Why didn't you tell me that Gretchen? That explains it--the power of this rune." Huan lifted his left hand.
"You see Gretchen, I cured a Muse soldier suffering from a severe hangover using this rune. He was a huge soldier, so his body was probably able to handle all the alcohol. Then, when I found that boy in the forest, I used this rune again to heal his disease. I assume what happened is that the same amount of alcohol was introduced into the boy's body when I cured his disease, which means..."
"The next person you use that rune on will end up getting the boy's disease?" Gretchen finished Huan's sentence.
"Precisely my young apprentice!" Huan replied with joy.
"Then we must somehow remove the disease from your rune, master," Gretchen said earnestly.
"No need for that, we just need to find some other specimen to transfer the disease to. That way we could study it and figure out a way to cure it."
"But that would be wrong!" Gretchen said.
"Yes Gretchen, but we who deal with medicine must measure right and wrong from a different perspective. The Medical Arts exists for the betterment of humanity at large. A few dozen lives sacrificed to save a few hundred is obviously justified. You see what I mean don't you young apprentice?" Huan smiled as he said that.
"Ofcourse, I see what you mean master, I see, I see!" Gretchen replied happily.
"Good, well then, lets go out for a walk. Perhaps we will find some nearly dead person lying around in the back streets. I need some fresh air."
Huan walked downstairs, still dizzy, and Gretchen followed him. The two the got ready to leave and left the clinic together in search of their prey.
They left the clinic and walked towards the back street. They heard the sounds of the blacksmiths hammering at hot iron in the distance. The two passed by a small alley that led to Lebrante's atelier. Huan wondered whether there was any progress, but he kept on.
"This place gets dirtier this time of year, master." Gretchen said as she looked at the broken barrels and boxes strewn in the alley.
Huan agreed with her as he nodded. The two were already in the back streets which was called the "street of the bards." The old brick buildings over three hundred years old were packed against each other, leaving little room for anything. Clothes hanged on clothlines above as the two walked below.
"Not much life around here is there," Huan said in disappointment. "I was hoping there would be some dying beggar or perhaps even a stray cat or dog."
Huan felt odd that there was no answer from Gretchen. He turned back and realized that she was nowhere to be seen. Huan was in a panic. He suddenly felt defenseless as he stood alone in the back streets. He thought that could easily become a target by thugs that roam the backstreets because he is a famous doctor in Muse. He felt safe with Gretchen knowing that she was a highly skilled runemistress--she would have burnt the living hell out of any thug. Huan checked to see if he had his scalpel. He found a few scalpels strapped inside one of his pockets, which gave him some confidence. He walked back towards where he came from, looking for Gretchen.
Suddenly he was grabbed from behind by someone with tremendous strength and dragged into a building. He was violently thrown onto the ground. He saw Gretchen bound up and lying on the floor of this small spartan room. She was gagged.
He then saw a man in rags, a huge and ugly man, staring down at them. Huan grabbed a few of his scalpels and stood up. He heard Gretchen emit some noise as she protested.
"Let us go and you will live," Huan said as he flashed out four scalpels at the ugly man.
The thug drew a short sword and snarled. Huan threw his scalpels at the thug, but the thug effortlessly deflected them, or they missed him altogether. The thug tackled Huan and slammed him against the wall, breaking Huan's glasses.
"Ugh!" Huan was pinned against the wall. The thug's breath smelled like rotten cabbage as he smiled at Huan, sliding his sword between him and Huan's throat.
Huan heard Gretchen screaming beyond her gag. Huan looked at Gretchen, which wad difficult through his broken glasses, but she was sending him signals with her eyes. She looked at Huan's eyes and then looked at his left hand.
Huan understood what she meant. As the thug was getting ready to slit Huan's throat, Huan chanted under his breath. "...quod de domino ad dominum movetur, in cuius initio sit miseria cum aceto..."
Green light suddenly enveloped the thug as he darted back. His ugly physique got uglier as his skin started to bubble and ooze with puss. He screeched in agony as his body started to rot, and fell to the floor. He flipped and flopped like a fish out of water. Huan quickly picked up a scalpel and removed Gretchen's bonds.
As Gretchen was freed, she hugged Huan, "I was sooo scared!" She started to cry. Huan was also quite scared at what just happened himself, so being hugged by Gretchen gave him some much needed courage.
The thug suddenly spoke, "...help..."
Huan walked beside the thug and picked up the short sword that was cast aside.
The thug said again, "...help me... it hurts..."
Huan quickly thrusted the sword down at the thug's heart end ended his misery.
"Gretchen, collect a blood sample from this specimen. We have some work to do." Huan said unemotionally as he cast the sword down towards the corner of the room.
"Yes master!" Gretchen answered cheerfully as she took out a syringe case.
After Gretchen collected the blood sample, Huan told Gretchn to burn the thug's corpse to prevent the disease from spreading. Gretchen used her Rage rune to incenerate the thug's body. The two then headed back to the clinic to study the blood sample...
"Oh well, I'll let her take care of it." Huan thought as he slowly paced up the steps.
Huan slowly entered his bedroom. Gretchen was standing next to the bed; a bowl of hot water, towels, and a strange box was placed on a sideboard. Gretchen was moving busily, but Huan was unable to see her from behind.
"I hope it will work this time, Gretchen," Huan spoke as he dragged himself towards the bed.
Gretchen turned around, a full smile on her face--"This time, I am sure it will work, doctor!"
Huan climbed into his bed and laid down, awaiting Gretchen's treatment.
Gretchen took Huan's left hand, and started unwrapping the bandages. Gretchen showed no surprise as the near skeletal form of Huan's hand was revealed. Gretchen then opened the odd box. The box had many compartments, which had labels on each compartment. Huan was able to read some of it by turning his head--"sal, absinthe, aqua vitae, aurum, argentum,..." Gretchen poured the bottle that said "aqua vitae" into the bowl of hot water, and sprinkled a bit of "sal." Then she started to chant arcane words of the "ancient tongue"--
"Et lapis hic avis, et non lapis aut avis hic est. Nunc spuma maris vel acetum, nonc quoque gemma salis, Almisadir sal generalis. Nunc mare purgatum cum sulphure purificatum..."
She then soaked a towel into the bowl. After letting it soak, she wore rubber gloves, and took the towel out. She then said, "Dr. Huan, now, this is going to hurt, okay?"
Huan was worried with this comment, but he silently grit his teeth as Gretchen applied the towel to his left hand. Intense pain shot through his nerves, assaulting his brain with the speed of light. Huan immediately fainted.
---------------
Huan was walking along a rocky beach. Smooth pebbles the size of eggs littered the beach. Huan was walking along the beach, smelling the salt in the air. The sky was gray, and the wind was strong. It even felt like it was raining but Huan wasn't sure--it didn't matter. After a while, he saw a hooded human figure standing on a huge rock that jutted out of the beach just at the edge of the sea. Behind the rock was a huge cliff. The human figure was hooded, and was wearing a white cloak. From afar, Huan was able to hear a faint, growling voice from the figure. "...se who pl... blood shall...sters" Then the figure lifted his or her arm, and pointed diagonally downwards, right where the waves were crashing against the rock. Huan suddenly felt tremendous fear, and started to run away.
Huan opened his eyes and saw Gretchen and looking at him worried. Huan's eyes bulged. "What, what happened!?"
"You finally woke up! You just fainted, Doctor. The pain must have been a bit too much! You were asleep for about 11 hours." Gretchen answered, as always with her Northern Harmonian accent.
"Gretchen, which part of Harmonia were you from?" Huan suddenly asked as if an idea struck him.
"Why Dr. Huan, what makes you curious? I was born in Sanadia in Northwestern Harmonia." Gretchen answered joyously--Huan has never showed any interest in her background.
"Oh yes, Sanadia, I hear they were defeated by Harmonia a while back, and that citizens there are being treated as slaves--as third-class citizens. Is that true?"
Gretchen replied, "Yes Doctor, that is why I escaped Harmonia in the first place! It is horrible how they treat slaves in Harmonia! They are legally 'non-human!'"
Gretchen didn't see Huan smile behind her. "Indeed, that is terrible," Huan said unemotionally.
"I need to do some tests on that specimen's blood sample..." Huan woke up from the bed, and then saw that his left hand was covered in an odd-looking glove. The glove was made of black leather, and did not cover his fingers. Oddly, his fingers were completely cured as well. The glove had a rune embedded upon it, a "rune of healing."
"Do you like it? It is a glove with a rune of healing sewn into it! It should help with that bad hand of yours." Gretchen said as she helped Huan up.
Huan felt dizzy as he got on his feet; "It looks like I am not in the condition to do any experiments! Gretchen, could you help me by testing the BAC level of the specimen's blood sample?" Huan said as he sat back into the bed.
Gretchen suddenly looked down at the floor and said, "Sorry doctor... I... got rid of the blood sample..."
"What!? How could we possibly figure out how the boy died? How did you throw it away? Just a trace would be enough." Huan showed rare fury.
"Sorry doctor, I threw it away with treating ammonia."
"What!? That means even if we found a trace of it, the blood is useless. You know that Gretchen... Why did you do that?" Huan's voice was regaining his cold assurance.
"I... just didn't want you to be blamed..." Gretchen replied.
"Blamed of?"
"Killing that boy..."
"Nonsense!" Huan laughed at Gretchen's comment.
"But I know doctor. I know the powers of that rune you bear on your left hand, and I tested the boy's blood myself... he died from complications resulting from alcohol poisoning!" Gretchen said with determination.
"Is that true? Why didn't you tell me that Gretchen? That explains it--the power of this rune." Huan lifted his left hand.
"You see Gretchen, I cured a Muse soldier suffering from a severe hangover using this rune. He was a huge soldier, so his body was probably able to handle all the alcohol. Then, when I found that boy in the forest, I used this rune again to heal his disease. I assume what happened is that the same amount of alcohol was introduced into the boy's body when I cured his disease, which means..."
"The next person you use that rune on will end up getting the boy's disease?" Gretchen finished Huan's sentence.
"Precisely my young apprentice!" Huan replied with joy.
"Then we must somehow remove the disease from your rune, master," Gretchen said earnestly.
"No need for that, we just need to find some other specimen to transfer the disease to. That way we could study it and figure out a way to cure it."
"But that would be wrong!" Gretchen said.
"Yes Gretchen, but we who deal with medicine must measure right and wrong from a different perspective. The Medical Arts exists for the betterment of humanity at large. A few dozen lives sacrificed to save a few hundred is obviously justified. You see what I mean don't you young apprentice?" Huan smiled as he said that.
"Ofcourse, I see what you mean master, I see, I see!" Gretchen replied happily.
"Good, well then, lets go out for a walk. Perhaps we will find some nearly dead person lying around in the back streets. I need some fresh air."
Huan walked downstairs, still dizzy, and Gretchen followed him. The two the got ready to leave and left the clinic together in search of their prey.
They left the clinic and walked towards the back street. They heard the sounds of the blacksmiths hammering at hot iron in the distance. The two passed by a small alley that led to Lebrante's atelier. Huan wondered whether there was any progress, but he kept on.
"This place gets dirtier this time of year, master." Gretchen said as she looked at the broken barrels and boxes strewn in the alley.
Huan agreed with her as he nodded. The two were already in the back streets which was called the "street of the bards." The old brick buildings over three hundred years old were packed against each other, leaving little room for anything. Clothes hanged on clothlines above as the two walked below.
"Not much life around here is there," Huan said in disappointment. "I was hoping there would be some dying beggar or perhaps even a stray cat or dog."
Huan felt odd that there was no answer from Gretchen. He turned back and realized that she was nowhere to be seen. Huan was in a panic. He suddenly felt defenseless as he stood alone in the back streets. He thought that could easily become a target by thugs that roam the backstreets because he is a famous doctor in Muse. He felt safe with Gretchen knowing that she was a highly skilled runemistress--she would have burnt the living hell out of any thug. Huan checked to see if he had his scalpel. He found a few scalpels strapped inside one of his pockets, which gave him some confidence. He walked back towards where he came from, looking for Gretchen.
Suddenly he was grabbed from behind by someone with tremendous strength and dragged into a building. He was violently thrown onto the ground. He saw Gretchen bound up and lying on the floor of this small spartan room. She was gagged.
He then saw a man in rags, a huge and ugly man, staring down at them. Huan grabbed a few of his scalpels and stood up. He heard Gretchen emit some noise as she protested.
"Let us go and you will live," Huan said as he flashed out four scalpels at the ugly man.
The thug drew a short sword and snarled. Huan threw his scalpels at the thug, but the thug effortlessly deflected them, or they missed him altogether. The thug tackled Huan and slammed him against the wall, breaking Huan's glasses.
"Ugh!" Huan was pinned against the wall. The thug's breath smelled like rotten cabbage as he smiled at Huan, sliding his sword between him and Huan's throat.
Huan heard Gretchen screaming beyond her gag. Huan looked at Gretchen, which wad difficult through his broken glasses, but she was sending him signals with her eyes. She looked at Huan's eyes and then looked at his left hand.
Huan understood what she meant. As the thug was getting ready to slit Huan's throat, Huan chanted under his breath. "...quod de domino ad dominum movetur, in cuius initio sit miseria cum aceto..."
Green light suddenly enveloped the thug as he darted back. His ugly physique got uglier as his skin started to bubble and ooze with puss. He screeched in agony as his body started to rot, and fell to the floor. He flipped and flopped like a fish out of water. Huan quickly picked up a scalpel and removed Gretchen's bonds.
As Gretchen was freed, she hugged Huan, "I was sooo scared!" She started to cry. Huan was also quite scared at what just happened himself, so being hugged by Gretchen gave him some much needed courage.
The thug suddenly spoke, "...help..."
Huan walked beside the thug and picked up the short sword that was cast aside.
The thug said again, "...help me... it hurts..."
Huan quickly thrusted the sword down at the thug's heart end ended his misery.
"Gretchen, collect a blood sample from this specimen. We have some work to do." Huan said unemotionally as he cast the sword down towards the corner of the room.
"Yes master!" Gretchen answered cheerfully as she took out a syringe case.
After Gretchen collected the blood sample, Huan told Gretchn to burn the thug's corpse to prevent the disease from spreading. Gretchen used her Rage rune to incenerate the thug's body. The two then headed back to the clinic to study the blood sample...