Dave woke up feeling drowsy and weak. He sat up using his elbows per his habit and looked around.
He was hooked to a bank of equipnt next to the bed, with a big video monitor and other beeping blinking machines he sort-of recognized from dical dramas, including an IV bag. He knew he was in a standard hospital recovery-room. He could tell because it was decorated in the ugly faux-ho style that was supposed to help keep patient morale up.
Dave looked at his hands and found they were heavily bandaged. Unexpectedly his legs and one hip were wrapped in the protective white material also. He felt so itching underneath the wrappings but ignored it with an effort. He leaned back into his pillow and sighed drifting away, probably so relaxed from all the ds being pumped into him he thought to himself.
A nurse ca into the room shortly afterwards and after looking at the digital readouts showing Dave’s vitals and overall health she excused herself to call the doctor.
The doctor that ca in and greeted Dave was the sa man that had chastised him for not getting his scars fixed sooner. He greeted Dave and checked on the bandages, asking how he felt before reading the patient dical chart that was clipped to Dave’s bed. The doctor had also led the surgery team that operated on him. He looked over the instrunts then wrote in the chart for a minute.
He looked up at Dave, "The operation was a success and you should be moving your hands freely after three days of in-patient recovery and so light therapy."
The doctor paused and seed to be gathering his thoughts.
He spoke slowly, "During the procedure, so...irregularities ca to light that changed the paraters of the surgery. The damage to your hip and legs beca relevant to the overall success what we were doing. I made the call to expand the scope of the surgery to also repair the damage that was done to you," he paused aningfully and hefted Dave’s chart, making pushing motions with it at Dave.
The doctor continued, "With the way the nano-d technology works the change in procedure just added so ti to the surgery. There will be adjustnts to the charges on your bill but it should be relatively minor."
Dave listened attentively. This doc was a bit gruff but actually kind. And he was cool too, he didn’t go all techno-speak and say a bunch of stuff that only a dical professional would understand. But there was sothing going on when he talked about changing the surgery and Dave’s legs... As if he was trying to tell Dave sothing, pushing the chart at him like he was signaling.
"When you go ho we will give you so exercises to do for your hands and legs to ensure full recovery of your manual dexterity. In the anti, if you want, we can put you in a Conquest capsule to avoid the boredom."
"I would appreciate that," replied Dave. "The old lady that ca with before I went to surgery, how is her condition?"
The doctor grinned, "Heh, I thought you might want to know about her. I asked her if I could discuss her condition with you and she, ah, well gave a talking to. Apparently, despite the law, to her way of thinking if a person pays for treatnt they have a right to know the outco even if the person paying is not the patient.
"Her lungs are in terrible shape, badly degenerated, they were injured when she was much younger. Her doctors stabilized her this ti and treated the worst of it, but it was not a complete fix. She’s going to be discharged today, but she needs to co back on a regular basis for respiratory therapy and checkups to keep her from having another crisis."
"Thank you for everything, doc," Dave said, truly grateful to hear his friend was going to be okay.
He smiled, "That’s what we are here for, it is what healers are supposed to do."
"Can I now use the VR Room? It’s boring to stay here all day," said Dave.
"Sure, I’ll send the staff to move you to a capsule in the VR wing. The added benefit is the relaxation state during the dive should assist your recovery and healing too,"
The doctor made a final note in Dave’s chart then left.
Two nurses ca over and gently transferred Dave to a gurney then rolled him him to the VR ward and got him into a capsule.
In another part of the hospital a family of three gathered around an old lady who was just waking up.
"How are you feeling, ma?" asked the middle aged woman
"I am feeling much better, Beth. For the first ti in so long it doesn’t hurt to breathe!"
"How do you know that boy?" Beth’s husband interrupted. "He paid all the bills for this hospital visit and promised to pay for weekly check-ups and treatnt here. I tell you, that’s over four hundred grand...we can’t repay that, not in a life-ti," the man finished, looking downcast.
"The boy’s na is Dave," the old woman answered, looking out the hospital window trying not to let the tears spill over.
"He is a very nice person, he always helped whenever he could. He used to work in the gas-station outside of town."
"Gas station? No gas station clerk could afford that much even if they worked their whole life there..." said the old man
"No, he told he found a job on the internet. Seeing how much has changed for him it must be a good opportunity," said the old lady
The other three couldn’t help but be suspicious the internet job story, but they didn’t bring it up. They weren’t going to look the gift-horse in the mouth.
"He put himself into the hospital at the sa ti as you, grandma. So doctor ca into the waiting room and yelled at him about the scars on his hands. He just thought about it for a second then said sothing about VR capsules to the doc, then they both disappeared into the hospital," said the pretty young grandaughter.
"Oh that’s so good to hear, Lydia.
"Poor Dave, those dreadful scars bother him all the ti. And his hip, he limps so it’s hard for him to get around now. He was hit by a car on his way ho from work so months back by a drunk driver I think. After he was hit the car smashed into a tree or sothing. Sha on whoever was behind the wheel, just terrible driving. Anyway, even though he was injured, Dave got himself up and managed to pull the driver from the car just before it exploded. The darned driver just disappeared of course, leaving Dave with a whole new set of problems," the old lady’s eyes were snapping with anger when she was finished telling the story.
"Hmph! People!" her son-in-law, Jeff, said, shaking his head.
"There aren’t many people in the world like Dave, that’s for sure.
"And you, Lydia. If you are lucky enough to find soone like that, don’t you ever let him go," Clentine teased her granddaughter.
Lydia didn’t say anything, but her cheeks turned slightly pink as she thought about the young fellow who’d saved her grandmother.
Now safely in the familiar confines of a VR capsule, Dave logged into Conquest.
He appeared back in the Red Fortress located in the Burning Heights.
Crowds of the Undead walked all over the place.
The walls of the fortress had been repaired and the drawbridge was working again.
Dave found Du’Rhaza ordering so undead to do various tasks.
"Greetings, Du’Rhaza!" Dave said to the Lich
"Kis’Shtiengbrah!" Du’Rhaza called back with glee, "Just the draugr I was looking for!"
Dave’s quest-sense tingled like his favorite arachnoid comic book hero’s as he smiled and asked "What did you need for, oh honorable Doom-Knight," Dave asked.
"We’ve found an old blood-stone mine that should have an excellent yield once we get it into production. It’s located in the cavern system under the volcano, but it’s full of beasts and demons. We need to clear the monsters out. I could have sent so underlings to do the job, but I thought you could use the practice, ha!" said Du’Rhaza.
Side Quest
Quest Rating B
You have been tasked with clearing the Blood-Stone mine under the dormant volcano of the Burning Heights!
Quest Reward
500 000 EXP
Do you accept? Y/N
Dave thought about the Chaos Entity sleeping inside the volcano and shuddered, but he accepted the quest.
Dave opened his unit managent page and paid the CP cost to revive the mbers of his Undead Battalion who died back at the Red Fortress Siege.
Suddenly, Dave was surrounded by 120 Undead warriors and mages.
The dunlords looked as fearso as ever. The ten armored scorpion-n were basically heavy battle-tanks wielding ballista as crossbows.
His original ten Undead, now elites, looked at him, ready to receive their orders and lead their own files in his Undead battalion.
Actually it was nine. Dave looked over his shoulder and there was Bud, the self-appointed bodyguard ghoul, in his accustod place.
Dave climbed up onto the back of the dunlord called Stinger. He whistled, made a circling motion with his hand, then pointed at the gates and, in unison, the battalion started moving out toward the gate.
The Undead within the fortress watched Dave and his battalion leave, nodding to the unit or saluting as they passed. The Undead gave Dave the respect he deserves!
Du’Rhaza chuckled as the young draugr and his battalion marched away, he was impressed with Dave’s accomplishnts, especially his clever innovation of riding on the back of a dunlord. It was a great idea and the Doom Knight even ordered one of his own dunlords to stay nearby to serve as a mount when the need arose..
The battalion marched proudly out through the fortress gates and once across the drawbridge they turned to the north for the volcano where the blood mine was located.
"Kis’Shtiengbrah!" a thunderous voice called out, seemingly from nowhere.
But almost imdiately a small hill started moving as a giant dug himself out from under the dirt and rocks.
"Drahma, this is unexpected!" Dave greeted the colossus..
"Ho, young draugr. Where do you go, do you require my aid?"
"I gotta get so training in, Drahma."
"So be it. Should you find yourself in a difficult situation, use the jewel and I will co to your aid. Farewell young draugr," the giant bood his farewell and started digging himself back under the ground.
Dave smiled and ordered the battalion to resu marching forward.
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