Nathan left Ragnorks clinic feeling worn out mentally. He looked up at the sky and saw the sun was starting to set. A rumble in his belly reminded him that food was needed. Heading back to the Guild, Nathan sought out a tasty dinner.

A filling meal of beef strips, potatoes with gravy, and a heavy portion of carrots. Nathan thought back to an old friend who cooked for him. She was another Doctor, and in another life Nathan imagined they would have married.

Sadly, their work kept them more apart than together. Nathan scooped up a spoon of potatoes and enjoyed the warm meal.

“Vanessa, I bet you were worried about me first. Everyone else would think I was running late for work. It’s been almost a month. Would they already claim I’m dead?”

The thought of his own funeral made him shiver. No body, no evidence, no closure. What did worry him was what his brother would be thinking.

Nathan imagined the police freaking out over the security footage. One moment he was there, the next vanished. Foul play would be suspected, and a full blown investigation would follow. Eventually, no solid evidence would pop up, and he would end up as a cold case.

Nathan finished his meal while imagining what his Netflix show would be called. “Paging Doctor Shultz? It’s cheesy enough, it might work.”

When Nathan returned to his bunk, he saw Zella and another girl down for the night. Nathan assumed it was Safia since she was in the bed with her name on it. He took off his shirt and went to sleep as well. The long day now behind him.

The next day Nathan had recovered enough that he was ready to start training again. First he wanted to check on the status of his promised tutor. He headed to the front hall and found a receptionist. “Hi, I was wondering about the status of the tutor I was promised.”

The receptionist took his badge and went to the file room to check on that for him. While waiting, Nathan sat in the waiting area. He didn’t bother reading any missions since that was Brawn’s responsibility.

To kill time, Nathan pulled out the book on human anatomy, looking more into what was missing from it based on what he already knew.

Ten minutes went by when suddenly the front doors slammed open, and cries for help were shouted.

“HEALER! Help! Anybody!”

Nathan almost gave himself whiplash from turning his head that quickly. He saw two people carrying a third body. All of them were wearing matching colors to show they were in a party. One of them was a large half-orc that looked familiar.

“He got stung by a Shadow Phonius. We didn’t have any anti-venom. Anyone, please! We will pay you, just save our friend.” Okutar yelled out.

A lone woman walked up to the group and held her hands out. “Of course. I will cure your friend for 10 silver. A small tithing to the great Goddess of Love.”

The two glanced between each other. “We...we don’t have that much. An anti-venom potion costs only a single silver. We have a few Silver and a handful of copper. A little more once we get paid for the mission. Just save him, and we can pay you later ma’am.”

“Payment first. The Gods do not give out their blessings for free. You should know this, Paladin.” She said to the other person next to Okutar. The way she said Paladin was more derogative than anything else.

Nathan shoved the woman out of the way, and was opening his menu as he talked. “Where is the sting wound? Pull back his armor and clothing. Do it or he dies, poisons are not something you wait to treat.” Nathan was in full Doctor mode, not caring about anything but saving his newest patient.

Without hesitation, Nathan slammed his free skill point into the [Remove Poison] skill. Ignoring the monitor that flashed to life to show what the skill did, he rolled up his sleeves.

Nathan was hit by a wave of a horrible smell, but years as a Doctor ensured he did not gag. The wound was full of puss and Nathan saw black veins spirewebbing away from it. “Mental note, get holy water.” Without asking questions he started to work.

He first pulsed a [Remove Poison] through the man. He could visibly see the poison fade away from the skin, but he refused to leave it at that. Nathan started to cast small amounts of [Healing Touch] to close the wound.

Something tickled in his mind, and before he closed the wound he casted the spell [Cleanse]. As the spell washed over the body, Nathan could see a mixture of venom and infected blood ooze out of the small wound. Nathan glanced at his mana and saw all of what he regained over night was now almost gone.

Several people threw up nearby from the smell and sight. Nathan smiled, glad he was able to save this man. Nathan finished up with a full powered [Healing Touch] and started to check his patient over.

He started with checking his eyes, then moved to his pulse.

“Is...is he going to live?” Okutar asked.

Nathan looked up at him. “I think so. I can’t check his Health to see if he is still taking damage, but I see no more wounds. I’ll keep an eye on him for the rest of the day. Does the Guild have a recovery ward?”

Okutar nodded along with a few verbal affirmatives.

“Good, lets go. I can give him a proper vitals check there with my limited resources. If everything checks out, he should be back after some rest.” Nathan paused a moment and finished. “Once his Health and Stamina recovers enough, I am sure he will wake up.”

Nathan could see the pure relief and thanks in the two party members. They carried off their teammate to the recovery ward and Nathan stood up to follow.

A firm hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to see the woman. “And who do you think you are?”

“Last I checked my name is Nathan. Now, if you excuse me, I have a patient to care for.” Nathan pulled his shoulder out from her grasp, but was surprised to see it remain there.

“I don’t think you understand who I am.” Her eyes were filled with anger. Nathan then pay attention to how she looked.

Her hair was a butch cut and a bright red color. Freckles covered her face, making Nathan think she would be scotish in his world. She wore a dull pink robe that had gold lining in it. The smell of a strong perfume emanated off of her.

“And I don’t think you understand that I don't care. Anyone who asks for payment before treating anyone, is scum in my eyes.” Nathan said, staring into her eyes.

She chuckled darkly. “You are no member of the Church. Otherwise you would know your place. I am Doctor Melony under the Goddess of Love. You best watch yourself, healers outside the Church never make it past Bronze Rank. They lack the guidance to reach the higher tiers of true divine magics.”

“You are right I am not. Otherwise you would know I give zero fucks about you or your God. Also, if you use the title of Doctor around me again, I will shove my spear so far up your ass, you will taste the slime goo that is still on it.” The shock from someone talking back to her loosened her grip.

Nathan was able to escape her grasp. “Listen, I won’t actually hurt you. But stand between me and someone who needs help, and I will knock you down. If you want to talk like adults. I am sure you can find me. Until then, I have a patient to oversee.”

Nathan sat next to the man whose name he learned was Frank. Frank was asleep peacefully. Nathan did his best to check him over. He really needed a watch or a stethoscope. Machines to test blood, monitors to give visual updates on a patient's health.

All the tools he had grown to rely upon were gone. He had no clue how to make any of them, and it frustrated him. To pass the time, Nathan was aggravatingly searching through his list of skills to find something to replicate any of those.

[Diagnose] was the very skill he needed he realized. It’s Mana cost was high, but for moments like these, it would be worth it. Nathan made another metal note to get that one with [Second Thought] when he leveled up again.

Nathan knew it would be some time till then, he now realized he could feel when he was close to a level up. It was due to the fact that feeling was missing compared to before he leveled up clued him in on this.

Okutar walked in for the thirteenth time in the last hour to check in on his friend. “Is Frank up yet?”

Nathan shook his head. “If he is level 9, and has a low Health Recovery then I would give it some more time. When his body is ready, he will wake up. It’s a safety measure auto-built into all of us. It helps to keep the body operating at maximum efficiency. No need to be awake when your body is doing it’s absolute best to repair itself.”

Okutar nodded and sat down. “Here, it’s not 10 silver, but hopefully it is more than enough to pay off your work.” He held out a coin bag to Nathan.

“Nope, I am not accepting that. It cost me a night's worth of Mana Recovery to fix him up. The only real cost was a skill point in [Remove Poison]. Which I am more than sure will pay off over time. If you really want to pay me, how about telling me how he ended up that badly, or why you didn’t go to the Clinic?”

Okutar ran a hand over his face thinking of where to start. “We were in a cave clearing out spiders and other nasty things down there. It was a Bronze rank mission, and we needed to do two more to rank up as a party. Everything was going great until Frank fell to the ground withering in pain. We brought Anti-Venom but Frank was carrying it all. He fell right on top of the bottles, breaking them all.”

Nathan nodded. “Why did he have them all, and you didn’t split them across everyone?”

“My armor makes it hard. Plus as the tank, if I got hit wrongly and they broke, we would be shit out of luck. Dyteer was also a front liner, so we gave them to Frank. He is a Geomancer, and we didn’t expect to miss any of the little fuckers. Sadly there was a Shadow Phonius, a scorpion that is attuned to shadow magic. It made him impossible to see, even with Dyteer’s high perception.”

“As for the clinic, there was a long line. If we waited he would have died. We panicked and came here in hopes for a healer to save him.” he looked over at Nathan with teary eyes. “And you did it. You didn’t ask for money or anything. You just saved him, with no questions asked till afterwards. You have my thanks Nathan. If you need anything, just ask. It will be hard to convince Frank he doesn't need to pay you either, but he will try his damndest.”

“If you want to pay me back, then just consider me a friend.” Nathan said with a smile. “If I need anything I promise I will ask. I still refuse to take money though.”

Nathan was caught in a bear hug. “Thank you Nathan. I really mean it.”

“I do have another question, who is Doctor Melony.” Nathan said the word ‘Doctor’ sarcastically.

He sighed at the question. “She is a Doctor rank in the Church of the Goddess of Love. Dyteer is a Paladin under the same Goddess. She is Steel rank here in this Guild as well. When she showed up, I was more than sure Frank was going to be safe. Instead, she requested payment before treatment. If it was something not as deadly like a broken bone or missing fingers, I could understand. But Frank was dying, right in front of her.”

Nathan did what he could to hold down his seething rage for this woman. “Can you tell me why she didn’t help someone in her fellow order? Or why can’t a Paladin cure poisons?”

“Anyone can learn the same spell you got. Dyteer’s build just doesn't involve it, hence the anti-venom. You would have to ask him yourself about why he doesn't have it. He could just have a low skill point gain compared to the average. It all depends on his oath in the end.”

“I understand that at least. I took an Oath as well you know.” Nathan said remembering the day he first took it as a Doctor.

“What kind of Oath do you have?” Okutar asked

“To never harm anyone. To always help those who need it. It’s not my job to choose who lives and dies, it’s my job to keep people alive long enough so those who can make those choices can make them.” Nathan looked over at Frank, checking his breathing.

“Do no harm? That seems like a shitty life choice for an adventurer.”

“It may be, but it’s one I plan to keep the best I can. Slimes is one thing, they are mindless monsters with no purpose other than to destroy. Another person? I refuse to kill them, and will do everything I can to not do so. Even if they try to kill me.”

Okutar looked at Frank. “One day Nathan, you might not have that liberty. You might find yourself at the sharp end of a knife. The bad guys don’t care about you, only themselves.”

“Then I will just have to be sure I can deescalate the situation. Not everything has to end in death.”

Okutar shook his head. “For your sake, I hope that’s true Nathan. I like you like this. Happy, kind, and will offer the clothes off your back for another. I hate to see you change from this.”

Nathan stood up. “I have no plans to change who I am. Let me know if Frank’s condition changes. At this point I think he will be fine in all honesty. I will see you later tonight.”