Necromancer

A Royal Road Fan Fiction

By: Halosty

Chapter 97

Mortimer and Angela weren’t as close as they had been before. That was a natural consequence of how Mortimer had been. However, they were talking to each other, which was good. Though, as usual, Mortimer really didn’t do much talking. Even if he’d had talking to do these days, all he could talk about would be classes and zombies (or other undead minions). They were not as disconnected of subjects as one might think, though. After all, being on a course toward becoming a doctor, Mortimer had to learn a lot about how the human body worked. Some of the information translated over to the undead. Mortimer found it interesting to find exactly what parts didn’t work the same as living humans.

Skeletons, for example, were basically unrelated to living things, even though they were the basis of most life. After all, they didn’t have anything but dark magic to hold them together and let them move. The only things less based in life were ghosts, who didn’t truly have physical bodies at all. Ghouls were actually pretty close to being classically alive, since they had to eat still. Zombies could eat, but didn’t seem to need it. Vampires needed to drink blood, and were one of the few types of undead that could also bleed.

Mortimer also worked on repairing his other relationships, including his friendship with Alex. They had been pretty close before Mortimer was all depressed. After reinstating their friendship, they certainly still got along well together. However, something was different. Mortimer couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Well, the group used to consist of Mortimer, Alex, Angela, Solara, and sometimes Robert. However, Solara was no longer around. That was one change, but Mortimer was feeling something more. Something else had changed, and now things were different.

Since he wasn’t able to figure out what it was while in the company of others, Mortimer left to do some spying. Spying Investigating revealed some things rather quickly. Since Mortimer hadn’t been around, Angela and Alex had been hanging out with just them more. Naturally, they grew closer. However, the real change was revealed when Mortimer saw them holding hands. This was a revelation!

What was the revelation? Alex was male! Finally, he figured it out. Then, Mortimer thought about it for a moment. No, that wasn’t necessarily true. Mortimer wasn’t actually sure what Angela’s preference was. As his cousin, it hadn’t particularly mattered. Angela had quite easily slipped into her role as a male in Royal Road. It hadn’t helped Mortimer’s investigation into the mystery of Alex that Alex didn’t seem to care about males versus females either. In conclusion, Mortimer had learned nothing. Oh, except that Alex and Angela were dating, he supposed. That was something.

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Mortimer sat in the hospital, next to a comatose Solara. He wouldn’t actually come here very often, because it just made him sad. However, he still wanted to see her sometimes. He imagined her smiling face, her moving around, dancing, singing. It had been a long time since he’d seen any of that. Solara… looked a bit thinner. It was to be expected, since she was only being fed through a nutrient IV. Other than that, her condition was still stable. However, that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be negative consequences based on how long she was in this state. Specifically, since there wasn’t any cure, only a miraculous recovery could be hoped for.

Or, someone could find a cure. Certainly, cures were sought for every negative condition humans experienced. However, this did not meant that everything was equally sought after. In Solara’s case, it was very rare, so there wasn’t much work being done. Mortimer renewed his determination to be the one who found a solution. Up until this point, even though he had been working toward his goal of becoming a doctor and curing her, he’d still been hoping for some other solution. However, it was becoming increasingly more obvious that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon without him.

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Mortimer was smart. Maybe a genius, maybe not. However, there isn’t much need to make a distinction between a very determined intelligent person and a genius. Mortimer was smart, but he had been lazy for most of his life. His determination had ramped up after Solara’s collapse, and that allowed him to get ahead. However, now Mortimer now cast aside the things he’d formally devoted most of his time to. Books, games, and other entertainment. He recognized the need for a minimum amount of relaxation to not go crazy. It wasn’t obvious whether he successfully achieved these amounts, though, because those watching him could tell he was obsessed.

However, Mortimer managed to maintain a positive attitude. At least, on those occasions when he wasn’t studying, or busy with his clinicals, and later during his residency, he still got along well with his family and friends. Of course, they were somewhat worried for him. Even his parents worried, though they were also quite happy at his successes.

After only a few years, a bit more than half the time it would have normally taken, Mortimer was a doctor. Of course, he was still new. Normally, that would make him unable to participate in research, at least not on the subject of his choice. However, much of that was a problem of money. A problem Mortimer’s parents were happy to help with. If Mortimer had been playing around and spending their money for entertainment, it would be an entirely different manner. Even then, they would likely have somewhat supported him. However, he wasn’t playing around.

In addition to money, such an endeavor would also take time. Mortimer knew that, but he was hoping he would somehow succeed quickly. Did he think he was better than everyone that came before him? Well, actually, Mortimer kind of did think that. However, he also knew that he could build off of the work others had done. More importantly, there hadn’t been all that much research concentrated on this condition, to the point that it didn’t even have a name. Thus, Mortimer finally started down the path to a cure, one that everything he’d done in the past 6 years had been for.

//End Chapter 97