Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Ashe Heath, once you wake up, you better start walking or you’ll miss dinner time. We don’t serve patient meals here.”

Ashe, whose eyelids had already been scorching under the bright incandescent lights, sat up briskly, touching his face and abdomen. There was no swelling or pain, as if the brutal beating he had received from Igor was just a dream.

This wasn’t his first encounter with the healing technology of this world, but it never ceased to amaze him—back in his previous life, the wound that the Blood Mad Hunter had stabbed through would have meant a stay in the Intensive Care Unit for over a week, fraught with danger. Yet here, he had been healed before even the Interrogation could take place.

Ashe had even thought they might want to heal him first before serving up a full set of Interrogation specials.

He looked around. The treatment room wasn’t as he had imagined it. There was no smell of disinfectant, and although the environment was clean, without any debris or bloodstains, its color scheme was dominated by shades of gray, black, and brown, giving off an impression of ‘Dirty Chaos.’

And then there was the Medic: clad in a full-covering Black Robe, donning a fearsome Crow Mask, and holding a gleaming Dagger in hand.

Far from looking like a doctor, he resembled more a Cultist preparing Ashe as a sacrifice.

The Medic who spoke to Ashe was slightly shorter in stature, with a voice that did not betray their gender, possibly due to the mask distorting their voice, adding to the fear it invoked.

Noticing Ashe’s gaze, the Medic asked, “Is there a problem?”

Ashe replied offhandedly, “I think there’s still an issue with my face.”

“Hmm? I’ve already healed all of your wounds,” the Medic said, puzzled. “Could it be that a blood vessel inside is broken?”

“I feel like I’m not as handsome as I used to be. Didn’t you heal me properly? By the way, do you offer cosmetic services here?”

Ashe was only making small talk, hoping to build some goodwill for future treatments and maybe score some fruit to eat, but the Crow Medic became excited, leaning in to say, “Of course we offer that! Eye corner lifts, nasal bridge adjustments, bone shaving, chin fillers—we can do all sorts of Procedures, and you can choose any style you want, even if you want to look like another Race! I highly recommend the Carzilan Dai Procedure, it can effectively broaden your eyes…”

With a look of distaste, Ashe pushed the Medic away, “Your crow’s beak is poking me!”

“Oh, I apologize. If you’re considering mouth cosmetic surgery, we also have the latest White Rabbit Candy Procedure, which can give your lips a natural sweet taste…”

As Ashe watched the Medic’s fervent pitch, as if they were selling insurance, he became a bit frightened, “I don’t have money!”

“I don’t want your money; I want your person!”

Ashe shuddered, “That was quick? We hardly know each other. Wait, are you male or female? Wait, what Race are you…”

The Medic, realizing their slip of the tongue, waved their hands and said, “I mean, as long as you’re willing to let me perform the surgery, that’s enough. You don’t have to pay me; it’s completely free!”

“Hmm…” Ashe asked, “What if I want you to pay me?”

“Uh… how much do you want?”

Watching the Medic actually pull out a wallet, Ashe quickly stopped her: “Hold on, I was just asking. I don’t really want to go under the knife on my face. But are all you Medics this kind, performing surgeries without seeking anything in return? Seeing you dressed like that, I thought maybe you were the type to hike up the price during the procedure.”

The Medic replied, “Ah, isn’t that kind of thing pretty normal?”

“Ah?”

Ashe couldn’t tell if she was referring to ‘free’ or ‘price hikes during surgery’.

“So, you really don’t plan on getting any medical aesthetics?” the Medic urged. “I’m a Silver Medic with three spirits, you won’t find another Medic like me who’s free and skilled out there! You’re winning just by meeting me!”

“What if you start charging halfway through the surgery?”

“Do you have money?”

“No.”

“Then what are you worried about!?”

That seemed to make sense. As long as I’m broke, you can’t swindle money from me… Still, Ashe shook his head: “In my line of work, there’s a saying: ‘The most expensive things are free.’ If I take advantage of this little benefit, I’m bound to pay the price elsewhere.”

Seeing that Ashe wasn’t biting, the Medic had to be honest: “Alright, if you let me perform the surgery on you, there will be a little bit of risk.”

“A little bit?”

“Yes, just a little,” the Medic gestured with their fingers. “After all, I’m not very proficient with the Procedure, so I need to do more surgeries to improve. But with my three spirits, I can ensure that there’s no danger to your life…”

Through the Medic’s explanation, Ashe finally understood why they were willing to let patients freeload: because the results of a Silver Medic’s treatment were not guaranteed.

Unlike the empirical medicine of his previous life, the medicine in this world was developed from spirits, and the most commonly used spirit among Medics was the ‘Hydrotherapy’ from the Water Art Faction.

As long as the patient has water in their body, this spirit can be activated to rapidly regenerate wounds.

The most common treatment method is to bleed and scrape flesh and then activate the spirit to quickly regenerate the body.

It’s easy to imagine that this treatment method has many flaws, but all spirits have the characteristic of evolving, and this is particularly evident in the ‘Hydrotherapy’ spirit: every disease treated with ‘Hydrotherapy’ is remembered and optimized by the spirit, making the treatment more efficient the next time the same disease is encountered.

Not only that, but if a Medic treats enough diseases, they can even evolve their ‘Hydrotherapy’ spirit into a Two Wings spirit!

Therefore, Silver Medics are eager to treat patients but are often unable to do so, while patients would rather spend more money to find a better Golden Medic than go to a Silver—the weaker the Medic, the worse the ‘Hydrotherapy’ effects, and the greater the probability of patients encountering problems.

Shattered Lake Prison, in the eyes of the Medics, was a coveted place—every day, there were prisoners beaten to near death for them to treat. They enjoyed leveling up their experience here, and the doctor-patient relationship was very stable. Even if a patient was accidentally killed during treatment, there would be no trouble at all!

The Medic talking to Ashe wouldn’t have a chance to come here to farm experience if they didn’t have connections!

Ashe thought to himself, wow, the Deathmatch Society isn’t just an open conspiracy that incites internal competition among prisoners; it also turns prisoners into a renewable resource for Medics to use as Experience Babies. This prison is too good at business, practically winning all around.

However, the treatment is surprisingly free, not even requiring the use of contribution points from death row inmates. This shows that the prison still thinks small, at least compared to Ashe’s company—they not only sold Ashe accidental death insurance but also deducted the cost of electricity for malicious overtime directly from his salary, effectively killing Ashe’s plan to get rich by mining and trading cryptocurrency during those long work hours.