Sworded Affair

Chapter 125: Like A Surgeon

Emma arrived outside her house, and got all of five seconds to appreciate the smooth transition before Saint landed on her head.

“Why are you like this?”

When both her arms combined failed to dislodge Saint’s death grip on her head, Emma reached up and attempted to store the cat; safe in the knowledge that unlike the Inventory from before, Eden’s Echo wouldn’t react explosively to living beings.

[AttributeError: 'Series' object has no attribute 'value']

The attempt fizzled, and Saint’s claws dug in even deeper. Now getting a bit fed up, Emma resorted to Ephemera, spending three seconds intangible as Saint fell through her transparent form and landed on her back with a thud. Stepping over the prone feline, Emma eventually caught sight of Saint’s payload and the objective of her grand adventure; an innocuous looking potted plant with barely a hint of green emerging from the soil.

[Potted Hydra: A flowerpot filled with blessed soil, containing a seed that will one day grow into a fearsome nine-headed Hydra. Water regularly with fresh blood!

Bonus Objective: Acquire a divine artefact compatible with Saint complete!

Quest - All Mart complete!

5000 Thrones received.

Trait - Babble Fish upgraded to Babble Fish+

Babble Fish: You are fluent in every language known by the System >> Babble Fish+: You are fluent in every language known by the System, with newly encountered languages added retroactively.

Weapon Enhancement - Can I Play with Madness? Upgraded to We’re All Mad Here

Can I Play with Madness?: The first Wound dealt to an enemy inflicts a random Status Condition. >> We’re All Mad Here: The first Wound dealt to an enemy inflicts 1 of 3 Status Conditions (User’s choice).

Quest received!

It’s the Green You Need

Objective: Raise the Potted Hydra until it blooms.

Objective: Convince the Hydra to give Saint a vial of its blood.

Bonus Objective: Form a summoning contract with the Hydra

Reward: A powerful ally from the Age of Myth, Saint’s Divine Item

Bonus Reward: ???]

“Excuse me?”

Emma stared at Saint, who duly met her gaze from the floor, wagging her fluffy tail playfully but offering no answers. An impromptu staring contest began, one that Emma was destined to withdraw from first on account of actually having things to do during the day. Deciding to think about her sudden windfall later, Emma began a fast jog towards the hospital tent, mindful of the wounded man kept alive by Eden’s Echo. Saint watched Emma go, not taking her eyes off the latter until she faded from view. Only then did Saint pick herself up, stalk imperiously up to the front door, and knock, demanding entry, pets and food.

—

Upon arriving at the medical tent (now technically a log cabin, but she still remembered the location as a tent), Emma opted to release the uninjured men first. The remaining rifleman (and driver substitute) landed on their feet, whilst both machine gunners and active drivers fell flat on their ass; leaving Eden’s Echo in the same positions in which they entered. That was more or less expected, and not an issue. More problematic was the sudden projectile vomiting that followed, courtesy of one driver. Emma froze, her concern for his well-being weighed against the unpleasant prospect of approaching him; in the end, her decision came down to the lack of concern shown by the man’s comrades.

“Three hundred micrograms of hyoscine hydrobromide before any long distance travel,” A bored medic drawled; poking his head out of the cabin at the sound of the driver retching. “That was your prescription, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I didn’t think I’d need it, since I was at the wheel,” The stricken driver managed to moan.

“Plans change,” Emma sighed, relieved that it was only motion sickness, while noting the potential side-effect of travelling via storage item.

The other soldiers were fine, and took the initiative to huddle with the medic, beginning a lively discussion regarding the traumatic neck injury suffered by the only casualty of the trip. Emma was happy to let them take the lead; she’d never had medical training beyond basic first aid, and could barely understand the terms being thrown around as is. Leaning against the cabin wall, she busied herself examining her updated Status page, until the medic finally waved her inside.

“We wouldn’t normally allow you in here, but I’m told you need to manually release the patient,” The medic remarked, as he opened the door to what Emma thought was a well-stocked operating theatre (her points of reference being Scrubs and Gray’s Anatomy.) A surgeon was masking up by the empty bed, while two assistants laid out tools, medicine and blood bags. A third orderly was reading off a chart and comparing what she saw to the labels on each blood, while the fourth carried what Emma recognised as a portable defibrillator..

“Please release the patient onto the bed, and keep a tight hold of him. From his perspective, he’s still in the middle of the battlefield, so try and keep him from thrashing while we sedate him.”

Right, I can do that.

Emma positioned herself by the bed, the surgeon stepping back to make way for her and an orderly carrying a long needle. Emma turned to the surgeon, tilting her head.

“All ready, let him out.”

The first hint that something was wrong? The time it took to get the wounded man out. Every other transition had been instant, but not him; no, he was remarkably resistant, emerging first as a blurry outline of a person that gradually filled itself in, one layer at a time. That was enough for Emma to become suspicious, and summon her sword.

[Wolf, Ram and Heart Toggle: OFF]

Emma reigned in her magic, wanting to minimise damage to the operating theatre and bystanders, even as she positioned her blade at the emerging man’s neck. The second sign of alarm? The name tag that followed.

[Matriarch’s Scorn - Level 10 Infiltrator]

Emma didn’t wait for a third sign, Swinging Epitaph in a decapitating blow the moment the possessed man fully emerged, his skin pale as marble and his eyes burning red.

[One Small Favour

Bonus Objective: Get the patrol home with no casualties complete!

Bonus Objective updated!

??? >> Subdue the Matriarch’s Scorn without killing it.]