Pandora Unchained B1C26 - Growing Branches

Sorin spent the next three days treating patients in the day and calculating potential poisons in the evening. Having already ingested 5 poisons, it was difficult to find one-star poisons that weren’t at least partially replicated by those five. The number of poisons he would need to assimilate were therefore not restricted to only ten.

After the initial vandalism incident, there were no further attacks on Sorin’s character. Marcus’s clinic remained silent as ever, and the Temporary Medical Relief Center operated with no interruption from either Marcus or Physician Lim, the only other physician in the outpost.

“He can’t stay silent forever,” Sorin grumbled to Henry as they talked in the Alchemists Guild. “A clinic needs to turn in a profit of some kind, and the Kepler Clan will only allow him to waste money and tarnish their image for so long.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Henry, walking out from the back. “And yes, I really did check everywhere this time. There’s no violet salamander skins or rainbow toad warts either. We’re fresh out – sold everything to Marcus’s clinic. I believe they said it was for medical research.”

“Of course it was,” said Sorin. “How could it be for anything but medical research. Half of what he bought in the past few days are even usable in even the rarest medical treatments!”

“Look Sorin,” said Henry apologetically. “I like you. I really do. But this is a business, and Physician Marcus spent an extra 30% to clear out all our stock of 1-star poisons. And 2-star poisons, for that matter.”

“Great!” said Sorin. “That’s wonderful. Since demand is so high, surely you’ll be restocking them.”

Sorin was irritated by Marcus’s actions. There was no way for the physician to know that Sorin needed to imbibe poisons to increase his cultivation, but it remained that poisons were useful to poison users. He’d therefore cleared out all but the basics. The only ones remaining had then been reserved by the alchemists of the guild for their own potion making.

“Fine,” said Sorin, accepting the situation. “Then I’ll need to rent a 1-star workshop. Sometime next week if possible.”

“About that…” said Henry.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Sorin. “What did Marcus do – rent all your spare 1-star workshops?”

“Not exactly,” said Henry. “It’s more like he crippled them. He used his connections to rent all the unused earth flames in our guild for an unspecified amount of time. I can rent you one-star glassware and spells circles, but in the end, I can’t rent you a full 1-star workshop. Without a 1-star earth flame, it just wouldn’t qualify.”

Sorin’s expression darkened. “Is he not afraid that by throwing his weight around so much, someone will get fed up with him and off him?”

“He is a two-star physician, Sorin,” said Henry. “In a place like this, that means he’s practically royalty.” Royals were ancient history in Pandora, but the reference had stuck.

An earth flame was truly too important. Even Sorin, who was just dabbling in alchemy to pursue poison concoction, wouldn’t be able to properly concentrate or fuse higher level 1-star poisons without one. By taking all the earth flames, Marcus had effectively sealed off all avenues for growth – short of Sorin risking his life in the wilderness.

When Sorin returned to the temporary clinic the next day, he found Lawrence waiting for him at his desk. “What did you discover?” he asked Lawrence. “Anything sinister?”

“No,” said Lawrence. “Not really. I confirmed your suspicions that they’re basically wasting time in that clinic. But they have an excuse – Marcus is training his apprentices and the 1-star physicians in the clinic in rudimentary alchemy. To better understand medicines and mix it themselves if required. That way, they’ll better be able to respond to critical shortages during the demon tide.”

“Of course,” said Sorin, rolling his eyes. “I should have known their barking and arguing with the Adventurers Guild and the Mages Guild was all a front. What about the other thing I asked you to look into?”

“Marcus isn’t making things that difficult for Gabriella,” said Lawrence. “He’s not teaching her anything. In fact, he’s not paying much attention at all to her. He’s stated in no uncertain terms that she’d need to study on her own time and perform menial work to retain access to study materials.”

Sorin frowned. “Isn’t that just bullying? If he’s not giving her opportunities to practice or guiding her, isn’t he just extorting her?”

“Apparently it’s how they do it in the big cities,” said Lawrence with a shrug. “So you wouldn’t really have a case if you made a complaint, Sorin. If anything, you’d just hurt Gabriella.” Sorin could only swallow his anger and hope things would improve for her.

The temporary medical clinic continued treating patients for a full week, until finally, Lawrence returned with some news. “My sources say that Marcus has finally realized how committed the Adventurers Guild is to retaliating. As a result, he’ll be reopening his clinic soon.”

“Will he be confronting us while he’s at it?” asked Sorin.

“I didn’t hear anything about that,” said Lawrence.

“Damn,” said Sorin. “I guess Marcus is even more of a snake than I realized.”

***

It was around noon the next day when Sorin heard a commotion outside the clinic. “Are you ready?” he asked Leffen and the adventurers posted at the temporary clinic.

“Ready for anything,” said Leffen. “Just take the lead and we’ll support you as we can.”

Sorin wasn’t so sure that the confrontation he’d expected would be taking place, but he had memorized his lines. Any attacks that could be made against poison users had been debated in much detail, and he’d long since memorized the major arguments as part of his studies.

Sorin walked out of the clinic to see that a crowd had gathered. There were both cultivators and commoners in the crowd. They had not gathered because the clinic was opening – instead, they were there because there was a tent, and that tent was serving free food. A podium had been erected just outside Sorin’s old clinic. The sign was covered up in white fabric, which meant that Marcus was rebranding.

I see, thought Sorin. Training his physicians might be a passable excuse to make officially, but his actions greatly hurt the clinic’s public image. As a result, he can’t just write a formal explanation – he needs to make a big deal of why exactly he spent so much time treating so few patients in a way that will look good to the farmers and non-cultivating workers.

The timing was naturally very harmful to Sorin. Instead of quickly gathering the poisons he’d needed and cultivating, Sorin had gotten dragged into operating the temporary clinic. As such, he had been too slow to react when Marcus snatched all the one-star poisons and earth flames.

Physician Marcus stepped out shortly after the food tent opened. Alongside him were three one-star physicians and a host of apprentices and nurses, including Gabriella. Marcus cleared his throat before speaking.

“I would like to thank everyone for attending our clinic’s grand opening,” said Physician Marcus, projecting his voice as only a bone forging cultivator could. “It warms my heart to see such a supportive community in the outpost. We look forward to serving you with our hearts and our souls. Even our direct family won’t better treatment. But first: a name. It’s important for a clinic to have a distinctive name. Gabriella? If you will?”

Gabriella wasn’t looking too happy to be singled out, but she did as she was told and pulled on the white cloth, revealing a name in bold golden lettering: The Growing Branches Community Clinic. Two bright stars could be seen beside the name, just before the two coiled serpents symbolizing the Pandora Medical Association.

“Contributing to our community is our core belief,” said Marcus. “Our mission here at the outpost is to reclaim land for humanity, and we at the Growing Branches Community Clinic will do our utmost to support the brave adventurers and farmers who make this happen. Yes? I see there’s a question back there?”

“Why does there need to be a name change?” asked a man in farmer’s clothes. “Aren’t you a Kepler, just like Physician Sorin was?”

“That’s a very good question,” said Marcus.

And probably a planted question, thought Sorin.

“In truth, each clinic’s name is left to the discretion of their manager,” said Marcus. “The previous manager might have been too attached to his family name, which was why he kept it. I really can’t say. Other than that, I need to clarify that Mr. Sorin Kepler was not a normal physician. He was an honorary physician due to his previous accomplishments prior to being crippled. But when he regained his cultivation, his designation was revoked. He is more than welcome to try reclaiming his credentials.”

Unlikely, thought Sorin. Given how badly biased the Medical Association is towards poison users.

“Now allow me to thank you all for being patient as our staff underwent group training,” continued Marcus. “The first week is always very sensitive for a clinic, and I wanted to make sure we got off on the wrong foot.

“This training was done in collaboration with the Alchemists Guild, and we will be working closely with them in the future. Not only will our physicians be cross-training, but their alchemists will also be cross-training as physicians. We hope to see the results real soon. “Ah, I see there’s another question.”

Once again, he pointed to someone in the crowd. Sorin recognized the man as Edward Marsh, the governor’s youngest son. “I heard you’re a two-star physician,” said Edward. “Does that mean we’ll finally have a doctor that can treat our bone forging experts?”

“That’s correct,” said Marcus, looking extremely satisfied with himself. “In fact, I’ve already talked to your father, the governor, about potentially expanding the operations of our bone forging experts. With me here to support them, they’ll be able to more safely contribute to clearing of Bloodwood Forest.”

It was a two-pronged attack, as Sorin saw it. For one, he was showing off his importance to the local powerhouses and increasing his status in everyone’s eyes. For another, he was half-accusing the bone forging powerhouses, specifically those at the Adventurers Guild and Mages Guild, of cowardice.

I can’t allow him to control the narrative, thought Sorin, so raised his hand once Edward had finished.

“Now let’s continue on with the next improvement, holistic –“

“Excuse me, I have question,” said Sorin loudly.

“Of course,” said Marcus. “There’ll be chances for questions later. Now holistic services are –“

“I’m sorry, but it just seems to me like you’re just answering pre-prepared questions to make it look like you’re answering questions,” said Sorin, cutting him off once again. “But I’m sure that’s not the case, and that you’d be more than happy to answer unscripted questions.”

Marcus’s eye twitched, but he smiled at Sorin at nodded. “Of course, Poison Master Sorin – assuming that’s what you like to call yourself these days.”