The Power Of Radiation 25 Returning And Healing Factions

As a bright, white light flashes around Mark, he is jolted awake once again to the familiar sight of a stone house in Stone City. The house belongs to the head pastor Percy who Mark met after being hit over the head by the gate guards. With no Vlad around like the previous time he woke up, Mark a.s.sumes that Vlad went back to Brambleton with his earnings from the produce he sold. As Mark gradually orients himself with his surroundings and tests out his powers which he has been increasingly excited about recently, he hears loud footfalls outside the room.

To satisfy his own insatiable curiosity Mark first listens at the entrance to his room and then opens the door to find a very peculiar sight. A bedraggled man with messy hair is pacing back and forth in front of the door to his room, muttering to himself. Mark is shocked by this peculiar scene because he can recognize the bedraggled man as the patient and kind pastor Percy who he met before. Percy is very focused on his own thoughts and mutterings so he only notices the person standing in front of him after a few minutes. With a much brighter smile that contrasts to his worn-out appearance Percy exclaims in remembrance "Mark! So, good to see you!"

Mark is of course happy to see Percy too. He can't help but think that he is indebted to the kind pastor because of his previous help with his head injury when the Healer's Guild wouldn't treat him on behalf of his strange eye color. This leads to the next set of questions that Mark has in his mind. "Pastor Percy, why do you look like this? What has put such a patient man like yourself in such a foul mood?" Percy's happy expression immediately darkens like a stormcloud as he exclaims in what could only be extreme frustration "It's that blasted Josephina!" Percy then goes on to explain his current predicament of himself and his church in hope of Mark's help to think of a solution.

Josephina is the Vice Guild Master of the Healer's Guild that was mentioned before. Most people in the city, n.o.bles and pheasants alike, have only two choices when they develop any sort of sickness. One choice is the Church of Time and Healing that Percy runs but their expertise is for more common ailments and are more of a charity than an actual healing business like a hospital. Normally this is fine for lesser sicknesses and injuries but most of the time the church can only do so much with normal skills like the ones used in industrial times from Mark's world. The Healer's Guild is on another level entirely when it comes to healing the residents of the city. They charge exorbitant prices to both n.o.bles and commoners alike but do a job that most can only say is worth the price. The normal skills coupled with strange magic and powers that seem entirely otherworldly to the residents of the city present a mysterious and prideful air to the patients who go for treatment. This leaves two distinct healing factions in Stone City. One faction being normal and cheap and accessible to everyone, another faction being expensive and something only wealthy n.o.bles or merchants can afford.

Mark is astounded at the contrast between the reputations of the church and the guild. The magical nature of the treatments also reminds Mark of some of the well-known super powers in his world. Percy then goes on to explain how most kingdoms have schools and education that are supposed to fix these problems.

Stone City is part of the Green Kingdom and it is no exception in regards to schools and education. Lower and middle cla.s.s citizens of cities normally spend their younger years going to school until they decide on a profession. While many of these young people choose one of their parent's professions, any choice is possible if the right talents are shown. In regards to doctors, once someone decides to become a doctor they are sent to a branch of the Kingdom's school for Healing and taught the basic methods of saving people's lives and possible sickness that can occur. After a few years of education like this they are then certified as apprentice doctors and given at least a regular rank doctor as a mentor.

This is the main problem and why Percy is getting more and more worried about his church. The maximum doctor rank held by the church is a Journeyman Doctor with only Percy himself holding this rank. The remaining doctors who are supporting the church and its ideals are all regular or apprentice doctor ranks.

This is a stark contrast to the Healer's Guild having 2 different Master rank doctors and their Guild Leader is even said to be a Grandmaster rank doctor appointed by the King of the Green Kingdom himself. Percy exclaims this with much excitement and wistfulness at the thought of meeting and learning from a Grandmaster rank doctor. Percy has never met this doctor in person however and has only heard rumors that his first name is Olaf. Mark is astonished by this fact and thinks about his current mission regarding his training in the VR world. Mark also thinks that the name Olaf is very familiar and he may have seen it somewhere before this…

Training Requirements

To complete the instance one must be certified as a Master level doctor or be apprenticed to a Grandmaster level doctor for 2 months' time.

If neither of the conditions above are met, at a Journeyman level status or equivalent a doctor may quit the instance and become a resident doctor in the virtual world with no repercussions and a decrease on contracted benefits.

After refres.h.i.+ng the exact wording of the training requirements and with this goal in mind, Mark's best chance is apprenticing himself to a regular doctor either here at the church or even at the Healer's Guild if he can get an introduction. If all else fails Mark can even resign himself to having a short stint in the kingdom branch school for healing. The best possible choice for Mark however is his naïve dream that he can easily become an apprentice to the legendary Grandmaster doctor and become a carp leaping over the dragon's gate.