It Started with Slime - Part 1

Chapter 108 - Marasa Brean

Marasa laughed at that. It was the first time she laughed since she entered and saw Aarav. With that simple act, she cut through the tension in her heart. "It is very nice to meet you, Resh. Haemish, you were right. It is fascinating meeting a new member of the court. I assume you are a member of the court?"

"I suppose I am, aren't I Haemish?" Aarav asked the rotund man, who consented. "Though I am sure you will hear of the circumstances, the result is all that seems to matter. I should be thankful for it. So far, everyone I meet has the same reaction as you but seems to accept that I am a sentient monster, treating me with a surprising amount of respect. I have only met a few suspicious people so far. Honestly, it is a warmer welcome than I had expected." Aarav inclined his head in a courtly bow he had seen on television in the old world.

"Well, you will find the least ignorant of Darf in the palace and Brewyn. You haven't been to Pravwell as yet, and that would be the test for you, I think." Marasa said. "This is the nicest place in the country you could have come. Even people in the city might not be so accommodating if you look too different. After all, monsters are the enemy of the sentient. But when you are both...?"

Marasa let the question hang in the air. "Yes, I am the first most will have seen, and they will not know how to react. I understand and hence the humanoid shape!" Aarav brought it around full circle and pointed at his legs with his hands. "Food?" he repeated. He wasn't that hungry, having eaten the nutrition brick earlier and the skeleton after. He just wanted some tasty food to use the taste buds he had now.

Haemish laughed at Aarav's lack of tact and put his hands up. "Alright, alright, I will get the kitchen to bring some food to you. In the meantime, you should practice with those new limbs of yours."

Aarav nodded in agreement; it was in line with his plan, balancing with only legs and arms manifested and doing the same with the whole skeleton. He would need both when he Consolidated or required to be small enough to fly.

"Resh, I have to ask. I have never seen you need to remove waste." Haemish said in surprise. It seemed the talk about food had automatically made the man think of the conclusion to said process. Marasa didn't blush or seem embarrassed at the question as Aarav would have expected. Instead, she was interested. I guess no medic is squirmish with this stuff.

"First, you haven't given me much to eat since we do here, so there is that." Aarav directed an accusatory look at Haemish. "But no, I do not require that, and I don't produce any waste product."

"Unbelievable, how can something like that exist, no waste? None at all? Not even a little tiny amount that no one would notice?" Haemish just couldn't believe it, he kept repeating the question, and Aarav kept shaking his head.

Finally, after about a minute of back and forth, Aarav said, "Not that I know. Okay, are you happy now?" This admission seemed to satisfy Haemish, and he finally stopped his insistence.

"Good, now that we have cleared that up, time to eat!" With that, he abruptly exited the lab, leaving Marasa and Aarav in the room alone; silence lingered.

"So, what do you do in the palace?" Aarav said, trying to break the silence that had fallen.

"Oh, I am the Head Healer. I take care of the royal family personally and lead the clinic that they have here that cares for the sick."

"I can't imagine there would be many sick here with magical healing. Are there?" Aarav asked, curious what a hospital would be like in a magical world. Wouldn't everything just be healed in a snap?

"Yes, most physical injuries can be repaired instantly, of course with a regular healing spell. However, other more complex things require a little more, such as broken bones, neural damage, Mana channels, muscle tears, and many more. Sometimes it is impossible, even with the healing Spells we have, until we realign things, or they heal badly. We can correct it later, but it is excruciating for the subject and very expensive Mana-wise. So, unless it is life-threatening, I always tell people not to heal anyone unless they are confident of what they are doing." Marasa seemed in her element when talking about healing. She seemed to know a lot, but as Aarav suspected, there were no terminal illnesses or long-term issues, unlike his regen-reduction.