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[GodofGamingRWBY]

With Lord Hagen and the others heading off to find their doctor, Valerie merely gave the trio a farewell wave, opting to stay with those who had begun traveling alongside them. She didn't feel the need to constantly be at Hagen's side like Astrid, and besides, she actually enjoyed being around and chatting with some new faces. Speaking of which...


"Say, Nicolas was it? What is this Benedict like? Aside from your earlier warnings not to consult with him. I've never heard of him until now."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

"Uh huh, I see..." Cadence muttered as she examined the bottle. Truth be told she wouldn't want any part of this swill in her body but well, if the alternative was literally death...
"That's um... quite an interesting set of conditions. Almost as strict as those required for wielding staves, I'd say."

Finally judging that while he most definitely a little crazy, but not that kind that would just up and attack someone unprovoked, she finally saw fit to sheath her blade. Her hand remained auspiciously on the hilt however, using it much like a palm rest.
"So... Benedict, allow me to ask- how long have you been performing this special alchemy, infusing the ingredients with dark magic and such? What you're describing sounds quite a bit like the effects of a spell I faced just a few days ago, just... internalized."

[Takosher]

Nicholas

The man laughed heartily at Valerie's question. "You really have to see it to believe it." he said, smiling in amusement, "He's a real nutjob, absolutely wackadoodle. It's hard to tell if that snake oil he's peddling is as crazy as it sounds, or if it's crazy enough to work. A couple folks here swear by it, but most of us prefer to wait and see a real doc in the city. My sister's been sick a while, nasty fever, but I've been tallimg her to wait until we get to Iberstas because I don't want her going anywhere near that quack."

[RedMageCole]

"Yes, yes, you see? The art of alchemy is much simpler than the use of staves! I am fully capable of using those things, but I see very few uses of them in comparison!" Once again, Benedict did not notice Cadence's weapon. "Those fools at the caravan don't understand as well as you do! I've been trying to give one person who has been suffering from a fever my easy fever cure— so simple, even a baby could drink it, all you have to do is drink all of it in one single gulp as to avoid your symptoms turning into chills, but no! He is foolish like everyone else! They, as do many others, think I'm a quack! I don't get those people— do I look like a duck to them!? I am not a duck! How could I be a quack!? Ridiculous, all of them! I am just a simple doctor!"

Benedict, eventually, gave Cadence enough of a pause to continue.

"Yes, yes, for quite some time! Yes, the burning would have to do with the dark magic, but people do not realize how much dark magic can help amplify the effects of potion! It's like eating spicy food— it's good, but you have to eat it specifically so that you avoid all of the pain! Yet people are not ready for such progressions in medicine, so I keep having to give guidance to how to ingest my medicine. Truly frustrating."

[kj1225]

Hagen thinks for a long long moment, something that likely worried Astrid as it means he was seriously considering enlisting benedict's services. A fear proven very unfortunately true when he grabbed the head of his spear, the sharpened tip cutting along his palm before he simply held out his hand to the mage doctor.
"I got cut, can you fix it? I'll pay of course."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

By the gods his explaination not only made a lick of sense, it was also somewhat inline with some of the more esoteric literature she'd gotten her hands on over the years. Was this man really just crazy enough to hide an actually competent healer underneath?
"I see. Rare to find someone willing to accept Ludex's Theory of Black Amplification, let alone practice it. While it is a shame it doesn't get much research, I think it's somewhat understandable. Testing it has serious risk of violating the oath of no harm many healers take, given the potential volatility of the concoctions produced. So most shy away from it out of an abundance of caution rather than pure skepticism."

She was about to suggest something about how perhaps he should include small written cards with the vials he gave out, but before she could her cousin was between them, his hand mysteriously bleeding. She only had to glance at the slice in his hand to see it was self-inflicted. Knowing exactly what he was doing she simply sighed and shook her head as she took a step back, time to let nature take it's course.
Yup, that's just like Hagen alright. Earnest almost to a fault. You know I probably could've gotten the same information just by talking to him a bit more...

[RedMageCole]

Benedict clapped his hands together the second Cadence mentioned Ludex— all of his grumpiness seemed to vanish in an instant and get replaced with keen curiosity and excitement.

"Yes! Yes! Finally, someone who has read Ludex's theory! Everyone's always afraid of being overly cautious with it, forgetting that there is still the potential for further research to harness it! There is so much potential in medicine! As long as I perfect it... You! You are an excellent-"

Before Benedict could continue to say what exactly Cadence was an excellent, his eyes drifted down to Hagen's injury. His eyes widened.

"No! No payment for friends of those who have read Ludex's Theory of Black Amplification! I cannot believe I overlooked that injury! One moment!" Benedict hurriedly dug around in his bag, completely unaware of how suspect Hagen's sudden injury was. "Nononononono- yes! Here we are!" Benedict held up a vial of green liquid. It looked fairly ordinary until Benedict uncorked it, revealing that the liquid was steaming. "Here, allow me, this is a much less general potion for cuts, but it requires specifically being dripped onto the edges and the dead center of the cut, very delicate process, just hold your hand there..."

Benedict gently tipped the liquid, only for an amount larger than one might expect from someone being careful to come out and cover Hagen's wound. There was a slight hissing sound as Hagen felt a mild burning pain. It appeared that Benedict clearly meant to drip that much liquid onto the wound based on how much he poured onto the other edge— but once he poured some into the center, the hissing and burning was gone and the wound had been closed shut without a droplet of blood to get past.

"There! Excellent! See, if you had done it in the wrong order and just poured it into the center of the wound, it would just burn and possibly open the wound further. But with my expertise— gone in a flash!"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

"So it really is true..." She muttered to herself as she examined the now vanished wound, briefly dumbfounded by what they'd just witnessed. "There's not even any scarring. I never thought I'd see the recorded results replicated in the flesh, and yet..." She looked from her cousin to Benedict, hand now at her side instead of on her blade. "I must know, did you study in Enfir by any chance? Perhaps you had a mentor at least? Don't tell me you truly got this far simply from self-study..."

[RedMageCole]

"Yes! Again— you understand the genius of my fruits of labor! Yet so many are still so afraid, but I will prove them wrong, I will prove them all wrong one day..." Benedict trails off for a moment, even losing his naturally loud voice, until Cadence mentioned Enfir. Suddenly, his expression changed on a dime once more— from enthusiastic to grumpy. "Ugh. Enfir. Yes, I got my start there, but it was quite possibly one of the worst experiences of my many worst experiences in my life. The lectures were long and boring, constantly going over things I already knew, rarely letting us actually get to practice the theorem, and the uniforms. Oh, the uniforms- have you ever been to a college where you and everyone else has to wear their underwear and nothing else!? It's completely ridiculous! Skimpy body stockings on everyone, walking around with absolutely no shame whatsoever! And then they look at me like I'm the weird one for wearing robes! Ridiculous, I tell you! So while no, also yes, I left after several months of that nonsense to go pursue my own study— they didn't practice medicine along with dark magic after all, so I had to take matters into my own hands! But I've become greatly successful from this self-study, not just sitting in a classroom! So much potential!"

At the very least, Benedict silently confirmed one thing— that the Moon had certainly gotten to him, but at least he had made some progress with his self-study. It was also fortunate for the group that Benedict naturally talked very quickly as well. Some words could get scrambled in his rants, but at least he got the point across quickly despite his wordy nature.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

I mean it is a desert climate. I'd be pretty surprised if, as stereotypical as it is in these parts, everyone down there walked around in such heavy and dark robes as yours. It's probably much harder to focus on studying when you're sweating to death beneath your own layers. Despite not really getting his dress code complaints that well, she carried on the conversation with "I see... all the more impressive then. I encountered another drop out a while ago, funnily enough."
"Unfortunately things didn't pan out for him nearly as well as they have for you. Not that I think he lamented it much in the end."
"Anyway, as much as I'd love to talk shop some more, it's time to get to business. How many of those potions do you currently have available, Benedict?"

[kj1225]

Hagen had managed to stay remarkably still while the medicine was applied, despite the burning and urge to clench up. When the relief came he also spent a few moments inspecting it, listening to the apparent scholar complain as he lent his hand to his retainer for inspect. The comment about bodystockings had him glancing at his childhood friend before he turned back to look at Benedict, letting his cousin work out her own negotiations before he made a proposal of his own.

[RedMageCole]

"Hm! I see! No wonder you did, I'm certain that drop-outs are a dime a dozen in those nonsense colleges. Ah well, dark magic is not something to be played with without being most very extremely careful." Benedict is quick to brush off what he did not practice himself. "As for potions! I have several— I would be an unworthy doctor if I didn't have as many as possible for every situation that could arise. I have several of those general vulneraries, but I do have several other cures. Why, what do you require?"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

"Nothing too strong, some of the general vulneraries should probably be enough, though..." She turned to her cousin, "what do you think, Hagen? His production process checks out and you've experienced the results yourself. Who knows if that doctor in the next city over will even have anything to spare when we get there..."

[Twinwolf]

Hagen thinks for a long long moment, something that likely worried Astrid as it means he was seriously considering enlisting benedict's services. A fear proven very unfortunately true when he grabbed the head of his spear, the sharpened tip cutting along his palm before he simply held out his hand to the mage doctor.
"I got cut, can you fix it? I'll pay of course."

Astrid started as Hagen stepped forward with a cut she was damn sure had not been there a minute ago. Had she missed something or- no, he'd done that himself. She let out a defeated sigh.

"I assume me telling you that you should have me do any of these crazy tests for you is going to fall on deaf ears, won't it?"

"Are you feeling alright, Hagen? No internal injury caused by the potion? Nothing burning? It looks good from here, but we can't well tell what it feels like." As she said this, she'd leaned over to inspect the injury, taking a look at the cut, or rather lack thereof. Luckily, this meant her eyes were elsewhere when he looked at her for the "body stockings" comment, although quite close by.

[kj1225]

Hagen shakes his head to Astrid's questions, giving her a small smirk as he speaks.
"If I passed on every risk to you I'd be no better than a Renmari noble. Anyway, it burned a bit, but nothing I wouldn't sacrifice removing a hole from my flesh over, and everything moves right. If he turned me into a toad it'll be long after we've left.... That said...."
His playful smirk drops into a more serious smile as he turns to his cousin.
"I'd say his qualifications are up to snuff, only thing I'd worry about is that we'll run out again on the road...."
The two women can feel the unspoken suggestion as he raises an eyebrow and tilts his head towards Benedict, asking if they think he should be invited.