Chapter 91:Treatment.
Chapter 91: 91:Treatment.
The checkpoint gates rumbled open with a deep metallic groan. The contractor vehicle rolled forward at walking speed.
Unlike the Sanctuaries, the Rookie Checkpoint had a rough practicality to it. Everything had been built with one purpose, keeping contractors alive long enough to leave again.
Rows of reinforced garages lined one side of the compound where mechanics repaired vehicles scarred by claws, acid, and impacts from beasts.
On the opposite side stood prefabricated medical units, their white walls stained by years of constant use.
Beyond those were supply stores, temporary lodging, cafeterias, ammunition depots, and training grounds.
Everywhere Silver looked, there were contractors. Some were laughing over lunch after successful hunts. Others limped toward the medical wing.
A few simply sat quietly, staring into space with the exhausted expressions of people who had survived another day outside civilization.
No one stared at them. A blood-covered contractor arriving at a checkpoint was hardly unusual.
The guard scanned their identification modules before waving them through.
"Strength contractor... Fire contractor..."
He glanced toward Silver’s shoulder.
"...Medical Unit Three. Doctor’s still on duty."
Silver nodded politely.
"Thank you."
The vehicle had barely stopped outside the medical building before Ravenna opened her door. She rounded the front of the car and walked straight to Silver’s side.
"Out."
Silver sighed.
"...You’re ordering me around now?"
"Yes."
"I see."
"Move."
He laughed quietly before stepping out. The moment his boots touched the ground, his knees nearly buckled. Ravenna caught his arm immediately.
"...Still think you should’ve kept driving?"
Silver rubbed the back of his neck.
"...Maybe not."
"I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that."
Inside... The clinic smelled strongly of disinfectant. The place wasn’t luxurious. Plain metal beds stood in neat rows, medical drones drifted quietly overhead carrying trays of supplies and several contractors occupied beds throughout the room.
One man was having deep claw wounds stitched closed. Another was asleep while a machine slowly regenerated damaged skin across his chest.
At the center of the room stood an elderly doctor wearing contractor fatigues beneath a white coat. He looked up from a medical tablet.
"Next."
Silver walked over. The doctor’s eyes immediately landed on the knife protruding from his shoulder.
He slowly lowered the tablet.
"...How long?"
Silver thought for a moment.
"A little over three hours."
The doctor’s face remained blank.
"...Three hours."
"Yes."
"You drove."
"Yes."
The doctor glanced at Ravenna who was hovering behind Silver.
"You with him?"
"Yes."
"You let him drive."
She glared at Silver, clearly blaming him." He’s a stubborn one."
The doctor closed his eyes and then pointed toward the nearest bed.
"Sit."
The doctor circled him once before giving an approving nod.
"You were smart enough not to pull it out."
"I’ve had training."
"I can tell."
The older man gently examined the wound.
"The blade missed the artery, missed the lung, and no nerve damage." He looked genuinely impressed. "You’ve got absurd luck."
Silver smiled.
"I’ve been told otherwise."
Ravenna stood nearby with folded arms.
"...Can you save him?"
The doctor looked at her.
"I’m a doctor not a miracle worker."
Silver laughed. Ravenna shot him a glare.
"...Don’t encourage him."
The doctor prepared several injections.
"This will numb the shoulder."
Silver shook his head.
"No anesthetic."
Both Ravenna and the doctor looked at him.
"...Excuse me?"
"I need my reactions later."
The doctor frowned.
"This isn’t a battlefield."
"It could become one."
Silence followed. The doctor studied him for several moments then slowly nodded.
"...Your choice."
He handed Silver a leather bite block.
"Use this."
Silver accepted it then quietly placed it beside him instead. The doctor sighed.
"Young people... On three."
Silver nodded. The doctor gripped the knife.
"One."
"Two."
He pulled. The blade slid free in one swift motion and blood immediately followed. Silver’s jaw clenched so hard the muscles in his neck stood out as pain exploded through his shoulder.
His fingers dug into the metal bed hard enough to bend it slightly. Despite the pain, not a sound escaped him.
The doctor immediately packed the wound before activating a compact regeneration device. Blue light washed across torn muscle and the bleeding slowed almost instantly.
The doctor finally stepped back.
"...You’re either incredibly stubborn or completely insane."
Silver smiled weakly.
"I’ve heard both."
Ravenna finally let out the breath she’d been holding. She hadn’t realized she’d been gripping her own sleeves until now.
"You idiot."
Silver looked over.
"...Again?"
"You keep collecting that title."
"I suppose I do."
She shook her head.
"If you ever do something like that again..."
He raised an eyebrow.
"...Yes?"
"...Warn me first."
He blinked then laughed.
"I’ll try."
The doctor began wrapping fresh bandages around Silver’s shoulder.
"You’ll live. No heavy lifting. No fighting for at least three days."
Silver and Ravenna exchanged a brief glance. The doctor noticed.
"...You’re going to ignore that advice."
Silver answered honestly.
"...Probably."
The doctor sighed deeply.
"Argh! contractors. I wasted my breath for nothing."
Once the treatment finished, the doctor looked toward Ravenna.
"And you?"
She flexed her shoulder.
"Dislocated but already reset."
He examined it briefly before nodding.
"Good work." He looked at Silver. "You did it?"
Silver nodded. "Clean reduction."
The doctor smiled faintly.
"Not bad."
He wrapped a compression brace around Ravenna’s shoulder.
"No sword practice today."
She looked away.
"...Probably."
The doctor gave her the same look he’d given Silver moments earlier.
"You two are impossible."
After paying the treatment fee, the pair stepped outside into the afternoon sunlight. The checkpoint bustled with activity.
Someone was unloading beast cores. A convoy prepared to leave for another Green Zone. Children of contractors chased one another between the buildings while their parents rested nearby. Life continued, even here.
Silver took a slow breath.
"...Feels strange."
"What does?"
"Stopping."
Ravenna looked at him.
"You’ve been moving since dawn."
"I know."
"No, that’s not what i mean." She smiled. "I mean... I think you’ve been moving your whole life."
Silver didn’t answer because she wasn’t entirely wrong. As they walked toward the temporary lodging, Silver quietly opened the System Shop.
[Medical Consumables]
Emergency Blood Coagulant : 25 AP
Minor Body Regeneration Pill : 80 AP
Moderate Body Regeneration Pill: 160 AP
Rare Body Regeneration Pill: 350 AP
Silver selected the Moderate grade, twice.
[Purchase Confirmed.]
[160 ×2 Affection points deducted ]
Remaining Affection Points Updated.
Two smooth emerald-colored pills materialized inside his pocket. He withdrew them discreetly.
"...Here."
Ravenna looked down.
"...Medicine?"
"It accelerates physical recovery."
She frowned.
"You bought two?"
"One each."
She accepted hers but hesitated.
"...Silver."
"Hm?"
"We already spent money at the clinic. You don’t have to keep paying for everything."
Silver smiled.
"Think of it as an investment."
She laughed softly.
"...That’s a terrible excuse."
"It worked."
She rolled her eyes.
"...Barely."
Both swallowed the pills. Almost immediately, a warm sensation spread throughout their bodies. The lingering soreness in Silver’s shoulder eased and the stiffness in Ravenna’s arm began slowly disappearing.
Neither wound healed instantly, but both could already feel their bodies beginning to recover at an unnatural pace.
Silver rotated his shoulder experimentally.
"...Much better."
Ravenna blinked in surprise.
"...This medicine is incredible."
"It is."
She looked at him curiously.
"...Where do you keep finding things like this?"
Silver smiled mysteriously.
"I have my ways."
She narrowed her eyes.
"One day... I’m going to figure you out."
Silver chuckled.
"...Maybe."
The afternoon sun slowly drifted westward. Neither of them realized that their most important conversation since meeting each other was about to begin.