Dave woke up feeling drowsy and weak. He sat up using his elbows per his habit and looked around.

He was hooked to a bank of equipment next to the bed, with a big video monitor and other beeping blinking machines he sort-of recognized from medical dramas, including an IV bag. He knew he was in a standard hospital recovery-room. He could tell because it was decorated in the ugly faux-home style that was supposed to help keep patient morale up.

Dave looked at his hands and found they were heavily bandaged. Unexpectedly his legs and one hip were wrapped in the protective white material also. He felt some itching underneath the wrappings but ignored it with an effort. He leaned back into his pillow and sighed drifting away, probably so relaxed from all the meds being pumped into him he thought to himself.

A nurse came into the room shortly afterwards and after looking at the digital readouts showing Dave's vitals and overall health she excused herself to call the doctor.

The doctor that came in and greeted Dave was the same man that had chastised him for not getting his scars fixed sooner. He greeted Dave and checked on the bandages, asking how he felt before reading the patient medical chart that was clipped to Dave's bed. The doctor had also led the surgery team that operated on him. He looked over the instruments then wrote in the chart for a minute.

He looked up at Dave, "The operation was a success and you should be moving your hands freely after three days of in-patient recovery and some light therapy."

The doctor paused and seemed to be gathering his thoughts.

He spoke slowly, "During the procedure, some...irregularities came to light that changed the parameters of the surgery. The damage to your hip and legs became relevant to the overall success what we were doing. I made the call to expand the scope of the surgery to also repair the damage that was done to you," he paused meaningfully and hefted Dave's chart, making pushing motions with it at Dave.

The doctor continued, "With the way the nano-med technology works the change in procedure just added some time to the surgery. There will be adjustments to the charges on your bill but it should be relatively minor."

Dave listened attentively. This doc was a bit gruff but actually kind. And he was cool too, he didn't go all techno-speak and say a bunch of stuff that only a medical professional would understand. But there was something going on when he talked about changing the surgery and Dave's legs… As if he was trying to tell Dave something, pushing the chart at him like he was signaling.

"When you go home we will give you some exercises to do for your hands and legs to ensure full recovery of your manual dexterity. In the meantime, if you want, we can put you in a Conquest capsule to avoid the boredom."

"I would appreciate that," replied Dave. "The old lady that came with me before I went to surgery, how is her condition?"

The doctor grinned, "Heh, I thought you might want to know about her. I asked her if I could discuss her condition with you and she, ah, well gave me a talking to. Apparently, despite the law, to her way of thinking if a person pays for treatment they have a right to know the outcome even if the person paying is not the patient.

"Her lungs are in terrible shape, badly degenerated, they were injured when she was much younger. Her doctors stabilized her this time and treated the worst of it, but it was not a complete fix. She's going to be discharged today, but she needs to come back on a regular basis for respiratory therapy and checkups to keep her from having another crisis."

"Thank you for everything, doc," Dave said, truly grateful to hear his friend was going to be okay.

He smiled, "That's what we are here for, it is what healers are supposed to do."

"Can I now use the VR Room? It's boring to stay here all day," said Dave.

"Sure, I'll send the staff to move you to a capsule in the VR wing. The added benefit is the relaxation state during the dive should assist your recovery and healing too,"

The doctor made a final note in Dave's chart then left.

Two nurses came over and gently transferred Dave to a gurney then rolled him him to the VR ward and got him into a capsule.

In another part of the hospital a family of three gathered around an old lady who was just waking up.

"How are you feeling, ma?" asked the middle aged woman

"I am feeling much better, Beth. For the first time in so long it doesn't hurt to breathe!"

"How do you know that boy?" Beth's husband interrupted. "He paid all the bills for this hospital visit and promised to pay for weekly check-ups and treatment here. I tell you, that's over four hundred grand…we can't repay that, not in a life-time," the man finished, looking downcast.

"The boy's name is Dave," the old woman answered, looking out the hospital window trying not to let the tears spill over.

"He is a very nice person, he always helped me whenever he could. He used to work in the gas-station outside of town."

"Gas station? No gas station clerk could afford that much even if they worked their whole life there…" said the old man

"No, he told me he found a job on the internet. Seeing how much has changed for him it must be a good opportunity," said the old lady

The other three couldn't help but be suspicious the internet job story, but they didn't bring it up. They weren't going to look the gift-horse in the mouth.

"He put himself into the hospital at the same time as you, grandma. Some doctor came into the waiting room and yelled at him about the scars on his hands. He just thought about it for a second then said something about VR capsules to the doc, then they both disappeared into the hospital," said the pretty young grandaughter.

"Oh that's so good to hear, Lydia.

"Poor Dave, those dreadful scars bother him all the time. And his hip, he limps so it's hard for him to get around now. He was hit by a car on his way home from work some months back by a drunk driver I think. After he was hit the car smashed into a tree or something. Shame on whoever was behind the wheel, just terrible driving. Anyway, even though he was injured, Dave got himself up and managed to pull the driver from the car just before it exploded. The darned driver just disappeared of course, leaving Dave with a whole new set of problems," the old lady's eyes were snapping with anger when she was finished telling the story.

"Hmph! People!" her son-in-law, Jeff, said, shaking his head.

"There aren't many people in the world like Dave, that's for sure.

"And you, Lydia. If you are lucky enough to find someone like that, don't you ever let him go," Clementine teased her granddaughter.

Lydia didn't say anything, but her cheeks turned slightly pink as she thought about the young fellow who'd saved her grandmother.

Now safely in the familiar confines of a VR capsule, Dave logged into Conquest.

He appeared back in the Red Fortress located in the Burning Heights.

Crowds of the Undead walked all over the place.

The walls of the fortress had been repaired and the drawbridge was working again.

Dave found Du'Rhaza ordering some undead to do various tasks.

"Greetings, Du'Rhaza!" Dave said to the Lich

"Kis'Shtiengbrah!" Du'Rhaza called back with glee, "Just the draugr I was looking for!"

Dave's quest-sense tingled like his favorite arachnoid comic book hero's as he smiled and asked "What did you need me for, oh honorable Doom-Knight," Dave asked.

"We've found an old blood-stone mine that should have an excellent yield once we get it into production. It's located in the cavern system under the volcano, but it's full of beasts and demons. We need to clear the monsters out. I could have sent some underlings to do the job, but I thought you could use the practice, ha!" said Du'Rhaza.

Side Quest

Quest Rating B

You have been tasked with clearing the Blood-Stone mine under the dormant volcano of the Burning Heights!

Quest Reward

500 000 EXP

Do you accept? Y/N

Dave thought about the Chaos Entity sleeping inside the volcano and shuddered, but he accepted the quest.

Dave opened his unit management page and paid the CP cost to revive the members of his Undead Battalion who died back at the Red Fortress Siege.

Suddenly, Dave was surrounded by 120 Undead warriors and mages.

The dunlords looked as fearsome as ever. The ten armored scorpion-men were basically heavy battle-tanks wielding ballista as crossbows.

His original ten Undead, now elites, looked at him, ready to receive their orders and lead their own files in his Undead battalion.

Actually it was nine. Dave looked over his shoulder and there was Bud, the self-appointed bodyguard ghoul, in his accustomed place.

Dave climbed up onto the back of the dunlord called Stinger. He whistled, made a circling motion with his hand, then pointed at the gates and, in unison, the battalion started moving out toward the gate.

The Undead within the fortress watched Dave and his battalion leave, nodding to the unit or saluting as they passed. The Undead gave Dave the respect he deserves!

Du'Rhaza chuckled as the young draugr and his battalion marched away, he was impressed with Dave's accomplishments, especially his clever innovation of riding on the back of a dunlord. It was a great idea and the Doom Knight even ordered one of his own dunlords to stay nearby to serve as a mount when the need arose..

The battalion marched proudly out through the fortress gates and once across the drawbridge they turned to the north for the volcano where the blood mine was located.

"Kis'Shtiengbrah!" a thunderous voice called out, seemingly from nowhere.

But almost immediately a small hill started moving as a giant dug himself out from under the dirt and rocks.

"Drahma, this is unexpected!" Dave greeted the colossus..

"Ho, young draugr. Where do you go, do you require my aid?"

"I gotta get some training in, Drahma."

"So be it. Should you find yourself in a difficult situation, use the jewel and I will come to your aid. Farewell young draugr," the giant boomed his farewell and started digging himself back under the ground.

Dave smiled and ordered the battalion to resume marching forward.

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