8 The Guild Part 2 , A New Face

The mans look softened as if he was relieved at my answer, he gave a wistful sigh

"It's not all that uncommon you know"

"what isn't"

"your origin, you don't need to be so paranoid, the matter of people coming from other worlds is an open secret most of the ins and outs of transmigration are known and well documented, summonings are prohibited though. you don't need to worry about people kidnapping you and preforming experiments, the field has been at a dead end for hundreds of years. we have several transmigratiors among our ranks, in fact our founder was one."

I swallowed some saliva, after all whoever founded such a powerful organization must have been extraordinary in life

"who"

"al Capone"

"that , makes a lot of sense actually"

it certainly explains the guild attire, and the way that the guild handles competition, bu I don't understand how on earth the guild became a constructive organization.

"the guild will provide you with an Identity, and any information we find on the village, its not the first time healers have tortured people to death but I've never heard of an entire town getting wiped out"

"I assume Alexander is the previous owner of your current body"

"yes"

"did you inherit his will or memories"

"both"

"This is a bit of a personal interest of mine, do you have a system"

"why do you ask"

"its the only way to get.... certain other world goods"

"Joining the guild still requires a physical examination would you mind taking off the cloak so I can see you face we need it to make you guild card"

With hesitance I pulled back the cloak revealing a ghastly face matted with scars and stitches

The mans face twisted into a frown

"if you want to we can preform reconstructive surgery on your face and body enough for you to walk around without causing a panic, but not enough to heal everything"

"that would be nice, how much"

"you'll owe me a favor, a small one"

"how small"

"small, nothing big, and nothing dangerous. You have my word that I won't put you in a compromising situation over this"

after moment of hesitance I replied

"alright, how long do I need to wait"

"I can call someone in now"

The man walked towards the "phone" on the wall

"send the Surgeon...."

"yes the usual arrangement, I'll pay any expenses, tell him to get his 'special' tools and send him in"

the man hung up the phone and walked off the the side of the room he then reached a bookcase, pulling on the corner of a nondescript red book that sat among several identical volumes like an encyclopedia or something similar. with a click and the quiet whirling of gears, a secret room was revealed. he then turned to me with a beckoning motion, a wry half smile on his face.

"I always welcome the idea of seeing a new face around the guild, I'm sure you will too"

he began to walk out of the office , hands clasped behind his back and with steady uniform steps and making no sound the man was giving the impression that he was gliding across the floor. He placed his hand on the door taking a slight pause

"I'm Silbar by the way, but I expect you to call me president in front of the others. The doctor you are visiting doesn't have a name or to be more correct he doesn't exist. Feel free to call him doc or doctor. I'm taking a risk here, considering your circumstances ."

he paused for a moment

"DO NOT under any circumstances proceed with your investigation independently, your out of your depth, the guild will handle it and pass information to you based on what you can handle. If your strength is sufficient, as well as your understanding of the situation we will tell you. matters like these are very sensitive if the church is involved its a person of at least bishop rank, maybe higher, this sort of thing exceeds the capability of priests and deacons, and it could go as high as cardinal rank"

"Depending on the severity of the matter and if you decide to pursue the matter the guild may need to cut ties with you, in this world there are some people even we can't afford to offend as long as you understand this, we wont have any problems"

with that the man, Silbar left

a few moments later the doctor entered the office and then the secret room

the room was whitewashed with runes all over the walls writhing and squirming as if alive. in the center of the room was a steel operating table immaculate, cold, and unfeeling. The doctor was an old man wearing a blood red with a white sash that had a few faint and faded bloodstains on it. He gave a feeling of steadiness, his movements were meticulous as if unable accept even the smallest of failures or inadequacies.

"remove your clothing and get on the table please"

The voice was cold, and mechanical, sterile even.

I Stripped down to my underwear and got on the table as instructed, with trepidation buried in my heart.

the man walked over and strapped me down. with a wave of his hand the air distorted and a small table complete with instruments, vials, syringes and serums appeared, distorting the air as it exited the void created by an unseen storage item

he dabbed some clear liquid I assume to be alcohol or some similar antiseptic onto a cloth, swiping it across the inside of my elbow. he then grabbed a syringe. and injected its contents into my arm

"can't have you moving too much, can we."

the man gave a dry raspy chuckle, something between a toads croak and the grinding of old, rusted gears

"based on the information I have, its probable that your body rejects healing magic due to over saturation and spiritual rejection"

"It happens to most survivors of the practice called black healing, that's the name of what you, or rather Alexander experienced, its normally preformed by healer attempting to break through a bottleneck, whoever did this to you was incredibly powerful if wiping out a village wasn't enough"

"from the report though, It looks like necromancy may have been involved its to risky to tamper with so any tests on that will be superficial"

the man took an empty syringe and pierced my arm not doing anything else

after a moment he began to look impatient

"you have a hemomancy imprint don't you"

I guided my blood into the syringe

"sorry"

"its fine I just wanted to see if you had one is all"

dammit , I couldn't help cursing myself the guild, is always trying to pry some piece of information out of me, how the hell am I supposed to compete with these sly old bastards. They're certainly sharper than anyone I've had to deal with in my past life.

The man took the blood off to the side and added some powders to it in various cycles it turned black, then, green, aquamarine, orange, and a host of other colors before returning to its original state

finally his hand holding the vial began to pulse with white light, the man showed no change in expression but I heard a soft wailing, it was almost impossible to notice but the sound was their

"the blood is screaming"

the man raised an eyebrow, and his face formed a ghost of a smile

"interesting, interesting, anything else do you feel any pain by extension"

"no, I just hear a very quiet scream coming from the vial in your hand"

"my hypothesis is that your body rejects healing magic on a fundamental level it's likely that this is permanent, its especially rare to see someone who has survived this level of black healing, this is the first case I've seen personally"

"I can remove most of the physical traces but some damages are bound to remain, in the future avoid healing magic at all cost, with this level of rejection it could prove dangerous, even fatal for you to be on the receiving end of healing or death spells."

"why are death spells more dangerous"

"death magic is the opposite of healing but its still part of the same system not to mention healing magic is the only known way to recover from higher level death magic with a few exceptions"

"enough talk time to start the operation, don't worry this wont hurt a bit"

the good doctor rolled up his set about his bloody work

hours later I realized the reason for the doctors attire, although I felt more like calling him a butcher at this point my experience with black healing was one thing but this doctor was an entirely different beast. thinking back still sends a shiver down my spine

The doctor had grafted a new set of skin onto my body and slightly altered the angles of my facial bones but not before filleting me first, the worst part was the 'enthusiasm' he showed throughout the process. I'm worried what might have happened if I had encountered him anywhere outside of the guild. Doctor or not I get the impression that the man never took any manner of Hippocratic oath.

the doctor informed me that the skin was an artificial plant with a symbiotic nature based on the earth shadow vine that would grow with me it could change into a variety of colors and patterns he mentioned it being part of his collection and said it was a token of his "appreciation" recalling the eccentric side of the doctor I couldn't help but shudder.

I got up from the table slowly, the doctor had long since left. After receiving my the new 'skin' I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right there on the table. The room looked like a slaughterhouse a tray filled with bloody instruments and a red pool on the floor slowly draining. I almost slipped off to the side was a silvery mirror with a note.

I suggest you take a bath, the bathroom is to your left, we cant have you giving everyone a scare now can we.

-Doc

looking in the mirror I was greeted with a new face and body more notably I had hair. my skin had a slight olive green tint, it looked strange but not unnatural as if I was perpetually on the verge of vomiting. Hoping my new skin functioned like an innate ability I willed it to turn a more normal color it turned into a sort of beige similar to the skin tone of most people in the area. My face looked drawn and slightly emaciated I seemed several years older, it was the face a completely different person. I also had hair to be more accurate it seemed to be an extension of the skin, I could change its tone and even length. soon my hair was black stopping slightly above the neck.

proceeding to the bathroom I found a onyx colored claw foot tub with silver feet, on the floor of the tub I saw some reddish-orange runes glowing. the water in the tub was warm and steamy, just enough to soothe the body without making one feel hot after sitting in it for too long.

after washing, and dressing in some clothes placed on an elegant creme colored table in the corner of the room I exited the the bathroom, avoiding the pool of blood in the secret room I left the hidden room. I again heard the soft whirling of gears after passing through the threshold and into the office. on the desk next to the pouch filled with coins was a note.

Go to the second floor for an assessment, you will go to the room F2, you will be assigned a rank based on your results afterwards you can go to the shops for some equipment and accept any missions appropriate rank on this floor, I hope you can live up to my expectations.

-Silba