Worsening Condition

One hour later.

Du Pont groggily opened his eyes, instinctively reaching for his rumbling stomach.

He had been woken up by hunger.

As the saying goes, a growing boy can eat his father out of house and home. Du Pont, at his age, was already a big eater, and missing lunch had caused his stomach to issue thunderous protests.

However, besides the gnawing hunger, Du Pont also felt a bit of darkness before his eyes, with the occasional flash of gold.

The darkness made Du Pont panic. Could the Divine Magic have failed? "Teacher, why can't I see anything?"

"You're awake? Don't worry, a head injury is no small matter. Rest for a while, and you'll be fine."

The doctor's voice sounded in his ear, and then his head was lifted, his lips were pried open, and a warm, fragrant, sweet liquid slid into his mouth. He swallowed it in large gulps.

This taste... it seems like milk, but the taste seems quite different, with a faint, refreshing fragrance?

After resting for a few more minutes, Du Pont's vision slowly returned to normal, and he saw the female doctor's face right in front of him.

Her naturally falling hair brushed against his cheek, making it a little itchy.

Seeing that Du Pont's eyes had regained their sparkle, the female doctor helped him sit up. "Your head injury has been healed by the priest, so you don't need to worry anymore. Your bodily functions should have recovered quite a bit as well. What remains now is the problem of malnutrition. There's not much that Divine Magic can do about that. The best way to recover is to eat well in the future. Milk, bread, meat, and vegetables are all necessary. You'll recover automatically in a few weeks."

This was naturally good news, but Du Pont felt a lot of pressure. "So, does that mean I owe the church 50 Gold Coins?"

"50 Gold? 100 Gold is the correct price for this Divine Magic. If you had suffered this kind of injury while traveling, priests from other temples might not even be willing to heal you, even with the money."

After the female doctor finished speaking, she looked at the big boy on the bed with a heartbroken expression as if he had lost his wallet, and a hint of a smile flashed across her lips. "However, Dorothy decided to waive this fee after learning about your situation. You only need to volunteer for four hours every Sunday this month when you go to church for worship."

Du Pont finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

He originally thought he was being forced into a deal, but he didn't expect that the priestess was actually quite conscientious, worthy of a woman with a bosom as vast as the ocean.

As for volunteering, this should mean that he would be a free volunteer during Sunday worship, exchanging a total of 16 hours a month for Divine Magic worth 50 Gold Coins. No matter how he thought about it, it wasn't a loss.

If he had the ability to create that hourly wage, paying off 1000 Gold Coins really wouldn't be a problem.

"Then thank you, doctor. I'm going back to eat."

"I left a sick person's meal for you. It's on the table over there, but it might be a little cold, so just eat a little. I'm a bit busy here. Help yourself after you're done."

Sophie finished speaking and entered the next room. Du Pont, left unattended, breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the delicacies on the table.

Juicy grilled steak sprinkled with a lot of spices, cheese-baked bread with the middle scooped out and mixed with cheese, ham, eggs, and bread, a refreshing fruit salad, and seafood clam chowder. It could be said to be extremely luxurious.

Perhaps it was because he didn't have to pay for it, but Du Pont ate this meal with extraordinary relish, even though it was cold, and the taste was much better than yesterday's dinner.

After successfully devouring the lunch, Du Pont, stuffed, felt a bit carb-dazed and stretched out in a happy yawn. "Thank you, doctor. I'll clean this up with the Dust Removal Spell. Do you want me to put it in the kitchen?"

"I'll have the Skeleton Servant take it later. It's still early, just after 12 o'clock, so go busy yourself with your own things."

"Oh, right, remember to eat well in the future. Come back for a check-up next week when you have time, so I can check your recovery status."

After expressing his gratitude again, Du Pont, who left the medical room, felt refreshed. He wondered if the magic class later would be a bit stronger.

He glanced at the system, and sure enough, the icon for his head injury had disappeared, leaving only the label for malnutrition.

The Divine Magic in this world was indeed magical, worthy of a world with true gods.

However, just as Du Pont was about to close it, he saw a changing label.

Constitution 13 (-3)

Physical condition: Malnutrition (Constitution -3)

Hey, wasn't it Constitution minus 2 before? How did it become minus 3 now?

Didn't they say the illness was cured? Why is my body even weaker now?

What exactly happened during that hour while he was asleep? Could this hateful female doctor have done some evil experiments on his body!

'Is there a detailed record about me personally?'

Soon, the information he needed appeared before his eyes.

Haluar Time 11:05:54, you were affected by the 1st-circle Divine Magic: Charm Person
11:06:10, you were affected by the 2nd-circle Divine Magic: Detect Thoughts
11:07, you were affected by the 1st-circle spell Sleep, consciousness interrupted
11:20, you received the 2nd-circle Divine Magic: Lesser Restoration, the sacred healing power nourished your body, the injury to your head recovered, and your muscles began to radiate new vitality, your Constitution recovered to 14
12:01, your body is weaker (Constitution -3)
12:07:10, you woke up.

Looking at this row of records, Du Pont was first speechless, then furious.

Damn it, I'm just a 14-year-old kid who came to see a doctor. Why did these two people use so many messy, irrelevant spells on me, and secretly hide it from me?

They clearly healed his body, but then made him weaker. What exactly did they do to him in those 40 minutes after they finished treating him?

Thinking of his handsome face, and recalling the female doctor's attitude, which seemed to have softened quite a bit after he woke up, Du Pont vaguely had an answer in his heart about what he had encountered.

Damn it, wasn't he taken advantage of?

It was the kind of despicable trick where they only treated him to a meal, then secretly drugged him to make him lose consciousness and took the opportunity to take advantage of him.

Thinking of this, Du Pont was absolutely livid.

We agreed it was just a check-up!

If you'd just mentioned it, I might not have disagreed, but isn't it a bit shameless to knock me out and then do it?

I haven't even had any fun yet!

Thinking of this, Du Pont felt utterly aggrieved, his anger reaching a boiling point.

Damn it, how can Faerûn not even respect basic human rights? So, if you have power, you can just knock someone unconscious? A few small favors are enough to conceal the truth? Why are these powerful people always so tyrannical? He's just a novice apprentice who wanted a check-up, and he's being kept in the dark and manipulated. When will this oppression of apprentices end? When will men finally stand up for themselves?

Wait, Haluar, where he is, seems to be considered a beacon of civilization in Faerûn. In Thay, the Mage Country to the north, the Red Wizards have all sorts of twisted methods to advance, like one faction that requires becoming a Lich to gain power.

In some smaller places, mages still use the old private apprenticeship system, and it's not at all unusual to hear about them using their disciples as guinea pigs. They could even kill them without having to compensate the family.

Ugh, this damn medieval era. It's no fun at all without status and power.

After mentally throwing a few punches, Du Pont headed to the finance office to submit his leave request. But as he was leaving, his eyes darted around, and he asked the impatient middle-aged employee, "Teacher, can I collect next week's scrolls now?"