Broken Earth: Unveiling the Secrets of the Worlds

Samantha: Doctor mode activated

“Oh my gosh! What the hell happened to these babies!?” Ferdrick exclaimed after seeing the condition of the katanas after the group arrived. “Well, we got into a fight with a new type of monster with an exoskeleton so hard that even katanas have a hard time penetrating.” Xerxes says with a doubtful tone. ‘Just by looking at his expression. He doesn’t look so good.  How did he even got angry when he is not the one who forged these?’ Xerxes wants to ask Ferdrick about that himself but he doesn’t look like he is in the state to answer anything after seeing a precious weapon on the verge of breaking.

              ‘Well, that’s understandable to some degree be cause of his burning passion for his work but- oh, I guess this much is to be expected for some people as exceptions.’ Xerxes did not over commit and just shove the thought at the back of his head. “More importantly. We are going to return back inside after replenishing our weapons and food to last for a few hours inside but I think it is a few days here.” Xerxes says and Samantha quickly retorts and protest her concern.

              “What? You are going back immediately? With that number of injuries and look! You got blisters all over your hands!” Samantha protest while grabbing his hands deliberately without thinking too much what people would think of her actions and realize it too late. Everyone is already staring at her with flustered expressions. Cynthia and Bianca being the only maidens in the shop turn their head when they can’t take the excitement. Yeah, Samantha gets bolder and bolder as time passes, I can only think of how she will act when she sees Xerxes heavily injured next time.

              “Sorry, I grabbed your hand thoughtlessly.” Samantha mutters and apologize meekly and hid behind the other two in embarrassment. “No it’s fine. I’m quite used to it already. But I need to correct what you are all thinking. We don’t plant to go back- you know, like immediately. We need new weapons and other kinds of things as preparation for those kind of monsters and who knows what will show up next. We can’t be hasty in going back and forth in the portal without proper preparation or else we’ll only be throwing our lives away.”

              He explain after sitting down so that everyone else in their shop would understand. After a few queries from the people in the shop. Xerxes and the two gave them satisfactory answers to keep them assured. “So what kind of weapons do you plan to bring? I saw Ferdrick make an unusual weapon so I’m wondering if it is one of the weapons that you will be bringing with you.” Britt says while pointing at Ferdrick who is still mourning for the katanas.  

              The news of a new weapon created by Ferdrick from his blueprints have a good ring to Xerxes ear and immediately asks Ferdrick if its true. “Yeah, I did. The first ones that I crafted is a flimsy one but after getting an idea how to improve the first product, the next ones are far better.” Ferdrick tells them while talking towards his workshop. He then pulls a long metal looking pipe with a handle in the sides.

              “I’d say that weapon is relatively easy to make but can be quite deadly on it’s own. Unlike the katana and the flintlock who seem to became an extended part of your body, this weapon, if I’m right is used like this.” Xerxes smiles after seeing that even Ferdrick who is not battle oriented person figured out how to use the weapon that he created, the baton.

              Ferdrick firmly grips the protruding handle on it’s side and takes a stand like boxer on guard. The smile on Xerxes’ face could not be wiped off after seeing Ferdrick arming himself with the baton. “I’m surprised you know how to use it immediately.” Xerxes then takes another set of baton and does the same thing. “Just like you said, this weapon is deadly on it’s own. It may not deliver a fast and painless death like the other two but if you get hit by this bump here, even the strongest and toughest person will crawl in pain.”

              Britt and Bert’s eyes sparkle in excitement after hearing how the baton is used and how easy it is. “I understood what you meant when the katana and the flintlock are weapons that becomes an extension of our arms, you are about to say that that the baton on the other hand reinforce and protects your arms right? Yes, that is one of it’s uses but did you know that the point or edge of the baton near your elbow can be used to attack? The bump near your fist delivers a devastating damage but the other point of the baton also delivers the same kind of damage. This weapon is good offensively and defensively.” Xerxes says as he demonstrates the devastating damage that a baton can deliver.

              BAM! c***k! BABAM! c***k!

              The wooden dummy then slowly gets demolished with every blow from Xerxes’ attacks. Everyone gasp in awe seeing the wood easily gets scraped off. “It puts strain on your arms and hands but if you get used to it, it’s a weapon that can save your life.” The blisters on Xerxes’ hands explodes and starts to bleed. He hands the batons to Britt as Samantha hands him a piece of cloth to cover his hands. ‘crap, I forgot that I have blisters. Will she go nuts again?’ he thinks to himself as he turns to look at Samantha but the maiden did not see him and focused on tying his injury. “I will crush some herbs good for blisters so please don’t force your hands for now. And that goes for the both of you as well. Sir Xerxes in not the type to use much force while fighting but you on the other hand are quite the opposite.”

              Samantha gave them an earful and asked them show her their hands. The two old men did not want to show them their terrible blisters knowing that she had already started getting devoured by her concern but Xerxes gives them the signal to show her before everything gets worse. “Wow- look at those things. They might have hurt like hell.” Bianca says after seeing the terribly big blisters on their hands. Britt could not handle the blisters and decided not to stare anymore. ”I don’t even want to think what kind of monster you guys were fighting to receive those terrible things.” He said  while Samantha stares at them coldly. “Both of you as well. Don’t hold a weapon  or do any heavy carrying for a while.” She said with a cold tone. “Cynthia can you help me treat them later? Berto, I need you to pound some garlic later and give me the juice.” Samantha orders and Berto nods his head.

              “Save the garlic juice, Bianca can you dry Chamomile leaves right now? Sine their blisters did not pop like a certain person over there, we are just going to apply cold compress to their blisters” Samantha acts like a nurse all of the sudden but what surprised everyone is how she made the three prominent figures in their shop follow her bidding.

It only took the group a few minutes to prepare a room for the injured people like the three. With three free beds, they were forced to stay in bed until they recover. Samantha and Cynthia treat them all in a flash and brought them food to eat after their hands were wrapped in the gauze like cloth that Xerxes prepared in advance.

“I did not expect that we were going to be threatened like this.” Ramirez mutters as he eats along with the other two who are surprisingly obedient of the other employees. “You two are eerily silent since we were brought here. Should we be looking at what Ferdrick made?” The other two did not flinch and continue to clear their plates and leave Ramirez confused.

“You know what Ramirez, because we can't argue with them. They have a point. We need to rest and ready ourselves for the next time we get to face those bugs and other creatures that decide to say hi. Being obedient is the only thing that I can think of that would be effective in dealing with people who had their concerning engines revving.” Xerxes explains and Rupert added, “And besides, we have plenty of time. I’m sure Yusaf and the others are forced to do the same if their people sees their injuries. They have the worst injuries out of all of us after all.”

Ramirez looks at them feeling betrayed for not telling him about that in advance. Rupert felt bad for him and apologized but Xerxes turn his attention to the room they are in. “It must be possible that those guys gave already got this room ready for when we get seriously injured. Not bad, I guess they were doing something different when they get bored.” A smile appears on Xerxes’ face and felt proud of his employees.

“Yeah, it ticked me off as well when they prepared this room in just a matter of minutes. They must have prepared this like an infirmary. A brilliant and convenient thing to have considering that our work is really dangerous so getting wounds and injuries is a given.”

A few days later and their blisters healed fast and the three ate free to go out. Ramirez missed his room that he kiss the floor and hugged his pillow. A sight that everyone wished they did not see. Samantha then reports all the things that happened in their absence after the shop was opened. “And that is all for the reports. Most of them are from the authorities, they wanted to check up on you but we insist that you need to recover from your injuries first. They were considerate enough of your health that we allowed them to come and ask everyday for your conditions.” Samantha closes the book where she records everything that had happened in the past few days and then looks at the remaining two persons lying in their beds.

“Looks like the both of you are fine. But please don’t overdo it like you did. Otherwise we will have to resort in some drastic measures. Everybody else knows how dangerous it is on the other side of the portal right now so I ask you all to be careful next time. I am not a full pledged doctor nor a medical practitioner. All I know did was the from the knowledge that I got from my previous job. So at least I can treat minor injuries but anything beyond will be difficult for me. Please bare that in mind.” Samantha then left the room with the two looks at each other in confusion.

“Was that really Samantha? The vibe and the aura she produces is entirely different from before.” Rupert exclaims but it doesn’t bother Xerxes at all. He sees her mother in her when they were young so its not a really surprising sight for him. “What are you talking about? Of course she’d be different. You forgot how Diana react when we get injured inside the portal. I’d say Samantha is just showing the 20% of what her mother is capable of. Wait till you see the full blown angry mode and maybe the you’ll be reminded that she is her daughter.”

 Rupert then nod and scratch his head in disappointment. “I almost forgot about that. Diana does more brutal than that. But there is something about Samantha’s behavior that make is seem like she is different from her mother.” Xerxes scoffs after hearing his words and answers it for him. “That’s obvious. She is her own person. She might be her daughter but she will not entirely inherit her mother’s attitude or behavior. That’s just how humans are wired to be.” To Xerxes surprise. Instead of being shocked, Rupert writes down what he said in his personal book. “So that’s what it was. I though she was all acting like that because she likes you. I didn’t know master knows something about people’s inheritance as well.

The two then engage in a heated argument after Rupert said those words. Samantha on the other hand blushes while listening to the two bickering with each other. Cynthia sees her and smiles. “Looks like something good happen.” Samantha smiles back and shakes her head.

“Let’s just go. The shop will not run on its own.” She said with a fairly flustered face as Cynthia teases her for the excited expression on her face. Samantha then became really cheerful the entire day.