The two managed to make it to Central Harrend just as the sun crested on the horizon. Though Rey couldn't see South Harrend, as Harris's farm was apparently isolated on the outskirts of the village, Central Harrend was far larger and busier than what Rey expected of a place that called itself a "village".
Central Harrend was the perfect image of what you would imagine a small fantasy town to look like. 1-2 story buildings with wooden thatched roofs, packed and flattened dirt that was considered as the roads for this village, and the merchants lining the streets even in the early morning, trying to sell their wares. Rey wanted to go to one to sell the trinkets that he had, but they were already running late and didn't have time.
There were two things that Rey immediately noticed that he didn't like right away, the first was the sight of people in chains and cages, signifying the one thing he was worried about. This world had slavery. Whether they were man or woman, young toddlers or old and decrepit, a huge variety of people were being kept in bondage. But, another that left a sour taste in his mouth was the fact that most of the slaves were non-human, mostly Orcs, Goblins, or other Beastian like him.
They were clearly malnourished and wore only rags, some not even clothed at all, forced to huddle together for warmth in this early morning breeze. Rey wanted nothing more than to go around freeing every slave he saw, but he wasn't an idiot. He wasn't nearly as powerful or influential enough to change this worlds views on slavery, but he made it long&term goal in his heart to abolish slavery the second he was.
The other thing he noticed was the abundance of soldiers walking around this seemingly unimportant village. Some of the soldiers were wounded and in need of care, but others had enough energy to start harassing the villagers, mostly the young girls. Though he didn't like the sight, Rey just caged his eyes and closed his heart to them. Terrible things happened all over the world every day and he could do nothing about it. At this point in time, he was like a weak baby who just woke up in this world, so it didn't make sense to him to cause trouble for himself for strangers he didn't even know.
After a short ride towards the center of the village, Rey started noticing the roads were better along with the quality of the villagers and buildings. It was clear that the wealthy of Harrend lived in the center of the village, showing Rey that not only did this world have slavery, there was a great disparity in social classes as well. The more he was learning about this world, the more it lost that fantastical luster and showed him that this was his new reality.
Stewing in his thoughts, Rey was only brought back to reality when the cart came to a stop outside of a decently sized building that had fresh white paint covering it and a large blue cross symbol on its front. Rey was surprised to see the clinic using the universal sign for health and medicine on earth, then just figured it must've extended to this world as well. Walking into the clinic, Harris and Rey were met with a lobby full of people, all in different conditions. But, he did notice that most of them were wounded soldiers.
"Thank God the war ended so quickly in our victory. Those Domiko bastards were overwhelming us at first."
"Yeah, Ricky and Daniel both got crushed by a rampaging Orc right at the start of the battle. Poor Daniel just had a little baby girl as well. His wife must be devastated."
"If it wasn't for that Orc division messing up when flanking our Command Center, or the legendary hero, Gavin Tran coming when he did, we would've be swarmed. I still can't believe they outnumbered us 5 to 1 and we still pushed the bastards back in the sea!"
"I heard a rumor that Gavin Tran came only to look for someone important, but he couldn't find them, so he went on a rampage thinking that Domiko might've capture or killed them. I'll never forget the sight of him taking out whole battalions with a single swing of his massive fire blade!"
Rey heard the soldiers chatting with each other, talking about the war and letting him know how it ended. As he listened to them, a small part of him wondered if he was in some way related to what they were saying, but quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind. Nothing good could ever come from someone who could decimate whole armies coming to look for him.
Walking through the lobby and into the back of the clinic, they walked into a spacious room full of books, jars full of strange liquids, and different medical equipment lining this sides of the room. In the middle, Jory was seen finishing up treating a patient laying on a medical bed. Rey nearly had his jaw to the floor as he saw the open wounds of the soldier closing up at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the exposed stump where his arm used to be closing up as well. If he had any doubt that Jory was an expert Healer, it was now gone.
Wiping some sweat from her forehead, showing how troublesome the operation was, Jory turned to see Harris and Rey standing in the doorway, a frown appearing in her elegant features.
"You're late. Don't start picking up Harris's bad habits now, Reymond. This man hasn't been on time for a thing in his life, and I wouldn't want my new apprentice picking up that from him." Jory said as she gave Rey a pointed look.
"Yeah, yeah, the lad is here now, so stop your yapping," Harris said before he turned to look at Rey. "As you saw, the road is a straight shot back to the farmhouse. When you're done here, you'll start your combat training by jogging back to the farmhouse as a warmup." Harris said as he turned to leave, rushing out of there before Jory started screaming at him some more.
"Geez, so irresponsible, he just wants you to jog all the way back by yourself? Anyway, take that filthy robe off and grab a clean one from the wall over there. Though normally I'd have you studying scrolls and tomes to grasp the basics of magic, but as you saw in the lobby, we're already swamped with patients, so we'll have to do practical lessons instead." Jory said as she helped the patient stand and escorted them out of the room.
Seeing that he was jumping right to it, Rey was kind of happy. Though he wanted to learn magic, being nose deep in a book didn't sound too exciting. Plus, it gave him a chance to get out of the grey robes that might be noticed by one of the soldiers. He made a mental note to buy some new clothes before he headed back to the farm.
As soon as Rey was out of the old, dirty grey robe and now in a clean dark blue robe with a white cross embossed in the back and chest, he was ready for business. He appreciated that the robe wasn't white, as that never made sense to him the have pure white uniforms on in messy professions like being a doctor or a chef. After he was dressed, a cute young girl wearing a pink nurse uniform with a small pink cap rushed in their next patient, which was a middle-aged human man. Though the nurse was very cute, she wasn't anywhere near as beautiful as Rory.
Judging by her long, pointed ears she was an elf, with soft features and a tall, lithe build. She had smooth cream colored skin and dark brown hair tied into a ponytail. When the nurse saw Rey standing there wearing the Healer's robes, she was shocked for a split second as a light blush came to her cheeks, before she shook her head and helped the patient onto the bed.
"Thank you, Nurse Claire. My new apprentice, Rey, will be assisting me today, so please go help the other Healers clear out the lobby." Jory ordered as she began examining the patient.
"Of course Head Healer Jory." the nurse, Claire said before she gave Rey one more quick glance and left the room.
Getting his head into focus mode, Rey walked next to Jory and began examining the patient with her. Right away, he noticed the man's usually fair skin had a tinge of green and purple at different parts of his body. Also, the man had bruises all over his body, including a black eye and busted lips. Whoever he pissed off clearly put in some work on him.
"Apprentice Rey, so what is the first thing you notice about our patient?" Jory asked, starting their first lesson.
'Well, it looks like he got his ass beat, Doc.' was what Rey wanted to say, but he knew that would be unprofessional and jeopardize his chances at learning magic.
"Besides usual shade of his skin, the patient has multiple bruises and small cuts all over his body. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say the patient was likely poisoned, and in his weakened state, beaten." Rey said as he rubbed his chin.
Rey watched plenty of detective and doctor shows, on top of being a detective and doctor in a few VR games, so he had some medical knowledge and the perception skills to rival a veteran detective. Plus, after Jory healed him, Rey noticed his memories coming back slowly but surely.
Jory had a surprised expression, as though it was a simple and easy case, she didn't expect Rey to actually get it on the first try. A smile soon formed on her lips as she thought if Rey had the aptitude for magic like she expected, Rey would make one hell of an apprentice and have a long, successful career as a Healer.
"That's right! Now, watch carefully as I draw the Rune for the spells, Cure and Heal. I'll go slow to you can try to memorize them." Jory said a she lifted up her index finger and once again it began glowing bright blue.
But, now that Rey was healed and standing right next to Jory, he noticed that she was wearing a large silver ring with a square yellow gem embedded inside. If Rey had to guess, that ring was what let her draw Runes and was probably a replacement for a wand or a staff.
Rey wanted to right it down so he could study it later, but he didn't have any paper or a pen. Then he got the sudden idea to just scratch it into his skin real quick and copy it on paper later. But, when he was about to use one of his sharp claws to copy the Rune, Jory quickly grabbed his hand and fixed him with a serious glare that sent chills down his spine. Right then, she looked far more terrifying than Karrick ever could.
"Sense you didn't know, I'll let it slide just this once. But, Rune Branding, which is tattooing or scarring Runes into the skin is highly taboo. Now that you know, if I ever see you doing it again, I will end your apprenticeship and cripple your cultivation myself." Jory said, as a powerful energy began bearing down on Rey.
He began sweating as he felt like a mountain was weighing down on him, nearly bringing him to his knees. With no other choice, Rey struggled to nod his head, then like it was never there, the pressure was gone, and a bright smile returned to Jory's beautiful face. Though the pressure was gone, Rey was still slightly shaking. He had never felt a pressure like that before and felt like if he said anything but yes, he might not have lived through the situation.
'Note to self, never do whatever this Rune Branding thing is. Also, never piss off Master Jory. Her being a hidden boss is definitely confirmed.' Rey thought to himself as he looked at Jory with a mix of fear and respect.