8 Recovery
Ignys woke up with a raging headache, and he knew all too well what it was from.
Ignys rolled around in bed for a while before finally getting up.
The moment he got up, the headache worsened tenfold.
Ignys was fighting off his desire to just get back to bed again and was barely winning.
He wanted to see their first "customer" and wanted to talk to Aegion, that was the only reason he was able to stay awake.
Ignys got dressed and headed downstairs.
When he arrived downstairs he saw Aegion cleaning the tavern.
Ignys wondered why but that was until he asked what time it was.
"For humans, it already is 2:00 PM." responded Aegion in his usual calm tone.
Ignys wasn't shocked at all though, he drank too much yesterday.
"Aegion, how is he doing?" asked Ignys.
"He is doing fine, but your first aid was quite bad."
Ignys felt offended.
"What do you mean? I did a fine job!"
"No, you didn't. Your stitches were incorrect and badly put, causing further trauma to the skin. I replaced all the stitches, if I didn't wound dehiscence might've occurred."
"Uh... What is that?" asked Ignys.
Aegion sighed.
"wound dehiscence occurs when stitches are placed incorrectly, the stitches will rupture and the wound would get infected."
"What about the broken bones then?"
"You aligned them both incorrectly, if I didn't correct it the man would suffer from reduced range in motion in both his leg and arm."
Ignys felt disappointed that he messed up, he was quite sure that he did everything correctly.
"At least I get to say one thing, if it wasn't for my first aid the man would've died."
"Well, I cannot deny that." said Aegion.
Aegion's statement recovered a bit of Ignys' confidence.
"So, will he make it..?"
"He will make it for sure, you made the right call putting him in the so-called floral room as some flowers there indeed have positive properties, I helped him a bit. He is still passed out since his body just needs to recover. I expect him to be up later today or tomorrow."
"Right, that is good to hear. Actually, where were you yesterday? You were gone for longer than usual."
There was an expression of annoyance on Aegion's face, but it was not directed to Ignys.
"Blame the elves for that. You remember how I told you that the sectors of the outerlands are controlled by monsters who report in to me, right?"
Ignys nodded.
"Well, some went silent. When I finally got word from another sector master I learned that the elves sent a massive army consisting of hundreds of high leveled adventurers and soldiers in order to loot the core of the outerlands."
Aegion sighed.
"I was preparing with some of the sector masters in order to combat this threat to the outerlands. The sector masters said that they could handle it but I doubt it, if they get close to halfway of the outerlands I will intervene myself. I can't let them get close to the core since they will plunder and destroy everything they see."
Ignys nodded as he understood Aegion's frustration.
"Also, Ignys..."
Aegion stepped closer to Ignys before putting him in a headlock.
"Uh... Aegion what are you doing...?" asked Ignys in a fearful tone.
"I don't think I have to tell you but if there is a guest heavily injured, you sure as hell shouldn't go and be drinking on the job.
At this point, Ignys knew all too well things wouldn't end well and he tried escaping the headlock, but it was too tight.
"Oh hell no you aren't escaping from this one Ignys, I expected you to be able to handle the tavern for a while but you just got drunk! This calls for punishment!"
Aegion gave Ignys a noogie for a while before releasing him.
Ignys' hair stood upright in the air from the friction of Aegion's knuckles.
"Ow ow! Relax I won't do it again!"
"You better not, if I catch you again I will lock you in your room!"
Ignys tempered his hair a bit before returning to the usual tasks and upkeep of the tavern.
There was a bit to do, but in the end, not a lot
Ignys finished his tasks for the day and spent the rest of his day talking to Aegion.
When Ignys headed upstairs, he decided to check the room the man was in.
Ignys opened the door and saw the man was still passed out.
He remembered what Aegion said and went to sleep quickly after that.
Ignys woke up early and headed downstairs again, seeing that Aegion was still sitting in the tavern.
There was a question that was bugging Ignys for the past couple of weeks but he never dared ask.
"Aegion, this might sound a bit rude but what are you exactly? I know you are the strongest creature in the outerlands, but how were you born? Are you a one-of-a-kind entity or are there more creatures of your kind?"
Aegion wasn't bothered at all by Ignys' question, he actually looked a bit happy.
"Hm, I've actually never told anyone about this."
"Oh no, you don't have to if you don't want to." responded Ignys.
"No, no. It is fine. I actually have wanted to speak about my origin with someone for a long time, to put it simply, I don't know."
"You don't know..?"
"I don't know what I am, I don't know if there are other entities like me. In all my years of residing in the outerlands and exploring the world I never encountered something similar to me."
"How old are you exactly?"
"Once again, I don't know. I think I was created with the outerlands at the same time, I just popped into existence. At first I didn't have a goal and I went on a rampage for a couple of years, trying to figure out what my purpose in this world was. After years of rampaging I finally realised I had to find my purpose myself, and I chose to safeguard the outerlands. And recently, I've taken on the task of ridding the three kingdoms of their greed."
"Wait, do you know what the magic ruins in the outerlands are? Or who created them?"
At this question, Aegion simply winked.
"That is a story for a different time, and besides, I think we should greet out first visitor." said Aegion as he pointed toward the stairs.
Ignys was initially confused until he looked over at the stairs.
The man he had rescued stood at the stairs, looking at Ignys and Aegion with a confused expression.
"Where am I... Am I dead?" asked the man.
The man came walking down the stairs waited for an answer.
Ignys went behind the bar before speaking.
"Welcome to the last stop tavern, the tavern in the core of the outerlands that is made for the world's strongest people!"
The man looked at Ignys with a confused expression.
"You've got to be shitting me, there is no way we are in the outerlands." said the man.
"We sure are, do you not remember passing out? You walked in here and collapsed on the floor, bloodied and bruised. Me and my comrade saved you, do you not feel better?"
"Everything still fucking hurts." responded the man.
"Understandable, you were quite heavily injured, why don't you take a seat at the bar for a drink?" asked Aegion.
The man eyed Aegion suspiciously before heading toward the door of the tavern.
"I would recommend you not to stray too far from the tavern, in your current state you will get mauled to death within minutes of leaving." said Aegion.
The man didn't listen and threw the door open before a look of shock was plastered on his face.
"We actually are in the fucking outerlands! How is this possible!"
"If you take a seat at the bar and have a drink, I don't mind telling you." said Ignys
The man shook his head before speaking.
"I don't have any money with me."
A smile appeared on Ignys' face.
"That is not a problem! You see sir, here at this tavern you do not pay with coin." said Ignys.
"What, with what do I pay then?" asked the man with a suspicious look on his face.
"At this tavern, only one payment is accepted, and that is payment in stories. Tell us your ups in life and your downs, why did you choose to adventure out into the outerlands? What did you lose? What attacked you? Did you come alone? All we ask is for you to tell your story, speak your tale and you shall drink for free. You also won't have to repay us for saving your life, that is on the house as well." said Ignys.
The man still looked skeptical towards Ignys.
"So, the last stop tavern, huh? Tell me, what do you have to drink?"
