Chapter 1034: Chapter 576: Inside the Association of Healers (Part 2)
"Hmm?" Lance was a little puzzled, "What’s this all about?"
"There have always been many rumors at the medical school..."
Among them were many outrageous things, such as exploiting students - because you hadn’t received the association’s approval, you didn’t have the qualification to practice, so you had to work as an apprentice for a low wage.
Then there was the exorbitant tuition, with students signing contracts similar to indenture contracts, making it impossible to pay off those high-interest loan debts in a lifetime.
There were also instances of seizing doctors’ research results for their own use, even forcing people to death to obtain some folk herbal formulas.
And...
The Association of Healers mentioned by Paracelsus was notorious, and these were just the things heard at school; who knows how much more hasn’t been heard about.
Lance wasn’t surprised, as capital usually has no scruples in preserving its own interests, especially in this era, so it’s not surprising that there are some sacrifices.
No wonder an Association of Healers would bear arms; now it’s clear, without power, that type of interest can’t be sustained.
"I should have come to you earlier to understand the situation; I’ve been too busy lately." Lance also realized that he had misjudged the situation regarding the Association of Healers.
The differing views of Paracelsus and Tamara on the Association of Healers were mainly due to their different perspectives.
"Speaking of which, do you have a doctor qualification?"
"No, I failed many courses."
"Ah! You couldn’t pass them? How hard are they..." Lance was quite surprised that even someone with Paracelsus’s talent and strong execution couldn’t pass?
"Those courses should just be thrown in the trash," Paracelsus said with rare emotion, then started to complain about the medical school courses of those days.
The so-called teaching had long become rigid, with those professors only focusing on word-for-word explanations of ancient medical classics, not paying much attention to practice.
As for the courses themselves, they were absurd, including theology, star formation, bloodletting therapy, humoral theory, and body constitution classification, all of it highly abstract.
Ordinary students might follow that path, but not Paracelsus, who wouldn’t follow the book when she sensed something was wrong but start her own research.
The problem was that most of the school’s time was spent on boring book learning, and occasional practice was barely better than nothing.
The anatomy course, which she needed most, had even stricter restrictions; due to the church, only unclaimed corpses or deaths with suspicious causes were allowed to be dissected.
Sometimes, not even one body would be distributed in a year, and there wasn’t much opportunity for hands-on practice, mostly watching teachers dissect for teaching, with only assistants having some contact.
In such circumstances, Paracelsus was driven to practice on small animals like mice and frogs, even sneaking into the refugee area outside the city at night to steal bodies.
This was all to break free from that unmentionable nightmare through research...
Lance didn’t notice that something was missing from the story, as he was thinking about those hospital courses.
The slow development of medical technology was probably because it went off track, not starting from the body itself but engaging in strange practices.
It wasn’t even as good as the experiential route of Herbology represented by Grendel.
However, those ancient medical systems sounded a bit abstract; Lance even suspected they were part of transcendental rituals.
Those former medical giants were transcendent, so naturally, their works required transcendental understanding to decode.
But with the establishment of associations and medical schools, the apprentice-recruiting method changed, and naturally cut off the inheritance; ordinary people, unable to understand, led to today’s result.
"Our research in human anatomy, clinical medicine, health ethics, and infectious disease prevention broke down the original system, and surgical procedures no longer depended on their monopolistic medicines.
Of course, Hamlet’s care not requiring their approval further infringed on their core interests.
Hamlet’s research has already threatened their interests, and I reckon they won’t let us go easily!"
Paracelsus couldn’t help looking at Lance and asked,
"Can you guard our research results?"
"If they dare to touch you, I’ll wipe out the entire upper echelon of the association, along with their families." Lance grinned with indifference.
If the Association of Healers dared to use their dirty tactics on Paracelsus, Lance knew a lot of people would die.
"The sanatorium lacks wealthy subjects for research." Hearing this, Paracelsus adjusted her glasses, her tone still calm.
But to Lance, those words sounded quite formidable, even a bit chilling.
"Aren’t you being a bit too extreme?"
......
In front of Lance, Grendel appeared as if she could embrace all things like nature itself, not wishing to impose any pressure on Lance, but instead to be his sanctuary.
Yet, in reality, nature can also have a vicious and cunning side, just not often revealed.
For example, with just a few words, she stirred Boslake to provoke conflict among the Barbarian Tribes and waited several days just for the moment to expose Sofia’s disguise.
Similarly, if you incur nature’s wrath, it’s even more terrifying.
And now, Lance was withstanding the violent forces of nature.
Laboriously climbing a towering peak to take in the natural vistas, but before he could catch his breath, a torrential rain was unleashed.
The storm could topple giant trees, but it couldn’t topple Lance, who remained unyielding amidst the fierce storm.
He didn’t fear the wind and rain, advancing bravely, descending through the veil of rain to charge into the rain-soaked wild forest.
Slender vines with crystal-clear raindrops wound around the enticingly heavy doors blocking his way, but it couldn’t stop him from squeezing through a crevice, revealing a new world...
Lance collapsed several times, but quickly regained his spirit and continued, demonstrating the human spirit of tirelessly and tenaciously fighting against nature.
Until the swirling and colliding clouds and rain dispersed, this contest with nature ceased...
After such trials, normally Grendel would need to lie still for a while to slowly recover, but now it was Lance who appeared somewhat feeble.
As for her, she was glowing with vibrant energy, her cheeks flushed with healthy color, skin glistening with a slick sheen but not sweaty with a sour odor, instead carrying a faint botanical fragrance.
Her eyes, like gemstones, shone bright and green, exuding a spiritual essence, truly having a light in her eyes.
"Won’t giving me your strength make you weak?" Grendel’s words explained why this battle was especially intense.
Endless blessings were strengthening Grendel, allowing her to seem endless in stamina and tireless.
"My strength is limitless!" Lance boasted with a smile, but he had to admit he was at a disadvantage several times earlier.
The damage from the Fishmen invasion had dealt severe losses to Hamlet, and he had to convert the accumulated spiritual essence from these battles into power.
This confrontation had directly elevated Grendel to the rank of Champion, also providing Hamlet with a hidden card.
"Do you remember that woman named Gina?"
"Wasn’t she still in the garden in the daytime? What happened to her?"
"She’s the Imperial Princess Sofia."
Grendel recounted the day’s events, leaving Lance speechless.
"You’re just playing with her, why drag me down?"
"She’s an Imperial Princess, after all!" Grendel also wondered if Lance was playing dumb, "By controlling her, when the Empire goes into turmoil and the Emperor dies, her status becomes quite valuable."
Lance understood; Grendel also wanted to meddle in the Empire’s turmoil, but he detested troublesome things like ornaments; they had to show compelling strength for his sanctuary.
"I’ve said many times, our current enemy is only one, the Ascension Sect, and everything else must serve this goal."
