Rotten Core

A young man obsessed with medicine since he was a boy studies it relentlessly, mastering his craft and becoming very knowledgeable. One day he rediscovers an old book gifted to him by his father. The book whispers knowledge to him not written in the pages. He is opportunistic and ambitious. He travels with a well respected doctor to the capital, only to find his view on life outside of the outskirts flipped. The capital is rotten and decaying, a plague has been affecting it for a long time. He mentors under this well respected doctor and begins to treat the ill even more, forgetting about the book as his skill increases, his obsession to improve growing stronger and the lines he was willing to cross hazy. He pleaded to the book for more knowledge, yet the book did not deliver. He began to bring offerings to the book for any bit of knowledge, vials of patients’ blood, teeth, hair, skin, and right on the verge of what he felt was a revelation, the book demanded more than he could ever give. The demanding presence followed him constantly. The man was unable to rest, and eventually he fled.