Tyler Kimball - Lessgently
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Pallesia: Chapter 126 - Wraithwisper.
🕑 Added 2024-04-06 09:01:46 +0000 UTCMy finger is doing much much better now. :)
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Lee wiped his forehead exaggeratedly as he slowly stood from his crouch with a smile. “Phew, you took a lot of mana for such a small body! You must be full of potential!”
The young boy, no older than five years old, nodded shyly as he repeatedly glanced over his shoulder at his mother. She gave an encouraging smile and shook her head ruefully. It was pretty adorable, but the boy's fidgeting hands gave away his excitement.
Lee tussled the boy's shaggy, dirty-blonde hair as he caught the nervous eyes of the mother flickering down at a small coin purse hanging at her hip and back to Lee. Lee gently shook his head as he turned to exit their home. “I’ve got more people to heal. Grow up and live to your full potential!”
Lee quickly slipped out the front door and gently closed it shut. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling.
For the past few hours, he had run around Lopus, healing everyone who needed it. Thankfully, there weren’t many life-threatening cases, mostly just scrapes, gashes, broken bones, and other injuries. This had been the final home, and the case was simple enough. A young child had gotten roughed up fleeing during the beginnings of the basilisk’s rampage. A few scrapes and cuts, some nasty splinters from wooden debris—something a five-year-old shouldn’t have to worry about.
It was a cloudless night as Lee strode through the still-active village. Reconstruction was already underway. In the aftermath of the great battle, everyone seemed to throw everything to the wayside in favor of cooperation. People helped their neighbors carry beams of wood to and fro, and a group of ladies had a cauldron full of hearty soup at the ready, free of charge for any who required it.
Lee did his best to use his Stealth skill as he made his way toward their camp. During the day, many who had seen his… frankly reckless battle with the basilisk stopped him to offer their thanks, highlight his bravery, and attempt to recruit him to their parties. It was nice at first, but suddenly becoming a celebrity wasn’t that fun when people needed his healing.
He rubbed his eyes, weary from the very long and eventful day. He was glad the whole situation of Lopus was over and done with. Ever since arriving, he had felt a little pressure at the back of his mind. Knowing that something had been wrong for well over a month and being on a form of instinctual alert wore a man down.
Now, he could leave and put this village behind him. For all that he was excited for his adventure through the ‘human lands,’ he realized he hadn’t seen much of it at all. He wanted to see a city. Hopefully, it was a city that lived up to the fantastical images he dreamt up—soaring walls of stone that encapsulated a population, defending all who sheltered within from the threat of monsters and magical beasts—shops filled with magical items and adventurers leaving through giant portcullises to go on quests.
So far, if you removed levels, magic, and monsters, Lee felt like he was on Earth—just Earth if he was in medieval times. Frankly, it was a bit disappointing.
“Well, look who it is! It’s the healer hero!” Em snickered. Her red eyes pierced the night, and the moonlight glinted off her metal frame as she sat in her bundle of bedding.
Lee scoffed. “Only one person can call me a hero, and you aren’t her.”
As he entered the campfire's light, Em’s snickering fell off as her eyes turned soft. “Lee, you look like shit.”
He bristled and inspected the hem of his robe, finding nothing wrong. No blood or grime, thanks to the enchantments. His mirror appeared in his hand with but a thought, and after looking into it, he noticed what she meant.
He had dark bags underneath his eyes, and his scruffy, seemingly perpetual five o’clock shadow failed to hide his gaunt cheeks. Thinking back, he had relapsed in his diet. It might have been from stress or just forgetfulness, but he had slimmed again. The bags under his eyes were concerning, as he didn’t think that was possible with his Healer’s Touch.
In the end, he waved away her concerns. “It's been a long day. I’m just tired.”
He meandered toward his bed of furs as Em bore a hole through the side of his head with her heated gaze. After he had laid down, the exhaustion from the day caught up with him, and he was out for the count within seconds.
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Lee awoke early in the morning to the bustling movement all around him. He blinked rapidly, clearing his bleary eyes as he scanned his surroundings. All the nearby adventurer camps were being broken down and disassembled. With the threat of Lopus having passed, it appeared the adventurers were eager to move along to brighter futures.
After he rubbed his aching eyes, Lee got up and found Jeremy, Kendri, Regina, and Em all scouring about their camp as well. It looked like they were doing the same.
Regina was the first to spot him as she primarily oversaw their camp's dismantlement. She crossed her arms and looked impatient, but she squinted her eyes upon seeing Lee’s haggard form. Lee shrugged; that was about on par for shock from Regina.
“I didn’t get back until late. Are we leaving today?” He asked as he searched his Hidden Cache for food but found nothing for breakfast.
Regina didn’t respond for a few seconds, but eventually, she nodded. “Traveling with the adventurers will be safer, and we need to get a move on if we want to stay ahead of the Healer’s Santum.”
She paused and seemed unsure about something but soon carried on. “How about you go into the village to find breakfast for everyone?”
Lee gazed around, still half asleep but coherent enough to find a solution to their problems. He shuffled across the camp and waved his hand across everyone's belongings, popping everything he saw into a corner of his Hidden Cache. After a single minute, all that was left was the fire pit, the wagon, and two horses. Kendri begged for his spear, and a miffed Em asked for her mana-infused iron ore back as he yawned.
“Breakfast.” That is all Lee said as he worked his way down the hill toward Lopus, the pestering individuals following along. He sent a single glance toward the two horses, which had escaped his radar for the past few weeks, and he could have sworn he saw the black abyssal orbs they had for eyeballs swivel away from his gaze.
He narrowed his eyes. Suspicious.
They passed by several adventurers bringing breakfast back to their parties, and Lee noticed with some confusion that everyone’s gaze lingered on him as they passed by. Once again, Lee inspected his robe and then brought out his mirror.
A change had been made overnight; the bags underneath his eyes had deepened in color, and his eyes were rimmed red and bloodshot. Somehow, he looked even more gaunt than the night prior. He slowed to a stop and used Medical Attention on himself.
Diagnosis: Poisoned - Wraithwisper poison: Wraithwisper poison is a magical alchemical-manufactured poison with severe, long-lasting effects. Healing is severely reduced.
Multiple-organ failure, High-blood pressure, tissue degradation, weakened muscles.
Estimated remaining duration: 3 days, 7 hours, 11 minutes.
Lee stared dumbstruck at the prompt in the middle of the street. Regina walked next to him and saw his trembling lips. Immediately, she shifted her composure and gazed about the area like a hawk. “What’s wrong.”
Lee couldn’t believe what he read. Multi-organ failure? Tissue degradation? For another three days? His throat tightened in a sudden onset panic, and he barely managed to reply with a severe wobble in his faint, shocked voice. “I’m poisoned. Wraithwisper poison.”
Without any hesitation, Regina dragged Lee to the closest nearby building and kicked the door in. Inside was a simple room with a table, chairs, and cushioned recliner. She pushed him inside and glanced about the inside with absolute focus. “Jeremy, Kendri, locked down the outside. Nobody comes in. Em, scout around for anybody suspicious. Kill them if you find anyone. Ask no questions.”
She slammed the door and closed the wooden shutters nearby. Lee shuffled to the nearby table and sat down in a chair, still reeling from his discovery.
How? When? Who? Was all he could think of. He drank his summoned water and didn’t remember eating anything after the basilisk fight. How did he get poisoned?
He knew the difference between poison and venom. Poison was typically ingested or absorbed through contact. Venom was injected, like from the fangs of a snake or stinger from a bee. He had a lot of skin contact yesterday, as he had to rely on his Healer’s touch to heal everyone as he was out of mana, but then the question was, who? Everyone he healed seemed normal…
Regina slapped Lee on the cheek, interrupting his inner turmoil, and grabbed his head in her hands. She stared into his eyes and nodded. Then, she reached a hand into her wide sleeve and pulled out a purple vial of liquid from seemingly nowhere.
“Drink.” She said, tone brokering no arguments.
Anti-Poison - (Uncommon): Neutralizes up to a moderate-strength poison.
Without hesitation, Lee unstoppered the vial and drank the potion, carefully letting every single drop fall out and into his mouth. Afterward, he checked himself again with Medical Attention.
Diagnosis: Poisoned - Wraithwisper poison: Wraithwisper poison is a magical alchemical-manufactured poison with severe, long-lasting effects. Healing is severely reduced.
Multiple-organ failure, High-blood pressure, tissue degradation, weakened muscles.
Estimated remaining duration: 3 days, 7 hours, 11 minutes.
“It didn’t work.” He said, his former hope dashed mere seconds after it arrived. He cast Purifying Light, Touch of Remission, and Mend Wounds on himself in a helpless attempt to cure himself, but none of the spells could cure poison.
Regina tsk’d and stayed alert as she stood defensively in front of him. “Can you make a spell to cure poisons? I don’t have anything stronger than that generic anti-poison. Do you think you can overcome its effects?”
“I have multi-organ failures, and my tissues… my muscles… they’re degrading. I don’t—Maybe I can make a spell?” Lee said as he focused on thinking about how poisons worked.
Seconds went by as his eyes slid back and forth… but he didn’t know. Of course, he had heard about poison—who hadn’t? But he had never had to deal with poison. He also didn’t have any clue about how poison actually poisoned him or how it affected him at all. He couldn’t even think about how the spell could work without that knowledge.
“I can’t—I can’t make a spell for this. It has over three days left…” Lee grabbed his hair in frustration and worry as Regina stormed off and opened the door. He could hear her shouting instructions to either Jeremy or Kendri—perhaps both.
“Find me a fucking adventure who can deal with poison! Now! Ask for—No, find Annalise. Annalise Synder from Home’s Hommage.” A second passed, then Regina nearly screamed. “NOW!”
Lee was beginning to hyperventilate from his panic. His mind was racing, trying to figure out how he got poisoned.
Or from who?
Comments
Winterharmony
Thanks for the Chapter
James Faulkner
Tftc!
Academic Geek
TFTC!
Korviz
Ty for the chapter!
Korviz
Wuuuuuuuut I would think his spell that cured CANCER would remove the poison but magic poison probably works differently. I think once Lee calms down from his panic attack he’ll think of a spell that removes ailments/foreign substances or purges them
