Solar Mage

Chapter 3: Antidote

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO REMOVE STATUS ABNORMALITY: POISON?"

Smiling enthusiastically, momentarily forgetting about my condition, I shout:

"You can do that?!"

before coughing blood.

Wiping the blood off my mouth, I press the confirm button and the screen disappears.

Did it work? I don\'t feel any different from before

A new screen pops up.

STATUS ABNORMALITY: POISON

CAUSE: NIGHTHORN IVY

ANTIDOTE INGREDIENTS:

TWO LUNARFROST BLOOMS

ONE ASHVEIL FERN

ONE WINDSHADE ROOT

Ah, so it couldn\'t cure me. I should\'ve known better... It wouldn\'t make sense for this small orb to be able to affect the laws of the world anyway. Let\'s just read the rest of it.

DIRECTIONS: GRIND UP TWO DRIED LUNARFROST BLOOMS, THEN GRIND ONE WINDSHADE ROOT AND MIX THEM TOGETHER. THEN WRAP THE MIXTURE IN ASHVEIL FERN AND INGEST.

Will this really work? If my memory serves me right, all three of these ingredients are very common but each are poisonous. There\'s no time to think, trusting the Sage System is the only way to get out of this state of mine, whether it be curing me, or giving me a quicker death.

I slowly raise my arm and ring the bell the physician gave me.

Creak

"Are you okay Arthur? What did you call me here for-"

His face turned pale as he saw my shirt.

"Did you start coughing blood again? Let me get you your medicine!"

As he started to run out the door.

"Wait, no that\'s not the issue, I\'m fine now but I do have a favor to ask of you."

Calming down but still worrying about my health, he quickly walked back and sat down in front of me.

"Oh, sure, what do you need?"

Trying to put on my most healthy look and smiling I say:

"I think I know which plant was used to poison me."

His face immediately brightened up but quickly turned into a frown.

"Really, which plant caused it!?! Wait, how would you even know which plant was used in the poison?

Stumbling for an answer, I nervously improvise.

"Oh, I read a book about poisonous plants when I was younger and just happened to recall the symptoms that the plant caused."

After hearing my reply, he stared at me intently; trying to figure out if I was telling the truth.

"Alright, I\'ll trust you. Now tell me which plant it is?"

"It\'s extremely rare so you might not have heard of it before. It\'s called the Nighthorn Ivy."

"You\'re right, I\'ve never heard of that plant before so I will not be able to make a cure for it."

He started getting up and slowly began walking towards the door.

"Nonetheless, I will search for this Nighthorn Ivy that you speak of in my books when I\'m done with my duties for the day. Unless, that is, you\'ve also found how to make an antidote from that book that you read."

He said, as he turned his head and looked back at me.

"You\'re right, the book also stated how to make the antidote for the poison. The ingredients for the antidote are two Lunarfrost Blooms, one Ashveil Fern, and one Windshade root."

"Those are all very common and poisonous herbs, are you sure they are the ingredients for the antidote?"

"I am quite confident in my memory. And if you manage to gather these herbs for me, I promise to reward you with a large sum of gold and don\'t worry, if the antidote doesn\'t work and I die, I will make sure to write a letter so that you will not be in trouble. So what do you say?"

"All right, I\'ll help you but I hope you aren\'t asking for these ingredients to intentionally kill yourself and escape from the situation you\'re in. I\'ll put in a commission to the Adventurer\'s Guild to collect the ingredients, because of how common and pointless those herbs are, no merchant sells them. Though, it will take at least a day for it to arrive so you should just continue resting."

Then, William walks out and closes the door.

Ah, I should have asked him to help move me to my bed...

Two Days Later.

I was resting my eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun as it gently hits my face when a shout from the hallway interrupts me.

"Arthur!!! I have the ingredients!"

I tightly clutch my hand.

What is he doing revealing my plans to everyone? I am definitely going to hit him after I recover.

Then William barges through the door.

"Arthur, the ingredients for the antidote have arrived. Considering your condition, I don\'t think you will be able to create the antidote yourself, so tell me the steps to making it."

"Wait first off, can you see this?"

I say, as I point to the Sage System.

He responds in a relaxed manner,

"The weird flying stone ball of yours? Yeah, I can see it."

So he can\'t see the screen...

"Is that it? Was I supposed to see something else?"

"No, let\'s move on. Step one, finely grind up two of the Lunarfrost Blooms in one bowl. Step two, in another bowl finely grind up the Windshade Root. Then, mix the two bowls together and finally pour the mixture into the Ashveil Fern, wrapping it up well and feeding it to me."

William quickly executes the steps without making any mistakes.

"All finished, now open wide. Small note though, I heard Ashveil Ferns taste incredibly bad, but please bear with it Arthur; I believe in you."

"Wait wha- HRK"

How can something be this disgusting? Wait- I\'m losing consciousness...

When I open my eyes, I see William asleep on a chair next to my bed when I suddenly remember that he forced the Ashveil Fern down my throat and instinctively chopped him on the head.

"snoooore snoor- OW, WHAT THE HELL WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?!

"SHUT UP YOU JERK, YOU\'RE THE ONE WHO FORCED THAT DOWN MY THROAT!"

Then we both realized that I was able to move perfectly fine.

The antidote really worked, I\'m cured! Wait, Status Window!

STATUS WINDOW

Name: Arthur Ventrike

Strength: 200 (-100)

Agility: 220 (-100)

Stamina: 400 (-100)

Mana: 20000

Intelligence: 135

Active Skills:

Mana Blade (Mastery: Max)

Enhance Body (Mastery: Level 5)

Aura Blade (Mastery: Level 1)

Passive Skills:

Ventrike Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: Max)

Ventrike Footwork Technique (Mastery: Max)

Bladesong Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: 6)

Bladesong Footwork Technique (Mastery: 7)

Heavenly Martial Physique

Status Abnormalities:

N/A

Overall Combat Rating: B

Accuracy: 99.99%

Wait, why are some of my stats still decreased?

"ANSWER: THE ANTIDOTE ONLY KILLED THE POISON AND PAVED THE WAY FOR YOU TO RECOVER. BODY PARTS AFFECTED BY THE POISON WILL SLOWLY HEAL OVER TIME, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FULLY RECOVER AND REGAIN YOUR STATS."

I see, so even though I\'ve recovered, I still won\'t be able to continue my path as a swordsman until I fully recover, which will take at least a year. Oh well, I am thankful that it managed to do this much for me. What should I do for the next year?

"TALENT ANALYSIS COMPLETED"

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE TALENT ANALYSIS?"