Overknight Hero

Chapter 12 : Regret

Chapter 12: Regret

Water filled Xaviel's mouth. He can feel water dripped little by little onto his mouth in his near-death state. The flavor of the water, however, tastes somewhat sweet. Like it's not even water.

After a few minutes, Xaviel felt his strength was coming back. Slowly, but undoubtedly he tried to open his eyes and was very surprised to see the liquid filling his mouth was actually the tree's root sap. This, however, doesn't stop him from drinking the droplets dripping to his mouth. Instead, it made him deduct the situation.

(When I killed the rat, a green goo came out. Since the blood of the rat is still present. It couldn't be part of the blood.)

"Unless... It's actually a venom or virus of some sort,"

Before speculating further in his immobilized state, he remembered what his soon-to-be vet doctor friend told him about venoms.

'A venom is basically a poisonous substance. In terms of technicalities, it is usually found near the teeth of snakes at the salivary gland….'

Xaviel then recalled asking more to his friend about a cure for such venom, to which his friend replied by telling him,

'Antivenom is one of the medical ways to cure venom. To produce it, however, is quite hard. Old scientists used to extract dosage of unharmful venom from snakes and administer it to living animals. They would develop antibodies from the venom itself by the time, but usually, it had certain risks and consequences.'

After remembering what his friend told him, Xaviel tried to link his experience with the venom and antivenom principle. At that moment, Xaviel suddenly rose from his sprawling position. He is now sitting on the room's floor with a hand on his chin.

"It doesn't make sense. I didn't even feel any side effects whatsoever. So does the tree sap cure me like an antivenom did, or was that just plain luck?"

As he thinks back on what he had experienced, Xaviel directly refuses to believe he was saved by the sheer of good karma.

"Yea, I do not believe that. It's must be something else," He then remembers another explanation from his friend in the medical department, this time, he studies virology.

'Virus is kind of an undead devil. They infect anything, whether a plant, human, animal, and even micro-organisms. When a virus per se infected you. These undead emperors temporarily take over your body to do whatever they desire. In this sense, it creates loads of copies of themselves to make you even sicker. Like parasites. Undead Devil Parasyte Emperors.'

Xaviel then thought that he may ask the wrong medical department guy. He could've chosen a not so gameboard attentive person for the explanation. Nevertheless, he recalls back to his friend's explanation regarding the cure.

'Curing Virus is messy but not quite hard assuming there's already a cure. Just take one of them Antiviral drugs. It would help stop the virus from mass-producing inside your body. Or better limit the chance it would infect your body in the first place by getting shot with a vaccine. But you know the drill every cure has its risks, as they say. Unlike Skyrim, where you can cure disease with one potion.'

Again, Xaviel thinks maybe it's better to ask friends who were not avid gamers and actually into medical stuff without the influence of games in his explanation.

"It just doesn't… Make Sense!"

Xaviel freaked out as he became bewildered, trying to solve the mystery of his himself feeling better after nearly experiencing death. With both hands scratching his head as he stands up in the room.

Energy had come back to his body, but questions filled his mind. Whatever happened to him must have something to do with the tree sap. Weirdly enough, he isn't thinking about the idea of almost dying very seriously. As if this was merely something not so significant.

"This sap must be a cure by some principle in this world that I don't know about. I might also stack a vial full of this," Xaviel said while filling vials upon vials of tree sap from the root th

"You know, It's funny if this turns out exactly like Skyrim. Where you get a potion to cure all disease," Xaviel blurted out. "Wait... That's worth a try!" He continued rushing from the south to the north room through the already broken door straight to the Giant rat corpse.

(If I am not wrong, which means I am correct, I got infected or damaged by the goo while stabbing through the chin area.) He thought.

As he carefully dissects the skin to reveal the creature's bones, a green goo slowly drips from someplace near the bone.

"Is this what the creature's venom storage?" Xaviel asked himself, then slowly extracting the liquid with his knife. Like before, the goo was green and now dripping to his fingertips.

Xaviel didn't feel anything, though. Unlike the first time, he felt it. He speculated that this must be because previously, he touched more goo. He swiftly took more goo and purposely splattered it around his left arm around the same volume as before. To his surprise, the dizzy feeling still hasn't come to him.

However, this experiment had revealed results regarding the tree sap. "An antivenom is produced by injecting venom to animals and harvesting their antibodies. A vaccine is produced by injecting the virus so that the body in time would create a cell memory to evade and kill the virus before letting it take control," Xaviel monologues.

"What do they have in common?"

Antibodies. Every antivenom and vaccine relies on building antibodies either for a specific venom or virus. It turns out that the tree sap wasn't exactly either of those two types of cure. Instead, the tree sap operates more like a substance that could effectively speed up the process of antibodies. This must mean it speeds up any 'curing mechanisms' on a cellular process. That explains why the sap was used in the old days as all-purpose medicine. Because it provides enhanced the speed of any cure.

With this tree sap, Xaviel deducted that his resistance to such toxic is heightened due to his newly formed antibodies. One thing he's not sure about is whether this stays permanent or does it only affect him temporarily.

"Only one way to find out then," Xaviel put down the vials he stacked up inside his satchel and removed toxic from his dagger by a slight jiggle.

"This is very absurd to think some kind of substance exists in this world. As the wise man said, ' Absurdity is the ecstasy of intellectualism' -Criss Jami" Xaviel rushed towards the direction of the north tunnel, hoping to fight another creature of the same species.

***

"By order of Victoria Mylen, Quilla, you have the right to remain silent and come with us!" A tall and well-built man wearing the village guar attire said to a neatly dressed green-haired woman.

Quilla, Hoff's wife, is currently being arrested at her household. Because of the sudden entry from the guards, she took up Mika and carried her in Quilla's arms. Hoping to keep her safe.

"There’s must be some mistake. My husband is the court advisor of Mylen!” Quilla said to the captain guard.

“There’s no mistake! Your husband had committed treason against the Mylen family. Therefore all bloodlines must be punished!” The guard said.

Quilla then instinctively thought about Maru. She doesn’t know where he is, but she hopes he will be safe. She then took a deep breath and said to the guard, “I’ll comply, but please let me carry my daughter,” pleaded Quilla.

The captain, however, turns to a smile. His eyes were glowing red inhumanly as he said, “Your daughter is a bigger crime than you are. We have evidence of her going inside and out of the forbidden forest.”

Hearing that, Quilla went into a shock. She’s trembling in great fear at the words of the captain guard. “The price for going to the forbidden woods is DEATH!” The captain guard then laughs maniacally at Quilla. Making her drop down, now on her feet.

Mika, previously carried by Quilla, now stands beside her mother. “Mom... Mom… Mom, okay?” Mika said with a scared tone as she patted Quilla’s arm. Suddenly Quilla’s arm wrapped around Mika’s body, the warmth of the hug slowly calms Mika down.

“Mika likes huggies,” Mika said while giggling a little.

Quilla whispered to Mika and looked back to the guards shouting, “RUN!”.

“ManaSupta.” Light blue bubbles started appearing near Quilla as she spread her hands. The bubble then started to hit everyone in the room except Mika. Instantly all the guards inside the house started to fall down, making way for Mika to escape. With tears in her eyes, Mika yelled, “I love you, Momma!” as she continued sobbing, getting out from the backyard door.

Clap Clap Clap

“Well done, Quilla Venica Crestia, former aristocrat,” said the captain.

“wHAT? How are you??”

“Not affected? It would be wise to properly analyze the situation now, wouldn’t we? Quilla?” As the captain speaks more and more, Quilla notices the absence of honorifics by the way the guard calls her.

“You.. who are you?” Quilla started to back away from the figure.

“Nyaw.. did Quilla forget her old friend?” The captain said, casually walking up to her, closing in the distance.

She started to summon the bubbles around her and direct it at the captain, although it seemed useless. As the captain is unfazed even by the bubbles reaching his eyes.

“I know your Forte revolves around the minds of others. All aristocrats have Forte with that kind of abilities, aren’t we?”

“Do you mean… You’re…”

“I’m surprised you're so slow on catching on! Your husband realizes it quicker than you. And to break it to you, I actually don’t have any rights by whatsoever to detain you,”

Quilla stayed silent, gritting her teeth.

“I purposely said the death sentence business just to make you retaliate. Now, you have assaulted all the guards and me here,”

“How dare you! You gave out false proof. You’re the one to blame here! As everyone else in this room was the witness!” Quilla said in anger.

“How about we ask them then?”

Suddenly one of the guards slowly rose and panted. He then pointed towards Quilla, saying, “She assaulted us!”. Another one then roses and again does the same, rising up and pointing towards Quilla, blaming her for assault.

“Quilla assaulted us!”

“She used forte to put us down!!”

“She used violence!!”

Soon all the guards inside the house were pointing and repeatedly blaming her, while their eyes glow red uniformly. “Now, how will you defend yourself? I would very much like to see you try!” The captain said gleefully.