36 – Sickness

The sky was the only thing she could look at. The orange glow painted the clouds as they moved upon their canvas. Her only distraction as she waited. Waiting, she’d been doing it for a long time. Since casting Dark Bolt.

This time, she’d seen it. A thin, pitch black needle condensed on the tip of her index finger, pulling lifeforce from her, and returning it tainted with the cursed energy of Life Curse. Then it shot. Straight at the beast. And it collapsed as if it was made out of paper.

The root wrapped around her ankle faltered. Alexandra too.

Paralytic agent had splattered onto her one valid arm as her spell ripped through the Gallowbloom. She managed to turn her body around, and facing the sky was more comfortable than staying face-first in the dirt, but that was about it.

Around her, the withered remains of her foe covered the ground. Thorns, roots, dust, the beast’s body had been enormous, so while most of it had been destroyed, there was still a good amount of it left.

She was hoping that the curse of paralysis would fade with time. There wasn’t much else she could do. Nobody knew where she was. Louis could maybe guess that she was in the plains, but he would have trouble locating her. If he even wanted to.

Alexandra didn’t mind sleeping under the stars. The remains of the Gallowbloom should be enough to dissuade any would-be ambusher. What really bothered her was her streak.

Why didn’t she complete that damn quest before leaving Esmera?

All she had to do was talk to five people. It wasn’t hard. Sure, the quest didn’t specify how long she should talk, but it couldn’t have delayed her departure by much.

Her leg twitched. The one that had been paralyzed first. She tried moving it. It was far from perfect, but she could feel the improvement.

She kept trying, wiggling her fingers and muscles that would answer. She didn’t know if it made things better or worse. But at least, she was doing something, and that was good for her mental.

Eventually, she was able to move her leg, then her hand, and an arm. She sat down, and took in the scene around her. The dark magic had ripped through the beast, leaving severed thorny vines all around, wilted, broken, dead. The main mass of her opponent was still in the ditch, but it wasn’t moving. Most of the flower glands that secreted the paralytic were gone.

She’d made it.

Her journal had recorded her feat.

Inflict Weakness 5 -> 6

Life Curse: Be inflicted by three curses simultaneously (3/3).

Dark Bolt 2 -> 3

Life Curse 1 -> 2

That was what she’d been aiming for. She hadn’t expected to complete that skill quest today, though. And now, she wasn’t sure that it was a good thing.

You are suffering from the curse of paralysis.

You are suffering from the curse of fragility.

You are suffering from the curse of weakness.

You are suffering from the sickness of mana.

The first three would fade soon. However, a sickness was a different beast altogether. Sicknesses were a type of curses. That was the result of Life Curse. The price for casting Dark Bolt. The main difference between curses and sicknesses was that while the former were temporary, the latter were not.

Alexandra already had a hunch about the effect of the sickness of mana. She’d been forced to wait for hours after the end of her battle, but her mana reserves were still empty. It should have regenerated by itself. Perhaps not to full capacity, but enough to feel it.

“Could be worse,” she murmured.

And she meant it, especially as she read the final notification.

Achievement Upgraded! Defiance -> Defiance II

Defiance II: Slay a Bronze rank while being at the Iron rank. +5 all stats.

She swallowed, for lack of a more enthusiastic way to move her body. Four extra stat points in all attributes… The equivalent of twenty days of dailies. It still wasn’t enough for her streak bonus to make a difference, but it was still a massive, unexpected boon.

She waited for her curses to fade before standing up. As soon as she did, someone spoke.

“I knew it was you.”

It was Marick. She turned in his direction. The village chief was standing over the ditch, behind a heap of ruined vines.

“Where have you been?” He asked, stepping over the beast’s corpse.

She shrugged. “I wasn’t going to stay locked up for no reason.”

“You’re not helping your case.”

She shook her head. “I’ve done nothing wrong, and you know it. In any case, I’m not in Lanterne, so John must be happy.”

Marick sighed. “If only. He clamors to those who would listen that you’ve gone rogue, spreading the Yshant’s blessing to more verdant beasts.” He stopped in front of her, and stared into her eyes. “He asked me to find you, and put an end to it.”

She met his gaze. “So? What will you do?”

The chief stroked the handle of his axe. “I’ve been thinking about it.” He smiled. “I’ve decided to call the Wardens. Bamir will be unhappy about it, and perhaps you will too, but I need to put the safety of my people first.”

Alexandra’s eyes shifted, then she looked up at him again. “They won’t come.”

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Marick opened his mouth, but she continued. “I’ve talked to people in Esmera. The local Wardens are blocking reports from leaving the city. They already know about the Yshant.”

“Those corrupt assholes… I should have expected nothing from them.”

“You know them?”

He sighed again. “I answer to them. Technically.”

Alexandra tilted her head.

He shrugged. “As you can imagine. They don’t really care about a village like ours. Nevertheless, I’ll still try. With all the villages of the plains under threat, they might listen.”

Light was fading, and Alexandra was reminded of her quest. She frowned.

“What?” Marick asked.

“Do you think I could sneak into Lanterne? I’d like to talk to Lara, Therion, and Bamir if possible.”

He stared at her. She shrunk, her shoulders sagging.

“Well, you know… I’ve left without saying anything. I should thank them for all they did for me.”

Marick didn’t answer.

“I’ll understand if you say no. I don’t want to cause trouble. In that case, could you give them a message from me?”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I hope I won’t regret this, but fine. You can come with me, but you’ll only be seeing those three, and leave immediately after. I don’t care that it will be night by then. What do you say?”

She smiled. “I’m not afraid of the dark. Let’s go.” She started walking.

Marick didn’t move.

“You’re not coming?” she asked.

He shook his head, and pointed in the opposite direction. “Lanterne’s that way.”

She stopped.

“Furthermore,” Marick continued. “You should collect the Gallowbloom’s paralytic agent. It doesn’t look like there’s much left, but it’s quite valuable.”

She slapped her forehead, and got to work replacing the water in her second gourd with the precious liquid. Maybe Louis’ alchemist would be interested.

It’d be nice to have some change, for once.

The journey to Lanterne wasn’t long. They didn’t rush, aiming to arrive soon after sunset so that Alexandra could sneak in undetected. Neither of them talked much.