"Did the s-statues recognize us?!" The slave turned radiant toward Ryan. "That sounds like a prophecy! We have to find the demoness and carry out the test!" He moved closer and closer, getting more excited. "It’s a once-in-a-lifeti chance! We have to go now!" He bounced in front of Ryan, nearly bumping into him.
"You’re too small for that much excitent." He pushed his head down, holding back the growing enthusiasm.
Ryan sighed deeply, unmotivated, then frowned and brought a hand to his chin, thoughtful. "I doubt it’s a prophecy, it sounds more like a speech to hype up naive children." The slave fell silent, his excitent quickly fading. "This test seems important. I don’t doubt many would rush in headfirst... So why the hell hasn’t it been conclude yet?"
Once again, he examined the gate and the ancient statues. "Sothing isn’t right." The slave swallowed hard and took a step forward before speaking:
"Maybe it’s because of the remote location, no one ventures out this way." Ryan shook his head.
"It may be remote, but the Glacial Wolves live here, and they’d certainly be interested," he said dryly. "Even so, the challenges haven’t been completed. Which leads to believe: either the challenge is ridiculously impossible... or it can only be carried out by a specific group of individuals."
The slave grew thoughtful and replied, "It has to be a Sumr Wolf... it’s an absurd requirent that would explain why it’s never been solved. After all, our species abhors this place." Ryan nodded.
"Each of those titles, except the last, are generic for our kind. Our injured companion called ’Lost Son of Sumr’ and ’Bastard of Winter’ at first glance. The logic behind the nas isn’t complicated, if anything, it’s simple." Ryan sighed. "I’m not willing to risk my life on a generic prophecy. So let’s leave."
The slave hesitated as he watched him go, while the statues continued to glow, but in the end, he sighed and followed.
"What’s left on the list?" he asked, drawing closer. Ryan grabbed the notebook and tore out a page.
"Here..." The slave took it suspiciously and slowly read the contents. "There’s not much left, it shouldn’t be hard for you to do alone." The slave slowly brightened and then looked at him.
"Are you okay?" he asked in a low, uncertain voice.
"No, I’m at my limit," Ryan said, bringing a hand to his forehead. "I’m more tired than I should be... in this state, if that woman betrays us or that bear gets up, I’ll make mistakes and I’ll die." Ryan turned to him. "I need you to finish the list without while I rest."
The slave looked at him in silence, then nodded. "Leave it to !" Ryan smiled, satisfied, and nodded.
"I’ll be in the clearing. Rember where it is?" The slave nodded. "Good."
"Leave it to ! I’ll be right back!" With that, the slave set off to gather the remaining materials.
Ryan chuckled softly watching him fade away. Sighing, he calmly walked through the tunnels. Alone and in silence. Until he reached an excessively bright area. He could barely see what was in front of him, it looked like a solid wall of light.
The sound of flowing water filled his ears as he passed through the barrier, coming face to face with what he called a clearing, a region of white stone, bright and reflective, rising toward the sky and piercing the clouds, with the moon visible far above the opening.
The place was warm and had a natural spring that gave rise to a small river cutting through it. Trees, plants, flowers, and mushrooms were abundant. Ryan imdiately began gathering them.
After soti, sitting on a rotten log at the river’s edge, he opened the encyclopedia and began studying in silence. After skimming it, he chuckled softly and comnted:
"Give a book to a fool, and he’ll use it as a seat; give a book to a wise man, and watch him beco a threat." He set the book aside, open to a specific page. Then he grabbed so mushrooms, powders, and vines. He ground, mixed, and added various liquids and oils.
Finally, Ryan placed a drop of the liquid in his mouth and swallowed.
[ Buff: Stimulant (Weak) is in effect; ]
Ryan suddenly felt powerful.
Within seconds, another ssage appeared:
[ Buff: Stimulant (Weak) has been neutralized; ]
Ryan wilted, feeling extrely weak.
However, this did not discourage him.
"Perfect." Ryan tid the effect, then prepared a few vials. Shortly after, he poured the liquid into his mouth and drank eagerly. His body bent as his face contorted, his vision folding and flickering in countless colors and shapes montarily.
[ Buff: Stimulant (Weak) is in effect; ]
He took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling better than ever. His body felt unstoppable, and his mind sharper as never before. "First one’s done." Once again, he grabbed his tools and ingredients.
Mixing herbs, juices, and plenty of black powder, Ryan quickly created a new substance. He poured it into a vial and swallowed it with a pained expression, the intense bitterness overwhelming his senses.
[ Debuff: Poisoning has been neutralized; ]
He chuckled softly, ablazing fury in his eyes. "Whoa! how did that end up there?"
He continued to chuckle.
Suddenly, he punched the log.
"It infuriates ! She thinks I’m a fool! But well... one problem less." He wiped the drool from his mouth and continued his experints. Using his resources, he soon created a new black powder, which he handled carefully. Using a wooden container he crafted with his axe, he poured the contents inside.
Ryan handled it carefully for a few monts, then hurled it forcefully at the riverbank. A violent explosion sent rocks flying along with countless fragnts, while water scattered everywhere.
Ryan laughed out loud, satisfied, and then he continued producing more until he had a belt full of them around his waist. In so of them, he even added a simple line connecting the inside to the outside, for a delayed explosion.
He laughed like a madman.
For the first ti in days, Ryan felt truly powerful.
Now he had bombs! A real weapon!
Even that bear would be afraid!
No one could stop him!
"Ah! Finally found you!" The slave ran up to him. Ryan imdiately tried to hide his almost insane laughter. "I managed to find everything... did you get so rest?" he asked, concerned.
"Of course! I feel like new!" Ryan patted his shoulder and imdiately took the lead. "Ti to deal with that ugly beast." he said with an energetic smile.
Once again, they passed between the bear and the wall, as the sun was about to rise on the horizon. Hearing the movent, the apothecary woke up and looked in their direction.
"Well, look who’s back!" she said cheerfully, seeing Ryan approach. "Seems my worries were unnecessary, you really do keep your word." She chuckled softly.
"Of course, I promised to help you..." Ryan knelt in front of her, taking out the ingredients for the dicine. "As long as you don’t hurt us. Right?" he said, glancing slowly at her, and she simply smiled.
"Of course, that was our deal. I help you, you help . And no one kills the other." She laughed lightly. "Now, about the dicine, you need to—" Ryan gestured, signaling he didn’t need help.
"I morized the recipe. Don’t worry."
Suddenly, the apothecary frowned as Ryan began preparing the dicine.
However, he wasn’t using the sa herbs, oils, or powders as before...
For the first ti, she fell silent involuntarily.
She looked at him a second ti.
It was a completely different recipe.
The apothecary grew tense, sweat pouring down her forehead.
She recognized it.
But she didn’t want to.
"Hey... is my mory failing ? That’s not the recipe I gave you... is it?" They exchanged silent glances. "You’re making a mistake, don’t you think?" She asked, her heart nearly stopping.
"I don’t think so," he said calmly, continuing the preparation.
Her heart almost stopped right there.
Her eyes darkened instantly. Realizing what he was doing, her heart began to race faster than ever. She didn’t know what to do: fight, flee, scream, talk. For the first ti in what seed like an eternity, she was backed against the wall.
He knew the truth, she was sure of it.
But how should she react?!
As Ryan approached with the dicine, he knelt and began applying it to her wounds.
"I poisoned you earlier," she leaned and whispered into his ear, as the slave rested against the wall, she feared he might hear. Ryan, however, didn’t react. "But the poison was weak, it wouldn’t cause complications if treated in ti. Unless, of course, you abandoned . In that case, you’d die within a day and bitterly regret betraying ... It was a way to get revenge in case you were a bad person and not an aggression.... I didn’t want to betray you... Now that you’ve proven you’re a good person, I’ll give you the antidote recipe, as planned... I-I swear! This was always the plan... Look, the recipe is—"
"I know," Ryan said, glancing at her. "I know everything, from beginning to end." He began to smile broadly, making the demoness recoil in fear. Then he glanced at his belt, a small knife was hidden there for a quick draw.
The demoness trembled, fully aware of what that ant.
"I was counting the seconds to kill you," Ryan said calmly. "If you hadn’t confessed, you’d be dead by now." He returned to treating her wounds. "You’re lucky. I am quit of rciful person. But I hope you understand that there won’t be a second chance."
He fell silent, the dicine he was applying was the real one.
She let out a relieved sigh. "I really am... I’ll make it up to you... I swear."
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