Bas caught Quinlan just in time before he fell.
"You’re alright, man?"
Quinlan coughed repeatedly. Blood went out of his mouth. Thick, dark blood that smelled awful.
"Do I look alright, you goddamn rake?!"
The dark veins on his palm quickly spread all over his arms.
"Quick. Lay him to the floor." Siderius came over and said.
Bas did as he was told.
"Can you save him, Sid?" Bas said.
Siderius’ mouth twitched a little bit because of the new nickname but he didn’t refute it.
"Let me see the wound."
Quinlan reached his hand out and showed Siderius the back of his hand. In the heat of battle, while Quinlan was swinging the wooden stick, the ghoul had scratched him.
"Necrosis damage." Siderius mumbled.
"Necrosis? What kind of wound is this?" Bas said.
"The signature kind that belongs to the undead. They were once human but were brought to life through unconventional means. Normally, supernatural means.
This energy is what keeps them alive and it is called necron.
It is the fountain of youth for the undead but to a living human..."
Siderius’ gaze told Bas and Quinlan all they needed to know.
Quinlan coughed some more black blood. The necron energy had entered his blood stream and infected it, mutating his healthy blood cell.
"Shit... I’ve never thought this is how I’m gonna go." Quinlan’s eyes lost their focus and he looked up to the tall ceiling of the dormitory.
Paintings filled the ceilings. The picture of a faceless god holding the sun in his hand, swallowing its sunlight. Quinlan saw the sun brighter and brighter, as if it was the gate to the afterlife that was beckoning to him. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel{f}ire.net
"Quinlan is delirious! We need to act fast! Do you know how to deal with this thing?" Bas’ breath quickened. Their relationship might be transactional but they were more than that.
After their long journeys together, they became friends. Bas knew that Quinlan was a cowardly cunning noble that always tried to use his mouth to get what he wanted. Quinlan knew that Bas was a greedy bastard that couldn’t keep his pants on most of the time. But they didn’t judge each other. That made them true and honest to one another.
"Relax, Bas the bodyguard. The life of your client is far from lost." Siderius reached into the satchel on his waist and took out a glass bottle.
Inside the bottle was the orange liquid that emanated heat. It glowed faintly in the dark of night.
"What is that?" Bas’ eyes widened. He had never seen such a beautiful mixture. It was pure and shiny, like sunlight condensed into liquid.
"The soul of fire. It will burn any infection and bacteria that are harmful inside his body. It’s the only thing that can save him right now.
You two sure are lucky. If I wasn’t here, this story might have a much more tragic ending.
Bas sat Quinlan up and Siderius lifted the bottle to his lips.
Quinlan didn’t hesitate and drank the entire bottle. He couldn’t think much when death was knocking on his door repeatedly. It was either drink this unknown potion or died a horrific death.
The liquid was hot. Not as hot as boiling water but definitely wasn’t comfy. The orange liquid burned the inside of Quinlan’s mouth. When it entered his system, Quinlan could feel the heat it dispersed at every corner of his body.
However, he could also feel the cold and numbness brought by the necrosis slowly withered away by the intense heat.
His breath regained its lively nature and the dark veins on his body disappeared.
"This is going to hurt a bit." Siderius didn’t let Quinlan drink all of the Arvenox.
He kept a little bit left and poured them over the wound on Quinlan’s hand, striking at the source of the necrosis.
"GOD DAMN!" Quinlan screamed and his body tensed up.
Bas was there to hold him down, making sure the liquid would soak Quinlan’s hand entirely.
"Keep yourself together, Quinn!"
"You’re the one to say! Why don’t you try it yourself! It’s fucking hurt!" Quinlan shouted at Bas which made the bodyguard laugh out loud.
"That mouth of yours seems fine. You must be fine as well then." Bas said.
Quinlan didn’t answer this time. He clenched his teeth to endure the burn and the fever that arrived without notice. Sweat covered his forehead and the bandaged man fainted.
"Oi! You’re alright there, man?" Bas shook Quinlan but didn’t wake up.
"He’s fine." Siderius held Quinlan’s wrist and checked his pulse. "His vitals are stable. He just fainted because of the pain."
"Ah... This little pussy can’t handle a tiny bit of pain. How typical!"
Siderius stood up and looked around. At the moment, no more ghouls were appearing and no sight of the witch as well.
Siderius had spent quite a bit of energy fighting the panther and then the ghouls. He was not at his greatest strength. It was not wise to continue tracking the location of the witch in this monastery.
"We better find a good spot to recover ourselves." Siderius said.
Bas nodded in agreement. "Where should we go?"
Bas wasn’t usually the one to take orders but Siderius seemed to be very knowledgeable and certain about everything. Bas knew he was a strong brute and he had no shame in admitting that he lacked intelligence. Asking someone else who may know more than you was no humiliation.
"You came from the dormitory, correct? Have you seen anyone there?"
"I’m sure no one is there. But I don’t think it will be forever."
"No worries. I have a way."
The trio found their way into the dormitory. The dormitory was a collection of bedrooms dedicated for the priests and nuns. It was designed to be a communal space so each room was larger and held more beds than the guest room.
Siderius and Bas picked a room in the center of the dormitory and went inside.
Bas dropped Quinlan on a bed and let him rest while Siderius took a handful of salt and drew a line right at the door.
Bas didn’t say anything, only observing Siderius with great curiosity. He had heard about all kinds of tricks and spells that the Eldoria Kingdom had but he had never heard about using salt as a component.
Sulfur was to rebel against evil. Salt was to ward off evil.
For defensive purposes, salt was always a better choice than the aggressive sulfur.
"I should have brought more salt with me." Siderius mumbled.
In his plan, he was going to train Red on the road to Scalize then he would restock his resources in town. But nothing always went according to plan.
First was the Chaos Panther. Then there was this haunted monastery. It had run Siderius’ resources a bit dry at the moment.
Siderius drew one straight line of salt starting from the door and covered all the sides of the wall. Then in the middle, Siderius constructed an alchemical seal with the mix of sulfur and salt.
Salt provided the defense capability. But Siderius wanted to add a bit of spice to it as well.
He constructed a seal called Necron Proto-Apulsion.