NOVEL WEB Chapter-58 Poison Test
Ewan shook the test tube half-filled with his blood and poured in the extracted oil from a blood thinning herb. When they blended, he took out the yellow blob of poison he obtained from the scorpions and injected it into the blood.
Iris.
After the poison took effect, Ewan called for Iris to use her ‘Heal’ on the test tube while observing the process with his <Lens> spell. The poison wormed around at first, eroding the blood wherever it spread, it even killed the blood thinner’s effects and created black lumps that could cause necrosis inside a body. But when the spell’s blood glow covered the test tube, the poison came to a screeching halt. The spell trapped the poison and crammed it into a pea-sized drop. Soon it killed all the harmful particles in the poisonous blob and neutralized it. The now inactive yellow blob floated to the top, lifeless.
He separated it from the blood and did random tests before finally concluding the success of Iris’s spell against poisons.
“Nana,” he said. She sat by the side, feeding her new Astylind milk blended with a drop of Anima Potion he made. “Ask Luna to cast her healing spell.”
Ewan repeated the same experiment with the bird. In the end, her spell too killed the poison and healed the blood. The effectiveness was about the same, both Iris and Luna were equally good against poisons. But Luna won the round, she was still Grade-D and was at a lower level than Iris.
Doesn’t matter, you’re the best.
Iris waved her roots and swayed at his caress, her innocent joy passing onto him. The initial weakness didn’t matter, the present was more important. And her real prowess would show up at higher grades, he had confidence in his Pa’s findings.
……
“Where’re we going?” Nana asked, trailing behind Ewan. The clouds shaded the blinding sun, but it still peeped out from time to time and made its presence known, warming the remnants of the chilly wind.
“Tram tracks, we’ll follow that to the outskirts. We’ll head to the market for today and rest there,” Ewan said.
“Can't we head there directly?”
“Do you know the way?”
She fell silent for a second then shook her head.
“I don’t either, and getting lost in this situation wouldn’t be good. That’s why the tracks. Now keep up or I’ll leave you behind,” he said.
The two threaded the block’s streets, wary of their surroundings, peeking around corners. Nana strained her neck, running her eyes about the premise, while Ewan stretched his Ryvia to its limits, scanning everything inside the range. The area was devoid of its residents but screams and howls still echoed here and there. Each cry represented a scuffle, so whenever it happened, Ewan changed directions. Getting involved in someone else’s fight wasn’t on his priority list, not even at the last position.
There was a t-section up ahead, roads going left and right, the lofty building in front casting its huge shadow on the ground. Before Ewan could get close and check the area though, a buzz resonated and halted his steps. He grabbed Nana’s collar and pulled her back too.
“Do you hear that?” he asked.
“What?” she asked back, fixing her round collar, and rubbing her neck.
“Listen closely,” he said, gesturing to keep quiet.
“It sounds like…insect wings?” she asked.
Ewan nodded. “And more than one,” he said. “You take right, I’ll check left. Don’t make any noise and don’t freak out if you see anything disturbing.”
She mouthed a soundless okay and tiptoed towards the right wall. Ewan also went to check the left after Nana approached the corner.
When he peeked out, his heart skipped a beat and his neck tightened, he gulped. His bestial instinct gave him an orange alert, a shiver ran down his spine. A swarm of fist-sized bees hummed above a dead bear, the head-sized queen bee hovering at the top. There were in dozens if not hundreds, the bear never stood any chance. Some bees were hard at work, carving the bear’s body and turning it into their hive, while some gathered the dead bees and stacked them in a pile by the side.
Soon the spell circuit that the Crown had set up in the colony to gather blood activated and sucked the dead bear and the dead bees dry, leaving only the withered carcasses and several Astylind Cores behind. The bear’s was a deep soil-colored core of the earth element, while the bees’ were light beige of the wood.
Novas…
His greed for profit buried his sense of danger. That was a pile of Novas, and more Novas droning in the air. Even though they all were Level-0, their combined price could earn both Ewan and Nana a decent amount. Yet, at the same time, their combined prowess could also snuff their breaths. He had to tread carefully, especially with the queen bee. He couldn’t allow her to control the swarm.
“Nana.” He extended his Ryvia and sent his voice to her ears. “Come here quietly,” he whispered. “Do you see that?” he asked, letting her peek at the bees. “We can make a good amount if we hunt them.”
“O-Okay,” she said, controlling her trembling hands, holding a deep breath in. “Rock paper scissor again.” Her face looked determined to win, flushed even.
“What? No, no baits this time,” Ewan said. She heaved her held breath and her shoulders slouched. “You have alcohol with you, right? Take it out.”
“W-What? I-I don’t!” She tensed up again and shook her head, her eyes widening.
“Just take them out,” he said, taking another glance at the bees around the corner.
“I-I really don’t….,” she said, shrinking her neck, her volume went down.
Ewan clicked his tongue at her; his nose flared. She lowered her head and finally handed him a bottle from her pendant.