during the trip, levi sat in a corner, while breathing heavily. his side had changed to a greenish black color, greenish black veins spreading to the rest of his body. the skin on his hand grew scales at times, while at other times, it would become hard and rough like a birds claw. the veins in his eyes were visible, sometimes bulging as if they were about to burst. he was sweating heavily, as his skin became scorching hot. during these few days, his vision became dark, and he could barely hear. at times, aria would take off his cloths and wipe the sweat from his skin, but he didn't know, because he also couldn't feel anything. they had finally arrived back at the imperial city, but Levi just kept getting worse.
...
in the small tailor's room, old gray sat in a wooden chair, his eyes closed. "...the boy is back." he suddenly opened his eyes, and mumbled. " but he feels....strange..." old gray got up from the chair and left the small room. " young master, we will get you to a doctor soon." Aria said softly as she wiped the sweat from Levi's body. Levi didn't respond, as he couldn't feel or hear anything. "why are you trying to help that brat? if he were to die, we would be free." Don looked at aria, his face unsightly. " shut up! if he gets better and finds out that i took care of him when he was in this state, what do you think would happen? and if he doesn't survive, won't i be free anyway? either way, i don't lose." aria said as she continued to wipe the sweat.
"hmmm, what did you get yourself into, boy?" old gray suddenly appeared in the wagon, as he looked at Levi with a slight smile, his hands behind his back. "you! who ar-" before Aria could finish, both old gray and levi had dissapeared without making a sound. " wha..." all of them including larck, could only look at the empty space with shock.
...
"...what going on with his body, it looks like it is rejecting itself." after a few hours, levi woke up to the sound of an old voice. " hmmm..."old gray was deep in thought. " in any case, it is a miracle that he is still alive. i will be taking my leave now. " the voice said. Levi slowly opened his eyes. " finally awake, boy?" old gray looked down at levi with a frown. "..." Levi opened his mouth, but no voice came out. " don't try to talk, i don't think you would be able to at the moment anyway." old gray said. " the old physician said that your body is fighting itself, whatever that means. but it should have something to do with that inscription on your body, right?" old gray asked. "!!" levi was shocked. although the tattoo would sometimes become visible, no one other than himself had ever seen it, except the demon saint who was trapped inside his head.
"don't look so surprised, boy. something like that wouldn't escape my eyes. i called it an inscription, but that thing is like an inscription, rune, array and a whole bunch of other things i don't know about. it felt alive, but wasn't living. i don't know what the hell that thing is, but what i do know, is that it was restricting your body." old gray said, as levi listened silently. " i tried to take a look at it's structure with mental energy, but was blocked out. as for why it was restricting your body, only you would know that. i put a restriction inscription on you, to see if it would help with your body rejecting itself. it did, but it doesn't look like the inscription will last long.." old gray said. " also, your dantian was broken." old gray said with a slight bitterness. "..." levi could only stay silent. he now understood why his qi wasn't returning, and why qi just passed through his body. as for his body being restricted and rejecting itself, he had no idea what that meant.
" your side was infected and it had to be drained, sigh, i don't know what you have been up to. missing an arm, broken dantian and some greenish black blood in your side. don't even think about walking until what ever is happening with your body is resolved." old gray shook his head. he didn't know what this boy was doing. didn't he just warn him the other day to respect the strong? which old demon did he piss off to end up in this state? sigh. he could only sigh. swish! he picked Levi up, before appearing in front of the everything guild. he then dissapeared from in front of the everything guild, and appeared in the small tailor's room. puff! a pale silver flame appeared in front of old gray's forehead, as multiple inscriptions lit the small room. on the walls, the floor and ceiling.
the little room trembled slightly, before old gray and levi dissapeared. they appeared in a bright white room. the room had a large white bed, a small white table, a wooden chair with white cushions, and two windows on either side of the bed. old gray put levi onto the soft bed, before looking out the window. it was a bright grassy plane as far as you could see, the only thing other than grass in this place was a tall white tower. " i will bring you food everyday, you should be able to resolve the problem with your body over a period of time." old gray said as he walked back from the window. "...ld...gr..a...y" Levi forced a hoarse voice out, but by the time it came out, old gray was already gone.
he lay unmoving on the bed, thinking about what old gray said about his body. 'the tattoo restricted my body....why? what does this have to do with my current situation?.....dammit! i WILL figure out what is happening to my body! i can't be a cripple when i want to become the strongest!' levi furrowed his brows as he thought. a few hours later and he still couldn't figure anything out.
next day.
old gray brought levi food, and put a new restriction inscription on his body, before leaving again. Levi was still deep in thought. during this time, he decided to try growing out one of his fingernails, but it bulged, became deformed, and grew in all kinds of directions, even stabbing his hand in the process. while all of that was happening, the skin around his hand started to harden, turning a yellowish color. because he tried to grow out his fingernail, the restriction inscription broke, putting him in a very pitiful and dangerous state, as his body started to reject itself again.