As soon as they left the place. A group of people came to the place as soon as they saw the strange phenomena happening in the forest.
As soon as they arrived, a world of ice appeared in front of them as they looked around.
"There are tracks of man and a wolf who came here! They're probably still here." The older man who was crouching said as he wiped off the snow revealing the footprint of both a man and a small wolf.
Meanwhile, because of the incident that Luna caused, they need to make their way to Armeton by traversing underground.
The people tried to catch up to them but their tracks disappeared in the middle of the forest.
"They knew that we are tracking them that's why they made a measure to ensure that we can't follow them." The old man stated as they walked back to the place where they came from.
At the same time, Luis and Luna emerged from the ground as soon as they got close to Armeton.
The town was surrounded by four hectares of orchards and fields with two hectares for each. The place looked desolate and dead as the orchards and field which supposed to be bearing fruits and crops are all withered and only a handful of people can be seen roaming around the town but they all looked sickly pale like they just forced themselves to get up the bed even though they're feeling worst.
From the distance, Luis saw two old men who are wearing white robes as they came out of a house. They looked scholarly as they opened a book and written something on it. When the old men looked at him, a smirk appeared on their faces.
"Are you lost, little boy? This is not a place for you to play, it's dangerous here. I suggest you should leave before you get infected by the disease spreading here." The old man with a bushy beard ridiculed him.
"You should go home kid, you added in this pandemic will only burden us more." The old man with a long white beard said in a cold tone.
"I am not here to play, I came here to help treat the people of Armeton." Luis retorted as he walked past through them.
"What can a Grade 3 Physician do in this problem that even the kingdom asked for everyone's help?" The white-bearded man reprimanded him.
"At least, even though I know that I'm a low-graded Physician, I know that I can help not like those people who only like to arrogantly show others how good they are even though they didn't even finish what they have started." Luis retorted as he walked past the two elders.
"Bold words for someone who is three grades lower than me." The bushy-bearded man smirked as he walked together with the white-bearded man towards the next house they're examining.
Luis went to a house not too far from where he was. He knocked on the door in front of him three times and when the door opened, he saw a man looking so weak and blisters can be seen on his whole body as he wore nothing but his birthday suit.
"Good day sir, I am a Physician and I am here to ask you some questions regarding the symptoms of the disease around the town." The man looked inside his house to silently ask his family if he should let Luis enter or not.
The woman who is also naked with 2 children lying around her, nodded.
Luis entered and take a look at the man and his family. The man handed out his wrist to Luis.
"What are you doing sir?" Luis asked in confusion.
"You are not the only Physician who looked at us, they all just looked at our energy system, and all of them said that they can't see a problem with us." The man replied as he retracted his arms.
"No, no! I'm different from them because I believe that there are diseases around that aren't caused by energy." Luis responded as he faced the whole family.
"Okay, what do we need to do to help you?" The man asked.
"Just answer my questions truthfully and don't leave a single information slip. Is it okay?" Luis asked them.
"If you say so, nothing will lose from us anyway." The woman answered.
"First, when did you first encounter or saw someone with this disease?" Luis asked.
"It was a week ago, there was a child with the same symptoms as us, he was dead now because of the same disease but they are from the further part of the town." The man answered.
"Okay, when did you think you acquired the disease?"
"Probably, the last two weeks after we came from harvesting." The man answered.
"Did you saw someone with the same symptom back then?" Luis asked.
"No, they all looked healthy to me then."
"Okay next, does it hurt when something touched the blisters?"
"Yes, as if the spot is burning when the blister is popped so we didn't wear anything to avoid the clothes popping them." The woman answered.
"Okay, the last question, can you tell me what are the foods you are eating and where did you get them?"
"We are eating the last rations from the crops and fruits we stocked before everything wilted."
"Would you mind if I take a look at the food?"
"No problem." The man replied.
The man leads Luis to their kitchen and from there he saw the fruits and crops being preserved inside a chest with cooling enchantments.
"There's nothing wrong with these foods. Hmm... How about water? Where did you fetch the water you are drinking?"
"The whole town is getting its water from the Elton River." The man answered as he opened some jars to let Luis examine the water.
"Nothing's wrong with the water too. Hmm... That's all that I need to know, may I ask if I leave a mark on the door so that I can return for further questions?" Luis asked.
The woman nodded as an answer and he placed his Physician's mark on the door of the family.
"Ma'am, can I ask if you know how to weave?" Luis asked the woman.
"Every woman in this town needs to know how to weave." The woman answered.
"Can I ask you to weave clothing for your family using this fiber?" Luis asked as he handed the cotton-like fiber of the tree he got from the tree he dissected.
"But as I told you, clothes will only pop our blisters." The woman replied.
"But the fiber didn't popped the blisters on your hand, see?" Luis responded as he pointed at the fiber which touches the big blisters of the woman on her arms.
"You're right! Thank you for this! We don't need to endure the cold nights anymore!" The woman teared up when she saw a slight light of hope from Luis.
Luis thanked the first family who let him examine them and they thanked him back and bade him farewell. He did the rest to the other families and the same outcome continues as he gets on most of the houses. Some houses refused him because they didn't need to hope for some cure to come. Luis understood and let them be.
"I gathered the information but I can't see where the fault lies," Luis muttered as he looked at all of his findings and find the common ground on where this disease came from.
"So you came here to research, not to cure the people, how reliable of you 3rd Grade Physician?" The bushy-bearded man ridiculed Luis who was sitting beside the Elton River while studying his notes.
"At least I have the information to progress. Unlike some people who only came to check pulses and nothing more." Luis retorted as he continued to study his notes.
He drank a handful of water from the river, he tried to give some to Luna but the wolf pup refused.
"Why? You don't want to drink?" Luis asked Luna.
The wolf pup only growled as it lay down and took a rest.
"You know, this river is sustaining life to a lot of towns close by including the town where I came from, wait..." Luis stopped as he recalled the map Euclepius gave him.
"Elton River runs from Eristreas to Lugiar, Armeton, Liesu, Magnis, and Leflend. Removing Eristreas from the equation, this river first runs from the infected towns. If that's the case, then I got infected just by drinking this water! Damn! Luna, we need to get out of here fast!" Luis immediately packed up his things and ran towards the forest. The two elder Physicians got confused about the young man's reaction but they throw it at the back of their minds as they continued to drink the water.
Luis ran deep inside the forest and stopped when he got near the falls. He quickly made a small tent near it. Inside, he studied every symptom that the disease made.
"This disease causes blisters, make people nauseous, and vomiting. It is transmitted through waters that run from Eristreas to Leflend." Luis pondered as he arranged all of the findings he got.
"Let me double-check if what's in my mind is correct," Luis muttered as he took his Communication Talisman and called Serion.
"Hello, best! How are you there?" Serion greeted.
"Hi! Can I ask if there's an update regarding the disease?" Luis asked.
"Oh yeah! It just came, the Magnis Town reported that they also got signs of the disease." Serion replied.
"I knew it! Thanks, Serion! Oh, and tell Alyssa that I probably can't come back before the fight, I got the disease and I need to find the cure first before I'll go." Luis replied as he cut off the line.
"So, the river really is the cause of this disease. What I need to find now is what kind of disease is this and the possible cure."