Sonya stared at Thane as they left the store. Returning her gaze, he raised an eyebrow at her, "Is there something you want to ask me?"
She shook her head, "This isn't the first time you've done something like this, is it?" Thane smirked, "I would be lying if I said no."
"So why did we go there? Don't tell me you're planning to use those poisons?" Sonya asked, really thinking that Thane might try and poison someone." Snorting, Thane shook his head, "I'm not wasting these on your damn trials. Besides, my methods are beyond your realm of comprehension."
Rolling her eyes, Sonya took Thane's arm as they started to walk again, "Fine, I won't press, but don't take all day. If my hunch is right, you already know how to pickpocket." Thane nodded before his eyes turned to look forward.
A few seconds later, Thane's hand flashed out deftly, lifting a coin purse from the waist of a heavyset man who wouldn't notice he suddenly became a pound lighter. Guiding Sonya into an alley, they separated as Thane tossed her the coin purse, "Here did I pass your stupid test?"
Sonya undid the drawstring and took a look inside, "Nice haul, you got lucky that guy had a few silvers on him." Thane snorted, "I didn't get lucky. I had my eyes on him as soon as we stepped out of the shop."
Sonya believed Thane, and she quickly hid the purse in her bosom, the object disappearing in a matter of seconds. She looked up to see Thane looking at her with a hint of lust behind his gaze.
"Easy there, you can look but no touching. At least...not yet." Sonya teased Thane, causing him to roll his eyes, "Whatever are we done here, or do I have to do another trial?"
Sonya smirked, loving how quickly she was able to get under Thane's skin, "Well, there's one more step, but we have to wait until nightfall. Usually, this part takes all day, but you seem intent on breaking all the norms."
"Does that mean we can go back to the library? I have some testing to do." Thane asked while gesturing at his package from the potions shop. Sonya's eyes narrowed, "That depends who you intend to test them on."
Thane smiled, "Myself, of course." Rolling her eyes again, Sonya looked at Thane as if he had a screw loose.
"What, you don't believe me?" Sonya nodded, "I bet half of those poisons can kill you in one dose." Thane smiled, sensing a challenge, "Alright, how about this? You choose anyone poison from here, and I'll take one dose. If I survive, you tell me how to reach the Mortal Grade of Mana Cultivation."
Sonya scoffed, "Yeah, right, I barely gain anything from that. Try again." Thane thought for a minute before he snapped his fingers, "Okay, try this. I'll take two doses of a poison of your choice. If I die, you get everything on my body. But if I survive, not only will you tell me how to cultivate mana, but you have to supply the materials to do so as well."
Though she was a bit more interested, Sonya still wasn't willing to take the bet, "You may have a few gold coins left, but it's still not an equal exchange."
Grinning, Thane held up his right hand, flashing the simple iron band on his finger, "Do you know what this is?" Sonya shrugged, "A simple iron ring. It can't cost more than three coppers."
Still grinning, Thane lifted his package to Sonya's eye level, "now you see it," then he put it away in his ring, "now you don't."
Sonya's eyes widened as the package disappeared and the hidden inscription on the ring glowed, "A Storage Ring!" Her fingers twitched as she almost lunged for it, 'How the hell did he get his hands on something like that?'
"So what do you say? Do we have a deal?" Sonya controlled herself and nodded, "I agree to your terms, and with the Realms as a witness, I will abide by them."
Thane frowned at her pledge and was about to ask what it was about when a screen popped up in front of him.
[Notice: Start]
You have entered an Agreement with: Sonya Rigellian. Breaking this agreement will incur the wrath of the Realms and automatically grant Sonya Rigellian everything on your person.
You have been warned!
[Notice: End]
Thane's eyes widened, and he glared at Sonya, "You tricked me!" The assassin smirked, "Nonsense, I was just teaching you about Vows. But let's go back to your room so we can get this bet underway."
---
As they walked to Sonya's room, they passed by, and Thane saw Annabelle grabbing her knees as her sweat dripped onto the dirt floor. A Shadow watched her from a few feet away, waiting for her to recover.
Thane couldn't stay as Sonya pulled him along, victory already in her eyes, "You know I'm going to be sad when you die. And Lilith will be pissed when I tell her her new toy died."
Rolling his eyes, Thane sat down on the only chair and took out the poisons, "Here you go, just hurry. I want to get this over with."
"And here I thought you would want to savor the last few hours you have left in this world." Nonetheless, she walked over to the package and unwrapped it before she started to inspect the tiny glass vials filled with different liquids, all different shades of green, brown, or purple.
After a minute, Sonya pulled out the vial containing a bright green viscous liquid, "Here we are, now hurry up and take it."
Ignoring her, Thane took the vial and inspected it before reading the screen that popped up in front of him.
[Notice: Start]
You have found: Unknown Poison
Quality:???
Durability:???
Effects:???
[Notice: End]
Unable to gather more information, Thane gritted his teeth before popping the cork and downing the entire contents of the vial.
The poison was thick as it worked its way down Thane's throat, and it left behind a burning sensation as his throat was scraped raw.
When the poison settled in his stomach, Thane coughed, and the notification telling him he had been poisoned appeared a second later.
[Notice: Start]
Warning! You have been poisoned. You take 25 Poison Damage every 10 minutes for the next 3 hours.
Note: Because of your Poison Resistance, damage from Unknown Poison has been reduced by 5%. You will now take 24 Poison Damage every 10 minutes for the next 3 hours.
[Notice: End]
Thane groaned as he slumped in the chair, "Well, I have three hours of this hell, so you better get comfortable and get my reward ready."
Sonya smirked, "Nice try, I recognize the poison you just took. You can't have more than 120 health. You'll be dead within the hour."
Thane didn't respond, only trying to bear the pain as the poison worked its way through his system.
As he waited, Thane pulled up his stat page to monitor his health. Instead of chunks of health being taken, the red bar slowly trickled down from damage over time.
Closing his eyes, Thane started to breathe through clenched teeth. It was a breathing technique he learned to slow his heart rate if he was ever bleeding out. Luckily it worked for poison as well, as his blood circulation slowed.
After maintaining his breathing for a few minutes, Thane was treated with an unexpected prompt.
[Notice: Start]
Congratulations! You have created the technique: Controlled Breathing(Mortal Grade)-Using this breathing technique allows one to control the rate of blood flow in the body, considerably slowing down the rate of bleeding or the spread of poisons at the cost of 5 Stamina every 10 seconds.
Note: Because of Controlled Breathing, damage taken from Unknown Poison has been reduced by 30%. You now take 17 damage 10 minutes for the next 3 hours.
[Notice: End]
Thane grinned as his breathing became smoother, and his heart rate slowed to an alarming level. Sonya saw the change in his breathing, and her eyes narrowed, 'Still, that poison should finish him off no matter what he does.'
Alternating between using his breathing technique Thane balanced his stamina with his health draining and made it past the first hour with little problem.
However, he was left with 25 health, and his stamina was running low. Sitting up through the pain, Thane reached into his storage ring and pulled out the Uncommon Health potion that would heal him for 200 health points over five minutes.
"Wait a minute. You can't do that!" Sonya suddenly screamed in outrage, making Thane pause, "Why not we agreed that I only have to survive? You didn't specify whether or not I could use healing items."
Sonya bit down on her tongue as she realized Thane was right. With glee in his eyes, Thane took the potion sighing in relief as the pain faded for a second.
Even with the poison ticking away at his health, the potion was able to heal Thane to a hundred percent health-wise. Doing some quick math realized that he still wasn't going to make it even with his technique activated.
Diving into his ring, Thane searched for anything that might help him. Looking at the medicine, Thane grabbed a bottle of beta-blockers and proceeded to take several of the yellow tablets.
A few minutes later, Thane felt his skin goosebump as his heart rate slowed to dangerous levels. The following two hours were torture as Thane contracted hypothermia, and his lips turned purple.
But when the effects of the poison slowly started to fade, Thane began to take deep breaths hoping to excite his heart. On the other hand, Sonya imagined the year's worth of savings she would have to expend to meet her end of the bargain.
Yawning, Thane sat up and was about to tease Sonya when yet another notification appeared.
[Notice: Start]
Poison Body I has evolved into Poison Body II, the following changes have taken place. You now have a 15% Resistance to all poisons. You can now identify all poisons and their ingredients after consuming one dose.
[Notice: End]
Thane's mood was boosted even further as he closed the prompt and turned to Sonya, "I think you owe me some information. Tell me, how do I get to the Mortal Grade of Mana Cultivation?"
Sonya's head dip before she started to murmur, "You need to use a cultivation technique to absorb mana from a source of purified mana. Usually, people use mana crystals that can be found like any other gemstone, but they're rarer and more expensive. There's only one place in the city where you can even find them."
Thane raised his eyebrow, "Oh, and where is this magical place?" Sonya sighed as if remembering a painful memory, "The Blue Wing Auction House, the only people who go there are all traveling merchants or related to the three clans one way or another."
"Well, I look forward to taking you. When is the next auction?" Thane asked while getting up from the chair and stretching, "In two weeks." Sonya replied.
Thane smiled, "It's a date then."
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I'd like to thank my patrons for supporting my dream:
Derrick, Matt Ryan, Osmund Okorie, Joseph Suh, Zack Munson, Siddhartha Steakley, FlameFTW, Judd, kool_aid756, ryofu, Matt Campbell, Vampwalker709, and Hades.