Ciella and I watched over the patient in our care, observing his symptoms closely.
"What do we do San?" Ciella asked worriedly.
"The countdown timer began to countdown from 24:00 hours right? That's practically a whole day. If the entire purpose of this level is to buy time for the one upon whom the debilitating stat has been inflicted upon, there are two possibilities. Possibility one: If we manage to keep our patient alive till the countdown completely runs out, we might be presented with a cure or a clue to finding one at the very least" I reasoned.
"That's good isn't it?" Ciella seemed hopeful.
"The problem is, there's no way for us to know for sure. There is also the possibility that if we don't find a cure within the stipulated time…the patient's condition can suddenly take a turn for the worse and we'll have to replay this level" I said seriously.
"I don't like the sound of that" Ciella said worriedly.
"For starters, I'll scan the patient with the Cancer System. It's the equivalent of a lab test in a real hospital. Next, you can scan your own stats. It appears our abilities and stats reflect our actual ability in the Real World. We can't use my stats as a reference since my body underwent some level of alteration after the ordeal with the Solar Eclipse and rampaging Nightmares. We'll compare your stats against the patient's stats to try and discover what healthy stats generally look like and by doing that seek out anomalies in the patient's body. The Game's Rules never said the skills we've acquired so far can only be applied to NPCs" I said seriously.
Ciella nodded.
While I scanned the patient's stats with the Cancer System, Ciella scanned her own stats. As expected, skills acquired in the game could also be applied to player characters. The patient's parameters were generally between the latter twenties and early forties in terms of readings. Ciella's were roughly between the latter fifties and early seventies. She showed me her stats.
"I see, so these are the average readings for a healthy person. Whoa! Your mental fortitude is between the latter eighties and early nineties! That's some insane mental fortitude" I stared at the readings in surprise.
Ciella laughed nervously as though she were unsure of how to interpret my reaction.
"It's no wonder her MP doesn't deplete quickly" I thought silently.
"So our goal now is to get the patient's parameters to a level where they roughly match mine huh?" Ciella asked.
"That's exactly right" I said and continued to examine the readings.
"It also appears as though the poison continues to diminish the patient's stats. The countdown then should depict the amount of time before the patient's health is completely depleted then right?" Ciella asked.
I nodded.
"If the Cancer System applies to both NPCs and Playable Characters, think it could apply to food too?" Ciella asked.
"Of course" I said and accessed the Cancer System.
I shifted the scanner away from the patient. The moment I did this, all other readings dropped to zero except for 'Mental Fortitude', 'Energy Boost' and 'Vitality'. These were partially raised falling somewhere in the tens to twenties range.
"Hmm, some readings are still active even after the scanner has been shifted away from the patient. Could certain environmental factors play a role in the healing process?" I wondered. "For now, I will inspect our food supply in the storage facilities. Ciella, take care of the patient" I said and walked out of our shelter.
While Ciella watched over our patient, I headed to each storeroom and examined each of our foodstuffs. Leguminous Nuts produced very high readings on the 'Cellular Regeneration' Scale. Grains, Cereals and Tubers produced high readings on the 'Energy Boost' Scale. Oil Producing Nuts produced high readings on the 'Poison Coagulation' and 'Poison Mitigation' Scales. Finally, Fruits and Vegetables produced very high readings on the 'Immunity Boost' Scale as well as balanced readings on the 'Mental Fortitude' and 'Vitality' Scales.
"Hmm…I see" I observed the readings intently and returned to Ciella.
"Here are the readings. I've matched each of them against foodstuffs that produced high readings on a particular recovery parameter" I said.
Ciella laughed and shook her head in amusement.
"What's so funny?" I asked in surprise.
"Seeing you deal with this situation so seriously. It's almost as though you're an actual doctor" Ciella teased.
I laughed.
"That so huh? Well, if you want to become a Dream Knight that specializes in support, this is an event you can't afford to fail" I said with a chuckle.
"I know. So what's your prescription?" Ciella teased.
"A balanced diet" I said. "We must especially prioritize immunity boost by ensuring that the patient eats a lot of fruits and vegetables. We must replace damaged cells through cellular regeneration via foods rich in protein. We must also ensure that the patient does not lose too much energy by supplementing lost energy via lots of foods rich in sugar and starch. Finally, to counter the poison in the patient's system, we must coagulate it via oil producing foods or simply put, oily diets" I said.
"Coagulate?" Ciella asked.
"In fact, it should be one of our first steps to countering the venom. The reason venom is most effective in liquid diets is because of the ability of water to dissolve most substances. In contrast, most products don't dissolve very well in oil but rather coagulate. The oil then becomes a sort of seal keeping the poison trapped. That's why oil is effective against most venomous substances and why a person who prioritizes an oily diet is less likely to be poisoned than one who prioritizes a liquid diet. Once that phase is complete, cellular regeneration and immunity boost via protein filled legumes and vitamin rich fruits and vegetables respectively can commence. Finally, we can restore energy via a starchy diet" I explained to Ciella.
"I see, makes sense" Ciella said.
"A truly balanced diet can cure more ailments than a thousand medications. In fact, resorting to medication when one is not aware of the constitution of the venom can be more fatal than helpful. Take the Coca-Cola/Mentos equation for instance. Both are edible when eaten separately. Mix them and you might brew a lethal concoction. When everything is utilized for the purpose for which it was designed, it is practically harmless. Use it out of context and that's how fatalities occur. This is especially true with edible products. Resorting to medication without knowledge of the constitution of venom can create very hazardous chemical reactions through chemistry" I explained to Ciella.
"So for now, our goal should be to keep our patient alive till the countdown passes and hope his situation stabilizes huh?" Ciella asked.
"Yup, the countdown could mark the period in which the patient remains in a perilous state. It is possible that his situation may stabilize after the countdown passes but we still can't know that for sure" I explained.
"In other words, in situations like these, priority should be given to organic food substances instead of processed ones right?" Ciella asked.
"You get it. Find organic substitutions for inorganic foods that are preferences of the patient" I said with a smirk.