Time went by, waiting for Aurea's fever to subside.
Initially, both Unseens thought it would last an hour or less, given Phoenix's splendid healing Ability. Two hours later, they were forced to swallow their words.
Not only didn't the fever stop, it actually increased, making Aurea take long deep breaths and splash some cold water every few minutes. Her entire body shivered uncontrollably and her hands were freezing and sweaty.
"Let's eat here and rest. Hopefully, by tomorrow it'll disappear." Zenon said while getting up.
Aurea also tried to get up, but even sitting made her extremely dizzy, so she could only lie down while summoning her sack. Zenon began taking vines from the ceiling and floor and prepared a small campfire which he quickly ignited.
He was thoughtful of Aurea's poor condition and made a campfire on the opposite corner of the cave.
"I hope the heat isn't too much for you." Zenon said while sitting beside Aurea.
The girl remained silent, focused on her breathing. If her thoughts wandered just for a second, massive nausea would wash over her body and perhaps make her puke.
Her neck warmer was soaked already from all the sweat and water, and no matter what Zenon did, the clothes refused to dry up.
"This… this is no, hah… no normal fever." Aurea muttered, grabbing Zenon's attention, "This isn't normal…"
Phoenix appeared on her shoulder, summoned by Aurea. The bird looked at her confused since he healed her some minutes ago. Aurea looked at him and said,
"Can you perhaps… search for any venom?" She asked.
Phoenix nodded, making Zenon frown as he said, "He can search for poison as well? Talk about a versatile healer."
While the majestic white bird was looking carefully at Aurea's body, the girl looked at Zenon with tired eyes and muttered,
"You know how… all of this could've been avoided right?"
"I know." Zenon sighed, "No need to remind me."
"You just need to learn… that's all."
Both Unseens remained silent for the time being. Zenon tried to think of anything that wouldn't trace back to Aurea's condition, as that slim sense of guilt was still assaulting him.
He was human after all!
Like it or not, Aurea was making such an outstanding effort to help Zenon train his skills and set a good foundation for any other art involving swords and similar.
If she were to get wounded because of his incompetence - nonetheless - Zenon couldn't just brush it off as her fault. Even if he found it somewhat humiliating to be helped by someone else, he knew that sometimes it was the right thing to do.
Perhaps living inside the outskirts by himself, at the mere age of eight, and succeeding in surviving on his own boosted his ego. If he could achieve it alone, why would he need anyone else?
'And I ended up thinking about it…' Zenon sighed before peeking at Aurea.
Phoenix was carefully analyzing Aurea's body. His Ability was something still unknown to Zenon. The general idea was healing the body, may it be because of a wound or a poison.
But the way he can use his wings to heal… it just felt extremely strange. Since Aurea had a Sound Element it meant that her Familiar also used this Element to heal, but how can Sound heal?
Eventually, Phoenix stopped looking so closely at her pale body, making Aurea's eyes glow in expectation. Phoenix gave his usual "Eeeee!", which made Aurea frown.
"As expected… poison."
Zenon blinked twice and said, "Just like that? He looks at your body for a while then suddenly knows what's wrong. I'm curious about his healing Ability though."
"Sound is all about waves… very easily manipulated waves. The slightest change can be obvious… in front of a Sound Whisperer and Familiar."
'That's… another thing to worry about.'
Zenon got up to check on the meat, and since it was already cooked he took all three chunks and gave one to Aurea. He left one on the ground for Leviathan and Phoenix, who wasted no second on devouring.
Aurea was the first one to finish eating and said, "I'm hitting the sack. We'll continue tomorrow…"
Zenon watched as she lay on the ground while still breathing heavily. It was the first time he has seen Aurea in such a state since most of the time she would just swallow the pain up.
Whatever poison was inside her body, it came from those mushrooms… the Frenzied Fungi. Now fighting them would be harder… unless Aurea can give her everything in case a battle breaks off.
Finishing his chunk, Zenon also prepared himself to sleep. The Shifting occurred some hours ago, so it was probably still daytime, but it's not like it mattered inside the caves.
He just prayed for Aurea to wake up healthier…
—
[You have slain a Second-Rank Instinctual: Frenzied Fungi]
[You have slain a Second…]
[Void Sacrifices: 99/1500]
A week went by, just like that. And sadly, Aurea's condition was not improving.
For a second, Zenon thought that she was nearing death, based on how weak she would become after three or four quick battles. Because those three or four battles occurred more than once.
This week Zenon managed to kill four more Fungi Mothers and around seventeen more Frenzied Fungi. Aurea managed to kill a Fungi Mother and around eight Frenzied Fungi, surprisingly.
Though right now… she was once again kneeling while panting heavily, using her shield as support. Following the new-made tradition, Zenon put her arm around his neck and lifted her up.
"Can you last another Link? We can stop now if it's too unbearable."
Aurea, still breathing heavily, managed to mumble, "Stop…" which made Zenon call Leviathan to lead the way again.
As bad as her condition was, Phoenix had already reassured - multiple times - that it wouldn't kill her. It seemed like the poison was slowly going away with time since the peak of its effect was already long gone.
Though this time, it seemed like they'd be enjoying a more relaxing experience since Leviathan managed to find a perfect hiding spot with some natural pools.
This information was a good enough reward for challenging three Links on the same day. It was tough and time-consuming, but somehow Aurea managed to pull it off.
She surprised Zenon a lot.
After some minutes of walking, Aurea and Zenon arrived at the cave Leviathan found, and were honestly surprised by how spacious it was.
They couldn't help but smile, because after some weeks inside the First Layer, they could finally enjoy the luxury of properly relaxing.