A black liquid was given to him. He eyed the liquid suspiciously before he looked at the one who gave it to him and back at the black liquid in the glass tube repeatedly. His grimace couldn't be worse.
"Drink those quickly."
"You must be kidding me."
"Do I look like I am?"
Sora raised an eyebrow while looking down at Michael on the bed with his arms crossed over his chest.
Michael peeked at Leviathan behind Sora, who was watching their interaction before the said vampire snake looked away from him.
"Is this edible?"
"That's what we're going to know. Dunk it in your mouth, or do you want me to help you like usual?"
"What do you mean by like usual?"
Michael squinted his eyes incredulously. Sora shrugged before he smirked.
"How do you think you managed to live until now without food and drink if I didn't shove something down your throat?"
"Woah, woah, what did you do to him when I wasn't here, brat?"
Leviathan started to walk towards them, pushing Sora away from Michael.
"Also, who do you think changes your bandages every day and applies some ointment to prevent infections on your burned skin? You have a severe burn all over your body, even your face. You, being unconscious, had nowhere near the capability to do that by yourself. Do you think your body magically wraps neatly like this?"
"In short, you see him naked every day?"
"Why is that your first question?!"
Michael glared at Leviathan for being too blunt with his wording. He clearly acknowledged that fact when he heard the first line. Obviously, Sora was the one who did all of that, and the last thing he wanted to have shoved in his face was that kind of question.
Sora nodded without hiding before he said something that made Michael's mouth go agape.
"With the light on."
"Did his body really get that damaged? Even until his, er, you know, gets affected too?"
"Why are you so eager to know?"
Leviathan glanced at Michael once before he looked back at Sora with a sympathetic expression.
"I felt sorry for him; he is just too young to lose his function."
'What the hell?'
Michael scowled before he kicked Leviathan, whose back turned to him, making the snake stumble forward and bringing Sora along to fall with him. A yell came from both of the men.
To forget everything he had just now, he shoved the black liquid into his mouth in one big gulp. He closed his eyes tightly and pursed his lips when the liquid fell down his throat like a slimy substance.
'Shit, I thought this flowed like water.'
This liquid has a higher viscosity than water; some of it was glued to his tongue, sending him into horripilation when he could taste the liquid. The taste was complicated to describe, but one word could be used: horrible.
He gagged afterwards, and he gurned. He didn't want to taste it again.
"What horrendous substance did you give me?"
He needed water.
"Get off!"
Sora pushed Leviathan away before he stood up again with a hand behind his head after the uncalled fall just now.
"How do you feel?"
"Repugnant. Do I need to drink something like this again?"
He gave the empty tube back to Sora. Sora touched Michael's chin and tilted the boy's head left to right while humming. After that, he touched Michael's neck to unwrap the bandages around it before he hummed again.
"It's a failure again."
"I guess that means yes."
Sora didn't answer him but looked at the remaining black liquid that was stuck against the tube's wall.
"Do you feel cold, hot, or normal? Perhaps light-headed?"
"Not really. There's no difference I could detect."
Sora hummed again before he eyed his screen.
< Progress: 40% >
< Well done, host! >
"The amount of blood needs to be altered a bit to get a good result, or there is one ingredient I forgot to put in. Perhaps I need to let the liquid ferment a bit more."
Moreover, he needed to think about how Michael got this injury. He has his suspicions, but he just needs to confirm them with Leviathan. He also hadn't had a serious talk with Leviathan regarding Michael yet. He needed to make time for them because, right now, Leviathan seemed to know more about Michael than the owner of the name itself.
'Aura.'
That is the only possible answer. Michael's body was struck by the power of the aura. When an aura inflicts an injury on a body, it will cause permanent damage to the body's owner. No healing potion, healing magic, or meagre divine power could heal the body.
That is one of the reasons why aura is forbidden.
No one has encountered a way to heal an injury caused by an aura yet; maybe it is because of the origin story of the aura itself.
One possible power that can heal that kind of injury is the power of the true saint or saintess. However, no saint or saintess has been born on this continent in the last century.
There is a rumour about their appearance on other continents, but that was hard to discern because of the lack of proof. That's why the use of aura is forbidden; anyone using it without permission or acknowledgement would be beheaded in any country.
"Leviathan, we need to talk."
"About what?"
Sora didn't answer but walked out of the room.
"I'll be back."
Leviathan followed from behind. Sora stopped when they arrived upstairs in his room before he suddenly pinned Leviathan by his neck against the wall. The house shook a bit.
"What is wrong with—?!"
"Who is he?"
Sora put more pressure on his arm that was pressed against Leviathan's neck. Leviathan glared at him.
"Tell me, who is Michael? Or I bet that is not the name you acknowledged?"
"What does his identity have anything to do with you?"
"It does matter when I am going to heal him."
Leviathan's tense body relaxed a bit when he realized something.
"The research you're doing is to heal him."
He didn't get an answer from Sora, but he was certain about that. But why didn't this man tell the truth to Michael, and what was his intention?
"You should know what has caused his injury to not heal after so long. He has been hit by aura; you should know because the vampire snake clan was closely related to an aura user."
"Your knowledge is beyond my expectations, brat."
"Besides, the vampire snake clan was not attracted to anyone just like that. You guys would merely drink special blood. Blood from an aura user."
Leviathan smirked.
"Michael is an aura user. Possibly, you make him an aura user, which I don't know the reason behind, and I don't care."
Sora leaned closer.
"Now tell me, what happened to him? An aura user attacked an aura user, which is uncommon except if he is someone important or there is a bounty on his head."
Leviathan hissed.
"He was just a kid—maybe 12 when I met him. Thus, the latter option was not possible. Tell me, who is he, and what happened to him?"
"Clearly, none of your concerns are mine, and I have the right not to tell you about Kiddo."
Sora scowled.
"One thing I could say is that I don't have any inkling as to how he ended up in this state. I was not there with him, and he was suddenly out of my reach when I came to look for him. Rumours were going around, but I don't know the full extent of the situation he was caught in."
Leviathan pushed Sora away from him with force.
"I searched for him for years until a few days ago, when I could feel a connection with him again. Who would have expected he was unconscious all this time and ended up in an isolated place where I couldn't get in?"
Leviathan stepped forward and pointed his finger at Sora.
"You should be the one who tells me. My distrust towards you was already clear as crystal for you to feel. Who are you? How did you find him? What is your intention in healing him?"
Sora and Leviathan stared at each other.
"I have no intention of telling you anything."
"Good, me neither. However,"
Leviathan pushed his finger against Sora's chest.
"When I feel any ill intention from you towards the kid, your head is mine. Kiddo put his trust in you right now, so be grateful that you won't need to sleep with one eye open every night."
Sora smirked.
"I wouldn't keep him with me for years if I discarded him just like that. I can't let an injured kid stay with a bloodsucker anyway."
He slapped Leviathan's hand away.
"The part about healing him is true; now I know what the last ingredient I need to add is."
A genuine confusion bloomed on the vampire's face.
"I need to be out for a moment. Take care of him."
"Don't state the obvious."