The scenery is changing swiftly, but I can tell it isn't fast enough. I'm over Sapheir's shoulder, carried like a sack of potatoes as it's the most secure grip he could have on me and still be able to sprint.
'I should be thankful for Verei's short stature to be so easily carried. Maybe it's a good thing I haven't gotten armor yet, else I would've been heavier. Though it probably would've helped defend me against that pointy spear, I can't turn back time.'
The poison still hurts like hell, but my lungs have been exhausted. I don't know how I haven't passed out yet, but my sense of time has definitely dwindled.
Floris is only a few meters behind us, exhausted because he's been trying to keep up while carrying my equipment. Not complaining considering it's everything I own, but he was overly stubborn about leaving it behind. Still, it's heavy, and it didn't help that he had so little stamina but if he questioned the idea of going on a morning jog before, this should be a great example of why he should work out more.
'At least he used some rope to tie it to his back or he would be tripping more often. I'm thankful he didn't leave them behind, even when it's making the jog more difficult on him.'
Jikani ran ahead to get someone with medical skills to meet us halfway, leaving Floris to act as our main defense in case a wolf or hobgoblin somehow circled around us.
Though if we did run into a Hobgoblin, that would be a tougher time than any of us are willing to admit. Even if it were just a single wolf, it would slow us down by too much. Maybe even ruin everything if I was declared worthy prey.
'But I doubt it would be able to eat me without being poisoned too. If my instincts were telling me to never let it touch my skin, I could guess that a wolf would feel the same.'
All these empty thoughts I'm having in order to ignore the pain taking over honestly wasn't helping. I want to get my mind off this pain but the questions I never wanted to be answered have been coming through, have been resurfacing every few minutes.
'What will happen to me if one body dies?'
--------
It felt like an eternity despite only flipping fewer pages than the number of eyes on me. But I shouldn't be too harsh, the Royal Knight is trying his best, reading every title he can as quickly as he can till I say otherwise, till I heard him say the words, "Recovery Point."
Life sprung through me as I heard them, screaming out every word I could as quickly as I could. "YES...! Read incan...tation!"
I only need to repeat the words he gives me and concentrate the mana. I don't know how much I need to put in but that shouldn't be a problem because every page in that book has been an incantation Veda has been able to cast so far, so why wouldn't this one too?
It doesn't matter if I can't read it myself, even a blind person could use incantations if they have enough mana and compatibility. The target is myself too so I don't have to worry about sight but if the amount of mana is high then I will just throw in everything I can, every ounce Veda has to ensure it activates.
Hearing him speak the incantation, I repeat them in as stable a tone as I can manage.
[[Fix the body... fix the mind... return it back to the way it... was...! Make the body whole again for... they... are not yet dead!]]
With the incantation spoken, a gentle glow surrounds me, and the blood on my body and on the ground steadily crawls back to its rightful place inside. The shards of glass are gently shoved off the skin as I steadily return to the way I came into this garden, before I had crushed the cup in my hand and slammed the glass table.
Though the cup doesn't get fixed back in place or the table repair itself, it is a good enough sign for it to no longer be in my skin.
The room grew silent as the light steadily dissipated, everyone held their breath, waiting to see if I'd recovered. But, regrettably, the pain from the poison is still there. 'I can't cast magic on my other unless I'm there directly.'
This leads to me slamming my fist on the stone pavement in frustration while still holding my shoulder, the faces of those nearby becoming more worried than before as I try to think of what I can do.
--------
I look at the wound on my shoulder and notice green veins have spread out from beyond the patch of cloth meant to hide the cut. 'Not a good sign. The poison is accumulating into my bloodstream and will spread out before long.'
The Frozen Sapphire members are all trying their hardest to save me despite being both physically and mentally exhausted by what could be assumed was their first-ever assassination attempt.
'Not that I know if attempts had been made on my life before or not but I will just assume so.'
No worries though, death is only seeping closer and closer with every step Sapheir makes in my stead. And Floris is looking like he will drop all of my gear if he doesn't... Wait...
"Sapheir..." I speak up. "Stop for a minute."
He was so shocked to hear that he almost stumbled. "What?! Why?!"
"Trust me."
He was hesitant but followed my request and slowed to a stop. Floris is confused as he catches up to us, speaking in short breaths. "Something... wrong?!"
I stare at Floris as I try pushing aside the pain to tell him the plan that could save my life. "I need you to try casting a spell on me. It might have been a while but... It should be right."
"Huh? But that's not how...!"
"I've heard my grandfather's lessons given to my sister. You only need... compatibility, the words, mana, and eyes on the target... You have the... affinity for healing magic, a high mana capacity... I have the words, and... you have eyes on me. You CAN do it..."
He's visibly shaking, but my words and the backing of my grandfather appear to work as he grips his resolve. "I will try."
With it decided, I was put leaning on a tree in order to both coach Floris and give him a good view of me without Sapheir being in the way. I make every word count, coaching him once more to try and help him strengthen that resolve one last time. "Look at who you want to cure, poor mana into your words, and know what you wish for... Now... repeat after me."
Floris swallows a lot of his own saliva, takes one last deep breath, and proceeds to speak the incantation of the high-level healing spell of the time variety, one he has never heard of before but repeats to the best of his ability.
[[Fix the body, fix the mind, return it back to the way it was! Make the body whole again for they are not yet dead!]]
As the gentle glow came off his body to surround me, the green veins began receding to the wound's opening under the cloth, the green liquid that once entered my body could be felt pushing out onto the cloth as the wound it had once entered was now closed. I quickly take off the bandage to make sure the poison doesn't remain in contact with my skin, for the first time in a long set of minutes, I breathed normally.
Both Sapheir and Floris collapse in relief.
"I'm glad that I was able to..." Floris tries to say before falling unconscious due to the effect of using up all his mana.
I couldn't help but laugh as much as I could, relishing the fact I was still alive. "Yeah, you did...ama..." But that celebration was cut short as I collapsed right after.
Enduring the painstaking poison that passed through my veins for all that time was too much, despite the sun in the sky having barely moved an inch.
--------
Thanks to Floris, I was able to stop the poison in Verei, releasing Veda from that same pain.
As everyone saw I was no longer shaking in pain, everyone was able to breathe again. But there are some still worried because of the laps in time it took for the healing spell's effects to 'kick in'. But that should fade away after some time.
"Thank..." Just as I was about to stand, I immediately began falling to the side only to be caught by the Royal Knight who retrieved the book and flipped the pages.
My mind, however, still went blank as my eyesight went dark.