READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 56: Try this.
"Am… am I gonna be okay?" Alexander asked worriedly.
Zara turned to look at Alexander with a smile, her gaze softening. "You shouldn't worry… Malla is… very passionate." She said with a reassuring hand on Alexander's shoulder.
Alexander still had an uncertain expression, his mind still wrapping around the new influx of information.
Mana nodes, he had never heard of such a thing before, in fact, his mother hadn't even mentioned something remotely similar to such things.
But the more shocking revelation was that his mana nodes were somehow blocked…
Could that have been the reason he found it so difficult to use world energy?
The questions were endless and the only person with answers was Malla, who was currently rushing around the next room gathering various ingredients and equipment.
What have I gotten myself into…
It wasn't long before Malla returned with an armful of supplies that included Intricate glasses and strange crystals.
Malla's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and excitement. "Alright Alexander," she said, placing her items onto the table, "I have extremely good news, and really… extremely bad news."
Alexander's brows immediately furrowed upon there was potentially bad news. "Uhm, bad news?" He asked curiously, "What kind of bad news?"
Malla chuckled as she grabbed a small stone bowl and placed a deep red crystal within it. "Bad news first huh?" She asked with a nod, "Well, there is a solution to your low mana problem, but the process is… how do you say… extremely excruciating."
Alexander blinked in disbelief as his eyes widened. "Excruciating?" He repeated under his breath.
Malla nodded as she placed the final ingredient in the stone bowl, and began to crush them together into a fine powder. "Oh yes, most people who've had this treatment described it as being stabbed all over with thin knives," she then paused, her expression becoming slightly displeased "mixed with… difficult bowel movements."
Alexander grimaced at Malla's blunt description, clearly not attracted to the side effects of the potential 'cure'. "Difficult bowel movements, you seem way too happy about this." He muttered, grabbing at his stomach.
Zara giggled as her tail wrapped around his hand reassuringly. she said in her native demon tongue.
Malla chuckled,
Alexander watched as the reddish blue powder trickled into the cup, scrunching his face at the mere thought of what could happen to him if he consumed it.
I wonder if the good news would make consuming that crap worth it.
"S-so," Alexander stammered, "what's the good news, I mean it's gotta be amazing right, you know to balance out popping my pants?"
Malla chuckled heartily as she left the room, "Indeed it is young Alexander!" She exclaimed enthusiastically as she scooped a cup of boiling water from the pot on the fire.
She used a thick hand-woven mitt to handle the hot water, carefully bringing it back to the table. "You see, if this works, not only would you gain access to you full mana node system, but if my theory is correct, you could become far, far more powerful than even an elder guard!"
What?!?
Alexander leaned forward as a spark of enthusiasm began to stir within him. "Seriously!" He shouted excitedly, an image of a large elder guard floating in his mind.
If the elder guards were trusted to protect the demon chief, then surely they were far more powerful than your average Joe.
Malla nodded firmly as she took off her wooden mitt and grabbed the cup full of powder. "Oh, I'm certain of it." She said determinedly, "You see, your nodes are small, meaning that under normal circumstances you would have a small pool of mana." She explained, carefully pouring the powder into the steaming water.
"However, there was a complication, where you developed the ability to use mana early in life, far earlier than typical. I believe this early mana development overwhelmed your small nodes, and it became somewhat bagged up."
Malla finished pouring the powder into the steaming water and was now reaching for a thin wooden stick to stir. "Under normal circumstances, this would've greatly limited your ability to use mana, almost to the point of being impossible, yet from what I hear you can still use it." She said with a grin. "And that means, there's still a solid mana flow…."
Alexander leaned further forward, completely drawn into Malla's explanation. "Uh huh…" he said with a nod.
Malla stopped stirring the water, which was now a deep reddish color.
She looked Alexander directly in the eyes, her expression confident. "I think… that you have more nodes than what's typical, so many in fact, that though the majority of them are blocked, you can still pull small amounts of mana from all of them…"
"… it adds up, right?" Alexander said, finishing Malla's sentence.
Malla nodded as she pushed the hot cup of red liquid toward Alexander, "yes, so imagine what would happen if they were all suddenly unblocked?"
Alexander's gaze fell upon the cup in front of him, the hot steam hitting his face.
He now realized why Malla had been so enthusiastic, this wasn't just fixing blocked nodes, this could change his life entirely…
Gulping audibly, Alexander gave a quick glance over at Zara, who looked over his shoulder into the cup.
Her tail swayed and flicked curiously, "are you… going to drink?" She asked curiously.
"I don't know." Alexander answered, before turning his gaze back towards Malla, "Are you sure this will work?" He asked, his voice wavering slightly.
Malla's expression softened slightly as she nodded. "The medicine itself has worked for the past twenty patients I've had in my lifetime." She answered, "There's nothing to worry about, I promise."
Alexander let out a long sigh as a faint grin crossed his lips.
This was it, this was the choice that could change his life forever.
He could either continue down the path of self-destruction and ultimately death against the war hound…
Or, he could drink this mystery medicine, and unlock abilities he never had access to.
At the cost of severe pain and agony.
It didn't take long for Alexander to come to what was the obvious conclusion.
He took a long breath as he slowly reached out his hand for the hot cup of red liquid.
His hands trembled as his fingers wrapped around the cup.
He swallowed hard as he brought the hot cup to his lips, the heat radiating against his skin as the scent of earth filled his nostrils.
Life will be mine to command, starting right… now.
Without hesitating any further, Alexander tilted the cup towards his lips and began to down the hot liquid, which burned as it traveled down his throat.
There was a bitter aftertaste as he downed the last sips of the liquid.
He then set the cup down and he let off a deep sigh. "Alright, here we go!" He exclaimed as he tightened his fists and closed his eyes.
A short pause of intense silence passed by, yet nothing happened.
What followed was quiet snickering from Malla.
Confused, Alexander opened one of his eyes as he peaked at Malla. "Something wrong?" He asked.
Malla shook her head. "No," she said, attempting to stifle a laugh, "just uhm, prepare to brace for about ten… twenty minutes."
Alexander rose an eyebrow, "what–"
Zara then giggled, "Ahh, because… that's how long it takes!" She said with a smile.
Alexander blinked in disbelief. "Awe what?"
Malla nodded. "Yeah, you didn't think it was immediate did you?" She teased before her expression turned serious. "But If I were you, I'd get real comfortable right about now, because when it hits… you'll be blindsided."
Alexander slowly leaned back in his seat.
Fuck…
— — —
While Alexander was worriedly waiting for the worst, several pathfinders were searching not for him, but for Lieutenant Antoinette, who was to lead one of the platoons searching for Alexander.
Unfortunately for the pathfinders, Antoinette was in a spot she was sure not to be found for a while, and the reason was simple.
She was spending a relaxing evening with Ben.
"You know, sometimes I wonder why I even pursued you," Ben whispered into Antoinette's ear. "You were far out of my league."
Antoinette, who was sitting in Ben's lap, chuckled as she pushed her head against Ben's neck. "Mhmm, I was curious about that." She replied.
"I mean being a lieutenant in the Nova Pathfinder core, I fully expected to be single my entire career." She answered, placing Ben's hands around her waist.
Ben smirked, "So then, why did you give me a chance?" He asked curiously, "I mean, you could've kept walking."
Antoinette shrugged as she settled against Ben, "I don't why I entertained your advances, I guess…" her expression turned thoughtful, "I guess I was curious, that some young idiot really tried his luck… I wanted to see where it would go."
Ben chuckled as he rubbed Antoinette's stomach. "And now?"
"Hmm, now what?" Antoinette asked teasingly.
Ben blushed. "And now what do you think about us?" he asked softly.
Antoinette smiled. "I'm happy." She replied.
Ben's blush deepened. "No… I… I mean our relationship, you know?"
Antoinette's eyes opened as her cheeks grew hot. "Uhm…. W-well…"
Unfortunately for Ben, just before she could answer, the sound of footsteps began approaching from a distance.
Ben turned around as Antoinette hurriedly rose out of Ben's lap.