Chapter 13 mana poison
Azek's pupils dilated.
A dreadful sensation overtook his body. His senses blared warnings nonstop.
The eyeball suddenly vanished from his sight.
He searched around frantically—
—and suddenly it was right in front of him.
It was looking staright into his eyes.
Azek felt something.
like a mocking expression the eyeball squinted.
black smoke started rising from it.
"Azekkkkk!"
Edrin called out.
Azek didn't have time to look back. A crushing heaviness washed over him. The pupil-less eye began fading.
Azek gasped for breath.
It felt as if his entire body was screaming, burning from its roots.
"Azekkk!"
Edrin crossed the distance and stepped in front of him.
"Get it together!"
He grabbed Azek's shoulders and shook him hard.
Azek was trying to grasp something invisible with trembling hands, his eyes unfocused.
Crack.
A sharp slap resounded. Azek's cheek burned.
Mathew stared at him—he still wasn't in his senses.
Another tight slap.
"Get your shit together, Azek!"
He nearly shrieked, gripping his collar.
Azek's eyes finally regained focus.
He immediately released the mana spell.
The crushing sensation still overwhelmed him, but it became bearable once he cut off the spell.
Edrin and Mathew supported him by the arms and hurried toward the infirmary.
Sevile looked toward the door questioningly as they entered.
Edrin and Mathew still held Azek upright.
"He was on the verge of collapse, so we brought him here."
Azek's cheek burned red, but the pain helped him steady himself.
"Lay him down," Sevile gestured, already busy examining another student.
Azek lay down on the bed.
A few professors entered the infirmary after receiving the news, and both Mathew and Edrin were ushered outside.
A person in a lab coat with a gentle expression approached him and slowly began injecting mana into his hand.
Azek drifted to sleep.
After what felt like fifteen minutes, he woke again.
He was still on the infirmary bed, now completely surrounded by curtains.
Muffled whispers sounded nearby.
"Sevile," a female voice interjected, "you know it's getting out of hand. We have to take action."
"I know. The principal has already made his decision."
The voices faded into silence.
Azek slowly lifted his hand and pressed it against his chest.
The heavy sensation was concentrated there now. He could breathe, but a suffocating pressure stirred inside him.
He knew.
He had been contaminated with mana poison.
But I didn't lose consciousness. I didn't show any other symptoms.
He examined his limbs and torso—completely devoid of any visible signs.
He sat up slowly.
Mana poison was released from monster corpses. Any lifeform that came into contact with it gradually lost vitality. Border areas were designated for monster extermination, and the Church had deployed personnel to erect protective barriers to contain the contamination.
Those who fought on the front lines underwent purification upon return and carried protective amulets at all times.
Once the poison settled, there was no cure.
The infected had to be disposed of immediately—regardless of rank or authority.
Azek turned to his right.
He could hear faint breathing from the adjacent bed.
Slowly, he stood and stepped toward it.
When he pulled the curtain aside—
A horrifying sight greeted him.
It was the male student found unconscious the previous night.
His entire body was swollen and burned.
Black veins bulged and burst beneath his skin. No area was spared—his lips, even the soles of his feet, were covered in dark blisters.
A bloody, rotting stench invaded Azek's senses.
He staggered to the side bucket and retched.
"Ha—ha—"
He gasped for air.
Azek returned to his bed and sat there blankly.
Less than forty-eight hours had passed, and the student's body was already beyond recovery.
Death was the only outcome.
He hadn't experienced the sensation called death.
Even when he came into this world it was like a supernatural body experience.
But he had seen many of his loved ones going ahead to afterlife.
And it always left him empty inside.
Azek stared at his own hands.
They looked completely normal.
I have to find what's wrong. Otherwise, there's no saving me.
He forced himself to calm down.
Slowly.
Steadily.
He regained focus.
A mana thread extended from his hands.
He closed his eyes.
And focused on his inner mana circle.
A very thin, nearly invisible thread originated from the mana circle near his heart.
He concentrated harder.
A little more—
He sensed the origin clearly.
There was a black, smoky, blood-like mass entangling his mana circle.
Azek severed the connection and took slow, deep breaths.
It was only a single invisible thread—yet it already burdened his body.
After a few minutes, he tried again.
This time, he sensed the mana more clearly.
After an hour, Azek discovered something.
The black mana mass had grown larger.