Chapter 190 The Alchemist
Karin used one of her most powerful skills, the outcome of which was the complete freezing of everything around. The corpse of the Spider Queen turned into a statue and immediately collapsed from the weak vibrations, the walls covered with a dense layer of ice as well as Zayne's body.
His cross possessed incredible heat, but it wasn't enough to last even a second against Karin's skill.
"Well, well, look what I had to do to stop you. That's not cool at all." Karin muttered, looking around. Even though no one was likely to enter this cave, she didn't want to draw any extra attention to herself as she had already done so when confronted by Erel.
Karin headed towards Zayne, while the ice beneath her feet crunched as if in freezing winter. Zayne was alive, but he could not move as his mind was engulfed in darkness as if he were in a very deep sleep from which there was no escape.
"Agh... To help you I will have to do this, even though I don't like heat at all." Karin whispered as her ring sparkled. A red crystal appeared between her fingers, radiating intense heat that made her frown.
Karin had been using the ice attribute for a long time, almost all of her skills were related to this element, so a fire was something unpleasant for her, especially when it was so close to her.
Gradually, the ice restraining Zayne began to melt, flowing down in the form of a few drops that gradually turned into thin streams spilling over the ground.
"Argh!!!" Zayne took a deep breath, then his gaze went blank. The sword fell from his hands as well as himself.
Karin caught him gently, clutching him to her as if regretting that she had caused Zayne to hurt himself so badly.
"I guess I should take care of your wounds too, right?" Karin smiled bitterly, looking at the scrapes and cuts covering Zayne's entire body, "However... You're even more to blame for this than I am, so... I want a reward!"
Crackling.
Zayne fell to the ground. A potion appeared in Karin's hand, she opened it but did not pour the healing liquid into Zayne's mouth, instead, she drank the potion herself, then she leaned over, and their lips touched.
She poured all the potion into Zayne's mouth, and his wounds immediately began to heal, the small scratches healed and the wide cuts stopped bleeding. His condition was stable.
"Hehehe, that was pretty nice. I wonder if I just got your first kiss. If so, I'm even glad you wore yourself out like that." Karin smirked, looked up at the exit of the cave and her gaze turned serious.
She couldn't take Zayne back to the Zexiton Academy because then someone would definitely notice her, with him in her arms she wouldn't be able to sneak in covertly.
Crackling.
Karin lifted Zayne off the ground with a deep sigh, "Damn, shouldn't a man carry a lady in his arms? Why am I in this situation..."
...
After an unknown amount of time, as the sun was nearing sunset, Zayne opened his eyes. It took him some time to come to his senses as he felt terrible.
"Fuck... My head is about to explode... What happened to me anyway...?" Zayne complained, holding his forehead, which was as hot as the sun.
He rose from the ground, looked around, and his eyes went wide. He was in the center of an ice cube somewhere in a foggy forest.
'I see... Karin has already left, right? However, I still haven't completed the quest...' Zayne internally muttered before looking up the information about it.
[Moon Knight Encounter - The quest has been updated!]
[This is the second time you have met Karin, however, you have learned nothing about the Shattered Moon Order! Find her again if you get the chance or meet another member of the Shattered Moon Order! Your ring can still show you the way!]
Zayne nodded. He walked over to the ice wall, clenched his fist tightly, and brought it down on the barrier. The cube shattered into small shards, allowing Zayne to step outside.
'Hmm... It wasn't solid at all, if she wanted to protect me from monsters that way, it was risky. That scolopendra must still be here.' Zayne pondered, unaware that Karin had already dealt with who he was thinking of.
The dim sunlight streaming through the dry trees of the misty forest fell on Zayne's face, reminding him of one thing.
He nodded with a serious look, gripped his sword tightly, and headed toward the academy. Though he had expected to merely awaken his sword, he also gained a useful Title and unique combat experience against one of the Shattered Moon Order.
As the sun almost disappeared behind the hills surrounding Zexiton Academy, Zayne reached the main gate.
The golems looked at him with frowning faces, but as soon as he showed the amulet, they smiled broadly, nodded to each other, and opened the gate. Golems didn't always keep the gates closed, but for late hours or while classes were in session, it was necessary.
Zayne headed confidently into the Mirror Room, where he met Solomon.
"Oh, Zayne, where have you been?" Solomon raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Rea was beginning to worry something had happened to you."
Zayne smiled, "I made the short trek to the misty forest to make my sword stronger, it was quite difficult. However, now I am ready to fight Enar again!"
Solomon glanced at his sword and nodded deeply. He could feel the increased strength of the sword as well as the energy that was hidden in the purple runes on the blade.
"Not bad. Whoever gave you this sword definitely appreciates you a lot. Now this weapon is worthy to be in the vault of our academy." Solomon said seriously, with a slight sigh.
Zayne glanced at the blade, staring at his reflection. For a moment, instead of himself, he saw Alden, who was smirking insidiously with narrowed eyes, as usual.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
One of the mirrors shuddered as Rea emerged from it with a tired look.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and muttered, "That was hard, I couldn't improve my time at all."
"Don't worry. You can't move forward all the time, sometimes you have to take a step back to take two steps forward. Everybody goes through that."
"Ughum!" Rea nodded cheerfully, then she noticed Zayne, and her eyes went wide, "Zayne! You're back!"
Zayne shrugged, "I didn't think you'd be so worried about me, but I'm flattered. Anyway, we'll talk later, right now I want to test my strength!"
Solomon and Rea nodded approvingly as Zayne stepped forward. He reached out his hand, about to touch the mirror, but, suddenly his pupils narrowed as he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
"Argh!!!" Zayne spat out a mouthful of blood, looking at his bloody palm with a trembling gaze, which had several tiny ice crystals among the blood.
"Zayne!" Rea exclaimed as she ran up to him with a worried expression.
Solomon frowned, he knew what could have caused such consequences.
"To the alchemy room! Now!" Solomon said sternly, walking out of the Mirror Room.
"But... Father! We must help Zayne!" Rea shouted.
Solomon waved his sleeve, "That's exactly what I'm going to do!"
Zayne and Rea had no choice but to follow him.
A few minutes later they entered a study with many rings, various herbs and materials spread out on shelves and cabinets, everything in its place.
"Father... Are you really going to make a potion?" Rea muttered with confused expression. Her father was one of the strongest mages if firepower was needed, however, he could not be called a good alchemist.
Solomon shook his head, "No, someone else will do it." Solomon headed forward, opening another door that was at the farthest end of the room.
Out came a multitude of smells mixed together, most of them quite unpleasant, so much so that Zayne and Rea had to cover their noses. They couldn't stand it for too long.
In the center of the room, in a chair, sat a man with short black hair and glasses. On his face was an open book since he had been asleep for a long time in his little lab.
"Reeves!" Solomon hailed, as his voice echoed around him, making the flasks tremble slightly.
However, even though Solomon's shout could be heard from another floor, the man did not wake up, he did not seem to hear him at all.
"Ah... Damn, he did it again." Solomon frowned, walked over to Reeves, and pulled out his earplugs, which completely blocked out all sound.
Clap.
Solomon clapped his hands together.
"Arh!!!" Reeves flinched, the book fell to the ground, and he stood up abruptly, not understanding what was happening.
Reeves rubbed his cheek and looked at Solomon, then at Rea and Zayne, "Hey... Did I promise you something? Sorry about that, I overslept. I can't help it." Reeves began to make his excuses right away, though no one understood him.
"No, I don't have any business with you, or rather I didn't." Solomon said calmly, he knew Reeves well.
"Phew... That's good, in that case... What do you want?" Reeves asked as Solomon glanced at Zayne.
"We need to cure him. It's the right job for you."