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More than once he had attempted to remove it by himself, but his immortal essence seemed to be unable to interact with it. It behaved as if the substance belonged to the body, and after washing over it, it would simply spread again.

Daniel wanted to use ’Time is Precious’ but he was scared that if he sped up every lengthy process within his body, the poison would spread faster, and by consequence, the effect of the pill would also run out sooner.

A couple of minutes had passed since his last attempt. He was now lying on his bed, and thinking of how he could solve this problem.

"Just use the system.. Idiot." Said Sewah from within his head.

Daniel’s eyes opened in realization as he heard Sewah’s voice.

It had been a long time since he had voluntarily started a quest. His system’s quests were usually long term, and despite how much he relied on the system’s effects like ’Second Chance’ and ’Time is Precious’, he had never relied too much on the system’s quest, as he was always capable of solving his problems by himself.

Unfortunately, this time the problem was out of his capabilities.

"It’s nice to see that whenever you decide to talk to me, you always do it with kind words.." Responded Daniel out loud, as if Sewah was in the room with him.

Met with no response, Daniel focused on a specific thought which caused a window to appear in his mind.

____________________________

*Primary Quest started (Chain): No Time For Poisons*

-Description: Find a cure of the Poison of the Night Blue Thorn.

First objective set: Obtain the heart of a one hundred years old queen dryad.

Reward: Unnamed cure for the Poison of the Night Blue Thorn / (Optional) Partial Poison Immunity / The Poisonous Rose Reputation +75%

Time limit: 1 month

____________________________

"The heart of a one hundred years old queen dryad?.. Where the hell am I supposed to get that?" Muttered Daniel with a hint of annoyance.

Out of his desire of knowing a cure for the poison that had afflicted him, Daniel had created a new primary quest. Apparently, this quest would require him to gather all of the ingredients necessary to purge his body of this poison, but of course, a mission was never that easy.

The very cure of this poison was unnamed, and that suggested that it hadn’t even been discovered by the poison maker itself, or that it had been lost.

If he were to create a cure for one of the poisonous rose’s masters, the poisonous rose itself would have to recognize Daniel’s worth as an alchemist.

The fact that he had been poisoned by them did nothing but reinforce his will to end them once and for all, so, he wasn’t going to let this opportunity to infiltrate them pass him by.

"Sewah, what are my options?"

____________________________

Economic approach

Difficulty: Easy

-Purchase one at the Crimson Shear shop. (200 perfect crystals)

Cooldown: 19 hours, 11 minutes, 1 second.

Time limit: 19 hours, 12 minutes, 23 seconds.

(Requirements: 200 perfect crystals)

Reward: Dark Hound Company reputation -10%

____________________________

Direct approach

Difficulty: Hard

-Defeat the queen dryad that will attack the town of Luton.

(Optional) Save the citizens of Luton from the attack of the dryads.

Countdown: 5 days and 21 hours.

(Requirements: Fifth stage of Immortal cultivation)

Reward: Luton reputation +100% / Region contribution for the Golden Karma company. (Karma 2,500,000)

____________________________

"That’s enough, thanks.." Said Daniel, interrupting Sewah from making more options appear in his mind.

After a good minute, Daniel heard Sewah’s voice in his head once more. It said "Look at that.. People in danger.. But now you’re a businessman, I bet that you’ll probably take the easy road."

"Then you’ve lost." Responded Daniel plainly, shutting Sewah down once and for all.

Aside from needing karma points, Daniel did not want to simply purchase the materials to produce a cure for one simple reason. He knew very well that the group that had poisoned him would follow him, and therefore, he didn’t want them to know what he was up to.

For the next few minutes, Daniel remembered all of the pain that he had felt during that day, and after feeling a faint shiver run down his back, he rested his head over his pillow, and fell asleep almost immediately.

-----

Daniel woke up the next morning, feeling a faint pressure over his chest.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a head of platinum blonde hair rest on his chest, and a thin and pale arm wrapped around his waist.

At some point during the night, Alesia had sneaked into his room, and had fallen asleep next to him.

The moment Daniel woke up, Alesia woke up as well. She looked up at him with her big clear eyes.

"Am I forgiven?" Daniel asked with an apologetic tone.

*Thump* "Urgh.."

In response, Alesia unwrapped her arm from around Daniel’s waist, and hit his abdomen with a good amount of power. Not enough to hurt, but enough for him to forcefully empty his lungs.

Before Daniel could recover, she said "Do you know how stupid that was?.. What if we had lost you.." Her expression was serious, but her eyes were starting to get watery at the idea, and her voice came closer to break at each word she pronounced.

Daniel pressed the palm of his hand gently on her face, then, he moved his head towards her, locking lips the very next moment. "Sorry, I won’t do that again.."

Once Daniel noticed that Alesia had calmed down, he gently pushed her away, and got up from the bed.

"Where are you going?" She asked while looking at him put his clothes back on.

"I have to go look for a map of the region.. We have to make a trip." Responded Daniel before walking out of his room.

In the living room, he found Serf fumbling with a few alchemical instruments.

When Serf noticed him, he stood up, and asked "How are you feeling?"

"I’m alright. I am going out, come with me.. There is something I have to talk to you about." Said Daniel in response.

-----

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Asked Serf, as he and Daniel walked in a busy street in the middle of the capital.

"It’s clear that your family isn’t any random family of alchemists.. And that you are part of the poisonous rose.." Said Daniel with an almost indifferent tone.

Serf showed an apologetic tone, then said "I’m sorry, I should have told you earlier. My family is the one who you’ve been dealing with for the fire essence treasure." Then, almost as if exonerating himself from any idea that Daniel might have had about that, he added "I have had no contacts with them.. I never told them what to offer, or what you wanted.."

"I know, don’t worry." Responded Daniel with as much indifference as before.

"What did you want to ask me then?" Asked Serf with clear relief.

"What can you tell me about this poison?"

Serf thought about it for a good minute, then, he said "It’s called Poison of the Night Blue Thorn.. Created by my great grandmother.. The previous Night Blue Thorn herself. It’s a toxin which attacks the brain, causing it to send the wrong signals to the rest of your body. The two main effects are a simulated state of hypothermia, which causes the blood within your body to focus on your heart.. and the stiffening of the body, to a point where you have difficulties with breathing."

"Is there a cure?" Asked Daniel with a plain tone.

An apologetic expression appeared once again of Serf’s face, which after a few moments explained by saying "There used to be.. But my great grandmother died before she could pass it down. My grandmother was able to find her notes about the poison in one of her diaries, and managed to create a temporary cure.."

"The black pill."

"Exactly." Said Serf through a dispirited face. Daniel could see that he was extremely sorry about the involvement of his family in that matter.

After a minute, Daniel turned to look at Serf, and said "What would happen if somebody that isn’t from the poisonous rose were to find a cure for that poison?"

"That would be an incredible achievement.. The creation of a potent poison is enough to earn a title and a standing for a family, but a poison without an antidote is not viewed well within the poisonous rose.. Just like a bottle without a cap keeps water fine, but if it were to fall, the first to suffer would be the owner."

"Okay, and what if I were to find a cure?" Asked Daniel with curiosity.

Serf turned to look at Daniel with just as much curiosity, then said "Without my grandma’s notes, a sample of the poison, or at the very least one of the black pills.. I think it’s impossible.. But if that were to happen, you would probably gain a huge respect from the poisonous rose.. Not that I would recommend that."

"Why is that?"

"Because then people will try to test your skills.. Do I need to say more?" Said Serf with a matter-of-fact tone.

Serf was right. Poison masters were competitive, and the poison that was specific to one’s family was the pride of the family itself, and the reason why they were part of the poisonous rose to begin with.

Naturally, most families knew how to produce an antidote to their own poison, but if someone were to discover the antidote of a poison that the family itself did not possess, that would mean that the person was at the very least as capable as the creator of the poison itself.

The poisonous rose was now aware of the fact that Daniel had been poisoned, so, if he were to cure himself, it would mean that he had created a cure, since not even the family itself possess it to begin with.

Of course, Daniel did not care about shaming Serf’s family. He might have if they hadn’t poisoned him, but now, they were one of the two powers within the poisonous rose that he wanted to destroy, along with the group to which the old man called the ’transparent thorn’ belonged to.

"You can’t possibly be thinking of creating a cure for the poison of my family, right?" Asked Serf with a hint of doubt.

"I’m certainly not going to let this poison kill me, nor anyone close to me." Responded Daniel with confidence.

Serf shook his head, almost as if convinced that Daniel was about to waste the remaining year of his life in a pointless research.

"Is that why we are looking for a map?" He then asked.

Daniel simply nodded, and said "Yes.. I need the directions for the first ingredient I need for the cure."

-----

Platinum-badged area, inside the room of Serf’s sister.

"Did you tell him that we agreed to his request?" Asked the girl with indifference, while sipping on a glass of pink liquid.

The teacher looked back at her with confusion, then said "Young Miss.. We have poisoned him.. Do you think he would still accept the trade?"

"Do it. If he refuses, I will at least be able to get a portion of the guilt off of myself by blaming Serf pf revealing the secrets of our family to him, he should not feel as rancorous against us if he doesn’t know he’ll die soon." She responded.

The teacher shook his head in disappointment, then left.

On his way out, he couldn’t help but think about what kind of talend would soon be lost due to this spoiled and sadistic girl. For a moment, he found himself hoping that she would be punished like she deserved.

After all, he worked for The Poisonous Rose, and not for her family.