Poisoned

Dragging his body between the rocks of the lake as stealthily as he could and Oliver threw himself against one of the fallen trunks.

His vision blurred and pain burned in his chest as if hot coals had been spilled over it.

"Hell! This venom..."

His mind was still clouded by exhaustion and something told him that the venom was also doing its work. He began to think, recalling all the herbs he had gathered, but nothing made sense.

"The Blood Rose must be clogged with snake blood, even with its healing property, it's too risky."

"The Ember Mint is a good bet, but healing without removing the toxin would be my death!"

"The nuts... They're tannins... Antimicrobial... Would that help? No..."

"So, I'm dead? All this effort to survive will be for nothing?"

His mind buzzed and his body slowly began losing warmth. He felt his arms go numb and his breathing lose rhythm. His heart was no longer a blazing furnace and only dim embers remained.

Just as his hope was fading, a voice echoed in his mind, the same sentence he had once spoken, but in a very ancient voice.

"Venomous snakes produce enzymes in the stomach that can break down venom molecules, so they don't poison themselves if they ingest their own venom."

His mind clung to that ancient voice, and his awareness latched onto its final thread of hope.

"If I'm going to die... Then at least I'll die trying!"

He crawled straight to the body of that cursed snake he had hidden in, its scales weren't albino, but it should be the same species. At least that was his hope.

With a bit of remaining strength, he plunged the blade right into its abdomen and began ripping through its flesh, searching for its stomach. Blood sprayed all over his skin, and anyone seeing Oliver in this state would think he was some kind of wild animal.

He finally found the creature's huge stomach and reached into his pocket. His old companion, the half-hollow rock, was there. With his body clearly shutting down, he pierced the stomach and collected its gastric juice.

"A bit more... Just a bit more..."

All he could think about was begging for a few more seconds of consciousness and life. At that moment, his entire faith rested on this gamble.

His fine motor control was nearly gone, and he barely managed to crush a few nuts. He tossed them, shells and all, into the hollow rock and mixed the liquid with his own fingers.

Time seemed to move in slow motion, and very slowly, the liquid began to change color. A greenish-blue luminescence formed. Anyone from the 21st century would think it was radioactive.

Oliver could barely stop and himself from drinking the unguent before using the Scanner.

[Unguent Rank – 1]

[Weak acidic and neutralizing properties...]

"Screw it!"

He threw the whole unguent down his throat and felt like lava was corroding his insides. His body began convulsing. The pain snapped his senses back, terrible news. Now all the accumulated damage was collecting its price.

The worst pain he had ever felt before the apocalypse was a cool breeze compared to the hell burning through his flesh.

Bip!

A notification appeared, but while gathering all his mental strength not to scream and alert the damn white snake, Oliver ignored it.

"This won't work... This acid is going to kill me!"

His hands twisted in agony, but he still managed to grab the Ember Mint and throw it into his mouth. There was no time to make an unguent with it, and all he could do was pray its healing properties would undo the acid's damage.

The freshness took over the roof of his mouth and he stopped convulsing, but didn't relax. Another hell blazed inside his body and imaginary embers raced through him.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Oliver clenched his teeth and screamed inside his mind. He wouldn't give that cursed snake the pleasure of waking up and seeing him like this.

"I hate snakes!"

Slowly, the infernal heat faded and his soaked body fell against the stone floor. Strong, icy winds whipped his body and energy began to overflow through every cell.

Bip! Bip!

Notifications popped on his forearm and snapped him out of his daze.

[Analyzing acquired data...]

[Saturation: 5% → 25%]

[Combat: 15 → 24]

Oliver tried to get up, but as soon as he stood, the world felt different and everything spun. His body felt strange and his center of gravity seemed altered.

Pushing that thought away and remembering to tear off a good piece of meat from the cursed snake beside him, he headed anywhere away from the blood lake.

With every step, he noticed something had changed. The night was cold. Cold enough to wear his trusty jacket, but it was still tied around his waist.

His breathing was steady and most of the wounds from the fight had healed. In a forest like this, any branch can slice your flesh, and crawling across the ground to avoid being eaten alive isn't the best way to protect your skin.

"At least I'm alive and stronger... And my team? Are they alive?"

For the first time, Oliver realized he was calling that group his team... A chill filled his heart and his eyes welled up.

It took a long time before he spotted, in the distance, a very thick tree with a hollow trunk. He didn't hesitate to check if it had an occupant, and once confirmed it didn't, he gathered branches and bushes to cover the entrance.

His body began to shut down the moment he leaned against the cold, damp wood. This had been the most dangerous day of his life, and his instincts told him this was just the beginning.

"Initialization, huh... So all this hell is just the start?"

His mind didn't allow itself to wander anymore, and finally, Oliver passed out.