Who got poisoned? (Kat)

I continue my search for more badgers to hunt. I walk around stealthily, looking for my prey. But this time, no matter how much I search I can't seem to find anything. Confused, I try to think

'Were they all hunted by my teammates?' I tried to look at any traces I can find, or clues maybe of indication that a fight broke out here and there, but nothing. Not even a single dead badger body nor a drop of blood in sight. After a lot of digging, searching, and circling, what I found is subtle quiet cave entrace hidden in plain sight. Not sure how come I have not seen it before since it is literally in full view, but I just somehow missed it.

'Maybe the badgers are hiding inside' I think to myself, trying to brave myself in without knowing for sure what kind of cave it is. I stepped into the cave slowly, expecting it would be dark but to my surprise, it is surprisingly well lit. The inside of the cave is rocky, no ornaments or carving, just simple and plain with lots and lots of rocks. As I venture deeper, I see a chamber-like cavity in the middle of the cave and a small dark pond.

I close the distance and walk to the edge of the small pond. I creased my brows, not sure how or where this small pond's source is but from what I can see, this small pond looks quite deep since I can't exactly see the bottom of it. At first I thought it might be the blurry surface, but after I reach out my hand to scoop out the water I realized the water is actually clear. Clear enough to be compared to the fresh water stream I found just when I entered the portal world.

'Should I take another wash here? It has been awhile indeed, and I think the water here is safe and clean enough,' contemplating whether or not to take a quick dip. Just when I was about to undress, I heard a faint voice. Quickly, I turned my head to the source of sound, thinking it might be another badger or worse- another monsters hiding spot. I walk quietly to an area just behind a pile of huge rocks expecting a fight but instead, there I found 4 human bodies lying on their back.

I gasped and ran closer to them, instantly recognizing the 4 bodies who are my teammates. They lay there weakly, Gaby and Scarlet seems struggling to even breath, while Raphael's body has a green tint on it, whereas Leon look the most decent out of them but you can visibly see how weak he looked.

"What happened? This… poison?" I asked disbelief

"You are the poison master, you should know in a glance" Leon said in with his hoarse voice, looking clearly in pain for even saying a short speech

"An…..tidotes…" Raphael said with his bloodshot eyes, seemingly pleading me

"We were hiding here and waiting for you to complete your 200 kills. We thought after you are done, we can go and exit the portal together. If you die, well, we all killed well over 250, so it should be no problem as the total kill exceed 1,000. Who would have thought you have yet kill 200 and also living and breathing well" Leon forced his thoughts out, enduring his pain

"You...poison master… give us… anti..dotes" Raphael gasp again, pleading

"I need to know what kind of poison it is to be able to give proper antidotes, but here take this, this is the strongest antidotes I have for now" I hurriedly rummage my sling back and take out a couple of vials filled with clear liquid.

Raphael and Leon quickly take a gulp, I slowly force fed it to Gaby and Scarlet who are laying there. At first I was happy since it looked like it worked and their complexion looked somewhat better. They are no longer in pain, but everyone can see the symptoms are still there and not disappearing.

"The water is poisonous" Leon suddenly said, his voice no longer trembling but you can still hear how weak it sounded

"Water? the lake?" I asked

"You must make stronger antidotes, we are not completely healed yet" Raphael chimed in, this time he can now speak full sentence albeit faint.

"I… I can't produce antidotes. My body might be poison resistant and I can produce poison but I am not able to produce antidotes" I murmured, thinking about the possibility of water is poisoned might be because of me

Leon and Raphael looked at me in horror, like their one and only hope has just been robbed.

You'd think it's natural for poison master to be able to counter poison and has a library of healing potions, but in reality, poison masters are usually deathly because they could only produce poisons with no cure. The only one able to do so until now is the 2nd seat of Arcadia Tower, Ivy the Alchemy Master. The famous alchemist that is able to create both poison and antidotes so strong it could heal any poison including her own poison.

"You.. you must have planned this, did you? Wee you the one who poisoned the water? You must have wanted us to die." Raphael looked at me in despair

"What do you mean, I gain zero benefit if you die. I can't even hunt 200 badgers, let alone 1000" I said defensively

"I told you we should have killed her when we had the chance" Raphael looked at Leon, no longer sound weak, but determined

"Did you poison the water?" Leon suddenly ask

"No! At least not here and not purposefully, I did with the small stream when we first entered the portal. I don't know how or why it leads here. Or maybe it does not, and the lake is poisonous in the first place" I answer honestly

"If that is the case then your strongest potion must have worked, but it doesn't, does it?" Raphael snapped back

"Tell us, if one is poisoned by you, what is the cure?" Leon ask trying to stay calm but you can see he is not the most patient man

"The… there is no cure. Before level E, my poison does not kill. It only paralyze and knocked people unconscious" I explain

"Before level E? Well, weren't you just bragged about how you reached level E on the meeting before we enter the portal?" Raphael mocks

"So you are saying after level E, your poison now kill? How convenient" Leon scoffed

I bit my lower lip, feeling guilty. Trying to think of a way to counter my own poison. But no matter what I think, I just can't produce antidotes. Even if I do, I have no idea how to, or what the proper way, or tools needed.

'There is no way I can produce antidotes, I have to somehow mixed a couple of strong antidotes and see how they counter the poisons. Who knows, it might prove useful. Since we don't know the exact poison, this might take some time and a lot of experiments. Hopefully they can endure it for now'