Chapter 23: Chapter 23: The Mysterious Sickness
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After selecting the Rogue Class, I felt noticeably lighter on my feet. When I tested the two new Skills, they seemed quite intriguing. Apparently, because I am a Divine Dragon, the simple class had been adjusted to match my power—including its skills.
The Knife Throwing Skill normally enhances accuracy and damage when throwing knives. At my level, however, the knives could be created instantly from my divine magic power. So far, I had managed to produce Harmony Knives that glow with white and golden light, as well as Chaos Knives, which were pitch black and surrounded by purple energy with glowing red eyes.
Both had different effects, though I had no suitable target to practice on. That might change soon. As I slept, I woke up once more in the Ice Dragon Realm.
I visited this place whenever I appeared here by accident. Sometimes it happens once a week; other times, months pass without me being able to return. It was completely random.
But now? I could "will it," and it happened. Apparently, awakening my complete dragon form had granted me the ability to visit as I pleased.
"I wonder if I can gain EXP in here..." I walked through the snow, realizing my tiny body was too weak for these snowstorms. I quickly transformed into my large dragon form. "It would be hilarious to see a giant dragon throwing knives..."
"Huh? What is this weird place?" Suddenly, Mongrel appeared by my side, glaring at the surroundings. "Some kind of Spiritual Realm? Huh?"
"Oh, you could come all along?!" I gasped. "Welcome, Mongrel! This is the Ice Dragon Realm."
"What?!" He looked shocked. "I had no idea such a place even existed... How vast is it?"
"Astraea!" I called. She appeared by my side. I was also able to check my status without issue, so the System worked even here.
"Yes, master?" she asked. "Oh, where are we?"
"Don’t you know? This is the Ice Dragon Realm!" I said.
"I see. What a majestic, eternal snowscape," she replied with a gentle smile. "Just how vast is this place?"
"Ah, it’s really big!" I said. "There are five different regions in the Ice Dragon Realm: the Frozen Gardens, the Ice Forest, the Snow Mountains, the Winter Mausoleum, and the Ice Sea, from what I’ve heard. Auntie Hrymdra is the one who’s been teaching me about this place."
"Hrymdra?" Astraea wondered, searching her data. "Hm, that name doesn’t match anything. I suppose I must update my data banks."
"Yeah, let’s go meet her. We’re not that far from her castle," I said. "I want to show her that I can turn into a dragon now!"
I spread my wings and flew higher into the sky, scanning the surroundings as I headed toward her ice castle. The wind pressed hard against my wings, and the freezing cold was intense. My Soul was no longer completely exposed—my dragon body protected it. Still, the monsters here could deal direct soul damage if one wasn’t careful.
"We’re here! Auntie Hrymdraaaaaa!"
I called out as I descended, flapping my wings before landing on the snow. I ran on all fours toward her castle and scratched the door. It slowly opened.
"Auntie? Are you there? Hello?"
The castle was silent and lonely as always, and completely dark. I quickly created a tiny orb of light to illuminate the area.
"Is this where your aunt lives? It looks abandoned," said Mongrel. "Are you sure you weren’t hallucinating her? That computer said she doesn’t exist in its data."
"Shut up! I didn’t hallucinate anyone," I snapped, walking deeper into the castle. "Auntie! Auntie?"
As I wandered through the halls, I felt something, a faint presence.
"Auntie?"
I ran upstairs and entered her room, finally finding her. She lay on the floor, her eyes barely open. Her voice was painfully weak when she greeted me.
"E-Elizabeth...? Is that... cough... is that you?"
"Auntie! I turned into a dragon—look!" I said excitedly. Then my voice faltered. "...Auntie? Are you okay?"
I quickly realized she was far from alright. She was coughing and looked utterly exhausted and frail. That wasn’t normal for a Divine Dragon. How could she even get sick?
"I... I’m glad for you, my dear. You look... gorgeous," she said with a faint smile, patting my head. "But... cough... ugh... you shouldn’t be here. I’ve caught a nasty sickness. I have no idea what it is... it’s so rare for our kind to get sick at all..."
"Sick?" I gasped. "What sort of sickness? Do you know what it is? A fever?"
"We dragons don’t usually get fevers, haha..." Hrymdra laughed, which only triggered more coughing. "Cough... COUGH... haaa... haaa..." She suddenly vomited black blood mixed with miasma. "Oh dear... I... I guess this is... this is it..."
"Eh?"
She smiled weakly at me, her jewel-like eyes filled with quiet meaning. "I’m glad I got to meet you... Elizabeth... I... I may not make it this time. Perhaps it’s about time I go where he went too..." She gently caressed the ice crystal encasing the elf she loved.
"Auntie...! W-What?! No! You can’t say that! I just turned six!" I cried. "Why are you giving up so quickly? It’s wrong! You have to fight this sickness... I don’t know what it is, but maybe I can heal you."
"I..." she muttered, looking down. "I just want to... to go..."
"But...!" I protested. "I don’t want you to go! I know it’s selfish, but..."
Without realizing it, I started crying. This grown woman was sobbing like a child. My emotional maturity was still terrible.
"Elizabeth..." Hrymdra whispered, her eyes widening as tears streamed down her face. "Do I... really mean that much to you...?"
"You do!" I sobbed. "You’re my aunt! You’re my family! Why would I want you to die out of nowhere?"
"But... I..." she muttered, clearly conflicted. "I’m sorry... I don’t know what to do..."
"Can’t you ask her about the symptoms, master?" Astraea suggested, already analyzing her.
"Um, what are your symptoms?" I asked.
"I... I feel weak... all over my body... My soul seems infected, like a black curse eating away at my energy... I occasionally cough up black miasma..." she sighed. "I am slowly dying."
"Hm...?" Mongrel suddenly perked up. "Huh..."
"What did you see?" I asked urgently. "Tell me!"
"Agh! I just sensed some Nightmare Energy inside her Soul," he said.
"Wait, what?!" I gasped, turning back to my aunt. "Auntie, how did this start? Were you attacked? Bitten by something? Did something... enter your soul?"
"..."
She stayed silent for a moment, then sighed and nodded. "I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have kept it hidden... It was the pride of a dragon that stopped me from speaking about it. I was indeed hurt by something strange. It appeared near where you originally landed, between the Ice Sea and the Winter Mausoleum... I... cough, cough... went there to gather the usual things I eat. Then I saw a large concentration of darkness. When I went to investigate, something black and powerful attacked me, scratching my soul. I managed to destroy it and escape. But... well, here I am... hahaha... cough... how pathetic I must seem... a Divine Dragon, running away..."
"So that’s what happened!" I said. "Wait, Mongrel, do you think that was...?"
"Hmm, yes. That was likely a Nightmare," Mongrel replied. "Huh! This is your fault! You must have brought leftover Nightmare Essence when you visited. It probably provoked the essence to gather and parasitize some monsters, forming a Nightmare Nest...!"
"What?!" I gasped. "S-So it’s my fault?! No..."
I fell to my knees, overwhelmed by guilt for what I had caused without even knowing. I had been so foolish. I looked back at Mongrel with worry.
"C-Calm down! I don’t leak Nightmare Energy!" he cried. "And you don’t leak it anymore either. It was only for a few days after the Nightmares first arrived..."
"Hm..." I sighed. "It’s still my fault... but at least it took them a while to form the Nest. Auntie, when did this happen?"
"I... I think it was a few days ago..." she sighed, groaning in pain. "What’s going on, Elizabeth? Y-You know what that thing was?"
"It’s complicated..." I sighed. "But... it might be my fault it appeared... B-But I won’t run away from this. I will take responsibility. I will slay it, and I will save you. First, let’s try to extract it. Mongrel, help me."
"Hmph..." he grumbled. He channeled his power into me as I touched Auntie.
"Let’s... see...!"
I first tried using his powers to drain all the Nightmare energy, but only a small amount came out. The rest had hardened into tiny crystals embedded in her soul.
It was extremely difficult to extract them. Every crystal I pulled tore through her soul and caused her terrible pain.
"Ugh...!"
"I’m sorry!"
I stopped immediately, realizing this wouldn’t be solved with a simple effort.
Next, I tried using Harmony to destroy the Nightmare energy completely, but as it burned away, it also burned her soul, causing even more agony.
"Girl, stop!"
"S-Sorry..."
Once I stopped, I quickly retrieved a Soul Elixir I had made earlier and gave it to her, along with a regular Elixir.
"Please drink these, auntie... I... I’m sorry. I thought I could help..."
"Hmm... perhaps the curse... may be dispelled if the beast is slain..." she said weakly. "I am not sure if it truly died... I didn’t receive any notification..."
"Huh..."
I looked at Mongrel again. He nodded, crossing his tentacles.
"Yeah, powerful Nightmares can leave curses on people," he explained. "If they aren’t special like you, the victim usually dies unless the Nightmare is slain. If the Nightmare dies, the curse will weaken and fade."
"So that’s what we must do," I said. "We have to go and take that thing down. No other choice."
"Wait, do you plan to do it alone...?" Hrymdra asked, alarmed. "Y-You’re going to get killed! For me?! W-Why would you risk your life for me, Elizabeth?"
"Because what’s happening to you is my fault..." I sighed. "And... because... well... I love you. You’re my aunt... I can’t imagine coming back here without seeing you again. It’s too sad. And I hate sad endings."
"Not even your family knows about me, yet you would go so far... for me? Someone who abandoned her family and chose to live alone...?" she mumbled.
"Is there a way to keep her stable until we return?" I asked Astraea and Mongrel.
"Well, if she consumes plenty of Soul Beasts, that should help sustain her Soul Essence," Mongrel said.
"We could prepare a special dish using Soul Beast meat before we leave," Astraea nodded. "If we infuse it with your Harmony magic, it could temporarily suppress the curse and weaken it... for a short time."
"Alright," I nodded. "We’ll do that. Wait here, auntie! Astra, can you stay and watch over her?"
"Huh? Okay," she agreed. "I can still send you system messages, master, so just ask if you need help."
Astraea stayed behind with Auntie while I spread several orbs of Harmony light around the room. They suppressed the miasma and darkness leaking from her body and created a warm, comforting atmosphere.
As I walked outside the castle, Mongrel started complaining again. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do? Why are you risking your life to fight a dangerous Nightmare that even injured a Divine Dragon? Do you have a death wish?"
"Shut up," I said firmly. "This is my fault... I’m not going to abandon her."
"Why not just go back to your parents?" he pressed. "Ask them for help!"
"But that would feel so cheap. Then they’d be the ones fixing all my mistakes, all my problems..." I sighed. "They would trust me even less and become even more overprotective. I’ll consider it a last resort, but... I’m strong. I have the potential. I’ve got a million skills already. There’s no way I can’t at least try, right?"
"..."
"Besides, when I fought your main body, I beat the hell out of you, so I’m confident I can handle a little pup version of you," I sneered.
"W-What?!" Mongrel sputtered, losing his composure.
Thus, we headed toward the closest Soul Beast Nest—a large Crystal Forest filled with the nastiest creatures around.
"Let’s do this. Let’s save Auntie Hrymdra!"
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