Minya

I opened my eyes and looked around. Everyone else was deep in meditation, even Plikt. We were trying to get as many daos as we could before the big fight, we also really wanted to get the extra stats from the quest.

I was struggling. A lot. After learning the dao of the wind, it felt like all of my body was drained and I couldn’t think clearly. I felt sick and weak. What was going on with me? My side suddenly burned and I felt a piercing pain. I clenched my teeth and let out a whimper.

Emily opened her eyes and glanced at me. “What's wrong? You look pale.” She said, rushing over to me, worry filling her voice.

I stood up on shaky legs. “I am fine, just not feeling the best.” I told her.

She got under my arm and helped me walk to the tree line, laying me down. “Are you hurt anywhere? What kind of symptoms are you feeling? Are you burning up? Cold? Are you feeling nausea or weakness in certain places?” She asked me rapidly.

I relaxed and breathed deeper. “I feel nauseous and feel weak all over. I feel like I'm drained and I might have a headache. My head is pounding. Also my side feels like it is burning.” I told her trying to stay relaxed and breathing deeply and consistently.

She reached down and brushed my hair, soothing me. “It’s okay, you are going to be okay. I am just going to cast one of my spells. It will let me see what is happening and see what is going on inside of you. Just continue to breathe deeply. You won’t even feel anything except for a cool tingly feeling spreading through your body, effectively probing all of the places that could be injured.”

She held out her hands over my side and her hand started to glow with a warm green light. I felt it enter my body and slip into my bloodstream, rapidly traveling over all of my body in a few seconds. However, everytime the magic approached the wound in my side it felt as though something was forcing the magic to take a different path, shoving it away.

I cried out in pain as yet another strand of magic was shoved away from the wound. There was… something in there, I just didn’t know what it was.

Emily gasped slightly and suddenly my side exploded in pain. “AHH!” I screamed, curling up into a ball to try to escape the pain.

I couldn’t think. My entire body felt as though it was on fire. I screamed and screamed until I went hoarse. I coughed. The pain started to slowly calm down.

I panted and breathed out slowly. “That looked painful.” I heard someone say. Drake?

Emily spoke up. “That's the understatement of the year. You looked like you were dying! Are you okay?” She sounded really concerned and scared.

I turned to the side, opened my mouth… and threw up all over the grass next to me.

Drake recoiled while Emily rushed to my side pulling my hair out of my face and soothing me as I threw up all of the food I had eaten recently. Most of it was meat. I dry heaved a few times before rolling away and curling into a ball whimpering. Emily was at my side, rubbing my back and trying to make me comfortable.

Drake let out a small chuckle, still standing far away from me and pinching his nose to block out the smell of the vomit. “Well. We now know that she isn’t okay!” He said laughing to himself.

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Emily whirled around and stomped over to him. I watched but I felt bile rising in my throat again and looked away. “You have no heart!” Emily yelled at him, and I heard a crack and a cry of pain from Drake.

“What did you do that for!?!” He yelled at her, probably holding his cheek. I assumed that Emily had smacked him real good on the face. Good. He deserved it.

Emily suddenly seemed to remember me and rushed back to my side, rubbing my back again and caressing my hair, whispering soothing words into my ear. I calmed down a little bit and leaned into her sighing in relief as I found comfort in her arm. She reminded me of my mom. Always taking care of me when I was sick and defending me.

Emily turned to me. “Minya, I think the beetle overlord poisoned you.” She told me seriously. “It will hurt a lot to get rid of it.” She continued.

I interrupted her groaning. “How bad will it hurt?” I asked softly.

She stroked my hair again and winced. “Probably more than it did just a minute ago. But don’t worry. It isn’t deadly unless we don't treat it within the next few days.” She told me.

Drake joined the conversation. “How am I not poisoned? I was in the green power right alongside her. How is she the only one poisoned?” He asked, seeming actually curious.

Emily thought for a moment. “What is your vitality at? She asked him suddenly.

He was caught off guard. “Umm.” He quickly brought up his status with a swipe. “Currently sitting at 71.” he told us proudly.

She nodded and turned to me. “How much do you have?” She asked.

I checked my status screen briefly. “10” I told her laying back down on her shoulder.

She nodded again, jostling me. “I knew it! Vitality seems to affect how much you recover from wounds and how powerful your immune system is. Drake was not affected at all because he has a really high number whereas Minya got the full force because she only has average vitality.” She explained to us.

I nodded. That made sense. Suddenly I made up my mind. “Do it.” I told her seriously.

She looked at me cautiously. “Are you sure? It will hurt a lot.” She reminded me.

I just gritted my teeth and nodded.

She laid me back down and put her hands above the wound. “Ready?” She asked me.

I nodded again and closed my eyes, preparing for the worst. Her hands started to send pulsing energy into my body and calmed me down. It was all going really well until the magic made contact with the poison.

My body flared up in a deep piercing pain and I let out a blood curdling scream. She sent another pulse of magic into me, briefly soothing me before the pain arrived again. She did this over and over until the sky had started to dim. She gently took her hands away and wiped them on her pants, smearing green liquid all over them.

She sighed as she looked down at them but stood up. She offered me a hand and I took it, springing to my feet easily. “Wow! I feel amazing!” I exclaimed jumping up and down to get a feel for how amazing I really was.

In response Emily just pointed down at where I had been laying. “You better be. That is a lot of poison for one person to have in their body.” she commented dryly.

I looked down and recoiled. Where I had been laying was a veritable pool of green liquid. That had been in me? I shuddered. I would definitely be adding more points to my vitality now.

Emily pulled me back to the others and we set up camp, getting ready for a long night of monster hunting.

Minya's stat sheet.

Minya D. Flores Level: 22 (F-Grade) Race: Human-Thunderbird Bloodline: Human 10 pints, Thunderbird 1 pint Class: Speedster Stats: Body: 185 Mind: 157 Spirit: 81 Traits: Evolution(Human), Legs of Lightning(Thunderbird), Air Manipulation(Thunderbird) Skills: Dagger Mastery(Thunderbird+Human), Minor Flight (Thunderbird) Spells: Weak Thunderstep Path: Path of Lightning Dao: Dao Seed of Boundless Speed, Dao Seed of the Wind