AThousandCurses

Iris Ascendis

We're going on a journey.

Iris Ascendis

It was heavy. It was dark.

Chunji opened his eyes to see a familiar room. With a wooden roof, the grassy smell of the outside permeates through the window. He could hear the familiar sounds of the birds chirping as he removed his blanket off of him.

He was home, yet he wasn't.

"Chunji! Breakfast is ready!"

A masculine voice immediately made Chunji step out of his bed. His mouth hurt, and the cats eyed him oddly as he walked past them. Entering the family living room, he met eyes with his shadow-faced father. He was smiling(?) as he gestured towards the table. "Eat. You have a long day ahead of you."

Chunji looked down at the table. It was a simple rice dish with vegetables. Oddly enough, the room smelled of fried eggs. "Your mother is praying right now, so don't disturb her." Chunji looked back to see that his father disappeared.

He was dreaming. It could explain the inexplicable feeling that he was having right now.

Suddenly, the door that seemed so far away became so close. Something slithered between Chunji's toes as he looked over to acknowledge it. He could hear the faint yet loud murmurs.

"Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me. Ahhh..."

Chunji turned away from the door. A blink and he found himself outside the door. Something wet slobbered itself on his leg. An elderly dog looked up at him expectantly.

"Mutt." Chunji simply said as he reached out to him. The dog leaned his head forward for Chunji to touch its soft fur. As soon as he did, his hand was immediately smacked away by a wooden sword.

The wooden sword clattered onto the ground as he kneeled.

"Chunji... You have to be better than this. We can't be around you all the time." Came the disapproving voice of his shadowy father.

Chunji wanted to speak, but he couldn't. The words were trapped inside and failed to struggle to escape. Still, Chunji picked up his sword and turned to face his father.

A giant serpent eyed at him.

Iris Ascendis

Chunji paid no mind to Ciara's reaction to being drugged by Otis. With her impulsive personality and profoundly injured condition, calming her down with opioids was acceptable in Chunji's eyes. Part of that was attributed to the fact that he was carrying an injured Davil in his arms. The quicker that reached the clinic, the better. Chunji pressed his lips and spoke to Ciara.

"Rest easy, Ventaura. Arillo did not lie. Opioids help ease pain by triggering the brain to release endorphins. Although you received a higher dosage compared to mine or Kyrios's, you should save your grievances for tomorrow. Now is not the time to fight, again." Hopefully, that will be enough to calm down Ciara.

Then that entered through Otis's door.

A space most unfamiliar greeted Chunji as they entered the laboratory. This place must serve as an intermediary for Otis's portals. Chunji's eyes did not wonder all too much, though, as he followed Otis's path. Partly out of respect for privacy, lack of interest, and desire to see Davil get treatment.

Chunji did little as Otis checked the other side. He wanted to ask Iraleth and Otis a question so he could adequately quell the buried emotion but now wasn't the time.

Crossing through the door, Chunji appeared through the door behind Otis. He walked up carefully with Davil in his arms. "I am back, receptionist," Chunji stated. "What my classmate said is true, and the one in my arms needs urgent care. It would be prudent to take him off my arms as I will soon collapse from hypovolemic shock, approximately in one minute, after losing at least 25% of my blood from today's events."

Despite his words, neither Chunji's body nor his words wavered in front of anyone. When Davil were to be retrieved from his arms, Chunji would inadvertently collapse like a puppet cut from its string.

Iris Ascendis

"...Ventura," Chunji almost referred to his peer's first name but withheld himself from saying it. "As I've told you before, if you have nothing of use to say, then don't say it. Your worry is wasted on me." Though, Ciara's worry was rightfully placed. All of them knew that their limits were hit. However, he needed to redirect his worry toward Ciara's interest. "Remember why you are here. Even though you have helped Davil, your name still hasn't been cleared by a person of authority for the guards. So..." Chunji took Davil from Ciara and laid him down on to the ground as if he were made out of class.

"So, stay behind me. At least until we can ease the situation." Calmness soon settled into Chunji, and so did the waves of pain that shored up into his body. He looked over Davil's body, and his perceptive eye peered through him. A laceration to the stomach that's bleeding profusely. His stomach was churning with vomit, so Chunji quickly lifted his so that he would not choke on it. Though before he could say anything of note, another bright light manifested near him.

The damned Otis.

If Chunji had lost control of his emotions, he'd been sure that he'd give the owl some choice words, but nothing surfaced. A potion of sorts was offered to him. A frown filled with suspicion filled Chunji's face, but nonetheless, he took it. The taste of opioids washed over his buds as the pain began to soothe. Unfortunately, no potion or magic could help Davil, who was in pain at the moment. Any more foreign essence would prove detrimental to his recovery, and Chunji didn't want to fuel Davil's very apparent addiction.

"Dayin, to me." In a split moment, a carbon copy of Chunji manifested to his side. With a wave of Chunji's hand, the clone dispersed and revealed itself as his Adapa. "Assist me, Dayin." The Adapa glimmered before seemingly stopping.

"Warning: Essence Rebound imminent. The use of essence will have a detrimental effect on the user. Advice: Do not use essence at this moment." The Adapa hummed in his mind.

That wasn't an option, of course. Chunji cut open Davil's shirt to have easier access to his stomach. "Dayin, drain the blood." Without further wait, Dayin obeyed and began removing the blood.

What felt as if countless needles had pierced his skin, Chunji quickly worked on Davil. He did what he could by applying antibiotics and bandaging to his wound. It wouldn't be enough to fix Davil, but it'd be enough to at least transport him safely through Otis's door.

Without a word, Chunji carefully lifted up Davil and prepared to walked through Otis's door.

Iris Ascendis

Ripperino. I guess I just read too much into it lol.

Edit: Though to answer your question, I had asked Nanaya about the distinctions of medicine and potions. So I was being particular about that detail. mb.

Iris Ascendis

@Nanaya

So what Otis offered. He says potion but is it medicine since it uses opoids instead? I'm just wondering for clarification. The last thing we need is to accidentally poison Davil.

Iris Ascendis

Don't worry, I'm already on it.

Iris Ascendis

Can I post a second time?

EDIT:
And if so, can you tell me of Davil's condition?

Iris Ascendis

The growing tree seeked more nutrients and stretched its roots to dig around for anything. Chunji didn't bother to control its ravenous appetite and opted to follow with the newly arrived Undermage. "Understood, I will take my leave," And help Ciara and Davil went left unsaid as his eyes was drawn towards the homing sphere. The Undermage had slowed down the attack with a spell of her own, but it did not remedy the problem.

Chunji drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. The blood receeded from them though left reddened veins. His hand rested on the hilt of the sword. He did not want to take more than he needed, but unfamiliar emotions rushed through his mind. Essence condensed itself in his blade as he prepared to eradicate the disturbance. "斩!" Ethos bared, sword drawn, and essence flaring, Chunji's sword flew. His eyes had identified the weak point of the attack and now it was up to Chunji to meet the vision.

As if extending the blade itself, a tail of essence was slashed across the crushing orb. Whether it had any effect Chunji wasn't going to stay around and find. Chunji turned and ran out of the cathedral. A familiar miasma of darkness met him as he left the cathedral. "Ciara!" The essence of the Lotus Serpent faded away from his body as he released it. "Stay near me. We'll go down to the second floor and I can provide basic first aid to Davil." Chunji's eyes flitted back at the Cathedral. "And we need to be on the look out if the Umbralist had any more tricks up his sleeves."

With that Chunji would follow Ciara and though he moved sluggishly. While the adrenalin was still active, his body was still drained from everything. He didn't know how much time left before he fainted from excessive activity.

Iris Ascendis

"Tch." The student found himself in a troublesome position as soon as the Umbralist snapped his head back at Chunji. The shadowy reptile had swarmed to devour his left arm while a bolt was aimed to pierce his right. A sudden concentration of essence gathered below him, and Chunji reacted quickly. Essence gathered inside his legs, strengthening the tendons, and with a spring, Chunji jumped back into the air to dodge. The space he had occupied was taken up by an emerging summon. Barely avoiding the beast's maw, Chunji barely had time to raise his arms as the creature slammed its head against him after it failed to hit.

The doctor was sent flying across the room and slammed against the wall. Whatever was left of his Personal Barrier was shattered once he fell onto the ground. Chunji hissed and began fueling his legs once more with essence to get up and roll out of the next beast's attacks. His body was starting to feel sluggish. It would not take long before he would collapse from hypoxia, but he still needed to get Davil out of there. Ciara had managed to get Davil; now all they needed to do was-

Blinding light shined into the room. Iraleth. Chunji covered his eyes as the shadow creature that pursued him dissipated into nothing. He could hear the light aspirant and the follower of the dark scream stuff at each other before another light eclipsed the room. It was a much-needed disturbance that allowed Chunji to grab his breath. He called his classmate, "Ciara, get out of here. Davil needs medical attention immediately and tells the doctor that he's consumed several potions today. I will stay behind." To help Iraleth, it didn't need to be said as he looked back at the fight.

Retreat was an option that needed to be taken. Chunji could feel himself nearing his limit, and if he was, then Iraleth would be doubly so. The Umbralist was too strong of an opponent in their current condition, but Iraleth's zeal would kill her if she kept this up. There was little point in trying to convince Iraleth of this course of action; he could only plan on their retreat.

Chunji scowled at Iraleth's command but decided to help. Even if it came at his future expense, he had hoped that his essence devoured by the reptiles would circulate a bit more, but it seemed they had little time. Guilt soon swelled into Chunji's mind as he closed his eyes. "Damn you, Iraleth," Chunji muttered under his name as he cursed the woman out.

"原谅这个罪人吧，大八瓣蛇." (Forgive this sinner, Great Lotus Serpent)

At that moment, Chunji tapped into his contract. An innocent promise and a sentence of sin that was born millennia ago. His skin hardened, his flesh underneath turning frigid by the second. The hunger he once cursed upon the cultist manifested in itself. However, this hunger was real. The vagrant smell of his own Chunji incited his brain to consume his own body to satiate this hunger. If he were to eat himself, maybe this hunger would be sated, his sin forgiven.

Chunji opened his eyes again. He looked over towards the reptiles that began to reform in front of him. Essence from a foreign being swelled into him and replenished his reserves. A prayer.

"让我成长." (Let me grow)

Chunji pointed at the mound of darkness in front of him. Those who have ignorantly consumed the descendant of the Great Lotus Serpent would be punished for their transgression. Words spoken came out as unintelligible yet understandable at the same time, and a look foreign to humans grew on Chunji's face.

"Grow, propagate, and return to the earth."

In that moment, that shadowy mass that once consumed essence gluttonously would soon begin to contort. Out of their bodies, what looked to be roots would sprout out from them. Looking for nutrients, the roots would continuously extract the essence from the body of shadows at a terrifying rate. As the second went by, a tree would start growing at a proportional rate.

There was more Chunji could do, but he didn't. He had already taken enough from his ancestral spirit.

"Iraleth, the location we found ourselves in is akin to a leyline, although weaker. It is a physical construct that has melded into the Iris Record's third floor. Continued combat is ill-advised, and I would suggest retreating." This man wasn't Alto; he wouldn't hold himself back from exploiting an available power source. "From this point onward, I have no intentions of helping in your foolish battle." The words were dripped in venom as Chunji emphasized his displeasure. "And you will pay for this."

With that, Chunji would begin backing away from the fight.