BXBX NOVEL Chapter 149: Awakening [ XXIX ]
"System, analyze this," he muttered.
DING! [ Analyzing... ]
[ Analysis completed. ]
[ Dreamer Mixture: An ancient concoction first discovered three years ago. When ingested, it induces strange realistic dreams. These dreams can either cause the death of or improve the physical or magical abilities of the user. ]
[ Note: The Dreamer Mixture is sometimes poisonous to men. ]
[ Note: The effect weakens the user soul and spirit temporarily ]
Reading the details, a frown crept onto Rowan\'s face.
"I knew my intuition wasn\'t wrong. She might have taken this, and the concoction made her start sleepwalking or something similar. We have to find her before she ends up in the den of some ravaging demonic beasts or monsters!" Rowan thought, his concern growing.
"Come on, Blaze, let\'s go," he said, tapping Blaze. Together, they left the house without wasting any time.
Rowan and Blaze set out for the north side of the village, where Liara was often seen picking herbs. They ran past the soldiers guarding that area, greeting them as they went. Some of the soldiers volunteered to accompany Rowan, but he declined their offer, knowing they wouldn\'t be able to keep up with his speed.
With the soldiers out of their way, both of them began sprinting towards the areas beyond the northern border. Blaze\'s sniffing abilities had grown stronger as it ascended in cultivation ranks. Even while running at peak speed, Blaze could sniff out anything out of place—a significant advantage since they wouldn\'t have to slow down.
They made it past the small bushes in less than thirty seconds, a distance that would take an average man about ten minutes to walk and over three minutes to run. They crossed the small bush that Liara loved to explore, but there was no sign of her.
"Master, there is a trail of footsteps here," Blaze communicated.
Rowan halted and approached Blaze. On the ground were footprints leading into the forest beyond the bushes, about the same size as Liara\'s foot.
"This is definitely hers," Rowan noted aloud. "Blaze, try to follow the foot trails. Let\'s see where they lead us."
Blaze nodded and immediately began sprinting, following the foot trails it had sniffed out. Rowan sprinted beside it. After about three minutes, Blaze stopped in front of a huge tree in the middle of the forest.
"Look up," Blaze said to Rowan.
Rowan looked up, his mouth and eyes widening in surprise. There, on one of the branches of the tree, was Liara, lying down without any reaction.
"How did she even get up there? This tree is too huge to climb, especially for someone her size!" Rowan was utterly confused. "Could it be that some flying demonic beast found her and took her up the tree to save her for its meal later? Or did she fly up there? What am I even thinking? She can\'t fly!"
The more Rowan tried to make sense of the situation, the harder and weirder it became in his head. If this were on Earth, he would have sworn that she had taken some highly alcoholic drink that suddenly gave her unimaginable superpowers to do the impossible for a brief moment.
Rowan had once slept in his dog\'s cage after taking alcohol, so he didn\'t underestimate its powers. He couldn\'t help but wonder if the Dreamer Mixture had alcohol in it.
"We need to take her down and ask her everything that happened, but how?" Rowan pondered.
"I can help with my flame synchronization, but she will suffer from burns," Blaze suggested.
"Hmm, how about you use your flame synchronization on me?" Rowan asked.
"But you will sustain ghastly burns," Blaze replied.
"Don\'t worry about that. My body is far superior to hers, and I have a pretty strong resistance against magic," Rowan said with an assuring smile.
Blaze looked at Rowan, hesitant to believe his words.
"Also, if I do sustain burns, I can easily cure them with my knowledge of herbalism," Rowan added.
Blaze finally agreed and used its fire magic to propel Rowan towards Liara. Rowan grabbed the heavily sleeping Liara, and Blaze helped him descend slowly towards the ground. They landed safely, but Rowan\'s clothes had been burnt beyond recognition.
"Ah, this is the robe Riala enchanted for me; she will be very angry if she finds out," Rowan sighed.
He gently placed Liara on the ground and asked the system to analyze her condition immediately.
[ Condition: Subject is currently trapped in a long sleep-like state. There are also traces of cold and fever, but they are insignificant. ]
Rowan sighed. "When is she going to wake up?"
[ Unknown. This state is quite strange and heavily unnatural. ]
Rowan frowned a little. "That Dreamer Mixture is really as dangerous as the system described," he thought. "Maybe Dragun will be able to help her, though."
Dragun had a strong healing magic spell that had been able to wake Riela from her unconscious state. His healing magic might do the same for Liara.
Rowan carried her in his arms and took her back to the village. The soldiers were quite surprised when they saw them returning with Liara.
"We were up all night, and we didn\'t see her leave the village," the soldiers voiced their shock. They even began to apologize to Rowan, fearing he would be disappointed in them, but Rowan understood.
He took her back to Bruce\'s place. Bruce and his wife were very worried when they tried waking her up, and she didn\'t respond. Elara also wondered why she was in such a strange state. Rowan had to assure them that she was okay.
"Dragun is an expert in stuff like this. When he returns, he might be able to explain her condition and heal her—that is, if she doesn\'t wake up on her own," Rowan added before leaving.
Blaze walked beside him. At that moment, a system notification appeared.
[ Your Deputy Lord (Ren) is undergoing... ]