After the accident with the nameless kid, Varegrave changed Lith's priority, asking him to visit the last tent again, to check the conditions of all the other children and avoid further deaths.
No one was in a near death state, but most cores were past half grey, so he added the worst cases to his schedule, to devise a simplified version of the cure he had almost brought to completion.
To do so, he needed time, so he was forced to postpone Nindra's and Garith's treatments. Nindra was still shocked from the events of the previous day, so she raised no objection, wishing Lith the best luck.
Garith, instead, didn't take it well.
"What the f*ck does this mean? Postpone until when?"
"Until the emergency is resolved." Lith replied with a flat tone.
"Strong mages like you are in no life threatening situation, while most of the others already have one foot in the grave. Orders are orders. We'll resume as soon as I'm done, it shouldn't take much."
Lith was too calm, almost meek, making Solus quite worried.
The man that she knew would have never tolerated such arrogant attitude without a good reason. In normal circumstances, she would expect Lith to kick his ass to the Moon and back.
She knew that he wasn't grieving for the nameless kid. Lith was hurting inside, angry because every time he tried to give mankind a second chance, or to change his attitude toward life, something bad would happen.
- "The crisis would have never happened in the first place, if I hadn't been so arrogant to overlook such a predictable problem. When I examined Lady Zeir the first time, I should have thought that the weaker cores would be the first to collapse and acted accordingly.
Instead, I was so confident about finding a universal cure fast enough, to ignore reality and let the problem fester. I can't forgive myself for being so careless. Not to mention that one mistake lead to another.
I ended up putting to risk my safety, my family, everything I have worked so hard to protect. I have to decide what I want to be, before I screw up again." –
Lith was so lost in his thoughts that barely heard Garith's voice, giving him a nod from time to time.
"You don't understand sh*t, you filthy army dog!" Garith couldn't' stand the thought of tripping when he was just one step away from the finishing line. He had everything in life, talent, looks, power, riches.
During that month of imprisonment, he had been brought to the verge of madness, being helpless, forced to sleep in a cot among inferior beings, ordered around by soldiers that normally he wouldn't even allow to lick his boots.
He wouldn't let anyone interfere, not when he was so close getting his life back.
"I don't care if a kid die. Heck, I don't care if every single one of the occupants of that f*cking tent dies. I'm Garith Senti, Kandria's strongest magician! I can't stand remaining like this one more day. It's much better for scum to be almost dead than for me being almost cured."
He jumped from his chair, grabbing Lith by the collar of his shirt before anyone could react.
"Either you cure me here and now, or I swear to the gods that I will find out who you are. then I will find all the people and the things that you love, and will destroy them slowly in front of your eyes, before returning you to your miserable live!"
Garith was 1.9 meters (6'3") high, a whole head taller than Lith, and strong enough to lift and shake him like the kid he was.
The guards and Kilian were about to tackle Garith, to kill him if necessary, when suddenly their bodies screamed in terror, all their hair standing up, forcing them to step back instead that forward.
Lith's maniacal laughter was the only sound filling the tent's air.
- "Human? Monster? How could I have been so stupid, tormenting myself about semantics. If there's one thing that Earth and the new world have in common, is that most humans are monsters.
There is no right or wrong, only power and how you wield it. Until I use my powers to protect myself and those that I love, I'll be a human. When I'll let my ego become my reason for being, and start hurting others for no reason but my sick pleasure, then I'll become just another human faced monster." –
Lith didn't need to use spirit or dark magic to force Garith to let him go. The killing intent he was radiating was so intense that both the guards and Kilian were paralysed by fear.
Garith, instead, that was the target of that murderous aura soon lost all his strength. His knees touched the ground, while his trembling hands were uncapable of moving.
They were up and close, so Garith was the only one capable of seeing that their breath was steaming.
- "It's impossible! Water magic is sealed. How can he lower the temperature to such degree without it?" – He tried to warn the others, but his mouth refused to open.
"Once I told you that I would have healed you for last, hence you had no reason to protest." Lith's voice was a hiss, yet everyone in the tent could hear him clearly.
"Now, you dare to threaten me? You have forgotten I'm a healer, not a saint."
As much he wanted to rip Garith's head, he couldn't do it in front of witnesses, so he drew the knife from the belt, slitting Garith's throat left and right, in one fluid motion, forming a bloody V from ear to ear.
Only with Garith's death the killing intent disappeared, allowing the others to move. When Kilian regained his cool, he noticed that his back was against the tent's walls.
- "What in the gods' names is that kid? How many steps back did I take?" –
The guards shared similar thoughts, finding themselves outside the tent.
"He assaulted and threatened me. It was self-defence." Lith's voice was calm, like they were discussing the weather.
"Don't worry, sir. If you didn't kill him so fast, we would have done it in your stead." Kilian said perfectly hiding his surprise.
"Our orders are to eliminate any threat to your safety, sir." Said one of the guards with an apologetic tone, bowing.
"Please, forgive our incompetence. Thank the gods you are a great expert."
Lith shrugged, the matter was of little importance compared to his renewed peace of mind.
"Clean the tent, please. I have patients to attend."
***
After having Solus check his memories, Lith remembered that the first time he had expelled impurities, was when he managed to refine his mana core from orange to yellow.
Until that moment, except when using Invigoration to check its status, he had never noticed a breakthrough, not even when promoting the core to the next level.
Hence, he decided to use the same method he was using on Nindra, cleansing only the abdomen and leaving all the other parasites. Between the low number of worms and the cores' weakness, even Lith himself considered his therapy overly cautious, but he wasn't the type to take unnecessary risks, no matter how low the chances.
His new specimen was Lady Zeir, the kind noble he had visited first while studying the mana blocking parasite. She had a yellow core, almost downgraded to orange. If the cure worked on her, then Lith could safely let all the non mages get treated.
The procedure went without a hitch, Lady Zeir's core took less than a day to return to full power. The cheerful noble had fallen for Lith's apparent kindness from the day they had met, when she heard he may be able to cure her for good, her admiration turned into blind veneration.
She wouldn't hide any detail, telling him how she would feel itchy and hot after every treatment. Both symptoms had nothing to do with Awakening, they were the side effects of the cleansing process.
All those he had treated, regardless the nature of the parasite, experienced the same thing.
After Solus gave her okay, certifying that Lady Zeir's core was healed and not Awakened, Lith disclosed to Varegrave how to cure all those with scarce magical talent, sorting them himself to avoid setbacks.
Varegrave, in turn, imparted the method on all the other healers. It worked only on those too weak and hence incapable of Awakening, yet in just a couple of days dozens of lives were saved.
Aside from the mana blocking parasites, all the others had been exterminated, leaving none alive in Kandria's region. Varegrave kept only samples of their toxins for future research.
- "Whatever the army's upper echelons decide, I will not let the plague spread anymore. The last thing the King ordered me was to wipe them out, and that's what I'll do.
The only upside of being a dead man walking is that I don't have to worry about the consequences. When those foolish generals learn what has happened here, it will be too late." –