Chapter 21: Able to Clear the Toxin
Cillian Forrest stared at Tammy for a few seconds. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, said nothing. He carried Sophie Wexler back to the room and said to Ethan Cross, who was behind him, "Wait outside."
Hearing this, Ethan Cross stopped just outside the room.
Inside the room, with the door closed, Cillian Forrest laid Sophie Wexler on the bed. He placed his hand on her forehead and extended his spiritual power, sweeping over every inch of her Spiritual Sea.
The more Cillian Forrest checked, the more confused he became.
If his Spiritual Sea was an ocean, then Sophie Wexler’s was a mere pond. But surrounding the pond was a vast, boundless region, lying quietly with no energy fluctuations whatsoever.
Setting that aside for now, the most pressing issue was that the water in the pond had been completely drained, leaving only the very bottom. It was a state of extreme weakness.
’So reckless.’ Cillian Forrest didn’t know whether to call her ignorant or brave.
To use one’s spiritual power to such an extent was incredibly reckless. Although spiritual power was renewable, such excessive use was still very harmful to oneself. If it failed to recover, it could even cause a drop in Level.
Cillian Forrest checked very carefully, and only let out a sigh of relief after confirming that this overuse of her spiritual power hadn’t damaged her foundation.
The next moment, just as he was about to withdraw his spiritual power, his eyes narrowed. "Hm?"
Sophie Wexler’s spiritual power was coiling around his, binding it and preventing it from leaving.
’She’s absorbing my spiritual power!’
Cillian Forrest froze. He suddenly recalled that during his amnesia, she had once fainted after using her spiritual power and had unconsciously absorbed some of his then as well.
———
Outside the room, Ethan Cross glanced around. The house wasn’t large, but it was filled with all sorts of little knickknacks. The sofa alone was covered in numerous throw pillows.
When Cillian Forrest came out of the room, he saw Ethan Cross standing in the middle of the living room, having a staring contest with Tammy.
Cillian Forrest cleared his throat. Ethan Cross immediately averted his gaze and stood up straight. "Marshal."
Cillian Forrest grunted in acknowledgment. "Sit."
Ethan Cross glanced toward the sofa. Cillian Forrest followed his gaze. Seeing the pile of things on it, he fell silent for a moment before explaining, "That’s her spot."
During his amnesia, Sophie Wexler had often sat there.
"Sit here," Cillian Forrest said, pointing to a spot for Ethan Cross. He then moved the stuffed animals and throw pillows aside and sat on the sofa himself.
Ethan Cross looked at his Marshal, a million questions swirling in his mind.
’Why is he here? If he’s alive, why hasn’t he contacted military headquarters? How is the rampage in his Spiritual Sea from his Disorder Period? Has the poison spread further?’ A mountain of questions piled up, so many that he didn’t know where to begin.
Cillian Forrest knew what he was thinking. His eyes darkened slightly as he said in a low voice, "I was severely injured before. Sophie Wexler found me and brought me home. When I woke up, I had amnesia."
Ethan Cross’s head snapped up. ’Amnesia?!’
’In all the time I’ve been searching, I considered countless possibilities, but never amnesia. How could this have happened?!’
In a flash, a thought sparked in Ethan Cross’s mind. "Is it because of the Starbug poison?"
’The Marshal’s own spiritual power is already immense. Although suppressing its rampages consumes most of that power, his strength is still not to be underestimated. So, the amnesia couldn’t have been caused by an external attack on his Spiritual Sea. That leaves only one explanation: the Starbug poison.’
"Yes," Cillian Forrest confirmed.
"During the last war, the poison from a Starbug attack invaded my functional zones," Cillian Forrest explained succinctly.
"Damn them!" The thought that those bastards had struck while the Marshal was in his Disorder Period made Ethan Cross want to tear them limb from limb.
Cillian Forrest shot him a look. Seeing it, Ethan Cross suppressed his anger and asked, "So now... you’re...?"
’The Marshal has clearly recovered his memories, but as everyone knows, Starbug poison is impossible to remove.’
At his question, Cillian Forrest’s gaze sharpened. Thinking of the person still unconscious in the other room, he said, "Sophie Wexler cleared a portion of the poison."
In truth, he had already regained consciousness once before, the last time Sophie Wexler had soothed him. But that session was interrupted too quickly. Before he could even make sense of the situation, the poison had spread again, making his period of lucidity far too short.
This time, however, the moment he realized his memories had returned, he immediately mobilized his spiritual power to suppress the portion of the poison causing the amnesia, preventing it from re-invading the functional zone that controlled his memories.
Although the poison was still present, Cillian Forrest was certain that the only reason he was lucid was because Sophie Wexler had cleared the poison from that particular functional zone, and he had managed to suppress it in time.
The moment Ethan Cross heard that Sophie Wexler could clear the poison, his brain seemed to short-circuit, and he froze completely.
When he came to his senses, a massive wave of ecstasy surged up from the depths of his heart, his excitement impossible to hide. "She can actually clear the poison!"
’The Marshal said it was only a portion, but as long as it works, a complete cure is just a matter of time!’
"If that’s the case, does that mean your poison can be completely cleared eventually!"
"And what about all the other soldiers who were poisoned?"
In the long years of war against the Starbugs, countless people had suffered terribly because of their poison.
Furthermore, all Empireans experience a Disorder Period after their awakening, and the torrents of rampaging spiritual power during this time accelerate the poison’s spread into the Spiritual Sea.
For those of a lower Level, it was manageable. Their rampages could be soothed, allowing them to devote more energy to suppressing the poison.
But it was different for High-level Spiritual Ability Users. Their Levels were too high, and the Empire’s Healer-class individuals were generally of a lower Level than them. This meant that the spiritual power rampages of High Rank users could not be soothed.
The poison, carried along by the rampaging spiritual power, would continuously erode their Spiritual Sea. Once the poison spread throughout the entire Spiritual Sea, death was inevitable.
So now, learning that someone could actually clear the poison—how could Ethan Cross not be ecstatic!
"It won’t work." Cillian Forrest’s words were like a bucket of cold water dumped on Ethan Cross’s head.
"Her Level is too low. For now, she cannot enter the inner dimensions of a Spiritual Sea."
Only then did Ethan Cross suddenly remember: this Sophie Wexler was just an F-level Healer-class.
’A gap in spiritual power Level like that should be insurmountable. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many High Rank individuals whose rampages go unsoothed.’
’Wait!’
Ethan Cross’s mind latched onto two words Cillian Forrest had just said.
’For now?!’
’Logically, an F-level Healer-class’s soothing effect on a high-Level user should be negligible—to say nothing of someone at the Marshal’s Level. She shouldn’t even be able to touch the periphery of his Spiritual Sea, let alone soothe it and clear out poison.’
’And yet, she not only got in, but she also successfully cleared a portion of the poison from the periphery.’
Recalling his conversation with Sophie Wexler at the Wexlers’ home some time ago about the possibility of a second awakening, his head shot up.