Chapter 131: Cleared Shawn Thorne’s Toxin
Sophie Wexler didn’t know why Starbug toxin would be present in a young child’s Spiritual Sea.
She had seen Starbug toxin more than once—in Cillian Forrest, in General York, and in others—so it was impossible for her to have misjudged.
But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. The child’s entire face was scrunched up in pain, and he was clearly suffering immensely.
Sophie could only force herself to calm down and release her spiritual power little by little, first to soothe the rampaging spiritual power within his Disorder Period.
Then, she continuously poured in her spiritual power, using it to envelop the streams of black energy darting about inside his Spiritual Sea.
Time ticked by, second by second, and fine beads of sweat began to form on Sophie’s forehead.
She was so focused that she didn’t hear her communicator going off at all.
After an unknown amount of time, the rampaging spiritual power in Shawn Thorne’s Spiritual Sea finally calmed down completely.
Sophie breathed a sigh of relief. She then guided her spiritual power to sweep through his Spiritual Sea one more time, only relaxing after confirming that the streams of black energy were completely gone.
Just as Sophie was about to withdraw her spiritual power, the door opened.
"Sophie, are you alright? We had a visitor today..."
The man walked in as he opened the door, his voice laced with urgency.
When he saw the person on the sofa, he stopped dead in his tracks, and the last word of his question died in his throat.
Sophie had just withdrawn her spiritual power from the child’s Spiritual Sea when she heard the anxious tone in Cillian Forrest’s voice.
She looked up at him and saw that the worried expression on his face hadn’t had time to fade.
Sophie asked, puzzled, "What’s wrong?"
Cillian Forrest’s gaze rested on Sophie’s face for several seconds. Once he confirmed she was okay, his eyes slowly drifted down to Shawn Thorne, who lay on the sofa with his eyes tightly shut.
Seeing him look at Shawn Thorne, Sophie quickly explained, "This child’s name is Shawn Thorne. I think he was here to see you."
’Although the boy said he came to see me, it’s ultimately because of Cillian.’
With that, Sophie glanced at Shawn Thorne before turning back to Cillian Forrest.
"His Disorder Period suddenly started, but don’t worry," Sophie said hurriedly. "I’ve already soothed it for him."
At her words, the tension in Cillian Forrest’s shoulders eased. He walked over and glanced at Shawn Thorne, who was still unconscious on the sofa.
He released his own spiritual power to probe the boy’s condition, confirming that his Spiritual Sea was now stable, with no signs of rampaging energy.
’And... wait.’
Cillian’s eyes widened in shock, and he turned to look at Sophie beside him.
Seeing his reaction, Sophie asked, puzzled, "What is it?"
"The toxin in his Spiritual Sea...?" Cillian asked, a little hesitantly.
"Oh, you mean that," Sophie said, explaining, "While I was soothing him, I discovered he also had Starbug toxin in his Spiritual Sea, so I went ahead and cleared it out for him."
Seeing the blank expression on Cillian’s face, Sophie paused, then asked tentatively, "Did... did I do something wrong?"
’The boy looked like he was in so much pain. The Starbug toxin must have been causing him immense suffering.’
’I’ve cleared out the toxin for people before, so I’m familiar with the steps and the proper sequence. Besides, the child didn’t have that much toxin, so I just took care of it all at once.’
’It’s just that the toxin had been accumulating for a long time, which made it a bit tricky to remove, so it took a little longer.’
’Did I do something wrong?’
’Or is there something special about this child? He couldn’t be the son of some sworn enemy, could he?’
’He doesn’t look like it.’
A thousand different thoughts raced through Sophie’s mind.
Cillian snapped out of his daze. Seeing her worried expression, the intense aura around him softened, and his features relaxed. He reached out and gently ruffled her hair twice.
"No, you did great."
Sophie froze when Cillian’s hand landed on her head. She hadn’t expected him to do something like that.
Cillian’s touch was gentle. He gave her hair another soft pat before pulling his hand away.
After glancing at the still-unconscious Shawn Thorne on the sofa, he activated his communicator.
"We found him. He’s at my place."
"His Disorder Period has been soothed."
"I’ll give you the details after he’s been examined."
Cillian listened for a moment to whatever the person on the other end said, then grunted in acknowledgment before ending the call.
Sophie, still recovering from the surprise of having her head patted, finally registered what Cillian had said.
’This boy’s identity must be something special.’
"Did I cause trouble for you?" Sophie asked hesitantly.
Cillian replied, "No, don’t overthink it. He’s the one who caused this mess."
"You soothed the chaos in his Spiritual Sea and even cleared out the Starbug toxin. You did an amazing job. They should be thanking you."
As he spoke, a profound look flickered in Cillian’s eyes.
’I don’t even know how to begin explaining this.’
’Just this morning, when I met with His Majesty, I told him that Sophie could clear out Starbug toxin.’
’At first, His Majesty was utterly stunned. Once it sank in, he was overcome with excitement.’
’After all, the toxin in his own Spiritual Sea has been there for decades. Ravaged by it, his time was running out. But Shawn is still so young... He already felt immense guilt for letting the boy get poisoned.’
’He’d tried countless methods and sought out countless people. He’d gone from being full of hope to suffering one disappointment after another. The number of times he’d been through that cycle was impossible to count.’
’In the end, he had even come to accept it—to accept this fate. His only heartache was for his child.’
’As for Sophie, at first he just thought she was a simple Healer-class. He figured that a 3S Healer-class who could solve the Disorder Period problems of many High Rank individuals was already a great boon.’
’He never, ever imagined she could actually clear out Starbug toxin!’
’In that moment, His Majesty was so excited he wanted to summon her immediately.’
’But I stopped him.’
’After calming down, His Majesty realized it would be inappropriate.’
’Even though I had said she could clear the toxin and had succeeded before, the person in question was, after all, his son—the Little Prince of the Empire.’
’After some consideration, His Majesty decided to first find some other people for Sophie to treat. Once it was confirmed that she could clear the toxin without any side effects, they would gradually begin treatment for the Little Prince.’
’But plans can never keep up with reality.’
’Who could have guessed that Shawn would sneak out today, come to my house, and run into Sophie?’
’And then, just by chance, his Disorder Period would hit, and while Sophie was soothing the chaos, she would go and clear out the toxin at the same time.’
’No one could have ever predicted such a turn of events.’
Sophie slowly blinked. "Are you sure there’s no problem?"
Cillian smiled and replied, "No problem at all."