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C1423
After going through a long discussion with the Eastern Sage, an official representative from the Magus Academy visited the Terra Palace on the following day. They had come to deliver three wooden boxes.
Fuxi and the Terra magus of course already knew what they were, as the exact same were given to Emery and Julian before. Klea reached to pick up one that had a label with her name on it.
The moment her finger touched it, a bright light appeared as the rune seal on the box activated.
[Identity confirmed. Elite acolyte 83292005, Kleopatra]
After the light died down, inside the box, she could see the silver [Scroll of Awakening] that was needed to break through to the magus realm. Apart from that, there was also a metal card that displayed information in her mind as she picked it up.
[Cleopatra]
[Magus Academy's graduate Year 25,053 BH]
[Elite class with Honors]
[Overall rank - Top 200]
[Thank you for your participation in the Magus Academy tournament]
[Congratulation, you placed in the top 100]
[You received - 400,000 contribution points]
Four hundred thousand contribution points was certainly quite a hefty sum. However, when she found out the amount within Thrax's card, she couldn't help but sport a frown. Due to his feat of making it into the top 16 in the Magus Tournament, the Thracian had received an extra five hundred thousand contribution points as his reward.
Either way, the arrival of these rewards reminded Klea to find a way to obtain a few extra [Scroll of Awakening] for the magus candidates on Earth.
Since Thrax was still busy with his preparations for the upcoming enlistment, Klea planned to check on Chumo's condition first. After that, she would try to complete her shopping list of things to bring back to Earth.
But right before she left, the Eastern Sage came up to her and told her about something that immediately made her anxious. After hearing the Wolf Patriarch's comments yesterday, he had decided to inspect Emery's body more thoroughly. What he found was not good news.
"The tube did an excellent job of slowing down the decomposition process, but for a half-blood like Emery, his body apparently needs extra treatment, he might also need a better container."
As she was trying to think of a way to solve this problem, Klea remembered Emery had a good friend at the Apothecary Institute. Thinking they might have a solution, it was decided she would visit the institute today and ask for their help.
Apparently, the Eastern Sage had something important to prepare as well. He gave Klea some list of items that would be most useful for the people on earth. They were not commonly made ones, so Klea might need to search around between shops.
Not planning to go alone, Klea went to the Terra Palace's backyard. She then walked over to the pet she had neglected since the tournament.
"Tivali, are you awake? Let's go, you come with me now."
Upon hearing those words, the five meter tall Bestet King Tiger quickly shrunk, turning into a small black cat with striking golden stripes. It jumped into the air and landed on Klea's open arm. As the latter started to rub her hands on its back, Tivali was seen closing its eyes comfortably.
Purrr! purrr!
Because of how serious Emery's body condition was, the first place she visited after leaving the Terra Palace was Golden City, where the Apothecary Institute was. Unexpectedly, it wasn't hard to track down Emery's apothecary grandmaster – Grom – as all the apothecarist of the institute were registered.
Even though she knew Emery was talented in apothecary, Klea didn't realize how famous he was among the other apprentices in the institute. Even some apothecary grandmasters were shocked and concerned when they learned of his current situation.
It was at this time that Klea also learned about Emery's colleagues in this field. In particular, a cute-looking young girl named Karin. She truly didn't know what to do when she saw the latter suddenly burst into tears, when she learned of Emery's condition.
Luckily, this also meant Klea received a lot of support from these people when she asked for assistance. In fact, they went ahead and dispatched several teams of experts to the Terra Palace, assuring her they would do their best to alleviate Emery's situation.
Knowing Emery was in good hands, Klea could with peace of mind move on to the next thing on her list. Unfortunately for her, the next on the list was something unpleasant.
Visiting the facility where the survivors of the Nightwalkers toxin were being treated.
There were Chumo and six other people. Among them, Klea only recognized Lodos the Maniac and Abrafo the earth formation specialist. At the moment, all of them were under the direct care of the Magus Alliance's medical science team.
The experiment that had been carried out on them was something more than mere poison. It was some kind of a gene modification, one which required rigorous research and deep experimentation to be cracked, let alone undone.
Aside from Abrafo, who wasn't too strongly affected by the toxin, the other six, who were in much worse condition, were not from any well-known factions.
Usually, this would mean a project to resolve their condition would be deemed unfeasible to undertake. But fortunately, under Headmaster Delbrand's orders, the Magus Academy was willing to fund the project until a definite cure was found.
When Klea came to visit, she saw Chumo was placed in a special room for safety reasons, as there were only certain hours during the day when he would come out of the crazed state. Even then, he was still unable to speak clearly.
Researchers taking part in the project were optimistic they would eventually succeed in finding a cure. However, the endeavor would definitely not be completed within the one month Klea had.
"Even if the tests go well, it will still take at least a year or two for them to be safely released, much more to be fully recovered."
Hearing that answer, Klea nodded in understanding. She turned to her friend and spoke after taking a deep breath. "You and Emery, you two, you must… fight it… Please, you must get well soon, I will be waiting for you back on Earth."
There was a clear look on Chumo's face, a face full of determination. However, even when no words could come out of his mouth Klea's knows the same Chumo was still in there.
To be continued