239 Astral Binding

 "Mr. Alchemist, before we start," *cough,* "-is t-there a c-chance that I'll die?" her body and mind now close to shutting down due to fatigue. She fought the pain to get another sentence out.

 "I can't say," focused on sorting out his supplies, Staxius wasn't interested in making idle chitchat. The girl was just another patient in his eyes.

 "I see," her breathing grew heavier, "-t-thanks for trying," faint smile followed by coughs.

 "Try not to speak, I'll need you to be of able mind soon," using the thumb and index finger, he parted her long hair, ones that covered her face. "It's going to be a hard fight," deep breaths in, "-try not to speak too much, focus on staying conscious." 

 'A low-tier curse that fed on her mana until it evolved into one of mid-tier. A day later and it would have devoured her from within,' the eyes shut, focus heightened, the temperature around the room dropped.