She’s toxic, but I say that literally

A/N: Apologies if the chapter is subpar. Next chapter will be hopefully better.

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[Aurora's POV]

She opened her eyes sleepily when she felt a big tremor and a razor-sharp pain between her chest and abdomen, where her magical core was situated. It hurt at other places as well, but the focus lay in that one particular region.

She was more aware now, though things were still hazy. Her body still ached, and her mind felt like it was slowly melting yet also dumbing down to and from the pain.

Her body wanted her to groan and struggle, feeling a deep frustration building inside her because of her state. Yet her mind had no energy or desire to do so. Screaming was something she had done plenty of when she was locked, anyway. So, her mind refused to do so again. It was going to be in vain.

Groggily and still in a daze, she looked in front to see two figures, who curiously happened to be the cause of the said tremors.

"I see now, how you managed to go past the guards."

A man wearing a priest uniform and dawning an unnerving calm smile seemed to be talking to the knight who was carrying her.

"You're quite strong. Even without your exceptional armor, I must say. Tell me, though. What do you need that girl for? Perhaps we can negotiate…"

Moving her attention away from them, a brief look around made her realize she was lying on the ground somewhere in the small clearing among the canopy of trees.

"…"

The knight didn't bother to reply, instead promptly dodging a vicious attack suddenly aimed towards his vitals and attacking back.

She blinked and time seemed to blink to a much later point than it should have in that instant. Almost as if she had traveled a little further in time.

The knight was now on his knee as his sword remained in his clutch. One of the thicker vines was pointing towards him, seemingly the cause of his state.

At that single glance, he seemed to be losing against the priest.

The priest's calm smile remained plastered on his face as he kept chanting a strange magic spell. Spiked roots now seemed to emerge constantly from the ground and strange flowers bloomed, spreading a strange green fog in the air and covering the environment.

Some tried to approach her but were held back by an invisible barrier that seemed to surround her. She hadn't even realized that until she saw it act up in defense.

It was strong enough to protect her from both the physical attack and the fog.

Aurora tried to move, but getting up was still impossible. Soon enough, she lost her motivation and energy and kept lying, letting things run their course instead.

"Why don't you give up, knight? Surrender and I'll make this easy on you. You're tired and intoxicated. A tier-6 like you can't fight my magic. Are you really so eager to die for no apparent good reasons?"

The knight broke into a burst of amused laughter.

"Pfft, hahaha! … You think too highly of your stupid vine magic, bitch. Also, shut the fuck up."

His words contained clear annoyance and anger, even if he was laughing.

Suddenly, she felt an overpowering wave of mana erupting from the knight, covering the entire place. But while it felt strong, it didn't seem to hurt or suppress her. It was instead directed towards the priest, visible from his change in expression.

The knight stood back up, his armor gaining an even darker yet brighter color as black tendrils started rising from it.

The constant smile on the priest's face died down as his eyes widened.

"You're not the only one with this kind of trick."

"Y-You… you're not a tier-6… You're a—"

But before she could see where the development led, Aurora's eyes were shut, her world turning dark once again from tiredness.

[End of Aurora's POV]

***

I huffed in annoyance at the unexpected problem I had encountered just a few minutes ago.

After Aurora fell unconscious, I kept moving towards my destination, only to encounter the priest hiding and waiting in the woods. Totally not creepy at all. Also, he wasn't actually hiding. He was openly waiting.

But he wasn't the problem, really. The problem was… well, Aurora. Or rather, her magic.

'Can't believe I got necrotic poisoning from her leaking mana just by carrying her. And it even overpowered my defenses for a moment.'

Even though I was wearing the armor and resistance items and was many tiers higher than her… Seriously, her potential and talent in a necrotic element were dangerous even when she's low-tiered. Heh, that's a platinum-graded talent for you. Or should I say- That's Aurora Livingstone, the future Eternal Necromancer for you. She's toxic as hell, but I say that literally.

I sighed in minor annoyance but quickly resigned and moved past it. All things considered, nothing serious happened. I eventually got better, but it was a sudden and unexpected event still.

'I'll have to heal and detoxify her properly. Now. I can't wait any longer or this problem might grow worse. I thought she was healing, but I guess not fully. Though, she seems safe, judging by her status. It's mostly the after-effects.'

[You should do that, yes. And while you're at it, drink a potion yourself.]

'Right. Can't risk any lingering effects of such a physical curse, even if I feel better now.'

I had fed her advanced potions for health, mana, stamina, and negative status effects resistance when she was falling unconscious. But apparently, she still wasn't completely detoxified. The effects crept back somehow.

Making me lose my footing there and getting hit by one of the priest's vines as I felt a sharp burning pain clinging to my arm.

Though, it wasn't a real threat to me. My fairly decent stats helped me get over it for the time being, even if I was surprised.

Before healing her, I checked my armor, and surprisingly, there was very a small tear on the back of my left elbow.

I grimaced slightly.

The priest seemed to have managed to graze me with one of his attacks. Though it was nothing big, it still

Even if it was a weak point, it was still slightly surprising.

'And here I was hoping the Hollow Knight armor was going to be more than enough.'

Well, the priest was almost a Tier-8 and he used high-tier magic. So, the armor seemed to take some minor damage.

Those vines were actually quite vicious. And almost sentient. They couldn't be burned even with intermediate fire or lightning magic. Not that I was using them in the fight, since I couldn't use my major affinities in front of others. I had other ways to counter him, though.

I pulled my blade out of the neck of the surprise-struck face of the priest who had been a rather disappointing foe.

After making sure there were no more people nearby, I opened my helmet's cover a little and quickly drank a healing potion while making a mental note.

The resistance items—that I was wearing right now— weren't good enough against Aurora's high-level necrotic mana poisoning.

'I'll have to find a better option against that then. Luckily, I'll be heading to the right place to find it after I make her accept my offer.'

I looked back to the girl in question, lying unconscious near a rotting tree. The tree was perfectly fine a little while back.

[She's toxic as hell. Literally.]

'Sheesh, she's indeed too toxic for the living right now.'

Guess that means the drawbacks of her OP powers are just as insane. At least in the beginning. I was not aware of this since I didn't know about her during this phase. I only knew her backstory and the Aurora of the future, who was the all-powerful Eternal Necromancer.

I approached her with two new vials in my hand. Something I should and would have if I hadn't been rudely interrupted by the guy I was watching out for. Well, he paid the price, and luckily, I now had what I needed from him as well.

Anyway, one of the vials was just a simple advanced healing potion. Well, definitely not a "simple" potion, since it cost a lot and could heal even grave wounds. But I was feeding her so I could heal the erosive damage done to her body.

Interestingly, today might have been the second time where I had to use multiple advanced healing potions so quickly. The first being when I was clearing one of the more dangerous dungeons in my third month of engineering.

The other vial contained an elixir from the store I had to buy with all of the remaining AP I had stored.

It kinda broke me on that front, but for Aurora, I was willing to go that far. It wasn't even a question.

'Hopefully, she won't mind the side effects of it. This is the best one I have at the moment…'

I mused mentally.

[…]

'I mean, is it really a "side effect" when the effects are stated as: 'Feeling hazy for a day or two' and 'a permanent but mild increase in breast size and sensitivity'?'

… Well, maybe the first one was. But the second?

'If anything, I think that the other one is a good effect. Aurora can certainly do with slightly bigger tits, not that I think the ones she has now are unattractive.'

[All tit sizes are awesome! All sizes make the wood rise… Or so the cultured comics in your memories say. I believe in them. :) ]

'It's the truth, after all.'

Chuckling, I ignored those "mere" side effects and opened her mouth, making her gulp the liquid slowly. It was a slow process since I didn't want to choke her in her sleep, but she was surprisingly cooperative. Even when unconscious, her body did what I wanted it to do.

Drink without choking, I mean. No double meaning intended there.

By the time I was done, she was in much better shape… at least, physically.

'Good enough. Time to leave this shithole town, Aurora. It's better for you this way. Hopefully. I'm sure the news of this incident will spread soon.'

It was probably going to cause a commotion. Now I couldn't risk wearing the new armor— that I had barely got my hands on— in public, just to be safe.

Oh well, there were plenty of other options. A few I had, and some I just needed to go collect from the respective dungeons and hidden places that I could travel to, assuming they were still there.

'This incident will likely bring Count Longriver's attention to this place and he'll be the one dealing with this mess. Well, he can have a field day for all I care… Hmm, I wonder what his daughter will think about it, though. She'll definitely hear about it from her father or from her agents… What's she up to anyways? Probably still finding a suitable husband or something to get her businesses running or thinking about some new profitable business. I should probably make friends with her when I am in the academy. She's really resourceful.'

[Oho? Do I sense a waifu coming?]

'Why do I feel like you're more interested in my romantic life than even I. Also, no. I'm not really attracted to her. She's… not really my type.'

[Because I am! You're quite literally the entire scope of my life. Of course, I'm interested in everything 'you'.]

'Alright, alright, miss obsessive weirdo.'

I chuckled, but it did make me feel better. The gore and massacre just now and Aurora's state was not very cheer-inducing things.

'You don't need to say it like that, then. Almost makes it look like you're a yandere stalker.'

[I'm a goudere if anything, you lonely dick! And my obsessing over you makes total sense. I'm literally bound to your soul.]

I couldn't help but smile.

'Yes, yes. I love you too.'

[… Fuck off. Ugh, that was cringe. I'm going to go and read some manga.]

'A Tsundere Iris, eh? Me likey.'

I mused as I smiled. Messing with Iris was one of the few joys in my otherwise lonely and dull life nowadays.

Though, I had to stop when she got all pouty.

So, for the rest of the journey— when I wasn't looking out for any remaining followers or new threats— I amused and distracted myself by imagining the count's daughter's reaction and her rather interesting aim in life while I made my way toward the safe spot.

***