Feelings

(Author: the next chapter will focus on Bete, but I will make sure it ends with that since I have already started. I'm not sure how long it will be, but rather than do two separate chapters, I'd rather just do one concluding one, so we can start with the next arc).

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The basilisk was a creature as feared as it was famous in ancient times when monsters roamed the continent uncontrolled. Their numbers were few, but the damage caused by them was great, with their body resembling a giant snake and possessed of one of the cruelest poisons and boiling flames, that could melt anything it touched.

One of the most famous cases was a basilisk more than twenty meters long, which was believed to be the main culprit behind the increase in the size of Kayos Desert, and now the venom of such a beast, flowed into Mark.

Watching Mark's vein-covered body writhing, Valletta couldn't help but laugh with joy at his suffering. She had found the tooth fragment of that monster by pure chance during the dark age of Orario, but she found out which monster it belonged to when one of her henchmen accidentally injured himself with it. It had been with her ever since, and it was thanks to that that she survived the nightmare on the 27th floor, and although the remaining poison was much weaker than before, it still showed its incredible effects.

"HAHAHA! DO YOU FEEL THAT MARK?! DO YOU FEEL THE POISON SLOWLY DEVOURING YOU?! BUT THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING, SOON YOUR ENTIRE BODY WILL BE TURNED TO STONE AND YOU WILL FEEL EVERY SECOND OF THAT EXTREME TORTURE!"

Even with the pain in her shoulder and the fact that she had lost her secret weapon, as the dart made from the tooth broke, it was impossible to stop Valletta from enjoying the spectacle.

"Tempest!"

Without hesitation, Aiz picked up Mark and walked away as fast as she could, hearing Valletta's derisive shouts.

"RUN MARK RUN! BUT NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU HURRY, YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD HAHAHA!"

Aiz seemed to be flying from building to building from how fast she moved, but her agitation only grew stronger as she carried Mark. His body was boiling and his temperature kept rising, moreover, his complexion was cadaverous white with the only easily distinguishable color the black of the veins covering his body.

Meanwhile, a battle was going on inside Mark. He felt his blood had turned into lava and was melting him from within, but even so, he could do nothing. Between the effects of the transformation and the poison, his body was completely immobilized.

'This shitty ability... had to be deactivated now... fuck.'

Gritting his teeth, he had to support the pain of his blood boiling, as the effects of 'golem heart' had worn off, but he could count himself lucky that the pain was not increased by 'limit break', as that too had deactivated. Another factor that kept him still conscious was the sudden advice of the Guide.

When he was wounded in the face, he began to feel something strange, and hearing the Guide's serious warning, he concentrated what little aura he had left into his organs and managed to prevent his organs from being poisoned. However, the situation had not improved and he was in a constant state of danger. With all the energy he had expended in battle, he did not have enough stamina left to keep his organs protected for long, as they were constantly being attacked by the poison.

"Riveria!"

While Mark was in his semi-conscious state Aiz soon arrived at Riveria, whose expression hardened as soon as he saw Mark's state.

"What happened to him?"

"He was attacked by something afflicted with basilisk venom."

"What?!-No, that's not important now. You must take him to Airmid right away, if it really is the basilisk's poison the healing spells and potions will only have the effects of increasing the poison's mortality."

As Riveria explained, the characteristic of basilisk venom and the reason it was so deadly were due to two reasons. The first was that it absorbed all kinds of healing effects to strengthen itself and the second was that there was no cure; therefore, the only way was to eliminate the poison directly.

Realizing the gravity of the situation and seeing Mark's state deteriorating by the second, Aiz knew she had to be quick. Putting him back on her shoulders, she ran even faster toward the direction of the Dian Chect Familia, but considering the distance between them, it would still take her a few minutes to reach her destination.

Every second that passed seemed like an eternity and when she finally reached the entrance to the red light district, Mark's condition had deteriorated severely. His breathing had become heavy and he very often coughed up black sludge and his body had become so hot that it felt to Aiz like he was carrying a boiling pot.

"Try to hold on Mark, we are almost there."

As the force of the wind increased even more, Aiz's speed grew accordingly but Mark didn't even seem to notice. All his concentration was on maintaining what little aura remained on his organs as he felt his blood boil and the only moment of relief was when he felt the coolness of the rain touch his body, even if it was only momentary.

With her speed increased, Aiz arrived earlier than expected near the Dian Chect Familia, and without wasting any time, she immediately entered. Everyone's attention, including the few members of the Loki Familia who were already there, turned towards her when she entered in such a hurry and with heavy breathing.

"Airmid I need your help now!" -Aiz shouted, as she placed Mark on the ground.

"ARGHH!"

Just being moved caused Mark extreme pain and the boiling blood flowing inside of him, made him wish he could pull out every single drop of blood, to finally have relief from that torture.

"What's going on here?"

The twin amazons who had returned from their rounds to see if there were any other amazons in danger appeared at the entrance but never expected to see the scene in front of them once they returned.

"M-Mark?"

Babbling, Tiona watched in horror as Mark writhed in pain. With a weak step, she approached and when she tried to reach out her hand to him, she was stopped by someone.

"Don't touch him. Has he been poisoned?" -Said seriously Airmid, who had just arrived.

From her complexion it was easy to see that she was tired, after all, she had already treated several amazons afflicted with the anti-healing curse, but when she heard her name being called she hurried to the entrance hall anyway, where she saw the famous Lost Prince lying on the ground convulsing. What worried her most, however, was his state. Never in her life as a healer had she seen such a case, and whatever the cause, she knew it was extremely harmful, which was why she did not want Tiona to touch him.

"Basilisk venom." -Aiz replied.

"Impossible!"

Taking a small dagger she made an incision in Mark's arm and to everyone's horror what came out was not the typical scarlet liquid but something more like oil.

"Not good, definitely not good. Take him to another room immediately!" -She ordered the employees present, who put Mark on a stretcher and carried him away.

Airmid was about to follow them when she heard Tiona's trembling voice from behind.

"H-He's going to be fine, right?"

"...I will do my best." -With those words she turned away.

Tiona kept looking in the direction they had gone motionless. She was terrified that something might happen to Mark and seeing him in pain was tearing her heart apart. She still didn't know exactly what her feelings for him were or if she would ever understand them, but of one thing she was certain. She wanted to be close to him, the person who always looked forward to every obstacle with his will and who aspired to become stronger and stronger.

"Don't worry. We are talking about Mark, he will surely wake up and ask when he can go to the dungeon. Besides, he's in safe hands with Airmid." -Tione joked, trying to cheer Tiona up.

"Hmm." -Aiz also nodded, signaling to her that everything would be fine.

Seeing the two of them trying to cheer her up, Tiona felt lighter, although she continued to be worried about Mark's state.

Meanwhile, Mark could barely remain conscious. He had not even realized he had arrived at the Dian Chect Familia, sounds had become garbled while his vision was blurred. He was no longer aware of what was happening, he could hear voices in the background, but they were unintelligible to him and all he could perceive was pain spreading throughout his body.

He continued his battle to stay awake and provide his organs with auras, but each time he blinked, the eyelids became heavier and heavier, until the last remaining thread of resistance was worn away. With no strength left, his eyes slowly began to close and the last thing he saw was a transparent dome surrounding his body and then darkness.

(Zoe's Perspective)

'crash!'

"Haaaa... I can't get a good one today."

With a dejected sigh, Zoe looked at the shattered test tube on the floor that she had accidentally dropped.

Bending down, she began to pick up each piece and wiped the floor. Having cleaned up all the mess, she looked at the work table where there were various potions, but in Zoe's eyes, their quality was not so different from rubbish. With another sigh, she sat down on a chair and looked at the roof of the workshop thoughtfully.

"...He is definitely still angry."

The memories of last night of how she had tried to tease Mark with Haruhime were still etched in her memory. She had no bad intentions whatsoever, she just wanted to find a way to be closer so that it would be easier to confess her problem to him, but her genius turned out to be completely counterproductive.

Although it didn't seem like it, Zoe struggled to socialize. The fact that she had so many secrets inside her made her more prone to distrust others, and even if it was true that she had improved since arriving at Orario, this was only because, with anyone she had a good relationship with, she had read their thoughts at least once.

Her ability to read thoughts was not so simple. It allowed her to understand unconsciously what kind of person she was dealing with, so with others, she knew what and what not to say, but this was something she could not do with Mark.

Having to interact with someone she did not understand at all was a new experience for Zoe and she still believed she could do it. The week they had spent together in the dungeon was an example, in that situation, she had still managed to interact with him and the special thing was that she did so naturally.

'I admit it's also partly to his particular nature. Someone who ignores most of his surroundings but focuses on the details, he can seem cold at times but I think it's more due to his seriousness... at least when he's not trying to make ironic jokes. He also has a kind side even if he rarely shows it, like when he stroked the head of that pair of siblings he saved during the incidents with the Apollo Familia.'

She thought she knew him well enough by now, but only ended up being looked at by his expression which was not just anger, no, it looked more like extreme annoyance.

"I should just apologize, but I don't think I'd look sincere... hmm, maybe I could give him some potions as a token of apology, yeah, that way looks much more sincere."

With renewed motivation, she rose from the chair to prepare some potions when-

'ba-dum'

"What was that?"

Placing her hand to her chest, Zoe looked around confused. Although it was strange, for a split second it seemed to her as if someone was calling her.

"...Anyway, let's not lose focus, I have already lost too many materials."

Still unsure of what she had felt, Zoe decided to focus on the goal in front of her and make peace with Mark.