19. Poison
The spear grazed Tia's arm.
It didn't look like a major wound, but right after that, Tia's body wavered.
"Ngh."
The sight of Tia sinking into pain beyond what the wound alone could cause confirmed it. Poison.
It was the first time I'd seen poison like this firsthand, so I used Incubus Gaze, which I hadn't had a chance to use for this before.
［Name］: Goblin Poison Shaman*
［Race］: Fairy (Goblinoid)
［Challenge Rating］: 3 (EXP 700)
□STR : 17
■DEX : 14
□CON : 14
□INT : 11
■WIS : 12
□CHA : 11
【Darkvision】: 18m
〔Armor Class〕: 14
〔HP〕: 55
......
Challenge Rating 3—in other words, an appropriate opponent for a four-person level 3 party.
The reason this thing revealed itself was obvious.
Because the duration of my Innate Magic had ended, and Tia had shown herself.
Unintentionally, Tia had ended up as bait to draw the thing out.
Then another thrown spear came flying, and
"Shield."
I blocked it with the Shield spell and reassessed the situation.
Tia was poisoned, and the enemy was a monster that a level 3 party should be facing.
The best move I could make in this situation was,
"Tia, run into the darkness!"
"Ngh, but Do-hyeon,"
"It's fine!"
First, I moved Tia.
A sharpshooter is most dangerous when they haven't revealed themselves.
Even though she'd been poisoned, she wasn't incapable of fighting, so I placed her in the most effective position precisely because of that.
Tia gritted her teeth and ran into the forest.
Dashing twice with Cunning Action as well should keep the goblin from catching her.
With that, one of the conditions for Tia's Sneak Attack—no disadvantage—was resolved, with the advantage of darkness and the disadvantage from the poison canceling each other out.
The other condition was the presence of an ally within 1.5m, which meant me.
I took out the pearl with my left hand, activated the Pearl of Power to recover one 2nd-circle spell, then reactivated Innate Magic.
Innate Magic could only be used twice before requiring a long rest. So if the thing ran away, I'd be in danger after one minute, but—
"Kruik?!"
The goblin shaman, startled, drew its spear.
Of course it would. It had roughly confirmed the duration, so it must have judged that fighting me head-on right now had better odds than dodging arrows for a minute and trying to survive.
The goblin shaman closed in and thrust its poisoned spear at me.
The arrogant notion that if it could get that poison on me even once, it would win.
The first spear thrust was blocked by Mage Armor, but the second thrust sharply aimed for my shoulder,
"Shield!"
With that, I'd expended my 1st-circle spells.
Making consecutive attacks with a single mana circuit activation should be a high-level Feature of warrior classes, so what, is this shaman a warrior too? I'd thought it strange that a shaman had high strength.**
Normally, taking it with HP would be the right call, but letting myself get hit by that poison was too dangerous.
And then, Tia's covering fire came flying in.
The arrow aimed at the goblin shaman's heart lodged in its leather armor, announcing its presence.
〔HP〕: 44/55
Confirming that its HP had definitely dropped, I checked my options.
The first was to hide in the physical darkness of Darkness.
But that darkness had been set up a fair distance away, and to get into it, I'd have to allow the goblin shaman at least one attack.
High reward, but it came with risk.
The second was to draw my sword and reduce its HP.
I could suppress it quickly, but there was a risk of being exposed to attacks in return.
The third was to use a new 2nd-circle spell.
"Blur."
With those words, my body, already wrapped in phantasmal dreams by Mirage Armor, grew even more indistinct.
Literally, a 2nd-circle illusion spell that made my body blurry.
It required high concentration, so it couldn't be used alongside Darkness, another concentration spell, and there was a risk of it being dispelled if I got hit, but—
If I don't get hit, that's all that matters, right?
Using my Secondary Mana Circuit, I temporarily drew magic back from my mana source and even restored a 1st-circle spell. Realizing the situation was worsening, the goblin shaman lunged at me with its spear.
But unlike just moments ago when it had fiercely stabbed at me, the two-strike attack sliced through empty air.
In its eyes, my form must have been scattering dizzily.
While Tia's covering shot cut through the air, I drew my sword.
［Feature］Armament of Phantasmal Dreams
You have trained to shape the magic of phantasmal dreams into weapons or to overlay it onto existing weapons. You gain proficiency with all martial weapons.
Normally, a sorcerer wouldn't be proficient with such a weapon, but thanks to the Mirage Knight Sorcery subclass, I could wield this sword as freely as my own hand.
［Rare］Vicious Longsword
When you hit a target with this weapon, the weapon deals an additional 2-12 damage. The damage type is the same as the weapon's base damage type.
A longsword that dealt additional damage equivalent to a level 3 Sneak Attack. A Rare-grade weapon, one grade above Uncommon, the highest equipment grade obtainable on the upper floors, was now showing its power.
Holding it skillfully, I performed the somatic component of True Strike and brought the sword down.
I carved one message into the chest of the creature so focused on arrows from the darkness: the enemy in front of it was me.
"Kruiak?!"
Its HP dropped drastically.
The goblin shaman howled and leveled its spear at me, but
"Shield!"
The desperate counterattack was blocked by the spell I'd recovered in advance,
and Tia's arrow, this time, pierced through its throat.
"Uirok, hriik."
With a cry that didn't even qualify as goblin speech, the goblin shaman collapsed.
After confirming that the fallen thing's HP had reached 0, I ran over to Tia.
"Tia!"
"I'm, fine."
She didn't look fine at all.
Eyes filled with fatigue in an instant.
Pale face.
Even considering it was right after battle, a lot of cold sweat.
I checked her condition with Incubus Gaze.
［Name］: Tia
［Race］: Halfling-Human Mixed Blood
［Level］: 3 (2600 EXP)
［Class］: Rogue
□STR : 8
■DEX : 18
□CON : 14
■INT : 10
□WIS : 14
□CHA : 12
［Feat］Technician
［Feat］Sharpshooter
......
【Status】
［Poisoned］Goblin Poison Shaman's Special Poison
We had deliberately kept Tia's EXP just short of level 4 so leveling up wouldn't interfere with our exploration of the orc stronghold.
Let me check the special poison first.
Goblin Poison Shaman's Special Poison
This poison puts a target hit by a weapon coated with it into a poisoned state. The poison worsens the longer it persists, causing additional effects. To cure this poison, a Lesser Restoration spell cast through a 3rd-circle or higher mana circuit, or a dedicated antidote, is required.
A poison with no duration that keeps getting worse? How is that fair?
Tia's words came to mind. That if you didn't pursue becoming stronger at the same level, you couldn't overcome the trials the labyrinth handed down.
Eira's words came to mind too. That the labyrinth was a garbage place.
I tried to think of a way to save Tia. A spell cast through a 3rd-circle or higher mana circuit—that was impossible. You had to reach level 5 to gain a 3rd-circle circuit. Any level 5 priestly class would have gone down to the middle floors long ago.
"Wait here a moment."
I gathered the goblin corpses into one place.
Drew a circle around them, performed a simple ritual, and—
【Experience】
【Currency】
【Contribution Points】
Here, I chose experience.
"Tia, let's level up."
I carried out the level-up we'd been avoiding on the 2nd floor of the cave labyrinth for fear it would interfere with exploration. Now that we'd discovered the stronghold, there was no need for further restraint.
As my vision grew hazy, I chose a Feat for my level 4 Feature.
［Feat］Close-Quarters Caster
Prerequisite: Level 4 or higher, spellcasting ability
You gain the following benefits:
▶Ability Score Increase
One of your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma increases by 1, up to a maximum of 20.
▶Close-Quarters Magic
Your ranged spell attacks do not suffer disadvantage even if a hostile target is within 1.5m of you.
▶Magic Protection
You have advantage on Constitution saves to maintain spell concentration.
When I finished the selection and looked at Tia, her complexion had improved considerably.
But the poison hadn't been cured, and she was still breathing roughly.
In games, leveling up cured all status conditions.
I clicked my tongue lightly and sat down in front of Tia, offering my back.
"Get on."
"I'm, fine. I feel, better, than before."
"I know you're not fine, so hurry up and get on."
When I urged her like that, Tia hesitated for a moment, then climbed onto my back.
Her body was hot even in this cold forest.
"There was an antidote in the goblin village. So just wait a little."
"Do-hyeon......"
Tia started to say something, then stopped.
Rest well. You managed to fight in this condition.
***
I passed through the forest carefully so Tia wouldn't get scratched by trees, but as quickly as possible.
Following the guidance of the Guide Boon, I entered the goblin village and rushed into the shaman's house.
And there, on a shelf located deep inside the house, I found the antidote.
Only a single bottle.
"......Do-hyeon."
Right. I'd known. When I'd used the Boon to search for the antidote, it hadn't detected two bottles.
But Tia was suffering like this. I couldn't just leave her.
"......Do, hyeon."
Lee Se-rin was suffering too? But she wasn't even my party member.
She wasn't someone I was responsible for.
"Re,member. Why, you, came, here."
After saying that, Tia lost consciousness.
At those words, I gripped the bottle containing the antidote.
Right. I knew.
The fact that I was making excuses instead of feeding the antidote to Tia right away meant I was already hesitating.
Lee Se-rin had been poisoned longer than Tia. Her condition was probably worse than Tia's.
And if I didn't help Lee Se-rin, the future schedule would get seriously tangled.
Because we'd decided to follow Kwon Chae-a's words and support the other students in our class until Lee Se-rin recovered.
More than anything, could I really decide a person's life?
But so what? Did that mean I should lose Tia instead?
Unless there was a way to save both of them, I......!
At that moment, a single perk flashed through my mind.
▶Incubus Body
You gain a +4 bonus to your Constitution, up to a maximum of 20.
You are immune to the charmed condition.
You can incorporate drugs you have absorbed into your semen and expel them.
The effect of semen expelled this way activates upon intravaginal ejaculation.
This was the ability of Incubus Body that had seemed baffling when I first saw it—expelling absorbed drugs through intravaginal ejaculation to make them take effect.
Mary, if I use this ability, can I administer the antidote to both of them?
『Affirmative. It is possible.』
The deliberation was brief.
If I could save both of them, there was no reason to hesitate.
I laid Tia's body down on the bed that appeared to have been used by the goblin shaman.
I swallowed the antidote as it was, then used Authority of Dream Infiltration to warm Tia's body.
***
In the dream, Tia was sending people away.
The first people to leave were a young man and woman with blurred faces.
Tia, on the verge of tears, let go of the hands she was holding.
The next person she sent away was the woman named Bel, whom I'd seen in a dream before.
Tia was collapsed on the ground, wailing.
Watching that, I kept spreading my now-controllable presence throughout Tia's dream.
So that Tia's body could accept me.
But when I looked at the third person leaving, I couldn't help flinching.
I—or something with my appearance—was sending Tia away.
Tia was looking at that me, wiping away tears while waving her hand.
The first people she sent away were probably her parents. Then Bel.
The last one—was it Tia's fear? That even I might leave?
With that question in mind, I left Tia's dream.
During the first dream infiltration, I'd had no choice but to rely on the other person waking up, but now I could use the Authority of Dream Infiltration in reverse to leave the dream on my own.
After exiting the dream, I wet Tia's hole as quickly as possible.
I put my thing into her sufficiently wet hole and started moving.
Moving alone like this, it felt like I was comforting myself.
"Nn, ahng,"
With only Tia's moans as accompaniment, I barely managed to ejaculate.
And at the same time, when I tried to use Incubus Body,
［Ingested Drugs］
【Potion of Healing】
【Goblin Shaman Special Poison Antidote】
Two options appeared before my eyes.
Naturally, I selected the antidote and released it inside Tia.
Only after that did Tia's face relax.
Relieved, I cleaned both my body and Tia's, along with our clothes, then left the village.
On the way to where the last battle had taken place, goblin warrior corpses lay at regular intervals.
I collected them one by one, tossed them in front of the village, and waited for Tia to regain consciousness.
So that when she woke, we could offer them together as sacrifices.
As I waited,
"Village discovered! Personnel inside, confirmed."
"Traces of battle found. Goblin individuals, all confirmed dead."
Men wearing strange goggles approached.
"Are you Seo Do-hyeon?"
"Yes. That's right."
As I watched them warily, they spoke as if somewhat put out.
"We're a search party sent by Lord Dismas—no, a rescue party. We were ordered to bring you back alive if you were in danger, or at least retrieve your bodies, but......"
They checked the scale of the goblin village and asked again.
"The corpses over there don't appear to be all of them. Is that correct?"
"Yes. Some have already been offered as sacrifices."
"By that, do you mean you annihilated the goblin village?"
"Yes."
At that, the rescue team members fell silent.
"Is there a problem?"
"Ah, no. You've been through a lot. Though we heard there were two of you."
"She's resting. She's exhausted."
"Ah, understood. We'll stand watch so the two of you can rest comfortably."
With that, the rescue members withdrew and began patrolling the surroundings.
Why did Dismas send people like that?
Anyway, what about Lee Se-rin?