Chapter 626: Poison - 626
Skymender barely noticed the mist as it was released from the concoction. He was fully focused on observing the mixture inside of the cauldron.
Suddenly, he began to cough. It was out of nowhere and sudden. He backed away and coughed, but could not stop. He grabbed his throat, and it was closing in on him.
Melly looked over concerned, but as they met eyes, she saw a drop of blood falling from his eye.
She panicked as Skymender spoke. "Leave the room!"
Melly hesitated, but the look in Skymender's eyes made no room for refusal.
She left, and Skymender knocked the cauldron onto the ground.
More mist was released, but he was not concerned at all.
He grabbed a nearby vial, his hands uncontrollably shaking, and scooped up a bit before sealing it shut. He then exited the room.
As soon as he closed the door behind him, he fell to the ground. His body was weak, and he could barely move and inch.
Melly came running from afar, bringing someone with her.
By now, Skymender had passed out. The person she brought carried Skymender to the hospital in the city.
When he woke up, he saw his father, as well as Melly looking at him.
His father was instantly relieved to see him awake, as was Melly.
Skymender felt as if he could move, but stayed laying for a moment. A doctor came over.
"As expected, your son should be fine, my lord. He inhaled some poison, but it was only temporary. However… the injuries sustained from it may not be so easy to get rid of."
Skymender could feel something wrong with his body, and the doctor's words confirmed his worries.
He sat up and took off the mask on his face. He breathed in, and it felt as if he could breathe fine.
He opened his mouth to speak, but as soon as words started to form, he began to cough.
The doctor came over and put the mask on his face. After a moment, the coughing stopped.
He looked at the doctor with confusion.
The doctor explained. "As a result of inhaling the poison, your throat has shrunk a bit, and something has changed within it. It was hard to identify it, but it seems that the trigger is the vibrations caused when you speak. The mask filters the outside air and mixes it with a chemical that relieves your throat and allows you to breathe normally, though I would avoid talking too much."
Skymender was shocked. In other words, it sounded like he may need to wear this mask his entire life.
"Is that all?" He asked. His voice was rough, and sounded muffled due to the mask.
The doctor shook his head before grabbing a small mirror. Looking at his face, Skymender saw a patch of skin that seemed wrinkled and aged.
It only occupied a small portion of his left cheek, but it changed appearance greatly.
He was once again surprised. Were it any other nine year old child, they may feel despair, but to him, the issue with his looks was minor, while the throat injury was much more important.
However, deep inside, he felt excitement. Poison! He had never thought about it before.
However, now, after thinking about it, poison was incredible. Just a small amount may have killed him without medical assistance.
A Sword Master could destroy an army, but so could poison.
The doctor took a green vial from the stand next to his bed and spoke. "We need to get this to a lab in the Imperial Capital and have it thoroughly examined. If everything goes well, we…"
Skymender interupted. "That's mine."
The doctor stopped speaking and looked confused, unsure of what to say.
"Lord Skymender, I understand that you made this, but if it is taken to the Imperial Capital and examined, we may be able to create an antidote that can help others."
Of course Skymender understood that. He didn't want an antidote to be created.
"It's mine and I'll keep it."
His father spoke. "You're not thinking that you'll be allowed to continue researching, are you?"
Skymender looked over to him. "I will continue researching."
His father showed a rare face of anger. "No you will not! You nearly died! I'll be damned if I let you continue!"
He looked at Skymender, but who looked back was someone he did not recognize.
"I WILL continue to research, and there is nothing you can do to stop me." His voice took a tone it had never once taken in his life, and it stunned his father, as well as Melly.
At this moment, not a single person in the world would recognize this behavior of Skymender.
Melly spoke. "Skymender… Your father is right. It's dangerous for this to continue. There is no need."
Skymender's eyes snapped over. "Who let you talk, girl. Don't forget who you are."
Skymender was not in his right mind, still injured from the poison. His body began to shake as the doctor ran over.
His father and Melly were forced out of the room while doctors rushed in. Basically the entire hospital was in that room.
Baron Sky's eyes were angry, but deep inside was shock in disbelief. Skymender talking like that had thoroughly baffled him.
He looked over to Melly, whose head was lowered.
She finally remembered that she was not Skymender's girlfriend, nor his wife. They were engaged, but that was only what everyone else said.
From the moment they had first met, she had willingly become a servant.
Skymender viewed her as nothing but that.
In his moment of injury when his mind was not clear, he had finally spoken his deepest thoughts to those around him.
His unnatural arrogance finally showed.
The doctors remained in the room for an hour before leaving. However, they kept Melly and his father out of the room.
"He needs rest and quiet. If he gets angry again, the same thing could happen. Wait until he is healed a bit more."
Baron Sky and Melly reluctantly nodded. Outside, they met the rest of the family that had rushed over, but they explained the situation to them.
Neither Melly nor Baron Sky spoke of Skymender's outburst. It seemed as if it would stay between the three of them and the doctor.
Chapter 627: Back to Health - 627
Hearing about Skymender's current condition and need to rest, the rest of the family reluctantly left without seeing him.
Inside the hospital, multiple doctors watched from afar to make sure he stayed fine. Skymender was able to rest, missing the next few days of school. A few people came to visit him but the doctors turned them away as he had not yet awoken.
Finally, on the third day, he woke up naturally. His entire body was sore and aching, and he could feel an acute pain in his body.
Most of the feelings quickly faded away, leaving only the feeling of something different about him.
He then remembered what had happened before. He remembered his injuries and his conversations.
However, more importantly, he remembered the vial.
Skymender looked around, and saw a box next to his hospital bed. It was sitting on a desk. He opened it, and the vial was inside.
Skymender looked at it with glowing eyes.
His mind raced with countless thoughts. This only lasted a few moments before multiple doctors entered his room, alerted that he had awoken.
They began to ask him questions. "Lord Skymender, how are you feeling?"
"Does your face hurt?"
"How is your breathing?"
Skymender waved them all off. Speaking wasn't good, so he just gave a thumbs up, indicating that he was fine.
They nodded in relief and began to examine him. Skymender returned the vial to the box as they did so.
They took half an hour to confirm that he was in good health.
"We've already sent the news to Baron Sky. They should be here within the hour."
Skymender nodded and continued to rest as the doctors left.
His peace and quiet only lasted around forty minutes before his room was burst into by a bunch of people.
They surrounded him and asked if he was okay. Skymender repeatedly nodded in confirmation.
Eventually, they calmed down from their initial surge and asked some questions.
"What exactly happened? We heard a bit, but not everything."
Skymender tried speaking for the first time since waking up.
"I was experimenting with poisonous materials and accidentally inhaled some poison."
His voice was rough and scratchy, sounding dark. It instantly caused surprise.
It was at this time that a doctor, who had entered a moment ago, spoke. "It would be harmful for Lord Skymender to speak too much right now, and possibly forever. I would recommend avoiding questions that can't be answered with a thumbs up or thumbs down."
Skymender's family reluctantly nodded.
Skymerge asked a question. "So, when does this mask come off?"
Sitting over nearly a third of Skymender's face, covering his mouth, was a large white mask. It was strapped to his face.
The doctor hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Barring any miracles or new medical developments… I'm afraid Lord Skymender will have to keep the mask on for the rest of his life. We can, however, customize it in terms of size, color, and design. Anything we can do to help, we will do without hesitation."
His words made Skymender's family suddenly feel pity.
Luckily, his looks weren't too terribly damaged to the point of being ugly. Only a small part of his face not covered by the mask was affected, looking wrinkled and aged.
Skymender and his family were told by the doctor that he could be discharged from the hospital if he felt up to it.
Skymender naturally did so.
He stood up and was able to move steadily. Unfortunately, it being hard to breathe, he was unable to exert himself to a large degree. Running for more than a minute would cause him to uncontrollably cough for an unknown period of time. Even the mask would only be able to slightly relieve it.
He walked to a carriage, being slightly held up by Melly. Melly seemed to have forgotten about his words to her, but it was most likely only an act.
Skymender soon reached a carriage, able to walk alone, and entered it. Surprisingly, nobody entered it except his father. There were other carriages for everyone else.
His father looked at him seriously with his arms crossed.
Skymender was not sure what to say. He did not know why his father wanted to talk to him alone.
Finally, his father spoke. "These experiments, you really want to keep doing them?"
Skymender nodded without hesitation.
"Why?" His father asked simply.
Skymender attempted to speak, his voice coming out muffled and rough. "It is simply my passion in life."
His father shook his head. "When did it get like this?"
It felt rhetorical, but Skymender answered it. "After going to the Imperial Capital."
His father sighed. "They say that the person you are when you first enter the Imperial Capital and the person you are when you leave are not the same. It was true for me, it is true for others, and it seems it was true for you as well."
Skymender nodded.
His father sat in silence for a moment before speaking again. "It seems like I can't stop you even if I want to, so know this. You have a family that cares about you. Don't go risking your life or harming yourself, understand?"
Skymender nodded.
The rest of the short carriage ride was taken in silence.
When they arrived, Skymender walked out of the carriage without support. He actually felt good, save for his throat.
Breathing seemed as if it would be difficult for the rest of his life.
Still, Skymender had things to do. After reassuring his family that he was fine, he went to his room and took the poison vial out of the box. He then had a servant bring all of the other stuff that had been with him in the hospital to his room.
This included his notes, his cauldron, and a few other miscellaneous instruments.
Skymender looked at the vial, then at the notes. "Might as well play it safe."
All of his materials and ingredients were at the school, safely stored in a room, so he would have to wait until tomorrow to do what he wanted to do.
However, he was able to prepare. He called a servant in the room and told them to have a few things ready at the school for tomorrow
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
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