Chapter 15: I might have puked blood, but war sounds good too

After pointing out every purple spot Kanan could find, including those on the animals, he and Yala made their way to the river, where Kanan had already told her that the entire water supply was contaminated.

The only positive about this was that the poison would naturally fade from the water as it would be diluted over time, but time wasn’t on their side at the moment. Also, containing a whole river was beyond Yala’s abilities.

But she was happy knowing that the flora and fauna were safe, for the most part. They had to kill some of the animals that were further along with the poison infection, and would save the rest once the cure was created.

"Okay, now let’s head back to the village."

Kanan nodded. "Yes."

Yala hopped on his back, and they returned to the village after a few minutes.

It had only been thirty minutes max, and things had already turned to shit in that short amount of time.

Heavy coughing echoed throughout the village, accompanied by the occasional sound of retching from distant corners. People lay scattered across the ground, clutching their stomachs in pain and groaning as the herbalists and minor healers rushed from one person to another, doing everything they could to contain the outbreak.

It was horrible, truly horrible. The rage Kanan felt upon seeing his people like this, so helpless and vulnerable, took him back to the day ten years ago when they were attacked by the Typhon Tribe.

"Aunt Glena!" He ran away, back to his hut to see Glena sitting down, looking anxious.

"Oh, Kanan! You’re okay." They embraced, sighing in relief to see that they were okay.

"Auntie, there’s a chance that you’re infected. We need to get you to an herbalist!"

"It’s okay. The chief told everyone who isn’t showing signs to stay indoors. Sit, Kanan; I don’t want you to get sick."

The herbalists had everything they needed, the chief and elders were handling the situation, and Yala could contain the poison, so yeah, he could stay home with Glena.

"Okay, I’ll sta—" His answer was abruptly cut off by violent coughing, a pain in his chest as he coughed harder and harder until blood was dripping down his lips and hand.

"K-Kanan!"

"Stay back!" He coughed some more while stumbling out of the hut and made his way to the area where the infected were.

The population of their Tribe was a bit over a thousand people, not reaching that 1,500 mark, but was nearing the number. Out of that number, there were well over 300 people who were confirmed to be infected, Kanan included, and some were closer to death than he was.

He saw Terin lying on a mat while breathing heavily. The village chief’s daughter, Omula, passed close by. And many more people Kanan recognized were currently suffering from the poison, such as Guard Verl.

’S-System! How long do I have?’

[The host will not die to the poison.]

’W-What? What do you mean?’

[The host bathed in the spirit spring; therefore, your body is extremely strong. There is another reason as well, but the host has to wait until their blessing ceremony to uncover the answer.]

’Wait! The system won’t fully activate until after the blessing ceremony, right? Then does that mean we will survive this outbreak?’

[The host can still die before then.]

’Dammit.’

As Kanan continued to walk, he suddenly paused as he felt extremely dizzy. It took all his strength to keep standing, but even then, it felt like he would fall at any moment.

"Kanan!" Viola called out to him from her hut.

"V-Viol––Blerghhh!" Kanan puked up blood, and once he finished, he passed out.

---

Kanan had a soaring headache when he awoke, light not even entering his eyes upon opening them for a few seconds. When he was able to clear his mind and fully comprehend his awakening, he looked around and saw that things had died down.

As for how long he was knocked out, he had no idea, but upon seeing Yala nearby, sleeping against the Healer’s Hut gave himself a rough estimate of a few hours to a day or two.

Yala was completely exhausted to the point where her assistants had to douse her head with water they had cleaned.

"Nngh, my body hurts so much." He knew that he wouldn’t die, but that didn’t mean he was okay with the pain he was currently feeling. Still, pain was better than death.

"Kanan, you’re awake. Good. I was worried we would lose another young one today." Solan was sitting nearby, close enough to speak to Kanan in his normal voice, but his angry look told Kanan about the situation.

"How many?" He asked

"Thanks to you learning about this and our quick actions, only fifty."

Fifty. Fifty people died due to this poison attack. The weight of the situation made his stomach churn, but he didn’t let the feeling eat him up.

"Mostly the elderly." Solan continued. "But we lost five young ones. Two from your generation, two kids, and one pregnant woman."

"Is your daughter okay?"

The tense look on Solan’s face eased up as he answered. "Yes, she is fine, thankfully. Healer Yala got to her in time. Kanan, I wish to offer you my thanks, not as the chief, but as a father."

"No, it was the herbalists and healers who did all the heavy lifting. I just told them what I managed to learn."

"I also heard that you provided the herbs to make the cure as well. No matter how small your part was, you still aided in ensuring that no more than fifty of us lost our lives. And even then, I’m sure the elderly would gladly give their lives to ensure the future of the next generation."

"Small victories." He muttered.

Solan nodded with a smile. "Indeed."

"Chief! Chief, look at this!" Elder Warren stumbled his way to Solan and gave him an earful.

"Not now, Elder Warren. We will have a meeting later."

"Later?! LATER!? Look at this, at us! Our people died! They’re gone! It is only thanks to Nemean’s grace that most of them were elderly, yet we still lost five young ones! It’s like the attack ten years ago! The Typhon Tribe used these underhanded tactics to weaken us before attacking!"

’What? This was used back then as well?’

"We need to strike now! Attack them when they least expect it!"

The chief snarled. "Quiet, Warren!" Not Elder Warren, just Warren. Solan was angry.

"Do you think I do not feel your anger, your pain? We lost our family today, and all I can think about is getting revenge! But war is the last thing we need right now! We need stability, to heal, and to regrow."

"Chief! Your daughter could have died today!"

A heavy pressure forced Elder Warren onto the ground. Solan stood up, towering over the fallen Elder, and glared at the man with disgust.

"You just puked blood, were unconscious for a whole day, and you want to go to war?!"