Black Onyx - Forgotten Magic

Chapter 127: Warg Flesh

Luckily the boars weren't usually aggressive and liked to keep to themselves, otherwise they would be a force to be reckoned with.

Roar!

Angry roars from the other two Wargs reverberated through the forest. But that was about it. In spite of extreme anger and bloodlust, they did not dare to come close.

The Boar King angrily snorted back while showing off its might.

The animal sounds continued for quite a while.

"Wait..." Gerald frowned and listened to the sounds, "Are theyinsulting each other?"

Managing to catch a few words it did indeed seem so. The Wargs were insulting and cursing the Boar King from afar, while the behemoth of a pig taunted them back.

"They are shit-talking each other! Now that's something you don't see every day..." Gerald didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Animals displaying such human emotions and behavior was unusual, to say the least.

Eventually, the Wargs begrudgingly left since there wasn't anything they could do with just the two of them.

After they left, the young piglets wanted to get a taste of the Warg, but the Boar King nudged them away with his snout and led them away, to the opposite directions the Wargs left to.

"They are just leaving?" Gerald was honestly surprised. He expected them to at least take a few bites of the corpse, but surprisingly, they simply left.

"Oh wellmore for me!" He jumped off the tree and ran to the Warg's body. He swiftly cut off the head, tail, and skinny paws, and then removed the skin and intestine, before stuffing the rest inside his Space Pouch, one piece at a time.

With just that one beast, the Pouch was almost full. There wasn't much point in hunting anymore as any extra meat would just go to waste.

Gerald moved about ten kilometers away before making a small campfire to prepare a fresh roast for breakfast.

He seasoned and salted the meat, before skewering it on sticks and placing it over the hot coals.

Soon, a delicious smell wafted over from the campfire, making Gerald salivate.

He took a piece and bit into it with great expectation. And indeed, the meat was absolutely amazing. The complex taste, combined with spices, brought out a unique flavor he never experienced before.

But then, just as he swallowed, he felt a weird tingling and stifling sensation in his mouth and throat. It made it hard to swallow.

"Whas a fusk iss guin un?" His words slurred as his mouth slowly went numb. "Ow, fug! Itf poifoned!"

He quickly realized what's the problem. The flesh of a Warg contained powerful neurotoxin. 'No wonder the Boar King refused to eat it!'

If it was any other human that did this, they would probably stop breathing shortly after and die from suffocation. Luckily Gerald only had to wait for his condition to get better. The nanites quickly purged the toxins out of his system.

Having rested for half an hour, the effect of the toxic meat went away completely. "Well darn I have so much good stuff, but I can't eat it! That's frustrating."

He was currently in a bad mood. Just as he thought he got an easy treasure, it turned out to be trash.

"I wonder if there exists any anti-poison for this? Maybe I can get some in Auralba?" Gerald thought for a bit and then remembered he saw a few stores that specialized in poisons and their respective cures.

"It might be worth a shot."

He returned to the capital at midday. It was much earlier than expected, so he didn't go home but instead went to visit various shops dealing with poisons.

Unfortunately, after an extensive search, he only found one that sold the anti-poison he needed. And even that only had a single small vial left.

Gerald frowned while holding the bottle in his hand, "Hmm, there is no way this is going to be enough!" He turned to the man behind the counter, "Shopkeeper, where can I get more of these? Who is your supplier?"

"Warg's anti-poison? We get those from alchemists at the Auction House. They are the only ones that know how to make it," the man answered truthfully.

"Auction House, huh? I thought it might be something like that. Thanks!"

With the newfound information, he went on his way to that famous place of business.

Arriving there he requested to see the owner, Arthur, but the latter was busy so he was welcomed by miss Emily instead.

"Mister Gerald, welcome! What brings you here?" she asked with a cheerful and amicable smile.

"Hello, miss Emily," Gerald returned the courteous smile, "I heard that only your alchemists can produce Warg's anti-poison and I was wondering if I could purchase some?"

Emily's eyebrows lifted slightly as she said, "Anti-poison? That's an unusual request, but I'm sure we can do something about it. Follow me!"

She led him to the back rooms past appraisal booths and storage areas, all the way to the potion production facilities.

Knock, knock!

After knocking on the door, an irritated voice came from within, "Who is it?"

"Master Ashbrew, it's Emily! I brought you a customer!"

But it appeared the man inside was not in a good mood, "Go away! I'm not accepting any customers today!"

Emily gave Gerald an apologetic look and said, "I'm sorry, it wasn't usually this difficult to talk to him. He's been like this ever since he tasted your Potion of Focus..."

"Potion of Focus? Is this a side-effect?" Gerald asked, bewildered.

Miss Emily shook her head, "No. The effect was actually way too good, he is like this because the effect ran out and he can't accept that reality."

Creak~

The door slowly opened behind them and a head full of messy gray hair poked out. "Did anyone mention Potion of Focus? Do you have any more?" It was the old Edon Ashbrew asking in a much more approachable tone.

"Oh, master Ashbrew, I'm so sorry, but we don't have any..." Emily said in an apologetic tone.

"Then why are you talking about it in front of my door?! Go away! Shoo!" Master Ashbrew quickly reverted back to his grumpy self and tried to drive them away.

He already wanted to lock himself back in his room when Emily blocked the door to try and reason with him.