Chapter 214: Looking For a Cure

Although Lucas sped up, Sora remained remarkably steady on his back.

The things she had hung securely on his wings did not shake at all, even when he increased his speed and passed through the clouds.

She had to admit that birds really were different.

Sora finally felt a little more relieved. At least when she was sitting on Lucas’s back, she didn’t have to worry about the things she had carefully prepared being ruined by the flight.

Not long after, Lucas gradually descended and landed safely on the ground.

Sora jumped down from his back and immediately looked ahead.

Before them stretched a large area of lush green bushes. The vegetation was dense, and the leaves overlapped one another, making it difficult to see what was hiding underneath.

Lucas looked around with a blank expression.

"Kaelira, what are you doing here? There’s nothing special about the grass here."

Sora glanced at him.

"Who said I’m here to look at grass?"

She stepped forward while activating the detection function of her Earth Ability.

"I’m here to find something else."

"Something else?"

Lucas looked around again, his emerald-green eyes sweeping over the bushes.

"There doesn’t seem to be anything else here."

"Shh."

Sora suddenly stopped.

Her eyes sharpened.

"I see it."

The moment she finished speaking, she raised her hand.

A white column of water instantly formed in her palm and shot forward.

Bang!

The water struck a multicolored rat hiding among the bushes.

The Flower Rat squeaked and struggled, but the water column pinned it firmly to the ground.

When Sora saw that it had stopped moving, she cautiously approached.

She first surrounded herself with her Water Elemental Ability to protect herself from possible contamination. Then she reached into her Animal Skin Pouch and pulled out one of the carefully prepared cotton swabs.

She grabbed the Flower Rat and examined its body.

There they were.

The Pox Scabs.

Sora’s expression became serious.

Carefully, she used the cotton swab to scrape one of the scabs from the rat’s body.

She made sure not to touch it directly.

Once she had collected the sample, she immediately placed the entire cotton swab inside a prepared U-shaped bamboo tube.

She sealed the tube tightly.

Then, using a little mud, she marked the outside so she could identify the sample later before placing it safely inside her Animal Skin Pouch.

Lucas stared at her in complete confusion.

When he had first seen Sora catch the rat, he had assumed she wanted to eat it.

But instead, she had taken out a strange white object and rubbed it against the rat’s scabbed skin.

What exactly was she doing?

"What are you doing?"

Sora didn’t even look up.

"I’m looking for medicine to treat the plague toxin."

Lucas’s expression changed.

"You’re saying the stuff on this rat can cure the disease?"

His face was filled with disbelief.

"Mhm."

Sora nodded.

"The God told me in my sleep last night."

She had already prepared this explanation.

The Flower Rat loved staying around civets, and the two species often lived close together. Flower Rats were even a common food source for squirrel s, yet they could continue living normally.

That meant these rats had a natural resistance to the plague toxin.

In Sora’s mind, their Pox Scabs could potentially contain the antibodies she needed.

She had encountered a similar method in ancient records during the Apocalypse—the Pox Scab Method, one of the methods used by ancient people to fight certain diseases.

It was risky, but it was worth testing.

Not long after, Xavier arrived.

The moment he landed and saw Sora crouching beside a rat, he looked just as confused as Lucas had been.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced at the rat.

"Are you eating a rat?"

Xavier’s expression immediately became serious.

"Kaelira, if you want rats, I can catch a whole bunch for you."

Snakes were naturally skilled at catching rats.

Sora rolled her eyes.

"Rats are so dirty. What’s there to eat?"

She looked between Lucas and Xavier.

"You two arrived just in time. Watch how I do it, then help me collect the Pox Scabs from these rats."

She demonstrated the process carefully.

The two beasts watched closely.

After seeing it once, they understood immediately.

Sora took several U-shaped bamboo tubes and cotton swabs from her Animal Skin Pouch and distributed them.

"Be careful with these. And don’t waste my cotton swabs."

Lucas and Xavier nodded.

"Don’t worry, Kaelira."

"It’s only a few rats. Catching them is child’s play for us."

Although both of their Beast Ranks were high, Sora still used her Water Elemental Ability to purify them before they began.

After confirming that there were no problems, she nodded.

"Alright, let’s get to work. Let’s finish early so we can go back."

She looked toward the dense bushes.

"There are quite a lot of them. There should be at least several thousand here."

The two beasts nodded.

Then they immediately got to work.

It had to be said that they really weren’t exaggerating.

The Flower Rats were practically toys in their hands.

Lucas and Xavier moved through the bushes at incredible speed. Whenever a rat tried to escape, one of them would catch it almost instantly.

Before long, a pile of Flower Rats had accumulated around them.

The situation at Xavier’s feet was even more exaggerated.

The pile had grown into what looked like a small mountain.

Sora’s scalp tingled just looking at it.

She silently moved farther away from him before beginning her own work.

Compared with the two beasts, her efficiency was obviously the lowest.

After all, she was human.

She didn’t have their natural speed or hunting instincts.

But even if she was slower, she could still contribute.

The four of them worked for most of the day.

Finally, every one of the one thousand bamboo tubes Sora had prepared had been filled and sealed.

Only then did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

On the way back, Sora still sat on Lucas’s back.

Now that Xavier knew exactly what the things she had prepared were for, he didn’t fight Lucas for the chance to carry her.

Although Xavier could fly steadily as well, Lucas was still slightly more experienced.

Earlier, when Xavier had passed through a layer of clouds, he had encountered a sudden disturbance in the air and almost flipped over.

He clearly still needed more practice.

Besides, Ace was sitting on Xavier’s back on the way home.

There was no need to argue over it.

When they were close to the Tribe, Sora used her Water Ability to purify the three Beastmen again.

Then she had them capture a wolf that had already been infected with the plague toxin.

They placed the wolf inside a sturdy wooden cage.

Sora then removed another cotton swab from her Animal Skin Pouch.

Using her Vines, she carefully positioned it in front of the wolf’s nose.

She waited until she was certain the wolf had inhaled the material before withdrawing the vines.

"Lock it up again."

Sora looked at the three Beastmen seriously.

"Watch its condition carefully. If anything changes, report to me immediately."

They nodded.

Once everything was arranged, Sora finally returned to the Tribe.

Her first task was to perform temporary treatment on Martin.

Just like the previous day, she used her abilities to cool his body and stabilize his condition.

After confirming that his breathing remained normal, she slowly withdrew her Vines.

The moment she turned around, she saw Lukan, Ryan, and Damien standing nearby.

Sora looked at them.

Then she remembered the task she had assigned them.

"Is all the food distributed?"

Lukan nodded.

"Every family received their share according to the population count."

Sora relaxed slightly.

Distributing food wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

There were many families, and the portions had to be calculated carefully according to the number of people in each household.

She was relieved that she could trust Lukan and the others with this task.

But Damien clearly had no interest in listening to their sentimental conversation.

He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Kaelira, where did you go just now?"

His gaze moved toward Lucas.

"How come I saw you sitting on Lucas’s back?"

Sora almost laughed.

This Black Bear’s eyes really were sharp.

Lucas had only streaked across the sky for a moment, yet Damien had still noticed her.

Sora had nothing to hide.

"The God gave me guidance yesterday. He told me that finding the Pox Scabs of Flower Rats might help cure the plague toxin."

She held up the Animal Skin Pouch.

"So I went with them to find Flower Rats."

"Really?"

Ryan’s eyes widened.

"That’s great! Has the Chief used the Pox Scabs yet?"

Sora shook her head.

"Not yet."

She glanced toward Martin.

"Even though it was the God’s guidance, I decided to test it on a wolf first. If the wolf is better tomorrow, then it should be ready for use."

Although she believed the chances of success were extremely high, she wasn’t willing to gamble with Martin’s life.

A wolf was also a similar species, so if the infected wolf recovered completely, she would have more confidence in using the method on Martin.

Ryan nodded.

"That’s right. It’s better to test it first."

Lukan also looked relieved.

Only Damien remained unusually quiet.

He stared at Sora thoughtfully.

"Kaelira really is favored by the God."

His lips curved into a faint smile.

"He tells you everything."

Sora narrowed her eyes.

Divine guidance had become the shield she could use whenever she needed an explanation.

The excuse of her Black Bear Foster Mother wasn’t as effective anymore. After thinking about it carefully, she had realized that the God was a much more convenient explanation.

But why was this bear being so sarcastic?

Could Damien know something?

Sora looked at him suspiciously.

However, his expression appeared completely normal.

No.

He shouldn’t know anything about transmigration.

That was impossible.

It was probably just a coincidence.

After being busy for the entire day, Sora was already exhausted.

Once she washed up, she immediately climbed into bed.

Her eyelids were heavy.

She was just about to close her eyes when she suddenly felt something wet against her hand.

Sora opened her eyes drowsily.

Then she froze.

Damien was kissing her hand.

"Kaelira."

His handsome face was close to hers, his eyes narrowed into a pleased smile.

"I’ve finally waited for you."

His voice was filled with anticipation.

"Now that today’s business is finished, let’s form a contract totem."

Sora’s sleepiness vanished instantly.

She sat up.

Her eyes widened.

She had almost forgotten.

Today was Damien’s turn for the Night Watch.

But she had never agreed to form a contract totem with him.

Sora immediately wrapped the quilt tightly around herself and pointed toward a spot farther away.

"I remember only promising you the Night Watch."

She pointed again.

"Go sleep over there."

Damien didn’t move.

Instead, his expression slowly became lonely.

His handsome face looked almost pitiful.

"Kaelira, what you said is too hurtful."

He lowered his eyes.

"Does your Mother know?"

Sora froze.

"What?"

Before she could understand what he meant, Damien continued.

"Your Mother sent me a letter a few days ago."

His gaze returned to hers.

"Do you want to see it?"

Sora’s entire body instantly stiffened.

Her sleepy expression disappeared completely.

Her heart sank.

A letter from her Mother?

The thing she had been most worried about seemed to be happening at last.

And judging from Damien’s expression, he clearly hadn’t come here simply to spend the night watching over her.

Something was wrong.

Something involving her Mother.

And for the first time that night, Sora felt truly uneasy.