Chapter 56: What's Wrong With Her Stomach?
[Day 34]
Yesterday we ate a lot of roasted meat and fruit and then went to sleep, I think Benladann is slowly recovering, but her muscles are still very thin, and you can still see her bones easily...
I want her to fatten up a bit before we start going... somewhere I guess.
Today I had woken up in high spirits and went hunting some more animals, bringing back two wolves to eat, wanting to surprise the young ice giant with something nice to eat in the morning.
However, when I returned I found Yuki screaming at me.
"Kyuuu! Kyuuu!"
"What? Did something happened?" I asked as I began to run back to the cave, finding Benladann groaning on the floor, her face was incredibly red and she was tightly gripping her stomach, there was something wrong going on.
"Benladann! Are you okay?" I asked, running towards her, and leaving the wolf corpses away.
"Unngh...! M-Mister Dragon... you know my name?" she asked.
Ah... I just said it.
"Yeah, I can see some info about the people I see with my eyes. But that's not important now! What's going on? Do you have a fever?" I asked, as I simply decided to check her status.
...
Name: Benladann.
Race: Ice Giant (Jotunn) (Female)
Mana Core Cultivation: Rank 1 (Initial Stage).
Status: Fever, Stomachache, Intestine Infection.
Average Estimated Vitality: 344/420
Average Estimated Mana: 123/200
Average Estimated Strength: 266
Average Estimated Dexterity: 90
Average Estimated Magic: 150
Abilities:
Unique Skill: [Mold] (Suppressed)
Unique Skill: [Charm] (Active) (Ineffective against you)
[Ice Giant's Bloodline: Ymir's Descendant]
[Cold Immunity]
[Ice Resistance]
[Hastened Self-Recovery] (Weakened)
[Parasite Immunity]
[Status Effect Resistance] (Weakened)
[Ice Dragon's Skin]
[Undying Stamina] (Sealed)
[Degradation] (Sealed)
[Crazed Agility] (Sealed)
[Crazed Consumption] (Sealed)
[Infection] (Sealed)
[Legion] (Sealed)
[Bone-Breaking Claws] (Sealed)
[Deadly Mold Whip] (Sealed)
...
Eh?
<Status: Fever, Stomachache, Intestine Infection>?!
Why? How?
What happened?
Is it because of what she ate yesterday? But she should be able to digest meat, she even roasted it.
And I made sure it wasn't anything poisonous... the pears are also fine to eat and don't have any poison either.
Then why? What is going on?
Is this the mold?
Her resistance to status effect and her self-regeneration is weakened too...
"Benladann, did you eat anything weird?" I asked.
"Hahh... No... I don't think so..." she said.
"Really? Tell me the truth!" I said.
"I am telling you the truth... I ate... what we ate together... hahh... I don't know why it hurts so much... Unngh..." Benladann groaned as she gripped her stomach, little tears began to come out of her tightly closed eyes.
What could have happened to her?
Wait...
Didn't she say she didn't eat for years?
This means... her digestive tract has been completely inactive all this time, it probably lacks the necessary acidic juices, bacteria, and enzymes cultivated through eating and digesting stuff... The one that babies produce when they drink milk from their mothers, and which they constantly make up over the years.
When she didn't eat for so long... they obviously died down and her stomach and intestines are most likely completely empty, making it incredibly difficult for her to digest anything...
The infection... is most likely the food itself!
Anything we eat always has bacteria, but the bacteria, enzymes, and gastric acids are what tears them down, so we don't get infections, only the most resilient of these critters usually cause anything...
But she is having an infection of completely normal average bacteria due to not having anything at all...
If there could be some milk... milk is excellent to build up enzymes and digestive bacteria.
I also need something for her stomachache... ah, the herbs I saw the other day... Could there be some of those around here?
And more importantly, I need to give her water! She hasn't drunk water all these years, and didn't drink any yesterday either!
I thought that she was like me, who didn't particularly need to drink water like a monster, but she is clearly more human-like and is not as superhuman as a monster.
"Benladann... do you trust me?" I asked her.
Benladann glanced at me weakly.
"You... saved my life again... do you really want to bother so much with me?" she asked while containing her tears.
I... I... I don't care anymore over such stuff.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I? Please, be strong, and resist the pain, I will prepare you some water," I said.
"Mister Dragon..." she muttered, giving me a glance that seemed to be filled with various emotions.
First of all, water!
I quickly began to create a large and thick cooking pot, as large as one meter!
I made it incredibly resistant, like the knife I gave Benladann yesterday to cut the meat.
By pouring a lot of Mana, and I mean HUNDREDS, I can more or less maintain my ice creations materialized for days or even weeks, so I created this cooking pot with pure and incredibly hard-to-melt ice.
As I did that, Yuki brought me piles of snow, which she began to throw inside the pot, until we had it almost filled.
Afterward, I told Yuki to try and do as Benladann did yesterday, rubbing the branches together with her dexterous monkey-like hands until she finally managed to get a fire going after a few minutes of trying.
After that, I quickly put the pot over the fire, it was not even melting, but the snow inside did melt!
As I left that as it was, I left Yuki giving Benladann some company while using her fluffy hair to warm her up.
"I will be right back!" I said, running into the forest.
I felt my footsteps hitting the snow as I felt my heart beating incredibly fast, even faster than when I fought for my life, I couldn't possibly lose her, not now, not after finally meeting someone I could talk to and that... well, I liked to talk with her!
It would be way too depressing if she dies! I don't want the tragedy tag in my life!
Hahh... Hahh...
I begin to concentrate, and use my snout to sniff the snow around...
Where?
There should be some god damn grass around...
I walk around for a while, until finally, a patch of blue and azure grass appears in front of me, growing right below a large pine tree!
...
<Snow Heart Herb>
An Ice Attribute herb often eaten by Ice-Attribute Monsters to remove pain, also has a good effect on the digestive system, helping those that have a hard time doing the deed.
It can also be used as a Cultivation Material for Ice Path.
...
<Snow Clover Flower>
An Ice Attribute flower is often eaten by Ice-Attribute Monsters to increase their wounds regeneration speed, it also tastes good and has a nice aroma, often drink as tea.
It can also be used as a Cultivation Material for Ice Path.
...
I quickly run towards it and begin to grab it with my jaws, taking out as much as I can, all of this herb was the same I found the other day which I analyzed through Analyze,
These two herbs are perfect, I knew they would come useful for some crap, but never for something like this... I suppose this is how the locals deal with all this stuff?
With a large patch of grass in my jaws, I run back to the cave, but find some unexpected company before me...
A large group of wolves led by an Upper Stage Ice Wolf Grand Leader!
Alright, if you want to paint the snow with your blood so badly, then come at me!