Act V: The Scribe's Instinct (2)
Words have power, not only because the concepts they carry have the power to interfere with reality when they are inspired by magic, but also because people are affected by it just by looking at these characters. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. biquge。 info
Frick's gaze swept over the words engraved on the metal plates, and he couldn't recognize what the mutilated words were, except that they vaguely constituted a slightly flawed technique. So the alarm immediately went off in his head, as if he wanted to look away.
It is reckless to casually interpret the text that has already formed the procedure, especially if the procedure has been damaged, and the uncontrollable risk will increase accordingly. Even if the technique itself is not malicious, it does not mean that the interpreter is not affected by magic.
This was the way it was, and as Flick hurriedly interrupted his reading and looked away, the magic that flowed from the metal piece had already poured into his consciousness along his line of sight. Even a tiny little bit was enough to stir up the already unstable magic in his body during this time.
"Damn it!"
In an instant, he bowed down at the sensation of a sharp pain in his right glass, and immediately closed his eyes and held them down with his hand. But even so, the pain showed no signs of relief, but brought a burning pain.
The moment Eric Hoska pulled out the piece of metal, Flick noticed that it was no ordinary object, and that the flow of magic could be felt in the two-inch square sheet. Although it is not as large as the almost infinite amount of moonstone fragments, it also has extremely strong magical power.
But this magic is restrained, not unrestrained and outward like the Moonstone Shards. Frick remembered how he felt when he held the box containing the Moonstone shards, but when the adventurer hid it in his underwear, he didn't even feel it.
I can't imagine that I was already affected by the incomplete technique when I was recording the text, but I didn't notice it because the magic on the metal card was too restrained. As soon as Eric Hoska took it out, the magic in his body immediately began to move.
He almost fell to his knees at once, and the sensation of a red-hot iron stuck in his eye socket almost burned his mind with it. Experiencing this kind of intense pain that is almost torture, and rolling on the ground without pain may be good.
"Leinster, what's wrong with you!" Dean who was standing beside Frick noticed something unusual about him and immediately helped him to the crumbling side, "Hey, Eric Hoska, what the hell did you do? What the hell is that piece of metal, and how did Leinster become like this?"
Perhaps Eric Hothka didn't intend to cause this, so he couldn't respond to Dean's questioning for a while. But perhaps he still realized that the piece of metal in his hand was the culprit that caused Frick's pain, and immediately took it back into his pocket.
However, this action was still a little late, and a red-hot liquid was slowly flowing from Frick's right eye, which was still in sharp pain. It was bright red and had a certain sticky touch, but it was obviously not blood, for there was a slight shimmering golden-red sheen mixed in with the strange scarlet.
The liquid flowed down the angle of his cheeks to his mouth, mixed with the bitterness of the potion in addition to a slight rust-like sweetness. Frick still has memories of this smell, which is an alchemical potion concocted by William Coulter, which he said has the effect of adjusting the balance of magic in the body.
Frick's hallucinations have decreased significantly lately, and perhaps it really has the effect of suppressing mana restlessness, as the sorcerer said. However, its effect is obviously only suppressive, and when the magic power is completely out of control, it may harm the user's body.
Scattered golden-red potions oozed from his right eye, spilling dripping onto the ground, leaving a slight stain of water that shimmered in the darkness. I don't know how. They seemed to have some kind of chemical reaction with the dirt on the ground, and a series of sparkling sparks suddenly appeared.
The sparks that rippled from the liquid could not feel the slightest heat, but they spread at an extremely fast speed, igniting everything they touched effortlessly. In the blink of an eye, the flickering sparks spread to the walls, smearing the dilapidated wooden planks with fine sparks.
"It's ...... Have you ever drunk such a thing!" The apparently heterogeneous liquid immediately caught Eric Hoska's attention, who seemed to be aware of the potion, "Damn! How could this be, where did you get it!"
Contrary to the previous appearance that seemed to be sick but quite well-off, he suddenly stood up and rushed to Frick's side with his decaying body. But instead of touching Frick, he crouched down in front of him and reached out to touch the liquid that was dripping on the ground.
The finger he touched the potion was undoubtedly stained with flickering fire in an instant, and it couldn't stand the wrinkling of its face after enduring years of decaying and pain in its limbs. However, unlike the surrounding objects surrounded by fire, the flames were confined to the fingertips that had touched the liquid directly and did not spread.
It must have hurt a lot, for there was at once a burnt smell of being roasted by the fire from its withered, blackened fingers, and it brightened the light of the fire like dry wood. And he gritted his teeth and endured the sharp pain of the burning limb, and slowly swept the ignited fingertips across the withered arm.
When the flames touched the decaying flesh, the stench of burnt meat became apparently stronger, and the dead flesh attached to his hands turned into char little by little. It was evident that the small cluster of flames was burning slowly with his fingers as fuel, as if it were about to burn the decaying dead flesh.
Frick, tormented by severe pain, could see Eric Hoska tormenting his body on the verge of collapse with flames, but he didn't have time to think about it. However, Dean was unable to command his tongue to say the right words because he saw the obvious abnormal behavior of the two of them now.
"What are you doing...... What for?"
He shouted to Eric Hoska, his other hand already on his waist with the weapon at his waist, though his usual hand was still holding Frick, who was trembling from the pain. If Eric Hothka doesn't react or behaves further unusually, he's going to be welcome.
No matter how you look at it, this man is now scorching his body with the flames born in the "red potion", incinerating the decaying dead flesh. But Dean didn't see the point of doing so other than the pain, and he persevered with a strong will.
However, just as Frick was speechless because of the severe pain, Eric Hothka was unable to answer Dean's questioning. His lit fingers sliced through the withered flesh inch by inch, and the strange flames that had no heat gradually burned the dead rotting flesh.
From his clenched teeth, there was only a hissing inhalation, and heavy breathing continued to come out of his nose. Just by looking at it, he could feel the pain of his flesh being burned, yet he was immersed in the act of abusing his body with unusual persistence.
"You...... Are you trying to burn the dead flesh?" Frick struggled to squeeze a few words out of his teeth as he managed to suppress the pain in his right eye, "You should know, it's useless...... At best, it will only slow down the rate at which it will corrode your body. ”
Contrary to the sensation of drinking what Eric Hoska called the "red potion", he had never felt so cold and weak. The blood coming out of his right eye had gradually stopped, and the sharp pain had subsided a little bit compared to the initial one. He pressed his hand harder against his right eye, hoping to reduce the residual pain that continued to torment his brain.
But incredibly, he closed his right eye tightly and pressed it with his hand, only to find that he still had the right side of vision. Rather, there are places where you can see more clearly than you can see with your original eyesight, and you can see amazing scenery that you shouldn't see.
Frick suspects that this is also the effect of "vision", as he soon notices that the corners of his vision are dyed with unnatural colors, ready to move in the firelight. In particular, the scattered ripples of the sporadic liquid that had previously dripped to the ground had become the core of the "anomaly" that appeared in the right field of vision.
If he closed his eyes, Frick would still be able to "see" the scene in the cabin...... Although it is slightly more unnatural. The flames of the liquid medicine had spread throughout the room, making the dilapidated wooden house as if it had become a fire scene, wrapped in flickering flames.
And Eric Hoska, the rotten parts of his limbs were slowly flowing out of the tumbling black mud that was tangled around his body. It may be the embodiment of the so-called curse, where the place entangled in black mud has decayed and then turned into a breeding ground for black mud accumulation.
Not only that, but the black mud had seeped into the wooden house where he had survived over the years, and gradually settled on the land. The flames of the liquid medicine are fueled by these scattered black mud, and they will gradually spread to every corner of the house.
He probably knew that the potion had the power to burn black mud, which was why he reacted that way when he saw them dripping from Frick's eyes. So he didn't care why the "red liquid" was flowing out of Frick's body, and he just hurriedly burned the black mud wrapped around his body.
Is this also what "Vision" made him see?
It seems that due to the influence of the recoil magic when interpreting the spell before, the anomalous ability that was already due to the magic disorder has further developed - or worsened. It further affected Flick's body, forcing him to adapt to this ability that he had never had before.