Thea, Asuren, Riz, and Ayhan searched for the boar seal after getting a few hours of rest. Riz and Ayhan were talking to each other as if they did not recently annoy each other. They searched the entire Foliage Forest. The traces of the boar seal were just roaming around the woodland but not anywhere near Foliage Ville. They examined every cave. Some of them were cursed but no sign of the boar seal or its disciples. Thea marked them on the map to make sure that they would be well-guarded by the soldiers of General Kali and General Andres.
They spent almost seventy-two hours searching Foliage Forest but they returned to the cave exhausted and empty-handed.
"We don't have any good news," Thea slumped on the ground. "How about you?"
Gia, Juliann, and Gemma were looking at a basket filled with fruits. Their eyes were filled with excitement.
"We harvested these fruits from this cave," Gia tossed an apple at Thea. "You can eat that. If you want more, you can pick anything you want within this cave. Everything in here is now curse free."
"What did you say?" Thea could not believe what she just heard.
"This place is finally curse free," Gia repeated with a proud smile.
"Curse free?" Thea was dumbfounded.
"How did that happen?" Riz was amazed.
Asuren and Ayhan only stared at Gia with disbelief.
"Juliann and I only gave a bit of assistance," Gia glanced at Henry who was snoring over a makeshift bed before saying, "He did all the hard work."
"Ceaseless hours of investigation around this cave had given him enough information about the curse. Gemma is also a big help. He meticulously examined her curse until he gathered sufficient knowledge to heal her curse," Juliann explained, grinning with delight.
"Countering the curse exhausted his strength," Gia said when Thea looked at Henry with worry. "But he will be okay."
"Are you sure?" Thea was still worried because Henry looked pale.
"I am," Gia beamed with confidence and added, "When he was countering the spell, I momentarily forgot that he is only human. When it comes to ancient curses, he is better than me and all the spellcasters I know."
"Maybe Henry and his master have some fairy blood in their system," Riz peeled a banana. "That would explain their extraordinary ability."
"Maybe their name itself has power," Gia exclaimed. "That must be the reason Master Henry had given the same name to his disciple. He also said that the name will be a great help to his disciple. I'll look into it once we finished dealing with the boar seal."
"Asuren!" Henry jerked awake. "I need to check on his curse," he quickly got up on his feet and swayed.
"Don't worry about him," Juliann forced him back to the bed. "I already brewed a new batch of his medicine according to your instructions. I will make sure that Asuren drinks it on time."
"I already recovered enough strength," Henry slipped away from Juliann and took two bottles of medicine placed on a makeshift table. He emptied the one with green liquid on it. "That recovery potion helped me replenish a bit more strength. You have to understand that Asuren's curse is more complicated than the flesh eater curse. If I examine him like I did to Gemma, I can probably find a faster remedy for him. We all want his curse to be lifted, right?" he grabbed Asuren by his arm. "We need to be left alone for a few hours. I need to focus. We will return here as soon as we are done."
"He was like that when he examined Gemma and this cave," Gia sighed. "Juliann and I only had to guard the entrance of this cave while he is looking for a better counter curse."
"Let's leave them alone for now," Juliann smiled and he looked somewhat nervous. Ayhan too.
"Right," Gia carried a basket filled with rare herbs. "Get some rest. It will take a while. Juliann and I will brew a complicated medicine. We also need to focus."
Thea could feel the anxiety of Ayhan. She was also excited yet worried. She wanted Asuren to be free from the Evil Witch but she had this feeling that it would never be that easy. It was probably because she felt exhausted. She must be worried about the boar seal roaming free around Daybreak Realm and not because of the Evil Witch and her wicked schemes.
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"This place is perfect," Henry had taken Asuren to another secluded area in that cave where light was scarcer and the vegetations were thicker. It was a little far from where their friends were resting and a bit farther from the entrance. "No one can hear you in this place. You can drink your medicine and endure for hours without disturbing anyone."
"Thank you," Asuren opened the medicine bottle and quickly swallowed the dark purple liquid.
Its effect was always instantaneous. He collapsed on the ground and writhed in agony. The medicine burned not only his throat but his entire body. His head felt like it would split open. It was only his fourth time drinking that medicine but the pain was getting worse each time he was consuming it.
Henry gazed at him with those unnerving silver eyes and told him, "The puppet curse within you is truly powerful and complicated. Important information about it still eludes me," he shook his head and said, "No matter how ancient, this is just a curse. It can always be countered," he put a hand on the forehead of Asuren. "Just like what I did to this cave, I can take this curse away from you," his hand was suddenly covered with a silver glow that alarmingly changed to black.
"Henry… what are you… doing?" Asuren got even more distressed when the silver eyes of Henry had changed once more. They became pitch-black and the pain he was enduring had intensified. He wanted to grab the hand that was tightly gripping his forehead, but the explosion of pain inside his head had incapacitated him.
"Don't be afraid, Asuren. I will pull the puppet curse out of your body," Henry smiled and his nose began to bleed.
"Stop… this…" Asuren tried to push Henry away but the pain in his chest became more agonizing and almost knocked the breath out of him.
"I can do this, Asuren. Let me devour your curse," the pitch-black eyes of Henry had brimmed with blood.
"Henry…" Asuren gathered his remaining strength and covered his fist with a powerful whirlwind. "YOU NEED TO STOP!!!" he bellowed and punched Henry in the face. Its power had sent the confusing mortal rolling in mid-air before plummeting to the ground, unconscious.
Asuren also collapsed and clutched at his painful chest. The scorching pain within his body had doubled. His chest felt stuffy and he could not properly breathe.
"Asuren!!!" Thea came running. Ayhan was behind her and he quickly checked on Henry.
"I'm sorry…" Asuren coughed out blood and there was not a single drop of dark violet substance on it. Right at that moment, he knew that something had gone wrong with his medication.
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