As Paul inhaled the pungent odor, his face showed a great deal of surprise. "Are you sure this is the medicine that can cure the benefactor?"
Luna didn't respond, but silently instructed Paul to keep adding wood to the fire.
Eventually, the stench in the air grew stronger and harder to bear, and the water in the pot had evaporated, leaving behind a thick, viscous liquid.
Luna asked for a bowl and carefully ladled the sticky liquid from the pot. Both Paul and his wife couldn't help but pinch their noses in disgust.
"My god, the smell!" Paul's wife couldn't help but exclaim. "Are you sure this is the antidote to cure him? If we take this, we'll probably die right on the spot!"
Luna remained silent. Holding the bowl of pungent medicine, her face remained composed.
She walked up to Ed's wound, focusing intently as she began to apply the thick liquid from the bowl to the gash on his shoulder.
Paul clutched his chest. "I see now. Thank heavens, this medicine is for external use!"
Ed lay still, allowing Luna to treat him. After a moment, the entire bowl of thick liquid was applied to his shoulder, and Luna carefully rewrapped the wound.
Although Ed couldn't see the wound, he could feel that, despite the awful smell of the medicine, it was definitely effective.
The pain that had once been intense was now replaced with a continuous, soothing coolness, and the pain had reduced by more than half. He could tell that, in no time, he would be completely healed.
Ed gave Luna a slight smile. "Thank you, Luna. I didn't know you had the talent of a sorcerer."
Paul, seeing that the benefactor was going to be fine, also sighed in relief.
But in the next moment, Ed let out another groan of pain!
He pressed his hand to his head, his face contorted in distress.
Something wasn't right! Though the griffin wound had been treated, the cold feeling, along with the overwhelming sense of emptiness and dizziness, hadn't diminished!
Luna's face changed as she realized what was happening. She noticed the black mist that seemed to be swirling in Ed's eyes, and it immediately reminded her of something that had happened earlier.
"No, it couldn't be..." Luna thought in horror. "Could it be that this isn't caused by the griffin poison, but by that woman sorcerer's toxic fog?"
"Yes, this has to be the poison acting up. The female sorcerer said before she died that those poisoned would suffer endlessly, and after a month, the pain would peak, leading to death!"
At that moment, Luna felt utterly powerless. She didn't even know what the toxic fog was made of.
And despite having gone through all the books left by the female sorcerers, none of them mentioned an antidote for this kind of poison.
Luna's heart tightened, overwhelmed with a strong sense of helplessness.
"Hunter, I heard you were here."
A voice rang out as the door creaked open, followed by the sound of a young man speaking.
Everyone in the room turned toward the sound, and they saw Viktor, dressed in a black robe, walking in without knocking.
Viktor had entered with a cheerful expression, but as soon as he saw Ed in Luna's arms, writhing in pain with his face covered in black mist, his expression shifted to one of shock.
"What's going on? Hunter, what happened to him?"
He asked, both astonished and fearful.
Fortunately, Ed hadn't lost all consciousness. Although his body was overwhelmed with a strong sense of cold and weakness, he still managed to muster the strength to speak.
"Prepare two rooms for us to rest. Is everything ready?"
Viktor nodded repeatedly. "It's ready! Everything's ready!"
"However, the map will take a little longer. It will be delivered to you tomorrow morning."
Ed nodded. "Have Viktor take Luna to the room where she'll be resting."
Together, Luna and Viktor helped Ed, who was clad in his silver armor, to stand up, preparing to take him to the room to rest.
As they reached the door, just as Luna was about to move, Viktor spoke up. "Hold on! Put this on first!"
Viktor was wearing a black robe, and at that moment, he pulled out another black robe from somewhere and handed it to Luna.
"What is this?" Luna asked.
"It's called a Nightcloak. Once you put it on, you'll be shielded from the moonlight."
"It's not cheap!"
Viktor added, holding up another one, preparing to give it to Ed as well.
Luna thought for a moment. "Ed doesn't need the Nightcloak. Let's just get him to his room quickly so he can rest!"
With that, Luna quickly donned the cloak.
Viktor, hearing this, reluctantly put the second cloak away and, along with Luna, helped Ed to the room where they could rest.
Once inside, Ed's exhausted body immediately collapsed onto the bed.
He gave Luna a look, signaling that she could leave.
Luna's face was filled with concern. "Ed, are you sure you're going to be okay like this?"
Ed managed to muster enough strength to reply, "As long as I rest and recover my strength, I'll be fine. Trust me. Go ahead, I'll be alright."
Reluctantly, Luna had no choice but to leave with Viktor.
Before leaving, however, Luna took off Ed's silver armor.
"I'll be in the room next door. If you need anything, just call me."
With that, she left and closed the door behind her.
Ed's body continued to tremble from the cold, though it wasn't as intense as before.
Lying in bed, he exhaled deeply and began to piece together his thoughts about the cause of his current state.
"This poison didn't act up before, and it didn't act up at the wrong time, but it flared up just after my battle with the griffin. That doesn't make sense."
Logically, the poison should have been inside Ed's body all along.
"Could it be that the poison only acted up because I exhausted my strength?"
Ed thought to himself.
Normally, the energy within him kept the poison suppressed.
But just now, as his body began to regain strength over time, the pain symptoms had eased significantly.
So, unwilling to endure the pain any longer, Ed sat up from the bed.
"As long as I can quickly restore my strength, I can suppress this poison again!"
"Everything depends on me!"
With that, Ed forced himself to stand up, his body feeling a little stronger, and he walked over to the window, opening it.
Ed then sat down in meditation, enduring the pain as he began to operate the Moonlight Meditation Technique.
Though his speed was clearly much slower than usual, he still successfully began absorbing the moonlight.
Ten hours passed. Ed opened his eyes and clenched his teeth. "Damn it! Why? Why is the pain still here?"
"It must be that my body hasn't absorbed enough strength yet!"
Ed still held the Moonstone in his hand. At this point, the Moonstone had already absorbed four runes.
At the same time, the surface of the Moonstone was covered in cold sweat—evidence of Ed's body enduring intense pain during the meditation process.
It seemed that the Moonstone sensed the pain within Ed's body, for it began to glow faintly with a white light.
What Ed failed to notice, however, was that under the overwhelming pain and immense fatigue, he could no longer maintain his meditation.
On the edge of losing consciousness, his body trembled even more violently.
Ed felt as though he were walking naked through a snow-covered mountain pass. Just when he thought he was about to freeze to death, a flickering campfire suddenly appeared before him!
Overcome with joy, he rushed toward it, and the blazing heat from the fire immediately warmed his entire body!
And this warmth was no illusion!
In the room, the white light from the Moonstone grew increasingly intense, eventually enveloping Ed's entire body.
Then, something even more astonishing occurred—the Moonstone in his hand, which had been tightly gripped, seemed to melt!
The hard black material transformed into a milky-white liquid, slowly seeping into Ed's palm and then into his body, where it was completely absorbed.
One hour later, a Moonstone mark appeared on Ed's forehead, flashing for a brief moment!
The fusion of the Moonstone was finally complete!
In Ed's mental world, his body was entirely wrapped in intense, fiery warmth. All the coldness was eradicated, and every discomfort vanished.
He fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
The next morning, as the sun rose, Ed opened his eyes and found that his body felt incredibly refreshed, as if there were endless strength coursing through his limbs and bones.
The sense of weakness and coldness that had enveloped him yesterday was completely gone!
Instead, he felt alive and revitalized, as if he had been completely reborn!
Ed exclaimed in delight, "I've never felt my body this good before!"
"Wait, I also dreamed last night that my body seemed to have merged with the Moonstone."