Chapter 204: The Witch Doctor
Chapter 204: The Witch Doctor
Chapter 204: The Witch Doctor
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Adam grabbed a handful of small pebbles, barely the size of his fingernails, and tossed them into his brownish pouch that, for some odd reason, was also wet to the touch.
Then he placed his pouch, filled to the brim with the small pebbles, inside his pocket that swelled because of the size of the pouch.
'Now, preparations are done.' Adam dried up his hands because of the wet pouch and drank some kind of beverage that had strange color to it.
'I heard the thief is usually roaming the Mercenary Street, which is pretty bold. The thief is master pickpocketer and has even been able to successfully steal from mercenaries.
'There're some that want the thief dead, but whoever put up the quest just wants him brought to justice.'
Since he already knew where to start from, he roamed the Mercenary Street and eyed the walking pedestrians with a watchful eye.
He blended in well with the crowd, except his height was only matched by some of the taller mercenaries, making him stand out slightly.
"A thief! A thief!"
A commotion came from the street ahead of him.
Some turned their heads around, but quite a few outright ignored it and continued with their day.
'A thief?' Adam pushed past the crowd and saw a brunette-haired woman anxiously looking around in confusion.
She was screaming about her purse missing as if it had suddenly disappeared from her hands.
'The thief's here?' Adam thought to himself and expanded his Kiryoku to cover the entirety of the Mercenary Street.
However, at that moment, he felt his pocket turn shockingly light, and when he touched it, he noticed that his pouch was gone!
'What?' Adam checked his empty pocket in shock.
'The thief managed to stay hidden from my Kiryoku and steal something as heavy as my pouch without me even noticing it at first!'
When he looked around him, trying to find the thief, he didn't find anyone carrying his heavy pouch, as if the thief was invisible!
'Not bad.' Adam then activated his Kiryoku, and for some odd reason, he could feel a fraction of his aura getting further and further away.
His lips curled into a slight smile.
He wanted his pouch to get stolen; that's why he made the pouch big with the small pebbles so the thief would think that he was a loaded young man, here to have some good time at the tavern.
That's why he was dressed as ordinary Original with a brownish tunic and white trousers to blend himself with the crowd and trick the thief into stealing it.
It was because he covered one of the pebbles with his blood-his blood had a scent of his aura, which he could track now that he was second level in Kiryoku.
Its very advanced level of skill, which most second level Kiryoku users didn't have any ideas about.
Adam followed the scent of his aura, leaving the Mercenary Street behind and headed to the outskirts of Ebonreach.
The outskirts were a desolate area.
A few years ago, powerful magicians fought there, leaving behind remnants of their destructive spells that still lingered in the air.
Because of the destruction, hundreds of houses there were burned and collapsed, so no one bothered to live amid the ash and rubble.
As he followed the scent, he noticed that it led to one of the alleyways there.
He picked up his pace and drew his sword.
Then, as he arrived at the corner of the alleyway, he jumped into the alleyway with his sword ready to slash down.
However, there was no one there except the pouch, open on the pavement, with its contents spilled out.
Adam crouched in front of it and picked up one of the pebbles that was covered in his blood.
'Not bad...'
He saw that there were other fingerprints on the blood-soaked pebble, and it seemed to belong to the thief.
'The thief recognized that something was odd. He is good, very good...'
However, he didn't care as he smiled.
'Still, I have the upper hand.'
The blood-soaked pebble was not his only plan.
He drenched the pouch with a special poison he created.
That's why, when Adam touched it, he had to drink special antidote; otherwise, he would've suffered from several different symptoms of poison.
It wasn't lethal poison, as he didn't want to kill the thief, but it was a very annoying type, as it made the target feel extremely sick, nauseated, and weak till it was cured.
'Unless the thief knows herbology, his only choice is to find a witch doctor to cure him.'
Adam thought with a smile.
'With a great coincidence, Ebonreach only has one witch doctor available, and I know where she is living.'
Adam dropped his blood-soaked pebble and left the outskirts of Ebonreach, heading straight to the witch doctor's hut.
...
Bang, bang, bang!
Someone knocked on the door so loudly that it shook the walls of the hut.
"Who is it?" The witch doctor went to the door and opened it.
She was smelling like rotten eggs, and her eyes glowed bright green.
As soon as the door opened, a person collapsed to the ground in front of her.
"I need... help!" He called out weakly and crawled himself into the hut before closing the
door.
"Henry?" The witch doctor looked at his abnormally pale face and saw green veins popping
out. "You're poisoned!"
"Yes..." Henry climbed back to his feet with great difficulty and collapsed on the bed that was usually reserved for patients. "Cure me, quickly!"
"..." She looked conflicted and then saw his outfit, full black. "You were again stealing,
weren't you? You should stop doing that!"
"I don't have time for chitchat!" Henry shouted. "I am being chased by... someone."
"You were poisoned by whoever was chasing you?" she asked as she started making potent
antidote.
"Yes..." Henry whispered. "I visited all the potion stores, but none of them had antidotes that could cure this poison. That's why, out of desperation, I had to come here. My chaser will
discover this place soon enough!"
"You brought trouble to my doorsteps again!" The witch doctor shouted angrily.
"Come on, the Outlanders should stick together, don't you think so?" Henry said with a
painful breath.
"You only take, take, and take!" The witch doctor snapped and put some herbs on the cauldron. "I've had enough of your selfish ways. Once I've cured you, don't come back!"
"No worries..." Henry said and coughed. "This place has become too hot. Now, they've sent someone powerful after me. I can't stay in Ebonreach any longer."
"Where're you planning to go?" she asked out of curiosity.
"Who knows, maybe I'll disappear into the shadows for a while."
The witch doctor shook her head, and with a few more added spices, she finished the antidote
that gave off a strong smell of mint and earthy aromas.
"Just stop this thieving business of yours; it'll put you in an early grave." She said, handing
the potion over to the thief.
"Hmph." With a scoff, he gulped down the antidote, and in just a few breaths time, he felt the
sickness fade away.
"I owe you." He said, and stood up, ready to leave.
Knock, knock, knock.
However, at that moment, someone knocked on the door.
Both of them turned to look at the door-the closed door with a shadow of a figure
underneath it.
"He is here..." Henry's face paled.