Chapter 961: Chapter 961: Kiba’s trial (11)

"Milord" Frost arrived close to the transition between the 2nd and 1st room, a 100 metres or so from Kiba’s current location. There he was immediately approached by the monster in charge of the room, an ice troll with a wealth of experience under his belt. Alongside him were two C-rank yuki-onnas and a frost revenant knight, members of the kill line Frost ordered to be set. Nanuk even if he managed to come close to the exit, his sole light in a very dark tunnel all that awaited him was a swift and definitive death.

"Good work, though unnecessary in the end you did well establishing such a solid line-up in the short time given." Frost nodded his head in praise, such a line-up could easily kill both Nanuk and Khiran before their escape, hell even if Eha and Lur were added a complete wipeout was assured.

"Thank you milord." The ice troll, yuki-onnas and frost revenant knight all saluted and thanked him before the room leader spoke up further.

"Milord Kiba’s condition seems unusual, I’ve made my presence known to him but instead of conversing he aggressively snarled as though coveting his prize." Kiba was usually very easy going, pleasant in his dealing with the monster officers stationed throughout the Dungeon, his peers sort to speak.

"I noticed that’s why I’m here."

Frost thus left the ice troll and his companions, ordering them to quickly return to their regular stations before slowly walking towards Kiba, his contracted battle mount. And the closer he got the better he could feel his current emotions.

’So savage.’ Kiba felt similar to the monsters he came across in the Glacial mountains, vicious and aggressive far removed from his usual self. A trait he wanted to stoke but not this much. His intelligence, wisdom and self-awareness had been consumed by brutality reducing him to well.....a beast.

"Kiba." He called with concern.

"Grrrr." The young tiger growled in response, his fur standing on end and his haunches noticeably tensing, prepared to attack the interloper if necessary.

He didn’t see Frost as an ally but a potential enemy, such behaviour greatly shocked Frost as he attempted to reach out with their soul connection, calming him and reminding him of their bond.

"Grrarrggg." Kiba as though struggling against something showed a pained expression, his head shook and whimpers passed through his lips as he banged his head against the floor.

Frost inched closer and caught scent of something foul like rotten meat mixed with spice and coagulated blood.

’What is that?’ His eyes scanned the scene, at first glance nothing looked out of place, but when he focused on Kiba’s body particularly around his mouth he noticed bits of discoloured blood, darker and bubbling as though close to boiling.

Anxious about the state of his family member Frost dashed forward, wrapping his arms around Kiba as he examined the strange blood. Such actions given his current state of course alerted Kiba who instinctively lashed out, his paws moving to slash Frost and his jaw attempting to bite him as he placed his face within reach, but Frost was not Nanuk. With a sudden erection of chakra armour, a release of aura and some physical restraining Frost rebuffed such attacks without much effort.

"It doesn’t seem like a poison but not dissimilar either." Scraping some of the blood with his finger he sniffed, prodded and closely examined it. Though his knowledge of poison and venom was minor at best he made sure to take a crash course whenever he could after his own affair with the stuff. The effects though potent and somewhat damaging unlike the vast majority of poisons and venoms it also offered stimulus to an effect, a benefit if you will.

"Is it an elixir or perhaps a kind of drug?"

An elixir was something alchemists refined that granted boons when ingested such as increased muscle strength, mana sensitivity, clarity of the mind and more. However unless refined by a very, very high ranked alchemist these elixirs usually had some sort of drawback and were much more often than not temporary effects.

Drugs in the current context weren’t all that dissimilar to elixirs but not quite so dramatic in their effects and sometimes used for their negatives over their positive i.e. favoured dream melody a drug fashioned from several hallucinogenic plants. Another prime example would be pain killers and aphrodisiacs but given Kiba’s current state he was more inclined to think elixir.

’His own blood appears to be showing only minor symptoms but in and amongst his teeth there’s patches far more pronounced....was he infected by something he ate?’ Frost concluded that it was an elixir and that one of the adventurers probably took it to give them an edge in the battle thus infecting Kiba when he bit into their flesh. Whether that was their end intention he couldn’t confirm but if it was then he felt his respect for that particular adventurer rising ever so slightly. A veteran adventurer even if their strength was mediocre usually had innumerable tricks up their sleeve, hidden cards that ensured their long survival.

"It wouldn’t have been this kid he’s too green and the effects wouldn’t be this intense already.’ That left Eha, Lur or Khiran.

Although he watched the battle quite intensely the Dungeon viewing screens failed to show the complete picture otherwise isolating the cause for this little predicament would have been easy.

"Kiba try and calm your mind, the effects will be temporary but I’m in the dark about the detriments." Resisting anything whether it be a poison or elixir would nine times out of ten help mitigate the problem. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Chuff." Kiba now in a better state of mind thanks the soul connection and Frost’s touch and scent lightly chuffed before doing his best to think peaceful thoughts, denying the aggressive instincts building up in his body.

Frost seeing him following his advice nodded before moving towards Khiran the first suspect.

"Urgh yeah it was him alright." The smell was intense, far worse than the trickle dripping from Kiba’s mouth. Khiran’s skin had become a sickly dark colour, his muscles somewhat sunken and several of his veins had burst from having to pump far more vigorous and violent blood throughout his body.

He surmised that even if he managed to survive his battle with Kiba, Khiran would be practically incapacitated, having to rely on several doses of healing potions and then a likely visit to an established doctor to regain his strength.

From the state of his body it was probably an elixir that forcibly boosted ones strength at the expense of future damage and likely some lifespan. A last ditch effort to achieve survival but with a very high cost.

"Well as long as you live in the end many would probably be more than willing to have this kind of ace in the hole." Death was final but injury and even crippling of one’s body could be endured. Khiran could have retired, lived a less intense life, a worthy trade in the long run but unfortunately Kiba was just too strong.

"Some of the elixir must have lingered in the blood thus giving Kiba a reduced dose....hopefully given his resilience he’ll be fine after a good rest." There was much he wanted to discuss with his young battle mount, critiques on how he handled his trial, but his health came first.

"Findley." Frost called through the Dungeon menu and a few moments later Findley his trusted right hand man appeared.

"You called master." As the 2nd in command of the Dungeon he was quite busy but if Frost ever called he would drop everything and anything without hesitation.

"Kiba’s in a bit of a state right now help me transport him to the lower floors so he can rest in peace." The private space was a bit too dangerous given Loki and Nanna’s presence while the training room lacked personnel to keep him apprised of his health, so he chose the lower floors where no adventurers had reached and every monster present was strong enough to manage any possible outburst from the young tiger.

"Kiba?" Findley asked with obvious concern, as a long term member of the family he was quite affectionate towards Kiba, seeing him as an equal levelled compatriot alongside Khuno and Yuna.

"Yes, he’s ingested an elixir that boosts his physical prowess but at the expense of his mind. He can’t tell friend from foe."

"Understood." Findley immediately understood the reason for his summoning and without delay he helped Frost restrain and transport Kiba to the lower floors and instructed a group of Ronsos and high level ice trolls to guard him and if needed restrain him during any aggressive outbursts. Kiba would have to endure through the elixirs effects before healing his wounded body.

"Haaaaa he passed but I can’t say I’m all that happy with the result." Frost uttered the moment he plonked himself back on the sofa. Kiba had honoured the terms of the trial and passed but given his current state, the close shave of losing both Khiran and Nanuk as well as his mistakes in battle he couldn’t given him more than a C grade...much to improve on.