Sho snapped awake suddenly as it was getting late in the day. He sat up from his laying down position. Slim Jim didn’t budge from his position. The wyvern snored loudly as if nothing had happened. Sho was on the outskirts of town per usual gathering himself for the day. It was mid-day to be exact, Sho had slept most of the morning away due to his late-night training sessions. In between missions Sho had been training himself and honing his skills. Sadly he was coming to the realization that his magic did not suit him. It wasn’t his style, he wanted something much much more aggressive. He thought maybe he would stop into the local shops soon to check out what Lacrima’s were available. Sho looked around for his bag, he reached inside and pulled out some beef jerky. He had been living on the bare minimum while living on the outskirts of town. He would occasionally go into town to have a feast but for the most part, he was taking it slow. He was saving jewels for a major purchase, he wasn’t sure what he wanted but he wanted to be ready.

Sho was quietly chomping on beef jerky so as not to awake his sleeping companion. Sho was so hungry and he didn’t want to share this meal. It was all a part of his training. He was showing results he felt himself steadily becoming stronger as time went on. As he finished his afternoon meal he reached into his bag again this time for a bottle of water. He wasn’t too keen on drinking Baska’s water supply due to the gang poisoning the water hole. No need to get infected and go on a rampage. He downed the bottle of water rather quickly before a bird, a pigeon came flying overhead. Sho knew what that meant. The bird dropped a letter right down in front of Sho. It had Gerald’s handwriting. Sho recognized it after taking all these missions from him. Sho opened the letter and the only thing it said on it was ‘Meet me at my office.’ and nothing else. Sho figured he would get the rest of the mission specs from the good doctor. Sho stood up from his sitting position and stretched. He did smell himself which turned his nose upward. He needed a change of clothes and a good wash. It had been a minute since he had been living on the land with his companion for some time.

“First a shower.” Sho grabbed his change of clothes in a backpack along with his weapon, and helmet and headed into town. He knew of a gym where he could shower and get straight before heading over to the doctor. After heading into town Sho went to the gym where he would shower and change into some more loose clothing. Black gym shorts, a sleeveless jersey that had the number 00 on it, and some black gym shoes with a Jumpman symbol on them. Sho took his dirty clothes and shoved them in his backpack. He figured he would wash that later. Sho headed over to the doctor's office post-haste. Sho made it over to the doctor's office. He didn’t even talk to the nurse he just went into the doctor's office. She was aware of his presence and did not flinch when Sho walked passed her without saying a word. Sho opened the door and noticed the doctor pacing once more. He was clearly not happy but his demeanor changed with Sho walking into the room. “Good close the door,” Gerald said before sitting down in his chair. He pushed forward a glass on the table. It was steaming hot green tea. Sho took it slowly and sat down in the chair in front of Gerald’s desk. “Please have some tea.”

Sho nodded as he took the glass and pressed it to his lips. He took a small sip before hearing what the doctor had to say. “This is some good tea Doc,” Sho said before taking another sip. Gerald took a sip of his own tea before speaking. “I am glad you came so quickly, since things have broken down with the Cold Colliers and they want to kill you I have a plan. I want to have a cure ready for when they drop a big batch of poison in the water. I have you to thank for the cure however but I digress. I need your help in creating the cure dispensing mechanism if you will.”

Sho took another long sip of the tea and swallowed it before speaking. “I am listening.” Gerald pulled out a list of papers before speaking. “I technically have a cure made from the boar you brought to me before. I just need a way to dispense it. The first item is a special crystal that is sold here locally. Get it without hurting or alerting the shop owner. I believe in you to do the right thing. The second thing is an aerosol can that can spray the liquid. I need a big one it should be cheap. Lastly, I need a sample of the water with your mana infused into it. Can you handle that?”

Sho nodded before finishing off his tea. “You can count on me.” Sho stood up and pushed his empty cup forward. “Thanks for the tea I will be back in a jiffy.” He left the office and proceeded to the first task, the magical crystal. Sho went over to the local shop where there was a teenage girl reading some manga. She wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on. “Hello welcome to our shop please just get what you need and go,” Sho said nothing and proceeded through the store with haste. Sho walked over to a rather large crystal and noticed its glow. Sho said nothing and looked over at the girl who was reading her comic book. Sho slipped the crystal into his bag and said nothing while looking around. He was making sure no one was watching and there were only two of them in the shop at the time.

“Hey, thanks for all your help!”

“Yeah whatever.”

Sho headed over to the next task, the aerosol can. Sho went into the store and noticed something was off. The lights were off but the open sign was visible. Sho walked into the shop slowly. He heard some growling before looking around. He said nothing as the shop owner came stumbling out of the back room. He was convulsing and twitching before he stood back up. He was foaming at the mouth and his eyes were bloodshot red. Sho said nothing before slipping in through the side aisle not visible to the infected shopkeeper. ‘Shit I forgot about the infected people.’ Sho thought while peering around the corner. The shopkeeper was twitching while growling and walking around. Clearly, he wasn’t in his right mind and Sho didn’t want to hurt the poor guy. He just wanted the aerosol can. Sho snuck around the corner as the shopkeeper walked forward a bit. Sho grabbed a can of beans and chucked it across the store. On the far end of the store. The clanging of noises alerted the infected shopkeeper causing him to shamble across the room. He growled and made gurgling noises as he moved toward the noise. Sho moved across the store quietly and swiftly to the aisle where the cans were. He grabbed a few cans and spray bottles as the doctor wasn’t specific as to what he wanted. ‘I will come back for you I swear it.’ Sho thought while moving towards the exit. Sho left the store as quietly as he came in and made his way over to the last task.
Sho found himself at the center of town, he was looking down at the fountain, it was clear with jewels sitting at the bottom of it. People were wishing on their money hoping that something magical would happen. Sho felt it would be wrong to steal from this fountain even though no one was watching. Sho sat down on the edge of the fountain and put his left hand into the water. He took a deep breath before circulating his mana. He began to focus suddenly, energy began to crackle and dance around his body. A small blue light could be seen traveling from his heart through his circulatory system. The energy made its a way through his body and into his hand then the water. The energy had a steady flow, Sho began to sweat as he was burning through his mana to do this. The water began to give off a faint glow. “Not enough,” he said while turning it up a notch. This caused the water’s glow from faint to a bright shimmer. Sho was visibly out of breath as he opened his eyes and looked into the water. The water was giving off a bright shimmer and a blue shine.

Sho grabbed a bottle's worth of shimmering water and proceeded back to the doctor's office. Sho again said nothing to the nurse and proceeded into his office. “I got everything.”

“Well follow me.”

Gerald led Sho into the lab portion of the hospital a couple of rooms over. Sho put the ingredients on the table and looked over at the doctor. “Here crush the crystal in this.”

Sho nodded and took the mortar and mixing bowel and began to crush the crystal with his strength. It took a few minutes but the crystal was in a fine powder form. Then the doctor took the aerosol can and put the water in it. Shortly after he took the crystal dust and poured it in before giving it a good shake. He then took the cure and injected it into the water causing a chemical reaction. The formula turned into a bright blue shimmering color. “This will make sure they don’t get affected again. And build up an immunity into it.” Gerald explained while leaving the room and going into an infected patient's room. The patient was strapped down to the table chomping at the bits to get at them. The doctor sprayed the patient causing a reaction. The spray went into the patient's nostrils before he convulsed for a moment. Then the color in his body visibly changed and the symptoms faded away as if nothing happened.

“Eureka!”

Sho did a little fist pump as the doctor shouted. Gerald reached to his side before pulling off a big bag of jewels. “Here you earned this.”

“Thanks, doc.” Sho took the money and took his leave.

[Exit]

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