Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

The door to the Governor's manor flew open just as Sorin and the Vice-Commander flew off the ship, leaving behind the rest of the entourage in favor of gaining a few seconds. A trio of maids scrambled out of the way as they made their way up a set of narrow stairs meant for servants to arrive at the second floor, where a second door opened to reveal a bed crowded with an assortment of life-supporting artifacts.

Sorin took note of the important personages in the room—a stern-looking man with an overpowering aura, a teary-eyed woman with a lacking cultivation base, a young man and an acquaintance of Sorin's, Physician Olivander, the only female three-star physician in the city. He cautiously approached the bed and saw that while the sheets on the surface were clean, small amounts of puss and blood were leaking into them from the soiled sheets beneath.

"I brought Sorin Kepler here as quickly as I could, Governor," said Vice-Commander Penrose to the stern-looking man.

"Very good," said the stern-looking Governor Loveless. "Let us see what clarity he can shed on her condition."

Aeris Loveless looked nothing like she had six days earlier. Though slight of build, she'd lost roughly twenty pounds since that time. Her skin was white and covered in small red spots that peaked out along her neck from beneath the blanket.

Sorin spent a good minute observing Aeris before speaking. "This isn't poison, but a disease, which I'm sure Physician Olivander already informed you of. While I can understand your use of intimidation to bring me over as quickly as possible, you should know that I only accepted your summons because I feared for a patient's life, nothing more."

"We've already run a battery of tests, Physician Kepler," said Physician Olivander, approaching Sorin with a handful of papers and jade slips. "If you'd be so kind as to review the information before commenting on our next course of action—"

"Apologies, Physician Olivander, but there's no time to waste," said Sorin. He lifted the patient's covers and noted that the spots weren't concentrated in one area. Instead, they uniformly covered the patient's torso and worked their way up her limbs and neck. "Governor, your daughter's condition is more serious than it currently appears. Six of her organs are teetering on the verge of failure. Do I have your permission to treat her?"

Governor Loveless looked to the shocked Physician Olivander. "As her attending physician, what is your opinion?"

"This… though I'm uncertain how Physician Kepler came to this conclusion after so few tests, his reputation precedes him," said Physician Olivander. "I advise that you allow him to treat your daughter. I will monitor and assist as required."

"Very well," said Governor Loveless. "Dearest, would you be so kind as to bring our son to his afternoon painting lesson?" Sorin's simple act of lifting the blankets had filled the room with a nauseating scent, and Fidel, whom Sorin had met in the market, was working hard not to throw up.

Sorin continued his examination as people filtered out of the room. "The patient's blood serum toxicity is elevated," he said to Physician Olivander. "Joints are stiff. Muscles are spasming intermittently. Pulse is weak and irregular."

Physician Olivander walked over and placed a hand on Aeris's wrist. "I sense the weakness, but not the irregularity."

"It's very slight," confirmed Sorin. "Now, if you look here, you'll find spots that don't match the red ones. This is characteristic of liver failure."

Governor Loveless walked up beside them as they conducted their examination, giving Sorin a slight but inconsequential increase in pressure. "I hope you can understand my concern at the fact that my daughter just happened to fall ill after your altercation," said the governor. "I will be most distraught if you are unable to clear this matter up."

Sorin sighed. "Governor Loveless, the wrath of a demigod is obviously not something I'm willing to face. That said, I don't appreciate the constant spewing of threats. Right now, the best thing you can do for your daughter is go off to the side. Also, your aura may seem slight and controlled, but for a patient in such critical condition, it can mean the difference between life and death."

He then carefully inserted five golden needles into Aeris's body to stabilize her condition before injecting a weak potion into her bloodstream. Using the weak poison, he mapped out her physiology and generated a model in Ophiuchan Simulation's mindscape.

"I'll need your assistance, Physician Oliva," said Sorin. "The patient's nutrients are out of balance, and toxins have accumulated in dangerous locations. This is partially due to whatever is afflicting her and partially due to your attempts at alleviating her symptoms.

"The first step will be to purge toxins. Please nurture her body to prevent her condition from worsening, taking special care to avoid mana clashing and spiritually harsh methods. Her body is in a critical state—the slightest error could lead to a downward spiral."

He waited for Physician Olivander to confirm her instructions before getting to work. She was a better physician than Physician Mathews, so these few instructions were enough for her to act on.

Like this, two hours passed. The patient's blood vessels were purged of toxins, followed by her muscles and, finally, her organs. Once these external factors were taken care of, certain bodily functions that had previously shut down started up again. The remaining symptoms should point toward the original affliction.

Two minutes later, Sorin wore a grim expression. These symptoms don't make any sense. There are too many of them. It's like multiple diseases are ravaging her at the same time.

"I believe you can see now why I acted as I did," said Physician Olivander.

Sorin nodded. "Since diagnosing her condition is impossible, then the best course of action is to nurture and hope for improvement. What do you think could cause such symptoms?"

"A portion of them, or all of them concurrently?"

"Assign different diseases to different symptoms," said Sorin.

"Hm, there's something affecting the patient's lungs, plus the common cold. If we add a necrotizing disease, we've got fifty percent of her symptoms covered," said Physician Olivander. "There's only one issue."

"These diseases are mundane illnesses," Sorin confirmed. "She's a Bone-Forging cultivator, so they shouldn't be able to affect her."

"Which is why I thought her immune system might be compromised," said Physician Olivander.

"It isn't," said Sorin. "I checked."

"So did I," said Physician Olivander. "I'm therefore at a loss on how to proceed."

Sorin ran a few simulations and confirmed with a few more tests to double-check that her immune responses were normal. He then proceeded to test with some weaker poisons to confirm that her body could respond properly. Conveniently, these tests confirmed the validity of the biological model he'd generated.

Could it be a deficiency? Sorin scanned her body and confirmed that she had no nutritional deficiencies to speak of. Symptoms aside, she was in good health. This was strange, as typically, diseases were accompanied by all manner of imbalances.

Sorin spent the next half hour trying to deduce the cause of her condition. In that time, Gareth, Lawrence, and Fenrig were gathered. Astley, however, was nowhere to be found. Shortly before Sorin finished his last test, Vice-Commander Penrose arrived holding Lorimer by the tail. "He's a tricky little devil," said Vice-Commander Penrose. He went to throw the rat in a cage, but Sorin held out his hand.

"I need my familiar," said Sorin. "Lorimer, stop messing around and come over here."

"Ree!" Lorimer burst into flames and shot over to Sorin, provoking a short-lived spike in the Governor's aura that immediately died down when Sorin pulled out a cauldron.

"He's my beast flame," Sorin explained, shoving the rat into the cauldron.

"What sort of medicine are you making?" asked Physician Olivander as Sorin threw dozens of ingredients into the cauldron. "I don't recall any prescription medicines needing Illusory Stasis Grass."

"That's because it's not a medicine," confirmed Sorin. "It's a poison." He squeezed his hand and extracted a glob of mixed solids and liquids from the cauldron before using his own Poison Flame to work with Lorimer's orange Earth Flame to speed up the reaction.

"I normally don't spend so much time crafting a poison since I can generate most of them at will. Unfortunately, I've never needed this little-known poison in the past." He sent Nemesis flying into the cauldron, and six pitch-black needles flew out.

"Governor Loveless, I request permission to send your daughter's body into a state of stasis."

"I understand nothing of m4edicine," said Governor Loveless. "You'll need to explain your reasoning and convince Physician Olivander."

"My reasoning is that I have no idea what's going on," confessed Sorin. "I need time to research her condition and research a cure. I can't do that while simultaneously suppressing her symptoms." Physician Olivander nodded lightly in confirmation.

"Are the symptoms rare or unheard of?" asked the Governor.

"Quite the contrary," cut in Physician Olivander. "They're common. Just… stronger than normal."

Sorin nodded. "That's what makes the situation complicated, Governor Loveless. I'm not trying to narrow down her affliction from ten different possibilities. Instead, I'm trying to narrow a combination of diseases down from thousands of potential combinations. The latter is thousands of times more complicated than the former.

"The poison, a two-star poison called Six-Foot Slumber, won't hurt her but will instead induce a near-death state that will significantly slow down her bodily functions."

"What are the risks?" asked Governor Loveless.

"There is a non-zero chance that she won't be able to wake up," answered Sorin. "Specifically, there is a 0.5 percent chance of this happening.

"What gain from taking this risk is time. By using Six-Foot Slumber, we should be able to reduce her metabolism by 90%. The worsening of her symptoms should slow proportionately.

Governor Loveless confirmed with Physician Olivander before giving the order. "Do it," he said. "But don't think of leaving this place until you've cured her. Your companions will remain as well."

"With all due respect, Governor, that won't be possible," said Sorin. "I'll need to inspect past locations she's visited, as well as any location where she works and learns. In addition, my current knowledge base is insufficient to diagnose the condition. I'll need to correspond with physicians in this city and review local case history. I'll also need to be in touch with colleagues in Olympia and the Twelve Cities to obtain more data.

"The Alchemists Guild will also need to provide local specimens. The same applies to the Adventurers Guild. Finally, I'll—"

"Enough!" said Governor Loveless. "You said her condition is worsening by the second. Why have you not put her in stasis yet?"

Having received confirmation, Sorin inserted the nine black needles into Aeris's bones. Her complexion turned pale gray like that of a corpse as her heartbeat slowed down to once every five seconds. "She'll need the treatment of at least a two-star physician for a half hour every day to sustain her vital functions," said Sorin. "I will handle any complications that Physician Olivander can't handle. Now, let's talk about our plan of attack."

Governor Loveless clearly wasn't a friendly individual. Judging by his name, it was quite possible that the scowl he wore was a permanent one. "What do you propose, Physician Kepler? My daughter must get better. This is non-negotiable."

"I understand," said Sorin. "And I wouldn't be so bold as to leave the city. But I do need free access-escorted if needed—to most of the city. My companions will assist me in investigating this affliction using their specialties. They, too, can be escorted if that makes you more comfortable."

"It does," said Governor Loveless. "Moreover—" he stopped speaking and looked to the side where one of the three maids attending Aeris had just entered the room. She was coughing, and from the sounds of it, there was fluid in her lungs.

"Apologies, Governor, but I'd like to verify this maid's condition," Sorin didn't wait for his permission before running up to the maid and sending a pulse of spiritual energy throughout her body and confirming her condition.

He then pulled up her sleeve, revealing pale white skin extending from her torso, complete with red spots. "I'm afraid the situation is much worse than I suspected. Whatever affliction your daughter is suffering—it's contagious."