The raid limped into a small clearing far from the town's edge, still inside the Crimson Briar Patch, but out of immediate danger. The survivors collapsed where they stood as exhaustion claimed their all.

The wounded were laid on patches of ground cleared of crimson growth, their injuries ranging from deep gashes to broken bones.

The healers moved to them immediately. Hands glowed with restorative magic, sealing wounds and mending fractures. Most injuries were straightforward, physical trauma that responded well to healing spells.

Lena was different.

She lay on her side, coughing violently and losing blood from her ears, mouth, nose, and eyes.

Each spasm made her tremble because of the pain it jolted into her being. Her skin was also starting to take on a pale quality, which was dotted with reds and weird black spots.

Her temperature also rose, and she started sweating as if she were inside a sauna, and that was despite October's chill being on them all.

Reidar crouched beside her. He'd already tried his only healing spell. They'd eased the symptoms temporarily, but the effect lasted minutes at most. Whatever the pollen had done, it was beyond his capabilities.

One of the healers approached, an older woman with gray streaks through her hair yet still joining the raid.

She placed her hands on Lena's chest and closed her eyes. Light flowed from her palms, washing over Lena's body. The coughing subsided for perhaps thirty seconds. Then it returned, harder than before.

The healer pulled back, shaking her head. "There's something in her body, some kind of toxin or magical contamination. My skills can't touch it."

"Try again," Reidar said.

"It won't help. This needs specialized treatment, detoxification magic, or some other kind of intervention I don't know about. I don't have those skills; I'm a hybrid fighter and don't specialize in healing magic."

Reidar's hands curled into fists.

Another healer tried, a younger man who chose to be a hybrid fighter who also specialized in fire-oriented skills.

He tried to heal her, but the coughing worsened.

"I can't…"

Helga strode over, her armor still covered in vine sap and ash. "How long until she's combat-ready?"

Reidar looked up at her, his expression flat. "She's not getting combat-ready. Look at her."

Helga glanced down at Lena. "Then she stays here with a guard while we continue."

"She needs real treatment," Reidar said. "This is beyond field healing."

"We don't have time for—"

"She's dying." Reidar raised his voice. "That pollen is killing her. FIELD. HEALING. ISN'T WORKING."

Aldric then approached. He studied Lena for a second and could already see that whatever happened to her was sending her to see her ancestors.

"The quest has a time limit, Reidar," he said. "We can't afford delays. Every hour we waste is—"

"I know," Reidar interrupted. "I'm not suggesting we delay."

Seraphine joined the group, her fighters maintaining a perimeter around the clearing. She looked at Lena, then at Reidar. "How is it going?"

"Not well. The healers can't treat it."

Seraphine knelt beside Lena, studying her face. The woman's breathing was deteriorating.

"This needs someone who can detoxify whatever is inside her body," Reidar said. "There is no one here who can do it."

"No." Seraphine stood. "But there is someone who can do it."

Reidar's head snapped toward her. "Who?"

Seraphine paused. "I came here with more people than you think, Reidar. They are currently killing monsters and gathering resources, waiting for us to complete the raid quest so that we can all get out of here, but… There are healers with them, and one of them… I've seen him treat toxin cases, or whatever this is, before. If there's one that can help her, that's him."

Seraphine wasn't foolish enough to put herself into a situation where toxins or magical diseases couldn't be treated. She came to the valley prepared, and that required her to have high-level healers ready.

"Where are they?"

"On the other side of the valley, on the northwest," Seraphine said.

Then Reidar understood.

<The feral pack…> It was weird for Reidar to have the feeling he should've increased his proficiency, but now it made all sense. <That was because of my F.L.I.P.!>

The mysterious attribute that no one really knew what it did. It acted. It gave him a feeling that made him improve his proficiency through hard grinding.

With the proficiency at 50%, Reidar could actually share the skill, something that he couldn't before, and that prevented him from using the crows to get to whatever this place was.

But at the same time, Reidar understood that F.L.I.P. played a role in him increasing his proficiency, because it sort of increased the chance with which the proficiency getting higher.

<If that was really the case, then…>

Then it would still be too stupid to rely on it. If Reidar could have leveled up his proficiency this way since the beginning, he would already have tier 100 skills, but he couldn't, and that was because F.L.I.P. wasn't always at work.

In other circumstances, Reidar might have just wasted a lot of mana and time to increase a proficiency that got up only after 2-3 days for a meager 1% increase.

<But then why now? What triggered F.L.I.P. to activate and give me that gut feeling? What prompted it to increase the chance with which my proficiency increased?>

There was no answer to that, and there was not going to be one. F.L.I.P. was simply too mystical, but if it worked like this, increasing it more might not be a bad idea.

"How long would it take to reach this place?" he asked.

"Three days minimum if we push hard," Seraphine said. "Longer if we encounter resistance."

"She doesn't have three days."

Seraphine's expression tightened. "I know. But it's the only option."

Helga crossed her arms. "Are you crazy?! We need more people to complete this raid! Seraphine is the only one who knows where this place is, so if she goes, we will lose not just a cannon fodder, but we will lose the cannon itself!"

"I'm not going to let Lena die," Reidar shot back.

"But will she be able to survive the journey?" Aldric asked. "Three days is a long time for someone in her condition."

Reidar stared at Lena's shaking form. Her lips had taken on a bluish tint. Her coughing had shifted from violent to weak and sporadic. She was dying.

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