Chapter 144 - Hundred And Forty Four - I wake up in the Healer’s Hall (1/2)

When Leon came to, the first thing he noticed was that his body ached. It was a painful sort of ache, like echoes of a trauma that had been far worse to his nerve endings, the type that would make one glad to be or fall unconscious. His left arm felt heavy, constricted and the majority of the discomfort seemed to be coming from it. He also felt as if he lacked some ability to move.

His vision was fuzzy, his glasses missing and all around him seemed quite white, although he could tell he was lying upon his back. His throat was quite dry, longing for a drink to soothe it. With a slight frown, he turned his neck to one side and there he saw a blur of colour.

”You're finally awake!” The clearly feminine voice sighed with relief.

”Maimai?” Leon croaked slightly, before swallowing, drying to ease the dryness.

”Oh! Let me get you something to drink!” He heard the sound of water filling a small vessel and the soft shimmer of silk rustling as the colour began to form some shape before his poor vision. ”Can you sit up?”

There was some struggle as Leon summoned the strength to raise his upper body enough that he could drink without the water spilling everywhere. After most of the cup was emptied, he lie back down with a relieved huff. ”C-Could you p-pass me my g-glasses?” He asked her.

”Oh, they were broken,” Maimai admitted. ”Smashed beyond repair this time. So I took the liberties of purchasing a new pair. Hope you don't mind!”

His vision cleared as the new frames settled upon his nose. ”I will p-pay you b-back,” he told her, earnestly. But she waved her hand in dismissal.

”No need,” Maimai looked a little shamefaced. ”I'm partially responsible for what happened, so let's forget it!”

”What exactly d-did happen?” Leon asked, his memory vaguely recalling last that he was attempting to make an unfamiliar pill, but beyond that...

From what Maimai advised him, he was the victim of a prank gone horribly wrong. His Master had left him instructions to practice forming a pill, but those were switched with a false recipe. That recipe listed half the ingredients of not the White Lotus pill, but a pill called the Seven Lotus pill, a completely different pill that required an adept hand due to its six opposing ingredients and the seventh which would bring the whole creation together.

Leon's senior had given him the new instructions and ingredients, but he was not responsible for the accident. Hue was a successful alchemist, but very slow of thought and was the type to need clear instructions. However, he also had a retentive memory, so only needed those instructions once. It was just, he never thought too deeply about the fact that the name of the pill did not match the recipe, his trust completely in his Master. He did, however, recall exactly which student had passed on the instructions.