June looked at Kaze defiantly. She believed there was more to Kaze since he knew what was wrong with Faith. Even Holfman wanted to get Kaze’s opinion. Nevertheless, June doubted that Kaze could win her in a game of poison. “No! It’s not happening.” The Otters made faces. Even Caster said curtly, “You caused this, Kaze. Don’t get my family involved. “Just get down on your knees and beg for mercy.” As if Kaze stood a chance against Holfman’s student. The family’s young generation lost to Sebastian. June had a higher attainment in medicine than Sebastian. The Otters were not at an advantage. Sure, June said that everybody in the Otter family could help Kaze in the match. However, there was no way Caster, a man pushing eighty, would compete with a young woman. Even if Caster was able to put his ego aside, he would risk being the laughingstock once the word got out. No one thought Kaze was qualified to have a match with June. They believed June proposed the match t
June’s expression was one of sheer defiance. Kaze said indifferently, “If you’re afraid of dying, we can add a condition where no one will risk their life. “Before we administer the poison, we should have the formula of the antidote ready. When one party loses, the other party should administer the antidote right away. “If the lethal dose ends up taking a life, that person has to go to jail.” Kaze chose to go through with it. Even Holfman was skeptical. Kaze could be a skilled doctor for all he knew. “Alright. Let’s go with it.” June said grimly, “You’re going to bow down to me, Lee.” She turned to Caster. “Please let us use your family’s laboratory.” The Otters, a family of medicine practitioners, had their own laboratory and supply of medicinal ingredients. The room was also available to the family’s young generations to study medicine. At this point, Caster could say nothing but nod. “Fine.” “Hang on.” Kaze said, “You only mentioned what you expect me to d
Still, June was not going to give Kaze an edge. She went straight to the medicine cabinets. Each tiny drawer was labeled with the ingredients, but June did not even have to look at these labels. She grabbed the ingredients without thinking twice. Though the arrangement of herbs may vary from one to another laboratory, there was a certain system in place. June was familiar with these herbs. Soon, she pulled out over a dozen ingredients and combined them in several different ways. It was all about efficiency in creating poisons. There was no time to prepare the cure in many unexpected circumstances. Hence, it was best to make do with whatever material that was available on hand. The process of formulating the poison was straightforward. The herbs were crushed and mixed in water. There was no brewing involved. The method was ideal for matches. The poison was potent enough to be effective but not as strong to cause death, making a good compromise between efficacy and saf
Raising a brow, June looked at Kaze in disbelief. “How did you get the answer by smell?” The crowd was surprised by June’s reaction. They thought Kaze was taking a stab in the dark, but he was right on the money. The Otters looked at Kaze as if they had seen a ghost. “He was just lucky!” Max and Maxine were not having it. Jealousy reared its ugly head. Kaze outshined them in the medical field, and it did a number on their egos. “How did I get it? Just smell it. “It’s no big deal,” Kaze said nonchalantly as if he was talking about the weather. June nearly choked on his words. Of course, she knew that it was by smell. Brushing June off, Kaze walked toward the medicine cabinets and took out several ingredients. He ground them together, added water, and created poison. The color of the concoction was brownish red like black tea. The potency of Kaze’s poison was yet to be determined, but at least it looked good. “Hm… It tastes good.” Kaze took a sip of his po
While grounding the mixture, June read out the ingredient names and their uses out loud. She was showing off to take Kaze down a peg. In a way, she was intimidating him too. However, she was in for a surprise when she cocked her head back. “What are you doing, Kaze? Do you really want to die?” June asked sternly. Kaze was not freaking out as she had anticipated. Instead of working on an antidote, he sat on the chair and trimmed his nails. In other words, Kaze was not taking the match seriously. June grimaced and said coldly, “I won’t stop you if you want to die, Lee. Don’t drag me into this and put me behind bars. “I’m telling you now. Every second you waste may be the reason you die today.“I decreased the potency in the poison, but the toxin is still a slow burn down to hell.” Darcy and the others panicked.“Don’t just sit there, Kaze. Find the cure!”“The longer you wait, the poison will catch up to you. You’re playing with your life.” Darcy and Rose urged Kaze,
“Arghhh!”Maxine could feel the excruciating pain in every inch of her skin, every piece of her bone, and her organs.June was right. “Maxine!” “Maxine!” The Otters were thrown for a loop. Adam, Max, and other family members rushed to her side in a fluster, but there was nothing they could do to help her. Caster drew close and forced the venom out with a silver needle, alleviating Maxine’s symptoms a little. However, he was not close to lifting the poison. Though Maxine stopped screaming, the toxin nearly took her life. She lay on the floor groaning, her complexion sallow. “I told you not to touch the poison. “Even a child would know not to put anything in their mouth.“See. That’s what you get from trying to prove me wrong.” Sitting on a chair, Kaze shook his head and sighed. He looked sympathetic, but really, he was laughing his head off inside. Maxine had been harsh and critical of him since he entered the Otters’ residence. Finally, she got what she deserved
“Thump!” June collapsed to the floor, her breathing labored. Even her hair turned white as if she aged in an instant. Aghast filled the room. Holfman jolted to his feet, approached June, and bent over to save the student he had so much hope for. “Dr. Wright, this is a fair match between me and your student. Surely, you won’t get involved,” Kaze said emotionlessly. Holfman paused and sighed before looking up at Kaze. “I’m throwing in the towel for my student.” “Woah!” The crowd broke out in an uproar. Holfman considered his student beneath Kaze. That was quite a bombshell to drop. Even Darcy’s family widened their eyes. “I don’t recognize him anymore,” Agnes mumbled in disbelief. Most of the people there shared the same sentiment. It was hard to link Kaze to the moocher. Ignoring everybody else, Kaze pushed June’s poison ahead and said to Holfman indifferently, “I want to hear it from her.” “Just admit defeat, June.” Holfman cocked his head back and urged J
The others could not believe their ears. They would think that Kaze had an accomplice if the words did not come from Holfman himself. Without another word, Holfman got up and grabbed the remaining poison that Kaze made for June. “No, Dr. Wright!” As Holfman brought the jar to his mouth, the crowd shouted to stop him. The Otters panicked. June’s horrific reaction to the poison was still vivid in everybody’s minds. The Otters would be held responsible if anything were to happen to Holfman. Disregarding the public’s concern, Holfman gulped down the poison. Soon, Holfman grimaced in pain. As fear gripped the crowd, Holfman approached Kaze and drank a little of June’s leftover poison. It did not take long for everybody to realize that Holfman’s complexion was restored to its pink. Holfman was as good as new. “W-What’s going on?” The crowd was in a daze. Holfman took Kaze’s poison, consumed June’s poison, and miraculously got better. Faced with disbelieving look