“Do you smell that, Max?” Brooke seemed to sense something, and he took a deep breath.
“You mean the herbal scent?” Maximus tilted his head curiously. “It’s been there all along, hasn’t it? What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s different now. It’s quite special.” Brooke went up to the door of the alchemy room. Then, he crouched down to catch a whiff of the scent wafting out from the gap under the door.
He spent most of his time around herbs. Thus, he could easily detect the slightest change in scent. All of a sudden, the door creaked open.
Dustin was just about to step out of the room when he spotted Brooke crouching on the ground in a weird position. “Dr. Busch, what’s wrong? Are you having a stomachache?”
“Uhh…” Brooke smiled sheepishly before quickly reacting. He promptly asked, “Dustin, how is it? Did you succeed in producing Sanctifix?”
Dustin sighed and put on a dejected expression when he heard that. At the sight of Dustin in such a state, Brooke froze and paled. “You f-failed?” he asked with a tremor in his voice.
Oh no. If Dustin failed to produce Sanctifix, then all the herbs were wasted, and nobody would be able to save Cinna!
“Well, I wouldn’t say I failed. It’s just that I intended to produce a top-grade Sanctifix, but I only managed to come up with a good-quality one. There’s a slight difference in the quality, that’s all.” Dustin shook his head.
The corners of Brooke’s lips twitched involuntarily. He was exasperated. Was this the time to be fussy about quality? What did it matter what quality the pill was as long as it worked? And why was Dustin looking so dejected?
Brooke wasn’t young anymore, so couldn’t take such false alarms!
“So… You’ve succeeded?” Brooke asked.
“Of course! I wouldn’t do anything unless I’m confident I’d succeed.”
Dustin nodded with a smile and took out the blue Sanctifix. Brooke took the pill over to have a look. He was elated. “This is great! This is amazing! Mr. Shaffer will be alright now!”
The whole time that Dustin had busied himself with producing the pill, Brooke had also been waiting. He had waited for an entire day and night. He could finally be at ease now.
“Dr. Busch, let’s not waste any more time. Give Mr. Shaffer the pill,” Dustin reminded.
“Oh, right, right! We must save him first!” Brooke dared not waste another moment. Holding the pill carefully in both hands, he jogged into Cinna’s room.
Cinna still looked sickly thin and pale. His breathing was also light and shallow. He looked like a dead man.
“Dustin, are there any restrictions for consuming Sanctifix?” Brooke suddenly thought to ask.
“No. Just place it inside his mouth,” Dustin instructed.
“Alright.” Brooke slowly pried Cinna’s mouth apart and slipped the Sanctifix in. It dissolved into a blue liquid the moment it entered Cinna’s mouth. It flowed down his throat and slowly seeped into his body.
The medical properties of the pill gradually healed and restored Cinna’s ruined circulatory pathways. It started from his heart, to all his other vital organs, and then to his skin and bones.
After the healing of the Sanctifix, Cinna’s body seemed to slowly come alive like a tree receiving rain after a long drought.
They could see his pale face gradually regaining color, and his breathing got deeper. Impurities and dirt were discharged through every pore of his body.
After half a day, Cinna, who had been unconscious for a decade, slowly opened his eyes!
