The silence in the dining hall didn't st more than a second.
Then concern exploded.
"He fainted!""What happened to him?!""Call someone!"
Chairs scraping. Gsses tipping over. Murmurs rising in volume.
Max remained seated, stiff, staring at the body on the floor.
'Great.''Five minutes in society.''Record.'
One of the nobles jumped to his feet, pointing at the table.
"This is an assassination attempt!" he shouted. "The food was poisoned!"
The murmurs turned into shouts.
"Poison?!""Who did it?!""Lock the doors!"
Before the chaos could escate further—
A deep voice thundered from the entrance to the dining hall.
"Enough!"
A rge woman entered the room with firm steps. She had thick arms, a flour-stained apron, and a serious expression.
"There's nothing wrong with that food."
Max recognized her immediately by the name he had heard earlier.
It had to be Bertha, the royal cook.
She pnted herself in front of the table, hands on her hips.
"I cooked every dish that went out today. And there is no poison. I guarantee it."
A younger noble frowned.
"Then expin why Eldarion is on the floor."
The noblewoman beside him spoke hesitantly.
"Eldarion…""…is allergic to barley."
Bertha blinked.
Once.
Then her eyes widened.
"…The soup has barley."
The hall fell silent.
Bertha clenched her teeth.
"I didn't know," she said seriously. "We're always informed."
Another noble looked around nervously.
"Where is the healer?"
The king spoke with a heavy voice.
"He took the day off today. Went to visit his family."
Absolute silence.
Max felt a familiar flicker in front of his eyes.
[ Express Mission Activated ][ Heal the poisoned noble ][ Difficulty: High ][ Reward: Rare Item ]
Max swallowed.
'Poisoned?''Well… technically.'
He stood up.
"Uhm—"Everyone looked at him.
Max raised a hand, uncomfortable.
"Do you… have any potion for curing poison?"
Sophie reacted first.
"Maybe…" she said, running to a dispy case. She rummaged through bottles until pulling out one that was almost empty."Hopefully there's a drop left."
Max nodded.
"That'll do."
Sophie hesitated for a second, but handed it to him.
Max knelt beside the unconscious noble.
'Please. Let this work too.'
He tilted the bottle.
Two drops.
They fell directly onto the elf's tongue.
[ Skill Activated ][ Amplified Healing Blessing ][ Effect: Poison Neutralized ][ Secondary Effect: Poison Immunity (24 hours) ]
Eldarion's body tensed.
Then—
He coughed.
"—!"
His eyes flew open, breathing heavily.
"What… what happened?"
An incredulous murmur swept through the hall.
Max blinked.
'Twenty-four hours? This is broken as hell.'
The noble slowly sat up, confused but clearly recovered.
And then—
Appuse.
First one.
Then several.
And suddenly—
"MAX, THE PET!""MAX, THE PET!""MAX, THE PET!"
Shouts, cpping, voices cheering as if he had won a tournament.
Max remained kneeling, the empty vial in his hand.
'This got out of control.'
The maids moved quickly.
Sophie was the first to react, picking up overturned gsses and removing wine-stained ptes. Abby appeared at her side almost immediately, giving short orders to other maids who entered the hall with cloths and trays.
"Come on, come on.""Careful with the tablecloth.""Don't step on that."
The chaos unraveled piece by piece.
The nobles, now rexed, began to ugh.
"Well, at least I didn't die," Eldarion said, still pale but conscious."A memorable dinner," another added, raising his gss.
The king gently tapped the table with his knuckles.
"We'll consider the dinner concluded.""There has been… enough excitement for today."
Laughter grew. Chairs moved. Conversations overpped.
Only then did Max allow himself to exhale.
Enor approached him, her eyes still shining.
"I don't know how you did it," she said, genuinely amazed."But I knew it."
Max blinked.
"You knew what…?"
"That you were incredible," she replied without hesitation.
Max felt his chest puff up on its own.
'Ok.''Yeah.''I'm a genius.'
Enor tilted her head slightly, curious.
"That amount of potion wasn't enough to cure something like that," she continued."Could you… teach me that kind of magic?"
Max opened his mouth.
Closed it.
"Uhm… sure.""…Once I figure out how it works."
She ughed softly.
Max looked down for a second, still smiling.
'If it does that… what else can this skill do?'
Enor walked beside him as they left the dining hall.
"For the first day with my new pet," she said pyfully,"I had a lot of fun."
Max looked at her, surprised.
"Really?"
She nodded.
"Yes.""Thanks to you, after many years, today wasn't the same as every other day."
They walked together through the softly lit corridors, calmer now.
When they reached the door to his room, Enor stopped.
"Rest," she said."Tomorrow will be another… interesting day."
"Good night," Max replied.
She smiled and left.
The door closed.
Silence.
Max leaned his back against the wood.
"…Ok."
He took a few steps into the room and raised his hand.
"Cim reward."
[ Express Mission Reward Avaible ][ Would you like to open it? ]
"Yes."
The space in front of him distorted.
A golden chest appeared, floating gently, identical to the one he had seen when he died, before entering Eldoria.
Max swallowed.
'This never ends well.'
He opened the chest.
Light.
So much light.
So intense he had to cover his eyes.
The chest vanished, leaving behind dust.
Something fell to the floor.
Bck.
Small.
Max sighed.
"Coal.""I knew it.""Ninety percent probability."
He crouched down and picked it up.
Paused.
"…This is heavy."
He looked closer.
Rubbed it with his sleeve.
The bck coating came off.
Underneath—
It shone.
Gold.
Max's eyes went wide.
"…No."
He kept cleaning it.
It was a solid piece.
Heavy.
Perfect.
[ Item Obtained ][ Gold Piece ][ Rarity: Rare ][ Drop Rate: 1% ]
Max colpsed onto the bed, the piece in his hand.
Staring at it.
Smiling like an idiot.
"This world feels more like a joke than a game."
'Tomorrow will be another interesting day,' he thought, and closed his eyes.
