Chapter 23: A Minor Experiment

John, out of the corner of his eye, watched the two slowly approaching figures. A smile slowly curled at the corner of his mouth as he began to softly count down. "Five, four, three, two..."

The prowler gripped his dagger tightly, activating the skill [Blink].

His figure blurred momentarily, and in the next second, he appeared beside John, dagger raised to strike.

John finished his silent count with, "One!"

Victoria, who was battling the merfolk, noticed the situation and immediately disengaged to rush over. "John, watch out!"

Just as the dagger was about to pierce John, The prowler's body suddenly stiffened. An intense burning sensation rose from his heart, rapidly spreading throughout his chest as if he had swallowed several scorching hot coals.

Without warning, the prowler spat out a mouthful of dark red blood.

He fell to the ground with a thud, his limbs twisting in agony as he began to struggle.

The prowler screamed in pain, his cries echoing through the cave, while hot white smoke billowed from his mouth.

What followed was a horrifying scene.

The skin on the prowler's chest began to disappear bit by bit, eaten away by tiny specks of firelight, revealing his ribs, which had turned to charcoal, and his organs, which had been reduced to ashes.

From the moment the prowler applied the potion to his demise from poisoning, it took less than 2 minutes.

The healing potion John had given them was mixed with the venom of a Lava Viper, a magical creature that usually lives near volcanoes.

Its venom contains a high concentration of fire magic elements which, once injected into a living body, rapidly react to cause spontaneous combustion from within.

Because of the Lava Viper venom's unique effect, it could easily penetrate lower levels of [Poison Resistance].

This was why the Voodoo Goblin Shaman, upon seeing his Lava Viper bite John, thought him as good as dead.

However, John's innate [S-Rank Poison Resistance] completely suppressed the venom that entered his body, rendering it entirely ineffective.

While the Lava Viper venom didn't act as quickly as mixed snake venom, it would undoubtedly be more effective against some higher-level magical creatures in the future.

After all, mixed snake venom relies on Earth's snakes, which are primarily deadly to Earth's creatures.

Against magical creatures, using the venom of magical creatures would prove more effective.

At this moment, both John's teammates and enemies were utterly shocked.

Victoria stabbed the last merfolk soldier to death and stared blankly at the prowler's corpse on the ground.

She couldn't comprehend why the prowler spontaneously combusted and died the moment he attacked.

The Berserker nearby hadn't grasped the situation either. Feeling a sweetness in his throat, a large amount of blood uncontrollably spurted from his mouth and nose. "What's going on? what the hell is this! You damned Alchemist—"

The Berserker knew he had applied the potion later and suspected it wouldn't be long before he suffered the same fate as the prowler.

With blood-red eyes, he glared at John, realizing there might still be a chance to take him down with him, and then bellowed loudly. "You'll be joining me in death!"

The Berserker, enduring the excruciating pain within his body, activated the skill [Berserk].

His skin turned a dark red as all his attribute points, except for [Spirit] which was halved, instantly surpassed their pre-class change limits!

John quickly pulled Victoria to his side and launched the skill [Potion Mist] at the charging Berserker.

The potion, mixed with the bristles of the Giant Jaw Wolf Spider, dispersed into a mist, instantly enveloping the Berserker. The fine yet incredibly sharp bristles covered his entire body in an instant.

The Berserker gasped in a cold breath, overwhelmed by an indescribable sensation spreading throughout his body.

It was as though he had rolled in fiberglass, with countless tiny pricks deeply embedding into his skin and pores, even entering his bloodstream, continuously slicing every inch of his body.

The Berserker's dual axes fell from his hands as the dual agony within and upon his body tormented him to the brink of madness.

At this point, the Berserker no longer sought revenge. He felt that dying a second sooner would be a relief.

He picked up his axe from the ground, gripped it tightly with both hands, and swung it directly at his own face. The axe, driven by his formidable strength, pierced through his skull and embedded deeply into his face, granting him the release he desired.

John released Victoria's hand and walked over to the Berserker's body, squatting down to examine the corpse.

After the Berserker's death, his chest also began to spontaneously combust, gradually turning black and then to ash.

John silently recounted the information he had gathered for his own memory. "Well. It seems that Berserk can temporarily suppress the poison. But even with damage reduction and decreased pain sensitivity, it's still not enough to withstand the power of the bristles..."

"Got it. Now I know how to deal with Berserkers in the future." John stood up and looked at Victoria, who had a dazed expression, like a startled rabbit.

Seeing her reaction, John couldn't help but tease her. "Don't worry, we're on good terms. I'm not going to kill you to keep you quiet."

Victoria snapped back to reality, realizing John was joking with her. But her mind was not on that at the moment. " What exactly is going on here?"

The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. "They just applied some healing potion, and then they died?"

She had been curious earlier when the two men asked John for a healing potion, wondering why he gave it to them without hesitation.

And then, in just two minutes, both men were almost turned to ash.

John casually replied, "I don't know. Maybe they secretly added something to the potion, disrupting its magical structure?"

Victoria, being very empathetic, sensed that this was probably John's secret. Since he didn't want to talk about it, she decided not to press further.

Besides, the deaths of these two were their own fault. John had even predicted that these two would betray him and attack right after using the healing potion.

This person's mind is incredibly meticulous, almost as if he can see through the hearts of others. Nonetheless, John would certainly never harm me. After all, he is my savior...

After The prowler and Berserker's bodies extinguished, a pile of items appeared out of thin air next to them, including a bag each.

John opened the bag to find it filled with precious jewelry and a large amount of gold notes, obviously looted from somewhere.

He scoffed disdainfully, "Maggots among the Awakened, using the system space to carry their stolen goods."

Victoria also opened her bag in surprise, recognizing several pieces of jewelry that her mother had once worn.

She said indignantly, "Everything in this bag belongs to my family. I knew something was off when I saw them coming out of that bungalow. They were there to steal!"

"It seems we need to establish the guild sooner rather than later. Without the constraint of power and rules, more and more scoundrels will emerge..." John shook his head helplessly. "All that talk about greater power coming with greater responsibility is bullshit. It's all about becoming more greedy with more power."

Victoria nodded in agreement, her own experiences only reinforcing John's viewpoint.

By now, Victoria had almost cleared out the murlocs in the dark river outside, around a dozen or so in total.

Most of them were weaker small murlocs, which she managed quite easily on her own, also earning a significant amount of experience and successfully reaching level seven.

The two temporarily stored the loot in their system backpacks and then proceeded deeper into the cavern.

John led the way, pulling out a flashlight from his system backpack—a borrowed item from his roommate.

The deeper they went, the darker it became. The flashlight's beam cut through the thick darkness, with John keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings.

"Stay on high alert." John whispered. "While the light gives us visibility, it also exposes our position. Rely more on your ears to sense the environment around us..."

"Understood." Victoria whispered back, following closely behind John, feeling a strong sense of security.

This man seemed as though he had ventured into such place countless times before, surviving one perilous adventure after another. The experience, steadiness, and calm he exhibited could not be easily imitated.