Max decided to taste the deep-fried fish, which looked delicious just by looking at it. Since they had been waiting for very long, the others must have become hungry and also started to eat.
Max took out a fork and meticulously cut out the flesh without any fishbone. The meat came off easily; it was cooked perfectly. He used the fork to pick up the meat and moved it towards his mouth.
Just as he was about to put it into his mouth...
"Gina, what happened? What is going on?!" a cry suddenly came from beside him.
The first girl who sat beside him suddenly held the second girl named Gina as she started shouting. Taken aback, Max quickly put away the food and stood up to see what was happening.
The girl Gina was having a seizure as foam exited from her mouth, and some strange black veins started to appear on her face.
'Did she get an allergy from the fish?' Max thought, looking at the scene. This looked like a typical food allergy, except for the black veins.
"Someone, a Healer, help her!" the first girl cried out.
"Move, give me space."
Suddenly, a middle-aged woman came rushing from a nearby table. She seemed to be a Healer. She quickly laid Gina on the ground and inspected her.
"It looks like she was poisoned."
Without waiting, the woman put out her palm and started to heal the girl. Quickly, dark green healing energy started to engulf Gina's whole body and began to heal her. Max could see the veins starting to disappear, and the convulsions also reduced.
However, his mind suddenly caught onto one particular word the woman had said.
'She was poisoned?' What the hell? She was not having a food allergy, but was poisoned. But how was that possible? They had just started to eat fresh food.
Suddenly, his eyes moved towards the food Max had placed in the center for everyone to eat, which he had ordered. The steamed fish with herbs and greens.
At that moment, something clicked. Going through his memory, he tried to remember one particular out-of-focus action.
It was whether the girl had eaten from the food he ordered. In his memory, while he was drooling at the deep-fried food, he had noticed the girl move her hand and scoop a spoonful of food from the bowl. As far as he could remember, no one had taken or eaten from that bowl except Gina.
'Did someone put poison in my food?' a terrifying thought came to his mind as he looked around at the billing counter, where the manager was still sitting at the table.
Max quickly moved the steamed fish to his side in case someone ate it accidentally. Until he found the truth, he could not let this evidence get destroyed.
Meanwhile, the woman healed continuously. So far, all the black veins and the seizure had stopped, and she came back to her normal state. The woman slowly stopped her healing as she inspected Gina.
Everyone gathered around eagerly to see the girl wake up after healing. However, she did not wake up. The woman who was healing was shocked.
"Heal her!" the first girl suddenly shouted at the woman after seeing Gina start to convulse, as the white foam and black veins started to appear again.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Not only the healing woman, but everyone was shocked. How come the poison was spreading even after getting healed?
"I do not think I can heal her. We need someone who can remove the poison," the healer woman said, with all her mana depleted after the single heal.
"What are you saying? Do something! Anyone, please help her!" Gina's friends started to cry for help.
Max sighed. He thought Gina must have gotten stranded between him and the people trying to kill him. He certainly believed the food served to him had been poisoned, and Gina had become an accidental victim.
"You, shut the shop! Without my permission, no one will leave this place!" Max pointed at the manager, whose face held a bewildered expression, and shouted for everyone to hear.
"Someone, call the Patrolling Guards," Max ordered.
"You, come here and keep an eye on these two foods. I think this food is poisoned." Max called the two guys who were Gina's friends.
"Now, everyone move away from her." Max gave an authoritative command.
The voice certainly worked, as everyone moved away from Gina. Even the Healing woman stood up and moved aside.
Max knelt down. Gina's body moved uncontrollably as the poison started to spread again. Max put both his palms above her.
Currently, Max was thinking whether to use the [Divine Miracle] skill, which was a normal Healing skill he possessed. However, seeing that the normal skill of the woman did not work, and she seemed to be at least a Level 100 Awakener, he did not think this skill would remove the poison from her.
He might have to use his other skill, which he had never used: [Salvation].
Max felt that this would put an end to the poison that stayed inside of her as a parasite.
[Salvation].
Max followed all the steps that would activate the inborn skill. With a tick, Max felt the skill activate. The mana channeling worked perfectly without fail, and soon, a bright white light covered Gina's whole body.
Everyone standing near them was shocked by this bright white light. Even Max was somewhat surprised, since he had expected dark green energy, which was the standard Healing energy one used to heal others. Seeing that the [Salvation] skill worked differently, he realized he was unfamiliar with it, since he had freshly used the skill.
Although the bright light covered Gina's surroundings, he could still see her. The seizure gradually slowed, and the black veins disappeared, similar to the healing of the woman.
He just hoped this healing would remove the poison and that it would not start to spread again. Otherwise, he had no means to save her, and she would die because of him.
As his mana was slowly spent, Max did not stop until all the mana was used upon her. He just wanted to make sure the poison was completely removed, afraid that if he were to stop, it would start to spread again.
The bright light slowly dissipated around her, and everyone could see her now. Similar to before, the shaking of her body, the white foam, and the black veins were all gone.
Now, all they needed to check was whether she would wake up or if the poison would spread again.
The people who stood around were in a complicated situation. They had clearly seen that the woman who healed the girl was superior and experienced, yet even she was not able to save the girl from the poison. Then, how could a boy wearing a first-year academy uniform, who had just started to use a skill, cure the poison? It was impossible; the girl was bound to die.
That was what most of the people thought. Only a few prayed the girl would wake up alive.
Max's face turned pale as he spent all of his mana in a short time. However, he still looked intently at Gina, praying that the girl would wake up.
As if his prayers were answered, Gina's eyes moved, and her eyelids slowly parted. Seeing this, everyone let out the breath they had been holding.
"Gina, are you okay? How are you feeling?" the first girl who had spoken to him knelt down and asked as she embraced her friend.
"What happened? I am feeling good," Gina said as she sat upright. She looked around, wondering why she was surrounded by people; she could not recall anything.
"Are you feeling okay? Is there any discomfort in your body?" Max asked, seeing that the skill had worked and removed the parasite-like poison.
"I am good. I do not feel any discomfort," Gina said, checking her own body for a moment before speaking.
"Good. Now, where is the manager of the shop?" Max called out loudly.
The old man walked towards the spot where everything was happening. His face darkened, and spurts of sweat dripped from his bald head. His back hunched in a cowering posture as he stood before Max.
Usually, people treated those who wore the Academy uniform well. But now, after seeing all the things that had happened so far, the manager's posture turned into something like a slave before a master. The master, being Max, stood upright and looked down on the manager.
"I want you to bring forth every cook, every servant, every helper, just everyone who works in this shop," Max ordered.