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Chapter 316 – Two Stone Statues
The fifth floor of the vacant materials warehouse.
I laid out some leftover clothing, and everyone gathered around to look at the two stone statues that I had brought out.
“This thing is incredible.”
“The smaller one is probably a woman, right?”
“Looks like it. The wings mean it’s a petrified bird person, then?”
Was it possible to restore them from this state?
I was relying almost entirely on Zeo, but if there was any way, I wanted to try restoring these two.
That was the only reason I brought them back.
“Is there any way?”
“If only parts were petrified, there might be a solution. But completely petrified…?”
From Zeo’s expression alone, I could tell that this was an extremely difficult problem.
Not only were they completely petrified, but it had been an unimaginably long time.
To make matters worse, the statues were damaged.
“By the way, what kind of cure would work for partial petrification?”
“You could use Holy Magic to directly repair the petrified sections or amputate them and forcibly regenerate the missing parts. Though it would require a much higher skill level, I’ve also heard of using Curse Magic, which normally inflicts status ailments, to heal it.”
“Ugh… I haven’t learned either of those yet.”
“Seriously, though, getting petrified is basically fatal, right?”
Hearing Lodge say that, I nodded deeply in agreement beside him.
Even partial petrification requires high-level magic to cure. It feels weird for me to say, since I can petrify others, but it just seems way too vicious.
In game terms, full petrification is deadly, but partial petrification alone would be fatal.
It immobilizes the target and, if the petrified part is shattered, it could potentially cause limb loss, no matter how strong the defense.
“On the other hand, the petrification process takes an incredibly long time. These two must have been petrified bit by bit.”
“Waaah~ I’d hate that way more.”
“True. I don’t even want to imagine my body slowly turning to stone.”
I-I see.
I’ve accidentally obtained some useful information, but we’re currently discussing healing methods, not attack options.
If Zeo is too difficult, I guess I’ll have to ask the goddesses as a last resort.
“Hmm… Still seems impossible?”
“…No, I can’t think of a magical cure, but medicine might work.”
“Oh!”
“However, the medicine I know of is extremely hard to obtain. It could be acquired in this era, but it would undoubtedly be expensive.”
“Ah, could it be dungeon-sourced?”
“Yes. It’s called Miracle Water. Besides curing illness, it should also heal various status ailments.”
“Hmm, hmm… So it’s different from that elixir I noticed recently.”
“The Elixir only works against all diseases, so Miracle Water is a higher-tier medicine. I obtained it once in an advanced dungeon, but someone skilled in pharmacy might be able to refine it, depending on the ingredients.”
“Refine it… huh… huh!?”
“””???”””
Right, right! What am I doing?!
This is exactly why I’ve been gathering strategy guides like crazy!
I pulled out the first book I’d acquired from storage, the Pharmacology Illustrated Guide.
As we flipped through it together, we saw that it said the ingredients were unknown. However, it listed items like ‘Immortal Water’ and ‘Miracle Water’. It even introduced a petrification antidote called “Stone-Dissolving Water.”
This is it! This is the one!
“The required ingredients are ‘Phoenix Grass,’ ‘Catoblepas’ Eye,’ and ‘Holy Water.’ Catoblepas eye is easy to get, so that’s fine. But how do we get the other two?”
“Holy Water” is that stuff. You get it by making offerings at the church, right? Like the water they use in festivals?”
“Oh, nice, Lodge! Then that one should be easy to get, too. That leaves the Phoenix Grass. Has anyone heard of that?”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Me neither!”
“Nor have I. My apologies; I’m not good with pharmacy.”
“No, no, you’ve been incredibly helpful. I’m grateful. Besides, even if we gather all three ingredients, we’d still need a pharmacist to mix and refine them, wouldn’t we?”
This isn’t a world where you just throw ingredients into a pot, and medicine appears.
Since pharmacy is a job class, it’s reasonable to assume that skill and experience are necessary for achieving the correct ingredient ratios.
It’d be great if we could make the potion at Mei-chan’s place, but it’s probably not a widely available, easy-to-make potion.
“But, hey, even if we make the potion, will it actually bring them back?”
“Yeah. They look like stone no matter how you look at it. They’ve been like this for a long time, right?”
Their opinions were perfectly valid. Zeo didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was wondering the same thing.
But that’s not the issue here.
I learned my lesson when I revived Zeo and Carla.
“It’ll probably be fine. At least with the smaller one, I can see the skills through Mind’s Eye. It’s like a state of suspended animation. It’s definitely not dead.”
“Hmm… You’re right.”
The larger one doesn’t register with Mind’s Eye, and neither does Appraisal, which only reacts to objects. That means it’s being blocked by Concealment.
Then there’s no need to rush.
As long as they stay here, these two are safe. I can travel and gather the remaining materials while searching for someone capable of performing Stone-Dissolving Water.
Zeo seemed skeptical, but there’s always the possibility of finding healing magic or obtaining “Miracle Water” from higher-level dungeons.
Just what era did they live in? Why did they reach the sixth layer among those who returned from the fifth?
If I could speak with them, the goddesses and I might gain useful information.
(Well, that’s one more goal for the journey.)
With this thought, my motivation surged. I continued grinding for skill experience in silence while exploring for other stone statues.
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