New World, Tupa Tribe camp, inside a spacious tent.
Ever since he had just acquired the new language, Kapak had been staying in the tent, rummaging through his collection box, eagerly reading the words on the items inside the box, and curiously learning about their effects.
Various exquisite handicrafts fascinated Kapak. Looking at these interesting and convenient products, he felt a hint of admiration for the wisdom possessed by those invaders. Their actions were certainly hateful, but their advanced technology was desirable.
'If only the tribe could also manufacture these exquisite things one day, we would not only be able to fight against those invaders because of it, but also live and develop better.'
Flipping through the items in the box, Kapak thought with such emotion in his heart. For an entire afternoon, he sat in front of the box, constantly fiddling with the collection inside.
Just as Kapak was continuing to examine his collection, a sudden rush of footsteps came from outside the tent. Hearing the footsteps, Kapak quickly put all the scattered items back into the wooden box. Just as he closed the lid of the wooden box, the tent curtain was lifted, and standing at the entrance was a bearded tribal man with a robust build and an anxious expression.
"Baru? What's the rush?" Looking at the panicked man at the entrance, Kapak, who had just finished tidying up, asked curiously. The other person replied, taking a few breaths.
"Hoo... hoo... Shang Ya, Shang Ya has the red pattern disease. She is very weak now. The Shaman said she might not make it through tonight."
"What?! Take me there quickly!"
Listening to Baru's words, Kapak stood up immediately and walked out of the tent with Baru. After walking for a while through the camp, which was filled with various tents, they finally arrived in front of a relatively large tent. Several people were standing at the entrance of the tent at this time.
Stepping into the tent, Kapak saw that many people had already gathered inside. They were all gathered around the ground mat in the center of the tent, looking anxiously at the scene within. There, a tribal woman was holding a girl of about ten years old, her eyes filled with tears.
At this moment, the girl in the woman's arms was weak, covered in sweat, and breathing heavily, seemingly in a feverish state. She was in a semi-conscious state, and there were red marks of varying depths on her skin.
Seeing this situation, Kapak's heart tightened, and he asked the woman.
"Auntie Mumma... Shang Ya is..."
"It's the red pattern disease... The Shaman has done his best, but there's no way. This isn't a disease caused by evil spirits, and ordinary herbs are useless. The Shaman said everything can only follow the will of the great soul, and it's up to her, but you know, Shang Ya is so young, she can't make it through."
With a choked voice, the woman said to Kapak. Kapak's heart sank upon hearing this, and his expression became as solemn as those around him.
Red pattern disease is a disease that people of the tribes in this land have been prone to since ancient times. The cause of the disease is unknown. Once contracted, red patterns appear on the body, and the person becomes weak, feverish, and even falls into a coma, with a considerable mortality rate.
Adult tribal members who contract this disease have a chance of surviving depending on their physique, while the elderly and children who contract this disease are almost beyond help.
In this land, many diseases are caused by evil spirits possessing a person. These types of diseases can be resolved by asking the Shaman to expel the possessing evil spirit. However, many diseases are not caused by evil spirits. In such cases, the Shaman can only rely on some herbs for treatment, but their effect is limited. For example, the current disease cannot be solved by herbs.
Based on past experience, Shang Ya's condition now is almost no different from waiting for death. Everyone present was already immersed in an atmosphere of sorrow. This was not the first time they had experienced such a thing. Every year, a certain number of tribal members die from this disease.
After roughly understanding Shang Ya's current situation, Kapak was also very depressed. He and the other tribal members around him lowered their heads, looking at the little girl tormented by the illness. In the face of this disease, they could do nothing but mourn.
Amidst the woman's sobs, the scene was solemn. Kapak recalled the girl's lively appearance in the past, his heart filled with pain, and then suddenly, he seemed to think of something, a flash of inspiration in his mind.
"Auntie Mumma, wait a moment, Shang Ya might still be saved, I'll be right back!" Kapak said to the crowd around him, and then, amidst everyone's puzzled gazes, Kapak rushed out of the tent.
Speeding through the camp, Kapak ran back to his tent and began searching in his wooden box. After searching for a while, he found a small glass bottle. Inside the glass bottle were a bottle of white pills.
Holding the glass bottle in his hand, Kapak looked at the label paper attached to the bottle. It had the name of the pills and instructions for use written on it.
"Alomycin Tablets, produced by Tivian Corp Pharmaceutical Company, a special medicine for New World red pattern fever..."
"New World red pattern fever... could this be the red pattern disease..." Looking at the instructions on the medicine bottle, Kapak murmured, and then he carefully looked at the symptom description on the medicine bottle, finding that it was almost consistent with the symptoms of the red pattern disease. He also knew that the New World in the invaders' language referred to the land where he lived.
"It really might be the red pattern disease. A disease that the various tribes have been unable to solve since ancient times, and those invaders actually produced medicine that can cure it within a few decades?"
Holding the medicine bottle in his hand, Kapak murmured in disbelief. However, he could not think too much now. After looking at the dosage, he poured two pills from the bottle, then took them and rushed out of his tent, returning to Shang Ya's tent.
"Auntie Mumma, give this to Shang Ya to eat."
Coming before the woman, Kapak handed the pills to the woman and said. The woman's expression showed a hint of confusion.
"Kapak... what is this?"
"It's a ball of herbal powder kneaded by a wandering Shaman I met before. He said it's effective for the red pattern disease. Take it and try it."
Kapak said this because due to the invaders' maliciousness, the tribal people had a sense of rejection towards industrial products other than firearms, so Kapak didn't dare to tell the truth for the time being.
"Is that so... then let's try it..."
Hearing Kapak's words, Mumma, who was already almost desperate, took the pills, and with a try-it-and-see attitude, she gave them to the semi-conscious Shang Ya and gave her some water to drink.
After that, Kapak stayed in the tent with many others, and they stayed there for over two hours.
During these two hours, the breathing of the girl who had been gasping in the woman's arms gradually became smoother, the red patterns on her body became lighter, her body temperature began to drop, and she began to fall asleep comfortably.
Seeing this scene, everyone present showed expressions of surprise, and the woman looked at Kapak in front of her with joy.
"Great soul, this, this is truly amazing, Kapak, your medicine is really effective! Thank you so much, Kapak, your medicine is really effective! You saved my Shang Ya!"
The woman excitedly thanked Kapak, and the people watching around also talked to each other in disbelief, discussing the miraculous scene before them.
"Hey, Kapak, you're really something, you can even cure diseases..."
"The Shaman was helpless against this red pattern disease, and this kid's medicine is actually effective..."
"Kapak! Do you have any more of your medicine?"
...
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Regarding this scene, the surrounding crowd discussed animatedly, and Kapak was also momentarily stunned after seeing this scene, and then amidst the discussion, he was also filled with joy.
'It's real! That medicine really works! Those medicines can treat the red-stripe disease!'
Kapak thought this. At this moment, he was extremely Rejoice that he could understand the invaders' writing and know how to use the medicine.
'Praise Aka, the knowledge you have bestowed upon me allows me to help others in the tribe. This is really great.'
Kapak thought with a smile. It was at this moment that he truly realized what an important treasure knowledge was. He had more than just that one bottle of the invaders' medicine. If the others could also be effective, then he would be even more able to help the tribe and get rid of more diseases.
Not just medicine! If they could skillfully use other things from the invaders, or even manufacture their things, then they could help the tribe escape backwardness, hunger, and disease.
'The reason those invaders can slaughter our people is because they have more advanced weapons, medicines, and tools. If we can also have these and use these, then we can resist them to a certain extent.'
However, all of this requires knowledge! More knowledge! At this time, Kapak realized that just learning the language was not enough. To better help the tribe, he needed more knowledge, knowledge about the invaders' advanced technology.
And this, that spirit named Akasha could give him, as long as he could offer equally precious knowledge!
Thinking of this, Kapak paused slightly. For a moment, he couldn't think of how to find knowledge precious enough to offer to Akasha.
After celebrating Shang Ya's safety with the rejoicing crowd, Kapak returned to his home. On the way, he was silently contemplating.
'It seems I need to find an opportunity to inquire with Shaman if our tribe has any precious knowledge hidden away.'
...
In the library of King's Campus, in a quiet location, Dorothy, who had just finished exchanging for new knowledge, had a deep look of confusion on her face at this moment.
'Time Slow Dragon Shout? Within a ten-meter radius, time slows down by thirty percent, own time remains unchanged, lasts for five seconds of own time. It seems okay, but... why did I only exchange for one segment? Before, using Prite Language, I exchanged for three segments of Unloading Force. This time, a complete Spirit Seal Language only exchanged for one segment of Time Slow?'
Dorothy thought in confusion. She used an entire language, but only got one segment of a Dragon Shout in return. This was completely different from exchanging one language for three segments before. Moreover, this Time Slow actually had a range limit. It couldn't affect anything outside the range, which was different from in the game.
With various questions, Dorothy decided to ask the system. Generally, it would answer questions related to its own functions.
'Hey, system, why did I only get one segment of the Time Slow Dragon Shout this time using Spirit Seal Language, while I got three segments of Unloading Force with Prite Language before? Also, does this Time Slow have a range?'
Soon, the system responded to Dorothy's question.
'Reply: Time Slow involves the timeline and is a higher-level Dragon Shout. It requires more language-related knowledge to be fully exchanged. The reason Time Slow has a range limit is that the timeline structure in this world is different from the world of Nirn. This Dragon Shout cannot command the entire timeline.
'If you are not satisfied with the power of the Dragon Shout, after learning enough Dragon Language characters and basically mastering Nirn Dragon Language, you can consume additional Spirituality of 'Qi' to increase the power of the Dragon Shout. If you choose to increase Time Slow, you can make the range of time slowing larger, but it is best not to exceed a radius of five kilometers. Abnormal fluctuations in the timeline will attract the attention of divine existences.'
The system finished its answer, and Dorothy, sitting in her seat, fell into thought.
'Time Dragon Shout is a higher-level Dragon Shout... so it costs a lot? That makes sense. If each segment has thirty percent, three segments would add up to ninety percent, which is almost like time stopping. It is indeed a bit overpowered... Because the world is different and the timeline structure is different, it can only slow time within a range and cannot affect the whole world. That also makes sense...'
'But one interesting point is that after mastering enough characters, consuming additional 'Qi' can indeed strengthen the power of Dragon Shouts. If 'Qi' is abundant after advancing, it can also be used to strengthen them, though I wonder about the efficiency? But I need to be careful not to strengthen the range of the Time Slow Dragon Shout too much, otherwise it will attract the attention of the gods...'
Shaking her head, Dorothy stopped thinking about Dragon Shouts and turned to contemplate the "new pen pal" she had contacted just now using the book-sea navigation record. Dorothy was also very interested in his information.
'From the voice, the other party seems to be a young man who has mastered a language called Spirit Seal Language. He is not a Prit person. This Spirit Seal Language is in chunks, like seals, not like the alphabetic writing popular on the Main Continent. It should be a pictographic script.
'That young man knows a few Prit Language words, and the language he has mastered is not the alphabetic writing popular on the Main Continent, so the place he is in should be an overseas colony of Prit. He might be an indigenous person from those places.
'Heh... this character can really swim, it even swam overseas. I only gave a little 'Qi', can it swim that far? It feels more likely that my 'Qi' landed on a book somewhere in Prit and was taken to an overseas colony by a fleet, where it was obtained by that indigenous person.
'It seems I can check some information later to see which colonial ethnic group's language this Spirit Seal Language is. Crown University should have folklore, right...'
Dorothy thought this. Crown University's grand library, except for secret transmission, had all kinds of mundane books on various subjects and disciplines, and there were many.
'Just right, I'll spend a few days reading in the library. Neff should have finished reading Ci Rong's secret transmission by then, and then we can start the next step of action.'
Thinking this, Dorothy stood up from her seat and decided to go see if there was anything about colonial folklore in the library.
...
Two days later, King's Campus, in the gathering place of the Secret Knowledge Society.
"Hoo..."
Sitting in her seat, Naifnis finished the last page of the book in front of her, then closed it abruptly. After letting out a long sigh, she looked at the cover of the book.
"Queen Bee Queue. Volume Four"
'Finally finished reading all of them...'
Thinking this in her heart, Naifnis gently closed her eyes, and then began to silently pray in her heart, praying for the hidden gods to cleanse the pollution in her spirit.
After a while, Naifnis opened her eyes again. At this moment, the strange feeling in her spirit had disappeared. She had finished reading all four volumes of Ci Rong's collection, but her heart had not been polluted in any way. Now, she was still the same as before.
'Now, I should inform Miss Dorothea that we can start the next step...'
Standing up from her seat, Naifnis thought with determination.
...
ps. I have something to do tonight and can't write, so today is a combined chapter of over four thousand words during the day, and none tonight. Tomorrow should be a normal two updates of two thousand words each.
Also, I'd like to mention that the medicine setting in the text is a type of antibiotic in this world. The appearance of antibiotics has effectively treated many injuries and illnesses caused by bacterial infections in the past, with a very significant impact.
Originally, antibiotics were invented and popularized in the 20th century, which is not something that would exist in the Victorian era. However, this is a fantasy world with its own settings. Many aspects of this world, including healthcare, are much stronger than in the original Victorian era. I will write about the reasons later.