Chapter 396

After a few more minutes of futile review, the pair were joined by those below. Arthur walked the entirety of the roof - carefully - but found no further clue about his attacker. Neither did any of the others, and so they took turns, swapping out with the inside investigators. A quick check of each room showed that the Second Chancers had even fewer personal belongings than he did. Most rooms were bare, beyond the basics of weapons or a couple of changes of clothing. It made sense, that the Tower didn't bother giving them much to work with - and for the scenario, where individuals were warriors called to battle.

Anything you brought, you had to carry with you. No point in dragging along a ton of things then.

All of which meant that other than two individuals who had throwing knives in clear view who snuck onto Arthur's suspicious list, he gathered absolutely nothing. 

Even the corpse, still left sprawled half-collapsed onto the bed, one leg off entirely, the second half-propped up, angled and hair in disarray told Arthur nothing. Well, beyond the obvious - clothed and armored meant that they were awake and ready. Weapon near their hands meant they had tried to protect themselves, but failed. The angle of attack showed someone coming in from the window. The weapon itself was a pointed weapon, not a skullbasher, and probably quite wide.

Which didn't narrow the case down at all.

What with no further information or anyone being killed or otherwise found out, the group had returned to their rooms to rest. Arthur took the time - after barring window and bed and then stuffing his bed with a silohouette and finding a corner - to catch a quick cat nap. He didn't rest too long, since he wanted to cultivate a little too, but being completely exhausted was also a bad idea as he knew.

Even so, he was forced to hide a yawn when he stumbled out for breakfast, joining the group that were already seated and part of the stream of those coming. He noted he wasn't the only one exhausted, though he was grateful that they were at least getting breakfast.

And tea. Strong tea, filled with milk and sugar. Not exactly teh tarik, but close enough that he wasn't going to complain, as the servers pulled the tea through the air to add oxygen to the mixture. He was still a coffee man, but when in Malaysia, you drank what you got given.

"Nasi goreng for breakfast?" Arthur said, eyeing the spread. "At least some benefits to all this..."

"Yes, very much so. Eat up! Might be your last..." Nor said, seated beside him again. 

Arthur happily complied, scooping from the main dishes, adding peanuts and sambal and fried fish and meat to his plate. He was careful not to take too much.

"No, no. Eat, eat...!" Nor reached for the serving spoon, digging in a huge helping and move to add it to his plate.

"No, thank you," Arthur said, blocking her arm. "You should eat though, need to keep the figure."

"You like?" She grinned, eyeing him.

Arthur shrugged. "It's not bad."

"Not bad!" she hissed, mock outraged.

"It's not the body," Arthur said. "You're fit and pretty enough. It's the personality."

Now, she looked genuinely offended. More than one of the other climbers was looking at him too, Hameed in particular looking amused. Even the Tun, who normally just glowered was looking over as Arthur explained. "It's the desire to kill me. Just entirely wipes out any lust, you know. Just gone. Poof!" He gestured with his hands as he said that, a grin breaking out on his face.

Silence, then laughter filled the hall. The tension that had grown and kept the conversations somewhat stilted broke, as people talked amongst themselves. Nor, snorting, put the spoonful of rice down and went back to her food, only looking up after swallowing her latest mouthful to add.

"You're wrong, you know."

"About?"

"Me wanting to kill you. I just have to."

"Pah-ta-toe, Poh-tah-toe."

Nor shrugged, returning to her meal. Arthur noted few others were eating much either, some eschewing the meal entirely. It took him half his small portion to realise why, as a tingling started around his lips. He raised a hand to it, curious at the chemical taste that had begun to present itself. At first, he'd thought it was just the sambal bilis, because sometimes, you got that taste. Too much mining, too much pollution had led to the occasional destruction - or pollution - of breeding grounds, such that wild caught fish could be dangerous to consume.

Not that many had the choice, and the small sardines that made up ikan bilis rarely had enough pollutants to cause trouble. 

His tongue was now numb. His teeth felt weird and swallowing was growing difficult. He stilled, looking around, seeing two others looking distressed.

You have been poisoned!

"Poison," he croaked out, once he confirmed his suspicions. He pushed the food away, the water, coughing and spitting and wiping at his mouth to remove the trace amounts.

Others staggered away from the table, a couple jumping up and grabbing at their weapons. As though they could stab away the threat. Tun Rahman was shouting, calling for people to hold still and calm, even as he pushed away from the meal as well. A growing hubbub, shouts asking for which one, others asking for - and getting - confirmation that he was not the only one.

Beside him, Nor looked fine, sitting back, calm. Ramli too, as well as Hameed, though both were standing up, hands away from their foods or weapons. Ghost servitors had started approaching, froze at the shouted commands to not touch anything, leaving the trio - including Arthur - to clutch at throats and fight the encroaching numbness.

Yin energy surged, combating the poison. A part of him recognised it, the way the poison acted, the way it interacted with him. Not the exact same, but a close cousin. Already, his energy surged through his body, layering the necessary improvements to reduce the spreading numbness, including the ones that had started to cause minor discomfort in his stomach. 

He kept his energies focused within, leaving external problems like inflamed lips or numb tongues for later. Watching, as one of the other Climbers fell over, his breathing coming in jerks and stops. No one dared move close, in fear of being accused of adding to the problem. Or perhaps just reluctant to help another competitor.

A horrible way to die, Arthur figured, but the man seemed to slip into unconsciousness not long after.

The other victim was like Arthur, still awake, still looking around. One hand was gently glowing though, his body sweating profusely as he utilized whatever skill he had to counteract the poison. Arthur, on the other hand, had grown cold, colder than ever in his own methods of cleansing and transformation of the poison.

"So brazen! Poisoning our lord's food too," Ramli said, glowering. "Who is it? Which one of you?"

"Is Tun Rahman's food poisoned?" Hameed asked. "Was this attack meant for him?"

"How would I know?" the speaker, a female Second Chancer standing nearby snapped. She waved at the food. "I don't have a skill to pick it out. And it all smells and looks fine to me."

"We could taste it?" another voice, this one out of Arthur's sight.

"If the food was poisoned, why aren't we all affected?" Aryan asked next, poking at the food with a utensil.

"Maybe they're just weak," Nor said, blithely.

"Or it's the drinks," Hameed offered, gesturing at the cups. "Those were made individually."

All eyes shifted to the servant that had been making it. The faded figure shrunk back, in fear and uncertainty. Tun Rahman, silent till now, gestured and ghostly guards filtered over, grabbing the servant by the arms. 

"We shall check," Tun Rahman said. "But that is but one option."

"If we look at what they ate..." Aryan said, standing up and glancing at the plates of the three poisoned figures, the now silent body of the other climber picked up and taken away by guards. "Maybe there's a clue?"

"I'm more curious about how it was snuck in," Hameed added, wandering over to where the cups used to make the teh tarik were and the serving station. "The three were the last to arrive, so... later? Does that mean it's one of those here before?"

Now, cautious gazes turned to all four who weren't affected, tension rising with each breath. Hands drifted towards weapons, as the number of suspects suddenly decreased significantly.