Turning around with tears welling up in my eyes, I ran down the tunnel as quickly and quietly as possible. For over five minutes I ran through the maze, not taking into account where I turned, I simply ran while the scene of watching Sam summiting to Mugrel. Finally after loosing track of how many turns, I was overjoyed to see light up ahead.
Rushing down the tunnel, I eventually found myself out under the open sky. After taking a deep breath of fresh air, I started running back to town. I looked at the timer to find: Lycanthropy - Stage 1 - 10 minutes until stage 2. Seeing that I might not make it in time, I picked up speed.
I ran as fast as I could, but unlike in the store, I found no joy in the exercise. I did notice that my stride seen to lengthen as I continued to run, but still overwhelmed by what happened to Sam and my own need to get a cure, this fact was quickly ignored. Seeing the town in to distance, I looked to see how much time I had left, only to find I was down to three minutes.
With seconds to spare, I rushed to the apothecary. I ran into the building almost breaking down the door in my haste, then going to the counter, I yelled out, "Anyone here? I need help!"
"Coming," came a voice from the back, which was quickly fallowed by a man who looked to be in his fifty. He wasn't tall, probably standing about 5'7, but he had broad shoulders, and his forearms were massive. "What can I ... You need the Lycanthropy cure, right?" he said after taking a quick look at me.
"Yes. Quickly."
"How much time do you have left?" He asked grabbing a jar off one of the shelves behind him.
Looking at the timer, I watched as the last three seconds ticked down. "Seconds."
"Drink this." Handing me the jar. I quickly brought the liquid to my lips pouring the potion down my throat. As I drank, the last second ticked. This caused the bar on my status to change from Lycanthropy 1 to Lycanthropy 2. But with a final gulp, I finished the potion.
I noticed right away that I still had a Lycanthropy bar, but it seemed to be fading. "There's something wrong." I told the pharmacist. "I still have the Lycanthropy bar, but it does seem to be disappearing. What's going on?"
"Did you finish the cure before stage 2 came into affect?" With a shake of my head, he continued, "Then it is going to be a little longer before it's completely gone. You were lucky though, the potion works for stage 1 and for stage 2. But the further into stage 2 you go, the less affective it is. If you had hit stage 3, well, there would be a lot you would have to do to be cured then just drinking a potion. I should warn you though. While I don't notice any changes to your body, you will have changed to a certain extent, and since you were into stage 2, most of them are permanent. Though if you want to get rid of them it is possible."
Taking a moment to examine myself, I did notice a few changes. I was taller by a few inches, maybe 6'5 instead of my original 6'2. Also, I was definitely much hairier, feeling the beard, I knew that it was fuller and thicker. I also noticed, after looking under my shirt that the hair on my chest had expanded. Instead of having a treasure trill and a smattering of hair on my chest, my chest hair had spread to cover most of my pectorals, and it was not connected to my treasure trail, running down the center of my abs. The last thing I noticed was the gain in muscle mass. Before, I was big, but nothing to write home about. Now though, I knew I was now on the cusp of being between a fitness model and bodybuilder. Looking into the glass windows of the shop, I also noticed that my hair had grown down to almost my shoulders. I couldn't help but think that I now looked like someone who would fit right in with a bunch a lumberjacks.
Turning down the offer and removing the changes, I paid for the potion. Walking out of the building, I quickly logged out.