Diseases

Usually, treating congenital conditions requires Body Sculpting, though Invigoration can get rid of all the damages and symptoms. Degenerative diseases are hard to treat in children, getting rid of them while the baby is still in the womb is even worse.

## Strangler

The **Strangler** is a congenital condition where the lungs are filled with impurities, preventing physical exertion and making the victim prone to illness. Fast pacing is enough to leave them out of breath. They will cough from time to time, and when things are about to turn for the worse, the cough will become violent. The disease is called the Strangler because its victims experience shortness of breath as if someone is gradually increasing pressure on their chest until they can't breathe anymore and die of asphyxiation.

Passed down from the mother's side, the disease is a genetic disorder linked to the X chromosome like hemophilia, but worse since it manifests even in females. Unlike what most people think it affects both genders, but always kills males in the womb way before the ninth month, leading it to be mistaken as a miscarriage.

Step one of the cure is to first treat the disease. The corrupted tissues can't be destroyed and replaced with healthy new ones without killing both mother and child due to the release of toxic substances. Instead, it is better to treat only the already affected areas and leave the rest for after the birth. The Healer takes out the parts of the life force that comprise the blackened part of the lungs one at a time.

Step two is to remove the accumulated mass that prevents the now healthy tissues from inflating and deflating properly, using just enough darkness magic to mobilize the mass and have it be expelled through the umbilical cord. The problem is that once the liquid mass reaches the bloodstream, it can go anywhere. Darkness magic can't be used to stop the black mass as it might break down into toxins that poisons the mother and babies; the only way is to use **Scalpel** to lock any stray fragment of black mass into a safe place (i.e. the foot) until they can be safely drawn out of the patient's body.

## Jiera Plague

Created by the Torin Kingdom for warfare, the **Jiera plague** has the ability to bond with its victim's tissues and make them rot from the inside so that any attempt to heal it will just hasten the decay process. It is a disease that can't be cured with normal healing magic. It requires a combination of darkness and light spells because otherwise the healing will multiply the infected tissues and help spread the disease until it becomes untreatable.

The cure requires the Healer to distinguish between the healthy and damaged parts of the patient's body. Then, they have to bombard the body with pulses of darkness magic strong enough to kill the infected tissues and only weaken the rest. At that point, it is possible to infuse the patient with both vitality and light magic, since only healthy cells will manage to reproduce whereas the infected will die of strain. The procedure has to be applied to the patient's head and torso first since unlike limbs, they can't be regenerated. Also, time is of the essence. Due to the plague's nature, if there are no healthy tissues the patient is doomed.

## Griever

The **Griever** was an affliction of the body that afflicted the citizens of Zantia that appeared right after the winter lockdown in Year 11096. Its symptoms included weakened organs, random damage to the skin, fever, bloodshot eyes, weakness, and black spots. It could be cured, but after some time would always return stronger than before. It was claimed to be curable only by the Church of the Six, who preached that the Griever was the gods' punishment for magic, which was an insult the gods. In reality, the Church's six "Sovereigns" were six Awakened youths posing as gods, and the Griever a result of them injecting their mana inside the citizens' bodies to use them as catalysts for their Forbidden Magic ritual.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 910
2. ↑ Chapter 5
3. ↑ Chapter 920
4. ↑ Chapter 916
5. ↑ Chapter 918
6. ↑ Chapter 919
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 827
8. ↑ Chapter 557
9. ↑ Chapter 562
10. ↑ Chapter 555
11. ↑ Chapter 558
12. ↑ Chapter 574